9781644135945

The Christmas Cycle
and holiness of truth” (Eph 4:24). Then we “received the spirit of adoption of sons, whereby
we cry Abba (Father)” (Rom 8:15).
Every day the Church invites us to celebrate the Holy Sacrifice with her and to participate
in the fruits of the sacrifice by Holy Communion. The Holy Eucharist is the divine leaven which
penetrates our souls and rejuvenates them. All the other sacraments and sacramentals of the
Church are instituted for the same purpose. If we make use of the means which she places at our
disposal, the leaven of divine grace will completely transform us. Then the words of the great
Apostle will be true of us also: “I live, now not I, but Christ liveth in me” (Gal 2:20).
Have we allowed the Church to work this transformation in us? Have we really managed
to put off the old man with his habits of thought, his manner of acting, his selfishness, and his
self-love? Have we really “turned to God from the idols to serve the living and true God, and to
wait for His Son from heaven (whom He raised up from the dead), Jesus, who hath delivered
us from the wrath to come” (Epistle)?
Prayer
Grant us, we beseech Thee, O almighty God, ever to fix our thoughts on reasonable things and
to do what is pleasing to Thee both in words and in deeds. Through Christ our Lord. Amen.
Thursday
“The kingdom of heaven is like leaven” (Gospel), which, although very small in quantity, very
soon leavens the whole mass. This parable is an image of the fruitfulness of the doctrine of
Christ, which is the leaven which penetrates all our thoughts and actions, and makes them
fruitful in Christ. When this spirit has completely penetrated our soul, then the kingdom of
God is realized in us.
He who studies his fellow men without the light of faith, is considering them in an entirely
false light. Such a man is bound by earthly considerations and soon becomes impatient with
the imperfections which he sees. His vision is impaired, and he sees all things only in the light
of human wisdom. God’s purposes and ways are unfamiliar to him. He judges only that to be
important which will win the favor of his fellow men; the approval of God does not concern
him. His life is a confusion of fears, hopes, plans, and disappointments. He wanders through life,
insecure in his possessions, confused in his objectives, restless and without peace. He cannot
understand the existence of suffering, hardship, and disappointment, and life itself becomes a
riddle. The greatest enigma of all is the end of life, death, beyond which he cannot see. He has
achieved very little peace or happiness in this world, and he has performed no works that are of
value for eternity. “You have sowed much, and have brought in little; you have eaten, but have
not had enough; you have drunk, but have not been filled with drink” (Agg 1:6).
“The kingdom of God is like to leaven, which a woman hid in three measures of meal until
the whole was leavened.” If our thoughts and actions and desires are permeated with the love
of Christ, then we live continually in the kingdom of Christ. When we have reached this stage,
we live more truly in the world of faith than in the world about us. Our life is changed from an
earthly plane to a heavenly plane, and we recognize the hand of God in all that happens to us.
We see the hand of providence in every event of our life. Even the misfortunes which befall us
163