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SCRIPTURE
READINGS
|
Acts |
9:26-31 |
| Psalm |
21 |
| I
John |
3:18-24 |
| John |
15:1-8 |
Pope
Benedict XVI is a distinguished theologian with
a deep understanding of Scripture. Those of us who
viewed the funeral of Pope John Paul II will have
been moved by his quiet sense of liturgy. I would
like to share with you highlights of his Easter
Vigil homily in which he describes the way the language
of symbols can help us to contemplate the astonishing
event of the Resurrection and our share in it. He
speaks about the significance of light (Pascal Candle),
water (Baptism) and singing alleluiah.
Light
In
the creation story God said "Let there be light".
Light is the most immediate image of God: He is
total Radiance, Life, Truth, Light. In the Resurrection
Christ, the Son of God, has emerged as the light
of the world. The paschal candle is a sign of Christ.
It burns, and is thereby consumed. From the Cross,
from the Son's self-giving, light is born, true
radiance comes into the world. Let us pray to the
Lord ( says Pope Benedict) that the fragile flame
of the candle he has lit in us...will not be extinguished
in us, but will become ever stronger and brighter,
so that we, with Him, can be people of the day,
bright stars lighting up our time.
Water
In
scripture there are two opposed meanings: on the
one hand there is the sea, a force antagonistic
to life on earth (as Jewish writers saw it). It
becomes a symbol of Jesus' death on the cross; He
descended into the waters of death as Israel did
into the Red Sea . It is also a fresh spring that
gives life, or the great river from which life comes
forth. In Baptism the Lord makes us not only persons
of light, but also sources from which living water
bursts forth.
Let
us ask the Lord (says Pope Benedict) who has given
us the grace of Baptism, for the gift always to
be sources of pure, fresh water, bubbling up from
the fountain of His truth and His love.
Singing
Alleluiah
When
a person experiences great joy, he cannot keep it
to himself. He has to express it, to pass it on.
But what happens when a person is touched by the
light of the Resurrection, and thus comes into contact
with Life itself, with Truth and Love? He cannot
merely speak about it. Speech is no longer adequate.
He has to sing. So we sing Alleluiah, just as Israel
sang after their liberation from Egypt and emerging
from the Red Sea .
Fr
Tony Nye SJ
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