Easter
Vigil:
To live in ‘newness of life’
Homily of Cardinal Justin Rigali
Easter Vigil
Cathedral Basilica
of Saints Peter and Paul
March 22, 2008
Dear Friends in our Lord Jesus Christ risen from the dead,
In his Letter to the Romans Saint Paul poses an important question: “Are
you unaware that we who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized
into his death?”
What Paul is saying is that there is an intimate connection between our
Baptism and what took place at Christ’s Death and Resurrection.
We know that by His Death and Resurrection Jesus Christ destroyed our
death and restored us to life. He made it possible for us, in the expression
of Saint Paul, to live in newness of life.
This is what Easter is all about: newness of life. For those being baptized
and confirmed on this night there is indeed newness of life. A wonderful
future opens up before them as they seek constantly to pass from sin to
life in Christ Jesus. What is it to be a member of the Church? It means
to die to sin, to live for God in Christ Jesus. In other words: to live
in newness of life.
But where does the power come from to be able to live in newness of life?
How is it possible to live in newness of life? The power comes from the
Death of Jesus—a death that He endured out of love for us, a death
that, in the Resurrection, is now ratified and accepted as a sacrifice
by the Father, who raises Jesus to life.
All of us tonight—priests, deacons and religious and lay faithful—are
called to newness of life. How good God is to give us a fresh opportunity
to live in newness of life! Tonight we rejoice with our newly baptized
and committed Catholics. We express solidarity with them. But we are also
publicly challenged to renew the promises of our own Baptism: to get on
with our Christian lives in newness of life. We remember our own Confirmation,
the gift of the Holy Spirit that we have received in order to be strengthened
in Christian living. The new way of life that opens up before us means
the rejection of sin, the rejection of Satan and all his works and all
his empty promises.
All of this is possible because Jesus died for us and rose from the dead.
In His sacred humanity he was raised up by His Father. The power of Christ’s
Death and Resurrection is what makes newness of life possible for our
catechumens and candidates, for all of us, and for all the members of
the Church. By His Resurrection Jesus has definitively conquered sin and
death and has made newness of life possible. By this power we are able
to set aside in our lives whatever is opposed to the commandments of God
and to the Gospel of Christ.
As individuals, as families, as a parish, as a community, as the Church
of Philadelphia—all of us need the Resurrection of Jesus. The world
needs the Resurrection at this moment of continuing armed conflict, of
raging violence, and of widespread suffering of innocent people.
What is needed—and what is possible—is newness of life. It
can come only from the power of Christ’s victory over sin and death.
Only the Risen Christ has the power to bring about peace, because only
the Risen Christ can change hearts. Without a change of heart there is
no peace, no newness of life. Human effort is not enough. Human justice
is insufficient. Human force can backfire. But God’s mercy is unleashed
by the prayer of His people. And God’s strength is available through
the power of Christ’s Resurrection, which becomes our power during
this Easter celebration of the Eucharist. Newness of life is possible
only because Christ is risen from the dead.
We heard those wonderful words tonight in the Gospel. At the empty tomb
the angel spoke to Mary Magdalene and the other Mary saying: “Do
not be afraid! I know that you are seeking Jesus the crucified. He is
not here, for he has been raised just as he said. Come and see the place
where he lay.”
And as the women went away quickly from the tomb, they ran to find the
disciples of Jesus to share with them the Good News of the Resurrection.
Meanwhile, as the Gospel says: Jesus Himself “met them on their
way and greeted them. They approached, embraced his feet, and did him
homage. Then Jesus said to them, ‘Do not be afraid. …’”
On this Easter night, Jesus speaks to each of us, to the Church of Philadelphia
and to the whole world these same words: “Do not be afraid!”
Strengthened by the power of Christ’s Resurrection we have nothing
to fear. Jesus has died to redeem us from our sins and to make it possible
for us to reject all sin in our lives. In His mercy, He will forgive us
if we turn to Him with contrition and a firm purpose of amendment. We
need not be afraid of death, because, by dying, He has destroyed our death
and, by rising, has restored us to life. He has truly made it possible
for us all to live in newness of life.
This, dear friends, is what we mean by a blessed Easter: to live with
Christ—the Risen Christ—in newness of life! Amen. Alleluia!
Alleluia!