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The Time After Pentecost
be on the paten, that nothing may belong to us any longer, neither worldly goods nor our own
will, but everything may be entirely at the disposal of God. In Holy Communion we deepen
our union with Christ and become ever more perfectly filled with His holy spirit in order that,
yielding our “members to serve justice unto sanctification,” we may be able to say with Him:
“My meat is to do the will of Him that sent Me” ( Jn 4:34).
Prayer
O God, whose providence in the ordering of all things never fails, we humbly beseech Thee
to put away from us all harmful things and to give us those things which are profitable for us.
Through Christ our Lord. Amen.
Monday
Through baptism we become branches of Christ, who is the fruitful vine. “Every branch in Me
that beareth not fruit, He will take away; and every one that beareth fruit, He will purge it that
it may bring forth more fruit” ( Jn 15:2). We have been called to bring forth good fruit. “Every
good tree bringeth forth good fruit. . . . By their fruits you shall know them” (Gospel).
“Not every one that saith to Me: Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven” (Gospel).
We pray, perhaps we pray much; but too often we do not pray in the right manner. We are much
like those who say, “Lord, Lord,” following our own ideas and indulging in our own fancies. How
many there are who pray for hours and meditate daily, who regularly examine their conscience
and perform all kinds of exercises of piety, but who, nevertheless, harbor ill feeling against those
around them, who are peevish, reckless, and egoistic! They pray, but in their everyday life they
become indignant at trifling offenses. They are without self-control, they make hasty, uncharitable
judgments in thought and word. Is such conduct the fruit of Christian prayer? Their kind
of prayer is not true prayer and can hardly be agreeable to almighty God. It is a prayer which is
not even pleasing to men, for it can even become repulsive and cause men to treat true piety
with contempt. No blessing rests on one who thus cries, “Lord, Lord”; but only a curse. They
shall not enter into the kingdom of a fully Christian life. “Every tree that bringeth not forth good
fruit shall be cut down and shall be cast into the fire.”
“He that doeth the will of My Father who is in heaven, he shall enter into the kingdom of
heaven” (Gospel). “Every good tree bringeth forth good fruit.” God expects of us, not merely
words, no empty “Lord, Lord,” but real fruit, since we have been united with Christ. The fruit,
however, is to do the will of the Father. Our everyday life proves whether or not our prayers
are genuine. If our prayers do not detach us from ourselves, if they do not make us more ready
to make sacrifices, more faithful to God, they are not genuine. If they do not make us day by
day more vigilant in our fight against our perverted affections, more patient and tolerant of our
neighbor’s faults and weaknesses, if they do not render us more courageous in self-denial and
more faithful to duty, they are not genuine. If our meditations and prayers do not make us daily
more perfect, urging us to acquiesce more readily in God’s visitations, in suffering, sickness,
inconveniences, temptations, and spiritual trials, then they are not genuine. Genuine prayers
urge us, unfailingly and with an inner necessity, to accept God’s will in everything, no matter
how much our human nature may have to suffer. We pray only as well as we love. Loving God,
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