9781644135945

The Light of the World
kingdom of His beloved Son and of His Church. As members of the Church, we become members
of the body of Christ, branches of the living vine, living by the Spirit of Christ, filled with
Christ, and destined one day to share His inheritance in heaven. Finally, Christ has redeemed us
through His suffering and death, and has obtained for us the remission of sins. We should give
“thanks to God the Father” by our continual consciousness of the graces He has poured forth
upon us in Christ Jesus. Our lives should be an unbroken “Thanks be to God,” an uninterrupted
eucharist, a continual act of gratitude to God the Father.
The object of the liturgy during the past year has been to give us a better understanding of the
benefits God has bestowed on us in the incarnation of His only-begotten Son and in His life
and teaching, in His suffering and death, in His resurrection, ascension, and glorification; she
has striven to teach us the meaning of our incorporation in Christ and to induce us to live the
life of the sons of God. She has sought to make us understand the importance of the Eucharist,
which is offered by the priest each day and given to us as our spiritual nourishment. She would
have us understand that Christ still operates in us and will continue to do so until we are finally
prepared to share with Him His eternal glory and blessedness. We should continually meditate
on these truths.
“Brethren, we cease not to pray . . . that you may be filled with the knowledge of the will
of God in all wisdom” (Epistle). Once we are able to live in the knowledge of what God is
and what He has done for us, and we are absorbed by this thought in spite of all the bitter
trials that come to us, in spite of all misfortunes, difficulties, failures, and setbacks, then we
are truly perfect Christians. Such a knowledge of God is not easily acquired. To keep one’s
gaze fixed on God and Christ throughout the day is not an easy task. The world about us
tends to distract our attention from the part that Christ and God play in our redemption and
sanctification. Our own efforts to work out our salvation tend to take the place of primary
importance. In a world in which evil is so predominant, the grace and work of Christ and
God appear remote and unreal. We are occupied too much with ourselves and too little
with God, our Savior; we therefore are no longer able to view life in its proper perspective.
Thus, too, we lose that spirit of Christian joy and confidence which characterized the life of
St. Paul. “For I am sure that neither death nor life, . . . nor things present nor things to come,
nor might . . . nor any other creature shall be able to separate us from the love of God which
is in Christ Jesus” (Rom 8:38). God should occupy the first place in our lives.
Prayer
Arouse, we beseech Thee, O Lord, the wills of Thy faithful, that by more earnestly seeking the
fruit of the divine work, they may receive more abundantly the gifts of Thy loving kindness.
Through Christ our Lord. Amen.
Thursday
“Then shall appear the sign of the Son of Man in heaven. . . . They shall see the Son of Man coming
in the clouds of heaven with much power and majesty” (Gospel). When evil has reached its
climax, the Lord will appear, “and then that wicked one shall be revealed, whom the Lord Jesus
shall kill with the spirit of His mouth, and shall destroy with the brightness of His coming” (2
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