9781644135945

The Time After Pentecost
“Behold how good and how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in unity. It
is like the precious ointment on the head, that ran down upon the beard, the beard of
Aaron” (Gradual). In the Mass, Christ, the well-ordered Word, is present in the midst of
His brethren, praying and offering sacrifice with them. The head and the members form
one Christ. It is only when we are united by a vital union with the Church, who prays,
suffers, and offers sacrifice with her head, that we shall grow in knowledge and understanding.
Only through such a union will we achieve the power to choose what is right
and remain clean and unspotted until the day of Christ, filled with the fruits of justice.
But to do this we must avoid spiritual isolation; we must unite ourselves to the mystical
body, to the Christian community as a whole, through which Christ now operates. The
grace of Christ comes to us as individuals through the Church, which is the whole body
of the faithful united in Him. “We must be engrafted in Christ in order to share His life”
(St. Augustine). “Behold how good and how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together
in unity”; that is, to pray together and to praise and thank the Lord in union with Christ,
the “firstborn amongst many brethren” (Rom 8:29). We are many, yet we have but one
heart and one soul. What a grace to have been made members of the mystical body! How
blessed we shall be if we live in perfect harmony with the Church! If we live thus, grace
will flow down upon us like oil from the head who is Christ; His life, the life of the vine,
shall flow in us, the branches.
“Give a well-ordered speech in my mouth.” Blessed art thou, O holy mother Church, the
Esther of the new covenant. The Lord has placed a well-ordered speech in thy mouth.
Christ the Lord lives and prays in you. He cries out to His Father and prays for you. When
you pray, it is He who prays in you. How powerful, how moving, how effective is your
exhortation, “Let us pray,” and the offering you make “through Christ our Lord”! You
offer to God that which is God’s, the sacrifice which alone is perfect, the Holy Sacrifice
of the Mass.
“Give a well-ordered speech in my mouth.” We pray with a well-ordered speech when
we make use of the liturgical prayer of the Church, than which there can be no more effective
or fitting prayer. Through the mouth of the Church the incarnate Son of God continually
sounds forth the praise of His heavenly Father. In the prayer of the Church we give to God
what is God’s.
“Give a well-ordered speech in my mouth.” God places such a speech in our mouth through
Holy Communion. The eternal Word becomes our food in the Eucharist. Through us He prays
to the Father. He prays to the Father in our stead and for our needs. How fortunate we are! What
prayer could be more precious and more effective? “Behold how good and how pleasant it is
for brethren to dwell together in unity.” The most perfect union is effected by Christ in Holy
Communion.
Prayer
O God, our refuge and strength, the very Author of godliness, hear the devout prayers of Thy
Church and grant that what we confidently ask we may efficaciously obtain. Through Christ
our Lord. Amen.
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