Liturgically we light the Easter candle representing the light of the Risen Christ. This Easter candle needs to be lit in the deep recesses of our hearts.

 

EASTER VIGIL  2021

 

Under the cloud of COVID – 19, the great Easter Vigil, the mother of all vigils, is celebrated in a muted fashion this evening.

Muted in the sense we are missing some of the powerful symbols of our Easter celebration, but, without doubt, God is still with us in this joyous celebration of the Easter liturgy.  

We gather in-person and through the gift of livestreaming to express and to celebrate the Easter message:   all are welcome; all are forgiven; and the Lord seeks to fill this world with his love.  May this Easter joy fill our hearts in a way that is beyond the reach of any virus.

From the first Scripture reading, the creation account from the Book of Genesis,  we hear:  "In the beginning, when God created the heavens and the earth, the earth was a formless void and darkness covered the face of the deep.

In the beginning, all was a dark void.

And in this empty tomb where Jesus was buried, we find the same reality--it is a dark void.

 How many times will we find ourselves in that dark place? A place where any ray of hope is extinguished in the vacuum of fear, of not knowing, of total emptiness.  Do we sometimes have this feeling when our fears get the best of us in dealing with COVID-19 -- the darkness of this shattering reality that we had no idea was coming our way.

But in that place, somehow through the grace of God, we must be patient. As was true in the Creation account, we must wait for the wind of the Spirit, the "wind from God that sweeps over the face of the waters" to fan the dim embers of our faith.

"Then God said, 'Let there be light,' and there was light.... God called the light Day and the darkness he called Night. And there was evening and there was morning, the first day."

You see, both darkness and light are part of the first day. Darkness and light are halves of every day ever since that first day.

Darkness and light are essential parts of our lives. And when we find ourselves in that dark lonely place, we must remind ourselves of this truth. There will always ultimately be light in the midst of the darkness.

Darkness is shorthand for anything that scares me—the darkness of a terrifying diagnosis -- either because I am sure that I do not have the resources to survive it or because I do not want to find out.

Darkness is part of every day. But there will be light. What would our lives with God look like if we trusted this rhythm of darkness and light instead of fighting it?  The Easter message of the Risen Lord to us is that the light of the Risen Christ will overcome any and all darkness we experience.

In the paschal mystery of Jesus, the darkness of suffering and death gives way to the light of the Risen Lord.  Yes, our spiritual journey consists in finding that grace-filled rhythm of light and darkness in the life journey of each one of us.

Liturgically we light the Easter Candle because we believe in the light that comes from the Risen Lord.  Indeed, in the light that comes from the Risen Lord, the darkness of fear and the darkness of sin is no more.  This Easter candle needs to be lit in the deep recesses of our hearts.

Yes, there is uncertainty of how long we are going to be in isolation caused by this pandemic; Yes, we are worried about the health of those we love; yes, we may be dealing with the reality of unemployment; Jesus himself takes on human suffering to draw closer to us; but when the Easter candle is lit in the deep recesses of our hearts, we can proclaim with boldness that we are an Easter people and Alleluia is our song.

In this Easter season, may we allow God to fill our hearts with an Easter joy that no one or no situation can take from us.

This night is a night of Easter Joy.   

 

Easter joy can come from unexpected places.  For me, I had another birthday recently, would you believe.  My very favorite birthday was a three-year old Anna Hickey.  It contained for me a most touching birthday/Easter message.  The homemade card read:  Dear Father Jim, I like coming to Church because everyone is really nice.  Love, Anna Hickey.

For me this is an Easter dream, when Anna and everyone else comes to Church to give praise and thanks to God and we enjoy being together as a community who are really nice to each other.  Anna comes to Church not because it is a day of obligation under pain of mortal sin; rather she comes to Church because everyone is really nice.

Jesus worded this message slightly different in his farewell message to his Disciples.  Jesus said: “By this all shall know that you are my disciples, by your love for one another.

In the words of Pope Francis, the grandeur of life lies not in possessions and promotions, but in realizing that we are loved and in experiencing the beauty of loving others.

God desires our Easter friendship.  God desires that we share our friendship with each other. May we allow the Risen Lord to fill this world and our hearts with His love.

Have a Blessed Easter Day.