9781644135945

The Easter Cycle
city. But how shall this multitude be fed? They have followed Him into the desert and up the
mountain, renouncing the world and its pleasures (through baptism), and they now receive from
Christ’s own hands a new bread that contains all sweetness. He gives them bread and fish — the
Eucharist. On the mount of the altars of the Catholic Church that bread is prepared for the
multitude. “Praise the Lord for He is good; sing ye to His name, for He is sweet; whatsoever
He pleased, He hath done in heaven and in earth” (Offertory).
Now He comes in person into our midst. Today we are of the multitude which followed the Lord,
as the Gospel tells us. We desire to be with Him. What we once vowed in holy baptism — ”I
do renounce Satan” — we promise again today in the Mass. We leave the path of sin, the indulgence
of our inordinate passions, the joy of the world. Together with our Savior we enter
upon our lifelong lenten journey and withdraw from the world of pleasure into the desert of
mortification. We have Christ; that is enough for us. We will keep Him, listen to Him; we will
fill ourselves with His spirit. We shall live a new life, an inspired life, a life dedicated to God. This
life in union with Christ we undertook when we were baptized, and we renew our promise again
in the Mass today. To offer up the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass with Christ means to die to the
world and to live with Christ. “For in that He [Christ] died to sin, He died once; but in that He
liveth, He liveth unto God. So do you also reckon that you are dead to sin, but alive unto God,
in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Rom 6:10 f.). When we have entered into the consecration, when we
have made a step forward in the work of our inner “transubstantiation,” we become capable of
fruitful participation in the sacrificial meal of Holy Communion. Oh, the happiness produced
by a worthy Communion! One must have experienced it to understand this happiness that can
be had only in the Jerusalem of our Holy Mother the Church. There alone Christ gives Himself
to us in Holy Communion. “Rejoice with joy you that have been in sorrow, that you may exult
and be filled from the breasts of your consolation” (Introit).
Meditation
Laetare Sunday. Today is the Sunday of joy which has been placed in the middle of the austere
season of Lent. We are on our way through the desert. In fasting and prayer we have given
ourselves to penance. We have been longing for release from our sins, from the tyranny of our
senses, from the tedium of our life. We long to renew our spirit with Holy Mother the Church,
and to put on the new man. Today we pause momentarily to look ahead toward our destination.
A few weeks ago we set out for Jerusalem, the City of God, the city into which, once our work
is over, we shall enter. “I rejoiced at the things that were said to me; we shall go into the house
of the Lord” (Gradual).
“It is written that Abraham had two sons, the one by a bond woman [Agar] and the other
by a free woman [Sara]. . . . Which things are said by an allegory. For these are the two testaments.
The one [the Old Testament] from Mount Sinai, engendering unto bondage. . . .
But that Jerusalem which is above is free, which is our mother” (Epistle). O Jerusalem,
holy city of Israel, within whose walls lies the temple of God! To Jerusalem the pilgrim of
Israel brought his offerings to thank God, to atone, to entreat, and to sit at the same table of
sacrifice with the Lord. Because of this intimate union with the living God, the Holy City
was called the bride of the Most High. He guarded and protected her with His special love.
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