9781644135945

The Light of the World
We have been changed, we have risen from the grave of our sins, our negligence, our avarice,
our selfishness, and our past life. We have died to sin once for all; and now we live to Christ. We
lift ourselves above the purely natural thoughts and acts of the present to turn our attention to
the “things that are above, not the things that are upon the earth” (Col 3:2). The proof of our
union with Christ is in our reception of Holy Communion, by virtue of which we are “of one
heart” with one another, and filled with the “spirit of Thy love.” In the Postcommunion we ask
that this spirit may be increased.
Meditation
In ancient times the catechumens were baptized early Easter morning in the church of the Holy
Redeemer (the Lateran basilica in Rome). For the celebration of the Easter Mass we accompany
the catechumens to the church of St. Mary Major. Mary, to whom this church is dedicated, was
bequeathed to redeemed humanity as she stood under the cross on Calvary. After greeting the
risen Christ, we congratulate Mary: “Rejoice, O Queen of heaven, alleluia.”
Christ rose from the dead, and He turns first to His heavenly Father. “I rose up and am still with
Thee” (Introit). Thus He casts Himself in devoted and grateful love on the bosom of His Father.
“Thou hast laid Thy hand upon Me” through the shame and humiliation I suffered during My
passion. Now this same hand is held out to glorify Him and cover Him with splendor; “Thy
knowledge is become wonderful” (Introit). Yesterday the humiliation and bitterness of the
cross, today the splendor of heavenly glory!
We can have no doubt concerning Christ’s resurrection. “The Lord is risen indeed” (Lk
24:34). Heretofore the divinity of Christ appeared only in His miracles; now it shines in its
fullness. From Him who yesterday died on the cross, now comes grace, life, and pardon. By
the resurrection of Christ, God set the seal of divine approval on all that Christ had taught,
on all that He had done, and on the Church which He had established. “This Jesus hath God
raised again” (Acts 2:32). Every word, then, that He spoke is infallibly true. Therefore men must
submit to Christ and accept His commandments without question. “I am the way, the truth,
and the life” ( Jn 14:6). The Resurrection settles all our doubts and makes us inconceivably rich.
How wonderfully God glorified Christ in the Resurrection! We must place all our faith in Him
and rejoice from the bottom of our heart.
With Christ we, too, have risen. Christ not only redeemed us, the living, from sin; He
redeemed also the dead. He “hath raised us up together and hath made us sit together in the
heavenly places” (Eph 2:6). Our future is most intimately joined to that of Christ. He is risen;
so we, too, must rise. Because we belonged to the race of Adam, we shared death with him.
Because we now belong to the new Adam, we shall also share His resurrection to eternal life.
“When Christ shall appear, who is your life, then you also shall appear with Him in glory” (Col
3:4). “For if the dead rise not again, neither is Christ risen again. And if Christ be not risen again,
your faith is vain, for you are yet in your sins. Then they also that are fallen asleep in Christ
are perished. If in this life only we have hope in Christ, we are of all men most miserable. But
now Christ is risen from the dead, the first fruits of them that sleep. For by a man came death,
and by a man the resurrection of the dead. And as in Adam all die, so also in Christ all shall be
made alive. But every one in his own order; the first fruits, Christ, then they that are of Christ”
(1 Cor 15:16–23).
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