See You Soon

Summary of a Fr. Gerry Creedon homily from Easter Vigil on April 15, 2006

"He is going before you into Galilee, there you will see him, as he told you." Mark 16:7

TONIGHT WE CELEBRATE the rising of Jesus in symbols. The Easter fire dispels the darkness of this night. The paschal candle and our lit tapers proclaim that light conquers the dark as surely as the Spring sun banishes the cold, long nights of winter.

The water of baptism reminds us of the crossing of the Israelites from the slavery of Egypt to the liberty of the promised land. The Red Sea and the Jordan River like the Atlantic for our forebears or the Rio Grande for today's immigrants offered the saving water of freedom. Jesus' resurrection completes this journey to freedom, freedom even from death. The chrism brings the Spirit to our candidates for Confirmation. This oil of olives bears the memory of the dove who brought the olive branch to Noah. Jesus' rising brings the spirit of peace to our divided world. The bread is broken as Jesus was so that we too may make of our lives bread shared for the life of the world. The cup holds the red wine of pain that yields to the joy of salvation. The brown penitential garments of the candidates for baptism are replaced by the white vestments of new life.

All of these symbols give way to the primordial sacrament; people. We have the audacity to believe that the 15 new members who join the church tonight will find among us signs of Christ's Risen Life. The mystical reality of the church is found in the simple promise of the Lord; "But go and tell his disciples and Peter, ' He is going before you into Galilee, there you will see him, as he told you.' "