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Christ is Our Light! Christ is Our Life! Easter
Vigil Message My dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ: Christ is the Light! This is the fact which we proclaimed at the beginning of our service tonight. Christ is our Life! As the eternal Son of God, Jesus lived, suffered and died for us. He then rose from the dead, bringing new life to us who had been dead because of sin. Tonight we proclaim that great Easter message of Light and of Life. Moreover, we not only proclaim it in word but we re-enact it in sacred ceremonies. We believe in Jesus, true God and true Man. We believe that He came to our world to redeem us, which He did by His life, death and resurrection. We further believe that He continues to live among us in many ways but especially in the holy Catholic Church which He established, guides and protects. Through the Church and by means of the sacraments which He entrusted to the Church, we have forgiveness of sins and a new life. Through our faithfulness to the Church, we remain faithful to Jesus. Our belief in Jesus and our trust in Him is itself a gift and a grace from God which we call faith. Because of this gift of faith, we are able to believe and to cherish what Jesus revealed about Himself. He identified Himself saying “I am the Light of the world!” He also clearly stated: “I am the Way, the Truth and the Life.” Life and Light! Jesus invited us to follow Him and He promised that we would share in His everlasting Life in Heaven. Tonight we celebrate the Easter Vigil with great joy and hope and enthusiasm. We begin anew our pilgrimage of faith. We celebrate the sacraments of initiation - Baptism, Confirmation and the Holy Eucharist. For some of you this will be the first time you receive one or another of those sacraments. For others, it will be a renewal of our life in Christ. For all of us, the Easter Vigil is a great gift from God Who calls us to be His good and faithful people! To the Catechumens who will receive all three of the sacraments of initiation, I congratulate you and encourage you to hold fast to these gifts of God and His Church. To the Candidates, people who are already baptized but returning to or entering into the fullness of our Catholic faith, I say welcome and never turn away from this opportunity of a new and full life in Christ. To the members of the congregation who tonight are sponsors or godparents or simply worshippers, you will be given the beautiful opportunity to renew your own vows of baptism and to be blessed with the Easter Water. I urge you to continue to study, to pray and to trust Jesus Who is our Life and our Light. To all gathered here tonight in faith, I extend my best personal greetings and wishes for a very blessed and happy and holy Easter. Alleluia, the Lord is risen and we are redeemed by Jesus. Alleluia. |