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The Easter Cycle
laymen, young men and old men and virgins, young boys like St. Pancratius, and young girls
like St. Agnes have sacrificed all to be witnesses to Christ. The Church suffered ten severe persecutions
during the first three centuries. In the centuries which followed, great heresies arose,
and these caused new sufferings for the Church. New enemies arose, new martyrs were born.
The kings and the mighty ones of earth demand that the Church abandon her position on the
sanctity of marriage and allow the passions of a fallen human nature to control our actions.
But the Church continues to give testimony to Christ and His law even though whole nations
abandon her. Modern ideologies and modern theories are born and demand a hearing. They ask
that the Church accommodate her dogmas and her teachings to the spirit of the times. But the
Church will not compromise; she clings to Christ. She is denounced, and her name is dragged
down into the mire; but she suffers patiently, giving testimony to Christ and the immutability of
His laws. O holy Church, thou hast been faithful to the commission given thee by thy departing
bridegroom: “You shall give testimony [of Me].” Thou surely art the true Church of Christ. I
cling to thee, and by my loyalty to you I also give testimony to Christ. This I shall do, even at
the cost of worldly honors and esteem, even at the cost of my life.
“But before all things have a constant mutual charity among yourselves.” By our charity all men
may know whether the spirit of Christ has been fruitful in us or not. For this reason the liturgy
never tires of reminding us of the necessity of charity. “This is My commandment, that you love
one another as I have loved you” ( Jn 15:12).
“The hour cometh that whosoever killeth you will think that he doth a service to God”
(Gospel). We do not anticipate any other treatment, and we would not have it otherwise. “And
these things I have told you, that when the hour shall come, you may remember that I told you”
(Gospel). Yet often we refuse to understand that this hour must come. We are ready to accept
anything but suffering. How little of Christ’s life and spirit must be in us!
Prayer
Almighty and eternal God, grant that our will may be ever devoted to Thee, and that we may
serve Thy majesty with a sincere heart. Through Christ our Lord. Amen.
Monday within the Octave
In the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass we take part in a worldwide procession which follows Christ’s
Ascension into heaven. “God is ascended with jubilee, and the Lord with the sound of a trumpet,
alleluia” (Offertory). He enters heaven to sit at the right hand of His Father. His function as high
priest, which began with His assumption of human nature, is to continue and to be fruitful for
all eternity. “The Lord said to my Lord: Sit thou at My right hand. . . . Thou art a priest forever
according to the order of Melchisedech” (Ps 109:4).
Christ’s heavenly priesthood is not a mere repetition or summation of His sacrifice on the cross.
It is the perpetuation of that sacrifice, continued out of His zeal for the honor of the Father and
for the salvation of souls. It is the eternal, efficient, representation of the sacrifice of the cross.
As long as there remain souls on earth that are in need of salvation and to whom the salutary
merits of Christ’s work must be applied, He continues to exercise His priesthood on their behalf.
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