9781644135945

The Easter Cycle
to become part of His offering. He is able to redeem us completely and to sanctify us through
His prayer and sacrifice.
An eternal high priest! The sacrificial intention of Christ is eternal. Eternal, too, is that
divine compassion which sympathizes with the poor, fallen nature of man with its infirmities,
for He is like unto us in all things except sin (Heb 4:15). Through His eternal saving Christ
continues to live His temporal life forever. His self-denial, His tears, His sufferings, His labors,
His humility, are continued in this way; for He is the sacrificial lamb, the victim offered by the
high priest. Rich indeed are those who live on earth according to the spirit and poverty of Christ.
“For we have not a high priest who cannot have compassion on our infirmities; but one
tempted in all things like as we are, without sin. Let us go therefore with confidence to the
throne of grace; that we may obtain mercy, and find grace in seasonable aid” (Heb 4:15 f.).
Prayer
O Lord, having been filled with Thy holy gifts (the Holy Eucharist), we beseech Thee to grant
that we may always persevere in giving thanks to Thee. Through Christ our Lord. Amen.
(Postcommunion, Sunday after the Ascension.)
Tuesday within the Octave
“Father, the hour is come, glorify thy Son. . . . As thou hast given Him power over all flesh” ( Jn
17:1 f.). The Father heard this prayer of His Son and glorified Him through His Ascension into
heaven. “Sit Thou at My right hand” (Ps 109:1). Now He shares in the dominion and the glory
of the Father. To Him “all power is given . . . in heaven and in earth” (Mt 28:18). He has been
given the power to rule and to judge.
The power to rule. Behind the gentle sweetness of the gospel there stands also the royal power
of the lawgiver. Christ does not preach merely to edify; He states the law. He supports His laws
with sanctions of eternal happiness or eternal damnation. “Go ye into the whole world and
preach the gospel to every creature. He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved, but he that
believeth not shall be condemned” (Gospel). Under the law of Christ there is no distinction
of persons, no privileged persons, no one against whom discrimination is made, but only the
just and the unjust. No one has power over the law of Christ, not even the Church, and everyone
must accept it with respect and humility. No earthly lawgiver, no parliament, no king, no
minister, no science, can dispense from the law of Christ nor ignore it with impunity. He has
made His law known through the gospel and through His Church so that no one can excuse
himself on the plea of ignorance; and this applies especially to those who belong to the Church.
“All power is given to Me in heaven and in earth.” This power extends to me also, to my body
and my soul, to my very life. I gladly acknowledge His power over me, His law, His command.
The power to judge. “This Jesus, who is taken up from you into heaven, shall so come as you
have seen Him going into heaven” (Epistle). He shall come again as the judge at the end of time.
That will be the crowning act of the glorified Christ. The glory of that day is before His eyes as
He stands before the high council at Jerusalem. “Nevertheless I say to you, hereafter you shall
see the Son of Man sitting on the right hand of the power of God, and coming in the clouds of
heaven” (Mt 26:64). “For neither doth the Father judge any man, but hath given all judgment
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