{"collection":"scripture-revelation","full_text_available":true,"graph_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/api/page/gutenberg_59041/graph","html_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/page/gutenberg_59041","id":"gutenberg_59041","license":"Public Domain (US)","rights_basis":"gutenberg_metadata_copyright_false","source":"gutenberg","source_url":"https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/59041","summary":null,"tags":["Category: Essays, Letters & Speeches","Category: Religion/Spirituality","Catholic Church -- Sermons","Sermons, American -- 19th century"],"text":"Produced by Don Kostuch\n\n\n\n\n\n  [Transcriber's notes: This production is based on\n  https://archive.org/details/sermonspaulists00unknuoft/page/n7.\n\n  Many footnotes have additional citations indicated by \"USCCB\",\n  based on the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops Bible\n  found at http://usccb.org/bible/books-of-the-bible. Most\n  differences appear to be typographical errors not detected in\n  proofreading or minor changes in verse numbering.\n\n  End of Transcriber's notes.]\n\n\n{1}\n\nSERMONS.\n\n{2}\n\n{3}\n\n  Sermons,\n\n  Preached At The\n\n  Church of St. Paul the Apostle,\n\n  New York,\n\n  During the Year 1861.\n\n  -----------\n\n  New York:\n  Van Parys, Hugot & Howell,\n\n  34 Beekman Street.\n\n  1861.\n\n{4}\n\n\n  Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1861, by\n\n  VAN PARYS, HUGOT & HOWELL,\n\n  In the Clerk's Office of the District Court of the United\n  States, for the Southern District of New York.\n\n  ---------------\n\n  C. A. ALVORD, PRINTER.\n\n{5}\n\nPREFACE.\n\n------------\n\nSome of those friends who listened to the sermons contained in\nthis volume have expressed a desire to see them in print, and\nthought they would do good. This friendly counsel has not been\nacted upon without hesitation. The great scarcity of Catholic\nsermons in English would seem to afford motive enough for\npublishing, though it is feared that these may fall too far below\nthe standard. Certainly, they make no pretence to brilliant\npassages of imagination, flowers of style, or appeals to popular\nenthusiasm;\n{6}\nthese not comporting with the serious and earnest work in which\nwe are engaged. But we trust that they will be found plain,\nsimple, and direct, and that there may be those among our\nCatholic brethren who will derive an appreciable benefit from\ntheir perusal--some clearer view of Christian doctrine or moral\nduty, some thought to touch the heart, and draw it upward to God.\nIf so, our purpose will have been accomplished. With so much of\nexplanation we send out these few sermons into the world;\ndoubting, somewhat, if all who heard them when they came living\nand warm from the preacher's lips, and listened with interest\nthen, will prize them now as they lie cold and uncolored on the\npaper.\n\n  St. Paul's. 59th Street, Dec. 1. 1861.\n\n{7}\n\n             CONTENTS.\n\n                                                      PAGE.\n\nI.   The Earnest Man                                    9\n\nII.  Unworthy Communion                                26\n\nIII. Christ's Resurrection The Foundation of Our Faith 40\n\nIV.  Giving Testimony                                  63\n\nV.   Spiritual Death                                   76\n\nVI.  The Love Of God                                   93\n\nVII. Keeping The Law Not Impossible                   107\n\nVIII. The Two Standards                               124\n\nIX.   The Epiphany                                    143\n\nX.    Renunciation                                    158\n\nXI.   The Afflictions Of The Just                     176\n\nXII.  False Maxims                                    190\n\nXIII. Mary's Destiny A Type Of Ours                   205\n\nXIV.  Mortal Sin Exemplified In The History Of Judas  221\n\n{8}\n\nXV.   Interior Life                                   234\n\nXVI.  True Christian Humility                         254\n\nXVII. What The Desire To Love God Can Do              270\n\nXVIII. The Worth Of The Soul                          293\n\nXIX. Merit The Measure Of Reward                      310\n\nXX.  Self-denial                                      330\n\n{9}\n\n   SERMON I.\n\n   The Earnest Man.\n\n   A Sermon For The Commemoration Of St. Paul, Apostle.\n\n  (From the Epistle, Gal. i., 11-23.)\n\n\nI have read the Epistle for the day, rather than the Gospel,\nbecause it contains a brief but characteristic sketch of the\ngreat Apostle, drawn by his own hand. How strange is the history\nof this man! We have here the Church's most bitter persecutor\nconverted into the most zealous and successful of all the\nApostles. At first we discover a careful and devoted student of\nthe Jewish law; afterward he stands forth the most learned and\neloquent expounder of the Christian Gospel.\n{10}\nWe see him in his youth a witness of St. Stephen's martyrdom,\nstanding by to hold the garments of those who stoned him to\ndeath, sternly and pitilessly looking on; and again in his old\nage we find him lying lifeless on the Ostian road, outside the\nwalls of Rome, a headless trunk, a martyr in the same cause for\nwhich St. Stephen died. We see him at first \"_ravaging the\nChurch, entering into houses, and hauling away men and women, and\ncommitting them to prison,_\" and shortly afterward we hear the\nwondering Christians whisper to each other: \"_He that\npersecuted us in times past now preaches the faith_.\" In the\nbeginning, foremost of all the Jews was he in that terrible\nenergy which they put forth to destroy the Church; and afterward\nforemost among the Apostles, he was able to say with truth: \"_I\nhave labored more abundantly than they all_.\" In fine, one\ntrait of character distinguished this great Apostle at all times,\nboth before and after his conversion. He was always an earnest\nman. It is worth our while this morning to study his character\nwell, for--from the bottom of my soul I do believe it--a few such\nearnest Christians in our day would be enough to move the world.\n\n{11}\n\nLet us look at him first during the early part of his career, and\nsee how this earnestness of character displays itself in one\nwhose mind is misguided, by religious error. In the first place,\nthen, St. Paul before his conversion was distinguished by an\nearnest and ardent love of truth, and consequently, a strong\nattachment to what he deemed to be the truth. I have already read\nto you in the Epistle what he says of his own early life: \"_I\nmade progress in the Jews' religion above many of my equals in my\nown nation, being more abundantly zealous for the traditions of\nmy fathers._\" This earnestness of his sprang from a deep love\nof truth, and it made him what he afterward became, the foremost\nchampion of the true faith. The human mind is created for truth,\nis naturally attracted to the truth when fairly presented, and if\nnot led away by a corrupted heart, embraces it with joy. Truth\ncomes readily to those that love it, and therefore there is,\nafter all, nothing unnatural in this conversion of a Hebrew\nzealot into a Christian evangelist; for if he loved error at\nfirst, it was only because in good faith he mistook it for the\ntruth, and if he hated the truth, it was only because he did not\nsee it in its true colors, but misrepresented and perverted.\n{12}\nThese men who are zealous, honestly zealous, in error, are the\nvery men to embrace the truth; and, on the contrary, they who\nstand perfectly indifferent between contradictory creeds, are the\nleast open to conviction. Both reason and experience teach this.\nNothing is more common in our day than a class of men who look\nwith perfect[ly] good nature upon every form of religious\ndoctrine, except perhaps that particular one in which they\nthemselves were reared, and which is supposed therefore to have\nsome practical claim upon them. Did you ever know one of these\n\"liberal fellows,\" so called, to be come Catholic? I mean these\nmen who, having no religious faith to love, can have no error to\nhate. I mean, for example, these nominal Protestants who, when in\nyour presence, turn into ridicule every Protestant form of\nreligion, without believing a word of yours; one of these\ngood-natured fellows that think the Catholic religion is quite as\ngood as any, in some respects the best of any, since it is the\nfarthest out of their way.\n{13}\nTake, for instance, one of these liberal politicians that you\nalways see at the public dinner on Patrick's day; that will\nsubscribe cordially to a Catholic charity, if you ask him, but\ncomes back to remind you of it on election day. Did you ever know\na man of this stamp to become Catholic? No, indeed; divine truth\nhas attractions only for earnest souls. A _hickory_\nProtestant is as poor a thing as a _hickory_ Catholic. Such\na man has two fundamental axioms to get by heart, before\nreligious truth can take possession of his soul; first, that\nthere is such a thing as truth, and next, that his mind was made\nfor it, and needs it. Oh! it is sad to see a man in ignorance of\nthe way of salvation,--sadder still to see him blindly prejudiced\nagainst it; but the saddest, most ignoble, and most hopeless of\nall conditions, is to be indifferent to it.\n\nSt. Paul was another type of man. He was an earnest one. He\nbelieved the Jewish religion to be the true and only true one,\nand therefore he loved it with all his soul, and was zealous for\nit. When the scales fell from his eyes, and the Christian faith\nwas revealed to him in all its truth and beauty, he embraced it,\nand clung to it, and abandoned himself to it, with all the\nenergies of that same earnest soul.\n{14}\nHad he been a \"liberal\" Jew, we should have far more reason to\nwonder at his conversion; it is still less probable that God\nwould have selected him for the Apostle of the Gentiles.\n\nAn earnest lover of truth, even before his conversion, it\nfollowed as a natural consequence, that St. Paul hated error; and\nfor this reason he opposed the Christian religion with all his\nmight, and with his whole soul, because he believed it to be\nfalse and dangerous. \"_You have heard_,\" said he, writing to\nthe Christians of Galatia, \"_of my conversation in time past in\nthe Jews religion, how that beyond measure I persecuted the\nChurch of God, and laid it waste._\" But he tells us elsewhere:\n\"_I obtained mercy of God, because I did it ignorantly in\nunbelief_.\" In the same proportion that the earnest man loves\nwhat is good and true, he hates what is false and evil, or what\nhe thinks so, and opposes it too. St. Paul opposed the Christian\nfaith with all his power, because he believed it to be false. He\nwas wrong there: it was an error of judgment.\n{15}\nHe persecuted it too violently, \"beyond measure,\" forgetting the\nrules of charity. There he was wrong again; it was an error of\nthe heart. But in all this he was in earnest, hating false\ndoctrine; and there he was right. I do not sympathize with his\ndelusion, but I love him for his earnestness.\n\nOh! how many such men may there not be in this country of ours,\nthat we rank among our bitterest foes!--men who honestly oppose\nour holy religion, not for what it really is, but what they think\nit to be. Could we open that sealed and sacred register of the\ndivine counsels, wherein the fortunes of mankind are written,\nwith what delight should we read there the names of many of our\nbitterest opponents who are destined to kneel and worship with us\nyet, as others, thank God, have done already! Why not? I do from\nmy heart believe that many of these make war upon us only from\nmistake of judgment. They know our doctrines only by false\nreport. They judge of our morals only by such Catholics as are\neither the most ignorant of their own religion, or else entirely\nfalse to the teachings of their Church, and strangers to her\nsacraments, although some of these may be loud enough at times in\nproclaiming a faith they have not, to further some political\npretension, or sanctify some ungodly trade.\n{16}\nUnder such circumstances it is not strange that many earnest men\nshould set their faces against us. Could they cease to hate our\nreligion, while they believe it to be false? Can they sympathize\nwith us, while they believe us to be corrupted by it? Oh! God,\nsend these men into thy fold! Take off the scales from their\neyes, and send them to us. We need earnest men amongst us. The\nhalf-hearted, indifferent Protestant who calls himself a liberal,\nwe do not hope for. We have too many such already; we could spare\nthem by the thousand, for they neither save their own souls, nor\nbring credit to thy cause. But send us earnest men like St. Paul,\nwho know how to hate error, because they love the truth!\n\nIf, even when groping in the darkness of Judaism, St. Paul was so\nhonest-hearted and earnest, we shall not find him otherwise when\nenlightened by the grace of Jesus Christ, and enlisted in his\nholy cause. He had before him two great enterprises, which\nrequire not only large grace from God, but all one's manhood and\nenergy to carry on well.\n{17}\nHe had his own soul to sanctify and save, and he had an Apostle's\nwork to do. He set about both like a man in earnest, with that\ndeliberate, deep and concentrated enthusiasm which is not wont to\nfail. Let us see first what care he took of his own salvation.\n\nWould you believe it, my brethren, that St. Paul--after all that\nwonderful life of toil and privation in the cause of Christ,\nafter his many voyages and frequent shipwrecks, imprisoned often,\nand dragged before different tribunals, after being scourged five\ntimes by the Jews and three times by the Romans, stoned by the\nmob in the streets and left for dead, wandering about without any\nfixed home, and often famishing for food and drink, and faint for\nwant of sleep--would you believe, I say, that he yet trembled for\nfear of being damned? He was afraid lest that poor, emaciated\nbody of his might rebel against the spirit, and drag him into\nsome grievous sin. \"_Oh! wretched man that I am!_\" was his\nmournful cry, \"_who shall deliver me from this body of\ndeath?_\" For this reason he scourged himself. \"_Therefore I\nchastise my body, and bring it into subjection, lest, perhaps,\nwhen I have preached to others, I myself should become\nreprobate_.\"\n{18}\nThis is being in earnest. I think, my brethren, our bodies are as\ndangerous to us, as St. Paul's was to him. Are we as much in\nearnest to guard against a fall? Gluttony, drunkenness, impurity,\nidleness and effeminacy--these sensual sins are generated in the\nbody. We may not, all of us, be guilty of them, not grossly\nguilty; but we are none of us quite safe against them. What means\ndo we employ to subjugate our bodies, or was St. Paul less safe\nthan we?\n\nAccording to the idea of this great Apostle, the way to heaven is\na constant and difficult warfare. Nothing in language can be more\nstriking and vivid than his description of an earnest Christian\nstruggling to make sure his salvation. He compares him to\nwrestlers, boxers, and runners in the public games. Have you ever\nseen two strong men wrestling? How their muscles harden into\nknots, and their veins swell full as if they would burst! How all\ntheir energies are engaged! How wary they are to guard against a\nfall, and how quick to seize upon any advantage! Imagine them to\nbe real enemies wrestling for life, and then you have an image of\nthe actual contest of an earnest Christian struggling for\nsalvation with the enemies of his soul.\n{19}\n\"_Brethren_,\" says St. Paul, and I seem to hear those deep\ntones giving counsel like a friendly voice at the beginning of a\ndeadly fray, \"_Brethren, put on the armor of God, that you may\nbe able to stand against the snares of the devil. For our\nwrestling is not against flesh and blood, but against\nprincipalities and powers, against the rulers of this world of\ndarkness, against the spirits of wickedness in the high\nplaces_.\" Tell me, my brethren, is this your idea of the\nChristian warfare? Is it with this terrible earnestness you\nstruggle to work out your salvation, or do you make a pastime of\nit?\n\nHe compares us Christians to professional racers. \"_Know you\nnot that they who run in the race all run indeed, but one\nreceiveth the prize? So run that you may win_.\" For my part,\nhe adds, \"_I so run as not at an uncertainty_,\" not as if I\nhad lost sight of the mark, and were only half conscious of what\nI were about, but \"_forgetting the things that are behind, and\nstretching myself forward to those that are before me, I pursue\ntowards the mark, for the prize of the supernal vocation of God\nin Christ Jesus_.\" Is this the earnest way we follow out our\nvocation? Are we thus determined to win?\n\n{20}\n\nThe Christian warfare requires careful preparation, drill and\ndiscipline. In respect to this, St. Paul compares us to\nprofessional boxers, and his description shows that these\ngladiators of the olden time took as much pride in their art, as\nour modern gentlemen of the prize ring. \"_Every one that\nstruggles in a combat, abstains from every indulgence; they,\nindeed, that they may receive a corruptible crown, but we an\nincorruptible_.\" How earnest are these miserable\nprize-fighters after their belt, and their stakes! How patiently\nthey submit to all the rules of their training-master during\ntheir long and painful course of training! What abstinence from\nfood, from indulgence in drink, and all luxurious living, in\norder to reduce their bodies to the most athletic proportions!\nWhat long walks under heavy weights! What fatiguing exercises to\nharden their muscles! Oh! that we were half as earnest, with\nheaven for a prize, and all our eternity at stake! We should be\nsure of victory then.\n{21}\nSt. Paul was in earnest. \"_I so fight_,\" said he, \"_as not\nhaving to beat the air, but I chastise my body, and bring it into\nsubjection, lest, perhaps, when I have preached to others, I\nmyself should become reprobate_.\"\n\nWe have seen now, how, after his conversion, St. Paul set about\nthe first great business before him--his own salvation. Let us\nlook at him now as an Apostle, engaged in gaining souls to God,\nand in guarding the flock of Christ intrusted to him. Ah! my dear\nbrethren, here must I be brief. I dare not make any further\ndemands upon your patience. And, besides, who can draw the\nlineaments of that great Apostle, or paint him in colors worthy\nof his character? What memory can trace out those long and\nfrequent journeys, with the incessant fatigue of preaching,\ndisputing, and writing, with the \"care of all the churches\" upon\nhis hands. And yet, not to burden his brethren, he maintained\nhimself in good part by manual labor. What language is gentle\nenough, and warm enough, to represent that tender and sensitive\nheart that throbbed in sympathy with all the joys and woes of the\nChurch, and burned with every scandal?\n{22}\n\"_Who is weak,_\" said he, \"_and I am not weak? Who is\nscandalized, and I do not burn?_\" Who can estimate the depth\nand fulness of that fraternal love, which made him willing to\npart even with his own hopes of heaven, so it could be done\nwithout offence to God, in order to save his brethren? \"_My\nconscience bears me witness in the Holy Ghost that I have great\nsadness, and continual sorrow in my heart, for I wished myself to\nbe an anathema from Christ for my brethren_.\" This is the\nnearest approach to the love of the Saviour for us, who bore our\nsins upon the bitter cross, who died that we might live, becoming\nan anathema for his brethren. Oh! holy zeal for souls! how\nbeautiful it shows in the person of an Apostle like St. Paul! And\nwhat an example it is for those of us who are in the sacred\nministry. We, too, have a share in his Apostleship; we are\ncharged with the preaching of the Gospel, and the gathering in of\nsouls. We have pledged ourselves to this holy work of duty and\ncharity. Woe to such among us as are not in earnest! Joy to him\nwho, when his Lord comes, shall be able to give a good account of\nhis stewardship!\n\n{23}\n\nBut you, my dear brethren, have also something to learn from this\nburning zeal of St. Paul's. You have all something to do with the\nadvancement of your Master's kingdom, and the salvation of souls.\nWhen God created the human race, so we read in the Book of\nEcclesiasticus, he made each man responsible, in some measure,\nfor the welfare of his fellows: \"_Mandavit illis unicuique de\nproximo suo_.\" and there is still a closer and dearer bond\nwhich embraces all the members of the great Catholic Church, and\nholds each one pledged to labor for the salvation of all. Ah!\nbrethren, do not say with the murderer Cain: \"_Am I my\nbrother's keeper?_\" What have I to do with the sanctification\nor ruin of souls? No! no! but take to heart your Master's cause.\nHe came into the world to save sinners. Teach your heart to throb\nin sympathy with his, until you can say with St. Paul: \"_Who is\nweak, and I am not weak? who is scandalized, and I do not\nburn?_\" This is to love our Lord in earnest. This is the\ncommunion of saints.\n\n{24}\n\nWe have traced this distinguishing characteristic of the great\napostle--this earnestness of his--through his entire career. It\nonly remains now to witness the close of that career. St. Paul\ndied like a man who had lived in earnest, and for whom therefore\ndeath has no terrors, \"_For me to live,_\" said he, \"_is\nChrist, to die is gain_.\" Is it possible that any fear of\ndeath, any doubt of his salvation could cloud the spirit of such\na man in the closing scene of his career? Listen to his parting\nsong of triumph! It comes from his prison at Rome, just upon the\neve of his martyrdom. He has still before his mind's eye the\ncombatants and runners in the public games. \"_The time of my\ndissolution is at hand. I have fought a good fight, I have\nfinished my course; I have kept the faith. For the rest there is\nlaid up for me a crown of justice, which the Lord the just Judge\nwill render to me at that day_.\"\n\nCould we say as much, my brethren, if our time were come? Could\nwe claim as manfully to have fought a good fight? Could we claim\nour reward as confidently? No? Then, alas, we have not been so\nmuch in earnest. We have been playing with our salvation, not\nwrestling for it; we have not been fighting for our faith with\nthe world and Satan, but compromising; we have been resting not\nrunning; and if so, what hope have we to reach that crown?\n{25}\nOh, let us bestir ourselves! Let us live like men awake; so let\nus think, so speak, so act, so move, through this brief but\nsolemn crisis of life, that all who see us may know that, like\nSt. Paul, we are in earnest.\n\n      ---------------------\n\n{26}\n\n           Sermon II.\n\n      Unworthy Communion.\n\n\n  \"He that eateth and drinketh unworthily,\n  eateth and drinketh judgment to himself,\n  not discerning the Body of the Lord.\"\n  --1 Cor. xi., 29.\n\n  (From the Epistle for Thursday in Holy Week.)\n\n\nIt is customary at certain seasons of the year, for separated\nmembers of a family to meet and dine together, as a means of\ncherishing that affection for one another which we look for among\nrelations. Thanksgiving Day and Christmas are occasions of this\nkind. The Catholic Church, too, is a great family, and the\nPaschal Season is such a time with her. She calls her children\naround her altars, to receive the Body and Blood of her Lord, who\nis the blessed bond of their union, and of their love.\n{27}\nBut as in the parable of the rich man's supper there was found\none at the table who had not on the wedding garment, and was cast\nout; therefore the Church warns us at this season, to prepare for\nthe Paschal Feast, that we may not be found unworthy. And to the\nsame end she calls upon us to keep this season of penance,\nbeforehand. In the Church's name, then, and in charity to\nyourselves, my dear brethren, I am going to lift up my voice this\nmorning, against unworthy communions.\n\nBut first, I must tell you, that I do not mean unworthy, in the\nsense of communions made without profit: as for example, when one\nmakes but little preparation beforehand, and thinks little of\nwhat he is doing at the moment, and makes but the poorest sort of\nthanksgiving afterward. No; compared with such as I mean, these\ncommunions are precious and holy. They do but little good to\nthose who make them, it is true; and give but poor honor to God;\nbut at least they are made in the state of grace. By an unworthy\ncommunion, I mean one that is made in known mortal sin. I mean a\nsacrilegious communion.\n{28}\nI shall speak, then,--\n\n  1. Of communion in itself.\n\n  2. Of unworthy communions.\n\n  3. Of those who are guilty of them.\n\nI.--_What is Communion?_\n\nIt is the Body and Blood of Jesus Christ, given to us as food for\nthe sanctification of our souls and bodies. \"_He that eateth my\nFlesh, and drinketh my Blood, hath everlasting life, and I will\nraise him up at the last day._\" [Footnote 1]\n\n    [Footnote 1: St. John, vi., 55.]\n\nWhat is Holy Communion? It is to receive the best of friends, who\ncomes to advise us, to cheer and to encourage us. A friend who\nhas power to protect us. Who loves to dwell in our hearts as in a\ncastle, where He may fight for us against the enemies of our\nsoul.\n\nWhat is Holy Communion? It is a pledge of Heaven, and a foretaste\nof it. Union with God by a perfect love, will be our happiness\nfor all eternity, and this is begun on earth in Holy Communion.\nAs St. Peter says, it is to be made \"partakers of the Divine\nnature.\" [Footnote 2]\n\n    [Footnote 2: 2 Peter i., 4.]\n\nWhat is Holy Communion? It is the parting gift of one who loves\nus better than our mother. He chose the time when He was about to\nleave us, to give it an additional value.\n{29}\nHe made it the memorial of His Passion. As in times past, He had\ngiven the rainbow as a perpetual remembrance of His mercy, so He\nwilled that the Blessed Sacrament of His Body and Blood, should\nbe a perpetual remembrance of the redemption of the Cross, \"_Do\nthis in remembrance of Me_.\"\n\nWhat is Holy Communion? It is the best of all the good gifts of\nour good God.\n\nII.--_What then is it to receive this Holy Communion\nunworthily?_ It is to be grievously wanting in reverence to\nthe holiest of all holy things. When you see a person put a thing\nto an improper use, what do you say? Why, that is too bad; you\nsay. Why, you must be out of your head. Suppose you saw a girl in\nservice, scrubbing the floor with a beautiful camel's-hair shawl,\nwhat would you say? Suppose you saw me filling the water stoups\nat the door, and for that purpose dipping out the holy water,\nfrom a pail, with the very chalice I had just used in Mass, what\nwould you say? Why, you would exclaim, how very shocking! what an\nirreverent Priest!\n{30}\nNow why would you say this? Because when God made your soul, He\nput into it a reverence for certain things, above others. But\nwhat does an unworthy communion do? It does this. It takes the\nBlood of Christ, and pours it down a sink that is more loathsome\nthan a city sewer, for what is so loathsome to God, as a soul in\nmortal sin? Corruption of matter is good, for God made it, but\nmoral corruption is an abomination to Him.\n\nThis one does who conceals a mortal sin in confession.\n\nWhat is an Unworthy Communion? It is to crucify Jesus over again.\nWhat does St. Paul say? \"_They who have tasted of the Heavenly\nGift and are fallen away, crucify to themselves the Son of God,\nand make a mockery of Him._\" Now, which is worse, to leave off\nkeeping a man's company, or to play the false friend with him?\nBut this a man does who receives Holy Communion unworthily. The\nspirit of his act is as if he went up to the throne of God, and\ncaught hold of those Blessed Hands and Feet, and said, \"come down\nto earth and be tormented once more.\" He would pull off the crown\nof glory from that Blessed Head, and press down again upon that\nBrow the crown of thorns.\n\n{31}\n\nNay, it does even worse than crucify Jesus over again. His first\ncrucifixion was a willing one. It was His own love that was the\nreal executioner; but now He is dragged against His will. This is\nwhat a man does who gets his absolution on the strength of some\npromise which he does not intend to keep.\n\nWhat is an Unworthy Communion? It is to eat and drink one's own\ndamnation. What does St. Paul say again? \"_He that eateth and\ndrinketh unworthily, eateth and drinketh judgment to\nhimself_.\" The wood of the cross drank in the Blood of Christ,\nand was sanctified; and here is a soul that has drunk it in, and\nis damned. The Centurion was sprinkled with it, as he was\npiercing the side of Christ with a spear, and it made a Saint of\nhim; but here is a Christian soul, that is damned for being\nbathed with it. It cleansed the robber's conscience who was\nhanging beside his Lord, and pleaded mercy for him; but on this\nsoul it cries for vengeance, like the blood of Abel, against\nanother Cain.\n{32}\n\"_Better_,\" said our Lord, \"_had it been for that man, if\nhe had not been born;_\" but now, he has anticipated the Day of\nJudgment upon himself. This a man does who gets his absolution\nupon the promise of breaking off from a bad companion, which\npromise he does not mean to keep. I repeat, then, they make\nunworthy, sacrilegious communions, for instance,\n\n1. Who conceal mortal sins in confession.\n\n2. Who get their absolution on the strength of their promising\nwhat they do not intend to perform.\n\nBut what am I saying? Surely no one before me has been guilty of\nthis! Well, God only knows. It has been done elsewhere, and may\nhave been done here, for alas, unworthy communions are not such\nvery uncommon things. In case it has been so, I wish to strike\nterror into such consciences, and to bring them to penance. I\nwish to prevent such a misfortune, in the parish of St. Paul's,\nas one coming to the Paschal Feast of the Lamb without his\nwedding garment.\n\n{33}\n\nIII. _Who has done this?_\n\nAs our Lord sat at the table with His Apostles, at the Last\nSupper, he said sadly, \"_One of you shall betray Me._\" Each\nin turn, asked Him eagerly and earnestly, \"_Lord, is it I?_\"\nNo, Peter, I foresee that you will deny that you know Me. That\nyou will even swear that you do not. That you will even do this\nseveral times; but no, it is not you who will betray Me.\n\n\"_Lord, is it I?_\" No, Thomas. You will run away for fear at\nmy death, though you said you would die with Me. You will not\nbelieve My word that I am risen, and that I am your Lord, until\nyou put your hand in the prints of the nails; but no, it is not\nyou who will betray Me.\n\n\"_Lord, is it I?_\" No, John. You shall be beside Me at the\nCross. I mean that you shall have the charge of my mother; oh,\nno, I do not mean you!\n\n\"_Lord, is it I?_\" Thou hast said it, Judas. I made you an\nApostle, a pillar of my Church. I called you out of the world,\nand took you to my bosom, as a dear friend. You have gone in and\nout, and eaten and drunk with Me. Nay, you have just received My\nBody and Blood, and all the while you hold the thirty pieces of\nsilver for which you have betrayed Me.\n\n{34}\n\nNow, then, I think I hear you say to me: Father, have I then done\nthis horrible thing? _Is it I? Is it I?_ No, my good man.\nYou have enjoyed for years your ill-got gains, but your health\nhas gone now. Declining years have come upon you, and you are\npoor; you can never restore them again. Your communions are not\nunworthy for this. But as for you, young man, why have you\npresumed to come to the altar? Where are those thirty pieces of\nsilver for which you sold your soul? You promised in confession\nthat you would restore them, but why? that you might get your\nEaster Communion. In your heart you said, Perhaps I will, some\nday, and all the while, you knew that no absolution is valid\nwithout the will to restore, or actual restitution when one is\nable; and you _were_ able.\n\n_Father, is it I?_ No, poor fellow. You forgot to mention in\nyour last confession, a very grievous sin, and only remembered it\njust after you had left the altar. Do not be troubled. You tried\nyour best to examine your conscience, but this escaped your\nmemory.\n{35}\nIt was forgiven with the rest. But what have you to say for\nyourself, O drunkard? You did not leave out one of your many\nnights of debauch; but what of that solemn promise to keep from\nliquor for so long a time, which you have already so often\nbroken, as you had no intention of keeping it? You have drunk in\ndamnation with your liquor, and deeper damnation with your\ncommunion.\n\n_Father, is it I?_ No, poor girl. You should have known\nbetter than to have trusted yourself to a deceiver with his\njewels and wine; but you have done penance. Your sobs in the\nconfessional have spoken for you. Your communion, though so soon\nafter your confession, was good. But what have you to say for\nyourself, O adulterer, and adulteress? You, O adulterer; you\nfound a home where there were smiles, and fondness, and peace;\nand what have you done? You have made it a home of jealousy and\nstrife. You have put estrangement between two hearts whom God\njoined together, and said, \"let no man put asunder.\" You have\nrobbed a fellow man of one of his most sacred rights given him in\nthe face of the Church.\n{36}\nAnd you, O adulteress, why have you come here? Our Lord said to\nJudas, \"_Friend, why hast thou come? dost thou betray the Son\nof Man with a kiss?_\" You knelt here at the altar-rail, and as\nthe Priest said to you, \"The Body of our Lord Jesus Christ\npreserve thy soul unto everlasting life,\" you put up your lips,\nand said, like Judas, Hail Master! and you kissed our Lord. Oh!\nwhere was the Angel of the Blessed Sacrament then? An Angel was\nplaced at the gate of Eden with a flaming sword to keep guard\nover the Tree of Life. Oh! where, I ask, was the Angel of the\nBlessed Sacrament? Where was His guardian who said of Himself,\n\"_I am the bread that cometh down from Heaven, of which\nwhosoever eateth, he shall live forever!_\" Preserve thy soul\nunto everlasting life, indeed! It has prepared you for the\neverlasting burnings; for the flames that shall never be\nquenched. You went to confession, you say! Yes, I know you did,\nand you concealed your sins of shame. You have added to these one\nof sacrilege. And you, O slanderer, who have robbed your neighbor\nof his character, by your lies and calumnies which you have never\ntold in confession, or if you have, which you never intend to\nrepair at the price of your own dishonor!\n{37}\nYou have been drinking in your own judgment with the Blood of\nJesus. Jesus, judgment! Jesus, damnation! Why St. Bernard said,\nthe very name of Jesus \"was music in his ear, honey in his mouth,\nand joy to his heart.\" Jesus, damnation! Why St. Gabriel said\n\"_He shall be called Jesus, for He shall save His people from\ntheir sins._\" O cruel perversion of sin! to turn sweetness\ninto bitterness! But what does God say of such as these? \"_When\nyou stretch forth your hands, I will turn away My eyes from you\nand when you multiply prayer, I will not hear for your hands are\nfull of blood_.\" [Footnote 3]\n\n    [Footnote 3: Isaias i., 15.]\n\nLet me tell you a fact that a Jesuit told to one of our Fathers.\nA young man in the neighborhood where he lived, was heir to a\nlarge estate, which he was to receive at twenty-one years of age,\non the condition that at that time he frequented the Sacraments.\nHe turned out to be very wild and given up to sin. Near the end\nof his twentieth year, he was reminded of the danger of his\nlosing the estate.\n{38}\nNever fear, said he, I'll easily manage that, and at once he\nbegan to lead outwardly a very correct life. He was now seen at\nMass. He kept out of society, and public places of amusement.\nWithin a short time before his birthday, he went to confession;\nand the morning came, when he was seen to go up to the altar-rail\nfor communion. The Priest placed the Blessed Sacrament on his\ntongue, and had turned back to the altar, when he heard a\nfrightful shriek, and the words \"My tongue! my tongue! it has\nburned my tongue!\" When the Priest returned to him, he said, \"Oh\nFather, forgive me, my confession was bad, I had been in the\nsecret commission of mortal sins which I purposely concealed. I\nhad no wish to forsake them, but only to secure my property; oh\nFather, I repent, absolve me before I die!\" The Priest took the\nBlessed Sacrament from his tongue, and with much difficulty\nconsoled him with the promise of pardon. He made a good communion\nsoon after, and was put in possession of his estate, which he\nsold, and gave to the poor, and in penance for his sins, doomed\nhis false tongue thenceforward to perpetual silence.\n\n{39}\n\nTremble, then, dear brethren, at the thought of so grievous a\nsin. For such as are guilty of it, there is but one thing to be\ndone. Come back to God with sorrow, now in this time of penance,\nfor, \"_thus saith the Lord; if your sins be as scarlet they\nshall be made as white as snow; and if they be red as crimson\nthey shall be as white as wool_.\" [Footnote 4]\n\n    [Footnote 4: Isaias 1, 13.]\n\n    [Transcriber's note: The USCCB reference is Isaias i., 18.]\n\nConfess your sacrilegious communions. Go and repair the scandal\nyou have given. Restore the goods you have stolen. Abandon the\ncompanions of your guilt. Do this, and there will be joy before\nthe Angels of God, and with the Priests to whom you may confide\nyour conscience. If, in spite of all I have said, you live on\nwith the guilt of an unworthy communion, eternal woe will be your\nportion; from which may God in His mercy deliver you, and all of us.\nAMEN.\n\n    ------------------\n\n{40}\n\n    Sermon III.\n\n    Christ's Resurrection The Foundation Of Our Faith.\n\n\n  \"And when the Sabbath was past,\n   Mary Magdalene and Mary the mother of James, and Salome,\n   brought sweet spices.\"\n     --Mark xvi., 1.\n\n  (From the Gospel for Easter Sunday.)\n\nOn this day, the bosom of the whole Church swells with\nexultation. After the penance of Lent, after the mourning of Holy\nWeek, the countless disciples of the crucified and risen Saviour,\ntake up and echo through the whole earth the joyful cry--Christ\nis risen! He is risen indeed. For this is the day on which Jesus\nChrist, bursting the bonds of the sepulchre, triumphed over\ndeath.\n{41}\nThis is the day which, more than any other, enlivens our faith,\nstrengthens our hope of eternal salvation, and causes our hearts\nto bound with spiritual joy. Even the coldest and most\nindifferent Christian feels his bosom warm with some faint\nsentiment, at least, of devotion on this day, and remembers with\npride that he bears the name and professes the faith of Jesus\nChrist. This is right and proper. For all the doctrines of our\nreligion are centred in the resurrection. All our hopes are based\nupon it. The Resurrection is the grand Fact of Christianity. It\nis the proof of the Divinity of Jesus Christ; it is the seal of\nGod which makes the documents of our faith authentic; it is the\ncause and the pledge of our final resurrection and eternal\nhappiness. This accounts for the joy which swells every true\nChristian bosom, on this day. For, my dear brethren and I beg you\nto note it well--the source of our hope and of our joy is in our\nfaith. It is the certainty of faith which banishes all doubt,\nwavering, hesitation and gloom from the heart of a sincere and\nfervent Catholic. The faith of the Resurrection must be firmly\nplanted in our minds, if we would have the hope of the\nResurrection, and the joy which springs from this hope, bright\nand glowing in our hearts.\n{42}\nLet me therefore ask your attention this morning, while I\nendeavor to show you what a firm and and immovable foundation we\nhave for our faith, in the resurrection of Jesus Christ. And in\ndoing so, I will endeavor to establish these three points:\n\n_First_.--That Jesus Christ appealed to his future\nresurrection, while he was yet alive, as the proof of his\nDivinity.\n\n_Second_.--That He actually raised himself from the dead, as\nhe had predicted, and,\n\n_Third_.--That the Resurrection of Christ proves his Deity,\nand with it, the entire Catholic faith.\n\nMay the grace of the risen Saviour increase our faith, through\nthe intercession of Mary, whose faith never wavered for an\ninstant, even beneath the Cross of her Son!\n\n\n         I.\n\nJesus Christ asserted frequently and clearly to the Jews, that he\nwas God, and required them to believe him. So his disciples\nunderstood him, who believed; so the Jews understood him, who did\nnot believe, but accused him of blasphemy and condemned him to\ndeath.\n{43}\nThe great sign, the miracle, the proof, to which he appealed to\njustify this declaration, was his resurrection on the third day\nafter his death. He declared himself to be the proper and only\nbegotten Son of God. He that does not believe this, he says,\n\"_is already judged, because he believeth not in the Name of\nthe only-begotten Son of God._\" [Footnote 5]\n\n    [Footnote 5: John iii., 17.]\n\n    [Transcriber's note: The USCCB reference is John iii., 18.]\n\nThis title of only-begotten which he gives himself, shows that he\ndoes not merely claim to be a child of God by grace and adoption,\nbut by nature. This nature he declares positively is not his\nhuman nature, but distinct from it, that it came from heaven, and\nwas in heaven as well as on earth. \"_No man hath ascended into\nheaven, but he that descended from heaven, the Son of Man who is\nin heaven_.\" [Footnote 6]\n\n    [Footnote 6: John iii., 13.]\n\nHe confesses that he is man; but asserts that he is more than\nman, that he came from heaven. He asserts also that this superior\nnature which is joined with his humanity is eternal. \"_Before\nAbraham was--I am_.\" [Footnote 7]\n\n    [Footnote 7: John viii., 58.]\n\nNot I was; but _I am_, the word by which God made known his\neternity to Moses. And finally he declares that this super-human\nand eternal nature is identical with that of his Father, is the\nDivine nature itself. \"_I and my Father are one_.\" [Footnote 8]\n\n    [Footnote 8: John x., 38.]\n\n{44}\n\nHis disciples who believed in him, understood him to teach his\ndivinity. \"_My Lord and my God_.\" [Footnote 9] was the\nexpression of the faith of Thomas. \"The Word was God,\" [Footnote\n10] that of John.\n\n    [Footnote 9: John xx., 28.]\n\n    [Footnote 10: John i., 1.]\n\nSo the Jews understood him, who did not believe. \"_The Jews\nanswered him: for a good work we stone thee not, but for\nblasphemy, and because that thou, being a man_, MAKEST THYSELF\nGOD!\" [Footnote 11]\n\n   [Footnote 11: John x., 33.]\n\nThe Jews understood then perfectly well, that in calling himself\nthe true, proper, and only Son of God, the Christ and Saviour of\nthe world; and in working miracles, forgiving sins, and preaching\nsalvation, in his own name, and by his own authority, and not as\na mere prophet--he asserted his own true and proper divinity, and\nmade himself God.\n\n{45}\n\nIn support of this claim, Jesus Christ repeatedly appealed to his\nresurrection. He foretold his death; and declared that he would\nshow himself to be the true Son of God the Father, having the\nsame divine nature and the same divine power with him; by raising\nhimself from the dead on the third day. \"_The Son of Man shall\nbe in the heart of the earth, three days and three nights._\"\n[Footnote 12]\n\n    [Footnote 12: Matt, xii., 40.]\n\nThis was said to the Scribes and Pharisees who wished him to give\nthem a sign which should prove him to be the true Christ. When he\ndrove out the men who were trafficking in the courts of the\nTemple, the Jews said to him: \"_What sign dost thou show unto\nus, seeing thou dost these things? Jesus answered and said unto\nthem: Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up.\nBut he spoke of the temple of his body_.\" [Footnote 13]  It is\nremarkable that he does not declare that he will be raised to\nlife by his Father, but by himself. \"_I lay down my life that I\nmay take it again. No man taketh it away from me, but I lay it\ndown of my self, and I have power to lay it down and I have power\nto take it up again_.\" [Footnote 14]\n\n    [Footnote 13: John ii., 18-21.]\n\n    [Footnote 14: John x.. 17-18.]\n\n{46}\n\nThese are only samples of the frequent and public declarations\nmade by our Lord to the same effect. And it was so well known\namong the Jews that he had staked his entire cause on his\nresurrection, that they came to Pilate, immediately after his\ncrucifixion, and said to him: \"_Sir, we have remembered that\nthat seducer said, while he was yet alive: After three days I\nwill rise again. Command therefore the sepulchre to be guarded\nuntil the third day._\" [Footnote 15]\n\n    [Footnote 15: Matt. xxvii., 63-64.]\n\nHere, then, is the grand test of the truth of Christ's\ndoctrine--the grand sign of his divinity; the public challenge\nwhich he gives to all his enemies. We have it on the testimony of\nthe most desperate haters of his name and doctrine; the very men\nwho nailed him to the Cross. They were resolved to prove his\nprediction false, to show that he could not, and would not, rise\nagain, and thus to manifest him to the world as a seducer. At the\nsepulchre of Jesus Christ, then, is the trial of strength between\nthem. The dead body of Jesus is on one side; the Jewish rulers,\nthe Roman governor, and a strong watch of soldiers on the other.\nAnd Jesus Christ overcame; he actually did rise, as he had\nforetold: \"_resurrexit sicut dixit;_\" and all their\nprecautions only served to furnish so many brilliant testimonies\nto the fact, that he had fulfilled his word.\n\n{47}\n\n         II.\n\nPicture to yourselves, if you can, the scenes of those three\nmemorable days! The Sun of Justice, the Light of the World, has\ngone down in darkness. Jesus Christ is dead; he is buried, and a\ngreat stone is rolled to the door of the sepulchre. The disciples\nare scattered here and there, buried in the most profound and\nbitter disappointment, consternation and grief. The multitudes\nhave fled hastily from Mount Calvary, some beating their breasts\nwith contrition, some blaspheming, but all in terror. The heavens\nare overclouded and black, the thunder moans, and an earthquake\nshakes the earth. The frightened inhabitants of Jerusalem, as\nthey return to their homes, are met in the streets by the pale\ncorpses of the dead, who have left their graves, and are\nwandering about among the living. In the temple, those wicked and\nunworthy priests are startled at the sudden tearing, by an\ninvisible hand, of the thick and heavy veil which hangs before\nthe Holy of Holies. An ominous stillness sinks over the city of\nJerusalem after that dreadful, tragical day. It is the eve of the\ngreatest Sabbath of the year.\n{48}\nThe Sabbath morning dawns once more; all is apparently quiet, and\nGod does not appear, to take sudden vengeance on his guilty\npeople. Annas and Caiphas, and those other wicked priests who\nhave sacrificed the Lamb of God, with their souls all black and\nturbid with remorse, but with a grim and diabolical exultation in\nthe success of their horrid work, prepare themselves in splendid\nvestments for the sacrifices and the ceremonies of the day. The\ncountless multitudes of Jews, gathered together from every part\nof the world to keep the Passover, crowd the vast courts of the\ntemple. The disciples remain shut up, in silence and in fear. The\nRoman soldiers guard the shut and sealed sepulchre of Jesus. The\nday passes and the night, and nothing occurs. The first streaks\nof the dawn begin to appear in the sky on Sunday morning. The\ndisciples have forgotten the promise of their Master to rise on\nthe third day, and have lost heart entirely. Mary Magdalene, and\nthe other pious women, have planned to steal out early to visit\nhis tomb, and to bring their spices, and perfumes, and fresh\nflowers, to cast upon his dead body.\n{49}\nThey set forth together; while still in the distance, they are\nfrightened by the sight of torches and armed men in the garden.\nThey have not courage to go on; and they remember that a great\nstone is at the door of the sepulchre, which will hinder their\nentrance. Only the courageous and loving Mary Magdalene has the\nhardihood to press forward at all risks, leaving the others\nhovering about in the neighborhood of the garden. As she\napproaches the sepulchre, she sees the stone rolled away to one\nside; she pays no attention to the soldiers who are lying on the\nground, apparently stunned and insensible, but goes in, and the\nbody of Jesus Christ is not there; his grave-clothes are lying in\nthe spot where his body was placed, and an angel is watching the\nempty sepulchre. Bewildered and surprised, and occupied only with\nthe thought that the body is gone, she runs hastily back to the\nplace where John and other apostles are staying, tells them in\nbreathless haste what she has seen, and without waiting for a\nreply, returns as speedily as possible to the sepulchre.\n{50}\nMeanwhile, during Magdalene's absence, the other women observing\nthat the soldiers have left the gar-den, come also to the\nsepulchre, see the stone rolled away, go in, and find two angels\nsitting, one at the head, the other at the foot of the place\nwhere Christ was laid. The angels tell them that Christ is risen,\nand bid them go announce it to his disciples, and direct them to\nmeet him in Galilee, as he had commanded them before his death.\nThey now leave the garden to return to the city, and Magdalene\narrives once more, and while these things are happening the sun\nhas risen, the sun of the first Easter Sunday, the type of the\nRisen Sun of Justice. Mary Magdalene goes into the sepulchre\nagain, and begins to weep, still too much occupied with the\nthought that the body of Christ is gone, to reflect on any thing\nelse. She sees the angels; but to the questions: \"_Woman, why\nweepest thou? whom seekest thou?_\" she answers distractedly,\n\"_They have taken away my Lord, and I know not where they have\nlaid him_.\" She turns around, and sees the figure of a man,\nwhom she takes to be the gardener, and asks him where they have\ntaken the body of Jesus. The well-known voice exclaims: \"Mary!\"\nShe suddenly recognizes the Lord, and utters a cry of joy: \"Oh,\nmy Master!\"\n{51}\nShe tries to clasp him by the feet, but he forbids her, and bids\nher go, announce his resurrection to the disciples. She sets off\nimmediately, and in a few moments Peter and John arrive, visit\nthe sepulchre, and see that the body is not there. They also\nreturn to the city. Immediately after his interview with Mary\nMagdalene, the Lord appears also to her companions, while they\nare returning to their homes. He was also seen by Peter some time\nduring the day. Toward evening he joins two of the disciples, who\nwere going to Emmaus, a small village near Jerusalem, and\nexplains to them the prophecies of the Scripture concerning\nhimself, but is not recognized by them, until he blesses bread\nand gives it to them, and then disappears from view. So the day\npasses. First one arrives at the coenaculum, and relates his\nstory, then another, then others; the day passes in comparing\nthese different accounts, in conversing together, in expectation\nof what is going to happen. When night draws on, the apostles and\ndisciples are gathered together for prayer; the two from Emmaus\ncome in just then, and relate their interview with the Lord, when\nsuddenly he appears among them, and says: \"_Peace be unto\nyou._\" So passes this day.\n{52}\nThe four Evangelists give no regular and methodical account of\nit. All these occurrences are related by some one or more of\nthem; and I have strung them together in an order in which they\nmight have happened, and which reconciles all the accounts with\neach other.\n\nSuch is the narrative of the Gospel. Is it true? Did these things\nreally happen? In regard to one fact, Christians, Jews and Romans\nwere agreed. The body of Jesus Christ was removed from a closed\nand sealed tomb, guarded by Roman soldiers, by early dawn on the\nmorning of Easter Sunday. It was removed either by Divine power,\nor by human ingenuity. The rulers of the Jews circulated the\nreport, which they have repeated to this day, that his disciples\ncame and stole him away, while the guard was sleeping. \"What!\"\nexclaims St. Augustine, \"you will prove your cause by sleeping\nwitnesses?\" If they were asleep, they knew nothing of the way by\nwhich the body disappeared. And if they were awake to see the\ndisciples steal it, why did they not kill them on the spot.\n{53}\nThe guard were sleeping! A guard of Roman soldiers. Who can\nbelieve that? For a Roman soldier to sleep at his post was an\nextraordinary and most disgraceful thing, and here we have a\nwhole band of them, with an officer at their head--sleeping. The\npunishment was death. In this case especially, no mercy could\nhave been expected, where both Roman and Jewish rulers were so\ndeeply interested in putting an end to the religion of Christ.\nHow did they dare confess their sleeping, unless they were in\nconnivance with the authorities, and bribed to repeat this story.\nWhy was no trial held? Why were not these soldiers examined\nbefore a tribunal? Why was no search made for the body of Jesus,\nand for his disciples? Why is the whole matter hushed up by\ncommon consent between Pilate and Caiphas? There is only one\npossible supposition. And that is: that the soldiers saw the\nresurrection of the Lord--that they related it to their rulers,\nand that by bribes and threats their testimony was suppressed. I\nwill not pause to accumulate arguments.\n{54}\nI will not speak of the impossibility that Jesus Christ should be\nable to predict that his disciples would attempt such an\nincredible task as the removal of his body, and succeed in it. I\nwill not speak of their timidity, and their perfect want of all\nplan of action, all means of carrying out any project whatever;\nof their complete perplexity and helplessness; and of the utter\nmadness of sacrificing all their worldly goods and their lives,\nto carry out a manifest imposture. These things are so plain,\nthat reasoning only seems to weaken the effect with which they\nstrike conviction to the mind at the first statement.\n\nI return to this simple fact, that the tale circulated by the\nsoldiers, in common with Pilate and the Jewish rulers, is a\ncomplete and irresistible proof of the Resurrection. And there\nare evidences in abundance that it was so regarded at the time,\nthat this incredible tale was only believed by the most stupid\nand besotted portion of the populace, and by those who knew\nnothing of the matter, except what they heard by vague rumors. We\nhave the testimony of Tertullian that even Pilate was convinced\nof the truth of the resurrection, \"Ea omnia super Christo\nPilatus, et ipse pro conscientia sua jam Christianus, Tiberio\nrenuntiavit.\" [Footnote 16]\n\n    [Footnote 16: Apol., c. 21.]\n\n{55}\n\nJosephus, the Jewish historian, says of Christ, that \"he appeared\nto them alive again, the third day, as the divine prophets had\nforetold.\" [Footnote 17]\n\n    [Footnote 17: Antiq., Lib. xviii., c. 3.]\n\nJustin Martyr, a most learned Jew, and an eminent philosopher of\nthe second century, who became a Christian, does not fear to\nassert boldly to the Jews: \"You know that Jesus was risen from\nthe dead and ascended into heaven, as the prophecies did foretell\nwas to happen.\" [Footnote 18]\n\n    [Footnote 18: Dial. cum. Tryph., p. 230.]\n\nThe fact of the Resurrection of Jesus Christ was so evident, that\nit paralyzed for a time the efforts of the Jewish rulers to\nsuppress his doctrine. And months elapsed, during which this\ndoctrine made the most astonishing progress, before they dared to\nput a disciple of Christ to death. It was the manifest fact of\nthe resurrection which caused the sudden and continuous growth\nand propagation of the Christian Church. Jesus Christ was far\nmore powerful after his death than during his life. Not only did\nseveral thousand of the most sincere and pious among the Jews of\nJerusalem and Judea, and of the strangers who had come to\ncelebrate the Passover, embrace Christianity, but \"_a great\nmultitude of the priests also were obedient to the faith._\"\n[Footnote 19]\n\n    [Footnote 19: Acts i.]\n\n    [Transcriber's note: The USCCB reference is Acts vi. 7.]\n\n{56}\n\nNicodemus, one of the most distinguished Doctors of the Law, and\nJoseph of Arimathea, a wealthy and powerful Jew, and a member of\nthe grand council, who had previously been timid, and had\nabstained from attaching themselves openly to Christ, came out\nnow publicly and announced themselves Christians. The centurion,\nor Roman officer, who commanded the soldiers by whom Christ was\ncrucified, with the soldier who pierced the side of our Lord, and\nseveral other soldiers, were converted. The tremendous impression\nmade by the resurrection of Christ on the whole Jewish nation,\nwas the cause which gave the impetus to this movement. And it was\nthe resurrection to which the apostles constantly appealed in\nproof of the divine character of Jesus Christ, and the truth of\nhis doctrine.\n\n{57}\n\n         III.\n\nThus did Jesus Christ, by raising himself from the dead, as he\nhad foretold, redeem his pledge, and prove himself to be God.\nTherefore the Scripture frequently speaks as if Jesus Christ were\nmade the Son of God by his resurrection. \"He was,\" says St. Paul,\n\"_predestinated the Son of God in power, by the resurrection\nfrom the dead._\" [Footnote 20]\n\n    [Footnote 20: Romans i., 4.]\n\nThat is, as St. Ambrose explains it--\"He, whose deity was\nconcealed in the incarnation, was predestinated to declare and\nmanifest himself as the Son of God by his resurrection.\" During\nhis life, he declared himself to be God, and promised to raise\nhimself from the dead on the third day after his death, as a\nproof of his divinity. He did rise from the dead; and the\nresurrection is thus the grand proof of the central doctrine of\nthe Catholic faith, the divinity of Christ, and not only of that,\nbut also of every other doctrine connected with it and springing\nfrom it--of the Catholic faith complete and entire. It proves not\nmerely the divinity of Christ, but the divinity of his words and\nof his acts. His words are words of divine truth; his acts are\nacts of divine power. The same Jesus who raised himself from the\ndead, said, \"_This is my body--This is my Blood;_\" and if we\nbelieve that he is truly God, we must believe that the Holy\nEucharist is indeed his flesh and blood.\n{58}\nThe same Jesus who proved his divine power by raising himself\nfrom the dead, transferred and delegated his power to St. Peter\nand his successors, when he said--\"_Thou art Peter, and on this\nRock I will build my Church, and the gates of hell shall not\nprevail against it, and I will give to thee the keys of the\nkingdom of heaven; whatever thou shalt bind on earth shall be\nbound in heaven, and whatever thou shalt loose on earth shall be\nloosed in heaven_.\" It is in the Catholic Church that the\ntestimony to the resurrection, commenced by the first apostles,\nis continued and passed down from age to age, by the unbroken\nsuccession of popes and bishops. The apostles were the witnesses\nof the resurrection. When the new apostle was to be appointed in\nthe place of Judas, St. Peter said--\"_One of these must be made\na witness with us of his resurrection_.\" [Footnote 21]\n\n    [Footnote 21: Acts i., 22.]\n\nThe Catholic priesthood, as it were, joining hands with each\nother, run back in an unbroken line to the first fathers and\nfounders of their glorious order, who saw the risen Saviour, and\nclasped the hands nailed to the cross.\n{59}\nDown this line has passed the uninterrupted, unbroken testimony\nto the resurrection. This day itself, the festival, Easter, is a\ngrand monument of the resurrection. Every year, from this day\nback to the day on which Christ rose from the dead, the whole\nChristian Church has celebrated the resurrection of Christ on\nEaster Sunday. Thus we all join hands with our predecessors in\npast ages, until the long chain terminates in the little church\nof the disciples, gathered together in the coenaculum, to whom\nChrist appeared and said--\"Peace be to you.\" And as we celebrate\nthese joyous festivities, which carry us back to the very days of\nour Lord and his apostles, an electric shock of faith startles\nand reanimates our souls. Yes; this is the day of faith. It is\nthe special festival of faith. The resurrection confirmed and\nrenewed the wavering, sinking faith of the disciples. \"_The\nLord has risen indeed, and has appeared unto Simon._\" These\nwords show how those fainting and almost despairing hearts\nrevived on that day. Oh! wretched and miserable men, such as\nPilate and Caiphas, and the besotted multitude, who did not,\nwould not believe--or at least would not act on their\nconvictions, and confess the truth!\n{60}\nEqually unhappy are those now, who have no faith; who do not\nbelieve in the Son of God; who do not await the resurrection of\nthe dead; who believe in nothing, but pass their lives in\nmiserable and endless doubting and unbelief.\n\nEqually unhappy are those who, though enlightened once in\nbaptism, and brought up from childhood in the Catholic faith, are\nweak, wavering and hesitating in their faith; who neither believe\nor disbelieve; who dare not renounce their religion, and yet will\nnot adhere to it firmly and profess it openly; but hang, as it\nwere, in the outskirts of faith, and around the courts of the\ntemple of Divine Truth.\n\nEqually unhappy are those who, believing firmly, deny their faith\nby their acts, and disobey the Lord whom they acknowledge to be\ntheir true God and their final Judge; who, on the day when Christ\nis risen from the dead, lie buried in the grave of mortal sin;\nwho have no part in his life and grace, and have not received his\nPaschal sacraments.\n\n{61}\n\nBut blessed are they who believe; whose hearts are full of faith,\nand whose works correspond with that faith;--into whose bosoms\nthe Paschal joy has entered by the devout reception of the\nSacraments of Penance and the Eucharist, and who can look forward\nwith hope to the day of the general resurrection from the dead.\nFor all such good Christians, this is the brightest, the\nhappiest, the most glorious day of the whole year. All things\nsympathize with the joy of the risen Saviour. The earth breaks\nthe icy bonds of winter, and starting from the state of\nlifelessness, awakes to new life and growth and freshness. The\nspring begins to appear, and the signs of approaching warmth and\nof the time of buds and blossoms and green foliage show\nthemselves. The Church puts on her festal attire and sends up her\njoyous hymns, and solemnizes her splendid ceremonies. The\nfaithful everywhere, leave their sins, do penance for their\nmisdeeds, weep at the foot of the cross, reconcile themselves\nwith God, and come with purified hearts to partake of the Paschal\nLamb--the flesh and blood of the Divine Jesus, in the blessed\nSacrament of the altar.\n{62}\nAnd while we go back in our thoughts to that day on which Christ\narose, the first-begotten from the dead, all these external signs\nand ceremonies point also forward to that last Easter\nSunday--that day of the resurrection of all mankind. The change\nand renovation of the earth in the season of spring, and the\nresurrection of souls by the Paschal sacraments, and the solemn\ncelebration of Christ's resurrection, these are all types of that\nglorious morning when the redeemed human race shall start from\nits tomb; when the old things shall pass away, and all things,\nthe heaven and the earth, and all things that are in them, shall\nbe made anew. When the obscurity of faith shall give place to the\nlight of glory, and the hope of salvation shall be changed into\nthe beatific vision of God.\n\n{63}\n\n    Sermon IV.\n\n    Giving Testimony.\n\n    \"You shall give testimony of me.\"\n    --John xv., 27.\n\n   (From the Gospel for the 6th Sunday after Pentecost.)\n\n\nThese words were spoken by our Lord to his disciples, before his\ndeparture from this world. He had chosen them from the beginning,\nand imparted to them a full knowledge of the truth, that they\nmight bear testimony to it. \"_All things whatsoever I have\nheard from my Father I have made known to you.\"--\"I have chosen\nyou, and have appointed you, that you should go, and should bring\nforth fruit, and your fruit should remain._\" [Footnote 22]\n\n    [Footnote 22: John xv., 15, 16.]\n\n{64}\n\nThe disciples did give testimony. They labored in season and out\nof season in spreading the truths which they had learned from the\nlips of our Saviour. \"_Their sound went over all the earth, and\ntheir words unto the ends of the world._\" [Footnote 23]\n\n    [Footnote 23: Rom. x., 18.]\n\nTheir testimony was not only in sound and words: their lives\ntestified to the truth which they preached. They suffered\npersecution, poverty, imprisonment, and sealed their testimony to\nthe truth with their blood, by willingly laying down their lives\nfor it. These disciples were true to Christ. Their testimony was\nfaithful, loyal, heroic. We, too, are disciples of Christ, and\nhave our testimony to give; and I propose to show in the first\nplace, what are our obligations to give this testimony of Christ;\nand in the second place, who are those who fail in their\nobligations to give this testimony.\n\nWhat are our obligations to give testimony of Christ? There are\nmany Christians who seem to think that they are at liberty to\nchoose what course of life they please, that they can live as\nthey like; that whether they attend to their religious duties or\nneglect them, whether they are patterns of Christian virtue or\nscandals to their faith, is nobody's business.\n\n{65}\n\nThis opinion is false, most false, because all Christians are\nunder a lasting obligation to Christ to lead a Christian life.\n\nChrist is our Lord and Master, and as such has a complete right\nof control over all our actions. There can be no dispute about\nthis. \"_You call me Master and Lord._\" says he; \"_You say\nwell, for so I am._\" [Footnote 24]\n\n    [Footnote 24: 1 John xiii., 13.]\n\n    [Transcriber's note: The USCCB reference is\n    John xiii., 13. (Gospel, not epistle.)]\n\nChrist is not only our Master and Lord, but also our Creator,\n\"_for by Him all things were made that are made_.\" His\ndominion over us is therefore absolute and supreme. In His\npresence we are simply subjects, and have only duties to fulfil.\n\nChrist as Man has the full right of purchase over us. He can\nclaim of us all our actions, for he redeemed us from the\ncaptivity and slavery of sin. \"_Knowing that you were not\nredeemed_,\" says the Apostle Peter to the faithful, \"_with\ncorruptible gold or silver from your vain conversation of the\ntradition of your fathers; but with the precious blood of\nChrist_.\" [Footnote 25]\n\n    [Footnote 25: 1 Peter i., 18, 19.]\n\n{66}\n\nCan any one who listens to these words be so destitute of\nintelligence and faith as to entertain the idea, for a moment,\nthat God created us and became man and died for us, only to leave\nus at liberty to live as we please, and to sin as much and as\noften as we like? No; says the Apostle Paul, \"_Christ died for\nall._\" And why? Listen, faithless Christian: \"_That they\nalso who live may not live to themselves, but to Him who died for\nthem, and rose again._\" [Footnote 26]\n\n    [Footnote 26: 1 Cor. v., 15.]\n\n    [Transcriber's note: The USCCB reference is 2 Cor. v., 15.]\n\nWhat is it to live to Christ? To live to Christ is, to live to\nplease Him; it is to follow in His footsteps and copy in our\nlives His virtues. This is made clear from what the same Apostle\nsays in another place, on the same subject: \"_Our Saviour,\nJesus Christ, gave Himself for us, that He might redeem us from\nall iniquity, and purify unto Himself a people, acceptable,\npursuing good works_.\" [Footnote 27]\n\n    [Footnote 27: 2 Titus ii., 14.]\n\n    [Transcriber's note: The USCCB reference is: Titus ii., 14.]\n\nA Christian, then, is one who lives to Christ by keeping free\nfrom all iniquity and pursuing good works. This is the testimony\nthat Christ requires of us, and which we are bound to give by\nevery sacred obligation which binds us to Him as our Creator and\nRedeemer.\n\n{67}\n\nAnother reason why we are under obligation to give testimony of\nChrist by leading an exemplary life, is that Christ came into the\nworld not only to be our Redeemer, but also our Model. Hear him:\n\"_You call me Master and Lord, and you say well, for so I am,\n.... and if I, then, being your Lord and Master have given you an\nexample, as I have done to you, so you do also_.\" [Footnote\n28]\n\n    [Footnote 28: St. John xiii. 13, 14, 15.]\n\nFor is there any one so uninstructed as not to know that it was\nwholly unnecessary for Jesus Christ to practise on his own\naccount, humiliations, poverty, obedience, self-denial, meekness,\nand embrace the sufferings and bitter death of the cross. He\npractised these virtues in order to induce us to practise them,\nfor these were due to us as punishment for our sins, and\nnecessary for us as preservatives against our vices. God became\nman to teach men by example how they ought to live. \"_Christ\nsuffered for us,_\" says the apostle St. Peter, \"_leaving you\nan example, that you should follow his steps_.\" [Footnote 29]\n\n    [Footnote 29: 1 Peter ii., 21.]\n\nHe then is false and faithless to his obligations, who claims the\nname of a Christian, and does not follow in Christ's footsteps.\nNo Christian, then, has the right to live as he likes, but is\nbound to live as Christ likes.\n\n{68}\n\nThe Holy Church too, has a right to exact from us the obligation\nto lead an exemplary life. For as in a flock of pigeons, on\nseeing one fly all the others follow, so it is in the society of\nthe Church, the good example of one member encourages and edifies\nthe whole body. That you may understand the watchfulness and\njealousy of our Lord over his flock, listen to his own language:\n\"_He that shall scandalize one of these little ones that\nbelieve in me, it were better that a mill-stone were hanged about\nhis neck, and that he were drowned in the depths of the sea. ...\nWoe to that man by whom scandal cometh._\" [Footnote 30]\n\n    [Footnote 30: Matt, xviii., 6. 7.]\n\nThe Church has not only the right to claim from us to follow in\nChrist's footsteps for the sake of believers, but also for the\nunbeliever. According to the words of Christ: \"_Let your light\nso shine before men that they may see your good works, and\nglorify your Father in heaven_.\" [Footnote 31]\n\n    [Footnote 31: Matt, v., 16.]\n\nIt is more by the testimony of a good example than by miracles,\nthat unbelievers are brought to the light of truth. This is\nillustrated by the example of the martyr St. Lucien.\n{69}\nIt is related of him by Surius, that he led many unbelievers to\nthe knowledge of the truth and to embrace the Catholic faith, by\nthe modesty of his life and his exemplary conduct. So powerful\nwas the influence of his example, that the Emperor Maximilian,\nwhen seated upon his throne and about to condemn him to death,\ncommanded that he should be kept out of his view, behind a veil,\nlest even the mere sight of the saint should change him into a\nChristian. Is it not then with good reason St. John Chrysostom\nsays: \"There would be no heathens were we such Christians as we\nought to be. ... Paul was but a man, yet how many did he draw\nafter him! If we were all such as he, how many worlds might we\nhave drawn to us!\" [Footnote 32]\n\n    [Footnote 32: 1 Tim. Hom, x.]\n\nHow was it St. Paul attracted so many to Christ? He tells us\nhimself, in these words: \"_Give no offence to the Jews, nor to\nthe gentiles, nor to the church of God; as I also please all men\nin all things, not seeking that which is profitable to myself,\nbut to many; that they may be saved._\" [Footnote 33]\n\n    [Footnote 33: 1 Cor. x., 31, 32.]\n\n    [Transcriber's note: The USCCB reference is: 1 Cor. x., 32-33.]\n\n{70}\n\nIt is clear, then, beyond all dispute, that every one who claims\nthe name of a Christian is bound by a lasting and sacred\nobligation to give testimony to Christ by following in his\nfootsteps, and consequently those who fail are guilty of robbing\ntheir Lord and Master of his rights, and are no true Catholics,\nbut traitors to the faith.\n\nWho are they who fail to give this testimony of Christ? I will\ntell you.\n\nYou will find many who were born of Catholic parents, were\nbaptized in the faith when young, and yet never acknowledging the\nfaith of their fathers, and of their baptism. They are not open\napostates, they neither attack their faith, nor defend it when\nattacked. You might know them for years and not dream that they\nwere Catholics. It is hard to tell what they really are. They are\nnot Protestants, nor Jews, nor Turks, for these have religious\nconvictions, and do not deny them, but the men I speak of either\nhave no religious convictions, or want the manliness to\nacknowledge them. They do not like to be known as Catholics, and\nyet they identify themselves publicly with free-masons,\nodd-fellows, and similar secret societies.\n\n{71}\n\nAnother class consists of those who confess themselves Catholics,\nbut never, or very rarely, enter the Church. They take offence at\nthe slightest irregularity, whether it be in the priesthood, or\nthe preaching, or in the manner of conducting public worship; and\nunder some such pretext they excuse their grievous neglect of\nworship, and their profound indifference to all the sacred duties\nof religion. These claim the name of Catholic, and their conduct\nis that of an infidel.\n\nA third class is composed of those who now and then on occasion\nof a jubilee or a mission, or some similar event, come to Church,\nand perhaps receive the holy sacraments. Their religion is like a\nfire in the straw, it soon dies out. Talk to these men of their\nbusiness, and they will tell you that a man who does not watch\nand pay constant attention to it, will soon find himself\nbankrupt. Speak to them of the affairs of the nation, and they\nwill tell you that the country is going to ruin, because its\ncitizens neglect to attend political meetings and fail to\napproach the polls at election times. On business, or politics,\non almost every thing but their religion, they reason correctly,\nand act like sensible men; on their duties to God and the affairs\nof their soul they appear to be as destitute of reason as they\nare of loyalty. Money is their God, and their religion is\npolitics.\n\n{72}\n\nThe fourth class is made up of the rank and file of\nsinners--cursors, drunkards, and the army of grog-shop keepers.\nThese latter, under the pretext of making a living, spread more\nmisery, wretchedness, and crime among our people, than all the\nplagues of Egypt brought upon the inhabitants of that land. The\nsource of nine-tenths of the scandal to our holy religion is in\nthe grog-shops; and to make the scandal of their vile and\nunlawful traffic more conspicuous, they congregate by preference\nin the neighborhood of a Church, justifying the well-known\nproverb:\n\n  \"Where God erects a house of prayer,\n   Satan must have a chapel there.\"\n\nThe grog-shop keepers are the worst enemies of our holy religion\nin this country, for they not only occasion the destruction of a\nvast number of Catholics, but by the disgust which their bad\nexample creates, they offer the greatest hindrances to the\nconversion of non-catholics.\n\n{73}\n\nThese are some out of the great number of those who fail to give\ntestimony of Christ; for we have not the time to enumerate all.\nNow, what is very strange, and yet characteristic of all these,\nthey appear to live as though they were unconscious of their\nobligations, and of the guilt which they incur. They seem to\nthink that if they are allowed to assume the name of a Christian\nor Catholic, they are safe. Well then, asks one, why not exclude\nthem from the Church altogether, so that the whole world can see\nwhat they are? This is the way we do away with unprofitable\nsubjects in other institutions. Take, for example, a railroad\ncorporation. Sometimes a company of this kind starts with great\nprospects. The number who travel on the road is prodigious. The\nstockholders congratulate themselves on a heavy dividend; when to\ntheir wonder, on reckoning up their accounts, they find the\ncompany running fast into bankruptcy. Investigations are made,\nand it is discovered that a large number of the passengers have\nbeen paying no fare, riding as \"dead-heads.\" These being struck\noff, the corporation begins to prosper again. Not so with the\nholy Church. She is in this respect unlike all other\ninstitutions. She is likened by her Founder to a field of wheat,\nin which the enemy had sown cockle.\n{74}\nAnd when one of the servants said to the master: \"_Wilt thou\nthat we go to gather it up? and he said, no; lest while you\ngather up the cockle, you root up the wheat also together with\nit. Let both grow until the harvest; and in the time of harvest,\nI will say to the reapers, gather up first the cockle, and bind\nit into bundles to burn; but gather the wheat into my barn._\"\n[Footnote 34]\n\n    [Footnote 34: Matt, xiii., 28-30.]\n\nThe time to cut off the faithless children, the \"dead-heads\" of\nthe Church, is not now, but \"in the harvest time,\" the day of\ngeneral reckoning, when our Lord shall appear in power and\nmajesty to judge the world. Then he will say to these: \"I am your\nLord and Master, why have you not obeyed me?\" He will show them\nhis wounds, and say: \"Behold the price I paid to redeem you from\nsin! What right had you to refuse my service? I came upon earth\nto give an example that you might follow my steps, and you turned\nyour back upon me! You were a scandal to the Church, and a\nstumbling-block in the way of others. You refused to give\ntestimony to my mercy, now you shall give testimony to my\nsovereign justice. Gather up this cockle, these faithless, false,\ntreacherous disciples,\" he will say to his servants, \"and let\ntheir portion be in the pool which burns with fire and\nbrimstone.\" [Footnote 35]\n\n    [Footnote 35: Apoc. xxi., 8.]\n\n{75}\n\nCould but our voice reach the ears, and our entreaties penetrate\nthe hearts of these guilty Catholics, we would lift it up and cry\nout to them: Do penance speedily! Repair by a good example the\nevil which your bad example has caused to your neighbor. Strive\nto gain more souls to Christ than your wicked life has lost to\nhim heretofore. Let your good works shine out the more, so that\nlike the servant of the eleventh hour, you may obtain the full\nwages of eternal life.\n\nAs for you, dearest brethren, who have manfully withstood until\nnow all temptations to be disloyal to your faith, whose lives,\nfull of good works, have borne noble testimony to Christ, lift up\nyour eyes and hearts to heaven at this season of our Lord's\nascension. \"_I go,_\" he says, \"_to prepare a place for\nyou. I will come again, and will take you to myself; that where I\nam, you may be also_.\" [Footnote 36]\n\n   [Footnote 36: John xiv., 2, 3.]\n\n    -------------------\n\n{76}\n\n   Sermon V.\n\n   Spiritual Death.\n\n\n  \"Behold! a dead man was carried out.\"\n  --St. Luke vii., 12.\n\n  (From the Gospel of the 15th Sunday after Pentecost.)\n\n\nWhat a touching occasion was this, in which our Blessed Lord was\npleased to manifest his power, and perform one of his many acts\nof infinite mercy; an act, which like all his miracles, was not\nonly full of loving-kindness to those for whom it was performed,\nbut also replete with spiritual instruction for all.\n\nA widow is bereaved of her only consolation, a son, in whom were\ncentred all her hopes, in whose happiness all her own was bound\nup; the pride of her eyes, her joy in adversity, and the sunshine\nto her poor heart in the cloudy days of sorrow.\n\n{77}\n\nPerhaps, too, he was her only support; his the arm which labored\nfor their daily bread, and she looked forward to the time when\nage and gray hairs should bring infirmity, and her enfeebled body\ntremble on the verge of the grave; then would he be the light to\nher dimmed eyes, and a guide to her tottering steps.\n\nAnd now, alas! he is gone! Is the world all dead? Is it always\nnight? Do the birds sing no more? Are the earth and sky all\nwrapped in a great, gloomy mantle of grief? Where is her heart,\ndoes it beat no more? Ah! so it is indeed to her.\n\nHow she watched him in the long hours of his racking pains, his\nburning fever. At times he did not know her; _her_, his own\ndear mother. Oh! how she prayed for him. Oftentimes, as he lay\nupon his dying bed unconscious, she would kneel down beside him,\nand take his thin wasted hand in hers, and lift up her streaming\neyes to God, the Father of the fatherless, and pour forth her\nsoul in an agony of supplication, beseeching Him to spare her\nonly son, her life, her all.\n\n{78}\n\nIn vain. That hand grows cold within her grasp; those eyes, which\nerewhile were so full of expression, have assumed a dull glassy\nunmeaning stare, there is one shuddering convulsion, the\nbreathing ceases, his jaw drops, and she is a broken-hearted,\nchildless widow. That body, once so cherished and tenderly cared\nfor, must soon be removed far away out of sight, and now, amid\nthe lamentations of a sympathizing multitude, they carry it to\nthe grave. She feels her loss so keenly that the very carriers of\nthe bier seem to her to be heartless and unfeeling. Thus the\nscene in the Gospel opens: \"_Behold, a dead man is carried\nout_.\" I know that poor widow. I have seen that dead man, her\nonly son, the cherished idol of her heart, many a time. I know\nwell those bearers, and they are assuredly most heartless and\nunfeeling. I have seen the Lord stop them on their way, as they\ncarried him to the portals of death and hell.\n\nWould you know who they are? Sinner! offspring of Holy Mother\nChurch, part and parcel of her own life, who by sin hast lost the\nlife of grace; it is thou! Behold thou art the dead man who is\ncarried out. Contemplate thyself as in a mirror in this example\nfrom the Holy Gospel.\n\n{79}\n\nThe Church has done for you all, aye, and more than this poor\nwidow did, or could do, for her only son.\n\nShe has given you a noble birth in Jesus Christ. She nourished\nyou, watched over, and cared for you, in your infancy. She\nflattered herself, poor mother, that you would do honor to her\none day; she looked forward to the time when you would become her\nsupport. She was so bound up in you, that she often exclaimed\nwith a truth, \"Why do I live if it be not for my child?\" Her very\noccupation, her unceasing labors were for you. How proud she was\nto see you increasing in grace with God and men, your manly soul\nstrong in virtue; your conscience bright and fair to look upon as\nthe face of an angel, thrilling her maternal heart with gladness,\nas she beheld reflected there the lineaments of the sacred\ncountenance of her Divine Spouse.\n\nAlas! that any thing so bright? and beautiful should ever know\ndecay or death!\n\nHear the sad story. Disease came. Sin entered into your soul, as\ndoes the insidious pestilence into the very marrow of the bones.\nAnd now the frightened mother looks with dismay upon your changed\nfeatures.\n{80}\nYou are becoming emaciated, your soul, starving in sickness, is\nno longer cheerful with the love of God. Although so haggard and\nso woebegone, there is yet the hectic flush of the fever of\npassion. At times in the height of that fever your mind wanders:\nyou do not know her, _her!_ your own dear mother? So low has\nsin brought you, so far has sin abased you, that you have\nforgotten your noble descent and your glorious destiny. The crime\nof disobedience to the law of God has done its work, and that\nsoul which once walked so proudly erect now lies completely\nprostrated.\n\nOh! how that Mother Church prays for you! With outstretched arms\nto heaven she implores the divine mercy. \"_Spare, O Lord, spare\nthy people, and give not thine heritage to reproach_.\" Leave\nme not alone without this only son of my heart, for whom Christ\ndied! But you are in your agony now, and hear nothing. You are\nnot moved to tears, as you would be, if you could but hear those\nagonizing prayers.\n{81}\nYou lie indifferent to all around, while the disease fastens upon\nyour very vitals: one sin after another, one temptation given way\nto after another, until the life-blood of your soul has frozen in\nits channels: and before your weeping, inconsolable mother, the\nChurch--before God, and in sight of His holy Angels and Saints,\nyou are dead! dead!! dead!!!\n\nLike the fruitless church of Sardis, in the Apocalypse: \"_Thou\nhast a name that thou livest, but art dead_.\" [Footnote 37]\n\n    [Footnote 37: Apoc. iii., 1.]\n\nWhat are the signs, my brethren, by which you would pronounce a\nman dead? Surely, that he has no longer the use of any of his\nsenses; that he can neither see, hear, taste, touch nor smell. If\nnothing remained to him but faint breathing, and a fluttering,\nfeeble pulse, you would already weep for him as lost to you, and\nconsider it only as the matter of a few moments to draw the sheet\nover his face, and prepare his shroud.\n\nNow this is just the deplorable state of a man in mortal sin.\n\n{82}\n\nLet me illustrate this. If you saw a person walking upon a\nrailroad track, and the train came thundering along directly in\nfront of him, and yet he proceeded on his way, totally unmindful\nof your shouts and warnings of danger, you would throw up your\nhands and exclaim: \"Ah! God have mercy on him, poor man; he must\nbe totally blind and deaf--he is as good as dead.\" And so he is\nin effect; for the train passes over him, and scatters his\nmangled body hither and thither. Of what use to him was his power\nof motion? He had the name of a living man, and is dead. So death\nis coming upon you, sinner, sudden and destructive. How many\nsermons have you not heard upon that awful subject? How many\nwarnings have you not had in the deaths, ever unlocked for, alas!\ntoo often unprovided for, among your friends, acquaintances, and\nin the very bosom of your family. You hear not, you see not; no\nwarning will turn you from your fatal track. You are as good as\ndead.\n\nIf you saw a young girl walking to the brink of one of those\ndreadful precipices formed by the lofty palisades on the North\nRiver, and, despite the cries of her friends, she continued her\nwalk, gazing up at the sky, would you not say: \"Ah! poor thing,\nshe must be killed; she is as good as dead.\"\n{83}\nOh, young woman, you are walking upon the brink of a precipice,\nby your dangerous familiarities, your late hours, your improper\ncompany-keeping; and despite the cries of your father, your\nmother, the pleadings of your friends, and the warning voice of\nyour confessor, your heedlessness in sin will destroy you, body\nand soul, and you must lose reputation, honor, salvation,\neternity. Deaf to the voice of God, you are as good as dead.\n\nJesus daily prepares his divine banquet for you; but, alas! you\nhave lost your spiritual taste for that heavenly food, and there\nis no life in you--you are dead; according to the words of the\ndivine Saviour: \"_Amen, Amen. I say unto you, Except ye eat the\nflesh of the Son of Man, and drink his blood, you shall not have\nlife in you_.\" [Footnote 38]\n\n    [Footnote 38: St. John vi., 54.]\n\n    [Transcriber's note: The USCCB reference is: St. John vi., 53.]\n\nThe Lord strikes you with afflictions of various kinds: disease,\nloss of friends, misfortune in your business. He sends his angel\nof death to your very doors; but you are insensible to his\nchastisements: they affect you no more than if you were a statue\nof marble. Is not this to be indeed dead?\n\n{84}\n\n\"_You have put on malediction as a vestment, and it has entered\nlike water into your veins, and as oil into your bones_.\"\n[Footnote 39]\n\n    [Footnote 39: Psalms cviii., 18.]\n\n    [Transcriber's note: Psalms cviii ends at verse 14.]\n\nYes; corruption has commenced; you have become offensive as a\ncorpse, of bad odor, and scandalous to the Christian community.\nThe finger is pointed at you, your bad life is every where spoken\nof, but you do not believe it; like a corpse, you are not\nsensible of the disgust you excite. As the sister of Lazarus said\nto the Lord: \"_It is now four days since he died, and already\nhe stinketh_.\" Four days! Why, it is four months--four\nyears--forty years, since _you_ died--since you committed\nmortal sin, and continued in it, oh! unrepentant sinner; and you\nhave become insupportable. You have reaped the blasting curse you\nsowed: \"_For he that soweth in the flesh, of the flesh also\nshall reap corruption_,\" the words of this day's Epistle.\n[Footnote 40]\n\n    [Footnote 40: Gal. vi., 8.]\n\nYour dead soul is in the hands of the bearers, your companions in\nsin, your fellow cursers and blasphemers. The grog-shop keepers\nhave got hold of you, and every step is a closer approach to the\ntomb, the gates of hell, the last home of fornicators, liars, and\ndrunkards.\n{85}\nHow insensible you lie in their hands! The multitude may weep, in\ncompany with your poor mother, piercing cries and sobs which are\nheard throughout heaven and hell, but make no impression on your\ndull ears. No! there is no sound [that] can wake you now, but the\nvoice of Jesus Christ, or the last trump which will summon your\nguilty soul to judgment.\n\nWill that voice of Jesus Christ be heard? I know not. Will the\nLord be moved to pity toward his weeping Church? I know not. Will\nhe touch the bier upon which you are stretched stark dead, and\ncommand those companions of yours in sin to stop? I know not.\nWill Jesus arrest the steps of that infamous woman, of those\ndebased, pitiless, heartless, unfeeling dram-sellers? (Did I not\nsay that the widow was right--that they are heartless and\nunfeeling?) I know not. What I do know is that, if Jesus is not\nmoved to pity, if he does not strike fear into the heart of that\nyoung man or woman, your companion in sin, if the arm of the\nvengeance of Christ does not fall upon that grog-shop keeper,--no\nother sound will waken you, so dead in sin, but that one upon the\nLast Day, which rather than to hear, it were better for you to\nsleep in eternal oblivion.\n\n{86}\n\n\"Ah! father,\" you say, \"that's dreadful doctrine.\" Yes; and there\nis something more dreadful about it. It is true. What saith the\nApostle? \"_It is impossible for those who were once illuminated\nand have tasted the heavenly gift, and are fallen away, to be\nrenewed again to penance, crucifying again to themselves the Son\nof God, and making him a mockery._\" [Footnote 41]\n\n    [Footnote 41: Heb. vi., 4-6.]\n\nWhat does this mean but that, when one has fallen away into\nmortal sin, it is as impossible for him to do any thing toward\nthe salvation of his soul, as it is for a dead man to raise\nhimself to life. Lay it to heart--a most important truth--that\nAlmighty God owes you nothing; is not bound, nor has he promised,\nto give you grace beyond a certain degree; while he has most\nemphatically warned the sinner that the time will come, and who\nknows--oh! dreadful thought--but that it has already arrived for\nyou, when he will withdraw his countenance from you, and leave\nyou to the fate you have chosen, and so justly merited. Every\nchild has amused himself on the banks of the river or brook,\nwatching the eddies caused by the meeting of contrary currents,\nand observing how the brown leaves which have fallen from the\ntrees into the stream are suddenly caught in the circling current\nand whirled about, approaching at each revolution nearer the\ncentre of it.\n{87}\nNow, we are told by travellers, that in the vast ocean there are\npowerful and dangerous eddies of this sort, called whirlpools;\nand that large ships, if allowed to sail within their influence,\nare drawn in, and carried round and round, no longer obedient to\nthe sails or rudder, and at last are completely swallowed up in\nthe yawning vortex of whirling waters.\n\nOh! unrepentant sinner: you are the brown leaf, fallen from the\ntree of life into the water of iniquity. You are the ship which\nhas lost its compass, and strayed within reach of the dizzy\nwhirlpool. God stood upon the calm open sea, and each time that\nyou came around he warned you of your danger. He did more; he\nsent strong and sufficient breezes of his holy grace; if you had\ntaken advantage of them in trimming the sails, and putting up the\nhelm, you might have escaped.\n{88}\nHow many times did he not thus attempt your rescue: but you\nheeded him not. There was even something pleasant and\nintoxicating to be thus carried along in the powerful stream; and\nnow you go faster and faster, nearer and nearer, until the\nyawning abyss opens upon your gaze, and you send forth a shriek\nfor help, a cry of despair. But you are so dizzy that you cannot\ndescry the form of God upon the sea. It is well; it would double\nyour agony to see him now, for he has turned his back upon you;\nor worse, is mocking you, and laughs you to scorn. \"_Because I\ncalled and you refused; I stretched out my hand, and there was\nnone that regarded. You have despised all my counsel, and have\nneglected my reprehensions. I also will laugh in your\ndestruction, and will mock when your fear cometh. When sudden\ncalamity shall fall on you, and destruction as a tempest shall be\nat hand; when tribulation and distress shall come upon you; then\nshall they call upon me, and I will not hear_.\" [Footnote 42]\n\n    [Footnote 42: Prov. i., 24-28.]\n\n{89}\n\nThere is no help for you now. Your cries of distress, and prayers\nand entreaties are drowned in the thundering din of the rushing\nwaters: as our Lord prophesied. \"_Upon the earth distress of\nnations, men withering away for fear, by reason of the confusion\nof the roaring of the sea, and of the waves_.\" [Footnote 43]\n\n    [Footnote 43: St. Luke xxi., 25.]\n\nWhat is that which is glimmering white like a sail upon the\nwaves? Can it be a friendly ship coming to your rescue? Hark!\nTramp, tramp, over land, over sea. Why does that sound send a\nshuddering thrill of horror through every nerve? 'Tis no sail.\n'Tis a pale horse, and he that rideth thereon is Death. Tramp!\ntramp! over land, over sea! Oh! woe betide thee, wretched sinner;\nthine hour is come. One last cry, and the waters of iniquity have\nclosed over you forever! Oh, God! have mercy on poor sinful men,\nand according to the multitude of thy tender mercies, blot out\ntheir iniquities. If thy people Israel shall have sinned against\nthee, and thou in thine anger hast delivered them up into the\nhands of their enemies, and they return to thee with all their\nheart, and confessing to thy name shall come, and pray, and make\nsupplication to thee, then hear thou in heaven, thy dwelling\nplace, their prayers; and forgive thy people, and have compassion\nupon them, and help thy servants whom thou hast redeemed by thy\nprecious blood.\n{90}\nWhat answer dost thou make, O dearest Lord?--\"_He that heareth\nyou heareth me_.\" [Footnote 44]\n\n    [Footnote 44: St. Luke x., 16.]\n\nThy words, O Jesus, are truth and life. Thou hast commanded thy\npriests, the ministers of thy word, to speak in thy name; to\nstand in the path of sinners on the way to destruction, and make\nthy voice to be heard, (\"_Arise! thou that sleepest, and awake\nfrom the dead!_\") as thou didst to the only son of the widow\nof Nain. \"_Be not deceived,_\" says the holy Apostle in the\nEpistle of this day. \"_God is not mocked._\" \"_He that\ndespiseth you despiseth me_.\" [Footnote 45]\n\n    [Footnote 45: St. Luke x., 16.]\n\nIn the name of God, then, obedient to the charge which I,\nalthough unworthy, have received from the Lord Jesus, I say unto\nyou, arise! Arise from those disastrous habits of sin, which are\ndragging you down to death and hell. Abandon, once for all, those\nhorrid haunts of vice and immorality. Put away all those\nobscenities, evil speakings, and cursings, from your lips; of the\nwhich I tell you, as has been already foretold you, that they who\ndo such things, shall not obtain the kingdom of God. Young man, I\nsay unto thee, arise!\n{91}\nOh! wretched parents, whose miserable home is a very school of\nSatan to your hapless children; whose daily lives are as an open\nbook before their eyes, every leaf of which is blotted and\nblurred with drunkenness and disorder--I say unto you, oh, wicked\nfather, oh, slothful mother, arise! You, young woman, over whose\nhead ruin and shame are hanging, arise! send that young man away\nto-night.\n\nYou who have dealt out disgrace, dirt, delirium tremens, ruin,\nand the wrath of God, by the measure, to your poor fellow sinner,\nand upon whose guilty head will fall a double weight of woe--I\nsay unto _you_, arise! turn to the Lord, and perhaps he will\nhave mercy upon you. Do penance, do penance! and think not to say\nwithin your hearts: We have Abraham for our father; we have the\nChurch for our mother--she will watch over us Catholics, and\nbefore it is too late, snatch us from the jaws of hell. I say\nunto you, sinner, you are deceiving yourself with a lie, and your\nsupine indifference proves you to be of that un-happy number\ndescribed in Holy Writ, who resisted so long to the Divine call,\nthat, hardened in iniquity, God gave them over to believe a lie.\n{92}\nThus, instead of your faith saving you, it will only be a surer\ncause of your damnation. Oh! you hope in the mercy of God. Poor\nsoul! God, notwithstanding his mercy, permitted you to fall into\nyour present deplorable state. Why shall he not permit you to\nfall into eternal death, which, howsoever terrible and hopeless,\nis not so bad, so evil after all, as your spiritual death: for so\nsay the Doctors of Holy Church. \"The punishment of sin is less\nthan the guilt.\"\n\nBetween spiritual and eternal death there is but a step--taken\nevery day by one or another in this sinful world--and that is the\ndeath of the body; and if it happens to you to-day, without\ndoubt, without remedy or resource, you will find yourself\neternally lost; which may God avert from every one of you. Amen.\n\n   ---------------\n\n{93}\n\n       Sermon VI.\n\n    The Love Of God.\n\n\n  \"And one of them, a doctor of the law, asked him, tempting him:\n  Master, which is the great commandment of the law? Jesus said\n  to him: Thou shall love the Lord thy God with thy whole heart,\n  and with thy whole soul and with thy whole mind.\"\n  --St. Matt, xxii., 35-37.\n\n  (From the Gospel for the 17th Sunday after Pentecost.)\n\n\nThis doctor of the law had no good motive in asking his question.\nHe was full of malice, and desired, not to learn any thing good\nhimself, but to entrap our Lord. But God knows how to draw good\nout of evil. Though the lawyers intention was bad, his question\nwas a good one; the very best question that he could have asked,\nand the answer to it one of vast importance to us, involving all\nour interests for eternity.\n{94}\nLet us to-day consider well the meaning of the answer given by\nour Blessed Saviour in the words of the text. In the first place,\nwhat does he mean by the love of God? and in the second, what\ndegree of this love must we practise?\n\nWhat is the love of God, or in what does it consist? Many have a\nfalse idea of it. They think it is exactly the same as earthly\nlove, the love of relations or friends. They know what that kind\nof love is. They exercise it without difficulty. Why? because it\nis spontaneous; it is a flowing out of the heart, an emotion or\nfeeling. They cannot _feel_ the same love for God as for\ntheir friends, and therefore they conclude it is of no use to try\nto love God. They make a great mistake. God is a pure spirit, not\nto be seen, heard, or taken notice of by the senses, and\ntherefore, in the very nature of things, He cannot always be\nloved with that same emotion or feeling that springs up in our\nhearts, without effort, toward our neighbors and friends of flesh\nand blood. Indeed God, considered as an infinite being, with all\nhis vast and unlimited perfections, seems in some way separated\nfrom us and our thoughts, which makes a difficulty in feeling\nemotions of love to Him.\n{95}\nThe essence of the love of God is not in emotion or feeling, but\nin our reason and will. Faith reveals Him to us, and we\nacknowledge Him with our reason to be infinitely wise and\ninfinitely good, and worthy of all our love. The true love of God\nconsists, then, in acknowledging Him with our reason to be what\nHe is, and in the will to do that which is pleasing to Him.\n\nThe other kind of love--of feeling--may accompany this true love\nof God or it may not. It is of no consequence whether it does or\nnot. We have no right to expect it, for God will grant it just as\nfar as He sees good for us and no farther. It will come,\ngenerally, as the result of habits of virtue, of a long course of\naction, in imitation of His holy perfections. We must learn to\nknow Him and prize Him in order to feel love for Him.\n\nThat this is the true idea of the love of God is clear from the\nHoly Scriptures. In the Gospel of St. John it is thus described:\n\"_For this is the charity of God, that we keep his\ncommandments_.\" It is not said: The love of God is in a\ndelightful feeling that possesses one without any effort on his\npart.\n{96}\nThat would be very pleasant and very easy. No; that is not said.\nBut the meaning of what is said is, that the love of God is in\nthe will and determination to keep his commandments. In another\nplace it is said in plain terms: \"_He that hath my commandments\nand keepeth them, he it is that loveth me_.\" As much as to\nsay: If your mind and will are directed to me in such a way that\nyou keep my commandments, don't be worried or afraid, you do most\ntruly love me. Now this ought to console any one who really and\ntruly wants to love God, for we see that it lies in his power to\ndo so. He need not go into raptures of fervor. He need not fly in\nthe air in an ecstasy. He need not see visions or work wonders.\nHe need not practise extra ordinary fasting or austerity, or\nspend whole nights in prayer. He need only have a determination,\nlet him feel well or ill, that he will honestly and sincerely act\nso as to be agreeable to God, and he loves Him. Let him go on\nacting in that way and he will soon love Him exceedingly, far\nmore than any thing in this world.\n{97}\nAnother argument that proves conclusively that this is the true\nlove of God, comes from this very command of our Lord Jesus\nChrist: \"_Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with thy whole\nheart, and with thy whole soul, and with thy whole mind_.\" The\nlove of God is commanded. Now God commands nothing impossible,\nnothing, in short, which is very difficult to set about. As he is\na God of infinite goodness and love, the bare idea of such a\nthing is wholly repugnant to right reason and common sense. If He\nhad commanded us to exercise a sensible love--one of feeling--we\nmight justly complain and say: I cannot fulfil it; that is a\nthing beyond my control. We have to set about a practical\nlove--keeping his commandments, that is a business we can give\nour mind and attention to, as we would to farming, building,\ndoctoring, or any other business. If a man will set about the\nbusiness of practically acting according to the will of God, he\nwill add every day to his stock of love and to his merit in\nheaven. This is a rich mine; it is inexhaustible; out of this\nmine is drawn the pure gold of charity to God, richer and more\nabundant than all the mines of California or Australia.\n\n{98}\n\nBut what degree of this love must we exercise in order to obtain\neverlasting life? A high degree of it: not a low measure of it,\nbut a large and liberal one if we would make our calling and\nelection sure. Our Lord's answer to the question indicates that\nbeyond mistake: \"_Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy\nheart and all thy soul and all thy mind_.\" That sounds strong;\nthat sounds hard; words could hardly be put together to convey a\nstronger meaning. It would seem to mean that all our thoughts and\ndesires and actions should be engrossed and taken up with God and\neternity, so as to leave room for nothing else. This would indeed\nbe hard, and it would be absurd, considering the order of things\nwhich God has established in the world. God created us to live in\nsociety and the most of us for society, to play our part in it,\nto bring up families of children--to put bread and butter in\ntheir mouths, and clothes on their backs. We cannot then abandon\nthe world, and we must devote our attention to its affairs: we\nmust give a reasonable attention to do them well, for the\nadvantage of ourselves and those connected with us. What is the\nmeaning, then, of loving with one's whole heart and soul and\nmind?\n\n{99}\n\nWe must have our will and determination directed in the first\nplace to God and to keeping his commandments, leaving every thing\nelse to the second place. A man must be determined to keep God's\ncommandments in spite of every obstacle, in spite of every\ntemptation. He must be determined to keep them all, that is, at\nleast, to avoid every mortal sin. He must be determined not only\nfor the present, but so long as the breath is in his body. If he\nfalls short of this, he does not love God with all his heart and\nsoul and mind; he does not do what is necessary to obtain\neverlasting life, and he will not obtain it.\n\nIt is required by God, as an essential condition to our\nsalvation, that we should be habitually in the determination to\nkeep free from every mortal sin. What can be more just? We\nacknowledge him as our Creator, and as infinitely wise and\ninfinitely good. He is rightly our sovereign Lord and Master, and\ncan command what he chooses--there is an equal obligation on our\npart to obey him. Is it asking much, that we shall be habitually\nobedient? Any thing short of this he could not require--we could\nnot expect. Is it for Him to be dependent upon our moods and\nhumors, finding us true to-day and false to-morrow?\n\n{100}\n\nOh! you say, is that all that is required of us to insure our\nsalvation--to keep clear of mortal sin? That is nothing new; we\nknew that all along; to go that far is not much; we can do that\neasily enough. Can you, indeed? Perhaps it is easy enough to\navoid mortal sin for a time, when there is fervor, or particular\ngrace, or little temptation; but is it easy to do so for one's\nwhole life? Is it easy to do so when one's fervor is worn off,\nand distractions of all kinds occupy the mind, and when in this\nstate strong temptations beset one? Who ever says this, shows\nthat he has little knowledge of himself, and little experience in\naffairs of the soul. You may avoid sin a little while, but you\nwill fall, as sure as you live, if your mind is not set against\nsin, actively and habitually, so as to turn away from it with\nhorror in the moment of temptation. No; in order not to fall, our\nwhole life must be directed toward God. The eternal truths,\nheaven, hell, death, judgment, must pass frequently through our\nminds and take up our thoughts. In the words of Scripture, we\nmust keep our lamps trimmed, and well supplied with oil, lest\nthey go out.\n{101}\nOur souls must be trimmed with holy meditations, and the oil of\ngood works supplied in abundance must keep the flame of love to\nGod burning brightly in our hearts, or else it will go out. It\nwill fade away gradually for want of nourishment, until it is\ngone. We cannot keep clear even of mortal sin, unless we are\nthoroughly in earnest about it, and make a business of it. When\nour Lord says, \"Love the Lord thy God with thy whole heart and\nthy whole soul, and thy whole mind,\" He means to say: Put your\nheart and soul in the business of your salvation. Make a sure\nthing of it by the energy and determination you apply to it.\n\n\"_The children of this world are wiser,_\" says the Lord,\n\"_than the children of light_.\" All their prudence and skill\nis laid out to succeed in their business, to scrape together what\nthey consider desirable for this life. If any thing like the same\nprudence and skill were exercised in serving God, salvation would\nbe an easy thing. If you want to be saved, you must put your\nsouls in it. You all know what the meaning of putting your souls\nin a thing is.\n{102}\nIt is a saying used every day. 'His soul is in his business; his\nsoul is in study; her soul is in fashion, in her family. How the\npoor girl at service, when she wants to please her mistress, puts\nher soul in her work! What delight she takes in having every\nthing clean and in order! When she gets a compliment for her\nskill or industry, what heartfelt pleasure it gives her! Her\ncontinual study is to please in every way. How the young man puts\nhis soul in pleasure sometimes! Every cent he can earn is spent\nin the saloon, the circus, the theatre. Let him earn a little\nmoney, he breaks off work until it is all squandered. Sundays,\nholidays, all are consumed in his darling occupations of drinking\nand making merry. In his pursuit of pleasure, God, reputation,\nhealth, must all give way. Nothing is allowed to put any obstacle\nin his headlong career. So it is with the covetous man. Money is\nhis sole delight. His heart is satisfied with the pleasure of\nhoarding it, the pleasure of getting more and more. He has more\nthan he knows what to do with: that makes no difference. He wants\nstill more. He has nothing to give away. He can't afford this, he\ncan't afford that.\n{103}\nHe has no time for amusement; business, mortgages, interest,\nthat's all the amusement he cares for. Anxious and fretful for\nlittle losses, he wears out his life, and leaves his property for\nsomebody else to spend, perhaps to be a curse to some worthless\nrelation. He has put his soul in his money-bags.\n\nWe see people every day whose souls are so taken up with the\nworld, that they can't even give a thought to any thing that lies\nbeyond it. They verify the words of Scripture: \"_Let us eat,\ndrink, and be merry, for to-morrow we die_.\" that is, they\nwould be glad to persuade themselves, if they could, that they\nhave no souls, and are determined to act practically on these\nsuppositions. Now, in the same way that these poor miserable\ncreatures put their souls in business, pleasure, love of money,\nor worldly ease and comfort, put yours in the business of your\nsalvation. Make it your study to please God. Don't say: how\nlittle can I do and get off with it? but, how much can I do? What\nopportunity, what golden opportunity offers, to do something to\nplease God?\n\n{104}\n\nAh! there are plenty of opportunities for all who wish to avail\nthemselves of them. The poor man can strive to do his duty, by\nhonest industry supporting his family, setting them a good\nexample. He has a good deal to put up with, in the shape of\npoverty, sickness, cold, hunger, and fatigue. He can love God\nwith his whole soul, by putting up with these things patiently.\nThese things are his money, with which he may be sure of\npurchasing the kingdom of heaven.\n\nThe rich man, if his soul is in his salvation, considers himself\nas God's trustee, not to dispose of the wealth God allots him as\nhe pleases, but to advance His kingdom and the salvation of\nsouls. He does not care so much for pampering his body, making a\nshow, or heaping up riches for his heirs, but is satisfied with a\ncompetence and means enough to live according to his station; the\nrest he spends in promoting true and deserving objects of\ncharity. He likes to imitate Jesus Christ in helping the poor and\nthe sick, keeping a free bed in the hospital, sustaining\ninstitutions for the relief of orphans, the insane, and all who\nneed it. He likes to help a deserving young man, when he finds\none of the sort, to become a priest in the church of God.\n{105}\nHe doesn't consider it entirely the business of the priest to\nbuild churches, wearing himself out to collect the means, and\nthat from the hard earnings of the poor, but steps forth\npromptly, and takes his full share of the expense and the labor\nat tending such enterprises. When he finds a hard-working priest,\nzealous for souls, he will stand by him and work with him, only\ntoo thankful to get a chance to do something.\n\nIn short, if we would make eternal life secure, we must have a\nspirit of self-sacrifice and devotedness, such as led the holy\nMartyrs to lay down their lives for the faith--such at least in\nkind, if not in measure.\n\nOh! my brethren, how happy is the man who cherishes such a\nprinciple in his heart. He is not divided and torn asunder by a\ncontinual strife between good and evil. He is not a double\ndealer. He is not striving to serve two masters. God reigns in\nhis heart, and peace prevails in it. Loss of property cannot take\nit away, for property is not the main thing in his soul. Neither\ncan loss of friends. He has long been sensible that God is the\nonly true unchangeable friend. Death cannot disturb it--for he is\nat peace with God, and doesn't fear death.\n{106}\nOh! why have we not all this spirit? We acknowledge how beautiful\nit is. We cannot but regret if we have it not. Let us then try\nfor it. Let us begin to-day--by forming a deep and strong\nresolution that we will not live for the world, or the things of\nthe world, but seek God first of all. That we will really love\nHim with our whole heart, and that this shall be the business of\nour lives. Then shall be true of us what is said by the holy\nPsalmist: \"_Blessed is the man who hath not walked in the\ncounsel of the ungodly, nor stood in the way of sinners, nor sat\nin the chair of pestilence. But his will is in the law of the\nLord and on his law he shall meditate day and night. And he shall\nbe like the tree that is planted near the running waters, which\nshall bring forth its fruit in due season, and his leaf shall not\nfall off, and all whatsoever he shall do shall prosper_.\" Then\nall shall prosper with us here below, for all things shall speed\nour way to that world above, where, without effort, in a perfect\nmanner, to our unbounded joy, we shall love God with our whole\nheart and soul, and mind, and strength.\n\n       -----------------\n\n{107}\n\n    Sermon VII.\n\n    Keeping The Law Not Impossible.\n\n    \"I can do all things in Him who strengthened me.\"\n    Phil, vi., 13.\n\n\nIf I am not mistaken, a very great number of the sins that men\ncommit, are committed through hopelessness. The pleasures of sin\nare by no means unmixed. Indeed, sin is a hard master; and all\nwho practice it find it so. I never met a man who said it was a\ngood thing, or that it made him happy. On the contrary, all\nlament it, and say that it makes them miserable. Why then, do\nthey commit it? Very often, I am persuaded, because they think\nthey have no power to resist it. They feel in themselves strong\npassions; they have yielded to them in times past, they see that\nothers yield to them, and so they come to think it impossible not\nto yield to them.\n{108}\nThe law of God is too difficult, they say. It is impossible to\nkeep it. It may do for priests or nuns who are cut off from the\nworld, or for women, or for the old, or for children, but for us\nwho mix in the world, whose blood is warm, and whose passions are\nstrong, it is too high and pure. It is all very well to talk\nabout; it is all very well to hold up a high standard to us, but\nyou must not expect us to attain it. The utmost that you can\nexpect of us is to stop sinning, now and then, and make the\nproper acknowledgments to God by going to confession, but\nactually to try not to sin, to keep on endeavoring not to sin at\nany time, or under any circumstances, that is impossible, or at\nleast so extremely difficult that, practically speaking, it is\nimpossible. Are there none of you, my brethren, who recognize\nthis as the secret language of your hearts? Is there not an\nimpression in your minds that the law of God is too strict? or at\nleast that it is too strict for you, and that you cannot keep it?\nIf so, do not harbor it. It is a fatal error. No: it is not\nimpossible to keep God's law. It is not impossible to keep from\nmortal sin.\n{109}\nIt is, I admit, impossible to keep from every venial sin, though\neven here we can do a great deal if we try. Such is the frailty\nof human nature that even the best men as time goes on fall into\nsome slight faults, only the blessed Virgin having been able, as\nwe believe, to pass a whole life without even in the smallest\nthing offending God. But it is possible for all of us to keep\nfrom mortal sin, at all times and under all circumstances. This,\nI think, you will acknowledge when you consider the character of\nGod, the nature of God's law, and the power of God's grace which\nis promised to us.\n\nI say the character of God is a pledge of our ability to keep\nfrom mortal sin. God requires us to be free from mortal sin, and\nHe requires it under the severest penalties, and therefore it\nmust be possible for us. You may say, \"God requires us to be free\nfrom venial sin too, and yet you have just said we cannot avoid\nevery venial sin.\" But the case is far different. A venial sin\ndoes not separate us from God, and does not receive extreme\npunishment from Him--nay, those venial sins which even good men\ncommit, and which are only in small part voluntary, are very\neasily forgiven--but a mortal sin cuts us off entirely from God,\nand deserves eternal punishment.\n{110}\nYou know, one mortal sin is enough to damn a man--one single sin\nof drunkenness, for instance, or impurity; a cherished hatred, a\nfalse oath, or an act of grave injustice. One such sin is\nsufficient to sink a man in hell, and although we know very\nlittle in particular of the torments of hell, we have every\nreason to believe that they are most bitter, and we know that\nthey are eternal. Now can it be thought that a being of justice\nand goodness, as we know God to be, would inflict so extreme a\npunishment for an offence which was unavoidable, or could only be\navoided with the utmost difficulty? Holy Scripture sends us to an\nearthly parent for an example of that tenderness and affection\nwhich we are to expect from our Heavenly Father. \"_If you being\nevil know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more\nwill your Father who is in heaven, give good things to them that\nask him_.\" [Footnote 46]\n\n    [Footnote 46: St. Matt, vii., 11.]\n\nWhat would be thought of an earthly father who laid upon his son\na command which it was all but impossible for him to comply with,\nand then punished him with the utmost rigor for not fulfilling it?\n{111}\nYou would not call that man a father, but a tyrant; a tyrant like\nPharaoh, who would not give straw to the children of Israel, and\nyet set taskmasters over them to exact of them the full measure\nof bricks as when straw had been given them. Why, if you were\ngoing along the street and saw a man whipping unmercifully an\nover-loaded horse, you would not bear it patiently. And would you\nattribute conduct so disgraceful among men to our Father in\nheaven? God forbid! Far be such a thought from us! It is not so.\nWe must not think it. At least we cannot think it as long as we\nremain Catholics, for when the earlier Protestants proclaimed the\nshocking doctrine that though God punished men for disobeying his\nlaw, man was really unable to obey it, the Church branded the\ndoctrine as a heresy to be abhorred of all men, as most false in\nitself, and most injurious to God. No; God loves his creatures\nfar more than we conceive of. He does not desire the death of a\nsinner. He wills truly the salvation of all men. His goodness and\nmercy, his truth and justice, are all so many infallible\nguarantees of our ability to keep his law.\n{112}\nHe would not have given us his law unless He had meant us to keep\nit. He would not punish us so severely for breaking it, unless\nour breaking it was an act of deliberate, wilful, determined\nrebellion.\n\nBut there is another source from which I draw the conclusion that\nit is possible to keep the law of God--from the nature of the law\nitself. The law of God is of such a nature that, for the most\npart, in order to commit mortal sin, it is necessary to do or to\nleave undone some external act, which of its own nature it is\nentirely in our power to do or not to do. For instance, the law\nsays, \"_Thou shall not steal:_\" now to steal you have got to\nput your hand into your neighbor's pocket. The law says: \"_Thou\nshalt do no murder;_\" to murder you must stretch out your hand\nagainst your neighbor's life. Nay, it requires ordinarily several\nexternal actions before a mortal sin is consummated. Thus the\nthief has his precautions to take, and his plans to lay. The\ndrunkard has to seek the occasion. He seeks the grog-shop. Every\nstep he takes is a separate act. When he gets there it is not the\nfirst glass that makes him drunk.\n{113}\nHe drinks again and again, and it is only after all these\ndifferent and repeated actions that he falls into the mortal sin\nof drunkeness. Now here you see are external acts--acts in which\nthe hand, the foot, the lips are concerned, and which, therefore,\nit is perfectly in our power to do or to let alone. This requires\nno proof, but admits of a striking illustration. You have heard\nof the great sufferings of the martyrs; how some of them were\nstoned to death, others flayed alive, others crucified, others\ntorn to pieces by wild beasts, others burned to death. Now what\nwas it all about? You answer, They suffered because they would\nnot deny Christ. Very well; but how were they required to deny\nChrist? What was it they were required to do? I will tell you.\nSometimes they were required to take a few grains of incense and\nthrow it on the altar of Jupiter; that would have been enough to\nhave saved them from their sufferings. They need not have said, I\nrenounce Christ; only to have taken the incense would have been\nsufficient. Sometimes they were required to tread on the Cross.\nSometimes to swear by the genius of the Roman emperor; that was\nall. And the fire was kindled to make them do these things; but\nthey would not.\n{114}\nThe flames leaped upon them, but not a foot would they lift from\nthe ground. Their hands were burnt to the bone, but no incense\nwould they touch. The marrow of their bones melted in the heat,\nand forced from them a cry of agony, but the name of the\nemperor's tutelary genius did not pass their lips. Now will you\ntell me that you can not help doing what the martyrs would not do\nto save them from death? They had a fire before them and a\nscourge behind them, and they refused; and you say you cannot\nhelp yourself when you are under no external violence whatever!\nThey died rather than lift a hand to do a forbidden thing; have\nyou not the same power over your hand that they had? They died\nrather than utter a sinful word; have you not as much power over\nyour tongue as they? Indeed you have, for you control both one\nand the other whenever you will. I say there is no sinner whose\nconduct does not show that his actions are perfectly in his own\npower. The thief waits for the night to carry on his trade;\nduring the day he is honest enough. The greatest libertine knows\nhow to behave himself in the presence of a high-born and virtuous\nfemale.\n{115}\nAnd even that vice which men say it is most difficult of all to\nrestrain when once the habit is formed--profane swearing--you\nknow how to restrain it when you will, for even the heaviest\ncurser and swearer ceases from his oaths before the priest, or\nany other friend whom he greatly respects. Now, if you can stop\ncursing before the priest, why can you not before your wife and\nchildren? If you can be chaste in the presence of a virtuous\nfemale, why can you not be chaste everywhere? If you can be\nhonest when the eye of man is on you, why can you not be honest\nwhen no eye sees you but that of God?\n\nBut some one may say, there is a class of sins to which the\nremarks you have made do not apply, that is, sins of thought. You\nmust admit that they are of such a nature that it is all but\nimpossible not to commit them. No, I do not admit it. I\nacknowledge that sins of thought are more difficult to guard\nagainst than sins of action; but I do not acknowledge that it is\nimpossible to guard against them. To prove this I have only to\nremind you that an evil thought is no sin until we give\n_consent_ to it.\n{116}\nTo keep always free from evil thoughts may be impossible, because\nthe imagination is in its nature so volatile, that but few men\nhave it in control; but though it be not possible to restrain the\nimagination, it is always possible to restrain the will. In order\nfor the will to consent to evil it is necessary both to\n_know_ and to _choose_, and therefore from the nature\nof the thing one can never fall into sin either inevitably or\nunawares. And besides, the will has a powerful ally in the\nconscience, whose province it is to keep us from sin and to\nreproach us when we do sin--so that it is scarcely possible, for\none who habitually tries to keep free from mortal sin, to fall\ninto it without his conscience giving a distinct and unmistakable\nreport. And this is so certain that spiritual writers say that a\nperson of good life and tender conscience, who is distressed with\nthe uncertainty whether or no he has given consent to an evil\ntemptation, ought to banish that anxiety altogether and to be\nsure that he has not consented. But suppose these evil\ntemptations are importunate, and remain in the soul even when we\nresist them, and try to turn from them? No matter. They do not\nbecome sins on that account; nay, they become the occasion of\nacts of great virtue.\n{117}\nIt is related in the life of St. Catherine of Sienna that on one\noccasion that pure virgin's soul was assailed by the most\nhorrible temptations of the devil. They lasted for a long time,\nand after the conflict our Saviour appeared to her with a serene\ncountenance. \"O my Divine Spouse,\" she said, \"Where wast thou\nwhen I was enduring these conflicts?\" \"In thy soul,\" he replied.\n\"What, with all these filthy abominations?\" \"Yes, they were\ndispleasing and painful to thee; this therefore was thy merit,\nand thy victory was owing to my presence.\" So that we see even\nhere where the danger is greatest, the law of God exacts of us\nnothing but what in its own nature is in our power to do or not\nto do.\n\nBut if you wish another proof of your ability to keep God's law,\nI allege the _power of his grace_. I can imagine an objector\nsaying: You have not touched the real difficulty after all. The\ndifficulty is not on God's side; no doubt He is good and holy.\nNeither are the requirements of his law so very hard. The\ndifficulty is in us. We are fallen by nature. We have sinned\nafter baptism.\n{118}\nWe are so weak, so frail, that to us continued observance of the\ndivine commandments is impossible. No, my brethren, neither is\nthis true. It is not true from the mouth of any man; least of all\nfrom the mouth of a Christian. \"_No temptation_,\" says the\nApostle, \"_hath taken hold of you but such as is human. And God\nis faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that\nwhich you are able; but will also with the temptation make a way\nof escape that you may be able to bear it_.\" [Footnote 47]\n\n    [Footnote 47: 1 Cor. x., 13.]\n\nThe weakest and frailest are strong enough with God's grace, and\nthis grace He is ready to give to those that need it. At all\ntimes and in all places He has been ready to give his grace to\nthem that need it, but especially is this true under the gospel.\nThe Holy Scriptures make this the distinguishing characteristic\nof the times of the gospel that they shall abound in grace.\n\"_Take courage, and fear not_,\" the prophet says, in\nanticipation of the time when Christ should come in the flesh,\n\"_Behold God will come and save you. Then shall the eyes of the\nblind be opened, and the ears of the deaf unstopped. Then shall\nthe lame man leap as an hart, and the tongue of the dumb shall be\nfree; for waters are broken out of the desert, and streams in the\nwilderness. And that which was dry land shall become a pool, and\nthe thirsty land springs of water_.\" [Footnote 48]\n\n    [Footnote 48: Is. xxxv., 4-7.]\n\n{119}\n\nSuch was the promise, hundreds of years before Christ, of a time\nof peace, of happiness and grace; and when our Lord was come, He\npublished that the good time had indeed arrived: \"_The spirit\nof the Lord hath anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor. He\nhath sent me to heal the contrite of heart. To preach deliverance\nto the captive, and sight to the blind, to set at liberty them\nthat are bruised, to preach the acceptable year of the Lord_.\"\nYes, the great time has come; the cool of the day; the evening of\nthe world; the time when labor is light and reward abundant. Oh,\nmy brethren, you know not what a privilege it is to be a\nChristian! You enter a church. You see a priest in his\nconfessional. A penitent is kneeling at his feet. The sight makes\nbut little impression on you, for you are accustomed to it, but\nthis is that \"_fountain_\" promised by the prophet \"_to the\nhouse of David and to the inhabitants of Jerusalem, for the\nwashing of the sinner;_\" a fountain that flows from the\nSaviour's side, and not only cleanses, but strengthens and makes\nalive.\n{120}\nYou pass an altar. The priest is giving communion. Stop! it is\nthe Lord himself! the bread of angels! the wine of virgins! the\nfood \"_whereof if a man eat he shall live forever_.\" And not\nonly in the Church do you find grace. It follows you home. You\nshut your door behind you, and your Father in heaven waits to\nhear and grant your prayer. Nay, at all times God is with you,\nfor you are the temple of God, and He sits on the throne of your\nheart to scatter his grace on you when ever and wherever you ask\nHim. Do not say, then, Christian, that you are unable to do what\nGod requires of you. It is a sin of black ingratitude to say so.\nEven if it were impossible for others to keep the law of God, it\nis not for you. He hath not done to every nation as he hath done\nto you. When the patriarch Jacob was dying, he blessed all his\nchildren, but his richest blessing was for Joseph. So God has\nblessed all the children of his hand, but you, Christian, are the\nJoseph whom He hath loved more than all his other sons. To others\nHe hath given of \"_the dew of heaven,_\" and \"_the fatness\nof the earth,_\" but you \"_He hath blessed with all spiritual\nblessings in Christ._\"\n\n{121}\n\nAway, then, with the notion, that obedience to the commandments\nof God is impracticable. A notion dishonorable to God and to\nourselves. It is possible to keep free from mortal sin--for\nall--at all times, under all temptations. Nay, I will say more.\nIt is on the whole, easier to live a life of Christian obedience,\nthan a life of sin. I say on the whole, for I do not deny that\nhere and there in particular cases, it is harder to do right than\nwrong, but taking life all through, one who restrains his\npassions will have less trouble than one who indulges them.\nHeroic actions are not required of us every day. In order to be a\nChristian, it is not necessary to be always high-strung and\nenthusiastic. It is not necessary to be a devotee, to adopt set\nand precise ways, to take up with hypocrisy and cant--in a word,\nto be unmanly. It is just, for the most part, the most matter of\nfact, the most practical, the most simple and straight-forward\nthing in the world. It is to be a man of principle. It is to have\na serious, abiding purpose to do our duty.\n{122}\nIt is to be full of courage; not the courage of the braggart, but\nthe courage of the soldier--the courage that thrives under\nopposition, and survives defeat, the courage that takes the means\nto secure success--vigilance, humility, steadfastness and prayer.\nBefore this, all difficulties vanish, and this is what we want\nmost of all. It is amazing how little courage there is in the\nworld. We are like the servant of Eliseus, the prophet, who, when\nhe awoke in the morning, and saw the great army that had been\nsent by the King of Syria to take his master, said, \"_Alas,\nalas, alas, my lord; what shall we do!_\" But Eliseus showed\nhim another army--the army of angels ranged on the mountain, with\nchariots of fire and horses of fire, ready to fight for the\nservants of God, and he said, \"_Fear not: for there are more\nwith us than with them._\" [Footnote 49]\n\n    [Footnote 49: 4 Kings, vi., 15-17.]\n\n    [Transcriber's note: The USCCB reference is 2 Kings, vi.,\n    15-17.]\n\nWhy should we fear? Christianity is no new thing. The path of\nChristian obedience is not an untried path. Thousands have trod\nit and are now enjoying their reward. God, and the angels, and\nthe saints, are on our side. And there are multitudes of faithful\nsouls in the world who are fighting the good fight, and keeping\ntheir souls unsullied.\n{123}\nWe cannot distinguish them now, but one day we shall know them.\nOh! let us join them. Yes, we will make our resolution now.\nOthers may guide themselves by pleasure or expediency; we will\nadopt the language of the Psalmist: \"_Thy word is a lamp to my\nfeet, and a light to my paths_.\" [Footnote 50]\n\n    [Footnote 50: Psalm cxviii., 105.]\n\n    [Transcriber's note: The USCCB reference is Psalm cxix., 105.]\n\nWe will be Christians not in name, but in deed. Not for a time\nonly, but always. One thought shall cheer us in sadness and nerve\nus in weakness, \"_I have sworn and am determined to keep the\njudgments of thy justice_.\"\n\n   -----------------\n\n{124}\n\n    Sermon VIII.\n\n    The Two Standards.\n\n  \"No man can serve two masters.\"\n  --St. Matt., vi. 24.\n\n  (From the Gospel of the 14th Sunday after Pentecost.)\n\n\nThere are two hostile camps pitched on the surface of the earth,\nand two great armies engaged in warfare against each other. The\nchiefs of these two armies are Jesus Christ and Satan, The war\nbetween them is not a new one. It began in heaven, when Lucifer\nand his companions rebelled against God. It broke out in a more\ndeadly and decisive manner, when Jesus Christ erected his\nstandard on Mt. Calvary, and from his Cross triumphed over the\ndevil, while Satan, enraged at his defeat, summoned all his\nforces from earth and hell to an eternal war against the Cross.\n\n{125}\n\nThis is a war in which every one must take part. Here no one can\nremain neutral; either for the Cross or against it--a soldier of\nChrist or a servant of the devil. You must choose your side.\nWhich, then, do you take? Will you have Christ or Lucifer for\nyour king? In the name of Jesus Christ, I call on you to renounce\nthe infamous service of the devil for ever, and enroll yourself\nunder the standard of the Cross, and I promise to give you good\nreasons for doing so. Listen, then, and make your decision. If\nthe devil has the best claim, and offers the highest price, then\nfollow him, and take his lot in this world and in eternity. But\nconsider well what you have to look for, beforehand. If Jesus\nChrist is your rightful Lord, and heaven is worth having, then\ncome out boldly on his side, and renounce the devil once for all.\nYou cannot serve both, you must serve one; and the one whom you\nserve on this earth, will have possession of you for all\neternity.\n\n{126}\n\nSurvey, then, the two camps, the two standards, the two kings. On\nMount Calvary see the Cross, the standard of salvation, rising\nabove the camp of Jesus Christ. Look on the King who rules in\nthis camp! Regard his features: they are full of majesty and\nhumility, of power and of love, of authority and of compassion.\nAround Him the Blessed Virgin, the apostles, martyrs and\nconfessors, all the saints and all the righteous, are grouped;\nand from his Cross He sends out his messengers into all the\nworld, inviting all men to share his humility, self-denial, and\nsuffering in this world, and his everlasting kingdom in the next.\n\nNow turn your eyes toward the other camp. It lies near the city\nof Babylon, the city of this world, a city of idolatry,\nsensuality, and worldly pomp. In the midst of it, Satan is seated\non a high and burning throne, his features full of melancholy,\npride and cruelty, surrounded by his demons, his false priests,\nand the multitude of his worshippers. He also sends his\nmessengers through the earth, offering honors, pleasures, and\nriches here, and the fire of hell hereafter, to those who enlist\nin his service.\n\nUnhappy man! soldier of Christ by baptism! have these ministers\nof Satan persuaded you to renounce your lawful standard, and\nenlist under that of the devil?\n{127}\nHave you been persuaded by some worldly bribe, some passing\npleasure, to renounce God and heaven, and to receive the black\nbrand of mortal sin in your soul, the mark of your allegiance to\nthe devil? What have you done? What master is this, to whom you\nhave sold yourself? What have you to expect in his service?\nListen to me, and I will prove to you that you have sold yourself\nto a detestable tyrant and usurper; that you have cast in your\nlot with a desperate cause, and that everlasting ruin is the only\nwages you will ever get.\n\nSatan is a detestable usurper. What right has he to reign in this\nworld? What right has he to your soul, or to your service? Did he\ncreate the world, or make you? Has he conferred any benefit on\nthe human race, that he is entitled to the gratitude and\nobedience of men? He is a miserable rebel against God, an outcast\nfrom heaven, the great enemy of mankind. He is the author of sin,\nmisery, and death. He became master of your soul by mortal sin.\nHe seduced you to offend God by lying promises, and treacherously\ngot possession of your heart. Is he not then a usurper?\n\n{128}\n\nHe is also a cruel tyrant. Satan tyrannizes over the soul which\nis subject to him, by making it a slave to its passions. He makes\nit sweat and toil like a negro slave, fast, and watch, and deny\nitself, like a hermit, in the service of these cruel taskmasters.\nOne he forces to labor night and day for a lifetime, to scrape up\na little money which he has no time to enjoy. Another he compels\nto sacrifice health, reputation, and fortune, to the\ngratification of lust. A third he turns into a beast by\ndrunkenness. He tyrannizes over his subjects, also, by continual\nand insupportable torments of conscience. They have none of that\npeace and tranquillity which the servants of God enjoy, but a\nhorrible foretaste of the pains of hell, in the incessant\ngnawings of a guilty conscience, and the continual fear of\neternal damnation.\n\nThe service of Satan is odious, on account of the companions with\nwhom you must associate. You become the associate of demons,\nmurderers, thieves, harlots, drunkards, and villains of every\nhue. The promises which the devil holds out to you are all false,\nand his words all delusive. He holds out to you an illusory hope\nof liberty and happiness, and deceives you with glittering but\nunreal pictures of future enjoyment.\n{129}\nFor these you renounce Christian self-denial; for these you throw\ndown the Cross of Christ, abandon the straight and narrow way,\nand sacrifice your hopes of heaven. But the devil will disappoint\nyou. The pleasure he will give you will leave behind in your\nheart only bitterness and disgust. You will have to endure in his\nservice labors and sufferings more than enough to make you a\nsaint, if you performed them for God. You threw down the cross\nwhich God placed on your shoulders. It was a light cross, and was\nexactly measured for your size and strength. It was a cross full\nof blessings and graces, and if you had carried it courageously\nup the narrow way of life, after a time it would have supported\nyou, and you would have been borne up by it to the gate of\nheaven. But you threw it down, because it was too heavy and\ngalling, and turned from the steep path of virtue to the\ndownward, flowery road of sin. Immediately the devil came up\nbehind you, and fastened on your back an immense cross of rough,\nunhewn timber.\n{130}\nLoaded with this devil's cross, you are stumbling along the way\nof perdition toward the mouth of hell, into which you will fall\nat death, with the heavy burden of your sins on your back to\npress you down, and crush you forever beneath its weight. Such is\nthe hard and bitter slavery to which you have bound yourself\nunder this detestable tyrant.\n\nMoreover, his cause is a desperate one. A certain and ignominious\ndefeat, from which he will never more arise, awaits him. He has\nalready been conquered. Jesus Christ met him once in single\ncombat in the desert, and put him to an ignominious flight.\nAfterwards, on the cross, He gained a still more signal and\ndecisive victory over him, and made him serve by his own plan for\nour Lord's destruction, as an instrument for accomplishing our\nsalvation. The Blessed Virgin has trampled on the head of this\nmalicious serpent. All the saints and martyrs have triumphed over\nhim, and the weakest Christian child can put him to flight, by\nresisting his temptations--by breathing a little prayer, or by\nmaking the sign of the cross. He is a weak and miserable coward.\nHis cause is already desperate and lost. And although God allows\nhim a certain liberty to tempt and trouble the world for a short\ntime, the day of judgment is fast approaching, in which Jesus\nChrist will put him to shame before the whole universe, and cast\nhim, together with all those who follow his standard, into the\nburning abyss of hell.\n\n{131}\n\nSuch is a true picture of Lucifer, of his services, and of the\nreward which awaits his followers. Are you not ashamed, then, O\nfalse Christian! to have renounced your allegiance to your\nrightful Lord, for the service of such a master, who trembles at\nthe very name of Jesus Christ?\n\nIn the churches of the middle ages the statue of the martyr St.\nChristopher was frequently sculptured, carrying, in accordance\nwith his name which signifies Christ-bearer, the infant Jesus on\nhis shoulder. As his real history was unknown, the poetic fancy\nof that period invented several beautiful legends about it, of\nwhich the following is one:\n\n\"A heathen youth of gigantic size and strength determined to seek\nout the strongest man in the world, and serve him. After many\ninquiries, he engaged himself to a Christian prince, who was\nfamous for prowess and warlike achievements.\n{132}\nHe served him contentedly for a while, but at length, observing\nthat he often made the sign of the cross, he asked him the\nmeaning of his doing so. The prince told him it was to keep off\nthe devil. The youth asked him who the devil was, and if he was\nafraid of him. He told him that the devil was a wicked being,\nmore powerful than any man, and that he feared him greatly. If\nthat is the case, said the youth, I will serve you no longer, but\nI will serve the devil, because he is the strongest. Immediately\nhe set out to seek for him, and passing through a forest was\naccosted by a dark-looking personage who asked him what he was\nlooking for, and on receiving his his answer, replied: I am the\ndevil you are seeking, follow me if you wish to enter my service.\nSo saying, he went on, followed by the youth, toward a certain\ncity. As they drew near the city, the devil turned aside from the\nhighway, and took a bye-road which was much more circuitous. The\nyouth asked him why he did not keep the high-road. Do you not\nsee, said the devil, that crucifix? I do not wish to pass it.\n'What is a crucifix?' said the youth. 'The image of my greatest\nenemy, who once conquered me' replied the devil.\n{133}\nFarewell, said the youth; if you are afraid of Him who hangs on\nthat cross, I shall leave you, and serve Him, because he is\nstronger than you. So saying, he went in search of Jesus Christ,\nand having stopped at a monastery, and asked the way to find Him,\nwas instructed, baptized by the name of Christopher, and became a\nmartyr.\"\n\nNow, dear Christian, you are a Christopher, a Christ-bearer, for\nyou have the image of Christ stamped in your soul in baptism. You\nare bound to serve the most powerful, and not only the most\npowerful, but the best master; the one who has the best right to\nyour services, whose service is the most honorable, whose rewards\nare the greatest, and whose final victory is certain. Listen to\nme now, and I will show you that this Prince is Jesus Christ.\n\nJesus Christ is our lawful King.\n\nI. By hereditary right. He is the Son of God. In his divine\nnature He is equal to his Father, and equally with Him the\nCreator of all things, and therefore our sovereign Lord. In his\nhuman nature, He is the first begotten Son of his Father, the\nheir of all things, in a special sense, the chief of the human\nrace.\n\n{134}\n\nII. By purchase. By Adam's sin, the special gifts which God had\ngiven to him and his posterity--integrity of nature, sanctifying\ngrace, paradise and the title to heaven--were forfeited. Mankind\nfell from a free to a servile condition. Jesus Christ, by a\ncompact with the eternal Father, and by pledging His life for us,\nhas purchased his right over us.\n\nIII. By redemption. He has redeemed us by his blood, from exile\nand slavery, and restored to us our forfeited inheritance of\ngrace and eternal life.\n\nIV. By conquest. When the whole world was subject to the usurped\ntyranny of Satan, He made war on him, conquered him, and wrested\nour souls from his possession. As subjects of a conquered empire,\nwe are therefore subject to the dominion of our conqueror.\n\nV. By our own election. We have freely chosen his service, when\nwe were confirmed and ratified our baptismal vows, and a thousand\ntimes we have offered ourselves to his service, and sworn\nallegiance to Him.\n\n{135}\n\nHis service is glorious. Because He is the greatest and wisest of\nall princes; because angels and saints are our companions;\nbecause his service consists in performing great and heroic\nactions, warring against vice, overcoming self, practising\nvirtue, doing good, and conquering the world, the flesh and the\ndevil. It is happy and delightful, because of peace of\nconscience, the friendship of God, and the consolations of divine\ngrace. These are a sort of bounty or earnest-money given now; but\nthe real reward is eternal life, to be given hereafter.\n\nJesus Christ is certain to obtain the victory and to triumph\ngloriously over all his enemies--over treacherous and cowardly\nfollowers within his own camp, that is, bad Christians who\npreserve the faith but live and die in sin; over all those who\nare nominally his followers, but who really are fighting under\nthe devil's standard, that is heretics, and schismatics; over\ninfidels, his open enemies among men; over Satan and hell.\n\nHere now are the two chiefs. There are the two standards. This is\nthe war in which every one of you is engaged, on one side or the\nother? Which side is it? Under what banner have you till now been\nranged? Do you belong to the party of Jesus Christ or that of the\ndevil?\n{136}\nDo you reply, I am a baptized Christian, marked with the sign of\nthe cross, and a member of the Catholic Church, and therefore a\nservant of Jesus Christ? It is true you are a soldier regularly\nenlisted and sworn into Christ's army, and wearing his uniform.\nBut the question is, are you a true-hearted, obedient and brave\nsoldier of Jesus Christ, or are you a traitor in the camp, a\nservant of the devil in the guise of a Christian? Let us see. You\ncall yourself a soldier of Jesus Christ. What are you doing then\nwith the devil's bounty? The devil's bounty is a license to\nsteal, cheat and swindle. What is that pile of bank-notes\npilfered from your employer, you dishonest clerk? What is that\nheap of gold, you bribed judge, you corrupt legislator, you\ndishonest official, you swindling speculator in government\ncontracts, in public distresses and private miseries? Jesus\nChrist will tolerate no thieves in his camp. If you are one of\nthese unjust, dishonest, avaricious, overreaching robbers of your\nneighbors goods, standing ready to sell your voice, your pen,\nyour vote, your oath, your conscience, your country, your faith,\nyour soul, your God Himself, for gold, then you have touched the\ndevil's bounty, you are his servant, and a traitor to your\ncolors.\n\n{137}\n\nYou are a soldier of Jesus Christ, are you? But you have been\ncaught drinking the devil's treat. There, where his sergeants\nrecruit for hell, in those grog-shops whose flaming signs and\nglaring windows tempt the fool and the unwary; where misery,\nbeggary, despair and death are dealt out to wretched fathers,\nbrutal husbands, ragged, bloated women who are wives and mothers;\nthere you have drained the cup of drunkenness, the pledge of\nfriendship with Satan and all the company of hell.\n\nYou are a Christian soldier, are you? But I hear on your lips the\ndevil's passwords, those curses and oaths, those obscene words\nand profane jests which show that you belong to the devil's camp.\nYour cursing tongue has betrayed you, false deserter, your speech\nis the speech of hell, and your presence among the faithful\nsoldiers of Jesus Christ is an offence and a scandal not to be\nborne by those who have any zeal for the honor of their Lord.\n\n{138}\n\nYou a Christian soldier?--and flaunting on the devil's\nparade-ground, the theatre, the ballroom where the lascivious\nwaltz goes on, the midnight revel of thoughtless and giddy young\npeople, flushed with wine, intoxicated with excitment, whirled\naway by the tide of passion, where they know not and care not,\nuntil at length remorse, disgrace and ruin tell them where, but\ntoo late to save them. These are the pomps of the devil which you\nrenounced and foreswore at your baptism. If you take them up\nagain, you are an outcast from Jesus Christ, and a servant of the\ndevil.\n\nYou dare to call yourself a Christian, and all the while you are\nliving on the devil's pay, feeding on sensuality, plunged\noverhead in impurity, the miserable, beastly reward that the\ndevil gives to his followers. By the law of Moses, those who\ncommitted such crimes were to be stoned to death without the\ncamp. Is the camp of Jesus Christ less holy, think you, that an\nimpure man or woman can be tolerated within its sacred precincts?\n\n{139}\n\nYou pretend to wear the livery of Jesus Christ. What, then, is\nthat badge, what are those insignia you are wearing? They tell\nthat you belong to some secret society, that you have defied the\nlaw of the Church, and braved her excommunication. You are then\nshut out from the sacraments, and not only are you no soldier of\nJesus Christ, but you belong to the devil's own body-guard.\n\nTell me, you pretended soldier of Jesus Christ, where are you on\nyour King's parade days, his Sundays and Festivals, when he\nrequires his servants on earth and his angels in heaven to\npresent themselves in review before him? Where are you during the\nholy solemnity of the Mass? Absent; your place vacant, and you\nasleep, or lounging, or doing the devil's work. At the Easter\nCommunion, where are you? You are not to be found, or still\nworse, you present yourself without that rich and ornamental\ndress of sanctifying grace, which your king requires, under pain\nof death. Blush to call yourself a soldier of Jesus Christ, for\nif you are one, you are a delinquent and a faithless one.\n\nYou profess yourself so loudly a Christian soldier, what then are\nyou straggling for, behind your column? Jesus Christ allows no\nstragglers in his army, and the enemy has ambuscades everywhere\nto cut them off.\n{140}\nThese are those heretical churches into which you stray, in\nignorance or neglect of Catholic order and discipline. Hasten out\nof these ambuscades of error, delusion and eternal death. Rejoin\nyour column quickly, and keep within the serried ranks of the\nCatholic host, or you are lost.\n\nMy brave and vaunting Christian warrior, how do your professions\nof fidelity and courage comport with your conduct when put on\nguard at night? How have you conducted yourself in temptation?\nHave you not committed mortal sin, and then given as an excuse\nthat you were tempted by the devil, or overcome by your passions?\nHave you not said that you could not help cursing when you were\nangry, drinking when you were urged, giving way to impure\ninclinations when you were assaulted by them, that you could not\nkeep from mortal sin, because you are so weak? These excuses make\nyou more guilty. They show that you have slept on your post, or\nkept a careless watch on the enemy, or yielded yourself a\nprisoner, when you should have fought manfully. It is your very\nprofession as a soldier of Jesus Christ to fight with the world,\nthe flesh and the devil, and you cannot be surprised or\nvanquished without your own fault.\n{141}\nTo say that you must sin because the devil tempts you, or that\nyou cannot resist your evil inclinations, is to confess your own\nshame, and to make it plain, that you are a coward, unworthy of\nthe glorious name of a soldier of Jesus Christ.\n\nI call upon you, then, unworthy and unfaithful followers of Jesus\nChrist, to renounce your secret and treasonable dealings with the\nenemy, to cease to act like traitors or poltroons, and to rally\nagain around the standard of salvation. No matter what mortal sin\nyou have on your soul, it is a bond which links you with the\ndevil, with his desperate cause and his eternal ruin. In spite of\nyour name of Christian, your badge of soldier, and your military\noath, you are a servant of Satan, and the Lord will one day cast\nyou out among his open enemies. In God's name, then, no more\ndouble dealing. Choose your side! If you wish for despair, and\nhave chosen eternal perdition, then Satan is your master, and you\ncan follow him if you choose. But if Jesus Christ is your king,\nhis service your choice, and his rewards your desire, come to his\nstandard, and flinch no more.\n{142}\nSee! the war is raging all around you, in which you must take\npart, on one side or the other. The banners are flying, the\ntrumpets are sounding, the soldiers of Christ are winning eternal\nrenown and pressing on to battle. Our glorious King is at the\nhead of his chosen band leading the way to victory, which is\nalready waving its wings above the unconquerable standard of\nsalvation. The shouts of conquest are heard in the distance, and\nthe foremost ranks are pressing in as victors through the gates\nof heaven. Shall we stand here like cowards, hugging the\nignominious chains of mortal sin? Far be the thought from every\nChristian breast! The voice of our Leader is calling us. Forward!\nthen. Onward! let us share in the glorious conflict, that we may\nshare in the triumph, and partake in the everlasting peace that\nis to follow.\n\n   ----------------------\n\n{143}\n\n    Sermon IX.\n\n    The Epiphany.\n\n\n    \"They found the Child with Mary his mother.\"\n    St. Matt, ii., 2.\n\n    (From the Gospel for the Day).\n\n\nThe Feast of the Epiphany, my dear brethren, is as it were a\nsecond Christmas. Christmas Day is a feast which all Christians\nhold in common, whether of Jewish or Gentile blood. If either had\nmore claim than the other, it would seem to belong rather to\nthose who are of Jewish origin; for, \"_to you is born this day\na Saviour in the City of David_\" was the announcement made by\nthe angels to the Jewish shepherds. But this feast of to-day is\npeculiarly ours. This is the great Gentile-Christian feast.\n{144}\nThe motto which we put up over our altar on Christmas eve, and\nwhich still hangs there, \"_Christus natus est nobis_,\"\n\"Christ is born for us,\" is especially appropriate to-day.\n\nThere is, however, still another distinct class of persons to\nwhom this day ought to be especially dear. You, my dear brethren,\nwho had not the greater privilege of belonging to the Holy\nCatholic Church from your infancy, but whom God in his mercy\nbrought into it in after years, this is your feast. You have an\ninterest in these Gentile converts, your ancestors in the faith,\nwhom the Church commemorates to-day, which they have not who\nnever knew any other creed. What I propose this morning, is,\n\n1. To give you a sketch of the history of today's feast; and\n\n2. To show you how these Gentile converts are models of men truly\nconverted to God.\n\n\n\n    I. History Of The Feast.\n\nWhilst angels were telling to the shepherds of Judea, as they\nkept watch over their flocks on Christmas eve, of the glad\ntidings of the birth of the Redeemer of the world in Bethlehem, a\nstrange apparition aroused the inhabitants of a great city in the\nfar distant east.\n{145}\nThey were awakened from their sleep, and the windows, doors, and\nstreets were thronged to look at a bright star, which hung in the\nsky, just over the city.\n\nYou remember, I dare say, what a stir was made in this country\nand elsewhere, a few years since, by the unexpected appearance of\nthat beautiful comet. How groups were to be seen standing about\nevery evening, both in and out of doors, with telescope or the\nnaked eye, gazing at it, and expressing to one another their\nwonder and delight. Well, some such feeling as this, mingled with\na certain religious awe, must have taken hold of this people of\nthe east on that night. How brilliant! what can it be? what can\nit mean? how close to us! who will tell us something about it?\nExclamations such as these, were heard on all sides, from the\nlips of rich and poor alike. Now there were men in that kingdom\nwho might naturally be supposed to know something about it, for\nthey had made the science of the stars, in their supposed\nconnection with human action, or astrology, a special branch of\nstudy.\n{146}\nThey were men of education. They were high in civil station too,\nand filled such offices as magistrate, and governor, and even\nthat of a sort of petty sovereign. They were called Magi. They\nwere in their own country what the Mandarin is in China; what the\nBrahmin is in India. But how can they know any thing of a star so\nunusual in its appearance as this? There were two sources through\nwhich a certain prophecy connected with the appearance of a star\nmight have reached them.\n\n1. Fifteen hundred years before, a prophet or diviner, whatever\nhis office may have been, whose name was Balaam, had uttered a\nmost remarkable prophecy. It was as follows: \"_I shall see him,\nbut not now; I shall behold him, but not near. A star shall rise\nout of Jacob, and a sceptre shall spring up from Israel_.\" If\nBalaam was a fellow-countryman of these Magi, as some learned\nwriters have supposed, then they could hardly have been ignorant\nof this prophecy.\n\n{147}\n\n2. One thousand years after that again, the Jews were carried\naway in captivity to the city of Babylon, and dispersed\nthemselves through that region of country. It is natural to\nsuppose that in this way their traditions and sacred writings\nbecame publicly known. In that case, these men of science could\nhardly have failed to notice the fact of Balaam's prophecy being\nfound in the Jewish book of Numbers. They would moreover find, in\nthe course of that familiar intercourse which was now established\nbetween the people of both nations, that the Jews had always\nconsidered this prophecy as having reference to the promised\nMessias, or future Ruler of their people.\n\nWhatever may be the fact as to their having any information at\nall, or the particular sources through which it came, or whether\ntheir wills were moved directly by inspiration from God, certain\nit is that these holy kings did recognize in that star their\nguide to the newly-born king of the Jews. Among the historical\nrecords of God's dealing with the Jewish people, they perhaps\nremembered how He had led them through the wilderness under the\nguidance of a pillar of fire, and consequently were more willing\nto trust themselves to a guide of a similar kind.\n\n{148}\n\nDifficulties now sprang up on every side. It was no easy thing to\nmake up their minds to leave their kingdoms (or whatever was the\npeculiar nature of their charge), in the hands of others, who\nmight usurp their authority in their absence. Travelling over the\ndeserts to the westward was most tedious, and attended with much\ndanger. And after all might not this vision be a delusion? Such\nwere some of the trials their faith had to surmount, and it did\nsurmount them. I will not say more of their journey, than that\nthey were faithful to their guide. They halted when it stood\nstill, they continued their march when it led the way. Here are\nthey now within a short march of the city of Jerusalem. The\nmorning light is breaking, and word is passed to harness the\ncamels, and to fold up the tents. The encampment is alive with\njoy, at the prospect of the speedy and successful termination of\ntheir undertaking, when a cry of distress is heard; \"the\nstar!--where is the star? it is gone! what shall we do?\" Let us\ntry to conceive what their distress must have been.\n\n{149}\n\nYou know that in some parts of our country there are great caves\nunderground, into which one can penetrate bypaths winding hither\nand thither to the distance of twenty, thirty, or even forty\nmiles from the entrance; as for example, the great Mammoth cave\nof Kentucky. Of course, the darkness there is absolute. Perhaps\nyou may remember having seen an account given by one of a party\nof persons whose only light had gone out on an excursion of this\nkind. He tried to describe the horror that he and his companions\nfelt when they found themselves in such total darkness, and,\nunless relieved by persons outside, in the face of certain death.\nTo move, even for a few feet, might, for all they knew, be sudden\ndestruction. To remain where they were was certain death by\nstarvation. Now some such feelings as these must have overwhelmed\nour travellers from the east when they lost the star. Their guide\nwas gone; they were in a strange and, it might prove, an enemy's\nland, especially as they had come in search of a rival to him who\nwas sitting on the throne of Judea. What should they do? They\ndetermined to enter the city, to go to the king himself and\nfearlessly demand to know from him \"_where is he who is born\nking of the Jews; for we have seen his star in the east and have\ncome to worship him?_\"\n{150}\nKing Herod called in the priests from the temple; the Scriptures\nwere brought, the prophecies were examined; and Bethlehem was\nfound to be the favored spot. \"_Thou Bethlehem, the land of\nJuda, art not the least among the princes of Juda for out of thee\nshall come the ruler who shall rule my people Israel_.\" They\ndo not stay to be entertained with banquetings, or with what is\ncurious or interesting in this great city, but they resume their\njourney, when lo! their beautiful guide appears before them once\nmore. Oh! what joy it must have been to them to see it again. I\ndare say they thought it a hundredfold brighter than before, as\nthey gazed up at it with their cheerful faces. ... At last it\nstops just over a poor shed on a hillside. This the birth-place\nof the king of the Jews!! Impossible. They look up at the star.\nThere it stands motionless. They dismount with their presents,\nand pass through the rude entrance. A wonderful light fills the\nlowly place, and they see a young woman sitting upon some straw\non the ground, a beautiful infant on her lap, and one who seems\nto be her husband, at her side. That same faith which had led\nthem so far, made them bend the knee in adoration. \"_They had\nfound the child with Mary his mother_.\"\n\n{151}\n\nSuch, my dear brethren, is the sketch I promised you of this most\ninteresting history of today's feast. To me, I must confess it\nhas a peculiar charm and beauty. Now, what holy lesson shall we\ntry to learn from it?\n\n\n  II. These Magi Are Models To Us Of Men Truly Converted To God.\n\n\n1. _In their prompt obedience to his inspirations_. That\nstar was a call from God. He asked a great deal from them.\nLuxuries, comforts, country, kingdom, home, all must be, for the\ntime at least, abandoned. It would seem so easy for them to have\nsaid, as we say now-a-days, I can arrange to go in a few months\ntime,--but _at once_, this is quite impossible. But there\nstood their bright guide, a rebuke to any such thoughts, and in\nsetting out at once, in obedience to this call from God, these\nholy men teach us a most wholesome lesson. How often has God not\ncalled us, either from some path of sin which we were following,\nor to a closer union with Himself?\n{152}\nAt one time He has spoken to us plainly, by some word in a sermon\nor book, at another, by some secret fear or inspiration! We\nanswer, \"to-morrow, to-morrow,\" and that morrow never comes. That\nto-morrow is the devil's light, a very \"Will o' the wisp,\" which\nleads us on and on to danger and destruction. Oh! let us in [the]\nfuture be on the watch for these secret whisperings of grace to\nour souls, and let us learn to be prompt in corresponding with\nthem.\n\n2. _In their courage_. When these holy men had promptly set\nabout obeying the will of God, their difficulties had only just\nbegun. They would soon have become disheartened but for the\nsupernatural courage that sustained them. Their attendants and\nservants, not having their Master's faith, magnified every\ndifficulty as it arose. The oppressive heat by day, the cold at\nnight, the length and wearisomeness of the way, the danger of\nmurder and robbery, all these afforded them subjects for\ncontinual murmuring. But now, to crown all, the star has\ndisappeared, and they clamor loudly to be allowed to return back\nin haste to their homes. But no; a courageous faith supported\nthese royal pilgrims, and God rewarded it, by their finding, at\nlast, the object of their search, \"the Child with Mary his\nMother.\"\n\n{153}\n\nHow is it, my dear brethren, with us on the way of life? Is it\nnot too common to hear such language as this: 'I have such an\nunfortunate temper;' or, 'I have such disagreeable neighbors;'\nor, 'I have such an unmanageable family;' or, 'I am thrown with\nsuch reckless companions;' or, 'I have no comfort in my prayers;'\nand 'There is no use in trying to be good; I would give any thing\nif I only could be good; I am sure it is the only way to be\nreally happy, but somehow or other I cannot get good.' Oh! poor\ncowardly souls that we are! Did I not say truly, that in these\nMagi we should find an occasion of confusion to ourselves, as\nwell as true models of courageous perseverance under difficulties\nhowever great or peculiar? Dear brethren, begin again this\nmorning your journey of life, in the spirit of these holy\nconverts. Be faithful to the light that God never fails to give\nyou, through your directors and confessors, through good books\nand by holy inspirations, and joy and consolation will come all\nin good time.\n{154}\nThe only way that will surely, safely, and speedily bring us to\nour Lord, is the way of the Cross. Surely it is worth the\nventure, worth the toil, if only we find at last, as we shall,\n\"that Child with Mary his Mother.\"\n\n3. _In their offerings_. It is a beautiful custom among the\nnations of the East, that they never go into the presence of\ntheir sovereign without some offering. Behold these holy men, as\nthey bow down within the entrance of that poor lodge, and hold\nout in their hands the gold, the frankincense and the myrrh which\nthey have brought so far, in honor of their newly found\nSovereign, the infant king of the Jews! Let us kneel in spirit\nwith them. We have here, our Bethlehem. The infant Jesus is\nwithin this little Tabernacle. There, above the altar rail, the\nstill light is burning, which is the silent monitor to our faith,\nthat Jesus is here. The world would have found it hard to adore\nthe infant Saviour, with those three kings, in so lowly a place;\nand the world finds it too hard now, to kneel with us, in a\nCatholic church, before the blessed Sacrament. These holy men did\nnot find it hard, nor do we, for they and we have the same\nblessed, gift of faith.\n\n{155}\n\n_They offer gold_--You have none! Oh yes, you have. Put your\nten-penny, five-penny, and three-penny pieces, put your pennies\ntoo, into the offertory, with a pure intention, or bestow an alms\non the poor outside, in the name of Jesus, and they will be\nchanged into the purest gold. Love is a far more acceptable\noffering to God than gold. He has no need of your money; for, as\nthe Psalmist says, \"The earth is the Lord's, and the fulness\nthereof.\" One thing alone you have it in your power to keep from\nHim, and he deigns to ask you for it. It is your heart. It is\nyour love and your service.\n\n_They offer incense_--You have none! Oh yes, you have. What\ndoes holy king David say? \"_O Lord, direct my prayer as incense\nin thy sight._\" Prayer is the blessed incense that is\nincessantly streaming up before God. This it is that restrains\nthe arm of his anger, and brings down blessings like showers of\nrain. There is one prayer above all others which in a special\nmanner is doing this. It is the Holy Mass. Blessed Leonard of\nPort Maurice asks himself, why it is that God does not nowadays\nvisit nations with such terrible and unmistakable judgments as He\ndid the Jews, and the nations round about them?\n{156}\nThen he makes answer to himself, it is because of the\nall-powerful intercession of the Holy Mass. As that pure and holy\nsacrifice ascends up like clouds of incense, from ten thousand\naltars, all over the world, God is disarmed of his anger. A\nwicked world is spared too, for the sake of what those little\ntabernacles contain, on the altars of Catholic churches.\n\nHear mass, then, on a week day, or make a visit of a few minutes\nto the Blessed Sacrament, and you have the most fragrant incense\nto offer to God.\n\n_They offer myrrh_--You have none! Oh yes. Myrrh preserves\nfrom corruption. This was among the spices that the holy women\nbrought on Easter morning to embalm our Lord's body. Well, there\nis something that preserves our souls, as myrrh and spices\npreserve our bodies. This is self-denial. Self-gratification is\nthe corruption both of soul and body. Look around at the army of\ndrunkards, and seekers of forbidden pleasures, and you will have\nabundant proof of the corruption of the body, and of the soul\ntoo, though not in the awfulness of its corruption, as God sees it.\n\n{157}\n\nWell, restrain your tongue; restrain your eye; restrain your\nappetite; and offer this to God in penance for your sins, in\nunion with that sublime act of self-denial on the Cross, and you\nwill offer to your Saviour as pleasing an offering as these holy\nMagi.\n\nMy brethren, we are all on the road to another, the true\nBethlehem. We, too, are going in search of Jesus and Mary. Our\nBethlehem is heaven. Our glorious, supernatural, infallible\nguide, is the Holy Catholic Church. We have met with trials; we\nshall meet with more. Perhaps, thus far, we have only passed\nthrough a sort of preparatory state, which shall enable us to\nbear up under the real sacrifices that we shall be called upon to\nmake in time to come. Nothing will sustain us under these, but\nimplicit faith in our Guide, and an unshaken fidelity to her. Be\nloyal to her then. Show your love for God, by your obedience to\nher. Cling to her side, and she will lead you to that Bethlehem\nabove, where it may be said of you also,--\n\n  \"They found the Child with Mary his Mother.\"\n\n    ----------------------\n\n{158}\n\n     Sermon X.\n\n     Renunciation.\n\n\n  \"And after six days, Jesus taketh unto him\n  Peter and James and John his brother,\n  and bringeth them up into a high mountain apart.\n  And he was transfigured before them.\n  And his face did shine as the sun,\n  and his garments became white as snow.\"\n  --St. Matt, xvii., 12.\n\n  (From the Gospel for the Transfiguration).\n\n\nA wise general, in order to excite the ardor of his soldiers, and\nto render them forgetful of the dangers to which they are\nexposed, pictures to them on the eve of battle the spoils and\nglory to be acquired, if they fight bravely. In like manner, our\nLord, in order to cheer up and console his disciples, who began\nto be dismayed at the prospect of that death He was about to\nsuffer, imparted to them a foretaste of the joys of paradise, and\na \"vision\" of the splendor of his divinity.\n{159}\n\"_He was transfigured before them. And his face did shine as\nthe sun; and his garments became white as snow._\" Peter, as\nsoon as he recovered from his ecstasy of delight, exclaimed:\n\"_Lord, It is good for us to be here_.\"\n\nBut, to prepare His disciples for this anticipation of heaven, He\nbrought them into a high mountain apart; indicating thereby that\nsuch privileges can only be obtained by separation from the world\nin solitude. This is not only true relative to these high and\nspecial favors, but equally true in order to persevere in the\npractice of a Christian life. Separation from the world is an\nindispensable duty of a Christian. This truth, so plain in Holy\nWrit, is nevertheless liable to be misconceived, for which reason\nwe must make the following distinction:\n\nThere is a world we are not required as Christians to separate\nfrom. There is a world we are under the strictest obligations to\nseparate from.\n\nThe condemnation of the world by our Lord and his apostles is too\nplain and frequent not to have met the eye of any one who has the\nslightest acquaintance with the New Testament.\n{160}\n\"_You are from beneath,_\" said the Saviour to the Jews,\n\"_I am from above. You are of this world: I am not of this\nworld_,\" [Footnote 51] \"_Love not the world,_\" says the\nbeloved disciple and apostle, \"_nor the things which are in the\nworld. If any man love the world the charity of the Father is not\nin him._\" [Footnote 52] St. Paul, teaching the Romans, says:\n\"_Be not conformed to the world._\" [Footnote 53] \"_The\nfriendship of the world,_\" says St. James, \"_is enmity with\nGod._\" [Footnote 54] \"_The whole world_,\" says St. John,\n\"_is seated in wickedness._\" [Footnote 55]\n\n    [Footnote 51: St. John viii., 23.]\n\n    [Footnote 52: 1 John ii., 15.]\n\n    [Footnote 53: Romans xii., 2.]\n\n    [Footnote 54: St. James iv., 4. ]\n\n    [Footnote 55: 1 John v., 19.]\n\nThese declarations of the sacred Scriptures are plain and to the\npoint. To be a disciple of Christ is to have nothing to do with\nthe world. If any further proof were needed of so plain a fact,\nwe may find it in the baptismal service, where the catechumen is\nengaged by the most solemn promises to turn his back upon the\nworld. But what this world is, that we are so strictly engaged to\nrenounce, is not at first sight so clear.\n\nIs it the visible world, called nature, so full of instruction\nand rich in beauty, that we are to turn our backs upon?\n{161}\nAre we called upon in our character as Christians to close our\neyes to the flowers, the mountains, the rivers, the glowing\nsunsets, and the stars of heaven? Are we bound to shut our ears\nto the murmuring winds, the music of the rivulet, and the songs\nof the birds? Are we to be counted Christians on the condition\nonly of our shutting out from our senses that beauty, which\nsurrounds us on all hands, of the visible world? What is there\nprofane in nature when Holy Writ assures us that, \"The Lord is\nholy in all his works.\" [Footnote 56] and that \"_all things\nserve Him?_\" [Footnote 57]\n\n   [Footnote 56: Psalm cxliv., 13.]\n\n   [Transcriber's note: The USCCB reference is Psalm cxlv., 13.]\n\n   [Footnote 57: Psalm cxviii., 91.]\n\n   [Transcriber's note: The USCCB reference is Psalm cxix., 91.]\n\nThe royal prophet David was accustomed to open all the avenues of\nhis soul to the beauty of nature, and, filled with admiration, he\nseems hardly able to contain his praise of Him by whom all things\nwere made. \"_O Lord our Lord, how admirable_,\" he exclaims,\n\"_is thy name in the whole earth_.\" [Footnote 58] \"_How\ngreat are thy works, O Lord! thou hast made all things in wisdom;\nthe earth is filled with thy riches._\" [Footnote 59]\n\n    [Footnote 58: Psalm viii., 2.]\n\n    [Footnote 59: Psalm ciii., 24.]\n\n    [Transcriber's note: The USCCB reference is Psalm civ., 24.]\n\n{162}\n\nOur blessed Saviour himself chose to convey the great truths of\nhis gospel by illustrations drawn from the visible creation. He\ncalls our attention at one time to \"the birds of the air,\" at\nanother, it is to the golden \"harvests,\" and then it is to \"the\nlilies of the fields.\" He seems to have looked with an attentive\nand friendly eye upon the attractions of nature.\n\"_Consider_,\" He says, \"_the lilies of the fields, how\nthey grow: they labor not, neither do they spin. And yet I say to\nyou that not even Solomon in all his glory, was arrayed like one\nof these._\" [Footnote 60]\n\n    [Footnote 60: St. Matt, vi., 28-29.]\n\nCommenting on this passage of Holy Scripture, St. John Chrysostom\nasks: \"Wherefore did God make the lilies so beautiful? That He\nmight display,\" he answers, \"the wisdom and excellency of his\npower, that from every thing we might learn his glory.\" For not\n\"_the heavens only declare the glory of God._\" [Footnote 61]\nbut the earth too; and this David declared when he said:\n\"_Praise the Lord, ye fruitful trees, and all the cedars_.\"\n[Footnote 62]\n\n    [Footnote 61: Psalm xix., 1.]\n\n    [Transcriber's note: The USCCB reference is Psalm xix., 2.]\n\n    [Footnote 62: Psalm cxlviii., 4.]\n\n    [Transcriber's note: The phrase \"Praise the Lord\" is from\n    verse 7 and \"fruit trees and all cedars\" is from verse 9.]\n\n{163}\n\nIt could be no part of the visible creation that the Gospel had\nin view, when it declared that the friendship of the world is\nenmity with God; for we hear the same voice speak to us from\nnature, which speaks to us in divine revelation.\n\nWhat was it then? Was it the world of art, science, and\nliterature? Have not beauty, knowledge, and genius one and the\nsame fountain source with religion? Whence spring the noble\nachievements of art, science, and literature, if not from gifts,\nwhich like \"_every best gift, and every perfect gift, is from\nabove, coming down from the Father of lights_.\" [Footnote 63]\n\n    [Footnote 63: St. James i., 17.]\n\nIs not the true aim of art in all its creations to aid religion\nin bringing men to the contemplation of the first Fair, the first\nTrue, and the first Good? Can science find a greater sphere than\nto show how all things are, and move, and exist in their primal\ncause, God? Can literature be devoted to more worthy ends than to\nmake those virtues attractive which religion commands? True\nreligion recognizes in art, in science, and in literature, her\nnatural allies, while they in turn find in her bosom loftier and\nwider spheres to stimulate human exertion. These, then, are not\nof that world which Holy Writ condemns as at enmity with God.\n\n{164}\n\nAre we to find the world, which we as Christians are to renounce,\nin the ties of the family, in relationships and friends, in\nneighborhood and the common pursuits of life? All these\nconditions of life our Saviour sanctified either in his own\nperson, or by his express approbation, or by his presence. The\nbasis of all these relations of human life is that of marriage,\nand this natural tie, He not only sanctioned, but raised it up to\na holy sacrament of his religion. It is a false idea of the\nChristian religion, and one which is most injurious, to imagine\nthat it requires of us to stifle all natural affections, and to\nescape from society, in order to lead a Christian life. It\nteaches that the way of salvation, and the high roads to\nsanctity, are chiefly through the fulfilment of the common duties\nof every day life. \"_For God created all things,_\" says Holy\nWrit, \"_that they might be: and he made the nations of the\nearth for health: and there is no poison of destruction in them,\nnor kingdom of hell upon earth._\" [Footnote 64]\n\n    [Footnote 64: Wisdom i., 14.]\n\n{165}\n\nThe world made up of human relationships and the common pursuits\nof life, called society, is not at enmity with God. Nature art,\nscience, human society, are not opposed to Christianity, nor\ncontrary to Christian perfection. Many Christians have become\ngreat saints surrounded only by the scenery of nature; others\nwhile cultivating the arts and sciences; others again have\nreached an eminent degree of perfection while fulfilling their\ncommon every day duties. For the visible creation is good, and\nthere is nothing in man's nature incompatible with the absolute\nperfections of God, as is proved in the fact that our Saviour was\nin all respects in his humanity a man, and at the same time truly\nGod. \"_All things,_\" says Holy Scripture, \"_cooperate for\ngood to those who love God._\" The true Christian Church\nincorporates and consecrates nature and art in her worship--she\nappeals to the whole nature of every man, and opens a way to\nheaven for men of all classes, and in every condition of society.\n\nThe task was left to the sects which sprung from the religious\nrevolution of the sixteenth century, to exclude nature and art\nfrom Christian worship, to divorce faith and science, to degrade\nthe sacrament of matrimony to a mere civil contract, and to teach\nmen that they were wholly depraved.\n\n{166}\n\nThe authors of this revolution in Christianity, seemed to take\ndelight in parcelling the realm of Christian truth into wrangling\ncreeds, and in rendering Christian worship rigid, gloomy and\nrepulsive. And in this they found freedom, progress, and the\nlight of the pure gospel!\n\nHow narrow and grovelling are the minds which never rise to the\ncontemplation of that unity which reconciles all truths, all\nbeauties, and all goodness! Will that day ever dawn when\nChristianity will find a people sufficiently great to grant to\nits divine truths fair play with their intelligence, and a full\nsway to her influence over their whole lives?--when men of\ngenius, of science and of learning will understand that the true\nend of all knowing, all loving and all doing is the same as that\nof religion, to render the souls of men more like their Creator,\nand to aid others in this divine work?\n\n{167}\n\nWhere then is the world which, as Christians, we are called upon\nto separate from? There is a world which God made for the use of\nman. He made it good, and good it remains while rightly used.\nThere is another world which man has made, and it is framed out\nof the abuse of the creatures of God's world.\n\nThe whole difficulty lies in the fact that men generally do not\nconsider the things of creation rightly, or use them properly;\nand the great world around us consists in the main of those who\nthus misunderstand God's world, and live by the abuse and\nperversion of it, led on by their inordinate desires. This is\n\"the world seated in wickedness,\" on which we must turn our\nbacks, for to be a friend of it, is to be an enemy of God. A few\nillustrations will make this point plain.\n\nHow few there are who look upon nature in that light in which she\nwas intended to be seen by her Creator. Seen in this light, the\nwhole visible world of nature raises up our thoughts and\naffection to our common Creator. For nature has ever been true\nand loyal to her Author. The Psalmist only gives expression to\nthe natural and spontaneous impulses of the soul when in\nbeholding the visible world, he exclaims: \"_O Lord, our Lord,\nhow admirable is thy name in the whole earth_.\" How few in\nlooking upon nature, raise up their thoughts to nature's God.\n{168}\nThey do not go beyond, but stop with what they see. To them,\nnature is the highest and most complete expression of strength,\nbeauty, and truth. Nature is fair, but how much fairer is He who\nmade nature what she is! They forget the King in their blind\nadmiration of his vestments. They become the servants and slaves\nof nature, instead of being her master and high-priest. Their\nworship of nature excludes her Creator and Lord, and they become\nlike the heathen idolaters of whom the Apostle speaks: \"_They\nworshipped the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed\nfor ever_.\" [Footnote 65]\n\n    [Footnote 65: Rom. i., 25.]\n\nWhat do we find for the most part in the world of art? Do we see\nartists who are conscious of the great purposes of their noble\nvocation? Do they aim by the creations of their genius to raise\nless gifted minds to gaze upon the archetype of all beauty,\ntruth, and goodness? Do they strive so to embody what is noblest\nand best in man's nature as to captivate his imagination, and\nenkindle an enthusiasm for its imitation?\n{169}\nThere are a few such; a few who are men, no less than artists,\nand who regard their vocation as something akin to what is\nsacred, and would look upon it as desecration to employ their\ngifts in such way us to lead men aside from the realization of\nthe great end of their existence. But the many study to clothe\nwith forms of borrowed beauty the expressions which spring from\nthe lowest passions of their nature. The lessons which their\nproductions teach, were they interpreted and expressed in words,\nwould shock the unvitiated feelings of the heart, causing the\ninnocent cheek to blush with shame. Quoting with sophistical\nblindness the text, \"_To the pure all things are pure_,\"\nthey imagine they are justified in violating every rule of\nChristian decency, every feeling of modesty, and every maxim of\nmorality. Under the pretext of being true to nature, they\nmisrepresent nature, by presenting what is lowest in man, and\nthat in its exaggerated and depraved developments, and thereby\nadd excitement to his already inordinate appetites and aid\npowerfully to his further degradation. Art, instead of being an\nangel pointing with its fore-finger to heaven, showing man the\nway to his destiny, and aiding him to its attainment, is turned\ninto a Siren, enticing men to sin and destruction.\n\n{170}\n\nIn the world of science and literature, the same thing takes\nplace. It would appear that the aim of most men devoted to\nscience is, in a great measure, to undermine the basis of\nreligious conviction in the soul, instead of adding to its\nstrength and support. What is more reasonable than to suppose\nthat the sentiments of religion should increase in proportion to\nthe acquisition of the knowledge of truth, for the end of all\nknowledge of truth is God. And yet, if you select from almost any\nbranch of science, those who are pre-eminent, you will, in all\nprobability, find that those who believe in Christianity and\npractise its precepts, are in the minority, a very small\nminority. What a strange perversion of the gift of intelligence\nto study the works of creation, in order to overturn the\nRevelation of the Creator!\n\nPopular literature is of the same stamp. It would be high praise\nto say of a popular author that his writings contain nothing\ncontrary to morals or religion. It would seem to be the aim of\nsome to substitute vice for virtue, and so to cloak passion with\nthe garb of innocence as to make obedience to them an act of\nreligion.\n{171}\nFamiliarity with our popular literature would be a sad\npreparation for the reception of religious impressions, or for\nthe practice of virtue. Briefly, in art, in science, and\nliterature, there reigns for the greater part, an indifference to\nChristianity, the spirit of paganism, and a practical atheism.\n\nLet us now look about ourselves in society. Here is a man\npossessed with the desire for distinction and places of honor.\nHis thoughts by day, and his dreams at night, are set upon them.\nHe is a lawyer, and aims at being at the head of the bar, or at\nbecoming a judge. He is a politician, he seeks to be an alderman,\nor a state senator, or a congressman. He knows not but one day he\nmay be the president of the United States. Does he seek these by\nlegitimate means? Not at all. To gain popularity he sacrifices\nall self-respect, and bribery is connived at to obtain votes. If\nhis religion is likely to aid his efforts, he _uses_ it; you\nwill find him in church, and he gives liberally about election\ntimes to its charitable institutions.\n{172}\nShould his religion stand in his way, he ceases to practice its\nduties. Should it serve his purpose, he becomes a free-mason, or\nan odd fellow, or a member of some other secret society.\n\nAnother is driven on by an inordinate desire for riches. Not\ncontent with the rewards of an honest trade, or a respectable\nbusiness, he must make money easier and faster. He starts a\nsaloon or a liquor store, and to conceal the low and disgraceful\ncharacter of his traffic, he places on his house a sign in large\nletters, \"Bonded Warehouse,\" \"Rectifying Distillery,\" \"Importer\nof Foreign Liquors,\" or some other like falsehood. His foreign\nand domestic wines and liquors, are made of bad spirits, some\ncoloring matter and essences, with fusil oil; and these he deals\nout for genuine, making from two to three hundred per cent.\nprofit. Under the plea of providing for a family, and it may be\nthat he has neither chick nor child, he opens in the city several\nsuch--Rectifying Distilleries!! What does this man care about the\nscandal which he is the occasion of to his religion, or the\npoverty and wretchedness he spreads abroad in his neighborhood,\nor the number of souls which he sends to an untimely and\nunprepared grave, caused by his poisonous stuffs, so that he gain\nwealth without effort and rapidly.\n\n{173}\n\nAnother, a young man who is bent upon seeking pleasure. He\nfrequents low theatres, ball-rooms, and bar-rooms. He meets\ncompanions, he gambles, and occasionally he puts his hand in the\ntill of his employer's drawer, or he forges his paper. The\neffects of late hours, intoxication and debauchery, by and by,\nshow themselves on his face, a faint picture of the corruption\nwhich these vices have produced in his heart. He ends his life as\nan uncurable in a public hospital; or detected, he spends his\ntime and dies in a penitentiary.\n\nHere is a girl whose mind and imagination are filled with parties\nof pleasure, and forbidden friendships, gathered for the most\npart from reading popular literature and infectious novels. Her\nprayers are forgotten, the sacraments neglected, and she dreams\nof amusements and romantic attachments. Dress, tone of voice,\nevery step and movement of her person betray the inordinate\npassions which have taken possession, and reign now in her bosom.\nTo fill up the sketch, all that is now needed is time and\nopportunity, to complete her ruin, and make her a public shame.\n\n{174}\n\nFrom these illustrations it is easily seen which world it is\nthat, as followers of Christ, we are to separate from. It is this\nworld fabricated of error, of the abuse of created things, and\nengendered of inordinate desires. This is the world of which the\nApostle speaks when he says: \"_Love not the world, nor the\nthings which are in the world. If any man love the world the\ncharity of the Father is not in him: for all that is in the\nworld, is the concupiscence of the flesh, the concupiscence of\nthe eyes, and the pride of life, which is not of the Father but\nof the world_.\" [Footnote 66]\n\n    [Footnote 66: 1 John ii., 15-16.]\n\nThere is then a world which is formed of the things which God has\nmade, and the right use of these things by us; and this is an\ninnocent and righteous world, of which it is said: \"_God was in\nChrist, reconciling the world to himself_.\" [Footnote 67]\n\n    [Footnote 67: 2 Cor. v., 9.]\n\n    [Transcriber's note: The USCCB reference is 2 Cor. v., 19.]\n\nThere is a world which is made up of error, and the abuse men\nmake of created things; and this is the wicked and ungodly world\ncondemned in Holy Scripture.\n{175}\nOn the one let us look with interest and delight, and from the\nother let us separate and stand far apart, as did our blessed\nLord and his Saints, giving heed to the advice of St. Augustine:\n\"Let the spirit of God be in thee,\" he says, \"that thou mayest\nsee that all these created things are good; but woe to thee if\nthou love the things made, and forsake the Maker of them! Fair\nare they to thee; but how much fairer He that formed them!\"\n\n      ----------------\n{176}\n\n            Sermon XI.\n\n    The Afflictions Of The Just.\n\n  \"Blessed are you, when men shall revile you, and persecute you,\n  and shall say all manner of evil against you, for my sake.\n  Rejoice, and be exceeding glad, because your reward is very\n  great in heaven; for so they persecuted the Prophets that were\n  before you.\"\n    --St. Matt, v., 11, 12.\n\n  (From the Gospel for All Saints' Day.)\n\n\nI am about to preach you an old sermon this morning; but I doubt\nnot, my dear friends, you will find it all the better for being\nold, and quite appropriate, moreover, to this day's feast, for it\nwill carry us back to the earlier ages of Christianity, when\nliving saints were more abundant than now.\n\n{177}\n\nIn a vast desert of Palestine, which lay near the boundaries of\nArabia, there dwelt, during the fourth century of the Christian\nera, a number of devout hermits, who, after a life of great\ninnocence and saintly virtue, were cruelly massacred by the\nSaracens. Some of their brethren, deeply afflicted and\nscandalized by this outrage, began to ask themselves, how it was\npossible that God should permit such holy men to perish by the\nhand of these wicked infidels. In their perplexity, they deputed\nseveral of their number to visit and consult an aged Egyptian\nhermit who, on account of the great veneration in which he was\nheld, and the number of disciples gathered around him, was called\nthe Abba, or Abbot Theodore. These came to him with their sad\nstory, and besought him to explain why God should permit such\nholy men to perish so miserably, and how he could consent to the\ntriumph of these cruel barbarians over his saints.\n\nI invite your particular attention, my brethren, to his answer;\nfor perhaps you have asked similar questions yourselves. In the\nvarious wars in which nations have engaged, and even in those\nwhere the interests of religion seemed most involved, we do not\nsee that victory has always perched upon those banners which the\nprayers of God's people have blessed.\n{178}\nSo it has been throughout the history of the Church, and\nespecially during the past three centuries. Who can recount the\ncalamities which from year to year have fallen upon the children\nof the faith? The soul grows sick to read of kingdoms wrested by\nviolence into schism and heresy, the burnings of monasteries and\nconvents, or their confiscation to the state, the persecution of\nthe Catholic clergy, the oppression of the laity. And especially\nwhen we turn our thoughts to Ireland, poor, faithful, down\ntrodden Ireland--is it not wonderful that every thing seems to\nturn out to her disadvantage, and to the prosperity of her\noppressors? Have you not sometimes been tempted to exclaim: \"Has\nGod forgotten Ireland? Has she clung to her faith so long in\nvain, amid poverty, oppression and bloodshed? Has heaven no\nfavors for her? Why does not God give victory always to the just\ncause?\" Or, perhaps, you have noticed in your own neighborhood,\nhow often the most faithful servants of God have been visited by\nheavy afflictions, long sickness, loss of property, death of\nchildren and other dear friends, while others, destitute of\nfaith, piety, and of all virtuous principle, seem to prosper on\nevery hand.\n{179}\nAnd perhaps, seeing this, the thought arises in your mind: \"Does\nnot God take notice of these things? Has He no chastisement for\nthe wicked, no sympathy for the good? Why does He not take part\nwith his own, and make them prosper most?\" All these murmurings\nare like those of the good anchorites who visited Abbot Theodore,\nand his answer to their questions will answer yours.\n\n  (_Prelude of Abbot Theodore_.)--\"These questions, my\n  brethren,\" said he, \"only astonish those who, having little\n  faith and little light, think that the saints ought to receive\n  their recompense in this life, while God reserves it for them\n  in the other. But we have far different thoughts. If our hopes\n  in Christ were only for the present life, we should be, as St.\n  Paul tells us, the most miserable among men, having no\n  recompense in this world, and losing heaven also by our want of\n  faith. We ought to guard our minds against this error, for it\n  would leave us without hope or courage in the moment of\n  temptation, fill us with distrust of God, and so bring us into\n  sin, and to our ruin.\"\n\n{180}\n\nAfter this short prelude, he goes on to show that God neither\nsends nor permits any real evil to those that love Him, but that,\non the contrary, all things contribute to the welfare of the\njust. And this is his argument:\n\n  I. God Neither Sends Nor Permits Any Real Evil, &c.\n\n  \"Every thing in this world,\" said the good abbot, \"is either\n  good, or bad, or indifferent. There is nothing really good but\n  virtue, which conducts us to God. There is nothing really bad\n  but sin, which separates us from God. In different things are\n  such as hold a middle place between good and evil, and may pass\n  into one or the other, according to the disposition of him that\n  uses them. Such are riches, honor, health, beauty, life, death,\n  sickness, poverty, injuries, insults, &c.\"\n\n  \"This distinction laid, let us see whether God has ever sent\n  any real evil to his saints, or permitted any one to do them a\n  real injury. That is something that we shall never be able to\n  make out. For no one is able to make a man fall into sin, who\n  is unwilling and resists, but only those who consent to it, and\n  give admittance to it, by the effeminacy of their hearts, and\n  the depravity of their will.\n{181}\n  The demon employed every possible artifice against holy Job to\n  make him murmur against God; but in spite of all the\n  afflictions which he heaped upon him, body and soul, he could\n  not provoke him so far as to sin even with his lips, and thus\n  fall into the only real evil he had to fear. We must not think,\n  therefore, that the ill turns which our enemies or other\n  persons sometimes do us are really evils, but they belong\n  rather to the class of indifferent things. To be sure, they may\n  think to have done us harm, and rejoice at it; but the harm\n  does not depend upon what they may think, so long as we do not\n  count it for such. For example: a good man is put to death,\n  without any just cause or provocation. Now, we must not suppose\n  that any thing really evil in itself has happened to him, but\n  simply something which is either good or evil, according to\n  circumstances. For, in truth, death, which is commonly counted\n  to be an evil, comes with a blessing to the just man, for it\n  delivers him from all the afflictions of this life. Thus death\n  is no harm to him; and although the malice of his enemies\n  anticipates the order of nature by leading him to a sudden\n  death, the good man thereby only pays a little sooner a debt\n  which he had to pay in any case, and he goes to receive an\n  eternal crown, as the reward of his sufferings and death.\"\n\n{182}\n\n  Upon this, one of the party named Germanns, raised a\n  difficulty. \"In that case,\" said he, \"we should have no reason\n  to blame the murderer, since he does no harm to the one he\n  kills, but only speeds him the sooner on to his salvation.\"\n\n  \"We are speaking of things as they are in themselves,\" said\n  Abbot Theodore, \"and not of the intention of those who do them.\n  The patience and virtue of the just man in his sufferings and\n  death, is a crown to himself, but no justification of his\n  persecutor. The latter will be punished for his cruelty, and\n  for the evil which he intended to do, while the good man has in\n  reality suffered no harm, but by his patience has changed into\n  a blessing the evil which was devised against him. For example:\n  the wonderful patience of Job was of no service to Satan, but\n  it was of inestimable value to Job himself, who endured his\n  trials with so much courage and resignation.\n{183}\n  So Judas is none the less subjected to eternal torments,\n  because his treason contributed to the salvation of men; for in\n  the eye of divine justice, an action is not so much to be\n  judged by its results, as by the intention of the person who\n  did it.\"\n\nThese high, and holy maxims of Christian philosophy being thus\nfirmly established, our good hermit, growing warm with his\nsubject, begins to rise to still loftier and more beautiful\nconceptions, like a bee coming out from its search in the flower,\nand shaking the golden pollen from its wings.\n\n\n\n  II. All Things Contribute To The Welfare Of The Just.\n\n  \"We say of some men that they are born to good luck, and that\n  every thing they put their hands to turns out well. We deceive\n  ourselves when we say this; it is only true of the Saints, and\n  in a spiritual sense. '_We know_,' says St. Paul, '_that\n  all things work together for good to them that love God_.'\n  [Footnote 68]\n\n      [Footnote 68: Rom. viii., 28.]\n\n{184}\n\n  Wonderful truth! Beautiful truth! And the Prophet David says\n  the same thing of every man whose will is in the Law of God:\n  _All, whatsoever he shall do, shall prosper._ [Footnote\n  69]\n\n      [Footnote 69: Ps. i., 3.]\n\n  Now, when the Apostle says that '_all things work together\n  for good_,' he means not only prosperity, but also what is\n  called adversity. And why? Why, because those who truly and\n  perfectly love God remain unchanged in all the vicissitudes of\n  life. They have but one end in view--eternal life, and only\n  one means to attain to it, namely, to do the will of God. This\n  they can do in all weathers, in rain or sunshine. Indeed, like\n  the stormy petrel, they gather most in stormy weather. For what\n  reflecting Christian does not know the sweet uses of adversity,\n  which, by severing the hopes that bound us to the earth, and\n  opening our eyes to the fact that we are but pilgrims here,\n  with a right of passage only, teach us to fix our hopes on\n  heaven alone, and labor to build up our fortunes there? The\n  great Apostle, who himself had passed through the various paths\n  of adversity, teaches us how to turn all the vicissitudes of\n  life, both its joys and sorrows, into golden occasions of\n  merit, fighting our way onward to heaven, as he says, '_with\n  the strength which God gives us, by the arms of justice, on the\n  right hand and on the left;_' that is, as he goes on to\n  explain, '_through honor and dishonor, through infamy and\n  good name, as dying and behold we live, as sorrowful and yet\n  always rejoicing, as having nothing and yet possessing all\n  things?_' [Footnote 70]\n\n    [Footnote 70: 2 Cor. vi., 8-10]\n\n{185}\n\n  \"All therefore, that passes for prosperity, and is consequently\n  _on the right hand_, such as glory, and good reputation,\n  and success in temporal affairs, and all that passes for\n  adversity, and thus, according to the language of St. Paul, is\n  _on the left hand_, such as disgrace and evil report, and\n  temporal disappointment;--all to the perfect Christian serve\n  alike for arms of justice, holy weapons to win his crown with,\n  because he receives every thing that comes with the same great\n  heart, and allows himself to be cast down by nothing. And\n  therefore the Prophet says of him: '_The holy man continues\n  in wisdom like the sun_.'[Footnote 71]\n\n    [Footnote 71: Ecclus. xxvii. 12.]\n\n    [Transcriber's note: Ecclesiastes ends at chapter 12.\n    Text is similar to Sirach xxvii. 11.]\n\n  But for those who change every moment, and show different\n  humors and different dispositions of heart, according to the\n  different chances and changes of life--let them listen to these\n  words of the same Prophet, which were spoken for their especial\n  benefit: _The fool changes like the moon.'_ [Footnote 72]\n\n    [Footnote 72:  Ecclus. xxvii. 12.]\n\n    [Transcriber's note: The USCCB citation is Sirach xxvii. 11;\n    \"the godless man, like the moon, is inconstant.\"]\n\n{186}\n\nAnd, therefore, every thing turns to evil for them, according to\nthe proverb: '_Every thing to the foolish man is contrary_,'\n[Footnote 73] because he does not improve in prosperity, nor\ncorrect his ways in adversity. It will not do for the Christian\nto be like wax, which takes any form that may be impressed upon\nit; but like a diamond seal, he should keep unchangeably the form\nimpressed upon his heart by the hand of God, showing no change in\nthe different events of life.\n\n    [Footnote 73: Prov. xiv. 7. So in the lxx. ]\n\n\"In Holy Scripture [Footnote 74] we read of one Aod, a great\nwarrior, and a leader of the Israelites, who was what is called\nan _ambidexter_, that is, he could use the left hand as well\nas the right. This man,\" said Abbot Theodore, \"is a type of the\nperfect Christian, who is always an ambidexter, making use of\nboth prosperity and adversity to advance the salvation of his\nsoul, and increase his merits, fighting the good fight of faith,\n'_with the arms of justice, on the right hand and on the\nleft_.'\n\n    [Footnote 74: Judges ii.]\n\n{187}\n\nIt is the duty of us all to exercise ourselves in the use of this\nholy armor, that we may, like Aod, be dexterous warriors, able to\ncarry our swords in either hand, and meet our foes on whatever\nside they may advance, temperate in prosperity, patient in\nadversity, never fainting, always rejoicing, seeking for nothing,\nhoping for nothing, knowing nothing in this world but \"Jesus\nChrist and Him crucified,\" and thus, by this blessed alchemy of\nthe Saints, turning all things into gold.\n\n\"You see, therefore, my dear friends,\" so concluded the good\nhermit, \"that we have no occasion to deplore the death of these\nsaintly solitaries, as if they had suffered some great\nmisfortune, or as if their enemies had triumphed over them; and\nstill less have we any right to complain of God, as if He had\nforsaken or forgotten his own. On the contrary, they have gone to\ntheir rest, like the laboring man at night-fall; they have been\nshaken from the tree where they grew, like ripe figs in the\nharvest time, and their Divine Master has gathered them in. Their\ndeath was cruel and miserable in the eyes of man, but precious in\nthe sight of God, for so the Psalmist tells us: '_Precious in\nthe sight of God is the death of his Saints_.' [Footnote 75]\n\n    [Footnote 75: Psalm cxv., 15.]\n\n    [Transcriber's note: The USCCB reference is Psalm cxvi., 15.]\n\n{188}\n\nDo not believe that, even if it were left to their choice, they\nwould wish to come back again to this world, to live longer in\nit, nor would they choose any other death than that by which they\nhave quitted it. Indeed there was little room for choice in the\nmatter, since, as the Apostle says, '_for them to live was\nChrist and to die was gain_,' [Footnote 76] it being the\nprivilege of the Saints to prosper in all that befalls them.\"\n\n    [Footnote 76: Phil, i., 21.]\n\n    [Transcriber's note: Similarly, Phil., 1., 23,\n    \"I long to depart this life and be with Christ,\n    (for) that is far better.\"]\n\nSee! my dear brethren, it is not I that have been speaking to\nyou, but an ancient Father of the desert. I have preached to you\nan old sermon, and well nigh word for word as it was spoken\nfifteen hundred years ago in the Egyptian wilderness. I have done\nso purposely, in order that you may take notice that the\nChristians of those early times were subject to disasters and\nafflictions as you are now, and tried by the same temptations.\nYou see also what kind of consolation they found in their\nreligion, what kind of counsel they received from their spiritual\nadvisers, and how they turned their sorrows and adversities to\ngood account.\n{189}\nTheir time of trial was over long ago; and now they are happy. No\ndoubt, they look back with pleasure upon those very sorrows, as\nbelonging to the sweetest and holiest days of their pilgrimage on\nearth--days of patient resignation, and childlike trust, and\nChristian courage--days when they wept much, but prayed all the\nmore--days when the current of earthly joys was at its lowest\nebb-tide, but the waters of heavenly grace were at their fullest\nflood-tide, and therefore, days of golden gain. Oh! let it be so\nwith you, my brethren, in your afflictions! What would you have?\nThe Christians of other ages have journeyed on cheerfully toward\nheaven bearing their cross. Would you ride thither at your ease?\nWould you wear your crown without winning it? Would you be saved\nby the sufferings of Christ, and refuse to take your share of\nsuffering? No! arm yourselves with Christian fortitude. Meet\nadversities patiently, manfully, trustfully, as these good\nChristians did of old. Be like them in the trials of this world,\nand then, like them too in the recompense of the other, \"_your\nsorrows shall be turned into joy_,\" and your joy will be all\nthe greater for the sorrows you have endured.\n\n     ----------------------\n\n{190}\n\n        Sermon XII.\n\n        False Maxims.\n\n  \"Lord, that I may see.\"\n  --St. Luke xviii., 41.\n\n (From the Gospel for Quinquagesima Sunday.)\n\n\nBlindness is a very common thing, if we may judge by the many\nfalse maxims afloat. We find them everywhere and in every thing,\nin politics, in business, in the government of children, in\nreligion. Wherever they are, they are pernicious and destructive.\nIn business they lead to bankruptcy and ruin; in politics to\ndisunion, revolution and anarchy; in the government of families\nto dissipation and worthlessness. But of all false maxims, the\nmost pernicious and destructive are those relating to religion:\nbecause they involve the loss of the soul, of all our interests,\nhopes, and happiness in one great ruin.\n\n{191}\n\nThere are many such. One will say: \"It's no matter what a man's\nfaith may be. All religions are alike, they are different roads\nthat lead to the same end. Let a man only act right, and he can\nthrow all creeds over board; whether Jew, Turk, Heathen,\nProtestant or Catholic, it makes no difference.\" A man who speaks\nthus is no Catholic, nor is he ever like to be. He has put out\nthe light of Jesus Christ, who holds up to us \"one faith, one\nLord, one baptism,\" and gropes along to his ruin in a darkness of\nhis own creation. But I don't mean to speak of such. I would\nrather speak of the false maxims of certain Catholics by which\nthey persuade themselves that all will be right, though the Lord\nand Savior says that all is wrong, and so rush blindly to their\nruin.\n\nOne of the first of these maxims is this: _Because I'm a\nCatholic I shall be sure to get to heaven_. Where did such a\nnotion come from? You are sure of heaven only on condition of\nbehaving yourself as you ought.\n{192}\nIf you have a ticket on the cars and misbehave, you are put off\nat the first station; so what ever rights you have to heaven in\nvirtue of being a Catholic are forfeited when you cease to live\nas a Catholic ought to live. If you sin, your being a Catholic\nwon't hinder you from losing all the privileges of your baptism.\nWhere did you get the notion that it's enough to be a Catholic\nwithout being a practical one? Was it from the Church of God? The\nvery first word addressed you by her, was in your baptism, when\nyou were asked: \"What dost thou ask of the Church of God?\" The\nanswer was: \"Faith.\" \"What does faith bring thee to?\" was the\nnext question. The reply was: \"Eternal life.\" Then spoke out the\nChurch right solemnly: \"If thou wilt enter into life _keep the\ncommandments_.\" Keeping the commandments is here the plain\ncondition for obtaining eternal life, and nothing else. That's\nwhat the Lord himself said to the young man who asked the\nquestion: \"What shall I do that I may have everlasting life?\" His\nreply was in the very same words: \"_Keep the commandments_.\"\n[Footnote 77]\n\n    [Footnote 77: St. Matt, xix., 16, 17.]\n\n{193}\n\nTo whom is that addressed? To Catholics. Who says it? The God of\nheaven and earth. Do you believe Him? If you do, you must give up\nthe idea of being saved merely because you are a Catholic, but\nexpect salvation by being a good one, and keeping the\ncommandments. What's more, the Divine Scriptures expressly state\nthat it is not enough to profess the faith without good works.\n\"_Know ye not that the unjust shall not possess the kingdom of\nGod. Be not deceived: neither fornicators, nor adulterers, nor\nidolaters, nor the effeminate, nor thieves, nor the covetous, nor\ndrunkards, shall possess the kingdom of God_.\" [Footnote 78]\n\n    [Footnote 78: 1 Cor. vi., 9, 10.]\n\nWho are addressed? Heathens? No; they are Catholics; the\nCorinthians who had been baptized and received the sacraments.\nUnder what figure is the Church of God represented in Scripture?\nAs a net that contains fish both good and bad. Yes, they are not\nall good fish that are in the net; there are bad ones. What is\nsaid of these bad ones? That at the last day they shall be sorted\nout and given to the fire. The Church is compared to a field sown\nwith good grain and overrun with tares. Are the tares rooted up\nin this world?\n{194}\nNo, they grow together with the wheat until the harvest; that is,\nuntil the judgment at the end of the world: then comes the\ndivision, and the burning of the tares. Listen to the explanation\nof the Lord: \"_So shall it be at the end of the world. The\nAngels shall go out and shall separate the wicked from among the\njust, and shall cast them into the furnace of fire; there shall\nbe weeping and gnashing of teeth_.\" [Footnote 79]\n\n    [Footnote 79: St. Matt, xiii., 49.]\n\nIf you are acting on any such maxim you have blinded yourself,\nyou have put out the light of the Gospel of Jesus Christ, and\nwalk in a way of your own devising, to your eternal destruction.\n\nAnother false principle of a great many is this: _Because they\ndon't lead what they call very bad lives, they cannot, as they\nimagine, be among the damned:_ In other words, they don't and\nwon't believe that one mortal sin is the death of the soul. Where\ndid this notion come from? From the Church? I would like to know\nwhere. What Apostles, Doctors of the Church, Pontiffs, Priests,\nor Laymen, that ever wrote on the matter, ever broached such an\nidea?\n{195}\nFor eighteen hundred long years the Church, we may say, has done\nnothing else but repeat over and over that one mortal sin will\ndamn the soul. Did any Priest ever preach to the contrary? I\nnever heard one do so; I never heard of one who had done so. And\nyet, Catholic people do sometimes get this folly into their\nminds. An old man, quite a respectable one too, came to me not\nlong ago: \"Father, I have a temptation on a point of faith.\"\n\"What is it?\" \"I can't believe that one mortal sin will damn the\nsoul. I heard the Missionary say so in his sermon, but I didn't\nbelieve him. I think I have heard the contrary from other\nPriests.\" I said to him: \"My friend, I cannot believe you ever\ndid. It's a notion you've picked up from another quarter.\" Why,\nwhat do we mean when we speak of mortal sin? The very word mortal\nmeans deadly. Don't you see, the very definition of mortal sin,\nis a sin that grievously offends God and brings with it the death\nof the soul? It is deliberately rejecting God with your eyes wide\nopen. Once is enough. Spit in a man's face once, you need not do\nit a second time. Play the hypocrite with him once, he won't\ntrust you again.\n{196}\nRenounce his friendship once, and friendship is over. Your friend\nwill forgive you many little offences, but trample once on some\nright, on some feeling which he holds dear and sacred, and once\nis enough. How many times must you spit in God's face, play the\nhypocrite with Him, turn your back on Him, trample on His most\nsacred commandments, before you expect Him to be angry? One\nmortal sin is enough because it is mortal. Many don't and won't\nbelieve this. Hear what they say: \"I'm a good one to attend mass.\nI don't miss it of my own fault more than five or six times a\nyear.\" \"Do you ever get drunk?\" \"Oh, not a great deal, only a\nreasonable share, now and again, a few times in the course of the\nyear;\" and so on of other things. The devil has blinded them.\nThey are travelling along with the great crowd, singing and\nlaughing, down the broad road that leads to the pit of hell.\nListen to what the Scriptures say: \"_Be converted and do\npenance for all your iniquities, and iniquity shall not be your\nruin. Cast away from you all your transgressions by which you\nhave transgressed, and make to yourself a new heart, and a new\nspirit; for why will you die, O house of Israel_.\" [Footnote\n80] That's it. \"All\" is the word. Nothing short of this will save\nfrom ruin.\n\n    [Footnote 80: Ezechiel xviii., 30, 31.]\n\n{197}\n\nAnother false maxim: _That we shall be saved by the sacraments,\nno matter how we receive them._ A great many have evidently\nsome such principle lurking in their minds. The way they make\nconfession shows it. The only idea with them seems to be to wipe\noff old scores and to be at more liberty to begin afresh. The\nload of sin gets heavy; it begins to press upon the conscience;\nit makes one uneasy. What's to be done to get rid of it? Pitch it\noff upon the Priest's back. Then he will become responsible; they\nneed give themselves no farther trouble about it. They have\nbrought the same load of mortal sin now for many years, perhaps\nevery half-year, and, what's more, they really expect to do the\nsame until their death. Some come concealing their sins time and\nagain. If an absolution can be got out of the Priest, it makes no\nmatter how. It is the absolution they want; all the same to them\nwhether God sanctions it or not. So when the Priest refuses,\nseeing that they are not prepared, they beg for it.\n{198}\n\"Oh Father, do give me the absolution!\" \"You are not fit for it.\"\n\"Oh, but you can give it if you please,\" they say. Sometimes they\nthreaten, \"If I'm not absolved, I won't come again.\" Sometimes\nthey plead occupation: \"If I go away without absolution, I cannot\ncome again without great inconvenience;\" as if their convenience\nshould entitle them to absolution, without penitence, and the\npurpose of amendment.\n\nThis is indeed taking out of the sacraments all their life and\nspirit, and reducing them to a mere form. This is what our Lord\ncalled the religion of the Scribes and Pharisees, who made clean\nthe outside of the platter, but left the inside greasy and\nfilthy. These go through the form of confession, merely keeping\nup an outside appearance of piety, but their hearts are full of\nrottenness and filth. Does the Church teach any such thing? No,\nfar from it. She teaches that the indispensable condition of\nforgiveness is a true, heartfelt sorrow for every mortal sin,\nwith a firm, unflinching determination to avoid every such sin\nfor the rest of one's life.\n{199}\nShe is the _Holy_ Catholic Church, and her teaching is as\npure as the sunlight on this point; it is clearly laid down in\nall her catechisms and instructions, so that no one need make any\nmistake about it. Nevertheless the Lord foresaw that many would\nblind themselves in spite of all this. He represents them\nstanding at the judgment and saying: \"_Lord, have we not eaten\nand drunk at thy table?_\" [Footnote 81]\n\n    [Footnote 81: St. Luke xiii., 26. ]\n\nYes, we received the sacraments; certainly there can't be any\nmistake, it must be all right. What is the answer? \"_Depart\nfrom me, workers of iniquity, I know not whence ye are_.\"\n[Footnote 82]\n\n    [Footnote 82: St. Luke xiii., 27.]\n\nSacraments received wrongfully work out, not the salvation, but\nthe damnation of the soul. So St. Paul speaks of those who,\nthrough their sins, did not discern the Lord's body, being weak\nand sickly--speaks also of eating and drinking judgment to one's\nself.\n\nIf this last is a false and fatal error, how much more horrible\nis it when it assumes a new shape and comes out in this form:\n_Oh, I will live as I please, and the last sacraments will make\nit all right. I'll send for the priest before I die_. Judas\nwhen finishing his act of perfidy, kissed the Saviour whom he had\ndeliberately and wantonly betrayed.\n{200}\nSo these desert and betray Christ and his holy religion, and then\ngo to make it up with a last kiss; a kiss full of hypocrisy and\nonly given through a dire necessity that presses them. Is any\nhope held out in Scripture for the victims of such delusions?\n\"_If ye live according to the flesh ye shall die_.\"\n[Footnote 83]\n\n    [Footnote 83: Rom. viii., 13.]\n\n\"_What a man soweth that shall he reap_.\" [Footnote 84]\n\n    [Footnote 84: Gal. vi., 7.]\n\n\"_Ye shall cry unto me Lord, but the Lord will, not hear\nyou_.\" \"Ye shall seek me and ye shall not find me; ye shall\ndie in your sins.\" [Footnote 85]\n\n    [Footnote 85: St. John viii., 21.]\n\nSmall comfort this to those who are cheating themselves with the\nidea of sending for the priest, and receiving the sacraments on\ntheir death-beds. Priests and sacraments, if they do receive them\n(which is a thing extremely doubtful), will do no good without\ncontrition, and who will answer for the contrition of one who has\npersisted in outraging God through a whole life, and who, now\nthat death stares him in the face, and in the midst of pain and\nfever and stupor, must set the accounts of conscience in order.\nThe whole demeanor of such persons shows, only too frequently,\nhow little they realize their condition, and what a wretched\nreliance death-bed repentance is, for the salvation of the soul.\n\n{201}\n\nSuch are some of the false maxims that put out the eyes of the\nsoul. Whence do they spring? From an evil and perverse heart. A\nman given up to sin must justify himself in some way or other. He\ntherefore makes light of sin--seeks to persuade himself that its\nconsequences are not so dreadful--that after all, when it comes\nto the very point, God will not allow these consequences to fall\nupon him. They say a drowning man will catch at a straw. So these\npersons, though they know the truth, catch at every straw that\nholds out the least prospect of safety--every flimsy pretense\nthat holds out encouragement for a life of sin; every false maxim\nthat holds out a ground of hope. They call such things up on\nevery occasion to fortify their own minds. They repeat them over\nto their friends, as if by hearing them a number of times they\nmight seem to have more foundation in them. They like to hear\nothers say such things; it gives them a wonderful encouragement\nto go on. So the blind lead the blind. At last this false\nreasoning gets to be so habitual that they fall back upon it\nwhenever conscience begins to speak to their hearts.\n{202}\nAs to turning to God and quitting sin, that they won't think of\neven for a moment; so, in the words of Scripture, \"_a strong\ndelusion is sent upon them to believe a lie_.\" It is sent upon\nthem, in the sense that they have drawn it on themselves. To be\nsure, they don't really believe it, but they wish to believe it,\ntry to believe it, and fancy that they do believe it. Indeed, in\npractice they may be said to believe, inasmuch as they have made\nup their minds to act upon it. What a miserable state to be in is\nthis! Self-satisfied and self-blindfolded, to be drifting down\ninto hell, in a dream of careless and stupid indifference! The\npoor blind man cried out with all his might, \"_Lord! that I may\nsee!_\" The loss of bodily sight is indeed a great calamity, a\nthing to be keenly felt. The bare possibility of being restored\nto sight, should be enough to make one cry out, with his whole\nsoul, 'Lord, Lord, that I may receive my sight!'\n{203}\nHow much more deplorable when the eyes of the soul are put out!\nHow much more occasion to cry out in agony of spirit to Jesus the\ntrue light, that enlightens every man that cometh into the\nworld--'Lord! that I may see! that I may understand the things\nthat belong to my peace; that I may arouse from my stupidity,\nthrow away all false delusions, and square myself by the maxims\nof the Gospel, opening my eyes to those eternal truths revealed\nby a God who can neither deceive nor be deceived!\n\nOh sinner! oh careless, indifferent Christian! if you have the\nleast desire to make your hope of heaven a sure hope, one that\nshall not be confounded, cry with the blind man to Jesus,\n\"_Lord, that I may see!_\" Cry aloud, repeat that cry, until\nJesus shall turn to you, and grant your request. Show that you\nare in earnest by taking the means to get your soul enlightened.\nGo and hear the word of God preached on the Sundays. Don't do as\nso many do, that go to Low Mass, early, and hear no sermon from\none month to another. Make a practice to go to High Mass, where\nJesus Christ, in the person of his priest, stands on purpose to\ngive you light. How can you expect light when you close your\neyes? How will the truths of the Gospel reach your heart and make\nan impression there, if you never listen to them?\n{204}\nPreaching is the appointed means of receiving the truth.\n\"_Faith cometh by hearing!_\" says the Holy Ghost. [Footnote\n86]\n\n    [Footnote 86: Rom. x., 17.]\n\nImitate the blind man. He found out where Jesus was expected to\ncome by; he went there. Do likewise. Go where Jesus is, to the\nChurch; cry to Him; listen to Him; when He speaks through his\nholy Gospels; read them, and hear them explained by the living\nvoice of his representative, the Priest. Then you will have\nlight; you will have it abundantly, to your great joy and\nconsolation.\n\nThe promise is sure; there can be no failure. \"_If any of you\nlack wisdom let him ask of God, who giveth to all abundantly and\nupbraideih not, and it shall be given him_.\" [Footnote 87]\n\n    [Footnote 87: St. James i., 5.]\n\nAsk for it, and you shall receive it. What is it? The light that\nshall direct our feet in the way of peace, and carry us through\nsafely to the light of glory in heaven. The light of Christ,\n\"_in which the Priest from on high hath visited us, to\nenlighten them that sit in darkness and in the shadow of death:\nto direct our feet in the way of peace_.\" [Footnote 88]\n\n    [Footnote 88: St. Luke i., 78.]\n\n   ---------------------\n\n{205}\n\n       Sermon XIII.\n\n  Mary's Destiny A Type Of Ours.\n\n  \"Mary hath chosen the best part,\n  which shall not be taken away from her.\"\n  --St. Luke x., 42.\n\n  (From the Gospel for the Assumption.)\n\n\nTo-day is the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary. To-day she\nentered into the enjoyment of heaven. The trials and troubles of\nlife are over. The time of banishment is ended. She closes her\neyes on this world and opens them to the vision of God. She is\nexalted to-day above the choirs of angels to the heavenly\nkingdom, and takes her seat at the right hand of her Son. I do\nnot mean to attempt any description of her glory in heaven. I am\nsure whatever I could say would fall far short, not only of the\nreality, but of your own glowing thoughts about her.\n{206}\nWho is there that needs to be told that the Blessed Virgin is\nsplendid in sanctity, dazzling in beauty, and exalted in power?\nBut, my brethren, it is possible to contemplate the Blessed\nVirgin in such a way as to put her at too great a distance from\nus. It is possible to conceive of her glory in heaven as flowing\nentirely from her dignity as Mother of God, and therefore to\nsuppose it altogether unattainable by us; and as a consequence of\nthis, to regard her with feelings full of admiration indeed, but\nalmost as deficient in sympathy as if she were of an other nature\nfrom us. Now this is to rob ourselves of so ennobling and\nencouraging a part of our privilege as Christians, and at the\nsame time to take away from our devotion to the Blessed Virgin an\nelement so useful and important, that I have determined, on this\nher glorious Feast, to remind you that our destiny and the\ndestiny of Mary are substantially the same.\n\nAnd the first proof I offer of this is, that the glory of the\nBlessed Virgin in heaven is not owing to her character as Mother\nof God, but to her correspondence to grace--to her good works--to\nher love of God--in a word, to her fidelity as a Christian.\n{207}\nThis is certain, for it is the Catholic doctrine that the Blessed\nVirgin, like every other saint, gained heaven only as the reward\nof merit. Now she could not merit it by becoming the Mother of\nGod. Her being the Mother of God is indeed a most august dignity,\nbut there is no merit in it. It is a dignity conferred on her by\nthe absolute decree of God, just as He resolved to confer angelic\nnature on angels, or human nature on men. It is no doubt a great\nhappiness and glory for us to be men, and not brutes, but there\nis no merit in it; so there is honor but no merit in the Blessed\nVirgin's being the Mother of God. Now if she did not merit heaven\nby becoming the Mother of God, how did she merit it? for it is of\nfaith that heaven is the reward of merit. I answer, by her life\non earth. It was not as the Mother of God that she won heaven,\nbut as Mary, the daughter of Joachim, the wife of Joseph, the\nmother of Jesus. It is impossible to read the Gospels without\nseeing how careful our Lord was to make us understand this. He\nseems to have been afraid, all along, that the splendor of that\ncharacter of Mother of God would eclipse the woman and the saint.\n{208}\nThus once when He was preaching, a woman in the crowd, hearing\nhis words of wisdom, and, perhaps, piercing the veil of his\nhumanity, and thinking what a blessed thing it must be to be the\nmother of such a son, exclaimed: \"_Blessed is the womb that\nbare thee, and the paps that gave thee suck,_\" [Footnote 89]\nbut He answered immediately: \"_Yea rather, blessed are they who\nhear the Word of God and keep it_.\"\n\n    [Footnote 89: St. Luke xi., 27-28.]\n\nNo one doubts that the Blessed Virgin did hear the Word of God,\nand keep it. So our Lord's words are as much as to say: 'You\npraise my mother for being my mother; what I praise her for is\nher sanctity.' In the same way, when they came to Him on another\noccasion, when there was a great throng about Him, and said:\n\"_Behold, thy mother and thy brethren stand without, seeking\nthee_,\" He answered: \"_Who is my mother? and who are my\nbrethren? And stretching forth his hand towards his disciples, he\nsaid: Behold my mother and my brethren. For whosoever shall do\nthe will of my Father who is in heaven, he is my brother, and\nsister, and mother_.\" [Footnote 90]\n\n    [Footnote 90: St. Matt, xii., 48-50.]\n\n{209}\n\nExternal advantages, however great, even to be related to the Son\nof God, are as nothing in his sight, compared to that in which\nall may have a part--obedience to his Father's will. Perhaps,\nalso, this is the explanation of his language at the marriage of\nCana in Galilee. When the wine failed, and his mother came to Him\nand asked Him to exert his Divine power to supply the want, He\nsaid: \"_Woman, what hast thou to do with me? My time is not yet\ncome_.\" [Footnote 91]\n\n    [Footnote 91: St. John, ii., 4.\n    (Archbishop Kenrick's Translation.)]\n\nHe does not allow her request on the score of her maternal\nauthority, but what He refuses on this ground He grants to her\nvirtue and holiness, for He immediately proceeds to perform the\nmiracle she had asked for, though, as He said, his time was not\nyet come. So, too, on the cross He commends the Blessed Virgin to\nSt. John's care, not under the high title of Mother, but the\nlowly one of Woman. \"_Woman, behold thy son._\" [Footnote 92]\n\n    [Footnote 92: St. John xix., 26.]\n\nNow why was this? Did not our Lord love his Mother? Was He not\ndisposed to be obedient to her as his mother? Certainly; but it\nwas for our sakes He spoke thus.\n{210}\nIn private, at Nazareth, we are told, he was \"subject to her,\"\nbut on these great public occasions, when crowds were gathered\naround Him to hear Him preach, when He hung on the Cross, and a\nworld was looking on, He put out of view her maternal grandeur,\nin compassion to us, lest there should be too great a distance\nbetween her and us, and we should lose the force of her example.\nHe wished us to understand that Mary, high as she was, was a\nwoman, and in the same order of grace and Providence with us. We\nmight have said  Oh, the Blessed Virgin obtains what she asks for\non easy terms. She has but to ask and it is done. She enters\nheaven as the son of a nobleman comes into his father's estate,\nby the mere title of blood and lineage. But no: our Saviour says:\n\"_To sit on my right hand is not mine to give you, but to them\nfor whom it is prepared by my Father_.\" [Footnote 93]\n\n    [Footnote 93: St. Matt, xx., 23.]\n\nIt is not a matter of favor and arbitrary appointment; not even\nmy Mother gains her glory in that way. She must comply with the\nterms on which my Father promises heaven to men, and therefore\nthe Church applies to her words spoken of another Mary: \"_Mary\nhath chosen the best part; therefore it shall not be taken away\nfrom her_.\"\n{211}\nOh, blessed truth! Mary is one of us. Her destiny, high as it is,\nis a human destiny. And she reached it in a human fashion. She\nbuilt that splendid throne of hers in heaven with care and labor\nwhile she was on the earth. She laid the foundation of it in her\nchildhood, when her feet trod the Temple aisles. She reared its\npillars, when with faith, purity and obedience unequalled, she\nreceived the message of the Archangel. And her daily life at\nBethlehem, Egypt, and Nazareth, her holy, loving ways with\nJoseph, and with Jesus, her perfect fulfilment of God's law, her\ninterior fervent acts of prayer, covered it with gold and ivory.\nThen, when the blind world was going on its way of folly; while\none King Herod was deluging villages in blood, and another\nsteeping his soul in the guilt of incest, and of the blood of the\nSon of God; while the multitude were doubting, and Scribes and\nPharisees disputing about Christ, the lowly Jewish maiden, with\nno other secret but love and prayer, was preparing for herself\nthat bright mansion in Heaven wherein she now dwells, rejoicing\neternally with her Son.\n{212}\nOh happy news! One, at least, of our race has perfectly fulfilled\nher destiny. Here we can gain some idea of what God created us\nfor. Here is the destiny that awaits man when original sin does\nnot mar it; when co-operation with grace and unswerving\nperseverance secure it. The Jews were proud of Judith. They said:\n\"_Thou art the glory of Jerusalem; thou art the joy of Israel;\nthou art the honor of our people_.\" So we may say of Mary: 'O\nMary, thou art the pride of our race. In thee the design of God\nin our creation has been perfectly attained. In thee the\nredemption of Christ has had its perfect fruit. Mankind conceives\nnew hopes from thy success. Christ, indeed, has entered into\nglory; but Christ was God. Mary is purely human, and Mary has\nsucceeded. Why tarry we here in the bondage of Egypt? Mary has\ncrossed the Red Sea, and has taken a timbrel in her hand and\nsings her thanksgiving unto God. True it is that she is fleet of\nfoot, and we are halt and weak; but even she needed the grace of\nGod, and the same grace is offered to us, that we may run and not\nfaint. Listen to her song of triumph.\n{213}\nShe does not set herself above us, but claims kindred with us,\nand bids us hope for the same grace which she has received.\n\"_My soul doth magnify the Lord, for he hath exalted the\nhumble, and hath filled the hungry with good things. And his\nmercy is from generation to generation to them that fear\nhim_.\"\n\nAnother proof that the destiny of the Blessed Virgin is\nsubstantially the same with ours, is the fact that, in Scripture\nthe same expressions are used to describe her glory and ours.\nSometimes those who are not Catholics when they hear what high\nwords we use of the Blessed Virgin, are scandalized; but we use\nalmost no words of the Blessed Virgin that may not, in their\nmeasure, be applied to other Saints. It is true that the Blessed\nVirgin has some gifts and graces in which she stands alone--as\nher character of Mother of God, and her Immaculate\nConception--but, as I said before, these are dignities and\nornaments conferred on her, and are not the source of her\nessential happiness in Heaven. In other respects, her glory is\nshared by all the Saints. Thus, Mary is called \"Queen of Heaven;\"\nbut are not all the blessed called in Holy Scripture, \"_kings\nand priests unto God_?\" [Footnote 94]\n\n    [Footnote 94: Apoc. i., 6.]\n\n{214}\n\nIs she said to sit at the \"King's right hand?\" and are not we too\npromised a place at his right hand, and to \"_sit on\nthrones?_\" [Footnote 95]\n\n    [Footnote 95: Apoc. iii., 21.]\n\nIs she called the \"Morning Star?\" and does not St. Paul, speaking\nof all the Saints, say, \"_star differeth from star in\nglory_.\" [Footnote 96]\n\n    [Footnote 96: 1 Cor. xv., 41.]\n\nIs she called a \"Mediatrix of Prayer?\" and is it not said of\nevery just man, that his \"_continual prayer availeth much?_\"\n[Footnote 97]\n\n    [Footnote 97: St. James v., 16.]\n\nIs she called \"The Spouse of God?\" and does not the Almighty,\naddressing every faithful soul, say, \"_My love, my dove, my\nundefiled?_\" [Footnote 98]\n\n    [Footnote 98: Can. v., 2.]\n\nIs she called the \"Daughter of the Most High?\" and are not we too\ncalled the \"_Sons of God?_\" [Footnote 99]\n\n    [Footnote 99: 1 St. John iii., 2.]\n\nThe glory of the Blessed Virgin, then, differs from that of the\nother Saints in degree, but not in kind. She is not separated\nfrom them, but is one of them. She goes before them. She is the\nmost perfect of them. But she is one of them. And for this\nreason, the glory of the Blessed Virgin gives us the best\nconception of the magnificence of our destiny. When a botanist\nwishes to describe a flower, he selects the most perfect\nspecimen.\n{215}\nWhen an anatomist draws a model of the human frame, he makes it\nfaultless. So we, to gain the truest idea of our destiny, must\nlift up our eyes to the Blessed Virgin on her heavenly throne,\nand say: Oh! my soul, see for what thou art created. Think of\nthis my brethren, as often as you kneel before her image, or\nmeditate on her greatness. You cannot be what she is, but you can\nbe like her. She is a creature like you. She is a human being\nlike you. She is a Christian like you. And her joy, her beauty,\nher glory, her wealth, her knowledge, her power--nay, even the\nmighty efficacy of her intercession--are only what, in their\nmeasure, God offers to you. \"_Glory, honor and peace to_\nEVERY ONE _that worketh good for there is no respect of persons\nwith God_.\" [Footnote 100]\n\n    [Footnote 100: Rom. ii., 10.]\n\nIf these things be so, what greatness it gives to human life.\nPerhaps, if you had lived in the times of the Blessed Virgin\nMary, you would never have noticed her; or if you had known her\nby sight, what would she have seemed to you but a good little\nJewish girl, lowly and retiring in her manners and appearance?\n{216}\nor, later in life, a poor young woman thrust away, with her\nhusband, from a crowded inn, or fleeing by night with an infant\nchild? or, still later, the mother of a condemned malefactor,\nwatching his sufferings in the crowd. Herod did not know her, and\nthe nobles of Jerusalem were ignorant of her. She was not one of\nthe friends of the Queen's dancing daughters. Even the rustics of\nthe village of Bethlehem looked down on her. She carried no\nservants about with her, and had no palace to live in. But Faith\ntells us of angel visits, of union with God, of heavenly\ngoodness, and an immortal crown. So, in like manner, how our life\nbecomes grand and dignified when it is lighted up by faith! You\nknow there are porcelain pictures, which in the hand are rough\nand unmeaning, but held up to the light reveal the most beautiful\nscenes and figures; so our common ordinary life, rough and\nunmeaning as it often seems, when enlightened by faith becomes\nall divine. There is a little girl who learns her lessons and\nobeys her parents, and tells the truth, and shuns every thing\nthat is wicked; why, as that little girl kneels down to pray, I\nsee a bright angel drawing near to her, and he smiles on her and\nsays: \"_Hail! Blessed art thou: the Lord is with thee._\"\n{217}\nThat young man who, by a sincere conversion, has thrown off the\nslavery of sin, and regained once more the grace of God--what is\nhis heart but another cave of Bethlehem, in which Christ is born,\nand around which angels sing: \"_Glory to God in the highest; on\nearth, peace to men of good will_.\" That Christian family,\nwhere daily prayers are offered, and instruction and good example\nare given, and mutual fidelity is observed between the\nmembers--what is it but the Holy House of Nazareth?--the House of\nJesus? Yes, good Christian, do not be cast down because you are\npoor, or because you suffer, or because your opportunities of\ndoing good are limited; live the life of a Christian, and you are\nliving Mary's life on earth. We have not, indeed, Mary's perfect\nsinlessness, but we have the graces of baptism, by which we may\nvanquish sin. We have not, as she had, the visible presence of\nour Lord, but we have Him invisibly in our hearts, and\nsacramentally in the Holy Communion. We are not \"full of grace,\"\nas she was, but we have grace without limit promised to us in\nanswer to prayer.\n{218}\nLet us assert the privileges of our birth-right. We belong to the\nnew creation. Angels claim kindred with us. God is our father.\nHeaven is our home. We are the children of the Saints--yes, of\nher who is the greatest of the Saints. Let us follow her\nfootsteps, that one day we may come to our Assumption, the glory\nof which surpassed even the power of St. John to utter.\n\"_Dearly beloved, we are now the sons of God, and it hath not\nyet appeared what we shall be. We know that when He shall appear\nwe shall be like Him, because we shall see Him as He is_.\"\n[Footnote 101]\n\n    [Footnote 101: 1 John iii., 2.]\n\nEvery thing depends on our co-operating with grace. How did the\nBlessed Virgin arrive at such glory? By corresponding to every\ngrace. See her at her Annunciation. The Angel comes and tells her\nof the grace God has prepared for her. If she had not believed,\nif she had not assented, what would have come of it? Why, she\nwould have lost for all eternity the glory attached to that\ngrace. But she did not refuse. She was ready for the grace when\nit was offered.\n{219}\nShe said \"_Fiat_,\" \"_Be it done to me according to thy\nword_.\" Oh, how much hung on that _Fiat!_ an eternal\nglory in Heaven. So it is with us. There are moments in our lives\nbig with the issues of our future. God's purposes concerning the\nsoul have a certain order. He gives one grace; if we correspond\nto that He gives another; if we do not correspond we lose those\nthat depended on it; some times, even, we lose our salvation\naltogether. This is the key of your destiny--fidelity to grace.\nYou have an inspiration from God: He speaks to your soul. Oh,\nlisten to Him, and obey Him! To one He says: Abandon, O, sinner,\nyour evil life, and turn to Me with all your heart. \"_Now is\nthe accepted time, now is the day of salvation!_\" To another,\nwho is already in his grace, He sends inspirations to a more\nperfect life, a life of higher prayer and more uninterrupted\nrecollection. Another, by the sweet attractions of his grace, He\ndraws away from home and kindred to serve Him as a Sister of\nCharity by the bed of suffering; or as a nun, to live with Him in\nstillness and contemplation; or as a priest to win souls for\nheaven. Oh, speak the word that Mary spoke: \"_Be it done to me\naccording to thy word_.\"\n{220}\nAre you in sin? Convert without delay. Are you leading a tepid,\nimperfect life? Gird your loins to watchfulness and prayer. Do\nyou feel in yourselves a vocation to a religious or sacerdotal\nlife? Rise up and obey without delay. To-morrow may be too late.\nThe grace may be forfeited forever. Why stand we all the day\nidle? Heaven is filling up. Each generation sends a new company\nto the heavenly host. Time is going. The great business of life\nremains unaccomplished. By our baptism we have been made children\nof God and heirs of heaven. Labor we, therefore, to enter into\nthat rest. Mary, dear Mother, lift up thy voice for us in heaven,\nthat we, following thy footsteps, may one day share thy glory,\nand with thee praise forever God the Father, Son and Holy Ghost;\nAmen.\n\n     ----------------\n\n{221}\n\n     Sermon XIV.\n\n     Mortal Sin Exemplified In The History Of Judas.\n\n\n  \"Woe to that man by whom the Son of Man shall be betrayed.\"\n  --Matt, xxvi., 24.\n\n  (A Sermon for Passion Week.)\n\n\nThere are some men whose crimes have made them objects of\nuniversal and eternal infamy and execration. One of these is\nJudas Iscariot, whose very name is a bye-word among men. Most\npersons seem to think that he was quite a different being from\nordinary men, and was naturally a kind of evil monster, without\nany thing human in him. This is a mistaken opinion. There is not\nso great a difference between these extraordinary sinners and\nordinary ones as is commonly supposed.\n{222}\nThere are a great many who have an equal degree of malice, but\nwho have no such opportunity to show it. There are others who\nwould become equally bad under equal temptations, but whose evil\ntendencies are kept under by favorable circumstances, and the\nabsence of great inducements to wickedness. It is not probable\nthat Judas was much worse than the common run of wilful and\nmalicious sinners, until, by a just judgment and a dreadful\ncalamity, he fell into the occasion of committing a crime, the\ngreatest which ever has been or can be committed by man.\n\nIn his case, the malice that is in mortal sin is only more\nperfectly exhibited than in others that are less heinous. The\ntreason of Judas is an example, first, of the evil of mortal sin\nas an offence against God; and, second, as the ruin of the soul.\n\n\n\n     I.\n\nThe treason of Judas is an example of the evil of mortal sin,\nconsidered as an offence against God. The gist of the offence in\nmortal sin lies in the turning from God to the creature.\n{223}\nIt is a renunciation of God's friendship, a desertion of his\nservice, a discarding of his authority, for the sake of some\ncreated good which we cannot obtain without this complete\ndesertion from God. No one ever did this, or had the chance to do\nit, so plainly and visibly as Judas. He was in personal and\nimmediate attendance upon our Lord, who is God in human nature.\nHe was the friend, the servant and the companion of the Lord in\nhis visible and human life. He deserted and betrayed Him for a\nlittle money, for the favor of the Jewish rulers, for the sake of\na more free and self-indulgent life, and to get rid of a cross he\nwas tired of carrying. What can be a more perfect illustration of\nmortal sin? You have done the same, my friend, when you have\ndenied your faith for the sake of a genteel marriage; when you\nhave gone to a fashionable Protestant church for the sake of\nimproving your business; when you have dropped confession for the\nsake of indulging with less restraint in worldly dissipation. You\nneed not reproach Judas, for all you say against him rebounds\nupon yourself, and by your own mouth shall you be condemned, oh,\nwicked servant!\n\nThe offence of Judas was heightened by the lowness of his origin,\ncompared with the dignity of Jesus Christ.\n{224}\nHe was a poor young man, without family, rank, or other claim on\nthe notice of our Lord. He chose him as one of his disciples, and\ndestined him to be one of his twelve apostles, a sharer in the\nglory of St. Peter and St. Paul. For such an one to betray the\nMaster who had raised him from a station so humble to a rank so\nexalted was a double crime. But it is just what every sinner\ndoes. We have fallen by the sin of Adam into a low condition.\nDestitute of the nobility of sanctifying grace, devoid of all\nsupernatural merit, without any claim on heaven, we have been\nraised to the rank of children of God, as a boon of pure mercy,\nthrough the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ. And, if we then sin\nagainst God, in what respect are we better than Judas?\n\nThere was not only a great indignity in his conduct toward our\nLord, but an equally great ingratitude. He owed to our Lord not\nonly respect and obedience on account of his character and\nauthority, but personal affection and gratitude on account of his\ngoodness and kindness to him. He betrayed a friend as well as\ndeserted a master.\n{225}\nOh, baseness without a parallel! But beware, lest in saying this\nyou reproach yourself. Whenever you sin mortally you are guilty\nof the same ingratitude toward Jesus Christ. He has been good to\nyou, too, and you owe Him love and gratitude. But you repay his\nfavors with outrages and offences.\n\nTo crown all, Judas delivered up his Master to an ignominious\ndeath, and imbrued his hands in the blood not only of an innocent\nman, but of a friend, a benefactor, nay, more, in the blood of\nhis Lord and Redeemer. This was a new and unheard of crime. Men\nhad heard before of fratricide, of parricide, of regicide, but\nthey had yet to learn of that which included all these and more,\nof Deicide. Strictly speaking, this crime of Deicide can never be\nrepeated. The Son of God gave to wicked men the chance of putting\nHim to death, once, and only once. But every one who commits\nmortal sin, is guilty of a crime which partakes of the nature of\nthe crime of Judas. Sin was the cause of the death of Jesus\nChrist. He died for every sinner and for every sin. Whoever\ncommits sin, then, consents to that which caused the death of our\nBlessed Lord, makes common cause with his murderers, and thus\nbecomes accessory to his death.\n\n{226}\n\n     II.\n\nThe treason of Judas is also an example of the way in which a\nsinner ruins himself.\n\nIt is probable that Judas was once a faithful disciple. He had a\nvocation from the Lord Himself, to leave the world and follow\nHim. God calls to his service only those who are well disposed\nand fit for it, and we may, therefore, believe that Judas was at\nleast sincere and piously inclined, before the Lord called him.\nHe believed in our Lord's teaching, when he heard Him preach; he\nfollowed Him with constancy for a length of time; and obeyed the\ninward grace and outward call by which He invited him to become\nhis disciple. As a disciple he must have been faithful, and must\nhave shown himself worthy of a higher grace. For the Lord, who\nknew his heart, and always chooses fit instruments for his\npurposes, gave him a vocation to become a Priest, and not only\nthat, but a Bishop and an Apostle. With this vocation He gave him\nall the special gifts and graces necessary to prepare him for the\napostolic ministry, to make him a worthy companion of St. Peter\nand St. John, and to enable him to win like them, the gratitude\nand veneration of the world, and a glorious crown in heaven.\n{227}\nHe preached and wrought miracles like the others, and very likely\nwas for a time not only without grievous sin, but really fervent\nand holy. Reason and experience teach us that he could not have\nchanged all at once from a fervent apostle to a faithless\napostate, ready to betray his Lord for money. He must have\nchanged gradually. He relaxed by degrees in fervor, he neglected\nlittle things, and did not profit by the admonitions which the\nLord gave him from time to time. Thus he went on from bad to\nworse, growing more indifferent and hardened every day, heaping\nup venial sins continually, and disposing himself for those that\nwere more grievous. He became unkind and quarrelsome with his\nfellow disciples, dishonest in the use of the common purse which\nwas intrusted to his care, harsh and repulsive toward the poor\npeople who came to hear the preaching of his Master, and to\nrecommend their wants to his mercy.\n{228}\nSo he lost the grace of God, fell, we know not where or how, into\nmortal sin, and became an alien in heart from Jesus Christ,\nthough still in name and appearance his disciple. By degrees he\nbegan to despise his Master, to sicken of his service, to\ndisbelieve his words. He was already a slave of Satan, having\nlost sanctifying grace, and, it may be, faith also. When Satan\nsuggested to him to abandon his Master, to betray him for money,\nand then to go away and live as he pleased, he dallied with the\ntemptation, deliberated, and at length consented. The devil then\ntook complete possession of him, drove him on, and wove a chain\nof circumstances around him that hurried him forward to the\nexecution of his treacherous intentions. What follows we all\nknow. Having put the seal on his own guilt and perdition by a\nsacrilegious communion, he delivered over the Lord to death. His\ncrime being now consummated, the diabolical spell that had been\naround him was broken, despair seized on his soul, he hanged\nhimself and went \"to his own place,\" bequeathing the memory of\nhis infamous treason to the execration of all future generations.\n\n{229}\n\nThis is the history of many a one, besides Judas. For instance,\ntake this from the life of St. Francis of Assisi. [Footnote 102]\n\n    [Footnote 102: F. Challipe's Life, vol. i.. p. 91.]\n\n\"A sixth disciple, named John, and surnamed de Capella, began\nwell, and finished ill. He was charged with distributing among\nhis brethren the alms that had been contributed, and took on\nhimself voluntarily the office of procuring all that was wanting\nfor the community. But, by degrees, he became attached to\ntemporal things, went abroad too much, and relaxed extremely in\nthe observance of regular discipline. The holy Founder, after\ngiving him a number of severe reprimands in vain, threatened him\nwith a frightful malady and a miserable death, as the punishment\nof his indocility. In fact, this bad religious was smitten with a\nhorrible leprosy, which he had not the patience to bear. He\nabandoned his companions, the poor of Jesus Christ, and giving\nhimself up to despair, hanged himself, like Judas.\" This example\nis no doubt an unusual one, in this respect, that the penalty of\nthis unhappy man's sinful life was more striking and visible than\nis commonly the case.\n{230}\nBut it is essentially like thousands of examples everywhere, and\nin every-day life, in which the origin, progress and end of sin\nare really the same, though more secret and hidden. So the\ncareless Christian begins his downward career, by a negligence\nwhich goes from bad to worse, from small things to those of\ngreater and greater moment, until all fervor is lost, and his\nconscience falls into a deadly slumber. Then come grievous sins;\nsingly at first, but afterward in quick succession. This stage of\nthe disease lapses at last into the state of obduracy and final\nimpenitence. Sacrilege is very commonly mixed up with it, more or\nless, as the religions, ecclesiastical or secular condition of\nthe person, or his peculiar character and circumstances, may in a\ngreater or lesser degree expose him to the occasion of profaning\nsacraments. He may be hurried along into an open, and perhaps,\nfrom his station and antecedents, a very scandalous apostacy from\nthe faith, and thus become a declared traitor to his allegiance\nto Jesus Christ and the Church. He may fill up the measure of his\nwickedness in some other way; but it ends the same, in\nself-destruction: not by suicide, but by the gradual and sure\ndestruction of conscience, and of moral and spiritual vitality,\nending in a spiritual and eternal death which knows no\nresurrection forever.\n{231}\nSo he goes \"to his Own place,\" to the place he has prepared for\nhimself, the place he has merited, the place that suits his moral\ncondition, the place assigned to him as his eternal abode by the\nunerring justice of God.\n\nThis is the sinner's progress in following the footsteps of\nJudas. Negligence, habitual sin, contempt of divine warnings,\nsacrilege, obduracy, abandonment of God, despair, eternal death.\nAt every stage it becomes harder to go back. Stop, then, where\nyou are; or better still, if it is not too late, beware of taking\nthe first step. If you have not yet gone very far in the downward\npath, and are only beginning to be negligent, take warning by the\nexample of Judas, and correct that negligence at once, or else it\nmay lead to the most fatal consequences. \"_He that despiseth\nsmall things, shall perish by little and little_.\" It is\neasier to preserve yourself from a great fall, by diligence and\ncare, than it will be to remedy the hurts you will receive by\nfalling, and to regain the height on which you are now standing.\n{232}\nYou can never tell whither any sin will lead you. You can never\ncalculate the consequences of yielding to any temptation. Venial\nsins, even, may become the principle of great and fatal\ndisorders, which will lead you to your final ruin. Threads, fine\nat first as spider's webs, may be so woven together, and become\nso strong by being multiplied, that they will entangle you in\nmeshes which cannot be broken through without the most violent\nefforts. Sweep your soul, then, diligently, of these spider-webs\nof negligence, or you may become, like Judas, an example of one\nwho began well, but ended miserably, and may finish that career\nwhich you commenced in the service and friendship of Jesus, by\nbetraying both your Master and your own soul.\n\nBut even if you have already gone far in sin, it is never too\nlate to go back, until eternal death has actually made you its\nprey and closed its gate behind you. The case of Judas was not\nhopeless until after he had placed the halter on his own neck.\nThe Lord never ceased to remonstrate with him until that last\ntreacherous kiss, and though after this He spoke to him no more,\nand Judas never saw Him again, yet He did not close the door of\nmercy on him even then.\n{233}\nHe closed it on himself by despairing. This was the greatest and\nmost fatal of all his sins. Had he hoped in the mercy of Jesus\nChrist; had he returned to Him in sorrow and tears; had he thrown\nhimself at the feet of his injured Master, and implored pardon,\nhe would, no doubt, have been too late to save that Master's\nlife, but he would have been in time to save his own soul. Even\nfrom the Cross the Saviour would have smiled upon him, and the\nguilt of his treason would have been effaced in that redeeming\nblood which his treason had made to flow. Oh! sinner, never\ndespair! Even if you have gone to the length of an open apostasy,\ndo not abandon hope; do not place the halter around your own\nneck. All is not yet lost. Retrace your steps; return to Jesus\nChrist; offer him the kiss, not of a traitor, but of a penitent;\nand you will receive from his clemency the pardon of your sins.\n\n    --------------------\n\n{234}\n\n        Sermon XV.\n\n   The Interior Life.\n\n\n  \"The Kingdom of Heaven is within you.\"\n     St. Luke xvii. 21.\n\n  (From the Gospel for the 13th Sunday after Pentecost.)\n\n\nA few years ago, and the people of California were a quiet,\nagricultural and trading people, by which they procured for\nthemselves the three great wants of life; viz., shelter, clothing\nand food. They were content with as much as this, for they were\nunconscious that underneath their very feet, as they were working\ntheir farms and gardens, there lay that immense treasure of gold\nwhich has since been brought to this city. By chance a lucky\nspade turned over a clod of earth and stone, on which a yellowish\ntinge was noticed.\n{235}\nIt was found to be gold. The report soon found its way next door,\nand then about the neighborhood, and so went rapidly through the\ncountry. The cabbages and potatoes, the peas and beans, which\ntill now had been the pride of the cottage, were pulled up\nwithout ceremony and thrown aside, in the eager search that was\neverywhere being made for gold. The news came over to us, and I\ndare say you remember well the excitement created by it here. The\ngreat tide of commerce was turned toward San Francisco, and such\nwas the haste of our people to get there, that a crowd was daily\nseen pressing around the offices of the various packet and\nsteamship lines, eager to secure an early passage.\n\nWe, my dear brethren, are living on the surface of life, with our\ncabbages and beans, very much as those Californians were, and all\nthe while within our souls there is a mine of untold riches, of\nwhich we seem to be quite unconscious. We are leading a\ngrovelling life, when we might be living an angelic one. Our\ncondition differs as much from what it might be as the state of\nthe caterpillar differs from that of the butterfly.\n{236}\nThey are the same creature, yet how different! The caterpillar\ncrawls upon the ground; it feeds upon roots and leaves, and one\nis tempted to put his foot upon it as he passes by. The butterfly\nis a light airy thing on beautiful wings. It feeds upon honey\nwhich it gathers from the flower gardens, and is the admiration\nof every one. But before the caterpillar can become a butterfly\nit must build for itself a little house of silk. It must enclose\nitself there, and in proportion as it dies to itself, it lives\nagain in the butterfly. My brethren, this house is your soul.\nThere, with God, is your true life. Would that I could make you\nrealize this. Would that I could realize it myself. Well, in\norder to do something toward it, I will this morning show you\nunder what beautiful images Holy Scripture describes the beauty\nof a soul that is in union with God. I will name two great\nadvantages of this union; and finally, I will tell you the\nconditions on which God offers it to you.\n\n  I. The beauty of a soul in union with God.\n\nWe cannot see our souls, and God has no where given us a\ndescription of them; but many things are said in Holy Scripture,\nfrom which we get the idea of their great beauty when united to\nhim.\n{237}\nThe soul is called God's \"Palace.\" This is what our Lord says in\nmy text: \"_The kingdom of God is within you_.\" What is the\nidea that we have of a kingdom? Why, I suppose we call to mind\nsome of the great powers of Europe, with their extensive\ndominions, great power and wealth. Among the cities of these\nKingdoms there is usually one more populous than the rest, where\nthe streets are laid out, and the public buildings and private\nhouses are erected with a view to magnificence; as for example:\nLondon in England; Paris in France; Vienna in Austria; St.\nPetersburg in Russia. The Sovereign's palace is there. This\npalace is grand in its proportions outside, and it is furnished\nwithin in as costly a manner as gold and silver, polished wood,\nrich silks and tapestry and choice paintings can make it.\n\nWell, then, the soul must be this, and more; for it is the palace\nof the King of kings. Holy Angels are there in attendance upon\nHim. There He entertains his faithful at his table with the Bread\nof Angels. It is there that He deigns to hold those conversations\nwith the soul after communion that are so precious.\n\n{238}\n\nSt. Teresa has this same idea under another figure. She begins by\nsaying that the beauty of the soul is incomprehensible. That the\nmind cannot conceive its real worth, as words cannot express it.\nThen she says that she conceives the soul to be like a\nmagnificent diamond castle, with rooms above and below; but in\nthe very centre there is a room more spacious and more sumptuous\nthan all the others, where our Lord dwells with the soul.\n\nThe soul is God's \"Temple.\" \"_Ye are the temples of the Holy\nGhost_,\" [Footnote 103] says St. Paul.\n\n    [Footnote 103: 1 Cor. vi., 19.]\n\nWe often see engravings of those grand Cathedrals and churches\nwhich are so common abroad. There is one in almost all the old\ntowns of England. Their tall spires or massive towers stand\nmajestically over the country, and their whole exterior is\nelaborately worked in stone. On the inside they are poor and cold\nenough, it is true, for a false worship has been set up there,\nwhich has stripped them of their fine statuary and paintings,\nbanners and rich hangings, which formerly decorated the sanctuary\nand walls, and they are no longer what they once were, \"the\nTemples of God.\"\n{239}\nThere is no correspondence between the size and magnificence of\nthose churches of the olden time, and the formal service that is\nheld in them now; and so a few square yards are penned off in the\nmiddle for the handful who will assemble. But there has been a\ntime when those walls were two narrow to enclose the thousands\nwho came to follow their Lord as He made the circuit of his\nTemple, in the procession of Corpus Christi. Those floors have\nbeen covered with kneeling multitudes who waited for his\nbenediction in the Blessed Sacrament. Then, gold and silver,\nlights and flowers, massive candlesticks and rich vestments\nadorned the altars with something approaching to regal splendor,\nfor it was the Temple of God. Those cathedrals and churches are\nnow standing, after the lapse of hundreds of years, as monuments\nof the ancient faith that inspired their erection; but the day\nwill come when, as our Lord said of Jerusalem, \"_one stone\nshall not be left upon another_.\" But our souls are\neverlasting Temples. How strong, then, as well as how beautiful,\nGod must have made them!\n\n{240}\n\nThe soul is a \"Fountain\" of never-failing water. This is what our\nLord told the Samaritan woman. \"_The water that I will give him\nshall become in him a fountain of water, springing up unto\neverlasting life_.\" [Footnote 104]\n\n    [Footnote 104: John iv., 14.]\n\nI think our blessed Saviour could not have said any thing which\nwould have given us a more beautiful idea of the effect of his\npresence upon our souls. The deserts of the East are like the\nocean in their great, boundless wastes of hot sand. Travellers\ntell us that for days there is no living object to be seen, even\nto a blade of grass. Occasionally, however, they come upon what\nappears like an island, where there are trees, grass and flowers.\nInvariably it is found that in the middle of these \"oases,\" as\nthey are called, there is an overflowing spring of the purest\nwater. This is the cause of all that verdure in the midst of so\nbarren a wilderness. How beautiful such places must be to the\nweary traveller, and how grateful to the eye, as he catches sight\nof them in the distance! How he must bless God as he sits under\nthe cool shade of the rich foliage, or as he bathes his feverish\nbrow and limbs in the cool waters!\n\n{241}\n\nWell, our souls are so many \"green islands\" in the desert of this\nworld, and our Lord is the fountain in their centre. His presence\nadorns the soul with all that fragrance and fulness which we find\nin the innocent and pure. St. Teresa had a great fondness for\nthis passage of Scripture from her very childhood. Though at that\ntime she did not know the value of this promise of our Lord as\nshe did in after life, she says: \"I very often asked the Divine\nMaster to give to me this precious water.\"\n\nThe soul is God's \"Image.\" \"_Let us make man to our image and\nlikeness_.\" [Footnote 105] So God said when he created the\nfirst human soul.\n\n    [Footnote 105: Gen. i., 26.]\n\nOur souls, then, are like God. God is the perfection of all\nbeauty. As we say, God is truth, so we say, God is beauty. There\nare two ways in which we are like God, for He says: \"Let us make\nman to our image _and_ likeness.\" In one way, the devils and\nsouls in mortal sin are like God. They have the gifts of\nintelligence and free will. This is the image of God which, when\na creature once has, it can never lose. The likeness which a soul\nin the state of grace bears to God, is in the gift of habitual,\nor sanctifying grace.\n{242}\nThis can be lost, and the devils and souls in mortal sin have\nlost it. God has made us pupils of his, as it were. Our Master\nhas drawn the outline of Himself upon our souls, and our work is\nto fill up this sketch with light and shade. A Christian is\ntherefore an artist of the highest class; for there can be no\nsubject so inspiring as his. What a beautiful talent it is to be\nable to transfer to canvas some scene from nature, of which it\nbecomes the exact copy. There are certain combinations of water\nand mountain, meadow and foliage, nature and art, blended and\nsoftened by a peculiar state of the atmosphere, which act like a\nspell upon one. All we can say, is, how very beautiful!\n\nBut, beautiful as it is, it will vanish before the winter's\nfrost. The canvas, too, in time will moulder away. But the image\nof God on our souls is more beautiful than any scene in nature,\nand it will preserve its beauty forever.\n\nThese are some illustrations from Holy Scripture which enable us\nto form an idea of what is the beauty of a soul when in union\nwith God.\n\n{243}\n\nDid you ever know, my brethren, that God had been so good to you?\nHave you not over looked and undervalued your treasure? This life\nof yours hitherto, on the surface of things, has been both a\ngreat mistake and a great misfortune.\n\n\n\n  II. To make you realize this, let me tell you two great\n  advantages of an interior life.\n\nThe first is, the great \"peace\" that it brings to us. Peace, did\nI say? Is it, then, possible to wear a constant smile in this\nvalley of tears? Can these fretful souls of ours find rest even\nupon earth? We pray for the Holy Souls in Purgatory, \"that they\nmay rest in peace,\" as if we felt that there was no rest short of\nHeaven. Can we find it, then, even short of Purgatory? Yes, for\nit is a share, by anticipation, of the ineffable peace which\nthose holy souls enjoy in the possession of God. Like them, we\ncan be glad while we suffer. Joy and suffering are not\nirreconcilable! How was it with our blessed Lord? You know He is\ncalled the \"Man of sorrows,\" in that his Passion is thought to\nhave been before Him during the whole of his thirty-three years\non earth. But all the while, his human soul was in the perpetual\nenjoyment of the Beatific Vision, and therefore in perfect peace.\n{244}\nWell, of this peace, in the midst of trouble, our Lord, as the\ngreat Head, allows us, his members, to participate. Hear what He\nsaid to his Apostles: \"_Peace I leave with you, my peace I give\nunto you_.\" [Footnote 106]\n\n    [Footnote 106: John xiv., 27.]\n\nWhat robs a man of his peace of soul, is either an inordinate\ndesire for something which he has not, or the fear of losing some\nthing that he has. Now, the man who lives an interior life, is in\nthe possession of God, who is the fulness and perfection of every\ngood. He does not fear the loss of pleasure, for his highest\npleasure is to do the will of God. He says, it is not God's will\nthat I should have pleasure now. Nor of riches, for he fears them\nas a snare. He does not fear poverty--he will have less to give\naccount of at the Last Day; nor of station, for he feels that\nthere is no nobility like being a son of God. He is living with\nGod and his Holy Angels, as their companion; as though God and\nthey and he were the only beings in the world. Nor of comforts,\nfor he has learned to bear his cross, and he is learning to love\nit. Nor of reputation, for he seeks the favor of God alone.\n{245}\nMan's judgment of him will neither aid nor injure him before his\nonly true Judge. The daily round of bodily weakness, sickness,\ndisappointment, or mortification, is turned into so many\noccasions of gaining merit with God. It is true of him what the\nScripture says, that \"_all things work together for good, to\nthose who love God_.\" [Footnote 107] He is like Midas, the\nfabled King of Thrace, who was said to have the power to turn\nevery thing that he touched into gold.\n\n    [Footnote 107: Rom. viii., 28.]\n\nSt. Basil was such a man. On one occasion he was called before a\nmagistrate, who said in great anger, \"Basil, I will tear out your\nliver.\" \"Well,\" was the meek reply, \"you will do me a great favor\nthen, for it is a great trouble to me where it is.\" Such a man is\ninvulnerable.\n\nTo come nearer to our own day, I can show you such a man, in our\nHoly Father Pope Pius IX. What is the invariable testimony, both\nof Protestants and of Catholics, as to the manner of his\nreceiving them? Every one speaks of his composure, of his\ncheerful conversation, and of the sweetness of his smile. Now,\nwhere is the man in Europe, who has so much care and anxiety upon\nhim as he has?\n{246}\nFor whom would we be so ready to make excuse, in case we were\ntold that he was found to be reserved, or even at times out of\nhumor, on occasion of those \"receptions,\" which are so numerous\nand indiscriminate, and which we would think must be so very\ntiresome to him? At this moment, while Sovereigns and statesmen\nare threatening him with the seizure of the ancient inheritance\nof the Church, which is intrusted to his care, and himself with\nbanishment, not only is he calm, but he prophesies that, from\nthese present trials, great glory shall result to the Church.\nPius the Ninth is a man who lives in close union with God. Down\nin the bottom of his soul there reigns a supernatural calm.\n\nWith an interior life comes also a strength to do and to suffer,\nwhich is naturally quite beyond us.\n\nAs our Lord chose his Apostles among a class of men whose natural\nadvantages were very few, in order that his guidance and power\nmight be shown in them, so He has adorned the early Church with a\nnumber of young female Martyrs, whose amazing fortitude under the\nseverest torture, clearly proves that He was also the source of\ntheir strength.\n{247}\nLet me give you an example. St. Potamiena was a Nubian slave of a\nRoman master. He required her consent to something which was\ncontrary to the law of God. On her refusal, he threatened her\nwith such torture as was exercised upon those who, like herself,\nhad embraced the Christian faith. The magistrate before whom she\nwas brought on the charge of being a Christian, commanded her to\nobey her master in all things, or she should be cast into the\ncauldron of boiling oil, which was seething before her. She\nreplied: \"I have but one request to make: allow my clothes to\nremain upon me; then, if you will, let me down by inches into\nthis cauldron, and you will see what strength Jesus Christ, my\nLord, will give me to bear its pain.\" This was the cruel death by\nwhich, without a murmur, she won her crown of \"Virgin Martyr.\"\n\nLet me give you another example of fortitude, which you can\nperhaps better appreciate. Some few years since, in England,\nthere was a young lady of noble family, and of very attractive\nmanners, who became a Religious in a convent near the town where\nI then resided.\n{248}\nTo please her father, she had, for several years past, attended\nthe numerous parties that were given among her circle of\nacquaintance. Her presence was always thought to be a great\nacquisition. But all the while, her heart was in religion. She\nlonged for the time when her father would yield, and allow her to\ntry her vocation within a convent's walls. At last, he did; but\nwhat was his grief when he found that she had chosen one of the\nmost austere orders in the church. She wished to become a Poor\nClare. Now, you may not know that a Poor Clare never leaves the\nwalls of her convent; she never sees any one; she walks\nbare-footed; she uses the painful discipline, and spends many\nhours of the dead of the night in prayer, while the outer world\nis asleep. Here, then, was a young girl who had been brought up\nin luxury, entering at once upon a life of the greatest severity.\nWhen I last heard of her, which was a long time after she had\nentered this convent, she was said to be as merry as a cricket,\nand the life of her convent, as she had formerly been of her\nparties of pleasure.\n{249}\nNow, how shall we account for such fortitude as this? I will tell\nyou. It was our Lord in her heart, where she had made Him a home,\nthat gave her the courage and strength she needed to comply with\nhis call to her, to be a spouse of his. That became easy to her,\nwhich her relatives and friends could not comprehend. There is no\none who can do any thing great for God, without this interior\nlife. I will say even more than this; neither she nor any other\nmember of a religious community, can hope to persevere in any\nwell-regulated convent, on any other ground than this. With this,\nany one, whether in religion or in the world, can trample\nunderfoot the difficulties and trials peculiar to their state of\nlife.\n\nGod offers us this interior life, on two conditions. In the first\nplace, we must be in the state of grace. One must first be\nintroduced to a man, before he can become his personal friend. A\nman in mortal sin is as though he did not know God. He needs to\nmake his acquaintance. He is in a condition that is even worse\nthan that of a stranger; he is God's enemy, and he must be first\nreconciled.\n\n{250}\n\nTo drive a locomotive at the rate of forty miles an hour, one\nmust first get it upon the track, before it will move at all.\n\nYou, then, my dear brethren, who are so unfortunate as to be in\nmortal sin--you can take no comfort from any thing that I have\nsaid. I have been offering peace to such as lead a Christian\nlife; but what does Holy Scripture say of you? \"_There is no\npeace, saith my God, for the wicked_.\"\n\nAgain, we must be generous with God. Ah! now that I have told you\nthe terms, I tremble for the cause I am advocating. It seems to\nme that I hear you answering, as some other disciples of our\nblessed Lord answered him: \"_This saying is hard, and who can\nhear it_.\" [Footnote 108]\n\n    [Footnote 108: John vi., 61.]\n\n    [Transcriber's note: The USCCB reference is John vi., 60.]\n\nWhat is it to be generous? It is to give from a motive of love,\nand because it is a pleasure to give. It is to consider the\nobject to which we are giving, rather than the amount of what we\nare giving. What millions of dollars are being expended on the\nCentral Park here just beside us? We consider the money\ncontributed, as little in comparison with the importance of the\nwork. It is an object of pride with us to see tins Park as\nornamental as money and art can make it.\n\n{251}\n\nSee what generous efforts are being made, by both sides, in this\nunhappy conflict, which has made a battle-field of our country!\nNot money only, but blood and life, are as freely offered as\nwater.\n\nOur citizens who hurried off to California at the time of the\ngold excitement of which I have spoken, thought nothing of the\ndiscomfort of a close state-room on board a crowded ship, for a\nfive months voyage. They had already sacrificed home, friends and\nbusiness, and all this was on the mere chance of success.\n\nNow, how is it with us? The burden of the sermons preached from\nthis altar, the year round, has been merely to get _justice_\ndone to God. We have been doing our best to get from you what is\nbarely God's _due_. Our endeavor has been to get you to\nrestore to God those rights of his, of which you have defrauded\nHim; and at best, we have had but partial success. But to-day, I\nask you not for justice, but for generosity. Did I not say well\nthen, when I expressed my fear that God would find but few who\nwould accept his terms?\n{252}\nOn his part, He offers to come and dwell in your souls. He offers\nyou interior peace, supernatural strength, holiness, and\nsalvation. Now what does He ask of you in return for all this?\nThat you will act the part of a generous friend toward Him, by\ngiving Him a large share of your thoughts, words, and actions. He\nis the magnet in the centre of your hearts. He is always drawing\nyou toward Himself. He asks that you will put no obstacle in the\nway of his influence upon you. If disturbing causes for the\nmoment turn you from Him, like the needle which may be shaken so\nas to point to the East or the South, like it He calls upon you\nnot to rest till you have found your rest again in Him. St.\nTeresa says, that a generous soul _flies_ to God. She does\nnot say that it runs, but that it flies to God. Now, what are we\ndoing? We are content to creep and crawl toward God, like worms\nand caterpillars.\n\nMy dear brethren, I have told you a great truth, I have\ndiscovered to you a great treasure. It is within the reach of\neach one of you. Now I call upon this congregation for some\ncompanions to go with me in search of this treasure.\n{253}\nI do not expect to arouse the mass of you, as the cry of \"gold\"\nfrom California aroused the people of this city. I know the sad\ntruth, that most people love gold better than they love God. But\nI _do_ count upon some. You would not expect that I should\nurge this \"Interior Life\" upon you, and remain myself as I am?\nWell then. I am going to try for it, and I call again upon you\nfor some souls, few though they may be, who with me, will try to\nbe generous with God. I call upon you by your Saviour's love in\ndying a painful and shameful death, to purchase it for you. I\ncall upon you by his still further love in securing to you his\nabiding presence, in the most Holy Sacrament of the altar.\nLastly, I call upon you by that act of his love which would be\nsatisfied with nothing short of making your heart a tabernacle,\nas it were, where He may dwell perpetually, where He may live\nyour life, and where you may live his life, as true children of\nSt. Paul, who said: \"_I live now no longer, but Christ liveth\nin me_.\" I have put my question. I have made my call upon you.\nI leave the answer with yourselves.\n\n     -------------\n\n{254}\n\n           Sermon XVI.\n\n     True Christian Humility.\n\n\n  \"Every one that exalteth himself shall be humbled,\n  and he that humbleth himself shall be exalted.\"\n    --St. Luke, xviii. 14.\n\n  (From the Gospel for the 10th Sunday after Pentecost.)\n\n\nIt is impossible to mistake the great moral of this parable of\nthe Publican and the Pharisee. It is intended to teach us\nhumility. The Pharisee, with all his pretensions to piety and\nmorality, was rejected because he was proud. The Publican, like\nthe generality of revenue officers in that day, was loaded with\nsins; but he was sorry for them, and being humble, and ready to\nacknowledge himself for what he was, his prayer was accepted. All\npiety, therefore, without humility, is false. No matter what they\nmay say about a man's good deeds or virtues; if he is proud, he\nis no saint.\n{255}\nThere is no surer test of solid Christian virtue than humility.\nSt. Philip Neri once called to see a sick Roman lady, who enjoyed\na high reputation for sanctity. He found her sitting up, looking\nvery weak, and very pious. Being desirous of putting all this\nperfection to the test, he lifted his dusty shoe upon the\nbeautiful counterpane which covered the bed, and which, as it\nappeared to him, the good dame regarded with more than ordinary\nsatisfaction. It turned out as he expected. He might as well have\nput his toe into a hornet's nest, for the pious lady was so\nmortified at the soiling of her counterpane that she let loose\nher tongue upon him in such strong Italian terms as came first to\nmind. \"I wish you good morning, holy sister,\" said St. Philip. We\nmay easily imagine what he thought of her sanctity.\n\nIndeed, to prove the necessity of this virtue, we need go no\nfarther than to the example contained in this day's gospel, and\nto the words of our blessed Lord in the text; for He tells us in\nplain terms: \"_Every one, that exalteth himself shall be\nhumbled; and he that humbleth himself shall be exalted_.\"\n{256}\nSince, then, humility is so necessary, let us study it this\nmorning; let us try to discover what true humility is, and to\nfill our hearts with the esteem of it, and the love of it.\n\nChristian humility I understand to be this: _A lowly estimate\nof one s own worth in the light of Divine Truth_. This is, I\nam well aware, a definition of humility in the mind, rather than\nthat of the heart; but it is not necessary to dwell upon any such\ndistinction here, for humility of the heart is nothing else than\nthe heart's consent to this lowly estimate of one's self, and\npractically speaking the two are seldom found apart.\n\n1. Humility, I say, is a lowly estimate of one's own worth. Men\nare proud because they esteem themselves too highly; and this\nthey do because they look at themselves in a false light. They\nlook at themselves with worldly eyes, and compare themselves with\nwhat they see around them. They plume themselves up on advantages\nwhich, in the eyes of faith, are of little value. They look too\nlow. The king sees nothing greater than himself, and looks down\nupon the nobles; the nobles look down upon the untitled gentry.\n{257}\nWe have neither king nor nobles in our country, but we have a\nclass of gentry who live upon fortunes made by their fathers, and\nwere reared in good society. These look down upon those who have\nmade their own fortunes by some honest trade. The tradesman looks\ndown upon the farmer, the farmer upon the hired laborer, and the\nlaborer who has a shanty, with a cow and pigs, finds some one\nstill poorer to look down upon; and this last, perhaps, is\nproudest of all, for he is descended from some patriot of the\nRevolution, or, it may be, from Brian Boroihme. If, on the\ncontrary, they would look at the sacred law of God, if they would\nstudy the pure and holy lessons of the Gospel, if they would\nraise their eyes upward to the high and heavenly destiny for\nwhich they were created--if by this new light they would compare\nthemselves as they are with what they might be, and ought to be,\nthe trifling advantages of this world would disappear, their\npride would wither away, and give place to humility, the\nearliest, if not the sweetest flower of the Christian year.\n\n{258}\n\nBut how is it with those who are _spiritually_ proud? Do not\nthey estimate themselves by the light of faith? No. Their pride\nwould soon die out if they did. Faith, directing their eyes\nupward, would discover to them in God, in Jesus, and in the\nSaints, what true holiness is, and their poor store of sanctity\nwould show like thumb-marks in a prayer-book, or spots upon the\nsun. In the darkness of a cloudy night, when only the nearest\nobjects that lie about your feet are visible, your thoughts are\nbound up in that little circle as if all the universe were near\nyou and beneath you, and you walking on its summit; but when the\nclouds are driven away, and the moon and the vast world of stars\nappear, the heaven seems like a measureless dome, and you, a\nlittle insect creeping upon the floor, look up in breathless\nwonder. So the pathway of a conceited devotee is lighted only by\na few straggling rays of religious truth, and he sees himself\nshining as a luminous point in that narrow circle which is\nvisible to his eyes; but let faith open the sky above him, and\ngive him one long, calm, thoughtful look at the world above, and\nhe stands rebuked and humbled. Oh! how little our virtue appears\nwhen, instead of comparing ourselves with the worldly crowd\naround us, we look up to see how the saints have lived, and what\nthey have done!\n\n{259}\n\nDuring the Moorish wars in Spain, while the Spaniards were\nbesieging a city of the Moors, a brave Castilian knight advanced\nbefore his comrades, at great peril of his life, and for a\nmemorial of his valor, wrote upon one of the city gates:\n\"Hitherto came Vasco Fernandez.\" His companions were scandalized\nat his pride, and anxious to teach him a lesson. The next day,\ntherefore, another hero of superior prowess forced his way still\nfarther, and wrote in large letters upon another gate: \"Hitherto\nVasco Fernandez did not come.\" This, my dear brethren, is a\nlesson for the Christian soldier also, and well worth learning.\nInstead of comparing ourselves with the feeble and imperfect, and\nfeeding our pride thereby, let us humble ourselves before the\nachievements of the Saints.\n\n2. If humility is a lowly estimate of one's self, it is none the\nless truthful on that account. We must look upon ourselves as we\nreally are, \"in the light of Divine Truth,\" for this is included\nin my definition. One may think meanly of himself upon false\ngrounds.\n{260}\nOne may be ashamed of himself for things which in reality are\npraiseworthy. There is no virtue in this. Genuine humility needs\nto borrow no aid from falsehood. She is a grace bestowed by the\nGod of truth. Now, there is something very unhealthy and\ndegrading in this spurious sort of humility, which is founded\nupon self-calumny and pious exaggeration, for it leads to\nself-degradation. And this is the reason why I abhor the\nProtestant doctrine of \"total depravity.\" It teaches men to say\nthat they are, from their birth and by nature, so thoroughly\ncorrupt, that there is absolutely nothing good in them. That\nthere is, in reality, no such thing as natural virtue. That\nfilial piety, honesty, fidelity, love of truth, chastity and\ntemperance, have no merit in the unregenerate man, but, on the\ncontrary, are sinful and displeasing to God. And their doctrine\nof justification leaves the Saint as bad as the sinner; for\nalthough his life is acceptable with God, it is not because he is\nin reality any better, or that his actions are more meritorious.\nOn the contrary, his righteousness is all \"filthy rags,\" and\nthere is positively nothing good in him. He is justified and\nsaved by faith alone.\n{261}\nIf you say to them, \"Ah, well, I understand you; this faith of\nwhich you speak is at least something meritorious, because it is\nenlivened and made holy by charity, or the love of God. It is\nthis which makes faith so efficacious.\" No; they will not admit\nyour explanation; there is popery in it; it is only an entering\nwedge to make way for the doctrine of good works. They refuse to\naccept any principle by which the good man may be supposed to be\nreally any better than his neighbors. He is regenerated by the\nmantle of Christ's righteousness, which does not take away, but\nonly covers up his \"filthy rags.\" And his lesson of humility is,\nto insist upon it that there is nothing good in him. Now, I never\nsaw any one, either man or woman, so bad that I thought there was\nno good in him; and I am always sorry to hear my Protestant\nfriends speak so ill of themselves, for I don't believe them--I\nhave seen too much real merit among them.\n\nIn truth, all this is false humility. It is but a form of words,\nand nobody in his heart believes it, or can believe it. Virtue is\nnot vice. There is such a thing as real virtue and real merit in\nman.\n{262}\nGod has given to all a conscience, which is nothing else than His\nown voice applauding or rebuking. There is such a thing as\nnatural virtue, which deserves a reward in the natural order of\nGod's providence; and there is such a thing as Christian virtue,\nwhich is begotten by supernatural grace, and deserves the\nsupernatural reward of the Saints.\n\nNo wonder that, in the world, humility is too often looked upon\nas a counterfeit and degrading virtue, which takes away all\nmanliness, hope, courage, and generous ambition, from the soul.\nOh, if it were so, I would suffer my tongue to be torn out of my\nmouth, before I would preach it at this altar. If ever there was\na time when we needed manly virtue in the Church, it is now. If\never there was a time when Christianity seemed to have melted\ninto effeminacy and pusillanimity, it is now. The race of\nMartyrs, of Confessors of the faith, of Christian athletes, of\ntrue Sages and sacred Scholars, of men of action who knew how to\nopen their eyes, and men of prayer who knew how to shut them, of\nCatholic Matrons and Virgins whose hunger after holiness was not\nsatisfied by crosses and medals, scapulars and holy water--this\nancient race of Christians has well nigh dwindled away.\n{263}\nWe of the present day seem to be playing with religion. We are\nnot in earnest. We are ashamed of what ought to be our glory; we\nare proud of that which constitutes our shame. We have no blushes\nfor our sins; while we are too bashful to be devout, and too\ntimid to practise virtue. We acknowledge that we are wicked;\nalthough we do not hold it to be precisely our own fault, but a\nfault of our nature, and we have no ambition to be better. We\nconfess our sins by throwing all the blame upon the God who made\nus, and this we call humility. Oh! this is false humility. God\nmade us well enough; our sins are all our own. If we look at\nourselves as we really are, in the light of divine truth, we\nshall find matter enough to make us humble.\n\n3. True Christian humility, so far from degrading, ennobles the\nheart in which it dwells. It leads directly to hope; and\nhopefulness is, in all great hearts, the essential element of\ntheir courage, energy, enterprise, and success. Now Pride, with\nher two brazen-faced daughters Self-conceit and Self-confidence,\nstands directly in the way of Christian hope and courage.\n\n{264}\n\nIn spiritual matters, so long as one depends upon himself, he is\nsure of failure; for without the grace of God one cannot advance\na single step. \"_Without Me_,\" said our Lord to His\ndisciples, \"_you can do nothing_.\" [Footnote 109]\n\n    [Footnote 109: St. John xv., 5.]\n\nWith repeated failure comes despair, or at least, despondency;\nand then all hope, courage, and generous enterprise take flight.\nBut how different is the experience of the humble heart! It\nbegins with self-distrust; it acknowledges its own feebleness.\n\"_For I know_,\" says the Apostle Paul, \"_that there is no\ngood dwelling in me; that is to say, in my flesh. As for the will\nto do good, that I find present, but the power to do it I do not\nfind_.\" [Footnote 110]\n\n    [Footnote 110: Rom. vii. 18.]\n\nNot daring, therefore, to trust in himself, the humble Christian\nlearns to lean upon God, and to confide fully in his grace; and\nthen he becomes strong and full of courage, and can say with St.\nPaul, \"_I can do all things through him who strengthens\nme_.\" [Footnote 111]\n\n    [Footnote 111: Phil, iv., 13.]\n\n{265}\n\nThus, in the Christian warfare, humility is the first and last\nlesson of all noble, generous, and heroic souls; for their great\nhearts are sustained by great hopes, and their hope is nourished\nby humility.\n\nHumility, and that hopefulness and courage which grow out of\nhumility, are also the most efficacious means of converting the\nshamefaced, downcast sinner. Take, for example, the habitual\ndrunkard. The pledge will not help him long; and why? Because he\nis degraded in his own eyes, and has no confidence in his own\nresolutions. What he wants most is courage, and the pledge cannot\ngive him that. The pledge teaches him to rely on himself, and on\nhimself he cannot rely. \"I'm willing,\" says he, \"but I'm weak. If\nyou are going to give me the pledge, put it on me strong, so that\nI won't break it.\" See how the poor fellow is anxious to find\nsome support to lean upon, outside of his own weak will, and is\nalmost ready to believe that the priest can give him that\nstability which he so much needs. Now, what is to be done? The\nonly way is to put confidence and courage into his heart; and\nthis is done by pointing him upward to God, the only source of\ngrace and strength, and \"_who is able to do all things more\nabundantly than we can ask_.\" [Footnote 112]\n\n    [Footnote 112: Ephes. iii., 20.]\n\n{266}\n\nDo not take the heart out of him by words of contempt and\nscalding abuse, but speak to him kindly and encouragingly. \"I\nknow, my dear friend, that you are weak; but God is strong, and\nhis grace is able to make you strong. He has had worse cases than\nyou in hand before now, and made glorious Saints of them too.\nNever despair; you were created for better things. Make one more\ntrial now, and with the help of God you'll shake off this\nmiserable habit forever.\" That's the way to reform a confirmed\ndrunkard who has grace enough, at least, to be ashamed of\nhimself. Do not strike a man that is already down. Do not make\nhim more self-degraded than he is, but out of his humiliation\nendeavor to fill him with hope in God. Talk to him cheerfully.\nGive him a clean shirt and a clean collar. Get him to wash\nhimself and shave himself, and brush his hair. He will now begin\nto feel like a man; and the next step is to feel like a\nChristian. Take him then to the Church, and to confession; and\nwhen upon his knees, with, a contrite heart, he has confessed and\nrenounced his sins, let him there pledge himself against that\ndrink which has poisoned him, body and soul; and the grace of God\nwill carry him through.\n{267}\nIn this way, courage and strength are born of humility. It is a\nvirtue that does not degrade, but ennobles the heart where it\nlodges.\n\nI have said enough, I think--all, at least, my dear brethren,\nthat can well be said within the compass of a morning's sermon,\nto illustrate the true nature of Christian humility. I need not\nenlarge upon the advantages or the necessity of it. Humility is\none of those sweet virtues which carries its own recommendation\nwith it, which needs only to be seen in order to be prized.\nEnough has already been said to justify that maxim of the ascetic\nwriters, that humility is the foundation of all the virtues. Any\nmason will tell you, that before you can build a substantial\nChurch you must dig away the loose dirt below, and hollow out a\nfoundation for the walls. This is the first step of all, and\nuntil this is done, neither walls, nor tower, nor roof, nor any\npart of the building can be safely undertaken. It is the same in\nthat spiritual temple which has to be erected in every soul that\nis saved.\n{268}\nBefore we build up we must first go down. Humility must first\nbegin the work; must dig up and throw aside the sand and rubbish\nof pride, and self-conceit, and vain confidence, which have\ngathered like a loose soil upon our hearts. Then, and not till\nthen, are we ready, with faith, and hope, and charity, and the\nother virtues, to rear the strong walls, and towers, and arches,\nwith all the parts and ornaments which make the Temple of God\ncomplete within our souls. In fine, religion is of little use to\none who will not learn to be humble; and therefore an English\npoet, varying the figure which I have employed, says very well:\n\n  \"Ye who would build the churches of the Lord,\n  See that ye make the western portals low!\n  Let no one enter who disdains to bow!\"\n\nIf any thing were needed to confirm this view of the necessity of\nhumility, we have the words of our Lord himself: \"_Unless you\nbe converted and become as little children, ye shall not enter\ninto the kingdom of Heaven_.\" [Footnote 113]\n\n    [Footnote 113: St. Matt, xviii., 3.]\n\n{269}\n\nAre we then, my brethren, anxiously desirous of saving our souls?\nWould we be something in the kingdom of God? Would we become\nstrong in faith, great in hope, abounding in charity? Then let us\ncast pride away! Let us learn to be humble! Let us become willing\nimitators of Jesus Christ, who has said: \"_Learn of me, for I\nam meek and humble of heart, and you shall find rest to your\nsouls_.\" [Footnote 114]\n\n    [Footnote 114: St. Matt, xi., 29.]\n\nAnd let us believe his word, that there is no other way of\nsalvation; for He it is who tells us in this day's Gospel, that\n\"_every one that exalteth himself shall be humbled; and he that\nhumbleth himself shall be exalted_.\"\n\n     ------------------\n\n{270}\n\n           Sermon XVII\n\n  What The Desire To Love God Can Do.\n\n\n  \"Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with thy whole heart,\n  and with thy whole soul, and with all thy strength,\n  and with all thy mind.\"\n    --St. Luke x., 27.\n\n  (From the Gospel for the 12th Sunday after Pentecost)\n\n\nThere are two ways in which one may set about fulfilling this\ncommandment of the Lord.\n\nThe first way is, to do what is barely necessary in order that we\nmay be said to fulfil it at all. The second way is, to fulfil it\nin its perfection, according to the most generous meaning of the\nwords. When may one be said to fulfil it in the first way? When\nhe has a firm determination to keep clear, at all times, of every\nmortal sin. It is plain, that in this case he can be said to\nfulfil the commandment, because, after all, he prefers God to\nevery thing else.\n{271}\nWhen he determines to avoid every mortal sin, no matter what the\ntemptation to commit it may be, he does give his whole mind and\nheart to God in some sense--at least, really and substantially,\nthough it may be imperfectly. If he does not go that far, he does\nnot in any sense fulfil this commandment. He loves the sinful\nthing more than he loves God. He is ready to give up God, rather\nthan his will and pleasure. His whole heart and soul loves\nsin--is turned away from God. He cannot entertain any hope of\neternal life: that is clear from the words of the Saviour in\nto-day's Gospel. The Lawyer asked Him, \"_What shall I do to\npossess eternal life?_\" The Saviour said, \"_What is written\nin the law? how readest thou?_\" He answered: \"_Thou shalt\nlove the Lord God with thy whole heart, and with thy whole soul,\nand with all thy strength, and with all thy mind_.\" And the\nSaviour replied: \"_Thou hast answered right, this do and thou\nshalt live_.\" You see what the condition is. We must fulfil\nthis commandment, or there is no eternal life for us.\n{272}\nLet us not deceive ourselves. If we cannot honestly and sincerely\nsay: 'I am determined to keep clear of every mortal sin,' our\nreligion is vain. Don't build on the idea that we shall be saved\nbecause of the Catholic faith we profess. \"_Think not_,\"\nsays Jesus, \"_to say, We have Abraham for our Father. Do\npenance; the axe is laid to the root of the tree; every tree that\nbringeth not forth good fruit shall be hewn down and cast into\nthe fire_.\" [Footnote 115]\n\n    [Footnote 115: St. Luke iii., 8, 9.]\n\nBut is it enough just barely to fulfil the commandment in this\nway? No, it is not. One who does not go farther, runs a very\ngreat risk of being lost. The fact is, to maintain one's self in\nan habitual horror of mortal sin requires a great deal of fervor\nand recollection. In order to do so, one must also aim at\navoiding every deliberate sin, small or great; one must really be\nin earnest to please God, or, in other words, one must strive to\nfulfil the commandment of the text with a good degree of\nperfection. That is plain enough to the dullest comprehension. A\nman may get over an ordinary difficulty well enough, but when a\ngreat one comes in his way, he requires all his strength and\nresolution to overcome it.\n{273}\nSo the ordinary temptations may be avoided, but there come times\nwhich try the soul, great temptations, or unusual difficulties,\nand great fervor is necessary to overcome them. They come just\nwhen least expected, when one is off his guard. Unless one\nmaintains himself, then, in this state of fervor, so as to be\nprepared for these occasions, he must fall. A ship that is strong\nenough for fair weather, goes down in a strong gale of wind. A\ndrowsy sentinel may serve as well as another for awhile, but when\nsuddenly beset by an enemy, is slain before he can get ready to\ndefend himself; so the Christian, who goes on the principle of\nkeeping clear of mortal sin, but makes light of lesser sins, will\nbe sure to come to a grievous fall at last. \"_He that despiseth\nsmall things_,\" the Scripture says, \"_shall fall by little\nand little_.\" [Footnote 116]\n\n    [Footnote 116: Ecclus. xix., 1.]\n\n    [Transcriber's note: Ecclesiastes ends with chapter 12.\n    Sirach xix. 1. reads\n    \"Whoever does this grows no richer; those who\n    waste the little they have will be stripped bare.\"]\n\nThe man who goes on the principle of gratifying his passions as\nmuch as he can short of mortal sin, will never stop there. He\nwill overleap his boundary, as surely as the sun goes down at the\nclose of day, as surely as the water that eats out the sand from\nthe foundations of a house will finally bring it to ruin.\n{274}\nSuch a person is not only in danger of ruin in the world to come,\nbut loses the peace and consolation which the servants of God\nought to have in this world. There is too much selfishness about\nhim. He is trying to join together two things as contrary as God\nand the world--an impossibility, as God Himself says: \"_No man\ncan serve two masters, for either he will love the one and hate\nthe other, or he will hold to the one and despise the other. Ye\ncannot serve God and mammon_.\" [Footnote 117]\n\n    [Footnote 117: Matt. vi., 24.]\n\nNow, the Lord intended to remove these evils, to show us a sure\nand safe way to everlasting life, and to fill our souls\nhabitually with a heavenly peace and consolation, by enjoining on\nus to fulfil this commandment with perfection, and, as the words\nsound--\"_with all our hearts, and with all our souls, and with\nall our mind, and with all our strength_.\" I think this is\nenough to prove conclusively the necessity of such fulfilment;\nnow let us see how it is to be done.\n\n{275}\n\nBut, at the very outset, a great repugnance and distaste will\narise, I doubt not, in the minds of many, at hearing these strong\nwords of the text. It will seem to be asking too much--more than\nthey can dream of fulfilling. In their idea, it would seem an\nimpossibility, even if they had the best will in the world.\n\"What,\" says the father of a family, \"give my whole soul and mind\nto God? To take care of my children, to put bread in their mouths\nand clothes on their backs, takes up, and must take up the\nprincipal part of my time and attention. I must attend to my\nbusiness, and use all my skill and prudence and activity to make\nall things meet. I can not do as the old hermits of the desert\ndid, pass my time in constant prayer and meditation.\" \"What,\"\nsays the mother, \"give all my strength and all my mind to God!\nHow can I do it? I must expend all my strength going up and down\nstairs, in the kitchen, in the dining-room, in my own room sewing\nand mending, to keep every thing decent for the children. I must\nteach them, and look out for them. One thing or another takes up\nmy time and attention the whole day, so that, when night comes\nround, I am glad enough to get to bed and to sleep as quick as I can.\"\n{276}\n\"What,\" says the young woman, just growing out of her girlhood,\n\"give my whole heart to God, when this dear old world is so\npleasant, and I have such fine times in it?\" Alas! not the young\nwoman only, but the young man, and the old man and the old woman,\ntoo, are apt enough to speak in this way. Dissipation and\npleasure keep such a hold upon them, that they seem to be more\ngiddy and foolish as they grow older. And another cry comes up\nfrom all quarters: \"How can I give my whole heart and soul to\nGod, when the troubles and sorrows of the world, its cares and\nanxieties and disappointments fill me with bitterness and rage,\nand excite every evil passion? In this miserable world there is\nno such thing as tranquillity or peace, and how, without these,\ncan the whole heart be given to God?\"\n\nNow, dear brethren, whoever you may be who speak or who think in\nthis way, put down that feeling a little while; listen with\npatience while I propose to you a means of fulfilling Christ's\ncommandment which will smooth away these difficulties, and enable\nyou to do so in a manner most pleasant and agreeable to you.\n{277}\nI do not pretend that this means takes away from you all\nnecessity of exertion--all effort and care to do right. No, the\nwords of Christ must hold true: \"_Strive to enter into the\nstraight gate_,\" He says. \"_Fight the good fight_,\" says\nSt. Paul. The prize of our high calling is too valuable to be had\nwithout being in earnest about it. But I can venture to say, that\nby the method I propose, it is by no means so difficult a thing\nto fulfil Christ's commandment as you may suppose; that, with a\nlittle patience and perseverance, it will become an easy and\nagreeable thing to do so. What is this method? It is--_to\nexcite and keep in your souls an ardent desire to love God_.\n\nThis desire will do every thing, if it is strong and lively. Now,\nthe desire to love God is a thing natural to the soul. How so?\nWhy, thus. We naturally desire what is good--what will conduce to\nour interest, our pleasure or profit. We express this by the very\nword \"desirable.\" As soon as we become acquainted with the value\nof any thing to us, we desire it, and our desire for it is in\nproportion to our appreciation of it. So a good name is more\ndesired among noble-minded men than the possession of riches--a\nsubstantial wealth, more than the pleasure of the senses.\n{278}\nNow, what is more desirable than God? To possess Him, is to\npossess all that is good, all that is beautiful, all that is\nhonorable, all that makes happiness. As soon as we know, even\nimperfectly, what God is, a strong desire to possess Him must\narise in the soul. It may be transitory, quickly fade away and\nlost sight of, through the things of the world which occupy the\nattention, but, whenever we reflect on it, that desire must--it\nis impossible that it should not--rise up in the soul. This\ntransitory desire, which passes away like a vapor, is of little\nor no value; it does not last long enough to produce any\npractical impression. It is what is called a _velleity_, or\nineffectual wish, if it is not nourished and made permanent, so\nas to influence one's life.\n\nBut since this desire to love God is natural to one who knows\nwhat He is, it must be, therefore, an excellent and easy means to\nacquire a high degree of that love. It is like the oar in the\nhands of the rower. It is like the wing by which a bird mounts\nhigh in the air. Why, as soon as this desire acquires force\nenough to control the will (and any strong desire is sure to do\nso), we cannot separate the desire to love God from the love of\nGod itself.\n{279}\nGod does not measure our love to Him by our feelings, for we may\nseem to ourselves to have little, while our will shows that we\nlove Him dearly. The trouble then with us, and I may say our only\ntrouble is, that we do not enough desire to love Him; that we do\nnot keep that desire bright and lively in our souls. Surely we\nhave abundant reason for it! Besides the loveliness of God\nattracting us, our eternal destiny depends upon it--heaven and\nhell. Only let us turn over in our minds the vast importance of\nloving God, and we must be compelled to cry out with intense\ndesire: \"Oh, that I did love God with all my heart, with all my\nsoul, with all my mind and strength!\" I say, then, excite this\ndesire; think, and think every day, on these simple things: Who\nam I? Who is God? What has God made me for? What is the world and\nall in it, compared to the love of God? Or, as the Gospel reads,\n\"_What shall it profit me to gain the whole world, if I suffer\nthe loss of my soul?_\" Perhaps this fire of desire is almost\nout in your soul; but there is still fire there--there is one\ncoal at least burning yet.\n{280}\nBlow it into a flame! Keep on blowing, and that fire will be sure\nto spread, until the whole heap is in a blaze. You see, all that\nis required of you is to think, to reflect. Put your mind upon it\nwith earnestness; and the desire of God must speedily gain the\nmastery of your soul. When it does so, it will regulate all its\nmotions, and make every thing that was before so unnatural and\ndifficult seem wonderfully easy.\n\nLet us see how it would fare then with sin. Only keep that ardent\ndesire to love God burning in your soul, and you will find it a\nvery hard thing to commit any deliberate sin. It is a maxim in\nphysical science that two bodies cannot occupy the same space at\nthe same time. One must displace the other. So, I say, two strong\ndesires, that are opposed to each other, cannot stay together in\none heart. Either one or the other must give way and yield\npossession. So our Lord said long ago under cover of this\ncomparison: \"_When a strong man armed keepeth his court, those\nthings which he possesseth are in peace. But if one stronger than\nhe cometh upon him and overcome him, he will take away all his\narmor wherein he trusted, and distribute his spoils_.\"\n[Footnote 118]\n\n    [Footnote 118: St. Luke xi., 21, 22.]\n\n{281}\n\nThe strong desire for God's love will take away from the desire\nfor sin all its armor, all its strength, and leave it powerless\nto hurt us. It had a peaceable possession of the soul before,\nbecause nothing seriously disputed its right to govern, but now\nthe desire to love God has made it hateful and loathsome. The\nstrong man has become weak as an infant. When we fix our eyes on\nsin, perhaps its allurements, and the force of old habits, may\nmake it so attractive, that it would gain the mastery once more.\nCertainly it would make a desperate struggle for the mastery. But\nlet us look up to God! Let us consider how necessary, how\ndesirable in every view is his love, until we become resolved\nthat at least we will long for it, and continue longing for it,\nas long as life is long; saying with the royal Psalmist: \"_As\nthe hart panteth after the fountains of water, so panteth my soul\nafter thee, God_.\" [Footnote 119]\n\n    [Footnote 119: Ps. xli. 1.]\n\n    [Transcriber's note: The USCCB reference is Ps. xlii. 2.]\n\nThen will all those allurements and attractions of sin vanish. We\nshall only wonder how such miserable things could have blinded us\nso long.\n\n{282}\n\nWe all know how strong and engrossing the passion of earthly love\nis. The lover is taken with some real or fancied perfection of\nhis mistress, either a beautiful face, a noble figure, or, it may\nbe, with what is far more to be prized, some noble qualities of\nthe mind or disposition. His whole mind is taken up with her\nnight and day, and his only study is, how he may recommend his\nsuit. If encouraged with the prospect of success, transports of\njoy fill his soul; if met by neglect and indifference, he is\nplunged into the deepest melancholy. If parents or relatives put\nobstacles in the way, heaven and earth are moved to get them out\nof the way. This is the burden of so many novels and romances\nthat are read with eagerness by people of every condition and\nevery class of society. If the desire of earthly beauty, of body\nor soul, so imperfect, so unsatisfying, so short-lived, can thus\nengross the soul of man, why should not the desire of God's love,\nwho is perfect beauty, perfect wisdom, perfect goodness, and our\npromised portion for ever and ever, be able to do far more? It\nwill remove all obstacles out of the way.\n{283}\nWe shall say, as did St. Agnes to her admirer and tempter:\n\"Depart from me thou food for death, for I am betrothed to Him\nwhom the angels serve, whose beauty sun and moon admire.\" Every\ncreature that breathes is food for death. Sin is the food of\neternal death. The idea that mortal sin brings eternal death,\neternal separations from this infinite beauty and goodness, must\nmake us regard it with the same horror that fills the soul at the\nsight of a ferocious tiger or deadly serpent. It will make the\noccasions of sin hateful, and cause the soul to exclaim: \"Away\nfrom me, ye frightful temptations! I know you: Ye bear the\nserpent's tongue and the tiger's claw. Ye carry with you the risk\nof God's anger and my eternal ruin.\" Who that loves God, or\ndesires to love Him, could venture into any place, into the\nsociety of any person, where the danger of mortal sin is lurking,\nsince he knows that mortal sin is banishment from God?\n\n{284}\n\nThis sacred desire would also consume every kind of deliberate\nsin, whether great or small. This is the language of a heart that\nlongs after divine love. \"Oh! how can I admit this, it is sinful;\nit will cool away the fervor of my soul, it will prevent me from\nmaking that near approach to God's love which I so much covet.\"\nCursing and swearing, lying, slandering, pilfering, and every\nform of dishonesty, all immodesty in deed, word or thought, anger\nand foolish pride--how would these all disappear before such a\nfervent desire! And all this would be accomplished without any\nviolence to the soul, quietly, but powerfully and effectually,\nand even with delight and satisfaction. For is it not a joy to\nfollow where our heart's desires lead? But this holy desire leads\ntoward God, and away from sin.\n\nAgain, this ardent desire to love God more and more will make it\neasy and pleasant to us to perform all our duties. We cannot work\nwithout a motive, without proposing something to ourselves which\nappears good in our eyes. If the work to be done is arduous or\ndifficult, the motive or inducement must be a strong one. Such a\nstrong motive will render what is difficult easy. How easy it is\nfor men to take the longest journeys, endure the greatest labors,\nwhen their souls are fired with the desire of providing for their\nbeloved ones at home, or with a noble ambition to serve their\ncountry, or even for the miserable pursuit of gain.\n{285}\nOnly hold out the prospect of success, and any amount of labor\nseems light to them. Cannot the motive of God's love do as much?\nIs it not as great? Can it not fill the soul as much as any\nother? For an answer to these questions, look at what the Saints,\nholy men and women, have done. Urged and animated by this\nall-absorbing love, they have not counted life even as dear to\nthem, but given it up freely and gladly under the most frightful\ntorments. Look at the labors and sufferings of others, for\nexample, of a St. Francis Xavier, enough in his case, one would\nsuppose, to kill twenty ordinary men, all endured with the most\nheroic cheerfulness and joy. No, depend upon it, the labors and\nduties of ordinary life will seem trifling in the eyes of the\nChristian who longs for the love of Jesus Christ. His soul burns\nfor opportunities. What shall I do? he says. 'Why do I stand here\nidle? Lord, send me something to do.' The cares, duties, and\nresponsibilities of every-day life are the first things to be\ndone; sent by the Lord to be done for his sake. Therefore the\nsoul, instead of finding in them a source of complaint, finds an\noutlet for that activity which she desires to exercise for God.\n{286}\nSuppose one would only say to himself, I want to do something to\nplease God and increase in his love. Now, I have not to search\nfor it; it is here before my face. To take care of my family,\nendure fatigue and exertion for them, to discharge with fidelity\nthis office or employment committed to me, by which I earn my\nbread. I will set right to work to do it. It is little indeed\nthat is required of me, but that little, and nothing else, is\nwhat God requires of me now. Thanks be to Him who has made my way\nplain before my face. In this way do things naturally distasteful\nand irksome become agreeable, when the love of God is spread over\nthem.\n\nThis desire for God's love will also moderate all excessive\ndesire for the pleasures of the world. I do not speak now so much\nof sinful pleasures, as of allowing the heart to go too much\nafter such as are allowed. Such liberty leads to sin by a short\nroad. Our life is too important to be trifled away. God requires\nof us not to set our hearts on the pleasures or pomp of this\nworld, because then it is sure to forget, what is of so much more\nimportance, Himself.\n{287}\nNow, as soon as the soul in earnest perceives that indulgence is\nproducing this effect, that she is losing the relish for the love\nof God and spiritual things, she is startled, and cannot but feel\nafflicted. What, she says, shall I barter away so immense a good\nfor such trifles? The very pain this reflection causes weans her\naway from pleasure. She judges, and judges rightly, that a small\nenjoyment neglected for so high a motive, will bring a higher and\nbetter happiness. We all know this in every-day affairs. Most men\nprefer to neglect the pleasure of the moment when they see that\nthey gain a greater one for themselves in the future. How\nprovident, how temperate they are in early life to lay up an\nabundance for old age! What old age can compare with eternity?\nHow strong then the motive of the soul to moderate all her\nearthly desires, that she may have time and opportunity to look\nout for that eternity. The ardent lover of God looks at every\nthing in such a light. Pleasure becomes irksome to him very soon,\nbecause he has something so much more important on his mind, that\nhe cannot, and will not rest easy, unless it be attended to.\n{288}\nHe is no longer a little child, and cannot amuse himself with\nrunning after butterflies the whole day. Besides, a greater\npleasure has engrossed and filled up his soul, and leaves no room\nfor trifles. It is the happiness of uniting himself to God. There\nis no drawback to this. After a day spent in trying, with all his\nheart, to please his God, he feels no regret for it at night,\nwhen he lies down on his pillow. He is not left uneasy, restless,\nand dissatisfied, as when pleasure, ease, and self-indulgence\nwere his aim, but is full of tranquillity, full of hope, and full\nof the desire that his whole life may be thus spent in the same,\nor greater efforts, to please God. The pleasures of the world\nsoon grow to be worthless in the eyes of such a man. With St.\nPaul he says: \"_I account all things as dung, so that I may win\nChrist_.\" [Footnote 120]\n\n    [Footnote 120: Phil. iii. 8.]\n\nIt is not hard to part with what we esteem so little. The joy of\nthe heart amply compensates for all sacrifices, so that instead\nof a long face, a melancholy and soured heart, such a one enjoys\ndeep gladness and satisfaction of mind, which grows deeper and\nmore complete, in proportion as he is weaned away from the\npleasures of the world.\n\n{289}\n\nFinally, all those things which are naturally disagreeable, such\nas misfortunes, pains, sickness, trials of all kinds, become easy\nand even agreeable through such a strong desire. The Martyrs\nsmiled in the midst of their torments. Did they not feel them?\nMost certainly they had the same flesh and blood as ourselves.\nBut their souls had a sight of Jesus, surrounded by his Angels,\nand this distracted their attention from all their torments. So\nSt. Stephen, when he saw this sight, became radiant with joy, and\nhis face shone like the face of an Angel. Sufferings,\ntribulations and trials are things that force the soul to look\nsteadfastly upon Jesus, and the sight of Him takes from them all\ntheir bitterness. So we read that an old hermit of the desert\ncomplained when his yearly sickness failed to come upon him, that\nthe Lord had neglected to visit him. The soul that earnestly\ndesires God's love needs only to be told that pain of body or\nmind, borne patiently, as coming from God's hand, is the surest\nmeans of obtaining its desire. Pain is accepted then with\nalacrity, and with pleasure.\n{290}\nTo be sure, the first pangs may be exceedingly hard to bear; the\nsoul may require a little time to recollect herself, and gather\nforce to overcome the repugnance of nature. But a little\nreflection puts every thing in its proper place. Shall I, she\nsays, reject the very things I have longed for, the opportunities\nof making rapid progress in the love of God? If this does not\nstill the tumult of nature, prayers are resorted to, and in the\nend comes victory and triumph, a wonderful vigor and refreshment\nof the soul.\n\nThis is not merely for Martyrs and canonized Saints; it is a\nthing that belongs to every-day life--the grand remedy for all\nthe ills we are subject to: \"_Take up my yoke,_\" says the\nSaviour, \"_for my yoke is easy and my burden light, and ye\nshall find rest for your souls_.\" [Footnote 121]\n\n   [Footnote 121: St. Matt, xi., 29.]\n\nIt seems strange that the cross of Christ should give rest, but\nit is so; and the tribulations which come from his hand, as St.\nJames says, work patience, and patience hath a perfect work;\ntherefore it is to be counted joy to receive them, and not\nsorrow. And such will be the sentiment of the lover of God.\n{291}\nSo in the Sermon on the Mount, the burden is always: \"_Rejoice\nand be exceeding glad_.\" For what? Poverty, afflictions,\npersecutions, false testimony, and so on--they are worthy of joy,\nbecause they bring what the soul so much desires.\n\nSee then what great things the desire to love God will do for\nyou! May the poor thoughts which I have strung together, excite\nin your minds this fruitful and wonder-working desire. Regard the\nlove of God as the pearl of great price. Consider over and over\nagain the value of it. Persevere in efforts to appreciate it. Say\nto yourselves--I will not forget. I will continually repeat: Oh,\nGod, make me to know thee, and to love thee more and more! Oh,\nhow I wish to love my God better than I do! Excite this desire in\nthe morning when you arise--during the day, when you are\ntempted--when you are discouraged--when you have any thing to\nsuffer--in the midst of pleasure, and whenever the Holy Ghost\ninspires it. At night, take some time to reflect upon the love of\nGod, to sigh and beg for it. Persevere, and it will not be long\nbefore your heart will be inflamed with it--your whole life will\nbe filled with it. Your only uneasiness will be because that\nburning desire cannot be fully satisfied in this world.\n{292}\nThis is to hunger and thirst after justice. What a blessed hunger\nand thirst it is, and what a blessed promise accompanies it!\n\"_Blessed are ye who hunger and thirst after justice, for you\nshall be filled_.\" [Footnote 122] Filled with justice! What\ndoes that mean? Filled so that we shall not want any more. Not\nfilled with money--which will leave us poor and naked at the last\nhour. Not filled with sensual pleasures, which please the heart\nin time and burn it in eternity; but filled with justice, that\nis, filled with God--filled with a deep inward peace and joy\nduring our mortal life--a foretaste of heaven; and filled with\nglory and happiness unspeakable in heaven itself forever. Amen.\n\n    [Footnote 122: St. Matt. v., 6.]\n\n     -----------------\n\n{293}\n\n        Sermon XVIII.\n\n    The Worth Of The Soul.\n\n\n  \"There shall be joy before the angels of God\n  over one sinner doing penance.\"\n     --St. Luke xv., 10.\n\n  (From the Gospel for the 3d Sunday after Pentecost.)\n\n\nThis is what theologians call an _accidental_ joy. The\nessential joy of Heaven consists in the perfect knowledge and\nlove of God, and is unchangeable and eternal; but the accidental\njoy of Heaven springs from the knowledge of those events in time\nwhich display the goodness and greatness of God. The first of\nthese events was the creation itself, when the hand of God spread\nthe carpet of the earth and stretched the curtains of the\nheavens. Then \"_the morning stars praised Him together, and all\nthe sons of God made a joyful melody_.\" [Footnote 123]\n\n    [Footnote 123: Job xxxviii., 7.]\n\n{294}\n\nAfter this the great historic events of the world have been\nsuccessively the burden of the angelic songs--the unfolding of\nthe plan of Redemption, the birth of Christ, the triumphs of the\nChurch. But lo! of a sudden these lofty strains are stopped.\nThere is silence for a moment, and then the golden harps take up\na new and tenderer theme. What is it that has happened? What is\nthe event that can interrupt the great harmonies of Heaven, and\nfurnish the Angels with a new song? In some corner of the earth,\nin some secret chamber, in some confessional, on some sick bed,\nin some dark prison, a sinner is doing penance. He prays, whose\nmouth had been full of cursings. He weeps, who had made a mock at\nsin. The slave of Satan and of Hell turns back to God and\nHeaven--and that is the reason of this unusual joy. It is not\nthat a recovered sinner is really of more account than one who\nhas never fallen, but his recovery from danger is the occasion of\nexpressing that esteem and love for the souls of men which always\nfills the heart of God and the Angels. Therefore, as that\ncontrite cry reaches heaven the Angels are silent, for they know\nthat there is no music in the ear of God like that.\n{295}\nAnd then, when God has ratified the absolving words of the\npriest, and restored the contrite sinner to His favor, they cast\nthemselves before the throne, and break forth into loud swelling\nstrains of ecstasy and triumph, while He Himself smiles his\nsympathy and joy. Oh, my brethren, what a revelation this is! A\nrevelation of the value of the soul. There are great rejoicings\non earth when a battle is won, or upon the occasion of the visit\nof some great statesman or warrior, or when some great commercial\nenterprise is successful, but these things do not cause joy in\nHeaven. The conversion of one soul--it may be a child, or a young\nman, or an old woman--the conversion of one soul, that it is that\nmakes a gala day in Heaven. Now God sees every thing just as it\nis, and if there are such rejoicings in Heaven when a soul is\nwon, what must be the value of a soul! Let us confess the truth,\nwe have not thought enough of the value of a soul. We have\nthought too much of the world, of its pleasures, of its profits,\nof its honors, but too little of our own souls. We have not\nthought of them as God thinks of them. Let us then strive to\nexalt our ideas, by considering some of the reasons why we should\nput a high value on our souls.\n\n{296}\n\nIn the first place, we should value a human soul, because it is\nin itself superior to any thing else in the world. The whole\nworld, indeed, with every thing in it, is good, for God made it.\nBut He proceeded in a very different manner in the creation of\nthe material world from what He did when He made the soul. He\nmade the world, the trees, the rivers, the lights of heaven, the\nliving creatures on the earth, by the mere word of his power.\n\"_God said, Be light made. And light was made_.\" [Footnote\n124] And God said, \"_Let the earth bring forth the green herb,\nand the fruit tree yielding fruit after its kind. And it was\nso_.\" [Footnote 125]\n\n    [Footnote 124: Gen. i., 3.]\n\n    [Footnote 125: Gen. i., 12.]\n\n    [Transcriber's note: The USCCB reference is Gen. i., 11,12.]\n\nBut when He made the soul, the Scriptures tell us, \"_He\nbreathed into the face of man and he became a living soul_.\"\n[Footnote 126]\n\n    [Footnote 126: Gen. i., 26.]\n\n    [Transcriber's note: The USCCB reference is Gen. ii., 7.]\n\nBy this action we are to understand that God communicated to man\na nature kindred to his own divinity. The Holy Ghost, the Third\nPerson of the Blessed Trinity, is the uncreated Spirit of God,\neternally breathing forth and proceeding from the Father and the\nSon; and God when He breathed into the face of man, signified\nthat He imparted to man a creative spirit kindred to his own\neternal spirit.\n{297}\nThe Holy Scriptures indeed, expressly tell us that such was the\ncase; \"_Let us make man to our Image and our Likeness_.\"\n[Footnote 127]\n\n    [Footnote 127: Gen. i., 26-27.]\n\nThis likeness consisted in the possession of understanding and\nfree will, the power of knowledge and love--the two great\nattributes of God Himself. You are then, my brethren, endowed\nwith a soul which raises you immeasurably above God's material\ncreation. You have a soul made after God's image. This is the\nsource of your power. The two things go together in Holy\nScripture. \"_Let us make man to our Image and Likeness: and let\nhim have dominion over the fishes of the sea, and the fowls of\nthe air, and the beasts, and the whole earth, and every creeping\ncreature that moveth upon the earth_.\" [Footnote 128]\n\n    [Footnote 128: Gen. ii., 7.]\n\n    [Transcriber's note: The USCCB reference is Gen. i., 26.]\n\nIn the state of original innocence, no doubt, this dominion was\nmore perfect, but even now it exists in a great degree. \"_Every\nkind of beast, and of birds, and of serpents, and of the rest, is\ntamed, and hath been tamed by mankind_.\" [Footnote 129]\n\n    [Footnote 129: St. James iii., 7.]\n\n{298}\n\nSee how a little boy can drive a horse. See how a dog obeys his\nMaster's eye and voice. See how even lions and tigers become\nsubmissive to their keepers. And the elements, often wilder than\nferocious beasts, are obedient to you. The fire warms you and\ncooks for you, and carries you when you want to travel for\nbusiness or pleasure. The wind fans the sails of your vessels,\nand the waters make a path for them under your feet. Even the\nlightning leaps and exults to do your bidding and to be the\nmessenger of your will. Thus every thing falls down before you\nand does you homage, and proclaims you lord and master. What is\nthe reason that every thing thus honors you? It is on account of\nthe soul that is in you--the power of reason and will--the\ngodlike nature with which you are endowed.\n\nYes, and your soul is the source of your beauty, too. In what\nconsists the beauty of a man? Is it a mere regularity of form and\nfeature? Do you judge of a man as you do of a horse or a dog? No;\nthe most exquisitely chiseled features do not interest you, until\nyou see intelligence light up the eye, and charity irradiate the\ncountenance--then you are captivated.\n{299}\nA man may be a perfect model of grace in his movements without\nexciting you, but when he becomes warm with inspirations of\nwisdom and virtue, when his words flow, his eye sparkles, his\nbreast heaves, his whole frame becomes alive with the emotions of\nhis soul, then it is you are carried away, you are ready almost\nto fall down and worship. What is the reason that Christian art\nhas so far surpassed heathen art? the Madonna so far more\nbeautiful than the Venus de Medicis? It is because the heathens\nportrayed the beauty of dead matter; the Christians portrayed the\nbeauty of the soul. And if the soul is so beautiful in the little\nrays that escape from the body, what must it be in itself? God\nhas divided his universe into several orders, and we find the\nlowest in a superior order higher than the highest in the\ninferior order. The soul, then, is more beautiful than any thing\nmaterial. \"_She is more beautiful than the sun, and above all\nthe order of the stars; being compared with the light she is\nfound before it_.\" [Footnote 130]\n\n    [Footnote 130: Wisdom vii., 29.]\n\n{300}\n\nOh, my brethren, do not admire men for their form, or their\ndress, or their grace, but admire them for the soul that is in\nthem, for that is the true source of their beauty.\n\nIt is also the secret of their destiny. God did not give you this\ngreat gift to be idle. He gave it for a worthy end. He gave\nunderstanding that you might know Him, and free will that you\nmight love Him; and this is the true destiny of man. You were not\nmade to toil here for a few days, and then to perish. You were\nmade to know God, to be the friend of God, the companion of God,\nto think of God, to converse with God, to be united to God here,\nand then to enjoy God hereafter forever. Once more then, I say,\ndo not admire a man for his wealth, or his appearance, or his\nlearning. Do not ask whether he is poor or rich, ignorant or\nlearned, from what nation he springs, whether he lives in a cabin\nor palace. Let it be enough that he is a man, possessed of\nunderstanding and free will, spiritual and immortal, with a soul\nand an eternal destiny. That is enough. Bow down before him with\nrespect. Yes, respect yourselves--not for your birth, or your\nstation, or your wealth, but for your manhood.\n{301}\n\"_Let not the wise man glory in his wisdom, and let not the\nstrong man glory in his strength, and let not the rich man glory\nin his riches. But let him that glorieth glory in this, that_\nHE UNDERSTANDETH AND KNOWETH ME.\" [Footnote 131] Yes, my\nbrethren, this is your true dignity, the soul that is in you--the\nsoul, that makes you capable of knowing and loving God.\n\n    [Footnote 131: Jer. ix., 23, 24.]\n\n    [Transcriber's note: The USCCB reference is Jer. ix., 22,\n    23.]\n\nAnd yet, there is another reason why you should value your souls,\nbesides their intrinsic excellence--I mean, the great things that\nhave been done for them. Do you ask me what has been done for\nyour souls? I ask you to look above you, and around you, and\nunder you. Oh, how fair the earth is! See these rivers and hills!\nLook on the green grass! Behold the blue vault of heaven! Well,\nthis is the palace God has prepared for you above; nay, not for\nyour abode--your dwelling-place is beyond the skies, where\n\"_the light of the moon is as the light of the sun, and the\nlight of the sun seven fold, as the light of seven days_,\"--\nbut for the place of your sojourn. This earth was made for you;\nand, as your destiny is eternal, therefore the earth must have\nbeen made to subserve your eternal destiny.\n{302}\nWhy does the sun rise in the morning, and go down at night? It is\nfor you--for your soul. Why do summer and winter, seed-time and\nharvest, return so regularly? It is for you, and your salvation.\nThe earth is for the elect. When the elect shall be completed,\nthe earth, having done its work, will be destroyed. This is the\nend to which, in God's design, all things are tending. God does\nnot look at the world, or its history, as we do. We say: \"Here\nsuch a great battle was fought;\" \"there such a celebrated man was\nborn;\" \"in this epoch such an empire took its rise, such a\ndynasty came to an end.\" But God says: \"Here it was a little\nchild died after baptism, and went straight to heaven;\" \"there it\nwas I recovered that gifted soul, which had wandered away into\nerror and sin, but which afterward became so great in sanctity;\"\n\"in such an age it was that I lost that great nation which fell\naway from the faith, and in such another, by the preaching of my\nmissionary, I won whole peoples from heathenism.\" I know we\nshrink from this in half unbelief. When it is brought home to us\nthat this little earth is the centre of God's counsels, and our\nsouls of the universe, we are amazed and offended.\n{303}\nBut so it is. \"_All things work together unto good to them that\nlove God_.\" [Footnote 132] All things; not blindly, but by the\noverruling Providence of Him who made them for this end.\n\n    [Footnote 132: Rom. viii., 28.]\n\nDo you ask me what has been done for your souls? I answer, the\nChurch has been established for them. Look at the Church, and see\nhow many are her officers and members--Bishops, Priests,\nLevites, Teachers, Students. All are yours--all are for you. For\nyou the Pope sits on his throne; for you Bishops rule their Sees;\nfor you the Priest goes up to the altar; for you the Teacher\ntakes his chair, and the Student grows pale in the search for\nscience. That the Apostolic commission might come down to you,\nSt. Peter and St. Linus and Cletus ordained Bishops in the\nchurches. That the true doctrine of Christ might come down to you\nuncorrupted, the Fathers of the Church gathered in council, at\nNice, and Ephesus, and Chalcedon, and Trent. That you might hear\nof the glad tidings of Christ, St. Paul and St. Patrick labored\nand died. For you, for each one of you, as if there were no\nother, the great machinery of grace, if I may express myself so\ncoarsely, goes on.\n\n{304}\n\nDo you ask what has been done for your souls? Angels and\nArchangels, and Thrones and Dominions, and Principalities and\nPowers--all the hosts of Heaven--have labored for them. \"_Are\nthey not all ministering spirits, sent to minister for those who\nshall receive the inheritance of salvation?_\" [Footnote 133]\nFor you the whole Court of Heaven is interested, and one bright\nparticular Angel is commissioned to be your guardian. For you St.\nGabriel flew on his message of joy to the Blessed Virgin Mary,\nand St. Michael, the standard-bearer, waits at the gate of death.\n\n    [Footnote 133: Heb. i., 14.]\n\nDo you ask what has been done for your souls? From all eternity\nGod has thought of them, the means of salvation been determined\non, the chain of graces arranged. And the Son of God has worked\nfor them. Galilee, and Judea, and Calvary were the scenes of his\nlabors on earth, and on his mediatorial throne in heaven He\ncarries on still his unceasing labors in our behalf.\n{305}\nAnd the Holy Ghost has worked. He spake by the Prophets, and on\nthe day of Pentecost He came to take up his abode in the Church,\nnever to be overcome by error, or grieved away by sin, to vivify\nthe Sacraments, and to enlighten the hearts of the faithful by\nthe preaching of the Gospel and his own holy inspirations.\n\nWhy, who are you, my brethren? The woman at Endor, when she had\npierced the disguise of Saul, and knew that she was talking with\na king, was afraid, and \"_said with a loud voice: Why hast thou\ndeceived me, for thou art Saul?_\" [Footnote 134]\n\n    [Footnote 134: 1 Kings xxviii., 12.]\n\n    [Transcribers Note: The USCCB reference is I. Samuel xxviii. 12.]\n\nSo, I ask you, who are you? I look upon your faces, and I see\nnothing to make me afraid; but faith tears away the disguise, and\nI see each one of you radiant with light, a true prince, and an\nheir of heaven. I look above, and see Heaven open and the Angels\nof God ascending and descending on errands of which you are the\nobject. I look higher yet, and I see God the Father watching you\nwith anxiety, and the Son offering his blood for you, and the\nHoly Ghost pleading with you, and the Saints and Angels, some\nwith folded hands supplicating for you, and others pointing with\noutstretched hand to the glorious throne reserved in Heaven for you.\n\n{306}\n\nHave you, my brethren, so regarded yourselves? Have you valued\nthat soul of yours? Have you kept it as your most sacred\ntreasure? Is it now safe and secure? Oh, how carefully do men\nkeep a treasure they value highly! Kings spend many thousand\ndollars yearly just to take care of a few jewels. The crown\njewels of England are kept, as you know, in the Tower. It is a\nheavy fortress, guarded by soldiers who are always on watch. At\neach door and avenue there is an armed sentinel. The jewels\nthemselves are kept in glass cases, and visitors are not allowed\nto touch them. And all these pains and outlay to take care of a\nfew stones that have come down to the Queen by descent, or been\ntaken from her enemies! And that precious soul of yours, before\nwhich all the wealth of the world is but worthless dross--with\nwhat care have you kept that? Alas! every door has been left\nopen. No guard has been at your eyes to keep out evil looks. No\nguard at your ears to keep out the whispers of temptation.\n{307}\nNo guard at your lips to stop the way to the profane or filthy\nword. Nay, not only have you kept up no guard, but you have\ncarried your soul where soul-thieves congregate. The Holy\nScripture says: \"_A net is spread in vain before the eyes of a\nbird_.\" [Footnote 135]\n\n    [Footnote 135: Prov. i., 17.]\n\nYes, the birds and beasts are cunning enough to avoid an open\nsnare; but you go rashly into dangers that are apparent to all\nbut you. Sinners lie in wait for you. They say, in the language\nof Scripture: \"_Come, let us lie in wait for blood; let us hide\nsnares for the innocent without cause. Let us swallow him up\nalive like hell, and whole as one that goeth down into the\npit_.\"--and you trust yourself in their power. Oh, fly from\nthem! Consider the treasure you carry. \"_What shall it profit a\nman to gain the whole world and lose his own soul?_\" Will you\nsin against your own soul? you that are made after God's\nlikeness; you that are princely and of noble rank, will you\ndefile that image, and degrade yourselves to a level with the\nbrutes that perish?\n\n{308}\n\nBut there are others whose offence is of an other kind. They let\ntheir salvation go by sheer neglect. If a man plants a seed, he\nmust water it, or it will not grow. So the soul needs the dew of\nGod's grace; and prayer and the Sacraments are the channels of\nGod's grace. Yet how men neglect the Sacraments! Even at Easter,\nwhen we are obliged to receive them, some absent themselves. It\nhas been a matter of the keenest pain to us to miss some members\nof this congregation during the late Paschal season. You say, you\nhave nothing on your conscience, and it is not necessary to go to\nconfession. But is it not necessary to go to Communion? Will you\nventure to deprive yourselves of that food of which, unless ye\neat, the Saviour has said: \"_Ye have no life in you?_\" Oh!\nyou have a sad story to tell. You have fallen into mortal sin,\nand you are afraid to come. But do you think we have none of the\ncharity of the Angels? Only convert truly, for it is a true\nconversion that gives the Angels joy, and we can give you the\npromise that Thomas \u00e0 Kempis puts into the mouth of Him whose\nplace we fill: \"How often soever a man truly repents and comes to\nme for grace and pardon, as I live, saith the Lord, who desireth\nnot the death of a sinner, but rather that he should be converted\nand live, I will not remember his sins any more, but all shall be\npardoned him.\"\n\n{309}\n\nAnd to you, my brethren, who, during the Easter season just past,\nhave recovered the grace of God, I have a word of advice to give\nin conclusion. Keep your souls with all diligence. Keep your\nsouls; that is your chief, your only care. Keep them by fleeing\nfrom the occasions of sin. Keep them by overcoming habitual sins.\nNourish them by prayer and the sacraments. How great a disgrace,\nthat all the irrational world should do the will of God, and you,\nthe rulers of the world, should not do it! \"_The kite in the\nair hath known her time; the turtle, and the swallow, and the\nstork have observed the time of their coming; but my people have\nnot known the judgment of the Lord_.\" [Footnote 136]\n\n    [Footnote 136: Jer. viii., 7.]\n\nHow great an evil it is in a State when an unworthy Ruler is at\nits head. The people mourn and languish, and at last rebel. So,\nwhen a man neglects the end for which he was made, the whole\ncreation cries out against him. The stones under his feet cry\nout. The air he breathes, the food he eats, protest against the\nabuse he makes of them.\n{310}\nBalaam's ass rebuked the madness of the Prophet; so when you live\nin sin, the very beasts reproach you. Your horse, your cow, your\ndog, your pigs cry out: \"If we had souls we would not be as you.\nNow we serve God blindly, and of necessity; but if we had souls,\nit would be our pride and happiness to give Him our willing\nservice.\" All things praise the Lord;--\"showers and dew;\" \"fire\nand heat;\" \"mountains and hills;\" \"seas and rivers;\" \"beasts and\ncattle.\" O, sons of men, make not a discord in the universal\nharmony! Receive not your souls in vain! Serve God; \"praise Him\nand exalt Him forever.\"\n\n     ---------------------\n\n{311}\n\n              Sermon XIX.\n\n     Merit The Measure Of Reward.\n\n  \"Behold, I come quickly; and my reward is with Me,\n  to render to every man according to his work.\"\n    --Apoc. xxii., 12.\n\n\nSociety is made up of numerous classes of persons, of very varied\nposition and attainments. How marked is the line, for instance,\nwhich divides the man who lives in the Fifth Avenue, anywhere\nbelow Fortieth street, from the occupant of a shanty on the\noutskirts of the city! Again, what point of contact is there\nbetween the man of science or literature, whose life is spent in\nintellectual pursuits, and the vacant lounger that hangs around\nour steamboat landings and wharves? These men move in separate\nspheres, and have scarcely anything in common.\n{312}\nThey are like two different races of men. The difference is\nperhaps less marked in this country than elsewhere, inasmuch as\nroyalty and nobility and hereditary titles do not exist here. But\neven in this country there is a clear line of division between\ndistinct classes of persons. Shall this always be so? Shall these\naccidental and artificial barriers survive death? How will it be\nin heaven?\n\nNo, my dear brethren, these particular lines of division, of rich\nand poor, learned and unlearned, shall cease with this world; but\nothers will be set up in their place. There is an aristocracy,\nthere is a hierarchy, in Heaven. St. Paul, after saying,\n\"_There is one glory of the sun, and another glory of the moon,\nand another glory of the stars, for star differeth from star in\nglory_,\" adds, \"_so also is the resurrection of the\ndead_.\" [Footnote 137]\n\n    [Footnote 137: 1 Cor. xv., 41, 42.]\n\nSt. Teresa calls this difference \"a prodigious inequality.\" We\nmust not imagine, however, that these various ranks of glory in\nHeaven are founded upon such accidents as birth or good fortune.\nThey are founded upon that proportion of merit which we shall\nhave gained, each one by his good deeds in this life.\n{313}\nThe amount of grace and personal holiness that we possess when we\nappear in judgment before the Lord, this, and not wealth, or\nposition, or gifts of any kind, will be the standard by which we\ntake a high or low place there. It is about this principle of\n\"personal merit\" before God, and in view of Heaven, that I am\ngoing to speak to you this morning. In order to do this, I shall\nspeak of the certainty of merit, of the sources of merit, and the\nconditions of merit.\n\n\n\n   I. The Certainty Of Merit.\n\nWhat is meant by merit? It is that supernatural reward, which God\nhas promised by way of justice, to a good work done in the state\nof grace. God has made a contract with us, as it were, in virtue\nof which He has given us the privilege of claiming eternal\nhappiness from Him on certain conditions. Let me show you how\nthis is the teaching of Holy Scripture. \"_Rejoice and be glad,\nfor great is your reward in heaven_.\" [Footnote 138]\n\n    [Footnote 138: St. Matt, v., 12.]\n\n{314}\n\nOur Lord, you see, uses the word reward which I have used.\n\"_Every one shall receive his own reward according to his\nlabor_.\" [Footnote 139]\n\n    [Footnote 139: 1 Cor. iii., 8.]\n\nSt. Paul here adds another idea to that of reward, namely, that\nit shall be given according to one's labor, or good works. This\nis what our Lord says in the words of my text: \"_Behold I come\nquickly, and my reward is with me, to render to every man\naccording to his work_.\" \"_For the rest there is laid up for\nme a crown of justice, which the Lord the just Judge will give me\nin that day; and not to me only, but to them also who love his\ncoming_.\" [Footnote 140]\n\n    [Footnote 140: 2 Tim. iv., 8.]\n\nIn this passage St. Paul tells us another truth about the\nprinciple of final rewards. He says they shall be given by way of\njustice. The time for mercy will then have passed, and we shall\nbe weighed in the balance of justice, and our reward shall be in\nstrict proportion to the weight of merit we have cast into the\nscale. \"_Therefore, my beloved brethren_ (he writes to the\nCorinthians), _be ye firm and immovable, always abounding in\nthe work of the Lord; knowing that your labor is not in vain in\nthe Lord_.\" [Footnote 141]\n\n    [Footnote 141: 1 Cor. xv., 58.]\n\n{315}\n\nThen, there is that passage of which I have already spoken, where\nSt. Paul illustrates the diversity of rewards. \"_For there is\none glory of the sun, another glory of the moon, and another\nglory of the stars; for one star differeth from another star in\nglory. So also shall it be in the resurrection from the\ndead._\"\n\nThus from Holy Scripture we get these several facts with regard\nto the rewards of the next life, namely, first, that it is a\nreward, and not merely a favor from God. Next, that it is a\nreward for good works. Thirdly, that this reward is given by way\nof justice. And lastly, that these rewards differ as widely from\none another as do the several lights of the sun, moon, and stars.\nBut of what use is Holy Scripture to us without Her\ninterpretation, whose office it is to interpret, as it has been\nto preserve it? I will quote you two, out of many, decrees which\nthe Holy Church made on this matter at the Council of Trent. \"If\nany one shall say that the just ought not for their good works\ndone in God, to expect and hope for an eternal recompense from\nGod, through his mercy and the merits of Jesus Christ, if so be\nthat they persevere to the end in well doing, and in keeping the\nDivine commandments, let him be anathema.\"\n{316}\nAgain, \"If any one shall say that the good works of a justified\nman are in such sense the gifts of God, that they are not also\nthe merits of the justified man himself, let him be anathema.\"\n\nIt is then certain, both from Holy Scripture and from the\ndecisions of Holy Church, that we can merit the possession of\nheaven as a right, by our good works. But you will say, if this\nbe true, does it not tend to cherish in us a spirit of\nself-sufficiency, and of independence of God? No, it does not;\nand for the reasons I am now going to give you, in speaking on\nthe second point, namely:\n\n\n\n     II. The Sources Of Merit.\n\nThere are two sources of merit, neither of which are in\nourselves, but both of them are in God. One is the goodness of\nGod; the other, the merits of Christ.\n\n1. My brethren, God is not bound to his creatures except so far\nas He has been pleased to bind Himself. He could have lived on as\nwell without any creation at all. And even now that he has\ncreated our race, his promise is the only measure of our rights\nand privileges. These promises were forfeited by our first\nparents, and God might never have renewed them to us, their\nposterity.\n{317}\nBut \"_God so Loved the world as to give his only begotten Son,\nthat whoever believeth in Him may not perish, but may have life\neverlasting_.\" [Footnote 142]\n\n    [Footnote 142: John iii., 16.]\n\n\"_Behold what charity the Father hath bestowed upon us_,\"\nsays St. John in his Epistle, \"_that we should be called, and\nthat we should be the sons of God_.\" [Footnote 143]\n\n    [Footnote 143: 1 John iii., 1.]\n\nIt is because we are sons of God, \"and joint heirs with Christ,\"\nthat God has honored us so much, and made it possible for us to\nmerit by our good works. In order however, to keep us humble and\nto make us mindful that in all things we are indebted to his\ngoodness, God has reserved to Himself two graces which we cannot\nmerit, and without which we cannot be saved. These are the gifts\nof sanctifying grace and of final perseverance. A man is not\nlikely to take airs upon himself and be insolent to you, when he\nis lying on the broad of his back in the road, and cannot stir\nhand or foot to help himself. No, he is most likely to address\nyou in terms of supplication and entreaty.\n{318}\nWell, this is our condition when God, of his pure love, bestows\nupon us the gift of sanctifying grace. Then, again, though we\nshould have this gift to-day, we may lose it to-morrow, and but\nfor God's continued graces we would infallibly lose it. Can you\nimagine a dependence which is more pure than ours is upon God? An\ninfant is not more dependent upon its mother for the preservation\nof its physical life, than we are upon God for our spiritual\nlife. \"Give us this day our daily bread,\" is our every morning\nprayer. We are like little birds in a nest before they are able\nto fly. All we can do is to make a piteous cry, and hold up our\nmouths to be filled. Where, then, is there room for presumption\nin such teaching as this? Now, let me go on to my second source\nof merit, which is the merit of Christ.\n\n2. We are in a double sense indebted to our Blessed Lord. He is\nnot only our Creator, our Preserver, and our Benefactor, but He\nis also our Redeemer. It is by his bitter Passion and Death, and\nin union with these, that what we do in his name has a value and\na price in the sight of the Eternal Father. It is that precious\nBlood of his which is poured into our soul in holy Baptism; it is\nthat precious Blood of his which we drink in Holy Communion, that\nconstitutes the pure and holy source of every good and\nmeritorious act of ours.\n{319}\nHe has Himself explained how this is, in the parable of the vine.\n\"_I am the vine, ye the branches. He that abideth in Me, and I\nin him, he beareth much fruit_.\" [Footnote 144]\n\n    [Footnote 144: John xv., 5.]\n\nLet us now try to get at our Lord's meaning. It is quite common\nnowadays to see a grapery in a gentleman's country garden. The\nentire roof of those ornamental glass-houses is covered with\nluxuriant vines; and they in turn are loaded with rich green\nleaves, and with beautiful bunches of grapes. The sap has made\nits course through the length of the vine, and into the various\nbranches. Here it has forced out a green leaf, and there a bunch\nof fruit. These it continues to feed, by a continuous flow, until\nthe leaf has gained its size and color, and the fruit its\ndelicacy of flavor. Both leaf and fruit owe their existence,\ntheir beauty, and whatever is excellent in them, to this sap,\nwhich is the source of all; but will you say that they do not\nhave these things in themselves? Will you say that the grapes are\nnot really fine flavored, but only called so because they belong\nto an excellent vine?\n{320}\nNo, certainly not. You say the grapes are fine, because they\nreally are fine, because they answer in point of taste to what\nyou understand by that term. They have in themselves a something\nwhich is not accidental to them, but which is an essential\nquality in grapes of that kind, namely, that delicate flavor\nwhich has established their worth.\n\nNow, apply this to ourselves. We are united to our Lord through\nthe Sacraments, as branches to a vine. His grace is that precious\nSap which has been let in upon our souls, through those seven\nmain channels. They cleanse and purify our souls. They sanctity\nthem, and make them beautiful and pleasing to God. The acts of\nthe soul, so long as it is united to God by this divine gift of\ngrace, are at the same time the acts of grace. They are good and\nmeritorious, inasmuch as they are done by the co-operation of\ngrace with our intelligence and free will. By rewarding such acts\nas these, God rewards the works of his own hands. This is what\nSt. Augustine says: \"When God crowns our merits, He does no more\nthan crown his own gifts.\"\n\n{321}\n\nLet me illustrate this in another way. St. Paul says, in his\nsecond Epistle to the Corinthians, \"_I have espoused you to one\nhusband, that I may present you as a chaste virgin to\nChrist_.\" [Footnote 145]\n\n    [Footnote 145: 2 Cor. xi., 2.]\n\nHere he calls the soul the wife, and Christ its husband. By this\nwe are to understand, that the grace of Christ in the soul\nenables it first to conceive good desires, and then to bring\nforth good works, which are, as it were, the children of the\nsoul. Thus a dignity and worth are communicated to them, which\nare, in a true sense, divine. Suppose, for instance, a Prince of\nroyal blood were to marry a peasant girl. Her children would\nunquestionably have royal blood in their veins, how ever obscure\nmay have been the parentage of their mother. They would be\nentitled to the right of succession, and could claim the throne\nof their father. Well, in like manner our good works, having God\nas their Author, are able to claim from Him a supernatural\nreward.\n\n{322}\n\n  III. The Conditions Of Merit.\n\nThere is one condition of being able to do a good supernatural\nwork, which always comes first, and that is, that the person\nshall be in the state of grace when he does it. God can find no\npleasure in us so long as our will and affections are turned away\nfrom Him, and this is the case when we are in mortal sin.\n\nAgain, our merit will be in proportion to the excellence of the\nwork in itself considered. One apple is better than another,\nthough both have grown upon the same branch. To attend the\nbedside of some poor sick person, is a more excellent work than\nmerely to bestow an alms upon him. To be contrite for one's sins,\nis more excellent than to do penitential works in expiation of\nthem. To forgive the injury of one's enemy, is more excellent\nthan to pardon the unkindness of an acquaintance. The poorest\neffort at self-control, is better than the best advice given to\nanother. I remember a story which shows what even one excellent\nwork will do for a soul. It is in \"The Lives of the Fathers of\nthe Desert.\" A monk, who was serving God with much prayer and\nself-denial, was tempted with the desire to see a man whose merit\nin the sight of God should be the very counterpart of his own.\nGod gratified his weakness. He was directed to go to a certain\ninn in a neighboring village where he would see such a man.\n{323}\nOn reaching it, there stood before the door a poor fiddler\nplaying for pennies. The monk understood, by an interior light,\nthat this was the man. Much surprised, and rather mortified too,\nhe nevertheless addressed the fiddler, and asked him what sort of\na life he had led, and what he was then doing for God? He\nanswered, that he had, for many years, gained a poor but honest\nlivelihood in the same humble employment. That as to his having\ndone any thing very good, he did not know about that, although\nthere was one thing that he always remembered with a great deal\nof satisfaction. \"With some danger to myself, I once rescued a\npoor girl from those who would have ruined her.\" The good monk\nwas made to understand, that for preventing that outrage, God had\nraised this poor fiddler to a great purity of soul.\n\nA good work, again, is more excellent in proportion as it is more\ndifficult. What a consolation this ought to be to us! How hard we\nthink it sometimes to get on in life, with its multiplied\nvexations and discouragements!\n{324}\nWe say, \"What a strange world!\" \"What a weary world!\" In the\nlanguage of Holy Scripture we say, \"_In the morning, who will\ngrant me evening? and at evening, who will grant me morning?_\"\n[Footnote 146] as though things were turning out very different\nfrom what we had a right to expect.\n\n    [Footnote 146: Deut. xxviii., 57.]\n\n    [Transcriber's note: The USCCB reference is Deut. xxviii., 67.]\n\nAh! God has been good to us in the planning out of our lives,\nbetter than we should be, if we had all the planning to\nourselves. I have shown you that future rewards are to be\ndetermined by merit; now our merits are measured by our trials.\nBy your own admission then, this world, in being full of trials,\nmost completely answers the end for which God created it. If we\ncould but get into the habit of looking at things from this point\nof view, the face of life would be lit up with a perpetual\nsunshine. Yes, the harder our state of life is to bear, the more\ndifficulties we find in following our Lord, the more laborious\nthe work, so much the brighter are our prospects for the life to\ncome, if we prove faithful to the end.\n{325}\nHow well the mother of the Maccabees, that noble woman, knew\nthis! Holy Scripture says: \"_She was to be admired above\nmeasure, and worthy to be remembered by good men, who beheld her\nseven sons slain in the space of one day, and bore it with a good\ncourage for the hope she had in God_.\" [Footnote 147]\n\n    [Footnote 147: 2 Maccabees vii., 20.]\n\nAs the youngest, her last and dearest, was about to be put to\ndeath, she encouraged him to be resolute; and he went to a\nmartyr's reward under the influence of a consoling thought, which\nhe thus beautifully expressed: \"_My brethren having now\nundergone a short pain, are under the covenant of eternal\nlife_.\"\n\nAgain, our merit is in proportion to the purity of the intention\nwith which we do the work. The intention we make, either actual\nor habitual, is the chalice, as it were, in which we make our\nofferings to God. It is even more than this; for the excellence\nof the intention is imparted to the work itself, and becomes the\nmeasure of its merit. I once saw some wooden goblets in the\nwindow of an apothecary shop. Being curious to know what they\nwere for, I was told by the clerk that they were made of quassia,\na peculiar kind of wood which imparted to pure water, when drank\nfrom these goblets, a most healthy tonic.\n{326}\nNow, so it is with a pure intention. If the work that we do for\nGod is only pure and good in itself, the intention will\ncommunicate to it its own peculiar excellence, and the work will\nreceive the reward of that excellence, which has become its own.\n\nSuppose, for instance, you hear Mass from a mere motive of duty,\nas being a Catholic. It is a supernatural work, and it will\nsecure a supernatural reward. But to that intention you have\nadded another the next time you hear Mass; namely, the intention\nof doing penance for your sins. Well, the same act is now doubly\nmeritorious. The third time you hear Mass from a pure desire to\nmake reparation to our Lord for all the injuries He has received\nin the Blessed Sacrament, and your intention is more excellent\nstill, and, if united with the other two, will merit a three-fold\nreward.\n\nAgain, great merit is gained by small things done for God. This\nis surely very encouraging for us who have not the abilities, or\nthe opportunities, of doing great things. Of course I mean great\nthings as the world views them.\n{327}\nA check put upon a wrong thought; the arrest of an improper word;\nthe silence to which we have forced ourselves, when we feel\nwithin us the swelling of anger; the call we make upon a sick\nneighbor in passing; the alms we bestow, however small; the\neffort to be patient under sickness or pain; the kind word of\nadvice to the erring; each such act as these, will be a passport\nat the gate of Heaven.\n\nAnd now, dear brethren, I repeat once more what I said when I\nbegan. There is an aristocracy, there is a hierarchy, in Heaven.\nAs there are nine choirs of Angels, and, so St. John tells us,\nexcept \"the one hundred and forty four thousand\" who had\nconsecrated their virgin bodies as first-fruits to God, none\ncould sing the \"_new song_\" or \"_follow the Lamb\nwhithersoever he goeth_,\" so shall it be forever.\n\nI will say more; and this is what I wish especially to impress\nupon your minds. You must already have gathered it from what I\nhave said. It is this. That aristocracy, that hierarchy, is in\nprocess of formation at this moment. It is not determined by an\narbitrary choice in heaven, but on the principle of personal\nmerit, here on earth.\n{328}\nHow is it with a large body of students at one of our colleges or\nuniversities? They are class-mates, or even room-mates, for\nyears, but look at them after the lapse of twenty years, and what\nare their respective positions? One is a merchant, in a small\nway, in a country town of a new state; while the other is\nrepresenting his country as Minister at a first-class foreign\ncourt. One is a village physician, while the other is the\nnation's choice to fill the Presidential Chair. So shall it be\nwith families. Some will scarcely be saved, while others will\nfill up the ranks of the seraphs, which were broken at the time\nof Lucifer's rebellion. Where, I ask, shall our place be in this\nhierarchy? Our Lord says: \"_The last shall be first, and the\nfirst last_.\" Where shall we be? Grace and a good will are the\nonly materials wanting in the formation of a Saint Aloysius, a\nSaint Stanislas, or a Saint Elizabeth of Hungary; and these are\nin the reach of every one. What shall I say in conclusion, dear\nbrethren, to spur you on to do good works? I will ask you to look\nback upon the past. Does it not lie in your memory in all the\nblackness and barrenness of a western prairie, over which the\ndesolating fire of the savage has passed?\n{329}\nWhere can you find the trace of any real care of your souls?\nWhere your good works? Where your merit? At least let us resolve\nnow, while our hearts are warm, that we will improve the present,\nremembering that \"_what things a man shall sow, those also\nshall he reap;_\" and that \"_he that soweth in the Spirit,\nshall reap life everlasting_.\" [Footnote 148]\n\n    [Footnote 148: Gal. vi., 8.]\n\n     ---------------\n\n{330}\n\n          Sermon XX.\n\n         Self-denial.\n\n  \"We came into the land to which thou sentest us,\n  which in very deed floweth with milk and honey,\n  as may be known by these fruits.\"\n    --Num. xiii., 28.\n\n  [Transcriber's note: The USCCB reference is Num. xiii., 27.]\n\n  (A Sermon for the first Sunday in Lent.)\n\n\nWhen the ancient people of Israel, after traversing the desert of\nArabia, drew nigh to the promised land of Canaan, Moses, their\nprophet and leader, sent out one of every tribe to view the\ncountry, that they might be able to bring back an accurate\naccount of it--of its productiveness, the number and strength of\nits population, and its means of defence. These spies, upon their\nreturn, were all agreed in regard to the wonderful fertility of\nthe country, but in other respects their account was very\ndiscordant.\n{331}\nOne of their number, Caleb the son of Jephone, was full of\nenthusiasm, and said to the people: \"_Let us go up and possess\nthe land, for we shall be able to take it!_\" But the others\nthat had been with him spoke ill of the country, representing it\nas unhealthy, and impossible to be conquered. \"_The land which\nwe have viewed devoureth its inhabitants; the people that we\nbeheld are of a tall stature. There we saw monsters of the sons\nof Enac, of the giant kind, in comparison of whom we seemed like\nlocusts_.\" Why did these last give such a different account\nfrom the first? It was because they were cowardly, and afraid of\nthe inhabitants of Canaan, and this blinded them to the fertility\nof its soil, its fine fruits and great beauty. Their fears caused\nthem to exaggerate difficulties, and to overlook blessings which\nwere within their reach.\n\nThis party of pusillanimous Israelites represent a portion of the\nChristian world in our day, who, taking counsel of their fears,\nand consulting their ease, speak of the practice of self-denial,\nand the virtue of penance, as something to be dreaded,\nunnecessary, and even criminal. \"_It is a land which devoureth\nits inhabitants!_\"\n{332}\nThey imagine insurmountable obstacles in the way. \"_We saw\nthere monsters of the sons of Enac, of the giant kind_.\" If\ntheir souls were of a more robust make, if their hearts were a\nlittle larger, their error would be dispelled, and they would see\nthat a life of Christian mortification, instead of devouring\nthem, would introduce them to the enjoyment of spiritual\nadvantages and pleasures such as they never yet conceived of.\nThey would find it a land \"_which in very deed floweth with\nmilk and honey, as may be known by these fruits_.\"\n\nTheir error concerning the virtue of Self-denial is owing in some\nmeasure to a misconception of its true meaning. To establish its\ntrue meaning, let us ask ourselves first of all, what is a true\nChristian life? The little catechism tells us that man was\ncreated to know God, to love Him and to serve Him in this world,\nand be forever happy with Him in the next. A true Christian life,\nthen, consists in knowing, loving and serving God. If we give any\nother direction to our thoughts, or affections, or actions, we\nlive falsely. Self-denial, as a Christian virtue, consists in\nrenouncing all misdirection of the powers of the soul, or in\nsetting aside all things which stand in the way of our realizing\nthe great end for which we were created. Complete self-denial\nplaces the soul in true and complete relations with God.\n\n{333}\n\nMan has become in a great measure the servant and slave of the\nappetites and passions of his inferior nature, and by every act\nof self-denial he recovers his lost superiority, and renders\nhimself again their master. Whenever, therefore, we find our\npassions and appetites are leading us astray, we should resist\nthem, and practise self-denial and mortification. If a man, for\ninstance, finds that his sensual appetites lead him to gluttony\nand drunkenness, he should fast and practise sobriety. If pride\nand vanity are entering his heart, he should exercise himself in\nhumility. When he finds that the love of riches is making him\nmiserly, he should be liberal to the poor. Anger must be overcome\nby meekness, incontinence by chastity, and sloth by vigilance and\naction. Briefly, the office of self-denial is to deny to the\ninstincts of our lower nature what is contrary to right reason,\nand to God's holy law.\n\n{334}\n\nShould there, however, arise conflicting claims between our\nhigher and lower nature, then the renunciation of one good for\nanother of a higher order must be practised; according to the\nwords of Christ: \"_If thine eye scandalize thee, pluck it out,\nand cast it from thee_.\" [Footnote 149]\n\n    [Footnote 149: St. Matt, xviii., 9.]\n\nFor what, after all, are created things, or the members of a\nman's body, or even his life, compared with the eternal salvation\nof his soul? Men do not hesitate to sacrifice the less to save\nthe greater; to cut away the masts of a ship in a storm to save\nthe vessel; to amputate a limb to save the whole body. It is on\nthis principle that our Lord declares that, \"_It is better for\nthee that one of thy members should perish, than that thy whole\nbody should go into hell_.\" Again our Lord says, on the same\npoint, \"_If any man come to me, and hate not his father, and\nmother, and wife, and children, and brethren, and sister, yea,\nand his own life also, he cannot be my disciple_.\" [Footnote\n150]\n\n    [Footnote 150: St. Luke xiv., 26.]\n\nThe meaning of our Lord is not that there is in these human ties\nany thing contrary to God's law, for his commandment to us is,\n\"Honor thy father and thy mother;\" \"Love thy neighbor as\nthyself.\"\n{335}\nThe meaning of the text is; if your father, or your mother, or\nyour wife or children, or your brother or sister, or even your\nown life, should stand in the way of your duty to God, then they\nmust be subordinated, or even sacrificed, to your obedience and\nduty to Him. Our duty to God is supreme; and when the question\narises of obeying Him or clinging to something else we possess or\nprize, He is content with nothing less than an unconditional\nsurrender. So, then, self-denial is practised not to deny one's\nself of any thing that is a real good, but in regulating what is\ndisorderly, in repressing what is excessive, in renouncing what\nis evil, that we may come in possession of our sovereign good. It\naims at restraining the excesses of our animal instincts, and\nholding them in subjection to reason, and not at their\ndestruction. For, in themselves considered, there is nothing even\nin our animal instincts which is irreconcilable with the\nperfection of the soul.\n\nThe same may be said of all human relationships; if they are not\nmade to stand in the way of our salvation, and the keeping of the\nDivine Law, they render our natural life the more complete, and\nthe obligation for their renunciation ceases.\n{336}\nDid not Christ look upon mankind with human eyes, and make all\nour human feelings his own? As a son He obeyed his mother until\nhis death; and even while suffering on the cross, such was his\nfilial love and solicitude for her welfare, that He gave her in\ncharge to his beloved disciple. As a friend, He wept at the death\nof Lazarus. In fine, all human sympathies, sorrows, and woes,\nfound a home in his bosom. No, there is nothing in all created\nthings, nor in human nature, even in its lowest appetites and\npassions, which may not be brought into harmony with reason, be\nreconciled with what holds the first place in the rank of our\nduties, and be made to contribute and adorn the perfection of the\nsoul.\n\nFor it is not the purpose of Christianity to supersede man's\nnature; it supposes his nature. Christianity would be of no\naccount independent of human nature. Christianity finds us men,\nand leaves us men; gentle, not cowardly; child-like, not\nchildish; amiable, not effeminate; zealous, not fanatical;\nearnest, not narrow-minded; pious, not weak; humble, not abject;\nfull of faith, and yet rational; obedient, not slavish;\nmortified, not mutilated; for Christ died to save man, and not to\ntransmute man into something else. Christianity demands for its\nfullest manifestation the most complete nature. The more we are\nmen, the greater our capacity for Christianity.\n\n{337}\n\nThis being so, how strange it is to find men who modestly assume\nthe character of Christian philosophers; and yet when the word\nself-denial, mortification, or asceticism is pronounced in their\npresence, they startle like one who is about to be exorcised! An\nascetic, in their courteous language, is \"a miserable victim of a\nfalsely interpreted religion, starved and withered in delusion.\"\nMiserable victim indeed, if the highest purposes of life are, to\ngratify our animal instincts and give one's self up to ease and\nself-indulgence! Deluded certainly, if it were our belief, as it\nwas that the heathen, that the grossest indulgence of sensual\npassions is a part of religious worship! On such a theory, an\nascetic is unquestionably a miserable victim! But do these men\nreally fancy that all that lies beyond their mental conceptions\nis delusion, like the Chinese, who look upon all that come from\nbeyond the limits of their country as barbarians?\n{338}\nCan they never learn the simple truth, that the practice of\nself-denial and kindred virtues, will always correspond in degree\nto one's conception of the dignity of the human soul, and the\ngreatness of its destiny. Or are they cognizant of this truth,\nbut pusillanimous like the Jews, who conjured up to their\nimaginations, \"monsters of the sons of Enac, of the giant kind,\"\nbeing too cowardly to face the dangers and conquer the enemies\nwhich stood between them and the possession of \"the land flowing\nwith milk and honey\"?\n\nStrange indeed it is, that these self-called liberal Christians\nare not liberal enough to allow men, who have higher aims than\nthe indulgence of sensual propensity and appetite, to live the\nlife they like! If a man abstains from eating meat, why not let\nhim, if he likes, eat fish? If another is bent on practising\nentire abstinence, why not allow him to fast? If another fancies\nhe will improve by scourging himself, why not let him whip his\nbody? If another takes the notion to shave his crown and walk\nwith uncovered feet, wherein is he to be blamed? If another seeks\nthe desert, or ensconces himself in a cave, what commandment does\nhe break? What is there criminal in these actions, that there\nshould be displayed so much spleen against those who live in this\nway?\n{339}\nChrist was born in a stable, he fasted forty days and forty\nnights in the desert, and often had not a stone to rest his weary\nhead upon. Daniel fed upon pulse, and gained both wisdom and\nhealth. The Baptist fed upon honey and locusts, and \"_there has\nnot risen among those that are born of women a greater than John\nthe Baptist_.\"\n\nThese men were in pursuit of a great object. You perhaps don't\nperceive it! It is because the object which they aimed at does\nnot lie within your range of vision, but above it. They were\nhungering and thirsting after the beauty of holiness. This was\nthe great aim of their lives, and they followed it up like men in\nearnest.\n\n  \"Life was to them a battle-field,\n  Their hearts a holy land.\"\n\nBe true to thyself, O friend; and learn to \"_let every one\nabound in his own sense_,\" and in thy liberality, \"_let all\nthe spirits praise the Lord_.\"\n\n{340}\n\nMeanwhile the practice of these virtues richly repays the soul.\nThey restore to the soul her true and perfect liberty. Is this\nnot a great boon? Suppose that a queen was torn from her throne\nby a band of ruffians, and being stripped of her royal robes, was\nclothed in rags, and thrown into a dark and loathsome prison.\nAbuse and contempt are heaped upon her, putrid meat and filthy\nwater are given to her for food and drink. Her cries are\nunheeded, and often she meditates an escape, but the sight of the\ncold and massive walls around her shake and overpower her\nresolutions. Enfeebled and exhausted, she finally relapses into\nindifference and despair. Now a slight but strange noise reaches\nher ears. It grows louder and louder. She listens attentively,\nand to her quick ears the sounds seems to come like blows struck\nupon her prison walls. They come nearer and grow louder; the iron\nbars of her cell give way under them; friends enter and her\nchains are broken. She steps forth free, breathes once more the\nfresh air, sees the fair world around her, and she is replaced\nwith increased splendor and dignity upon her throne. Can you not\neasily imagine that every stroke she heard given against her\nprison walls, must have sent a thrill of joy through her whole\nframe?\n{341}\nWhat language can express the gratitude which filled her heart\ntoward her deliverers? And this is simply the picture of a soul\nwhich has been subject to the demands of its lower appetites and\npassions, and has been freed by the practice of self-denial. For\nwhat prison walls are so strong as the tyranny of passion over\nthe soul? What degradation is equal to that of a Christian\nenslaved by vice? What food is so loathsome to the body as lust\nand sensuality must be to a soul made for wisdom and virtue? What\ncomparison is there between the relief felt at escaping from a\nmaterial prison to the liberation of the soul from the fetters of\nsin, free to breathe the pure air of angels, and feed on\ncelestial joys. Oh! blessed virtue of Penance which emancipates\nthe soul, and restores that image of God which is stamped upon\nit, to its original beauty and splendor!\n\nBesides, penance renders a man invincible against his spiritual\nfoes. The mortified man is like a horse in the open fields. You\nmay approach him with a halter in hand, and almost lay your hands\nupon him, but he easily escapes your grasp.\n{342}\nSo the devil may approach a man who has gained mastery over his\nappetites and inordinate affections, with his temptations, and\nthe opportunity of committing sin ready at hand, but he has no\npower to capture or bind him. But the self-indulgent man has not\nthe moral life to resist, nor the strength to escape; he is\neasily led into sin and made the slave of the devil. The\nmortified man is like a flower which draws nothing but its\nnecessary nourishment from the earth, and that through a slender\nstem, while it opens wide its bosom to the light and air of\nheaven; so he, by self-denial, has narrowed all those avenues of\nhis soul which lie earthward, while his whole mind is open to the\ncontemplation of God, and his heart is filled with the taste of\nHis sweetness.\n\nMoreover, it renders the practice of prayer easy. All the\nirregular movements of our lower nature being subdued, the soul\nthus disengaged is able to think steadfastly on God, and attend\nto his inspiration, according to those words of the divine Spouse\nin Scripture: \"_I will lead her into the solitude, and will\nspeak to her heart, and she shall sing there as in the days of\nher youth_.\" [Footnote 151]\n\n    [Footnote 151: Osee ii., 14.]\n\n    [Transcriber's note: Osee refers to Hosea.]\n\n{343}\n\nAccording to the experience of all spiritual men, the spirit of\nprayer can only spring from, mortification. \"Give more study to\nmortification,\" says Lewis da Ponte, \"than to contemplation, for\nan unmortified person seeks after the spirit of prayer and cannot\nfind it, whilst prayer itself seeks the man who is truly\nmortified, and knows how to find him.\" Saint Ignatius once heard\none say in the praise of a great servant of God: \"He is a great\nman of prayer.\" The saint replied, \"No, he is a man of great\nmortification.\" And on another occasion he remarked, that \"a\nquarter of an hour spent in prayer is sufficient to unite a\nmortified man closely to God; whereas an unmortified man would\nnot obtain this in two hours.\" \"He who does not live according to\nthe corruption of the senses,\" says St. John of the Cross, \"has\nthe consolation to see all the operations of the powers of his\nsoul tend to the contemplation of God as to their centre.\"\n\nFinally, it fills the soul with spiritual consolations, according\nto the words of Holy Scripture. \"_Who is this that cometh up\nfrom the desert flowing with delights, leaning upon her\nbeloved?_\" [Footnote 152]\n\n    [Footnote 152: Cant. viii., 5.]\n\n{344}\n\nWhile the heart is disturbed with irregular affections and filled\nwith inordinate love for created things, divine love cannot enter\nit. The desert of which Solomon speaks in the passage just\nquoted, is produced in the soul by the renunciation and\nmortification of the irregular movements of the sensual\nappetites, and the soul then goes forth to meet the celestial\nspouse; and as all obstacles to his love are removed, she is\nfilled with his divine consolation. And thus supported by her\nBeloved, the practice of every virtue becomes easy. \"Whilst my\nheart was dilated with thy consolations, I ran in the way of thy\ncommandments.\" [Footnote 153] Oh, blessed penance, which recovers\nfor the soul its supreme good, and gives it here a foretaste of\nParadise!\n\n    [Footnote 153: Psalm cxviii.]\n\n    [Transcriber's note: This appears to be a paraphrase of Psalm\n    cxix., 1.]\n\nLet us, then, enter upon the duties of Lent with the conviction\nof their necessity and their high importance. Let us manfully\nconquer all our repugnances to the works of penance enjoined by\nHoly Church; for every act of self-denial and mortification of\nsensuality will open avenues of true spiritual joy to the soul.\n{345}\nLet us pass through this holy season with sincerity and\nconfidence, practising all its requirements, that it may be said\nof us also, \"_Who is this that cometh up from the desert,\nflowing with delights, leaning on her beloved?_\" For only\nthose who take part in the penances of Lent can share in the joys\nof Easter.","title":"Sermons Preached at the Church of St. Paul the Apostle, New York, During the Year 1861.","tradition":"scripture-revelation","translated_text":null,"word_count":69278}