Sunday

Ephesians: PAUL, BY God’s will an apostle of Jesus Christ, to those saints,
the faithful in Jesus Christ, who dwell at Ephesus, grace and
peace be yours from God, our Father, and from the Lord Jesus
3 Christ. Blessed be that God, that Father of our Lord Jesus Christ,
who has blessed us, in Christ, with every spiritual blessing, higher
4 than heaven itself. He has chosen us out, in Christ, before the
foundation of the world, to be saints, to be blameless in his sight,
5 for love of him; marking us out beforehand (so his will decreed)
6 to be his adopted children through Jesus Christ. Thus he would
manifest the splendour of that grace by which he has taken us into
7 his favour in the person of his beloved Son.

At Ephesus. While not writing ex¬ clusively for the church at Ephesus (see Introduction) St. Paul had it specially in mind. Tychicus, the bearer of this Epistle as well as that to Colossae, would on his journey from Rome to Colossas land at Ephesus and the Ephesians would be the first to read what was in all probability a circular letter.  1, 3-6: The Eternal Plan of the Father. The passage in 3-14 forms one long sentence in the original—a rhapsody on God’s blessings to Christians. 3. Blessing on high: “on high’’ in this text means literally “in heavenly places’’ and might be trans¬ lated “in heaven.” Heaven is always imagined as above the earth. The Father has poured down upon us His heavenly bless¬ ings. In 4, 8 Christ is pictured ascending to heaven and sending down gifts for men. The blessings here spoken of are holiness and the adoption of sons. On this adoption see Gal. 4, 6 f, where St. Paul distinguishes those who are sons by adoption from Him who is God’s real Son, such by His essence. It is in the real Son of God that we are called. The expressions “in Christ” and “in the Spirit” are brief summaries of the doctrine of the Mystical Body of Christ which is the principal topic of this Epistle. We are in Christ as we are in the atmosphere which surrounds and sustains us; His action upon us is like that of the soul upon our body: “It is now no longer I that live, but Christ lives in me” (Gal. 2, 20). The Father having in mind this intimate union, predestines us from all eternity to become His sons. 6. Unto the praise of the glory: God who is infinite perfection cannot act for any other end than His own glory. His goodness to us, as manifested by His grace, contributes to His glory.

Prayer:   For as many have been baptized into Christ have put on Christ…Alleluia

Monday

Ephesians 1: 7It is in him and
through his blood that we enjoy redemption, the forgiveness of our
8 sins. So rich is God’s grace, that has overflowed upon us in a full
9 stream of wisdom and discernment, to make known to us the
hidden purpose of his will. It was his loving design, centred in
10 Christ, to give history its fulfilment by resuming everything in
him, all that is in heaven, all that is on earth, summed up in him.
11 In him it was our lot to be called, singled out beforehand to suit
his purpose, (for it is he who is at work everywhere, carrying out
12 the designs of his will); we were to manifest his glory, we who
13 were the first to set our hope in Christ; in him you too were
called, when you listened to the preaching of the truth, that gospel
which is your salvation. In him you too learned to believe, and had
the seal set on your faith by the promised gift of the Holy Spirit;
14 a pledge of the inheritance which is ours, to redeem it for us and
bring us into possession of it, and so manifest God’s glory.
15 Well then, I too play my part; I have been told of your faith in
16 the Lord Jesus, of the love you shew towards all the saints, and I
never cease to offer thanks on your behalf…

 

Prayer:  Our Father, Who art in  Heaven, hallowed by Thy Name. Thy Kingdom come, Thy will be done, on earth as it is in Heaven. Give us this day our daily bread, and forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us; and lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.

 

Tuesday
Commentary Eph

7-10: Realized in the Son. 7. We have redemption through his blood. Redemption means buying back. When one buys back a slave and gives him liberty one is said to redeem him. Now men were in slavery to sin, which in Rom. 6 is pictured as a tyrant. By His loving sacrifice of Himself on the cross, Christ expiated for our sins as a victim of propitiation. For this loving
sacrifice we should be grateful not only to the Son but also to the Father “who so loved the world as to send His only begotten Son into the world,” not to condemn the world but to save it by the Cross: cf. John 3, 14-17. In this supreme manifestation of divine love, justice and charity meet. 8 f. To enable us to appreciate God’s blessings we have the gift of wisdom. It makes us understand the mystery of God’s will according to his good pleasure. St. Paul here as elsewhere emphasizes that grace is given us through the free choice of the Father. The mystery is a truth hitherto hidden but now revealed: the call of all men to salvation, both Jews and Gentiles. He says this first in the rather obscure words of 10, about the Father’s plan to re¬ establish all things in Christ. The Greek seems to mean “to reunite all things in Christ.” Men are reconciled to their heavenly Father in Christ; angels are reconciled with men. Even inanimate beings share in this reconciliation. St. Paul probably thinks, too, of the union of man with man, of church with church.

Prayer:  O Heavenly King, Comforter, Spirit of Truth, Who art everywhere present and fillest all things, Treasury of good things and Giver of life: Come and dwell in us, and cleanse us of all impurity, and save our souls, O Good One.

 

Wednesday

Commentary: 11-14: Fulfilled through the Holy Spirit. 12. We who be¬ fore hoped in Christ refers to Jewish Christians, such as St. Paul himself, who were prepared for the coming of Christ, who hoped in Him. You too: Jews who have believed in the gospel. 13. When they believed, Christians were sealed with the Holy Spirit. The present possession of the Holy Spirit marks those who will belong to God in the future; it is a pledge of their inheritance of the blessedness of heaven. A pledge or earnest is the first payment, guaranteeing full possession of our heritance. It will be ours on the last day, the day of full redemption, when our soul and body shall be redeemed: cf. Rom. 8, 23. The gift of grace is followed according to God’s will by that of heavenly glory; and although those who have received grace are not con¬ firmed therein and may, through their own fault, fall away from Him who is the source of our life, our present grace gives us well-grounded assurance. We are saved in hope. We have only to let ourselves live. That the Apostle considers us free under the action of grace would be evident from the very fact that he constantly urges us to walk worthy of the vocation unto which we are called.

 

Prayer:   Create in me a clean heart of God and renew a right spirit within me.  Cast me not from thy presence nor take thy Holy Spirit from me.    Restore unto me the joy of thy salvation and by thy governing spirit establish me.
Thursday

Ephesians 1: So may he who is the God of our Lord Jesus Christ,
the Father to whom glory belongs, grant you a spirit of wisdom
18 and insight, to give you fuller knowledge of himself. May your
inward eye be enlightened, so that you may understand to what
hopes he has called you, how rich in glory is that inheritance of
19 his found among the saints, what surpassing virtue there is in his
deahngs with us, who believe. Measure it by that mighty exercise
20 of power which he shewed when he raised Christ from the dead.
21 and bade him sit on his right hand above the heavens, high above
all princedoms and powers and virtues and dominations, and every
name that is known, not in this world only, but in the world to
22 come. He has put everything under his dominion, and made him
23 the head to which the whole Church is joined, so that the Church
is his body, the completion of him who everywhere and in all
things is complete.
Prayer:  Hail, Holy Queen, Mother of Mercy, our life, our sweetness and our hope! To thee do we cry, poor banished children of Eve. To thee do we send up our sighs, mourning and weeping in this valley of tears! Turn, then, O most gracious Advocate, thine eyes of mercy toward us, and after this, our exile, show unto us the blessed fruit of thy womb, Jesus. O clement, O loving, O sweet Virgin Mary.
V. Pray for us, O holy Mother of God.
R. That we may be made worthy of the promises of Christ.
*Salve Regina

Friday
Commentary: 15-23: Thanksgiving and Prayer. St. Paul thanks God for the faith and love of the recipients of his Epistle, of which he has heard; and prays that they may come to a greater realization of God’s benefits, the glories He has in reserve for Christians and the greatness of His power exerted for the benefit of those who believe, as it was exerted in the resurrection of Christ, whom He has made to sit on His right hand. He has given him as head, above all, to the Church, which is His body. 23. This body is the fullness of him who is wholly fulfilled in all. The expression is obscure. Father Huby, S.J., (in Verbum Salutis ad 1.) translates: “The Church which is his body, the fullness of Him who fills everything in every way.”

Hail Mary, full of Grace, the Lord is with thee. Blessed art thou amongst women, and blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus. Holy Mary, mother of God, pray for us sinners now and in the hour of our death.

 

Saturday
Commentary cont.

Prayer:  Glory to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Ghost.  As it was in the beginning it is now and ever shall be, world without end.  Amen.