9781644135945

The Light of the World
“A certain man had a fig tree planted in his vineyard, and he came seeking fruit on it, and
found none; and he said to the dresser of the vineyard: . . . Cut it down, therefore; why cumbereth
it the ground? But he answering, said to him: Lord, let it alone this year also, until I dig
about it and dung it; and if happily it bear fruit. . . . And He was teaching in their synagogue on
the Sabbath; and behold there was a woman who had a spirit of infirmity eighteen years, and
she was bowed together, neither could she look upwards at all. Whom when Jesus saw, He called
her unto Him and said to her: Woman, thou art delivered from thy infirmity. And He laid His
hands upon her, and immediately she was made straight and glorified God” (Gospel). This is a
day of atonement, a day of forgiveness, a day of grace, a day of help from the Lord, who comes
to us in the Mass. We are the unfruitful fig tree, the bowed woman who could not look upwards.
We are approaching the end of the ecclesiastical year. Already the Lord is preparing for His
return at the moment of our death and again at the end of the world. Still we have not borne
the fruit which the Lord expects of us. The soil is not at fault, for we are planted in the vineyard
of the Lord, His holy Church. Light and air — counsel, admonitions, graces — are not wanting.
Because the conditions are so favorable the Lord returns so often, for He hopes to find fruit
sometime. But we have not made a good use of grace, and thus we have remained an unfruitful
fig tree. We are like the bowed woman of the Gospel, totally absorbed in perishable and transitory
things, unable to stand erect and lift our thoughts to God. In spite of our baptism, in spite of our
vocation, in spite of the fact that we are heirs of God, in spite of our prayers, our readings, our
meditations, in spite of our religious enclosure, we remain unfruitful. “Therefore if you be risen
with Christ [through baptism], seek the things that are above, where Christ is, sitting at the right
hand of God. Mind the things that are above, not the things that are upon the earth” (Col 3:1 f.).
Indeed we are the bowed woman. What remains for us but to do penance and return to Jesus?
This day is a day of grace. Christ comes into our midst at Mass. He pities us and He begs the
Lord of the vineyard, the Father: “Let it alone this year also, until I dig about it and dung it; and if
happily it bear fruit.” With this prayer He goes to the Father at the Holy Sacrifice. But even this is
not enough. With pity He calls the sick woman (us) to Him. “Woman, thou art delivered from thy
infirmity.” In the sacrament of penance and in the Eucharist He lays His hands upon us and lifts
us up. He gives us His Spirit; we become strong enough to lay aside all worldliness, to break our
chains and live for God. We thank Him for this grace which He has given us and we glorify God.
“In the seventh month shall you celebrate this feast, as I made the children of Israel to dwell in tabernacles
when I brought them out of the land of Egypt. I am the Lord your God” (Communion).
In the mind of the liturgy the celebration of this day is the preparation for the glory of the life to
come. God has destined us for the repose of eternal life through the power of the Holy Eucharist.
There we shall glorify God and celebrate the feast of gratitude eternally.
“These, then, are the things which you shall do: Speak ye the truth every one to his neighbor,
. . . and let none of you imagine evil in your hearts against his friend. Only love ye truth and
peace” (fourth lesson).
Prayer
Almighty and everlasting God, who by means of wholesome abstinence dost heal us in soul and
in body; we humbly beseech Thy majesty that appeased by the fervent devotion of those who
fast, Thou wouldst grant us help now and in the time to come. Through Christ our Lord. Amen.
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