EASTER SUNDAY OF THE RESURRECTION OF THE LORD
Acts of the Apostles 10:34a, 37-43
Colossians 3:1-4; 1 Corinthians 5:6b-8
John 20:1-9
Our granddaughter is studying abroad this semester through the Franciscan University of Steubenville. She admits the classes are rigorous. Still her time there includes traveling to the places in Europe that intensify the powerful traditions of the Church. Recently she visited the Vatican where she listened to Pope Leo XIV speak on Dei Verbum, the document on the Word of God.
Pope Leo expressed with great pastoral love, the divine and human authorship of the Scriptures where the inspired word of God offers limitless spiritual depth. Above all, he said, the Word of God reveals God’s love and his desire to save us. Over this Easter weekend, we will feast on a banquet of Scripture readings, all pointing to the hope and promise of our salvation. The tomb is empty! Jesus is risen!
The Easter Vigil, above all my favorite night of the year, becomes the place where we see Jesus become the fulfillment of the Word of God. On this night, the holiest of all nights, you and I walk into the completion of everything God had in mind for our salvation.
The Isaiah reading highlights the power of God’s word:
“For just as from the heavens, the rain and snow come down, and do not return there till they have watered the earth … so shall my word be that goes forth from my mouth; my word shall not return to me void, but shall do my will, achieving the end for which I sent it.” (55:11)
On this night the curtain will rise as the scriptural drama comes alive. Walking into the fertile garden of Eden we will advance to the garden where Christ was raised. The patriarchs and prophets will highlight the covenant of scandalous love binding a sometimes-wayward people to the heart of the divine Creator. Everything we have longed for and wanted will emerge from the darkness of the liturgical womb where fire and light displace the dimness of history. On this night we will all awake to a new dawn, where Jesus breaks through his burial confinement to speak to vigilant women. “Do not be afraid,” the angel tells them in the darkness of the morning. “He is not here, for he has been raised from the dead as he said.” Yet they are afraid; still joy overcomes them as Jesus greets them on their way to tell the brothers. He is alive.
The readings are exhilarating and exhausting. If we don’t go home late from the Easter Vigil spiritually spent, then we are numb to the glory we have witnessed. We must take the evening into our sleep, grasping onto the feet of the one who has not yet ascended to the Father. Holding on, despite the warning not to. For this is the time to pull closer to the resurrected One.
Why? Because this night gives us our story, our history, our ancestral genealogy of both fidelity and infidelity. The scene unfolds in the garden of creation, a symphony of love, the place of beauty and fecundity where color and music and life abound. Humanity began with the breath of divine life whispered into the soul of man and woman, bound together in the purity of an ancient and holy union. It was all so good!
Tragically, it ended there, too. The chasm of naked sin broke the lilting plan God held for all humanity. Though the plan was broken, the bond of love was not. The Church sings on this night, “O happy fault, O necessary sin of Adam that gained for us so great a redeemer.” Hidden in the weeds of the garden were the seeds of promise: a vision of God among us in Christ, Jesus. His presence in the small Eastern world of Nazareth, Galilee and Jerusalem would be felt throughout history.
Why so many Scripture readings? Why do we sit and stand for hours hearing the Word of God? Because as the Emmaus story proclaims: “Were not our hearts burning within us when he spoke to us on the way and opened the Scriptures to us?” Jesus told his own story; “He rose again on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures.” Together let us honor the holy ones who gather with us on this holy night.
Abraham — the father of many nations, whose faith in God made him righteous and who offered to God his only son.
Isaac — the boy who asked, “Where is the lamb to be sacrificed?” and who foreshadowed Christ.
Moses — the lawgiver, who emerged as the obedient one who led the people of the covenant out of oppressive slavery.
Isaiah, Baruch and Ezekiel — prophets of hope.
Peter and the cast of apostolic characters — redeemed and commissioned to be witnesses to the empty tomb and to the living Christ.
Mary of Magdala and the other Mary — whom, because of their vigilance and fidelity to Jesus, became the first persons to tell the Good News.
And you. You and I are there to give witness to God’s salvation in Christ. Through the ancient literary forms of biblical writing, through the vivid images of human joy and sorrow, through the stories and confessions of the Sacred Scriptures, we are at our best.
So welcome to the night where fire and light, water and word, where the communion of saints and sinners gather to sing with joy: Alleluia! He is alive!
