Easter Vigil – A
March 22, 2008
Fr. Carl McCarthy
Then God said, “Let there be light,”
and there was light.
Nathan Rhodes has been coming to the
Catholic Church for some years with his wife, Melissa, and their daughter,
Sydney. Sorrowfully, they lost a baby daughter over a year ago. At the
time of her death, he knew that he needed to find his way into the Church;
he wanted his faith strengthened. He wanted to see and be with his family
in eternity…and so the Lord called Nathan to a deeper faith with his wife
and her family. Attending RCIA every Thursday has not been an easy journey
for Nathan, but he has always made his faith a top priority.
Then God said, “Let there be a dome in
the middle of the waters, to separate one body of water from the other.”
Mitzi Shuler came to the church seeking
a faith in which she, her husband, and her children could all worship
together. Her husband’s family was Catholic. She was raised in the Baptist
tradition and had many questions and doubts about faith and the Church.
So she came into the RCIA process seeking answers, and what she found was
her faith. Her two young sons have been baptized into our faith, and on
this Easter Vigil night, Jakob, her oldest son will receive his First
Communion with her.
Then God said, “Let the
water under the sky be gathered into a single basin, so that the dry land
may appear.”
Nikki Roby came to RCIA because she
wanted to be saved through the waters of Baptism. All her life she has
been uncomfortable that she wasn’t baptized in any religion. Her parents
and her husband were Catholic, so she began to inquire about our faith to
see if the Catholic Church was the place for her. In searching for a
church, and looking for a place where she could belong to Christ and be
baptized, Nikki found her faith and her home in Jesus.
Then God said, “Let the
earth bring forth vegetation: every kind of plant that bears seed and
every kind of fruit tree on earth that bears fruit with its seed in it.”
Victoria Brown is a proud 13 year old!
She has faced some big challenges in her young life. After the death of
her mother, she moved to Owensboro to live with her grandparents. Her
grandmother, being a woman of faith, wanted Victoria to be baptized and
raised in the Catholic tradition. Victoria has worked very hard on her
faith journey and has accepted Jesus with open arms. She is a young girl,
who is to be admired.
Then God said, “Let there be lights in
the dome of the sky, to separate day from night.”
Stacy Bowlds comes
to our faith because it is the Church of her family. She recalls attending
Mass and is knowledgeable about our traditions. She decided as a young
adult that she wanted to become Catholic and raise her sons in the
Catholic faith. Stacy is very excited about her faith, and her excitement
is contagious!
Then God said, “Let the water teem with
an abundance of living creatures, and on the earth let birds fly beneath
the dome of the sky.”
Stacy also brings her children, Caleb
and Lucas, to our Catholic faith through baptism. These two brothers,
though they are young, have learned much about what it means to follow
Jesus, and they accept his love in their lives. It delights God to see
each of you as a part of the family of Jesus, where you will share fully
in His light through your baptism tonight.
Then God said, “Let the earth bring
forth all kinds of living creatures: cattle, creeping things, and wild
animals of all kinds.” And so it happened…
And God said, “let us make man in our
image, after our likeness. Let them have dominion over the fish of the
sea, the birds of the air, and the cattle, and over the wild animals and
all the creatures that crawl on the ground.”
God then blessed them…Thus the heavens
and the earth and all their array were completed, and so we celebrate the
Genesis of God on this glorious night.
sdrose@bellsouth.net
3-24-2008 |
