The texts from the Roman Catholic Lectionary today invite us to reflect on Salvation History with texts from the Hebrew and Christian Testaments as we make some time today to sit with all of the paradoxes of life.
The texts proclaimed at Easter Vigil 2025 are listed in Table 1.
Table 1. Easter Vigil 2024 Readings, for Year C
* [24:1–53] The resurrection narrative in Luke consists of five sections: (1) the women at the empty tomb (Lk 23:56b–24:12); (2) the appearance to the two disciples on the way to Emmaus (Lk 24:13–35); (3) the appearance to the disciples in Jerusalem (Lk 24:36–43); (4) Jesus’ final instructions (Lk 24:44–49); (5) the ascension (Lk 24:50–53). In Luke, all the resurrection appearances take place in and around Jerusalem; moreover, they are all recounted as having taken place on Easter Sunday. A consistent theme throughout the narrative is that the suffering, death, and resurrection of Jesus were accomplished in fulfillment of Old Testament promises and of Jewish hopes (Lk 24:19a, 21, 26–27, 44, 46). In his second volume, Acts, Luke will argue that Christianity is the fulfillment of the hopes of Pharisaic Judaism and its logical development (see Acts 24:10–21).
* [24:6] He is not here, but he has been raised: this part of the verse is omitted in important representatives of the Western text tradition, but its presence in other text types and the slight difference in wording from Mt 28:6 and Mk 16:6 argue for its retention.
* [24:9] The women in this gospel do not flee from the tomb and tell no one, as in Mk 16:8 but return and tell the disciples about their experience. The initial reaction to the testimony of the women is disbelief (Lk 24:11).
* [24:12] This verse is missing from the Western textual tradition but is found in the best and oldest manuscripts of other text types. (Luke, CHAPTER 24 | USCCB, n.d.)
Cindy Costanzo comments that Holy Saturday is a day for quiet reflective time.
Today’s Holy Saturday experience brings me back to my walk during my retreat as well as a recent walk during Lent. The walk allows you to enter this time with some sense of the time, the setting, the cruelty of mankind, and the immense gratitude for how Jesus suffered for us, so we could have our sins forgiven, and the enormous gift received from our God for eternal life.
I pray this Holy Saturday to receive the gift gratefully. To continue to follow Jesus’s ways, to remain humble, repent, and follow the commandments although imperfectly. I celebrate these gifts and hope in return to be transformative to others in offering my love. (Costanzo, 2025)
Don Schwager quotes “Christ destroyed death to bring us life,” from a sermon by Leo the Great, 400-461 A.D.
"God's compassion for us is all the more wonderful because Christ died, not for the righteous or the holy but for the wicked and the sinful, and, though the divine nature could not be touched by the sting of death, he took to himself, through his birth as one of us, something he could offer on our behalf. The power of his death once confronted our death. In the words of Hosea the prophet: Death, I shall be your death; grave, I shall swallow you up. By dying he submitted to the laws of the underworld; by rising again he destroyed them. He did away with the everlasting character of death so as to make death a thing of time, not of eternity. As all die in Adam, so all will be brought to life in Christ." (Schwager, n.d.)
The Word Among Us Meditation on Romans 6:3-11 comments that the death and resurrection of Christ is not something we just read about or reflect on. We are not just spectators; we are participants in this great cosmic drama. Through the power of the cross, Jesus has put our sins to death. Through the power of his resurrection, he has made us new creations, capable of living a life pleasing to his Father. In and through Christ, we, too, have experienced a resurrection that began at our Baptism and will be fully realized when Christ comes again.
This cycle of our dying and rising with Christ doesn’t begin and end with Lent and Easter. It characterizes our whole life on earth. As long as we live, we will have to die to sin. But we live in Christ! His light casts out the darkness and infuses us with grace and mercy so we also can rise with him. Hallelujah!
“Lord Jesus Christ, thank you for dying and rising for me! Help me to live the new life you have won for me, at Easter and always.” (Meditation on Romans 6:3-11, n.d.)
Friar Jude Winkler shares comments on the texts proclaimed at the Easter Vigil
Easter Vigil 2024 Readings, for Year C Comments
Fr. Richard Rohr, OFM, introduces Spiritual teacher Christine Valters Paintner who invites us to the patience necessary to receive the wisdom of Holy Saturday. The Triduum, those three sacred days of unfolding liturgy, calls us to experience communion, loss, and the border spaces of unknowing. Holy Saturday is an invitation to make a conscious passage through the liminal realm of in-between.
The wisdom of the Triduum is that we must be fully present to both the starkness of Friday and the Saturday space between before we can really experience the Resurrection. We must know the terrible experience of loss wrought in our world. This pain can teach us more when the promise of new life dawns, and we will appreciate its light because we know the darkness….
Much of our lives are spent in Holy Saturday places but we spend so much energy resisting, longing for resolution and closure. Our practice this day is to really enter into the liminal zone, to be present to it with every cell of our being.
Make some time today to sit with all of the paradoxes of life. Bring yourself fully present so you can live in the discomfort of the experience. Rest in the space of waiting, and resist trying to come up with neat answers or resolutions. Imagine yourself on a wild border or standing on a threshold. See yourself knowing that you cannot fully embrace what is on the other side until you have let this place form in your heart. When you notice your attention drifting or your mind starting to analyze, return to the present moment. Allow yourself to feel whatever arises in this space. Honor the mystery. (Rohr, n.d.)
We keep vigil and seek the Wisdom and Perseverance of the Spirit to live as people of the Resurrection.
References
Costanzo, C. (2025, April 19). Creighton U. Daily Reflection. Online Ministries. Retrieved April 19, 2025, from https://onlineministries.creighton.edu/CollaborativeMinistry/041925.html
Luke, CHAPTER 24 | USCCB. (n.d.). Daily Readings. Retrieved April 19, 2025, from https://bible.usccb.org/bible/luke/24?1
Meditation on Romans 6:3-11. (n.d.). The Word Among Us: Homepage. Retrieved April 19, 2025, from https://wau.org/meditations/2025/04/19/1250959/
Rohr, R. (n.d.). Loving Surrender: Weekly Summary. Center for Action and Contemplation. Retrieved April 19, 2025, from https://cac.org/daily-meditations/loving-surrender-weekly-summary/
Schwager, D. (n.d.). Why Do You Seek the Living among the Dead? Daily Scripture Readings and Meditations – Daily Scripture Readings and Meditations. Retrieved April 19, 2025, from https://www.dailyscripture.net/daily-meditation/?ds_year=2025&date=apr19a
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