We are invited into the life of Christ, says Bishop during Easter Vigil

Maura Baker

Staff Writer

With a service beginning in total darkness, illuminated only by an Easter Fire — the celebration of the Easter Vigil after sunset marks the official end of the Lenten season and the beginning of Easter, the celebration of Christ’s resurrection.

The pews were filled as the vigil began at the Cathedral Basilica of the Assumption, Covington — with Bishop John Iffert serving as the Mass’s celebrant and homilist. Among the congregation were 16 candidates and catechumens, who would receive the sacraments of Baptism, Confirmation and Holy Communion during the service. These numbers are representative of more than 420 who were welcomed into the Church during the Easter Vigil across the diocese, a more than 57 percent increase from last year.

As his homily began, Bishop Iffert welcomed all who were present — Cathedral parishioners, their families, visitors and, in a special way, the candidates and catechumens.

“Welcome especially to those who have been journeying with us,” he said, greeting also the families and friends of these individuals who had come to support this step in their journey.

Remarking on some struggle to light the Paschal candle at the beginning of the Mass, following the blessing of the fire, Bishop Iffert spoke on his worries since that the fire would go out.

“Just before I walked over here to the ambo to begin sharing,” Bishop Iffert said, “I looked up and I saw that flame dancing above the top of the candle. And what happens? Fear is transformed into joy. That’s as good a place to begin tonight as any, isn’t it?”

With a smile, Bishop Iffert said that “it fits with what I was hoping to say to you when I came in tonight.”

Bishop Iffert spoke about the fear felt by the three women who came to discover the tomb empty, and how the angel speaks to the women, “Do not be afraid.”

“He tells them that the Lord Jesus is not in the tomb but has been raised from the dead and has gone before them. And then, he sends them. It says they went quickly from the tomb — fearful, and yet overjoyed.”

“I love that description,” Bishop Iffert remarked. “Although the angel has told them ‘do not be afraid’, they remain fearful. The events of Good Friday do not go away, they are not undone. They remain with questions in their heart.”

Later, as the women encounter Jesus, still “bearing the weight of the cross,” as Bishop Iffert said, “notice what he says, ‘Do not be afraid.’ Do not let your fear have the last word. Do not let that fear dominate your life. Do not let that fear steal away hope. Do not live in the darkness.”

“These women are sent on a mission,” said Bishop Iffert. “They encounter the risen Lord, first to encounter the risen Lord, and they are sent on a mission to go — go and tell.”

“This is the truth of the situation for all of us,” he continued. “We are invited into life in Jesus. Jesus, who himself carried the cross, doesn’t always volunteer to take our crosses away from us.”

Bishop Iffert said, “We might be like these women, as if we’re sitting in darkness, looking for something that we can’t even put into words, and we’re waiting — but we’re waiting in a new way, no longer overwhelmed by fear, but joyful with the promise of the resurrected light of Christ.”

“May the light of Christ never die in our heart,” he concluded, “may we always see him and know him, catching glimpses of the joyfulness of his life — and may that joy carry us into the resurrected life.”