9781644135945

The Light of the World
“The eyes of all hope in Thee, O Lord; and Thou givest them meat in due season. Thou
openest Thy hand and fillest every living creature with Thy blessing” (Gradual). The Lord filled
with His blessings the ailing son of the royal officer. So, too, at the celebration of the Mass, He
bestows His blessings on the ailing children of the Church. So, too, will He bless His Church at
His return, when He will come to summon her to the eternal nuptials of heaven.
Prayer
Graciously grant to Thy faithful, we beseech Thee, O Lord, forgiveness and peace, that they
may be cleansed from all offenses and serve Thee with a quiet mind. Through Christ our
Lord. Amen.
Monday
The son of a ruler at Capharnaum has become desperately sick. The father, hearing that Jesus
is passing from Judea into Galilee, travels two days to beseech Him to come down at once to
Capharnaum and heal his son. “Lord, come down before my son die.” The Lord fulfills the desire
of the ruler, but not in the manner he had expected. He does not go to Capharnaum Himself,
but heals the sick boy from a distance. He tells the ruler: “Go thy way, thy son liveth.” The ruler
believes; when he reaches his home, he finds that his son has recovered. The fever had left him
at the moment when Jesus said to him, “Thy son liveth” (Gospel).
“Unless you see signs and wonders, you believe not” (Gospel). The father of the dying boy
has heard of Jesus and believes that He has the power to save his son from death, otherwise he
would not have traveled so far to meet the Lord. But his was not the kind of faith Jesus required.
The ruler thinks the Lord must visit his house at Capharnaum to effect the cure. He believes
the power of the Lord to be local and to depend on His personal presence. He expects Him to
lay His hands upon His son and to make him well by a miracle visible to all. For this reason the
Lord admonished him saying, “Unless you see signs and wonders, you believe not.” The officer
is so absorbed by his desire to save his child that he takes no further notice of the admonition.
With the urgency of a man in desperate straits, he repeats his prayer, “Come down before my
son die.” Jesus does not go to Capharnaum, for it is more important to inspire in this man faith
of a higher kind. He heals the sick boy from afar without laying His hands upon him, without
a sign or motion. The officer allows himself to be led to the heights of perfect faith by the Lord.
“Go thy way, thy son liveth.” He believes the words Jesus has spoken to him. “Blessed are they
that have not seen and have believed” ( Jn 20:29). Thus the Lord teaches His people to have faith
in His love, in His divine providence, in His almighty, hidden power. His ways are not our ways.
“Lord, come down before my son die.” In the anxious officer with his weak and imperfect
faith, the liturgy sees us Christians of today. We know by experience how many of our brethren
in Christ live entirely for this world and what it has to offer, losing themselves more and more
in things that are transitory. The Christian faith suffers much from these unfaithful brethren.
The maxims of the world are continually gaining ground. This worldly attitude, with all its false
ideals and goods, and its denial of Christ and His Church, is growing by leaps and bounds. We
know the dangers to which our own souls and those of our beloved ones are exposed. We fear
for their salvation. With the officer of the Gospel we approach the Lord and say, “Lord, come
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