The Thunder of the New Creation

 

Eucharistic Homily
at the
Solemn Paschal Vigil in the Holy Night

 In 1927, a Catholic priest who later became friends with Albert Einstein completely changed our understanding of the universe’s origins.  His name was Fr Georges Lemaître, and he was the first to propose what we now call the Big Bang Theory.

He suggested that, billions of years ago, the universe began as a kind of “cosmic egg” that burst forth in a primordial explosion of energy—energy so primordial and inaccessible that physics and mathematics cannot fully grasp it.  Scientists tell us the smallest measurable unit of physical action is the joule-second, the Planck constant—so minuscule it nearly defies comprehension. And yet, in that whisper of time, worlds were born, light began, and matter stirred.

The Word of God alludes to this mystery when Job is asked:
“Where were you when I laid the foundation of the earth… when the morning stars sang together and all the heavenly beings shouted for joy?”

In the Resurrection of Christ, we encounter a kind of theological joule-second: a moment so still, so silent, so hidden, that the Gospels do not even try to describe it.  The stone is already rolled away.  The tomb is already empty.  But in that unfathomable instant—like the very first spark from the cosmic egg—everything changed.

The silence of the Resurrection is not absence.  It is pregnant fullness.  It is the divine hush before the thunder of the New Creation.

Scientists say it is only one ten-quadrillion-quadrillion-quadrillionth of a joule-second after the Big Bang that they can begin to detect the emergence of forces:  Gravity, radiation, nuclear energy, and so on.

In tonight’s Gospel, we witness something similar at the Empty Tomb—a burst of new energy that marks the second Big Bang, inaugurating a New Creation:
“Suddenly two men in dazzling clothes stood beside them… ‘Why do you look for the Living One among the dead? He is not here, but has risen!’”

It mirrors the beginning of our celebration tonight:
“Rejoice!  Let Mother Church also rejoice, arrayed with the lightning of his glory!”

But Easter is not merely a grand idea. It is cosmic transformation.
And so I ask you:
What New Creation is Christ beginning in you tonight?

Let us unpack this by reflecting on three bursts of energy that emanate from this Big Bang of the Resurrection, all of which are distilled in the flame of the Easter Candle.

First: “Let there be light.”
The first day of the old creation began with a burst of light—bringing warmth, visibility, and understanding.  Tonight, joined with the Paschal Fire below and the Full Moon above, we are reminded that light is the primal metaphor of the Risen Christ, who alone brings consolation, perception, and revelation.

Second: “He is not here… He is risen!”
When the old universe began, it already began to decay—what scientists call entropy.  St Paul speaks of this as creation “groaning” and the outer self “decaying.”  But the Resurrection reverses the curse.  The burst of Christ’s rising has somehow saved—salvaged—the universe itself.  Easter is the beginning of the New Heavens and the New Earth.

Third: “Receive the Light of Christ.”
Tonight, news outlets report record numbers of baptisms around the world.  These newly baptized—these neophytes—will burst forth in faith, bearing candles lit from the Paschal flame. They recapitulate all three bursts:  Light, resurrection, and new life.  And for us who were once baptized, we are invited once again to lay aside every encumbrance that hinders our perennial newness in Christ.

And so, beloved, as we now prepare to renew our baptismal promises, let us remember:  We do not merely recall the Resurrection as a past event. We stand within it.  The burst of the New Creation reaches us tonight—not just as memory, but as power.

As we are sprinkled with the waters of baptism, may we feel the freshness of the world reborn.  As we approach the Eucharistic Table, may we recognize the Risen One—the same Lord who appeared in dazzling glory, now humbly present under the appearance of bread and wine.

This is the energy of the New Creation:  Christ Himself, alive and active, speaking your name and calling you out of the tomb.

So bring to this altar your darkness, your decay, your entropy—
and receive instead His light, His life, His love.

Christ is risen.

The New Creation has begun.

Let it begin in us.