April 20, 2025 // Bishop

Bishop Rhoades’ Homily for the Easter Vigil: From Darkness to Light

Bishop Kevin C. Rhoades

The following homily was given by Bishop Rhoades at the Easter Vigil on the evening of Saturday, April 19, at the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception in Fort Wayne.

The Easter Vigil always begins in darkness. At the beginning of creation, there was chaos and darkness covering the earth. The Book of Genesis says that “the earth was a formless wasteland, and darkness covered the abyss.” Genesis then says that “a mighty wind swept over the waters,” and God said, “Let there be light, and there was light.” It was within that light that God created the universe, including human beings – the only creatures He created to share, by knowledge and love, in His own life. He created them in His image and likeness, as we heard in our first reading from the Book of Genesis. God created us human beings with this unique dignity of living in friendship with Him, to live in the radiance of the light of His love.

Tragically, through the fall of Satan and the subsequent disobedience of humans, their act of rebellion against their Creator, darkness entered the world. Sin introduced spiritual darkness into the world. Man became estranged from God and lost the grace of His original holiness, and death made its entrance into human history. Darkness is an image for the condition of the world apart from God, for estrangement from God, an image for evil, ignorance, and error, and an image for death. Light, on the other hand, is an image for goodness, truth, and life. Light as fire is also a source of heat, so it also signifies love. Where there is love, light shines forth in the world; where there is hatred, the world remains in darkness.

St. John tells us that “God is light and in Him there is no darkness.” God sent His true light into the world when He sent His Son, His Word, who became flesh and dwelt among us. He did so to dispel the darkness.

Christmas and Easter are the two greatest feasts of the liturgical year. They are both feasts of light. At Christmas, we celebrate the divine light coming into the world, the birth of Jesus, the light of the world. In the stable of Bethlehem, that great light appeared.

We began this liturgy with darkness. In the darkness outside, the Easter fire was lit and from that fire, the paschal candle was lit, representing Christ our light. Three times in the darkness of this cathedral, Deacon Andrew held high the paschal candle and chanted “The light of Christ,” and we sang in response, “Thanks be to God.” We thank God tonight that He did not leave us in darkness, that He not only came into the world as the light at Christmas but that He overcame the darkness of sin and death by His death and resurrection.

At Jesus’ crucifixion, the Gospel tells us that darkness covered the earth. Then, after His death, Jesus’ body was laid in a dark tomb. This cathedral, when we entered it tonight, was like a dark tomb until the paschal candle was brought in. Then, the light spread, as the light of that candle was passed on to everyone. We didn’t light our own candles. We received the light, passed on to us by others – the light of the paschal candle, the light of Christ.

Jesus came out of the dark tomb on this holy night. He rose from the dead. Because of Our Lord’s death and resurrection, we are no longer in the darkness of alienation from God. We have been reconciled to Him. In Jesus, we can live a new life. We can live in the light of His love, the love that is more powerful than death.

For those who accept Him in faith, Jesus gave power to become children of God. This happens in baptism, the sacrament of faith. On this holy night, our 11 catechumens, and catechumens throughout the world, will reject the darkness. They will reject Satan, all his empty promises and his empty show. They will choose the light by professing their faith in God – Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. They will then truly enter into God’s light, the light of the Most Holy Trinity, when they are baptized since they will be cleansed of sin and receive the new life of Christ through the waters of baptism.

My dear catechumens, baptism is only the beginning. It will be up to you, with the help of God’s grace, to live your baptism, to be faithful to your baptismal promises, to walk as children of the light. Remember that when you stumble because of sin, you can always get up and continue to walk in the light by repenting, going to confession and receiving the Lord’s forgiveness.

Seven of our brothers and sisters in Christ who were already baptized in other Christian communities will enter tonight into full communion in Christ’s Church. They will join the newly baptized in receiving the Sacrament of Confirmation. To walk as children of the light, we need the light of the Holy Spirit. We need to be sealed with the gift of the Holy Spirit that unites us more firmly to Christ and His Body, the Church. In confirmation, we receive that seal. We receive the power and strength to bear witness to Christ our Light in the world. Brothers and sisters to be confirmed, you receive a mission tonight. The graces you receive are meant to be passed on and shared with others by your witness of faith, hope, and love. This is what the Holy Spirit empowers us to do through the Sacrament of Confirmation.

Those newly confirmed will all receive for the first time the Sacrament of the Holy Eucharist, the climax of tonight’s liturgy. The Holy Eucharist completes Christian initiation. It is the source and summit of our Christian lives. It makes present our Lord’s passion, death, and resurrection. When we receive the Eucharist, we receive Jesus, the bread of life. Jesus Himself said, “Unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink His blood, you have no life in you.” And He promises, “He who eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day.” The Eucharist is the sacrament that nourishes our souls throughout our lives, the food that preserves, increases, and renews the life of grace we received at baptism until the moment of our death.

At the end of the Gospel, we heard that, after Peter saw the burial cloths of Jesus in the empty tomb, “He went home amazed at what had happened.” May we go home tonight filled with the amazing joy of Easter!