9781644135945

The Light of the World
herself, misunderstanding her very nature. She must fight, or abandon all hope of being a child
of God, destined some day to participate in the nobility, liberty, and happiness of the sons of
God. “Whosoever are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God” (Epistle). Only by
fighting against the law of sin, against the concupiscence of the flesh, the concupiscence of the
eyes, and the pride of life, can the child of God be born within us. “If you live according to the
flesh, you shall die,” being slaves to the law of sin. “Unhappy man that I am, who shall deliver
me from the body of this death?” (Rom 7:24.) The law of God and His Holy Spirit make it
clear to us that the only way to achieve true spirituality is by a continual struggle, by an earnest
asceticism and self-denial. The Holy Ghost, whom we received in confirmation as the Spirit
of fortitude, will lead us to victory over the law of the flesh and to the perfect sonship of God.
“If by the Spirit you mortify the deeds of the flesh, you shall live.” The law of the Holy Spirit
is the law of liberty. Like the rays of the sun it illuminates and warms and nourishes life. It is
the part of a flower to be beautiful. It is the duty of man to live according to the norms given to
him by his Creator, and to cherish and increase the nobility planted in him by God. This law of
the Spirit frees him from faults and sins. It makes his soul clear-sighted, helping him to see the
divine will in all things and to direct himself towards all that is noble and divine. Wresting him
from the fetters of selfishness and passion, it leads him to the liberty of the children of God.
“If by the Spirit you mortify the deeds of the flesh, you shall live.” The law of the Spirit is the
law of liberty, “the royal law” ( Jas 2:8), which, lifting us beyond the limits of our fallen nature,
fills us with the consciousness of superiority and victory, with a truly royal mind. It frees us
from the bonds of natural indolence and sloth in doing good, from our natural dislike of things
religious, and from our aversion to spirituality. Now we love the law of the Spirit, fulfilling it
not as slaves, but freely, out of the love for God which has been poured forth into our hearts
by the Holy Spirit. We realize that life comes to us through the law of the Spirit. Meeting the
deepest demands of our nature, which yearns for God, for truth and goodness, it frees us and
lifts us up, filling us with divine life and power. With the law of the Spirit we receive the life
and liberty of the sonship of God. “We have received Thy mercy, O God, in the midst of Thy
temple; according to Thy name, O God, so also is Thy praise unto the ends of the earth; Thy
right hand is full of justice” (Introit).
“The fruit of the Spirit is charity, joy, peace, patience, benignity, goodness, longanimity, mildness,
faith, modesty, continency, chastity. . . . They that are Christ’s have crucified their flesh, with the
vices and concupiscences. If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit” (Gal 5:22–25).
“Come, Holy Ghost, and fill the hearts of Thy faithful.”
Prayer
Grant to us, O Lord, we beseech Thee, the spirit to think and do always such things as are right;
that we who cannot exist without Thee, may be able to live according to Thy will. Through
Christ our Lord. Amen.
Wednesday
“You have received the spirit of adoption of sons, whereby we cry: Abba, Father” (Epistle). The
Holy Spirit is with us at the beginning of our life in Christ and effects our union with Christ, our
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