My sisters and brothers, on behalf of Bishop Baker, Father Jerabek, Father Jacob, and the priests and staff of the Diocese of Birmingham and Cathedral of St. Paul here in downtown Birmingham, I greet you with confident assurance: Christ is Risen! Christ is Risen, indeed!

Tonight, we gather around this fire, the great symbol of our faith’s beginning. Here, in the flicker of flame and the shimmer of darkness, we tell the ancient stories again: how God, from the very dawn of creation, spoke light into being to cast out darkness from the universe and saw that it was good. The Vigil is not only the memory of those mighty deeds; it is the living continuation of them. We proclaim that the same God Who made light from nothing still brings life out of despair, hope out of fear, and joy from the tomb’s silence.

All the readings tonight speak of a God Who acts in love. In Genesis, the Creator fills the chaotic void with order, beauty, and purpose. In Exodus, He delivers His people through the water of the Red Sea into the freedom of the Promised Land. In Isaiah, He invites every thirsty heart to drink deeply of divine promise. And Paul reminds us that in plunging into the waters of Baptism — the waters of new creation — we are joined to Christ’s death and resurrection. We are risen to new life and glory. The Easter story bursts open in the Gospel as the surprised women stumble across the empty tomb and hear the words that echo across time: “He is not here, for He has been raised just as He said.”

That truth lives right here among us tonight. Indeed, we rejoice that 18 of our brothers and sisters will enter those waters of Baptism here in this cathedral and one will make a profession of faith. I’m hearing that numbers of those received in the Church is up across almost all parishes. Each of them arrives here with a unique story, a sacred journey, a step taken toward the illuminating love of Christ, our Light. Their lives remind us that faith is never static; it is a living pilgrimage into light. Through Baptism, they are joined to the great communion - our one, holy, catholic, and apostolic faith - and tonight, we say to them with full hearts: “Welcome.” They will be sealed with the power of the Holy Spirit, Who enables us to be bold in witness and assists us to renew the face of the earth, and receive the Eucharist, the food for the journey, Christ’s Body and Blood. Welcome to our journey of walking together. Welcome to our community nourished by God’s Word. Welcome to our faith fed by Christ’s Body and Blood. Welcome to the Church on mission, becoming His Body in the world. You remind us of our faith journey. Tonight you bolster in us our response to God’s call.

Easter calls us not only to receive light but to reflect it. The risen Christ appears where disciples dare to go in Birmingham, across our diocese, and in every place where someone carries His compassion, truth, and peace in the depths of their lives. Like yeast hidden in dough, the faithful are meant to leaven culture itself, transforming society from within by the quiet, steady power of love. This is our mission: to be a people through whom Christ’s light breaks through the world’s shadows again and again.

So tonight, as the fire burns and the waters stir, remember that the resurrection is not a moment to behold but a life to live. May those newly baptized in our midst and all of us who renew our vows become, together, a radiant witness that even in the world’s darkest corners, God’s light can dispel the shadows and darkness through a beam that still shines, unstoppable, gentle, and sure. Alleluia! Christ is risen! He is risen, indeed. Alleluia!