Given on 4 April 2026 for the Vigil of Easter at Westminster Cathedral.
This is the night! These words, sung so insistently in the Exsultet, the great hymn of Easter Praise, that we have heard, make clear the significance of our celebration. This is, as St. Augustine described it, “the mother of all holy vigils” for all prayer, all our waiting and anticipation is fulfilled in the event we celebrate this night. All of human history looks to this one great event, the Resurrection of the Lord.
We have heard readings from the Old Testament: God’s act of creation, the act of love that calls us all to live our lives in relationship with the God Who is all love; Exodus, God’s action in freeing the chosen people from slavery, a foretaste of the event we celebrate this night; Ezekiel’s prophecy, in which he points the way to the new life that we shall celebrate in a few moments as we welcome those who are to be baptised.
The Easter Alleluia has been sung and we have heard in the Gospel news so great that words fail us: The Lord is Risen. This one event towers above every other event in human history, for the Son of God conquers death and opens for us the way to the fullness of life.
This is indeed the night for those of you to be baptised. Through your openness to the gentle promptings of the Holy Spirit, you have embarked upon the journey that has brought you through a time of prayer and catechesis to this great moment. In baptism, you will be reborn into the life of the Blessed Trinity and, freed from sin, you will become members of Christ’s Church, sharing in her life and mission together with your brothers and sisters. Together with those to be received into Full Communion with the Catholic Church, you will receive the Holy Spirit in Confirmation. You will receive the gifts that will enable you to take your full part in the mission of the Church and you will join us in the Eucharistic Celebration, the Lord giving Himself to you as the food for the pilgrimage that is our way to the Kingdom.
Those of you to be baptised, received and confirmed, we rejoice with you, we give thanks for your faith and for the new life you bring to the Church. You reflect the hope that is the Lord’s Resurrection, for you are witnesses to His new life and you remind us of all that the Lord has done for us.
For the whole Church, Easter is the time for the renewal of Baptismal Promises. This is a significant act for us all. While many of us will have made this renewal each year for many years, let us reflect on the importance of this renewal: It is a commitment to the gift of faith. It is also a commitment to action, for the Lord call us to be His instruments. In our present times the world is so often confusing and conflicted, subject to ever-changing and often illusory demands and attractions. Humanity is marked, scarred, by warfare and injustice, often instigated by greed and misguided power, bringing harm and death to so many and so often the most vulnerable.
Christ calls us to step into this world, carrying with us a message that is unchanging, yet always new. It is unchanging, for it is the message of the Gospel, the Good News of the light of the Risen Christ, whose words in the Upper Room after His resurrection are Peace be with you. It is ever new, not only because this message needs to be heard afresh, but because Jesus calls us to the eternal, to the mystery that is beyond time and is, therefore, always new. It is the wonder of this life that we carry with us, a message so wondrous that, when lived out as we are truly called to live it, is completely irresistible.
At the beginning of our Vigil, the Easter Candle shed light into the darkness of this great Cathedral. As this light was shared amongst us, “a fire into many flames divided, yet never dimmed by sharing of its light” brought ever clearer light amongst us. May this be the story of our lives as we share this irresistible light, this all-embracing love and peace of the Risen Lord across our communities and beyond, even to the ends of the earth.