The Light of the Resurrection

Homily for Easter Vigil Year A 2014

Introduction

The thing that distinguishes Catholics from other Christians is our use of signs and symbols.  While our Protestant Brethren focus on just the word, we Catholics use the word and much more; the bells, yells and smells as they say.  And during Holy Week, you could say that our use of signs and symbols goes into overdrive.

·        On Palm Sunday we had the procession with palms.

·        On Tuesday morning the Archbishop gathered all his priests in St. Louis Cathedral to bless oils that will be used for baptism, confirmation, ordination and anointing of the sick.

·        On Holy Thursday, we did the washing of the feet and the special procession with the Blessed Sacrament to its altar of repose.

·        On Good Friday, we had the veneration and the Way of the Cross.

·        And today, for the Easter vigil, we have the fire and the Easter candle or as one altar server in another parish put it, “the barbecue service.”

The reason we go into overdrive with symbols: processing with palms, blessing oils, washing feet, venerating the cross, lighting a fire and processing with a candle, is that this week we celebrate the central mysteries of our faith and we need these symbols, as aids, to help us understand what is after all a mystery.

Scripture and Theology

The central symbol of tonight’s celebration is light.  And so, we might ask: Why light the fire?  Why process with candles?  Why sing that long chant about light?

The image of light and darkness cuts across all cultures and generations.  Even in America where we have electricity and lights everywhere, the few experiences without electricity such as during a storm or a hurricane, help us understand the necessity of light.  In fact, some children cannot go to bed with the lights out, because they fear the bogeyman that comes in the dark.  And so, light is the best symbol to explain what the resurrection, which we celebrate today, means.

In our everyday lives, light shows us where we are going, in other words shows us the destination; but light also enables us to get there, by lighting up our way.  A friend who is a pilot told me that when he lands a plane at night, he looks for the runway with white lights, and that is where he directs the plane.  But to taxi to the terminal he still needs lights to guide him, and these are the blue lights.

The resurrection also does both things for us.  The resurrection shows us where we are going, that is, eternal life with God in heaven and also shows us how to get there by filling and touching every aspect of our lives, so that we live like people of light, not people of darkness.

Christian Life

Our Christian life needs a goal to pursue; a purpose to aim for; a destination to arrive at.  What better goal to have than the hope of one day living with God the Father in heaven, with Our Risen Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ?  In a world of darkness such as the times in which we live, we need a beacon of light, something to give us hope and point us in the direction of life.  This beacon is the resurrection of the Lord and our own promised resurrection.  St. Paul tells us that just as we were buried with Jesus through baptism into death, so that, like him we shall also be raised from the dead into newness of life.

A story is told about a US Navy Aircraft career that received the following radio message from a light source in its path: “Please divert your course 15 degrees to the South to avoid collision.”

·        The American ship refused to do so and instead responded to the sender: “You divert your course 15 degrees to the North to avoid a collision.”

·        Another message came back saying: “Negative.  You will have to divert your course 15 degrees to the South to avoid a collision.”

·        The Americans, the most powerful naval force in the world, were rather ticked off that anybody could dare ask them to move out of the way and so the captain send back this stern message: “This is the Captain of a US Navy ship.  I demand that you divert YOUR course.”

·        The message came back one more time saying: “Negative.  You need to divert course.  This is a lighthouse.  Your call.”

Don’t we sometimes also want the light of the resurrection to change course, so that it can conform to our ways, rather than we changing course to follow its lead?  How often we fail to let the light of the resurrection guide us, show us how to navigate the turbulent waters of this life, and reach safely to heaven!

But how does the resurrection show us the way to the Father?  If we have the resurrection as our beacon, as our guiding light, as our goal, then our life will have purpose and meaning.  We shall spend our energies and efforts doing nothing else, but to get to heaven.  We shall also avoid sin because we know that at the end, we have to account for our life before God on the Day of the Resurrection.  It is just like students; if they know that there is going to be a final exam, they will usually pay attention in class.  Otherwise they will spend the classtime updating their facebook pages and doing other shenanigans.  When we Christians live and bask in the light of the resurrection, we shall see more clearly the kind of things that lead us to heaven and those that don’t.

Like many people, I like to keep my bedroom dark, so that I can have a good night’s sleep without too much light.  But the problem is that sometimes, when I am dressing, I do not see clearly what I am wearing.  And especially because I a little colour blind, I have been known to come downstairs wearing a black sock in one foot and a navy-blue one in the other.  I have also often committed one of the greatest fashion sins, so I am told, of wearing a navy blue pair of pants and a black jacket.  And this is all because there is not enough light in my bedroom.

The light of the resurrection also prevents us from an even worse fate, by helping us put on the right wedding garment fit for the heavenly banquet.  That wedding garment is having values that go beyond material things; values like preserving the dignity of all life, that of an unborn baby, the life of a poor woman and the life of a sick elderly man.  That wedding garment of the resurrection helps us to endure the hardships of this world, aware that this is not all there is; what we endure on this earth pales in comparison with what we shall receive in heaven.

Conclusion

I will end with a Boudreaux and Thibodeaux type of story.  Boudreaux was walking home from the bar and he saw Thibodeaux on his knees right under the street light, searching for something.  “What are you looking for?” he asked.  “I am looking for my house keys,” said Thibodeaux.  His buddy also got down on all fours under the light and joined in the search. After looking for almost half an hour, Boudreaux asked his friend if he was sure that he had lost them in this very area. "Oh, no!” said Thibodeaux.  “I lost them away over there in the dark alley."  Shocked and surprised at that answer, Boudreaux asked him why he was looking for them in this spot. "Oh", Thibodeaux said, "because the light is better here under the street lamp".

Where are we searching for the key to life, to true happiness?  Are we searching for it in the dark alleys of this world or are we searching for that key under the guidance of the light of the resurrection?

May our faith in the resurrection always strengthen us; may our hope in the resurrection shine the spotlight on our goal, so that we may live in light always.