Bishop Michael leads the Great Vigil of Easter at the Cathedral of Our Lady Assumed into Heaven and St Nicholas, Galway. During the vigil twelve adults were baptised and four received into full communion with the Catholic Church.
Bishop Michael leads the Great Vigil of Easter at the Cathedral of Our Lady Assumed into Heaven and St Nicholas, Galway. During the vigil twelve adults were baptised and four received into full communion with the Catholic Church.
“For a moment, may I invite you to ask yourself – what does this mean to me? Do I believe this? Do I experience the living person and presence of Jesus in my own life? Or is he simply an interesting historic figure from the pages of history. Do I know the Risen Christ – deep in the depths of my heart? Is he a reality in my life?” – Bishop Michael
The story is told of an interview with the recently retired Cardinal Dolan of the Archdiocese of New York. Towards the end of a wide-ranging interaction, the interviewer asked: “Who is the most influential person in your life?” Without hesitation, the Cardinal replied: “Jesus Christ of course!” A bit perplexed the reporter clarified: “I mean someone who is alive!” The Cardinal looked the reporter straight in the face, and with the conviction of not merely faith but also firsthand experience, he replied: “Jesus IS still alive, you know!”
Tonight, in the darkness of this place, lit only by the light of the newly blessed Paschal Candle, we listened to that ancient Easter Proclamation inviting the whole world to “Rejoice!” Several times we have been reminded: “This is the night!” “This is the night!” “This is the night when Christ himself broke the bonds of death and rose triumphant from the underworld!” This is the greatest night of the year, the night of nights for in it we affirm, as Christians have for thousands of years, that Jesus IS alive. He has risen as he said he would.
Turning to the Bible, we have travelled back through time. Beginning with the story of creation – we affirmed that God exists, that God is real and that God is the origin of all that is. He alone is the source of our human existence, and, for him, human existence is the crowning of all that has been created. We heard how we misused God’s gift of freedom and exiled ourselves from his presence. We saw how just like he intervened to rescue the exiled Jewish people in Egypt and bring them to the Promised Land, he constantly intervenes in our own lives to rescue us from harm and to bring us back to him. Through prophet after prophet, he tried to reform and reshape the Jewish people. He called them and through them, the whole of humanity, to renew their friendship with God. We heard how at that “appointed time”, God himself came among us – Jesus from Nazareth. He came to show us the errors of our ways. He came to give us his wisdom about how to live life well. We heard how his message was rejected. He was condemned as a criminal, executed, died and was buried in an attempt to consign his inconvenient truth to history.
Then in the darkness of “This night” we heard, what for many is incredible, unbelievable, possible only to God. We heard that death itself could not hold him, but a new, transformed and resurrected reality was to be his. We heard proclaimed at the entrance to his tomb that “He is not here … He has risen as he said!” Jesus IS alive, present to his disciples back then. Jesus IS alive and present to us today.
For a moment, may I invite you to ask yourself – what does this mean to me? Do I believe this? Do I experience the living person and presence of Jesus in my own life? Or is he simply an interesting historic figure from the pages of history. Do I know the Risen Christ – deep in the depths of my heart? Is he a reality in my life? Someone, I turn to for friendship. Someone, I spend time with? Someone I confide in? Someone I seek guidance from when guidance is needed. Someone, whose friendship makes me something more than I could be on my own. Because of this night, Christians, down through the centuries, and throughout the world today, have felt and continue to feel his living presence. They have turned to him in friendship and have had their lives enriched beyond their greatest expectations.
Tonight, is doubly special as we gather around those adults among us who are to be baptised and received into the community of those who believe that Jesus IS alive. Why we might never know but the living Jesus has reached out to you in the twists and turns of life. You have felt his presence – alive and with you. You have been captivated by who he is and have answered his invitation to friendship. Tonight, through the ancient rituals of the Christian community, you will definitively affirm your belief that He IS alive, He is with you and that you wish to have him walk with you on the road of life. Through the waters of baptism, you will die to your old selves. You will leave behind that which has been and rise to a new life full of the profound joy that friendship with the living Lord and membership of the Christian community brings. I, and all of us gathered here this evening, are privileged to be witnesses and participants in this uniquely special moment in your lives.
Tonight, the presence of the Risen Jesus fills this Cathedral. He is not, as presumed by that journalist, a historical figure – someone from the past. No! He IS alive and present among us. He IS alive and always present with us on the journey of life.
Let us rejoice because “This is the Night” Let us cry out in joy with our forefathers and foremothers in the faith: “Christ is risen” – our response is “He is risen indeed!”
“Christ is risen!” “He is risen indeed!”
“Christ is risen!” “He is risen indeed!”
“Christ is risen!” “He is risen indeed!”
Amen.
