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Pope Francis’ homily for Vigil in the holy night of Easter
St Peter’s Basilica – Holy Saturday, 30 March 2024
Gospel for Vigil (Mark 16:1-8)
When the sabbath was over, Mary of Magdala, Mary the mother of James, and Salome, bought spices with which to go and anoint him. And very early in the morning on the first day of the week they went to the tomb, just as the sun was rising. They had been saying to one another, ‘Who will roll away the stone for us from the entrance to the tomb?’ But when they looked they could see that the stone – which was very big – had already been rolled back. On entering the tomb they saw a young man in a white robe seated on the right-hand side, and they were struck with amazement. But he said to them, ‘There is no need for alarm. You are looking for Jesus of Nazareth, who was crucified: he has risen, he is not here. See, here is the place where they laid him. But you must go and tell his disciples and Peter, “He is going before you to Galilee; it is there you will see him, just as he told you.”’
The women went to the tomb at daybreak, but they still felt the darkness of night.
They continued to walk on, but their hearts remained at the foot of the cross.
The tears of Good Friday were not yet dry; they were full of grief, overwhelmed that everything had been said and done.
A stone had sealed the Jesus’ fate. They were worried about this stone, because they wonder: “Who will roll away the stone from the entrance of the tomb for us?” (Mk 16:3).
But when they arrived, they were astonished to see the amazing power of the Easter event::
“When they looked up, they saw that the stone, which was very large, had already been rolled back” (Mk 16:4).
Dear brothers and sisters, et us pause and reflect on these two moments that lead us to the unexpected joy of Easter.
First, the women anxiously ask themselves: Who will roll away the stone from the entrance of the tomb for us??
Then, in a second moment, they look up and see that it has already been rolled back.
First, there is the question that troubles their grieving hearts: Who will roll away the stone from the tomb? That stone marked the end of the story of Jesus, now buried in the night of death.
He, the life that came into the world, had been killed.
He, who proclaimed the merciful love of the Father, had been given no mercy.
He, who relieved sinners of the burden of their condemnation, had been condemned to the cross.
The Prince of Peace, who rescued a woman caught in adultery from a vicious stoning, was now buried behind a great stone.
This stone, an overwhelming obstacle, symbolized what the women felt in their hearts.
It represented the end of their hopes, now shattered by the dark and painful mystery that put an end to their dreams.
Brothers and sisters, it can happen to us too. There are times when we feel that a great stone is blocking the door of our hearts, suffocating life, extinguishing hope, imprisoning us in the tomb of our fears and regrets, and standing in the way of joy and hope.
We encounter such “tombstones” on our journey through life in all the experiences and situations that rob us of enthusiasm and of the strength to persevere.
We encounter them in times of sorrow: in the emptiness left by the death of our loved ones;
we encounter them in the failures and fears that keep us from doing the good we want to do.
We encounter them in all the forms of self-absorption that stifle our impulses to generosity and sincere love, in the rubber walls, the real rubber walls, of selfishness and indifference that hold us back in our efforts to build more just and humane cities and societies; we encounter them in all our aspirations for peace that are shattered by cruel hatred and the brutality of war.
When we experience these disappointments, do we not also feel that all these dreams are doomed to failure and that we too should ask ourselves in anguish: “Who will remove the stone from the tomb?”`?”
But the same women who carried this darkness in their hearts tell us something quite extraordinary. When they looked up, they saw that the stone, which was very large, had already been rolled back.
This is the “Pasch” of Christ, the revelation of God’s power: the victory of life over death, the triumph of light over darkness, the rebirth of hope in the midst of the ruins of failure.
It is the Lord, the God of the impossible, who rolled away the stone forever.
Even now he opens our hearts so that hope may be born again and again.
Let us also “look up” to him.
The second moment: let us look up, then, to Jesus.
Having assumed our humanity, he descended into the depths of death and filled them with the power of his divine life, allowing an infinite ray of light to break through for each one of us.
Raised up by the Father in his, and our, flesh, by the power of the Holy Spirit, he turned a new page in the history of the human race.
From now on, if we allow Jesus to take us by the hand, no experience of failure or sorrow, however painful, will have the last word on the meaning and destiny of our lives.
From now on, if we allow ourselves to be raised up by the Risen Lord, no setback, no suffering, no death will be able to halt our progress towards the fullness of life.
From now on, “we Christians proclaim that this history… has meaning, an all-embracing meaning… a meaning no longer tainted by absurdity and shadows… a meaning that we call God… All the waters of our transformation converge on him; they do not pour down into the depths of nothingness and absurdity…
For his tomb is empty and the One who died has now been revealed as the Living One” (K. RAHNER).
Brothers and sisters, Jesus is our Pasch. He is the One who brings us from darkness into light, who is bound to us forever, who rescues us from the abyss of sin and death and draws us into the radiant realm of forgiveness and eternal life.
Brothers and sisters, let us look up to him! Let us welcome Jesus, the God of life, into our lives, and let us say “yes” to him again today. Then no stone will block the way to our hearts, no tomb will suppress the joy of life, no failure will doom us to despair.
Brothers and sisters, let us raise our eyes to him and pray that the power of his resurrection may roll away the heavy stones that weigh down our souls.
Let us lift our eyes to him, the Risen Lord, and go forward in the certainty that, against the dark background of our failed hopes and our deaths, the eternal life he came to bring is already present in our midst.
Sisters and Brothers, let your hearts burst with rejoicing on this night, this holy night!
Let us sing together the resurrection of Jesus:
“Sing to him, everything sing to him: rivers and plains, deserts and mountains … Sing to the Lord of life, risen from the tomb, more brilliant than a thousand suns. All peoples beset by evil and plagued by injustice, all peoples displaced and devastated: on this holy night cast aside your songs of sadness and despair. The Man of Sorrows is no longer in prison: he has opened a breach in the wall; he hastens to meet you. Let an unexpected cry of joy ring out in the darkness: He is alive, he is risen! And you, my brothers and sisters, young and old… you who are tired of life, who feel unworthy to sing… let a new flame be kindled in your heart, let a new vitality be heard in your voice. It is the Lord’s Easter, brothers and sisters, it is the feast of the living” (J-Y. QUELLEC, Dieu face nord, Ottignies, 1998, 85-86).
