The Gospel according to St. John, iv. 46–53
"There was a certain ruler whose son was sick at Capharnaum. He having heard that Jesus was come from Judea into Galilee, went to Him, and prayed Him to come down and heal his son, for he was at the point of death. Jesus therefore said to him: Unless you see signs and wonders you believe not. The ruler saith to Him: Lord, come down before that my son die. Jesus saith to him: Go thy way, thy son liveth. The man believed the word which Jesus said to him, and went his way. And as he was going down his servants met him, and they brought word saying that his son lived. He asked therefore of them the hour wherein he grew better. And they said to him: Yesterday at the seventh hour the fever left him. The father therefore knew that it was at the same hour that Jesus said to him: Thy son liveth; and himself believed, and his whole house."
Summary of the Morrow's Meditation
We will meditate tomorrow upon the gospel for the day, and we shall learn from it: 1st, to profit by the moment of grace; 2nd, to profit even by the delay of grace after we have asked for it. We will thence derive the resolution: 1st, never to resist the inspirations of grace, and to allow ourselves to be led in everything by the Spirit of God; 2nd, instead of being discouraged when grace is not given us immediately in answer to our prayers, to persevere in our requests with confidence and a renewal of fervor. Our spiritual nosegay shall be the words of the Psalmist: "I will hear what the Lord God will speak in me" (Ps. lxxxiv. 9).
Meditation for the Morning
Let us adore Our Lord giving us in the gospel two instructions of the greatest importance with regard to the use we ought to make of His grace. Let us bless Him for these lessons, which He wills to communicate to us for the guidance of our life, and let us ask of Him grace to profit by them.
FIRST POINT
The Importance of Profiting by the Moment of Grace.
There are three reasons which show us this:
The moment of grace, once past, never returns. This is what the gospel of the day teaches us, by the example of the great personage of Galilee whose son was dangerously ill. He had no sooner learnt the arrival of Jesus Christ in the country than, without losing a moment, he went in search of Him. If he had not profited by the visit of the Saviour to Galilee, he would perhaps never have seen or known Him. God attaches His graces to times, seasons, places, and objects, to a number of circumstances which but rarely coincide. Not to profit, then, by grace is to expose ourselves never again to receive it.
The moment of grace is often decisive in regard to our salvation. If, in fact, the officer of our example had not profited by the journey of Jesus Christ, his son would have died. Whence comes it that we persevere so long in tepidity, or perhaps in a worse state still? Is it not that we allow to pass, without profiting by them, moments of decisive graces, such as the grace of a retreat or a mission, certain inspirations, certain sentiments of remorse?
When we profit by a moment of grace, God grants us others, and greater ones, which we did not expect. The officer of our gospel thought of nothing less than of obtaining his own conversion and that of his family, yet Jesus Christ granted it to him at the same time as the cure of his son. He believed, says the gospel, he and the whole of his house. Let us admire this goodness of Our Lord, and let us thank Him for so often, when we have profited by His graces, giving us immediately new ones. Let us consider, on the other side, that God gives us graces at every moment. All our days are filled with them; and yet we are so poor, so weak, so miserable, we allow these moments of grace to pass. Let us fear this misfortune, and let us determine to be henceforth more faithful to them.
SECOND POINT
How to Behave when Grace is Delayed after we have Asked for it.
If grace often forestalls us, God also often retards it, and does not grant it immediately after we have asked for it. Then we must submit peacefully, Solomon has told us (Ecclus. ii. 3). God has promised us His help and He loves us. If, then, He sometimes delays to grant our petitions and seems to repel us, it is because of His loving designs in regard to us. He wishes to try us, to augment our faith, to increase our merits, to make us grow in patience. Let us adore His designs and bless Him at all times. In days of trial let our confidence be reanimated. It is to perseverance in prayer that God has promised His help, and perseverance is only exercised when God delays. Let us say to Him in our troubles: Yes, my God, it is just because Thou dost delay to grant my prayers that I trust Thou wilt do so, and the more Thou dost repel me, the more will I cast myself with greater ardor into Thy arms. Let us learn from the officer of our gospel to redouble, then, our fervor. He did not stop to justify himself when Jesus Christ reproached him. Without paying any attention to it, he earnestly begged Our Lord: O Lord, come down to my house ere my son die. And he was heard, and we also shall be heard.
Resolutions and spiritual nosegay as above.