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The Easter Cycle
Thursday
Today we are urged to do penance. The Church leads us to the place where the blessed
martyr St. Lawrence suffered, the Church of St. Lawrence in Panisperna. On this spot St.
Lawrence suffered his passion on the glowing coals and attained the crown of glory. During
Lent we can share his struggles and his martyrdom by our self-denial, and thus atone for
our past sins and negligences.
“The soul that sinneth, the same shall die” (Epistle). The sinner must not place the blame for
his sins on others. He may not say that, because the father hath eaten sour grapes, the teeth of
the children are set on edge. “As I live, saith the Lord, . . . behold all souls are Mine; as the soul
of the father so also the soul of the son is Mine. The soul that sinneth, the same shall die.” Such
a one can live only if he does penance for his sin and if the sin be forgiven. “And if a man be just
and do judgment and justice, . . . and hath not wronged any man, but hath restored the pledge
to the debtor; . . . hath given his bread to the hungry and hath covered the naked with a garment;
hath not lent upon usury, nor taken any increase; . . . hath walked in My commandments
and kept My judgments, to do truth: he is just, he shall surely live, saith the Lord Almighty”
(Epistle). The soul that would be saved must practice justice, forgiveness, charity, and fidelity
to the commandments of God.
“At that time Jesus went forth and retired into the coasts of Tyre and Sidon. And behold a
woman of Canaan [a heathen woman] who came out of these coasts, crying out, said to Him:
Have mercy on me, O Lord, Thou Son of David; my daughter is grievously troubled by a devil.
Who answered her not a word. . . . But she came and adored Him, saying: Lord, help me. Who
answering, said: It is not good to take the bread of the children [the chosen people of Israel]
and to cast it to the dogs [the heathens]. But she said: Yea, Lord, for the whelps also eat of the
crumbs that fall from the table of their master. Then Jesus answering said to her: O woman,
great is thy faith; be it done to thee as thou wilt. And her daughter was cured from that hour”
(Gospel). This is a picture of the Church in action. She is the woman of Canaan who moves the
Lord by her urgent entreaties. “Have mercy on me, O Lord, Thou Son of David; my daughter
is grievously troubled by a devil.” The Church beseeches the Lord for pardon and grace for her
sinful children, who until the feast of Easter stand at the church door with the penitents. They
have been separated from the altar, excluded from offering their gifts and from receiving Holy
Communion; they are the “whelps” who may not share the bread at the table with the children,
but who are fed from the crumbs that fall from the table. “It is not good to take the bread of
the children and to cast it to the dogs.” The Church continues to pray for sinners even though
the Lord pretends not to hear. She will move Him with her importunity. “Woman, great is thy
faith; be it done to thee as thou wilt.”
“The soul that sinneth, the same shall die.” But it has still a means of salvation. Its mother,
the Church, still prays for it: “Have mercy on me, O Lord, Thou Son of David.” The Church
makes the concerns of her sinful children her own concern. She has committed her official
prayer, the Divine Office, to her priests and religious, who as a body raise their hands
together to ask the Lord for grace and mercy for those who live in sin. We should have full
confidence in the intercession of the Church. What a consolation for us to remember that
we never pray alone, that we are not alone in our anxiety for the conversion of those dear
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