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The Light of the World
stands in need of continual inspiration, help, and understanding. The liturgy will provide these,
especially through our assistance at Mass.
The Introit of today’s Mass recalls the hour of our baptism, the mystery of Easter: “We have
received Thy mercy, O God. . . . Thy right hand is full of justice. Great is the Lord and exceedingly
to be praised, in the city of God, in His holy mountain”; that is, in the Church, through which
the holy fountains of sacramental graces reach us and open to us the waters of salvation. Our
gratitude and jubilation find their expression in our prayer to God to preserve within us the
graces of baptism and to enable us to live according to His will.
In striking phrases the Epistle explains what baptism demands of a Christian: “Brethren, we
are debtors, not to the flesh to live according to the flesh”; but we are called, as children of God
and coheirs of Christ, “to mortify the deeds of the flesh” and to be “led by the Spirit of God,” to
live according to the dictates of our supernatural life. A fierce battle is required of us if our spirit
is to conquer the flesh by making it subject to the divine powers within us. Today’s Gradual,
however, tells us that we are not left alone in this battle of the spirit against the flesh: “In Thee,
O God, have I hoped; O Lord, let me never be confounded.” How much effort is expended by
men who think only of this world to take care of worldly interests and to attain to a material
goal! The unjust steward exemplifies man’s concern for worldly prosperity; for though he is
unjust, a man who lives according to the flesh and the wisdom of the flesh, though in his ways
and means he is a man full of zeal and earthly wisdom, he provides a model for Christians, the
children of light: a model of zeal and prudent energy in the pursuit of their higher, supernatural
goals. But unfortunately wisdom and experience teach us that “the children of this world are
wiser in their generation than the children of light” (Gospel).
Instructed anew in our duties as Christians, we are ready for the Holy Sacrifice. Uniting ourselves
with Christ, offering with Him one sacrifice, we fulfill what the Epistle asks of us. Sacrificing
ourselves, as we once did when we received baptism, we refuse “to live according to the flesh.”
Instead we are determined to live according to the spirit and to build anew on the foundation
laid in baptism. Thus we again commit ourselves to the duties and obligations placed on us in
baptism. We likewise renew our faith in our adoption as the children of God and our unshakable
trust in our eternal heritage in heaven. In the sacrificial meal the glorified Son of God imparts
His life to our souls, assuring us that together with Him, the first-born, we are children of the
Father, called to a blessed heritage in heaven, of which an unfailing pledge has been given to
us in Holy Communion. “Taste and see that the Lord is sweet; blessed is the man that hopeth
in Him” (Communion).
Meditation
The eighth Sunday after Pentecost is a day of grateful jubilation for the graces of Easter and
Pentecost. “We have received Thy mercy, O God, in the midst of Thy temple [through the
reception of baptism]. According to Thy name, O God, so also is Thy praise unto the ends
of the earth; Thy right hand is full of justice” (Introit). Easter and Pentecost have greatly
enriched us; God is our Father, Christ is our brother, and the Holy Ghost dwells within us.
We are children of God and therefore heirs of God and coheirs with Christ. Can anything
be wanting? In order to make us realize fully our greatness in Christ, this Sunday’s liturgy
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