The Easter Vigil in the Holy Night 2024

Most Reverend José H. Gomez
Archbishop of Los Angeles

Cathedral of Our Lady of the Angels
March 30, 2024

My brothers and sisters in Christ, and especially you, dear elect and candidates:¹

During these days of Holy Week, I’ve been reflecting how we have accompanied Jesus and Mary and the holy women, and how with them we have entered into the mystery of Easter — the mystery of Christianity and our Catholic faith — which is, as we know, the mystery of divine love.

And this is the meaning of the readings we have just heard tonight, which lead us from the first days of creation to the “new creation” that begins when Jesus is raised from the dead. 

This divine love story continues in your life and in mine, and in the life of every person.

So my dear elect and candidates, since the day you were born, God has been waiting for this night.

Every life is unique, every life has its “story.” And what happens to us, happens for a reason. Whether you knew it or not, all your life, God has been gently guiding you to this night.

Tonight your “story” will be joined to “his story,” to the beautiful history of salvation, the great story of God’s love for his people.

You have followed many different paths during the course of your life. And tonight all those roads have led you to where you were always meant to be.

Tonight, you stand at the entrance of his empty tomb, with Mary Magdalene and the women from Galilee.

You see the angels in dazzling garments. And you hear those astounding words: “He is not here, but he has been raised!”

Christ is risen, Jesus is alive!

He will turn our every sorrow into joy! He will wipe away every tear from our eyes, for death is no more! Whatever came before in our life has now passed away.

Jesus said he would never leave us orphans, that he would be with us until the end of the age. Tonight, he keeps that promise.

By dying on the cross, Jesus has destroyed death. By rising from the dead, he makes it possible for us to walk with him as a friend.

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

This is such a beautiful expression: the newness of life.

This is what it means to live with Jesus! It means he goes with us on the journey of our life.

We can speak to him of our deepest thoughts, we can share with him our hopes, fears, and dreams. Though we do not see him, we know that he is always by our side.

In the Eucharist, Jesus comes again and makes a gift of himself. He comes to be near to us, to be our daily bread, to feed us and strengthen us on our journey. He comes to draws us, even ever more deeply, into the mystery of his dying and rising.

So my brothers and sisters, Jesus Christ will love us to the end. This is the promise of Easter, it is the fulfillment of the beautiful mystery of his divine love.

And if we follow him in faith, if we live by his teachings and commandments, if we make him the way and the truth for our life, Jesus will lead us to eternal life, what the saints call “the love that never ends.”

So Jesus is calling us now to rise up and to follow him away from his empty tomb.

He is calling us now too, to go out and tell others the good news that we have discovered tonight: “He has been raised; he is not here!”

So tonight, especially let’s ask Mary our Blessed Mother to help all of us to make this Easter a new beginning for our lives!

May she help us to always walk in the newness of life, in the footsteps of her Son, who is our Risen Lord!