In bringing our sufferings to Jesus Christ, our burden is lightened and a path to life, happiness, and peace is paved for us. That was the message of Bishop Earl Boyea of Lansing at this year’s Easter Vigil at Saint Mary Cathedral in Lansing.
“Our union with Christ, after all, is not just a union with his suffering and death; it is also a union with his life — eternal life, a torrent of life welling up from him in each one of us. Let the waters flow!” said Bishop Boyea in his Easter Vigil homily on Holy Saturday, April 4.
Across the Diocese of Lansing, an estimated 940 people became Catholic at this weekend’s Easter Vigil. That’s the highest number of Easter converts — including the highest number of adult baptisms — in 20 years. The Vigil at Saint Mary Cathedral saw three people baptized and another 17 received into full communion with the Catholic Church.
Bishop Boyea gave those present a two-point roadmap to life, happiness, and peace in Jesus Christ. First, he highlighted the words of the angel to Mary Magdalene and the other Mary on the morning of the Resurrection: “Do not be afraid!” (Matthew 28:5). These words, Bishop Boyea noted, were repeated by Pope Saint John Paul II upon his election as Bishop of Rome in October 1978.
“The angel and the saintly Pope both knew that it is fear which prevents us from moving out of ourselves and being about the work of the Lord. The only way to proceed is to grow in union with Christ.”
Second, continued Bishop Boyea, we must use our newfound courage to embark upon whatever apostolic adventure the Lord is calling us to — and whatever change He requires to make us fit for that journey.
“It is not enough to give up our fears to the Lord, to open our hearts and our souls to Him — we must also be willing to move, to go forth to Galilee!” said Bishop Boyea.
“We must let the Lord change us. We must let the events of Holy Week change us. We must let the Holy Spirit change us. We must let these days and weeks change us. We must let our baptism and our admission into the Church change us.”
The Roman Missal refers to the Easter Vigil as the “mother of all vigils,” which is “the greatest and most noble of all solemnities” and “is to be unique in every single Church.”
The liturgy is fivefold in nature: the Lucernarium (Service of Light), the Liturgy of the Word, the Rite of Baptism, the Asperges, and the Liturgy of the Eucharist.
Please keep all those who have entered the Church across the Diocese of Lansing in your prayers this Easter. Our Lady, Mother of the Church, pray for them.
