9781644135945

The Time After Pentecost
First provision must be made for the soul and its eternal life. “For what doth it profit a man if
he gain the whole world and suffer the loss of his own soul” (Mt 16:26).
Prayer
Let the operation of Thy mercy, we beseech Thee, O Lord, direct our hearts; for without Thee
we cannot please Thee. Through Christ our Lord. Amen.
Tuesday
“Behold the bridegroom cometh, go ye forth to meet him” (Mt 25:6). As if the Church heard
this call today, she is solicitous that her children be ready and prepared: rich in grace, in virtue,
in the knowledge of the Christian life, and in good works. She wants to obtain the grace to be
steadfast and faithful to the end; she wishes us to be perfect and without blemish at the arrival
of our Lord Jesus Christ, at the hour of our death and at the Last Judgment.
The Apostle sees the young community of Corinth producing abundant fruit. He gives thanks
for the grace which his new converts in Christ Jesus have received. “In all things you are made
rich in Him, in all utterance and in all knowledge,” in the praiseworthy achievement of Christian
doctrine and in the deeper comprehension of it. “As the testimony of Christ was confirmed in
you”: the testimony which the Apostle has given for Christ in Corinth, his sermons and his
efforts, have struck deep roots and promise a good crop. “So that nothing is wanting to you in
any grace”: the grace of Christ has been fruitful in the Church of Corinth and in each one of
us. What else is wanting? Only the manifestation of the glory of the Lord, His second coming,
which the Church of Corinth awaits; and God will “confirm you unto the end without crime
in the day of the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ” (Epistle). The young Christian community
at Corinth is ripe for the arrival of the Lord, rich in grace, in knowledge, in virtue, and in good
works. The liturgy holds up this community as an example. It desires that we be “without crime
in the day of the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.” It urges us to compare the grace and virtues
of the young Christian community of Corinth with our Christian communities and families
today and with our own personal lives.
“In all utterance and in all knowledge.” The Apostle does not fail to point out how he has
reaped such rich fruit from his Corinthians. He had preached a year and half at Corinth, but they
are rich “in all things.” They possess the whole apostolic doctrine; the doctrines and maxims of
the gospel are their laws and principles. They adhere to the doctrine of Christ; they look upon
the example of Christ; they walk in the light of Christ. Therefore they are rich in fruit, not merely
external fruit, but also “in all knowledge.” They imbibed all the Christian truth; they take the pains
and the time to comprehend spiritually all that they have heard, and they are so convinced of
what they believe that they carry it out practically in their lives. They live an interior life in the
spirit of faith. Thus they gain a new and truly Christian outlook on life and turn away from the
heathen and worldly point of view. They live as they swore to do at baptism: “I renounce the devil
and all his works and pomps.” A splendid example for our Christians of the twentieth century!
“Nothing is wanting to you in any grace” (Epistle). Must not we also bear rich fruit? “I . . . have
appointed you that you should go and should bring forth fruit; and your fruit should remain”
611