Lent is over, and now we rejoice in the resurrection of Jesus Christ, who died for us and rose on the third day, a victory which is our victory too. Many people have in different ways contributed to our wonderful celebration of the Paschal Triduum, with incredible numbers taking part in our worship and, at the Easter Vigil, a wonderful celebration of new Catholic Christians reborn in baptism and sealed with the Holy Spirit in Confirmation (8 adults baptised and confirmed, 6 children baptised, 2 adults received into full communion with confirmation and 3 adults confirmed). A happy Easter to all. Alleuia! Christ is Risen! He is risen indeed! Alleluia!
Fr Matthew’s Homily for the Easter Vigil…
The Easter Vigil always begins with a moment of jeopardy. The Paschal candle has to be lit from a bonfire – not an easy task – then be kept alight for the journey from the fire into the church, despite the best efforts of the wind.
The candle is a powerful sign of Christ’s victory over the darkness of sin and death, and it also – as the exsultet I sang earlier reminds us – serves as that pillar of fire, which led God’s people out of Egypt and through the Red Sea. A sign of his guiding and protecting presence.
But it is nevertheless a relief to get inside the church, often after a couple of false starts. And then to pass the light on to others. Soon the church is ablaze with the light of hundreds of candles, pushing the darkness away.
A single flame is vulnerable, easily extinguished. And it makes me think of the challenge of keeping the flame of faith alive; much harder if we go it alone. But many flames burning together can’t so easily be blown out. And as we stand together, professing our faith and striving to follow Christ, its so much easier to do so together. The light of Christ is not diminished by being shared, as the exsultet proclaims, neither is the light of faith; in fact it grows stronger. For it is not our own light, but Christ’s. Who said, I am the light of the world. I am the resurrection and the life. I am the way, the truth and the life.
Today a number of adults will publicly profess their faith in God, Father Son and Holy Spirit. It is a courageous thing to do in an age which, may not be an age of martyrdom, in the west at least, but is an age when people can be openly scornful of religion, just about tolerant of private spirituality, but sceptical of anything positive in organised religion. We who are renewing our baptismal promises should be encouraged by their bold witness. And we can encourage them by our commitment to practicing this faith which they now share. Let us also be hearted by such numbers, seen not only in this church, but up and down the land and across the world, that may or may not indicate a so-called quiet revival, but at least show that the light of Christ will not be extinguished, however much darkness still exists in the world.
And what is this faith? What do we believe? Today, we can state very simply: Jesus Christ, true God and true man, cruelly put to death, risen on the third day. An event in history, which changed the nature of our human existence, so that all may have eternal life in him, restored to a right relationship with a loving Father.
Jesus Christ, the same yesterday, today and forever, invites each one of us to a life-giving relationship with him. We live no longer for ourselves, and our life is no longer limited by the horizons of our present existence. Our in-built desire for meaning and purpose, tells us that there most be more; and this is what that more is. Not just an abstract notion of something out there. Being drawn through our saviour’s life, death and resurrection – real events in time – into the heart of God’s very existence, the perfect communion of love that has existed for all eternity, Father Son and Holy Spirit. Jesus Christ reveals to us what God is like, for he is God, and he shows us what we are made to be. Made in the image and likeness of the God who is love, and restored by baptism so that we can be like him once more.
If the events we celebrate did not happen then the cynics would be right. Our faith would be a mere crutch; Karl Marx would have been quite right to dismiss it as the opium of the people. St Paul himself points this out. If Jesus were not risen, we would be the most pitied of all people. But a fanciful tale of a dead man coming back to life would hardly have galvanised this bunch of fishermen, tax-collectors and others into the pioneers of a new way, whose message spread to the ends of the earth. People don’t willingly accept death for a fairy tale.
Through baptism we are joined to Christ in his dying and his rising, and we are joined to one another, members of his body. We are united in our faith, but more than that, in the sharing of all that Our Lord has given to us, to sustain us and give us a share in his life. That life is not lived in solitary isolation; that is not what we are made for. We journey together in this life as the pilgrim people of God; set free from slavery to sin and death and the false values of a world that does not know or want to know God; having passed through the water which washes away the influence of the enemy; now our sights are fixed on the promised land of heaven, which if we place our trust in God – unlike the Israelites – we can experience even amidst the trials of this journey. And, as his followers, we know that the path will not be easy. It is a great adventure, on which we set out with new heart; by God’s grace becoming the saints he wants us to be. Shining witnesses of his love in the world; and part of that great multitude clad in white robes, washed in the blood of the lamb, who rejoice for ever in the eternal wedding feast.
