Shrine Basilica of Our Lady of Health Vailankanni

Grace, which was formerly veiled, so to speak, in the Old Testament, has been fully revealed in the Gospel of Christ by a harmonious disposition of the times, just as God usually disposes of everything with harmony... But within this wonderful harmony we notice a great difference between the two ages. On Sinai the people did not dare draw near the place where the Lord was giving his Law; in the Upper Room, the Holy Spirit comes down on all those assembled there while waiting for the fulfilment of the promise (Ex 19:23; Acts 2:1). In the first instance the finger of God inscribed the laws on tablets of stone; but now it is in human hearts that he writes it (Ex 31:18; 2 Cor 3:3). Formerly the Law was written without and brought fear to sinners; but now it has been given to them within to make them righteous... Indeed, as the apostle Paul says, everything written on the stone tablets, "you shall not commit adultery, you shall not kill..., you shall not covet", and whatever other commandments there may be, are summed up in this saying: "You shall love your neighbor as yourself. Love does no evil to the neighbor; hence, love is the fulfilment of the Law" (Rm 13:9f.; Lv 19:18)... This charity has been "poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit that has been given to us" (Rm 5:5).

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Wednesday of the Third week of Lent

"Do not think that I have come to abolish the law or the prophets. I have come not to abolish but to fulfill"

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