Monday, September 11 : Saint Maximus of Turin

What a great and wonderful gift God has given us, my brethren! On this, the day of Easter, day of salvation, the Lord rises again and gives resurrection to the world… We are his body (1Cor 12,27)…, and his members rise with him; he makes us rise from death to life. In Hebrew the word “passover” means a passing over…: and what a passing! From sin to righteousness, from vice to virtue, from age to infancy. Yesterday, sins’ decay set us on a decline but Christ’s resurrection gives us rebirth in newborn innocence. Christian simplicity makes childhood its own. Children are without rancor, ignorant of deceit, not daring to strike. So this child that the christian has become does not fall into a rage if someone insults it, does not resist if something is taken from it, does not return blows if someone strikes it. Our Lord even demands us to pray for our enemies, give up our tunic and cloak to anyone who would steal it, turn the other cheek to those who would hit it (Mt 5,39). The childhood of Christ surpasses the childhood of men… To the apostles, who were already mature, adult men, the Lord said: “Unless you turn and become like children, you will not enter the kingdom of heaven” (Mt 18,3). He returns them to the origin of their lives, encourages them to rediscover their childhood, so that these men, whose vigor is declining, may be born again to innocence of heart.

maronite readings – rosary,team