9781644135945

The Easter Cycle
them in the service of God. Faith is no longer something exterior to them, but becomes the
very soul of their life. It is this kind of faith that makes saints. Once we possess such faith, we
readily overcome the world with its lusts and its self-love, and we allow ourselves no rest until
we have complied with every law and every counsel which faith presents to us to arouse our
love and our generosity.
Because we live by faith and according to the rules of faith, the world attacks us who are
Christians. The world cannot endure the spirit which inspires us as Christians, because
our world is in the realm of faith. The knowledge of it is not “found in the land of them that
live in delights” ( Jb 28:13). The more we are misunderstood and abused by the world, the
more we ought to thank God, for persecution is a good indication that God has endowed
us with His spirit.
We must treasure and love the faith with which we were filled at the time of our baptism.
We must not rest until it has pervaded our very flesh and blood, until we live by faith alone.
Prayer
Grant, we beseech Thee, O almighty God, that we who have celebrated the paschal solemnity,
may by Thy bounty show forth its effects in our life and conduct. Through Christ our
Lord. Amen.
Friday
“At that time, when it was late that same day [Easter Sunday], the first of the week, and the
doors were shut, where the disciples were gathered together for fear of the Jews, Jesus came,
and stood in the midst, and said to them: Peace be to you. And when He had said this, He
showed them His hands and His side. The disciples therefore were glad when they saw the
Lord. He said therefore to them again: Peace be to you. As the Father hath sent Me, I also send
you. When He had said this, He breathed on them, and He said to them: Receive ye the Holy
Ghost; whose sins you shall forgive, they are forgiven them, and whose sins you shall retain,
they are retained” (Gospel).
The sacrament of penance is the gift of the risen Christ to His Church. St. Jerome calls it
a “second plank after our shipwreck,” and Tertullian refers to it as “an arduous baptism.” It is a
marvelous means of salvation for those baptized.
“Whose sins you shall forgive, they are forgiven them.” Christ sacrificed even His life for
the salvation of men. Could He have done more for us? Should not the remembrance of
the crucified One and the memory of His death for us inspire us with so great a love that
we could never sin again? We have, moreover, the strength and the grace provided by the
Eucharist, through which He gives Himself to us for the nourishment of our souls. Does
not the Eucharist have the power to sanctify us so that we can overcome all sin, so that sin
can no longer have any part in us? But Christ, knowing the weakness and the wickedness
of men, approaches His Church on Easter night and provides her with yet another means
for the remission of sin, for the healing of the wounds caused by sin, and for strengthening
us against sin. He gives us the sacrament of forgiveness, of mercy, of reconciliation, a means
327