183 part i: sunday meditations for the entire year Let Him cast out the mute and blind evil spirit, and restore the light, as well as the grace of devotion and zeal for perfection. After Holy Communion 1. “the mute man spoke” (Lk 11:14). Consider that this man was mute until the time when the evil spirit was cast out of him. Thus, the heavenly Spirit is not within you as long as you are deprived of the use of speech, that is, as long as you do not give thanks [f.34v] to the most generous and most gracious God for the countless benefits you have received. It would be hard for someone who has been thus far afflicted with so great a vice of ingratitude to assert or to think that he has the Spirit of God: For not only does he not think at all of giving thanks, but neither does he even call to mind the blessings granted to him, thus committing them to perpetual oblivion. Just as the most certain sign of a true friendship would be someone’s frequent reference to the favors received from a friend and the attempt to repay them by all possible means; thus, the infallible evidence of the true Divine Love hidden within us and of the good Spirit dwelling within us is manifest when we frequently give thanks to God for the gifts bestowed upon us and when we do not ever allow celestial benefits to disappear from our memory, but always ponder, praise, and treasure them. 2. “the people marveled” (Lk 11:14). If the people present at that sight of the Savior setting the possessed man free from the devil and restoring his use of speech were seized with admiration for such a great deed; even so the heavenly multitude will also admire you today when they see your gratitude for Holy Communion and hear you speaking of and proclaiming the divine benefits, rather than just pondering them. Although many like yourself have been filled today with the same benefits, yet a great number of them immediately turned from the sacred table to the mundane one, from the chalice of salvation to the goblets of sensual pleasure; many immersed themselves in various worldly matters; many let themselves be
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