Sunday Reading

HOLY SATURDAY: THE EASTER VIGIL (Cycle A)

Holy Saturday in Latin is the Sabbatum Sanctum, the Holy Sabbath, recalling the Jewish "Great Sabbath" (Shabbat HaGadol) in AD 30 when Jesus "rested" in the tomb on the Saturday Sabbath of the Holy Week of Unleavened Bread (Jn 19:31). Today we meditate on our Lord's suffering and death. The paschal Sabbath lasts from sundown on Good Friday to sundown on Holy Saturday and is the middle of the Triduum that began at sunset on Holy Thursday. Jesus rested in the tomb on Saturday of the Jewish Sabbath, and on Holy Saturday, the Church rests in Christ. The altar is left bare, and there is no celebration of the Mass until the Easter Vigil after sundown. The Church waits expectantly at the Lord's tomb and draws on the symbolism of darkness versus light. The liturgy, like Sacred Scripture, identifies darkness with sin and light with Christ, who defeats the darkness. Only after the solemn vigil during the night does the Easter celebration begin with the dawn in a spirit of joy that carries us through the next fifty days to the Feast of Pentecost.

The Theme of the Readings: Jesus is Our Light!
The Vigil Service draws on the symbolism of light versus darkness. Our liturgy identifies darkness with sin while the Easter candles we carry symbolize "Christ our Light!" Following ancient tradition, this night is one of waiting for the Lord (Ex 12:42). Like Jesus' parables of the Vigilant and Faithful Servants (Lk 12:35-40), the Wise and Foolish Virgins (Mt 25:1-13), and the Wedding Feast (Mt 22:1-14), we must be ready for the unknown hour of the Master's return. We must have the light of our faith burning brightly to keep us "awake," and our souls clothed in the wedding garment of grace. Jesus' warning to us is that we must "stay awake, for you know neither the day nor the hour" of Jesus' return in His Second Advent (Mt 25:13).

The Vigil Mass is in four parts:

We begin with a brief service of light. All the church's lights are turned off or extinguished, and inside there is complete darkness. A large fire is usually prepared outside. Gathering around the fire with the faithful, the presiding priest, in a short ceremony, will pray, bless, and light the new Easter candle from the flames. Then, those assembled will light their individual candles, beginning from the one source, the Easter candle that represents the light of Christ. The deacon or priest, lifting high the Easter candle, leads the congregation in a procession into the dark building, carrying their lights like Christ has called us to carry His "Light" to a dark world.
The Liturgy of the Word follows when the congregation meditates on the amazing things God has done for humanity from the beginning of the Creation event.
The Liturgy of Baptism is the next part as the Church invites us to revive in our lives the grace of our Baptism as we welcome the candidates who are receiving the Sacrament of Baptism. After watching their spiritual rebirth, the priest invites us to renew our baptismal commitment.
Finally, the Body of Christ celebrates the Liturgy of the Eucharist, when those in a state of grace come to the table that the Lord has prepared for His faithful through His death and Resurrection.

The readings:
Reading I: Genesis 1:1-2:2 or 1:1, 26-31a
Responsorial Psalm: Psalm 104:1-2, 5-6, 10, 12-14, 24, 35; or Psalm 33:4-7, 12-13, 22

Reading II: Genesis 22:1-18 or 22:1-2, 9a, 10-13, 15-18
Responsorial Psalm: Psalm 16:5, 8-11

Reading III: Exodus 14:15-15:1
Responsorial Psalm: Exodus 15:1-5, 17-18

Reading IV: Isaiah 54:5-14
Responsorial Psalm: Psalm 30:2, 4-6, 11-13

Reading V: Isaiah 55:1-11
Responsorial Psalm: Isaiah 12:2-6

Reading VI: Baruch 3:9-15, 32; 4:4
Responsorial Psalm: Psalm 19:8-11

Reading VII: Ezekiel 36:17-17a, 18-28
Responsorial Psalm: (when Baptism is celebrated) Psalm 42:3, 5; 43:3-4; or Isaiah 12:2-3, 4BCD, 5-6; or Psalm 51:12-15, 18-19

Epistle: Romans 6:3-11
Responsorial Psalm: Psalm 118:1-2, 16-17, 22-23

Gospel: Matthew 28:1-10

All Scripture passages are from the New American Bible unless designated NJB (New Jerusalem Bible), IBHE (Interlinear Bible Hebrew-English), IBGE (Interlinear Bible Greek-English), or LXX (Greek Septuagint Old Testament translation). CCC designates a citation from the Catechism of the Catholic Church. The word LORD or GOD rendered in all capital letters is, in the Hebrew text, God's Divine Name YHWH (Yahweh).

The two Testaments reveal God's divine plan for humanity, and for this reason, we read and relive the events of salvation history contained in the Old and New Testaments in the Church's Liturgy. The Catechism teaches that the Liturgy reveals the unfolding mystery of God's plan as we read the Old Testament in light of the New and the New Testament in light of the Old (CCC 1094-1095).

Matthew 28:1-10 ~ The Women Disciples Discover the Empty Tomb and the Resurrected Christ

1 After the Sabbath, as the first day of the week was dawning, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary came to see the tomb. 2 And behold, there was a great earthquake; for an angel of the Lord descended from heaven, approached, rolled back the stone, and sat upon it. 3 His appearance was like lightning, and his clothing was white as snow. 4 The guards were shaken with fear of him and became like dead men. 5 Then the angel said to the women in reply, "Do not be afraid! I know that you are seeking Jesus the crucified. 6 He is not here, for he has been raised just as he said. Come and see the place where he lay. 7 Then go quickly and tell his disciples, He has been raised from the dead, and he is going before you to Galilee; there you will see him.' Behold, I have told you." 8 Then they went away quickly from the tomb, fearful yet overjoyed, and ran to announce this to his disciples. 9 And behold, Jesus met them on their way and greeted them. They approached, embraced his feet, and did him homage. 10 Then Jesus said to them, "Do not be afraid. Go tell my brothers to go to Galilee, and there they will see me."

Obediently observing the Sabbath rest, the women disciples could not return to the tomb until daybreak on the day after the Sabbath. St. John's Gospel explains that the Sabbath of the holy week of Unleavened Bread was a solemn observance (Jn 19:31). For the Jews, the Sabbath is the last day of the week (Gen 2:1-3). The women returned on the "first day" of the week, which early Christians designated by the Roman custom as "the day of the sun" or Sunday. Christians called Sunday the "Lord's Day" to commemorate Jesus' Resurrection from the dead and to offer worship in the sacrifice of the Eucharist (Acts 20:7; Rev 1:10, CCC 1166 and 2174). Saturday was the last day of the Creation event when God rested from the work of creation; therefore, Sunday was the first day of the Creation event in Genesis 1:1. Jesus' Resurrection on this day signifies a New Creation and a New Age of humanity. It is also the Jewish Feast of Firstfruits that fell on the day after the Great Sabbath of the Holy Week of the Feast of Unleavened Bread (Lev 23:4-14; Jn 19:31).

The women named in verse 1 are Mary Magdalene (cured of demon possession) and Mary, the mother of James. The other Gospels tell us that others accompanied them, including Salome, the mother of James and John Zebedee (Mk 16:1), Joanna (Lk 24:10), and perhaps Susanna among others (Lk 8:2-3).

The week from the 14^th to the 21^st of Nisan contained three of the seven annual sacred feasts: Passover on the 14^th, Unleavened Bread from the 15^th to the 21^st, and the Feast of Firstfruits within that holy week on the day after the Sabbath, the day we call Sunday. The Feast of Firstfruits that fell on the day after the Sabbath of the holy week of the pilgrim feast of Unleavened Bread is one of the two annual festivals that had no specific date, unlike the other five yearly festivals. The Feast of Firstfruits was ordained to fall on the day after the Sabbath of Unleavened Bread, and the Feast of Pentecost 50 days after Firstfruits as the ancients counted (Lev 23:9-11, 15-16). Therefore, both feast-days always fell on the first day of the week, which is our Sunday. The Feast of Firstfruits celebrated the first fruits of the spring barley harvest in the Promised Land. At the feast, the people presented the first fruits of the barley harvest to God along with the sacrifice of an unblemished male lamb, a grain offering, a libation of red wine, and a public profession of faith (Lev 23:9-14; Dt 26:1-10).

Jesus fulfilled each of the sacred annual feasts of Passover, Unleavened Bread, and Firstfruits:

The Passover was the last Old Covenant legitimate sacrifice that looked forward to Jesus' sacrifice the next day. In the first Passover in Egypt, God saved the firstborn sons under the sign of the blood of the Passover lambs and goat-kids smeared across their doors from the threshold to the lintels and doorposts, making the sign of a bloody cross. Jesus saves all baptized believers who accept Him as Savior under the same sign of His blood on the cross of crucifixion. Jesus, the true Lamb of God that all other animal sacrifices prefigured, becomes humanity's Paschal sacrifice.
The first night of the Feast of Unleavened Bread, when the faithful ate the Passover victim in a sacred meal, became the New Covenant sacred meal of the Eucharist. It was the beginning of Jesus' walk to the altar of the cross. The next day, the first daytime celebration of Unleavened Bread, was the day of Jesus' crucifixion.
Jesus' Resurrection from the dead was on the annual Feast of Firstfruits as the "first fruits" of the resurrected dead.

Except for the Samaritans and the Jewish sect of the Karaites, most modern Jews designate Nisan the 16^th as the feast of Firstfruits, which destroys the connection to Christ's Resurrection. Flavius Josephus, the first century AD Jewish priest/historian, records that the Feast of Pentecost used to always fall on the "first day of the week." Therefore, the feast of Firstfruits that determined the day of Pentecost fifty days later used to always fall on the first day of the week as well. However, the religious authorities changed the day (Josephus, Antiquities of the Jews, 13.8.4 [252]. The change to a specific date was an attempt to sever the connection between the Feast of Firstfruits and Jesus' Resurrection.

The woman disciples from the Galilee found the tomb empty. The angel who rolled away the stone explained to them that what Jesus told them in the Galilee concerning the prophecy of His Passion and Resurrection on the third day was now fulfilled (Mt 16:21; 17:22-23; 20:17-19). All four of the Gospels record that the woman disciples were the first to hear the angelic announcement of Jesus' Resurrection and the first to witness the glorified Christ. It is their reward for their faithfulness in standing by Jesus at His Cross of suffering.

In verse 7, the angel instructs the woman to inform the Apostles of the miracle of Jesus' Resurrection and to tell them to meet Jesus in the Galilee, where their life-altering adventure began. The women immediately went to the eleven Apostles (Judas was already dead). They received a reward for their obedience when they encountered the resurrected Jesus on the way. Jesus greeted them, and as they prostrated themselves before Him in reverent worship, He told them not to be afraid and repeated the angel's message that they must deliver to the Apostles.

Both the Gospels of Luke and John record that Peter ran to investigate the tomb. However, St. John includes the information that the "beloved disciple," who he also calls the "other disciple" (believed to be St. John himself), also ran to the tomb with Peter. They discovered the tomb empty except for the burial cloths (Jn 20:2-10). Significantly, both the Gospels of Luke and John mention the burial cloths. If robbers had disturbed the tomb, they would have left the corpse behind and would have taken the expensive burial cloths, and if Jesus' disciples had taken the body of the Christ, they would have carried away the body still wrapped in the shroud out of respect. St. John's Gospel reports that the "other" disciple "saw and believed" that indeed, Christ was raised from the dead (Jn 20:8)!

Is the testimony contained in the Gospels enough for you to "see and believe"? Jesus fulfilled the promise He made to Martha of Bethany on a Sunday that changed the course of human history. Jesus told Martha, "I am the resurrection and the life; whoever believes in me, even if he dies, will live, and everyone who lives and believes in me will never die" (Jn 11:25-26). On that Sunday in the early spring of AD 30, the Final Age of humanity began, and it will continue until Christ's return in His Second Advent at the end of time as we know it!

The tomb of Jesus at the Church of the Holy Sepulcher in Jerusalem:
The Tomb where Jesus lay