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The Light of the World
misery to heal our wounds and renew life within us by means of the sacraments. He pours oil
(baptism) and wine (Holy Eucharist) into our wounds and delivers us up to our Holy Mother
the Church, commanding her to take care of us until He returns. It is He whom the prophets
and kings of the Old Testament desired. Now He appears and founds the covenant of glory.
The service of this covenant is a service that leads to justification. There is no salvation except
in Christ and His Church.
It is granted to us “to hear” and “to see” the good Samaritan, who is Christ the Savior. He
deigns to come down to us in the holy sacraments of baptism and penance, and particularly
in the sacrament of the Holy Eucharist. He is joined to all of us as closely as the vine is to its
branches, as the head is to the members, filling us with His life. “Blessed are the eyes that see
the things which you see”: Christ, with whom we are united in baptism and the Holy Eucharist.
“I will bless the Lord at all times; His praise shall ever be in my mouth. In the Lord shall my
soul be praised” (Gradual).
“Blessed are the eyes that see the things which you see.” The center of all life is Christ, the
healing and life-giving Samaritan. We see Him in His successors: the pope, the bishops, and
the priests. “He that heareth you, heareth Me; and he that despiseth you, despiseth Me; and he
that despiseth Me, despiseth Him that sent Me” (Lk 10:16). The Catholic priest through his
ordination has become for us another Christ.
He “hath made us fit ministers of the New Testament. . . . Now if the ministration of death
. . . was glorious, so that the children of Israel could not steadfastly behold the face of Moses, for
the glory of his countenance, . . . how shall not the ministration of the spirit [the priesthood of
the New Covenant] be rather in glory?” (Epistle.) It is not so much the priest who speaks the
words, “This is My body,” over the bread as it is Christ Himself. The priest is but His instrument.
We should see in the priest not so much the human person; we should rather see Christ in him,
whose instrument he is. In the priest we should see, respect, hear, and love Christ the Lord,
the eternal high priest.
Prayer
Almighty and merciful God, of whose gift it cometh that Thy faithful people do unto Thee true
and laudable service; grant, we beseech Thee, that we may run without hindrance toward the
attainment of Thy promises. Through Christ our Lord. Amen.
Monday
On this day we should cry: “Incline unto my aid, O God; O Lord, make haste to help me”
(Introit). This is the cry of the man who fell among robbers. On the other hand, this is also a day
of sincere thankfulness: “I will bless the Lord at all times; His praise shall ever be in my mouth”
(Gradual). This hymn of praise is an expression of gratitude to the good Samaritan (Christ),
who restored life to the man who had fallen among robbers.
“A certain man went down from Jerusalem to Jericho and fell among robbers, who also
stripped him, and having wounded him, went away, leaving him half dead” (Gospel). The
man who went down from Jerusalem to Jericho is Adam, the father and head of humanity.
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