Tonight’s Mass is supposed to be an ordeal.
In the modern day, we have made it much easier.
It used to have many more readings, and would go all night.
When the faithful receive the Holy Eucharist,
particularly those doing so for the very first time,
and the priest shows the Lord to the faithful, saying,
“Behold the Lamb of God, who takes away the sins of the world;
blessed are those called to the Supper of the Lamb”:
This would happen just before sunrise.
In other words, it coincides with the Resurrection!
So, for those who are becoming a Christian tonight,
With baptism, confirmation and the Holy Eucharist:
This night is especially for you.
For the rest of us – including those who were baptized
in other Christian communities,
and tonight enter into the fullness of the Catholic Faith –
this is a re-experiencing, a rediscovery of these mysteries.
We call them mysteries, by the way,
because the Apostle Paul and the first Christians called them that.
The word “mystery” suggests something hidden and inaccessible;
and that’s the point: Jesus gives us access!
The veil is torn in two; heaven is open; you and I are born again!
The other thing about a divine mystery
is that pulling aside one veil doesn’t “solve” it.
With God’s creation and redemption, there is always more.
So the long vigil is meant to reinforce
that exploring this mystery goes on, as it was in the beginning,
is now, and ever shall be, world without end.
That is one reason why –
although we are baptized and confirmed only once –
you and I re-encounter these mysteries each year at this time,
each Lord’s Day, and even every day.
In a few minutes, the deacon and I will lead you to the font.
The Easter Candle, the pillar of fire, goes before you.
Unlike pharaoh who perished in the sea, you are led safely through!
In baptism, you die: with Christ.
We all die; but this is the death you and I choose:
with Jesus, accepting his cross and making it our own.
Every time you make the sign of the cross,
Every time you bless yourself with holy water, you remind yourself:
I died with Christ, and through him, I will rise again!
So I want to be very clear and serious here:
this moment is a fork in the road, an ending and a beginning.
I will ask you to renounce sin and the vanities of this world.
I will ask you if you believe
in God the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit,
and in the faith given to us through the Apostles.
Before you answer those questions, I must warn you:
to be a Christian has always been costly.
There has always been a tug-of-war
between the kingdoms of this world,
the kingdom of our own will, and the kingdom of Jesus.
And if no one ever told you this, I tell you now:
your choice of allegiance to Jesus Christ and his Kingdom,
which is in this world, imperfectly, in his Church:
that choice will cost you, sooner or later.
It may seem over-dramatic to speak of martyrdom;
we’re in Ohio after all, not ancient Rome!
But martyrdom comes in a thousand small, daily, tedious choices
long before it becomes some great climactic witness.
Probably none of us will ever stand before a guillotine;
but every one of us faces the refrigerator, the computer,
and the emperor that is our own will.
It isn’t a firing squad, but criticism from coworkers, friends and family,
that cows us and shakes our resolve.
So, why should anyone profess this faith? Why should you?
On behalf of the faithful, some of whom are gathered around you,
and on my own behalf as a Christian, I testify:
God has acted in time and history.
Jesus, the Son of God, having our same flesh,
revealed to us a Trinity of Father, Son and Holy Spirit.
For our salvation, he embraced the Cross.
He truly died and rose, in his mortal body, from the dead.
He is the judge of all mankind, to whom he offers not only mercy,
but new life, fullness of life, and union with God,
in the resurrection and the new world to come.
Jesus, risen from the dead, is the true and faithful witness!
He drew you here and he invites you to life.