May 24

e acknowledge the Lord as God, and as head of the Church, which he redeemed from the Gentiles with his own blood. For he gained us for himself as a people that would be his own, a holy nation, a royal priesthood, who would proclaim his goodness and glory. All peoples now serve him, all the tribes of the earth are blessed in him, and all the families of the Gentiles worship him; all the pagans have come to worship in his presence, and all the kings of the earth fall down at his feet.

Everywhere we Christians are shown to be victorious, even if the enemies of truth dislike it. For the Spirit commands us to sing a new song to the Lord, not in Jerusalem alone nor in Judea (a tiny fraction of the world), but lifting holy hands in every corner of his dominion, to serve him in holiness and righteousness, for the dawn from on high has shone upon us, and given us his people knowledge of salvation through forgiveness of our sins. Thus we, as his people, acknowledge the shouts of rejoicing; we live in the light of his face, and as the whole assembly of his people we hope in him. Nor is there a new God among Christians, but on the contrary we acknowledge one God who is always the same.

From John E. Rotelle, O.S.A., Tradition Day by Day: Readings from Church Writers. Augustinian Press. Villanova, PA, 1994.

HTML text prepared by David P. Steelman