9781644135945

The Light of the World
up to the level of spiritual men? Certainly not by our own effort and desire. Only the grace of
God and the power of the Holy Ghost can do this. “Open thy mouth wide and I will fill it” (Ps
80:11). The more we desire and ask for, the more we shall receive. “For every one that asketh,
receiveth” (Mt 7:8). He that does not ask will not receive. “He hath filled the hungry with good
things; and the rich He hath sent empty away” (Lk 1:53).
“And I send the promise of My Father upon you; but stay you in the city till you be endued
with power from on high” (Lk 24:49). That is the command of the Father for these days which
precede Pentecost. We continue in prayer with Mary and the apostles. Even while we are occupied
with the duties of our state of life and the care of our families, we can keep our hearts fixed on God
and free to commune with God in prayer. We wish to be prepared when the Holy Spirit descends
from heaven at Pentecost and seeks admission to our souls. God grant that He may not pass us by.
Prayer
O God, our refuge and our strength, who art the Author of all true piety, give ear to the pious
prayers of Thy Church, and grant that we may in truth receive what we so earnestly seek.
Through Christ our Lord. Amen.
Octave of the Ascension
“Grant, we beseech Thee, O almighty God, that we who believe Thy only-begotten Son, our
Redeemer, has this day ascended into heaven, may ourselves also dwell in spirit on heavenly
things” (Collect). In this prayer which the Church offers to God she seeks to make our life
harmonize with our faith.
Sursum corda. We must lift up our hearts to dwell in heaven in spirit. We are to live with the glorified
Christ, who is our head, our exemplar, the way and the truth. All our hopes and expectations should
be placed in Him. We must concentrate only on what is yet to come, on what is eternal. Sursum
corda. The incidents of our lives, the misfortunes we suffer, the men with whom we associate,
the works we perform, the duties we must fulfill, the sufferings we must undergo, should all be
considered in the light of eternity and through the eyes of God and our glorified Redeemer. To
dwell in heaven means to accept all our misfortunes and difficulties after the example of Him who
was unjustly condemned to death, who was executed in the most shameful manner, and whom
the Father exalted above the highest heavens. It means not to wish to be acclaimed and honored
by men, but to submit our deeds and omissions to Him who sees all our actions from heaven, and
provides that nothing we do with the proper intention is ever lost or without its proper reward.
He who dwells in heaven in spirit considers all his actions in the light of his eternal destiny. He
is not, however, shiftless or disinterested. On the contrary, he takes a more intense interest and uses
greater insight than others. He lives in the peace of God and does not pass from one excitement
to another. He lives on a higher plane of life and works quietly and in peace with his eyes fixed
on heaven. He takes misfortunes as coming from the hand of God, and follows faithfully in the
footsteps of Him whom he knows to be now in heaven sitting at the right hand of the Father. “In
your patience you shall possess your souls” (Lk 21:19). Such a man uses the temporal things for his
eternal salvation. This is the true wisdom which confounds all worldliness, lifts us up from the mire,
rescues us from the narrowness and selfishness of our fallen nature with all its vanity and confusion.
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