From the responsorial psalm: “The right hand of the LORD has struck with power; the right hand of the LORD is exalted. I shall not die, but live, and declare the works of the LORD. Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia.”
All of the readings for the Easter Vigil can be found on The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops website: https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/041925.cfm
A reading from the holy Gospel according to Luke (Lk 24:1-12).
They said to them, “Why do you seek the living one among the dead? He is not here, but he has been raised.”
Each of the seven readings of the Easter Vigil recount aspects of salvation history, touching on creation, God’s covenant with Abraham, the Exodus, and the promises of salvation that came from the lips of the prophets. In seven days, God carried out his plan of creation. In the epistle and Gospel reading, we see the fulfillment of God’s plan in the person of Jesus Christ, his Son. The Easter Vigil is the culmination of the Paschal Triduum and the celebration of the Resurrection of Jesus Christ. In the Gospel, we are witnesses to this moment that breaks through all of salvation history into the present moment: the tomb is empty. In dying with Christ through baptism, we rise to new life. “For if we have grown into union with him through a death like his,” Saint Paul says, “we shall also be united with him in the resurrection.” According to his Father’s plan, Jesus destroys death forever and reconciles us, his Easter people, to God in his saving love and the hope of the resurrection.
God, help me fully take in the profound meaning of the Easter Vigil. With Mary Magdalene and the first witnesses of the resurrection, let me come to find the empty tomb and stand in awe and holy fear as I puzzle over it. In amazement at the mystery of the risen Christ, with Mary, the other women, and Peter, let me be astonished at what was at first believed to be nonsense, that what you promised is divine truth fulfilled. Throughout all of salvation history that led to his incarnation, your faithful plan was to bring us back to you through your Son’s death and resurrection. “You shall be my people,” you say through Isaiah, “and I will be your God.” Just as you created the world at the beginning of time, in the light of Christ a new creation dawns on Easter morning that breaks through the darkness of the empty tomb. Christ is risen! He is indeed risen!
Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit, as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen.