Monday, September 7 : Saint Ambrose

The same hand that Adam stretched out to pluck the fruit of the forbidden tree was filled by the Lord with the sap of good deeds so that, dried up by sin, it might be healed by its good deeds. On this occasion Christ took to task those enemies of his who, by their false interpretations, violated the commands of the Law. They considered that people should even set aside good deeds on the Sabbath day, whereas the Law was foreshadowing in the present the outlines of the future when, without any doubt at all, it will be evil that will no longer be working, not good… You heard, then, the Lord’s words: “Stretch out your hand.” Here is the cure for us all. And as for you who believe your hands are clean, beware lest avarice and sacrilege paralyse it. Keep on stretching it out: stretch it out towards the poor man who is begging you; stretch it out to assist a neighbor, to bring help to a widow, to rescue from injustice someone you see to be subjected to undeserved humiliation; stretch it out towards God for your sins. This is how our hands are stretched out; this is how they heal.

Roman Catholic Ordinary Calendar – rosary,team