Easter Vigil 2026
April 4, 2026
I. The Arc of God’s Mystery
This night is unlike any other night in the Church’s liturgical year. For tonight we celebrate the entire arc of salvation history, from the creation of the world, to the deliverance of the Chosen People from slavery to freedom, to the prophets who foretold the coming of the Christ.
Stepping back and listening again to the words of Scripture, we see how everything has prepared the way for the sinless Christ to embrace sinful Adam. Everything has prepared the way for Christ to win definitive deliverance from the death of sin to the new life of grace. Even so, how that deliverance was accomplished exceeded every expectation: the Son of God who emptied himself, taking upon himself our humanity, and in that humanity, dying and rising from the dead.
II. The Continuum of Salvation History
This night, the brilliance of Christ’s conquering love bursts forth upon us. The Resurrection is nothing less than the center of salvation history,
and the pivot upon which the history of humanity turns. Christ has conquered sin and death. The sting of death has been removed. A love has been unleased in the world
“stronger than sin and more powerful than death.” And for 2,000 years, in spite of persecution, upheavals, and even scandal, that love has been celebrated in the Church without interruption.
The work of salvation in Christ goes on in our midst. Across the Archdiocese of Baltimore, some 2,000 persons are entering the Church at Easter. Thirty-nine of you will be initiated into the Church here this evening. You are part of the great continuum of God’s saving work in human history.
To those of you being baptized and received into the Church, let me say this: I rejoice that, in God’s grace, you found your way to this moment. You are living testimony that, with the passage of time, the truth and love of Christ has not faded. His incandescent love shines as brightly as ever!
To those of you being baptized, let me say this: you are about to be immersed in Christ’s death, dying to sin and rising radiant in his risen life. May you always live as children of God and followers of Christ. To those of you who are already baptized, but are now entering the Church: allow me to welcome you most warmly, together with everyone here. May you always cling to the fullness of faith you profess tonight. All of you will be confirmed in the Holy Spirit, the Spirit who breathes the life of the Risen Christ into the depth of your hearts, so that you might be conformed to Christ and live as his disciples. Your communion with Christ and the Church is strengthened as you are nourished by the Body and Blood of Christ, crucified and risen.
Dear catechumens and candidates, as your initiation into the Church’s life takes place this evening, know that you are to help write new chapters of salvation history – by the depth of your faith, the strength of your hope, the radiance of your love. You are to strengthen the Church by the witness of your life, a life of virtue and service to others rooted in Scripture, daily prayer, the Holy Eucharist and the Sacrament of Reconciliation.
Please accept our warmest welcome. And know that your newfound embrace of the fullness of faith inspires those of us who have been Catholics our whole life long to renew our faith, to resolve to live it and practice it more fully. Together may we come to know and understand by what water we have been cleansed, in whose Spirit we have been reborn, and by whose Blood we have been redeemed. Christ is Risen! Indeed he is truly Risen! Alleluia! Alleluia!