9781644135945

The Light of the World
leads them to the sanctuary of St. Pancratius, the youthful martyr who sealed his baptism with
his blood. Here they promise to keep their baptismal vows faithfully until death.
“Whatsoever is born of God overcometh the world” (Epistle). In baptism we are “born of God.”
We must overcome the world; that is, we must stand aloof from the world. “All that is in the
world is the concupiscence of the flesh, and the concupiscence of the eyes, and the pride of life”
(1 Jn 2:16). But we are born of God; we are of a divine race, of heavenly nobility. Therefore we
must rise above what is earthly. Indeed we scorn the world and what it offers. We know that we
are the children of God. God is for us; who, then, in the world can harm us? “If God be for us,
who is against us? . . . Who, then, shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or
distress, or famine, or nakedness, or danger, or persecution, or the sword? . . . In all these things
we overcome because of Him that hath loved us” (Rom 8:335, 37). What can the things of
this world profit us? “He who knows that he is the child of God can have no regard for human
greatness and immense wealth. He who admires anything less than God falls from the heights
of his nobility” (St. Cyprian). Because we are born of God, we must lift ourselves above the
world, its goods, and its interests. We must not let our ideals degenerate, and we must not lower
ourselves from the lofty position which is ours as children of God. We have overcome the world;
for “whatsoever is born of God overcometh the world.”
“This is the victory which overcometh the world, our faith. Who is he that overcometh the
world, but he that believeth that Jesus is the Son of God?” (Epistle.) There are men who allow
themselves to be led and directed by their senses; others are led by their reason. But neither of
these know the sublimity and riches of the children of God. This can be understood only by
those who have a lively faith in Jesus, the Son of God. Such men desire only what God desires.
They know no higher destiny than to follow in the footsteps of Christ, to follow Him who is
the way, the truth, and the life, “in whom are hid all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge”
(Col 2:3). They love what Christ loves. They choose what Christ chose — voluntary poverty,
suffering, privation, and the cross. To them Jesus is the Son of God, the infallible truth, the
Wisdom of God. The deeper this faith becomes, the higher it lifts us above the transitory and
trivial things of this world. “The just man liveth by faith” (Rom 1:17). “I live, now not I; but
Christ liveth in me. And that I live now in the flesh; I live in the faith of the Son of God, who
loved me and delivered Himself for me” (Gal 2:20).
The apostle Thomas could not believe that the Lord was truly risen and that He had appeared
to the apostles. He insisted on seeing His wounds and touching them with his hands. “Except I
shall see in His hands the print of the nails, and put my finger into the place of the nails, and put
my hand into His side, I will not believe” (Gospel). Eight days after this avowal by St. Thomas,
Christ appeared again to the apostles, and calling to Thomas, He said: “Put in thy finger hither,
and see My hands, and bring hither thy hand and put it into My side, and be not faithless but
believing” (Gospel). Thomas fell to his knees, exclaiming, “My Lord and my God.” And our
Lord replied, “Because thou hast seen Me Thomas, thou hast believed; blessed are they that
have not seen and have believed.” Christ demands faith. Only he who has a strong faith can
conquer the world.
The Easter garments have been laid aside. Now the Church prays for the newly baptized
and for us, that we may retain the graces we received at Easter, and practice them in our daily life.
Easter is a feast that should not be allowed to pass away. We must conquer the selfish desires that
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