Holy Martyr Eupsichius (360-63).
Acts 4:1-10. John 3:16-21.
Read Acts 4:1-10
Christ is risen! Truly, He is risen!
“Sanctify the Lord God in your hearts, and always be ready to give a defence to everyone who asks you a reason for the hope that is in you, with meekness and fear” (1 Peter 3:15).
I believe that when Peter wrote his first catholic epistle, as he composed this sentence, he was reminded of the events we have read this morning in the Acts of the Apostles. As we heard in Sunday’s Gospel: “Peace to you! As the Father has sent Me, I also send you” (John 20:21). Brothers and sisters, we have been sent out on a mission, by virtue of our baptism and through the gift of the Holy Spirit at our chrismation (Confirmation). Your mission, my mission, is to spread the Good News of Jesus’ resurrection from the dead, His victory over the slavery of sin and death; a tyranny that had held humanity in its clutches since our first parents sinned.
This is the hope that is in you, this very message is why Peter and those with him were arrested in this morning’s reading. We must follow Peter’s example; in our translation, it says to “give a defence” but in Greek the word is apologiathat is “to make a defence like a lawyer.” We see this plainly in Peter’s defence this morning, he attributes the good works he and his fellows have done not by their own power but by the power of Jesus Christ, Whom he declares his accusers had put to death.
How was Peter able to give such a good defence? It’s not because he studied theology, or because he has a law degree. He was but a simple fisherman. But it is Christ God, who revealed the fishermen as most wise, by sending them the Holy Spirit. As we journey from Pascha to Pentecost, let us pray that the Holy Spirit also empowers us to give an apologia for the hope that is inside us!