Schooler's Sagacity and Senility: Homilies from Fr. Bill

EASTER VIGIL

26 APRIL 2016

            A few months ago, we gathered here in the middle of the night to celebrate Christmas.  We heard from the Gospel of Luke that the angels announced to the shepherds that a great miracle had occurred.  Christ, the Prince of Peace, had been born in a stable.  The shepherds, considered to be the lowest class of people, went to the stable, adored the newborn Christ wrapped in swaddling clothes, and spread the good news.  It may have been good news for all.  But for Jesus, this birth was a type of death.  He had emptied himself of the privileges of divinity and had taken on human flesh, with all our weaknesses, except for sin.

            Today, we gather again in the middle of the night (at least past my bed time) to celebrate Easter.  Two angels appear in the middle of a tomb to announce to a group of women that a greater miracle has happened.  Christ, the Prince of Peace, had experienced what all of us dread, a cruel and horrible death.  He had been buried, and his body was wrapped in a burial shroud.  But he has cast aside that burial shroud.  He has been raised from the dead.  These women, considered to be at the bottom rungs of society, spread the good news. 

            None of the characters in today’s Gospel can believe in the resurrection until they have encountered the risen Lord in a personal way.  Once they have encountered the risen Christ, as Saint Paul did on the road to Damascus, they can proclaim the truth that he has been raised.  He may still bear the marks of his cruel execution.  But he has been transformed through the miracle of the resurrection, and he promises that all who die with him will rise with him.

            In just a few minutes, the Elect will clearly declare that Satan has no claim on them.  They will profess their faith in the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.  Supported by the Communion of Saints, they will march down this aisle and enter into the watery grave of Baptism.  In those waters, they will encounter the risen Christ.  Once they emerge from that water, they will be sealed with the Holy Spirit and fed with the Body and Blood of Christ.

            All of us, who are the Body of Christ, rejoice with them.  We reaffirm our faith in the resurrection of Jesus Christ, trusting that he can transform all of us through this greatest of miracles which we celebrate tonight.