1
April 19, 2014
8:30 p.m.
St. Augustine Cathedral
Easter Vigil Celebration of the Resurrection of the Lord
Bishop Bradley’s Reflections on the Scripture Readings
It’s really late at night for us to be gathered together for worship-----but this is
no ordinary night, is it? Other than Midnight Mass on Christmas, I don’t think
there’s any other time during the year when we come together to celebrate our
Faith this late---but, of course, this is the most special celebration of the Year.
This is EASTER! This is the most solemn, most joyful and THE central mystery
of our Faith! On behalf of Msgr. Martin, I welcome you here to St. Augustine
Cathedral. I especially want to welcome the members of our “Elect” and the
“Candidates” who will be welcomed into the Church this evening, and all the
members of their families who are here for this happy occasion. I extend to each
of you my very best wishes for a very Happy and Blessed Easter.
This Easter Vigil----referred to in the liturgical writings as the “mother of all
vigils”----is the center-piece of the Easter Triduum celebration, which actually
began on Holy Thursday evening, included the solemn observance of the Lord’s
Passion and Burial on Good Friday, and now reaches its high point in this
celebration of the Resurrection of the Lord.
This special Liturgy almost overwhelms us with the rich symbols and the
powerful signs that we have already experienced, and will continue to experience.
These signs and symbols help us to proclaim, once again, the central mystery of
our Faith: that Jesus, our Lord and Savior, has indeed been raised from the Dead!
Alleluia!
We began in absolute darkness, only to have the lighting of the new fire, and
the newly-lit Paschal Candle, the symbol of the new Life of the Risen Christ, pass
through our midst proclaiming: “Light of Christ” with our heart-felt response:
“Thanks be to God”!
We heard the Proclamation of the Exultet which sums up the reasons why we
truly “exult”, namely that, in spite of the reality and the power of sin, which was
referred to as “O happy fault…o truly necessary sin of Adam”, the grip of sin on us
has been destroyed completely by the Death and Resurrection of Christ!----the
Light dispels darkness in any of its forms: fear, suffering, sadness, sin and,
ultimately, death. “Alleluia!”
2
We’ve heard many Readings from God’s Revealed Word tonight, which are
almost like an overview of all of Salvation History, from the very beginning of
God’s Creation of everything, and most especially, fashioning the high-point of His
creation---Human Persons---in His very own image and likeness (as we heard in
tonight’s First Reading), to the New Creation brought about by Jesus’ Resurrection
as we just heard in the Gospel. And what’s the recurring message of all these 5
beautiful Scripture passages? It’s a constant message of God’s Love for His
creatures, who, in spite of the rupture in our relationship because of sin, have
been reconciled to Him through the Saving Act of His only-begotten Son Jesus--through Mercy. It’s a recurring theme of God’s Faithfulness, as expressed so
beautifully in tonight’s 3rd Reading from Isaiah the Prophet, as God speaks to us,
saying: “Come to Me…Listen to me….Seek the Lord while He may be found….Call
Him while He is near….and I will renew with you the everlasting Covenant.” And,
the message we are given over and over and over again throughout all of God’s
Word is that we have no need to be afraid.
We have been brought into this Covenant of Love with God our Father through
our Baptism into His Son Jesus. That’s what Baptism means----Of course, it
washes away Original Sin, but beyond that, it seals our relationship with God that
will never be broken and will only be fulfilled when we pass from this life and
enter into Eternal Life with God in Heaven. That’s why another major sign and
symbol of this Easter Vigil are the waters of Baptism and the Chrism of
Confirmation. Four of the newest members of our Family of Faith will in just a
few moments be baptized: Tony (Saia), Marcus (Dunn) and Tara (Baker) and her
infant son Edwin; those three adults and three other adults, Sara (Kelley),
Stephen (Staten) and Steve (Waskiewicz) will also receive the Sacrament of
Confirmation. And all of them (except of course for Edwin) will join us for the
first time at the Eucharistic Banquet of the Lord when they receive their First Holy
Communion. “Alleluia!”
The Sacraments of Initiation establish and transform our relationship with God
from just being His amazing creation, into becoming His precious adopted
daughters and sons, once again, made possible because of the Death and
Resurrection of Christ. That’s what St. Paul was so beautifully reminding us about
in tonight’s Reading from his Epistle to the Romans: “We who were baptized into
Christ Jesus were baptized into his death….If, then, we have died with Christ, we
believe that we shall also live with Him.”
3
So, for those about to be Baptized, and for the rest of us who have been
Baptized, we need to remember, and celebrate the fact that, Baptism makes us
into a “new creation”----and as those who are “living anew”, our primary goal is to
“avoid sin, and choose virtue”----to do what we were reminded at the very
beginning of this Lenten Season when ashes were put on our foreheads that we
need to do and told: “Turn away from Sin and believe in the Good News of the
Risen Jesus”.
In tonight’s Gospel Reading, we heard that the two Mary’s came to the tomb
at dawn. They were worried about who would move the huge stone, but God
took care of that by sending an earthquake which shook the ground and moved
the stone to reveal that the tomb was empty. God also sent an Angel who
delivered the first message which said: “Do not be afraid!” But notice what else
happens. The Angel, after saying that Jesus the Crucified has been raised and
pointing to the empty tomb as evidence of that fact, sends these two women on
the first Evangelization mission ever, by saying: “Go quickly and tell his disciples:
‘He has been raised from the dead’.”
That is the summary of the Gospel message, my dear Family of Faith!
Matthew tells us that the two women went, but they were “fearful, yet
overjoyed”. That is when they encountered the Risen Lord Himself, Who
repeated the same, important message: “Do not be afraid.” And He reaffirmed
the mission of the new Evangelization.
The Easter Vigil and the entire Easter Celebration is a time for us to give thanks
to God for His Creation---for His Faithfulness---for His Mercy and His Love. It is a
time to rejoice in the Good News of Jesus’ Resurrection to New Life, and that
somehow, through Baptism, we share in that amazing New Life. It is a time for
some of us to be Baptized, and for the rest of us to “Renew our Baptismal
Promises”, and all of us being sent on the same mission of Evangelization, as the
two Mary’s were sent on that first Easter morning. We are called to go to our
homes, to our places of work, to our families and friends, to those who share our
faith, to those who have no faith, to those who reject the whole idea of faith and
to those who persecute others when they try to practice their faith---to go out to
the whole world----and proclaim this Easter Good News: “He has been raised
from the dead.”
4
Perhaps, like the two Mary’s, we might go “fearful, yet overjoyed”. The
important thing is that we GO! That we Give Witness! That we Live our Faith,
and that we share the Good News of Easter Joy. And as we do, it’s very important
to remember the message of Easter: “Do not be afraid!” “He is not here. He has
been raised.” “Go quickly and tell the world.” “Alleluia!”