9781644135945

The Light of the World
Prayer
Keep, we beseech Thee, O Lord, Thy Church with perpetual mercy; and because the frailty of
man without Thee cannot but fall, keep us ever by Thy help from all things hurtful, and lead us
to all things profitable to our salvation. Through Christ our Lord. Amen.
Tuesday
“Behold the birds of the air; for they neither sow nor do they reap, nor gather into barns, and
your heavenly Father feedeth them” (Gospel). Our Lord says very emphatically that God is our
“heavenly Father.” We ought not be solicitous about what we shall eat or drink or wherewith
we shall be clothed, “for your heavenly Father knoweth that you have need of all these things”
(Gospel). God is our Father; it is important for our life and way of thinking that we always and
everywhere look upon God as our Father. Otherwise the fountains of our piety are bound to
dry up.
God is our Creator and therefore our Lord. We belong to Him with all we have. Our life is
entirely in His hands, entirely given over to His providence. As our Creator, He is the God of
terrible majesty and power, of infinite omniscience and sanctity, before whom we are as dust,
mere nothingness. Since He is our Lord, it is our duty to serve Him; since He is our Lord, He is
also our Judge, who knows all our thoughts, words, and works. The terrifying exactness of His
knowledge and judgment makes us tremble; the splendor of His infinite holiness dazzles us. If
we look at God from one of these points of view, we shall always remain cringing and terrified.
Under such conditions we cannot serve Him out of love; we remain cold and dry in our attitude
towards Him, being able, at best, to utter some frightened words of recognition. Then we
become lax in our religious duties and despondent if temptations against our faith arise within
our soul or if we are tortured by uneasiness and scruples which undermine our devotion without
leaving any place for a joyful imitation of our Lord. It is unfortunately true that we Christians too
often look upon God only as our Creator and Judge, thus placing between ourselves and God
a wall which hinders us from coming to Him with the feelings of a child, full of filial love and
confidence. Here we meet with one of the main hindrances to an interior life in union with God.
God is our Father. Day after day the believing Christian experiences the fact that God
is his Father and acts like a father towards him. God sent His only-begotten Son into the
world that “we might receive the adoption of sons. And because you are sons, God hath sent
the Spirit of His Son into your hearts; . . . therefore now he is not a servant, but a son” (Gal
4:5–7). God is our Father; whatever tender and loving meaning the word “father” connotes,
it is contained with infinite fullness in the word “heavenly Father.” Our becoming aware of the
fact that He is our Father lifts up our soul and consoles and strengthens it. Faith in God the
Father does away with the feelings of loneliness and abandonment. It casts in a new light the
chastisements and visitations which the Lord sends us. This faith strengthens and encourages
us during hours of temptation, gives us light and security in darkness, and makes us confide
blindly in God despite the problems we have to face. Out of this faith in God the Father there
arise filial feelings, and with these feelings peace of mind enters the soul, even if a man cannot
entirely forget his previous sins and wasted life. With unshaken confidence we commend our
eternity into His hands.
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