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The Time After Pentecost
During the Sacrifice of the Mass we offer the few loaves of bread which the Gospel speaks of,
and He works in them a marvelous miracle. He changes the few pieces of bread, the hosts, into
His own body, feeding therewith the souls of those who hunger after Him and His life.
He asks so little of us: a small renunciation, the abandonment of some reading we like or
some curious look or question; or He may wish us to overcome some inordinate affection or
to control our impatience. For some small sacrifice made out of love for Him, He will work in
our souls the wonder of interior enlightenment, of deliverance from some evil, of an increase
of grace.
“Alleluia, alleluia. In Thee, O Lord, have I hoped, let me never be confounded; deliver me
in Thy justice, and release me; bow down Thy ear to me, make haste to deliver me. Alleluia.”
We must have confidence, for the Lord has “compassion on the multitude.” “Save, O Lord, Thy
people, and bless Thy inheritance, and rule them forever” (Introit).
Prayer
O Lord, who hath nourished us with Thy gifts in Holy Communion, grant, we beseech Thee,
that they may be efficacious in our souls, purifying and protecting us with the help of Thy
grace. Amen.
Tuesday
We are emphatically reminded today of the meaning of our Christian faith. Our “old man,”
ruined by Adam’s fall and born in sin, has been buried with Christ in baptism. He lies in the
tomb as one dead. The new man, coming forth from the waters of baptism, an image of our
Lord rising out of the sepulcher, carries within himself the life of grace and the sonship of God.
The baptism which we once received means death and life.
“We are buried together with Him by baptism unto death” (Epistle). God originally intended
that we should enter this life as sons of God and partakers of the divine life, possessing sanctifying
grace, the virtues, and the gifts of the Holy Spirit. Thwarting this plan of God, Adam through
his sin lost for himself and all mankind, whose head and representative he was, the grace and
right to the heritage awaiting us in heaven. But God had mercy on us. He sent His Son that He,
as the new head of humanity, might atone for man’s offense against God. The entire earthly life
of the Savior until the consummation of His sacrifice on the cross, bears the character of death
and sacrifice. Since He was the lamb that takes upon Himself the sins of the world, God placed
the whole burden of man’s sins upon Him. From the first moment of His earthly existence
He consents to whatever the Father has prepared for Him. Thus His life becomes a continual
sacrifice. His humiliation in Bethlehem, the flight from the persecution of Herod, the hatred
of His enemies during His public life, His passion and death on the cross, prove Him to be the
lamb of sacrifice that is carried to be a victim ( Jer 11:19), the worm that is trod upon, according
to the words of the Psalmist (Ps 21:7).
“We are buried together with Him by baptism unto death.” By our baptism we have been
united with His life of continuous sacrifice, suffering, and renunciation. We always bear “about
in our body the mortification of Jesus” (2 Cor 4:10). Being crucified with Him, we drink the
chalice of suffering with Him. What has been written of Him has to be said of us too: “Ought
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