Living Sacrifice: Growing in Faith Through Scripture and the Mass

God invites us to walk through Bethlehem, the "House of Bread," to see the Child born in the Manger and to feed on Christ His Son in the Blessed Sacrament of the Eucharist.

The closer we come to the mystery of the Incarnation, when heaven comes down on the earth in a new and amazing way, the more we see the activity of the angels in the Scriptures and in the Liturgy.  The angels teach us how to worship God, how to carry the message of the Gospel and how to fight for virtue as we enter more deeply into the salvation God won for us.  

Even the natural world anticipates the coming of Christ.  When God becomes man, we are also reawakened to the beauty of creation and to the God who reveals Himself to us in the Eucharist.   

The Church's vision for peace entails more than the absence of war and the absence of conflict.  Peace is an "active and demanding gift" (Pope Leo XIV).  St. Augustine defines peace as "tranquillitas ordinis", the tranquility of order.  Christ comes to bring us that peace.

God calls us to watch and wait for the coming of Christ.

Christ, our King, reigns from the cross and in the Eucharist.  He comes in poverty and humility to win our hearts and make us His bride, the Church.  

In the fires of adversity, God teaches us to live well the Catholic faith, to be purified so as to be available for others, and to persevere.  

We celebrate this weekend the power of the Holy Spirit that dwells in us as the Temple of God.  Just as Christ was pierced with a lance and out flowed blood and water, even so the Church is nourished by this saving stream and equipped to bring the healing power of Christ to the world.

Every Holy Sacrifice of the Mass is a remembrance, a memorial of the passion and death of the Lord Jesus that is offered anew to the Father.  We remember all the faithful departed in this Holy Sacrifice and pray that they may rise to new life with Him.

Sirach teaches us that "The prayer of the lowly pierces the crowds," and Jesus says that "all who humble themselves will be exalted."  God listens to our prayers when we approach Him with a humble and contrite heart.

Prayer and growth in the spiritual life is a battle, a daily struggle.  How can we surrender ourselves more completely to Christ so that He can win the victory in us?

God greatly desires a deep, personal relationship with each one of us.  When we approach Him with humility, gratitude and worship we come to realize that "The Lord has revealed to the nations his saving power" (Psalm 98).

Jesus calls us to trust and have faith that He will provide for us and care for all our needs.  Having faith, we grow in virtue and in integrity.   As God speaks through the prophet Habakkuk: "The rash man has no integrity, but the just one, because of his faith, shall live."

The Christian life involves avoiding evil and  practicing the virtues as disciples of Christ.  This weekend's readings allow us to reflect on two of the Cardinal Virtues: Justice and Prudence.  How are we allowing the life of virtue to be formed in us as we embrace the Kingdom of God and eternal life?

Christ has been "lifted up" on the cross to change and transform us in the Christian life.  The cross is the exalted love of God through which we are redeemed and become new creatures in Christ.  

The way to heaven is revealed to us by the Holy Spirit and by the wisdom that God imparts.  Jesus, this weekend, reveals that path as the way of discipleship.  We must count the cost and see if we are ready to be disciples of the Lord, and we ask for the grace to follow Christ to eternal life.  

Humility, the great spiritual masters teach us, is the foundation for prayer and Christian life.  The Book of Sirach invites us to embrace that virtue and Christ challenges us to take the lowest place so that we can be exalted by God.

The Fathers of the Church define the Christian life as a " status viatoris ," the "state of being on the way" to eternal life with God.  We are invited by God this weekend to join that pilgrimage and the be prepared for the final destination, the wedding banquet of the Lamb.

God gives us His favor, unmerited help, to cooperate with His call and to become His children and partakers of the divine nature.  This is grace.   Are we open to this remarkable gift that allows us to share in God's own life?

We are called to be watchful and ready for the encounter with Christ.  We do this by being attentive to Christ in our daily lives and practice of our faith, in our Christian service and in the Sacred Liturgy.

Jesus gives us Himself as a remedy for greed and selfishness.  With Him living in us we can overcome and live the generosity of the cross at every moment.

God invites us into an intimate conversation and experience of grace in Christian prayer.  We ask for the grace to open the door to this experience, to "take the better part" and to allow our contemplation to be transformed into active service in the Lord.

God draws intimately close to us in the person of Christ.  He cares for us and heals our wounds by His compassion and mercy.  We are called to do the same and recognize that if God is near, our neighbor is also near.  

In the Liturgy this weekend we pray, "O God, who in the abasement of your Son have raised a fallen world . . ."  It is through the mystery of the cross that God redeems the world.  How are we called to unite ourselves to that cross and participate in His work of redeeming the world? 

Saints Peter and Paul are the Patrons of the Diocese of Providence.  They watch over and care for our Church by their prayers, their witness and their teaching.  May we also acknowledge God's providence in our lives and offer witness to our Catholic faith in words and in deeds.