Thursday, July 7 : Saint Ephrem

“As you enter a house, first say, ‘Peace to this house,’” (Lk 10:5) so that the Lord himself might enter and remain there, as with Mary. (…) This greeting is the mystery of faith, which shines forth in the world. Through it enmity is stifled, war is stopped, and people acknowledge one another. The effect of that greeting was hidden by a veil in spite of the fact that it prefigures the mystery of the resurrection (…) when the light rises and dawn chases night away. From the moment Christ sent out his disciples, people began to give and receive this greeting, a source of healing and blessing. (…) This greeting with its hidden power (…) is amply sufficient for us all. That is why Our Lord sent it out, together with his disciples, as forerunner, so that it might bring about peace and, carried by the voice of the apostles whom he sent, prepare the way before them. It was sown in every dwelling (…); it entered into all who heard it so as to separate and set apart the children it recognized as its own. It remained in them but it denounced those who were alien to it, for they did not welcome it. This greeting of peace did not dry up; it began in the apostles and then sprang up in their brethren, revealing the Lord’s inexhaustible treasures. (…) Present in those who offered greetings in this way and in those who welcomed the greeting, this announcement of peace was neither diminished nor divided. It announced that the Father is near and is in everyone; it revealed that the Son’s mission is bound up with all even if its object is to be with his Father. It will not cease to proclaim that images are now brought to completion and truth will cast all shadows away at last.
Roman Catholic Ordinary Calendar – rosary,team