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Friday of the Twenty-sixth week in Ordinary Time

Commentary of the day
Hugh of Saint Victor (?-1141), canon regular, theologian
Treatise on the sacraments of Christian faith, II, 1-2; PL 176, 415

"Whoever listens to you listens to me. Whoever rejects you rejects me"

Just as man's breath passes through the head and goes down into the members to give them life, so the Holy Spirit enters into Christians through Christ. Christ is the head; Christians are the members. There is only one head but many members: one body made up of its head and members. And in this one body there is a single Spirit, who is in the head in his fullness and in the members by participation. Therefore, if there is only one body then there is only one Spirit. Anyone who is not in the body cannot be given life by the Spirit, according to the words of Scripture: “Whoever does not have the Spirit of Christ does not belong to him” (Rm 8,9). For anyone who does not have the Spirit of Christ is not a member of Christ.

Nothing that has a share in the body is dead; nothing of what is separated from the body is living. It is by faith that we become its members; it is by love that we are given life. By faith we receive unity; by charity we receive life. The sacrament of baptism unites us; the Body and Blood of Christ give us life. Through baptism we become members of the body; through the Body of Christ we have a share in his life.

The best, the surest , and the most effective way of establishing everlasting peace on the face of the earth is through the great power of perpetual adoration of the Blessed Sacrament." -- Pope John Paul II

"Could you not watch one hour?" -- Mark 14:37

I am happy to testify that many young people are discovering the beauty of adoration, whether personal or in community. I invite priests to encourage youth groups in this, but also to accompany them to ensure that the forms of adoration are appropriate and dignified, with sufficient times for silence and listening to the word of God. In life today, which is often noisy and scattered, it is more important than ever to recover the capacity for interior silence and recollection: Eucharistic adoration permits one to do this not only within one's "I" but rather in the company of that "You" full of love who is Jesus Christ, "the God who is near us."

~Pop e Benedict XVI

“ The Pope has a great spiritual sense of worship and [importance of] reaching out to every human being,” says Msgr. Fazio. “In Buenos Aires in recent years, he has spontaneously promoted the exposition of the Blessed Sacrament in parishes, and it is bearing spiritual fruit.” Furthermore, Msgr. Fazio is sure the Pope will “pay particular attention to Eucharistic adoration and the preaching of the word.”