Sunday Vigil
Reading of the Word of God
Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia
Whoever lives and believes in me
will never die.
Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia
Ezekiel 43,1-7
He took me to the gate, the one facing east. I saw the glory of the God of Israel approaching from the east. A sound came with him like the sound of the ocean, and the earth shone with his glory. This vision was like the one I had seen when I had come for the destruction of the city, and like the one I had seen by the River Chebar. Then I fell to the ground. The glory of Yahweh arrived at the Temple by the east gate. The Spirit lifted me up and brought me into the inner court; I saw the glory of Yahweh fill the Temple. And I heard someone speaking to me from the Temple while the man stood beside me. He said, 'Son of man, this is the dais of my throne, the step on which I rest my feet. I shall live here among the Israelites for ever; and the House of Israel, they and their kings, will never again defile my holy name with their whorings and the corpses of their kings,
Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia
If you believe, you will see the glory of God,
thus says the Lord.
Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia
The Book of Ezekiel opened with the grand vision of the Glory of God: God revealed himself to men and women in all of His splendour. The evangelist John writes it at the beginning of his Gospel: "And the Word became flesh and lived among us, and we have seen his glory, the glory as of a father's only son, full of grace and truth" (Jn 1:14). Already at the beginning of the book of Ezekiel, glory expressed God's splendour and beauty, which that the disciples contemplated in Jesus on Mount Tabor. The prophet announces the return of this glory: "And there, the glory of the God of Israel was coming from the east.." Now that the Temple has been rebuilt and purified (chapters 40-42), the Lord enters it again with his glory. The Lord is again in his people's midst, and all can enjoy his presence. The Temple was for Isarel the place where God has made his abode and where His people could meet Him in prayer and sacrifices. It is a beautiful tradition of the first Christians of Jerusalem who identified Mary as the "eastern gate" of the Temple, the one who allows God to fill the world with his glory through her "yes." The evangelist John says in the prologue that the Lord Jesus, the Word of the living God, has come to dwell among us. We remain in the presence of God, before the beauty of His glory: He opens our eyes and hearts to rejoice in his grace and to walk with him.