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The Light of the World
Wednesday
Christ, the Lord and Master, lives in His kingdom, the Church. It is our privilege to associate
ourselves with this divine kingdom. But this privilege carries with it certain obligations, which
are explained to us in the Epistle of the Mass for this Sunday.
The privilege that is ours when we become members of the Church is this: we become “the elect
of God, holy and beloved.” We have been chosen out of millions of souls for this great privilege;
we are the adopted children of God and heirs of an eternal inheritance. God has taken us as we
were and has made us “holy and beloved.” Through the sacraments of baptism and penance He
has cleansed us from all our defects; He has transformed us by means of grace. He has united us
to Himself as His beloved. “But God (who is rich in mercy) for His exceeding charity wherewith
He loved us, even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together in Christ (by whose
grace you are saved) and hath raised us up together and hath made us sit together in the heavenly
places, through Christ Jesus. That He might show in the ages to come the abundant riches of
His grace in His bounty towards us, in Christ Jesus. For by grace you are saved through faith,
and that not of yourselves, for it is the gift of God” (Eph 2:4 ff.).
But we who are so highly privileged also have certain obligations. “Brethren, put ye on as
the elect of God, holy and beloved, the bowels of mercy, benignity, humility, modesty, patience;
bearing with one another and forgiving one another if any have a complaint against another;
even as the Lord hath forgiven you, so do you also” (Epistle). Above all else, we must put on
the mantle of charity. “This is My commandment, that you love one another as I have loved
you” ( Jn 15:12). Even the least act of charity shown to our neighbor for the love of Christ is
meritorious and will bring us an eternal reward. When we fail in charity toward our neighbor, it
is as though we had refused an act of kindness to Christ Himself. Whatever bitterness or cruelty
we practice on those about us is really practiced on the person of our Savior. Let us examine
ourselves honestly and consider whether our Lord could be satisfied with the charity we show
toward our neighbor. Charity is the “bond of perfection.” Our love of God is just as extensive
as is our love of our neighbor. We shall be judged according to the measure of our love. If the
chief privilege of the Christian is to be a child of God, the chief obligation is to love.
Christ has truly manifested Himself among men and taken up His abode among them in human
form in order that He may build up Sion. This new Sion is the kingdom of love. “That they all
may be one, as Thou, Father, in Me, and I in Thee” ( Jn 17:21).
“I in them, and Thou in Me; that they may be made perfect in one” ( Jn 17:23). Through
baptism we become one with Christ by grace, as the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost are one by
nature. He has incorporated us into Himself as branches on a vine. He lives in us continually
that we may be one with Him even as He is one with His heavenly Father and the Holy Ghost.
We should try to understand this great truth and understand how pleased Christ is when we
love our neighbor and are one in heart and spirit with Him.
The Lord came upon earth to establish a kingdom among men. Opposed to this kingdom
is the kingdom of the Antichrist. These two kingdoms are distinguished chiefly by two different
species of love. The kingdom of Christ is characterized by the love of God and the love of our
neighbor for God. The kingdom of the Antichrist is characterized by a selfish self-love which
separates from God and turns in scorn from all that God has promised. Today we renew our
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