Sunday Vigil
Reading of the Word of God
Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia
Whoever lives and believes in me
will never die.
Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia
Exodus 12,37-42
The Israelites left Rameses for Succoth, about six hundred thousand on the march-men, that is, not counting their families. A mixed crowd of people went with them, and flocks and herds, quantities of livestock. And with the dough which they had brought from Egypt they baked unleavened cakes, because the dough had not risen, since they had been driven out of Egypt without time to linger or to prepare food for themselves. The time that the Israelites spent in Egypt was four hundred and thirty years. And on the very day the four hundred and thirty years ended, all Yahweh's armies left Egypt. The night when Yahweh kept vigil to bring them out of Egypt must be kept as a vigil in honour of Yahweh by all Israelites, for all generations.
Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia
If you believe, you will see the glory of God,
thus says the Lord.
Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia
The people set out. There is no Passover without an exit movement. There is no new life and future land without tackling the sometimes impassable, difficult and trial-strewn path to the promised land. Jesus, too, will send his disciples to the ends of the earth, that Christians may bring the Gospel of love to all peoples. And there is a hurry to do so. Especially in this time when globalisation has brought peoples closer together through the market but not through fraternity. We cannot postpone the proclamation of the 'Good News' that saves. God is in a hurry, because he knows that complicity with evil is not harmless. God is in a hurry for his people to hear the cry of all the peoples of the earth, especially that immense people of the poor and the discarded that traverse the entire planet. People often think, however, that the suffering of the poor and the imprisoned can always wait! This page shows very clearly that we are not saved alone. Unfortunately, even in Christianity, that virus of individualism has entered that tarnishes the sense of being part of one people. Even freedom is often reduced to looking after one's own enclosure. In this way one becomes a slave to that Pharaoh who is hidden in the heart of each one of us. To avoid this, we must keep watch, pray, listen to the Word of God, personally and with others. The whole of creation awaits the 'Passover', the passage from death to life. Let us be led by the Word of God and set out in its light. It shows the way forward.