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The Light of the World
is true of all works that are not performed for the love of Christ. They may be good works in
themselves, but they are without value for eternity; their end is corruption.
“But he that soweth in the spirit, of the spirit shall reap life everlasting.” That is, he shall
reap a reward that is of eternal value: the reward of the spirit, the reward of faith, the reward
of grace, the reward promised by Christ. And every action performed in this spirit, no matter
how insignificant it is in itself, is meritorious for eternity. How foolish of us not to exercise more
zeal to sow in the spirit!
Jesus approaches the city of Naim. There He finds a dead man accompanied by his weeping
mother. So, too, when He comes to a Christian family or to a parish, He finds some who are
dead. They are sowing in the flesh and they will reap corruption of the flesh. But their distracted
mother, the Church, stands weeping over them; she carries the burdens of her children who are
spiritually dead. She has compassion on them and ceases not to pray for them, to offer sacrifice
for them, and to make satisfaction for them. We must unite ourselves to this mother who prays:
“Bow down Thy ear, O Lord, to me and hear me; save Thy servant, O my God, that trusteth in
Thee, . . . for I have cried to Thee all the day” (Introit).
The more we sow in the spirit with our Holy Mother the Church, the more certain we can
be of helping those who sow in the flesh. Through our prayers united with hers, we may obtain
for them the grace to sow in the spirit so that they may reap life eternal.
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.
Thursday
“Brethren if we live in the spirit, let us also walk in the spirit. . . . Bear ye one another’s burdens,
and so you shall fulfill the law of Christ” (Epistle). To walk in the spirit, therefore, means to
bear one another’s burdens. Christ bore the burden of our sins, and we must likewise bear the
burdens of others.
“Bear ye one another’s burdens.” Our Lord gives us an example in the Sunday Gospel. The only
son of a widow of the city of Naim is being carried out to his burial. Many of the people of the
city accompany her and share her sorrow, thus sharing her burden. Our Lord meets the procession
as it leaves the city. As it approaches Him near the gates of the city, He has compassion
on the mother. He wishes to share her burden and in charity lighten her grief. “Weep not,” He
tells her. The widow feels that the Lord understands her grief and that He wishes to take part
in her suffering. He approaches the bier and touches it, and they that carry it stand still. Then
the Lord addresses the young man, “Young man, I say to thee, arise”; and the young man sits
up. Then Jesus delivers him to his mother. Thus the Lord bore his neighbor’s burden, shared
her misery and pain, and left an example for us.
“Bear ye one another’s burdens.” Everyone has a burden to bear during his life on earth;
one in this manner, another in that. Each one of us receives his cross from the Lord; everyone
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