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The Christmas Cycle
determination to remain firmly united to the kingdom of Christ. We shall remember that Christ
has said, “This is My commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you” ( Jn 15:12).
The fruit of Holy Communion should be an increase of love for God and our neighbor.
We deceive ourselves if we think that we can unite ourselves to Christ in Holy Communion
and at the same time feel enmity for our neighbor. If we treat our neighbor with harshness or
bitterness, we can hardly receive Holy Communion with fruit. “By their fruits you shall know
them” (Mt 7:16). Let the fruit of our Holy Communions be an increase in our love for our
neighbor.
Prayer
Pour forth, O Lord, the Spirit of Thy love, that we may become one in heart through the grace
of Thy Father, with whom Thou livest and reignest forever. Amen.
Thursday
The sacred liturgy today asks us to be an epiphany, a manifestation of the Lord. The Christian
is another Christ, “made conformable to the image of His Son” (Rom 8:29). “Even as the Lord
hath forgiven you, so do you also. . . . And let the peace of Christ rejoice in your hearts, wherein
also you are called in one body” (Epistle).
“Let the peace of Christ rejoice in your hearts.” Whenever the bishop turns to the people during
Mass to say, “Peace be with you,” and whenever the priest turns to say, “The Lord be with you,”
our Holy Mother the Church reminds us of the peace of Christ that should reign in our hearts.
“May the peace of the Lord remain with you,” the priest says immediately before the Agnus
Dei. The Agnus Dei itself is a prayer for peace.
This longing for peace reaches its climax in the prayer for peace which precedes
Communion. “Lord Jesus Christ, who has said, My peace I leave with you, My peace I give
you, give peace and unity to Thy Church.” The kiss of peace, commonly known as the “Pax,”
immediately follows this prayer in the Solemn Mass. This ceremony signifies the unity of the
mystical body of Christ, the Church. This insistence of the liturgy on the peace of Christ should
impress us with its importance. The peace of Christ will regain in our hearts when we have freed
ourselves from sin, from self-love, from evil habits, and from our evil inclinations.
The peace of Christ means union with God and progress in virtue; it characterizes those
Christian communities which are “one heart and one soul,” as were the assemblies of apostolic
times (Acts 4:32). This peace displaces all selfishness and enmity. For this reason “you are called
in one body” that all may be one in Christ. Let us strive to achieve peace, unity, and harmony
in our lives; that is the spirit which Christ would have reign in our hearts.
What hinders us most in acquiring this peace of Christ? The first obstacle is our attachment
to earthly things. For some men this may assume the form of earthly possessions;
for others it may be an attachment to their work; while still others may be hampered by
ambition, pride, or self-love. These faults make us critical, proud, quarrelsome, passionate,
and impatient; they make us unwilling to make sacrifices, and without the sacrifice of our
self-love, perfect love of God and of our neighbor is impossible. If we were true Christians,
we would despise all earthly possessions. With St. Paul we would consider all things as loss
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