9781644135945

The Light of the World
We thank God for the precious gift of faith. It is our most valuable and treasured possession.
“And this is the judgment: Because the light is come into the world, and men loved darkness
rather than the light” (Gospel). This is the great sin, the sin of unbelief. “For every one that
doth evil hateth the light.”
Prayer
O God, who didst send the Holy Ghost to Thy apostles, listen favorably to the prayers of Thy
people, that Thou mayest bestow peace upon those to whom Thou hast given faith. Through
Christ our Lord. Amen.
Tuesday
The glory of the Church was perfected by the descent of the Holy Ghost. In the sacrament
of baptism her children received the “fullness of life.” Therefore the Church calls out to the
baptized and the confirmed: “Receive the joy of your glory, alleluia; giving thanks to God,
alleluia, who hath called you to a heavenly kingdom, alleluia, alleluia” (Introit). She also
warns us with maternal solicitude not to squander the riches we have received in baptism
and confirmation. “Attend, O My people, to My law; incline your ears to the words of My
mouth” (Introit).
“I am come that they may have life, and may have it more abundantly” (Gospel). When the
apostles received word that Samaria had accepted the Gospel, they made haste to confer the
Holy Ghost upon those who had been baptized. Peter and John were sent into Samaria and
both apostles prayed over the baptized. “Then they laid their hands upon them, and they
received the Holy Ghost” (Epistle). In the normal course of events, the sacrament of baptism
is completed by the sacrament of confirmation. The new life given by the sacrament of rebirth
must be strengthened, confirmed, and completed by the sacrament of the Spirit, the sacrament
of confirmation. That life must develop into a vigorous maturity, untroubled by the violent
turbulence of human passion, and characterized by the quiet, harmonious, overwhelming
power of the divine Spirit.
The soul which is to be called and prepared by the sacrament of confirmation for deeds
of Christian heroism, rises by a gradual and steady growth to the heights of Christian perfection.
It acquires perfect detachment from the world, a pure and holy love of God, of Christ,
and of its neighbor. It is prepared to practice heroic virtue, humility, patience, sacrifice,
and daily suffering. Baptism alone restores supernatural life to the soul, and is sufficient
for salvation. Through baptism the soul is reborn; but it is the will of God that this life be
brought to perfection through the sacrament of confirmation. The Lord desires heroic and
perfect Christians. It is His will to give us not merely life and a precarious escape from sin
and eternal death, but also the fullness of life, as He says, “I am come that they may have life
and may have it more abundantly.” This fullness of life is attained through the descent of the
Holy Ghost. Therefore the apostles were so zealous in seeing that the faithful received the
Holy Ghost through the reception of confirmation: the sacrament of growth and strength,
the sacrament of religious and moral maturity, the sacrament which completes baptism and
brings the soul to Christian perfection.
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