9781644135945

The Light of the World
His infinite merits, His adoration and veneration of the Father, His love, His obedience, His
humility, we lay at the feet of the Father as part of our gift. With outstretched hands we offer up
to the Father everything Christ has that is pleasing to the Father to supply for all those things in
which we ourselves are lacking, so that we may praise and thank God for His favors in a manner
that is worthy of Him. This offering is the most noble action of a Christian.
By virtue of our baptism are we able to offer the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass. Only we the
baptized have the precious privilege of making this unique offering to God our own personal
gift. “Receive, O holy Father, almighty and eternal God, this spotless host. . . . Through Him,
and with Him, and in Him, is to Thee, God the Father Almighty, in the unity of the Holy Ghost,
all honor and glory.”
Our blessed Lord and Savior came down upon earth, and comes again daily in the Holy Sacrifice,
not primarily that He might give Himself to us, but rather that we might be able to give Him to
His Father. He who confines his attention to the host, who prays only to the Lord without at the
same time considering the fact that Christ is offering Himself to the Father, fails to understand
the precious gift which Christ has left behind in the Holy Eucharist.
The sum and substance of all Christian piety is contained in the devout celebration of the
Holy Sacrifice of the Mass. Through our baptism we become capable of taking an active part in
the celebration of the Holy Sacrifice, which is our first and most solemn duty, the most important
and most meritorious act of our lives. In assisting at Mass we exercise that participation in
the priesthood which is conferred upon us through our baptism. Therefore the participation in
Mass is the most precious and the most significant function of our spiritual life.
Prayer
Graciously receive, O Lord, this offering which we Thy servants and Thy entire family make
unto Thee. Grant peace in our day, and deliver us from eternal damnation, and count us in the
number of Thy elect. Through Christ our Lord. Amen.
Second Sunday after Pentecost
The Mass
The parable of the “great supper” furnishes the theme for the liturgy of this week. We are accustomed
to associate the parable of the “great supper” with the feast of Corpus Christi as though
it referred specifically to that feast, since it happens that this Sunday falls within the octave of
Corpus Christi. As a matter of fact, however, this Gospel was read on the second Sunday after
Pentecost hundreds of years before the feast of Corpus Christi was established. In the mind of
the liturgy the “great supper” refers not merely to the banquet of the Eucharist, but to all those
good things to which God in His love invites us, such as His Incarnation, our baptism, our
redemption, the Eucharist, grace, and eternal beatitude.
With hearts filled with gratitude, we are reminded in the Introit of the fact that at Easter
time we were given an invitation to the banquet of supernatural life and eternal beatitude.
“The Lord became my protector, and He brought me forth into a large place; He saved me
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