9781644135945

The Light of the World
for our sins and as a pledge of future grace and help for ourselves, for our brethren in Christ,
and for the whole world. “Have regard, O Lord, to Thy covenant, and forsake not to the end the
souls of Thy poor; arise, O Lord, and judge Thy cause, and forget not the voices of them that
seek Thee” (Introit). As a consequence of God’s covenant with us, we are His people; His cause
is our cause. When we receive Holy Communion, the blood of the covenant is poured into our
souls, and the Lord confirms anew this holy covenant. In Holy Communion we also confirm
and renew our devotion to God. “Thou art my God; my times are in Thy hands” (Offertory).
I want to be yours for time and eternity.
Prayer
Almighty and everlasting God, grant unto us an increase of faith, hope, and charity; and that we
may obtain what Thou dost promise, make us love that which Thou dost command. Through
Christ our Lord. Amen.
Tuesday
“To Abraham were the promises made, and to his seed. [God] saith not: And to his seeds, as
of many; but as of one, and to thy seed, which is Christ” (Epistle), that is, the whole Christ, the
mystical body, the Church and all her members. Now, if the Old Covenant was founded on
promises which no Israelite could doubt would be fulfilled, even if his reason and experience
in life might demur, how much more may we expect of the New Covenant that has been made
in Christ. Of Christ the Apostle testifies: “All the promises of God are in Him; . . . therefore
also by Him” (2 Cor 1:20). This is to the Apostle the message of salvation: “That the Gentiles
should be fellow heirs, and of the same body, and copartners of His promise in Christ Jesus”
(Eph 3:6). We are “the children of promise” (Gal 4:28).
“All the promises of God are in Him.” Whatever blessings, graces, and heavenly rewards God
promised the fathers of the Old Testament, were also promised to us in Christ. In Christ,
and in Him alone, salvation and all the means of salvation have been given to humanity
and to each man. This is God’s plan of salvation: “By this hath the charity of God appeared
towards us, because God hath sent His only-begotten Son into the world, that we may live
by Him” (1 Jn 4:9). God gave “His only-begotten Son” ( Jn 3:16) that He may become our
brother and we may become His coheirs, possessing with Him His grace and glory, and
“that He might shew in the ages to come the abundant riches of His grace, in His bounty
towards us in Christ Jesus” (Eph 2:7). God gives us all things in His Son, Christ Jesus;
through Him alone does God communicate with us and we with Him. “No man cometh
to the Father but by Me” ( Jn 14:6). Christ is the way, the only way, that leads to the Father.
Without Him we can do nothing. The branch cannot bring forth fruit or even have life at
all if it does not remain connected with the vine. “If any one abide not in Me, he shall be
cast forth as a branch, and shall wither, and they shall gather him up and cast him into the
fire, and he burneth” ( Jn 15:6): Nobody can lay any other foundation than the one that
has been laid in Christ Jesus. We must keep building on this foundation. “Now if any man
build upon this foundation, gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, stubble, every man’s
work shall be manifest” (1 Cor 3:12 f.).
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