Gn 1:1-2, 2:2 | Ex 14:15-15:1 | Is 55:1-11 | Rom 6:3-11 | Mk 16:1-7
Why do we tell our Christian story on this night? Why do we go all the way back to creation, the patriarchs, Moses parting the Red Sea, to tell the story of the Gospel—Christ breaking “the prison-bars of death” in the resurrection? Every story and every people have a beginning. We’ve just heard a portion of the bulk of our salvation history, from Adam to Isaiah, from Paul to Mary Magdalene.
Maybe it’s the wrong question to ask? Perhaps we shouldn’t be asking why we tell the Christian story tonight, but instead, how these stories shape our future with Christ. Mark’s gospel paints a vivid picture of hope, and seen amid the imagery of water, fire, darkness, and light present throughout our liturgy tonight, this is a dazzling image of hope and peace. Let’s examine closer a few lines from the Exsultet, a powerful and ancient Easter proclamation that began our prayer:
The sanctifying power of this night
dispels wickedness, washes faults away,
restores innocence to the fallen, and joy to mourners,
drives out hatred, fosters concord, and brings down the mighty.
Like Mary Magdalene and Mary, the mother of James, coming to the tomb to anoint Jesus’ body, we come together tonight celebrating both an end and a beginning.
The phrases of the Exsultet paint our bright future: a community without hatred, flooded with peace, in which the powerful are toppled and the lowly are raised up. This is Christ’s vision of the kingdom of God! We recommit on this night to bringing about God’s kingdom as disciples of Christ. Prepared through the Lenten season and washed anew on Holy Thursday, we grieved what we have lost and what will be left behind on Good Friday and throughout Holy Saturday. Our tradition and stories are important to who we are as a Christian people, and now is the time to prepare that which is to come!
What are the “spices” that we bring, to bring about the kingdom of God? Each one of us brings various gifts and talents to our communities, and God is at work through our voices and our works. We can “wash faults away” in asking for and receiving forgiveness from one another. By doing even these small acts each day, we prepare the way of the risen Christ.
The end of the Exsultet reads:
May this flame be found still burning
by the Morning Star:
the one Morning Star who never sets,
Christ your Son,
who, coming back from death’s domain,
has shed his peaceful light on humanity,
and lives and reigns for ever and ever.
As Christ, our Morning Star, is our light, so must we be perpetual flames of hope for others. The Church traditionally welcomes new members, catechumens, to our community on this night. While our parish happens to not have any candidates this year, throughout our Diocese and throughout the world, these individuals have prepared themselves for initiation and carefully discerned their faith. The newly baptized and confirmed shine as examples for us all on this night! Beyond the paschal candle’s light that dispelled our dark banquet center this evening, their passion for the faith inspires us to renew our commitment to and passion for the Catholic faith.
We see this newness and boldness of faith present in the gospel story of the women coming to the tomb. They ask, “Who will roll back the stone for us from the entrance to the tomb?” They recognize their physical weakness, and yet place their trust in God to provide. Of course, when they come to the tomb, they are amazed and stand in wonder at the open tomb!
(I don’t think I’ll ever know a more perfect image than the one chosen to grace the cover of our worship aid these past three days; one day, a trip to Belgium to see the original).
When we meet barriers to our faith, work, and discipleship, how do we react? If we are to renew our commitment to building god’s kingdom, then we ought to share the deep trust in God shown by these faithful women. For in these moments between the empty tomb and the early Church, these women were the Church.
They were the first believers in the risen Christ, filled with awe, passion, and likely some appropriate confusion!
On this night, amid the blaze of the paschal candle that ignites our faith in Christ, our Morning Star, may we too be filled with awe and passion to flood the world with peace and light.
When you and I grow confused or weary along the way, may we be reminded of the Christian story—a story overflowing with perseverance, trust, and redemption.