9781644135945

The Light of the World
mediator. We are His children, He is our Father. Therefore the Apostle prays that we become
not fainthearted at the tribulations which he and the Church must suffer for us, the baptized.
These sufferings, this abuse, these persecutions of the Church, of religion, of the clergy, give us
no cause for faintheartedness, as if the Church had erred in her doctrines, her commandments,
or her sacraments. On the contrary these sufferings and persecutions of the Church “are your
glory”; they are like the wounds of the crucified Lord; they are the wounds of the visible Church
on earth. They are an unmistakable proof that this is the Church of Christ and possesses the
spirit of Christ; for like its founder, it is despised and persecuted, scourged and fettered. “If the
world hate you, know ye that it hath hated Me before you. If you had been of the world, the
world would love its own; but because you are not of the world, but I have chosen you out of
the world, therefore the world hateth you. . . . If they have persecuted Me, they will also persecute
you” ( Jn 15:18 ff.). The sufferings of the Church make us strong in faith and establish our unity
with the Church and with Christ, our head. They give us the assurance that we possess Christ
in His Church, and with Him redemption and life.
“My tribulations for you . . . are your glory” (Epistle). The Apostle suffers his tribulations
for the Ephesians; the Church suffers her persecutions for us. She consoles us: “I pray you not
to faint at my tribulations for you.” The Church is filled with the spirit of Christ, “who loved me
and delivered Himself for me” (Gal 2:20). He who will save souls with Christ must necessarily
go with Him the way of the cross, the way of suffering and humility. The Church does so; she is
happy to go with the Lord and “to suffer for us.” She tells us that God loves us so much that He
not only has given His only-begotten Son for us, but He also wills that the apostles, the saints,
the whole Church, should suffer for each one of us and so be united with Christ our Savior. The
days of the persecution of the Church of Christ are days of grace and blessing for us. They incite
us to do penance and show us that the prayers of the Church are not enough to conciliate God;
she must suffer, she must be persecuted “for us” that we may find pardon and grace through
the tribulations which she suffers for us, “which are your glory.” She thus proves how she cares
for us, how seriously she takes upon herself the task to save us for eternal life. She continually
drinks the chalice of the Lord with us, full of motherly solicitude for our welfare.
“Have mercy on me, O Lord, for I have cried to Thee all the day” (Introit). Thus the Church prays
for mercy for us sinners, apostates, and ungrateful Christians. She cries all the day: in the continual
prayer offered up by her priests and religious, in her sufferings, in her continual tribulations and
persecutions. She cries to Him in the Holy Sacrifice which she celebrates, when she joins the
crucified Lord and through His sacrifice is enabled to suffer with Him and to obtain pardon and
grace for us. “I [the church] pray you not to faint at my tribulations for you.” She knows why she
is blasphemed and persecuted and suffers tribulations. “If any one preach to you a gospel besides
that which you have received, let him be anathema. For do I now persuade men or God? Or do
I seek to please men? If I yet pleased men, I should not be the servant of Christ” (Gal 1:9 f.). The
more she is persecuted and suffers tribulations, the more we are persuaded that she does not
serve the world, that she therefore suffers contumely because she is faithful to Christ.
Prayer
Let Thy grace, we beseech Thee, O Lord, ever go before us and follow us, and may it make us to
be continually zealous in doing good works. Through Christ our Lord. Amen.
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