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The Time After Pentecost
O Thou Most High.” We shall praise God by our inward struggles and by our active life. But
in all things, charity.
Prayer
O God, the strength of those that hope in Thee, favorably hear our supplications; and since
without Thee mortal infirmity can do nothing, grant the help of Thy grace that, in fulfilling
Thy commandments, we may please Thee both in will and in action. Through Christ our
Lord. Amen.
Tuesday
Christmas, Easter, Pentecost, all are eloquent expressions of the mystery of God’s mercy to men.
“By this hath the charity of God appeared towards us, because God hath sent His only-begotten
Son into the world that we may live by Him” (Epistle). “I will sing unto the Lord, who giveth
me good things” (Introit). I will sing to the Lord, not only with words, not only in my heart, but
also by the works which I perform. I will show mercy to those who are my brothers in Christ,
and do good unto them.
“Be you merciful, as your Father also is merciful. Judge not, and you shall not be judged. Condemn
not, and you shall not be condemned. Forgive, and you shall be forgiven” (Gospel). What is
the work of the Incarnation of the Son of God but a magnificent expression of the merciful
love of God? “For God so loved the world as to give His only-begotten Son” ( Jn 3:16). And
since the Father has willed the Incarnation of the Son in order that He might offer Himself up
for us and destroy our guilt, what is the motive of the Father but merciful love, which does not
spare even His Son in order that the servant may be rescued? Oh, the mercy of the love of God!
How often we have broken faith with God since our baptism! How often we have grieved Him,
spurned Him, and left Him in our pursuit of sin! On hundreds of occasions He has had reason
to let us fall and to cast us off forever. Yet He has always had mercy on us and has forgiven us
again and again. “Not by the works of justice which we have done, but according to His mercy
He saved us” (Ti 3:5). “As I live, saith the Lord God, I desire not the death of the wicked, but
that the wicked turn from his way and live” (Ez 33:11). “Can a woman forget her infant, so as
not to have pity on the son of her womb? And if she should forget, yet will not I forget thee” (Is
49:15). “Be you merciful, as your heavenly Father also is merciful.” We must be merciful to all
men, and particularly to all those who have injured us. “Father, forgive them for they know not
what they do” (Lk 23:34). We must be merciful to sinners. We must hate sin, yet love the sinner.
We must be merciful toward the poor and the needy, and this mercy must exist not only in our
hearts but also in our actions. “Blessed are the merciful, for they shall obtain mercy” (Mt 5:7).
“Give, and it shall be given unto you; good measure, and pressed down, and shaken together,
and running over, shall they give into your bosom. For with the same measure that you
mete withal, it shall be measured to you again” (Gospel). These words were spoken by our Lord
Himself and are both a command and a promise. This is a promise that is fulfilled thousands of
times in life, and a commandment only too often completely ignored. It is a cardinal point in
the divine economy that “with the same measure that you mete withal, it shall be measured to
you again.” “He that hath the substance of this world and shall see his brother in need and shall
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