9781644135945

The Light of the World
The kingdom of God, as willed and instituted in this world by Christ, is a kingdom of charity,
and comes to us by means of a fraternal and merciful love. It carries oil and wine in its hands.
“By this shall all men know that you are my disciples, if you have love one for another” ( Jn
13:35). The Church is charity. She is the enduring and visible presence of the good Samaritan,
who works, heals, and saves through her. She is also the expression of God’s love for immortal
souls, a love that leads each man and entire nations to God. For this reason the Lord gave her
the two pence, His doctrine and the sacraments, and implanted in her heart the spirit of the
good Samaritan. The more she is misunderstood, and the more her mercy, her charity, and
her work are misinterpreted, the more we must endeavor to understand her and to follow her.
Prayer
Almighty and merciful God, of whose gift it cometh that Thy faithful people do unto Thee true
and laudable service; grant, we beseech Thee, that we may run without hindrance toward the
attainment of Thy promises. Through Christ our Lord. Amen.
Tuesday
Christ, the Son of God, is the good Samaritan who came down upon this earth and poured oil
and wine into the wounds of humanity. The holy liturgy expresses this thought by the words
which accompany the reception of Holy Communion: “The earth shall be filled with the fruit
of Thy works, O Lord, that Thou mayest bring bread out of the earth, and that wine may cheer
the heart of man; that he may make the face cheerful with oil, and that bread may strengthen
man’s heart” (Communion).
“The earth shall be filled with the fruit of Thy works.” It is now harvest time. In the name of
humanity the Church offers her thanks to heaven in this Sunday’s Communion prayer. God’s
hands have given a blessed harvest: bread and wine and oil are the gifts of His wisdom, power,
and mercy. “All expect of Thee that Thou give them food in season. What Thou givest to them
they shall gather up; when Thou openest Thy hand, they shall all be filled with good” (Ps
103:27 f.). Year after year the Lord commands nature, and it brings forth the food needed by
the innumerable creatures on earth. We hardly stop to consider what a miraculous work it is to
sustain humanity by means of the few seeds which are sowed in the ground year after year. It is
the miraculous work of the wisdom, power, and love of God. The good Samaritan bows down
each year, each day, and each hour, to our weakness and temporal needs, lovingly granting us
the daily bread that sustains our lives. “The earth shall be filled with the fruit of Thy works.”
How much we have to be thankful for!
“That Thou mayest bring bread out of the earth, and that wine may cheer the heart of
man.” The earth and its fruit are symbols for the liturgy. The earth which brings forth the bread
and wine represents the human nature of Jesus Christ, the Son of God. This exalted human
nature, most intimately united with the person of the divine Word, is the fruitful soil that brings
forth the Eucharistic gifts of bread and wine. The merits of His death on the cross ripened the
precious, abundant grain and the grapes, out of which the new generation of the baptized is to
gain supernatural food for the soul. “I am the bread of life. Your fathers did eat manna in the
desert, and are dead. . . . I am the living bread which came down from heaven. If any man eat
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