The Easter Vigil is my favorite liturgy on the Church calendar, so I’m disappointed we won’t be able to attend in person this year. For the past eight years, I saw friends get baptized and confirmed during the Vigil. It’s also an incredible night for me, spiritually, because I love reflecting on the readings.
Instead of going through each reading one by one and saying everything I can about them (which I want to do), I’ll point out something from each reading. These readings are a connected story told over thousands of years.
There are nine readings, not counting the psalms. Two from Genesis, one from Exodus, two from Isaiah, then a reading from Baruch, Ezekiel, Romans, and Matthew. They tell of the history of God saving His people through the seven covenants He made with them: Adam, Noah (Isaiah 54), Abraham, Moses, David (Isaiah 55), the Prophets, and Jesus.
Salvation History is the story of God’s family. It’s a story of promise and fulfillment and we are living in the Age of Fulfillment. Lucky us, right?
With each covenant, God’s family grows. First, it’s just two spouses, then a family, then a nation, then twelve tribes, then a kingdom, and then the whole world.
During the Easter Vigil, we remember that we are members of Christ’s family by virtue of our baptism. That in our baptism, we shared in His death and will also share in His Resurrection (Romans 6:5).
I encourage you to read through these readings slowly, two times if you can. Pause on a word or phrase that sticks out to you and pray with them today.
You can find all the readings in order here.
Note: The purpose of this blog is not long, biblical commentary, but given the circumstances, I want to do what I can to help people feel enriched this Holy Week.
Adam and Eve (Gn 1:1-2:2)
St. Bonaventure says, God wrote two books: Creation and Scripture. God wrote Himself into Creation so we could see Him, but sin entered the world through us and obscured Him. This reading is somewhat bittersweet because we see the beauty of creation, but know what we will end up doing to it.
Abraham and Isaac (Gn 22:1-18)
The second reading responds to our sin by reminding us of the sacrifice of Christ, prefigured by Abraham and Isaac. Abraham is a Father who willingly sacrifices his only son. Isaac is the son who willingly carries the wood of his sacrifice up a mountain to be killed. Abraham says, “the Lord will provide himself the lamb for the sacrifice.” Without knowing, Abraham prophesied the sacrifice of Christ the Lamb.
Moses and the Red Sea (Ex 14:15-15:1)
The next reading shows us how to enter into that sacrifice. The story of the Red Sea prefigures our baptism. Pursued by evil, we enter the water and come out free on the other side. Then, we begin our journey to the Promised Land of Heaven.
The Flood (Isaiah 54:5-14)
I like to think of this reading as God’s voice speaking to us while we’re under the water. Because of our baptism, we are now members of the Church, the Bride of Christ. The Lord your God is your Husband. He references the promise He made to Noah, to never flood the Earth again. He promises us now that we’ve been baptized, He will never leave us.
David’s Kingdom (Is 55:1-11)
The Kingdom of Israel brought many nations together under one king, David. After our baptism, we are called to call sinners to baptism. My favorite line in this reading is, Like rain does not return to the heavens until it has watered the ground “my word will not return to me empty.” The Word of God is Christ Jesus. He came down from heaven and now returned because He watered the ground with His Blood.
The Exile (Baruch 3:9-15, 32; 4:4)
Baruch is preaching to the Israelites in exile in Babylon. The earthly kingdom has fallen and Israel is shocked. They shouldn’t be, it’s because of their sinfulness God had to take it away from them. Even though they knew the Will of God, they turned away. Even though they knew how great He is, they sinned.
Promise of a New Heart (Ez 36:16-17, 18-28)
The Old Law was not sufficient. The Israelites knew what was right and still turned away. So in this reading, God promises to not only cleanse them from their sin, but also to give them a new heart written not on stone (like the Ten Commandments) but on flesh: the Body of Christ. This promise of cleanliness and of a new heart is the covenant made with the prophets that prefigures the covenant made with Christ. In the next reading, Paul shows us that it is fulfilled.
Baptism (Rm 6:3-11)
The replacement of the old heart is not painless. Our old self must be “crucified with Christ” in order to put on a new self. In baptism, we go under the water and undergo a sacramental death to be born again into Christ. Those who are about to be baptized at the Easter Vigil should hear this and be prepared to die to sin. Those of us who are baptized should be reminded that we have already died to sin and have put on Christ.
Resurrection (Mt 28:1-10)
The Resurrection is the final defeat of death. Christ lays His life down willingly and picks it back up again. His Resurrection is not like Lazarus. Lazarus died again. Christ will never die again and neither will we in our Resurrection at the end of time. We have died a death like His and will rise like He did. The Church teaches that when Christ comes again, everyone will be raised body and soul either to Eternal Life or Eternal Death.
Do you live like you believe all of this?