9781644135945

The Light of the World
“Arise, why sleepest Thou, O Lord?” A sincere cry for mercy rises from the bosom of the
Church. Oh, that the world had the grace of understanding the words of St. Paul, around whose
tomb the faithful are assembled today! St. Paul tells us that he who would serve Christ must
undergo hardships of all kinds, and be prepared to fight the good fight for Christ. He must
not expect to find his way to Christ by an easy way, but by way of hardships, self-denial, toil,
patience in suffering, fidelity under temptation, and in an unwavering reliance on supernatural
grace. What would Paul have been without his sufferings, his chains, and his martyrdom? But
where would he have found strength to endure these things except in the all-powerful help
from above? (Gradual.)
But grace alone is not enough. Grace must fall on good ground to be fruitful, on ground
such as the soul of Paul. When the seed of enlightenment of the spirit and of the guidance of
the will falls by the wayside, it is trampled upon and destroyed. When it falls on stony ground,
it can strike no root and will wither away. When it falls among thorns, the tender shoots will
be strangled. Only when the seed falls on good ground can it bring forth fruit (Gospel). How
many there are who belong to the church, who are immersed in a veritable sea of grace, and yet
bring forth no fruit! Is this because God fails to give them the seed of grace? No, indeed; it is
the earth that is found wanting, not the seed.
It behooves us therefore to follow in the footsteps of the blessed apostle Paul, in the way of
voluntary self-denial and penance. We should detach our heart from all earthly things and
from all unnecessary occupations. We shall prove fruitful ground only if we devote ourselves
entirely to Christ and His interests. We should crucify our vices by earnest works of Christian
mortification, that having cast out the old man, we may live a new life in union with God. We
shall then bring forth fruit a hundredfold when Christ unites Himself to us in Holy Communion
and fills us with His life and His strength. “He that abideth in Me and I in him, the same beareth
much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing” ( Jn 15:5).
This new life itself is the seed for the bearing of another fruit, the fruit of eternal union with
God. In that life our resurrection will be to a life of unending bliss, an eternal Easter in heaven.
But as yet “our belly hath cleaved to the earth.” “O Lord, arise and cast us not off to the end. . . .
Help us and deliver us” (Introit) now in the Mass and Communion and again when we shall
“go in to the altar of God [in heaven], to God who giveth joy to my youth” in the resurrection
of eternal life (Communion).
Meditation
Today we celebrate the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass at the tomb of the great Apostle of the
Gentiles, Paul. Today he becomes a type of the Church. He is persecuted and tried on all sides,
and yet he is filled with the strength of Christ, “for power is made perfect in infirmity” (Epistle).
“Our belly hath cleaved to the earth. . . . Arise, why sleepest Thou, O Lord” (Introit). That is the
cry of unredeemed mankind. It is likewise the prayer of the Church militant although it is now
redeemed. However, even as Christ, the head of the Church, was not exempt from suffering
during His earthly life, neither are His members exempt from suffering. The Epistle gives us a
picture of the suffering Church in the sufferings of the Apostle. We see in St. Paul the suffering
priests and the suffering faithful. He suffered many things, “in many more labors, in prisons
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