Easter Vigil
Genesis · Exodus · Prophets · Romans · Matthew 28
This night the Church listens to a long story.
Seven ancient readings echo through the darkness.
Creation. Promise. Exodus. Prophets.
Seven steps leading toward Christ.
The story begins with the first word of God.
“Let there be light.”
And light breaks into the darkness.
Morning arrives.
The first day begins.
The world is created through the Word of God.
And everything is very good.
But something goes wrong.
Humanity turns away from the source of wisdom.
We abandon the commandments of God.
The world becomes wounded.
Violence spreads.
The human heart grows hard.
Soon humanity finds itself far from home—
in exile.
Yet even in exile a new search begins.
“Seek the Lord while he may be found.”
The prophets speak of a love stronger than failure.
A covenant that cannot be broken.
A promise that God will not abandon his people.
And so God sends his Word into the world.
The Word becomes flesh.
But how will this Word save humanity?
Another ancient story gives a clue.
A father walks toward a mountain.
Abraham.
Beside him his son Isaac.
The son carries the wood for the sacrifice.
Yet Isaac is spared.
A life is given back.
A quiet promise of resurrection.
Then another story unfolds.
A people stand before the sea.
Behind them— slavery.
Before them— water.
The waters open.
A path appears.
Freedom begins.
Tonight that story becomes ours.
“Come to the waters,” the prophet says.
Through baptism we pass through the water.
We are buried with Christ.
We rise with him.
A new life begins.
The heart of stone is taken away.
A heart of flesh is given.
And the Spirit of God is placed within us.
Then the night reaches its turning point.
Women walk toward a tomb.
They had seen where Jesus was buried.
Now an angel speaks:
“He is not here.
He has risen.”
The stone cannot hold him.
The tomb cannot keep him.
Death has lost its power.
A new creation has begun.
And then comes one final message.
“Go and tell my brothers to go to Galilee.
There they will see me.”
Why Galilee?
Because everything began there.
The first call.
The first steps of discipleship.
The first discovery of who Jesus is.
Each of us has a Galilee.
A place where faith first began.
But each of us also has a Jerusalem—
a place where we failed.
Where fear or weakness took over.
Yet the risen Christ still calls us brothers and sisters.
So we listen to the message of the women.
We return to Galilee.
We begin again.
And with renewed joy we go out into the world
to announce the greatest news ever spoken:
Christ is risen.
Alleluia.
Scripture Attribution
New Revised Standard Version Bible: Catholic Edition, copyright © 1989, 1993
the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of
Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
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© 2025 Krakus.
Licensed under CC BY-NC 4.0 (Creative Commons Attribution–NonCommercial).