April 4, 2015
What good would life have been to us, had Christ not
come as our Redeemer?
This is the night when
dreams come true.
As the words of the
Exsultet remind us, the vigil of Easter is the night of nights for those who
believe.
It is the celebration of
every saving act rolled into one:
our Passover feast,
the great crossing of
the Red Sea,
freedom from the tyranny
of sin,
liberation from the
chains of death itself.
This is the night when
Christians dream the impossible dream, and our lost paradise is regained.
After the crucifixion of
Jesus, on the darkest night of history, God lit a fire, and the whole church
burst forth in its light.
Our paschal fire recalls
for us that essential fire, and how desperately the darkness clings to our
world still, waiting for us to bring our light.
What are the dreams this
tired old world carries in its heart, awaiting the liberating light to ignite
them into being?
We share a global longing
for peace that is continually shattered by gunshot and economic disparity.
We hope for our
children, for their health and education and moral integrity.
We seek respect across
the dividing lines of difference.
We look for meaning in
our labor, and a chance to participate in community.
We pray for miracles in
medicine.
We hunger for love and
friendship.
On every continent, or
in any city or town across our own country, people carry dreams like these in
their hearts.
The darkness that
continues to obscure them from view is the human choice for sin.
Tonight, we cherish the
light that has already conquered every darkness and puts our dreams within
reach.
In the wisdom of the
church's liturgy, we each get to hold this light in our hands, to contemplate
our responsibility to carry it into the world and make it more than a dream.
Where will you take your
light tonight?
Where do you need to
experience new life in your own circumstances?
Where will you make the
liberation of Easter felt for someone else?
The good news of this
hour is, happily, relentless.
Easter began that
morning at the empty tomb, and remains the never-ending feast of the church.
Easter continues to
shine forth its light in every decision we make life, every rejection of the
darkness and death around us.
We wear Easter like a
garment of joy,
from the moment our
baptism till the day of glory.
Those among us who have
died since last Easter
those people already
live in its eternal light and share our alleluia with us.
What our beloved dead
know, remains our hope.
Together with them and
the whole communion of saints we rejoice:
Christ has conquered!
Glory fills us!
Darkness vanishes
forever!
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