The Easter Vigil (Holy Saturday)
Passover and New Life First Reading : ( Gen 1:1-2:2 ) : God created the universe
Second Reading : ( Ex 14:15-15:1 ) : God's chosen people crossed the Red Sea
Third Reading : (Rom 6:3-11) : We are baptized into Christ
Gospel : ( Mt 28:1-10 ) : Jesus has been raised to life
Chinese Classics
“And, while the wind whistles under the roofs, I open my books and read; and lo! In their presence my heart is enlightened by the Way of the ancient sages.” (1)
“In drought, a droplet of water is like sweet dew.” (2)
“Water can carry a boat, it can also overturn a boat.” (3) ‘Do not be afraid; I know that you are looking for Jesus who was crucified. He is not here; for he has been raised’ (Mt 28:5-6) Today in the liturgy of the Easter Vigil, we commemorate the resurrection of Jesus Christ. The formal name for Easter should be “Passover”, which means passing over. Therefore the Easter feast is only half of the Passover or ‘Pasch’. Passover is a process, an action. We pass from fast to feast, from darkness to light, from the present to eternity, from death to life. That is Passover. The Passover mentioned in the Old Testament is God leading the Israelites away from slavery towards freedom, through the Red Sea to the Promised Land. The Passover in the New Testament is Christ going from death to life, overcoming the devil, opening the door to heaven and leading us to God. Through death he released us from our sins, gave us righteousness and guides us to eternal life. In the Passover Christ brings us salvation. To be a Christian, we should die to sin, be resurrected with Christ, then with great joy be filled with hope and continue our life's journey. The Passover does not only commemorate what happened two thousand years ago. In celebrating the Passover, we return to two thousand years ago and experience the events of that time. In his poem “Real Force's Canto”, Wen Tian Xiang wrote: “And, while the wind whistles under the roofs, I open my books and read; and lo! In their presence my heart is enlightened by the Way of the ancient sages.”(1) Thinking about the exemplary conduct of the ancients, we cannot help but admire them. We enter into their hearts and let them enter ours. Similarly, when we are seeing a touching movie, we sometimes are moved to tears and feel sympathy for the characters in the movie. Human beings can surpass themselves. The liturgy can bring us to such heights: we really do go back to the past and take part in the mystery. The account of Christ' death and resurrection touches us deeply. But the mystery of the Passover is not a book, a movie or a story. It goes beyond history and drama. It reveals God's salvific grace in our celebration. Christ's grace of salvation becomes a present reality in the liturgy and in the lives of each one of us. In tonight's liturgy of Baptism we see former sinners becoming a people of righteousness, the slaves of the devil becoming God's children. We almost can say they are changed from human beings to sons and daughters of God. How about those of us already baptised? If we have gone to confession during Lent or Holy Week, we can be said to have gone from death to life, from the state of sin to one of righteousness. Tonight we have risen together with Christ. In tonight's ceremony, we see fire and light. Christ is the light that lights up the world, he burns away all sin and drives away the darkness of the world. He points us to the road of eternal life. The neophytes receive the candle that represents the light of Christ; for those baptized already, holding candle reminds us that we are the light of the world. We must be witnesses of Christ in word and deed so that people may see our behaviour and give honour to God. Today, in baptism we also see water. The priest blesses the water to help us remember that we have been baptized. Water is the source of life. There is a Chinese saying: “In drought, a droplet of water is like sweet dew.” (2) This is the water of life. However, water is also a symbol of death. When the flood came the water drowned and destroyed the whole world. According to the Emperor Tang Tai Zhong, “Water can carry a boat, it can also overturn a boat.”(3) Water can represent life. It also represents death. In Chapter six of the Epistle to the Romans the Apostle Paul said, “Do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? Therefore we have been buried with him by baptism into death, so that, just as Christ was raised from the dead, so we too might live a new life.” (Rom 6:3-11) Whether we have been baptized earlier or this evening, it indicates our determination to live and die with Christ, to die with Christ to our past, die to our sins and live a truly righteous life of hope,: ‘so we too might walk in newness of life.’ Tonight, the new church members will be anointed with oil. Oil has the meaning of blessing and separation. Those who are anointed with oil receive a special mission to be King, Prophet and Priest. We should become Kings because we have allowed God to be King of our lives, King of our home, King of our society and of the universe. We must become Prophets, witnesses of Christ, preaching the joyful news of the Kingdom of Heaven, be the Voice of God announcing God's plan and holy will. We must be Priests so that through prayer and the sacraments we can be directly in contact with God and be united to the Lord. Tonight the newly baptized wear white clothing signifying that they received pure and precious new life. Lastly, we should not forget the vows we made at baptism. We have vowed to abandon sin and follow Christ. Therefore we must resemble Christ, be his disciples, be people filled with the spirit of Christ. From now on, we must think like Jesus, live like Jesus and let the spirit of the Gospel be the criterion of our lives. (1)風簷展書讀，古道照顏色。
(2)旱時一滴如甘露。
(3)水能載舟，亦能覆舟。 | 
