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The Easter Cycle
The liturgy urges us to perform good works during Lent and particularly to give alms to the
needy. “Cast thy care upon the Lord, and He shall sustain thee” (Gradual). He sustained the
widow of Sarephta, who had “only a handful of meal in the pot, and a little oil in a cruse”
(Epistle). She had intended to prepare a little hearth cake for herself and her son, “that we may
eat it and die.” Although there was a great famine in the country, the prophet tells her, “fear
not . . . but first make for me of the same meal a little hearth cake, and bring it to me; and after
make for thyself and thy son.” The widow obeys the word of the prophet, and behold, “From
that day the pot of meal wasted not, and the cruse of oil was not diminished.” Thus does God
reward alms given for His sake and for the sake of Christ. “Cast thy care upon the Lord, and
He shall sustain thee.”
“Deal thy bread to the hungry and bring the needy and the harborless into thy house; when
thou shalt see one naked, cover him and despise not thy own flesh” (Is 58:7). These words,
which the liturgy speaks to us daily during Lent (at None), the early Christians understood
literally and fulfilled literally. It was their custom to share, not only their bread, but all their personal
property as well. They brought to the apostles even the wages they received for their labor
and the money received from the sale of their property, so that none of their fellow Christians
should be in want. That is the spirit of true Christianity.
“Have mercy on me, O Lord, according to Thy great mercy; O Lord, blot out my iniquity”
(Offertory). In almsdeeds we have an excellent means of atoning for our sins.
“He that is the greatest among you shall be your servant. . . . And he that shall humble
himself shall be exalted” (Gospel). In the Sacrifice of the Mass we behold Him who “humbled
Himself, becoming obedient unto death, even to the death of the cross. For which cause God
also hath exalted Him and hath given Him a name which is above all names” (Phil 2:8 f.). We
are to follow Him on this path of humiliation by humbling ourselves, by submitting to the will
of God, and by the charitable service of our fellow men.
Prayer
We beseech Thee, O Lord, kindly to support us in this holy observance, that what we know by
Thy authority should be done, we may accomplish with Thy help.
Mercifully listen to our supplications, O Lord, and heal the maladies of our souls, that
having received the remission of our sins, we may ever rejoice in Thy blessing. Through Christ
our Lord. Amen.
Wednesday
Before going up to Jerusalem with His disciples, Christ predicts to them His passion and death.
“The Son of Man shall be betrayed to the chief priests and the scribes, and they shall condemn
Him to death, and shall deliver Him to the Gentiles to be mocked and scourged and crucified;
and the third day He shall rise again” (Gospel). Then the mother of two of the apostles, James
and John, approached Him with the request: “Say that these my two sons may sit, the one at
Thy right hand and the other at Thy left, in Thy kingdom. And Jesus answering said: You know
not what you ask. Can you drink the chalice that I shall drink? They say to Him: We can.” This
Gospel is read today in the stational church of St. Cecilia. Just as Salome, the mother of James
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