9781644135945

The Light of the World
Meditation
“Adore God, all you His angels; Sion [the Church] heard and was glad; the daughters of Juda
rejoiced. The Lord hath reigned; let the earth rejoice; let many islands be glad” (Introit). “And
we saw His glory” ( Jn 1:14). He permits His glory to shine in each of His members and in His
Church as a whole.
The glory of the Lord is made manifest in individual Christians (Epistle). Before baptism they
were worldly men, given to “fornication, uncleanness, lust, evil concupiscence, and covetousness”
(Col 3:5). But now by the power of God they are “the elect of God,” filled with “mercy,
benignity, humility, modesty, patience, bearing with one another” (Epistle). In their hearts the
power of God has conquered, and they now experience peace, a peace which the world cannot
give, a peace which embraces God, their neighbor, and themselves. They now love God and
praise Him with sacred hymns and canticles. Whatever they say or do, they do in the name of
Jesus Christ (Epistle). They are now, in truth, new men, reborn according to the righteousness
and goodness of God.
“Beholding the glory of the Lord with open face, [we] are transformed into the same
image from glory to glory, as by the Spirit of the Lord” (2 Cor 3:18). This transformation is
the work of God. He has poured forth His Holy Spirit into our hearts, and we have become
the children of God. He has endowed our souls with new virtues, the virtues of faith, hope,
charity, justice, and fortitude. These virtues have flowed into our souls from Him as the
sap flows out into the branches from the vine. The withered branches again come to life.
The Lord rebuilds the city of Sion (the Jerusalem of the Church); there “He shall be seen
in His glory” (Gradual).
In the Gospel the Lord manifests His majesty to the Church. “The kingdom of heaven is
likened to a man that sowed good seed in his field. But while men were asleep, his enemy came
and oversowed cockle among the wheat and went his way. And when the blade was sprung
up and had brought forth fruit, then appeared also the cockle” (Gospel). The Lord has thus
forewarned us that cockle would spring up in His Church. But “Christ also loved the Church
and delivered Himself up for it, that He might sanctify it, cleansing it by the laver of water in the
word of life; that He might present it to Himself a glorious Church, not having spot or wrinkle
or any such thing, but that it should be holy and without blemish” (Eph 5:25 ff.). The Church,
then, is a holy institution, holy in her faith, holy in her dogmas, holy in her sacraments, her
liturgy, and her prayers. She seeks also to sanctify and make holy the millions of souls who are
her children. Through her Christ sows good seed in the souls of men, but the enemy has not
been idle and has sown the cockle, the seeds of evil, in their hearts also.
In the early days of the faith, the disciples suffered with joy for the love of Christ. They were
abused, despoiled of their property, persecuted from city to city; but they suffered all this with
joy, knowing that they were to receive an eternal reward for their faithfulness (Heb 10:32 ff.).
But this spirit did not long endure. Many found their way into the fold who had not learned
what it meant to put on Christ. When they had received baptism they had boldly declared that
they would follow Christ, but they did not fully understand what Christ meant when He said,
“If any man will come after Me, let him deny himself ” (Mt 16:24). The sacrifices imposed by the
carrying of the cross they were not willing to undertake. The humility, poverty, and submission
often demanded of the Christian they looked upon as foolishness. Thus the cockle entered
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