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The Easter Cycle
bowels from him; how does the charity of God abide in him?” (1 Jn 3:17.) How can he obtain
forgiveness from God if he attend not to his brother’s need?
How about our love of our enemies? “Love your enemies; do good to them that hate
you; and pray for them that persecute and calumniate you; that you may be the children
of your Father who is in heaven, who maketh His sun to rise upon the good and bad, and
raineth upon the just and the unjust.” Love of our enemies is not merely a counsel, it is a
holy, positive command of the Lord. It is a proof of the genuineness of our love for our
neighbor and for God. If the love of enemies, which the Gospel asks for, is to be found so
seldom even among us Christians, that is an indication that among us Christians — it is
unfortunately true — very little love is to be found.
Herein lies the principal weakness in our Christian life: we lack sufficient love of our
neighbor, both inwardly and outwardly. Our lives are full of self-love and self-seeking. Here
our lenten activity must begin its work. The effort that the holy season of Lent asks of us
is: “Love your enemies. Do good to them that hate you, and pray for them that persecute
and calumniate you.” Die to self-love and to self-seeking. That is the most important
mortification.
Prayer
O God, strength of those who hope in Thee, be propitious to our prayers; and because without
Thee human weakness can do nothing, grant us the assistance of Thy grace, so that we may be
pleasing to Thee by the fulfillment of Thy commandments both in desire and in act. Through
Christ our Lord. Amen.
Saturday after Ash Wednesday
It is night, and we labor at the oars, struggling to bring our faltering ships to land through
the troubled waters of our daily life. On the shore, waiting to receive us, is Jesus. At the
time of the fourth watch of the night, that is, toward morning, He enters into our boat by
means of Holy Communion, and guides our troubled craft to the desired goal (Gospel).
The struggle to preserve our souls from every sin and to practice the penance imposed on
us for past offenses, has been a trying experience. Nevertheless we place all our trust in
Christ. In the Holy Eucharist we shall find the strength to finish successfully the works of
penance undertaken during Lent.
Beautiful is the fruit which is produced during the season of Lent. “If Thou will take away the
chain out of the midst of thee, and cease to stretch out the finger and to speak that which profiteth
not. When thou shalt pour out thy soul to the hungry and shalt satisfy the afflicted soul,
then shall thy light rise up in the darkness, and thy darkness shall be as noonday. And the Lord
will give thee rest continually, and fill thy soul with brightness, and deliver thy bones. And thou
shall be like a watered garden, and like a fountain of waters, whose waters shall not fail. And the
places that have been desolate for ages shall be built in thee; thou shalt raise up the foundations
of generation and generation” (Epistle).
When the true spirit of Lent prevails, the divine life of grace flourishes in the soul,
and all virtues and good works come rapidly to perfection. When the Christian acquires
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