{"id":2853,"date":"2019-04-21T14:21:17","date_gmt":"2019-04-21T18:21:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blog.renewaloffaith.org\/blog\/?p=2853"},"modified":"2019-04-21T14:21:40","modified_gmt":"2019-04-21T18:21:40","slug":"easter-vigil-homily-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog.renewaloffaith.org\/blog\/easter-vigil-homily-2\/","title":{"rendered":"Easter Vigil Homily"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Easter Vigil<\/a>
Genesis 1:1-2:2
Genesis 22:1-18
Exodus 14:15-15:1
Isaiah 55:1-11
Romans 6:3-11
Mark 16:1-7
April 20, 2019<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Tonight we come as darkness falls.  Night comes and another day will follow.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

We come in a\nworld where we know the darkness of bad things that happen.  Sometimes it\u2019s little things, sometimes it\u2019s\nbig things.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

This Monday\nthere was a huge fire at Notre Dame Cathedral. \nThere was very major damage. \nNotre Dame stood as a sign in the Paris Skyline.  It was built as a house of worship for God\nand contained major images of our faith. \nIt was a place that revealed God\u2019s light to the world.  It was a building that stood for over 800\nyears.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Where are\nthose who grieve the loss caused by this fire to turn?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Cathedral\nhad over 800 years of history.  We turn to\nan even longer story, the story of Salvation History, the story of God\u2019s love\nfor his people to know that God is with us.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It goes back\nto the time of creation.  That\u2019s where\nour readings began tonight, at \u201cthe\nbeginning<\/em>.\u201d  The darkness covered\neverything.  \u201cthe earth was a formless wasteland<\/em>.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

There was\nnothing, nothing but God.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

God then\nbrought order to the \u201cformless wasteland<\/em>.\u201d  He \u201cseparated\nthe light from darkness.<\/em>\u201d  He would\nseparate the waters and bring forth dry land. \nHe brought order to the chaos as He created the plants, the animals,\nand, ultimately, humans in his own image, \u201cmale\nand female he created them.<\/em>\u201d  Then, \u201che rested on the seventh day.<\/em>\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We thank God\nfor bringing order to the \u201cformless\nwasteland<\/em>.\u201d  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The story of\ncreation from Genesis reminds us of God as the origin of all that is good.  God created \u201cin the beginning<\/em>\u201d and God will create anew when He sends his Son\nJesus to save us.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

God did not\ncreate and then walk away.  For those who\nare open to God, He remained active in their lives.  Abraham was a man totally dedicated to God.  When God said go, Abraham went.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Among the\nways Abraham saw God\u2019s blessings in his life was his son Isaac.  Abraham knew Isaac was a gift from God.  Yet, when God tells him that he shall offer\nIsaac \u201cas a holocaust<\/em>\u201d Abraham did\nnot resist.  Whatever the Lord asked of\nhim, Abraham would do.  God told Abraham\nwhere to go to offer the holocaust and he went. \nIt must have been some distance for it took three days to get there.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As they got\nclose, \u201cAbraham took the wood for the\nholocaust and laid it on his son Isaac\u2019s shoulders.<\/em>\u201d  Here I remember the words from the first\nreading from Isaiah on Good Friday, \u201cbut the\nLORD laid upon him the guilt of us all<\/em>.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We take that\nreading from Isaiah as a prophecy about what will happen to Jesus.  We can see what happens to Isaac as\nforeshadowing what Jesus will do for us. \nIsaac does not resist and neither will Jesus for He comes to do the\nFather\u2019s Will.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Before God\nstopped Abraham, Isaac asked \u201cwhere is\nthe sheep for the holocaust?<\/em>\u201d \nAbraham\u2019s response is prophetic, \u201cGod\nhimself will provide the sheep for the holocaust<\/em>.\u201d  God provides Jesus to be the sacrifice for\nour sins.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Throughout\nSalvation History, God continues to be there for his people.  When they cry out from slavery in Egypt, God\nsends Moses to lead them out.  When they\nreach the Red Sea and the Egyptians are bearing down on them, there seems no\nway out, \u201cThe LORD said to Moses, \u201cWhy\nare you crying out to me?  Tell the\nIsraelites to go forward<\/strong><\/em>.\u201d  Just when there seems no way forward, God\nparts the waters of the Red Sea and they pass through.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

God does the\nsame for us.  As the Israelites passed\nthrough the waters of the Red Sea, we need to pass through the waters of\nBaptism.  As the \u201cLORD saved Israel on that day from the power of the Egyptians,<\/em>\u201d He\nwill save us from our sins.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In our next\nreading, we heard the Lord say through Isaiah, \u201ccome to the water<\/em>.\u201d  God\noffers us living waters in the gift of the Holy Spirit.  He offers us true bread in the\nEucharist.  When we don\u2019t understand it\nall, we remember the Lord\u2019s words, \u201cFor\nmy thoughts are not your thoughts, nor are your ways my ways\u2026so high are my\nways above your ways and my thoughts above your thoughts<\/em>.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We aren\u2019t\ngoing to understand it all.  Abraham\nwon\u2019t have understood why God asked him to sacrifice his son but Abraham\ntrusted.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We can trust\nGod because of all that is contained in Salvation History but most especially\nwhat happened on Good Friday, Jesus gave his life for us.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

That brings\nus to our gospel tonight.  It is Easter\nmorning and the women \u201cwent to the tomb<\/em>.\u201d  They went to complete the burial\nrituals.  They expected to find Jesus\u2019\nbody in the tomb.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

They did not.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The tomb was\nempty.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThey were puzzling over this<\/em>\u201d when two\nmen appeared to them and said Jesus had been raised.  When the women told the others what had\nhappened it \u201cseemed like nonsense<\/em>\u201d\nbut they would all come to believe that Jesus died and rose for us.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Not even\ndeath has power over Jesus.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This is the\nstory of Salvation History, beginning in Genesis from the time of creation to\nits climax in Jesus giving his life for our sins.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I spoke of\nbaptism.  Most of us are baptized but we\nhave three people here tonight who are not and wish to be.  Now, it is time for them to receive their own\nbaptism.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Easter VigilGenesis 1:1-2:2Genesis 22:1-18Exodus 14:15-15:1Isaiah 55:1-11Romans 6:3-11Mark 16:1-7April 20, 2019 Tonight we come as darkness falls.  Night comes and another day will follow.  We come in a world where we know the darkness of bad things that happen.  Sometimes it\u2019s little things, sometimes it\u2019s big things.  This Monday there was a huge fire at Notre …<\/p>\n

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