Perth Auxiliary Bishop Don Sproxton has spoken about the death and resurrection of Jesus in his homily at an all-night Easter Vigil.
“One of the things that we learn in the life of Jesus is that he was the first person to experience death not because he was a sinner, and not because he had a determination to depend on his own resources, but rather because of the trust and the faith that he had in the Father, and in the Father’s plan for him,” Bishop Sproxton explained.
“It seems that only gradually, he was coming to understand what that plan entailed. And yet, as more and more of this became clear to him, he was still able to trust that this was the will of God and that this was something that he needed to do.
“He needed to place himself into the hands of the Father.”
Speaking at the Easter Vigil Mass at St Gerard’s Church Mirrabooka Parish, Bishop Sproxton was joined by concelebrants, Episcopal Vicar for Education and Adult Faith Formation, Fr Vincent Glynn, Parish Priest Fr Giosue Marini, Redemptoris Mater Seminary Rector Fr Michael Moore and Ellenbrook Assistant Priest Fr Kenneth Acosta.
More than 250 gathered for the all-night vigil, which commenced at 11.30pm and concluded 5.15am. The celebration also included the baptism of four infants.
Bishop Sproxton commenced his homily by speaking about the story of creation, as heard in the readings from Genesis.
“There is the idea that God is there in a ‘Passover’, where there is a ‘passing over’ from ‘nothingness’, to life.
“In the other Genesis reading, which was the story of Abraham and Isaac, there is another Passover, another Lamb of God is present in the life of Abraham and Isaac, where Isaac is passed over. And as we heard, that poor ram was used as the sacrifice, in that way God intervened and Isaac was saved from having to be the sacrifice.
“These are different ways,” Bishop Sproxton continued, “of experiencing the intervention of God, or that way in which God works in our lives, so that we can experience Passover because of that presence of God in our lives, no matter what it is that we are facing in our life: the thing that causes us to be anxious; to be frightened; to not know what our next step should be.”
Continuing his homily, Bishop Sproxton drew on the readings of the New Testament, which details the experience that Jesus had of wanting to be obedient to the Father’s will.
“And that obedience of Jesus is something that enables us to be here tonight – obedience to the plan of God. A plan that even for Jesus, in one or two moments in his life, was overwhelming and very difficult for him to accept.
“But in obedience he did,” Bishop Sproxton exclaimed.
“And he brought about this celebration, that we are celebrating tonight, which is going to be received, his promise is going to be received by the young ones who will be baptised tonight.
“And it was in the prayer in which he was united with the Father: that not only did he, in his mind, understand what the love of God is, but in his heart, he knew that love of God, that he had that love for God,” he said.
“So it is through prayer that the love of God is something that is possible for us, and is a way for us to learn how to be obedient to the plan of God that gradually unfolds in our lives.
“As we journey through our lives that we may see more clearly the plan of God for us,” Bishop Sproxton highlighted.