Christ, the Light of the world.

Easter celebrates the Resurrection of Jesus the Lord, after He died on the Cross as a divine sacrifice to set the world free from sin. This liberation was in principle only and, as yet, not one which affected everyone. It was restricted to those who were called to hear the Good News. They were given new hearts and a new life, the life of Divine Grace with its promise of life eternal which is also its essence: to see and love God and be in His presence forever.

This Light broke into the terrible darkness which-at the time of the Roman Empire--had enveloped the whole world except for the tiny Jewish clan. It was a world of superstition, despair, lack of hope, ruled by the Prince of Darkness and expressed in cruelty and aimlessness. Even the most elevated thinkers were in its grip. A priest-confrere recently put it as follows:

"There were four major philosophies in the Greek world. They all began in the fourth century B.C. and lasted long after the coming of Christ. It was the great triumph of the Catholic faith to convince the whole Mediterranean world of the truth taught by Christ, and Greek philosophy came to an end as a way of life with the closing of the university at Athens by the Emperor Justinian in the sixth century A.D.

"The four great ethical systems of the Greeks were founded by Aristotle, Epicurus, Zeno the Stoic, and Plato. Aristotle taught that there are about fifty gods but that they don't know about us and thus are not providential; that is, they don't look after us, they aren't the guardians of the moral order. He also taught that there is no next life. As a result, his ethics was non-theistic and this-worldly. Though there was a certain nobility proposed for human beings in their being just, courageous, and self-controlled, the ultimate purpose of this was not to please God but to rejoice in one's own good qualities. This, of course, detracted from the nobility of moral uprightness, and the fact that both good and evil persons were requited equally with non-existence after death trivialized the meaning of life.

"Epicurus agreed with Aristotle that we have no personal relationship with the gods, and that there is no next life. But he saw no possibility of holding up any noble purpose for human beings, and taught that the only sensible way to live is to look after oneself. And, if one is going to be good to others, it should be only because of what is gotten in return.

"Zeno and the other Stoics taught that the whole physical universe, including ourselves, is a divinity, a god, and that this god is providential. Everything, then, happens for the best, and the purpose of our life is to say yes to the universe, to put up bravely with whatever happens. The Stoics also thought that, unfortunately, there is no next life. Thus this noble, self-sacrificing ethics was ruined by the equal treatment, ultimately, of the good and the bad, which makes a laughing-stock of morality.

"The best ethical system among the Greeks was that of Plato. The purpose of our life here is to be virtuous (that is, to be just, courageous, and self-controlled) because it is the right thing to do and because virtue is greatly rewarded in the next life and vice is roundly punished. What was lacking to Plato was a strong relationship to the gods in this moral quest. It is true, however, that he believed in many gods and that he mentioned friendship with them as being a chief part of the reward in the next life for being good. Plato's ethical system was also seriously flawed by his doctrine of reincarnation, the pessimistic theory that we must periodically leave the next life, even though we are happy there, and keep returning to earth.

"As no philosopher before Christ discovered that the universe was created out of nothing, so none discovered that the purpose of life is to love God and one another in this life and be happy with him and one another in eternity.

"Sixteen hundred years later-in his commentary on the Apostles' Creed--St. Thomas Aquinas said that 'not one of the philosophers before the coming of Christ was able, putting all his effort to the task, to know as much about God and what is necessary for eternal life as a little old woman knows after the coming of Christ, through her faith.'"

Let the Easter Light break forth throughout the world.