Easter Vigil 2013
All that Our Lord won for us on Calvary – the justification, divine life, and divine assistance He merited – could not be given to us until He rose from the dead.  The wounds He still has on His body are like channels of grace.  We are united to our living Redeemer in Heaven.  Through the signs of the liturgy, all the gifts of Heaven are brought down and applied to each of us.  One of the first gifts we are given is faith.  The Light of the World illumines our souls in the midst of the darkness of the devil.  If we are true followers of Christ, we do not walk in darkness but have the light of life.  This truth is represented by the powerful sacramental of the Paschal Candle.  As the Hebrews followed the Pillar of Fire through the desert to the Promised Land, we follow Christ through all the trouble and bitterness of our lives.  We sing a hymn of joy, because, through our faith, all our trials only increase our happiness.  We are ready to recommit ourselves to the promises we made in baptism.  Now we are prepared to enter the gates of Heaven which have been opened to us.
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