The Easter Vigil in the Holy Night 2023

Most Reverend José H. Gomez
Archbishop of Los Angeles

Cathedral of Our Lady of the Angels
April 9, 2023

My brothers and sisters, Happy Easter!¹

¡Feliz Pascua de Resurrección!

So we celebrate, obviously this evening and tomorrow, the resurrection of Our Lord Jesus Christ!

And the angel’s words from the Gospel tonight are words of joy. “He is not here, for he has been raised, just as he said!”

The tomb where Jesus once laid is empty. That means Jesus has won the victory, that his love is stronger than death!

Jesus was raised from the dead, so that we can be raised! He was raised so that “we too might live in newness of life,” as St. Paul tells us tonight.

From this empty tomb, we can walk now in Jesus’ footsteps, following the risen Lord, living with him in friendship.

Our whole life becomes a beautiful adventure with him. A beautiful adventure that is destined for heaven, for the love that never ends. 

So, let us praise God tonight and thank him for the gift of the Resurrection!

Celebramos la resurrección de Jesus y como nos dice San Pablo “así como Cristo resucitó de entre los muertos por la gloria del Padre, así también nosotros llevemos una vida nueva.”

Con Jesus nuestra vida es una bella aventura que esta destinada al cielo, al amor que nunca termina. Demos gracias a Dios Nuestro Señor por el regalo de la Resurrección de Jesus.

So this is a beautiful night especially for you, my dear elect.

Tonight your life will be joined to the great story of salvation that we heard this evening in the readings from sacred Scripture.

Since the day you were born, God has been waiting for this night.

You find yourself here, where he has always wanted you to be — at the Lord’s empty tomb, ready to be adopted into God’s family, his Catholic Church.

And all of us, my dear brothers and sisters, this is, as I said before, a night of joy! But it is also a night of mission.

We meet St. Mary Magdalene in the Gospel. She was the first to see Jesus raised from the dead, and the first to proclaim him to the world.²

Mary was a brave woman. All of the apostles except St. John ran away when Jesus was arrested on Holy Thursday. She didn’t run. She was there, at the foot of the cross, with Mary and John, when Jesus breathed his last.

Mary Magdalene was the first to come to his tomb on that Sunday morning.

And when Mary met him there, the Risen Lord gave her a mission. He said: “Do not be afraid. Go tell my brothers to go Galilee and there they will see me.”

So my brothers and sisters, the Risen Lord is also giving us a mission.

The mission of the Resurrection continues now in your life and my life. As Jesus announced his salvation through those first witnesses, he announces his salvation in this generation, through our witness.

We are here tonight, because like those first disciples, we believe that Jesus has been raised from the dead — we believe that he is alive, and that his love for us is real.

We are here tonight, because we believe that there is nothing more beautiful than to live for Jesus, who gave his life for us.

God has led each of you tonight to this empty tomb because he has a mission for you, just as he had a mission for Mary Magdalene, two thousand years ago.

And as he said to her, Jesus says to us: Go tell your brothers and sisters, your family, your friends, your neighbors!  Go tell them the good news that the tomb is empty — that Jesus has been raised from the dead as he said! Go tell them that we can meet the living God and know his love forever!

En el Evangelio de hoy escuchamos como Maria Magdalena junto con la otra Maria fueron las primeras que vieron a Jesus después de su Resurrección y Jesus le dio una misión: “No tengan miedo. Vayan a decir a mis hermanos que se dirijan a Galilea. Allá me verán”.

Jesus Resucitado nos ha dado una misión a cada uno de nosotros. Estamos aquí porque de verdad creemos que no han nada más bello que vivir para Jesus, que dio su vida por nosotros pero que ha resucitado y está siempre con nosotros.

Y Como le dijo a Maria Magdalena, Jesus nos dice a cada uno de nosotros: ¡ve y dile a tus hermanos y hermanas, a tu familia, a tus amigos, a tus vecinos que Jesus ha resucitado y que pueden conocer y tener el amor de Dios en sus vidas para siempre!

So happy Easter, my dear brothers and sisters! Let us ask for the grace to live every day with the joy of this holy night!

And let us ask Holy Mary, Mother of Joy, to keep us close to her risen Son, that we might always know the joy of his Resurrection, and share it with all the world.

¡Feliz Pascua de Resurrección! Le pedimos a Maria Santísima que nos tenga siempre cerca de su hijo Jesus y que nos ayude a compartir la alegría de la resurrección de Jesus con todo el mundo.