Baptism connects us to the Risen Christ, Bishop Jugis preaches at Easter vigil

CHARLOTTE — “If we live in Jesus and the risen Savior lives in us, we conquer sin and death.”

This was the message proclaimed by Bishop Peter Jugis as he celebrated the Easter vigil Mass March 31 at St. Patrick Cathedral, which was filled with young and old there to commemorate the resurrection of Jesus Christ.

The liturgy began with the blessing of the Paschal fire and lighting of the Paschal candle at the Marian grotto outside the cathedral. Then the hundreds of faithful processed behind Bishop Jugis – candles in hand –into the darkened cathedral to hear the Exsultet chanted by Deacon Brian McNulty. In part, the Easter proclamation stated, “This is the night, when Christ broke the prison-bars of death and rose victorious from the underworld.”

After the Scripture readings and psalms, the cathedral’s lights were turned on and bells were rung as the faithful sang the Gloria.

In his homily, Bishop Jugis reflected on the reading from the vigil Mass Gospel according to Mark (Mk 16:1-7), “a very stirring gospel” which recounts how the holy women came to Jesus’ tomb and found it empty.

“Jesus Christ is risen from the dead!” the bishop said. “That is what we celebrate today and what we celebrate, in fact, every season of the year, at every liturgical time of the year. Jesus Christ, risen from the dead, is with us always – our living Savior, our living Lord.”

The Gospels’ eyewitness accounts of seeing, touching, speaking and eating with the risen Christ follow eyewitness accounts of His death and burial, he noted.

All of the eyewitness accounts affirm for us “the resurrection of Jesus is real,” he said. His resurrection is “the most amazing thing that happened in the history of the world since creation.”

The resurrection demonstrates that Jesus is triumphant over sin and death, he said.

“The message for us, we know – as Christians, as Catholics – is that if we live in Jesus and the risen Savior lives in us, we also conquer sin and death.”

The risen Jesus offers us freedom from sin and death, he reiterated. “One day we will also experience, then, the consequence of that freedom from sin, freedom from death: our own resurrection on the final day.”

Bishop Jugis welcomed three catechumens at the vigil Mass, giving them the sacraments of initiation – baptism, confirmation and Holy Communion.

During his homily, he explained the connection between baptism and the celebration of Easter.

“It is no accident that the Church likes to celebrate the sacrament of baptism during the Easter season, beginning with the Easter vigil,” he said.

“Of course, baptism is celebrated any time of the year. I was baptized on March 24, which was a Sunday in Lent, way back when,” he admitted with a smile.

But baptism at Eastertime is a special time “to begin a new life in the risen Christ,” he continued, because it “lets us see … the full meaning of Jesus’ resurrection.”

“Baptism joins us to the risen Christ. We begin to experience His own resurrected life within us as the risen Christ lives within us. We are washed of our sins, we are purified, and the divine life of Jesus Christ is imparted to our souls.”

That new life within the risen Christ “lasts forever,” he said. “That new and glorious life begins with us in baptism.”

And everyone at the Mass, not just the catechumens, receive a reminder of their baptism when they are sprinkled with holy water, he explained.

“We carry Christ’s victory over sin and death within us,” he said, “so there is no excuse to live as slaves to sin. Jesus is within you, the risen Savior lives within you.

“And if He can conquer death, He certainly can conquer anything that might be lurking in us.”

He concluded, “So with Easter joy, singing alleluia in our hearts, we celebrate the resurrection of Jesus, who says to each one of us now, ‘Behold, I am with you always, even to the end of the earth.’”

— Patricia L. Guilfoyle, editor

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