The Easter Vigil celebrates the resurrection of Jesus Christ during the night of Holy Saturday and Easter Sunday.  The Easter vigil has three parts:  we first light the Paschal Candle, sign of the Risen Christ.  Then, we listen to the scriptures that proclaim the wonders the Lord has done for his people and the promises they contain for the future. Finally, we approach the sacraments that are the pledge of life given in the Risen Christ. 

In the vigil the Risen Christ is fire in the darkness and light for the way. As he did for his disciples on the way to Emmaus, he opens the scriptures and unfolds the mysteries for us. The lighted candle, the Risen Jesus, is placed next to the scriptures.

Jesus Christ is the light come into the darkness of the  world; he is life who came into the original chaos and now comes into the consequent darkness of our world. The Paschal Candle is a sign the Risen Lord is in our world now. 

Besides the reading from Genesis, other important stories from the Jewish Torah are read at the vigil. The account of Abraham offering his son in sacrifice is a reminder that God so loved world that he gave us his Only Son.

God’s rescue of the Jewish people enslaved in Egypt from the Book of Exodus is never omitted from this night’s readings. God’s care for them reveals God’s care for the whole human family now.

Prophets like Isaiah and Ezechiel along with the psalms are also read during the vigil. God’s gift of water which the prophets often describe as essential for life has become the water of baptism promising life to the human family and with it all creation.

Paul’s Letter to the Romans celebrating the new life we have through Christ in the waters of baptism and a gospel account of Jesus’ resurrection complete the scripture readings of the Easter Vigil.

After the readings, we celebrate the presence of Jesus Christ in the waters of baptism and in the signs of bread and wine. “Do this in remembrance of me,” Jesus told his disciples.

Can our story of redemption still be told to a generation today steeped in the knowledge of science?

We know from science today more about  the beginnings of our universe than the authors of the Book of Genesis did centuries ago. Earth came into being 4.5 billion years ago, scientists say. 500 million years ago, the first plants made our earth green. 140 million years ago, the flowers, and plants appeared that supported animal and place life. 7 million years ago, our hominid ancestors appeared. 20 thousand years ago our human ancestors migrated from Africa to other parts of our planet. 12 thousand years ago, the first humans came to the place where I’m living now. 

Still, Jesus Christ reveals something science cannot tell about the earth itself and our human family. God made the world still sees it good. God still loves us and the world he made so much that he sent his only Son that we might live. God still guides the human family on its journey. God still sends light into our darkness, water that we might not die of thirst. “Do not be afraid,” Jesus said to his disciples when he rose from the dead.

“Do not be afraid, I am with you,” he says to us today.