EASTER VIGIL 2019
YEAR OF THE YOUTH
April 20, 2019
Jesus, I trust in you!
“At daybreak on the 1st
day of the week, the women who had come from Galilee with Jesus took the spices
they have prepared and went to the tomb.” We accompany tonight these women for
we, too, had come from Galilee with Jesus. This journey from Galilee to
Jerusalem, in a sense, is what our Lenten Journey is all about. It was a 40 day
journey of prayer and fasting. It was a 40 day ascent to Jerusalem where, Jesus
said, he was to suffer in the hands of evil men and die in order to enter into
his glory. Throughout this Lenten journey, we shared in our Lord’s battle
against the devil. Jesus began it by fasting in the desert where he was tempted
by Satan. He overcame the seductions of the evil one by his constant absolute
and unconditional obedience to the Father’s will. He was obedient until death,
death on the Cross. He accomplished everything the Father sent him to do. His
obedience undid the curse of Adam’s disobedience. His humiliation destroyed the
arrogant works of the devil.
He invited us to accompany him in
this ascent to Jerusalem. This he did by revealing to us ugliness and danger of
sin. Then, he revealed to us the Father who is the true Source of Joy and
Mercy. He invited us to repent lest we “perish as they did.” As what happened
to the prodigal son, he wanted us to come to our senses and return to the
Father. He assures us not to fear because he will not condemn us if we return
to him. Through prayer and fasting for 40 days, we have prepared ourselves for
tonight’s feast.
And so, we are here with the women
at the tomb. The heavy stone which the soldier used to seal the tomb was meant
to keep the corpse of Jesus in it. But it was not heavy enough. The stone was
rolled away. Nothing can keep Jesus in the tomb. “Death no longer has power
over him.” The living One cannot be found among the dead. He is no longer in
the tomb for he has risen from the dead.
And we will also rise with him to
eternal life only if we accompany him in his death. We died with him when we
were baptized. In the waters of baptism, the old Adam died and was buried in
it. We have risen as a new creation. And this is what we are reminded of year
after year. Every year, we pray and fast for 40 days so that on the Easter
Vigil like the one we celebrate today, we would be worthy to renew our
baptismal promises. We come to the tomb to be reminded again and again that we
have already died with Christ and that we must live lives renewed in baptismal
grace. Maybe time and again, we forget who were as like the prodigal son who
forgot that he was his father’s son. Maybe time and again, we have become
unfaithful to God, our first love, as the adulterous woman was. But every Lent, we are given the grace to
rise from where we have fallen to return to the house of the Father. Every Lent,
we are given the grace to hear the loving words of the Lord: “I do not condemn
you. Go and from now on, do not sin anymore.
Having been absolved of our sins
through confession, we now come to the tomb. We stand rejoicing in the fact
that God’s forgiveness renews all things. God’s forgiveness renews us. We stand
amazed at what had happened. We are amazed at how the dead Savior can rise
again. We stand amazed at how we, who were dead in sin, can be raised by the
forgiveness of the Lord. We stand amazed at how we, who were condemned to die,
“now live in newness of life.” “A dead person has been absolved from sin.”
To be here at the tomb during this
Easter Vigil is indeed a grace which we should treasure. Let us strive not to
lose this grace of new life. Let us not carelessly give it up for the fleeting
pleasures of the world. Let us resolve to no longer go back to the slavery of
sin. Let us “think of (ourselves) as being dead to sin and living for God in
Christ Jesus.”
O Mary conceived without sin, pray
for us who have recourse to thee!
No comments:
Post a Comment