Celebrating his first Easter Vigil as the new archbishop of Washington, Cardinal Robert W. McElroy said that Jesus, through His life, Passion, death and Resurrection, is “the ultimate gift God gives us.”
In his homily at the dramatic vigil on April 19 at the Cathedral of St. Matthew the Apostle, the cardinal said, “This is the great Easter proclamation: That Jesus Christ has risen, as he said he would. That we are here on this earth to build up the kingdom of God. And that Jesus Christ –Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit –wait for us at the end of our lives, to welcome us unto a kingdom which will never end.”
The cardinal also said Easter offers a time to proclaim the risen Christ by “how we live our lives,” and to be mindful of God’s grace and presence “all around us” and to share that grace with others.
At the cathedral’s Easter Vigil, 25 people received the Sacraments of Initiation from the cardinal. Eight people were baptized, confirmed and received their First Communion. Thirteen already baptized people were received into full communion with the Catholic Church, receiving the sacraments of Confirmation and Communion. And four Catholics completed their Sacraments of Initiation by being confirmed.
At the Easter Vigil that night in churches across The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Washington, about 1,550 people became full members of the Catholic Church, receiving the Sacraments of Initiation.
Cardinal McElroy – who was installed as the archbishop of Washington on March 11 –said the people receiving the sacraments of Baptism, Confirmation and First Communion on that Easter night are “our joy and happiness,” and he said they are called “to understand God’s love for you, to understand it has been existing from the beginning of time, that God has loved you – and loves you – personally and intimately, and without reservation. And God looks down with great joy on this night as you embrace Him, and embrace the life of the Church.”
The light that Christ brings to the world was symbolized by the Easter fire blazing outside the cathedral as the vigil started. Cardinal McElroy blessed the fire, from which the Paschal Candle was lit. The cardinal prayed, “May the light of Christ rising in glory dispel the darkness of our hearts and minds.”
Then people inside the darkened cathedral held small candles that were lit one-by-one from that initial flame, symbolizing their call to bring the light of Christ to others. In Spanish and English, the words “Luz de Cristo, the Light of Christ,” were chanted, and people sang in response, “Thanks be to God.”
The new life from the risen Christ was seen later in the Mass, when the cardinal baptized the eight people with water as they knelt in a baptismal pool near the main altar. While the people about to be baptized stood in front of the altar with their godparents, members of the cathedral’s Schola Cantorum led the singing of the Litany of Saints.
That new life in Christ was also seen when those eight newly baptized people, along with 13 people preparing to be received into the full communion of the Catholic Church, and with four Catholics completing their sacraments of initiation, were confirmed by the cardinal, and later when all of them stood together around the altar and received the Eucharist.
At the beginning of the nearly three-hour Easter Vigil after the Paschal Candle was lit from the Easter fire and as people held the small lit candles, a cantor sang the soaring Easter Proclamation, the Exsultet, which was followed by six Scripture readings in Spanish and English which traced the salvation story, beginning with the creation account in Genesis and concluding with the account in the Gospel of Luke where three women discover the empty tomb of the risen Christ.
For the second reading, two members of the Schola Cantorum sang the dramatic Exodus account of the Israelites escaping as the Red Sea parted and then engulfed the pursuing Egyptian charioteers, showing how God brings true freedom to His people. The third reading from Isaiah 55 highlighted the importance of prayer in the passage, “Seek the Lord while he may be found, call him while he is near,” and the next reading from Ezekiel 36 highlighted God’s promise that “I will give you a new heart and place a new spirit within you… you will be my people, and I will be your God.”
Then a joyful Gloria was sung, accompanied by an organ fanfare and the ringing of bells, as the cathedral lights were turned on again to full brightness. The epistle reading from Paul’s Letter to the Romans, chapter 6, included the phrase, “just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might live in newness of life.”
In his homily, Cardinal McElroy noted how director Terrence Malick’s 2011 film, “The Tree of Life” offered “a beautiful reflection upon the meaning of life and the presence of God.”
The cardinal pointed out how in that film, the main character is at a crossroads in his life, having achieved worldly success but feeling emptiness in his heart and soul. That character remembers words that his mother told him when he was a boy, about how the sisters taught her about men living either by the “order of nature” focusing on themselves and getting ahead, or by an “order of grace,” seeing the presence of God all around them, and understanding that God has planted moments of great beauty for them to discover every day of their lives.
“Tonight, of all nights, raises our eyes to the order of grace,” Cardinal McElroy said. “…What seems impossible in the order of nature is possible in the order of grace. And our identity, our understanding of the meaning of our lives and our destiny here in this world – they are all utterly transformed. We can see that we are here on this Earth not as an end to itself, but rather with a mission and a purpose given to us by God – each and every one of us – to ennoble this world in which we live by pointing constantly to the grace of God present around us, and to build up that grace among us.”
The cardinal said that order of grace in people’s lives helps them “understand that our journey leads beyond this world unto the next – in the victory of Christ over death itself. We know that we are called to live as true citizens of heaven, with our vision utterly informed by that reality. And how different that makes what we look upon every day…”
Concluding his homily, Cardinal McElroy said, “Jesus has truly risen, as he said. Let us proclaim Alleluia by how we live our lives. And let us walk always in the order of grace –raising our eyes upward to discern God’s presence and beauty all around us. Not taking it for granted, but seeing in it the mandate and the mission for the whole of our lives.”
After the homily, the cardinal blessed the baptismal waters, and the elect about to be baptized made a renunciation of sin and profession of faith. As he baptized each of them, the cardinal said, “I baptize you in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.” Then the people in the congregation, again holding lit candles, renewed their own baptismal promises, and they were sprinkled with baptismal water.
The newly baptized returned to the front of the sanctuary, wearing white garments and holding candles lit by their godparents. The cardinal prayed, “You have been made light in Christ. Walk always as children of light…”
As he administered the sacrament of Confirmation, Cardinal McElroy said, “Be sealed with the gift of the Holy Spirit,” while he made the sign of the cross on each person’s forehead, anointing them with chrism and announcing their Confirmation name from their chosen patron saint.
After being confirmed, they stood together at the front of the sanctuary smiling, and the congregation applauded them.
The Easter Vigil concluded with the joyful recessional hymn, “Jesus Christ is Risen Today.”
The link to the livestream of the Easter Vigil celebrated by Cardinal McElroy on April 19 at St. Matthew’s Cathedral can be found at https://www.youtube.com/live/2tDprGQ3d4I
On Easter Sunday April 20, Cardinal McElroy will celebrate a livestreamed Mass at the cathedral at 9 a.m. It can be followed online at https://www.youtube.com/live/uy7-_Y8wXEI
Later on Easter Sunday, Cardinal McElroy will celebrate a noon Mass at the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception that will be livestreamed on the basilica’s YouTube channel that can viewed at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7DNnKLJllzA
