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The Light of the World
powerful than death or sin. He has called us from death through baptism, and has recalled us
often through the sacrament of penance.
“He had regard to me” (Offertory), who am so unworthy, so tepid. He hath had regard
for me in the Holy Sacrifice and in the prayers of the Church. “He put a new canticle into my
mouth,” for He has so often refreshed me through Holy Communion and the sacrament of
penance. Woe to me if He had not looked upon me with mercy.
“The bread that I will give is My flesh for the life of the world” (Communion). He touches
me and nourishes me with His flesh and His blood. He fills me with zeal for the glory of His
Father and for the salvation of souls. When He is near, all spiritual weakness and depression
vanish. With Him we live the life of the blessed. “I can do all things in Him who strengtheneth
me” (Phil 4:13).
Prayer
Let Thy continual pity cleanse and defend Thy Church, we beseech Thee, O Lord; and because
it cannot continue in safety without Thee, govern it evermore by Thy help. Through Christ our
Lord. Amen.
Monday
As Jesus is approaching the little village of Naim, He meets, as it were by chance, a funeral
procession transporting the body of a young man. Seeing the sorrow of the afflicted mother,
who is a widow, He approaches and restores the young man to life.
The story is related very briefly in the Gospel. “At that time, Jesus went into a city called Naim;
and there were with Him His disciples and a great multitude. And when He came nigh to the
city, behold a dead man was carried out, the only son of his mother, and she was a widow. And
a great multitude of the city was with her. Whom when the Lord had seen, being moved with
mercy toward her, He said to her: Weep not. And He came near and touched the bier, and they
that carried it stood still. And He said: Young man, I say to thee, arise. And he that was dead
sat up and began to speak. And He delivered him to his mother” (Gospel). The Lord sees the
mother’s tears, and these touch His heart. He cannot refuse to help when He sees her sorrow.
But first He speaks a word of consolation: “Weep not.” And then He proceeds to act: “Young
man, I say to thee, arise.” Then He delivers to the mother the son who has been restored to
life. Thus Christ shows that He is the Lord of mercy. He is charity, He has compassion; He
speaks a word and performs a deed. When charity requires it, He will work wonders; He will
even recall the dead to life. The mother had not expected this miracle; the Lord does infinitely
more than man dares to hope for. We, on the other hand, are mean and selfish in contrast to
the plenitude of His goodness and love.
This incident has a deep meaning in the eyes of the liturgy. We, too, were once spiritually
dead because of our sins, but our mother, the Church, wept and prayed for us. Every day she
prayed to the Lord in the Masses said by the multitude of her priests, in which she remembers
all her children. “Be mindful, O Lord, of Thy servants . . . and of all here present, whose faith
and devotion are known to Thee, for whom we offer . . . this sacrifice of praise. . . . We beseech
Thee, O Lord, graciously to receive this oblation. Dispose our days in Thy peace and command
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