9781644135945

The Light of the World
the people and to testify that it is He who was appointed by God to be judge of the living and
of the dead” (Epistle). He lives and He will come again with power and glory. He will awaken
all those who slumber in their graves and call them before His righteous judgment. Happy will
be those who have risen with the Lord in baptism and who by virtue of their baptism “deserve
to attain perfect liberty and advance to life everlasting” (Collect).
“In those days Peter, standing in the midst of the people, said: Men, brethren, you know . . .
how God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Ghost and with power, who went about
doing good and healing all that were oppressed by the devil, for God was with Him. And we
are witnesses of all things that He did in the land of the Jews and in Jerusalem; whom they
killed, hanging Him upon a tree. Him God raised up the third day, and gave Him to be made
manifest, not to all the people, but to witnesses preordained by God; even to us, who did eat
and drink with Him after He arose again from the dead. And He commanded us to preach to
the people, and to testify that it is He who was appointed by God to be judge of the living and
of the dead. To Him all the prophets give testimony, that by His name all who believe in Him
receive remission of sins” (Epistle).
Peter was an eyewitness of Christ’s resurrection just as he was of the other events in Christ’s
life. The Church is aware of the value of Peter’s testimony. Not all men can be eyewitnesses of
Christ; all but a few must depend on the testimony of a few witnesses. For this reason today we
come directly to Peter, an eyewitness, to receive his testimony. Today we join the uncounted
millions who for centuries have believed so firmly in his testimony that they have been willing
to give their life in support of it. We have faith. Our salvation depends on our faith, not on our
learning and knowledge. “For it is written: I will destroy the wisdom of the wise. . . . Where is
the wise? Where is the scribe? Where is the disputer of this world [the philosopher]? Hath not
God made foolish the wisdom of this world? For, seeing that in the wisdom of God the world
by wisdom knew not God, it pleased God, by the foolishness of our preaching, to save them
that believe” (1 Cor 1:19 ff.). We believe that “God raised up [ Jesus] on the third day, and gave
Him to be made manifest . . . to witnesses preordained by God.” Because of our faith in Peter’s
testimony, “we receive remission of sins” (Epistle). “He that believeth and is baptized shall be
saved. But he that believeth not shall be condemned” (Mk 16:16).
“The Lord is risen indeed and hath appeared to Simon” (Gospel). The testimony which
St. Peter gives us in the Epistle is supported by statements of the other apostles. Christ revealed
Himself also to the two disciples who were making their way to the village of Emmaus.
Overjoyed by this appearance of Christ, the two disciples hastened back to Jerusalem and
“found the eleven gathered together, and those that were with them.”
Even before these two disciples could announce their marvelous experience, they are told
by the apostles, “The Lord is risen indeed and hath appeared to Simon.” To Peter! If, then, Peter
asserts, “Him God raised up the third day,” there can no longer be any doubt. “The Lord is risen.”
If He has risen, then the just and holy God has reversed the cruel judgment of the men who
condemned Him. God has placed His approval on His life and on every word that He spoke.
He, the crucified One, has been recognized by God as “the way, the truth, and the life” ( Jn 14:6).
Surely then, men must recognize Him, believe in Him, and unite themselves to Him through
baptism. This may require of them humiliations and suffering, but it will eventually lead them
to glory, resurrection, and eternal happiness.
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