9781644135945

The Light of the World
Introduction
During the season of Christmas and Epiphany, the Redeemer made His appearance among us.
Awed by our nearness to the Divinity, we cast ourselves down in adoration at His feet. “Adore
Him all you His angels” (Ps 96:7). “Behold the Lord, the Ruler, is come, and the kingdom is in
His hand, and power and dominion” (Introit for Epiphany). “Come let us adore Him.”
Now the scene is suddenly changed. On Septuagesima Sunday, the picture of Christ as the
King of Glory is withdrawn. Now He stands before us as the suffering and dying Redeemer.
Holy Mother the Church will accompany Him on the sorrowful journey through His passion,
will suffer and die with Him, and will arise again with Him at Easter.
During Lent we, too, shall “die.” We shall die to sin and to the world and all its vanities. This
death will impose on us a relentless and bitter struggle against our passions, our worldliness. It
will require of us much suffering and much self-restraint. Through the privations of this life we
shall gain the glory of the life to come.
Of this much we can be certain, that in this struggle we shall win, that by dying to the life
of this world we shall make sure the life to come. Our confidence arises from our knowledge
that Christ is our head, who lives in us and fights for us. Because of His abiding presence we
are confident of victory, of resurrection, and of life eternal. During the time from Septuagesima
to Easter we must wage an unceasing battle with nature that we may overcome sin, the flesh,
and the world. Through the holy liturgy we carry on this battle daily. Through strife we achieve
victory; by dying we live. “I shall not die, but live” (Ps 117:17).
Septuagesima Sunday
The Mass
Septuagesima Sunday ushers in the Easter cycle, and our thoughts dwell on the blessed mystery
of Easter. The Easter cycle includes Christ’s passion, resurrection, and glorification. The devout
Christian soul will accompany the Church as she contemplates Christ in His passion, death,
resurrection, and eternal glorification. Through struggle to victory is the universal law. Through
suffering, tribulation, and death the soul achieves self-mastery, resurrection, and life. This struggle
valiantly waged in this life will bring the soul to the resurrection and eternal life in heaven.
On Septuagesima Sunday in the ancient Church, the candidates who were to receive baptism
at Easter were selected from those who had presented themselves for instruction. This practice
should remind us also that we once were presented for baptism, and as members of Christ’s
mystical body we should renew our resolution to accompany Him on His sorrowful journey.
We shall accompany Christ through His struggles to victory. Having resolved to acquit ourselves
manfully in the struggle for the glory of God, and having concentrated all our energies
for that task, we shall eventually achieve a glorious victory and a blessed Easter. Our model
of mortification during this season is the martyr St. Lawrence. We gather around him in his
church at the beginning of Lent to prepare for the struggle. Dimly in the background we catch
a glimpse of the greatest of all martyrs, Jesus Christ, clothed in garments crimsoned with His
own blood. With Him and His holy Church we press forward for the struggle. “The sorrows
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