Darkness... and then...

There is much darkness in the news during these days.

There may also be darkness in our own personal lives.

In the midst of this darkness on this Easter night, the voice of God is strong and clear:

Let there be light!

So we hear in tonight’s first reading (Genesis 1:1-2:2).

And in tonight’s Gospel (Mark 16:1-7), the long night of grief, emptiness, and heartbreak gives way to a dawn of surprising light and joy.

Very early when the sun had risen,
on the first day of the week, they came to the tomb.
They were saying to one another,
"Who will roll back the stone for us
from the entrance to the tomb?"
When they looked up,
they saw that the stone had been rolled back;
it was very large.
On entering the tomb they saw a young man
sitting on the right side, clothed in a white robe,
and they were utterly amazed.
He said to them, "Do not be amazed!
You seek Jesus of Nazareth, the crucified.
He has been raised; he is not here.
Behold the place where they laid him.
But go and tell his disciples and Peter,
'He is going before you to Galilee;
there you will see him, as he told you.'"

Thus God says in our lives:
Let there be light!

The light of His creative omnipotence.

The light of Christ’s resurrection.