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| We participate in his light and life. |
We are busy here getting ready for the Easter Vigil tonight. One thing is clear - Easter is not simply a happy ending to the story of Jesus. If the resurrection was just that we would not be celebrating it with such joy.
The wonderful truth is that all that Christ has done - he has done for us. All that he has gained - he imparts to us. The Victorious Lord shares his victory with us, as a free gift.
At the beginning of our celebration tonight the Easter Candle, a symbol of the Risen Jesus, will be carried into the darkened chapel. But we will not just look passively at that single flame. No, we will light our candles from the one candle, the light will be shared and spread out until the whole church is bathe in light.
So it is by participation we share in the new life of the Risen Lord. In Baptism we, as it were, lit the flame our souls from his one splendid flame. It is the whole flame we receive. In our oneness with the Lord we are gifted with his fullness - grace upon grace.
That is why Baptism is at the very heart of Easter. For it is through faith and baptism we enter into this new reality. Throughout the world tens of thousands of people will be baptised during the Vigil tonight. Some years ago, in our few Franciscan missions and parishes in Zimbabwe alone, some 700 adults were baptised during the celebrations of the Easter Vigil.
For us already baptised, tonight sprinkled with the sacred water, we choose again to live from Christ's Resurrection life. May his light so permeate our souls that we exult anew in Jesus as the sure hope for our world and the sure joy of our hearts.
Have a blessed Easter.
