9781644135945

The Light of the World
for Thy people and for Thy Church. “The eyes of all hope in Thee.” “There is no other name
under heaven given to men whereby we must be saved” (Acts 4:12). “I am the salvation of the
people, saith the Lord; from whatever tribulation they shall cry to Me, I will hear them; and I
will be their Lord forever” (Introit).
In the house of Peter (in the Church) the divine physician carries on His works. “Hear
ye the word of the Lord, all ye men of Juda that enter in at these gates [through baptism] to
adore the Lord. . . . And I will dwell with you in this place,” in the house of Peter, the Church
(Epistle). The more intimately we enter into the life of the Church, the closer the Savior
comes to us. We draw close to Him by faith, by obedience to His Church, by submission
to her authority, and by the devout use of her sacrifice and her sacraments. Our attitude
toward the body of Christ, the Church, is the determining factor in our relationship to
Christ Himself. Here in the family of the Church we shall find salvation after the Lord has
died and returned to His Father.
Jesus, our Savior, appears in the house of Simon Peter, the Church. “Blessed are they that dwell
in Thy house, O Lord” (Ps 83:5). The Epistle addresses us earnestly: “Make your ways and
your doings good. . . . For if you will order well your ways and your doings, if you will execute
judgment between a man and his neighbor, if you oppress not the stranger, the fatherless, and
the widow, . . . and walk not after strange gods to your own hurt, I will dwell with you in this
place,” in the community which is the Church. “Trust not in lying words, saying: The temple
of the Lord, the temple of the Lord, it is the temple of the Lord”; that is, do not assert foolishly:
“I am a Catholic, therefore I shall be saved.” God demands more than mere membership in His
Church; He demands also a holy life within the Church.
Who will measure the extent of the sacrifices made by the Son of God for the salvation of
men? Let us consider well His Incarnation, His poverty, His degradation, and His humiliation.
How cruelly He was calumniated! and how persistent is that calumny even today! Who can
weigh the depth of the ingratitude of His people, who called upon the Roman governor to
“crucify Him”? He who would understand the suffering and the love of Christ, must consider
His agony in the Garden of Olives, His cruel scourging at the pillar, the pain of the crowning
with thorns, the bitterness of the mockery when the soldiers thrust the reed into his hands as
a scepter. He who would understand the love of God must follow Him on the way of the cross
and watch Him die on Calvary. All these sufferings He accepted to accomplish our salvation.
How grateful we should be for such a Savior!
We should offer the Holy Sacrifice today primarily as an act of thanksgiving to the Father,
who “so loved the world, as to give His only-begotten Son” ( Jn 3:16) that He might save us.
At Holy Communion we should unite ourselves to our Savior. “Thou hast commanded Thy
commandments to be kept most diligently; O that my ways may be directed to keep Thy justifications”
(Communion). That should be our program for life.
Prayer
May the blessed solemnity of Thy saints, Cosmas and Damian, magnify Thee, O Lord, for by
Thy ineffable providence Thou hast granted eternal glory to them and assistance to us.
May heavenly favor increase the people subject to Thee, O Lord, and make them always
obey Thy commandments. Through Christ our Lord. Amen.
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