Easter Vigil

Father Brian Christensen
Easter Vigil
March 30, 2024

“Do not be amazed! You seek Jesus of Nazareth, the crucified. He has been raised.”

Do not be amazed! Hmmmm. Why not? Why not be amazed? There is every reason to be amazed, astonished, overwhelmed, stunned, shocked. How can you help not to be amazed?

In these three days – these holy days of Thursday and Friday and now this Saturday night – Jesus has done amazing and unexpected things. He has accomplished amazing and unexpected transformations.

On Holy Thursday, Jesus, in the Upper Room with his disciples, amazingly and unexpectedly, transformed that Passover Meal into the Mass – communion with the Lamb of God, his Body and his Blood. Holy Communion with God! He amazingly and unexpectedly transformed the Levitical priesthood into the priesthood of the new and eternal covenant.

On Good Friday, Jesus transformed the tree of torture, the Cross, into the tree of life. He transformed the Cross into the throne of mercy and grace. And he transformed the Cross into the greatest pulpit from which to preach the Gospel – the Good News of salvation. Three amazing and unexpected transformations.

And now, we arrive on this Most Holy Night, Holy Saturday, at the Easter Vigil. We join the faithful women – Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James, and Salome – as they approach the tomb of Jesus. They are on their way to complete his burial. In a very real and practical manner, they are discussing “who will roll back the stone” so that they might gain entrance to the tomb.

So, we get to the tomb. We get to the tomb with these women and they’re discussing this “who will roll back the stone?”

Then Jesus does another amazing and unexpected thing: He rises from the dead! He rises from the dead! They arrive there and the great stone is rolled away! The tomb is empty and they hear, “Do not be amazed! You seek Jesus of Nazareth, the crucified. He has been raised.”

Jesus, once again, and in a definitive and unmistakable manner, accomplishes another amazing and unexpected transformation. He has transformed death into life. He transforms the grave into a sign of hope. He transforms our fear of death, our real fear of death, into hope for eternal life. In truth, by overcoming death itself, Jesus has amazingly and unexpectedly transformed the trajectory of our lives.

By his Passion, his death, and his resurrection – this Paschal Mystery – Jesus has over come sin and death. He leads us, he leads us, through sin and death to freedom and life. The Good News – the euagelion in the Greek – is that this victory over sin and death, amazing and unexpected as it is, is our victory too!

Through the outpouring of the Holy Spirit – through Baptism and Confirmation – we all are partakers in this new life of victory, in this new life of grace. Through our baptism, we are rescued from sin and the consequences of sin – which are death, and this eternal separation from God — and we are included by grace into the family of God; with the prospect of a full life here and eternal life to come.

All these transformations — unexpected as they are – were accomplished with one aim in mind: our transformation! Jesus came to transform us into this likeness.

We were created, as we heard in that first reading tonight, in Genesis, that we were created in his image and likeness. We lost that likeness through the sin of our first parents. In many and varied ways, God sought, throughout the history of salvation, to restore that likeness, but it was only in his Son, in the fullness of time, who through his loving obedience to the Father and his great love for us, overcame that ancient curse.

Through the waters of Baptism which we have received, we are made partakers of this grace, this presence and action of God. We share and participate in the divine life. Our baptism confers upon us our new identity in Christ: we are his beloved sons and daughters. And as his beloved children, we share in the divine life. We share in the victory over sin and death.

Jesus has transformed us into his likeness. He has given us the potential to realize that likeness to the fullest. This is our life-long journey, the life-long journey of every Christian man, woman, and child: to realize the divine likeness given to us in baptism. We are configured, transformed, into the likeness of Jesus Christ.

Saint Paul has a beautiful way of expressing this amazing and unexpected transformation. He says, “It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me.”

“It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me.”

Yes, this sums up in a way the aim of our Christian life; this is really the divine plan – that we are to realize our likeness in Christ Jesus. To let Jesus come to full stature within us. That we may have fully the mind and heart of Jesus Christ!

Jesus is the pattern of our human life: a life lived in perfect communion with God, our Father. A life that is lived to the fullest until the day when we pass over the waters of death, through the grave, and into eternal life, a joyful life, a life of glorious communion with God and all the saints and angels.

My dear, brothers and sisters, what we celebrate tonight is an amazing and unexpected transformation! We recall, we renew, and we participate more fully in our transformation in Christ Jesus!

“Do not be amazed! You seek Jesus of Nazareth, the crucified. He has been raised.”

Like the faithful women on that first Easter morning, who cannot be amazed? We seek Jesus, the crucified. He has been raised and we are amazed! Our Jesus does amazing things!