9781644135945

The Light of the World
robbers?” The Levite, the priest of the Old Testament, or the Church of the New Testament
with her sacrament of penance? She has the ministration that leads to justification, life, and
union with God; no one but she possesses it. “Blessed are the eyes that see the things which
you see” (Gospel): the Church, the mystical body of Christ, full of the powers of salvation,
giving life to those who come to her dead in sin.
The program leading to justification has been given to the Church. “Whose sins you shall
forgive, they are forgiven them; and whose sins you shall retain, they are retained” ( Jn
20:23). The Church has the power of the heavenly Judge: to forgive and to retain sins. In
this judgment we are at the same time the prosecutor and the witness. Its effectiveness
depends on the sincerity of our self-accusation and on our firm purpose to amend our
ways of life. Only if our disposition is right can the Church make good use of her vocation
of being the good Samaritan.
“Many prophets and kings have desired to see the things that you see, and have not seen
them; and to hear the things that you hear, and have not heard them” (Gospel). We see, we
hear, we possess the things of which Christ spoke; yet we neither think of them nor are we as
thankful for them as we should be.
Prayer
Almighty and eternal 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.
Saturday
“Go and do thou in like manner” (Gospel). Let us also imitate the conduct of the good Samaritan.
Such charity is the service of the New Covenant, of the baptized, who in such abundant measure
experience the mercy of the good Samaritan, the Son of God become man. The sacraments of
baptism, the Holy Eucharist, and penance oblige us to “go and do thou in like manner.”
“Which of these three, in thy opinion, was neighbor to him that fell among robbers?” Jesus
asks the lawyer in the Gospel. True Christian charity is merciful with a mercy that springs
from a living compassion for the need of our fellow men; it is the desire to help him as far
as possible. “Go and do thou in like manner.” We have become members of Christ in baptism;
with each Mass and Holy Communion we perfect our union with Christ, the head.
Understanding more deeply His spirit and His power of love, we also feel urged, by virtue
of this union with Christ, to practice mercy and charity. “Be ye therefore merciful, as your
Father also is merciful” (Lk 6:36). “Blessed are the merciful; for they shall obtain mercy”
(Mt 5:7). The spirit of Christ, if it truly lives within us, forbids us to pass by another’s need
coldly and without compassion. We cannot act like the Levite and the priest of the Gospel,
who saw their fellow man’s need, but passed by. Woe be to us if we act in such a manner; we
would be sorely wanting in the spirit of Christ. “If any man have not the Spirit of Christ,
he is none of His” (Rom 8:9). “Amen, I say to you, as long as you did it to one of these My
least brethren, you did it to Me” (Mt 25:40).
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