9781644135945

The Light of the World
Wednesday
“People of Sion, behold the Lord shall come to save the Gentiles. And the Lord shall make
the glory of His voice to be heard in the joy of your heart” (Introit). This is the sign of the
redemption: “The blind see, the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead rise
again, the poor have the gospel preached to them” (Gospel). This is a consoling thought for
us. In the mind of the Church we are the blind, the lame, the deaf. We long for the Redeemer
and pray in the Mass today: “Thou wilt turn, O God, and bring us to life; and Thy people shall
rejoice in Thee” (Offertory).
“Thou wilt turn, O God, and bring us to life.” Never do we experience the longing for the
Redeemer and feel the need of redemption as deeply as during this week of Advent. At no time
in our lives do we feel so much like the blind, the lame, and the lepers, the deaf, and the dead
of today’s Gospel. But now we are redeemed. Now we are inspired by the hope that we are in
the state of grace and in union with God. We are living branches of that organism of grace, the
mystical body of Christ. We acknowledge gratefully what grace has done for us. Nevertheless
it is true that we are not all that we should be, and that we should make a better use of the
abundant graces that we are continually receiving from Christ our head. We are by no means
perfect. In many things we are still blind and are deceived by the false pleasures of the world,
by the devil, and by our self-love. In many ways we are still lame, hindered by our passions, by
human respect, by bad habits and other external influences.
We must rid ourselves of our inconstancy, of our ill temper, of our restlessness, and of the
scruples that may worry us. We must purify our thoughts, our intentions, our motives. Even
our prayers and our efforts at perfection are tainted by our vanity, our self-love, our ambition,
and our complacency. There is much in us that is degenerate and unclean. From the depth of
our misery we look up with trust and confidence to Him who is promised to the people of
Sion at Christmas, and in the Mass and Communion. “Thou wilt turn to us, O God,” in Thy
descent upon our altars and into our hearts. Send us all, the Church as a whole and each of us
individually, Thy mercy and Thy salvation.
“And bring us to life.” From the fountains of the Redeemer we draw forth new blood,
new strength, and new joy. These things flow to us from the altar. By the hands of the celebrating
priest we lay our gifts on the altar at Mass. Our gift is bread and wine. With this
bread and wine we mean to include our heart, our life, our whole person. In a few seconds
the power of the Most High will overshadow the bread and wine. They are presently to be
changed into the body and blood of the living, life-giving, and glorified Christ. What is done
to the bread and wine in the Mass is accomplished in a mysterious way also in us. The Lord
comes to us in the Holy Sacrifice, in Holy Communion, at Christmas, to fill us with this
life. His life is the light that heals our blindness, the strength and refreshment that supports
us in our lameness. His life is purity and innocence, and removes from us all uncleanness.
His life of self-sacrifice and His subjection to the will of His Father heals our deafness. His
life is immortality, endless fulfillment, and wakens us to the fullness of a holy life. “I am
come that they may have life and may have it more abundantly” ( Jn 10:10). We are indeed
possessed of grace and virtue, but not yet in its entirety. It will and it must grow in us, in
our family, and in the entire mystical body of Christ. “He that is just, let him be justified
still; and he that is holy, let him be sanctified still” (Apoc 22:11). How much stronger and
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