A day after skipping the Good Friday Stations of the Cross in an effort to preserve his health, Pope Francis presided at the Easter Vigil Mass in St. Peter’s Basilica on the night of March 30 (video, booklet, homily).
“The woman anxiously wonder: Who will roll away the stone from the tomb?” the Pope preached. “Then, looking up, they see that it had already been rolled back.”
“There are times when we may feel that a great stone blocks the door of our hearts, stifling life, extinguishing hope, imprisoning us in the tomb of our fears and regrets, and standing in the way of joy and hope,” he continued. “Let us lift our eyes to [Jesus] and ask that the power of his resurrection may roll away the heavy stones that weigh down our souls.”
During his homily, Pope Francis quoted from works by Father Karl Rahner, SJ (1904-1984) and Father Jean-Yves Quellec, OSB (1945-2016). Following the homily, eight catechumens—four from Italy, two from South Korea, and one each from Albania and Japan—were baptized and confirmed.