"Thou shalt call His Name Jesus, because He shall save His people from their sins." Thus spoke the angel, even before the birth, and, as the years went on, Our Lord proved that that divine purpose was always moving before His mind. "The Son of Man is come to seek and to save that which was lost." "I have a baptism wherewith I am to be baptized, and how am I straitened till it be accomplished!" "I, if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw all things to Myself."
The sacrifice of the Cross, represented and perpetuated in the Mass, is the price paid by the Savior to expiate our sins. Because He is God, He alone is capable of atoning adequately to God for sin. Like His heavenly Father He allpowerful and abounding in mercy. Because He is omnipotent, He is able to repair the damage done by sin; because He is full of mercy, He eagerly makes use of this power, willingly pouring out His Blood for us on Calvary, and consenting to be mystically slain in the Holy Mass.
Generous souls thrill with gratitude at the honor He confers on them when He turns to them and asks if they will share with Him the work of redemption. To me He now makes this proposal. And what is that? Nothing less than that the souls of many others, possibly thousands of others, are depending for their eternal salvation on the use I make of my Catholic Faith. If I am the sort of Catholic I ought to be, souls will be saved which otherwise will be lost.
A servant to whom his master entrusted a sum of money kept it safely for him and, on his return from a long journey, gave it back exactly as he had received it. But he was stigmatized as "slothful and wicked" because he had not invested the sum and made it yield a dividend. So it is not enough to have the Catholic Faith. There lies on me, as a child of God, the obligation to lead as many others as possible into the light of divine truth.
For the moment, I am to consider one means of doing so the spirit of selfsacrifice. My divine Model, realizing the infinite holiness of God and the frightful havoc wrought by sin, stepped forward to make "plenteous redemption." And this He accomplished by carrying the Cross and dying upon it. "There is no detour around the hill of Calvary." Each of us, called to "fill up in his flesh what is wanting to the sufferings of Christ," will help to save souls in the measure in which he yields to the invitation to carry the cross with Him.
By preserving patience this day with that boring teacher I may win a soul for heaven, perhaps in China or Japan. By refraining from uncharitable criticism today I may help to bring the light of faith to a dying pagan. By stifling a complaint today I may secure for an obdurate sinner the grace of conversion. By accepting pain today, or contradiction or injustice or sarcasm, I may be placing myself in just the position the Savior designs for me if He is to use me as a potent instrument by which to apply the fruits of His redemption.
What a privilege it is to be thus used by such a divine Workman for such a divine purpose! A privilege, yes, but a mighty responsibility too; "a subject of inexhaustible meditation." Sanctified suffering becomes a sort of sacrament, an outward sign designed for the sufferer by God, in order that through it abundance of grace may rain from heaven moistening and fructifying the parched earth beneath.
It is natural to me, Lord, to rebel against suffering; to complain that I have to endure, while another escapes; to chafe against the upset to all my plans and the ruining of all my ambitions. But here in prayer I begin to see it differently. Help me to receive your "sacrament" worthily, and to share its merits with the souls of all men.
Summary:
1. It is my destiny to enjoy that same Beatific Vision that never left Our Lord; meanwhile to live in conscious advertence to God's presence.
2. Jesus alone understands sin because He alone can fathom the infinite dignity of God. My sense of sin?
3. As a Catholic I have the privilege and responsibility to help Christ to save the world!
Thought:
The "subject of inexhaustible meditation": that so many souls
are depending on what I do with my Catholic Faith.