What Impedes Your Resurrection?

I feel the Lord wants to put in us a longing, a desire to meet with him on the final day. This day in which we will look into His eyes, embrace Him and we will meet Him face to face. It is this certainty that gives us the Easter Vigil.

I have good news for you: Jesus is risen! Hallelujah! He proclaimed the eternity and the glory of the world without end. Christ the Lord protect us and save us.

To start the celebration of the Easter Vigil it was was dark. The Paschal Candle was lit and the light of Christ was coming among us. That little light was coming in and gradually we were lighting our candles and passing to each other the flame of resurrection. However small the flame may seem, it is enough, because it spreads the announcement that we proclaim with all our strength.

Amid all death there is a seed of resurrection. The light is Christ among His people.

We hear the proclamation of Easter, readings, psalms and were involved in every proclamation, all of which prepared us to the corner of the “Glory.” The altar consisted of candles, cross, towels and flowers. Everything was well rehearsed, well trained so that you realize that the silence was broken by the sound of the resurrection.

Our God is risen. He lives among us. Everything changed. Perhaps, today, in many places you still find a tomb closed by a stone, where there is still death, violence, corruption and defeat. What is the stone which is still in your life and prevents you from experiencing the miracle? What prevents you from resurrecting?

Those women got up early to perfume the Lord’s body. On the way, they probably questioned who would roll the stone for them. And we also ask ourselves, “Who will roll the stone?”. We need to take a step further through our faith.

Jesus was still in the tomb, but they wanted to see Him. If we do not have the courage to take a step, nothing will happen. We still need to continue to be in darkness and dawn, as did those women; otherwise, we will not see God’s surprises. When they got there, the stone had been removed. The obstacle that prevented had been removed.

We also found the stones of despair, the culture of death, depression and despondency in our way, but we need to step towards the Lord. Even without knowing how to roll away the stone, we can not stop. Do not think of the size or the weight of the stone, do not say it’s impossible, because the one rolls the stone is God Himself. He wants to get you out of the condition of death of anguish and sorrow, He wants you to rise again with Him.

The first surprise was that those women found the stone rolled away from the place. The second surprise was to see that Jesus was no longer there, he had risen. Like these women, go after the Lord and be surprised by Him!

Faithful participate in the Easter Vigil in the New Song

Only those who put themselves on the path experience the wonders of the Lord. Where is the place of your encounter with God? Return your heart to this place.

We heard in the readings that these people who would be freed from Egypt began to complain. They were slaves, so why complain if they were being delivered? Because, unfortunately, we tend to become accustom to our situation. It is easier not to believe and stand still because we are afraid of what the Lord will ask us. We prefer the realism of the least to the promise of the greatest. God is not only for us  the first experience you lived with him, there is much more to experience. Let us revive our faith.

Preferring the least to the promise of more produces in us a process of corruption. When the resurrection does not get us out of our complacency two terrible things are produced: mediocrity and lukewarmness. So God makes a move in today’s liturgy, He does not want us standing but rather moving forward. He wants to surprise us.

Consider yourself dead to sin and alive to God from tonight. Imagine when the disciples went to Galilee and encountered the risen Jesus, with His glorious body. Here the disciples receive the certainty that there was no more death, it was conquered and and we are sure that there is a place that awaits us, where there is no pain or crying, where God will be all in us. Where there will be full joy, no more emptiness. It will be a time of praise in the full. I look forward to it!

We can not lose the first fervor, the first love. God wants to reveal to us heaven, eternal life. I know you want to know the embrace of the Risen Christ in a very concrete way, the same embrace that the disciples received. And the Lord himself wants to give you that hug. Do you want to live for God? just offer more to your soul, for God has more miracles for you.

Original Transcription and adaptation: Rogéria Nair

Portuguese Version