A Candle, A Story, Baptism, and Eucharist

Easter Vigil     C  April 14, 2022
Ex.14:10 Canticle 8, Ez  36:24-28 Psalm 42:1-7
Rom.6:3-11         Luke 24:1-12

Lectionary Link

We began tonight by lighting a new fire, and lighting a candle, and the light of the candle is regarded to be a sacrament of the meaning of Christ.  And so a song is chanted to the light of Christ as the most important accompaniment to all creation.  What does light do?  It activates seeing.  Sight is not activated without light.  Christ as Light is Word, and the human mind is not activated without the shining of the light of words.  The artificial light of a fire in ancient times was important since darkness held great sway and mystery in dominating at least of third of each day.  Each year we celebrate the birth of new fire, new light, because we recognize Christ as the light who has given us the way to see how to live best as human beings.

And what did the light of God do?  The light of God created the words of our salvation story.  And on this night we read the words of our salvation story.  The light of God in the words of the Scripture reveals our roots, and though Jesus came later in history, he still had roots which reached far back into the record of the human story.  You and I are formed by stories, because we are formed by the values which catch our attention and give us personal identity within a community of people.  Tonight is a night to read our salvation roots in its ancient past before it became explicitly enlightening in the person of Jesus Christ.  And this intentional taking of identity with Christ seen in the next event of this evening, Holy Baptism.

Baptism is the event when the community and a person express their commitment to be in the intentional transformational process of becoming more Christlike.  The Vigil is the chief baptismal event of the Christian year, and when there are no baptisms, we reaffirm our baptismal vows as an intentional reminder that we are committed to be on the path of becoming more Christ-like.

And we cannot do that alone, we do this within community.  And how is the community constituted?  In a community meal, a love feast, a gratitude meal of remembering Jesus into our lives in bread and wine as the mystical experience of Christ in us, the hope of glory.

A Candle, a story, Baptism, and Eucharist.  These are the rituals of tonight which correspond to the ways in which we can come to know the mystical identity with Jesus Christ.

And by the way, tonight is also the eve of the day of the resurrection.  And this is the hopeful assurance that we will succeed in this process of becoming Christ-like, because we will have forever to get it right.  So with deep thanksgiving, we once again make the Easter shout, "Alleluia, Christ is Risen.  The Lord is Risen indeed.  Alleluia!  Amen.