Homily: Easter Vigil

April 4, 2026

My dear brothers and sisters, we have gathered here today to celebrate the Easter vigil, the mother of all the vigils in the Church. Easter means Pasch, that is why we call the mystery of the death and resurrection of Christ the Paschal mystery, we call this big Easter candle, the Paschal candle. Pasch means “passing,” this word “passing” recalls the historic and adventurous “passing” of the Israelites led by Moses from the slavery of the Egyptians to the freedom of a nation chosen by God in relation to the coming of the Messiah. Furthermore, this word, “Pasch” meaning “passing” describes Jesus, the Messiah, the true Lamb of God whose sacrifice freed humanity from sin and marked a passage from Old Testament to the New Testament. So, Pasch or Easter is generally taken to mean Christ’s glorious resurrection on the third day after His death on the cross as He foretold.

All through the ceremony of tonight, there are so many evocative aspects of this ceremony that help to illustrate this rite of passage. The symbol of fire, light, the big candle, the movement from outside the church to the sanctuary portray a reminiscent of how God accompanied the people of Israel with a pillar of fire from their land of slavery through the wilderness to the Promised Land. In the New Testament, the risen Christ is now the light of the world, the Paschal candle is the symbol of the risen Christ. In a way we are reliving this Old Testament experience in the New Testament but no longer with a pillar of fire as of the Old, but with Christ the light of the world shining on us. It is through the illumination that comes from Christ the light of the world that we shall be successful and victorious in our own journey and passage to the everlasting Promised Land.

The resurrection of Jesus that we celebrate tonight reminds us that our victory is assured. Christ has conquered death, once we are steadfast in following Him, we too shall become conquerors. The Easter message is a message of life, it is a message of hope, it is a message of victory. As Christians, we have to remember always that we are pilgrims on a Pilgrimage. Jesus the light of the world is on the lead. May we always be guided by the fact that we are marching unto glory. We are on a passage from the land of slavery and moving towards the Promised Land. In different aspects of our life, this our journey should be Christ-centered, it should be a movement from hatred to love, a journey from rivalry to unity, a passage from selfishness to generosity, a motion from violence to peace, a progression from strife to co-existence, a voyage from iniquity to justice, a one-way trip from falsehood to truth. In this journey, may we always allow the risen Christ to be our pilot, we land safely in the bosom of the Lord. Amen