9781644135945

The Light of the World
victory: resurrection and glorification. He has conquered Satan, sin, and death. Now He possesses
dominion over our spirits and over our hearts. Since He became obedient unto death,
“God also hath exalted Him and hath given Him a name which is above all names: that in the
name of Jesus every knee should bow, of those that are in heaven, on earth, and under the earth:
and that every tongue should confess that the Lord Jesus is in the glory of God the Father” (Phil
2:9–11). “I called upon the Lord, and He heard my voice.”
Christ the Lord is the head that directs the body, the vine that nourishes the branches. He lives
in us who are His members. By reason of our baptism we share His life with all its vicissitudes.
While He is on earth, He remains the suffering and struggling Redeemer, and He renews His
passions and trials in us. We are in a real sense His body and members of His body. The experiences
of His physical body must now be repeated in us. By virtue of our baptism we are called
to relive His life, to share His sufferings and exertions, to participate in His resurrection and
glorification. Christ lives in me. I can do all things in Him who lives within me.
Today as we attend Mass we witness the renewal of the mystery of His death and resurrection
on our altar. We will not allow Him to undertake this renewal alone. We unite ourselves to
Him and resolve to make ourselves a holocaust to the Father. We resign our claim to all things:
to our will, our earthly possessions, our health, our strength, our body, our soul, and all that we
possess. All this we place on the paten with the altar bread, as a pure and holy offering to the
Father. We die, but we arise again when He comes to us in Holy Communion to fill us with
His life and His strength. Supported by His strength we go forth to meet the tasks of the day,
to “fight the good fight of faith” (1 Tm 6:12). We call out to the Lord and He hears us. We shall
conquer, and we shall win the crown.
Prayer
Graciously hear, we beseech Thee, O Lord, the prayers of Thy people, that we who are justly
afflicted for our sins, may mercifully be freed for the glory of Thy name. Through Christ our
Lord. Amen.
Friday
“I therefore so run, not as at an uncertainty; I so fight, not as one beating the air” (Epistle). St.
Paul, who here also speaks to us, knows what he is working for. He is conscious of his aim, and
that aim is the winning of an imperishable crown. He is determined that nothing shall prevent
his obtaining it.
“I believe in life everlasting.” This eternal life is our objective. This life will be the rest due
to the weary soldier after battle. It is the possession of every good that the heart of man
could desire, the possession of the highest and most desirable good conceived by the spirit
and heart of man. The crown we shall win is an imperishable crown, not a mere perishable
wreath. It will be the possession of complete inner happiness and an abode of bliss. Our
crown shall be the clear vision of the living God, and a sharing of His divine life and of
that of the glorified Christ. It is the being honored by God and by all the inhabitants of
heaven, both men and angels. This crown we shall possess, not for one brief moment, but
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