Easter Vigil Homily - April 19, 2014

(Matthew 28:1-10) (See all the Easter Vigil readings here: http://www.usccb.org/bible/readings/041914.cfm)

         We stand at the threshold on this most holy night. We are no longer in one place, but we have not yet arrived at the other. We are at the crossroads – gathering in the night and awaiting the brilliant light of the morning, moving from darkness into light. We are at the crossing from sin into salvation, from slavery into freedom, from death into life.

          We are the women, the “two Marys” who “came to see the tomb” – filled with anxiety, and fear and uncertainty. We are unsure, and scared, and at least a little uncertain about putting our entire trust in Jesus. And even when that brilliant messenger appears, with quaking earth and rolling stone, and even though we are told, “Do not be afraid”, we go on our way, “fearful but overjoyed”.

          Until we encounter the Risen Jesus. When we encounter the Risen Jesus we see that his resurrection is not just about a glorious event of the past, but is about seemingly impossible transformations that occur in the present because of Christ’s power in the Holy Spirit. When we encounter the Risen Jesus we realize that God’s kingdom has already broken into human history.

          Jesus, there at creation, is the victor of order over chaos and light over darkness. He is the one who leads us out of our slavery and oppression – as what God did for one people Jesus now does for the salvation of every nation. Jesus, the Lord, calls us to his water, to come without money or price, to have all we need in him.

          But we are still on the threshold – God’s kingdom has broken into human history, but it is not yet complete. There is still evil and misery, and we do not deny it or turn away from it, but we refuse to surrender to their power because of our faith in the Risen Jesus. We are an Easter people, and Alleluia is our song, and Alleluia is an act of defiance in the face of evil.

          If we have encountered the Risen Jesus, we can say that God is ultimately still in charge of the universe, despite any indications to the contrary – that brutality and evil notwithstanding, at the end of the day, violence, injustice and sin will be silenced and overcome, and graciousness and gentleness as exemplified in Jesus are ultimately what lies at the root of all reality.

          We are an Easter people and we believe that truth is stronger than lies, that good is stronger than evil, that love is stronger than hate, and that life is stronger than death. 

          In just a few moments, we will renew our baptismal promises, our acknowledgement that we have died and risen with Jesus, and that we must lead a new life of who we already are – living for God in the Risen Jesus. And, like the two Marys who encountered him, we are commissioned to “go and tell” what we have experienced.

          On this holiest of nights, as we stand on the threshold between light and darkness, we encounter the Risen Jesus, and we once again become an Easter people, with Alleluia as our song.