April 4, 2026
Holy Saturday: The Easter Vigil Mass of the Resurrection of the Lord
Gospel: Matthew 28:1-10

Today is Holy Saturday. In accordance with the tradition of the Church, this evening the Church will read seven scriptural passages, an epistle of Saint Paul the Apostle, and the narrative from Saint Matthew’s Gospel describing Jesus’ encounter with Mary Magdalene and the other Mary after His resurrection. I wish to offer some reflections here.
Today, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary, following Jesus’ death, mourned Him in a way they deemed appropriate (cf. Mt 28:1-4). For they desired more time to accompany Jesus and keep watch over Him at His tomb. This is similar to what we do: often, when grieving the death of loved ones, we go to their graves afterward to pay tribute in a manner we find fitting, recalling fragments of our life shared with them. For like them, we too view life and death according to the world’s perspective on existence.
Saint Matthew tells us that the angel said to the women who came early to Jesus’ tomb: “Come and see the place where He was laid. Go quickly and tell His disciples: ‘He has been raised from the dead, and He has gone before you to Galilee; there you will see Him.’ Behold, I have told you” (Mt 28:7). These words are also spoken to each one of us. We who have received the baptism of Christ and the anointing of the Holy Spirit in the full communion of the Most Holy Trinity are called to proclaim the peace and joy of the Gospel to all who do not yet know Christ—to those living under the shadow of darkness and death due to sin. May they, like us, receive forgiveness of original sin through the same baptism and the same Holy Spirit, share in Christ’s kingship, priesthood, and prophetic office, and jointly inherit the kingdom of heaven.
Dear brothers and sisters in Christ! Tomorrow, we will enter into the Octave of the Resurrection of the Lord. Let us therefore offer a prayer to God together:

O God, who make this most sacred night radiant with the glory of the Lord’s Resurrection, stir up in your Church a spirit of adoption, so that, renewed in body and mind, we may render you undivided service. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, God, for ever and ever. Amen.

©Totus Tuus 2026
Cum Approbatione Ecclesiastica