Imagine St. Peter preaching at Mass and preaching what he did in today's first reading from the Acts of the Apostles (3:11-26): “The author of life you put to death.” I suspect some parishioners may be offended that Peter would seem to be so judgmental and harsh; some may even write letters of complaint to the bishop because of Peter's bold and zealous preaching. Those parishioners may be disappointed to find out that Peter is the pope, so the bishop has to report to him!
St. Peter's preaching is courageous. He says, “The author of life you put to death, but God raised him from the dead; of this we are witnesses.” This is the classic good news/bad news statement, a statement that, through the Holy Spirit, St. Peter speaks to us today: all of us—not just those 2000 years ago—but each of us today put the Author of Life to death. This is the bad news. Peter gives us good news too: God raised him from the dead. How are we to become witnesses of His Resurrection? Peter provides a path: “Repent, therefore, and be converted, that your sins may be wiped away, and that the Lord may grant you times of refreshment.”
With His Resurrection from the dead, Jesus begins the work of re-creating the world, making it a world no longer dominated by sin, selfishness, division, and hatred, but instead re-fashioning it to be marked by true freedom, joy, charity, and peace that the world cannot give. Jesus wants this re-creation to begin first in each one of us, that from and through us, the rest of the world may be re-created. This is why repentance becomes so important: turning away old ways of living, closing dead-end pathways so that Christ's peace may dwell in us, living as witnesses of the Resurrection. Happy Easter!