Easter Vigil Mass 2025 – United with Him in Resurrection Like His

Dearly beloved sisters and brothers, a blessed and a very happy Easter. Tonight’s vigil mass is a celebration of life and hope. It is a celebration of our firm faith in the Lord Jesus, who is the way, the truth, and the life.

You may be wondering, why is it that tonight there are very long readings? Why do we have to listen to more than one reading? Five readings, very long. And why do we have to listen to the readings from the Old Testament? Because we need to understand and to see the bigger picture. And we cannot understand and see the bigger picture if we do not start from the beginning.

So the long readings are the narrations about how God wants to give us life. When we say God wants to give us life, we are not simply thinking about a longer extension of our life here on earth. It is a measure that all of us hope to be blessed by God to live longer until 90, until 100, until 110, until 150.

Until all of us die. What God wants to give us is His own life, His divine life, the fullness of life. And so the first two readings that we heard are about the story of creation.

God gave life to all creation. And He also gave life to us. He created us.

We were made in the image of our Creator. And the third and fourth readings, this gift of life was followed by the first resistance by human beings, rebellion. Resistance to cooperate with God to give life.