Ad Majorem Dei Gloriam (To the Greater Glory of God)
First Reading:
From: 1 Kings 19:4-8
Elijah flees to Horeb
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[4] But he himself [Elijah] went a day’s journey into the wilderness, and came and sat down under a broom tree; and he asked that he might die, saying. "It is enough; now, O Lord, take away my life; for I am no better than my fathers.” [5] And he lay down and slept under a broom tree; and behold, an angel touched him, and said to him, "Arise and eat.” [6] And he looked, and behold, there was at his head a cake baked on hot stones and a jar of water. And he ate and drank, and lay down again. [7] And the angel of the Lord came again a second time, and touched him, and said, "Arise and eat, else the journey will be too great for you.” [8] And he arose, and ate and drank, and went in the strength of that food forty days and forty nights to Horeb the mount of God.
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Commentary:
19:1-8. Elijah in some way repeats the experience of the chosen people as they fled from Egypt pursued by the pharaoh. The food that the angel gives him has been seen in Christian tradition as a figure of the Eucharist, given that ''by the grace of this Sacrament men enjoy the greatest peace and tranquility of conscience during the present life; and, when the hour of departing from this world shall have arrived, like Elijah, who in the strength of the bread baked on the hearth, walked to Horeb, the mount of God, they, too, invigorated by the strengthening influence of this (heavenly food), will ascend to unfading glory and bliss (Roman Catechism, 2, 4, 54).
19:5. Angels appear often in the course of biblical history to protect individuals (Lot, in Gen 19; Hagar and Ishmael in Gen 21:17-19; etc.); to guide the people in the desert (cf. Ex 23:20-23); or to inform people of God's plans (cf. Judg 6:11-24; 13:1-25). Now, an angel comes to the prophet's help.
From: Ephesians 4:30-5:8
Christian Virtues (Continuation)
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[30] And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, in whom you were sealed for the days of redemption. [31] Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and slander be put away from you, with all malice, [32] And be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you.
Purity of Life
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[1] Therefore be imitators of God, as beloved children. [2] And walk in love, as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us, a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God.
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Commentary:
30. The Holy Spirit, who is the bond of unity in Christ's mystical body (cf. Eph 4:3-4), is "grieved" by anything which might cause disunity among the faithful.
The Holy Spirit dwells in the souls of believers from Baptism onwards, and his presence is reinforced when they receive Confirmation and the other sacraments. As the Council of Florence teaches, in Confirmation "we are given the Holy Spirit to strengthen us, as happened to the Apostles on the day of Pentecost, enabling the Christian boldly to confess the name of Christ" ("Pro Armeniis, Dz-Sch", 1319). St Ambrose, commenting on the effects of Confirmation, says that the soul receives from the Holy Spirit "the spiritual seal, the Spirit of wisdom and understanding, the Spirit of counsel and fortitude, the Spirit of knowledge and piety, the Spirit of holy fear. God the Father has sealed you, Christ the Lord has strengthened you, the mark of the Spirit has been impressed on your heart" ("De Mysteries", 7, 42). Since Confirmation is one of the three sacraments which imprints a character on the soul, this seal remains forever.
When the time came for Israel's redemption from slavery in Egypt, the blood of the passover lamb, which had been smeared on the doors of the Israelites' houses, acted as the mark which identified those to be saved. In a parallel way, the seal of the Holy Spirit which is given at Baptism is the permanent sign engraved on the souls of those who are called to salvation by dirge of the Redemption worked by Christ.
"The Apostle is speaking here of the configuration in virtue of which an individual is deputed to future glory, and this takes place through grace. Now grace is attributed to the Holy Spirit inasmuch as it is from love that God freely imparts something to us, and this belongs to the meaning of grace. And it is the Holy Spirit that is love" ("Summa Theologiae", III, q. 63, a 3, ad 1).
32. Forgiveness is one of the virtues which characterize the "new nature", for it leads a person to treat his neighbor as Jesus taught: "If you are offering your gift at the altar, and there remember that your brother has something against you, leave your gift there before the altar and go; first be reconciled to your brother" (Mt 5:23-24). Our Lord has shown by his own example what really forgiving one's neighbor involves. Even in the midst of his suffering on the cross he asked his father to forgive those who condemned him and those who nailed him to the wood so violently and sadistically.
"Force yourself, if necessary, always to forgive those who offend you, from the very first moment. For the greatest injury or offense that you can suffer from them is as nothing compared with what God has pardoned you" (St J. Escriva, "The Way", 452).
1. A good child tries to please his parents and to follow their good example. Christians are adopted children of God and therefore should be guided in their behavior by the way God treats people (cf. Mt 6:12; etc.); we have in fact a very accessible way to follow--that given us by Jesus.
If we wish our actions to be very pleasing to God our Father, we should learn from his Son made man. However, it "is not enough to have a general idea of Jesus; we have to learn the details of his life and, through them, his attitudes. And, especially, we must contemplate his life, to derive from it strength, light, serenity, peace.
"When you love someone, you want to know all about his life and character, so as to become like him. That is why we have to meditate on the life of Jesus, from his birth in a stable right up to his death and resurrection" (St J. Escriva, "Christ Is Passing By", 107).
2. Christ gave himself up to death of his own free will, out of love for man. The words "a fragrant offering and sacrifice", recalling the sacrifices of the Old Law, underline the sacrificial character of Christ's death and emphasize that his obedience was pleasing to God the Father.
Jesus Christ "came to show us the immense love of his heart, and he gave himself to us entirely," St Alphonsus teaches, "submitting himself first to all the hardships of this life, then to the scourging, the crowning with towns and all the pain and ignominy of his passion; finally he ended his life forsaken by all on the infamous wood of the cross" ("Shorter Sermons", 37, 1, 1).
The founder of Opus Dei says in this connection: "Reflect on the example that Christ gave us, from the crib in Bethlehem to his throne on Calvary. Think of his self-denial and of all he went through--hunger, thirst, weariness; heat, tiredness, ill-treatment, misunderstandings, tears [...]. But at the same time think of his joy at being able to save all mankind. And now I would like you to engrave deeply on your mind and on your heart--so that you can meditate on it often and draw your own practical conclusions--the summary St Paul made for the Ephesians when he invited them to follow resolutely in our Lord's footsteps: [Eph 5:1-2 follows]" ("Friends of God", 128).