9781644135945

The Time After Pentecost
of this bread, he shall live forever; and the bread that I will give, is My flesh, for the life of the
world. . . . He that eateth My flesh and drinketh My blood, hath everlasting life” ( Jn 6:48 ff.).
Bread and wine are the gifts of the good Samaritan. They heal, they produce strength and life,
a life of harmony between spirit and nature, a life of sanctity and justice pleasing to God. In
virtue of the Holy Eucharist we are anointed with holy oil; that is, with the Spirit of the Lord,
the Holy Ghost. He is light and life, knowledge and charity, faith and strength; He is “the oil
of gladness” (Ps 44:8) that protects us from death, that heals the wounds of our life and pours
over us the fullness of sanctity. “That Thou mayest bring bread out of the earth, and that wine
[the wine of the Holy Eucharist] may cheer the heart of man.” All these gifts come to us from
the boundless love of the good Samaritan.
“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). Gratitude for a blessed
temporal harvest immediately leads the liturgy to think of the supernatural blessings which
have come to us as members of Christ in the bread and wine of the Holy Eucharist. The liturgy
has in mind both the temporal and the supernatural blessings. It does not, however, view the
temporal blessings as something distinct from the spiritual ones, since its faith is so deep that
the temporal and natural gifts become immediately and of themselves a type and symbol of
spiritual and supernatural gifts.
“That bread may strengthen man’s heart.” We think at once of the bread of the Holy
Eucharist, the bread of life come down from heaven, which heals our weakness and our infirmities,
and renews the forces worn out by the struggle of life. Fortifying us against the power
of concupiscence and of our passions, it stimulates the soul to take up again the road of virtue
and perfection with renewed and unconquerable courage and zeal. “As the living Father hath
sent Me, and I live by the Father; so he that eateth Me, the same also shall live by Me” ( Jn
6:58). Christ’s power works within all of us. “I can do all things in Him who strengtheneth
me” (Phil 4:13).
We do not pray in vain: “Incline unto my aid, O God; O Lord, make haste to help me. Let
my enemies be confounded and ashamed, who seek my soul” (Introit). “If God be for us, who
is against us? He that spared not even His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all, how hath
He not also, with Him, given us all things?” (Rom 8:31 f.) Since we possess Christ, who has
more reason to be confident than we?
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.
Wednesday
When thinking of the New Covenant, the liturgy of this week is full of jubilation. It is the
covenant of the Spirit, the covenant whose service leads to justification. Blessed are they that
belong to this covenant.
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