One level of the Liturgy of the Easter Vigil is the lighting and blessing of the new fire, the blessing and lighting of the Pascal Candle and the gradual illumination of a darkened church from the Light of Christ. It is a dramatic enactment of what really happens in baptism when the darkness of sin is replaced with the life of God. No wonder the joyful Exultet praises the night turned to joy, for death and sin no longer have their power. Even the most tragic events of history or of current events such as the brutal murders in Nigeria cannot extinguish this LIGHT. The Easter liturgies are filled with Alleluias, for all other words seem to fall short. As with the disciples, it takes awhile for the notion of resurrection to sink in, or, because of habit, we fail to get excited, but ask any newly baptized adult who has been baptized at the Vigil or the week after, to describe the feeling and the realization that he or she is now a child of God. Pope Francis puts it this way in speaking of the disciples:
They could not contain their joy in knowing that Jesus was alive, or the hope that filled their hearts. This should happen in our lives too. Let us feel the joy of being Christian! We believe in the Risen One who conquered evil and death! Let us have the courage to 'come out of ourselves,' to take this joy and this light to all the places of our life! The Resurrection of Christ is our greatest certainty; he is our most precious treasure! How can we not share this treasure, this certainty with others? It is not only for us, it is to be passed on, to be shared with others. Our testimony is precisely this.
A happy and joyful Easter to all!
Bro. Rene
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