Andy Alexander, S.J. reminds us that the texts to be proclaimed at the Easter Vigil,
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| Easter and New Life |
the conclusion of the Triduum, reveal a God who created us, who led a chosen people out of slavery, and raised Jesus from death.
We can rejoice that death has no final victory over us. Then we celebrate the Easter Sacraments of Baptism, Confirmation and Eucharist. Tonight we celebrate our faith -- that we have been baptized into the death of Jesus, so that we might have everlasting life with him.
The Epistle at the Easter Vigil is from the Letter to the Romans .
* [6:1–11] To defend the gospel against the charge that it promotes moral laxity (cf. Rom 3:5–8), Paul expresses himself in the typical style of spirited diatribe. God’s display of generosity or grace is not evoked by sin but, as stated in Rom 5:8 is the expression of God’s love, and this love pledges eternal life to all believers (Rom 5:21). Paul views the present conduct of the believers from the perspective of God’s completed salvation when the body is resurrected and directed totally by the holy Spirit. Through baptism believers share the death of Christ and thereby escape from the grip of sin. Through the resurrection of Christ the power to live anew becomes reality for them, but the fullness of participation in Christ’s resurrection still lies in the future. But life that is lived in dedication to God now is part and parcel of that future. Hence anyone who sincerely claims to be interested in that future will scarcely be able to say, “Let us sin so that grace may prosper” (cf. Rom 6:1).The Gospel is from Mark .
* [16:1–8] The purpose of this narrative is to show that the tomb is empty and that Jesus has been raised (Mk 16:6) and is going before you to Galilee (Mk 16:7) in fulfillment of Mk 14:28. The women find the tomb empty, and an angel stationed there announces to them what has happened. They are told to proclaim the news to Peter and the disciples in order to prepare them for a reunion with him. Mark’s composition of the gospel ends at Mk 16:8 with the women telling no one, because they were afraid. This abrupt termination causes some to believe that the original ending of this gospel may have been lost.Friar Jude Winkler offers a short commentary on each of the texts.
Fr. Richard Rohr, OFM, reminds us that St. Augustine taught, we must “die daily” to our small and separate sense of self. He offers a meditation exercise from Kathleen Dowling Singh so “We can sit to meditate with the intention to let it all go, inspired to explore what lies beyond self.”
We sit deliberately, with noble posture and noble attention.In meditation, we experience God who created us, led a His people out of slavery, and raised Jesus from death.
We breathe. Progressively, we free our awareness from sensations. We free our awareness from the ‘I’ we imputed upon the sensations and the ‘mine’ with which we tried to claim them. We relieve ourselves of all of our mistaken identifications, loosening our attachments to them, letting them go.
We liberate ourselves from illusions and, cleared of all that congested weight, the burden of being a self, we surrender, entering awareness that is spacious and quiet and uncongested.
We just die into silence. Die to the past. Die to the future. Die to the breath. Completely let go. The silence reveals itself as refuge, as awareness that can be trusted, tenderly loving and resounding with the majesty and the mystery of the sacred. [1]
References
(n.d.). Creighton University's Online Ministries. Retrieved March 31, 2018, from http://onlineministries.creighton.edu/CollaborativeMinistry/online.html
(n.d.). Romans, chapter 6 - United States Conference of Catholic Bishops. Retrieved March 31, 2018, from http://www.usccb.org/bible/romans/6:34
(n.d.). Mark, chapter 16 - United States Conference of Catholic Bishops. Retrieved March 31, 2018, from http://www.usccb.org/bible/mark/16
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