saved
"He saved us." —Titus 3:5
Jesus, Whose name means "Yahweh saves," said to the Samaritan leper who had been healed: "Your faith has been your salvation" (Lk 17:19). Today and on Christmas Day, the Church proclaims at Mass: "When the kindness and love of God our Savior appeared, He saved us" (Ti 3:4-5). Jesus Christ our Savior "saved us; not because of any righteous deeds we had done, but because of His mercy. He saved us through the baptism of new birth and renewal by the Holy Spirit" (Ti 3:5).
We were saved from being "foolish, disobedient, and far from true faith; we were the slaves of our passions and of pleasures of various kinds. We went our way in malice and envy, hateful ourselves and hating one another" (Ti 3:3). We were saved for becoming "heirs, in hope, of eternal life" (Ti 3:7).
"Believe in the Lord Jesus and you will be saved, and all your household" (Acts 16:31). "If you confess with your lips that Jesus is Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved" (Rm 10:9). "Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved" (Rm 10:13). Those who believe in the gospel and accept "baptism will be saved" (Mk 16:16). "How shall we escape if we ignore a salvation as great as ours?" (Heb 2:3) Accept Jesus now as your Savior, Lord, and God.
Prayer: Father, after I "have fled a polluted world by recognizing the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ," may I never go back into the world (2 Pt 2:20).
Promise: "One of them, realizing that he had been cured, came back praising God in a loud voice. He threw himself on his face at the feet of Jesus and spoke His praises." —Lk 17:15-16
Praise: St. Albert taught that the Eucharist "is most useful because it bestows the fullness of grace on us in this life."
Nihil Obstat: Reverend Ralph J. Lawrence, April 24, 2000
Imprimatur: †Most Reverend Carl K. Moeddel, Vicar General and Auxiliary Bishop of the Archdiocese of Cincinnati, April 27, 2000