Sunday<\/p>\n
Ephesians:\u00a0PAUL, BY God’s will an apostle of Jesus Christ, to those saints,
\nthe faithful in Jesus Christ, who dwell at Ephesus, grace and
\npeace be yours from God, our Father, and from the Lord Jesus
\n3 Christ. Blessed be that God, that Father of our Lord Jesus Christ,
\nwho has blessed us, in Christ, with every spiritual blessing, higher
\n4 than heaven itself. He has chosen us out, in Christ, before the
\nfoundation of the world, to be saints, to be blameless in his sight,
\n5 for love of him; marking us out beforehand (so his will decreed)
\n6 to be his adopted children through Jesus Christ. Thus he would
\nmanifest the splendour of that grace by which he has taken us into
\n7 his favour in the person of his beloved Son.<\/p>\n
At Ephesus. While not writing ex\u00ac 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.\u00a0\u00a01, 3-6: The Eternal Plan of the Father. The passage in 3-14 forms one long sentence in the original\u2014a rhapsody on God\u2019s blessings to Christians. 3. Blessing on high: \u201con high\u2019\u2019 in this text means literally \u201cin heavenly places\u2019\u2019 and might be trans\u00ac lated \u201cin heaven.\u201d Heaven is always imagined as above the earth. The Father has poured down upon us His heavenly bless\u00ac 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\u2019s real Son, such by His essence. It is in the real Son of God that we are called. The expressions \u201cin Christ\u201d and \u201cin the Spirit\u201d 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: \u201cIt is now no longer I that live, but Christ lives in me\u201d (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.<\/p>\n
Prayer:\u00a0\u00a0 For as many have been baptized into Christ have put on Christ\u2026Alleluia<\/p>\n
Monday<\/p>\n
Ephesians 1: 7It is in him and
\nthrough his blood that we enjoy redemption, the forgiveness of our
\n8 sins. So rich is God’s grace, that has overflowed upon us in a full
\n9 stream of wisdom and discernment, to make known to us the
\nhidden purpose of his will. It was his loving design, centred in
\n10 Christ, to give history its fulfilment by resuming everything in
\nhim, all that is in heaven, all that is on earth, summed up in him.
\n11 In him it was our lot to be called, singled out beforehand to suit
\nhis purpose, (for it is he who is at work everywhere, carrying out
\n12 the designs of his will); we were to manifest his glory, we who
\n13 were the first to set our hope in Christ; in him you too were
\ncalled, when you listened to the preaching of the truth, that gospel
\nwhich is your salvation. In him you too learned to believe, and had
\nthe seal set on your faith by the promised gift of the Holy Spirit;
\n14 a pledge of the inheritance which is ours, to redeem it for us and
\nbring us into possession of it, and so manifest God’s glory.
\n15 Well then, I too play my part; I have been told of your faith in
\n16 the Lord Jesus, of the love you shew towards all the saints, and I
\nnever cease to offer thanks on your behalf…<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Prayer:\u00a0 Our Father, Who art in \u00a0Heaven, 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.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Tuesday
\nCommentary Eph<\/p>\n
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
\nsacrifice we should be grateful not only to the Son but also to the Father \u201cwho so loved the world as to send His only begotten Son into the world,\u201d 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\u2019s blessings we have the gift of wisdom. It makes us understand the mystery of God\u2019s 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\u2019s plan to re\u00ac establish all things in Christ. The Greek seems to mean \u201cto reunite all things in Christ.\u201d 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.<\/p>\n
Prayer:\u00a0 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.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Wednesday<\/p>\n
Commentary:\u00a011-14: Fulfilled through the Holy Spirit. 12. We who be\u00ac 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\u2019s will by that of heavenly glory; and although those who have received grace are not con\u00ac 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.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Prayer:\u00a0\u00a0 Create in me a clean heart of God and renew a right spirit within me.\u00a0 Cast me not from thy presence nor take thy Holy Spirit from me.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Restore unto me the joy of thy salvation and by thy governing spirit establish me.
\nThursday<\/p>\n
Ephesians 1:\u00a0So may he who is the God of our Lord Jesus Christ,
\nthe Father to whom glory belongs, grant you a spirit of wisdom
\n18 and insight, to give you fuller knowledge of himself. May your
\ninward eye be enlightened, so that you may understand to what
\nhopes he has called you, how rich in glory is that inheritance of
\n19 his found among the saints, what surpassing virtue there is in his
\ndeahngs with us, who believe. Measure it by that mighty exercise
\n20 of power which he shewed when he raised Christ from the dead.
\n21 and bade him sit on his right hand above the heavens, high above
\nall princedoms and powers and virtues and dominations, and every
\nname that is known, not in this world only, but in the world to
\n22 come. He has put everything under his dominion, and made him
\n23 the head to which the whole Church is joined, so that the Church
\nis his body, the completion of him who everywhere and in all
\nthings is complete.
\nPrayer:\u00a0 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.
\nV. Pray for us, O holy Mother of God.
\nR. That we may be made worthy of the promises of Christ.
\n*Salve Regina<\/p>\n
Friday
\nCommentary:\u00a015-23: 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\u2019s 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: \u201cThe Church which is his body, the fullness of Him who fills everything in every way.\u201d<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Saturday
\nCommentary cont.<\/p>\n
Prayer:\u00a0 Glory to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Ghost.\u00a0 As it was in the beginning it is now and ever shall be, world without end.\u00a0 Amen.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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