Easter Vigil 2026
As we read through the accounts of the Mysteries of our Faith played out during our Holy Week liturgies, we must surely be struck by how these accounts rely so much on the actions of those ordinary people who follow the Lord on His path of procuring for us our Eternal Redemption and the New Life he has promised. Those who followed the Lord were indeed followers but also they were witnesses and even true disciples. Each in their role is a gift, a lesson, a model for us.
Can we see ourselves amidst the disciples in the Room of the Last Supper? Only two of the disciples are mentioned by name - Peter and Judas.
Peter is the loyal one, despite his denials and doubting of the Lord. Peter is fervent – to a fault – when he realises his weaknesses. Peter is responsible in taking up his leadership role. But when it comes to the point when the Lord wants to minister to Peter his pride gets in the way. Does he think that it is beneath his dignity to be cared for, to be cleansed of his infirmities and unclean-ness? The encounter of the Lord with Peter had two lessons: Disciples are called to serve each other whenever they can but they are also to be open to receive the service and caring of others, so that all may be given the opportunity to be servants.
Judas is the other named disciple at the Last Supper. Should he have been there at all? ‘The devil had already put it into his mind ……..’ Did he, in any way, partake of the celebration of Passover? How aware was he of the evil that had overtaken him? Could he have guarded himself against sin and evil?
The two who were crucified with Jesus may have been thieves, criminals or rebels. But they were real people – Dismas (the good thief) and Gestas (the unrepentant one).
Dismas realised and acknowledged his wrongdoing and his dependence on the mercy of God.
Gestas was stubborn and proud and did not realise how much he too was loved by God. Real people like you and me?
The two disciples in our Gospel tonight were real people too; Mary Magdalene and ‘the other Mary’.
Mary Magdelene had been a tormented soul, tormented by the possession of seven devils that had taken up residence in her life. When she met with Jesus she was set free of the demons and was one of the Lord’s most faithful disciples. She was known to Lord by name. He uttered her name and it was how she recognised Him!
‘The other Mary’ seems to have been the mother of James, Joses, Salome and Joanna – a whole family of disciples associated with the Lord and loyal and faithful even onto his death on the Cross. Real People like you and me? And, the Lord’s instruction to his disciples on this most Holy Night? This instruction is given to the two Marys by angel, a messenger, a voice, a special event (the Resurrection): “Go quickly and tell His disciples, ‘He has been raised from the dead”.
All of these extraordinary events of Holy Week took place in Jerusalem. When Jesus, himself, met the two women he instructed them to go back to “Galilee: there you will see me” – Go back to your own place, your familiar surroundings, to your every-day life. It is among my disciples that you will see Me in my Resurrected state, really present to you and serving you and allowing you to minister to Me.