HOMILY FOR EASTER VIGIL YEAR C ( HOLY SATURDAY)

HOMILY FOR EASTER VIGIL YEAR C ( HOLY SATURDAY)
1.Gn 1:1-2:2
2.Gn 22:1-18
3.Ex14:15-15:1
Is54:5-14
Rom6:3-11
Gospel:Lk 24:1-12

It has been a custom and tradition of Christians that they celebrate the vigil of the Resurrection of Christ from the dead. Christ is no longer dead; He is already raised from the dead.

The word " Easter is from the word EOSTRE which is the pagan goddess spring and the Saxons, ' April' was OSTERMOUND, meaning the month of the ost-end wind ( wind that is from the east). That is why we have Easter, and Easter usually happened on April and is associated as April feast which lasted eight days ( Easter octave).

During Easter celebrations we usually bless water  and fire. Purposely we do that  to renew our baptism promises that we made during our baptism through our parents. We renew our baptism promises in order to remind us that we had a promise to the Lord, that is, to be always faithful to Him, to a prayerful person ( priestly role), to make our lives good news to others or to be a witness ( prophetic role) servant of all ( kingly role). We renew these promises in order to have a weapon in fighting against evil and sins in our lives.

We have got so many types of vigils, however, the Easter Vigil is the mother of all vigils. For example we have vigil for the dead, for cause, due to sickness like insomnia, and vigils due to overnight celebrations, drinking, gambling, and many more. Easter Vigil is the mother of all vigils because the priest proclaims in the Exultet: " This is the night when Jesus Christ broke the chains of death and rose triumphant from the dead." And so the women who went early to the tomb to anoint the body of Jesus found the cover stone rolled from the entrance of the tomb. And a heavenly messenger told them that Jesus is no longer there; He has been raised.

We can put this question before us that why women and not men were the first to see the empty tomb? According to St. Luke's gospel, the women were the ones courageous enough to go to the tomb and to tend the body of Jesus they loved. They were the first to be surprised by the power of the Lord to transcend from the death. 

They were the first missionaries to receive the mandate made by the Lord after His resurrection to spread the news that life had triumphed over death. The apostles were un able to comprehend or accept the good news that the women delivered to them. Why? Because women were second-class citizens, objects of sexual pleasure and only for the home. St. Luke from the very beginning to the very end of his gospel stressed over the role of women in salvation. Like for example in the Zachariah and Elizabeth, annunciation to Mary and now two angels and three women talking in the tomb of Jesus.

It is apparent that the first missionaries to bring the good news after the resurrection of Jesus were woman and men refused to believe. It happened that 1995 was declared by the United Nations as the International Year of Women, how about International Year of Men? I do not know.
                                               

THE BIG STONE

We heard that there was a very big stone used to cover the tomb. That stone was the gate that separated the buried body of Christ and the women and the apostles ( between God and humanity).
If we put it in the context of today's first reading, about the beauty of creation, and how Adam and Eve sinned that made the paradise closed, then we can say that, "that stone" symbolized the "Original sin." It was so huge, that it takes beyond human powers to open. No act of goodness of any man can clean the stain of original Sin. It takes " Christ to die" and be buried inside the tomb, to roll it open from within. ( It takes God, within the paradise, to open it again from within).
Christian faith impels us to live concretely the risen Lord. 


Our faith is a challenged to keep vigil always. Vigil  has an acronym is:
V-Vigilant or awareness of our dignity, stay awake, sensitive to the signs of the times.
I- Initiate. Now is the time; start your journey
G-Gift. Grace or gift to be lived out and shared to others.
I-Integral, that is , wholeness is holiness.
L- Light, " You are the light of the world," ( Mt5:14).

Happy Easter to all and remember, in Christ we live.

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Chapisha Maoni