A vigil of hope is an enigma, a strange phenomenon to preserve one’s sanity in the midst of loss and desolation, but hardly practised enough in life today where times of trauma and grief are too often times of bitterness and anger.  A vigil can be a time apart, a time away as some will know who have experienced their personal trauma of loss that marks so many lives. Anger yes, with denial, guilt, remorse and acceptance are human emotions, needing to be expressed as they are in themselves gifts from God.  Hope for the future is God’s special gift that may lead one to quiet acceptance or spur one to action. Is it possible to be grateful for these gifts of life in the midst of death, any death?  The Easter vigil differs as it precedes the Resurrection, but did his followers or yesterday and those of today remember that? 

Read, reflect, share and pray. “On this sacred night in which Our Lord Jesus Christ passed over from death to life the Church calls her sons and daughter scattered throughout the world to come together to watch and pray.  Then we shall have the sure hope of sharing his triumph over death and living with him in God.”   From the Opening of the Easter Vigil rite. Pope Francis:   Hope in a letter to the Catholics in the Holy Land 21 March 2024. For you and with you, I lift up this prayer: “Lord, you are our peace (cf. Eph 2:14-22). You who proclaimed blessed the peacemakers (cf. Mt 5:9): set human hearts free from hatred, violence and the spirit of revenge. We look to your example and we follow you, who are merciful, meek and humble of heart (cf. Mt 11:29). May no one rob our hearts of the hope of rising anew with you. May we never tire of defending the dignity of every man, woman and child, without distinction of religion, ethnicity or nationality, beginning with the most vulnerable among us: women, the elderly, children and the poor”.