Monday, November 7, 2022

November 7, 2022

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The Holy Eucharist is a Sacrament of the New Law instituted by Jesus Christ Our Lord at the most solemn epoch of His life. He gave it just before His Passion as the last Testament of His love, His legacy to mankind, an enduring memorial of Himself. No other sacrament was so abundantly prophesied in figure under the Old Testament, or so repeatedly and clearly described in the New. This holy sacrament is superior to all the others, inasmuch as they are signs and channels of grace, while in this is contained the great reality which is at the center of the Christian system, the Author of all grace Himself. All the other sacraments look to the Holy Eucharist, and are in some way subsidiary to it, as preparations or qualifications for it, as securing its continuance, as perfecting its effects. In its outward sign the Sacrament of the Holy Eucharist is a Banquet. Its matter, wheaten bread and the wine of the grape, typifies its spiritual functions as the daily food and drink which strengthen our souls and maintain their spiritual life. The words which raise the earthly materials to the sacramental dignity are those of the last supper: "This is My Body. This is My Blood." Admire the wonders of divine wisdom, the intensity of divine love, the boundless generosity which has bestowed such a treasure on mankind. Let it be always your most valued treasure, the object of your deepest faith and love and gratitude.
 

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Sunday, November 6, 2022

November 6, 2022


The heavenly banquet and sacrifice under the forms of bread and wine appears prophetically in the Old Testament like a thread of gold running through its texture. The emblem of supernatural life in the garden of Eden was a certain food. At the fountain-head of the Old Dispensation there is a sacrifice of bread and wine; and the Jewish sacrifices are shown to be inferior to it, by the homage which Abraham paid to Melchisedec (Gen. xiv., Heb. vii.). In the temple a particle of the bread from heaven was reserved in the Holy of Holies; the show-bread stood as a constant memorial on a golden table in the tabernacle; a portion ot unleavened bread was offered morning and night by the priests for a perpetual sacrifice; every victim that was sacrificed was sprinkled with the symbolical flour; and in most cases the act of worship was completed by priest and people eating of the victim. In Malachias we read of a clean oblation (of flour) yet to come, which was to be offered for ever throughout the world. Thus did the glimmer of our sanctuary lamp shine dimly through the thick mists of earlier ages, inspiring veneration for the unrevealed mystery. What solemnity surrounded the figure! We have the reality unveiled to our eyes; it should move us to more solemn worship, to a deeper sense of gratitude, to more vivid faith, to a much fuller surrender of ourselves, body, mind and soul, to God.
 

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Saturday, November 5, 2022

November 5, 2022


Carrying out the comparison with our physical life, another Sacrament represents the second stage of our progress. The prince or the citizen receives his status, his rights and his dignities, on entering at his birth into the community; but he cannot at once undertake all his functions; he must first come to maturity, he must be formed, educated, nourished, before he can take his place as an active member of society. In Baptism we become children of God; in Confirmation we arrive at spiritual maturity and become soldiers of Christ. We then appear before a higher officer of the Church. He invokes the Holy Ghost, and prays that we may receive each of His gifts; he imposes his hands upon us after the manner of Our Lord and His Apostles; he signs us again with the Cross upon our foreheads, so that we may be able to profess Christ and not be ashamed of His ignominies; he anoints us for the conflict, with chrism, in the name of the Holy Trinity; and he strikes us on the face to remind us of that which awaits all who are faithful to God in this world; and at the same time he assures us of that peace which man is not able to give. Thus do you attain "unto the measure of the age of the fulness of Christ" (Eph. iv. 13). Thus are you assured that "He who hath begun a good work in you will perfect it unto the day of Christ Jesus" (Phil. i. 6). Rely upon the grace that has thus been conveyed to you; it has made you capable of fulfilling every duty and overcoming every foe.
 

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Friday, November 4, 2022

November 4, 2022


Consider the different effects produced in the soul by the Sacrament of Baptism. There is an infusion of sanctifying grace into the soul; this is a conveyance of the perfect life in God, which involves the destruction of all the obstacles to that life. The first effect, therefore, is the remission of Original Sin, then the remission of all actual sins, mortal and venial, that may have been committed, and the destruction of all the remnants of sin, such as abide in the soul after forgiveness in the Sacrament of Penance, and have to be obliterated by sufferings in this world or in purgatory. Another effect of the infusion of sanctifying grace in Baptism is the purifying and beautifying of the soul; and in this are included the habits or facilities for exercising Faith, Hope, Charity, the Cardinal Virtues, and the gifts of the Holy Ghost. There are also special sacramental graces, which are the equipment of the soul for its new condition and for the new obligations that are imposed on it. A further effect is the permanent character or seal impressed on the soul, marking it as having become a child of God, and as having dedicated itself to His service; this quality is never lost, and abides eternally for the glorification or the greater disgrace of the soul. Baptism is also the admission to the full privileges of membership in Christ's kingdom on earth, and to participation in all the good works and merits of the whole Church. Be grateful to God for every one of these favours; take care that you do not forfeit them by being unfaithful to the obligations that accompany the privileges.
 

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Thursday, November 3, 2022

November 3, 2022


Baptism is the first and most important in that series of mysterious operations of grace with which Our Lord endowed His Church. Baptism is the Sacrament of Regeneration, or the New Birth, by which we are "born again of water and the Holy Ghost" (John iii. 5). It brings us forth into a new world, that of the divine supernatural life, it gives us new faculties, higher obligations, and special aid to enable us to live up to our vocation. Baptism does for us individually what our first father, Adam, resigned the power of doing for the race; it restores to each, on his separate application, the second and more important part of our inheritance, which ought to have come to us by birth as an appanage of human nature. On the second birth the true nobility of man depends. He attains thereby to the great dignity of a Christian, a child of the Eternal Father, a brother of the Incarnate God. Baptism also enrolls us in the society of the faithful on earth, and gives us a title to membership in the kingdom of heaven; it communicates to us all the faculties which are necessary for that higher society, the power of receiving all the other Sacraments, the light of faith by which we are able to apprehend God supernaturally, the habits of virtue which enable us to accomplish all justice. Thank God for the great grace of Baptism. Consider it as your highest privilege. Account its anniversary as your true birthday, the birthday of your spiritual life.
 

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Wednesday, November 2, 2022

November 2, 2022


Signs of grace constitute the chief part of the symbolism of religion under the Old and New Testaments. Religion has never been presented to men in an abstract form as if they were simple intelligences. The incorporeal God has often made His presence known to human senses, in the burning bush, the pillar of fire, the thunders and voices of Sinai, the cloud that filled the temple. The ancient system was full of signs of some further reality. Such was the tree of life in Paradise, the sacrifice of Abraham, the covenant of circumcision, the Red Sea, the tabernacle containing the word of God and the bread from heaven, the continual sacrifice of the lamb at the rising and the setting of the sun. Actual persons were types of others yet to come Adam, Eve, Moses, David, Solomon, Esther, Judith. Symbolism is the mould in which God cast religious ideas so as to make them concrete to average men. The same principle prevails in the New Testament. It is not given to us as yet to see face to face with the spiritual eye; when invisible realities are presented to us, it is under the cover of some external sign or action, which at the same time manifests divine mysteries and veils them from us. The symbols of the present religion are much nobler than those of the former one. Study to discover all that underlies them. Cultivate the spiritual senses by which you may see God, and hear His voice, and be raised to a higher level of life and action.
 

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Tuesday, November 1, 2022

November 1, 2022


The Seven Sacraments are the great sources of energy and the regulating principles in the Christian system. They are the machinery of the supernatural order, by which God imparts His graces to us, rectifies the irregularities of our nature, preserves us from decadence and corruption, makes us capable of the loftiest duties, strengthens us against weakness, discouragement, and temptation, and gives us the power of understanding Him and entering into His life. The Sacraments have also their effect as to the organization and external administration of the Christian community. They are a visible token of unity, the signs and the proofs of our incorporation into the society founded by Our Lord; they are a profession of our faith, and an acknowledgment of Jesus Christ before men; they are a bond of brotherhood and love between the faithful. The Sacraments form a classification of mankind; a separation of the faithful from the unbelieving, of the beginners from proficients, of the rulers and teachers from the ruled, and of the natural parents from the spiritual ones. Pray God that these great mysteries may produce their full effect upon you and upon all mankind, sanctifying their lives, and building up the visible kingdom of Christ.
 

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