Paschal Greetings
Exhortation for the Easter Vigil
Alleluia, Christ is Risen! He is risen indeed, Alleluia!
Alleluia, death is conquered! The gates of Hell are broken, Alleluia!
Alleluia, the Devil is defeated! The seed of Adam has trampled the serpent’s head, Alleluia!
Alleluia, the sin of Adam, by God’s power, becomes a blessing, Alleluia!
Alleluia, the death-giving wood of the Cross becomes the Tree of Life, Alleluia!
For the One who made all from nothing has become nothing to save all. The luminous Word of God, equal to God, lacking nothing of the glory of the Father, descended to darkness, and the darkness did not overcome it.
The Word went down to Bethlehem, born among beasts a wailing babe, the all-powerful emptying into powerless: but that was not low enough.
The Word went down with us sinners into the waters of the Jordan and sunk below: but that was not low enough.
The Word went down to lepers, harlots, taxmen, the possessed, talked Scripture with the Devil on the wild dry plain: but that was not low enough.
The Word went down on his knees in the dust, bloodied and scourged as He carried the Cross, lay on his back to be strapped to the wood, nailed down: but that was not low enough.
No: the Word went down, all the way down, to the Land of the Dead, deep as a human soul can go, and grasped their hands through the dark.
He who made all from nothing was born from the nothingness of the Virgin womb. He who made all from nothing descended to the dust, the nothingness from which all things are made.
But He who made all from nothing leapt out from the nothingness of the empty tomb. And as He leapt, He leapt not alone, but dragged us all from the dust, from which are made, to the Light, for which we are made: the Light for which the old Adam was made, but failed, strayed from the path for an apple’s sake; the Light which the new Adam shines on the world, leading us from the shadow of the valley of death to the fullness of life.
So come, this blessed night, you who have only just descended into the waters, been washed of the Old Adam, died to sin and self: feast on Him who made Himself nothing for your sake.
Come, this blessed night, all you who have made yourselves nothing this Lent: feast on Him who made Himself nothing for your sake.
And you who might have kept a harder and holier Lent, come too, this blessed night: feast on Him who made Himself nothing for your sake; for He calls even the worker who arrives at the eleventh hour, and if His arms are long enough to reach into Hades, they are long enough to reach you.
Blessed and praised be Our Lord Jesus Christ conceived in Our Lady’s womb, whose Incarnation restored our fallen nature, repaired the fractured image in our souls.
Blessed and praised be Our Lord Jesus Christ Crucified, whose death took from our shoulders the burden of sin.
Blessed and praised be Our Lord Jesus Christ Risen from the tomb, whose Resurrection lifted the curse of death from the world.
Alleluia, Christ is Risen! He is risen indeed, Alleluia!
A blessed Easter, dear readers, to you all.