Our testimony of life is based on the resurrection of Jesus.
Has anyone told you that they need you? How did you react? Surely now you are thinking that it depended on who said it and what they required, whether you had the desire and courage or willingness to help, and so on. And now let’s ask ourselves a different question: Have you already told someone that you require him? The reactions were different. Whether he was disappointed or pleased, complied or not… It is always important to respect a person’s freedom.
God has needed each of us since the creation of man. God created us without us, and he also redeemed us without us, but we each decide freely: how, when, and in what way we will give an answer to God. We also have the experience that we needed God. Have we experienced disappointment?
For almost two thousand years, the Church has been commemorating the greatest event of humanity, the resurrection of Jesus Christ, and even today one can hear questions: Why do most people today not know everything about Christ? Why, when Christ is God, are there disproportionately more people who do not accept him and do not believe in him? Jesus said to the women who came to his tomb at dawn on the first day after the Sabbath had passed: “Go, tell…” (Mt 28:10).
An unfinished idea? Not! We have known for two thousand years what he said to the women Mary Magdalene and another Mary at the empty tomb. We also know what the angel said to the women. We also know about other events, things that not only Jesus Christ and after him the apostles and the Church as a Teacher said. The words “go and announce” (Mt 28:10) want to remind us of something more. And what should it be? And why? The liturgy of today’s vigil also leads us to this.
The liturgical year, from the First Sunday of Advent to the Sunday of Christ the King, year after year fulfills the words with which Jesus addressed the apostles: “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go, therefore, teach all nations, and baptize them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teach them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, until the end of the world” (Mt 28,18-20). Tonight, he especially wants to remind us of God’s love. Outside the church, after sunset, the priest lit the paschal candle, which represents Jesus Christ, from the fire. On it is A (alpha) and (omega) and a year, which reminds us that Christ is the same yesterday and today. He is the Beginning and the End, the Lord of time and eternity. To him belong glory and power forever and ever. He further reminds us, that Jesus, because of his holy and glorified wounds, protects and preserves us in his love after his resurrection and wants to banish the darkness from our hearts and minds. This is emphasized by the procession to the dark church when the priest addresses the faithful three times in a row with the words: “Christ, the light of the world,” – to which the answer is: “Thank God” and there is always more and more light in the church from the candles that are held, which they symbolize our awareness of responsibility to fulfill what Jesus asks of us. With the Easter hymn at the Easter candle in the middle of the presbytery, the priest recalls the joy of the angels and the glorified in heaven, how they rejoice over the victory of Christ. The earth and the Church on it are again to be irradiated like a temple by light when it is illuminated after dark. Why rejoice? Today we remember that Jesus, as the second Adam, canceled the sentence of condemnation for the first sin with his blood. The hymn contains the words, which we recall in the next part by reading from the texts of Scripture. Seven readings from the Old and two from the New Testaments gradually remind us how God cared for and protected people, and how he finally sent his Son as Redeemer, which Christ accomplished through his death and resurrection.
God does not force but invites and appeals to us not only to accept, but also to address his words of love towards us humans when he reminds us that he created the world, he led his people through prophets, leaders, and kings, such as Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and Moses. He brought his people out of Egypt and led them through the sea that swallowed up their persecutors, thus proving his love and power to the nation. He cares for his people when he sends manna in the desert and causes water to flow from the rock. He is with his people when he pleads with them, even when he has to punish them with snakes in the desert. God gives many commands to the nation, especially the Ten Commandments from Mount Sinai. He prepared the land for the people into which he led them.
After the readings from the Old Testament, the liturgy of the Easter vigil takes on an even more joyous character. When singing “Glory to God in the highest”, not only the organ sounds, the bells ring, but also the candles on the altar are lit. Reading from the Letter of St. Paul to the Romans is like an entry into new times, which is deepened by the subsequent hallelujah, which is deliberately omitted during Lent, so that we can live this hallelujah more today, realize its meaning and need in connection with the resurrection of the Lord Jesus.
The liturgy of baptism reminds us of our baptism. Litany to all saints, where we remember the brothers and sisters who were able to live baptism with their lives, and therefore the Church rewarded them for their faithful life to God by being models for us on the way to God. The sanctification of baptismal water and the renewal of baptismal vows are a reminder, a call, and an address to us: “Go, tell” (Mt 28:10) to everyone how much God loves us.
Today’s Holy Mass, celebrated after Good Friday, is also a challenge and an appeal that participation in the Holy Mass on Sunday and in the prescribed holiday is a church command given by God so that we have the possibility of greater contact with God until the end of time. It is right that believers use the end of Lent to make holy confessions so that they can also participate in the Eucharist during the Easter celebration, which they receive with benefit.
Have you ever seen a Chinese rose? They say it only blooms for one day. One may ask: Why so short? Someone remarked that the most beautiful flower blooms the shortest. What are eighty or one hundred years of life? It is not a flower that cannot be replaced by anything or anyone. However, he has to fulfill his task and mission in such a way as to fulfill the will of God. We live only once. However, we live in such a way that we prove with our lives that we are aware of our responsibility for every thought, word, and deed, but also for everyone whom the Lord sends in our way.
The child asks her mother: “Why don’t we get presents at Easter like at Christmas?” The believing mother did not hesitate and gave her daughter the following answer: “We get a present at Christmas because the Baby Jesus is born. On Easter, the Child Jesus is already a man, the Son of God, and he is rightfully waiting for a gift from us. And it is beautiful when, while singing “hallelujah”, we feel the desire in our hearts to give ourselves to God the Father as a brother or sister of Jesus Christ together with him.”
Jesus died for us only once. That was enough because his love cannot be compared even if we compared it to scales when we would put the love of all people, of all time, on the second plate. That’s because Jesus is the true God. This obliges us to fill our hearts more and more with gratitude and love for His love, which He proved by His death and resurrection. His resurrection thus becomes a guarantee that when we live and die with him, we will also be resurrected with him to a new life.
One Slovak folk song sings: Where are my young days… The years fly by. Even Easter alternates with Easter. Each is a gift from God. Let’s use this year’s opportunity to fulfill what God asks of us.
They parted after the Easter Vigil. In the neighboring village, there was already fun that night, although tomorrow is the day – Sunday of the Resurrection of the Lord. A friend called her: “Come, it’s not fasting anymore.” She didn’t go. When she asked her mother in the afternoon if she could go out for fun after the vigil, she got the answer: “Don’t worry, you won’t miss anything. Come home and live the biggest church holiday spiritually. Get some sleep, and you’ll be able to go to the fun in a week.” Even though she was a little upset, she knew that her friend would go, so she obeyed her mother. In the morning, on the way to church, she learned that her friend was in the hospital. They were returning on foot and someone hit them with a car and ran away.
The Church does not prevent anyone from having fun today. However, we will experience Easter Sunday more spiritually. Let the Easter “hallelujah” ring out in the spirit of Jesus’ peace in our hearts. God has prepared many gifts for us. He needs us to enjoy them more and know how to share them with others. Let us not disappoint the risen Christ.
