The dawning of a new day

 

In the Catholic Church, there are two “Midnight Masses”; one beginning on Christmas Eve, and the other beginning on the evening of Holy Saturday for Easter.  Of the two, the Easter Vigil is my favorite.  While the Christmas message is indeed joyful, for me the Easter message is more glorious.  The Holy Saturday Vigil liturgy brings so much life into the Church!  And it’s the message we need to hear after a sometimes-grueling Lent.

The Easter Vigil begins with darkness.  The darkness itself is the first movement of the liturgy, so we begin our preparations with that darkness.  It represents all darkness, and all the meanings of darkness - devoid of light; evil thoughts, motivations, deeds; all that is hidden and secret, deceitful and dishonest, divisive and abusive, immoral and sinful.  It's the darkness of our world, and the darkness in my heart.  If I come to the vigil and restlessly and impatiently fidget in the dark "until something happens," I miss the power of what is about to happen.  So, we prepare by readying ourselves to experience the darkness.  It’s distasteful and reprehensible, embarrassing and humbling, fearful and despairing.

Then a single candle is lit, breaking into the darkness. 

The candle lit from the new fire is then processed into the community, and we receive its light and experience the power of that light as it grows.  When the candle is brought front and center, we celebrate the Easter Proclamation.  This prayer sounds like a Eucharistic Prayer.  We give thanks and praise over this symbol of the Light of Christ in our midst and "consecrate" it as Christ's presence among us.  Reading this proclamation carefully and letting its joyful song into our hearts is a wonderful way to prepare to feel its exultant praise at the Vigil.

There are seven Scripture readings from the Old Testament that have been prepared to help us with our night's vigil [Genesis 1:1-2:2, Genesis 22:1-18, Exodus 14:15-15:1, Isaiah 54:5-14, Isaiah 55:1-11, Baruch 3:9-32;4:4, and Ezekiel 36:16-28].  Each reading is followed by an invitation to pray in silence, which is followed by a special prayer designed for that reading.

After the last reading from the Old Testament, the candles are lit and the bells ring as we sing our Glory to God.  Then we’re ready to hear the New Testament word in the light of Christ, and the good news, "He has been raised!" [Luke 24:6].  At this point in the liturgy, we’re prepared to be exultant with joy at the resurrection of Jesus - the victory of our God over sin and death - for us [Romans 6:3-11].

 The Gospel that’s read during this liturgy is filled with some wonderful and symbolic moments for us to savor [Luke 24:1-12].

The arrival of the three women at Jesus’ tomb is symbolic and real at the same time.  Across many societies women are often seen as midwives in that they’re present to assist their sisters in labor and eventual birth of a new child.  In another sense they’re often found accompanying the dying in the last moments of a life.

In many societies, and particularly traditional ones, women often accompany life at its beginning and at its end.  This is a pattern present in the gospel account of the life of Jesus too.

In this Gospel, we see Mary, Salome and Mary Magdalene approaching the tomb of Jesus with but one intention – to carry out the rituals associated with the burial of a body (its final washing, anointing, and dressing).  However, in God’s vision they become heralds of a new reality – a new birth for the world – and those who had arrived expecting to deal with death in its finality, leave as heralds of the birth of new life.

The dawning of a new day, and the arrival of the sun’s light into the day, parallels the dawning of new life for Jesus and for the world.  Further, the resurrection of Jesus echoes the first words of God in the creation narrative “Let there be light” [Genesis 1:1-5].  God’s first creative act is magnified and brought to completion in the raising of Jesus so that He might enlighten the world.

Other symbols we might take aside for our own prayer and reflection today are the stone and the angel’s words.

The stone might just represent all those obstacles and barriers that are either placed in our path or which we roll into place.  The stone can represent all that might seem to separate us from the love of God or block our reception of that love as it flows into our life.  Here, as in our own days, God ‘rolls’ such stones away and ensures that any similar barriers hold no power over us nor are they able to prevent God’s love being made available to us.

The words of the angel might serve to remind us that we too are sent out as emissaries of Jesus – we are to announce His presence not merely in Galilee but in our everyday lives.  He is to be found in our homes and our relationships and made visible in the life we lead.  Our values, our attitudes and ultimately our actions will reveal His presence again and again.  The world need not look amongst the dead or see Jesus merely as an historical character.  Through our witness He’s able to be seen alive and present in our world today.

May Easter Light shine on us, illuminate our way forward and guide our proclamation and witness.