Holy Saturday At the Easter Vigil in the Holy Night of Easter

Several knelt, prayed, meditated at God’s tomb were interrupted by a small, about four-year-old Dominik. He wasn’t naughty. He didn’t run. Vice versa. Silence with his grandmother knelt at the cross. When they got up, he told his grandmother what he thought. Dominik said aloud, “I’ll take the nails out of him, so he doesn’t hurt.”

What we are reminded of today by the words of the young man, who did not address only the three women who came on Saturday morning to anoint Jesus’ dead body: “Do not be afraid! You are looking for Jesus of Nazareth, who was crucified. He rose from the dead. It’s not here. Behold, the place where they laid him up ”(Mk 16: 6)

The events we commemorate in the Great Week have a profound significance, a rapid decline, and, above all, an amazing impact on the salvation of humanity. The text of the gospel says that Jesus rose from the dead. The words of a young man dressed in a white robe, in which we see an angel, the messenger of God, the herald of the greatest event of salvation, are clear, intelligible today. We have nothing to fear when we look at the empty tomb where the dead body of Jesus was laid. The angel’s words are clear: “He rises from the dead” (Mk 16: 6).
It is not enough to accept the resurrection of Christ only as a symbol, but it is necessary to believe in the fact of the resurrection, its historical truth. The resurrection is in itself a concept that cannot be testified of, and that cannot be accepted by our categories of reason associated with the experiments of the natural world. None of the people were present at the time of the resurrection of the Lord Jesus. No one can say that he saw Christ rising from the dead (the resurrected), but he can only say that he saw him after the resurrection (the resurrected). The resurrection can only be spoken of “post factum,” relying on what followed as with “incarnation,” when only the physical, natural presence of the Word in the Virgin Mary confirms the reality of its incarnation. The Lord Jesus’s resurrection is witnessed by those who saw him personally, heard him, touched him, ate with him after he died, and rose from the dead. When the pagan historian Tacitus writes of “the death of some Christ in the time of Poncio Pilate,” he is not talking about the resurrection. This fact did not make sense and significance for the one who was not a personal witness of the event. For those who have been direct witnesses to meeting the Risen One, the Resurrection changes their lives. The feared apostles who fled after his death become martyrs and are willing to suffer and die for their faith in the risen Christ. The Holy Scriptures mention the witnesses of the resurrection of Christ more. These are especially the eleven apostles, Peter, John, and Thomas, at the supper and fishing and other meetings. Three women wanted to apply ointment to their dead bodies at dawn on Sunday. Two Emmaus disciples and groups of people and the apostle St. Paul at the gate of Damascus.

Even after millennia, the events surrounding Jesus, as given by the Gospels, appeal to and call for their realization in every person’s life.
Tonight reminds us of one more night. The church mentions two nights. She called one “holy” and the other “great.” During Holy Night, humanity learns of the love of God, who as a child was born in Bethlehem and placed in a manger. On that Easter at dawn, the world learns of the triumph of God who has risen from the dead. Both nights are a gift for a man. The joyful “Glory to God in the Highness” continues today with the solemn “Hallelujah.”
We began today’s liturgy with a threefold exclamation: “Christ, the Light of the world!” From the Easter candle, the cough, we lit the other candles. The Easter hymn, which mentions the joy that fills the world as Christ brings new life, calls for accepting the gift he has conveyed through his resurrection. The previous three days, immersed in silence, silence, contemplation of the passion and death of the Lord Jesus, and with a joyful ringing, an organ playing, allele singing.
Liturgical readings from the Old Testament recall the history of salvation as the chosen nation awaits the Messiah. Excerpts from the Scriptures interspersed with psalms culminate in a New Testament reading that assures us of Christ’s resurrection. With the resurrection of Christ, a new life begins for humanity. It reminds us of the blessing of baptismal water as we invite, during the ordinance, the help, intercession, and protection of brothers and sisters whom the Church teaches sharing in the glory of God’s kingdom. Sprinkling water on the sign of baptism is a reminder of baptism and a call to realize the rights and responsibilities we have accepted at baptism. The Easter we live in its symbolism wants to awaken the hope that we may enter a new life with the risen Jesus.
In Gloria and Credo’s words, we recall the basic truths of the faith, to which we must respond appropriately. To be silent, to be passive, not to feel engaged tonight would mean that there really is something wrong that needs to be researched and removed as soon as possible.
The celebration of the Eucharist and, finally, the procession is not only our outward expression of gratitude, love, and reverence for Jesus Christ but also of accepting Jesus Christ as his Redeemer, Savior, and Judge, who wants to bring us all to the Father by his resurrection.
Easter is not just a matter of reason and emotion. Some things cannot be understood by reason and cannot be convinced by the senses. Easter addresses us to ask the Holy Spirit for his gifts. May the Holy Spirit remind us tonight of what Jesus taught to share in the mystery of the love of the Holy Trinity.

Tonight puts us at a crossroads in our lives.

Let’s think like the Austrian philosopher and writer Arthur Schnitzel. He walked with his friend through the Viennese city park in Práter. It was a beautiful sunny day. Beautiful trees with rich greenery, beautifully landscaped lawns, tasteful flower beds. Everything breathed the scent of life. They said it was something uplifting. Schnitzel’s friend remarked, “You really can’t do anything else here; just enjoy life.” The writer also remained in thought, and after a short pause, he said, “Do you see this far-reaching alley? He almost disappears into a merger. Listen, would you still be so excited about everything around us if you knew that at the end of the alley, where it all converges, there is an abyss, and it all ends? ” His friend became serious, and the writer continued,“ Life often they tend to be described as a path that ends in the abyss of death. Do you accept this philosophy of life, that all our efforts end in the grave? ” Tonight, we realize that we disagree with such a philosophy that our life ends in the grave. We have believed and believed in the words of the risen Jesus: “I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in me will live, even if he dies. And whosoever lived and believed in me shall never die. ”(Jn 11: 25-26)

When we receive Christ’s legacy of Easter that just as he rose from the dead, we will rise, when we adopt the example and testimony of many witnesses of Christ’s resurrection, then we no longer need the warning of four-year-old Dominic because Christ did not die unnecessarily for us. We are full of joy and gratitude to God.