SATURDAY, HOLY WEEK
Holy Saturday / Easter Vigil
Rom 6: 3-11; Ps 118 : 1-2, 16-17, 22-23; Lk 24: 1-12
THE NIGHT THAT CHANGES EVERYTHING
On Easter Vigil, we gather in the holy darkness, a darkness unlike any other. It is a darkness charged with anticipation; a silence pregnant with hope. This is the night when heaven and earth collide, when the tomb’s cold grip is shattered, and the Light that no darkness can overcome bursts forth. In a suitable place outside the Church, a “blazing fire” (rogus ardens) is to be prepared so that the people may gather around it and experience the flames dispelling the darkness and lighting up the night. Thus do the beauty of the fire, its warmth and its light, draw the liturgical assembly together. We begin this liturgy with a flame piercing the shadows – a humble fire that grows into a blaze, carried by the Paschal Candle, symbolizing Christ, our “pillar of fire” (Ex 13:21). As the Exsultet proclaimed, “This is the night!” – the night of liberation, the night death becomes life.
The Easter Vigil is the recounting of the outstanding deeds of the history of salvation. These deeds are related in seven readings from the Old Testament chosen from the law and the prophets and two readings from the New Testament, namely from the apostles and from the gospel. Before our eyes, the story of salvation unfolds in the Liturgy of the Word. In the beginning, God spoke light into chaos (Gen 1). Tonight, that same Word, Jesus, speaks light into our chaos. We hear of Abraham’s test (Gen 22), a story of radical trust prefiguring the Father’s sacrifice of His only Son. We recall Israel’s deliverance through the Red Sea (Ex 14), a baptismal journey from slavery to freedom. Each reading is a thread in the tapestry of God’s promise: “I will be your God, and you will be my people” (Jer 30:22). This night, those ancient stories become our story. The waters that drowned Pharaoh’s army now flow in the baptismal font, where we die and rise with Christ (Rom 6:4). The fire that led Israel now illuminates our faces. The God who parted seas parts the stone from the tomb.
But the heart of this vigil is the Gospel that talks of the empty tomb and the unfolding dawn. Picture the scene: Mary Magdalene and the other Mary, weary with grief, approach the tomb at first light. Suddenly, an earthquake! An angel rolls back the stone, not to let Jesus out, but to show the world He is already gone. “He is not here; He has risen!” (Mt 28:6). The women, once paralyzed by fear, become the first evangelists, “running with joy” to share the news. Here lies the pattern of our Christian calling: encounter, transformation, mission. The resurrection is not a distant myth but a present reality. Christ meets us in our despair – in the darkness of loss, doubt, or sin – and whispers, “Do not be afraid” (Mt 28:10). The empty tomb declares that every chain is broken, every sin forgiven, every sorrow redeemed.
Yet this night is not merely a celebration of what happened 2,000 years ago. It is a summons to live as resurrection people in the here and now. Today we are called to carry the light of the Risen Christ into the world. The Paschal Candle, lit from the new fire, reminds us that Christ’s light is meant to be shared. Just as the candle is divided but undimmed, so we are called to carry His hope into the world’s shadows. St. Augustine said, “We are an Easter people, and ‘Alleluia’ is our song.” But what does this mean? It means refusing to let fear dictate our lives. It means loving recklessly, forgiving relentlessly, and standing with the marginalized. It means recognizing that the same power that raised Jesus from the dead is at work in us (Eph 1:19-20).
As we leave this vigil, the dawn awaits. It is the dawn of unending hope. Let us go forth as witnesses, not just to a historical event, but to a living Lord. Let the hungry be fed, the lonely comforted, the oppressed set free – for the resurrection is not just a doctrine but a revolution. Tonight, the stone is rolled away. The grave clothes lie abandoned. Christ is risen – and with Him, all creation rises. Let us step into the light, for “this is the night that shines as bright as day” (Exsultet). He is Risen Indeed, Alleluia!
Response: Alleluia. Alleluia. Alleluia
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