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The Time After Pentecost
whose faith and devotion are known to Thee.” We approach with the desire of taking part in the
offering of the priest, of arousing in our souls the sacrificial spirit of Christ’s heart, of offering to
God works of charity and acts of devotion, adoration, praise, and thanksgiving. The priest can
unite us to his sacrifice by means of his memento only in so far as we possess a living faith and
a spirit of self-sacrifice, for “faith . . . worketh by charity” (Gal 5:6).
What a precious possession, then, is the memento of the priest made for our intention.
We can assure ourselves of this blessing by a devout and fruitful participation in the Mass; for
during the Mass the priest makes a memento for “all here present,” and thus makes it possible
for them to offer the Mass with him and to share in its fruits.
Prayer
Let Thy continual pity cleanse and defend Thy Church, we beseech Thee, O Lord; and because
it cannot continue in safety without Thee, govern it evermore by Thy help. Through Christ our
Lord. Amen.
Wednesday
Once again the baptized are admonished to “walk in the spirit.” “Brethren, if we live in the spirit,
let us also walk in the spirit” (Epistle). The feast of Pentecost has brought us the Holy Spirit with
His gifts and His graces. It becomes us, therefore, to walk in the spirit and to sow in the spirit.
“For he that soweth in his flesh, of the flesh also shall reap corruption” (Epistle). The flesh and
its concupiscences are indeed fertile soil. He who sows in this ground will reap an abundant
harvest of corruption. Who are they who sow in the flesh? The Apostle explains clearly in the
Epistle: He who seeks worldly honors; he who through his vanity and ambition provokes
quarrels with his neighbors; he who is envious of others and covetous of their property; he who
imagines himself to be something, whereas he is not; he who compares himself with others,
and passes an invidious judgment on their thoughts, words, and actions rather than leave all
such judgments to God; he who has no sympathy and understanding for the frailty, misery,
and weaknesses of his fellow men; he who refuses to carry the burdens of others; he who fails
to pray for his brother and admonish him; he who fails to perform corporal and spiritual works
of mercy. Such a man is worldly, acts from purely natural motives, and is absorbed in himself,
untouched by the supernatural power of the Holy Spirit.
“But he that soweth in the spirit, of the spirit shall reap life everlasting” (Epistle). The field
of the spirit is also a fertile field. Happy indeed are they who sow in this field. He sows in this
field who does not seek honors, who does not yield to envy and jealousy, who admonishes his
erring brother in the spirit of meekness and charity and guides him back to God; such a man is
humble and knows his own frailty, and he examines his own life in the light of God’s will and
the dictates of his own conscience. They sow in the spirit who “bear one another’s burdens” and
practice charity toward their neighbor in word and deed, who do good while there is yet time,
realizing that they are bound to the body of Christ and united with all His members through
the sacrament of baptism. Such as these “shall reap life everlasting.”
“For he that soweth in his flesh, of the flesh also shall reap corruption.” All those works
which are performed from purely natural and worldly motives are sown in the flesh. The same
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