Holding lighted candles while being sprinkled with holy water, Catholics renew their baptismal vows during the Easter vigil mass.
ANTIPOLO City, March 31, 2013—As millions of Catholics celebrated the Easter vigil mass, a priest reminded the faithful that Catholics’ faith should go beyond the Passion of Good Friday and extend to the overpowering confidence and triumph of Jesus on Easter Sunday.
“ Ang lungkot kasi ang panampalataya natin napako na sa Biyernes Santo… [Sa totoo lamang,] ang Pasko ng Pagkabuhay ang pinakamataas, pinaka-sentro ng ating pananampalataya (It’s sad because our faith is stuck in Good Friday…[in fact,] Easter is the highest and most central aspect of our faith) ” said Fr. Jun Meneses, parish priest of San Antonio de Padua parish, during his homily at an Easter vigil mass.
Fr. Meneses said, he observed how so many people flock to church on Holy Thursday and on Good Friday, but inexplicably disappear during the highlight itself, Easter Sunday.
It is probably because Christ’s sufferings on Good Friday are so affinitive to the universal human experience.
But Fr. Jun, as his parishioners call him, was quick to explain that there is more to the Christian faith than the 14 stations of the Cross.
“Hindi tayo natubos dahil namatay si Hesus. Natubos tayo dahil si Hesus ay nagpakasakit, namatay at muling nabuhay, (We were not saved because Jesus died. We were redeemed because Jesus suffered, died and rose again,” he explained.
It is Christ’s resurrection, Fr. Meneses stressed, that symbolizes sin and death’s “knock-out” — more than just His suffering and death.
“Napawi na ang dilim ng kasalanan..[At] ang Pasko ng Pagkabuhay, ang dulot sa atin ay liwanag, pag-asa at pag-ibig, (The darkness of sin has been cast out…[And] Easter brings us light, hope and love),” he said in closing.
At Easter mass, Catholics renew their baptismal vows, faith in Jesus and belief in the Holy Mother Church and reject Satan and his works. [Nirva’ana Ella Delacruz]
