"From Darkness to the Light of Christ"- 4th Sunday of Lent homily

The Easter Vigil happens every Holy Saturday night.

It's the greatest of all litergies in the Church.

If you've never been to one, I highly recommend attending this year.

There are several parts.

It's really powerful and dramatic.

The first part of the Easter Vigil, the Church is dark.

And we have the readings in the Old Testament.

And if you ever have seen it, it's like the lectors have to use flashlights.

choir have to use flashlights, the priests, all of us, because it's dark, to represent life before Christ.

Humanity was in darkness.

And then we switch to the New Testament and we sing the Gloria and the lights come on and the bells are rung.

It's very dramatic to express Jesus bringing the light to the world and he is the light of the world.

It also symbolizes in part the life of the man born blind.

who was in total darkness before he met Christ.

Like the woman at the well last week, one encounter with Jesus and it changed her forever.

His whole life in total darkness and then Jesus rubs, clay on his eyes, has him wash in the pool and he can see.

From total darkness to total light, Jesus brings his light to the man, to the bewilderment and confusion of the Pharisees and those there.

Huge, huge miracle.

The man like the woman the well represents us.

Again, in general, humanity away from Christ or before Christ, there are parts of the earth today that never heard of Jesus or the gospel.

So they have physical sight and they are in darkness.

And that's us in general away from Christ, but also particularly each one of us has at least one part of our life in darkness.

One area that we're kind of like we're closing our eyes, the lights around us, but we're closing our eyes and closing our hearts and won't let him in.

And don't want it to come out of the darkness into the light.

So back to that scene with the Easter Vigil, like closing your eyes, that's like the Pharisees.

The light's all around and Christ is around but they're closing their eyes to Him.

And we run the risk of being like them to whom He said, your sin remains.

That's closing our eyes and our hearts to the Lord.

I've talked so much about the Eucharist and confession because that's what changed me.

In general, in darkness, like the Eucharist, but then specifically those parts keeping from Him to bring it to His light.

That's how you and I find a way out of the darkness into the light is Jesus Christ.