It has been a long week, from Palm Sunday to this Easter vigil. We
have seen and heard marvelous things, good and bad. But one thing has puzzled
me: where was the Holy Spirit in all this? It is not only the Father who seems
to have disappeared in the final days; where was the consolation of the Holy
Spirit that Jesus promised his disciples? Where was the Paraclete to stand by
his side and deliver him from the Sanhedrin and Pilate? Where has the Spirit
been?
The blessing of the new fire was an important reminder for me: the
Holy Spirit is with us, alive and active. Fire is a symbol of the Holy Spirit.
We take from the new fire and light the Paschal candle and our little candles.
We come in the darkness of night, to find him whom our soul loves. And he will be
found, for the light and fire of the Holy Spirit which “searches everything,
even the depths of God,” will point him out.
Why is fire an apt symbol for the Holy Spirit? Because fire
purifies; it overcomes resistance; it consumes. We see this in all that Jesus
passed through last week: the anguish, the betrayal, and the sacrifice. Think of
Jesus’ anguish in the garden: he begged the Father to remove the cup from him,
but by the fire of the Spirit, burning in his heart, he found strength greater
than his fear of death. Think of the bitterness of his betrayals: only the
Spirit could inspire this plea for forgiveness—“Father, forgive them for they
know not what they do.” Think of his cry on the cross: “My God, my God, why
have you forsaken me?” Do we dare to say that the Spirit was present in that
prayer, helping him in his weakness, interceding with a divine fire according
to God’s will?
Indeed, it is by the light and fire of the Holy Spirit that we can
understand Jesus’ words that “…it was necessary for Christ to suffer in
order to enter into his glory.” Jesus’ offering of himself on the cross calls
to mind Elijah’s evening sacrifice, when he exhorted the Israelites to come
back to God, calling down fire from heaven on their sacrifice; but this time it
was our heavenly Father himself who sent the fire of his Spirit to consume the
perfect sacrifice of Jesus, totally emptied on the cross.
We have a challenge with the Spirit: just like the mystery of the empty tomb, the Spirit works in hiddenness. He does not speak on his own, but only what he hears. He does not promote himself but only wants to raise up the body of Christ. And that is what we have here today: the Body of Christ is raised up, and we his members are raised up with him! That is why we can say the “Amen” to the Exsultet with full hearts and minds and voices—and with the fire of the Holy Spirit—rejoicing that we have found him whom our soul loves!
Resurrection by Piero della Francesca. Easter homily by Dom Vincent.
