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EASTER VIGIL MASS  

Manila Cathedral Basilica
Intramuros, Manila
8:30 p.m., April 8, 2007

This is the night! Holy Mother the Church celebrates this great event. This is the Pasch. Although in Christendom we celebrate two Paschs – the Pasch of the birth; and this month, the Pasch of the risen Christ. Dalawa ang Pasko natin – Pasko ng Kapanganakan, at Pasko ng Pagkabuhay. Both of them are celebrated at midnight – a time when humanity is at rest. It is when humanity is quiet, sinful as it is, that the visitation of God takes place.

Tonight we celebrate the Pasch – the Passover of Christ. And when we reflect on the Passover of Jesus Christ, I invite you to please look at your own lives tonight, and see for yourself where you are in the Passover. You will find out that you and I are still crossing. For that indeed is the meaning of the pasch. To Passover. To cross. Tumawid. Ang ibig sabihin ng “pasko” ay tumawid. Tatawid tayo. Saan tayo tatawid? Makikita natin kung saan. Tumatawid tayo para pumunta sa ibang ibayo. We cross in order to reach the other side. We cannot cross to the same side, for then you will not be crossing. You’ve got to cross to the other side. Kaya ang tawag ay pagtawid. And no matter how you interpret the word “pasch” – ang mga dalubhasa sa banal na kasulatan, pinag-aral-aralan na yon, ano bang ibig sabihin talaga ng “pasehu”, ng “ pesah” – pagkat yun ang tunay na nangyari.

May pasehu, may pesah na nangyari na nung una. Kahit ano raw ang inyong isipin, yung pasehu, yung pesah, ang unang pagtawid, ay iyong ginawa sa Exodo, Kabanatang ika-10, 113-114. Iyong pagtatawid ng lahing hinirang, mga Hudeong inalipin sa Ehipto. Itatawid ni Yahweng Diyos sa kabilang ibayo ng kalayaan. Bilanggo ang mga Hudyo. Ang mga Israelita ay alipin – inalipin yaan. Magandang istorya yan, pero doon na natin hagipin sa pagkaalipin. Let’s catch them in their slavery in Egypt. They were slaves, not free. Not even to worship. Wala silang laya, ni sa pagsamba. Inalipin talaga sila. At gusto ng Diyos na ipasehu – pesah – gustong itawid sila. Yan ang pasehu – Passover. The “pesah”. The Paschal Mystery. MisteryoPascual. Gusto ng Diyos na iligtas ang mga tao na yan. At di nga’y ililigtas.

Ngunit ang pagkaligtas sa kanila ay dumaan sa kamatayan. May mga mamamatay tuwing tatawid. Aagos ang dugo tuwing maliligtas. At noong gabing iyon, tingnan ninyo ang pagdalaw ng Panginoon. The visitation of God is at night – even in Exodus, it was at night. Yahweh God told Moses and Aaron, “Tell the people to slay a lamb or a goat. Slit the neck, paint the blood on the door posts. That will be a sign for the angel of death. And when he sees the blood painted on the post, he will pasehu – he will pesah – he will pass over your doors. No one will die. But the rest who will not paint their homes with blood, the firstborn of men and beast will die.” Yung gabi ngang iyon, nagdaan nga ang anghel ng kamatayan. Patay ang lahat ng panganay ng hayop at ng tao. And nagkaligtas lang iyong mga nagpinta ng dugo. At ang sabi pa, dugo lamang ang inyong ipipinta. Paint only blood. The meat of the lamb will be used for food when you travel. Mamayang gabi, tatakas kayo. Ang magliligtas sa inyo’y dugo ng kordero. At ang laman, ang karne ng kordero ang magiging pagkain ninyo pagliban sa kabila. Pagkain habang naglalakbay. Food for your travel. That is what we call “viaticum”. Kung tayo’y may viaticum na, at ang viaticum na yan, pagkain habang naglalakbay sa pagtakas ay ang karne ng tupa. Napakaraming kasaysayang dinadala na kahulugan niyan. Dumating ang hatinggabi. Namamatay ang lahat ng panganay. Pinatakas sila ni Haring Faraon ng Ehipto – lumayas na kayo’t nangangamatay kami rito. Pagtakas nila, patay ang mga iniwan nila. At hindi lang yon, tuloy pang itinawid sila ng dagat – nakalimang dagat. Ang humahabol sa kanila, patay na naman.  

Ano’ng nakikita natin sa pagtawid? What do you see as you cross? Whether you cross a door, or you cross a river, or you cross a sea? Blood and death. Ano’ng makikita ninyo? Ke tumawid ka, lumabas ka ng kwarto, lumabas ka ng pintuan, tumawid ka ng ilog o dagat, makakakita ka ng dugo. May mamamatay. Ito ang nangyari ngayong gabi. This is exactly what we are trying to commemorate tonight. Although it is within the background of the Exodus of the Jews, it is your exodus. Ang inyong pagtawid kasama ang akin. Tayong lahat ay alipin ng kasalanan – hindi alipin ni Pharoah. We are not the slaves of Pharoah. We are the slaves of sin. We are the slaves of sinful living. We are the slaves of pride. We are the slaves of comfort. We are the slaves of all the sensualities happening all over the world – sexualities everywhere – we are all slaves. And we have got to be saved. So now, we’ve – and the marks to save to the other side – all your difficulties, all your crosses, all your sacrifices, kayong lahat na may problema. Kayong lahat na may suliranin, sa bahay, sa trabaho, sa ekonomiya, sa pulitika, sa pag-unlad, sa pagsulong, sa inyong pangangatawan. Sa inyong kalusugan. Hindi ba ninyo alam na ang dami-dami nating problema? Pero merong kasalanan – pinakamalaking pagkaalipin natin. Itatawid tayo ng Diyos. So lahat ng problema ninyo, mga may problema ngayong gabi – idadaan kayo sa dagat. Maduduguan kayo. You’ve got to die to your sins. If you’re a slave to sin, you’ve got to die to that sin. If you’re proud, you’ve got to die to pride. So that you will reach the other side – to a new life.

What has that got to do with tonight? An’ong kinalaman ngayon sa hating-gabing ito ngayong ating pinaglalamayan? Itong yaman ng muling pagkabuhay ni Hesus? Kapatid, malaking-malaki itong ipinagdiriwang natin. Nagpupugay tayo kung Pasko ng Kapanganakan. Mas malaking araw at gabi ito. Tayong lahat at tinatawid ng Diyos. This is the bigger Pasch, because we are being brought across to the other side, to the safe side of life, to the greater part of life, to the holy part of life – to new life. And tonight, what we celebrate is the Passover of Jesus. The Paschal Mystery of Christ. It is an experience of the Passion, the Death and the Resurrection.

Lahat ng pagtawid ay sinumada ni Hesus ngayong gabi. All human crossing over, all human passing over, from the slavery of sin, poverty, pride, etc. crossing to the other side where you no longer will be a sinner, you’ll be a free man and woman. All human sufferings will end – the passing from different moments of sacrifice and death. Tonight Christ summarized all that. In those three days we celebrated, starting from Thursday, Friday and Sunday. The Passion , the Death, and the Resurrection of Christ. In that one act of Jesus, he summarized, he carried, all human crossing overs from slavery of any kind, especially sin, to a new life, where there no longer is slavery, even to sin.

Hindi lang yon. Hindi lang kinarga ni Hesus ang lahat ng pagkaalipin ng tao, at itinawid sa kabila, sampu na ng inyong problema ngayon, at pati ang akin. Higit pa sa riyan. Jesus did not only summarize all Christian crossings or human crossings – even non-Christians are included in this transit of Jesus – he, in fact, carried it on the cross – which of course is what happened – for all humanity. He not only summarized it, he perfected all crossings. Ginawa niyang ganap ang lahat ng pagtawid sa kanyang pagtawid na ginawa. So be happy at that. He not only carried all our crosses, he not only carried all our difficulties, and all our crises put together and brought it to the other side. He perfected all human crossings through his passion, death and resurrection.

Ito ang ibig sabihin ng “Paschal Mystery”: ang pagtawid ni Kristo na siyang formula ng pagtawid ng tao. Ang Misteryo Pascual ni Hesus ang pormula ng pagtawid ng tao. The Paschal Mystery of Christ is the formula for all human and Christian especially crossings. You cannot cross to the other side without sufferings. You cannot develop your family, your self, without passing through sacrifice. You cannot go to the other side of being free unless you pay the price for freedom. You cannot go to the other side and say, oh, I want a comfortable life, unless you sacrifice and discipline yourself. Kapatid, ito ang turo ni Hesus. The Paschal Mystery is the only way for us to develop, to progress, and to be saved.

Actually, there is Jesus. Put that truth in one verse in the whole Bible. Tonight we will bring this home. Ano yung batas pagtawid? What is the Paschal Mystery law? The Paschal Mystery is to cross from suffering, slavery, through death to life. Dapat kang mahirapan. Dapat nga magtiis, dapat magbata ng krus kung gusto mong lumipat sa kabila. I hope you will not forget. I’m going to give you the formula given by Jesus in the Bible. This he said in John 12:24. And this is the Paschal mystery of all. He said, “Unless the grain of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains unknown. If the grain of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it will sprout into new life.” Hanggat ang binhi hind pumapatak sa lupa at mamatay, bulukin ng tubig at ng araw, ito’y hindi susuroy. Hayaan mong pumatak sa lupa. Hayaan mong ito’y mabulok ng tubig at painitan ng araw. Pag nabulok ito’t namatay, sasabihin, ang bagong buhay.

Anong tinuturo ni Jesus sa kanyang muling pagkabuhay? Dapat kang mamatay. Mamatay ka sa bisyo. Mamatay ka sa kasalanan. Mamatay ka sa iyong masamang ugali. You’ve got to die to your vice, you’ve got to die to your sin. You’ve got to die to your bad behavior and conduct. If you don’t die to those things, you will not come out a new man. So to the address of that angel, “Why are you looking for the living among the dead?” That’s the Gospel – bakit ninyo hinahanap ang buhay sa mga patay? Tama ang anghel. Look for Jesus among the living.

But there’s a catch there, against the angel who perhaps never heard what Jesus had said: You must die first, before you live. So in a sense, the women were correct. You’re looking for people who had already died and now are alive. You will not live without having died. Both are correct. But the women knew better than the angels, because they knew it takes a person to die before he lives.

I’ll also take this opportunity to share with you the wealth in the Paschal Mystery. You cannot just wake up and say I want to be free, I want to develop, I want to be rich, I want to be successful, I want to be powerful. Nonsense. This is not the way of Jesus Christ. This is not the way of man. You don’t progress without sacrifice. Unless the grain of wheat falls to the ground and dies it remains alone. If it dies, it yields a hundredfold. What the Lord is saying is this: Do you want to become great, you want to become saved, you want to become redeemed? Then discipline yourself. Disiplina ang kailangan. You want to live a greater life? Make sacrifices. Mortify yourself. Abstain. Take difficult things. Only when you take difficult things, when you take the cross, will you be entitled to cross to the other side. John 12:24 – if it dies, it yields a hundredfold. That is the Paschal Mysterium. The world knows it, but doesn’t practice it. You know it. Every one of us knows it. A simple child would know. You need to die in order to reach the other side. Don’t you know that everyday we die? Sleep is a semblance of death. Hindi ba? Pag natutulog ka, wala kang malay? Yun na ang practice sa atin ng Diyos para bukas malakas. Hindi ninyo ba nalalaman na mamamatay tayo mamaya – maliban sa kung kayo’y hindi matutulog. You’ve got to die. You want strength? You’ve got to sacrifice. Alam ninyong lahat yan. Ang tawag diyan ay Paschal Mystery. You need sacrifice. You need discipline. You need self-control. You need to go against yourself.

I’ll tell you something more. And that is the Paschal Mystery Law. Ito ang Paschal Mystery Law na nagtatago sa isipan ninyo – “No gain, no pain.” The world knows it, but does not know that it comes from Christ. Kung hindi ka magsasakripisyo – no pain; hindi ka magbubunga – no gain. At bakit alam ng tao yan? Malapit na tayo kay Kristo. No pain, no gain. Bakit hindi natin alam yan – pagpapabuti ng tao, pagpapaganda ng vision ng tao? Bakit hindi natin alam itong pagpapabuti ng bansa? Ang lahat ay gusto ay gain, gain, gain. Wala namang pain. Ang pain niyan ay ang sakripisyo. Yung sinasabi ni Kristo: Tthere are three points to Paschal Mystery. Tatlongistasyon. You cannot take only one; you have to take all three. Tatlong istasyon ng Paschal Mystery – pagmamalasakit, kamatayan, at muling pagkabuhay. Suffering, death, resurrection. Any difficult moments should be read into these three. Kay tao ang kausap, kay pamilya ang kausap, kay pari ang kausap, kay santo ang kausap, kay bansa ang kausap. Three points. Suffering, death, resurrection. New life.

Mgakapatid, this is what we celebrate. This is what Christ won on that midnight. May we learn from him. Not only may we learn from him, may our lives be swallowed into his paschal crossing. That every moment our life may be fruitful because we have learned how to live like Jesus. Be happy. Why look for the living among the dead? We are not. We knew that we live because we have learned how to die. Like Jesus, alleluia. We learned the lesson. Happy fiesta to all of you. In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.