Here's the first part of Pope Benedict's Easter Vigil Homily. I haven't read it all yet. I worked my backbreaking cleaning job today and went to St Sylvester's (Navarre) Easter Vigil. It makes me tear up during baptisms, confirmation, and folks coming into full communion with the Church.
You can find Pope Benedict's Easter Vigil homily at this link:
http://www.radiovaticana.org/en1/Articolo.asp?c=279700
Here's the first part:
Dear Brothers and Sisters,
Saint Mark tells us in his Gospel that as the disciples came down from the Mount of the Transfiguration, they were discussing among themselves what “rising from the dead” could mean (cf. Mk 9:10). A little earlier, the Lord had foretold his passion and his resurrection after three days. Peter had protested against this prediction of death. But now, they were wondering what could be meant by the word “resurrection”. Could it be that we find ourselves in a similar situation? Christmas, the birth of the divine Infant, we can somehow immediately comprehend. We can love the child, we can imagine that night in Bethlehem, Mary’s joy, the joy of Saint Joseph and the shepherds, the exultation of the angels. But what is resurrection? It does not form part of our experience, and so the message often remains to some degree beyond our understanding, a thing of the past. The Church tries to help us understand it, by expressing this mysterious event in the language of symbols in which we can somehow contemplate this astonishing event. During the Easter Vigil, the Church points out the significance of this day principally through three symbols: light, water, and the new song – the Alleluia.
Picture is from photobucket.
I'm off to Birminham, AL tomorrow to celebrate my cousin Joan coming into full communion with the Church!
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