9781644135945

The Light of the World
The doctrine of the Church is holy; her moral practices are holy; her sacraments are holy; her
prayer and her liturgy are holy. The life of her children is saintly, and she has produced millions
of saints for heaven. Many of her children on earth have reached a high degree of sanctity, and
all of this holiness is due to the operation of the Holy Ghost. Every man must acknowledge this
Church as the true Church, as the Church established by Christ and sanctified by the Holy Ghost.
The second stamp of approval which the Holy Ghost places on the Church is the gift of
miracles. Christ Himself refers to this gift of miracles and offered His miracles as a proof of His
divine mission. They are a means by which men can recognize the true Church and distinguish
it from others. “But they, going forth, preached everywhere, the Lord working withal and confirming
the word with signs that followed” (Mk 16:20).
The Acts of the Apostles and the history of the Church are little more than the fulfillment of
this prophecy of Christ: “Behold, I am with you all days” (Mt 28:20). The Church is the visible,
ever-present, and easily understood proof of the testimony of the Holy Ghost to the world, that
failure to believe in Christ is a sin. “And when He is come, He will convince the world of sin [the
great sin of unbelief], . . . because they believed not in Me.” We recognize and thank God with
joy for the work of the Holy Ghost in the apostles and in the Church. We acknowledge with
unshakable faith that our Lord is “Christ the Son of the living God, . . . the way, the truth, and
the life” ( Jn 11:27; 14:6). “I do believe, Lord; help my unbelief ” (Mk 9:23).
“He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved; but he that believeth not, shall be condemned”
(Mk 16:16). There are so many men in our times who, like the Jews of old, refuse to believe in
Jesus. They can hardly ignore the work of the Holy Ghost; in fact they can almost feel it with
their hands. The holiness of the Church, her marvelous unity of doctrine, the miracles which
even today are worked by the saints in the Church, all speak eloquently of the fruitful and living
presence of the Holy Ghost in the Church. It is a sin and terrible oversight not to believe in
Christ. We pity the poor, blinded people who have been cheated of their faith. We pray and
intercede for them that they may come to understand that they sin if they fail to come to Jesus
and to see that He is the only source of salvation.
The Church lives in each one of us. I, too, must bear personally the stamp of the Holy
Ghost in my thinking, in my speech, in my actions. I, too, must be a living and effective witness
for Christ. Everyone must see in me what miracles of grace and holiness the Christian faith
can produce in men; and through my life others must be forced to acknowledge that Jesus is
the truth. This model life should be the result of my participation in Mass, the fruit of my Holy
Communions, the result of my prayers and meditations.
Prayer
Send forth from heaven, O Lord, Thy assistance to Thy people, that they may seek Thee with
all their hearts, and may thus merit to obtain what they worthily seek. Through Christ our
Lord. Amen.
Wednesday
“And when He [the Holy Ghost] is come, He will convince the world . . . of justice, because I go
to the Father” (Gospel). This is the second part of the mission of the Holy Ghost to the world.
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