9781644135945

The Light of the World
Even a man like St. Peter could make mistakes, but in spite of this fact Christ founded His
Church on him. By his fall Peter was drawn closer to the Lord. “Simon, son of John, lovest thou
Me? . . . Lord, Thou knowest all things; Thou knowest that I love Thee” ( Jn 21:17).
Prayer
Almighty and eternal God, whose Spirit sanctifieth and penetrateth the entire body of Thy
Church, answer our prayer for all ranks of Thy priesthood, that with the assistance of Thy grace
they may all serve Thee faithfully. Through Christ our Lord. Amen.
Friday
In the mystery of Pentecost we received the baptism of the Spirit in order that we might preserve
the life of grace, which we received at our baptism and which we are to bring to maturity in
our daily lives. The Masses for the Sundays following Pentecost offer us a powerful means for
accomplishing this perfection of grace in us, for they admonish us to desire the coming of the
Lord. On the day when the Lord comes, He will renew within us the brightness of grace and
remind us that we are the sons of God.
The Epistle for the fourth Sunday after Pentecost reminds us of the beauty of Christian
virtue and of a life of self-sacrifice and suffering. To live the Christian life means to expect the
coming of the Lord.
“We ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting for the adoption of the sons of God” (Epistle).
“For we are saved by hope” (Rom 8:24). Our hope is well founded. The fact that we are the
sons of God is our pledge of the glory that is to come. There are four witnesses who pledge
that our hopes will be fulfilled: First, there is the visible creation, which, though it is subject
to many infirmities because of our sins, bears testimony to the hope that some day it will be
delivered from corruption and will share in the glory of the sons of God; but now it “groaneth
and travaileth in pain,” expecting to bring forth a new creation, a new heaven and a new earth.
The second witness is the Holy Spirit, who has been poured forth into our hearts, who “helpeth
our infirmity . . . [and] asketh for us with unspeakable groanings” (Rom 8:26), putting the
necessary prayers on our lips. Being within us, He bears witness to the glory that will be revealed
in us. It is by sanctifying grace, by the grace received in the sacraments, by the illuminations
and inspirations which He gives us daily, that He operates within our souls and we possess the
“first fruits of the spirit” (Rom 8:23).
The third witness is the Father, He who in unmistakable terms has promised us the glorification
that awaits us. “To them that love God all things work together unto good. . . . For whom
He foreknew, He also predestined to be made conformable to the image of His Son. . . . And
whom He predestined, them He also called. And whom He called, them He also justified. And
whom He justified, them He also glorified” (Rom 8:28 ff.).
The fourth witness is Christ Jesus, who died, “yea, that is risen also again; who is at
the right hand of God, who also maketh intercession for us” (Rom 8:34). Since Christ’s
love for us places our hope on such a firm foundation, it is only we who can fail. Nothing
“shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Rom
8:39). The Father himself loves us, since we are branches of the vine, who is Christ Jesus. As
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