Holy Saturday At the Easter Vigil in the Holy Night of Easter

Today's Mass Readings

We reach the end of Holy Week with what has been called the “Mother of all Vigils.” By its very nature, the ancient and unfolding power of the Easter Vigil begins with its own light show. A blazing new fire pierces the evening darkness, and the regal Paschal Candle is lighted. The solemn procession enters the darkened church, led by the Paschal Candle as the people hear the threefold proclamation: “Light of Christ!” Slowly, from its one true source, the light passes across the darkness to the margins.

Thus begins the rich liturgy shaped through the centuries to involve all our senses to respond in praise and gratitude. This is the night in which ancient readings, signs, and symbols are brought together to proclaim the world-changing Good News of the physical fact and mystery, namely: “Christ is Risen, He is Risen Indeed!” And yet in the midst of it all, we wait.

If ever there was a time when “holy waiting” is both therapeutic and necessary, it is now. Those who will be baptized on this night have reached a high point of faith. They provide a working example of faith that enriches all of us. That same light of faith proclaims the message that the light of goodness, not the darkness of evil, is the ultimate and eventual victor. This Easter Vigil rests on two foundations of waiting. First, we wait in the process of all things and all people finding their ultimate completion in the person of Christ at the end of time. And second, we wait through the “power of the present” which reveals the potential for new depths of goodness and understanding, a surprise of joy from the Spirit of the Risen Lord.

Reflection by Fr. Daniel Petsche, OSB