{"collection":"scripture-revelation","full_text_available":true,"graph_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/api/page/gutenberg_60267/graph","html_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/page/gutenberg_60267","id":"gutenberg_60267","license":"Public Domain (US)","rights_basis":"gutenberg_metadata_copyright_false","source":"gutenberg","source_url":"https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/60267","summary":null,"tags":["Category: Essays, Letters & Speeches","Category: Religion/Spirituality","Catholic Church -- Sermons","Sermons, American -- 19th century"],"text":"[Transcriber's note: This production is based on\nhttps://archive.org/details/fiveminutesermon02unknuoft/page/n6\nPages 46 and 47 are missing from the image file. Additional\ncitations indicated by \"USCCB\", are based on the United States\nConference of Catholic Bishops Bible found at\nhttp://usccb.org/bible/books-of-the-bible.]\n\n{i}\n\n Five-minute Sermons\n\n for\n\n Low Masses\n\n on\n\n All Sundays Of The Year,\n\n\n\n By\n\n Priests Of The Congregation Of St. Paul.\n\n Volume II.\n\n\n New York:\nThe Catholic Publication Society Co.,\n\n 9 Barclay Street.\n\n London: Burns & Oates.\n 1886\n\n{ii}\n\n Copyright, 1886, by I. T. Hecker.\n\n All Rights Reserved.\n\n\n{iii}\n\n Preface.\n\n\nRepeated and urgent requests from both clergy and laity have\ninduced the publication of this second volume of Five-Minute\nSermons. They have all been preached in the Church of St. Paul\nthe Apostle, New York, and published weekly in the _Catholic\nReview_. Choice has been made of such as are really little\nsermons, since there are many excellent manuals from which purely\ndoctrinal instructions may be prepared. Yet they all contain, it\nis hoped, a solid basis of doctrine plainly put and appropriately\nillustrated. The main object is, however, to edify, to quicken\nthe moral perceptions, and to move in a reasonable degree the\nreligious emotions.\n\nNearly all of these sermons may serve as skeletons for discourses\nof greater length; a fuller treatment of the topics, by means of\nfamiliar illustrations and more copious extracts from Scripture,\nwill fit them for use at High Mass, or on Sunday evenings.\n\n-----------------------------\n{iv}\n\n{v}\n\n Contents.\n\n\n\nFirst Sunday of Advent:\n Sermon I. The Spirit of Advent, 14\n Sermon II. The Graces of Advent, 16\n Sermon III. St. John the Baptist, 18\n\nSecond Sunday of Advent:\n Sermon IV. Fair-weather Christians, 23\n Sermon V. The Immaculate Conception, 25\n Sermon VI. The Total Abstinence Pledge, 28\n\nThird Sunday of Advent:\n Sermon VII. Bad Company, 32\n Sermon VIII. The Voice in the Wilderness, 34\n Sermon IX. Penance, 37\n\nFourth Sunday of Advent:\n Sermon X. Fruits of Penance, 41\n Sermon XI. Preparation for Christmas, 43\n Sermon XII. Christmas Eve, 46\n\nSunday within the Octave of Christmas:\n Sermon XIII. Christmas Joy, 50\n Sermon XIV. New Year's Eve, 52\n Sermon XV. The Feast of the Holy Innocents, 55\n\nThe Epiphany:\n Sermon XVI. The Testimony of the Spirit, 59\n Sermon XVII. Following God's Guidance, 63\n\n{6}\n\nFirst Sunday after Epiphany:\n Sermon XVIII. The Christian Home, 67\n Sermon XIX. Jesus Teaching in the Temple, 70\n Sermon XX. How our Saviour takes away Sin, 72\n\nSecond Sunday after Epiphany:\n Sermon XXI. Profanity, 76\n Sermon XXII. The Sin of Cursing, 79\n Sermon XXIII. Reverence for the Name of God, 82\n\nThird Sunday after Epiphany:\n Sermon XXIV. Practical Faith, 86\n Sermon XXV. Living up to our Faith, 89\n Sermon XXVI. The Sacrament of Matrimony, 91\n\nFourth Sunday after Epiphany:\n Sermon XXVII. The Ingratitude of Children, 95\n Sermon XXVIII. Love of our Neighbor, 98\n\nFifth Sunday after Epiphany:\n Sermon XXIX. The Christian Family, 102\n Sermon XXX. The Duty of Good Example, 105\n Sermon XXXI. Bearing one another's Burdens, 108\n\nSixth Sunday after Epiphany:\n Sermon XXXII. How to make Converts, 113\n Sermon XXXIII. The Blessings of the Faith, 116\n Sermon XXXIV. Good Example as a means of\n making Converts, 118\n\nSeptuagesima Sunday:\n Sermon XXXV. Bodily Mortification, 123\n Sermon XXXVI. Sudden Death, 126\n Sermon XXXVII Life's Purpose, 129\n\n{7}\n\nSexagesima Sunday:\n Sermon XXXVIII. Perseverance after a Mission, 134\n Sermon XXXIX. Good Seed but no Harvest, 137\n Sermon XL. The Uses of Temptation, 140\n\nQuinquagesima Sunday:\n Sermon XLI. The Qualities of Christian Charity, 144\n Sermon XLII. Delay of Repentance, 147\n Sermon XLIII. Lenten Obligations, 150\n\nFirst Sunday of Lent:\n Sermon XLIV. The Merit of Pasting and Abstinence, 154\n Sermon XLV. Difficulties of Fasting, 157\n Sermon XLVI. Wasted Opportunities, 159\n\nSecond Sunday of Lent:\n Sermon XLVII. The Joy of Penance, 164\n Sermon XLVIII. Christian Perfection not Impossible, 167\n Sermon XLIX. The Divine Presence in our Churches, 170\n\nThird Sunday of Lent:\n Sermon L. Immodest Language, 174\n Sermon LI. Honorary Church-Members, 177\n Sermon LII. Half-hearted Christians, 180\n\nFourth Sunday of Lent:\n Sermon LIII. The Happiness of True Penance, 184\n Sermon LIV. Liberty of Spirit, 187\n Sermon LV. The Lust of the Eyes, 190\n\nPassion Sunday:\n Sermon LVI. The Precious Blood, 194\n Sermon LVII. Christ's Passion, 197\n Sermon LVIII. Dangerous Companionship, 199\n\n{8}\n\nPalm Sunday:\n Sermon LIX. Hardness of Heart, 203\n Sermon LX. Spirit of Holy Week, 205\n\nEaster Sunday:\n Sermon LXI. Easter Joy, 210\n Sermon LXII. Easter and the Love of God, 212\n Sermon LXIII. The Triumph of Christ, 215\n\nLow Sunday:\n Sermon LXIV. How to use God's Gifts, 219\n Sermon LXV. The Christian's Peace, 222\n Sermon LXVI. True and Lasting Peace, 224\n\nSecond Sunday after Easter:\n Sermon LXVII. The Good Shepherd, 229\n Sermon LXVIII. Dead Faith, 232\n Sermon LXIX. Suffering False Accusations, 234\n\nThird Sunday after Easter--\nFeast of the Patronage of St. Joseph:\n Sermon LXX. Devotion to St. Joseph, 240\n Sermon LXXI. Christ and the Church, 242\n\nFourth Sunday after Easter:\n Sermon LXXII. Evil Conversation, 246\n Sermon LXXIII. Temptation, 248\n\nFifth Sunday after Easter:\n Sermon LXXIV. Sins of the Tongue, 252\n Sermon LXXV. Perseverance in Prayer, 255\n\nSunday within the Octave of the Ascension:\n Sermon LXXVI. After a Mission, 259\n Sermon LXXVII. Bearing Witness for our Lord, 261\n Sermon LXXVIII. The Indwelling of the Holy Spirit, 263\n\n{9}\n\nFeast of Pentecost, or Whit-Sunday:\n Sermon LXXIX. The Holy Ghost in the Church, 268\n Sermon LXXX. The Guidance of the Holy Spirit, 271\n Sermon LXXXI. The Easter Duty, 273\n\nTrinity Sunday:\n Sermon LXXXII. The Divine Majesty, 277\n Sermon LXXXIII. The Mystery of the Holy Trinity, 279\n Sermon LXXXIV. The Divine Judgment, 282\n\nSecond Sunday after Pentecost,\nand Sunday within the Octave of Corpus Christi:\n Sermon LXXXV. Holy Communion, 286\n Sermon LXXXVI. The Sacred Heart of Jesus, 289\n Sermon LXXXVII. Ingratitude, 291\n\nThird Sunday after Pentecost:\n Sermon LXXXVIII. Sinful Amusements, 295\n Sermon LXXXIX. Divine Providence, 297\n Sermon XC. How to Bear Burdens, 300\n\nFourth Sunday after Pentecost:\n Sermon XCI. How to Suffer, 304\n Sermon XCII. Good Works done in Mortal Sin, 306\n Sermon XCIII. Fishing for Men, 309\n\nFifth Sunday after Pentecost:\n Sermon XCIV. Forgiveness of Injuries, 314\n Sermon XCV. Feast of Sts. Peter and Paul, 316\n\nSixth Sunday after Pentecost:\n Sermon XCVI. The Divine Bounty, 321\n Sermon XCVII. Feast of St. John the Baptist, 324\n Sermon XCVIII. Idleness, 326\n\n{10}\n\nSeventh Sunday after Pentecost:\n Sermon XCIX. Mortal Sin the Death of the Soul, 330\n Sermon C. False Prophets, 332\n Sermon CI. The Last Sin, 334\n\nEighth Sunday after Pentecost:\n Sermon CII. Spirit and Flesh, 339\n Sermon CIII. The Business of the Soul, 342\n Sermon CIV. The Judgments of God, 344\n\nNinth Sunday after Pentecost:\n Sermon CV. Justice and Mercy, 349\n Sermon CVI. Neglect of Divine Warnings, 351\n Sermon CVII. Living from Day to Day, 354\n\nTenth Sunday after Pentecost:\n Sermon CVIII. Sympathy for Sinners, 358\n Sermon CIX. Morning Prayers, 360\n Sermon CX. Feast of St. Mary Magdalen, 363\n\nEleventh Sunday after Pentecost:\n Sermon CXI. Want of Confidence in God, 367\n Sermon CXII. Devotion to the Blessed Virgin, 369\n Sermon CXIII. Gratitude, 373\n\nTwelfth Sunday after Pentecost:\n Sermon CXIV. The Good Samaritan, 377\n Sermon CXV. Our Neighbors, 380\n Sermon CXVI. Occasions of Sin, 382\n\nThirteenth Sunday after Pentecost:\n Sermon CXVII. Thanksgiving, 387\n Sermon CXVIII. Shamelessness in Sinning, 389\n Sermon CXIX. Dangers of Venial Sin, 392\n\n{11}\n\nFourteenth Sunday after Pentecost:\n Sermon CXX. The Poverty of Christ, 396\n Sermon CXXI. Brotherly Love, 399\n Sermon CXXII. Religion for Week-Days, 401\n\nFifteenth Sunday after Pentecost:\n Sermon CXXIII. The Fruits of a Bad Life, 406\n Sermon CXXIV. Sins of Parents, 408\n Sermon CXXV. The Law of Charity, 411\n\nSixteenth Sunday after Pentecost:\n Sermon CXXVI. Christian Humility, 415\n Sermon CXXVII. Vanity, 418\n Sermon CXXVIII. Behavior in Church, 420\n\nSeventeenth Sunday after Pentecost:\n Sermon CXXIX. Prayer for Sinners, 425\n Sermon CXXX. The Christian Vocation, 427\n Sermon CXXXI. Erroneous Views of Vocation, 430\n\nEighteenth Sunday after Pentecost:\n Sermon CXXXII. Presumption of God's Mercy, 435\n Sermon CXXXIII. Drunkenness, 437\n Sermon CXXXIV. The Dignity and Happiness of Obedience, 440\n\nNineteenth Sunday after Pentecost:\n Sermon CXXXV. Lying, 444\n Sermon CXXXVI. Truthfulness 447\n Sermon CXXXVII. White Lies, 449\n\nTwentieth Sunday after Pentecost:\n Sermon CXXXVIII. Christian Marriage, 453\n Sermon CXXXIX. Mortification of our Lower Nature, 455\n Sermon CXL. The Value of Time, 458\n\n{12}\n\nTwenty-first Sunday after Pentecost:\n Sermon CXLI. Forgiveness of Injuries, 462\n Sermon CXLII. Gossiping, 465\n Sermon CXLIII. Mixed Marriages, 467\n\nTwenty-second Sunday after Pentecost:\n Sermon CXLIV. Obedience to the Civil Authorities, 472\n Sermon CXLV. Thanksgiving Day 475\n Sermon CXLVI. The Communion of Saints, 477\n\nTwenty-third Sunday after Pentecost:\n Sermon CXLVII. Mixed Marriages, 481\n Sermon CXLVIII. Imitation of the Saints, 484\n Sermon CXLIX. Heaven, 486\n\nTwenty-fourth or Last Sunday after Pentecost:\n Sermon CL. Marrying out of the Church, 491\n Sermon CLI. Joy in God's Service, 494\n Sermon CLII. Forgive and be Forgiven, 497\n\n{13}\n\n _First Sunday of Advent_.\n\n\n Epistle.\n _Romans xiii._ 11-14,\n\n Brethren:\n Know that it is now the hour for us to rise from sleep. For now\n our salvation is nearer than when we believed. The night is\n passed, and the day is at hand. Let us therefore cast off the\n works of darkness, and put on the armor of light; let us walk\n honestly as in the day; not in rioting and drunkenness, not in\n chambering and impurities, not in contention and envy; but put\n ye on the Lord Jesus Christ.\n\n Gospel.\n _St. Luke xxi._ 25-33.\n\n At that time Jesus said to his disciples:\n There shall be signs in the sun, and in the moon, and in the\n stars: and upon the earth distress of nations, by reason of the\n confusion of the roaring of the sea and of the waves, men\n withering away for fear, and expectation of what shall come\n upon the whole world. For the powers of heaven shall be moved:\n and then they shall see the Son of Man coming in a cloud with\n great power and majesty. But when these things begin to come to\n pass look up and lift up your heads: because your redemption is\n at hand. And he spoke to them a similitude. See the fig-tree,\n and all the trees: when they now shoot forth their fruit, you\n know that summer is nigh; so you also when you shall see these\n things come to pass, know that the kingdom of God is at hand.\n Amen I say to you, this generation shall not pass away, till\n all things be fulfilled. Heaven and earth shall pass away, but\n my words shall not pass away.\n\n---------------------\n\n{14}\n\n Sermon I.\n\n The Spirit Of Advent.\n\n _It is now the hour for us to rise from sleep._\n --Romans xiii. 11.\n\nThis life of ours is made up of beginnings. After the rest of the\nnight we have on each succeeding day to begin again our round of\nwork, and then comes the night again, when our work must be laid\naside. So, too, does the life of our souls consist in great part\nof beginnings, though in the great work of saving our souls there\nshould be no such thing as rest. This work must be unceasing,\nuntil that night comes wherein no man can work, the night of\ndeath, when our great Master shall demand of us an account of our\nlabor. On this day, then, which is the beginning of the Church's\nyear, it is well for us to pause and ask ourselves how we are\nfulfilling the task that is set before us. Are our souls asleep?\nHave our consciences been lulled into a false security concerning\nthe state of our immortal souls? Are we careless or indifferent\nabout the one thing needful for us--our soul's salvation?\n\nTo each and every one of us to-day come the warning words of the\nApostle, \"Brethren, know that it is now the hour for us to arise\nfrom sleep.\" Now is the time for us to shake off our\nslothfulness, to rouse ourselves from our dangerous state of\nidleness and inactivity, to cast off the works of darkness and\nclothe ourselves in the armor of light, to put on the Lord Jesus\nChrist, and, arrayed in the strength which he gives, to walk\nhonestly as in the day. \"The night is passed,\" says St. Paul.\n{15}\nGod grant that for each one of us the dark night of mortal sin\nmay be for ever past and gone; that its terrible gloom may never\nagain settle down upon our souls, shutting out the light of\nheaven, the pure and radiant light of God's grace. For \"the day\nis at hand,\" the day of reckoning, the day of wrath and terror,\nwhen we shall all stand before the judgment-seat of Christ. The\nChurch to-day warns us of the approach of that time. Year by\nyear, day by day, hour by hour it is drawing nearer. \"For now is\nour salvation nearer than when we believed.\"\n\nYes, our salvation if we have been faithful, or our eternal\ndamnation if God's judgment overtake us in the state of mortal\nsin. Therefore it is that the Church, upon this first Sunday of\nAdvent, lifts up her voice to warn us of the coming of our Lord,\ntelling us of his near approach, and bidding us to prepare to\nmeet him. Will you heed this warning, or will you still put off\nthe day of your conversion to God? Beware! God's warning may be\ngiven you to-day for the last time. \"Behold, now is the\nacceptable time\"; \"it is now the hour to rise from sleep.\" There\nis still time for you to turn from your sins and begin again to\nserve God. Perhaps you have tried before and then have fallen\nback into old ways and habits of sin. Begin again. We must always\nbe beginning if we would make any progress. We must examine our\nconsciences at the end of each day, and find out how we have\noffended God, make earnest resolutions for the morrow, and then\nbegin each day with the determination to avoid the faults of the\nday before. This is a sure means of perseverance.\n\n{16}\n\nAnd this beginning of the Christian year is a good time to take a\nfresh start in the affairs of our souls. During Advent the Church\nbrings to our minds the consideration of the four last things.\nDeath and judgment, heaven or hell are awaiting us. Begin this\nday, then, as though it were to be your last day on earth, and on\neach succeeding day for the rest of your life keep up this\npractice. \"For as lightning cometh out of the east, and appeareth\neven unto the west, so shall also the coming of the Son of Man\nbe.\" \"Let us therefore cast off the works of darkness\" now at the\nbeginning of this holy season. Drunkenness, impurity, contention,\nand envy are, alas! far too common amongst us. \"Let them be not\nso much as named among you, as becometh saints,\" mindful of your\nhigh calling in Christ. Then when the Judge appears, he will find\nyou ready to meet him. Having begun each day with the intention\nof serving God, you will then be ready and fit to begin that day\nwhich shall have no end in that heavenly city which \"needeth not\nsun nor moon to shine in it; for the glory of the Lord hath\nenlightened it, and the Lamb is the lamp thereof.\"\n\n---------------------\n\n Sermon II.\n\n The Graces Of Advent.\n\n _The night is past, and the day is at hand.\n Let us, therefore, cast off the works of darkness\n and put on the armor of light.\n Put ye on the Lord Jesus Christ._\n --Epistle of the Day.\n\n\nTo-day, dear brethren, we enter upon the season of preparation\nfor the coming of Jesus Christ. For \"the night is past and the\nday is at hand.\" \"The day-spring, the Brightness of the\neverlasting Light, the Sun of righteousness,\" is come \"to give\nlight to them that sit in darkness and in the shadow of death.\"\n\n{17}\n\nTo give light to them that have been unfaithful to God's grace,\nto call them back--to turn them to a new life--this is the\nmission of our Saviour; and this is the call he makes upon us\nto-day--that we should return to him, \"the Ruler of the house of\nIsrael, who didst appear to Moses in the burning bush, and gave\nhim the law in Sinai.\"\n\nYou, dear brethren, were taught that law when the first rays of\nthe light of reason lit up your soul. God wrote it on your\nhearts; you heard it from your parents lips; your teachers bade\nyou love it and keep it. But have you done so? Have you not\nbecome like those whom of old God taught, and who would not\nlisten, but went after false gods, who bowed down before idols of\ngold and silver, of wood and clay?\n\nHave you not bowed down like them when you preferred\nmoney-getting to serving God; when you were willing, for the sake\nof gold and silver, to risk the loss of your immortal souls? Have\nyou not bowed down when you chose to gratify your lower instincts\nat the cost of your spiritual ruin? Have you not bowed down to\nidols of clay when you have steeped yourselves in drunkenness, in\nimpurities, in the many sins of the flesh? Oh! surely you have\nneed of the \"wisdom that cometh out of the mouth of the Most\nHigh\" to teach you \"the way of prudence.\" Oh! surely you have\nneed of \"the Orient from on high,\" for you \"sit in darkness and\nin the shadow of death.\"\n\n{18}\n\nBut, dear brethren, \"the night is past.\" \"Let us, therefore, cast\noff the works of darkness\"; \"let us walk honestly.\" Oh! \"put ye\non the Lord Jesus Christ.\" \"Behold Emmanuel, our King and Law\ngiver,\" he for whom the nations sighed and their salvation, has\ncome to save us--to save men whom he has made from the dust of\nthe earth.\n\nDear brethren, shall we be slow to go to him who comes with\nhealing for our immortal souls? Tell it out among the people, and\nsay, \"Behold, God our Saviour cometh. Emmanuel is his name, and\nhis name is great. Behold, he is my God, and I will glorify him;\nmy father's God, and I will exalt him. The Lord our Law-giver,\nthe Lord our King, cometh to save us.\"\n\nBegin this day to prepare for the joyous feast of Christmas.\nCleanse your hearts by prayer and fasting; come to the sacraments\nand be washed in the blood of your Redeemer; come to his table\nand break the bread of true friendship, that the joy of your\nheart may be full when we shall celebrate that day of days, when\nthe Word which \"was made flesh dwelt among us.\" Truly \"we have\nseen his glory,\" and \"of his fulness we have all received.\" Let\nus never forget his mercy; let us remember \"that it is now the\nhour for us to rise from sleep.\"\n\n----------------\n\n Sermon III.\n\n St. John The Baptist.\n\n _The angel said to him: Fear not, Zachary,\n for thy prayer is heard;\n and thy wife Elizabeth shall bear thee a son,\n and thou shalt call his name John;\n and thou shalt have joy and gladness,\n and many shall rejoice at his birth._\n --Luke i. 13.\n\n{19}\n\nThese words, my brethren, were spoken by the Angel Gabriel to\nZachary, the father of St. John the Baptist, while he was engaged\nwith his religious duties in the temple at Jerusalem. Before\ngiving the account of the angel's visit St. Luke informs us that\nZachary and his wife, Elizabeth, were both acceptable to God and\nobedient to the divine law. There are few who have received such\ncommendation in the pages of Holy Scripture. It might have been\nsurmised that Zachary led a good life, practising the virtues and\navoiding the vices, since he belonged to the Jewish priesthood.\nYet we find that his wife, Elizabeth, is mentioned as deserving\nequal praise with himself, for it is stated that \"_they were\nboth_ just before God, walking in all the commandments and\njustifications of the Lord without blame.\"\n\nSuch is the brief account that St. Luke has given of the parents\nof St. John the Baptist. Though brief, it is enough to show that\nany son might well feel proud of parents such as they\nwere--blameless in the sight of God. For many years they had\nlived together in the hill-country of Judea, conscientiously\nperforming their duties, and cherishing the hope that they would\nbe rewarded for their good actions. Like the rest of the Jews who\nremained faithful to the laws promulgated by Moses and the\nprophets, which God had made for Israel, they prayed earnestly\nfor the coming of the Messias, the Orient from on high, who was\nardently expected to descend from his throne in heaven in order\nto enlighten those in darkness and in the shadow of death,\ndirecting their steps into the way of peace. While serving God by\nstrict fidelity to the commandments, they did not anticipate that\nan angel would be sent to visit them; they did not know until\nadvanced in age that a son would be born to them who would be\ncalled the prophet of the Most High, the precursor of the son of\nDavid, appointed to prepare his ways.\n\n{20}\n\nThat this blessing was unexpected is shown by the fact that\nZachary hesitated to believe the message of the Angel Gabriel,\nand on account of this hesitation, this mistrust of the good\ntidings that God sent to him, he was deprived of the use of\nspeech for several months. After the birth of St. John the\nBaptist his tongue was again endowed with the power to speak, and\nhis words on that occasion, spoken under the influence of\ninspiration, have been preserved in the grand canticle known as\nthe Benedictus, which is justly assigned to a prominent place in\nthe Office of the Church.\n\nThese considerations enable us to perceive what sort of a home\nSt. John the Baptist had while he remained with his aged parents.\nFrom the knowledge we have of them, there is no reason to think\nthat they were deprived of anything requisite to make their home\nhappy and comfortable. Early in life, however, St. John\nmanifested a peculiar preference for the lonely desert. In a\nspecial manner he was sanctified before his birth, and received\nthe gifts of the Holy Ghost in an extraordinary degree. It was\nnot because his fellow-creatures had proved deceptive, nor\nbecause sad experience had taught him that the glittering charms\nof the world are transient and wither into dust, that he resolved\nto live like a hermit, separated from his relatives. Joyfully he\nabandoned his family privileges, with all that seems to make life\namong men pleasant, and went forth among the wild rocks in the\nmountain solitudes to live alone with God.\n{21}\nWhy was it that he made such a strange choice? The answer is,\nthat God directed him to leave houses and lands, his home and\nkindred, and endowed him with the heroism needed for a solitary,\npenitential life. In obedience to the will of God, acting under\nthe guidance of the Holy Spirit, he practised unusual\nmortification. He selected coarse raiment, made of camel's hair;\nhe used a strange kind of food; he abstained entirely from the\nuse of wine. By deeds of heroic penance, by extraordinary acts of\nself-denial, combined with the performance of his other duties,\nhe advanced in the way of perfection. During this season of\nAdvent we should invoke his intercession, and strive to remove\nthe obstacles that impede the way of the Lord and the action of\nHis grace in our sanctification.\n\n-------------------\n\n{22}\n\n _Second Sunday of Advent._\n\n\n Epistle.\n _Romans xv._ 4-13.\n\n Brethren:\n What things soever were written, were written for our\n instruction; that through patience and the comfort of the\n Scriptures, we might have hope. Now the God of patience and of\n comfort grant you to be of one mind one towards another,\n according to Jesus Christ: that with one mind, and with one\n mouth, you may glorify God and the Father of our Lord Jesus\n Christ. Wherefore receive one another, as Christ also hath\n received you unto the honor of God. For I say that Christ Jesus\n was minister of the circumcision for the truth of God, to\n confirm the promises made to the fathers. But that the Gentiles\n are to glorify God for his mercy, as it is written: Therefore\n will I confess to thee, Lord, among the Gentiles, and will sing\n to thy name. And again he saith: Rejoice, ye Gentiles, with his\n people. And again: Praise the Lord, all ye Gentiles; and\n magnify him, all ye people. And again Isaias saith: There shall\n be a root of Jesse; and he that shall rise up to rule the\n Gentiles, in him the Gentiles shall hope. Now the God of hope\n fill you with all joy and peace in believing: that you may\n abound in hope, and in the power of the Holy Ghost.\n\n\n Gospel.\n _St. Matthew xi._ 2-10.\n\n At that time:\n When John had heard in prison the works of Christ, sending two\n of his disciples he said to him: Art thou he that art to come,\n or look we for another? And Jesus making answer said to them:\n Go and relate to John what you have heard and seen. The blind\n see, the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear, the\n dead rise again, the poor have the gospel preached to them.\n{23}\n And blessed is he that shall not be scandalized in me. And when\n they went their way, Jesus began to say to the multitudes\n concerning John: What went you out into the desert to see? A\n reed shaken with the wind? But what went you out to see? A man\n clothed in soft garments? Behold they that are clothed in soft\n garments are in the houses of kings. But what went you out to\n see? A prophet? yea, I tell you, and more than a prophet. For\n this is he of whom it is written: Behold, I send my angel\n before thy face, who shall prepare thy way before thee.\n\n-------------------\n\n Sermon IV.\n\n Fair-Weather Christians.\n\n\n _What went you out into the desert to see?\n A reed shaken with the wind?_\n --Gospel Of The Day.\n\nOur Lord asked this question of his disciples, my brethren,\nregarding his precursor, St. John the Baptist, whom also they had\nfollowed in his time. \"Why,\" said he, \"did you take such trouble\nto see him? Why did you think so much of him? Was it because he\nwas like a reed shaken by the wind? No, but because he was just\nthe opposite of that. You thought highly of him, you honored him\nas I myself honor him, because he did not shake and tremble at\nthe breath of popular opinion; because he was not afraid of the\nworld, or of all the powers that are in it; because he only\nthought of God, and of his duty; of the work that he had been\nsent to do.\"\n\n{24}\n\nBut would our Saviour be able to praise us so highly, my\nbrethren, if he should come down now in our midst? Would he not\nsay rather that we were indeed like reeds, turning to one side or\nanother, according to the wind that happens to be blowing? I am\nafraid that he would have too good reason to find fault with the\nwords and actions of many who call themselves Christians, an who\neven pass for pretty good ones.\n\nWho are these people whom he would find fault with? There are\nplenty of them. They are what I should call fair-weather\nChristians. They go to church regularly, perhaps, and to the\nSacraments, it may be, quite often; when they are with pious\npeople they can be just as pious as anybody else. They say their\nprayers not only in church, but at home, too; they certainly try\nin a way to be good; sometimes at least they would not say or do\nanything wrong of their own accord. And when they are alone they\ndo very well, too; they resist many temptations, and avoid a\ngreat deal of sin. They are not what one would call hypocrites;\nfar from it; they have a good many virtues, within as well as on\nthe outside.\n\nBut the trouble with them is that they have little or none of\nwhat is commonly called \"backbone.\" Alone or in good company they\nare all right; but take a look at them on the street, in the shop\nor factory, at their work or their amusements with their\nassociates, and they do not stand the test so well. They laugh at\nevery vulgar, filthy, and impure word that any one else pretends\nto think is funny and wants them to laugh at, or if they do not\nlaugh out right they give a miserable, cowardly smile. They hear\nsomething said about the faith which they know is a vile\nfalsehood, but they say nothing in reply; perhaps they even allow\nthat there is some truth in it.\n{25}\nIt takes a long while for any one to find out that they are\nCatholics who does not guess it by their names or know where they\ngo to church; it takes a great deal longer to find out that they\nare supposed to be good ones.\n\nNow, what is the reason of this contemptible sneaking and\nmeanness in those who ought to be brave and generous soldiers of\nChrist? It is just one thing. These people do not love God enough\nto dare to displease any one else for his sake. Most of them have\ngot pluck enough when something else is concerned. They would\nresent an insult to themselves; perhaps for years they have not\nbeen on speaking terms with many people on account of some\ntrifling slight or injury. But when God's honor and love are\nconcerned, the first breath of disapproval keeps them from\nstanding up for him, as the reed bends with the gentlest breeze\nwhich strikes it.\n\nYes, that is the difficulty; these good people do not love God\nenough to stand up for him as all Christians worthy of the name\nshould do. Let them think of this seriously. For if one does not\nlove God enough to offend bad men for his sake, how can he love\nhim above all things? And if one does not love God above all\nthings, how can he be saved?\n\n-------------------\n\n Sermon V.\n\n The Immaculate Conception.\n\n{26}\n\nThe beautiful feast of the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed\nVirgin being so near at hand, let us consider it this morning.\nThe doctrine of the Immaculate Conception, then, my dear\nbrethren, is simply this: that our Blessed Lady, though the\noffspring merely of human parents, like the rest of us, and\nnaturally liable to inherit original sin from them as we have\ninherited it from ours, was nevertheless by the special\nprovidence and decree of God entirely preserved from it.\n\nShe was preserved from it entirely, I say. This may be understood\nin two ways. First, it was never in her. It was not taken from\nher at the first moment of her existence, as it has been taken\nfrom us at baptism; no, it was not taken from her, for it was not\nin her even at that first moment.\n\nSecondly, she was entirely saved from its effects, not partly, as\nwe have been. None of its consequences remained in her, as I have\nsaid they do in us. No, she was as if there had never been such a\nthing; except that her Son willed that she should suffer together\nwith him, on account of its being in us.\n\nNow, my brethren, I hope you all understand this; for a great\ndeal of nonsense is talked about this matter, especially by\nProtestants, most of whom have not the least idea what is meant\nby the Immaculate Conception of our Blessed Mother, and who yet\nobject to it just as bitterly as if they did. They either\nconfound it with her virginal motherhood, in which they\nthemselves believe and yet seem to object to our believing it, or\nthey accuse us of saying that she was divine like her Son, our\nLord. If they would only examine they would find that what the\nChurch teaches is simply this: that our Lady is a creature of God\nlike ourselves, having no existence at all before the time of her\nImmaculate Conception; but that she is a pure and perfect\ncreature, the most pure and perfect that God has ever made;\nimmaculate, that is to say, spotless; free from any stain or\nimperfection, especially from the fatal stain of original sin.\n{27}\nAnd that the reason why God made her so was that she was to be\nHis own mother, than which no higher dignity can be conceived. If\nthey object to this, let them do so; but let them at least know\nand say what they are objecting to.\n\nLet us hope that some Protestants, at least, will not object to\nthis doctrine when they understand it. But perhaps some of them\nmay say: \"This is all very good, but what right has the pope, or\nany one else at this late day, to make it a part of the Christian\nfaith?\" And it may be that even some Catholics will find the same\ndifficulty.\n\nI will answer this question now, though it is a little off of our\npresent subject, on account of the prominence which has been\ngiven to it of late. The answer is simply this: The pope has not\nadded any thing at all to the Christian faith in defining the\ndoctrine of the Immaculate Conception. He has no more done so\nthan the Council of Nic\u00e6a did in defining the doctrine of the\nDivinity of our Lord.\n\nYou remember, my brethren, perhaps, that from this council the\nNicene Creed, which is said or sung at Mass, takes its name. It\nwas called together to condemn the errors of some who maintained\nthat our Lord was not truly God. And it solemnly defined that he\nwas. Very well; was that adding anything to the Christian faith?\nOf course not; it was simply declaring what the Christian faith\nwas, to put an end to the doubts which were arising about it.\nThat is plain enough, is it not?\n\n{28}\n\nNow what was it that the pope did in defining the Immaculate\nConception? Exactly the same thing. He defined what the faith\nreally was to put an end to doubts about it. The only difference\nwas, that those who opposed or doubted the Immaculate Conception\nof our Lady were not so much to blame as those who opposed or\ndoubted the Divinity of our Lord, or even in many cases not at\nall to blame. It was not such a prominent part of the faith, and\nhad been more obscured by time. But the action of the pope and\nthe council in the two cases was just the same.\n\n-------------------\n\n Sermon VI.\n\n The Total Abstinence Pledge.\n\n\n _The angel said to him: Fear not, Zachary, for thy prayer is\n heard; and thy wife Elizabeth shall bear thee a son, and thou\n shalt call his name John; and thou shalt have joy and gladness,\n and many shall rejoice at his birth. For he shall be great\n before the Lord; and shall drink no wine nor strong drink; and\n he shall be filled with the Holy Ghost even from his mother's\n womb; and he shall convert many of the children of Israel to\n the Lord their God._\n --Luke i. 13-16.\n\n\nMy brethren, the message brought from heaven by an angel deserves\ncareful examination, because the angel acts as a messenger from\nGod. A little reflection will convince us that the message\ndelivered to Zachary by the Angel Gabriel contained a very\npeculiar prediction concerning the total abstinence from wine and\nstrong drink, which St. John the Baptist practised throughout his\nlife. In other matters no special directions were given\nregulating his acts of self-denial.\n{29}\nNo mention is made of his raiment in the angel's message; neither\nwas any information communicated in regard to his choice of food.\nHence there is a special significance in the declaration which\nthe Angel Gabriel put forth when he predicted that St. John the\nBaptist would abstain from the use of wine and strong drink. This\npassage of Holy Scripture, therefore, furnishes a strong proof in\nfavor of total abstinence. In the Book of Leviticus, x. 9, and in\nthe Book of Numbers, vi. 2, as well as in the writings of the\nprophet Jeremias, xxxv. 61-69, there are texts to be found which\nshow that total abstinence was recognized long before the birth\nof St. John the Baptist. But on account of his intimate relations\nwith the Holy Family, and on account of the extraordinary\napproval bestowed upon him by our Lord, by which he was\ncanonized, so to speak, before his death, St. John the Baptist is\nthe most prominent of all the total abstainers mentioned in the\nBible.\n\nConsidered as an antidote, an effectual safeguard against the\ndegrading vice of intemperance, the practice of total abstinence\nis now defended not only by examples from Holy Writ, but also on\narguments based on common sense and experience. It is regarded as\nthe heroic form of the virtue of temperance, which may be\nmeritoriously practised by those who have never been addicted to\ndrunkenness. The determination to renounce even the lawful use of\nstrong drink is especially commendable as a means of\nself-preservation for young men. More than any other class of\nsociety, they are assailed by temptations to excessive drinking;\nand by unwise and unscrupulous friends they are often taught to\nregard drunkenness as a pardonable weakness.\n{30}\nUndoubtedly, then, it is a wise act for a young man at the\npresent time to erect a strong barrier, a wall of defence, to\nprotect himself from a most dangerous and destructive vice. For\noccasional and habitual drunkards, however, who wish to reform\nand live in state of friendship with God, total abstinence is not\na mere act of heroism, but something indispensably necessary. The\npledge for them is simply a firm purpose of amendment, a\nmanifestation of their desire to avoid that which they know has\nbeen for them a proximate occasion of sin. In many cases total\nabstinence, though it may be a stern remedy, is the only sure\npreventive of intemperance, and is imperatively demanded for the\nspiritual and temporal welfare of numerous families. The man who\nhas offended God and debased himself by drunkenness cannot obtain\nan unconditional pardon. To obtain forgiveness from God he must\nhave a sorrow for past offences, a determination to do better in\nthe future, and a willingness to atone for his sins. What he must\ndo in the future to secure his safety can be ascertained by\nexamining his past experience. By the application of these\nprinciples, especially in the tribunal of penance, the growth of\nvirtue is fostered and the progress of vice is retarded. In this\nway the Church proclaims to each individual the great lessons\nwhich St. John taught by the banks of the Jordan. To all of her\nchildren she repeats during this season of Advent the admonition\nuttered long ago by the voice crying in the wilderness: Prepare\nye the way of the Lord; make straight his paths.\n\n-------------------\n{31}\n\n _Third Sunday of Advent._\n\n\n Epistle.\n _Philippians iv._ 4-7.\n\n Rejoice in the Lord always: again, I say, rejoice. Let your\n modesty be known to all men: The Lord is nigh. Be not\n solicitous about anything: but in everything by prayer and\n supplication with thanksgiving let your petitions be made known\n to God. And the peace of God which surpasseth all\n understanding, keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus.\n\n\n Gospel.\n _St. John i._ 19-28.\n\n At that time:\n The Jews sent from Jerusalem priests and levites to John, to\n ask him: Who art thou? And he confessed, and did not deny: and\n he confessed: I am not the Christ. And they asked him: What\n then? Art thou Elias? And he said: I am not. Art thou the\n prophet? And he answered: No. They said therefore unto him: Who\n art thou, that we may give an answer to them that sent us? what\n sayest thou of thyself? He said: I am the voice of one crying\n in the wilderness, Make straight the way of the Lord, as said\n the prophet Isaias. And they that were sent, were of the\n Pharisees. And they asked him, and said to him: Why then dost\n thou baptize, if thou be not Christ, nor Elias, nor the\n prophet? John answered them, saying: I baptize with water; but\n there hath stood one in the midst of you, whom you know not.\n The same is he that shall come after me, who is preferred\n before me: the latchet of whose shoe I am not worthy to loose.\n These things were done in Bethania beyond the Jordan, where\n John was baptizing.\n\n-------------------\n\n{32}\n\n Sermon VII.\n\n Bad Company.\n\n\nIn one of his epistles (2 Timothy iii. 1-5) St. Paul speaks of\n_dangerous times_ for Christians, when \"men shall be lovers\nof themselves, covetous, haughty, proud, blasphemers, disobedient\nto parents, ungrateful, wicked, without affection, without peace,\nslanderers, incontinent, unmerciful, without kindness, traitors,\nstubborn, puffed up, and lovers of pleasure more than of God;\nhaving an appearance, indeed, of piety, but denying the power\nthereof.\"\n\nAt the present time there is in the world, especially in populous\ncities, no small number of men who have the combination of vices\nso forcibly described by the Apostle St. Paul. In some places\nthey may be in the majority, and have the power to enforce their\ndepraved views on their righteous neighbors. By their slanders\nthey can revile virtue; by their blasphemies they endeavor to\nbring odium on God's plan of ruling the world. Their hatred of\nreligion is manifested not only in the regulation of personal\naffairs, but also in their business methods, and in their\nutterances on public questions. If these stubborn, puffed-up\nlovers of sensuality, traitors to God, who are without affection\nand without peace, could be assigned to a reservation in some\ncorner of the world, their range of influence would be kept\nwithin a definite area. But they are like their master the devil,\nroaming from place to place, every where seeking the destruction\nof men's souls.\n\n{33}\n\nHence it is an important matter, and especially for Catholic\nyoung men, to consider the injurious results of the unavoidable\ncontact with those in the world who are more or less infected\nwith erroneous views, or have become the victims of debasing\nvices. Such characters are to be found in nearly every department\nof business. It often happens that a young man, when he begins to\nwork, is obliged to enter a sphere beyond the control of his\nparents, where he will be in close proximity to blatant infidels,\nwho claim an intellectual superiority on account of their\nunbelief. Business engagements may compel a Catholic young man to\nbe within hearing of shallow sceptics, who take every opportunity\nto ask questions--not to get information, but merely to ventilate\ntheir contempt for all religious teaching. These hostile\ninfluences have produced in many of our young men very deplorable\nresults. By a sort of indifference, resembling the dry rot, they\nhave allowed themselves to get into a very unsafe state of mind\nregarding their duties to God.\n\nEnlightened self-interest should prompt every young man to keep a\nsharp lookout for all that is injurious to him. He may have the\nbest religious training, together with the virtuous surroundings\nof a good home, but these will not be sufficient without his own\npersonal activity. If he selects by preference heretics and\nfreethinkers as the companions of his leisure hours; if he is so\npuffed up with the idea of his own ability that he can find no\nCatholic associates worthy of his notice; if he is so confident\nof his own strength that he habitually neglects to receive Holy\nCommunion, he has become a traitor to the King of Heaven. Our\nLord wants his followers to attain the highest standard of human\nexcellence.\n{34}\nTo those who love him and fearlessly keep his commandments he\ngives the courage which belongs to true manliness; and their\npiety has power to surmount every obstacle on the way to heaven.\n\n-------------------\n\n Sermon VIII.\n\n The Voice In The Wilderness.\n\n _Make straight the way of the Lord._\n --John i. 23.\n\n\nThis expression, dear brethren, is no new one in Holy Scripture,\nand it fell on no unaccustomed ears. More than seven hundred\nyears before Jesus Christ the great prophet Isaias spoke about\n\"the voice of one crying in the desert: Make straight in the\nwilderness the paths of our God.\" Again, three hundred years\nlater, another prophet, Malachias, wrote: \"Behold, I send my\nangel, and he shall prepare the way before my face.\" Again, about\nsix months before Jesus Christ was born, an aged priest,\nZacharias, took his own little child, who was only eight days\nold, in his arms, and in the beautiful hymn of the\n_Benedictus_ says of him: \"Thou, child, shalt be called the\nprophet of the Most High; for thou shalt go before the face of\nthe Lord to prepare his way.\"\n\nYou know, dear brethren, who this little child was, who was the\nburden of all this prophetic song. You know it was St. John the\nBaptist. And you know, too, the mighty work he had to do.\n\nAnd now, in this morning's Gospel, it is St. John the Baptist\nhimself speaking: \"I am the voice of one crying in the\nwilderness. Make straight the way of the Lord.\"\n\n{35}\n\nNow, how is this \"way of the Lord\" to be \"made straight\" in the\nspiritual desert of our hearts? Well, the prophet Isaias tells us\nthat there are five things which we have to do in this matter:\nThe first, \"every valley shall be exalted\"; the second, \"every\nmountain and hill made low\"; the third, \"the crooked become\nstraight\"; the fourth, \"the rough ways plain\"; and the fifth,\n\"the glory of the Lord revealed.\"\n\nHe begins, you see, by telling us that the valleys must be\nexalted. And don't you think that these \"valleys\" are a very good\nlikeness of all the things which we have left undone in our\nlives? All these abysses of idleness, of neglect, of\ncarelessness, of indifference, which lie in the wilderness of our\nsinful past, these have to be filled up. Christ our Lord cannot\ncome to us so long as there are such great holes in the road. We\nmust set to work and \"exalt\" them by throwing into our religious\nlife all the pains and care and diligence and faithfulness we\ncan.\n\nThen there are the \"mountains and hills,\" which must be made low.\nFor oftentimes, when the Evil One sees that a man cannot be\naltogether discouraged from serving God, then he turns round and\npersuades him that he _is_ serving God very well indeed;\nthat he may be proud to think how often he has resisted\ntemptation, how often overcome difficulties, how often done great\nthings for Christ's sake.\n\nSo arise the vast mountains of pride and self-will and\nself-conceit. But be sure our Lord will not climb over these to\ncome to you. You must first get them out of the way. They must be\nmade low, if you would enter into life: for it is written, \"God\nresisteth the proud, but giveth grace to the humble.\"\n\n{36}\n\nThen the \"crooked places\"--I suppose you know what they are--all\ncrooked ways of lying and deceit and untruthfulness. We call a\ntruthful person _straightforward_, because he does not turn\nabout to this side or to that in what he says, but goes straight\nto the truth. Well, whatever is not straightforward is crooked,\nand the crooked path is one which Christ will not walk in. So we\nmust try every day to go on more and more straightforwardly with\nwhat God would have us do, according to the saying in the\nProverbs, \"Let thine eyes look straight on, ... decline not to\nthe right hand, nor to the left, and the Lord will bring forward\nthy ways in peace.\"\n\nOnce more: there are the \"rough places.\" Rough tempers, rough\nwords, and rough manners; such feelings as spite, and anger, and\nill nature, and revenge; as cutting and cruel words, and\nquarrelling and fighting. Such rough places must be made very\nplain and smooth if the road is to be fitted for the feet of our\nmeek and gentle Lord.\n\nAnd, lastly: \"The glory of the Lord shall be revealed.\" So shall\nit indeed be to those that are found worthy to enter into the\nkingdom of heaven. But what that glory is who shall tell? St.\nJohn could not. \"Beloved,\" he says, \"we are now the sons of God;\nand it hath not yet appeared what we shall be.\" St. Paul could\nnot, for when he was caught up into heaven he tells us that he\nheard words \"which it is not granted to man to utter.\" Isaias\ncould not. \"From the beginning of the world,\" he says, \"they have\nnot heard; the eye hath not seen, O God! besides thee, what\nthings thou hast prepared for them that wait for thee.\" All we\nknow is, that this glory shall be very great. And if we serve God\nfaithfully here we shall one day see it, and shall one day know.\nWe shall awake after his likeness and be satisfied therewith.\n\n-------------------\n\n{37}\n\n Sermon IX.\n\n Penance.\n\n\n _For now the axe is laid to the root of the tree._\n --Matthew. iii. 10.\n\nSt. John Baptist, my brethren, as you know, retired to the desert\nat an early age, and led there an austere and solitary life,\neating coarse and unpalatable food, abstaining from wine and\nstrong drink, cutting off all unnecessary enjoyments of the\nsenses, and giving himself up to prayer and meditation. What was\nhis special motive in this extraordinary course of penance? It\nwas that he might worthily prepare himself for the office which\nhad been as signed to him--that of disposing men's hearts to\nrecognize and receive our Lord when he should come as their\nRedeemer. It was by penance alone that those hearts could be so\ndisposed, and he was to be specially the apostle of penance;\nhence he had to give a signal example of it in his own person;\nfor preaching, however eloquent, is of comparatively little\neffect unless the preacher practises the virtues to which he\nexhorts others; and the power of his preaching will be in\nproportion to the illustration which it finds in his own life.\n\n{38}\n\nTherefore, though it was not necessary for St. John, sanctified\nas he was even before his birth, to cut off all other sources of\npleasure in order to fill his soul with the joy that comes from\nthe love of God, and though he had no sins to atone for, for his\nlife had been free from blame, still he took up this course of\npenance in order to show forth even more plainly than by his\nwords the need that his hearers would have, in their measure, to\ndo likewise, if they were to share in the redemption to come.\n\nFor now, as he told them, the axe was to be laid to the root of\nthe tree. God's chosen people, the Jews, whom he had specially\nwatched over for so many years, whom he had often chastised and\ncorrected, and had brought back to his favor when they profited\nby his visitations, they were no more to be thus dealt with. The\ntree which had sprung from the seed of Abraham was not to be\nallowed any longer to stand with merely some lopping and pruning;\nno, now, if it still would not bring forth the good fruit of a\nthorough and genuine penance, it was to be cut down and cast into\nthe fire. It was the supreme test which was approaching; if the\npeople whom he had chosen would stand it, they should still\nretain their place; otherwise they should be rejected as a\nnation, and only those among them who would truly turn to their\nGod should be saved.\n\nMy brethren, St. John is still preaching this doctrine of penance\nto us. The Church of the New Law is not on her trial, as was that\nof the Old; no, her Divine Founder has promised that she shall\nendure to the end of the world. But we, each one of us, have to\ntake the words of his precursor to ourselves. We are called by\nthe name of Christ; yes, but that will not save us. St. John said\nto the Jews: \"Think not to say within yourselves, we have Abraham\nfor our father.\" So we are not to think ourselves as belonging to\nChrist, unless we have cast out from our hearts and souls what\nputs a fatal obstacle to his entrance into them. His axe will be\nlaid to our root also, unless we on our part lay the axe to the\nroot of our sins.\n\n{39}\n\nWhat is this root of sin in us? It is just this desire of sensual\nindulgence against which St. John in his life as well as in his\ndoctrine came to make the strongest of protests. If we wish not\nto bring forth the fruits of sin, we must lay the axe to its\nroot. We must practise penance and mortification, not indeed\nalways to the degree in which he practised it, but at least so\nfar as it is necessary that we may keep the law of God. We must\nnot dally with those things which are dangerous to us, innocent\nthough they may be to others. Our Lord has told us that if even\nour eyes and hands themselves are an occasion of sin we must\npluck them out or cut them off; if, then, there be anything we\nenjoy, but can really do with out, we must not make a pretext of\nthe good use which we might make of it if it really is plain that\nwe will abuse it, but must resolutely cast it away. If we would\navoid the bitter fruit which will naturally grow we must lay the\naxe to the root of the tree.\n\n-------------------\n\n{40}\n\n _Fourth Sunday of Advent._\n\n\n Epistle.\n 1 _Corinthians iv._ 1-5.\n\n Brethren:\n Let a man so look upon us as the ministers of Christ, and the\n dispensers of the mysteries of God. Here now it is required\n among the dispensers, that a man be found faithful. But as to\n me it is a thing of the least account to be judged by you or by\n human judgment: but neither do I judge my own self. For I am\n not conscious to myself of anything, yet in this am I not\n justified: but he that judgeth me, is the Lord. Therefore judge\n not before the time; until the Lord come, who both will bring\n to light the hidden things of darkness, and will make manifest\n the counsels of the hearts: and then shall every man have\n praise from God.\n\n\n Gospel.\n _St. Luke iii._ 1-6.\n\n Now in the fifteenth year of the reign of Tiberius C\u00e6sar,\n Pontius Pilate being governor of Judea, and Herod being\n tetrarch of Galilee, and Philip his brother tetrarch of Iturea\n and the country of Trachonitis, and Lysanias tetrarch of\n Abilina, under the high-priests Annas and Caiphas: the word of\n the Lord came to John, the son of Zachary, in the desert. And\n he came into all the country about the Jordan, preaching the\n baptism of penance for the remission of sins: as it is written\n in the book of the words of Isaias the prophet: A voice of one\n crying in the wilderness: Prepare ye the way of the Lord, make\n his paths straight. Every valley shall be filled: and every\n mountain and hill shall be brought low: and the crooked shall\n be made straight, and the rough ways plain And all flesh shall\n see the salvation of God.\n\n-------------------\n\n{41}\n\n Sermon X.\n\n Fruits Of Penance.\n\n\n _Bring forth therefore fruit worthy of penance._\n --Matthew. iii. 8.\n\n\nSt. John Baptist in these words, my dear brethren, teaches us, as\nhe taught those who came to him, that penance, if it be true and\ngenuine, must bring forth its proper fruit. Every repentance, if\nit be sincere, every confession, if it be really good, must be\nfollowed by a good life. If any confession is not so followed, it\nmust needs be a delusion; though it should have been accompanied\nby torrents of tears, and the sins exposed as perfectly as God\nhimself knows them.\n\nAnd, moreover, the tree which brings forth the good fruit should\ncontinue to bear it; it should not only for a few days or weeks\ngive this proof that it is what it should be, and then have him\nwho planted it come to seek fruit on it and find none.\n\nYet how often do we find sinners who come to confession with what\nwould seem to be the best dispositions very soon back just where\nthey were before! How discouraging it is to the priest to find\nthe fruits of a mission which seemed to be so promising reduced\ndown almost to nothing for so many who seemed to profit by it; to\nspend long hours, to wear away his strength, instructing,\nexhorting, and absolving, and to have so little return from his\nlabor for God and for souls!\n\n{42}\n\nWhat is the reason of all this failure of what began so well? Of\ncourse it is partly that the tree planted by the grace of God in\nthe Sacrament of Penance was not tended afterwards. Its life was\nnot supplied to it, as it should have been, by the frequent\nrenewal of confession and reception of Holy Communion. But there\nwas a difficulty further back than that; a want of something at\nthe start, which, indeed, was the reason that the sacraments were\nnot regularly received. What was this difficulty? It was a want\nof a thorough earnestness; of an understanding of the greatness\nof the work that was undertaken, and of a real determination to\nsacrifice everything in order to accomplish it.\n\nIt is a great undertaking which one commits one's self to in\ncoming to reconcile himself with God after a sinful life. The\ntask is not merely to examine his conscience, to tell his sins\nplainly and without concealment, and to feel heartily sorry for\nthem; that is a great part of it, but by no means all. There is a\ngreat deal left, and that is to leave them for good; to quit\ncompany with them for ever. And this is not such an easy matter.\nWhen, one has lived so that his whole pleasure has been in sin,\nin drunkenness and debauchery, in filthy conversation, in bad\nactions and bad thoughts, it will perhaps seem almost like giving\nup life itself to part with them. The penitent sinner has not all\nat once become an angel; his whole nature has been warped and\ntwisted out of place by sin, and, though the guilt of the sin has\ngone, the effects are there; his soul, like a limb out of joint,\nhas much to suffer before it can get set right again.\n\nA man must make up his mind, when he comes to serve God after\nserving the devil, that he has got an uphill road to travel; if\nhe does not, he will not persevere. Labor and suffering,\nself-denial and mortification, he has to face these manfully. His\nconsolation, his happiness, as well as his strength, have got to\ncome from God.\n{43}\nIf one understands this he will seek that happiness and that\nstrength again where he first found it--in confession and\nCommunion. But if he does not, if he thinks that all will go\nright now without any more trouble, his old nature and habits\nwill claim their dues, and he will soon be back in his sins\nagain.\n\nYes, we must cut right down to the root of sin if we wish to\nbring forth the fruits of penance, and must make up our minds to\nsuffer the pain that this cutting will bring. Occasions of sin\nmust be avoided, appetites must be denied, contempt and ridicule\nmust be faced; we must pray, we must struggle, we must resist\neven to blood; we must put our former life to death, that Christ\nmay live in us. For, as St. Paul tells us: \"If we be dead with\nhim, we shall live also with him; if we suffer, we shall also\nreign with him.\" There is no other way.\n\nLet us not shrink from this pain and this conflict; that would be\nthe greatest mistake of all. But let us understand it, that when\nthe trial comes, as it surely will, it may not find us\nunprepared.\n\n-------------------\n\n Sermon XI.\n\n Preparation For Christmas.\n\n\n _Prepare ye the way of the Lord._\n --Matthew iii. 3\n\nWe are such unprofitable servants that we have much to do to\nprepare the way of the Lord in our hearts. If we have done all\nthat is required of us we are, nevertheless, unprofitable\nservants, and unless we believe this we are spiritually blind.\n\n{44}\n\nThe better the opinion which we have of ourselves the worse is\nour spiritual condition. The good opinion, than which nothing can\nbe more false, which we have of ourselves prepares the way for a\nfall into sin.\n\nThe way of the Lord, the way of salvation, is found by humility,\nwhich always leads to penance.\n\nThe holy Council of Trent says that \"the whole Christian life\nought to be a perpetual penance.\" How few realize this, because\nthey think they are what they really are not! Now, if penance be\nthe life of the Christian in the state of grace, it must be a\ncrying necessity for one who is in the state of sin. What food is\nto the starving man penance is to the soul in this unhappy state.\n\nPenance is the preparation required of us for the coming feast of\nChristmas. This is the lesson of Advent. For four weeks the\npurple vestments, the prayers and ceremonies of the church, and\nthe fasts on Fridays have been appealing to our eyes and ears, if\nnot to our hearts, to prepare in this way. The wise man views the\nobligation which he is under to do penance as very urgent. He\nbanishes timidity and cowardice and puts his hand to the plough\nwith courage and confidence.\n\nThe foolish man hates to hear of penance, because his passions\nhave got the mastery. When asked to keep the commandments and\nfulfil the duties of his state, he says: \"I cannot.\" To bridle\nhis passions and give up bad habits seem to him too hard a task.\n\n{45}\n\nNow, if you should consult any man who has done penance\nfaithfully, so as to persevere in God's grace for years, he would\nsay the foolish man's view of penance is a false one. God is more\nmerciful and lenient than we imagine. It is the devil who dresses\nup penance as something repulsive.\n\nIn urging upon you to prepare for Christmas by penance my first\nwords are: \"Take courage.\" \"Taste and see how sweet the Lord is.\"\n\nSt. Leo says \"the cause of the reparation which we make for our\nsins is the mercy of God.\" It is our way of loving him who first\nloved us. How well the prophet Isaias describes this penance when\nhe says: \"The Lord says, I will lead the blind in the way in\nwhich they have not known; in the ways which they have not known\nI will make them walk. I will change their darkness into light,\ntheir crooked ways into ways that are straight, I will accomplish\nthese words in them and will not abandon them. I am found,\" says\nGod, \"by those not seeking me, and I have appeared openly to\nthose who have not asked for me.\"\n\nWe see by these words how much the grace of God assists us, and\nhow God mercifully forgets our past sins when we do penance\nsincerely.\n\nBut our penance must be sincere. We must \"bring forth fruit\nworthy of penance,\" says St. John the Baptist, the precursor of\nour Lord.\n\nIt matters not if we are \"the offspring of vipers,\" as the holy\nBaptist called the multitude who approached him for penance,\nprovided \"we lay the axe to the root of the tree.\"\n\nNow, the words of the prophet, instead of repelling sinners,\nattracted them. The publicans who were farthest from God came and\nasked: \"Master, what shall we do?\" And they received the gentle\n...\n\n{46}\n[Page 46 missing]\n{47}\n[Page 47 missing]\n{48}\n\n... which should be our chief one at Christmas, now that the days\nof innocent childhood are past. We do not hate sin from our\nhearts; we even cling to it; at best we make compromises with it.\nMortal sin, perhaps, we try to avoid, but venial faults do not\ntrouble us; this is the best that can be said for most of what\nmay be called good Christians. And how many there are who come\noutwardly to worship before the manger of Bethlehem, but with\nhearts entirely turned from their God, who lies there in cold and\npoverty for their sakes, pleading with them for his sake to give\nup their sinful habits! How many go on offending him at this holy\ntime, with out repentance, almost without remorse!\n\nHatred of sin; yes, that is what we want if we would be happy at\nChristmas. And now is the time to learn to hate it. For surely\nthe love of God comes easier to us now, if we will only try to\nobtain it, than at any other time, unless, perhaps, on Good\nFriday, when we see the sacrifice now begun accomplished. And the\nlove of God is the hatred of sin, which is the only thing which\nhe hates, the one cause of all his pain.\n\nDo not let this Christmas go by, then, my dear brethren, without\nthe joy which should come with it. Do not let this opportunity\npass of acquiring that love of our dear Lord which will make you\nreally hate and trample under foot all that offends him, and\nwhich will make you rejoice beyond measure that he has put it in\nyour power to do so. Pray, now, at least that you may learn to\nlove him; that you may enter into the joy of knowing not merely\nthat he can save you, but that he has saved you from your sins.\n\n-------------------\n\n{49}\n\n _Sunday within the Octave of Christmas._\n\n Epistle.\n _Galatians iv._ 1-7.\n\n Brethren:\n As long as the heir is a child, he differeth nothing from a\n servant, though he be lord of all: but is under tutors and\n governors until the time appointed by the father: even so we,\n when we were children, were in bondage under the elements of\n the world. But when the fulness of the time was come, God sent\n his Son, made of a woman, made under the law: that he might\n redeem those who were under the law; that we might receive the\n adoption of sons. And because you are sons, God hath sent the\n Spirit of his Son into your hearts, crying: Abba, Father.\n Therefore now he is no more a servant, but a son. And if a son,\n an heir also through God.\n\n\n Gospel.\n _St. Luke ii._ 33-40.\n\n At that time:\n Joseph, and Mary the mother of Jesus, were wondering at these\n things, which were spoken concerning him. And Simeon blessed\n them, and said to Mary his mother: Behold this child is set for\n the ruin, and for the resurrection of many in Israel, and for a\n sign which shall be contradicted. And thy own soul a sword\n shall pierce, that out of many hearts thoughts may be revealed.\n And there was a prophetess, called Anna, the daughter of\n Phanuel, of the tribe of Aser; she was far advanced in years,\n and had lived with her husband seven years from her virginity.\n And she was a widow until fourscore and four years; who\n departed not from the temple, by fastings and prayers serving\n night and day.\n{50}\n Now she at the same hour coming in, gave praise to the Lord;\n and spoke of him to all that looked for the redemption of\n Israel. And after they had performed all things according to\n the law of the Lord, they returned into Galilee, to their own\n city, Nazareth. And the child grew, and waxed strong, full of\n wisdom: and the grace of God was in him.\n\n-------------------\n\n Sermon XIII.\n\n Christmas Joy.\n\n\n _Behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy._\n --Luke ii. 10.\n\n\nThere is hardly any one, my brethren, who lives where this feast\nof Christmas is kept who does not feel a special joy in it. Why\ndo we say that \"Christmas comes but once a year,\" if not because\nwe feel that there is nothing else that can take its place? We\nlook forward to it months beforehand; when it comes, we keep it\nas long as we can and let it go with regret. Why is it that it\nhas such a warm place in our hearts?\n\nIs it merely that it is by common consent a great holiday; that\nit is a breathing-place in the bustle and hurry of life, a time\nfor meeting our friends, for giving and receiving tokens of\naffection and regard, a time of feasting and making merry? This\nhas some thing to do with it, but it is not all. For if this were\nall it would be possible to make by law a holiday like this,\nwhich no one has ever succeeded in doing. The early settlers of\nthis country, in a mistaken zeal against church festivals,\nendeavored to make a substitute for Christmas; but the failure of\ntheir attempt has driven their descendants back to the observance\nof this feast, though not to the church which gives it to them.\n\n{51}\n\nYes, we all feel that the joy of Christmas is a thing not made to\norder. It comes from a source which lies in the very mystery\nwhich we commemorate; and, even though we do not meditate or\nreflect on it, the stream from this source diffuses itself\nthrough our life and sweetens all the other joys which come at\nthis time. And they come because of it; we make merry outwardly\nbecause we are, and have cause to be glad at heart.\n\nAnd what is this cause and source of joy? Is it because Christ\nour Lord has come to save us from sin and eternal ruin? No, it is\nnot simply that; for we celebrate our salvation, our redemption,\nour ransom from the power of death and hell more specially at\nEaster than now. That is the festival of our Lord's triumph and\nour deliverance; it should and does open heaven to our souls, and\ngive them a promise and almost a foretaste of it. But still it\ndoes not come home to our hearts as this beautiful time of\nChristmas does.\n\nAnd no wonder; for at Easter we cannot but feel that our Lord,\nthough triumphant and glorious, and promising us a share in his\ntriumph and glory, still is separated from us. He has passed the\nportals of death, he has risen from the grave, he has put on\nimmortality. We cannot follow him where he has gone till we have\nfreed ourselves from all the stains of earth, till we have been\npurified and washed by penance in his Precious Blood. He has\npassed from mortal to immortal life, and it is the raising of the\nmortal to the immortal, of earth to heaven, that Easter\ncelebrates.\n{52}\nAnd this, though indeed it is the object of all our hope, is so\nhigh that we, sinners that we are, cannot fully make it our\npresent joy. But Christmas is heaven come down to earth. It is\nthe God of heaven condescending to us; taking our weakness upon\nhim, sympathizing with us, and asking us for sympathy and love.\nHe hides his majesty and glory; he veils the splendor of his\nface; he puts aside all that could distinguish him from\nourselves. He invites us to come to him with out fear; he asks\nonly that, sinful though we be, we should try to love him as he\nloves us. Christmas is the sight of the Creator begging for the\nlove of his creatures, and humbling himself that he may obtain\nit; that is the reason why it goes to the heart of all who have\nany heart to give.\n\nLet us then, in this happy season, enter into this joy which is\nthe cause of all the rest which we have, which is so easy for us,\nwhich has come to our doors, and only asks that it should be let\nin. But let the love which goes with it be not a mere passing\nfeeling, to bear no fruit in our lives. Let it bring us indeed to\nhim who has come down to us; let our joy be crowned and perfected\nby a real return of our hearts to him who has done so much to win\nthem; let us receive him in deed and in truth in his holy\nsacraments, and never let him go again.\n\n-------------------\n\n Sermon XIV.\n\n New Year's Eve.\n\n\n _Be sober._\n 2 Timothy. iv. 5.\n\n{53}\n\nBrethren, those two little words of St. Paul in the epistle of\nto-day contain excellent advice, especially to-day, on the eve of\nthe new year. How much woe it would hinder, how many families it\nwould save from ruin, how many souls from hell, could they be\nmade a common watchword in any large city in this country during\nthe year 1883!\n\nBut do you wish me to tell you the easiest way to be sober? It is\nto take the total abstinence pledge. What does a man do when he\ntakes the pledge? Just what the farmer does who, seeing that his\nfence is about high enough to keep the cattle out of the grain,\nmakes it just one rail higher; for he knows that there may be one\nbeast wilder than the rest who will leap over an ordinary fence.\nSo a prudent man, seeing the ravages of the vice of intemperance\namong his friends, dreads some taint of it hidden in his own\nnature; dreads some moment of weakness during the passing of the\nconvivial glass, or during some depression of spirits or foolish\nmirth. So he puts all danger out of the question by the pledge.\nFor if there be danger from an inherited appetite or from a\nconvivial disposition, or from prosperity or adversity, there is\nno mistake about this: the man who does not drink a single drop\ncannot drink too much.\n\nBut again: what does a man do who takes the pledge? Just what the\nkind mother does who wants to induce her sick child to take the\nbitter medicine--she tastes it herself. The pledge is taken by a\nman who may not need it for his own sake, but who loves another\nwho does need it. It is taken in order to give good example. It\nis not only a preventive for one's self, but for those who may be\nled by our influence. It is one great means that fathers and\nmothers use in order to save their children from the demon of\ndrunkenness.\n{54}\nOh! how pleasing to God are those parents who practise total\nabstinence by way of good example! Oh! how blessed is the home\nfrom which intoxicating drink has been utterly banished! How wise\nare those parents who thus teach their children that intoxicating\ndrink, though it may be used with innocence, must always be used\nwith caution! Children reared in such a home know well enough how\nto avoid treating, frequenting saloons, and convivial habits of\nevery sort. Such parents not only obey the Apostle's injunction,\n\"Be sober,\" but do the very best possible thing to induce those\nwhom they love to obey it also.\n\nBut once more: what does a man do who takes the pledge? He offers\nsomething to God in atonement for the sin of drunkenness. And\nherein is the best use of the pledge. It combines all the other\ngood purposes of it. It puts the top rail of double safety on the\nfence that keeps the beast out of the garden of the soul; it sets\nup the strong inducement of good example; but more than all it\nconsecrates everything to God by uniting it to our Lord's thirst\non the cross.\n\nBrethren, why was it that, when our Lord suffered agony of soul,\nhe complained in such words as would be apt to move the drunkard\nmore than any other sinner: \"O my Father! if it be possible, let\nthis _cup_ pass from me.\" \"O my Father! if this _cup_\nmay not pass away from me except I _drink_ it, thy will be\ndone.\" Is there no special significance in his choice of those\nwords? And listen to the account St. John gives of our Lord's\nphysical agony: \"Jesus, knowing that all things were accomplished\nthat the Scriptures might be fulfilled, saith, _I thirst!_\n... And they filled a sponge with vinegar and put it to his\nmouth.\n{55}\nWhen Jesus, therefore, had received the vinegar he said: It is\nfinished! And he bowed his head and gave up the ghost.\" Thirst\nwas the only bodily torment he complained of. Had he no special\npurpose in this?\n\nSo the man who takes the pledge suffers thirst in union with\nChrist and for the love of God to atone for sins of drunkenness.\n\nThat is why it does not settle the matter against taking the\npledge when one can say he does not need it. Our Lord had no need\nto suffer thirst. He could say, I own all the cool fountains in\nthe world, and all the strengthening wine of the world is mine,\nand I might drink and never need to thirst for my own sake; but I\nlove the poor drunkard, and for his sake I will die thirsting for\na cool drink and tasting only bitter vinegar. And the Catholic\ntotal abstainer says: \"O Lord! permit me to bear thee company in\nthy bitter thirst.\"\n\n-------------------\n\n Sermon XV.\n\n The Feast Of The Holy Innocents.\n\n _And Herod sending killed all the men-children that were in\n Bethlehem and in all the confines thereof from two years old\n and younger._\n --Matthew ii. 16\n\n\nWho is not shocked by the recital of Herod's cruelty? Carried\naway by pride and ambition, and the fear of losing what he had\nusurped, this tyrant tried to put to death the King of Kings by\nthe murder of the holy innocents. Who in our day are like Herod?\nThose who murder innocent children.\n{56}\nFiendish mothers, desiring, perhaps, to cover their shame or to\nescape the labor of bearing and bringing up children, take the\nlives of their unborn infants. Those, too, who knowingly sell or\ngive or advise the use of drugs calculated to destroy the life of\nthe unborn--all such commit Herod's crime. Yet how often this\ncrime is nowadays committed!\n\nWoe to these wretches! Woe to the Herod-like physicians who, for\nany reason whatsoever, directly prescribe or use means to prevent\nchild-birth! Herod met his punishment in a bad death, and his\nsoul went into a hell of eternal torments. What must the\nmurderers of little children expect?\n\nBut I have another cruelty to cry out against. It is that of\nthose who destroy the \"little ones of Christ\" by neglecting to\ninstruct their little children in the way of salvation. The law\nof God requires that children as soon as they have the use of\nreason, which is about the age of seven years, should know the\nelements of the Christian doctrine, should know the necessity of\navoiding sin, and should be taught the practice of virtue; also,\nthat children, as soon as they are able to sufficiently profit by\nreceiving Holy Communion, should do so. No child should ever be\nallowed to go beyond the age of twelve years without having made\nFirst Communion. Many can receive First Communion at nine or ten\nyears of age, and perhaps younger. Confirmation should be\nreceived as soon as First Communion. Parents are guilty before\nGod if they do not require their children to keep the\ncommandments of God and his church from their earliest years\nuntil they leave the parents charge. How many parents do their\nlittle ones a deadly injury by not sending them regularly to\nSunday-school!\n{57}\nWhat is it to bring up children to burn in the flames of hell for\never, as some Christian parents do? It is simply soul-murder. It\ndeserves no better name. Have you been guilty of soul-murder? If\nso, hasten to repair the evil as much as you can. You can never\ndo it wholly, but you must do what you can. There is yet another\ncruelty towards \"the little ones\" of Christ. It is to scandalize\nthem by your bad example. Instead of learning by your example to\nadore our Blessed Lord, to love and reverence his Blessed Mother\nand the saints, they, perhaps, learn to take God's holy name in\nvain. Your falsehoods teach them to lie; your dishonesty teaches\nthem to steal. Your anger and quarrelling teach them to be\nstubborn and disobedient. Ah! Christian parents, be careful how\nyou hang this millstone of scandalizing the little ones of Christ\nabout your necks.\n\nFinally, you destroy your children by not correcting their\nfaults. You wink at the evil which they do. You fail to punish\nthem, regardless of God's honor and their good. If you do punish\nthem, it is not \"correction in the Lord,\" but you do it to\ngratify your satanic rage. Some fathers and mothers are not\nworthy of the name. The dignity and responsibility of fathers and\nmothers are very great. See that you are faithful to the\nobligations which belong to your high and holy state.\n\n-------------------\n\n{58}\n\n _The Epiphany._\n\n Epistle.\n _Isaias lx._ 1-6.\n\n Arise, be enlightened, O Jerusalem: for thy light is come, and\n the glory of the Lord is risen upon thee. For behold darkness\n shall cover the earth, and a mist the people: but the Lord\n shall arise upon thee, and his glory shall be seen upon thee.\n And the Gentiles shall walk in thy light, and kings in the\n brightness of thy rising. Lift up thy eyes round about, and\n see: all these are gathered together, they are come to thee:\n thy sons shall come from afar, and thy daughters shall rise up\n at thy side. Then shalt thou see and abound, and thy heart\n shall wonder and be enlarged; when the multitude of the sea\n shall be converted to thee, the strength of the Gentiles shall\n come to thee. The multitude of camels shall cover thee, the\n dromedaries of Madian and Epha: all they from Saba shall come,\n bringing gold and frankincense: and showing forth praise to the\n Lord.\n\n\n Gospel.\n _St. Matthew. ii._ 1-12.\n\n When Jesus, therefore, was born in Bethlehem of Juda, in the\n days of King Herod, behold, there came wise men from the East\n to Jerusalem, saying: Where is he that is born King of the\n Jews? For we have seen his star in the East, and we are come to\n adore him. And Herod the King hearing this was troubled, and\n all Jerusalem with him: and assembling together all the chief\n priests and Scribes of the people, he inquired of them where\n Christ should be born. But they said to him, In Bethlehem of\n Juda; for so it is written by the prophet: \"And thou Bethlehem,\n the land of Juda, art not the least among the princes of Juda:\n for out of thee shall come forth the ruler who shall rule my\n people Israel.\"\n{59}\n Then Herod, privately calling the wise men, inquired diligently\n of them the time of the star's appearing to them; and sending\n them into Bethlehem, said: Go and search diligently after the\n child, and when you have found him, bring me word again, that I\n also may come and adore him. And when they had heard the king,\n they went their way; and behold, the star which they had seen\n in the East went before them, until it came and stood over\n where the child was. And seeing the star, they rejoiced with\n exceeding great joy. And going into the house, they found the\n child with Mary his mother, and falling down, they adored him;\n and opening their treasures, they offered him gifts; gold,\n frankincense, and myrrh. And having received an answer in sleep\n that they should not return to Herod, they went back another\n way into their own country.\n\n-------------------\n\n Sermon XVI.\n\n The Testimony Of The Spirit.\n\n\n _For whosoever are led by the Spirit of God\n they are the Sons of God._\n --Romans viii. 14.\n\n\nThe end of our pilgrimage, like that of the three wise men, my\nbrethren, is union with our Lord. Of course union with God,\nthrough his power and his being present everywhere, always\nexists, whether we are his friends or not. But the state of grace\nis the union of love. By that union God rules our souls. By that\nunion the Holy Spirit of God, the third person of the most Holy\nTrinity, really dwells within us. In the state of grace we are\nbrought into loving contact with the divine Spirit.\n{60}\nNow the Apostle, in the words of our text, wishes to teach us one\neffect of that wonderful union. \"For the Spirit himself giveth\ntestimony to our spirit that we are the sons of God.\" That is to\nsay, when the Holy Spirit enters into your heart he announces his\ncoming, he assures you of his friendship, he excites within you a\nsentiment of filial affection for your Heavenly Father. How could\nit be otherwise? Could God be long in our hearts and we be\naltogether ignorant of it? Of course he does not take away the\nnatural fickleness of our minds; the star sometimes shines\nfaintly, or even for a while disappears from view. God does not\nreveal himself as he is; he does not interfere at all with his\nexternal work in the holy church; he does not substitute his\ninterior action on the soul for that exterior action of visible\nauthority and sacramental symbols. It is, indeed, by means of\nthis external order that the Holy Spirit enters into our hearts;\nit is, besides, only by means of the church's divine marks, her\ndivine testimony, her divine influence in the sacraments, that we\ncan be quite sure that Almighty God has come down into our souls.\nYet the Holy Spirit really has a secret career within us. \"Deep\ncalleth unto deep\"; that is, the infinite love of God calls into\nlife our little love. He has his inner church in our souls, so to\nspeak; or rather he brings into his spiritual and hidden temple\nall that is outside, spiritualizes the external order, joins the\npurely mental with the sacramental, and, having set our faces in\nthe right direction and started our feet moving in the right\nroad, he sets us to thinking right, he stirs up noble\naspirations, he purifies our feelings, and finally gives us\ntestimony that it is really himself, the Spirit of God, who has\nthus been at work making our inner life such as befits the sons\nof God.\n\n{61}\n\nNow, my brethren, as I said before, this testimony of God within\nus is not like the splendors of Paradise bursting upon the soul;\nnor is it so very plain as to be able to stand alone without the\nexternal criterion of his church as a testimony of God's\nfriendship, except now and then in the case of some great saint.\nYet there are many things in our inner life that, if we study\nthem over a little, show that God has been acting upon us. What\nelse is that wonder of the world called the faith of Catholics?\nWho else but the Spirit of God could give such power to believe\nvery mysterious truths, such a stability to wavering minds, such\na humility of belief to proud minds? And what except divine love\ncould be as sweet as the taste the soul enjoys in the reception\nof the sacraments? Call to mind the utter transformation of soul\nthat so often takes place at First Communion; remember the flood\nof divine influence at your Christian marriage; remember how\nafter that death-bed scene your broken heart was cured of its\ndespair when you turned to God; remember how at missions or\nduring seasons of penance, or at one or other festival, it seemed\nto you that heaven was beginning before its time. All this is\nGod's work on your life. The tender emotion at hearing the divine\npromises, the loving regret for sin, the joy of forgiveness, the\nimagination filled--plainly by no human means--with images of\ncelestial peace, the understanding as clear of doubts as heaven\nof clouds, the will strong and easily able to keep good\nresolutions, sometimes the very body sharing the lightness and\nvigor of the soul--what is all this but the embrace of the Holy\nSpirit?\n{62}\nAnd if one says _he_ does not feel it, and yet hopes he is\nin the state of grace, I answer that he will not be long deprived\nof it. Or it may be he is tepid; his soul is not able to feel any\nmore than a hand benumbed with cold; his ear not hearing because\nhis attention is too much fixed on the voices of the world to\nhear the voice of the Holy Spirit. His eye is too much dazzled by\nthe false glitter of the world to catch sight of the star that\nleads to our Lord's feet.\n\n-------------------\n\n Sermon XVII.\n\n Following God's Guidance.\n\n\n _Be ye, therefore, followers of God,\n as most dear children._\n --Ephesians. v. 1.\n\n\nMy dear brethren, these are not words of counsel or good advice;\nthey are words of command, written by St. Paul. This command is\nto follow God, and to follow him as most dear children,\nobediently as the Magi did of old. What is it to follow God? It\nis to do at least as much as we do when we follow any one great\nman. How do we act then? We seek to be with him a great deal. We\nlisten to his every word. We do as he does. We adopt his views of\nthings. We repeat what he teaches. Neither do we dare to differ\nfrom him, for fear that people will say that we have no sense;\nnor do we venture to act in any manner opposed to his ways of\ndoing. In a few words, a man who is followed is the leader in\nfashion, in taste, and style. Everybody approves his ways, and\nimitates them.\n{63}\nHis friends have also the friendship of the world, simply because\nthey are his friends. Any one whom he approves and recommends is\nlistened to and followed because he has recommended him. If we\nwant to follow God, he does not really require, outwardly, any\nmore than men require of us to follow them.\n\nBut how can we do this?\n\nFirst: Seek to be with God a great deal. Where is he, that we may\nfind him? God is everywhere, and is always found by looking for\nhim and seeking for him diligently in prayer; for prayer keeps us\nnear to God and God near to us. And he is always on the altar:\nhear Mass not only on Sundays but now and then on week days;\nvisit the Blessed Sacrament.\n\nSecondly: Listen to his every word. God speaks to our souls in\nprayer, not with a voice like the voice of a man, but in his own\nsweet and quiet way. We must listen attentively to hear the\ngentle words of God, not with our outward ears of the body, but\nwith the ability to hear that is within our souls; the ability of\nthe soul to hear the voice of a spirit speaking to our spirit.\nGod also speaks to us through his Holy Word in the Sacred\nScriptures, in the Epistle and Gospel set apart for each Sunday\nof the year, in the writings of holy men and women, in the\nteachings of Christian parents and friends. But the most\nimportant way in which God has taught, and continues to teach us\nall, is by means of his church. When we listen to her words, in\nsermons and other instructions, we hear the Word of God.\n\n{64}\n\nThirdly: Do as God does. Try to be like him, and him alone. Take\ncare to do always the thing that is right. Try hard to be loving,\nmerciful, forgiving, and gentle to all, even your enemies. When\nwe have anything to do, we must say, Would God do this way or\nthat way? When we meet with cruel treatment from others, with\ningratitude and base injustice from those we love, we must say at\nonce, How does God treat those who do these things? How does he\ntreat me, notwithstanding my many, many sins? I shall go and do\nto these bad people as he has done to me. I shall even bless\nthem, as he has blessed me.\n\nLastly: If we want to follow God, at least as well as we follow a\ngreat man whom we have made a leader among us, we are sure to\nhonor his friends, and obey those he sends to us in his name. Who\nare these? Not only all good people, but especially our pastors\nand spiritual directors. The pastor or parish priest is a man\nsent by God to make sure of the success of God's work in his\nparish. Any one who follows God in that parish unites heart and\nsoul with his priest to help him carry out his plans. If any one\nwants to get the greatest amount of merit for his good deeds, he\nis sure to get it by following first these plans. For the priest\nstands as a father among his children. He knows the good and the\nbad, the rich and the poor. He knows what is best for each. He is\nthe best adviser as to what ought to be done, and as to the way\nit is to be done. In charities he is certainly the best leader.\nPrivate works and charities are good, it is true; but the first\nduty, after one's own necessities are cared for, is to follow the\norder of God, in aiding the parish work through the parish priest\nand his assistants. We may safely say that one act done for God,\nin union with those put over us by him, is worth in heaven, and\nhere also, many good works done simply because we like to do them\nour own way.\n\n{65}\n\nTo follow God, then, is to follow as dear children. We must\nconsent to be led by God in all things connected with duty, just\nas little children are led by their fathers and mothers. We must\ntake care, at least, that we follow his lead, and not show more\nhonor to others than we do to him.\n\n-------------------\n\n{66}\n\n _First Sunday after Epiphany._\n\n\n Epistle.\n _Romans xii._ 1-5.\n\n Brethren:\n I beseech you, by the mercy of God, that you present your\n bodies a living sacrifice, holy, pleasing to God, your\n reasonable service. And be not conformed to this world: but be\n reformed in the newness of your mind, that you may prove what\n is the good and the acceptable, and the perfect will of God.\n For I say, through the grace that is given me, to all that are\n among you, not to be more wise than it behooveth to be wise,\n but to be wise unto sobriety, and according as God hath divided\n to every one the measure of faith. For as in one body we have\n many members, but all the members have not the same office: so\n we being many are one body in Christ, and each one members one\n of another in Christ Jesus our Lord.\n\n\n Gospel.\n _St. Luke ii._ 42-52.\n\n When Jesus was twelve years old, they went up to Jerusalem\n according to the custom of the feast, and after they had\n fulfilled the days, when they returned, the child Jesus\n remained in Jerusalem; and his parents knew it not. And\n thinking that he was in the company, they came a day's journey,\n and sought him among their kinsfolks and acquaintance. And not\n finding him, they returned into Jerusalem, seeking him. And it\n came to pass, that after three days they found him in the\n temple, sitting in the midst of the doctors, hearing them and\n asking them questions. And all that heard him were astonished\n at his wisdom and his answers. And seeing him, they wondered.\n{67}\n And his mother said to him: Son, why hast thou done so to us?\n behold thy father and I have sought thee sorrowing. And he said\n to them: How is it that you sought me? did you not know that I\n must be about the things that are my Father's? And they\n understood not the word that he spoke unto them. And he went\n down with them, and came to Nazareth: and was subject to them.\n And his mother kept all these words in her heart. And Jesus\n increased in wisdom and age, and grace with God and men.\n\n-------------------\n\n Sermon XVIII.\n\n The Christian Home.\n\n\n _He went down with them and came to Nazareth,\n and was subject to them. ...\n And Jesus advanced in wisdom and age, and grace\n with God and men._\n --Gospel of the Day.\n\n\nIn these few words, my brethren, the sacred writer raises the\nveil that conceals the mysteries of our Lord's hidden life, and\ngives us an insight into the domestic concerns of the Holy Family\nat Nazareth. Jesus lived with Mary and Joseph. He was obedient\nand subject to them, and so he advanced in age and wisdom and\ngrace with God and men. The door of the holy house is opened to\nus, but only for a moment, so that we might get a glimpse of the\ndomestic life of a model family. Joseph, the father, day by day\nworks at his trade to support the family. He rises in the\nmorning; gives his soul to God in prayer. He toils through the\nday. He comes home at night to enjoy his rest in the company of\nJesus and Mary. He meets with trials, but he is patient; he is\ntempted, but he sins not; he leads a busy life, but he still\nfinds time to pray.\n{68}\nMary, the mother, tends the household duties, with care and\nprecision, and by her sweet, kind ways diffuses an air of peace\nand contentment throughout the home. Jesus, the child, is\naffectionate and submissive to his parents in everything. Here is\nthe model of a true Christian home. Its ground work is the love\nof God; it is surrounded by an atmosphere of virtue, and to its\nmembers it is the holiest and dearest spot on earth. Such should\nour homes be.\n\nThe true Christian home is to society what the sanctuary is to\nthe church of God. The parents are the priests in this sanctuary.\nIt was God who ordained them priests when they stood before the\naltar with clasped hands and promised that they would be faithful\nto each other while life lasts. The Blessed Sacrament of this\nsanctuary is the Sacrament of Matrimony. It is the great\ntreasure-house of supernatural strength to the married couple.\n\nThe perpetual presence of our Lord in this sanctuary is by his\ngrace, which is never wanting.\n\nThe altar in this sanctuary is the hearthstone around which the\nfamily gathers. The communion-rail in this sanctuary is the\nfamily table, from which are dispensed the necessities of life.\n\nThere is about the sanctuary in the church of God an atmosphere\nof piety and reverence. It has a sanctity that no stranger dare\nviolate; it has a privacy which no one but he who has a right\ndare invade. Such an atmosphere should be about the sanctuary of\nhome. A priest would never allow a heretic or an infidel to sit\nin the sanctuary of God. He would never allow a corrupt man to\nstand on the altar of God. Take care, then, Christian parents,\nhow you violate the sanctity of your homes.\n{69}\nTake care what heretical or infidel books you allow to pass the\ngate of that sanctuary. Take care what bad newspapers you allow\nwithin its sacred precincts. Take care of the persons whom you\nallow to stand around your family altar. It is one thing, you\nknow, to be obliged to meet a man in every-day life; it is a far\ndifferent thing to invite him to your home, and permit him to\nviolate its sanctity.\n\nIt is the duty of a priest on the altar of God, by his good\nexample, to edify his flock; to stand at all times before his\npeople a bright, shining light of Christian virtues. So, too, it\nis your duty, priests at the family altar, to be a model of all\nvirtues to your children, so that they might learn from you what\nit is to be a Christian. Would it not be horrible for a man to\ncome in on the altar and utter repeated curses? Would it not be\nfearful to see him stagger up to the altar of God in the state of\nintoxication? It happened once while Mass was going on, during\nthe Elevation, while all heads were bowed in humble adoration, a\ndrunken man rushed into the church, and in a loud voice uttered a\nhorrible oath. It made the hearts of the good Catholic people\nstand still, and their blood ran cold in their veins. Is it any\nthe less horrible for a father to come home intoxicated to the\nhousehold sanctuary, or a mother, when anything goes wrong in the\nhouse, to give vent to her wrath in harsh language and sometimes\neven cursing?\n\nSee to it, then, dear parents; make your homes holy places--real\nsanctuaries, where you can do your duty as priests of our\nAll-Holy God. Keep from them all evil influences, so that they\nmight be places where even the Child Jesus would not be ashamed\nto dwell.\n\n-------------------\n\n{70}\n\n Sermon XIX.\n\n Jesus Teaching In The Temple.\n\n\n _And not finding him,\n they returned into Jerusalem, seeking him._\n --Luke ii. 45\n\nThe Gospel of to-day tells us, my brethren, how our Blessed Lady\nand St. Joseph lost Jesus on their way home from Jerusalem, where\nthey had gone with him to keep the feast of the pasch, and how in\ngreat distress they returned to the city in search of him. What\nfears and anxieties must have filled their minds as they thought\nof the many enemies which he had among the rulers of the people,\njealous of his promised kingdom, and of the harm which they would\ntry to do him if they recognized him for the child whom Herod had\nsought to destroy! And how perplexed Mary and Joseph must have\nbeen that he who had hitherto saved himself by their protection\nshould at this tender age abandon them and remove himself from\ntheir care! Had they not shown enough love and care for him? Had\nthey proved themselves unworthy of him? Surely it could not be\nhis purpose when so young to begin his great work. Would he not\nat least have told them if such had been his plan?\n\nNo, our Lord did not propose to begin his mission then; for,\nthough he was indeed God, he was also then a child, and that\nmission was not a child's work. But he did wish to show them that\nhis great work even then filled his heart and soul; that the fire\nof love for us, which brought him to the cross, was consuming him\neven in childhood. \"Did you not know,\" he said to them when they\nfound him, \"that I must be about my Father's business?\" \"How is\nit that you sought me?\" \"You might have known,\" he seems to say,\n\"that, if I were not with you, I must be in the temple speaking\nto my people of their God.\"\n\n{71}\n\nHe also wished to give them an opportunity of merit by showing\nthe love of God which filled their souls, too. For their grief\nwas not the common grief of parents who have lost a child, great\nas that trouble is. It was the loss of the Divine Presence which\naffected them beyond measure. God had been with them for all\nthose years as never with any one else, and now he had left them,\nthey could not tell why or for how long. They would not have\nspared him for an hour, even to their kinsfolk and friends, with\nwhom they thought he was, except for charity; and now he had left\nthem, perhaps for the rest of their lives, which were worth\nnothing without him.\n\nWould that we loved God, my brethren, as they loved him; that he\nwere the light and consolation of our lives, as he was of theirs!\nLet us think of this as we reflect on their pain and anguish in\nthat weary search for the visible presence of him whose grace\nwas, after all, always in their souls. How is it with us? Would\nwe care for this presence which they so bitterly missed? Would it\nnot, perhaps, even be a painful restraint? Do we care, as it is,\nto be near Jesus? Is his presence in the Blessed Sacrament of the\naltar a consolation to us? We revere that real Presence of our\nLord, but do we love it? If so, why do we not seek it more?\n\nDo we even care for his presence by grace in our souls, which\nthey always had in its fulness, and never dimmed by the shadow of\nsin? To lose that, had it been possible, would have been a\nthousand deaths to them; what is it to us? How easily do we lose\nthat grace; how little do we care to regain it!\n\n{72}\n\nOh! let us at least imitate our Blessed Mother and her Holy\nSpouse as far as this. If we do not love to be with Jesus as they\ndid, let us at least seek to have him with us by his grace. If we\nhave lost him, let us seek him, and not be weary till we find\nhim; let us not rest till he comes again to our souls, never to\nleave them again.\n\n-------------------\n\n Sermon XX.\n\n How Our Saviour Takes Away Sin.\n\n\n _Behold the Lamb of God,\n behold him who taketh away the sins of the world._\n --St. John i. 29.\n\nAfter our Blessed Lord was baptized by St. John the Baptist,\nbeloved brethren, he retired into the desert, where he remained\nforty days in prayer and fasting. At the end of this time he\ndirected his steps towards the river Jordan, where John was\nbaptizing. Here a large concourse of the Jewish people had\nassembled to listen to the preaching of the forerunner of Christ.\nIn the midst of these St. John, inspired by the spirit of God,\nand professing his deep and ardent faith, testified of our Lord\nthat he is the Lamb of God, and that it is he who taketh away the\nsins of the world.\n\n{73}\n\nWhat a glorious testimony this, and how cheerfully received by\nthe fervent Christian! Have you ever pondered over these\nbeautiful words, and made them the subject of your meditation?\nHave you ever tried to find out their true meaning, and thus make\nthem profitable to your souls? Yes, truly, Jesus Christ is the\nLamb of God. He is the Lamb slain from the beginning of the\nworld. For you and for me he voluntarily left the bosom of his\nFather, and lowered and even debased himself by assuming a nature\nlike our own. For us he endured the sufferings and privations of\nhis childhood; for us he sent up many heartfelt prayers to God\nthe Father before the beginning of his public life; for us he\nlabored and preached; for us he suffered the ingratitude of his\ndisciples, the ignominies of the Jews, the insults of the\nsoldiers, the hardships of the journey to Calvary, and, finally,\nended his torments on the cross, with the cry \"_Consummatum\nest_--It is finished.\" This, and much more, did our Blessed\nLord gladly undergo for us all. And how have you, dear brethren,\nrequited such infinite love? Fathers, are you solicitous for the\nlittle household which Almighty God himself has so fondly\nentrusted to your care? Then are you imitators of the patience\nand endurance of your Saviour during his bitter passion. Mothers,\ndo you strive to make yourselves patterns of the Christian\nvirtues of gentleness and forbearance? Then do you imitate the\nexample of your Lord in bearing the defects of others and\ntreating them with kindness and compassion. Oh! how watchful\nwould we not be, dear brethren, could we but understand the\ninfinite love our Lord Jesus Christ manifested for us during his\nlife on earth! But St. John not only gave testimony to our Lord\nbeing the Lamb of God, but he further testified that it is he who\ntakes away the sins of the world.\n{74}\nHe did not come simply to announce to the world the divine\nmission which he received from the Father; he also came to heal\nthe infirmities of our souls by imparting to them the abundance\nof his grace. This office he performed himself during his mortal\nlife on earth. He it was that purified the soul of Mary Magdalene\nand enriched it with sanctifying grace. It was he who gave the\nliving water of eternal life to the sinful Samaritan woman. And\nwhat our Lord did for these and many others, beloved brethren, he\nis now effecting in the midst of us. It is not necessary to\nremind you of how our Lord chose a small band of apostles, and\nmade them the beginning of his church; how he bestowed upon them\nand their successors the unheard-of and marvellous power of\nforgiving sins. Yes, brethren, the bishops and priests of the\nCatholic Church are the visible representatives of Jesus Christ;\nthey are the comfort of the afflicted, the strength of the weak;\nthey have an efficacious remedy for those who are living in the\nstate of mortal sin; by pronouncing the words of absolution they\nrestore to the penitent and contrite sinner his lost inheritance\nof sonship, and make him an heir of the kingdom of heaven. Oh!\nhow thankful we should be for the mercy and goodness of our God!\nWhat a tender love we ought to cherish for the Church, the Bride\nwithout spot! What respect is not due to those who hold the place\nof Christ in our behalf! How sufficiently prize the inestimable\nblessing of the tribunal of penance! Let us remember and meditate\nupon those three precious graces, beloved brethren, that they may\nbe the source of sweet joy to us now, and the earnest of a happy\neternity hereafter.\n\n-------------------\n\n{75}\n\n _Second Sunday after Epiphany._\n\n Feast Of The Holy Name Of Jesus.\n\n\n Epistle.\n _Romans xii._ 6-16.\n\n Having gifts different, according to the grace that is given\n us, whether prophecy, according to the proportion of faith, or\n ministry in ministering; or he that teacheth, in teaching; he\n that exhorteth, in exhorting; he that giveth with simplicity;\n he that ruleth with solicitude; he that showeth mercy with\n cheerfulness. Love without dissimulation. Hating that which is\n evil, adhering to that which is good; loving one another with\n brotherly love; in honor preventing one another; in solicitude\n not slothful; in spirit fervent; serving the Lord; rejoicing in\n hope; patient in tribulation; instant in prayer; communicating\n to the necessities of the saints; pursuing hospitality. Bless\n them that persecute you; bless, and curse not. Rejoice with\n them that rejoice; weep with them that weep; being of one mind\n one to another; not high-minded, but condescending to the\n humble.\n\n\n Epistle of the Feast.\n _Acts iv._ 8-12.\n\n Then Peter, filled with the Holy Ghost, said to them: Ye rulers\n of the people and ancients, hear: If we this day are examined\n concerning the good deed done to the infirm man, by what means\n he hath been made whole; be it known to you all, and to all the\n people of Israel, that in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ of\n Nazareth, whom you crucified, whom God hath raised from the\n dead, even by him doth this man stand here before you whole.\n This is the stone which was rejected by you, builders; which is\n become the head of the corner; nor is there salvation in any\n other. For there is no other name under heaven given to men,\n whereby we must be saved.\n\n{76}\n\n Gospel.\n _St. John ii._ 1-11.\n\n At that time:\n There was a marriage in Cana of Galilee: and the mother of\n Jesus was there. And Jesus also was invited, and his disciples,\n to the marriage. And the wine failing, the mother of Jesus\n saith to him: They have no wine. And Jesus saith to her: Woman,\n what is that to me and to thee? my hour is not yet come. His\n mother said to the waiters: Whatsoever he shall say to you, do\n ye. Now, there were set there six water-pots of stone,\n according to the manner of the purifying of the Jews,\n containing two or three measures apiece. Jesus saith to them:\n Fill the water-pots with water. And they filled them up to the\n brim. And Jesus saith to them: Draw out now and carry to the\n chief steward of the feast. And they carried it. And when the\n chief steward had tasted the water made wine, and knew not\n whence it was, but the waiters knew who had drawn the water,\n the chief steward calleth the bridegroom, and saith to him:\n Every man at first setteth forth good wine, and when men have\n well drunk, then that which is worse: but thou hast kept the\n good wine until now. This beginning of miracles did Jesus in\n Cana of Galilee, and he manifested his glory, and his disciples\n believed in him.\n\n\n Gospel Of The Feast.\n _St. Luke ii._ 21.\n\n At that time:\n After eight days were accomplished that the child should be\n circumcised, his name was called Jesus, which was called by the\n Angel, before he was conceived in the womb.\n\n-------------------\n\n Sermon XXI.\n\n Profanity.\n\n\nTo-day, my dear brethren, as you know, the church celebrates the\nfestival of the Holy Name of Jesus; of that name which is above\nall other names, at which every knee shall bow, and every tongue\nshall confess the glory of him to whom this great name belongs.\n\n{77}\n\nYes, the holy church does indeed reverence this holy name, and\nwe, her children, do not fail to honor it. Following a pious\ncustom, we bow the head when it is mentioned, and it is to be\nhoped that we also make at the same time with our hearts an act\nof homage to him who bears it, and thank him for all that he has\ndone for us.\n\nAnd yet, strange to say, some of these very Christians who pay to\nthe name of their God and Saviour, at least outwardly, this\ntribute of honor on certain accustomed occasions seem to take at\nother times a pleasure in trampling it, if I may so speak, in the\nvery dirt under their feet. To see them in church, you would\nthink that they would hardly dare even to take at all upon their\nown lips this holy name which they hear from those of the priest;\nbut outside, on the street, and even, it may be, in their own\nhomes, they show a horrible familiarity with it. This name above\nall names is coupled with every foolish, passionate, and even\nfilthy word which the devil can put into their hearts and on\ntheir tongues.\n\n{78}\n\nDo I say this is strange? Ah! that is far too weak a word. To one\nwho will stop and consider, even for a moment, it seems\nincredible, impossible that a Christian, one who believes himself\nto have been created by the great God whose name he bears, and to\nhave been redeemed by him from the power of the devil, at the\ncost of his own Precious Blood; who has knelt in prayer before\nhim; who has received from him the pardon of his sins; who has\nreceived him in his real and true Presence on his tongue in the\nsacrament which he has instituted with such infinite\ncondescension and love--I say it seems impossible, intolerable,\ninconceivable, that this wretched worm of the earth, on whom so\nmany and such surpassing favors have been showered by the Divine\nGoodness, should, with this very tongue on which his God has\nrested, outrage and insult the name of this God, and that the\nname which above all others tells how good and merciful he has\nbeen. It seems as if even the infinite patience and love which\nour Lord has for us could not brook this indignity, this spittle\ncast in his face, not as at the time of his Passion, by one who\ndid not know who he was, but by those who from childhood have\nknown full well all the truths of their holy faith, and who well\nunderstand that it is the Divine Majesty which they despise.\n\nIndeed, my brethren, believe me, even the infidel shudders when\nhe hears in passing along the street the holy name of our Lord\nGod and Saviour Jesus Christ, of him whom even he respects above\nall other men that have ever lived on earth, thus outraged,\nprofaned, and defiled by those who profess to believe him to be\nfar more than the best and greatest of men; who invoke him as the\nOne who sitteth on the Eternal Throne, before whom the angels\nveil their faces, to whom is due benediction and honor and glory\nand power for ever and ever. Even the infidel, I say, shudders;\nand he wonders how it can be, if what Christians believe is true,\nthat the God whom they thus insult suffers them to live.\n\n{79}\n\nBut you may say it is a habit you have got; that is the excuse\nwhich seems good to you, and which you seem to think that God\nought to accept. Sup-pose you had a habit of spitting on your\nneighbor's face or clothes by preference to any other place, how\nlong would he endure it? It is a habit, yes; but it is one which\nyou can amend and get rid of altogether, and which you are most\nurgently and seriously bound to get rid of, if you would not have\nto answer for it at the bar of him whom this insufferable habit\noutrages and defies. Take care, take care, take care, I warn and\nbeseech you, for God's sake, for the sake of those who hear you,\nand for your own sake, that this habit come to an end. Watch,\nkeep guard against it; punish yourself should you even\ninadvertently fall into it, that your offended God may not have\nto take the punishment into his own hands.\n\n-------------------\n\n Sermon XXII.\n\n The Sin Of Cursing.\n\n\n _Bless them that persecute you;\n bless, and curse not._\n --Romans. xii. 14.\n\n\nThese words are found in the epistle appointed for the second\nSunday after Epiphany, and were read by the church long before\nthe institution of the Feast of the Holy Name of Jesus, which is\nnow always celebrated on this day, yet they contain a lesson most\nappropriate to this feast. For there is no way in which God's\nmost holy name, which to-day is especially set before us for our\nveneration, is more frequently or more grossly dishonored than by\ncursing. To curse is to call down God's judgment or vengeance\nupon our fellow-men, and its worst form is when the holy and\nawful name of God or our Lord is made use of.\n{80}\nUnhappily the fault has become so common, even among those who\nthink themselves good Catholics, that its grievous nature is\nseldom realized or, perhaps, even thought of.\n\nThe habit is often acquired in childhood, frequently from the\nexample of parents, themselves given to cursing. Like all\nearly-acquired habits, it grows stronger and more deeply-rooted\nwith advancing years, until at last the habit is made the excuse\nfor the sin. It is a vain excuse. You are guilty before God of\nmortal sin if you have formed this habit, and you are guilty of\nremaining in the state of mortal sin if you make no effort to\nbreak yourself of it. It will do you no good to go to confession\nand accuse yourself of cursing, unless you are contrite and\nfollow the advice which your confessor gives you, and really make\nan earnest resolution and a serious effort to overcome this\nscandalous habit.\n\nYou should begin by making each morning a resolution to avoid\ncursing throughout the day, begging God's assistance for your\nefforts. If, during the day, you fall inadvertently into the old\nfault, you should impose some little penance upon yourself, such\nas the recitation of the \"Hail Mary,\" or the pious ejaculation of\nthe holy name of Jesus, with a prayer for God's forgiveness. And\nthen at night you should examine your conscience as to how often\nyou may have fallen into the habit during the day, and resolve to\nmake the next day a better one in this respect. If you faithfully\npersevere in this practice you will soon be the master of your\ntongue, and able to restrain it from cursing by a little\nwatchfulness; but if you do not adopt some such practice as this,\nand really set to work in earnest to overcome this habit, you are\nguilty before God of mortal sin, and your contrition at your\nconfessions is not good for much.\n\n{81}\n\nI have spoken of this habit as scandalous, as this is one of its\nworst features. Besides the insult that is offered to God and his\nholy name, an incalculable amount of harm is done to our\nneighbor. Children, especially, learn to curse from their elders,\nand the extent of this fault among young children is frightful to\ncontemplate. Those, too, who are not of our faith, when they hear\nCatholics cursing and swearing, are apt to set it down to some\ndefect in our religion, and thus the true faith is brought into\ncontempt.\n\nBut the habitual curser seldom thinks of these consequences of\nhis sin. He rarely even attends to the meaning of the words he\nuses. If he could only be brought to stop and think of all that\nis implied in the expressions we so often hear upon our streets,\nhe would shudder at the thought of using them. To ask Almighty\nGod to send a soul to hell for all eternity, to utter that holy\nname whereby we are saved in a prayer for the eternal damnation\nof a soul redeemed by the Precious Blood of Christ, is an impiety\nso dreadful that we could scarcely believe it possible did not\nour ears tell us the contrary.\n\nYet there are those who not only say these things, but mean them,\nat least at the moment when they are uttered. How carefully,\nthen, should we guard ourselves against those outbursts of anger\nin which we are led to make such a fearful abuse of the gift of\nspeech, the noblest of God's natural gifts to man!\n{82}\nAbove all, we should try to realize the spirit of the Gospel as\nexpressed in the words of St. Paul, \"Bless them that persecute\nyou,\" remembering that no affront that can be offered to us can\neven justify the spirit of revenge that is implied in a curse.\n\"Bless,\" therefore, \"and curse not,\" that so you may yourselves\nreceive the blessing of the Lord.\n\n-------------------\n\n Sermon XXIII.\n\n Reverence For The Name Of God.\n\n\nThe Feast of the Holy Name of Jesus, brethren, affords an\nopportunity for meditating upon reverence for the honor of God,\nespecially in the person of our Blessed Saviour. Reverence for\nGod is something different from the love of God and the fear of\nGod. Have you not noticed that when a bad boy neither fears his\nfather nor (as far as we can see) loves him, that he yet often\nkeeps up at least a show of respect for him? I don't care much\nfor him, he says, but after all he is my father; I must respect\nhim. So with sinners. Many a sinner will break every commandment\nof God and the church except one or two, which he fancies he must\nobserve in order to keep up appearances; that is to say, show at\nleast some outward respect. The most atrocious scoundrel will not\neat meat on Friday, because that would be a sign of losing all\nrespect for religion. A wretch abandoned to every vice will say a\nHail Mary or make the sign of the cross sometimes in order to\npersuade at least himself that he has not lost all respect for\nreligion. He will not despise the piety of his friends, but\nrather respect it. Respect for holy things and holy practices is\nthe last remnant of religion in the sinner's soul.\n\n{83}\n\nWell, brethren, let us ask if Almighty God has not set up any\nparticular sign of reverence that we are to pay him? What is\nthat, among all religious practices, which he would have us do as\na token of inner and outer reverence? Of course you know what I\nmean; you know that it is reverence for his holy name.\n\nThe name of God, and especially the name of Jesus, are set up as\nthe divine standard before which every man will prove his\nreverence for God. Cursers and swearers and blasphemers forget\nthis. No sin is so common as profanity in its various forms. Yet\nit shows a heart not only void of the fear of God, and of the\nlove of God, but also, and worst of all, void of even reverence\nfor God. A man who habitually curses is penetrated with defiance\nof the Divine Majesty. Holy Scripture says that he has put on\ncursing like a garment; that it has entered in unto his bones. In\nthe old law a blasphemer was stoned to death. And in our own\ntimes God often anticipates the wrath to come by sending sudden\ndeath upon profane men. I lately read in the papers that a man,\nstanding at a saloon-counter, cursed his own soul, and instantly\nsank down upon the floor stone dead. Many of you have doubtless\nheard or even seen such visitations of divine justice.\n\nAnd it is in view of the sacred obligation of reverence to God in\nhis chosen symbol--which is his name and his Son's name--that,\nalthough he had but ten commandments to give us, one of them was\nset apart to secure respectful speech when dealing with God: Thou\nshalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain, for the Lord\nwill not hold him guiltless that taketh his name in vain.\n\n{84}\n\nBrethren, you and I in [the] future will be particularly careful\nto honor the sacred name of Jesus. Are you tempted? That name is\na resistless charm against assaults of flesh, world, or devil.\nAre you tired out? The name of Jesus is a restful and soothing\ninfluence. Are you sick? That holy name will strengthen you with\nsupernatural vigor. I hope that when you come to die your last\nbreath may utter that name of Jesus with deep confidence, and\nthat our Lord will answer your dying sigh with an affectionate\nwelcome into his heavenly court.\n\n-------------------\n\n{85}\n\n _Third Sunday after Epiphany._\n\n\n Epistle.\n _Romans xii._ 16-21.\n\n Brethren:\n Be not wise in your own conceits. Render to no man evil for\n evil. Provide things good not only in the sight of God, but\n also in the sight of all men. If it be possible, as much as is\n in you, have peace with all men. Revenge not yourselves, my\n dearly beloved; but give place to wrath, for it is written:\n \"Revenge is mine; I will repay, saith the Lord.\" But if thy\n enemy be hungry, give him to eat; if he thirst, give him drink;\n for doing this thou shalt heap coals of fire upon his head. Be\n not overcome by evil, but overcome evil by good.\n\n\n Gospel.\n _St. Matthew viii_. 1-13.\n\n At that time:\n When Jesus was come down from the mountain, great multitudes\n followed him; and behold a leper coming, adored him, saying:\n Lord, if thou wilt, thou canst make me clean. And Jesus,\n stretching forth his hand, touched him, saying: I will; be thou\n made clean. And immediately his leprosy was cleansed. And Jesus\n said to him: See thou tell no man; but go show thyself to the\n priest, and offer the gift which Moses commanded for a\n testimony to them. And when he had entered into Capharnaum,\n there came to him a centurion, beseeching him and saying: Lord,\n my servant lieth at home sick of the palsy, and is grievously\n tormented. And Jesus said to him: I will come and heal him. And\n the centurion, making answer, said: Lord, I am not worthy that\n thou shouldst enter under my roof; but only say the word, and\n my servant shall be healed.\n{86}\n For I also am a man under authority, having soldiers under me;\n and I say to this man, Go, and he goeth, and to another, Come,\n and he cometh, and to my servant, Do this, and he doeth it. And\n Jesus, hearing this, wondered, and said to those that followed\n him: Amen I say to you, I have not found so great faith in\n Israel. And I say unto you that many shall come from the east\n and the west, and shall sit down with Abraham, and Isaac, and\n Jacob, in the kingdom of heaven; but the children of the\n kingdom shall be cast out into exterior darkness: there shall\n be weeping and gnashing of teeth. And Jesus said to the\n centurion: Go, and as thou hast believed, so be it done to\n thee. And the servant was healed at the same hour.\n\n-------------------\n\n Sermon XXIV.\n\n Practical Faith.\n\n\n _Many shall come from the east and the west,\n and shall sit down with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob\n in the kingdom of heaven;\n but the children of the kingdom\n shall be cast into the exterior darkness._\n --Gospel of the Day.\n\n\nThese words, my dear brethren, were spoken by our Blessed Lord to\nthe Jews on the occasion of the cure of the servant of the\ncenturion. This centurion was an officer, like what we would call\na captain, in the Roman army; he was not a Jew, so he did not\nbelong to God's chosen people, his church of the old law. No, he\nwas a heathen by birth; he had been brought up in error, in\nignorance of the true religion; he had not the prophecies which\nthe Jews had to tell him clearly that a Saviour was to come into\nthe world.\n{87}\nHe was indeed in darkness compared with this favored Hebrew\npeople among whom his lot was cast; but he saw our Lord, and that\nwas enough for him. He saw the power of God, and he believed. He\nknew that this Messias, whom the Pharisees were rejecting, was\nthe Master of life and death. \"Lord,\" said he, \"I am not worthy\nthat thou shouldst come under my roof; but only say the word, and\nmy servant shall be healed.\" Immortal words these, which the\nCatholic Church has treasured up, and puts on thousands of lips\nevery day, and which were rewarded by the divine acknowledgment,\n\"Amen I say to you, I have not found so great faith in Israel.\nAnd I say to you that many shall come from the east and the west,\nand shall sit down with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob in the kingdom\nof heaven; but the children of the kingdom shall be cast into the\nexterior darkness.\"\n\nNow, my brethren, what lesson have we to learn from this praise\nof the heathen centurion, and this warning to God's own people,\ncoming to us from the mouth of God himself? Simply this: that our\nsalvation depends on the use which we make of the graces which he\ngives us; that the least will suffice, if we will but avail\nourselves of them; but that the greatest will only serve for our\neternal condemnation and ruin if we slight them and pass them by.\n\nA simple and evident truth this surely, and yet how apt we are to\nforget and neglect it! We are Catholics from our infancy, we say;\nwe belong to families which have always kept the faith. We are\nindeed the faithful, to whom the kingdom of heaven is promised.\nAnd if we have not been always so, but have been brought from\ndarkness into light, then still more is the divine favor to us\nmanifest.\n{88}\nWill He, then, who has done so much for us, not complete his\nwork? We believe his word, we are in his true church, we receive\nhis saving and life-giving sacraments; how, then, shall we not be\nsaved? Are we not indeed those of whom he said, \"My sheep hear my\nvoice, and I know them, and they follow me; and I give them life\neverlasting, and they shall not perish for ever, and no man shall\npluck them out of my hand\"?\n\nYes, my dear brethren, we think that we shall be saved because we\nare Catholics. But the truth is, that our being Catholics only\ngives us greater means of salvation; it is far from making our\nsalvation sure. We have greater means and helps to save our\nsouls; but woe be to us if we abuse them! And when we look\naround, and see many good and earnest souls, similar, as far as\nwe can see, to that of the Roman centurion, deprived of the light\nthat we have, not by their own fault, but by that of their\nfathers; when we see them trying to do their best with the little\nknowledge and the few helps that they have, must we not fear that\nGod will take away from us the graces that we despise; that we,\nthe children of the kingdom, will be cast into the exterior\ndarkness, while others shall come from the east and the west and\ntake the place which we have but do not deserve?\n\nLet us, then, each and every one, if we have been unfaithful to\nthe great graces which we have as Catholics--and which of us has\nnot been so?--rouse ourselves to our danger. Yes, having the\nfaith and the sacraments is a great privilege, but is one for\nwhich we must give a most strict account when we stand before the\nthrone of God.\n\n-------------------\n\n{89}\n\n Sermon XXV.\n\n Living Up To Our Faith.\n\n\n _Jesus, hearing this, marvelled;\n and said to them that followed him:\n Amen I say to you,\n I have not found so great faith in Israel_.\n --Gospel of the Day.\n\n\nThe love and care of the heathen centurion for his servant should\ncertainly put to shame many Christian masters and mistresses of\nto-day, who not only do not encourage their servants to approach\nour Lord at Holy Mass and in the sacraments, but even put\nobstacles in their way. However, the lesson to which I wish to\ndirect your thoughts this morning, and which it is the primary\nobject of the Gospel narrative to teach, is the immense\nimportance of living up to the grace and light which God has so\nbountifully given us.\n\nA few weeks ago we kept the Feast of the Epiphany, the\nmanifestation, that is, of our Lord to the Gentiles, to those who\nhad not till then formed part of the church of God. The Jews\nalone, as you are aware, were God's chosen people. To them had\nbeen given the law and the prophets, the temple and the\nsacrifices, and--that to which everything else led up--the\npromise of the Messias. And all these privileges led them to\nthink that they were individually very excellent people, and to\nlook down with contempt upon the rest of the world and everybody\nin it. Now, here was a Roman, born and brought up in heathenism,\ntaught, doubtless, to say his prayers to Jupiter and Venus and\nother vile creatures like them, a man holding, too, high office,\ncommanding a garrison of soldiers, whose duty it was to keep down\na conquered race.\n{90}\nWell, this man, notwithstanding his bad education,\nnotwithstanding the pride which, on account of his position, must\nnaturally have been his, had made greater progress than the\nself-conceited Pharisees, with all their advantages, had ever\nmade or were ever to make. While they lived and died in unbelief,\nhe had already recognized in Jesus Christ the power of God; and,\nlaying aside prejudice and pride of place and birth, he sends\nhumbly to our Lord to ask him to heal his servant.\n\nSo clearly did he recognize our Lord's divine power that he did\nnot think it necessary for him to come to his house. Jairus, the\nruler of the synagogue, as you will remember, would not be\nsatisfied unless our Lord came down to his house; the centurion,\non the contrary, stopped our Lord while he was on the way,\nsaying: \"Lord, I am not worthy that thou shouldst enter under my\nroof; but only say the word and my servant will be healed.\" So\nthat our Lord, on hearing it, marvelled, and said: \"Amen I say\nunto you, I have not found so great faith in Israel.\"\n\nNow, how does all this apply to us? What lesson can _we_\nlearn from these events? The answer to this question is easy and\nobvious. We are by God's grace the members of the church of God,\nand, as such, we are in possession of the means of grace--the\nsacraments, the word of God, the intercession and prayers of the\nsaints, and of innumerable privileges and spiritual treasures.\nAbove all, and as the source and spring of all spiritual life,\nwithout which everything is valueless and worthless, we have the\ngift of faith. Now, faith is necessary; but faith is not\nsufficient. Without faith no one can be saved. But we must have\nsomething more than faith.\n{91}\nThe shipwrecked man clings for his life to anything within his\nreach; but unless the plank, or whatever else he has got hold of,\nis washed ashore, or a boat or some other means of help arrives,\nhis plank only prolongs his agony. So is it with us. Faith is our\nplank; but unless this faith works by charity it will only add to\nour condemnation. More than this, it will, if not acted upon, get\nweaker and weaker, and be scarcely strong enough to move us to\naction. What, then, must we do? Why, we must live as our faith\nteaches us. First, we must learn our faith: learn the truths of\nour religion; next, we must practise them. If we do not do so we\nshall, perhaps, see what those Jews of old saw: the heathen and\nthose who were outside of the church entering and taking their\nplaces. What our Lord said of them may, perhaps, be said of us:\n\"I say unto you that many shall come from the east and from the\nwest, and shall sit down with Abraham and Isaac in the kingdom of\nheaven; but the children of the kingdom shall be cast out into\nthe exterior darkness: there shall be weeping and gnashing of\nteeth.\"\n\n-------------------\n\n Sermon XXVI.\n\n The Sacrament Of Matrimony.\n\nI think you are all persuaded, my brethren, of the wrong and the\ndanger of Catholics going to a Protestant minister for marriage;\nand similar ones can be given why we should not go before a\nmagistrate for that purpose. It is plain that the authorities of\nthe State are not the right persons to assist officially at the\nsacraments of the church.\n{92}\nIt would be just as proper to ask the mayor to baptize your\nchildren as to go to him for marriage. To refer the matter of\nyour marriage to him, however fine a man he may be personally,\nwould be to acknowledge the right of the civil authority to take\ncharge of religious affairs; and such a right Catholics cannot\nadmit.\n\nBesides, the magistrate labors under the same difficulty as a\nProtestant minister in conducting a Catholic marriage, of not\nknowing the laws of the church on the subject, and the\nimpediments which may make the marriage invalid; that is, which\nmay make it, though seemingly good, in reality no marriage at\nall. You know, for instance--to speak of this a little more\nfully--that the Catechism says that you should not marry within\ncertain degrees of kindred; very well, it is not only forbidden\nto marry within these degrees, but a marriage within these\ndegrees is not recognized by the laws of the church as a real and\ntrue marriage, and the parties have to be married over again, at\nleast privately, if it is ever found out. And there are some\nother impediments which have the same effect. It is of no use to\npublish all these and try to explain them; many mistakes would be\nmade, and matters would only be come worse. No, to be safe in all\naffairs of this kind you must go to those who have made a special\nstudy of it; just as you find out the law of the State from your\nlawyer, and not from a book. Go, then, to the priest; he is the\none who has made a special study of the law of the church, and\nthe only one.\n\n{93}\n\nIn order to make sure that Catholic marriage shall be contracted\nbefore the priest, a law has been made, and binds in some\ncountries, and in some parts even of this country, making it\ninvalid, or null and void, if contracted without the presence of\nthe parish priest of at least one of the parties. This does not,\nhowever, hold just here. But there is a very special and urgent\nlaw in this diocese, and in many others, forbidding the going to\na Protestant minister for marriage, and reserving the absolution\nfor this to the bishop, or some one authorized by him. Catholics,\ntherefore, who are guilty of such a rash act get themselves into\na very unpleasant position; still, they must, of course, try to\nget out of it sooner or later, and if any one finds himself in\nthis predicament the only sensible thing to do is to come at once\nto the priest, who will help him as far as possible. All sins can\nbe forgiven, and all mistakes rectified, if one has the right\ndispositions.\n\nOne word more on this most important subject. Some people seem to\nimagine that the difficulty which may come, especially in a mixed\nmarriage, of avoiding the Protestant minister, may be got over by\ngoing both to him and to the priest, and going through the form\nof marriage twice. Now, let it be understood that this course\ncannot be thought of for a moment; for by it not only is the law\nbroken which I have just mentioned, but a profanation of the\nsacrament also is committed by endeavoring to make the contract\nto which it is attached twice in the same case. It is as if one\ntried to be confirmed twice. No, in this matter there can be no\ncompromise; a marriage in which a Catholic is a party must be put\nin charge of the Catholic clergy, and of no one else, except as\nfar as mere settlements of money and the like are concerned.\n\n{94}\n\nGo, then, to the priest for marriage; do not think of doing\nanything else. But do not go to him, as I have said some people\ndo, for the first time just at the moment you want the ceremony\nperformed, and expect him to marry you off-hand; for there are\nsome very important preliminaries to be settled first, and it may\ntake some time to settle them.\n\n-------------------\n\n{95}\n\n _Fourth Sunday after Epiphany._\n\n Epistle.\n _Romans xiii._ 8-10.\n\n Brethren:\n Owe no man anything, but that you love one another. For he that\n loveth his neighbor, hath fulfilled the law. For \"Thou shalt\n not commit adultery. Thou shalt not kill. Thou shalt not steal.\n Thou shalt not bear false witness. Thou shalt not covet.\" And\n if there be any other commandment, it is comprised in this\n word: \"Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself.\" The love of\n the neighbor worketh no evil. Love, therefore, is the\n fulfilling of the law.\n\n\n Gospel.\n _St. Matthew viii._ 23-27.\n\n At that time:\n When Jesus entered into the ship, his disciples followed him;\n and behold a great tempest arose in the sea, so that the ship\n was covered with waves, but he was asleep. And his disciples\n came to him, and waked him, saying: Lord, save us, we perish.\n And Jesus saith to them: Why are you fearful, O ye of little\n faith? Then rising up he commanded the winds and the sea, and\n there came a great calm. But the men wondered, saying: Who is\n this, for even the winds and the sea obey him?\n\n-------------------\n\n Sermon XXVII.\n\n The Ingratitude Of Children.\n\n _Brethren: owe, no man anything._\n --Epistle of the Day.\n\n{96}\n\nWe are all debtors, brethren, for we all have some accounts to\nsettle up. There are debts we shall never be able to redeem,\ndebts that are just, pressing, and lasting as long as we are in\nthis life. Such, for instance, is the debt we owe to God.\n\nThe fact of his having created us, of having brought us out of\nnothing, of having given us immortal souls imaged after himself,\nwould alone put us under the gravest obligations to him; but what\nis that compared to the debt we owe God for having redeemed us at\na nameless price, by nothing less than the Precious Blood of his\nown beloved Son; and, furthermore, what is all this in comparison\nwith the debt we owe God for our sanctification, for the\npriceless gift of his Holy Spirit dwelling within us, breaking\naway the mist of error and ignorance that clouds our intellect\nand hides from our vision the eternal truth; that gift that\nendows us with strength and fortitude, with the courage that\ncomes from conviction, with the power that makes us triumph over\nevery weakness, every unruly passion, every snare of our enemy\nthe devil, over every thought, word, and action that makes us\nunworthy of sonship with God, brotherhood with Christ, and the\nheritage of an eternal crown?\n\nThis debt, dear brethren, is in general obvious enough; but,\nwhile we recognize it, How often do we find in our experience\nthat men neglect, and shamefully neglect, debts that are\ndependent on and derived from the debt they owe Almighty God; men\nwho neglect debts that are as grave and binding as those which\nare due to the God from whom they are derived!\n\n{97}\n\nNow, brethren, if there is any injustice in this world more\nflagrant than all others, more worthy of condemnation and\ndetestation, more certain of the visitation of God, it is this:\nthe neglect of our duty to our parents. \"Owe no man anything.\" Do\nwe owe _them_ nothing? Do we not owe them much? Is there a\ntime in our lives when that debt is not binding?\n\nAh! dear brethren, and what do we see in the world about us?\nIngratitude, the vice of monsters, forgetfulness of ties that are\nnearest, dearest, and holiest. Young men, growing up into adult\nage, who, in their vain seeking after pleasures, become so\nblinded to duty, so debased in their appetites, so completely\ntransformed into the incarnation of selfishness, as not only to\ndisregard the law of God, but the very instincts of nature--sons\nwho would rob and starve their parents to satisfy their mean and\nlow appetites.\n\nThe ingratitude of children to parents is a crying sin of our\ntimes. Let us be alive to it. Let the young men and women of our\nday remember that they are bound to satisfy these grave and\nserious obligations; that they are not to heedlessly put\nthemselves into any state that will debar them from redeeming the\ndebts they owe, from recompensing for all the care, toil, and\nmoney expended upon them.\n\n\"Owe no man anything.\" Take heed of this warning also, all you\nwho contract debts without the slightest hope of paying them; see\nto it that the clothes you wear, the food you eat, the pleasures\nyou indulge in are paid for; see to it that they are not\npurchased by the labor and money which belong to others. You who\nlive in fine houses, who keep yourselves in costly array, who\ndeny yourselves no pleasures, however extravagant, take heed!\nWhose money pays for it?\n{98}\nCan you stand up and with a clean heart proclaim that this is\nhonest? As you sit here to-day, do the words of the Apostle offer\nno rebuke to you, do you not feel their sting?\n\nO brethren! let us be sparing in our debts; let us owe no man\nanything. The man without debts exalts himself in the eyes of his\nfellow-men and secures for himself a good conscience.\n\n-------------------\n\n Sermon XXVIII.\n\n Love Of Our Neighbor.\n\n\n _He that loveth his neighbor hath fulfilled the law._\n --Epistle of the Day.\n\n\nThere can be no doubt, my brethren, that the saving of our souls\nsometimes seems to be a very troublesome business. There are so\nmany laws and commandments binding on us, so many sins which we\nare likely to commit; and if we break any of these laws in any\ngrievous way--if we are guilty, that is to say, of mortal sin\nour--salvation is lost till such time as we repair our fault. Yet\nit may seem that we are surrounded by so many rocks on our voyage\nthrough life that it is almost useless to try to steer clear of\nthem; and, if we may judge by their actions, many Christians\nactually come to the conclusion that there is no use in trying to\nkeep their ship off these rocks. They make up their minds that\nspiritual shipwreck is unavoidable, and that the only way to\nreach the port of heaven is to be towed in on a raft which can be\nmade out of the sacraments at the last moment.\n\n{99}\n\nBut really our salvation is not such a complicated and intricate\naffair if we would only look at it in the right way. The course\nwhich we have to follow is not such a difficult one to bear in\nmind and to keep. There are many commandments, it is true; but\nthey all have the same spirit, and if we have that spirit they\nwill all come quite easy.\n\nWhat is the spirit? Our Lord has told us. It is the love of God,\nand of our neighbor for God's sake. The love of God and of our\nneighbor gives us a short cut to the kingdom of heaven; if we are\nguided by it, we shall not come near the dangers that seem so\nmany and so threatening.\n\nLet us see how this is; how is this love going to work to keep us\nin the safe and sure track? It is not so hard to see. For what is\nit to love any one; how do we act towards one whom we really and\ntruly love? Are we always trying to give him no more than we can\nhelp, and keep as much as we can for ourselves? Do we try to have\nour own way as much as possible, and never to step out of it for\nhis sake, unless compelled by force or threats?\n\nNo, of course not. We keep far away from what will offend him. We\nalways are trying to find out what will please him best. So if he\nis not unreasonable, and if he knows our desire and intention,\nthe danger of offending him disappears.\n\nWell, it is just so in the matter of serving God and keeping his\nlaw. The continual mortal sins into which Christians fall, and\nwhich it seems so hard to avoid, are due to their trying to run\ntoo near the rocks. No wonder they so often get wrecked in these\ndangerous waters. They are all the time striking on the\ncommandments, and the whole sea seems full of them because they\ntry to sail as near them as they can. If they would only give\nthem a wide berth, and keep out in the deep ocean of the love of\nGod, sin and its forgiveness would not cause so much anxiety and\ntrouble.\n\n{100}\n\nIf we would only ask ourselves what will please God best, and try\nto give him all that he desires, as we should if we loved him as\nhe deserves to be loved, and as we do with others whom we really\ndo love--if we would do this instead of trying [to see] how far\nwe can have our own way and yet come out right in the end, the\nwhole matter of saving our souls would have a very different\naspect. Now, why not try to follow this line? It is no fanciful\nthing beyond our power. Plenty of Christians have done it before\nus, and are doing it all the time.\n\nBut if we do not feel prepared, or are a little afraid to commit\nourselves to this course just yet, at least we could endeavor to\nhave some love for our neighbor, and make some sacrifice for him.\nWe have St. Paul's word for it, you see, that even he who loves\nhis neighbor will be sure to fulfil the law. Yes, we may feel\nquite sure if, by a generous love of our neighbor, we keep far\noff being wrecked on the last part of the Ten Commandments, that\nwe shall run clear of the first part as well.\n\n-------------------\n\n{101}\n\n _Fifth Sunday after Epiphany._\n\n\n Epistle.\n _Colossians iii._ 12-17.\n\n Brethren:\n Put ye on therefore, as the elect of God, holy, and beloved,\n the bowels of mercy, benignity, humility, modesty, patience,\n bearing with one another, and forgiving one another, if any\n have a complaint against another: even as the Lord hath\n forgiven you, so do you also. But above all these things have\n charity, which is the bond of perfection: and let the peace of\n Christ rejoice in your hearts, wherein also you are called in\n one body; and be ye thankful. Let the word of Christ dwell in\n you abundantly, in all wisdom: teaching and admonishing one\n another in psalms, hymns, and spiritual canticles, singing in\n grace in your hearts to God. All whatsoever you do in word or\n in work, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, giving\n thanks to God and the Father by Jesus Christ our Lord.\n\n\n Gospel.\n _St. Mathew xiii._ 24-30.\n\n At that time:\n Jesus spoke this parable to the multitude, saying: The kingdom\n of heaven is likened to a man that sowed good seed in his\n field. But while men were asleep, his enemy came and oversowed\n cockle among the wheat, and went his way. And when the blade\n was sprung up, and brought forth fruit, then appeared also the\n cockle. Then the servants of the master of the house came and\n said to him: Master, didst thou not sow good seed in thy field?\n whence then hath it cockle? And he said to them: An enemy hath\n done this. And the servants said to him: Wilt thou that we go\n and gather it up?\n{102}\n And he said: No, lest while you gather up the cockle, you root\n up the wheat also together with it. Let both grow until the\n harvest, and in the time of the harvest I will say to the\n reapers: Gather up first the cockle, and bind it into bundles\n to burn; but gather the wheat into my barn.\n\n-------------------\n\n Sermon XXIX.\n\n The Christian Family.\n\n\n _Bearing with one another._\n --Epistle of the Day.\n\nNo doubt you have often read about the oasis in the desert: a\nplace of tall, shady trees, soft, green grass, and a great spring\npouring out sweet, cold water. There the hot and dusty caravan\nstops, though it be miles out of the way; the heavy burdens are\nthrown off, and men and animals rest and drink and rest again.\nFor one long, burning day they lie about on the grass and look\noff from their shady refuge over the yellow, sandy desert. They\nsleep and are rested; and as the cool dews of evening fall they\ntake a last drink and creep away on their journey, sighing to\nthink of the long and weary tramp to the next oasis.\n\nDear brethren, the oasis in the desert of this world is the\nChristian family. The father of the family \"shall be like a tree\nwhich is planted near the running waters.\" It is indeed but a\nfeeble word to say that the influence of a good father is like\nthe deep shade of a noble tree in the heat of summer, His\ninfluence is like the grace of God. Indeed, there is nothing in\nall this world so much like the presence of God as the influence\nof a Christian father.\n{103}\nWhen the instinct of the Christian people would give a name to a\ngood priest they called him father. What is more edifying than\nthe virtue of a good father? In him are chiefly to be seen those\nmanly virtues which are the highest form of human excellence:\nhearty love, self-restraint, open frankness joining heart, hand,\nand voice in one. In him you admire that steadfast application to\nreligious things, that regular use of prayer and of the\nsacraments, that clear knowledge of doctrine and ability to\nconverse about it, that utter absence of frivolity, that\nintelligent practice of good reading. He is contented with his\nlot, and yet labors with steady, persistent industry. In\nprosperity he is modest and frugal. In adversity he is cheerful,\na strong wall for others to lean against. He loves home and is\nfond of his wife. Gladly will he tend the babes while the mother\ngets the Sunday Mass, or of a Saturday evening while she goes to\nrefresh her weary soul with a good confession. The company of his\nchildren is to him a foretaste of Paradise. He is not sour, nor\nis he brutal or harsh. He is not above making the children laugh\nor joining in their play; to make them happy and help them save\ntheir souls is his greatest joy.\n\nThen there is the mother of the family, whose life is one\nunbroken round of acts of affection. The spirit of sacrifice, the\ncraving to bear others burdens, is her spirit. You know how a\ngood mother watches at the sick-bed the livelong night, passing\nback and forth through the dark rooms, listening to every\nbreathing, answering every sigh with a comforting word, or a cool\ndrink, or a soft caress. Only the next world will reveal to us\nthe loveliness of such devoted souls; here we catch but a glimpse\nand an echo of it.\n{104}\nThe accents, the tones of the voice, the very silence, the\nmanners, the ways of a good mother diffuse what Scripture calls\nthe fragrance of ointments around her household. You know, too,\nhow she saves and pinches to keep off debt, to dress the children\nneatly, to save a penny to give them a holiday, to save a dollar\nfor hard times or a spell of sickness. And all this sacrifice is\na matter of course with her. But the truest glory of a mother is\nher patience. The patient mother is the valiant woman of\nScripture. She is the woman who smothers her anger; who will\nsuffer the impertinence of an unruly child in silence; who\nforgets as well as forgives; whose admonition or correction is\nthe reluctant tribute of a tender heart to the child's\nwell-being. Do you want to know how she is able to do this? The\nsecret of it is that she finds time--in the heavy duty of being\neverybody's servant--to attend to religion; to belong to the\nRosary Society and make her monthly Communion; to give alms to\nthe poor from her hard savings; to visit and watch with sick, or\nafflicted neighbors. It is, in a word, because she ever gazes in\nspirit upon that Holy Family where Mary was mother that she is\nable to be a good Christian mother.\n\nWhen I began I intended to say something of the good boys and\ngirls; while we have been engaged with father and mother the\nchildren have passed by. Perhaps we shall overtake them next\nSunday.\n\n-------------------\n{105}\n\n Sermon XXX.\n\n The Duty Of Good Example.\n\n\n _Use your endeavor to walk honestly\n towards them that are without._\n 1 Thessalonians iv. 11.\n\n\nThe holiness of the church, my dear brethren, is for us who\nbelong to her a thing so evident and clear that we can no more\nthink it necessary to prove it than we can think it necessary to\nprove that the sun shines in the heavens. The practical and\nimperative way in which the church enforces holiness of life on\neach and every one of us is something with which we are so\nfamiliar that no shadow of doubt can enter into our minds as to\nits necessity. The means of grace which she offers to us, and of\nwhich she even requires us to make use, the sacrament of the Body\nand Blood of the Lord himself which she gives us, the penances\nshe imposes upon us by way of fasting and abstinence, the\nwarnings which she is ever giving us of the condemnation which\nwill fall upon impenitent sinners, these and ten thousand other\nthings make the sanctity of the church so well known that it is\nnot so much an article of faith as a thing which we see with our\nown eyes and which falls under our own experience.\n\nBut there are those who are without these advantages. There are\nmany around us, our near neighbors and friends, who are outside\nthe church, not through their own fault, but by birth and\neducation. These are not in possession of those means of knowing\nthe church and her sanctity of which we are possessed; and in\norder to have this knowledge they depend to a very large extent\nupon ourselves.\n{106}\nI wish this morning to call your attention to the responsibility\nwhich rests upon us on this account, and to one or two practical\nways in which we are accountable to God for what that\nresponsibility involves.\n\nNow, that we lie under this responsibility is a truth not very\nhard to see. For, as I have said, those outside the church are\nignorant of the doctrine and practices of the church. From their\nearliest years they have had utterly false and erroneous\ninformation given them about the church, an information so false\nand erroneous that they do not think it necessary or even right\nto make inquiries. How, then, are they to have the truth brought\nhome to them? What way is there of spreading the light? Almost\nthe only way, and certainly a way so necessary that without it\nall others are futile and vain, is that those who are called\nCatholics should lead such lives as the church requires of them.\nNow, if we do not do this we are of course responsible to God, as\nevery man, be he Catholic or be he Protestant, is responsible to\nGod for his whole life and every action in it. But more than\nthat, a special responsibility in this time and in this country\nlies at the door of every Catholic man and every Catholic woman.\nEvery Catholic man and woman who does not lead a good life is a\nstumbling-block and a rock of offence standing in the way and\npreventing many poor souls from seeing and embracing that truth\nwhich is necessary for their salvation; and those Catholics whose\nway of living forms such a stumbling-block will have to give a\nstrict account to God not merely for their own sins and for\nthemselves, but also for the souls of others whom they have\nruined.\n\n{107}\n\nNow, I am going on this account to ask you some questions which I\nhope you will answer honestly and conscientiously. And they will\nbe questions about matters on which the world outside is\ncompetent to judge; and, therefore, if we fail in this respect we\nshall meet with its condemnation, and become hindrances to the\nknowledge of the truth.\n\nFirst: There is nothing of which the business world thinks so\nmuch as truth, uprightness, integrity in business matters. To pay\ndebts promptly, to do work squarely, to execute contracts\nfaithfully, these are some of the marks of an honest man. Now, in\nview of what I have said, ask yourselves, is this way of acting\nthe mark of all Catholics? Will a man who wants to get a house\nbuilt, who is looking for a trustworthy clerk or assistant,\nchoose out Catholics in preference to others, because he knows\nthat they are worthy of trust? If this is not the case, if the\nbeing a Catholic is no guarantee of trustworthiness, you will\nhave to answer to God for the bad effect your dishonesty has upon\nthose outside.\n\nAnd now a question for women. You all know in what virtue\nconsists, the glory and honor of women. You all know what the\nworld expects of women. You know, too, how much the church makes\nof modesty and chastity, in what honor she holds them, how strict\nshe is in inculcating their necessity. Now, one of the effects of\ngenuine modesty and chastity is to overawe and overpower the\napproaches of the unclean and impure. There is a majesty in\nvirtue which lays low and keeps at its level vileness and\nimpurity. Is everyone who comes near a Catholic girl or woman\nconscious of this influence?\n{108}\nIs there something about every Catholic girl and woman which\nmakes it clear to every dirty fellow that he must go elsewhere if\nhe wishes to find a victim and a means of satisfying his\ndisgraceful passions? It ought to be so, for the soul of every\nCatholic girl and woman, over and above the majesty of natural\nvirtue, is the abode and dwelling-place of the grace of God. And\nif you are true children of the church such will be the effect\nyour presence will have.\n\nWell, my brethren, ask yourselves these questions; answer them\nhonestly; and, if you find that you have done wrong, amend, not\nmerely for your own sake but for that of those outside.\n\n-------------------\n\n Sermon XXXI.\n\n Bearing One Another's Burdens.\n\n\n _Bearing with one another,\n and forgiving one another\n if any have a complaint against one another:\n even as the Lord hath forgiven you,\n so do you also._\n --Epistle of the Day (Colossians iii. 13).\n\n\nPerhaps you may think, my dear friends, that we have a good deal\nto say about this matter of charity and forgiveness, and if you\ndo you are probably right; it was not long ago that we had\noccasion to remind you of it in one of these little morning\ninstructions. But why should we not speak of it often? Is not the\nlove of our neighbor the second great commandment, like to and\nfounded on the first? Does not St. John also make it the test of\nour salvation? \"We know,\" he says, \"that we have passed from\ndeath to life\"; and why?\n{109}\nIs it because we fast, say long prayers, visit the church, or\neven because we receive the sacraments often? No, it is \"because\nwe love the brethren.\" And he continues: \"He that loveth not,\nabideth in death. ... We ought,\" he goes on to say, \"to lay down\nour lives for the brethren.\"\n\nIn the latter years of the life of St. John, when he had become\nso old and feeble that he had to be carried to the church, and\nwas not able to preach at any length to his beloved people, he\nwould still give them a little short sermon. It was very short;\nnot even a five-minute sermon; and it was not fresh every Sunday,\nbut always the same. It was just this: \"Little children, love one\nanother.\" But his people, in spite of their great reverence and\naffection for him, were something like people nowadays, and got\nrather tired of hearing this same old story. They wanted\nsomething more novel and startling, and one day they asked him:\n\"Master, why do you never tell us anything but this about loving\none another?\" He answered: \"Because it is the Lord's command, and\nif it is fulfilled it is sufficient.\"\n\nIf St. John, then, preached about this matter of charity every\nSunday, certainly we may be allowed to speak of it several times\nin the year. And you, my dear Christians, will not lose anything\nby hearing about it pretty often. For the matter is one in which\nthere is always great room for improvement for us all. St. John\nsaid \"little children\"; but he was not speaking to the\nSunday-school, if, indeed, he had one; no, it was to the\nchildren, big as well as little, children all of God and of his\nholy church, that his words were addressed.\n\n{110}\n\nAnd these words are more needed now than they were then. Why, in\nthe early times Christians used to be known from other people by\ntheir love and charity for each other. It was this that made\nconverts to the faith, more, perhaps, than preaching or miracles.\n\"See,\" said the world, \"how these Christians love one another.\"\nBut now I am afraid it would be hard to pick out very many\nChristians by this test. No; it is more likely that our infidel\nfriends would say of all the Christians that they happen to know:\n\"See how these Christians are all the time quarrelling with each\nother! They never seem to be content unless they can show their\npride by having at least some one who is not supposed to be\nworthy of their acquaintance. They go to church and say their\nprayers--oh! yes; but perhaps there is some person, even in the\nnext pew, that they used to know, but have not spoken to for\nyears, and have no notion of ever speaking to, unless, perhaps,\non their death-bed if the priest should insist on it. Bearing\nwith one another, indeed! Is it possible that one of their\nApostles told them to do that? Why, they do not put up with half\nas much as a sensible man would who had no faith at all. Let them\nsuffer the least even fancied slight or indignity, and there is\nan end of all their friendship. Forgiving one another, as they\nsay the Lord has forgiven them? Well, if the Lord forgives as\nthey do, his forgiveness does not seem to amount to much.\"\n\nMy brethren, depend on it, those not of our faith feel often this\nway, though they may not say it right out. And they are not far\nwrong. The kind of bearing with others, the kind of forgiveness,\nthat is given them by those who have the name of Christians is\ntoo often one that will not stand the test of God's judgment.\n{111}\nI am afraid that many pious people have found themselves in the\nwrong place after death on account of it. Let those who still\nremain profit by this lesson while they have time.\n\n-------------------\n\n{112}\n\n _Sixth Sunday after Epiphany._\n\n\n Epistle.\n 1 _Thessalonians i._ 2-10.\n\n Brethren:\n We give thanks to God always for you all: making a remembrance\n of you in our prayers without ceasing, being mindful of the\n work of your faith, and labor, and charity, and of the enduring\n of the hope of our Lord Jesus Christ before God and our Father:\n knowing, brethren beloved of God, your election: for our gospel\n hath not been to you in word only, but in power also, and in\n the Holy Ghost, and in much fulness, as you know what manner of\n men we have been among you for your sakes. And you became\n followers of us, and of the Lord: receiving the word in much\n tribulation, with joy of the Holy Ghost: so that you were made\n a pattern to all who believe in Macedonia and Achaia. For from\n you was spread abroad the word of the Lord, not only in\n Macedonia and Achaia, but also in every place, your faith which\n is towards God, is gone forth, so that we need not to speak\n anything. For they themselves relate of us, what manner of\n entrance we had unto you; and how you were converted to God\n from idols, to serve the living and true God. And to wait for\n his Son from Heaven (whom he raised from the dead), Jesus who\n hath delivered us from the wrath to come.\n\n\n Gospel.\n _St. Matthew xiii_. 31-35.\n\n At that time:\n Jesus spoke to the multitude this parable: The kingdom of\n heaven is like to a grain of mustard-seed, which a man took and\n sowed in his field. Which indeed is the least of all seeds; but\n when it is grown up it is greater than any herbs, and becometh\n a tree, so that the birds of the air come and dwell in the\n branches thereof.\n\n{113}\n\n Another parable he spoke to them. The kingdom of heaven is like\n to leaven, which a woman took and hid in three measures of\n meal, until the whole was leavened. All these things Jesus\n spoke in parables to the multitudes: and without parables he\n did not speak to them. That the word might be fulfilled which\n was spoken by the prophet, saying: \"I will open my mouth in\n parables, I will utter things hidden from the foundation of the\n world.\"\n\n-------------------\n\n Sermon XXXII.\n\n How To Make Converts.\n\n _The kingdom of heaven is like to leaven,\n which a woman took and hid in three measures of meal,\n until the whole was leavened. _\n --Gospel of the Day.\n\n\nBy the kingdom of heaven is meant in this Gospel, as in many\nother places, the holy Catholic Church; the spiritual kingdom of\nGod, which is of heaven, though on earth; and leaven is another\nword for what we call yeast, and is used in the making of bread.\n\nOur Divine Lord, then, tells us that his church, to which we\nbelong, is like yeast; and his meaning, if we consider a little,\nis plain enough. It is, that as a little yeast is put into a mass\nof flour or dough, to raise it, as we say, so he has put his\nchurch, which was in the beginning a very small thing, into the\nworld, to raise the world to life and the knowledge and love of\nhim.\n\n{114}\n\nAnd certainly his comparison of the church to yeast was fully\njustified. In the beginning the world was everywhere attracted\nand moved in spite of itself by the lives of the first\nChristians. The heathen could not help admiring their mutual\ncharity, their patient and forgiving dispositions, their\ntemperance and self-sacrifice; and they could not refrain from\nasking themselves and each other: \"Who are these that they call\nChristians? What do they believe, and what do they teach? What is\nit that makes them so loving and so amiable, so calm and\npeaceful, so happy in all their troubles, so ready to assist and\nserve not only each other, but all the world beside?\" But no one\ncould answer these questions but the Christians themselves; so\nthe heathen had to go and get instructed in this faith which had\nbeen made so charming to them. Thus they were converted, and in\ntheir turn became apostles in the same way to others.\n\nSo the leaven spread through the mass; the contagion, so to\nspeak, of faith, piety, and virtue was diffused over the world;\npeople caught it from their neighbors. The Apostles had no need\nto make many converts in any one place which they visited. If\nthey got a few, these few would take care of the rest. The little\ncongregations which they founded grew and multiplied wonderfully,\nin spite of distress and persecution, by the force of the holy\nlives and good example of their members.\n\nBut was this way of growing only meant for God's church in the\nbeginning? No, by no means. Our Lord says that the leaven of his\nkingdom was to go on working \"till the whole was leavened.\" Does\nit, then, still move the world in this way? If so, how rapidly\nought the church now to increase, when there are a thousand\nfaithful for one in those early days!\n\n{115}\n\nYes, my brethren, it ought. For in spite of the boasts which the\nworld is making of its reformed religion, especially just now,\nand of its progress and civilization, it feels at heart very\nuneasy. It has fallen away from God, and lost the truth, and in\nits inmost soul it knows this; and it is looking for somone to\nbring light to its darkness, and to put its confusion in order.\n\nWhy, then, does not the church increase more rapidly? Why does\nnot the world now come to us as it did in those former days of\nits anxiety and doubt? Prejudices it has now against us, I know;\nbut it had its prejudices then, too. There are many slanders\nbelieved against us, but that has been so from the very\nbeginning; our Lord warned us of this, and it is a mark of his\ntrue church to be thus belied. So this is not the real trouble;\nno, the trouble is that most Christians do not by the good odor\nof their lives induce the world to inquire into their faith, and\nthus overcome its prejudices. We may argue till we and everyone\nelse are ready to drop, but we shall never be as the first\ndisciples were--the leaven of God's kingdom--till we show by our\nlives that there is something more in us than the natural\nfeelings, good or bad, which make up the lives of others.\nChristians who forgive and excuse their enemies, who have charity\nfor all, who are chaste and pure in word and deed, who are humble\nand self-denying, those are the ones--and, thank God, such there\nare--who make converts; and if we want the leaven of the kingdom\nto spread and raise the world to Christ we must be like them.\n\n-------------------\n\n{116}\n\n Sermon XXXIII.\n\n The Blessings Of The Faith.\n\n _I will utter things\n hidden from the foundation of the world._\n --Matthew. xiii. 35.\n\n\nThese are the concluding words of to-day's Gospel, and they refer\nto the great truths that are made known to us through the\nrevelation of Almighty God. For as believers in a divine\nrevelation we know things that have been hidden from the\nbeginning, and we have a knowledge that transcends all human\nknowledge. Our faith gives us light which our reason could never\nsupply. We might spend our whole lives in the most profound study\nand investigation, we might dip into all the systems and master\nall the sciences, and we should still be ignorant of certain\ntruths which our faith makes known to us. When we look back over\nthe world's history and see the greatest minds of every age and\ncountry groping in the dark, seeking in vain for the knowledge\nwhich we possess, we can appreciate what a glorious privilege it\nis to be enlightened by the divine light of faith. For where its\nrays do not penetrate there can never be sufficient security in\nregard to the most vital truths of human origin and human\ndestiny. We see the sad evidences of this all around us in the\nworld to-day. Men who refuse to accept the revelation of Almighty\nGod and the teachings of his church are in ignorance, or at least\nthey are in doubt, about the origin and end of life. They are\neven in doubt as to the existence of God himself, though the\nuniverse by a thousand voices proclaims his presence and their\nown souls reflect his image.\n\n{117}\n\nFrom age to age the human mind busies itself over the deep\nquestions of philosophy and the discoveries of science. From\ngeneration to generation men seek to solve the great problems of\nlife by the force of reason; but revelation alone can adequately\ndisclose the \"things hidden from the foundation of the world,\"\nand without its divine light and guidance mankind must ever\nremain liable to sink into darkness and doubt.\n\nHow widely different is the state of the mind established in the\nsettled convictions of faith from that where there is nothing but\nthe theories and opinions of human knowledge! In the one there is\nthe repose of certainty, security, and peace; in the other there\nare many puzzles unsolved, promptings unsatisfied, disquiet, and\nunrest. One short lesson learned in the school of divine faith\nwill give more light and bring more comfort to the soul than all\nthe knowledge that can be acquired in a life-time in the schools\nof human learning.\n\nGreat stress is laid nowadays on secular education. And we are\ntold that what the country needs, what the world needs, are\nintelligent and cultivated men and women; and certainly education\nis an excellent thing, and most desirable for all. But why make\nso much of a knowledge that concerns only the petty things of\nearth and the fleeting course of time, and ignore a knowledge\nthat relates to the Infinite God in heaven and a life that is\neverlasting? What will it profit us on our death-bed to have\nlearned the facts in the world's history, to have been familiar\nwith the teachings of philosophy and the discoveries of science,\nto have studied the writings and mastered the thoughts of men, if\nwe know nothing of our Creator and our relation to him and the\ncourse of our destiny; nothing of the preparation we should make\nbeforehand and the thoughts that should animate us as we stand on\nthe brink of eternity?\n\n{118}\n\nHere is the great contrast between the knowledge that God imparts\nto us and all human science--the one imparts to us the truths of\neternity, the other teaches us the truths of time; and the\ndifference between them is just as great as that between time and\neternity. And if, as is generally the case, we estimate the value\nof a thing by its importance and permanence, there is surely no\nterm of comparison here. The little child who has learned the\nfirst page of the Catholic Catechism has already acquired a\nknowledge which forty centuries of human speculation have never\nreached, and the simplest believer in Jesus Christ and his church\nis possessed of a wisdom far higher, far holier, than was ever\nconceived of by the greatest sages of old.\n\nLet us realize, then, that faith is the highest knowledge, that\nit discloses to us \"things hidden from the foundation of the\nworld,\" and makes us sharers in the knowledge of God himself, and\ntherefore elevates and crowns our reason.\n\n-------------------\n\n Sermon XXXIV.\n\n Good Example As A Means Of Making Converts.\n\n\n _The kingdom of heaven is like to leaven,\n which a woman took and hid in three measures of meal,\n until the whole was leavened._\n --Matthew xiii. 33\n\n{119}\n\nThis may seem a very strange comparison, my brethren, if, instead\nof letting it in at one ear, as the saying is, and out at the\nother, we stop to think of it a moment. For what sort of likeness\nis there between that glorious kingdom of heaven, which we hope\nsome day to enter, and a little leaven or yeast put into flour to\nraise it and make it into bread? Surely, we should say, none at\nall. What could our Lord have meant when he said that the two\nwere alike?\n\nBut let us think a little more about the matter. Is the kingdom\nof heaven of which he was speaking that heaven into which all the\nsaved are to enter? Or is there not some other meaning which we\nmay give to the words?\n\nThere is another meaning, and it is the true one in this place\nand in many others in the Gospel. It is the kingdom of God or of\nheaven, not in heaven, but on earth, of which our Saviour is here\nspeaking. When he says the kingdom of heaven, he means the\nkingdom which he came to establish, his holy Catholic Church.\n\nBut how is this leaven, or yeast? Well, it is not so very hard to\nsee this. It is because, being put into the world in the\nbeginning in the form of a few weak, poor, and unlearned men and\nwomen, like the little spoonful of yeast put into a great mass of\nflour, it soon spread through the whole known world, and is even\nnow spreading in the same way, changing and influencing in many\nways all whom it meets with, even if it does not fully convert\nthem: just as the yeast is spread through the whole of the dough,\nraising it and making it into good and healthy food.\n\n{120}\n\nYes, my brethren, this was the way that the church spread through\nthe world and made its converts, especially in the early times.\nIt was not only by preaching. The Apostles and their successors\ndid not have much chance to preach to the world in general. They\nwere not allowed to do so; public preaching would have brought\ndown on them much greater persecutions than those which they\nactually suffered, and it would have required great miracles on\nGod's part to preserve his church had such preaching been tried,\nespecially in the great cities. No, they had to teach their\ndoctrine, as we may say, on the sly; in fact, part of it was\nreserved for those who had already become Christians. It may seem\nstrange now, but in early times no one was allowed to hear\nanything about the real presence of our Lord in the Blessed\nSacrament till after he had been baptized. This was called the\ndiscipline of the secret, and was kept up for a long time.\n\nSo, you see, Christianity was not learned in the pagan Roman\nEmpire so much by preaching as by private instruction joined with\ngood example. One person caught it from another, as the particles\nof dough get raised by those next to them. Masters and\nmistresses, for instance, caught it from their servants, others\nfrom their friends and acquaintances--first, from noticing their\nvirtues, so different from those which the pagans had. They saw\nhow gentle and affectionate, and still how courageous, they were;\nhow they bore suffering without a murmur; how they shrank from\nthe idols worshipped by others, and from all the vices which\nthese idols represented; how little they cared for pleasure; how\neach sacrificed himself for his neighbor. \"See,\" said the world,\n\"how these Christians love one another.\" Then the world began to\ninquire what was the reason of this love and of the other\nChristian virtues; and so religion spread from the lowest to the\nhighest, till at last the Roman emperors themselves knelt before\nthe cross.\n\n{121}\n\nThings are somewhat changed now, it is true. The Catholic faith\ncan now be preached and taught openly; still, it is almost the\nsame as if it could not, for people outside the church will\nseldom come and hear it, or even read books explaining it. The\ndiscipline of the secret still prevails, not because we wish it,\nbut because the world does. So now, as before, the faith must\ncatch and spread from one person to another if it is to make much\nprogress in such countries as this of ours. Protestants run away\nfrom the priest, and will have nothing to say to him; so it will\nnot do to say that making converts is the priest's business and\ndoes not concern you. No, my brethren, making converts is your\nbusiness, as things stand, perhaps even more than his. But how\nare they to be made? Not by cursing, lying, and drunkenness, sins\ntoo common, alas! among many who call themselves Catholics, and\nspecially liable to be noticed by others. It was not by these\nthat the first Christians converted the world. Not by quarrels\nand slanders; it is not by these that you will convince people\nthat we Christians love one another. Turn, then, from the vices\nwhich repel, and practise instead virtues which will attract\nunbelievers, and lead them to inquire why you are so good instead\nof wondering that you are so bad. Then they will come to you, as\nthey did of old to your ancestors in the faith, to learn the\ndoctrine which has taught you these virtues; and you will be, as\nyou should be, the leaven which is to leaven the world.\n\n--------------------\n\n{122}\n\n _Septuagesima Sunday_.\n\n Epistle.\n 1 _Corinthians ix._ 24; x. 5.\n\n Brethren:\n Know you not that they who run in the race, all run indeed, but\n one receiveth the prize? So run that you may obtain.\n\n And every one that striveth for the mastery refraineth himself\n from all things; and they indeed that they may receive a\n corruptible crown; but we an incorruptible one. I therefore so\n run, not as at an uncertainty: I so fight, not as one beating\n the air: but I chastise my body, and bring it into subjection:\n lest perhaps, when I have preached to others, I myself should\n become reprobate. For I would not have you ignorant, brethren,\n that our fathers were all under the cloud, and all passed\n through the sea. And all in Moses were baptized, in the cloud\n and in the sea; and they did all eat the same spiritual food,\n and all drank the same spiritual drink (and they drank of the\n spiritual rock that followed them, and the rock was Christ).\n But with the most of them God was not well pleased.\n\n\n Gospel.\n _St. Matthew xx._ 1-16.\n\n At that time:\n Jesus said to his disciples this parable:\n The kingdom of heaven is like to a master of a family, who went\n early in the morning to hire laborers into his vineyard. And\n when he had agreed with the laborers for a penny a day, he sent\n them into his vineyard. And he went out about the third hour\n and saw others standing in the market-place idle. And he said\n to them: Go you also into my vineyard, and I will give you what\n shall be just.\n{123}\n And they went their way. And again he went out about the sixth\n and the ninth hour, and did in like manner. But about the\n eleventh hour he went out and found others standing, and he\n saith to them: Why stand you here all the day idle? They say to\n him: Because no man hath hired us. Ho saith to them: Go you\n also into my vineyard. And when evening was come, the lord of\n the vineyard saith to his steward: Call the laborers and pay\n them their hire, beginning from the last even to the first.\n When, therefore, they came, who had come about the eleventh\n hour, they received every man a penny. But when the first also\n came, they thought that they should have received more, and\n they also received every man a penny. And when they received\n it, they murmured against the master of the house, saying:\n These last have worked but one hour, and thou hast made them\n equal to us, that have borne the burden of the day and the\n heats. But he answering one of them, said: Friend, I do thee no\n wrong; didst thou not agree with me for a penny? Take what is\n thine and go thy way: I will also give to this last even as to\n thee. Or, is it not lawful for me to do what I will? is thy eye\n evil because I am good? So shall the last be first, and the\n first last. For many are called, but few chosen.\n\n-------------------\n\n Sermon XXXV.\n\n Bodily Mortification.\n\n\n\"I chastise my body,\" says St. Paul in the Epistle of to-day,\n\"and bring it into subjection.\" In these few words he gives us\nthe great reason for the Catholic doctrine and practice of bodily\nmortification and penance, which Protestants so often find fault\nwith.\n\n{124}\n\n\"I chastise my body,\" he says, \"and bring it into subjection\";\nthat is, \"I chastise it, because I want to bring it into\nsubjection. I want to tame it, to become its master; so I give it\na good beating, I starve it now and then, and treat it badly\ngenerally, that it may learn to obey me.\"\n\nThat is the great idea of mortification, my brethren, in a\nnutshell. Every one knows that if you want to break a vicious\nhorse you have to put him through a pretty severe course of\ntreatment before he will be subject to your will. And every one\nknows that the body is naturally unruly, like a vicious horse;\nthe body is always craving for things which it would be better\nthat it should not have, and it will have them in spite of us if\nwe do not take care. So, to subject it thoroughly to reason, we\nmust put it through a severe course; otherwise, some time or\nother, it will get the better of us, and have its own way.\n\nAnd there is a great deal more need of taming our own bodies than\nthere is of breaking horses. For the horse can only kill our\nbody, but our bodies can kill our souls; and furthermore, if we\ndo not want to take the trouble of breaking a horse, we can shoot\nhim, or get somebody else to take him; but we can not in anyway\nlawfully get rid of our bodies till such time as God sees fit to\ntake them from us. We are tied fast to them, and cannot get away.\nSo we are absolutely obliged to conquer them, if we do not want\nto be conquered by them. In other words, if we do not want our\nbodies to be a frequent cause and occasion of mortal sin to us,\nwe must to some considerable extent practise mortification.\n\n{125}\n\nThat is the Catholic and true doctrine, as taught by the church,\nand put into practice, in some degree at least, by all the\nfaithful who obey her laws. And it is also common sense. Every\none must admit that the body is the great cause and source of\nmortal sin to far the greater number of people, and that if its\nappetites were thoroughly brought under control our souls would\nbe saved from very great dangers, which otherwise they cannot\nescape. If, then, it is any object to escape these dangers--and\nno sensible man can deny that it is--one does not need to be a\nChristian, but only to have the gift of reason, and to look a\nlittle into himself and into the world about him, and he must\ngrant that the bodily penances and mortifications which the\nchurch insists on are not foolish or superstitious, but in the\nhighest degree prudent and wise.\n\nBut I know, my dear brethren, that you do not think that the\nmortification of the body required by the church is useless or\nsuperstitious; I give you too much credit for faith as well as\nfor reason to imagine that. You do need courage, though--we all\nneed it--to act up to what we believe in this matter. Let us then\nlook this question fairly in the face. There is heaven before us\nto be gained, and sin to be overcome that we may gain it; and\nhere are our bodies, with their depraved, corrupted, and often\ndangerous and sinful desires, standing in the way of our gaining\nit. If we will only determine in earnest to get the mastery of\nthem, heaven is almost sure; if we do not, they will be very\nlikely to carry us to hell. If we overcome them, we save\nourselves and them, and make them a help instead of a hindrance\nto us; if not, they will do their best to drag us down with\nthemselves to destruction, and if in the mercy of God we may\nindeed be saved it will be as by fire. Shall we not take a little\ntrouble when such tremendous interests are at stake? Shall we\ntrust to luck when a little effort will make heaven sure?\n\n-------------------\n\n{126}\n\n Sermon XXXVI.\n\n Sudden Death.\n\n\n _Watch ye, therefore,\n because you know not the day nor the hour._\n --Matthew. xxv. 13.\n\n\nThese words, my dear brethren, are taken from the parable of the\nten virgins who went out to meet the bridegroom and the bride.\nFive of them, being wise and prudent, took oil in their lamps,\nthat they might be ready at any moment to light them; but the\nfive foolish ones gave no thought to the matter. At midnight,\nwhen they least expected it, the cry was heard, \"Behold, the\nbridegroom cometh; go ye forth to meet him.\" Then the foolish\nvirgins tried to borrow oil from the wise to fill their lamps,\nbut were told to go and buy for themselves. While they were gone\nthe bridegroom came; they were not ready; the door of the\nmarriage-feast was closed when they returned, and in answer to\ntheir entreaty, \"Lord, lord, open to us,\" came only the words, \"I\nknow you not.\" \"Watch ye, therefore,\" says our Lord, in\nconcluding this parable, \"because you know not the day nor the\nhour.\"\n\nBrethren, the meaning of this parable is so plain that it hardly\nneeds even a word of explanation. Yet how unheeded it is, alas!\nby the majority of Christians!\n\n{127}\n\nWhat does this oil mean that the foolish virgins neglected to\nprovide for themselves and to have in their lamps? What but the\ngrace of God, with, which our souls should be provided, and\nwithout which they are in the state of mortal sin? If this\nprecious oil of God's grace is in our souls we are ready at any\nmoment to meet the Bridegroom; no matter how suddenly the cry is\nmade that he is coming, we can go forth with confidence to meet\nhim and feel sure that the door of the marriage-feast of heaven\nwill not be closed to us.\n\nBut if we have not this oil, if the lamp of our soul is empty, if\nwe are in the state of mortal sin, what dismay comes on us, what\nterrible fear and distress of mind, when we are suddenly told to\nprepare for death! We have been saying all along, \"Oh! there will\nbe plenty of time,\" and now there is not plenty of time. God is\ncoming to meet us, and to demand of us an account of our lives;\nwe cannot hide from his face, and he will not wait. The hour\nfixed in the eternal counsels of his wisdom has come, the hour on\nwhich everything depends, the hour for which the years of our\nlife should have been one long preparation, those years so\ncarelessly thrown away.\n\nFriends may stand around us who have not wasted the oil in their\nlamps as we have ours. Their souls may be full of the grace of\nGod, preserved and increased continually by prayer and good\nworks, by the love of God and frequent confession and Communion.\nThey may have enough and to spare; but they can not lend to us.\n\"No,\" they must say to us, \"go rather to them that sell, and buy\nfor yourselves. Go rather,\" that is, \"to the regular sources of\nthat grace, the sacraments, which our Lord has placed in his\nchurch, to give life to the dead. Send for the priest, and with\nhis help fill the lamp of your soul, and prepare to meet our\nLord.\"\n\n{128}\n\nBut too often it is as in the parable of the virgins. While the\nfoolish Christian, who has put off his preparation for death, who\nhas lived in the state of sin, expecting to die in the state of\ngrace, goes to fill his lamp, his Lord comes, finds him, and\njudges him as he is. The priest comes, but only to look on him\nlying dead. Or even if the oil of grace is brought to the sinner,\nhe has not, perhaps, the price to pay for it; that is, he has not\nthose dispositions of sincere penitence and amendment of life,\nwithout which all sacraments are vain and ineffectual.\n\nBrethren, it is a fearful point in the parable of the wise and\nfoolish virgins that not one of the five who were so carelessly\nunprepared was able to have her lamp ready to meet the bridegroom\nin his coming. It should teach us to expect that, as a rule, a\nman must die as he has lived. No doubt there are exceptions; the\nmercy of God is over all, and wills not that the sinner should\nperish. But the only safe way, the only way, indeed, that is not\nthe wildest folly, and even insanity, is to live as all good\nChristians do live, continually prepared for death; with the\ngrace of God always in their souls, with no stain of mortal sin\non them; with \"their loins girt, and lamps burning in their\nhands\"; and \"like to men who wait for their lord when he shall\nreturn from the wedding: that when he cometh and knocketh they\nmay open to him immediately.\"\n\n-------------------\n\n{129}\n\n Sermon XXXVII.\n\n Life's Purpose.\n\n\n _Brethren, know you not that they that run in the race,\n all run indeed, but one receiveth the prize?\n So run, that you may obtain._\n 1 Corinthians. ix. 24.\n\n\nThere is a great question, my dear brethren, that comes home some\ntime or other to every man in the world who is not entirely taken\nup with the passing pleasures and fleeting interests of the\nmoment; to every man, that is, who lives as a man, and not as a\nmere child. It is the most important and vital of all questions;\nand it will return often on us, put it away as much as we will.\nIt is this: \"What am I here for? what is the use, what is the\npurpose of all this life which I am living? What is the goal to\nwhich it is tending? what end do I hope to obtain?\"\n\nYes, we must look forward in this way sometimes, and we must try\nto find something in the future better worth having than what we\nhave now, or our life, with its labors and fatigues, becomes a\nburden almost too great to be borne.\n\nSo one man proposes wealth, another knowledge and learning,\nanother fame and honor as his object in life; or at least he\nlooks forward to bringing up children to whom he can leave his\nmemory and his name, and who will carry on and complete the work\nhe has begun.\n\nBut we Christians do not seek for an answer to this question. The\nanswer is written plainly by faith in our souls; we may try to\nforget it or put something else in its place, but we shall find\nno other in which we can believe.\n{130}\nThe answer for us is, that this life has no end or object in\nitself which can justify or explain it, but that it is a time of\ntrial, of probation for something better; that we live in order\nthat it may be seen from our life whether we are worthy to share\nin an eternal life; that only beyond the grave can what the soul\nlongs for be attained, and that we may fail in attaining it if we\ndo not keep it steadily in view and work for it with all the\nstrength we have.\n\nSo our life is a race, a struggle for an immense and unspeakable\nprize to come at its end; and a prize which will never be offered\nagain if we do not secure it this time. If we fail in this life\nour failure can never be retrieved; nor will anything else ever\nbe offered us to live for. For all eternity we shall see what we\nmight have had, and shall be tortured with vain remorse; and\nnothing else will give us even a moment's peace. This eternity\nwill be intolerable, even were there no other pains in it; but on\naccount of this alone we shall seek death for ever, and never\nfind it.\n\nAnd from this race, this struggle in which we are now entered,\nthere is no escape. We cannot withdraw and have our name struck\nfrom the list of contestants. There is no half-way place which we\ncan take between triumph and defeat. \"Know you not,\" says St.\nPaul, \"that all run in the race?\" Yes, a power greater than ours\nhas put us on the track, and is drawing us along it, whether we\nwill or no. We cannot remain as we are, for He whose power has\nplaced us here has made us for himself, and we cannot rest till\nwe rest in him.\n\n{131}\n\nSince, then, we have to run in the race; since we have to suffer,\nto labor, to pursue a happiness which we now have not; since we\nmust do this even in spite of ourselves; since we cannot sit down\nand give up our place, what folly it is to run to no purpose, to\nturn aside and try to forget the only possible reward for all our\ntoil, the only thing that can make the life which we must live\nworth living! Let St. Paul's words on this Sunday sink into our\nminds; and, since we have to run in this race on which everything\ndepends, let us not trifle and lose its precious moments, but so\nrun that we may obtain.\n\n-------------------\n\n{132}\n\n\n _Sexagesima Sunday_\n\n\n Epistle.\n 2 _Corinthians xi._ 19-_xii._ 9.\n\n Brethren:\n You gladly suffer the foolish: whereas you yourselves are wise.\n For you suffer if a man bring you into bondage, if a man devour\n you, if a man take from you, if a man be extolled, if a man\n strike you on the face. I speak according to dishonor, as if we\n had been weak in this part. Wherein if any man is bold (I speak\n foolishly) I am bold also. They are Hebrews; so am I. They are\n Israelites; so am I. They are the seed of Abraham; so am I.\n They are the ministers of Christ (I speak as one less wise), I\n am more; in many more labors, in prisons more frequently, in\n stripes above measure, in deaths often. Of the Jews five times\n did I receive forty stripes, save one. Thrice was I beaten with\n rods, once I was stoned, thrice I suffered shipwreck; a night\n and a day I was in the depth of the sea; in journeys often, in\n perils of rivers, in perils of robbers, in perils from my own\n nation, in perils from the Gentiles, in perils in the city, in\n perils in the wilderness, in perils in the sea, in perils from\n false brethren: in labor and painfulness, in watchings often,\n in hunger and thirst, in many fastings, in cold and nakedness.\n Besides those things which are without: my daily instance, the\n solicitude for all the churches. Who is weak, and I am not\n weak? Who is scandalized, and I do not burn? If I must needs\n glory, I will glory of the things that concern my infirmity.\n The God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who is blessed for\n ever, knoweth that I lie not.\n{133}\n At Damascus the governor of the nation under Aretas the king,\n guarded the city of the Damascenes to apprehend me. And through\n a window in a basket was I let down by the wall, and so escaped\n his hands. If I must glory (for it is not expedient indeed);\n but I will come to visions and revelations of the Lord. I know\n a man in Christ above fourteen years ago (whether in the body I\n know not, or out of the body I know not: God knoweth), such an\n one caught up to the third heaven. And I know such a man,\n whether in the body or out of the body, I know not: God\n knoweth; that he was caught up into paradise; and heard secret\n words which it is not granted to man to utter. Of such an one I\n will glory; but for myself I will glory nothing, but in my\n infirmities. For even if I would glory, I shall not be foolish:\n for I will say the truth. But I forbear, lest any man should\n think of me above that which he seeth in me, or anything he\n heareth from me. And lest the greatness of the revelations\n should puff me up, there was given me a sting of my flesh, an\n angel of Satan to buffet me. For which thing I thrice besought\n the Lord, that it might depart from me; and he said to me: My\n grace is sufficient for thee; for power is made perfect in\n infirmity. Gladly therefore will I glory in my infirmities,\n that the power of Christ may dwell in me.\n\n\n Gospel.\n _St. Luke viii._ 4-15.\n\n At that time:\n When a very great multitude was gathered together and hastened\n out of the cities to him, he spoke by a similitude. A sower\n went out to sow his seed. And as he sowed some fell by the\n wayside, and it was trodden down, and the fowls of the air\n devoured it. And some fell upon a rock; and as soon as it was\n sprung up, it withered away, because it had no moisture. And\n some fell among thorns, and the thorns growing up with it,\n choked it. And some fell upon good ground; and sprung up, and\n yielded fruit a hundredfold. Saying these things, he cried out:\n He that hath ears to hear, let him hear. And his disciples\n asked him what this parable might be.\n{134}\n To whom he said: To you it is given to know the mystery of the\n kingdom of God; but to the rest in parables, that seeing they\n may not see, and hearing they may not understand. Now the\n parable is this: The seed is the word of God. And they by the\n wayside are they that hear: then the devil cometh, and taketh\n the word out of their heart, lest believing they should be\n saved. Now they upon the rock, are they who when they hear,\n receive the word with joy: and these have no roots; who believe\n for a while, and in time of temptation fall away. And that\n which fell among thorns, are they who have heard, and going\n their way, are choked with the cares, and riches, and pleasures\n of this life, and yield no fruit. But that on the good ground,\n are they who in a good and perfect heart, hearing the word,\n keep it, and bring forth fruit in patience.\n\n-------------------\n\n Sermon XXXVIII.\n\n Perseverance After A Mission.\n\n\n _Power is made perfect in infirmity. _\n --Epistle of the Day.\n\n\nNot so very long ago, my dear brethren, we had a great mission in\nthis church. It was well attended--that was almost a matter of\ncourse; for, thank God, every one considers it a shame to neglect\nso great a grace when it is offered, and the Catholic who refuses\nto attend a mission is regarded by those who know him as being in\na very bad and dangerous state.\n\n{135}\n\nAnd the mission, I trust, was on the whole well made by those who\nattended it. They made good confessions; they felt true sorrow\nfor their sins. And they made real purposes of amendment against\ntheir vices, whatever they might be. The drunkard promised to\nabstain from drink for God's sake, though it might be almost the\nonly thing that gave him pleasure; the impure promised to abandon\nand stamp out his evil passions and habits; the one who had\nneglected Mass and the other duties of his religion out of\nlaziness, gluttony, or indifference, promised to be faithful to\nthem for the future.\n\nBut how many of the thousands who made these promises have kept\nthem? How many of those who were not leading a Christian life\nbefore the mission are now doing so? Some certainly; yes, some of\nthe seed of the word of God, of which our Lord speaks in to-day's\nGospel, which was then sown, has indeed sprung up and borne\nfruit, it may be a hundredfold. Some, in a good heart, hearing\nthe word, have kept it, and brought forth fruit in patience.\n\nBut, alas! how many, on the other hand, have been like the\nwayside, the rock, or the thorns in our Lord's parable! The seed\nsprang up, and remained for a few days or weeks; but now, if you\nlook for it, it has gone, trampled under foot, choked, or\nwithered away.\n\nNow, what is the reason of all this sad want of perseverance? Was\nit that those who made their confessions then were not sincere;\nthat they made promises which they did not really expect to keep?\nPerhaps that may have been so with some of them; for some people\ndo seem to think that one cannot be expected to avoid mortal sin,\nunless he is a priest or a religious, and even call others\nhypocrites who believe that they can and do avoid it. But there\nwere others who failed--and these were a great many--because\nthey thought they had only to say that they would do the thing,\nand that then the thing would be done.\n\n{136}\n\nThey did not know how weak they were; perhaps they do not know it\nyet. They will find it out sometime, as those do who have often\ntaken the pledge in vain; and then it may be that they will\ndespair, which will be the worst of all. But if they use this\nknowledge right it will be their salvation.\n\nAnd how will knowing that they are weak save them? Will it make\nthem strong? Yes, but not in their own strength; it will save\nthem by making them turn to the infinite power of God. This is\nwhat our Lord told St. Paul, as we learn in the Epistle of\nto-day, when he asked to have his temptation removed. He said to\nhim: \"My grace is sufficient for thee, for power is made perfect\nin infirmity.\" The more we know our weakness the stronger we\nshall be, if our terror and distrust of ourselves will only make\nus turn to God in frequent, earnest, and fervent prayer for help,\nand in continual approach to the sacraments which he has given\nfor our aid.\n\nOh! if Christians would only learn this one great truth, how the\nwhole face of things would change! How the most obstinate vices,\nthe most deep-rooted spiritual disease, would melt away at the\ntouch of the Great Physician of our souls, if we would only go to\nhim continually for their cure! How easily we should overcome the\nenemy if we would only understand that of ourselves we cannot\novercome him, but that we can do all things in Him who\nstrengtheneth us; and, understanding this, would go to him for\nthe strength that we cannot get elsewhere!\n\n{137}\n\nMy brethren, you who have fallen and now fall so often, I beg you\nto put this truth in practice. You fail, and why? Because you\nhave undertaken more than you can do. You wish to succeed? I hope\nso. Well, there is only one way. Do as you have done before, but\nalso call God to the rescue. Pray frequently and fervently, and\ngo often to confession and Communion, and success, instead of\nbeing hopeless, will be sure.\n\n-------------------\n\n Sermon XXXIX.\n\n Good Seed But No Harvest.\n\n\nThe Gospel of to-day, my brethren, is the parable of the sower\nwho went out to sow his seed. Our Lord himself explains the\nparable, and tells us that the seed is the word of God; and the\nreal sower of this word, of course, is God, from whom it comes,\nand from whom it has all its life and power.\n\nThe ground in which this seed is sown is the mind and heart of\nman; or, to put the matter in a practical shape, it is your heart\nand mine. There are many people in this world to whom very little\nof it has come, at least compared with what we have had; but we\ncannot complain that we have not had our share. The word of God\nspoken by the mouth of man, in sermons, instructions, counsels,\nand warnings, from the altar and in the confessional, and not\nonly from the priests but also from others who have been the\nministers of God and the channels of his grace to us--it is\ncertainly no strange or new sound in our ears. And not only in\nthis way have we continually heard God's voice, but often,\nperhaps even more frequently, have we heard it coming immediately\nfrom him, and speaking in our own souls.\n\n{138}\n\nPlenty of this seed has, then, been sown in us; but where is the\nfruit, the harvest that should have come from it? Seed is not put\nin the ground merely to be kept there. No, it cannot be kept\nthere; if it is not destroyed or carried away it must grow and\nmultiply.\n\nThe seed of God's word should, therefore, have grown in us. It\nshould have been the beginning and the increase in us of the\nspiritual life, which should have grown stronger in us day by day\nfrom the time when we first came to the use of reason until the\npresent moment.\n\nNow, how is it in fact? As we look back on our lives, do we find\nthat this has actually been fulfilled in them? Are we better,\nmore perfect, nearer to God now than we were last year, or even\nten years ago? Is it not rather to be feared that we have fallen\nback; that we are more careless, perhaps, even about mortal sin,\nthan we were in times past; or, to say the least, that habits of\nvenial sin have gained on us, instead of being overcome; that our\nprayers are less fervent, our reception of the sacraments less\nfrequent, our love of God weaker than in the years which have\ngone by?\n\nHoly Scripture tells us that the \"path of the just, as a shining\nlight, goeth forwards and increaseth even to perfect day.\" \"The\njust\"--that is, those who are habitually in God's grace, who have\nand keep the life of God in their souls.\n{139}\nThe Christian virtues, the seeds of which were put in our souls\nat baptism, should have been growing during all our lives; they\nshould have become strong trees now, deeply rooted and spreading\nfar and wide. Even if they were killed at any time by the frost\nof mortal sin, they should have been speedily brought to life and\nrenewed their growth before they had decayed and rotted away.\n\nBrethren, I need not ask you if this has been so with you. With\nsome, no doubt, it has. They may not feel that they have drawn\nnearer to God, but really they have. Temptation does not find the\nmaterial in them to work on that it did; to avoid evil and to do\ngood is every day easier and easier; they have still cause to\nfear, it is true, but still more and more ground to hope.\n\nBut, alas! how many there are in whom there is no sign of this\ngrowth which should have come from the seed which has been sown\nin them! Their light has not increased; no, it is almost always\nextinguished; when it does seem to shine it is but to flicker for\na moment, and to disappear. The seed is no sooner sown in them\nthan it is trampled under foot or carried away by the birds of\nthe air.\n\nBrethren, if the life of grace is not growing in our souls; if we\nare not falling less frequently, and rising more easily from our\nfalls, than before, our path is not that of the just, and the\nseed of the word of God has not yet taken that root which will\nmake it bring forth a hundredfold.\n\n-------------------\n\n{140}\n\n Sermon XL.\n\n The Uses Of Temptation.\n\n _My grace is sufficient for thee;\n for power is made perfect in infirmity._\n --2 Corinthians xii. 9.\n\n\nTo all who are striving to lead a good Christian life the example\nof the saints is a powerful means of encouragement, and the more\nso when we see in the saints themselves the evidences of our\ncommon human nature, when we see them encountering the same\ndifficulties and struggling with the same temptations which we\nourselves experience. Their great deeds and miracles exalt them\nto a sphere far above us, and, while they fill us with\nadmiration, would yet have a tendency to discourage us were it\nnot for those other passages in their lives when they seem to be\nbrought down to our own level by contact with those evil\ninfluences which are ever seeking to sway our fallen nature. The\nfact that the saints have had to engage in conflict with the\nbasest passions is so far from lowering them in our eyes that it\nonly serves to make them dearer to us and to stimulate us to a\nmore faithful imitation of them.\n\nAnd so St. Paul's account of himself in the Epistle of to-day has\nbeen a ground of encouragement to many a soul that had grown\nweary of an incessant warfare with temptation. The Apostle tells\nus that, in spite of the wondrous revelations and heavenly favors\nwhich he had received from God, he was yet tormented with\ntemptations of the flesh. \"And lest the greatness of the\nrevelations should puff me up, there was given me a sting of my\nflesh, an angel of Satan to buffet me.\n{141}\nFor which thing I thrice besought the Lord, that it might depart\nfrom me; he said to me: My grace is sufficient for thee; for\npower is made perfect in infirmity.\" To every soul struggling\nwith temptation God speaks these same words of comfort. \"What if\nyou are weak and the temptation is strong? My grace is sufficient\nfor you. My power shall be shown forth through your weakness, for\nwhat you could never do of your own strength I can and will do\nfor you with my grace.\"\n\nMany are the lessons we can learn from this text. When we see the\ngreat Apostle of the Gentiles engaged in a hard conflict with the\ndemon of impurity, it shows us that God does not spare in this\nrespect even his most chosen servants. On the contrary, by\nrefusing to grant the prayer of St. Paul that he might be\ndelivered from this sting of the flesh, God teaches us that\ntemptation is often a special mark of his favor, even as a\ngeneral would place his best and bravest soldiers in the thickest\nof the fight. We are also taught that, no matter how vile the\nsuggestions of the evil one, they cannot soil the heart of him\nwho resists them. If, as soon as the sinfulness of the foul\nthought or imagination is realized, resistance be at once begun,\nand kept up until the suggestion is banished, we may be sure we\nhave not yielded, especially if we have had recourse to prayer.\nFrom the shield of prayer the arrows of the tempter are sure to\nglance and fall harmlessly to the ground.\n\nBut, on the other hand, these temptations teach us what we are in\nourselves, or rather what we should be without the aid of God's\ngrace. St. Paul tells us that God permitted those buffetings of\nSatan to preserve in him the virtue of humility, \"lest the\ngreatness of the revelations should puff me up.\"\n{142}\nThe evil imaginations arising in our minds show us to what a\ndepth we should sink were God to withdraw his grace from us and\nleave us to ourselves. We should, therefore, make of such\ntemptations an occasion of humility, acknowledging our own\nworthlessness, our own weakness, yet glorying, as St. Paul did,\nin the power of God's grace, which is able to make us strong, and\nendow us with supernatural merit. And here lies the greatest\nvalue and use of temptations--God's power is made perfect in our\ninfirmity. A crown of merit is the reward of victory in the\nfight. Without the temptation we should not have had the merit of\novercoming it. In the hour of trial, then, take courage from\nthese words of God to St. Paul: \"My grace is sufficient for thee,\nfor power is made perfect in infirmity.\"\n\n-------------------\n\n{143}\n\n _Quinquagesima Sunday. _\n\n\n Epistle.\n 1 _Corinthians xiii._ 1-13.\n\n Brethren:\n If I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, and have not\n charity. I am become as sounding brass or a tinkling cymbal.\n And if I should have prophecy, and should know all mysteries,\n and all knowledge, and if I should have all faith, so that I\n could remove mountains, and have not charity, I am nothing. And\n if I should distribute all my goods to feed the poor, and if I\n should deliver my body to be burned, and have not charity, it\n profiteth me nothing. Charity is patient, is kind: charity\n envieth not, dealeth not perversely, is not puffed up, is not\n ambitious, seeketh not her own, is not provoked to anger,\n thinketh no evil, rejoiceth not in iniquity, but rejoiceth with\n the truth: beareth all things, believeth all things, hopeth all\n things, endureth all things. Charity never faileth: whether\n prophecies shall be made void, or tongues shall cease, or\n knowledge shall be destroyed. For we know in part, and we\n prophesy in part. But when that which is perfect shall come,\n that which is in part shall be done away. When I was a child. I\n spoke as a child, I understood as a child, I thought as a\n child. But when I became a man, I put away the things of a\n child. We see now through a glass in an obscure manner: but\n then face to face. Now I know in part: but then I shall know\n even as I am known. And now there remain faith, hope, and\n charity, these three: but the greatest of these is charity.\n\n{144}\n\n Gospel.\n _St. Luke xviii._ 31-43.\n\n At that time:\n Jesus took unto him the twelve, and said to them: Behold we go\n up to Jerusalem, and all things shall be accomplished which\n were written by the prophets concerning the Son of Man. For he\n shall be delivered to the Gentiles, and shall be mocked, and\n scourged, and spit upon: and after they have scourged him, they\n will put him to death, and the third day he shall rise again.\n And they understood none of these things, and this word was hid\n from them, and they understood not the things that were said.\n Now it came to pass that when he drew nigh to Jericho, a\n certain blind man sat by the wayside, begging. And when he\n heard the multitude passing by, he asked what this meant. And\n they told him that Jesus of Nazareth was passing by. And he\n cried out, saying: Jesus, son of David, have mercy on me. And\n they that went before, rebuked him, that he should hold his\n peace. But he cried out much more: Son of David, have mercy on\n me. And Jesus stood and commanded him to be brought to him. And\n when he was come near, he asked him, saying: What wilt thou\n that I do to thee? But he said: Lord that I may see. And Jesus\n said to him: Receive thy sight: thy faith hath made thee whole.\n And immediately he saw, and followed him, glorifying God. And\n all the people, when they saw it, gave praise to God.\n\n-------------------\n\n Sermon XLI.\n\n The Qualities Of Christian Charity.\n\n\nWhat a beautiful description it is, my dear brethren, which St.\nPaul gives us of the virtue of charity in the Epistle of to-day!\nIf you have never read it or do not remember it, I would advise\nyou to read it at once; and, indeed, nothing could be better than\nto commit it to memory.\n\n{145}\n\nLet us look just now at a part of it. \"Charity,\" says the\nApostle, \"is patient, is kind; charity envieth not; dealeth not\nperversely; is not puffed up; is not ambitious; seeketh not her\nown; is not provoked to anger; thinketh no evil; rejoiceth not in\niniquity, but rejoiceth in the truth; beareth all things,\nbelieveth all things, hopeth all things, endureth all things.\"\n\nNow, I say this is very beautiful, is it not? And perhaps it\nseems all the more beautiful because the picture which it gives\nus is not a very familiar one. I know we are apt to think about\nas well of ourselves as of almost any one of our acquaintance;\nbut can we say to ourselves, on reading or hearing this\ndescription of charity, \"That's me; that's just my character to a\nhair\"? No; somehow or other, though we would like to put on the\ncoat, it does not seem to fit.\n\n\"Charity is patient, is kind.\" That is rather out of the way, to\nbegin with, when we think how impatient and cross we are if\nanything goes wrong, if anybody stands in our way or interferes\nwith us, or even ventures to differ from us in opinion.\n\n\"Charity envieth not.\" Worse yet. Why, some people cannot even\nsee their neighbor have a new dress or hat without at once making\nup their minds to take the shine out of that conceited thing. And\nif they hear it said that Miss So-and-So is good-looking they\nwill take some opportunity to remark: \"For the life of me, I\ncan't make out what any one sees to admire in her.\"\n{146}\nProbably they might manage to see it if they would make a great\neffort; but how can they make the effort when no one seems to\nhave any eye for their own good points, which ought to be so\nevident to all? And it is not the ladies only who have this\nweakness. You will hear something like this: \"Oh! I consider him\nto be a much overrated man. I knew him when he was young, and he\nwas nothing above the common. But some people certainly have\nluck.\" Or, if you do not hear it out loud, the grumbling is there\nall the same in the heart. Perhaps some praise has to be given,\nbut it is very sparing; given with great appearance of careful\njudgment and a desire to keep closely to the truth.\n\n\"Charity dealeth not perversely.\" How is this? Why, you will find\nChristians who would, as the saying goes, \"cut off their nose to\nspite their face.\" They will even suffer themselves, if some one\nelse can only be made to suffer too.\n\nBut I shall not have time to make all the applications. As I\nsaid, you had better read the Epistle, then you can make them for\nyourselves.\n\nI wish, however, to call your attention before closing to one\nunpleasant circumstance. Is this charity, which St. Paul so\nhighly praises and so beautifully describes, a sort of fancy and\nornamental virtue, which is certainly very commendable, but which\nwe can get along well enough without? Listen to a few other words\nwhich come a little before those I have read: \"If I should have\nprophecy, and know all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I\nshould have all faith, so that I could remove mountains, and have\nnot charity, I am nothing. And if I should distribute all my\ngoods to feed the poor, and if I should deliver my body to be\nburned, and have not charity, it profiteth me nothing.\" Notice,\nhe does not say, \"I am not much, or these things are not much\ngood, without charity\": no, without it \"I am nothing\"; a cipher,\nand a sham. Take this home and meditate on it.\n\n{147}\n\n Sermon XLII.\n\n Delay Of Repentance.\n\n\n _Be not deceived, God is not mocked;\n for what things a man shall sow,\n those also shall he reap._\n --Galatians vi. 7, 8.\n\n\n\"Never mind, I will repent some day and confess it all to the\npriest; then it will be as if it never happened.\" Sometimes, my\ndear brethren, when men have made up their minds to commit sin,\nor to go on in a course of sin, they are tempted to say some such\nwords as these; or if they are not fallen so low as to\n_talk_ in this way, yet, if we may form a judgment of their\nthoughts by their actions, such are the thoughts of not a few. I\npropose, therefore, to say a few words this morning on the great\nfolly of this way of speaking, thinking, and acting, and to show\nyou what a false notion it rests upon.\n\nI will not stop to point out how uncertain that really is which\nis assumed as perfectly certain--namely, that an opportunity of\ngoing to confession will be granted to every one who acts in this\nway. A man who sins can never be sure that he will not be cut off\nin his sin. But I will take it for granted that the opportunity\nof making a confession is given; more than that, I will take it\nfor granted that he makes a good confession and receives\nabsolution as he promised himself. In such a case as this is it\ntrue that even then all will be just as if the sin had never been\ncommitted?\n\n{148}\n\nMy dear brethren, to imagine this to be the case would be indeed\na very great mistake. In order that you may see this I must\nrecall to your recollection some well-known truths. In the\nbeginning, God, having made man, placed him in a state of great\nhappiness. He was without pain, sickness, anxiety, or death. How\nis it, then, that man finds himself in his actual condition? Why\nis it that man is subjected to so many hardships and miseries,\nobliged to toil for his daily bread, and, in the end, through\nanguish and suffering, give up that life which it has cost so\nmuch labor to preserve? Think, my dear brethren, of all the pains\nof mind and body which you have ever experienced, or which you\nhave seen others experience; think of all the sufferings of which\nyou have ever read, and ask yourselves the reason for all this\nvast mass of agony and anguish. That reason is given in one word.\nOf all the suffering that has ever been and that ever will be,\nsin is the cause. Directly or indirectly, mediately or\nimmediately, every suffering finds in sin its origin.\n\nNow, I do not say that when we come to particular cases we can\nalways point out precisely how and why _this_ suffering is\nconnected with _that_ sin. God in his providence permits\nsuffering to attend upon sin for many different reasons.\nSometimes it is permitted as a warning not to sin in order that\nmen of sense and understanding, seeing what sin costs, may avoid\nit. Sometimes suffering in this world is, I am afraid we must\nsay, but a foretaste of eternal suffering in the next.\n{149}\nIn some cases sufferings are sent to make us more like our Lord.\nBut--and this is the special point I wish you to\nnotice--suffering is very frequently sent by Almighty God as a\npunishment in this life for those sins the eternal punishment of\nwhich he has forgiven. This brings me back to the special point\nof this instruction. A man may go to confession, may even make a\ngood confession and receive a good absolution--that is to say, he\nmay receive through the merits of Christ the remission of the\neternal punishment due to his sins, and yet things may be very\nfar from being, as he promised himself, just as they were before.\nOn the contrary, he may have a vast amount of punishment to\nundergo in time in consequence of that sin, which he would not\nhave had if he had not committed that sin. This thought is very\nsuitable for this season. Lent will begin next Wednesday. Its\nfasting and abstinence are enjoined by the church, among other\nreasons as a means of satisfying for the temporal punishment due\nto past sins. But, in order that this fasting and abstinence may\nbe useful for this purpose, those who fast and abstain must be in\nthe state of grace, because all their value as works of\nsatisfaction is due to the indwelling grace of God. In order,\nthen, that your fasting and abstinence may be profitable to your\nown souls, let me advise you to act like our wise forefathers\nacted, to come to confession at once in the beginning of Lent,\nand not to put it off with your Easter duty to the last moment.\n\n{150}\n\n Sermon XLIII.\n\n Lenten Obligations.\n\nNext Wednesday, my brethren, we enter, as of course you know, on\nthe great and holy season of Lent. On that day, no doubt, as many\nof you as can will come to the church and receive on your\nforeheads the ashes which remind us of the penance to which these\ncoming weeks are specially devoted.\n\nThe church is generally full on Ash-Wednesday, and one would\nthink, on seeing the crowds pressing forward to receive the\nashes, that they were all determined to enter into the spirit of\nthe church, and to keep Lent as it should be kept. Yet how many\nthere are who go through this outward form, and make a great deal\nof it, and yet neglect all that is signified by it; who give a\nshow indeed of penance, but bring forth none of its fruits! Some,\nperhaps, of the Ash-Wednesday penitents will not be seen again in\nthe church till they come forward again on Good Friday to kiss\nthe cross.\n\nYet it is better to come to church, if only on Ash-Wednesday and\nGood Friday, than not at all; better to do some penance and show\nsome love of God than to neglect these virtues altogether. But\nhow much better still it would be to now thoroughly understand\nand seriously take to heart what God requires of us, especially\nin this holy time, and to make it the means, as it may be more\nthan anything else, of our final salvation!\n\n{151}\n\nFirst, then, to thoroughly understand what we are now to do.\nEverything must be well understood before it can be well done,\nand the keeping of Lent is no exception to this general rule.\nMany people break the rules of Lent because they do not clearly\nunderstand them.\n\nLent, then, my brethren, is not a time to be spent in penance\naltogether according to one's own devotion. Far from it; the\nduties to be performed in it are clearly and precisely laid down,\nand should be attended to very strictly. They are not many; they\nmake no great demand on our time or strength; but the Christian\nwho discharges them properly will make his Lent far better than\none would who should neglect them and take any other practices,\nno matter how hard, in their place. It is better to keep the real\nrules or laws of Lent faithfully than to hear three Masses every\nday, and come to all the extra services, and give half one's\ngoods to the poor, and yet neglect our regular duties.\n\nWhat, then, are these laws? The first is the Easter duty, which\nshould be made before Easter, if possible, though the church\nindulgently extends the time several weeks after that festival.\nMake, then, this great duty, far the greatest of all the duties\nof a Christian, at once; it will be very easy for all of you who\nhave just made the mission to do it now, and the longer you put\nit off the harder it will be. Make it, then, if possible, the\nfirst day it can be made--that is, next Sunday--and get it, if I\nmay say so, off your mind. Do not fancy that, as you have so\nlately made the mission, the Easter duty is of little\nconsequence. If you had made twenty missions during the past\nyear, and any number of jubilees, the law of the Easter duty\nwould bind you exactly as much as if you had neglected them all.\nIt is like hearing Mass on Sunday; nobody is excused at all from\nMass on Sunday because they have been to it through the week.\n{152}\nSo this time, the great Sunday of the year, is set apart by the\nchurch for the precept of Holy Communion; it must be fulfilled at\nthis time, no matter how often one has received outside of it.\n\nThe second and only other real law of Lent is that relating to\nfasting and abstinence. If you attend carefully to the rules that\nhave been read you will understand this well enough. But do not\nconfuse fasting with abstinence; that is the most common mistake.\nPeople often say: \"Oh! I have to work hard; I can eat meat if I\nlike.\" That is a great error, and a very foolish one. Many are\nexcused from fasting on one meal and a collation; few from\nabstinence on the days appointed. If you want to have a safe\nconscience in eating meat you should consult a confessor, unless\nseriously ill.\n\nAttend to these two things, then, and you will make your Lent as\na Christian should. But, of course, you will also try to follow,\nto the best of your ability, the other devotional practices\nrecommended by the church at this time. Come to daily Mass, and\nto the occasional services, and give alms according to your\nmeans. These practices, especially now, are of the greatest\nspiritual profit, and can not generally be neglected without\nspiritual danger. But remember that Easter duty and fasting, with\nabstinence, are the real laws. Obey these, at any rate, and then,\nso far as you are able, add the others beside.\n\n-------------------\n\n{153}\n\n _First Sunday of Lent._\n\n\n Epistle.\n 2 _Corinthians vi._ 1-10.\n\n Brethren:\n We do exhort you, that you receive not the grace of God in\n vain. For he saith: \"In an accepted time have I heard thee; and\n in the day of salvation have I helped thee.\" Behold, now is the\n acceptable time: behold, now is the day of salvation. Giving no\n offence to any man, that our ministry be not blamed: but in all\n things let us exhibit ourselves as the ministers of God, in\n much patience, in tribulation, in necessities, in distresses,\n in stripes, in prisons, in seditions, in labors, in watchings,\n in fastings, in chastity, in knowledge, in long-suffering, in\n sweetness, in the Holy Ghost, in charity unfeigned, in the word\n ol truth, in the power of God; by the armor of justice on the\n right hand and on the left: through honor and dishonor: through\n infamy and good name: as seducers, and yet speaking truth: as\n unknown, and yet known: as dying, and behold we live: as\n chastised, and not killed: as sorrowful, yet always rejoicing:\n as needy, yet enriching many: as having nothing, and possessing\n all things.\n\n\n Gospel.\n _St. Matthew iv._ 1-11.\n\n At that time:\n Jesus was led by the spirit into the desert, to be tempted by\n the devil. And when he had fasted forty days and forty nights,\n he was afterwards hungry. And the tempter coming, said to him:\n If thou be the Son of God, command that these stones be made\n bread. But he answered and said: It is written, \"Man liveth not\n by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth from the\n mouth of God.\"\n{154}\n Then the devil took him up into the holy city, and set him upon\n the pinnacle of the temple, and said to him: If thou be the Son\n of God, cast thyself down, for it is written: \"That he hath\n given his angels charge over thee, and in their hands shall\n they bear thee up, lest perhaps thou hurt thy foot against a\n stone.\" Jesus said to him: It is written again: \"Thou shalt not\n tempt the Lord thy God.\" Again the devil took him up into a\n very high mountain, and showed him all the kingdoms of the\n world, and the glory of them. And said unto him: All these will\n I give thee, if falling down thou wilt adore me. Then Jesus\n saith to him: Be gone, Satan, for it is written: \"The Lord thy\n God shalt thou adore, and him only shalt thou serve.\" Then the\n devil left him: and behold, angels came and ministered to him.\n\n-------------------\n\n Sermon XLIV.\n\n The Merit Of Fasting And Abstinence.\n\n\n _Lay not up to yourselves treasures on earth,\n where the rust and moth consume, and where,\n thieves break through and steal.\n But lay up to yourselves treasures in heaven,\n where neither the rust nor the moth doth consume\n and where thieves do not break through nor steal.\n For where thy treasure is,\n there is thy heart also._\n --Gospel Of Ash-Wednesday.\n\n\nIf any one of us, my brethren, should be asked what is the object\nof this holy season of Lent on which we are now entering, or what\nis the reason why it has been appointed, the answer would\nprobably be that it is in order that we may do penance for our\nsins. Penance: punishment inflicted on ourselves in satisfaction\nfor those offences for which we feel we have so imperfectly\natoned, and to obtain from God those graces which we so greatly\nneed: this, perhaps, is the idea uppermost in most people's minds\nwhen Lent comes round.\n\n{155}\n\nWell, this is no doubt a reason, and a good one, not only for\nwhat we have to do in Lent, but for a great deal more that we may\ndo, not only now, but all through the year. Few even of those who\nlead good lives do penance enough for their sins, even as it is;\nalmost all go before God with a large account unsettled in this\nmatter. How much worse would it be if there was no Lent, if the\nchurch never insisted on our chastising ourselves in any way, and\nseemed to treat such chastisement as of no consequence! The very\nnotion of it would drop from our thoughts, as it has indeed long\nago from the minds of those who have separated from the church\nand ceased to possess the true faith.\n\nThis is, then, a good reason for Lent; but there is another which\nwe are not so apt to think of, and which, for this very reason, I\nwould like to emphasize.\n\nThis reason is the one suggested by the words of the Gospel of\nlast Wednesday, which you have just heard: \"Lay not up to\nyourselves treasures on earth; ... but lay up to yourselves\ntreasures in heaven. ... For where thy treasure is, there is thy\nheart also.\"\n\nBrethren, we should have no trouble at all in getting to heaven\nif we only really wanted to get there. Of course in one way we do\nwant to get to heaven; that is, we all want to save our souls\nfrom the eternal anguish and misery of hell, and we know there is\nnothing for us but heaven or hell in the end. But I am afraid\nthat many Christians, especially when they have health, strength,\nand plenty of this world's goods, have really very little wish to\ngive them up, in order to pass, even could they do so at once, to\nthose joys which the heart of man cannot conceive.\n{156}\nNo, their treasure is in this world; all their idea of happiness\nis founded on the pleasures which they have had, are having, or\nhope to have in it. Their treasure is here, and, as our Lord\nsays, their heart is here too.\n\nI think, then, that this other great reason and object of Lent,\nof which I have just spoken, is that we may do something to\nchange this state of things; that we may get our hearts off this\nworld, and see our real treasure in heaven, get to know it and\nlove it, and have our hearts there with it. We ought now not\nmerely to stop for a while from worldly pleasures, but to try to\ncease loving them, and to care for something better. We must love\nand care for something; let us try now to get the right object\nfor love.\n\nNow, what is this that we should love; what is our treasure in\nheaven? It is our Father who is in heaven, and who is heaven\nitself. Brethren, it is not so hard to love God as some people\nthink. We can all try to do a little, at any rate; I mean to love\nGod, not by keeping his commandments, but to love him in the same\nway as we love those things which are lovely and attractive here.\nCome to him now, this Lent; that, above all else, is what it was\nmade for; come to church not only to hear a sermon, but to pray,\nto get near to God, and to bring him into your hearts. Shut the\nworld out of your heart, that he may come in. Ask him to come to\nyou and make his abode with you. Then, when he is really your\ntreasure, he will draw you where he is; you will not have to try\nto get to heaven; you will go there of your own accord. To die to\nthe world and live to God, this is the Christian's true life; and\nLent was made to give this life to our souls.\n\n-------------------\n\n{157}\n\n Sermon XLV.\n\n Difficulties Of Fasting.\n\n\nBrethren, another year has passed, and Lent has come around once\nmore. I have no doubt that a great many of you wish that it had\nnot; perhaps you would not be so very sorry if the church would\nhave the goodness to do away with this tedious season altogether.\nIndeed, I imagine that to some people Lent is one of the greatest\nmysteries of our religion. And even if it is in some general way\nacknowledged as the proper thing in its due time, it never seems\nto come in just at the time that would be convenient. If it comes\nearly, it is a very unpleasant interruption to the winter's\npleasures and amusements; if it comes late, why could it not come\nearlier, so that we could get through and have done with it soon?\n\nAll the grumbling in the world, however, will not alter the fact.\nWe cannot get rid of Lent, and we cannot fix its time to suit us,\neven if there is any time which would seem suitable. It is\npossible, indeed, to free ourselves from its burdens; we may do\nso either by neglecting its obligations altogether, or by getting\nsomehow or other dispensed from them, without putting anything\nelse in their place. But, after all, if we do this, we shall\nhardly feel any more comfortable. The best plan is, since Lent is\nhere whether we will or not, to face it boldly and cheerfully,\nand make the best of it that we can.\n\n{158}\n\nAnd, when we come to look at it, is it such a very terrible\ninfliction? Do we not make rather too much fuss and complaint\nover what is not really such a very great penance?\n\nLet us look, then, and see what is required of us. The principal\nthing, of course, is the fasting, as we call it, on one meal.\nNow, if we actually were reduced to only one meal in the\ntwenty-four hours, I confess that it would be pretty severe; but,\nyou see, in point of fact, we have the collation, at which eight\nounces, or half a pound, of solid food is allowed. Now that is as\nmuch as many people would take anyway at tea-time. And then you\ncan have a cup of coffee or tea and a small piece of bread in the\nmorning. So, when we come to sift the matter, the fact hardly\namounts to more than this: that the breakfast is rather a light\none. And then, for those who really have hard work, even what is\nleft of the fast goes by the board altogether.\n\nWell, next there is the abstinence from flesh-meat. Some seem to\nthink this dreadful. \"Oh!\" they will say, \"I can't eat fish; it\nmakes me sick.\" Indeed? Perhaps you are not very hungry, and do\nnot need anything very much. When you are really hungry the fish\nwill not taste so bad. But, then, who, except indeed the\nfisherman, wants you to eat fish? I do not think there is any law\nrequiring it to be eaten; and if it has such a bad effect on you\nI would let it alone and try something else. And though fish is\nso uneatable, perhaps an oyster or two might now and then be\nworried down.\n\n{159}\n\nNow, after the fast and abstinence, what is left? Really nothing\nat all in the law of the church, at least in black and white.\nThere is, however, a custom, having about the force of law,\nprohibiting such parties and theatre-going as would be allowable\nenough, at other times. But have not you had a pretty good chance\nfor these amusements for the last few months? And, if you are in\nthe habit of some indulgence of this kind, a little quiet at home\nmight be agreeable by way of a change.\n\nBut perhaps you do not like so much church-going. Well, this is\nnot absolutely required of you. But it certainly is expected; and\nit will be well to cultivate a taste for it. Ought it to be such\na great penance for a Christian to come and spend a little while\nin the presence of Him with whom he hopes to dwell for ever?\n\nI think, then, that if you will look at Lent in the right light\nit will not seem so very grievous. It may be even that you will\nfeel that now is a time to be a little generous with our Lord;\nand, since he does not ask much, you may be disposed to give him\na little more than he absolutely demands.\n\n-------------------\n\n Sermon XLVI.\n\n Wasted Opportunities.\n\n _Brethren, we exhort you\n that you receive not the grace of God in vain. _\n\n\nWhat is this receiving of God's grace in vain, my brethren,\nagainst which St. Paul warns us in these words of the Epistle of\nto-day? It is receiving it and making no use of it; receiving it\nonly to waste it and throw it away.\n\n{160}\n\nWe are all the time receiving graces from God. Every day, every\nhour he is giving them to us. For what is a grace? It is a help,\na means to our salvation which comes from him. And these helps he\ngives us continually, by instructions, by admonitions, by good\nexamples; by the evidences which he puts all around us of the\nshortness and uncertainty of life, of the instability of earthly\nriches and happiness, of the peace which virtue gives, of the\nmisery which comes from sin. All these and countless other helps\nto lead us, almost to force us, into the way of his commandments\nare lavished on us incessantly. They come more or less to all\nmen, but most of all to us children of his holy Catholic Church,\nwho have the full light of his faith, the full teaching of his\nlaw.\n\nBut more than all he himself is every day speaking in our hearts,\ninviting, urging, begging us to turn from mortal sin; or, if we\nhave indeed done that, to rise higher, and serve him more\nperfectly. If we had listened to all these calls, if we had\navailed ourselves of all these helps, we should now be far\nadvanced on the way of the saints; we should, like St. Stephen at\nhis martyrdom, see heaven opened before us and our salvation\nmorally secure.\n\nBut we have not done that. We have been doing just what the\nApostle warns us against; we have been receiving these graces in\nvain. We have received them, and it has been worse with us than\nif we had not; for we have received them, many of them at least,\nonly to throw them away and trample them underfoot.\n\n{161}\n\nWhat would you think, my brethren, of a man who, being anxious to\nreach a distant country, which was his true home, and where were\nthose whom he loved, and, having no means to do so of himself,\nshould throw away with contempt the sums which from time to time\nmight in charity be offered him to enable him to accomplish his\ndesires, should throw them absolutely away, not even using them\nto supply his daily wants or to secure some passing pleasure? You\nwould say that he was a madman or a fool; that he had not the\ngift of reason, which raises man above the brute.\n\nAnd yet this is what we have been doing; and even more than this.\nFor there have been some, perhaps many, graces which God has\ngiven us which would even alone, if rightly used, have answered\nfor all our needs. They would not have been mere contributions to\nour passage-money for heaven, but would have put us aboard the\nvessel, and made our reaching port little more than a question of\ntime. But these, like the rest, are gone without being used; they\nare strewn on the road behind us, and we cannot turn back to pick\nthem up.\n\nSuch a great grace is the one which, in spite of our\nunworthiness, ingratitude, and folly, is now once more offered to\nus by our Father in heaven, who does not follow the rules by\nwhich an earthly benefactor would be guided. This season of Lent\non which we are entering is one of the great helps, the great\nopportunities which he gives us to reach that country where he\nawaits our coming. One who spends even one Lent as it should be\nspent will be at its close well established in the way of solid\nvirtue and peace, the way which leads certainly to the kingdom to\nwhich we all hope to go.\n\n{162}\n\nIt is for this that Lent is given us, not merely for a season of\npenance and suffering, to be got through with somehow or other as\nbest we can; it is for this reason also that the church to-day\nsolemnly warns us to use it as it should be used. Listen, then,\nto her warning voice; listen out of love and gratitude to God;\nlisten out of love and holy fear also for yourself; for it may be\nthe last great grace that will ever be brought to your door.\n\n-------------------\n\n{163}\n\n _Second Sunday of Lent._\n\n\n Epistle.\n 1 _Thessalonians iv._ 1-7.\n\n Brethren:\n We pray and beseech you in the Lord Jesus, that as you have\n received from us, how you ought to walk, and to please God, so\n also you would walk, that you may abound the more. For you know\n what commandments I have given to you by the Lord Jesus. For\n this is the will of God, your sanctification; that you should\n abstain from fornication. That every one of you should know how\n to possess his vessel in sanctification and honor, not in the\n passion of lust, like the Gentiles, who know not God: and that\n no man overreach, nor deceive his brother in business: because\n the Lord is the avenger of all such things, as we have told you\n before, and have testified. For God hath not called us unto\n uncleanness, but unto sanctification in Christ Jesus our Lord.\n\n\n Gospel.\n _St. Matthew xvii._ 1-9.\n\n At that time:\n Jesus taketh unto him Peter and James, and John his brother,\n and bringeth them up into a high mountain apart. And he was\n transfigured before them. And his face did shine as the sun:\n and his garments became white as snow. And behold, there\n appeared to them Moses and Elias talking with him. And Peter\n answering, said to Jesus: Lord, it is good for us to be here:\n if thou wilt, let us make here three tabernacles, one for thee,\n and one for Moses, and one for Elias. And as he was yet\n speaking, behold a bright cloud overshadowed them.\n{164}\n And behold, a voice out of the cloud, saying: This is my\n beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased: hear ye him. And the\n disciples hearing, fell upon their face, and were very much\n afraid. And Jesus came and touched them, and said to them:\n Arise, and be not afraid. And when they lifted up their eyes\n they saw no man, but only Jesus. And as they came down from the\n mountain, Jesus charged them, saying: Tell the vision to no\n man, till the Son of Man be risen from the dead.\n\n-------------------\n\n Sermon XLVII.\n\n The Joy Of Penance.\n\n\n _He was transfigured before them._\n --Words from To-day's Gospel.\n\n\nAt first sight, my dear brethren, it seems strange that just as\nwe have entered upon this season of fasting and penance the\nchurch should have chosen for to-day's Gospel one of the few\naccounts which the Evangelists have given of the manifestation on\nearth of our Lord's glory and majesty. The Gospels, as you are\naware, are mainly made up of the record of our Lord's words,\nactions, and sufferings; they tell us how the Son of God made man\nwent about from place to place doing good, healing the sick,\nconsoling the sorrowful, and in the end undergoing cruel\nsufferings and an ignominious death. There are but few instances\nrecorded of his being glorified and honored with more than human\nglory and honor, and when such is the case no long and detailed\ndescription is given, the fact is barely mentioned, and the\nnarrative passes on.\n\n{165}\n\nBut to-day's Gospel forms an exception to this general rule. In\nit special pains have been taken by the Evangelists to give us in\ndetail a description of the other side, so to speak, of our\nLord's life. We are told that our Lord chose, out of the twelve,\nPeter, James, and John, and led them up into a high mountain, and\nwas transfigured before them: so that his face did shine as the\nsun, and even his garments became shining and exceeding white as\nsnow, \"so as no fuller upon earth can make white.\" And then there\nappeared to them Elias with Moses talking with Jesus. And so\nastonished and impressed was Peter that he exclaimed: \"Lord, it\nis good for us to be here: if thou wilt, let us make three\ntabernacles, one for thee, one for Moses, and one for Elias.\"\n\nNow, why has the church, by selecting the account of the\nTransfiguration at this season, turned our thoughts to what seems\nso inappropriate a subject? It would seem that it would have been\nbetter to have chosen those parts of the Gospel which treat of\nsin, of the judgment to come, of the punishments which await the\nimpenitent sinner. Well, I do not know that I can tell you all\nthe reasons why the church has made this choice, but I think I\ncan give you one reason, and that is, that the church wished to\nencourage us and to animate us at this season by placing before\nus the glory which is in store for those who do penance and\nsuffer here.\n\nIn this life there is nothing so familiar to most of us as\nsuffering in some form or other. Most of us are obliged by our\ncircumstances to pass our days in exhausting toil and labor.\nDisease and anxiety and want and disappointment are to be met\nwith on all sides, and there are but few who are free from all\nthese evils.\n{166}\nAnd to all--even to those who are the most favored in this\nlife--there is an hour coming which nothing can avert--the hour\nof death. This, as every one may see, is the present state of\nthings. Moreover, our Lord, so far from encouraging us to expect\nfreedom from suffering, insists continually upon its necessity.\n\"Deny yourselves,\" \"take up your cross daily,\" \"blessed are the\nmourners,\" such are the words our Lord addresses to his\ndisciples. And the church, that this teaching of our Lord may not\nbe a mere speculation, brings it down into every day practical\nlife by commanding us at this season to fast and abstain. From\nall this the necessity of suffering is evident.\n\nBut however true this is, suffering is not an end in itself; it\nis only a means to an end; it is but a road to everlasting joy\nand glory. God permits and commands sufferings in order that he\nmay give to those who endure their sufferings well an abundant\nreward. As St. Paul says: \"That which is at present momentary and\nlight of our tribulation worketh for us above measure exceedingly\nan eternal weight of glory.\" And it is in order that we may ever\nremember this that the church calls upon us to consider the\nmanifestation of the glory of our Lord and Master, to whom we\nmust be made conformable in all things--in suffering in this\nlife, in glory in the next.\n\n-------------------\n\n{167}\n\n Sermon XLVIII.\n\n Christian Perfection Not Impossible.\n\n\n _This is the will of God, your sanctification._\n --Epistle of the Day.\n\n\nWhat, my dear brethren, is the will or intention of Almighty God\nand of the Catholic Church, which is directed by his Holy Spirit,\nin establishing for us this fast of Lent, and commanding us to\nobserve it? What is the end which he meant that every Christian\nshould attain by keeping it, and which makes the opportunity now\noffered to us such a great grace as we were warned last week that\nit is? The words of St. Paul to-day answer these questions for\nus. \"The will of God,\" he says, his intention for us at all times\nindeed, but specially now, \"is our sanctification.\"\n\nBut what is our sanctification? It is the making us saints. That,\nthen, is what Lent ought to do for us. It ought to make us\nsaints; God and his church mean that it should.\n\n\"Well,\" perhaps you may say, \"if that is the end for which Lent\nis appointed, it seems to me that the end is seldom attained. For\nmy part, I am afraid I shall never be a saint; saints are few and\nfar between. It will take more than one Lent to make a saint out\nof such a sinner as I am.\"\n\nIf, then, you say this, I must confess that there is a good deal\nof truth in it. We must all feel and acknowledge that. Any one\nwho could feel sure now that when Easter comes he will be fit to\nbe canonized must either be very proud and presumptuous, and far\nfrom real sanctity, or have some special revelation from God, to\nwhich, I think, none of us will pretend.\n\n{168}\n\nBut for all that it is true that Lent ought to sanctify us; it\nought to make us saints, only we need not take the word in quite\nso high a sense. Though we may hope for the greatest possible\ngifts now, we cannot confidently expect them. There is, however,\na sanctification that we ought to expect from this Lent, and what\nis it?\n\nIt is what I fear many of you, even though tolerably good\nChristians, do not expect. What do I mean by a tolerably good\nChristian? I mean, of course, one who expects to make his Easter\nduty. One who does not expect and mean to do that can hardly be\ncalled a tolerably good Christian; it would be more nearly right\nto call him an intolerably bad one. Well, then, you who are good\nChristians expect to make your Easter duty; so far, so good. But\nit is not far enough. For what is it that is meant, perhaps, by\nthat? Is it not merely to make up your mind to confess your sins\nand to keep for a few days as you ought to be, and then be pretty\nmuch as you were before? Has not that been the experience of the\npast Easter duties of not a few of you, my brethren; and may not\nthe same be said of the missions you have attended, and the other\ngreat graces you have received from time to time in your life?\nYou came up to the surface, as a fish jumps out of the water for\na moment, and then down you went again.\n\n{169}\n\nBut that is not enough. That is not sanctification, and it is not\nthe will or intention of God. What you ought to expect is much\nmore than that. What, then, is it? It is simply this: that when\nyou have made your Easter duty you are going to stay all your\nlife where it will put you. It is that the habits of mortal sin\nwhich you may then have to confess will be gone for good; that\nthose impure thoughts, words, and actions will have stopped for\never; that the shameful drunkenness, and all the sins which came\nfrom it, will be things only of the past; that you will never\nagain wilfully neglect Holy Mass; that in every way you will\nreally live as you ought, all the time in the state of grace, in\npeace with God and men, and in readiness to die at any time, even\nwithout the sacraments, if such should be God's will; that, in\nshort, you will be truly converted to him once for all.\n\nThat is the sanctification which past Lents have not brought you,\nbut which this one should. Do not, I beg you, think it is\nimpossible, for it is not only possible but easy. Do not make\nyour Easter duty the highest point and the end of your Christian\nlife; it should be only the beginning of it. What a consolation\nit will be to you, if in your future life you can look back on\nthis Lent and say, \"That was the time when I really began to be a\ngood Christian; since then I have not had much on my conscience;\nI have kept in the state of grace. I made really good and strong\nresolutions then, and I have been faithful to them ever since.\"\n\nThere are those now, plenty of them, who can say this of some\npast Lent. Let it be now your turn to say it of this one. It is\nnot a matter of luck and chance; if you will, this grace of a\nlasting conversion from sin is now offered to each and every one\nof you. It is yours to a certainty, if you will take the trouble\nto secure it; for it is the will of God.\n\n-------------------\n\n{170}\n\n Sermon XLIX.\n\n _The Divine Presence In Our Churches. _\n\n\n _Lord, it is good for us to be here._\n --St. Matthew. xvii. 4.\n\n\nThe Gospel of to-day tells us of the wonderful Transfiguration of\nour Lord upon the mountain in the sight of his Apostles Peter,\nJames, and John. \"His face did shine as the sun, and his garments\nbecame white as snow.\" And Peter, wrapt in wonder, yet conscious\nof the privilege of being present at such a time, exclaimed:\n\"Lord, it is good for us to be here.\" Jesus has withdrawn his\nvisible presence from us. We cannot, like St. Peter and St. John,\nbehold him with our bodily eyes, nor with our ears can we hear\nhim speaking the words of life. It is better for us that it\nshould be so. In our present sinful and imperfect state we could\nnot bear the splendors of his glorified humanity. When from out\nthe bright cloud which overshadowed him the disciples heard the\nvoice of God proclaiming, \"This is my beloved Son,\" \"they fell\nupon their faces, and were very much afraid.\" The sight of all\nthis glory, and the knowledge that they were in the presence of\nAlmighty God himself, filled them with fear. So, too, would it be\nwith us now if Jesus were to show himself to us as he now is in\nheaven. At the sight of his majesty and glory we, too, should\nfall upon our faces with fear and trembling.\n\n{171}\n\nNow, our dear Lord, knowing this weakness of ours, does not\nwithdraw his presence from us, for he has promised to be with us,\neven till the end of the world; but he hides his glory from us\nunder the humble appearance of bread and wine. Beneath these\noutward forms he remains continually in our churches, there in\nthe tabernacle, by day and night, claiming our adoration and our\nlove. In Holy Mass he is daily raised aloft by the hands of the\npriest, offering himself to God the Father for the sins of the\nworld. In the Benediction of the Blessed Sacrament he is lifted\nup to bless his faithful ones. And God still speaks to us by the\nvoice and teaching of the church as truly as he spoke to the\ndisciples upon the holy mountain, saying: \"This is my beloved\nSon, in whom I am well pleased: hear ye him.\" We can still see\nour Lord, yet only through the cloud which overshadows him--that\nis, by the eyes of faith. Yet he is none the less really present\nin the tabernacle upon the altar than he was upon Mount Thabor on\nthe day of his Transfiguration.\n\nWhen, therefore, we come into his sacred presence, when we enter\nthe church and see the little lamp burning before the altar to\ntell us that he is there, our sentiments should be those of St.\nPeter at the Transfiguration: \"Lord, it is good for us to be\nhere.\" It is good for us to often visit him in the Blessed\nSacrament; it is good for us to often receive his Benediction; it\nis good for us, nay, necessary for us, to assist at Holy Mass\nwhen the church bids us do so; above all it is good for us, above\nall it is necessary for us, to receive him in Holy Communion, and\nespecially now at this time for the fulfilment of the Easter\nduty. Jesus is present in the Blessed Sacrament only for our own\ngood, for the good of our souls. When, therefore, we see this\ngreat goodness of our Lord towards us, how can we be so heedless\nof our own good as to turn away from him?\n\n{172}\n\nAnd when you come before the Blessed Sacrament, remember that you\nare in God's presence. Do not forget to bend your knee in\nadoration. Do not take advantage of his mercy in hiding his glory\nfrom you by forgetting that he is really here, by spending the\nwhole time of Mass with roving eyes and thoughts. Fix your\nattention upon the altar where he is, and offer him the best\nhomage that your heart can give. It will be good for you to be\nhere, if you have the same sentiments at Mass which the disciples\nhad at the Transfiguration. You should be filled with a holy fear\nlest your idle thoughts at this holy time should one day be\nreckoned against you. For now he veils himself from you in mercy\nand love, but one day he will appear to you in far more dazzling\nbrightness than he ever manifested on earth. Oh! then, despise\nnot his presence here, that when at last you stand before him he\nmay judge you worthy to enjoy his presence for ever.\n\n-------------------\n\n{173}\n\n _Third Sunday of Lent._\n\n\n Epistle.\n _Ephesians v._ 1-9.\n\n Brethren:\n Be ye followers of God, as most dear children. And walk in love\n as Christ also hath loved us, and hath delivered himself for us\n an oblation and a sacrifice to God for an odor of sweetness.\n But fornication and all uncleanness, or covetousness, let it\n not so much as be named among you, as becometh saints: nor\n obscenity, nor foolish talking, nor scurrility, which is to no\n purpose: but rather giving of thanks. For know ye this, and\n understand that no fornicator, nor unclean, nor covetous person\n which is a serving of idols hath any inheritance in the kingdom\n of Christ and of God. Let no man deceive you with vain words.\n For because of these things cometh the anger of God upon the\n children of unbelief. Be ye not therefore partakers with them.\n For you were heretofore darkness, but now light in the Lord.\n Walk ye as children of the light: for the fruit of the light is\n in all goodness, and justice, and truth.\n\n\n Gospel.\n _St. Luke xi._ 14-28.\n\n At that time:\n Jesus was casting out a devil, and the same was dumb; and when\n he had cast out the devil, the dumb spoke; and the multitude\n admired: but some of them said: He casteth out devils in\n Beelzebub, the prince of the devils. And others tempting, asked\n of him a sign from heaven. But he, seeing their thoughts, said\n to them: Every kingdom divided against itself shall be brought\n to desolation, and a house upon a house shall fall. And if\n Satan also be divided against himself, how shall his kingdom\n stand? because you say, that in Beelzebub I cast out devils.\n{174}\n Now if I cast out devils in Beelzebub, in whom do your children\n cast them out? Therefore they shall be your judges. But if I,\n in the finger of God, cast out devils, doubtless the kingdom of\n God is come upon you. When a strong man armed keepeth his\n court, those things which he possesseth are in peace. But if a\n stronger than he come upon him and overcome him, he will take\n away all his armor wherein he trusted, and will distribute his\n spoils. He that is not with me, is against me: and he that\n gathereth not with me, scattereth. When the unclean spirit is\n gone out of a man, he walketh through places without water,\n seeking rest: and not finding, he saith: I will return into my\n house whence I came out. And when he is come, he findeth it\n swept and garnished. Then he goeth and taketh with him seven\n other spirits more wicked than himself, and entering in they\n dwell there. And the last state of that man becometh worse than\n the first. And it came to pass, as he spoke these things, a\n certain woman from the crowd lifting up her voice, said to him:\n Blessed is the womb that bore thee, and the paps that gave thee\n suck. But he said: Yea, rather, blessed are they who hear the\n word of God and keep it.\n\n-------------------\n\n Sermon L.\n\n Immodest Language.\n\n\nHow pertinent to our own times are the words of St. Paul in the\nEpistle of to-day, addressed nineteen centuries ago to the\nChristians of Ephesus: \"But all uncleanness, let it not be so\nmuch as named among you, as becometh saints. ... For know ye this\nand understand that no unclean person hath inheritance in the\nkingdom of Christ and of God.\"\n\n{175}\n\nThere is no vice, my brethren, more common among men at the\npresent day in all classes of society, from the professional man\nto the day-laborer, among the rich and the poor, the old and the\nyoung, than that of obscene or immodest conversation.\n\nAmong the better educated this poison of impurity is clothed in\nlanguage which serves to veil its disgusting nudity, and thus the\nmore securely to insinuate itself and to deceive the unwary;\nwhile among the less educated it is oftener expressed in words\nthat reveal its horrid filthiness and shock common decency.\n\nListen to the conversation of almost any chance gathering of\nyoung men, and you will soon hear the double-meaning joke, the\nattempt of some one to be witty, which serves as much to expose\nthe shallowness of his pate as the corruption and rottenness of\nhis miserable heart.\n\nHoly Scripture says that \"out of the fulness of the heart the\nmouth speaketh.\" How true this is! But if one were to use this\ncriterion in judging the thoughts that fill the hearts of many\namongst us, how debased and pitiable must be their condition!\n\nAnd how shocking it is, my dear brethren, to meet a young man\nwhose dress and manner at first give evidence of respectability\nand good breeding, but who, when an immodest allusion is made or\nan impure joke uttered, is the first to shout with laughter! Such\na one is well described by our Blessed Lord as \"a whited\nsepulchre? full of dead men's bones.\"\n\n{176}\n\nAnd yet these whited sepulchres are not very rare in the\ncommunity. You meet them in every walk of life--in the\ncounting-room and in the factory, at the \"respectable\" club-room\nas well as in the grog-shop, and alas! must we say it, among\nCatholics as well as among non-Catholics.\n\nYes, among Catholics, who have been elevated to a supernatural\nstate through the merits and sufferings of our Lord Jesus Christ;\nwhose hearts have been sealed by the grace of the Holy Spirit,\nand on whose tongue the Body and Blood of our Lord has often been\nplaced--even these have dared to cherish in their hearts and\nexpress with their tongues thoughts and sentiments that would\nshock the moral sense even of the unregenerate.\n\nAre they laboring under the incredible and awful delusion that\nthey commit no great sin when they entertain or give expression\nto such thoughts? Do they think that they escape mortal sin when\ntheir impurity is expressed in the form of a joke or a pun, or\nwhen they by a laugh countenance and encourage the like impurity\nin others? Ah! my dear brethren, it is to be feared that too many\nconsciences have been lulled to sleep by this cunning device of\nthe devil.\n\nThe first introduction to sin for many a one has been the\nlistening with pleasure to the double-meaning word uttered,\nperhaps, by a companion, or while in the company of others. He\nwas then put on trial not by the devil alone, but by the one also\nwho uttered it. But the blush of modesty which rose instinctively\nto his cheek from a pure heart was by an effort suppressed\nthrough human respect, and the voice of conscience, that told him\nto administer a rebuke to the minister of Satan or abandon his\ncompany at once, was hushed into silence, and the demon of\nimpurity from that moment took possession.\n\n{177}\n\nTake warning, then, my dear brethren, from the words of St. Paul,\nand never countenance by a laugh or in any other way any offence\nagainst holy purity, in whatsoever form it may be expressed; \"for\nknow ye that no unclean person hath any inheritance in the\nkingdom of Christ and of God.\"\n\n-------------------\n\n Sermon LI.\n\n Honorary Church-members.\n\n _He who is not with me is against me_.\n --Luke xi. 23.\n\n\nSocieties in our day, brethren, have become a great moral force,\nthe very best means of promoting and spreading any great cause.\nMen recognize this fact, and so combine together, that by unity\nof purpose they may better advance the principles they desire to\nsupport. Many of these societies are made up of two distinct\nclasses--the active members, who are the bone and sinew, the life\nof the institution, and the honorary members, who take no\npersonal interest in the management or working of the society,\nbut who, nevertheless, are good enough, or interested enough, to\nadvance the cause they honor by the support of their name.\n\nYou and I, brethren, belong to a society, the Catholic Church,\nwhich embraces the whole world. We have in view one great\nobject--the salvation of souls, the spread of the kingdom of\nJesus Christ among men. But this society of ours, a real, living,\norganic institution, differs from most others in this: that it\ndoes not need the support of _honorary_ members; neither\nwill it approve their existence in its bosom.\n\n{178}\n\nNo, the church would have all her members living, active, earnest\nsupporters of her principles, and from them all she requires a\npledge that they will keep her laws, advance her ends, and fight\nher battles for the kingdom she was established to uphold. She\nwill welcome no mere spectators to her ranks, and as for neutral\nground, she recognizes none; for those who are not with her are\nagainst her.\n\nAnd yet there are many who call themselves Christians,\n_would-be honorary_ members of the Catholic Church, who do\nnot even realize what the word Christian means; who seem to\nforget that to be a Christian imposes the obligation of being at\nwar with all that is anti-Christian. An honorary membership for\nsuch Christians is very convenient; a membership that would allow\nthem to be on good terms with Christ and Satan. The fasting and\npraying, the vigils and good works, the real brunt of the battle\nthey would leave to the active members, while they would look on\nwith an encouraging smile of approval.\n\nAh! brethren, learn this lesson once for all and well: between\nChrist and the world there can be no compromise. He who is not\nwith me is against me. There is no neutral ground, for the moment\nwe desert the Christian rank and file we give the hand of\nfellowship to the enemy. We cannot serve two masters well, and in\nthe Catholic Church there is no membership worthy the name that\nis not an active, complete membership. The drones of the hive may\nnourish and thrive for a time, but let them remember they run the\nawful risk of final destruction.\n\n{179}\n\nThe question I would have you ask yourselves today, and meditate\nupon during this holy season, is this: Are you active, living\nmembers of the church, that mystical body of which Jesus Christ\nis the head and the Holy Ghost the life-giving principle, or are\nyou simply _would-be honorary_ members? Have you at heart\nthe interests of God's holy church; are her sorrows, her wants,\nher trials yours? Are the sacraments she offers you the source\nand support of your life? If so, you have reason to thank God.\n\nOr are you standing afar off ready to give an approving nod when\nthe world smiles, or slink off like a coward when the world\nfrowns? Are the laws of the church irksome to you and so avoided?\nIf this be the case, you are nothing but dead limbs, and liable\nto be cut off without a moment's warning from the living body,\nfor dead members are against, not with, the parent stem.\n\nWould-be honorary members of the Catholic Church, beware of the\nerror of trying to give one hand to God and the other to the\ndevil; beware of the fallacy of thinking that because you are\noutwardly connected with the church you cannot be lost--that hell\nwas never intended for Catholics; that, somehow or other, you\nwill come out all right in the end. That is what Judas thought\nwhen with his sin-stained lips he kissed his Lord whom he had so\nlately sold to the enemy.\n\nHave you still the faith, then beware lest your want of charity\nmay bring on a want of faith. Have you still a conscience, beware\nlest your frequent attempts to stifle it may extinguish it\naltogether. If there be a spark of it left I beg of you stir it\nup. Be in earnest, and at least let not this Lent pass without a\ngood confession and communion, the only condition on which you\ncan become active members of God's holy church. Put your heart in\nthe work and you will be happier for it here and certainly\nhappier hereafter.\n\n-------------------\n\n{180}\n\n Sermon LII.\n\n Half-Hearted Christians.\n\n\n\n _He that is not with me is against me._\n --Gospel Of The Day.\n\n\nThese words, my dear brethren, like many others spoken by our\nBlessed Lord, may be interpreted in various ways. They may be\nunderstood to mean that he who is not with Christ, by being\nunited to his true flock, who does not belong to the one church\nwhich he has founded, is injuring the cause of Christ, is\npersecuting and hampering his church in its warfare against its\nenemies; or, in other words, that Protestants and heretics in\ngeneral, zealous Christians though they may seem to be, are\nreally hurting Christianity about as much as they help it, if not\nmore. And it is plain enough to us that this is true. If there\nhad never been any heresies and schisms in the church, we cannot\ndoubt that there would have been now few nations not Christian.\n\nBut this, true though it may be, seems to have little practical\nbearing for us. We are not heretics or schismatics, and I hope\nthat we have no inclination to be so. Still we must remember that\nbad Catholics do about as much harm to the work of Christ and his\nchurch in the world as heretics. In fact, there would never have\nbeen any heretics had there not been bad Catholics to begin with.\n\n{181}\n\nBut, after all, it does not seem that our Lord is speaking so\nmuch of heretics, or of bad Catholics, when he says: \"He that is\nnot with me is against me.\" For he goes on to tell us that \"when\nthe unclean spirit is gone out of a man, he walketh through\nplaces without water, seeking rest; and not finding, he saith, I\nwill return to my house whence I came out; and when he is come,\nhe findeth it swept and garnished. Then he goeth, and taketh with\nhim seven other spirits more wicked than himself, and entering in\nthey dwell there; and the last state of that man becomes worse\nthan the first.\"\n\nThe meaning of this is plain enough. It is that a man cannot give\nup a bad life, and then remain betwixt and between, neither bad\nnor good. His soul cannot stay empty, swept, and garnished. He\nmust keep the love of God in it; he must have good thoughts and\ndo good works, or the devil will come back, take possession of\nthe empty soul, and make it worse than it was before.\n\nSo this gives a new sense to the words, \"He that is not with me\nis against me.\" He that is not a real good Christian, trying to\nlive for the glory of God, and to do the work for which God has\nput him in the world, will be a bad one before long, if he is not\nalready. We cannot lie low and shirk the duties which belong to\nus as Christians and as Catholics. We must be God's servants, and\nlive in such a way as to be known as such, or we shall begin\nagain to serve his enemy.\n\nLet us take an instance, and you will see well enough what I\nmean. A young man or woman has been going with bad company, who,\nthough perhaps they call themselves Catholics, are a disgrace to\nthe name, and has joined with them in all their vile\nconversations and sinful actions.\n{182}\nNow, too many of those who have been living in this way seem to\nthink that after their confession and communion they can go back\nto this company and still avoid remark; that nobody will have\noccasion to say that they are pious, or notice any change in\ntheir life; that they can keep all right in God's sight, and also\nin that of their bad companions; that they can avoid doing any\nharm, and still do no good.\n\nLet such remember these words: \"He that is not with me is against\nme.\" If you want to stay in the grace of God, you must hate sin,\nand love virtue; and if you really do this your life and\nconversation will show that such is the case. You must be a\nfriend of Christ and an enemy of the devil and of all his works,\nand not only be willing but proud to be known as such; if you\nwill not do this our Lord will not have you or keep you. Choose,\nthen, which side you will take; do not fancy that you can take\nneither. If you try to steer a middle course, and live an empty\nand unprofitable life, neither one thing nor the other, you will\nsoon slip back just where you were before.\n\n-------------------\n\n{183}\n\n _Fourth Sunday of Lent._\n\n\n Epistle.\n _Galatians iv._ 22-31.\n\n Brethren:\n It is written that Abraham had two sons: the one by a bond\n woman, and the other by a free-woman: but he that was by the\n bond-woman was born according to the flesh: but he by the\n free-woman was by the promise. Which things are said by an\n allegory: for these are the two testaments: the one indeed on\n Mount Sina which bringeth forth unto bondage, which is Agar:\n for Sina is a mountain in Arabia, which hath an affinity to\n that which now is Jerusalem, and is in bondage with her\n children. But that Jerusalem which is above, is free: which is\n our mother. For it is written: \"Rejoice, thou barren, that\n bearest not: break forth and cry out, thou that travailest not;\n for many are the children of the desolate, more than of her\n that hath a husband\"; now we, brethren, as Isaac was, are the\n children of promise. But as then he, that was born according to\n the flesh, persecuted him that was according to the spirit: so\n also now. But what saith the Scripture? \"Cast out the bond\n woman and her son: for the son of the bond-woman shall not be\n heir with the son of the free-woman.\" Therefore, brethren, we\n are not the children of the bond-woman, but of the free: by the\n freedom wherewith Christ has made us free.\n\n\n Gospel.\n _St. John vi._ 1-15.\n\n At that time:\n Jesus went over the sea of Galilee, which is that of Tiberias:\n and a great multitude followed him, because they saw the\n miracles which he did on them that were infirm. And Jesus went\n up into a mountain, and there he sat with his disciples.\n{184}\n Now the pasch, the festival day of the Jews, was near at hand.\n When Jesus therefore had lifted up his eyes, and seen that a\n very great multitude cometh to him, he said to Philip: Whence\n shall we buy bread that these may eat? And this he said to try\n him, for he himself knew what he would do. Philip answered him:\n Two hundred pennyworth of bread is not sufficient for them,\n that every one may take a little. One of his disciples, Andrew,\n the brother of Simon Peter, saith to him: There is a boy here\n that hath five barley loaves, and two fishes; but what are\n these among so many? Then Jesus said: Make the men sit down.\n Now there was much grass in the place. So the men sat down, in\n number about five thousand. And Jesus took the loaves: and when\n he had given thanks he distributed to them that were sat down.\n In like manner also of the fishes as much as they would. And\n when they were filled, he said to his disciples: Gather up the\n fragments that remain, lest they be lost. So they gathered up,\n and filled twelve baskets with the fragments of the five barley\n loaves, which remained over and above to them that had eaten.\n Then those men, when they had seen what a miracle Jesus had\n done, said: This is the prophet indeed that is to come into the\n world. When Jesus, therefore, perceived that they would come\n and take him by force and make him king, he fled again into the\n mountain himself alone.\n\n-------------------\n\n Sermon LIII.\n\n The Happiness Of True Penance.\n\n _Rejoice Jerusalem_.\n --Introit of the Mass for the Day.\n\n\nThis is called \"L\u00e6tare, or rejoicing Sunday.\" It may surprise\nyou, dear brethren, to be told that this is a day of rejoicing;\nyou will be amazed, no doubt, that, in the midst of the rigorous\nLenten fast, when men should bewail their sins and do penance for\nthem, and sounds of mirth and joy are hushed, the church should\nbid us rejoice.\n{185}\nYet thus she does to-day. In mid-Lent even she would have her\nchildren rejoice, would have them forget for the moment penance\nand turn their hearts to thoughts of gladness, that, by so doing,\nshe may teach them that the rigors of this season, the\nself-denial and curbing of the flesh she imposes on us, is\nundergone that we may realize more fully the spirit of her\nteaching--that we may, in truth, preserve, or get back if we\nhave lost it, that interior joy, that spiritual jubilation which\nis the portion of every one who serves Christ as he should be\nserved.\n\nOur religion is one of joy, because we are Christ's and he is\nours; and what more can we ask, or what greater can be bestowed\nupon us, than the having of Christ; Christ, at once perfect man\nand true God; Christ, whose life is the model of our lives, whose\ngrace is the source of all joy; Christ, to have whom is to have a\nbrother, and, at the same time, the eternal God; the God by whose\nword were made all things that are, who knows no limit to his\npower, who has in himself all perfections that man can desire or\nconceive of; a brother--a man like ourselves, with a human heart\nlike our own, with affections like those of other men; a brother\nburning with tender love for us, knowing our weakness, knowing\nour wants and ready to succor us; a man who was himself tempted,\nwho has himself suffered the miseries of this life, who, in a\nword, was made like to us in all save sin. This is whom we have\nwhen we have Christ, and should we not rejoice at having such a\none?\n\n{186}\n\nWe should and do rejoice; our hearts are always full of gladness\nwhen we are in God's grace, and Christ is ours and we are his;\nand this is what the church wishes for all her children--the\nfriendship and the love of God. She ever has Christ herself, and\nso is never sad; though she may mourn with him suffering, still\nthere is joy behind all her sorrow.\n\nIf she puts on sombre garments, if she calls man to penance, if\nshe fasts and covers her head with ashes, she is still glad in\nthe depths of her heart. She is calling you and me to share the\ngladness, to get it back if we have lost it by mortal sin; she is\nbidding you and me to keep that gladness by chastising our\nbodies; she is warning us that we may lose God's grace, as, alas!\ntoo many before us have lost it, unless we are vigilant.\n\nDear brethren, listen to the church's voice to-day; come, all of\nyou, come and share her joy. If you are not in God's grace do not\nlet another day go by without making your peace with God. Oh! how\nmuch you are losing, and for what? For some trifling satisfaction\nwhich cannot bring true happiness; some mean gratification of\nyour lower nature; for sin you are letting slip by the offer of\nGod's friendship and the joy of a good conscience. Do you want to\ndie as you are living? If you do not, repent of your sins to-day;\nbefore you leave this church promise God that you will sin no\nmore; that you will be in fact what you are in name--a Christian.\n\n-------------------\n\n{187}\n\n Sermon LIV.\n\n Liberty Of Spirit.\n\n\n _By the freedom wherewith Christ has made us free._\n\n\nThese, my dear brethren, are the concluding words of the Epistle\nread at Mass to-day. They ought to be of unusual interest to us,\nfor they speak of a matter which we all care very much about;\nwhich some care so much about that they are willing to fight for\nit, and to die for its sake.\n\nIf you have listened to these words of St. Paul, which I have\njust read, you know what this is of which I speak, and for which\nwe all care so much. It is freedom or, as we often call it,\nliberty. Many, as I just said, will even die, if need be, rather\nthan abandon it; and indeed thousands, nay millions, have\nactually done so. Man feels that he must have it. Life, liberty,\nand the pursuit of happiness he claims as his right.\n\nEspecially do people nowadays ask for liberty, and insist on\nhaving it. The child is no sooner out of his mother's arms than\nhe wants and tries in all things to have his own way. Obedience\nis a lesson that he seldom willingly learns. He thinks that when\nhe is a man he can do as he pleases; and he does not see why he\nshould not even now. Sometimes he succeeds in having his own way,\nin spite of his parents; he runs away from school and, when a\nlittle older, from church; he passes his life among such\ncompanions as he chooses, who help him to get the liberty which\nthey think they have themselves got, by defying all the laws of\nGod and of man.\n\n{188}\n\nBut is this really liberty which these foolish children, and\nyoung men and women more foolish than children, think they have\ngot by trampling on all law? No; a thousand times no! It is to\ntrue liberty only as the shadow to the substance, as they find to\ntheir cost before they have travelled very far on this road. They\nhave but escaped from a light and easy yoke to take on their\nnecks one far heavier and more grievous, and which becomes more\nand more so every day. They have left the service of the kind and\ngood Master to whom they belonged and entered into that of a hard\nand cruel tyrant instead. He has filled them with base and\nbeastly passions, and made them slaves to these passions. They\nare given over, body and soul, to impurity, gluttony, or\ndrunkenness, or it may be to a mean and miserable greed for\nmoney. At last, perhaps, they try to turn back and shake\nthemselves free from these accursed lusts, which have fastened on\nthem, and are draining the very life-blood from their souls; but\nit seems that they cannot do so. They set out to do as they\npleased, and how has it ended? In their being bound, hand and\nfoot, in the slavery of sin.\n\nBut what was their mistake? Were they altogether wrong in wishing\nfor liberty? Is the desire for freedom, which is implanted in us,\nall a delusion? Are we never to do as we desire, but always to\nhave a restraint and a yoke upon us?\n\nNo, my brethren, the idea of liberty is not a mistake. We are\nright in wishing for liberty, hoping for it, and trying to secure\nit in the right way. But the mistake these foolish people of whom\nI have spoken make is in going the wrong way in the search for\nit: in looking for it in the wrong place.\n\n{189}\n\nWhere, then, is liberty to be found? I will tell you; and you may\nbe surprised at what I say, for it does not sound as if it could\nbe true; but it is true, nevertheless. True liberty, then, is in\nthe service of God. Those who serve God best are the freest men\non earth.\n\nBut how can this be? I answer, It can and must be very easily and\nvery plainly. For those who serve God best of all--that is, the\nsaints in heaven--always do just what they like, and enjoy doing\nit most perfectly. They have got rid of all the hindrances that,\nmore or less, prevent every one here below from doing what he\nwishes.\n\nAnd, of course, those who try to walk in the path of the saints\nhere on earth also have much of this freedom. The more they learn\nto do God's will the more they love it; and so they are always\ndoing more and more what they like, and more and more easily all\nthe time; and that is just what liberty is: to do what you like,\nand to do it without pain or difficulty.\n\nThe servants of God, then, have their liberty, because they have\ngot free from sin, which is the only obstacle to it. And this\nfreedom from sin is the gift of Christ, it is the fruit of his\nPassion; it is, then, the liberty which he has given us. It is\nours if we wish it. Try, then, my dear brethren, in this holy\nseason of Lent, when his graces are so abundantly poured out, to\ngain that freedom which they will surely give us, that \"freedom\nwherewith. Christ has made us free.\"\n\n-------------------\n\n{190}\n\n Sermon LV.\n\n The Lust Of The Eyes.\n\n\n _Have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness,\n but rather reprove them.\n For the things that are done by them in secret,\n it is a shame even to speak of._\n --Ephesians v. 11, 12.\n\n\nSome weeks ago, my dear brethren, we had occasion to speak of the\nhorrible and filthy vice of impurity, which is every day dragging\ninto hell thousands of souls with the mark of the cross of Christ\non them, and washed in vain with his Precious Blood. As was said\nthen, many Christians do not seem to realize the enormity of sins\nagainst the Sixth Commandment--at least those of thought and of\nthe tongue; to which may be added those coming from the use of\nthe other senses, especially that of sight.\n\nAn immodest imagination or desire, wilfully entertained or\nenjoyed, is a mortal sin, and gives the soul so harboring it\ninstantly into the power of the devil. Let us hope that no one\nhaving the Catholic faith will doubt this, or think it too strict\na doctrine; for it is the unanimous consent of all the teaching\nauthority in the church from the beginning, amply supported also\nby Holy Scripture. What shall we say, then, of wilful and\ndeliberate gazing at immodest pictures, or of reading matter\ndirectly calculated to inflame impure passions, and certain to\nhave its effect?\n\nNow, I hardly need to say that a city like this is full of these\ntemptations coming through the eyes into the heart. The good and\npure instinctively avoid them, and scarcely know that they exist;\naccustomed to watch the slightest movements of their souls to\nevil, and instantly to repress them, they shrink with horror from\nthose filthy words and pictures on which others eagerly gaze.\n{191}\nThey know that, as the Apostle says, it is a shame to speak of\nthese things, a greater shame to write or to read of them, a\ngreater shame yet to expose them to sight, to incite temptation\nby them, and thus to destroy the souls for which Christ died.\n\nI say that the good and pure are not likely to be caught in this\nnet of Satan; by this I mean those who have been warned of the\nevil, who understand its danger, and from well-formed habits of\nvirtue set themselves resolutely against it. But there are others\nwho are good and pure--in their baptismal innocence, perhaps;\nyoung, at any rate, and unused to sin, at least of this kind--who\nare not forewarned and forearmed like those of maturer years,\nwho, seeing bad pictures in papers sold even at stores otherwise\nof good repute, and kept, perhaps, by Catholics, do not fully\nunderstand how bad they are, and are led to look at them with\npleasure, to learn evil which they knew not of, and thus to\ncontract habits of sin which they will never overcome.\n\nNow, what does our Lord say of those who thus put temptation in\nthe way of the young and innocent? You all know his words: \"He\nthat shall scandalize one of these little ones who believe in me,\nit were better for him that a millstone should be hanged about\nhis neck, and that he should be drowned in the depth of the sea.\"\nStrong words these, but they are those of the Divine Wisdom, and\nbeyond correction by human lips. Yes, it is better to die, better\neven to die in the state of sin, than to add such a sin as this\nto our number.\n\n{192}\n\nLet us beware, then, not in any way, however indirect, to give\nsanction or encouragement to this work of the devil in our midst.\n\"Have no fellowship with these works of darkness, but rather\nreprove them.\" Do not buy or even take up for a moment the\nindecent papers or books now unfortunately so common among us;\nstill more, do not sell them; do not allow them to be in the\nhouse; do not suffer your children to look at or read them; do\nnot frequent places where they are to be had. Set your faces\nresolutely, for the honor of God and the Catholic name, as well\nas for your own souls sake, against this plague of immodest\nliterature, which has assumed such fearful proportions and become\nso bold and unblushing in these days in which we live. Think\nnothing to be light or of little moment in this matter; mortal\nsin is much easier in it than you may believe.\n\n-------------------\n\n{193}\n\n _Passion Sunday._\n\n\n Epistle.\n _Hebrews ix._ 11-15.\n\n Brethren:\n Christ, being come a high-priest of the good things to come, by\n a greater and more perfect tabernacle not made with hands, that\n is, not of this creation: neither by the blood of goats, nor of\n calves, but by his own blood, entered once into the Holies,\n having obtained eternal redemption. For if the blood of goats\n and of oxen, and the ashes of a heifer being sprinkled,\n sanctify such as are defiled, to the cleansing of the flesh:\n how much more shall the blood of Christ, who by the Holy Ghost\n offered himself unspotted unto God, cleanse our conscience from\n dead works, to serve the living God? And therefore he is the\n mediator of the new testament: that by means of his death, for\n the redemption of those transgressions, which were under the\n former testament, they that are called may receive the promise\n of eternal inheritance in Christ Jesus our Lord.\n\n\n Gospel.\n _St. John viii._ 46-59.\n\n At that time:\n Jesus said to the multitude of the Jews:\n Which of you shall convince me of sin? If I say the truth to\n you, why do you not believe me? He that is of God, heareth the\n words of God. Therefore you hear them not, because you are not\n of God. The Jews, therefore, answered and said to him: Do we\n not say well that thou art a Samaritan, and hast a devil? Jesus\n answered: I have not a devil; but I honor my Father, and you\n have dishonored me. But I seek not my own glory; there is one\n that seeketh and judgeth. Amen, amen, I say to you: if any man\n keep my word, he shall not see death for ever.\n{194}\n The Jews therefore said: Now we know that thou hast a devil.\n Abraham is dead, and the prophets; and thou sayest: If any man\n keep my word, he shall not taste death for ever. Art thou\n greater than our father Abraham, who is dead? And the prophets\n are dead. Whom dost thou make thyself? Jesus answered: If I\n glorify myself, my glory is nothing. It is my Father that\n glorifieth me, of whom you say that he is your God. And you\n have not known him, but I know him. And if I shall say that I\n know him not, I shall be like to you, a liar. But I do know\n him, and do keep his word. Abraham your father rejoiced that he\n might see my day; he saw it, and was glad. The Jews therefore\n said to him: Thou art not yet fifty years old, and hast thou\n seen Abraham? Jesus said to them: Amen, amen, I say to you,\n before Abraham was made, I am. They took up stones therefore to\n cast at him. But Jesus hid himself, and went out of the temple.\n\n-------------------\n\n Sermon LVI.\n\n The Precious Blood.\n\n\n _The Blood of Jesus Christ his Son\n cleanseth us from all sin._\n --1 Epistle St. John i. 7.\n\n\nWe all know, my dear brethren, that when a man is born into the\nworld he is born _unclean_ before God. He is then _so_\nunclean that he is not fit to associate with the sons of God and\nheirs of the kingdom of heaven. He is then so unclean that he can\nnever be anything but an outcast from God until he is made clean.\n\n{195}\n\nIs there any way in which he can be made clean? Yes, for when he\nis baptized he is made a new creature; he is cleansed from the\nstain of original sin, made a child of God and heir of the\nkingdom of heaven. He is then so pure and holy that if he die\nimmediately he will go, to a certainty, straight to heaven. For\nbaptism applies the Blood of Christ to his soul, and he is become\ntruly clean. But suppose he does not die immediately after\nbaptism, how is it with him then? If he keep his baptismal\ninnocence, so far as never to commit a mortal sin, he still has a\nright to go to heaven. He can then demand of God permission to\nenter heaven.\n\nCan he, however, demand this permission to enter heaven\nimmediately after his death if he has committed only venial sin?\nThat depends entirely upon his contrition at the moment of death.\nIf he is not so sorry for all his sins that his contrition is\n[not] perfect, then he can't enter heaven immediately, but must\ngo to purgatory to be made perfectly pure, so that he can be\ntaken into heaven.\n\nI have said that baptism applies the Blood of Christ to the soul\nand makes man pure and innocent. Now, baptism is a sacrament. It\nis the first one and is necessary to salvation. Without it no man\ncan enter heaven, nor even purgatory, for the purgatorial state\nis the first and lowest state of blessed and holy souls who must\ngo to heaven in the end. But the blood of Christ is applied to\nthe soul of man in other ways, although baptism must come in in\nthe first place.\n\nIn what other ways is the Blood of Christ applied:\n\nFirst, by the Sacrifice of the Mass. For by the Mass we repair\nour sins, get grace to keep from sin, and make our purgatory\nshorter in consequence. He who hears Mass daily makes the best\nprayer that a man can make, and he is more certain to have his\nprayer answered. He also helps the living and the dead, and\nbrings down upon himself and his own special graces from God.\n\n{196}\n\nSecondly, the Blood of Christ is applied to our souls by the\nSacrament of Penance. Men defile their souls by sin, by\n_mortal_ sin after baptism. He who receives the Sacrament of\nPenance worthily--that is, with true sorrow for all mortal sin,\nwith a firm determination to lead a good life and repair the\nwrong he has done--that man receives again the grace of God that\nrestores his soul to eternal life.\n\nThirdly, in Holy Communion we receive the Body and Blood of our\nLord Jesus Christ in a hidden manner, but in deed and in truth.\nThe consecrated Host is the eternal and ever-living God himself.\nYou know, my dear brethren, the strength of this divine food. How\nit gives new energy to the soul, destroys the power of\nconcupiscence, banishes, or at least weakens, temptation, always\ngiving us the grace to hold our own against the world, the flesh,\nand the devil. _And there are Catholics who refuse to make this\nCommunion once a year!_\n\nBut there is one thing that ought to be said here. A Catholic\nought never to consider as useless, or as almost useless, any one\nof the sacraments. This too many do as regards confession. They\nunderrate it. They think, therefore, it is no good unless they\nreceive Communion every time they go to confession. Now this is a\ngrave error. One is _not_ obliged to go to Communion every\ntime he goes to confession. Those who cannot go to Mass nor\nCommunion, on account of their business or employment or work\nkeeping them away, can at least go to confession very often\nduring the year. All such an one has to do is to prepare himself\ncarefully, step into the rector's house, make his confession, and\ngo on to work again. If he but make an arrangement with some one\nof the priests he can always be heard at once. Frequent\nconfession is a wonderful help to a good life and a happy death.\n\n-------------------\n\n{197}\n\n Sermon LVII.\n\n Christ's Passion.\n\n\n _Which of you shall convince me of sin?_\n --John viii. 46.\n\n\nTo-day, dear friends, is Passion Sunday, and our long Lenten\npilgrimage is nearing its end. Heretofore our thoughts have been\non ourselves, our own shortcomings, our own sins. Now we stand,\nas it were, on the hill overlooking the Holy City, and see before\nus, as a map unrolled, the scene of our Redeemer's agony:\nBethany, the olive-garden of Gethsemani, and, further on, the\nbarren mount of Calvary, with its three crosses standing forth,\nblack and cruel, against the fair blue sky.\n\nNow our thoughts turn from ourselves to our Lord. We have seen\nwhat the effect of sin has been on us. Now we look and see, and\nour shame should deepen as we see, what sorrow and tears and\nagony it has brought on the eternal Son of God.\n\nTo-day the cross is veiled, the pictures are shrouded in\nmourning, the \"Gloria\" ceases to be sung. So our sins covered our\ndying Lord as with a garment, and sorrow chokes the voice of holy\nchurch, fills her heart to overflowing, and stills all her songs\nof praise.\n\n{198}\n\nWhat is this veil which obscures the cross of Jesus Christ and\nmakes his Passion of no effect? O dear brethren! is it not our\nsins? What platted the crown of thorns, and drove those sharp\nspikes deep into his sacred head? Our selfish pride. What sent\nthose nails through his hands and feet, fixing them to the tree\nof shame? Our wicked deeds and our wanderings from the path of\nduty. What parched his tongue with such burning thirst? Our\nshameless indulgence in drink. What pointed the spear of the\nimpious Roman soldier, and hurled it deep into the Sacred Heart,\nwhence issued the red torrent of the Precious Blood? Our\ninordinate appetites and sinful lusts. As often as we sin we\ncrucify our dearest Lord afresh.\n\n\"Which of you shall convince me of sin?\" What more could I have\ndone for my vineyard which I have not done? I came down from\nheaven; took upon myself the form of a servant, the likeness of\nsinful flesh; set you a perfect example how you should walk; was\nled as a lamb to the slaughter; was scourged, spit upon, mangled,\ncrucified; what could I have done more? Which of you shall\nconvince me of sin? Which of _you_, my brethren? How many\ngraces and blessings do you not owe to that crucified Lord? In\nhow many sore temptations have you not been defended and\nstrengthened? In how many bitter sorrows have you not been\ncomforted? From how many shameful falls have you not been raised\nup? O Christian soul! for whom Christ died, look upon that\nbleeding, suffering, dying Saviour, and, if nothing else will\nmove you, let those ghastly wounds, which your sins have made,\nplead with you. Acknowledge your transgressions: abase yourself\nin the very dust.\n{199}\nLet that sacred Passion plead with you, that infinite love plead\nwith you, that Precious Blood plead with you, those last tender\nwords plead with you, and teach you, for their sake and your\nsoul's sake, to love the Lord more dearly, to dread sin more\neffectually, and never, as long as you live, to add to that heavy\nburden by any wicked deed of yours.\n\nSo shall, a few days hence, the veil be lifted from the cross,\nand our sorrow be turned to joy, for when the Lord of Glory shall\narise we too shall arise with him, and reign with him in glory\nfor evermore.\n\n-------------------\n\n Sermon LVIII.\n\n Dangerous Companionship.\n\n\n _Walk circumspectly; not as unwise, but as wise._\n --Ephesians. v. 15-16.\n\n\nTo-day, my dear brethren, I propose to make a few remarks on the\ndangerous occasions of impurity, so common in these times.\n\nThe danger of which I wish specially to speak is that which comes\nfrom the familiar acquaintance which now exists to such a great\nextent, and is taken so much as a matter of course, between young\npersons of different sexes. This undue familiarity is too common\neverywhere in this country; and more than anywhere else in a city\nlike that in which we live. Young women here with us, even though\nthey be Catholics, and good enough Catholics in some respects,\nseem to forget, or rather never to begin to realize, the laws of\ndecorum and modesty which well-instructed persons, even though\nnot professing to be specially religious, have hitherto rightly\ntaken for granted.\n\n{200}\n\nTo take a flagrant instance. A priest, being a man educated\naccording to the rules of respectable society, is unspeakably\nsurprised when he for the first time hears some young woman,\napparently of a careful conscience, ask him if it is a sin to\nflirt. For what is this which is called flirting? It is simply\ndeliberately and wantonly acting in a way to attract the\nattention of particular persons of the opposite sex, to make\nsignals which are to be understood as marks of preference for, or\nof desire of acquaintance with, some young man or men whom she\nmay chance to see on the street. A sin to flirt! How can you ask\nsuch a question? Why, outwardly and at the first appearance, the\nact is not very different from that of an abandoned woman seeking\nto attract those whom she thinks will notice her. The intention,\nof course, in your minds is often comparatively harmless, it is\ntrue; but by outward standards the act is simply disreputable.\nFurthermore, it shows a feeling which any lady, really worthy of\nthe name, would hesitate to show even to one whose character she\nwell knew to be good, and who had for a long time given to her\nrespectful and proper attentions. A woman or girl who flirts\nseems to be, if she is not in reality, lost to all sense of\ndecency; and those are almost as much so who shamelessly walk at\nnight up and down the avenues in the hope of attracting\nattention.\n\nThis seeking to form unknown acquaintances of the opposite sex or\nto attract special attention among them is, then, a thing which\nno Catholic girl should think of, if she has any sense of shame.\nBut when such acquaintances are formed by an introduction in\nitself proper, they should be very carefully considered.\n{201}\nFor a young woman to make one of the other sex her friend or\nfamiliar companion, as she well may one of her own, is a thing\nwhich should be unheard of. She should have but one such friend,\nand he should be one who has acted honorably to her by proposing\nto her to take the honorable part of her husband, and whom she\nhas before God and in her conscience felt to be worthy, and\naccepted by a binding engagement. Before that, and to all other\nmen, politeness with proper and modest reserve should be the\nconstant rule, affection and familiarity out of the question. And\nyet we find girls keeping company, as it is called, and that\nwithout any sort of serious guarantee of the purposes of the\nother party, not only with one after another, but even with more\nthan one at once.\n\nFor the reasons, plain enough, on which these directions rest,\npromiscuous assemblies of both sexes, such as those to be found\nat certain gatherings, now unfortunately so popular, are full of\ndanger, and had far better in all cases be avoided. A freedom of\nmanners prevails in them--to say nothing of direct temptations to\nthe senses--and an ease of making acquaintance, which opens a\nfree door to sin. I do not wish to be too severe, but, as a rule,\nI do say, leave such places alone. Young women, respect\nyourselves; demand the respect of others. There is the moral in a\nnutshell.\n\n-------------------\n\n{202}\n\n _Palm Sunday._\n\n\n Epistle.\n _Philippians ii._ 5-11.\n\n Brethren:\n Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus: who\n being in the form of God, thought it not robbery himself to be\n equal with God: but debased himself, taking the form of a\n servant, being made to the likeness of men, and in shape found\n as a man. He humbled himself, becoming obedient unto death,\n even the death of the cross. Wherefore God also hath exalted\n him, and hath given him a name which is above every name: that\n in the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of those that are\n in heaven, on earth, and in hell. And that every tongue should\n confess that the Lord Jesus Christ is in the glory of God the\n Father.\n\n\n Gospel.\n _St. Matthew xxvii._ 62-66.\n\n And the next day, which followed the day of preparation, the\n chief priests and the Pharisees came together to Pilate,\n saying: Sir, we have remembered that that seducer said, while\n he was yet alive: After three days I will rise again. Command\n therefore the sepulchre to be guarded until the third day: lest\n his disciples come and steal him away, and say to the people,\n He is risen from the dead: so the last error shall be worse\n than the first. Pilate said to them: You have a guard; go,\n guard it as you know. And they departing, made the sepulchre\n sure with guards, sealing the stone.\n\n------------------\n\n{203}\n\n Sermon LIX.\n\n Hardness Of Heart.\n\n\n _To-day if you shall hear his voice,\n harden not your hearts. _\n\n\nThese words, my dear brethren, are taken from the beginning of\nthe office recited by the clergy on this and the following days,\nup to Holy Thursday. They entreat us not to let this time,\nprecious above all others, go by without making the use of it\nwhich our Lord means that we should make; not to let him show his\nlove for us without giving him love in return.\n\n\"Harden not your hearts.\" How is it that we harden our hearts? It\nis by putting off our repentance; by clinging to the world and\nits pleasures, to the gratification of our sinful passions, and\nwaiting for some time to come when it will be more convenient to\ngive them up, or when we shall feel more strongly moved to do so.\nWe think that this time will surely come, that the stream of\nGod's graces will be uninterrupted, and that when necessity urges\nwe can avail ourselves of the one that happens to be then within\nour reach as easily as we could have done of the many that went\nby long ago.\n\nBut, my brethren, this is a great and a terrible mistake. It may\nbe, indeed, that God in his goodness and mercy has many graces\nyet in store for us equal in themselves to those which we have\nhad; but if we have despised and neglected the past ones they\nwill not be the same for us as those were which went before,\n{204}\nA word of warning, a single prayer, the sight of the crucifix or\nof our Blessed Mother, a pious picture, an Agnus Dei, is enough\nto move the innocent soul of a child to the love of God; the most\npowerful mission-sermon often fails to make any impression on one\nwho has spent his life in sin. It is not the grace that is\nwanting on God's part. No, he is there in his power; his arm is\nnot shortened; he is still mighty to save. But his voice seems to\nthe deaf ear of the sinner faint and indistinct; his message is\nthe same old story. Yes, it is the same old story; it must be the\nsame, for there is but one. There is but one name under heaven\nwhereby we can be saved, only one Gospel which we can preach, and\nthe sinner has heard it so often with indifference that its\ninterest is gone.\n\nThen--most dangerous delusion of all--he comforts himself with\nthe hope that at least he will die in the grace of God; that\nsomehow or other he will, as he passes from life to death, be\nbrought from death to life. He forgets that the sacraments were\nnot given to give repentance to the sinner; no, they have for\ntheir object to give pardon and grace to those who have repented.\nDo you think it is of the slightest use to anoint with oil the\nsenses of a man who lies unconscious, and who has not, while he\nhad the use of his mind, turned really and truly away in his\nheart from his sinful life? The priest does it, indeed, in hopes\nthat he may have repented; but how faint is that hope for those\nwho have suddenly been stricken down! And even if there is more\ntime; even if some sort of confession can be made, is it so sure\nthat the hardened heart, which has all its life loved and clung\nto its sins, will now love God and hate sin? God's mercy is\ngreat, it is true; he may now give extraordinary graces, but he\nis not bound to do so; and if the ordinary ones have failed\nbefore they may also fail now.\n\n{205}\n\nYes, my brethren, now is the time--a better time than your last\nhour. Now in this Passion season the Precious Blood of Christ is\nflowing more freely for you than you can expect ever to find it\nagain. Listen to his voice now; do not wait till it becomes\nfainter. If you have not spent Lent well so far, come now and\nmake the most of the help so abundantly given you in these holy\ndays. Harden not your hearts any longer; it is a dangerous game\nto play.\n\n-------------------\n\n Sermon LX.\n\n Spirit Of Holy Week.\n\n\n _Think diligently upon him that endured such opposition\n from sinners against himself._\n --Hebrews. xii. 3.\n\n\nThe week which we this Sunday enter upon, my dear brethren, is\ncalled Holy Week; and of all the many sacred seasons which the\nchurch has set apart, this is by far the most solemn and sacred.\nEverything which it is within the power of external rites and\nceremonies to do has been done by the church in these services,\nin order to bring home to her children the great lesson which\nthis holy season should teach. And while it is true that the\nchurch has not made attendance obligatory under pain of mortal\nsin, yet it would argue a very poor and ungrateful spirit, and\none but little in accordance with that of the church, if any one\nshould without good reason neglect to be present.\n\n{206}\n\nNow, what is the truth which these services have it for their\nobject to impress upon our minds? No other than that fundamental,\ndistinctive truth--the Passion and death of Christ, its reason\nand effects. The church this week excludes from commemoration\neverything else, and applies herself exclusively to tracing the\nsteps of her Lord and Founder from his entry into Jerusalem in\nthe midst of acclamations and rejoicings, to the entombment of\nhis dead and blood-stained body in the sepulchre of Joseph of\nArimathea. Now, every one must have, necessarily has, in these\nevents the greatest interest--an interest which surpasses every\nother.\n\nAnd, first, as to those who are in the habit of going frequently\nto the sacraments, who understand their great value, and find in\nthese means of grace their chief consolation in the midst of the\ntroubles and cares which surround them. For these the\ncommemoration of the Passion and death of Christ can not but be\nprofitable. The author of \"The Following of Christ\" tells us that\nwe ought not to consider so much the gift of the lover as the\nlove of the giver. And we all know that we esteem the trifling\npresent made by a dear friend more than much more costly things\nwhich we have ourselves bought or earned. Now, the sacraments are\nnot merely inestimable treasures in themselves; they are also\ntokens and pledges of the love of Him who instituted them, bought\nby him at the cost of his own most Precious Blood, given to us to\nshow us his love to us. Every time a man goes to confession,\nevery time he receives Holy Communion, he is receiving that which\nwas instituted and established and bestowed upon him out of love;\nand if he wishes to know how great that love was he ought to have\na lively sense of what it cost our Lord to merit those graces for\nus--namely, his bitter Passion and death.\n\n{207}\n\nBut there are many who neglect the sacraments, who come to them\nbut seldom, perhaps only to their Easter Communion; perhaps not\neven to that. What is to be thought of those who act in this way?\nCertainly, however smart and keen and intelligent they may be, or\nfancy themselves to be, in lower matters which are nearer to them\nand fall beneath their senses--in money-getting, in trade, in\nart, in literature--such men show but little sense and\nunderstanding about things which are of real importance and\nvalue. In what way may these duller and obtuser minds learn to\nappreciate these higher things? Certainly the price given for a\nthing by a prudent man is a good means of learning what it is\nworth. Now, if those who neglect the sacraments, who make but\nlittle of them, would during this week apply themselves to the\nconsideration of the price paid by our Lord for those sacraments,\nI have but little doubt that they would be led to form a truer\nnotion of their value and importance.\n\nI wish I could conclude without alluding to another class which,\nthough I trust it is not numerous, yet does exist--I mean those\nwho do not neglect the sacraments, but those who do worse: who\nprofane them. Those who make bad confessions, who conceal mortal\nsins, who have no sorrow for their sins and no purpose of\namendment, who make the infinite mercy and goodness of God a\nreason and pretext for wallowing in vice and sin--what shall be\nsaid of these?\n{208}\nWe know that our Lord is reigning now gloriously in heaven; that\nnothing which we can do can cause him loss or pain; yet it is\nalso true that those who act in this way do all that lies in\ntheir power to trample under foot that Precious Blood which was\nshed for them. But while there is life there is hope, and if even\nthose would devote this week to meditation on the Passion of our\nLord, they might form a just estimate of what their souls cost\nour Lord, and turn to him while there is yet time.\n\n-------------------\n\n{209}\n\n _Easter Sunday._\n\n\n Epistle.\n 1 _Corinthians v._ 7, 8.\n\n Brethren:\n Purge out the old leaven, that you may be a new mass, as you\n are unleavened. For Christ, our pasch, is sacrificed. Therefore\n let us feast, not with the old leaven, nor with the leaven of\n malice and wickedness, but with the unleavened bread of\n sincerity and truth.\n\n\n Gospel.\n _St. Mark xvi._ 1-7.\n\n At that time:\n Mary Magdalen, and Mary the mother of James and Salome, bought\n sweet spices, that coming they might anoint Jesus. And very\n early in the morning, the first day of the week, they come to\n the sepulchre, the sun being now risen. And they said one to\n another: Who shall roll us back the stone from the door of the\n sepulchre? And looking, they saw the stone rolled back, for it\n was very great. And entering into the sepulchre, they saw a\n young man sitting on the right side, clothed with a white robe:\n and they were astonished. And he said to them: Be not\n affrighted; ye seek Jesus of Nazareth, who was crucified: he is\n risen, he is not here; behold the place where they laid him.\n But go, tell his disciples and Peter that he goeth before you\n into Galilee; there you shall see him as he told you.\n\n-------------------\n\n{210}\n\n Sermon LXI.\n\n Easter Joy.\n\n\n _H\u00e6c dies, quam fecit Dominus:\n Exultemus, et l\u00e6temur in ea._\n --Psalm cxvii. 24.\n [USCCB: Psalm cxviii. 24.]\n\n \"_This is the day which the Lord hath made:\n Let us be glad and rejoice in it._\"\n\n\nSo sings the Psalmist. So sings the church today in Holy Mass,\nand every Christian heart beats with the response: \"Let us be\nglad and rejoice.\"\n\nA happy Easter, then, to you all, my dear brethren! A happy\nEaster to the old, to whom, in the natural course of things, many\nreturns of this blessed day cannot come! A happy Easter to the\nyoung, rejoicing in all the freshness and vigor of youth, and\nconfidently looking forward to many renewals of Easter joys! A\nhappy Easter to the rich, upon whom God has bestowed an abundance\nof worldly goods! And a thrice happy Easter to God's own special\nfriends, the poor! Thus holy church bids all be glad and rejoice,\nfor to-day Christ is risen, the Saviour of us all.\n\nThe joy of Easter, my dear brethren, like that of Christmas, is\nall-pervading. We feel it in the air we breathe, we see it in the\nsparkling eye and radiant countenance of the child. The quick and\nhearty salutation of our friends, \"A happy Easter to you!\"\nincreases our own joy, for we perceive that all about us are\nsharers with us in this great gift of the risen Christ.\n\n{211}\n\nBut the joy of Easter differs from that of Christmas in this:\nthat the latter brings to us the glad tidings of the coming of\nthe true King, the strong and valiant leader of the mighty host\nof Israel, and our hearts leap with joy as we go forth, with\nbuoyant step and strengthened arm, and fight the great battle of\nlife. Easter joy is the joy of victory, for our gallant Leader,\nthe strong Son of God, has gone before; he has overcome the\nenemy, and death is swallowed up in victory.\n\nYes, Christ has fought the battle and won. But there remains for\nus a battle to be fought, but not an uncertain one; for we have\nreceived virtue from the victory of Christ, and by following him\nfaithfully, by keeping our eye fixed steadily on the banner of\nChrist--the banner of the cross--our victory, too, is certain.\n\nThis, then, is why Easter time gladdens the heart of every true\nChristian, for it brings with it the assured hope of final\nvictory over sin, which is the sting of death, by a glorious\nresurrection.\n\nBut, my dear brethren, mid all these rejoicings may there not be\nsome poor soul among us who does not participate in the joys of\nEaster time? Some soul for which Christ on Good Friday poured\nforth the last drop of his Sacred Blood, but which to-day finds\nitself estranged, nay, even in a hostile attitude towards its\nonly true friend? Oh! would to God there were not even one such\nungrateful soul in the whole world. But, alas! I fear there are\nmany upon whom our loving Saviour, the risen Christ, must look\nthis day as his declared enemies; some wretched souls over whom\nhangs the thick, black cloud of mortal sin, unrepented and\nunforgiven, and through which the bright rays of God's infinite\nlove cannot penetrate. Yet even these need not despair; the joys\nof Easter time may still be theirs, for the same loving and\nsword-pierced Heart of Jesus is still ready to be reconciled with\nthem.\n{212}\nOh! if there be such a one present here this morning let him take\ncourage, come at once to the tribunal of penance, become one of\nthe friends of the risen Christ, and share with us the joys of\nEaster.\n\nAnd those who have been, but are no longer, strangers to God's\ngrace, persevere, I exhort you, during the short space of this\nlife in the friendship of our crucified Lord, and yours, too,\nwill, like his, be a glorious resurrection.\n\nLet us, then, my dear brethren, on this happy Easter day elevate\nour hearts to God in humble thanksgiving for all his benefits,\nand let us unite with the holy church in the prayer of the office\nfor to-day. God! who, through thine only-begotten Son, hast on\nthis day overcome death and opened unto us the gate of\neverlasting life, we humbly beseech thee that, as by thy special\ngrace preventing us, thou dost put into our minds good desires,\nso by thy continued help we may bring the same to good effect.\nThrough the same our Lord Jesus Christ, thy Son, who liveth and\nreigneth with thee, in the unity of the Holy Ghost, one God,\nworld without end. Amen.\n\n-------------------\n\n Sermon LXII.\n\n Easter And The Love Of God.\n\n\n _This is the day which the Lord hath made:\n let us be glad and rejoice therein._\n --Psalm. cxvii. 24.\n [USCCB: Psalm cxviii. 24.]\n\n{213}\n\nFamiliar words these, my brethren, and for ever associated in our\nminds with this greatest of all Christian festivals. Frequently\non this day and through its octave does the church repeat them to\nus; they sound now continually in our ears. And no doubt they\nfind some echo in our hearts. Yes, we are glad, we do rejoice;\nsurely no one who can call himself a Christian could hear unmoved\nthe outburst of our triumph and exultation yesterday as the\n\"Gloria in Excelsis\" was intoned in the Mass, telling us that the\nlion of Juda has conquered, that God has arisen and that his\nenemies are scattered, that he has put death and hell under his\nfeet. For the moment at least we would say with St. Paul: \"O\ndeath! where is thy victory? O death! where is thy sting? Thanks\nbe to God, who hath given us the victory through our Lord Jesus\nChrist.\"\n\nBut as the newness, the freshness of the Easter joy and triumph\npasses away, does not another feeling come and mingle with it? A\nfeeling of awe, almost of dread, comes upon us, like that terror\nwhich came upon the guards at the sepulchre as they saw the angel\nwho rolled away the stone, of whom St. Matthew says that his\ncountenance was like lightning, and his raiment white as snow;\nlike that fear which came even on the holy women as they saw the\ntwo angels in shining apparel standing at the empty tomb; and\nupon the Apostles themselves when Jesus stood in their midst soon\nafter; for the evangelist tells us that they were troubled and\nfrighted, in spite of his words giving them peace and telling\nthem not to be afraid.\n\nIndeed, I think there was no one of those who saw our risen Lord,\nexcept his glorious and Blessed Mother, whose love was so perfect\nthat it quite cast out this fear.\n{214}\nAnd still more is it in our poor and imperfect hearts; we cannot\nshake it off. How many are there of us, unless, indeed, those\ninnocent ones who have not yet known what sin is, who, if this\nwere really and truly the morning of the resurrection, and the\nrisen one could be seen by those who should seek him, would arise\ngladly and run to meet him, and fall in loving adoration at his\nfeet?\n\nIf we can in our inmost heart feel that we would, we have reason\nindeed to be glad and rejoice to-day. But to feel so there must\nbe something in us besides that thrill of triumph and of victory\nwhich overpowers us as the splendor of the resurrection first\nbreaks upon our souls. There must be a true, fervent, and deep\nlove of the God who to-day comes so near to us; a hatred from the\nbottom of our hearts and souls of all that in the least degree\nseparates us from him; there must be, beside faith, also hope and\ncharity, such as the saints have had--that hope which knows that\nhe loves us and has forgiven us, that charity which would make us\ndie sooner than offend him again. And these we have not because\nof our sins.\n\nYes, it is sin which casts the shadow on our Easter; it is the\nlove and affection for it which still remains in us; it is that\ncompromising spirit which is even at our best times holding us\nback, keeping us from fully loving, trusting, and giving\nourselves up to God, for fear that we might lose something by\ndoing so; it is this that makes us afraid to approach him and to\nshare in his joy. As for mortal sin, that, of course, takes the\nhappiness of Easter away altogether; to one who is in its\ndarkness the thought of meeting God brings, and can bring, no\nthought of joy. But even venial sin brings its dread with it,too.\n{215}\nAnd what is the remedy for this dread? It is very simple. It is\nonly to try now to begin to love with our whole hearts him who\nhas loved us, and given his life for us; whose delight is to be\nwith us and to have us come to him; to keep nothing back from\nhim--in short, to live here in our feeble measure the life we\nhope to live in heaven. This is the way, and the only way, for us\nto enter now as we would wish into the joy of our Lord.\n\n-------------------\n\n Sermon LXIII.\n\n The Triumph Of Christ.\n\n\n _This is the day which the Lord hath made:\n let us rejoice and be glad in it. _\n --Psalm. cxvii. 24.\n [USCCB: Psalm cxviii. 24.]\n\nThe festival of Easter is, above all things, my brethren, a day\nof joy. Just as we love the sunshine more after days of cloud and\ntempest, so also is our joy keener and more intense when it\nfollows sorrows.\n\nIt is for this reason that the joy of Easter is greater than that\nof Christmas, or of any other season of the Christian year. For\nwe have been passing through a time of sorrow. We have beheld in\nPassion-tide our dearest Lord in suffering. We have beheld him as\nthe King of Martyrs, worthy of the title, because his pains were\nso far in excess of anything that mere man has ever suffered or\ncould ever suffer. We have seen him in his agony in the garden,\nwhen the sins of the whole world and of all time were presented\nto his vision and pressed heavily upon him, filling his Sacred\nHeart with deepest grief.\n{216}\nWe have called to mind his betrayal by his trusted friend and\ndisciple; his arraignment before impious and unjust judges; his\ncruel condemnation and death. Despised and rejected by his own\nchosen people whom he had come to save, a robber and murderer\npreferred before him, we have beheld him abandoned to the\ntortures of the heathen soldiers, scourged, and spit upon, and\ncrowned with thorns, and finally led forth to die a malefactor's\ndeath upon the cross.\n\nAnd worse than all is the thought that he was forsaken by those\nwhom he held most dear, those whom he had chosen to be his\nspecial friends and disciples, and who had been his constant\ncompanions in his public ministry. They all forsook him and fled,\nleaving him to die.\n\nThen we have followed him along the sorrowful way of the cross;\nwe have meditated deeply upon his three last hours of agony; we\nhave almost heard his deep, expiring groan as he rendered up his\nsoul to the hands of his Father.\n\nNow, if we have thus learnt well the lessons of Passion-tide, the\njoy of Easter will come to us in all its fulness. If we have\npondered well the depth of humiliation to which our Lord\nsubjected himself in his death upon the cross, we shall well\nrealize the greatness of his triumph to-day. The joy that filled\nthe hearts of the Apostles, of the holy women, and, above all,\nthe Immaculate Heart of our Blessed Lady when they knew that the\nLord had risen indeed will be ours to-day, and we shall cry out\nin the words which the church puts into our mouths: \"This is the\nday which the Lord hath made: let us rejoice and be glad in it\":\nfor \"the Lord is my strength and my praise, and is become my\nsalvation.\" Therefore, to-day the voice of praise and of\nsalvation \"is in the dwellings of the just throughout the world.\"\n\n{217}\n\n\"For the right hand of the Lord hath wrought strength\"; the right\nhand of the Lord--that is, his almighty power--has raised up\nJesus from the dead. He has risen glorious and triumphant, and in\nhis glory and triumph all mankind are sharers. For by his\nresurrection he has overcome death and opened unto us the gates\nof everlasting life. He has triumphed over sin, which brought\ndeath into the world, and which was the cause of his death. His\nresurrection, therefore, means our deliverance from sin and\ndeath, and is a pledge to us of that life which he will give to\nhis faithful ones.\n\nSurely, then, we can have no greater cause for rejoicing than\nthis. Pray, then, my brethren, that your hearts may be filled\nwith the true spirit of Easter joy. \"Ask and you shall receive,\nthat your joy may be full; and your joy no man shall take from\nyou.\"\n\n-------------------\n{218}\n\n _Low Sunday._\n\n\n Epistle.\n 1 _St. John v._ 4-10.\n\n Dearly beloved:\n Whatsoever is born of God overcometh the world; and this is the\n victory which overcometh the world, our faith. Who is he that\n overcometh the world, but he that believeth that Jesus is the\n Son of God? This is he that came by water and blood, Jesus\n Christ; not in water only, but in water and blood. And it is\n the spirit that testifieth, that Christ is the truth. For there\n are three that give testimony in heaven, the Father, the Word,\n and the Holy Ghost. And these three are one. And there are\n three that give testimony on earth: the spirit, the water, and\n the blood, and these three are one. If we receive the testimony\n of men, the testimony of God is greater. For this is the\n testimony of God, which is greater, because he hath testified\n of his Son. He that believeth in the Son of God, hath the\n testimony of God in himself.\n\n\n Gospel.\n _St. John xx._ 19-31.\n\n At that time:\n When it was late that same day, being the first day of the\n week, and the doors were shut, where the disciples were\n gathered together for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood in\n the midst, and said to them: Peace be to you. And when he had\n said this, he showed them his hands, and his side. The\n disciples therefore were glad when they saw the Lord. And he\n said to them again: Peace be to you. As the Father hath sent\n me, I also send you. When he had said this he breathed on them;\n and he said to them: Receive ye the Holy Ghost. Whose sins you\n shall forgive, they are forgiven them; and whose you shall\n retain, they are retained.\n{219}\n Now Thomas, one of the twelve, who is called Didymus, was not\n with them when Jesus came. The other disciples therefore said\n to him: We have seen the Lord. But he said to them: Unless I\n shall see in his hands the print of the nails, and put my\n finger into the place of the nails, and put my hand into his\n side, I will not believe. And after eight days his disciples\n were again within, and Thomas with them. Jesus cometh, the\n doors being shut, and stood in the midst, and said: Peace be to\n you. Then he saith to Thomas: Put in thy finger hither, and see\n my hands; and bring hither thy hand, and put it into my side;\n and be not incredulous, but faithful. Thomas answered, and said\n to him: My Lord, and my God. Jesus saith to him: Because thou\n hast seen me, Thomas, thou hast believed; blessed are they that\n have not seen, and have believed. Many other signs also did\n Jesus in the sight of his disciples, which are not written in\n this book. But these are written that you may believe that\n Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God: and that believing you may\n have life in his name.\n\n-------------------\n\n Sermon LXIV.\n\n How To Use God's Gifts.\n\n\n _If ye be risen with Christ,\n seek those things which are above,\n where Christ sitteth on the right hand of God._\n --Epistle to Colossians. iii. 1.\n\n\nThe feast of to-day, my dear brethren, brings to a close the\nsolemnities of Easter; and it was the practice, in the early ages\nof the church, for those who had been baptized on Holy Saturday\nto put off, on this day, the white garments which they then\nassumed, and to resume again their accustomed occupation.\n{220}\nThe white garments were but an external sign of that internal\npurity and cleanliness which the soul received in the waters of\nHoly Baptism, and the soul, thus purified and strengthened by\nGod's grace, went boldly forth to the battle-field of life, to\nmeet again its three great and deadly enemies: the world, the\nflesh, and the devil. So we, who, during the penitential season\njust closed, have faithfully observed the laws of holy church,\nand, by fasting, have brought the flesh under subjection to the\nspirit; by foregoing our accustomed pleasures and amusements have\nbrought the world under our feet, and, by a good confession and\nCommunion, have again enlisted in the ranks of Christ, and thus\ndeclared ourselves eternal enemies of sin and the devil, start\nagain to-day with renewed strength to follow our Leader, the\nrisen Christ, to certain victory.\n\nSt. Paul, in the Epistle from which the text is taken, reminds\nthe Christians at Colossa that, if they be risen with Christ,\ntheir thoughts must now be turned to where Christ is--sitting at\nthe right hand of God. \"Mind the things that are above,\" he\ncontinues, \"not the things that are upon the earth; for you are\ndead, and your life is hid with Christ in God.\"\n\nO brethren! would that Catholics did but realize this great\ntruth! Would that their thoughts and affections were directed\ntowards their eternal destiny! Absorbed, as they are, in the\nsordid pursuits of this life, they cannot be too often reminded\nthat we are here only on trial. An almighty and merciful God has,\nwith a lavish hand, surrounded us with the means of gratifying\nour reasonable desires and appetites. But, alas! the very gifts\nof God serve not unfrequently to make us forget the Giver.\n{221}\nLook around you and see what is the object for which this noisy,\nbustling world is striving; what the end for which most men seem\nto exist. The fact is, brethren, that Mammon, the heathen god of\nriches, has disputed Christ's sovereignty over the hearts of men,\nand has actually erected his altar in those very hearts where the\ngrace of Christ once reigned. The only conception men seem to\nhave of this present life is this: that it is a place where we\nare to strive to become wealthy in the shortest possible time,\nwithout being over scrupulous as to the means, and then to retire\nfrom active pursuits, the better to indulge our sensual\nappetites. They thus invert the order of Divine Providence, and\nmake an end of that which was intended only as a means to enable\nus to attain our eternal destiny.\n\nEverything in this world, my dear brethren, was intended by God\nfor our happiness here and as a pledge of an eternal and\ninfinitely greater happiness hereafter. It is a great mistake to\nsuppose that Christianity requires us to ignore these wonderful\ngifts of a kind Providence, and to forego all the pleasures of\nthis life. No, not at all! Indeed, we are absolutely obliged to\nmake use of many of them if we would maintain our very existence.\n\nGod acts towards us as a kind and affectionate father acts\ntowards his child. The father knows that his child loves him, and\nhe feels confident that the little presents he makes the child\nfrom time to time will only serve to strengthen the fond\naffection which nature has implanted between them.\n\n{222}\n\nBut what would you think if those gifts of the kind father served\nonly to estrange from him the heart of his child? You would,\nundoubtedly, say that such a state of things was unnatural. Well,\nso it is, my dear brethren, with us, who, after all, are only\nchildren of an older growth. God, our Creator and Father, has\ngiven us life and all the things in this beautiful universe to\nenjoy. And all he asks in return is our love--our hearts. But,\nremember, he is not satisfied with an imperfect and partial love.\nHe is a jealous God, and will allow no one to share our hearts\nwith him. So that when men fix their affections on the things of\nthis world without referring them to God, and use these gifts\nwithout regard to the Giver, they too are acting in an unnatural\nor, at least, in an irrational manner. Give your whole heart to\nGod, brethren, and then you will enjoy his gifts, and, as St.\nPaul says, \"When Christ shall appear, who is your life, then you\nalso shall appear with him in glory.\"\n\n-------------------\n\n Sermon LXV.\n\n The Christian's Peace.\n\n\n _Jesus came, and stood in the midst, and said to them:\n Peace be to you. And when he had said this,\n he showed them his hands and his side.\n The disciples, therefore,\n were glad when they saw the Lord.\n He said therefore to them again:\n Peace be to you._\n --Gospel of the Day.\n\n\nHe stood in their midst. To-day he stands in the midst of us and\nutters the self-same words, \"Peace be unto you.\" And he shows us\nhis hands and his side, and we are glad. And again he says,\n\"Peace be unto you.\"\n\n{223}\n\nTo be at peace with the world is the aim of many men. But to have\none's life run smoothly on, to be hindered neither here nor\nthere, to be always in the sunshine and never in the shadow, may\nbring us peace and gladness, but not the peace and gladness that\nour Lord would impart. For after his words of gentle salutation\nhe showed them his hands and his side impressed with the\nwound-prints of his Passion, as if to say: \"The peace which I\nwish you is that which comes after strife, conflict, and sorrow;\nthat peace which is the rest and the reward for labor and\nendurance.\"\n\nYes, dear friends, ours is to strive, to contend with self, with\na nature that is fallen, with a proneness to evil, with desires\nthat are selfish and carnal. To contend with the world, to\ndisavow its principles, not to listen to its temptations; to\nrealize and to confess that pleasure, success, ease, money, fame,\nare not the objects for which a noble soul must seek, but that\nGod is our true end, and that mortification and self-denial, the\ncross, are the true means to arrive at that end, the way to come\nto union with God.\n\nTo be at peace with the world; yes, I admit that it is a thing to\nbe desired, but only so that we are at peace with Almighty God,\ntoo. And how is that peace gained? Only by the keeping of his\nlaw. At peace with the world, because the world cannot disturb\none at peace with God; this is the Christian's life. But so great\na boon is not gained without a strife, as the joy of Easter is\nnot till the sorrow of the Passion has passed.\n\nOur duty, then, dear brethren, is to strive, and to keep the law\nof God, that first law written on our hearts, that law which he\nhas given to us both by his words and by his life on earth, and\nwhich he still repeats to us through his holy church.\n\n{224}\n\nFoolish, indeed, are we above all others if our Easter joy is\nonly that of the worldling, and our peace that which the world\ngives. This is not the peace that comes after looking at his\nhands and his side; not the joy that the disciples felt as they\ngazed on the risen Saviour, who stands to-day here in our midst,\nas he did among those his first followers, and says to us, as he\nsaid to them, \"Peace be to you.\"\n\nWe may have that peace, my brethren, if we are willing to obtain\nit and to deserve it as they did. We shall have it descend upon\nus, if, while we gaze at his hands and his side, we are conscious\nthat we have indeed shared his Passion and cross. May indeed be\nours this peace of God, which shall keep our hearts and minds in\nChrist Jesus.\n\n-------------------\n\n Sermon LXVI.\n\n True And Lasting Peace.\n\n\n _Jesus came and stood in the midst, and said to them:\n \"Peace be to you.\"_\n --From the Gospel of the Sunday.\n\n\nPeace be to you! This is our Lord's Easter blessing, thrice\nrepeated in the Gospel of to-day; and a blessing which all his\nfaithful may obtain. And it is the one for which we are\ncontinually seeking, each in his own way, but which we can find\nnowhere but with him who to-day offers it to us.\n\n{225}\n\nWhat is this peace? Is it freedom from conflict? Is the Christian\nto have no battle to fight, no enemy to overcome? No, surely our\nLord does not promise us such an easy road to heaven as this. \"Do\nnot think,\" he says, \"that I came to send peace upon earth; I\ncame not to send peace, but the sword.\" We must make up our\nminds, for the sake of the Christian faith, to sustain not only\nthe assaults of the devil and of our own evil passions, but also\nthe opposition of those who should be our friends. \"A man's\nenemies,\" our Saviour goes on to say, \"shall be they of his own\nhousehold.\"\n\nIn this sense, then, we cannot hope for peace in this world. No,\nour lot must be, if we have really enlisted in Christ's army,\nthat of all soldiers: war, and its turmoil. As St. Paul says it\nwas for himself so must it be for us: \"combats without, fears\nwithin.\" Struggles for our temporal life; for God has said to\nAdam our father, and in him to us his children: \"In the sweat of\nthy face shalt thou eat bread \"; struggles far more terrible and\nmomentous for our spiritual life, against flesh and blood, also\n\"against principalities and powers, against the rulers of the\nworld of this darkness,\" in which a single slip may mean eternal\nruin, a single wound instant death.\n\nWhere, then, is our peace in this inevitable war, this contest\nwhich demands all the energies of our body and soul? What peace\ncan we have while its issue is still uncertain, its events yet\nunknown? Surely it seems a mockery for our Lord to say, \"Peace be\nto you,\" when he sends us not peace, but war and its alarms.\n\nBut it is not a mockery; he who cannot be deceived also cannot\ndeceive. His words are faithful and true. He has really peace to\ngive us--peace in the midst of combat, calm even in the storm.\n\n{226}\n\nWhen the storm arose on the sea of Galilee, and he was asleep in\nthe boat, his disciples came to him, saying: \"Lord, save us, we\nperish.\" But he answered: \"Why are you fearful, O ye of little\nfaith?\" Was there not reason for them to be fearful, to lose\ntheir peace of mind, when death was staring them in the face, and\nall their efforts to save themselves were vain? No, not if they\nhad faith to show that God was with them.\n\nThis, then, should have been their peace; this should be ours:\nthe possession of God. He has given himself entirely for us and\nto us in the battle in which he has placed us. He fights on our\nside. What, then, have we to fear if we will only keep close to\nhim? We are sure of the victory if we call him to our aid. As St.\nPaul says, \"If God be for us, who is against us? He that spared\nnot even his own Son, but delivered him up for us all, how hath\nhe not also with him given us all things?\"\n\nPeace, then, we should have in our spiritual combat; but how in\nthe battle for our temporal life? Here we are not promised\nsuccess; no, it must be defeat, at least in the end. We must lose\nat last by death all that we seek of the goods of this world. The\npeace which the world gives is then a delusion; it lasts but for\nan hour; the shadow of death is upon it. \"O death!\" says Holy\nScripture, \"how bitter is the remembrance of thee to a man that\nhath peace in his possessions!\" Here again, therefore, our true\npeace is in the possession of him who is eternal; this is the\npeace which the world can neither give nor take away. All the\nstorms of this world will not shake or disturb him whose house is\nbuilt on this rock. \"Who,\" again says St. Paul, \"shall separate\nus from the love of Christ; shall tribulation, or distress, or\nfamine, or nakedness, or danger, or persecution, or the sword?\"\n\n{227}\n\nThis, therefore, is the true peace of the Christian: confidence\nin God, indifference to all that is not God. It is the peace of\nour Lord himself. \"My peace,\" he says, \"I give unto you.\" Let us\nask him indeed to give it to us, now and for evermore.\n\n-------------------\n\n{228}\n\n _Second Sunday after Easter._\n\n\n Epistle.\n 1 _St. Peter ii._ 21-25.\n\n Dearly beloved:\n Christ has suffered for us, leaving you an example that you\n should follow his steps. \"Who did no sin, neither was guile\n found in his mouth.\" Who, when he was reviled, did not revile:\n when he suffered, he threatened not: but delivered himself to\n him that judged him unjustly. Who his own self bore our sins in\n his body upon the tree: that we, being dead to sins, should\n live to justice: by whose stripes you were healed. For you were\n as sheep going astray: but you are now converted to the pastor\n and bishop of your souls.\n\n\n Gospel.\n _St. John x._ 11-16.\n\n At that time:\n Jesus said to the Pharisees:\n I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd giveth his life for\n his sheep. But the hireling, and he that is not the shepherd,\n whose own sheep they are not, seeth the wolf coming and leaveth\n the sheep, and flieth; and the wolf snatcheth and scattereth\n the sheep: and the hireling flieth, because he is a hireling:\n and he hath no care for the sheep. I am the good shepherd: and\n I know mine, and mine know me. As the Father knoweth me, and I\n know the Father; and I lay down my life for my sheep. And other\n sheep I have, that are not of this fold: them also I must\n bring, and they shall hear my voice, and there shall be one\n fold and one shepherd.\n\n-------------------\n\n{229}\n\n Sermon LXVII.\n\n _The Good Shepherd_.\n\n\n _For you were as sheep going astray;\n but you are now converted\n to the pastor and bishop of your souls._\n --1 St. Peter ii. 25.\n\n\nTo-day is the Sunday of the Good Shepherd, and the church sings\nin joyful strains: \"The Good Shepherd, who laid down his life for\nhis sheep, yea, who was contented even to die for his flock, the\nGood Shepherd is risen again--Alleluia!\" It is in this tender,\nloving, and, to us, most winning character that our Lord presents\nhimself in the Gospel of to-day--the Good Shepherd, who knoweth\nhis sheep, and acknowledges them as his own, whose tender care\nfor them is so great that he is willing even to lay down his life\nfor their sake, yet with the power to take it again for his own\nglory and for their eternal good. We are those sheep for whom he\ndied, and for whom he rose again, for they are in the truest\nsense his sheep who believe in his name, and are gathered into\nhis one fold, the holy Catholic Church.\n\nBut it is not enough to believe; we must also hear his voice. How\nhave we done this in the past? Have we hearkened to his voice as\nhe spake to us through the offices of the church, through the\nwords of our pastors, through the still, small voice of\nconscience? Alas! we have been as sheep going astray. We have\nbeen deaf to his voice, as it has so often spoken to us, bidding\nus follow him. And, having strayed away from our Shepherd, we\nhave refused to listen to the loving tones of that same sweet\nvoice, calling us back to our place in the flock, but have\nwandered still further away into the pleasant pastures of sin,\nwhere all seemed delight for a time, but where the wolf, the\ngreat enemy of our souls, was lurking, waiting for his chance to\nseize us as his prey for ever.\n{230}\nOh! into what danger have we run by thus wandering from the right\npath! But now, during the holy season of Lent that is passed, the\nchurch has been appealing to us through her solemn offices, and\nthrough the earnest words spoken by her ministers, to forsake our\nevil ways, to leave the deceitful pleasures of sin, and return to\nwhere we can alone find pasture for our souls, to the sacraments\nof the church, wherein the Good Shepherd gives himself to his\nsheep. Many have hearkened to the call of the Saviour's voice,\nmany have come during this holy time to the green pastures and\nthe still waters, where the Good Shepherd feeds his flock, and,\nwith souls restored and renewed, are prepared and determined to\nwalk hereafter in the paths of righteousness, where he leads the\nway. Even when at last they shall walk through the Valley of the\nShadow of Death they will fear no evil, for he will be with them,\nhis rod and his staff shall comfort them.\n\nBut there are also many, far too many, who have not listened to\nthe voice of Jesus, as he calls them in this blessed Easter-tide.\nPoor, wayward sheep, they still wander in paths of their own\nchoosing, which can only lead them into danger and into death. O\nfoolish, wandering ones! take heed ere it is too late to the\ngentle voice that calls you. Your souls are soiled and\nsin-stained, and you have need to be washed in the stream which\nflows from your Shepherd's side, his Precious Blood shed for you\nwhen he laid down his life for your sake.\n{231}\nCome, wash and be made clean in the Sacrament of Penance which he\nhas ordained for your cleansing. You were as sheep going astray;\nbe now converted and return to Jesus, the pastor, the shepherd,\nthe bishop of your souls. You have been famishing for the food\nyou need for your spiritual sustenance. Come, then, to him who so\ngraciously and tenderly invites you to the table which he has\nprepared for you. Draw nigh with joy to the heavenly banquet of\nhis Sacred Body and the goodly, overflowing cup of his Precious\nBlood, that your souls may be fed and have life eternal. Then\nwill you be strong in the presence of your enemies, his mercy\nwill follow you all the days of your life, and you will dwell in\nthe house of the Lord for ever, even in that house of many\nmansions which he has prepared for those who love and follow him.\nFor he has said of those who hear his voice and follow him: \"I\ngive them life everlasting, and they shall not perish for ever,\nand no man shall snatch them out of my hand.\" And remember that\nother promise of his: \"He that eateth my flesh and drinketh my\nblood has everlasting life, and I will raise him up at the last\nday.\" Yes, poor, lost sheep though we have been, if we now turn\nfrom our wayward paths to hear his voice and follow him, he will\nraise us up at the last day, and place us among his favored sheep\nupon his right hand, to be glad for ever in the light of his\ncountenance.\n\n-------------------\n\n{232}\n\n Sermon LXVIII.\n\n Dead Faith.\n\n\n _That Christ may dwell by faith in your hearts._\n --Ephesians iii. 17.\n\n\nHoly Writ teaches us in many places, my brethren, that God dwells\nin our hearts by charity, and here we are taught that he dwells\nby faith also. Of course, the meaning is the same. For an elect\nsoul to know Christ is to love him. And even for a reprobate soul\nto know the truth of religion is that indescribable boon which\nmakes a possible salvation capable of becoming quickly real. How\nterrible the misfortune of the Calvinist who believes that a bad\nlife necessarily means absence of faith! How consoling to know\nthat our sinful friends, if they have but the true faith, have a\nseed of eternal life which may yet spring up into a fruitful\ntree!\n\nYet it is terrible to think of how some men trifle with their\nfaith. Brethren, look at the end and judge the beginning by it.\nThe end of wicked men is damnation, hopeless and eternal. Now,\nwhat is the faith in hell? Something that makes the Christian's\ntorment altogether peculiar. There the name of Christian, now so\nnoble, now entitling its bearer to pardon for every sin if but\nbreathed forth with an act of sorrow--there the name of Christian\nwill be a nickname. In one way he will have more faith then than\nnow; he will know more of revealed truth, have a clearer\nknowledge of heavenly things. But then the hand wounded by the\nnail, and which now is never out of reach, will be withdrawn\nfinally and for ever.\n{233}\nImagine the agony of a soul in hell, whom each article of faith\nwill cause for ever to wail and weep only this one sentence: \"It\nis all my own fault.\" Brethren, you may complain that this sort\nof preaching does not provoke to much mirth. But there are those\nwho should know that for them this ought to be a time of weeping\nand not of being merry: persons who have faith in their hearts,\nbut not Christ. For see how men in Italy, holding fast to the\ntruth with one hand, have with the other set up the abomination\nof desolation in the holy place. And see how, in France, men who\ndeem themselves insulted if called anything but Catholics, yet\ndeliberately rob the children of the people of the bread of life\nby establishing paganism in the schools. And see how many there\nare among us whose faith, instead of being a rule to live by, an\nirresistible attraction towards our Lord in a true grief for sin\nand strict union with him, sealed by frequent Communion, is but\nsomething handed down from father to son, like name and color and\nrace--a traditional faith--and this proved by their vicious\nlives.\n\nBut happy are they in whose hearts faith has prepared a dwelling\nfor our Saviour. Our Lord is surely present within us if we are\nin the state of grace. Hear what he says: \"If any one love me, he\nwill keep my word; and my Father will love him, and we will come\nto him, and will make an abode with him.\" He comes, indeed,\nsilently; he hushes the festive greetings of the angels who\nescort him; he hides the dazzling glory of his ascended triumph,\nfor now it is faith and not sight. But there in the heart he none\nthe less dwells. We live with him. The Christian feels his\npresence. He has an interior life whose very breath is that\npresence.\n{234}\nHe is stamped with our Lord's character. Such a soul is truly and\nliterally called _faithful_--faith-full. And once you are\nintimately acquainted with him you perceive in his ways and\nactions that our Lord lives with him. Better yet, he perceives it\nhimself. How different he is from one whose knowledge of religion\nis mere persuasion of the mind and empty talk! With the true\nChristian knowledge is power. To know the true faith is for him\nto know how to live: better yet, to know how to suffer, how to\nwait, how to love, how to die.\n\nBrethren, this congregation is divided into two parts--those who\nare to be saved and those who are not. Those of you who are to be\nsaved are those in whose hearts Jesus Christ actually dwells by\nfaith. Those who are to be lost are those whose faith means that\nChrist has a claim against them, payment of which they will\npostpone till it is too late.\n\n-------------------\n\n Sermon LXIX.\n\n Suffering False Accusations.\n\n _He delivered himself to him that judged him unjustly._\n --Epistle of the Day.\n\n\nI suppose, my dear brethren, that there is no grievance to which\nwe are subjected more common, and certainly there are few more\ndistressing, than that of being judged unfairly by others. As\nCatholics we are all specially liable to this; we all know how\nProtestants, even those who profess to be quite friendly to us\npersonally, and who sometimes will say a good word or two for our\nreligion, still calmly assume, as a matter of course, that we\nbelieve and practise many things which we and all intelligent and\nhonest men detest and abhor.\n{235}\nThey say, for instance, that we worship images; that we pay money\nnot only to have our sins forgiven, but even for permission in\nadvance to commit new ones; that we believe the pope to be\nAlmighty God; that we maintain that the end justifies the means;\nand so on to any extent. It was only a few days ago that it was\nunblushingly stated in an assembly of one of their sects that the\nCatholic Church was more guilty in the matter of permitting\ndivorce than other denominations. There seems hardly to be a\nfalsehood about us so gross or so absurd that some of them will\nnot be found to believe and to assert it.\n\nAnd we of the clergy are more exposed to these slanders than any\none else. They say, they take for granted, that we are hypocrites\nand deceivers; that under a cloak of sanctity we practise all\nkinds of vice; that we do not believe a word of what we teach;\nthat our only object in our profession is to exercise power or to\nmake money; these things and many others pass current in the\nworld about us, so we are looked upon by many as detestable\nwretches not fit to live. In us, especially, are our Lord's words\nfulfilled: \"You shall be hated by all men for my name's sake.\"\n\nBut it is not only from outsiders, or in matters where religion\nis concerned, that we have to put up with false charges and\nunjust suspicions. In our own private character and actions we\nall find ourselves liable to them; we find our neighbors and\nacquaintances judging and even speaking unfairly about us.\n{236}\nPriests suffer in this way sometimes from their own parishioners;\nthe laity perhaps from the priest, and often certainly from each\nother. How frequently we hear people complain of slander or\nbelying from those whom they supposed to be their friends; one\nwould think that it was not the exception, but the rule.\n\nNow all this is certainly very hard to bear. And yet as we go\nthrough life we cannot expect to be free from it; and we must try\nto find a way of bearing it as well as we can. What is the best\nway?\n\nOne way, and a very good way, of putting up with this trouble is\nto make allowances for the unavoidable prejudice, ignorance, and\nimperfection of those who say about us what we know to be false,\nwho do to us what we know to be unjust. They may not, they do\nnot, know this as well as we do. \"Father, forgive them,\" said our\nLord on the cross, \"for they know not what they do.\" We think\nothers are slandering or injuring us through malice; ten to one\nthey think they are in the right. Probably we ourselves should\nact just the same way in their place.\n\nMake allowances, then; give our neighbors more credit for good\nintentions; that is one way to put up with this suffering which\nwe cannot altogether avoid or put a stop to. But a better and\nperhaps an easier way is the one recommended by St. Peter in\nto-day's Epistle. \"Dearly beloved,\" he says, \"Christ suffered for\nus, leaving you an example that you should follow his steps. Who\ndid no sin, neither was guilt found in his mouth. Who, when he\nwas reviled, did not revile; when he suffered he threatened not,\nbut delivered himself to him that judged him unjustly.\"\n{237}\nHe, the holy, the innocent one, was more wickedly and unjustly\naccused and judged than any of us sinners have been, or ever can\nbe; shall we not then bear, if need be, the same treatment for\nhis sake? To be spoken evil of falsely is to be like him; it is\nthe mark, the badge of the Christian. This is the example he has\nleft us that we should follow his steps; shall we refuse to\nprofit by it?\n\n-------------------\n\n{238}\n\n _Third Sunday after Easter._\n\n Feast of the Patronage of St. Joseph.\n\n\n Epistle.\n 1 _St. Peter ii._ 11-19.\n\n Dearly beloved,\n I beseech you as strangers and pilgrims to refrain yourselves\n from carnal desires, which war against the soul; having your\n conversation good among the Gentiles; that whereas they speak\n against you as evildoers, considering you by your good works\n they may glorify God in the day of visitation. Be ye subject\n therefore to every human creature for God's sake; whether it be\n to the king as excelling, or to governors as sent by him for\n the punishment of evil doers and for the praise of the good;\n for so is the will of God, that by doing well you may silence\n the ignorance of foolish men: as free, and not as making\n liberty a cloak of malice, but as the servants of God. Honor\n all men; love the brotherhood; fear God; honor the king.\n Servants, be subject to your masters with all fear, not only to\n the good and gentle, but also to the froward. For this is\n thankworthy, in Christ Jesus our Lord.\n\n\n Epistle Of The Feast.\n _Genesis xlix._ 22-26.\n\n Joseph is a growing son, a growing son and comely to behold;\n the daughters run to and fro upon the wall. But they that held\n darts provoked him, and quarrelled with him, and envied him.\n His bow rested upon the strong, and the bands of his arms and\n his hands were loosed by the hands of the mighty one of Jacob:\n thence he came forth a pastor, the stone of Israel.\n{239}\n The God of thy Father shall be thy helper, and the Almighty\n shall bless thee with the blessings of heaven above, with the\n blessings of the deep that lieth beneath, with the blessings of\n the breasts and of the womb. The blessings of thy father are\n strengthened with the blessings of his fathers: until the\n desire of the everlasting hills should come; may they be upon\n the head of Joseph, and upon the crown of the Nazarite among\n his brethren.\n\n\n Gospel\n _St. John xvi._ 16-22.\n\n At that time:\n Jesus said to his disciples:\n A little while, and now you shall not see me: and again a\n little while, and you shall see me: because I go to the Father.\n Then some of his disciples said one to another: What is this\n that he saith to us: A little while, and you shall not see me:\n and again a little while, and you shall see me, and because I\n go to the Father? They said therefore: What is this that he\n saith, a little while: we know not what he speaketh. And Jesus\n knew that they were desirous to ask him; and he said to them:\n Of this do you inquire among yourselves, be cause I said: A\n little while, and you shall not see me: and again a little\n while, and you shall see me? Amen, amen I say to you, that you\n shall lament and weep, but the world shall rejoice: and you\n shall be sorrowful, but your sorrow shall be turned into joy. A\n woman, when she is in labor, hath sorrow, because her hour is\n come: but when she hath brought forth the child, she\n remembereth no more the anguish, for joy that a man is born\n into the world. So also you now indeed have sorrow, but I will\n see you again, and your heart shall rejoice; and your joy no\n man shall take from you.\n\n\n Gospel of the Feast.\n _St. Luke iii._ 21-23.\n\n At that time it came to pass:\n When all the people were baptized, that Jesus also being\n baptized and praying, heaven was opened: and the Holy Ghost\n descended in a bodily shape as a dove upon him: and a voice\n came from heaven: Thou art my beloved Son, in thee I am well\n pleased. And Jesus himself was beginning about the age of\n thirty years: being (as it was supposed) the son of Joseph.\n\n-------------------\n\n{240}\n\n Sermon LXX.\n\n Devotion To St. Joseph.\n\n\n _Go to Joseph, and do all that he shall say to you. _\n --Genesis xli. 55.\n\n\nIt is Joseph's nearness to Jesus and Mary during his life that\nleads us now, when he reigns with them in heaven, to confidently\ncall upon him for succor in our needs, and especially do we go to\nhim because to his patronage the whole church has been commended,\nthat by his intercession he may do for her and each of her\nmembers what he did for Jesus and his Mother when he was in the\nflesh.\n\nWisely has the church made him her protector, for his power with\nGod must be very great. Of this we can have no doubt, when we\nremember that to his care were entrusted the purest and the best\nwho have ever walked this earth--Jesus and Mary--Jesus, the Son\nof God; Mary, his stainless Virgin Mother, whose chaste soul the\nHoly Ghost made his dwelling-place, delighted with its beauty.\n\nAbove the seats of all the bright angels who serve in the courts\nof the Most High Mary's throne was raised, and one day she would\nbe the angels mistress and queen; Jesus was their Lord, their\nMaker, before whom they bowed in lowliest reverence. And yet Mary\nwas Joseph's spouse, and Jesus rendered him the obedience a son\nshould give a father. Very worthy must he have been who held so\nhigh an office.\n\n{241}\n\nJoseph was a necessary member of the family. He served as a veil\nto screen from the vulgar gaze the deep mysteries of the\nIncarnation and Nativity; he led the way into Egypt, and his\nfaithful arm supported the Mother and the Babe during the\njourney; he brought them back to their own land and provided\nshelter for them; their daily bread was the fruit of his\nlabor--in a word, during the boyhood and youth of our Lord they\nwere entirely dependent upon him.\n\nSuch, then, was Joseph's position in the Holy Family; he was the\nmaster and guardian of the household; and this is what the church\nwould have him be in every Christian family. It is you, Christian\nfathers and mothers, who should be especially devout to St.\nJoseph, for he is your patron in a particular manner. You, like\nhim, have the cares of the household upon you; you must provide\nfor the life and health of the children God has given you; it is\nyour duty to see that they are instructed in the faith and\nattentive to their religious duties, and that they study their\nschool lessons; you should guard them against the dangers they\nmust meet with in a great city like this, and keep them away from\nthose who may lead them to evil; and, above all, you should give\nthem good example in the practice of virtue. To fulfil your\nduties well you need divine assistance. Go to Joseph--go to the\nfoster-father of Jesus Christ; he will intercede for you, and\nobtain the many graces of which you stand in need. Go to him and\ntell him all your troubles; you will find him very gracious.\n\nBut St. Joseph is the patron not of heads of families alone. The\nchurch would have you all, dear brethren, \"go to Joseph and do\nall that he shall say to you.\" From him she would have you learn\na tender love to Jesus, a love manifesting itself in deeds, not\nsimply in words. Joseph devoted himself to the service of our\nLord, and so should we.\n{242}\nBut how can we presume to say that we love or serve Jesus if we\ndo not keep his commands; if we neglect our duties as Catholics\nand as members of society? Let us show how much we love him by\ndoing something for him, as St. Joseph did, and let us, like him,\nbe constant in our well-doing, permitting no day to pass without\nsome acts of love to God. And if we would hope to make progress\nin the ways of God, let us daily \"Go to Joseph and do all that he\nshall say.\"\n\n-------------------\n\n Sermon LXXI.\n\n Christ And The Church.\n\n\n _I have yet many things to say to you,\n but you cannot bear them now. _\n --St. John xvi. 12\n\n\nThese words were spoken by our Lord in his last discourse to his\ndisciples. What were those things which he had yet to say to\nthem, but which they could not then bear?\n\nThey were things pertaining to the kingdom of God--that is, his\nchurch, his kingdom upon earth. He was about to leave the world\nand go to the Father, but he would leave behind him an organized\nbody to represent him. During these forty days, then, he sketched\nout the plan of the Catholic Church, which the Apostles were to\nbring to completion, under the guidance of the Holy Ghost, who\nwas to teach them all truth.\n\n{243}\n\nThese were the many things he had yet to say to them, but which\nthey could not understand till then, because of their former\nimperfect and even erroneous notions of the nature of his kingdom\nupon earth. He had spoken of his church before, as it were, in\nhints; now he speaks no longer in parables, but plainly. Listen\nto the few recorded words of those which he spoke during these\nforty days, and you will find in them an outline of the Catholic\nChurch.\n\nHe first asserts his authority to found a kingdom in this world,\nsaying, \"All power is given to me in heaven and on earth\"; and\nthen declares that he commits this same authority to his Apostles\nand their successors in the church: \"As my Father hath sent me, I\nalso send you.\" And, lest any one should say that this power and\nauthority were given to the Apostles alone and not to their\nsuccessors, he bids them go forth into all the world to preach\nthe Gospel to every creature, and promises them his continual\nabiding Presence even to the end of the world. One of the\nApostles he invested with a special authority over the others.\nThe Good Shepherd would not leave his sheep in this world uncared\nfor, so he gave to St. Peter and his successors the office of\npastor of the whole church in the words, \"Feed my lambs. Feed my\nsheep.\" He also set forth the means of obtaining entrance into\nthis earthly kingdom of his namely, faith and holy baptism--\"He\nthat believeth and is baptized shall be saved \"; and he declared\nthe blessedness of those who would accept the faith upon the\nauthority of his church: \"Blessed are they that have not seen and\nyet have believed.\"\n{244}\nHe provided a means by which those who should sin after baptism\nmight find pardon and remission of their sins by instituting the\nSacrament of Penance, giving to his Apostles and their successors\nthe power to forgive and retain sins: \"Whose sins you shall\nforgive they are forgiven them, and whose sins you shall retain\nthey are retained.\" He had already instituted on the night before\nhis Passion the Sacrament of the Holy Eucharist, and during those\nforty days he undoubtedly gave his Apostles the necessary\ninstructions concerning the rest of the sacraments of the new\nlaw. The Gospels do not pretend to give us all our Lord's doings\nand sayings, as St. John expressly tells us at the end of his\nGospel. But in these recorded sayings of Jesus, during this last\nbrief time that he spent on earth, we have the written\nconstitution of the Catholic Church, though but in outline. The\noffice of the pope as supreme pastor, the plenary authority of\nthe church, and the necessity of faith upon that authority as a\nmeans of obtaining eternal salvation--all this is clearly set\nforth in the words that I have quoted to you.\n\n\"Go, teach all nations,\" said our Lord to his church; and he\nadded, \"teaching them to observe whatsoever I have commanded\nyou.\" On our part, then, is required faithful submission to his\nteaching, as it comes to us through the voice of his church. It\nis only by faith in this teaching and by a diligent observance of\nthe commandments of God and his church that we can hope to save\nour souls and attain to the blessedness which he has promised.\n\n-------------------\n\n{245}\n\n _Fourth Sunday after Easter._\n\n\n Epistle.\n _St. James i._ 17-21.\n\n Dearly beloved:\n Every best gift, and every perfect gift, is from above, coming\n down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no change\n nor shadow of vicissitude. For of his own will hath he begotten\n us by the word of truth, that we might be some beginning of his\n creatures. You know, my dearest brethren, and let every man be\n swift to hear, but slow to speak, and slow to anger. For the\n anger of man worketh not the justice of God. Wherefore casting\n away all uncleanness, and abundance of malice, with meekness\n receive the engrafted word, which is able to save your souls.\n\n\n Gospel.\n _St. John xvi._ 5-14.\n\n At that time:\n Jesus said to his disciples:\n I go to him that sent me, and none of you asketh me: Whither\n goest thou? But because I have spoken these things to you,\n sorrow hath filled your heart. But I tell you the truth: it is\n expedient to you that I go: for if I go not, the Paraclete will\n not come to you; but if I go, I will send him to you. And when\n he shall come, he will convince the world of sin, and of\n justice, and of judgment. Of sin indeed: because they have not\n believed in me. And of justice: because I go to the Father; and\n you shall see me no longer. And of judgment: because the prince\n of this world is already judged. I have yet many things to say\n to you: but you cannot bear them now. But when he, the Spirit\n of truth, shall come, he will teach you all truth. For he shall\n not speak of himself: but what things soever he shall hear, he\n shall speak, and the things that are to come he shall show you.\n He shall glorify me: because he shall receive of mine, and will\n declare it to you.\n\n-------------------\n\n{246}\n\n Sermon LXXII.\n\n Evil Conversation.\n\n\n _And he said to them:\n What are these discourses\n that you hold one with another? ...\n And they said: Concerning Jesus of Nazareth. _\n --Luke xxiv. 17-19.\n\n\nBrethren: Suppose our Lord should stand in our midst to-day and\ndemand from each one of us, as he did from these two disciples,\nWhat are these discourses that you hold one with another? Do our\nconversations, like theirs, contain nothing reprehensible? Would\nour answer be as pleasing to God as theirs was? If so, brethren,\nwe have reason to thank God, and go on our way rejoicing. But of\nwhat do the majority of men most readily converse? It is sad that\nwe have to confess it, but God and his works, the soul and its\nwants are topics anything but agreeable to most of the men of our\nday. And so every legitimate means must be resorted to in order\nto make the things of God and spiritual conversation at all\npalatable.\n\nAnd you, fathers and mothers of families, what are these\nconversations which you hold one with the other? What are the\ntopics most commonly treated of in your Christian homes? Is it\nthe virtues of your neighbors that are spoken of and recounted\nfor your own edification and your children's imitation? Would to\nGod it were always so! But there are homes supposed to be\noccupied by Christians where God's holy name is never mentioned\nsave to be blasphemed, where the neighbor is never spoken of\nexcept to recall his follies, his vices, or even his atrocious\ncrimes.\n{247}\nChristian parents, beware of the scandal your conversations may\ngive to your family, but especially to your innocent children.\nRemember that many a soul to-day steeped in vice received its\nfirst sinful impulse from some unguarded word, some improper\ntopic of conversation heard in the home that should have been the\nnursery of every virtue.\n\nAnd from you, young men and women, an answer might be profitably\ndemanded to this important question: What are the conversations\nwhich you most readily indulge in one with the other? Are they in\nany way improper, or such that you would be ashamed to have them\nrepeated in the presence of your parents? If so, then your\ndiscourses are not concerning Jesus of Nazareth, and you are not\nfollowing the example of his disciples. But if in your\nconversations, following the Apostolic rule, the things that\nsavor of uncleanness are not so much as mentioned amongst you,\nwhat is to be said about the precious time you squander in idle,\nfrivolous talk? Remember that time is but the threshold of\neternity, every moment of which is of the highest value to you\nnow; and this is why on the last great day we shall be held to\naccount for every idle word. Young men and women, never admit\ninto your company those whose conversations are unworthy of a\nChristian, and especially let your own language be always in\nharmony with your high calling.\n\nIndeed, brethren, to all of us this question of our Lord brings\nhome an important lesson. For if we would lead good Christian\nlives we must not only abstain from all that is unbecoming or\nscandalous, but we must also regulate with all diligence our\nordinary commonplace conversations.\n{248}\nLet them be always such that we would not hesitate to repeat them\nbefore God or his most virtuous servants. If we would have our\nconversations agreeable to God and men, we should make it a rule\nnever to speak disparagingly of those _absent_, and never\ntake advantage of their absence to say anything which we would\nnot dare say in their presence. And the other rule we should\nfollow is this: never to say in the presence of others anything\nwhich could give scandal or leave a bad impression.\n\nBrethren, if we think often of this question of our Lord, if we\nare diligent in following these rules, our conversations will be\nalways edifying to our neighbors and useful to ourselves. Then,\nif called upon at any moment by our Lord, we can answer with his\ndisciples, Our conversations are \"concerning Jesus of Nazareth.\"\n\n-------------------\n\n Sermon LXXIII.\n\n Temptation.\n\n\n _Blessed is the man that endureth temptation;\n for when he hath been proved,\n he shall receive the crown of life,\n which God hath promised to them that love him. _\n --St. James i. 12.\n\n\nThese words, my dear brethren, are from the Scripture read in the\nDivine Office for to-day. They also, and very appropriately, have\na prominent place in the Office read on the feasts of martyrs\nthrough the year.\n\n{249}\n\n\"Blessed is the man that endureth temptation.\" \"Yes,\" you may\nsay, \"certainly, if a man does endure and resist temptation, it\nis a good thing, and one for which he has reason to be thankful;\nbut for my part, I would rather get along without being tempted.\"\nThis is a thought which is very likely to occur to those who are\nin earnest about saving their souls, and are therefore afraid\nthat they may give way to temptation, commit mortal sin, and be\nlost. They are inclined to envy others who seem to have a good\nand innocent natural disposition, and sometimes they may,\nperhaps, wish that they themselves had died in their baptismal\ninnocence, before temptation and sin were possible.\n\nNow this wish is not altogether wrong; it is certainly pleasing\nto God for us to desire that it might be impossible to offend\nhim, and that our own salvation might be made secure. But it is a\nmistake, when he does allow temptation to come on us without our\nfault, to think that it would be better for us if he had not done\nso.\n\nIt is a mistake, and why? Because far the greater part of us\ncannot acquire supernatural virtue in any high degree, give much\nglory to God, or be entitled to much reward at his hands, without\na good deal of temptation. If it would please God to infuse all\nthe virtues into our souls without any trouble or labor on our\npart, it might indeed be very well; but this he is not bound to\ndo, and generally he does not choose to do it. He prefers that we\nshould obtain our virtues partly by our own exertions. And as we\nwill not pray or meditate, do penance or mortify ourselves enough\nto accomplish this end, there is no way to make any virtue strong\nand hardy in us except by forcing us to oppose its contrary vice.\n{250}\nIt is quite easy to seem very pleasant and good-natured when one\nhas no crosses or provocations; but let a sharp or insulting word\nbe said, and it will soon be seen how much real patience there is\nin this seeming good-humor; perhaps passion will flame out all\nthe more violently for being long in repose. But if one's\npatience is often tried, and stands the test by means of our own\nearnest struggles, it will become after a time something which we\ncan really count on.\n\nThis, then, is one good in temptation, that it makes our virtue\nreally strong and solid for future use. But another value of it\nis to enable us to make acts at the very moment which will have\nan eternal reward and merit, and which we should never make were\nwe let alone. Let one be tempted by impure thoughts for a day,\nand faithfully resist them; in that day he will perhaps have done\nmore to please God and obtain merit and glory in heaven than in a\nyear of ordinary life.\n\nSo if temptation comes without our own fault, we may indeed\nrejoice and count ourselves blessed, as St. James says; for it is\nindeed an earnest of the crown of life which our tried and\nstrengthened souls shall win, and which shall be decked with the\ninnumerable gems which our battles with sin have merited. But let\nus not allow it to come by our fault, for then we cannot hope for\na blessing with it. \"Lead us not into temptation,\" we say every\nday; profitable as the contest may be to us, it would be\npresumption to offer ourselves to it, or to ask from God an\nopportunity for it. Let us wait till he chooses to call us to the\nstrife, and then thank him for the trial which shall give us,\nwith his help, the crown of life which he has promised to those\nwho love him, and for his love hate and resist sin.\n\n-------------------\n\n{251}\n _Fifth Sunday after Easter._\n\n\n Epistle.\n _St. James i._ 22-27.\n\n Dearly beloved:\n Be ye doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving your\n own selves. For if a man be a hearer of the word, and not a\n doer, he shall be compared to a man beholding his natural\n countenance in a glass. For he beheld himself, and went his\n way, and presently forgot what manner of man he was. But he\n that hath looked into the perfect law of liberty, and hath\n continued in it, not becoming a forgetful hearer, but a doer of\n the work: this man shall be blessed in his deed. And if any man\n think himself to be religious, not bridling his tongue, but\n deceiving his own heart, this man's religion is vain. Religion\n pure and unspotted with God and the Father, is this: to visit\n the fatherless and widows in their tribulation; and to keep\n one's self undefiled from this world.\n\n\n Gospel.\n _St. John xvi._ 23-30.\n\n At that time Jesus said to his disciples:\n Amen, amen I say to you, if you ask the Father anything in my\n name, he will give it you. Hitherto you have not asked any\n thing in my name. Ask, and you shall receive: that your joy may\n be full. These things have I spoken to you in proverbs. The\n hour cometh when I will no more speak to you in proverbs, but\n will show you plainly of the Father. In that day you shall ask\n in my name: and I say not to you, that I will ask the Father\n for you. For the Father himself loveth you, because you have\n loved me, and have believed that I came forth from God. I came\n forth from the Father, and am come into the world; again I\n leave the world, and I go to the Father. His disciples say to\n him: Behold now thou speakest plainly, and speak-est no\n proverb. Now we know that thou knowest all things, and that for\n thee it is not needful that any man ask thee. In this we\n believe that thou camest forth from God.\n\n-------------------\n\n{252}\n\n Sermon LXXIV.\n\n Sins Of The Tongue.\n\n\n _And if any man think himself to be religious,\n not bridling his tongue, but deceiving his own heart,\n this man's religion is vain._\n --St. James i. 26.\n\n\nMy dear brethren, we see by these words that we have a rule by\nwhich to find out whether or not we deserve to be called sincere\nChristians or hypocrites. In order to be a sincere Christian,\nwhat has a man to do? He has to get control of himself; to get\nhis soul and all that it can desire subject to the law of God; to\nget all pride, covetousness, lust, anger, envy, gluttony, and\nsloth under the control of his own will; to get that will subject\nto and one with the will of God; and, what is more, he must keep\nhimself in this state of mind at least so far as to restrain\nhimself from committing mortal sin and the graver venial sins if\nhe desire sincerely to keep his soul well out of danger. He who\nacts thus is a truly good man, and that man's religion is not\nvain.\n\n{253}\n\nWhat is the first thing to be done to begin to live in this way?\nIt is to examine and see in what way a man commits the greater\nnumber of sins. One will soon find that the tongue of man is the\nmeans by which a man sins most frequently and in the most\ndevilish manner. For, says St. James, \"The tongue is a fire, a\nworld of iniquity, ... defileth the whole body, ... being set on\nfire by hell.\" We see from this how dangerous to the soul is the\ntongue of man. As we do see this, are we not bound to keep in\ncheck, _at all costs_, this source of evil? Any one can see\nthat, if he does not bridle his tongue, his religion is vain\nindeed. In fact, it is nothing but a merely outward show. It is\nhypocrisy of the worst kind. But what are the sins of the tongue\nwe most often hear? They are blasphemies, curses, and oaths; the\nretailing of our neighbors faults with delight and evident\npleasure; quarrels, bickerings, constant reproaches for faults\nthat are past, gone, and even sincerely repented of long ago;\nimmodest and impure conversations, with jokes and stories a\nheathen feels ashamed of; hints and little words that seem almost\nnothing, yet injuring seriously the reputation of some one,\nseparating friends, and making even those near and dear to each\nother by every tie cold and distant for a long time, if not for\nthe rest of their lives. God deliver us all from the evil tongue!\nIt works in our very homes. The husband becomes by it bitterness\nand gall to his wife and family. The wife becomes a torture to\nhusband and children. Both by it make home a curse instead of a\nblessing, and separate those of whom the word of God declares,\n\"Whom God hath joined together let no man put asunder.\" Too often\ndo we see sad examples of this kind. Too often do we find such a\nhusband, who is like a roaring wild beast in his home, and a wife\nwhose tongue once set going, even for a slight cause, is like a\nclock running down, or like the mill-clapper, so often used as a\nfigure of an unruly tongue.\n{254}\nThe bad tongue of a child is the ruin of all in the house. That\nchild is a tale-bearer and a traitor against those who begot him.\nA detestable habit of the evil tongue is what the world calls\n\"damning our neighbor with faint praise,\" or, in other words,\npraising him highly, even to the skies, and putting in a little\nword of evil that destroys him all the more surely. One will\nexcuse himself by saying: \"But, after all, I spoke well of him.\nIt can't do any harm!\" Yet he knows in his inmost soul he has\nruined or seriously injured his neighbor. How would I feel if I\nwere spoken of in this manner? is the question one should have\nasked himself before he said a word.\n\nHow common is it to find persons the moment they see anything\nwrong done by another or hear of it hurry in great glee to tell\nit at once! Do we not know, my dear brethren, that such a one is\na scandalizer of men, and that the Christian rule requires us to\nbe silent then under pain of sin? But the greater the evil done\nthe more delighted are they to tell it. It should be just the\nother way. Never reveal to any one the sin of your neighbor,\nunless to save an innocent person or another from damage of some\nkind. This damage must be serious to oblige one to tell, even\nthen, the sin of another, for he is equally obliged by God not to\ntell it under ordinary circumstances.\n\nRemember, then, that no one can be a true Christian unless he\nkeeps from these sins by bridling his tongue. Otherwise, as the\ntext declares, \"this man's religion is vain.\"\n\n-------------------\n\n{255}\n\n Sermon LXXV.\n\n Perseverance In Prayer.\n\n _Yet if he shall continue, knocking, I say to you,\n although he will not rise and give him,\n because he is his friend;\n yet because of his importunity he will rise;\n and give him as many as he needeth._\n --St. Luke xi. 8.\n\n\nMany people complain that their prayers are not heard. Again and\nagain they have made some special requests for temporal, or it\nmay be even for spiritual, blessings, and nothing seems to have\ncome of these petitions. Others get what they ask for, but they\nare not so favored; and they almost make up their minds that it\nis of no use for them to pray. They think, perhaps, that they are\ntoo great sinners for God to hear them; or that they do not know\nhow to pray right; or they are even tempted to believe that\nprayer is a mistake altogether; that God's will is not moved by\nit; that, if any one does seem to get anything by it, it is only\nby chance, and would have come without it just as well.\n\nNow what can be the reason of the failure of these good people in\nprayer? Is it, perhaps, because what they asked was really an\nevil for them, and so God could not in mercy grant it, but had to\ngive them something better instead, which they have not noticed?\nOr is it that they did not strive to do their best to win what\nthey wanted also by their own exertions as well as by prayer;\nthat they would not put their own shoulder to the wheel? If it\nwas some virtue, such as charity or patience, that they were\nasking for, and meanwhile took no real pains to cultivate and\npractise it, no wonder that God would not give it to them.\n{256}\nOr, lastly, is the reason for their disappointment that they were\npraying for others whose will was obstinately set against their\nprayers? A mother prays for her son, and her prayers are heard,\nthough they may not seem to be. Graces are granted to him, but he\nresists them. God has not promised to send them, in such a\ntorrent as to sweep away and break down all opposition, though he\nmay yet do so, if she will only persevere.\n\nPersevere! Ah! that word suggests what may be the real\ndifficulty, the true reason for the seeming uselessness of so\nmany good prayers. They are good as far as they go, but there are\nnot enough of them. The effect that is to come of them is to come\nall at once; it is like the fall of a tree in the woods under the\nblows of the axe: the tree will come down, but not at the first,\nthe second, the tenth, or perhaps even the hundredth stroke.\n\nYes, my brethren, our Lord could no doubt grant our prayers as\nsoon as we made them, but he does not wish to do so. And I think\nwe can see at least two reasons why he does not. First, if he\ngrants what we ask at once we will go off with what he has given\nus, and hare no more to say to him. And, strange to say, he\nenjoys our society; he has himself said his delight is to be with\nthe children of men. So he keeps us around him, though it be only\nto tease, as a father would the children he loved, if he could\nnot keep them any other way. And, secondly, he knows that it is\ngood for us to be with him; and that every time we pray in\nearnest we come nearer to him, and our souls become stronger. So\nit is that, both for his own sake and for our good, he sometimes\nwill not grant our prayers unless we persevere in them for a very\nlong while.\n\n{257}\n\nOur Lord has given us to understand this importance of\npersevering in prayer very plainly in the Gospel read on these\ndays, called Rogation Days, between to-day and the Feast of the\nAscension. He represents to us in the parable of this Gospel a\nman who has gone to bed, and is roused at midnight by a friend\nwho wants to borrow some bread to set before an unexpected guest.\nHe at first tells the disturber to leave him alone; he says that\nhe cannot be bothered to get up at such an inconvenient time; he\npretends to drop off asleep, and keeps his friend outside\nknocking and pounding for so long a time that he almost gives it\nup as useless. \"Yet,\" says our Lord, \"if he shall continue\nknocking, I say to you, although he will not rise and give him\nbecause he is his friend, yet because of his importunity he will\nrise and give him as many as he needeth.\"\n\nThis is the lesson, then, it may be, for those who have had no\nsuccess at their prayers. They did well to begin, but they did\nnot keep at it long enough. Let them go at it once again, and\nkeep on. Let them ask, and keep asking, and they shall receive;\nlet them seek long enough, and they shall find; let them keep\nknocking and making a disturbance, and at last the door shall be\nopened, and they shall obtain what they desire.\n\n-------------------\n\n{258}\n\n _Sunday within the Octave of the Ascension._\n\n\n Epistle.\n 1 _St. Peter iv._ 7-11.\n\n Dearly beloved:\n Be prudent, and watch in prayers. But before all things have a\n mutual charity among yourselves: for charity covereth a\n multitude of sins. Using hospitality one towards another\n without murmuring. As every man hath received grace,\n ministering the same one to another, as good stewards of the\n manifold grace of God. If any man speak, let him speak as the\n words of God. If any man minister, let it be as from the power\n which God administereth: that in all things God may be honored\n through Jesus Christ our Lord.\n\n\n Gospel.\n _St. John xv._ 26-xvi. 4.\n\n At that time:\n Jesus said to his disciples:\n When the Paraclete shall come whom I will send you from the\n Father, the Spirit of truth, who proceedeth from the Father, he\n shall give testimony of me. And you shall give testimony,\n because you are with me from the beginning. These things have I\n spoken to you, that you may not be scandalized. They will put\n you out of the synagogues: yea, the hour cometh that whosoever\n killeth you, will think that he doeth a service to God. And\n these things will they do to you, because they have not known\n the Father, nor me. But these things I have told you, that when\n the hour of them shall come, you may remember that I told you.\n\n-------------------\n\n{259}\n\n Sermon LXXVI.\n\n After A Mission.\n\n\nThere is nothing, my dear brethren, which can give more joy and\nconsolation both to pastor and people than a mission such as that\nwhich was closed last Sunday.\n\nThank God, there were many who had been living previously in sin,\nbut who really turned from it then with their whole hearts, and\nwho now have a happiness in those hearts to which they had long\nbefore been strangers. This happiness ought to last all their\nlives. God means that it should; they can make it do so if they\nwill.\n\nBut how will it be in fact; how is it too often, after such times\nof grace and fervor? We have had missions before, which really\nseemed as if they marked a new era in the history of our parish;\nbut we look for their fruits now and find them only few and far\nbetween. Too many of those who made them went back a month or so\nafterward to the old ways of sin.\n\nWhat was the reason that they did not persevere? Why was it that\nthey had the same sad story to tell when they came back this time\nthat they had a few years ago?\n\nWas it that they never expected it to be otherwise? Perhaps so.\nSome Christians--shame to say it--seem to think that mortal sin\ncannot be avoided. Such do not really try to avoid it; how can\nthey? How can any one seriously attempt what he believes to be\nimpossible? No wonder that such as these fell; the question is if\nindeed they ever arose.\n{260}\nFor how could they have made the purpose of amendment which a\ngood confession requires? Let them understand, at least now, that\nit is possible to abandon mortal sin at once and for ever.\n\nBut was it, perhaps, that they thought they could keep the grace\nthey had got by their own unaided strength; that they could fight\nthe devil single-handed, or even that he would never trouble them\nmuch again? Ah! my brethren, if any of you thought that he made a\nterrible mistake. Satan does not give up the souls which he has\nonce possessed so easily. He knows the advantage which all habits\nof sin give him, and he is going to make the most of them. He\nwill surely attack you, and you are weak, while he is strong. If\nyou undertake to fight him alone, you will go to the wall. You\ncannot conquer him unless God helps you.\n\nBut, after all, there are not many Catholics who do not know that\nit needs God's help to persevere. Oh! yes; almost every one will\nsay, when asked after confession if he is going to avoid sin for\nthe future, that he will, \"with the help of God.\"\n\nWell, then, what is the matter? If we know that we are in danger,\nand that we can escape from it, but only by God's help, why does\nnot that help come and save us?\n\nI will tell you why it does not. And to do so I have only to turn\nto the first words of to-day's Mass: \"He shall call on me, and I\nwill hear him; I will deliver him and glorify him.\"\n\nThat is the whole story. If we want God to deliver us, we must\nask him to do it. In other words, if we wish to persevere, we\nmust pray. If we do not go to God to get the strength which we\nneed, we must be without it.\n\n{261}\n\nThe sinner who repents, and does not pray often and fervently\nafterward to keep the grace he has, being especially careful of\nhis morning prayers; who does not, above all, make often the best\nof all prayers--that of again coming to the sacraments--is a\nfool, and the devil's laughing-stock.\n\nThe great majority of those who have been leading a bad life, and\nwho abandon it at a mission, or at any other time, will not\npersevere unless they are willing to take the trouble to make\nfrequent and earnest prayers, and to come to confession again\nwithin a month. That is simple fact; it is the teaching of\nexperience, not mere guess-work. Are you, my friends, willing to\ntake that trouble for your soul's sake, or do you prefer to fall\nas you have fallen before?\n\n-------------------\n\n Sermon LXXVII.\n\n Bearing Witness For Our Lord.\n\n\n _And you shall give testimony,\n because you are with me from the beginning._\n --St. John xv. 27.\n\nIt might be asked, dear brethren, what need God has of _our_\ntestimony, or why the creature should act the part of witness for\nthe Creator? Certainly Jesus Christ needed not the testimony of\nmen, but in his infinite goodness and wisdom he has seen fit to\ncommit to each one of us a sublime and holy mission, none other\nthan that of giving testimony of him before the world, for the\nsake of our fellow-man.\n{262}\n\"You are,\" says St. Peter, \"a chosen generation, a royal\npriesthood, that you may declare the virtues of him who hath\ncalled you out of darkness.\"\n\nThis, then, is our mission, to be witnesses for Jesus Christ; and\nto-day we are going to consider how we are fulfilling it. You\nknow, brethren, with what a keen sense of criticism the world\nexamines the testimony of those witnessing in behalf of others,\nand how it values their testimony in proportion to their\nuprightness and integrity. Well, so it is with regard to us and\nthe testimony we are called upon to give of our Blessed Lord. We\nChristians are all on the witness-stand of this great world.\nTo-day the unbelieving world is passing judgment upon our\ntestimony, deciding whether it be for or against Jesus Christ;\nbut, brethren, there will come a day when Christ himself will sit\nin judgment upon this same testimony and reward us accordingly.\n\nSince, then, this our mission is so important, brethren, how are\nwe to fulfil it? It seems to me in no better way than by leading\ntruly Christian lives, and thus forcing the world to acknowledge\nthat we are animated by the spirit of God. The early Christians\nbrought the light of faith to thousands, not by preaching, but by\nthe holiness of their lives; and so, when the pagans and infidels\ncame in contact with them, they were forced to admire and\nexclaim, \"Behold how these Christians love one another!\" Would to\nGod that the life and conduct of every Christian to-day could\nforce a similar confession from the unbelievers of our time.\n\n{263}\n\nIndeed, brethren, all Christians of our day have a great mission\nto fulfil in this regard; but _we_ especially, for the\nreason given by our Lord himself--\"because you are with me from\nthe beginning.\" You, beloved brethren, who have had the faith\nfrom the beginning--from your earliest childhood--have a special\nreason why your testimony for Jesus Christ should never be\nfailing. Has it ever been so? Have your virtuous lives and\nedifying example brought home the truths and beauties of the\nCatholic faith to those outside the church? I fear, brethren, the\nconduct of bad and negligent Catholics has kept back many from\ninquiring into the true faith. Such Catholics, wearing the livery\nof Satan, have given false testimony of God, and will have to\nrender an account for it.\n\nWe can all of us, brethren, give testimony of Jesus Christ by\nevery action of our lives. Parents can and should render this\ntestimony by the good example they give their families, and the\nChristian solicitude they have for their spiritual welfare. Young\nmen and women should give this testimony by the profession and\npractice of God's law and the church's precepts. Let the\nconsideration, dear brethren, of this our high mission, our being\ncalled to give testimony of God, be the means of animating us to\nrenewed fervor in the service of Jesus Christ.\n\n-------------------\n\n Sermon LXXVIII.\n\n The Indwelling of the Holy Spirit.\n\n\n _Watch in prayers._\n --1 St. Peter iv. 7.\n\n{264}\n\nTo-day is the Sunday of expectation, and it brings to our minds\nthat upper chamber in Jerusalem, where the little band of the\nchosen disciples of the Lord were gathered together waiting for\nthe coming of the Holy Ghost. There were the eleven Apostles and\nthe faithful women, and Mary, the Mother of Jesus, and his\nbrethren. \"All these,\" says the sacred chronicler, \"were\npersevering with one mind in prayer.\" Hence the Epistle of to-day\nurges us to imitate them, and begins with the exhortation:\n\"Dearly beloved, watch in prayers.\"\n\nWe too must watch and wait for the coming of the Holy Ghost. He\nhas, indeed, already come into our souls in Holy Baptism,\ncleansing them from original sin and making them his temples. He\nhas come again in Confirmation, with all the fulness of his\nsevenfold gifts, to make us strong and perfect Christians and\nsoldiers of Christ.\n\nYet he comes to us continually every day, knocking at the door of\nour hearts and begging for admittance. Every impulse of what is\nknown as actual grace is from the Holy Ghost, and such graces we\nare receiving all the time, every hour of the day. We must\ntherefore prepare ourselves for his coming, and when he has\nentered into our souls we must strive to keep him there. The Holy\nGhost is the life of our souls. It is his constant presence and\nindwelling which is the state of grace which makes us pleasing to\nGod. To obtain and to preserve this abiding presence of the Holy\nGhost we must imitate the Apostles in their watchfulness and\nprayer. We must watch lest the time of temptation should find us\nunprepared and off our guard; we must pray that the Holy Ghost\nmay come into our hearts, bringing with him ever richer treasures\nof divine grace; that he may take possession of our souls and\nmake them all his own; that he may guide our minds, and with the\nfire of his love inflame our hearts to do his holy will in all\nthings.\n\n{265}\n\nBut we must first of all prepare for the Holy Ghost by cleansing\nour souls from sin. Where sin reigns the Holy Ghost can never\ndwell. The Apostles prepared for his corning by penance. To that\nupper chamber in Jerusalem came St. Peter, who had denied his\nLord, St. Thomas, who had doubted his resurrection, and the\nothers who had wavered in their faith, and, in the time of trial,\nhad forsaken their Master and fled. But now they had been\nconvinced of their error, and they came together with sorrow for\ntheir past unfaithfulness, and a full determination to lay down\ntheir lives, if need be, for him who had died for them. This is\nthe spirit in which we should prepare for the Holy Ghost. If your\nhearts are defiled with mortal sin, delay not the time of\npenance. The Holy Ghost is ready to descend upon you. He only\nwaits for you to do your part. Make ready, then, a place in your\nheart, that he may enter in and dwell there.\n\n\"O my dearly beloved brethren!\" exclaims St. Gregory the Great,\n\"think what a dignity it is to have God abiding as a guest in our\nheart! Surely, if some rich man or some powerful friend were to\ncome into our house, we would hasten to have our whole house\ncleaned, lest, perchance, when he came in he should see anything\nto displease his eye. So let him that would make his mind an\nabode for God cleanse it from all the filth of works of\niniquity.\"\n\n{266}\n\n\"And they were persevering with one mind in prayer.\" Our prayer\nmust be persevering if we would gain that which we desire. This\nis what our Lord meant when he said that we ought always to pray\nand not to faint. Unless we persevere in prayer we shall without\ndoubt faint by the way in the journey of life. And let us do as\nthe Apostles did, join our prayers to those of Mary, the Mother\nof Jesus, and we shall have a sure hope of obtaining what is most\nneedful for us. Then, as the Holy Ghost once descended upon her,\nand wrought within her the Incarnation, so also will he come into\nour hearts, and make them the abode of the Holy Trinity. Then, if\nwe listen to his blessed voice within us, we shall grow in grace\nand in the knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, for\nthe Holy Ghost will teach us all things, according to the\npromise.\n\n-------------------\n\n{267}\n\n _Feast of Pentecost, or Whit-Sunday._\n\n\n Epistle.\n _Acts ii. _1-11.\n\n When the days of the Pentecost were accomplished, they were all\n together in the same place: and suddenly there came a sound\n from heaven, as of a mighty wind coming, and it filled the\n whole house where they were sitting. And there appeared to them\n cloven tongues as it were of fire, and it sat upon every one of\n them, And they were all filled with the Holy Ghost, and they\n began to speak with divers tongues, according as the Holy Ghost\n gave them to speak. Now there were dwelling at Jerusalem Jews,\n devout men out of every nation under heaven. And when this\n voice was made, the multitude came together, and were\n confounded in mind, because that every one heard them speak in\n his own tongue. And they were all amazed and wondered, saying:\n Behold, are not all these who speak Galileans? And how have we\n every one heard our own tongue wherein we were born? Parthians,\n and Medes, and Elamites, and inhabitants of Mesopotamia, Judea\n and Cappadocia, Pontus and Asia, Phrygia and Pamphilia, Egypt\n and the parts of Lybia about Cyrene, and strangers of Rome,\n Jews also, and proselytes, Cretes and Arabians; we have heard\n them speak in our own tongues the wonderful works of God.\n\n\n Gospel.\n _St. John xiv._ 23-31.\n\n At that time Jesus said to his disciples:\n If any one love me, he will keep my word, and my Father will\n love him, and we will come to him, and make our abode with him.\n He that loveth me not, keepeth not my words. And the word which\n you have heard is not mine, but the Father's who sent me.\n{268}\n These things have I spoken to you, remaining with you. But the\n Paraclete, the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in my\n name, he will teach you all things, and bring all things to\n your mind, whatsoever I shall have said to you. Peace I leave\n with you; my peace I give to you: not as the world giveth do I\n give to you. Let not your hearts be troubled, nor let it be\n afraid. You have heard that I have said to you: I go away, and\n I come again to you. If you loved me, you would indeed be glad,\n because I go to the Father: for the Father is greater than I.\n And now I have told you before it come to pass: that when it\n shall come to pass, you may believe. Now I will not speak many\n things with you. For the prince of this world cometh, and in me\n he hath not anything. But that the world may know that I love\n the Father: and as the Father hath given me commandment, so I\n do.\n\n-------------------\n\n Sermon LXXIX.\n\n The Holy Ghost In The Church.\n\n\n _The Holy Ghost,\n whom the Father will send in my name,\n he will teach you all things,\n and bring all things to your mind,\n whatsoever I shall have said to you. _\n --Gospel of the Day.\n\n\nOn the day which we now commemorate, my brethren, the Holy Ghost\ncame down, as you know, on the little company of Christians\nassembled in the upper room at Jerusalem, to prepare them for the\ngreat combat in which they were about to engage against the devil\nfor the conquest of the world. He came down upon them to make of\nthem the church of God; to establish them in the truth, and to\nbring to their remembrance, as our Lord had promised, the faith\nwhich they had received from his lips.\n{269}\nHe came to give them not only the knowledge but also the courage\nand strength which would be necessary for them to persevere, to\nresist and overcome all the attacks of the enemy, and to weather\nall the storms which heresy, infidelity, and worldliness were\nabout to raise against the one true faith.\n\nAnd he was to come, and has come, not only on them, but on those\nwho have followed them as well, and for the same purpose. We have\nreceived him, and he abides in the Catholic Church to-day as he\ndid in the times of the Apostles. The Holy Ghost is the life of\nthe church; it is his presence which distinguishes her from the\nhuman institutions which have appeared in the world with her and\nhave one by one sprung up and passed away. It is his abiding with\nher that makes her life perpetual, ever the same and ever new.\n\nBut how is the Holy Ghost in the Catholic Church? How is it that\nhe is her life, and that he keeps now, as of old, in the one true\nbody which all who will but clear the mists of prejudice from\nbefore their eyes can see is the one which Christ promised to\nform, and to which all his promises were made?\n\nIn the first place, the Holy Ghost is in the Catholic Church by\nthe gift bestowed on the successors of the Apostles in the\nApostolic See, of infallibility in teaching the faith. In this\nway the truth is sure to be kept in the world; it cannot fail to\nbe taught, while the Vicar of Christ remains to teach it.\n\nBut it is not only in the Holy See that the Spirit of God abides.\nThe bishops throughout the world also teach the faith by his help\nand guidance; and this help is also given to the clergy who\nassist them.\n{270}\nNor does the work of the Holy Ghost stop here; he is also with\nthe body of the faithful, enabling them also to recognize the\ntruth when they hear it, and to distinguish it from error. \"You\nhave the unction from the Holy One, and know all things,\" says\nSt. John; \"I have not written to you as to them that know not the\ntruth, but as to them that know it.\"\n\nYes, the Holy Ghost is throughout the church; he is her life, and\nis not only in her head, but also in her members. Were he not in\nthe members, though the pope indeed should remain to teach the\ntruth, the faithful would not have remained faithful or attentive\nto the truth which he would teach.\n\nWhat a blessing, then, my brethren, is this light of the Holy\nGhost, which is given in its measure to each one of us; which\nkeeps us in the one fold, and which makes us, out of many, one\nbody in Christ; which brings his words always to our minds, and\nwhich preserves us from the ever-changing doubt and confusion\nwhich is the lot of those who arc separated from the one true\nchurch in which he dwells! Let us, then, preserve this\nunspeakable gift; let us not quench the Spirit of God within us.\nAnd how is it quenched? How do we lose the light of faith which\nhe gives?\n\nBy sin, and never except by sin. Though instruction be indeed\ngood and salutary, it is not the simple and the unlearned who\nlose the faith, but such as give ear to their passions, specially\nthose of pride and impurity. All the heresies which have torn\nmultitudes from the church of Christ have had their roots not so\nmuch in ignorance as in sin. \"Keep yourselves,\" then, my\nbrethren, as St. John warns you, \"from idols\"; this is the only\nsure way to keep in yourselves the light of God.\n\n-------------------\n\n{271}\n\n Sermon LXXX.\n\n The Guidance Of The Holy Spirit.\n\n\n _If any one love me he will keep my word,\n and my father will love him,\n and we will come to him and make our abode with him;\n he that loveth me not, keepeth not my word._\n --Gospel of the Day.\n\n\nTo-day, dear brethren, the church sends up her voice of praise\nfor the coming of the Holy Spirit. On this day the Holy Ghost,\nthe personal love of the Father and the Son, came upon the\ndisciples in that upper chamber in Jerusalem, where they were\ngathered together in prayer awaiting the promise of the Father.\nHe came upon weak and timid men, but when he had poured himself\nupon them behold we have the great Apostles, the teachers of the\ndivine word, the fearless and untiring searchers after souls, the\nfounders of the church.\n\nAh! what a change had been wrought in these timid followers of\nJesus, who had fled from him in the hour of his need, and who,\nafter his resurrection, lay hid with barred doors for fear of the\nJews! Their fear and their weakness have disappeared, and the\nwhole world is not large enough for the exercise of their zeal,\nnor less than the conversion of all nations the end of their\nnoble ambition.\n\n{272}\n\nBut, dear brethren, the self-same Holy Ghost, who brought about\nthis change in the Apostles, comes to us, nay, abides in us, if\nwe fulfil the condition our Lord lays down--namely, that we love\nhim. And he makes the test of our love the keeping of his word.\nIf we love him the Father will love us, and the Father and the\nSon will come to us and make their abode with us through the\nindwelling of the Holy Spirit.\n\nThe Holy Spirit is our sanctifier. It is he to whom are ascribed\nthe works of love. He dispenses the graces which the merits of\nJesus Christ have won for us. He purifies from sin and unites our\nsouls to God. He dwells in every one who is free from grievous\nsin, and by his light and strength he gives us help to overcome\nthe temptations which assail us.\n\nHe is the Spirit of joy and sweetness, filling us with the fear\nof God, urging us on in the love of God, guarding us from the\nloss of God's friendship by the winning sweetness of his\nconsolations. How greatly, then, should we love and adore the\nHoly Ghost, the third person of the Blessed Trinity! We should\noften call upon him and pray to him. We do not invoke the Holy\nGhost enough. We pray to the Father and to the Son, and so\nindirectly honor God, the Holy Spirit; but we should pray more\nfrequently to him directly. We should call upon him to give us,\nif we have it not, the grace of God, and to increase in us the\nfire of divine love that we may realize in ourselves the promise\nof the abiding of God in us by keeping his laws.\n\nWhat folly it is for us to imagine that God can have a\ndwelling-place in our sin-stained soul! How can the Holy Spirit\nfind pleasure in one who by mortal sin has made himself God's\nenemy; who has been guilty of a deliberate act of rebellion\nagainst his Maker and been unfaithful to or left unheeded his own\nsweet drawing?\n{273}\nAlas for us, if this Pentecost finds us in this awful state!\nAlas! if the voice of our conscience has been silenced; this day\nthen brings no joy to us! The Holy Spirit has no abiding-place\nwithin our souls. We have not loved the Son because we have not\nkept his words: \"He that loveth me not keepeth not my words.\" And\nbecause we have not loved him the Father and he will not come to\nus. The loving Holy Ghost is not master in our house; we have\ndriven him out who was our best friend and thrown open the gate\nto our enemy. Will you remain thus, you who are in sin? Let not\nthis day go by and to-morrow find you unrepentant. Grieve for\nyour past offences, keep the law of God, and you shall have the\nfulness of the Holy Spirit.\n\n-------------------\n\n Sermon LXXXI.\n\n The Easter Duty.\n\nIn this great feast and its octave, my dear brethren, we\ncommemorate the last of all the wonderful events which brought\nthe Christian religion into the world. To-day our Divine Saviour,\nhaving ascended into heaven, fulfilled his promise in the descent\nof the Holy Ghost upon his Apostles; to-day the Catholic Church\nwas fully established, and given power to convert the world;\nto-day the order of things was begun which is to last to the end\nof time.\n\nAnd with this octave closes, therefore, that especially holy part\nor season of the year which centres round the resurrection of our\nLord, and which has, for most obvious reasons, been appointed as\nthe time in which every Christian is bound, under pain of mortal\nsin, to receive Holy Communion, or make, as we say, his Easter\nduty.\n{274}\nOnly one more week remains in which to attend to this most\nimportant of all the obligations of a Catholic, to fulfil this\ngreatest precept of the positive Christian law.\n\nNow, what is exactly this precept of the Easter duty? Strange to\nsay, you will often find people who do not seem to have any clear\nidea about it at all, in spite of all that is said about it from\nthe altar and in common catechisms and books of instruction. And\nyet it is very simple. It is just this: Every Catholic of\nsufficient age to receive Communion is bound to receive it on\nsome day between the first Sunday of Lent and Trinity\nSunday--that is, a week from to-day--inclusive; and it is very\ndifficult for any one to have any excuse from complying with this\nlaw.\n\nThe Easter duty, then, is not merely an obligation to receive\nonce a year. A person may receive a hundred times in the year,\nand yet not make his Easter duty; just as one may hear Mass every\nday in the week, and yet not fulfil the precept of hearing Mass\nif he stays away on Sunday. Now this seems quite easy to\nunderstand; but there are people, and plenty of them, too, who\nwill make a mission shortly before Lent, and then say at this\ntime: \"Oh! I went to Communion not very long ago; there is no\nneed to go so soon again.\" They might as well say on Sunday, if\nthey had heard Mass on Saturday: \"I need not go to church to-day;\nit was only yesterday that I was there.\" The law of hearing Mass\nis not to hear it once a week, but to hear it on Sundays and\nholydays of obligation; so the law of Communion is not to receive\nonce or twice a year, but to receive at the time appointed. No\nother time will do.\n\n{275}\n\nBut some may say: \"I have not committed any mortal sin since my\nlast confession; I am just as good as these people who are\nrunning to church all the time.\" Very good, perhaps you are;\nthough it may be that Almighty God does not have so high an\nopinion of you as you seem to have of yourself. But it is not the\nquestion whether you are good or not; the law is not to confess\nmortal sin at Easter; far from it, one ought to have no mortal\nsin to confess, then or at any other time. No, the law is to go\nto Communion. One should get leave to do so, of course; but if\nyou have no sin on your conscience, what is easier than to say so\nto the priest? You ought to be glad to be able to say it.\n\nDo not, then, make the foolish excuse either that you have been\nto Communion at Christmas or there about, or that you have\nnothing to confess now. Come this week; if you put your Communion\noff one day beyond next Sunday you are guilty of breaking this\nlaw. If you are in mortal sin, get out of it by making a good\nconfession and Communion; if you are not, do not fall into it by\nrefusing to obey this most peremptory and most urgent command.\nAny one who has not received since Lent began, and refuses to do\nso on or before next Sunday, may, indeed, call himself a\nCatholic, but is not worthy of the name.\n\n-------------------\n\n{276}\n\n _Trinity Sunday._\n\n\n Epistle.\n _Romans xi._ 33-36.\n\n O the depth of the riches, of the wisdom, and of the knowledge\n of God! How incomprehensible are his judgments, and how\n unsearchable his ways! For who hath known the mind of the Lord?\n Or who hath been his counsellor? Or who hath first given to\n him, and recompense shall be made to him? For of him, and by\n him, and in him, are all things. To him be glory for ever.\n Amen.\n\n\n Gospel.\n _St. Matthew, xxviii._ 18-20.\n\n At that time:\n Jesus said to his disciples: All power is given to me in heaven\n and on earth. Go ye, therefore, and teach all nations:\n baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and\n of the Holy Ghost: teaching them to observe all things\n whatsoever I have commanded you; and behold I am with you all\n days, even to the consummation of the world.\n\n\n Last Gospel.\n _St. Luke vi._ 36-42.\n\n At that time, Jesus said to his disciples:\n Be ye merciful, as your Father also is merciful. Judge not, and\n you shall not be judged. Condemn not, and you shall not be\n condemned. Forgive, and you shall be forgiven. Give, and it\n shall be given to you: good measure and pressed down, and\n shaken together and running over, shall they give into your\n bosom. For with the same measure that you shall measure it\n shall be measured to you again. And he spoke also to them a\n similitude: Can the blind lead the blind? do they not both fall\n into the ditch? The disciple is not above his master; but every\n one shall be perfect, if he be as his master.\n{277}\n And why seest thou the mote in thy brother's eye, but the beam\n that is in thy own eye thou considerest not? or how canst thou\n say to thy brother, Brother, let me pull the mote out of thy\n eye, when thou thyself seest not the beam in thy own eye? Thou\n hypocrite, cast first the beam out of thy own eye, and then\n shalt thou see clearly to take out the mote from thy brother's\n eye.\n\n-------------------\n\n Sermon LXXXII.\n\n The Divine Majesty.\n\n\n _For of him, and by him, and in him are all things;\n to him be Glory for ever and ever. Amen._\n --Epistle of the Day.\n\nTo-day, my dear brethren, the church, having completed the round\nof feasts and fasts which she began on Christmas, having brought\nto our remembrance our Lord's birth, his holy childhood, his\nministry on earth, his Passion and death, his glorious\nResurrection and Ascension, and the coming of the Holy Ghost as\nhe had promised, finally brings us into the presence of the Being\nby whom all these wonderful works have been accomplished, and who\nis the sole object of our adoration, the ever Blessed Trinity,\nthe three Divine Persons, the one God. She bids us contemplate,\nso far as it is possible for us, the great and ineffable mystery\ninto the faith of which we have been baptized, and to join with\nthe angels and saints in the canticles of heaven, \"Holy, Holy,\nHoly, Lord God Almighty, who was, and who is, and who is to\ncome.\"\n\n{278}\n\n\"Of him, and by him, and in him are all things,\" says the\nApostle, reminding us of this highest of all the teachings of the\nChristian faith. Of the Father is the Son, and by the Son is the\nHoly Ghost, who proceeds from the Father and the Son, and in whom\nis their life and mutual love. The distinction of the Divine\nPersons is thus intimated to us; but the Divine Nature is only\none; of, by, and in that One are we and all things created.\n\nWe and all the world around us are of God; not part of him, nor\nborn of him according to nature, nor proceeding from his\nsubstance, but still of him in that we owe our being entirely to\nhim, who drew us from nothing by his almighty power. Nothing\ncould ever have existed outside of God himself except through the\nwonderful, incomprehensible act of creation. From nothing,\nnothing of itself could come; all things are from and of God, who\ncreated them from nothing.\n\nBy his almighty power, then, we have been created, and by it now\nwe are sustained. We could not live for a moment except by his\ncontinual support. It is only by his aid that we can draw a\nsingle breath, walk a single step, or perform the simplest act.\nThe winds and the waters, and all the powers of nature, as we\ncall them, are his powers, too, which he lends to us, and makes\nsubservient to our use.\n\nAnd in him we live and move and are. He is nearer to us than we\nto ourselves. It is not only that he makes us live; it is his\nlife by which we live; our life comes from and belongs to his\neternal life. The life of God the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost is\nin himself; ours is in him.\n\n{279}\n\nTo him, then, the one and only true God, \"be glory,\" as the\nApostle says, \"for ever and ever.\" How often we say these words,\n\"Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost,\"\nand how little do we think of what they mean! If all that we are\nand have is from God, by him and in him, how can we set ourselves\napart from him, or claim anything for ourselves against him? How\ncan we glory in ourselves, or desire glory from others, when all\nglory, praise, and honor belong of necessity to him from whom, by\nwhom, and in whom all things are?\n\nFor this is what it means when we say, \"Glory be to God.\" Not\nsome glory or praise or recognition of his greatness from us, as\na sort of tax or tribute which we must pay to keep the rest for\nourselves. No, when we have given glory to God as we should,\nthere will be nothing left for us to keep. This is the perfection\nof the creature, to prostrate itself at the foot of its Creator's\nthrone, and to cast all the crowns it has received before him\nthat sitteth thereon, and to say with the angels and saints in\nheaven, \"Thou art worthy, O Lord our God, to receive glory and\nhonor and power, because thou hast created all things, and for\nthy will they were and have been created.\"\n\n-------------------\n\n Sermon LXXXIII.\n\n The Mystery Of The Holy Trinity.\n\n\n _Go ye, therefore, teach all nations,\n baptizing them in the name of the Father,\n and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost._\n --St. Matthew, xxviii. 19.\n\n{280}\n\nIt was the faith in the Most Holy Trinity that the Apostles were\nsent forth to teach throughout all the world to every creature.\nIt is into this faith that every Christian is baptized by the\ninvocation of the thrice-holy name of the Father, the Son, and\nthe Holy Ghost, and because of this baptism he is bound to\npersevere all his life long in that steadfast faith in the Holy\nTrinity for which the church to-day teaches us to pray. Think it\nnot strange that this doctrine should be so deep a mystery. We\nare surrounded on all sides by mysteries. There is scarcely a\ndepartment of knowledge into which we can turn our minds where we\nare not met by things which we cannot understand. There is,\ntherefore, nothing wonderful in the fact that God is the greatest\nmystery of all. We cannot solve the mysteries of nature and of\nlife as we see them before us. How, then, can we expect to\ncomprehend the nature and the inner life of God? It is not for\nus, with our poor, feeble minds, to ask the how or the why, but\nsimply to bow down in humble adoration before the truth of God as\nhe has revealed himself to us. Faith would not be the virtue that\nit is if everything were perfectly plain to us. The chief merit\nof faith is in accepting on God's authority that which is beyond\nour own reason. His revelation of himself to us is only partial.\nThe full light that we are capable of receiving will not come\nuntil we are before his throne, and see him face to face, for it\nis only when that which is perfect shall come that that which is\nin part shall be done away. For now we see, as it were, through a\nglass, in an obscure manner, now we know but in part, but then we\nshall know even as we are known. Meanwhile our time of trial\nremains, and we must submit our minds as well as our hearts and\nwills to God.\n\n{281}\n\nBut he has not given us this partial revelation of himself in\norder to perplex and worry us. He has told us all that is good\nand needful for us to know in our present state. We should not,\ntherefore, fix our minds upon that which he has chosen to hide\nfrom us, but upon that which he actually has revealed to us, and\nwe shall find in this more than enough for our love and devotion.\nEach Person of the Blessed Trinity has some special relation to\nus, and there are, therefore, special acts of love and adoration\nwhich we can pay to each. He has revealed himself to us as the\nFather, not only as the Father of the Eternal Son, but as our\nFather as well; our Father, because he has adopted us as his\nchildren. Nothing that we know on earth of a father's love can\ncompare with the tenderness with which the Eternal Father regards\nhis children. We, therefore, must become as little children\ntowards him, looking up to him with love, with reverence, with\nsimple trust, striving to fulfil his holy will in perfect\nobedience, knowing that he wills only our good, here and\nhereafter.\n\nGod the Son has revealed himself to us as our Saviour and\nRedeemer, and because we are through him the children of God, as\nour Elder Brother, sharing in our human nature, having been\ntempted like us, and having suffered far more for our sake than\nwe shall ever be called upon to suffer for him. Hence in all our\ntrials, in all our temptations, in all our sufferings, we have\nhis example to cheer us, knowing that we are but treading the\nsteps that he trod and bearing our cross after him. His Precious\nBlood is still flowing through the sacraments to cleanse us from\nour sins, his grace is ever ready to help us in the hour of need.\n\n{282}\n\nAnd God the Holy Ghost is revealed to us and given to us as the\nlife of our souls, our helper, our comforter, our sanctifier,\nstirring up the flame of divine love in our hearts, urging us to\ngood deeds, and giving us the strength to perform them. We, on\nour part, must listen to his voice and follow his guidance, that\nso we may abide in the love of the Father and of the Son.\n\nThus is the Blessed Trinity revealed to us, as Father, Son, and\nHoly Ghost. Let us not question, but praise, adore, and love.\n\n-------------------\n\n Sermon LXXXIV.\n\n The Divine Judgment.\n\n\n _And Jesus coming, spoke to them, saying:\n \"All power is given to me in heaven and in earth.\" _\n --Matthew, xxviii. 18.\n\n\nWhen these words were uttered by our Lord he had risen from the\ndead. On this occasion he had with him only the eleven Apostles,\nwhom he had instructed to meet him by appointment at this time\nand in this place--a mountain in Galilee. A few words they are,\nbut full of meaning. The Apostles saw our Lord in the flesh\nagain; they heard his own human lips utter this truth: that all\npower is his in heaven and in earth.\n\n{283}\n\nHow did they understand him? They understood that the Man they\nsaw, the human being who then stood before them, was endued with\nall power that God would exercise in heaven and in earth; that to\nrule this vast universe was his right; that to sit on the throne\nof heaven, to be worshipped and adored as God by every creature,\nto shape the destiny of this world, of its many nations, of its\nmany families, of every single soul born and to be born in it; to\nopen and shut the gates of hell at his own will, to judge all\nwithout exception, each separately at the moment after death, and\nall together in the great Judgment day of God, is his right and\noffice as the Man, because he is Man in God and God in Man; the\nMan selected to be the One through whom the Divine Nature\nmanifests himself in all the fulness of the Godhead in human\nnature.\n\nBut what, therefore, is the first thought that must enter our\nhearts? It is necessarily this: How will that Man receive us when\nwe are called into his presence, one by one, as we leave this\nworld? How will that countenance look to us at that moment? How\nwill those ears listen to our reports of our own lives? How will\nthose lips speak to us in that dread moment?\n\nBut why do we ask ourselves these questions? Because we know that\nwe are to meet that Man in God, face to face, to give an exact\naccount of all of our deeds in the body, and that he is the One\nto praise or blame us, reward or condemn us, receive us into\neternal blessedness or cast us out into eternal, never-ending\ndarkness, and deliver us over to the rule of those who shall be\nour masters in hell.\n\nCan we tell what the result will be? Yes; and to a certainty! If\nour lives have been good, or if we die in his friendship, the Man\nChrist Jesus will give us a blessed and glorious welcome; but if\nour lives have been wicked, that Man will reject us for ever. He\nwill not have us anywhere near him. He will not endure our\npresence a single moment, nor permit us to speak in his presence,\nnor ever again to mention his holy name, but will cast us into\nthat region of creation where holy names are not permitted to be\nuttered.\n\n{284}\n\nDo we truly hope that this sad fate will not be ours? Then we are\ntruly good, leading good lives, are faithful to our duties as\ngood Catholics. If we truly hope for his approval we can judge\nourselves now and know we shall receive it.\n\nHow is this? If each one can say to-day, the last of the\nEaster-time, I have obeyed the commands of the church and made my\nEaster duty, then each soul is free from mortal sin and knows the\njudgment of our Lord will be in his favor. Let any such soul die\nat any moment now and the mercy of God is surely his, for he is\nnow in the friendship of God, his soul is restored to its\nheavenly state, and every soul in this state is so acceptable to\nour Lord that he can not condemn it, but must welcome it to the\nsociety of those who are saved for ever.\n\nO unfaithful, negligent Catholic! whose life heretofore has been\na dishonor to God, a shame to your family, a scandal to your\nneighbor, and a disgrace to the church of Jesus Christ, have you\nturned from your sins and made your peace with God this\nEaster-time? Have you washed your past life clean from sin by\nthis Easter duty? Then you, too, _know_ you will receive the\nwelcome of our Lord, the Man Christ Jesus, your King and your\nGod. Otherwise you are still his enemy, and have a right only to\nhis eternal wrath. How can you sleep a moment or be at rest a\nsingle instant longer while knowing you are condemned already,\nbecause you have not made your Easter duty?\n\n-------------------\n\n{285}\n\n _Second Sunday after Pentecost._\n\n And Sunday Within The Octave Of Corpus Christi.\n\n\n Epistle.\n 1 _St. John iii._ 13-18.\n\n Dearly beloved:\n Wonder not if the world hate you. We know that\n we have passed from death to life, because we love the\n brethren. He that loveth not, abideth in death. Whosoever\n hateth his brother, is a murderer. And you know that no\n murderer hath eternal life abiding in himself. In this we have\n known the charity of God, because he hath laid down his life\n for us: and we ought to lay down our lives for the brethren. He\n that hath the substance of this world, and shall see his\n brother in need, and shall shut up his bowels from him: how\n doth the charity of God abide in him? My little children, let\n us not love in word, nor in tongue, but in deed and in truth.\n\n\n\n Gospel.\n _St. Luke xiv._ 16-24.\n\n At that time\n Jesus spoke to the Pharisees this parable:\n A certain man made a great supper, and invited many. And he\n sent his servant at supper-time to say to them that were\n invited that they should come, for now all things are ready.\n And they began all at once to make excuse. The first said to\n him: I have bought a farm, and I must needs go out and see it;\n I pray thee, have me excused. And another said: I have bought\n five yoke of oxen, and I go to try them; I pray thee, have me\n excused. And another said: I have married a wife, and therefore\n I cannot come. And the servant returning, told these things to\n his lord. Then the master of the house, being angry, said to\n his servant: Go out quickly into the streets and lanes of the\n city, and bring in hither the poor and the feeble, and the\n blind and the lame.\n{286}\n And the servant said: Lord, it is done as thou hast commanded,\n and yet there is room. And the lord said to the servant: Go out\n into the highways and hedges, and compel them to come in, that\n my house maybe filled. But I say unto you that none of those\n men that were called shall taste my supper.\n\n-------------------\n\n Sermon LXXXV.\n\n Holy Communion.\n\n\n _A certain man made a great supper\n and invited many._\n --St. Luke xiv. 16.\n\n\nI suppose every Catholic here to-day, except some young children,\nhas once or many times in his life been to the \"Great Supper,\"\nand eaten the \"Bread of Life\" which is served at it; and those\nlittle ones of the Lord's Holy Catholic family are looking\nforward to the bright day, to be for ever afterwards the day of\nsweetest memory, when they too shall have that honor and\nhappiness--the day of their First Communion.\n\nIf such be the case, what is the use of the church repeating to\nus every year the threat in the Gospel against those who made\nfoolish and selfish excuses for staying away--\"None of those men\nthat were called shall taste of my supper\"? We have been called.\nWe have answered the invitation. We have been to the supper.\nIsn't that enough? The Gospel evidently does not apply to us. But\nwait a bit. I have two things for you to think about. In the\nfirst place, the calling to the Great Supper the Gospel speaks\nabout is a standing invitation for life. By this I mean that the\nlaw of the Catholic Church obliges every one to receive Holy\nCommunion annually--that is, during the Easter season.\n{287}\nIt is then, first of all, an _annual_ invitation; and going\none year is not answering the call for the next year. Every one\nwho has learned his Catechism ought to know that. In the second\nplace, what would you think of a near relative whom you had\ninvited to be present at your marriage anniversary dinner, who\nshould send for reply that he had already dined with you on the\nFourth of July? This is like what people say who, when asked if\nthey made their Easter duty, tell you, \"Oh! no, I went at\nChristmas,\" or \"I was at the mission.\" Now the _annual_\nmarriage supper which the King makes for his Son, and to which we\nare invited, is at Easter, and neither Christmas, mission time,\nthe Forty Hours, nor the Fourth of July will do, unless, indeed,\nthe mission or the Forty Hours took place in the Paschal season.\n\nThe second thing I want you to think about is that the invitation\nto partake of the \"Great Supper\" of Holy Communion, whether at\nEaster or at any other time, is a call to make what is known as a\n_worthy_ Communion; that is, you must be absolved from sin\nand thus be yourself worthy. That is requisite, and that is\nenough. There are some scrupulous people who fancy that they\nthemselves have got to do beforehand all that the Communion is\nintended to do and will do. Who is it that prepares the Supper,\nthey or the Lord? If they will do the little that is asked of\nthem, they can safely leave to the Lord the responsibility of\ndoing his part. A _worthy_ Communion should also be one that\nis worth something to the one receiving it, and should not be a\nworthless exterior performance, which has no interior act of\ncommunion in the heart to correspond to it.\n{288}\nAnd now this kind of worth of each and every Communion depends\nupon what the communicant chooses to make it. All is to be had\nthat God can give. The means of getting the good from Communion\nis one and the same means for getting the good in receiving other\nsacraments--that is, prayer. Prayer beforehand, prayer daring it,\nprayer afterwards. The more you want and the more you ask of, the\nmore worth will your Communion be. Suppose our Lord should\nsuddenly quit the sacramental form of the host and ask a\ncommunicant at the altar-rail, \"What do you wish for?\" and he\nshould answer, \"I don't know; I never thought of asking for\nanything,\" you would reasonably conclude that he was not likely\nto receive very much. Now, I hope you who often come to the holy\ntable are paying attention to this. If you come often, it is\nsupposed, and justly supposed, that you want a good deal, and\nthat you are deeply in earnest about obtaining what you desire.\nMuch as, I am sure, your Communions are worth to you, I wish you\nwould set about making them worth still more. In a word, you must\nthink more about what you need. Get your requests ready. Have\nthem, as it were, well by heart, so that if the Lord should ask\nyou what you came for, your reply would come out quick and\nearnest enough. Of all privileges and honors, in this world,\nreceiving Holy Communion is, indeed, something for us Catholics\nto boast of. How the \"outsiders\" envy us our faith and the\ncomfort it brings to us!--the infidels of every name and kind,\nthe Protestants and others, who either have no Communion, or at\nbest a sham one.\n{289}\nHow would you like to have yourself thrust aside and one of them\ncalled by the Lord to take your place at his table? Beware, then,\nhow you treat his invitation; come as often and be as well\nprepared as the Spirit of Divine Love shall inspire you.\n\n-------------------\n\n Sermon LXXXVI.\n\n The Sacred Heart Of Jesus.\n\n\nThe month of June has, as you know, my brethren, been set apart\nby general consent for devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus, as\nthat of May has in the same way been devoted to our Blessed Lady;\nand on next Friday, the day following the octave of Corpus\nChristi, the church solemnly celebrates the Feast of the Sacred\nHeart. This feast, formerly observed only in some places, has for\nabout thirty years been kept everywhere.\n\nAs the devotion to the Sacred Heart has of late spread so widely\nin the church, and is so plainly pleasing to God and most\nsalutary to us, it is well that we should understand it clearly,\nthat we may enter into it more fully. In the first place, then,\nwe will ask, What is the nature of the worship which we render to\nthe Sacred Heart of Jesus? And, secondly, Why is it specially\nselected as the object of our devotion?\n\nWhat, then, is the nature of our worship of the Sacred Heart? It\nis, of course, the same as that which we pay to our Lord\nhimself--that is, the worship which is due to him as God the Son,\nthe second Person of the Blessed Trinity.\n{290}\nHis human nature, united to the divine nature in one Person, is\ntruly worthy of divine worship and honor. God, having become man,\nhis human heart is the heart of God, and must be adored as such.\nLet us, then, remember this: the devotion to the Sacred Heart is\none that is given to God himself, just as that is which we have\nfor the Blessed Sacrament in which he resides on our altars.\n\nBut why do we select the Heart of our Lord, or rather why has he\nhimself selected it, as a special object of our adoration? I say,\nwhy has he himself selected it? for this devotion to the Sacred\nHeart in modern times is due specially to a revelation made by\nour Lord to the Blessed Margaret Mary, a nun of the Visitation,\ntwo centuries ago.\n\nIn answer to this question we may say that our Lord's Heart is\nthe fountain of his Precious Blood, which was shed for our\nsalvation, and was pierced by the lance, like his hands and feet\nby the nails, on the cross; and it is in this way specially\npointed out as the object of our gratitude and love. But even a\nmore urgent reason is that the heart is a natural symbol of love,\nagreed on by universal consent at all times and in all parts of\nthe world, and therefore that the Heart of Jesus most perfectly\nrepresents his love for us. In adoring the Sacred Heart, then, we\nadore in a particular manner the love of Christ for sinners; and\nit is for this reason that he has given us this devotion, knowing\nthat it is only by the thought of the love of his Heart for us\nthat our hearts can be won to the love of him.\n\n{291}\n\nYes, my brethren, God wishes our love; it was to obtain it that\nhe became one of us and died for us on the cross; and it is to\nwin it now that he asks us to remember and to adore his Sacred\nHeart. \"Let us therefore,\" says St. John, \"love God, because God\nfirst hath loved us.\" This is the spirit of this devotion: that\nwe should not try to save our souls merely for the fear of hell,\nbut that, seeing how much God has loved us, we should love him in\nreturn. And also that, seeing how much he has loved our brethren,\nthe same fire of divine charity may be kindled in our hearts, and\nthus each one of us may do our share to carry on and to complete\nthe work for which he shed his Precious Blood: the bringing of\nthe world to the knowledge and love of him.\n\n-------------------\n\n Sermon LXXXVII.\n\n Ingratitude.\n\n\n _A certain man made a great supper, and invited many. ...\n And they began all at once to make excuse._\n --Gospel of the Day.\n\n\nYou know, my dear brethren, the parable given by our Divine Lord\nin the Gospel of to-day. The principal point of it is in the\nwords which you have just heard. The guests who were invited to\nthe supper, instead of feeling honored by the invitation and\naccepting it gladly, began to make one excuse or another; one had\nhis farm, one his oxen, and another had just married a wife. None\nof these reasons would have prevented them from coming to the\nsupper had they really wished to; they were mere flimsy pretexts\nput forward to hide their indifference to their host and to all\nthat he had to offer them.\n\n{292}\n\nYou know this parable, and I think you also know well its\nmeaning. As our Saviour uttered it the coldness and ingratitude\nof those whom he had come to save rose up before him, giving him\na foretaste of the agony which was afterward to overwhelm and\ncrush him in the garden of Gethsemani. His heart, burning with\nlove for men, longed and thirsted for love in return; it was all\nhe asked; could he but have had that all the pains of his\nsorrowful life and terrible death would have been as nothing. But\nno; he foresaw that, after all, those to whom he stretched out\nhis arms on the cross in loving invitation would, for the most\npart, turn a deaf ear to his appeal; would give him at the best\nbut a reluctant and half-hearted service; would keep as much as\npossible for themselves, and give as little as possible to him.\n\nAnd, in particular, he foresaw that the crowning gift which he\nhad in store for his rebellious and ungrateful children--his own\nBody and Blood, which he was to leave them in the Blessed\nSacrament of the Altar, and in which he was to remain with them\neven after his work was done and the time come for him to return\nto his Father--would be rejected by the greater part even of\nChristians with the same indifference with which his other\nsacrifices were to be met. He saw himself in our churches,\nunwelcomed and almost unknown by the most of those whom he loved\nto call his friends. He saw that, though for a time in the first\nfervors of faith, when the sword of persecution drove those to\nhis side who were not overcome by it, he would, as he desired,\nindeed be the daily bread of his people, yet there would come a\nday when that faith would be dimmed, and the love which sprang\nfrom it would grow cold. He knew that an age would come\nwhen--shame to say it--his church would have to force her\nchildren by strict laws and threats of excommunication to receive\nhim in the sacrament of his love even once a year.\n{293}\nAnd he knew that, in spite of all this urging, many still would\nexcuse themselves from the divine banquet, offered so freely to,\nnay, almost forced upon, them; that millions every year would\nmiss their Easter duty; would either turn from the bread of life\nto the food of swine by deliberate choice, or at least would, on\nsome frivolous pretext, put off the time of their reconciliation\ntill the last day appointed for it had gone by.\n\nAlas! my dear brethren, children of this God and Father who has\ndone so much for us, I fear that some even of you who hear my\nwords have once more thus grieved his heart and despised his\nlove. In all this long time of Lent and Easter which, has just\ngone by you have missed the duty to which the most sacred and\nsolemn of all the laws of the church has called you. But still\nour Lord has not yet treated you as you have treated him. He has\nnot yet said to you, as the host said in the parable: \"None of\nyou that were invited shall taste of my supper.\" No; once more,\nin this great festival of Corpus Christi, he makes yet another\nappeal to you, to put aside your excuses, and to come to him with\nall your heart and soul. Do not, I beseech you, continue to\ninsult and despise him who thus humbles himself before you, and\nstill tries to remind you of his goodness and mercy. Come to him\nwithout delay, and make amends for your past neglect; all will be\nforgiven and forgotten. But remember, if tempted to reject him\nonce more, and to postpone your return, that even his infinite\nmercy will at last have to yield to his justice; that his loving\nSpirit cannot strive with you for ever.\n\n-------------------\n\n{294}\n\n _Third Sunday after Pentecost._\n\n\n Epistle.\n 1 _St. Peter v._ 6-11.\n\n Dearly beloved:\n Be you humbled under the mighty hand of God, that he may exalt\n you in the time of visitation. Casting all your solicitude upon\n him, for he hath care of you. Be sober and watch; because your\n adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, goeth about seeking\n whom he may devour. Whom resist ye, strong in faith: knowing\n that the same affliction befalleth your brethren who are in the\n world. But the God of all grace, who hath called us unto his\n eternal glory in Christ Jesus, when you have suffered a little,\n will himself perfect, and confirm, and establish you. To him be\n glory and dominion for ever and ever. Amen.\n\n\n Gospel.\n _St. Luke xv._ 1-10.\n\n At that time:\n The publicans and sinners drew near unto Jesus to hear him. And\n the Pharisees and the Scribes murmured, saying: This man\n receiveth sinners, and eateth with them. And he spoke to them\n this parable, saying: What man among you that hath a hundred\n sheep: and if he shall lose one of them, doth he not leave the\n ninety-nine in the desert, and go after that which was lost\n until he find it? And when he hath found it, doth he not lay it\n upon his shoulders rejoicing: and coming home call together his\n friends and neighbors, saying to them: Rejoice with me, because\n I have found my sheep that was lost. I say to you, that even so\n there shall be joy in heaven upon one sinner that doth penance,\n more than upon ninety-nine just who need not penance. Or what\n woman having ten groats, if she lose one groat, doth not light\n a candle and sweep the house and seek diligently until she find\n it? And when she hath found it, call together her friends and\n neighbors, saying: Rejoice with me, because I have found the\n groat which I had lost. So I say to you, there shall be joy\n before the angels of God upon one sinner doing penance.\n\n-------------------\n\n{295}\n\n Sermon LXXXVIII.\n\n Sinful Amusements.\n\n\n _Be sober and watch, because your adversary the devil\n as a roaring lion goeth about,\n seeking whom he may devour._\n --Epistle of the Day.\n\n\nI need not tell you, dear brethren, that there is nothing more\ncontrary to the spirit of our holy religion than melancholy. The\nchurch would not have her children long-faced and mopish,\neschewing all pleasure as a thing sinful; nor would she have them\nunhappy by depriving them of what is good and forbidding what is\ninnocent, but like a wise mother she permits, nay, sanctions,\nharmless amusements, knowing that this, far from being an\nimpediment to us in our efforts after holiness, is rather a help.\n\nBut, unfortunately, all pleasures are not innocent. There are\nsome which are sinful--very sinful--and which, instead of aiding\nus by begetting a holy gladness, fill us with remorse and rob the\nsoul of the grace of God, which is the principle of all our joy.\nSuch pleasures as these the church forbids; such as these she\nwould have us avoid, and she warns us that they come not from\nGod, but from our adversary the devil, who is seeking our ruin.\nIt is with regret that we say it, still we say it with truth,\nthat of late years a very dangerous sort of amusement has taken\nmore or less hold upon numbers of our young people, and, now that\nwe are at the beginning of summer, it may not be amiss to say a\nword or two about a certain sort of \"picnics.\"\n\n{296}\n\nIt is hard to conceive how a young man or woman, who wishes to be\ndeemed respectable, or even to preserve self-respect, can attend\nany of those _moonlight_ gatherings known as picnics,\nfestivals, etc. Call them by what name you please, as a whole\nthey are bad. The places where these meetings are held, the\npersons whom you cannot avoid coming in contact with, make them\ndangerous at least, and very frequently a real occasion of sin.\nHow can a young girl know the character of him with whom she is\ndancing? She has been introduced, to be sure, but what of that?\nDoes she feel quite certain that she may not be subjected to\ninsult or worse? Is she satisfied that her mother would be\npleased to see her with her present companions? Is she not\nengaged in a dance which borders on immodesty? Take care, my good\ngirl, you have taken your first downward step to-night; retrace\nyour way, and never be found at such a \"festival\" as this again,\nif you value your good name. Nor can young men attend these\n\"moonlight rural gatherings\" without endangering their fair fame\nand interests. A pure woman will not marry a man who consorts\nwith bad characters. She will not trust herself to the tender\nmercies of one who reaches home in the early morning in a half or\nwholly drunken state. She cannot look forward to a happy life\nwith one of this character, and she will not encourage his\nattentions. Employers are not over-anxious to have in their\nservice those who come to their occupations with evident marks of\ndebauchery.\n{297}\nThey believe that young men of this sort are not efficient, and\nthey believe so rightly; they think that these are not altogether\ntrustworthy; that they are constantly exposing themselves to\ndanger and theft. It does not pay, young men, to go to \"moonlight\npicnics.\" It is not to your interest, either temporal or\nspiritual. Do not be carried away with the idea that you can be\ndissipated with impunity. \"Be sober and watch\" yourselves,\nremembering that a good name is rather to be chosen than great\nriches, and certainly to be preferred to the gross pleasures of\nmoonlight orgies.\n\n-------------------\n\n Sermon LXXXIX.\n\n Divine Providence.\n\n\n _Casting all your solicitude upon him,\n for he hath care of you._\n --1 St. Peter v. 7.\n\n\nThe doctrine of God's providence is one of those great truths\nwhich, though accepted by every Christian, are often not\napprehended practically in everyday life. By the providence of\nGod we mean that loving care which he takes of all his creatures,\nand especially of man, ruling, guiding, and protecting them,\n\"ordering all things sweetly,\" as holy Scripture has it, that\neach one of his creatures may attain to the end for which it was\ngiven existence.\n\n{298}\n\nGod's work does not stop with creation. It would be absurd to\nsuppose that he made all things and then left them to take care\nof themselves. On the contrary, we know that his sustaining power\nis necessary in order to keep us in existence at all, and that if\nhe were to withdraw his sustaining hand from us we should at once\nfall back into the nothingness from whence we came. But God's\nprovidence over us means something far more than simply keeping\nus alive. It enters into every circumstance of our life. Whatever\nbefalls us, day by day, is with his permission, is in accordance\nwith his holy will. Whether he blesses us or smites us, it is all\nthe same: everything comes from his loving providence, and is\nintended for our good.\n\nOur Lord's teaching concerning the providence of God is very\nclear and plain. He tells us that God cares for the lilies of the\nfield and for the birds of the air, so that not one of them is\nforgotten before God; and, he adds, \"Are not you of much more\nvalue than they?\" For \"even the very hairs of your head are all\nnumbered.\" \"O ye of little faith!\" he still says to us, \"why are\nyou so slow and dull of heart to understand? Why will you not see\nthe hand of God directing the whole course of your life?\" Men go\non in their carelessness, unmindful of God, taking the good\nthings that come to them as a matter of course, or as the result\nof their own labor, forgetting that every good and perfect gift\nis from above. But God does not forget them. In spite of their\nindifference, he still watches over them, providing them with all\nthings needful for their souls and bodies, and with his grace\never seeking to lead them to him. How many, too, spend their time\nin foolishly worrying over their petty trials! It is all owing to\na lack of faith; they refuse to recognize God's hand in their\ndaily life. Yet again and again our Lord and his Apostles repeat\nthe exhortation, \"Be not solicitous\"--that is, do not\nworry--\"casting all your solicitude upon him, for he careth for\nyou.\"\n\n{299}\n\nBut it is especially in the great trials of life that the\ndoctrine of God's providence is necessary for us, and full of\nconsolation, and perhaps it is at just such times that it is the\nmost often forgotten. When some heavy trouble comes, how often\ndoes the sufferer fail to acknowledge that it is sent by Almighty\nGod--that is, an ordering of his providence, and therefore to be\nsubmitted to with patience and humility. \"Dearly beloved,\" says\nSt. Peter in the Epistle of to-day, \"be you humbled under the\nmighty hand of God.\" To be humble is to acknowledge our true\nposition in God's sight, to confess that we are his creatures\naltogether in his power, and that he has the right to do with us\nas he pleases. Our faith assures us that he will not use this\nright to our disadvantage. Away, then, with all silly murmurings\nand complaints that God is unjust. Good sense alone will teach\nthat that cannot be. If you understood the full extent of the\nmalice of even venial sin you would see that you receive but a\nsmall part of what you really deserve. Follow, then, the counsel\nof Solomon, and \"reject not the correction of the Lord, and faint\nnot when thou art chastised by him; for whom the Lord loveth he\nchastiseth.\"\n\nBut if the burden seem too hard for you to bear alone, Jesus is\nready to help you. \"Come to me,\" he says, \"all you that labor and\nare heavy laden, and I will refresh you.\" Go to him in the\nBlessed Sacrament, pour out your grief to the Sacred Heart, and\nyou shall find rest for your soul. \"Cast thy care upon the Lord,\"\nsaid David in the Psalms, \"and he shall sustain thee.\"\n{300}\nThen, having humbled yourself under the mighty hand of God, he\nwill exalt you in the time of his visitation and fill you with\nhis peace. And \"the God of all grace, who hath called us unto his\neternal glory in Christ Jesus, _when you have suffered a\nlittle_, will himself perfect, and confirm, and establish you.\nTo him be glory and dominion for ever and ever. Amen.\"\n\n-------------------\n\n Sermon XC.\n\n How To Bear Burdens.\n\n\n _Cast thy care upon the Lord\n and he shall sustain thee._\n --Gradual of the Mass.\n\n\nWhich of us, dear brethren, is without his burden or his care?\nWhatever our station in life, however high or lowly we may be, to\neach comes his portion of sorrow, to each come difficulties and\ntemptations. If we escape one trial we are sure to find another,\nand probably a worse one, awaiting us. It is our lot here upon\nearth to suffer, and we ought to expect nothing else, for if we\nhope for perfect happiness in this world we are doomed to\nbitterest disappointment. The way in which to carry ourselves\nwith regard to our difficulties is not to seek to avoid them, or\nwhen they come upon us to run away from them, but to accept them\nas the portion of our heritage and to make them a source of merit\nand sanctification. If we would but cast our care upon the Lord,\nif we would but willingly submit to what his all-wise providence\ndesigns for us, these apparent miseries would become for us real\nblessings and bring upon us the choicest of God's gifts--an\nincrease of his holy grace in our souls. God will help us sustain\nour burden if we receive it with resignation; if we love it he\nwill make it even sweet to bear.\n\n{301}\n\nBut, you may say, this doctrine is very pretty in theory. How\nabout the practice of it? It is not so easy to be indifferent to\nthe things of this life, to the wants of the body, so as to be\nquite as willing to be poor as to be rich, to have a good,\nsubstantial meal or a morsel of cold victuals. People cannot be\nexpected to prefer misery to happiness.\n\nWe are not asking you to prefer misery to happiness, nor even to\nbe indifferent as to what shall happen you. Although this would\nbe far more perfect and would soon make him who had such\ndisposition very holy, still we do not ask so much. What we would\nwish you to do is what we think all are bound to do--namely, to\nhave confidence in the providence of God; to recognize his hand\nguiding the course of events in our behalf. We know that he is\ngood and merciful and ready to help us in our need; we know that\neven when he punishes it is not so much in anger as in love that\nhe does so; yet we complain and are discontented, and some even\ngo so far as to blaspheme the God who, at the very moment when we\nare treating him with such indignity, is lovingly working all\nthings together unto good, who is doing for them more than they\nwould ever hope for. Oh! what pride is theirs, who set up their\njudgment against God's and insist upon the Almighty doing things\naccording to their fancy. They see no reason why they should\nsuffer this or that. Why should they be treated so harshly? Other\npeople have comfort; why should not they?\n{302}\nOh! what folly, what blindness is there in the hearts of men and\nwomen who speak thus! What ingratitude is theirs! Perhaps the God\nthey are abusing has forgiven them hundreds of mortal sins;\nperhaps he is withholding what they are demanding because he sees\nif he granted them the things they ask their salvation would be\nendangered; yet all that he is doing in loving kindness is being\nmisunderstood, because men are unwilling to bow down to the holy\nand adorable will of God.\n\nDear brethren, let it not be said of us that we are ingrates or\nthat we are so foolish as to think ourselves wiser than God; but\nlet us turn to him with all our hearts and recognize in all he\nsends us his unspeakable mercy; let us ever see in him the\nAll-wise God, our Father, and never permit ourselves to be\ndeceived by the rebellion of our lower nature. Let us, in a word,\n\"cast all our care upon the Lord.\"\n\n-------------------\n\n{303}\n\n _Fourth Sunday after Pentecost._\n\n\n Epistle.\n _Romans. viii._ 18-23.\n\n Brethren:\n I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not\n worthy to be compared with the glory to come, that shall be\n revealed in us. For the expectation of the creature waiteth for\n the revelation of the sons of God. For the creature was made\n subject to vanity, not willingly, but by reason of him that\n made it subject, in hope: because the creature also itself\n shall be delivered from the servitude of corruption into the\n liberty of the glory of the children of God. For we know that\n every creature groaneth, and is in labor even till now. And not\n only it, but ourselves also, who have the first-fruits of the\n spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting for\n the adoption of the sons of God, the redemption of our body, in\n Christ Jesus our Lord.\n\n\n Gospel.\n _St. Luke v._ 1-11.\n\n At that time:\n When the multitudes pressed upon Jesus to hear the word of God,\n he stood by the lake of Genesareth. And he saw two ships\n standing by the lake: but the fishermen were gone out of them,\n and were washing their nets. And going up into one of the ships\n that was Simon's, he desired him to thrust out a little from\n the land. And sitting down, he taught the multitudes out of the\n ship. Now when he had ceased to speak, he said to Simon: Launch\n out into the deep, and let down your nets for a draught. And\n Simon answering, said to him: Master, we have labored all the\n night and have taken nothing: but at thy word I will let down\n the net. And when they had done this, they enclosed a very\n great multitude of fishes, and their net was breaking.\n{304}\n And they beckoned to their partners that were in the other\n ship, that they should come and help them. And they came, and\n filled both the ships, so that they were almost sinking; which\n when Simon Peter saw, he fell down at Jesus knees, saying:\n Depart from me, for I am a sinful man, O Lord. For he was\n wholly astonished, and all that were with him, at the draught\n of the fishes which they had taken. And so were also James and\n John, the sons of Zebedee, who were Simon's partners. And Jesus\n saith to Simon: Fear not, from henceforth thou shalt be taking\n men. And when they had brought their ships to land, leaving all\n things, they followed him.\n\n-------------------\n\n Sermon XCI.\n\n How To Suffer.\n\n\n _Brethren: I reckon that the sufferings of this present time\n are not worthy to be compared with the glory to come,\n that shall be revealed in us. _\n --Epistle of the Day.\n\n\nI think, my brethren, that there are few good and faithful\nChristians who do not have, as they journey through life, a fair\nshare of crosses, trials, and sufferings. Sometimes these crosses\nare not noticed much by other people, but they are heavy enough\nfor those who have to bear them. The priest hears more of the\ntroubles of the world, as well as of its sins, than any one else;\nmisery is a very old story to him; and he has his own trials,\ntoo, in plenty, though many think that in his state of life he\nhas mostly avoided them. Yes, trouble and suffering seem to be,\nand indeed they really are, the rule of life for Christians,\nhappiness rather the exception; unless we are willing to get what\nsome call happiness by disregarding the law of God.\n\n{305}\n\nNow this is a very unpleasant fact; but it is a fact, and we have\nto accept it. But how shall we best do so? That is a point which\nit will be well to consider.\n\nShall we simply take our trouble because we cannot help it, and\nfret as little as we can, because fretting only makes it worse?\nOr shall we take comfort by thinking that others are in the same\nplight as ourselves; by believing, though perhaps we cannot see\nit, that our luck, though hard, is not harder than that of most\nof those around us?\n\nThese would be two pretty good ways of getting along for one who\nhad no better. But it would be a shame for us to fall back on\nthem. One who has faith should be able to find a better way than\neither of these.\n\n\"Yes,\" you may say, \"I know what you mean; a Christian ought to\nbe resigned to God's holy will. We are taught and we believe that\nall things come to us by the providence of God; that he is\nall-wise and infinitely good; so, when he sends us anything hard\nto bear, we must say, 'Thy will be done,' and know by faith that\nit is for the best.\"\n\nNow I do not want to say anything against this way of bearing\ntrouble; it is a good way, and it is a Christian way; none more\nso. And perhaps some times it is the only one that will seem\npossible. But after all it is not exactly what I mean, or it is\nnot at any rate all that I mean; and it is not what the great\nApostle St. Paul, whose glorious and triumphant death, after a\nlife of suffering, we commemorate with that of St. Peter to-day,\nmeant in those immortal words which I just read.\n\n{306}\n\n\"I reckon,\" says he, \"that the sufferings of this present time\nare not worthy to be compared with the glory to come, that shall\nbe revealed in us.\"\n\nThat is his consolation. \"We have,\" he says to us, \"a little to\nsuffer here, but what is it after all? A drop, bitter it is true,\nbut still only a drop, against an eternal torrent of joy with\nwhich God is going to overwhelm our souls. Truly it is not worthy\nto be compared in its passing bitterness to the ocean of delight\nof which it is the earnest for the future. It is, in fact, the\nlittle price which we have to pay for that future; and it is not\nworth speaking of when we think what it will bring.\"\n\nIndeed, my brethren, it must be a matter of astonishment to the\nangels, it ought to be so to us, that we think so little of the\nheaven which God has prepared for us. We profess to believe in\nit; we do believe in it; but we seem to forget all about it. We\ncan have it if we will; moreover, these very crosses and trials,\nif we have them, are a sign that our Lord means almost to force\nit on us. Let us, then, think more of heaven; meditate on it,\nlook forward to it. The thought of heaven was the joy and\nstrength of the martyrs; why should it not be the constant\nsupport of ordinary Christians, too?\n\n-------------------\n\n Sermon XCII.\n\n Good Works Done In Mortal Sin.\n\n\n _Master, we have labored all the night,\n and have taken nothing._\n --Gospel of the Day.\n\n{307}\n\nThe Gospel of to-day tells us, my dear brethren, how St. Peter\nand his companions, after wearying themselves with dragging their\nheavy nets the whole night, had caught nothing for all their\npains; and how, as soon as our Lord appeared, and they were able\nto work with his guidance and help, they took more fish than\ntheir boats would hold.\n\nThere is a most important spiritual lesson contained in this\nsimple story. This miraculous draught of fish is, as it were, a\nparable, acted out instead of told by our Divine Saviour. And its\nmeaning is this: that those who work in the night of the soul\nwhich is caused by mortal sin have indeed much trouble, sorrow,\nand labor, but it is all for nothing. All that they do and suffer\nwhile remaining in this state counts for nothing in their favor\nin the eternal account of God. Whereas, on the other hand, the\nslightest action of one who is in the state of grace, and who,\ntherefore, works in union with Christ, has attached to it a great\nand imperishable glory in the kingdom of heaven.\n\nSt. Paul also teaches us this quite explicitly. \"If I should\ndistribute,\" says he, \"all my goods to feed the poor, and if I\nshould deliver my body to be burned, and have not charity\" (that\nis, the love of God, which makes the state of grace), \"it\nprofiteth me nothing.\" Whereas, on the other hand, he says, for\nhimself and others who are united to God by grace, that \"what is\nat present momentary and light of our tribulation worketh for us\nabove measure exceedingly an eternal weight of glory.\"\n\nThis is, I say, my brethren, a most important truth. Do you\nfairly understand it? Do you take in its full meaning and\napplication? Let us look at and study it as much as possible in\nthese few minutes; then let us take it home with us, meditate on\nit, and make it thoroughly our own.\n\n{308}\n\nAll of us have our labors, trials, and pains; some arc heavily\nburdened with them. To work and to suffer is the lot of all, from\nwhich there is no escape. We cannot avoid our destiny; we must\nmake the best of it.\n\nYes, that is just it; we must make the best of it; if we have any\nprudence, any true love or care for our happiness, we will make\nthe best of it, and not the worst. Why suffer this poverty, this\nsickness, this worry and distress of mind? Why do all this hard\nwork? Why go through all these long and weary days, and get\nnothing in reward for all our labor and suffering but the mere\nmeans with which to keep up this painful and toilsome life, and\nto sweeten it, perhaps, with some fleeting sensual pleasures? Why\nnot have something to show for all our trouble at the end of our\ntime here on earth? Why not make it, as we may, into a crown to\ntake with us into that life which has no end?\n\nThis is what those do who remain in the grace of God, who commit\nno mortal sin, or who, if they ever fall into it, repent and free\nthemselves from it with out delay. All their pains and all their\nlabors are recorded in heaven, and treasured up to be woven into\na crown of merit for such as persevere to the end. God is with\nthem, as with St. Peter on the lake of Genesareth; they work for\nhim, and in the light of his presence, and their slightest\nactions obtain a rich reward.\n\nBut those who foolishly think that to remain thus is a task\nbeyond their strength, who pass their lives in mortal sin, and\nonly seldom and for a short time rise from it, have the same\ntrouble; and at the end, if indeed they come to God then and\nenter heaven, being saved as by fire, they find no treasure of\ngood works gone before them. \"Master,\" they have to say, \"we have\nworked all night and have taken nothing. We have worked in the\nnight of sin all our life.\"\n\n{309}\n\nLet us not, then, follow their example. Let us not run their\nfearful risk of not obtaining salvation at all; and let us also\ndetermine that when we are saved we will have a life well filled\nwith the fruits of grace to lay at our Saviour's feet, for which\nwe may merit to hear him say: \"Well done, good and faithful\nservant; enter thou into the joy of thy Lord.\"\n\n-------------------\n\n Sermon XCIII.\n\n Fishing For Men.\n\n\n _Master, we have labored all the night,\n and have taken nothing._\n\n\nSt. Peter was without doubt a good fisherman, and a patient one,\nas all good fishermen are. He was content to fish all night with\nsuch poor luck as to catch nothing at all.\n\nBut after he had taken our Lord on board his ship it seemed as if\nall the fish in the lake were anxious to be caught. Such a\nwonderful haul was made that St. Peter and all the other\nfishermen were dumfounded with astonishment. How mightily they\nwere all pleased may well be imagined.\n\nNow, I think there is in our day something going on very like St.\nPeter's fishing all night and catching no fish. The Catholic\nChurch is the ship of Peter, and he who exercises the authority\nof master in that ship, together with his mates and other\nofficers, are holding the place which St. Peter was exalted to\nwhen our Lord made him the master fisherman of men. That is, the\nHoly Father, the pope, the bishops and priests are fishing for\nmen, and our Lord promised that they should catch them, too.\n\n{310}\n\nIn a certain degree, also, everyone on board Peter's ship--all\nCatholics--have to do with this great work--the spreading out\nthe nets and drawing souls into the true church.\n\nFor some time there have been some efforts made to catch a\ncertain kind of fish known as _Protestants_, and there is\nanother sort, also becoming common in these waters of ours,\ncalled _Infidels_. And it seems to me that there has been a\ngood deal of fishing all night long, and not half the haul made\nthat was hoped for. We feel like repeating St. Peter's complaint\n--\"Lord, we have labored all the night and taken nothing.\"\n\nThe fishermen know their business, and they have worked hard. No\ntrouble on that score. When may we hope that the promise of our\nLord will be fulfilled and labor shall be crowned with success?\nI'll tell you. It will be after Christ has taught his divine\ndoctrine from the ship, and when he can say to us, \"Now let down\nyour nets.\"\n\nIf there is anything both true and astonishing it is the\nprevailing ignorance of their own or of any other religion among\nProtestants and infidels. You would think that, among so many\nlearned and well-to-do people who have every advantage of\neducation and general information at hand, they would not only\nknow what they believed, but also the reasons why.\n{311}\nThey make a great boast of knowing, some of them, all the\n_good_ that there is in the Bible, and others all of what\nthey call absurdities and contradictions in the holy volume. You\nneed not be afraid of all this supposed knowledge. In fact, some\nread the Bible very little, and great numbers of them don't hear\nhalf of what the majority of us Catholics hear in church.\nCatechize them, and it will soon appear that they are densely\nignorant of all religion. How can we hope that such people will\nadmire all the beauties of our faith, and appreciate all the\npowerful and logical arguments in favor of this or that truth,\nwho are so lacking in information about the very rudiments of\nreligion?\n\nI meet such people frequently, who are, nevertheless, regular\nhearers and worshippers of the best preachers of our day, or who\npick up here and there some sayings of the pretentious\nphilosopher of the hour.\n\nChrist must teach this multitude from the ship of Peter, and he\nwill do so when he can say of us, \"Whoso heareth you, heareth\nme\"--that is, when you and I so live up to our faith that when\nthey hear us they hear a Christ speak, and when what we speak is\nfor their instruction and suited to their great ignorance of\ndivine things. We must be simple and plain in our instructions\nwhen directed to them.\n\nMoreover, we must thrust this instruction of the first things\nevery Christian (be he child or man) ought to know upon them in\nall charity; and be quick about it, for without it they will be\nin imminent peril of losing their souls. They are good enough\naccording to what they know. They, like the best of us, love\ntruth, and are really hungering for what is unquestionably for\ntheir greater happiness.\n{312}\nOh! if we Catholics would only live like Christ and speak like\nChrist, then it would be high time to let down the net.\nProtestants and infidels would rush in crowds to be taken.\nPriests would not know where to find room for the converts.\n\nEnter into the work of spreading Christian doctrine, then. Buy\nCatholic books of instruction. Buy a good many and give away a\ngood many. It may set them thinking. And the reading of good,\nplain instructions, like the simple words of our Lord, will set\nthem to praying as well. When a Protestant or an infidel once\nbegins to pray to know the truth, it will be sure to lead him\ninto the net that is let down from St. Peter's ship, only too\nhappy to be numbered among those taken by the divinely-appointed\nfishers of men.\n\n-------------------\n\n{313}\n\n _Fifth Sunday after Pentecost._\n\n\n Epistle.\n 1 _St. Peter iii_. 8-15.\n\n Dearly beloved:\n Be ye all of one mind, having compassion one of another, loving\n brotherhood, merciful, modest, humble: not rendering evil for\n evil, nor railing for railing, but on the contrary, blessing:\n for unto this are you called, that by inheritance you may\n possess a blessing. \"For he that will love life, and see good\n days, let him refrain his tongue from evil, and his lips that\n they speak no guile. Let him decline from evil, and do good:\n let him seek peace, and pursue it: because the eyes of the Lord\n are upon the just, and his ears unto their prayers: but the\n countenance of the Lord against them that do evil things.\" And\n who is he that can hurt you, if you be zealous of good? But if\n also you suffer any thing for justice sake, blessed are ye. And\n be not afraid of their terror and be not troubled; but sanctify\n the Lord Christ in your heart.\n\n\n Gospel.\n _St. Matthew v._ 20-24.\n\n At that time Jesus said to his disciples:\n I say to you, that unless your justice abound more than that of\n the Scribes and Pharisees, you shall not enter into the kingdom\n of heaven. You have heard that it was said to them of old: Thou\n shalt not kill. And whosoever shall kill shall be guilty of the\n judgment. But I say to you, that whosoever is angry with his\n brother, shall be guilty of the judgment. And whosoever shall\n say to his brother, Raca, shall be guilty of the council. And\n whosoever shall say, Thou fool, shall be guilty of hell fire.\n Therefore if thou offerest thy gift at the altar, and there\n shalt remember that thy brother hath anything against thee,\n leave there thy gift before the altar, and first go to be\n reconciled to thy brother, and then come and offer thy gift.\n\n-------------------\n\n{314}\n\n Sermon XCIV.\n\n Forgiveness Of Injuries.\n\n\n _If therefore thou offer thy gift at the altar,\n and there thou remember that thy brother hath anything against thee,\n leave there thy offering before the altar,\n and go first to be reconciled to thy brother;\n and then coming, thou shalt offer thy gift._\n --Gospel of the Day.\n\n\nThere are few things in common life, my dear brethren, more\nsurprising than the fact that some people seem to consider\nthemselves good Christians, and well worthy to receive the\nsacraments, who have a grudge against some of their neighbors and\nnever speak to them; perhaps never answer, even if spoken to by\nthem. These people seem to think, I say, that they are worthy to\nreceive the sacraments; and this not only at Easter, but, it may\nbe, quite frequently. Some of them, I fear, consider themselves\nto be pious and devout; they say, it may be, long prayers every\nnight and perhaps also in the morning--though, if they really\nthought of the words on their lips, I do not know how they could\nget through one Our Father. \"As we forgive those who trespass\nagainst us\" ought to stick in their throats. They will not speak\nto those persons who, as they think, have trespassed against\nthem; they wish, then, that God should have nothing to say to\nthemselves. \"Forgive us,\" they say to him, \"_as we forgive;_\nwe will not speak to others, so do not thou speak to us; turn thy\nback on us, pass us by; that is what we do to our neighbors.\n{315}\nCut us off from thy friendship, send us to hell\"; that is what\nevery Our Father means in the mouth of these detestable\nhypocrites when they say, \"Forgive as we forgive.\"\n\nHow these people get through their confession and receive\nabsolution is as surprising as that they should make the attempt\nto do so. They are caught, no doubt, once in a while, but it is\nto be feared that a large proportion of them slip through the\npriest's fingers, either by saying nothing about the sinful\ndisposition in which they are or by telling a lie to the Holy\nGhost and to their own hearts, if they would but examine them, by\nputting all the fault on the other party. When the other party\nappears, then we come nearer to the truth. \"I spoke to\nSo-and-so,\" they say, \"but got no answer.\"\n\nNow, let it be distinctly understood that to refuse to answer any\none who speaks to us with a good intention; to take no notice of\na word or a salute, given with a view to renewing friendship, or\neven out of ordinary politeness, is, in almost every case, a\nmortal sin. Of course I do not mean that is so when the omission\ncomes from inattention or carelessness; no, I mean when it is\nintended as a cut to the other party. About the only instance in\nwhich it can be allowed is that of a superior, who has a right to\ntake the matter in his own hands, and can put off reconciliation\nfor a time without danger. A father, for instance, may keep his\nchild at a distance for a while in this way as a punishment for\nan evident offence; but I am speaking of equals, one of whom can\nhave no right to punish the other.\n\n{316}\n\nBut you may say: \"This person has injured me grievously. He or\nshe ought to beg my pardon.\" Perhaps this is so; though often, if\nyou could see your own heart and that of the other as God sees\nthem, you ought to beg pardon as much as he or she. It is rare\nthat an unprovoked injury is done by any one consciously and\nwithout what seems a pretty good excuse to himself. But even\ngranting that the injury is really grievous and unprovoked, do\nyou expect your neighbor to go down on his knees to you, or to\nhumble himself by a formal apology, not knowing how it will be\ntaken? Would you find it easy to do such a thing yourself,\nhowever guilty?\n\nNo, by turning him off in this way you put the balance of injury\nagainst yourself, however great may have been the other's\noffence. No one should dare to go to Communion after such a\nslight unatoned for. And yet even brothers and sisters have done\nsuch things, and, I fear, received Christ's Body and Blood with\nthis sin on their souls.\n\nLet us have, then, no more of this. If one is not willing to be\nin charity with his or her neighbor, let him or her not come to\nconfession, or at least, if coming, take care to state the matter\nas it really is. \"Go first and be reconciled with thy brother;\nand then, coming, thou shalt offer thy gift.\"\n\n-------------------\n\n Sermon XCV.\n\n Feast Of SS. Peter And Paul.\n\n{317}\n\nTo-day, my brethren, holy church celebrates the Feast of SS.\nPeter and Paul, one the prince of the Apostles, the other the\ngreat teacher of the Gentiles. Their glorious martyrdom took\nplace the same day in the imperial city of Rome. A glorious\nvictory indeed was their death, one being crucified, head\ndownwards, the other beheaded, sealing thus with their blood that\ninvincible faith in our Lord and in his religion which has made\nthem fit to be cornerstones of his spiritual temple. Besides\ntheir faith, they were most distinguished for confidence in God.\nThe two virtues, faith and hope, of course, blended together in\ntheir souls, borrowed from each other, and in the fire of\nheavenly love were melted into one. Yet confidence in God, or the\nvirtue of hope, was the very impulse that set them forth to\npreach, gave them their gift of miracles, and led them out at\nlast with the deepest joy to offer up the sacrifice of their\nlives.\n\nAnd it was by such heroic trust in God that our holy church was\nfounded. The beginnings of the true religion may be summed up by\nsaying that God sent out men who were willing to stake their\nlives upon his fidelity to his promises. The soil on which our\nSaviour planted the true vine was watered by the blood of\nmartyrs. The Breviary speaks of the blood of our two great\nApostles as the purple robe of immortal Rome. And their virtue of\nimplicit, instinctive confidence in God's love for us and for his\nchurch is the spiritual garment every Christian puts on when he\nis made a member of Christ.\n\nLooking across all those centuries, my brethren, and\ncontemplating the martyrdom of SS. Peter and Paul, our hearts\nshould be strengthened. What are the trials of the church now\ncompared to those at the very beginning?\n{318}\nWe lament, indeed, that St. Peter's successor is a captive in his\nown house, and also that in many regions of the world the true\nfaith of the Apostles has to struggle for its very life. Yet the\nstruggles of the church are now those of a giant, are against a\nworld in great part doubtful of its own cause; struggles which\nmake us only the more evidently pleasing to God, as they are\ngradually forcing us to strip ourselves of every human help and\npractise the Apostolic virtue of trust in God alone. \"Some upon\nhorses and some upon chariots, but we call upon the name of the\nLord.\" Oh! when we come to realize that the welfare of the church\nis not in numbers, or in fine buildings, or in the wealth and\npower of Catholics, but only and entirely in the practice of the\nvirtues of our religion, we shall not have long to wait for the\ntriumph of the truth. When the vast world-power that we call the\nCatholic religion was (seemingly) but the frantic experiment of a\nhandful of men, just then it won its noblest victories.\nHeathenism could not be voted down nor fought down; nor did God\nsend earthquakes and floods to cleanse the earth of its foulness.\nThe men who founded our faith won the victory because they were\npenetrated with the conviction that the Maker and Governor of\nmankind was their Lord, and that Jesus Christ, his Son, would\nnever swerve from his plighted word.\n\nSuch, then, brethren, is the virtue I bid you learn from the\nexample of SS. Peter and Paul: confidence in God. Learn that and\nit will teach you all. How the value of prayer is shown forth by\nthis virtue; how the practice of patience is commended; how the\npurely spiritual side of religion is brought forward by trust in\nGod!\n{319}\nAnd to you of this church it is especially proposed to cultivate\nthis Apostolic virtue. For is not your church named for St. Paul?\nAnd is he not associated every way, historically and in the\ndevotions of our religion, with the prince of the Apostles, St.\nPeter? They are our first fruits; they are most closely joined to\nChrist, the root of the spiritual tree of life. St. Paul says:\n\"For if the first fruit be holy, so is the mass also; and if the\nroot be holy, so are the branches.\"\n\n-------------------\n\n{320}\n\n _Sixth Sunday after Pentecost._\n\n\n Epistle.\n _Romans vi._ 3-11.\n\n Brethren:\n We all, who are baptized in Christ Jesus, are baptized in his\n death. For we are buried together with him by baptism unto\n death: that as Christ is risen from the dead by the glory of\n the Father, so we also may walk in newness of life. For if we\n have been planted together in the likeness of his death, in\n like manner we shall be of his resurrection. Knowing this, that\n our old man is crucified with him, that the body of sin may be\n destroyed, and that we may serve sin no longer. For he that is\n dead is justified from sin. Now if we be dead with Christ, we\n believe that we shall live also together with Christ: knowing\n that Christ rising again from the dead, dieth now no more,\n death shall no more have dominion over him. For in that he died\n to sin, he died once: but in that he liveth, he liveth unto\n God. So do you also reckon yourselves to be dead indeed to sin,\n but alive to God in Christ Jesus our Lord.\n\n\n Gospel.\n _St. Mark viii._ 1-9.\n\n At that time:\n When there was a great multitude with Jesus, and had nothing to\n eat, calling his disciples together, he saith to them: I have\n compassion on the multitude, for behold they have now been with\n me three days, and have nothing to eat. And if I send them away\n fasting to their own houses, they will faint in the way, for\n some of them came from afar off. And his disciples answered\n him: From whence can any one satisfy them here with bread in\n the wilderness? And he asked them: How many loaves have ye? And\n they said: Seven. And he commanded the people to sit down on\n the ground, and taking the seven loaves, giving thanks, he\n broke, and gave to his disciples to set before them, and they\n set them before the people.\n{321}\n And they had a few little fishes, and he blessed them and\n commanded them to be set before them. And they did eat and were\n filled, and they took up that which was left of the fragments,\n seven baskets. And they that had eaten were about four\n thousand: and he sent them away.\n\n-------------------\n\n Sermon XCVI.\n\n The Divine Bounty.\n\n\n _And they did eat and were filled,\n and they took up that which was left of the fragments,\n seven baskets._\n --St. Mark viii. 8.\n\n\nThe Gospel to-day tells us of the miracle of the multiplication\nof the loaves and fishes, whereby our Lord fed the multitude in\nthe wilderness. Not only did seven loaves and a few little fishes\nsatisfy the hunger of four thousand, but seven baskets were\nfilled with the fragments that were left. This is the way in\nwhich God always works in the dealings of his providence with\nmankind. He is not content with giving us enough: he gives us\nmore than enough--\"full measure, pressed down, and running over.\"\nHe hath opened his hand and filled all things living with\nplenteousness. Look at the earth which he has prepared as a\ndwelling for the children of men, and see how bountifully he has\nprovided for all their necessities. \"Oh! that men would praise\nthe Lord for his goodness and for his wonderful works to the\nchildren of men,\" and cry out with David: \"How great are thy\nworks, O Lord! Thou hast made all things in wisdom; the earth is\nfilled with, thy riches.\"\n\n{322}\n\nBut if God has thus lavishly provided for the bodily wants of\nman, he has been even more bountiful in providing for the needs\nof his soul. \"He hath satisfied the empty soul and filled the\nhungry soul with good things.\" Just as air, water, and food, the\nthings necessary for the sustenance of our bodies, are found in\nthe world in great abundance, so also does God's grace abound,\nwhich is necessary for the life of our souls. Just as we must\nbreathe the air in order to live, so we have but to open our\nmouths in prayer, the breath of the soul, and God's grace, which\nis as plentiful as the air of heaven, is poured into our hearts,\nfilling us with new life. And as we must breathe the breath of\nprayer, so also we must drink the water of salvation which,\nmingled with blood, flowed from the wounded side of Jesus. That\nliving water which He promised to give is his Precious Blood,\nshed for all upon the cross, yet continually flowing in copious\nstreams through the sacraments to cleanse and refresh the souls\nof men. We have but to approach and drink and our thirsty souls\nshall be satisfied. \"He that shall drink of the water that I\nshall give him,\" said Jesus, \"shall not thirst for ever. But the\nwater that I shall give him shall become in him a fountain of\nwater springing up into everlasting life.\" Draw near, then, with\njoy and draw this water from the Saviour's fountains, the\nsacraments which he has ordained in his church. Wash therein, and\nyou shall be clean; drink thereof, and your soul shall be\nrefreshed.\n\n{323}\n\nAnd for food he gives us the Bread of life, the living Bread\nwhich came down from heaven, even his own most Precious Body and\nBlood in the blessed Sacrament of the Eucharist. \"He that eateth\nof this Bread shall live for ever\"; but \"unless you eat the Flesh\nof the Son of Man, and drink his Blood, you shall not have life\nin you.\" His grace would have been enough to sustain us; but he\nis not content with giving us his grace alone, he must give us\nalso Himself. This is the greatest instance of the wonderful\nprodigality of God towards us. After creating the world, and\nproviding it with all that is needful for our bodily life, after\ngiving us his grace in an almost overwhelming abundance, we might\nthink that his generosity would have spent itself. But no, he\ngoes still further, and his last and greatest gift is himself to\nbe the food of our souls. Surely there is nothing beyond this.\nGod could not do more for us than he has done. In giving us\nhimself he has done the utmost that is possible.\n\nWhen, therefore, we behold the wonderful works of God in our\nbehalf our hearts should swell with thankfulness to him who gives\nso abundantly unto us, above all that we could ask or think.\nSince God has been so generous towards us, let us not be guilty\nof the base ingratitude of despising his gifts, and rejecting the\nmercies he holds out to us! Rather be generous towards him, and\nas he gives us himself, so let us give ourselves wholly to him,\nstriving in all things to please him, offering ourselves daily\nunto him, soul and body, as \"a living sacrifice, holy, pleasing\nto God, our reasonable service.\"\n\n-------------------\n\n{324}\n\n Sermon XCVII.\n\n Feast Of St. John The Baptist.\n\n\nToday we celebrate the Feast of the Birthday of St. John the\nBaptist, of whom our Lord said that a greater man than he was\nnever born; and we well know what kind of greatness Jesus Christ\nwould make much of--the greatness of holiness. Looking at his\nlife altogether, we see in him a striking example of one wielding\ngreat power and acquiring an eternal fame, who set out to do\nneither, but rather avoided both. No doubt as he grew up he must\nhave heard something about his miraculous conception, of the\nangelic prophecy concerning him, and of that wonderful visit the\nMother of God made to his own mother before either he or Jesus\nChrist was born. No doubt he felt himself to be consecrated to\nGod, and set apart in a special manner to aspire after a holy\nlife. And now it is just his fidelity to all those interior\ninspirations, which, costing him, as it did, so much\nself-abnegation, and taking him apparently out of the way of\nobtaining a great name, really made him great.\n\nHe was a notable example of those who gain all by giving up all.\nOnly those who have this character in a marked degree are truly\ngreat in their souls, for virtue is both the source and the glory\nof nobility. No birth however high, no station or office however\nexalted, no good luck however extraordinary, high honors, great\nwealth, nor heaps of badges and medals can make up for the lack\nof it. A mean, covetous, selfish, proud, gluttonous, sensual,\nenvious-minded, overbearing, spiteful, unforgiving, greedy king\nor emperor neither is nor can be great, no matter how vast his\ndominions or countless his subjects.\n{325}\nOn the other hand, we Catholics know of, and recognize often, the\nmost extraordinary nobleness and refinement of soul in many who\nare among the poorest, most suffering, and often, in\nbook-learning, the most ignorant of our brethren. What is it that\ngives to many such that singular taste for and perception of what\nis pure, beautiful, and true, which they unmistakably possess?\nAnd, in times of great trial and sacrifice, what is it that often\nbrings them out above and ahead many others of whom we might be\nled to expect so much more? I'll tell you: it is the greatness of\ntheir holiness, the nobility of their virtue. It is that\nmanifestation of what is really great in the sight of God and his\nangels--their love of truth, their ready self-denial, their\nbig-hearted charity, their loyalty to God and religion, the\nindependence of the world, their free obedience to superiors,\ntheir sweet endurance of pain and sorrow, their meek, forgiving\nspirit. Such as these are the souls of the great, whom the world,\nthe flesh, and the devil attack and may wound, but cannot\nconquer. If sometimes we are tempted, dear brethren, to envy the\napparent good fortune, as it is esteemed, of those whose\ngreatness is not thus founded in virtue, we may be sure that we\nare weighing something with a very light and empty weight in the\nother balance, which may be very bulky, sparkling, and showy,\nlike a big, bright, sunshiny soap-bubble, but with nothing\ninside, and of very short continuance.\n\n{326}\n\nSo you see how true greatness is within the reach of every one,\nand within quite easy reach, too. One is not obliged to do a\ngreat many things, nor labor many years, nor accomplish what\nmakes a long report with large headings in the newspapers. One\nhas only to take care _how_ the work is done one is called\nto do--with what spirit one does it. Says the \"Imitation of\nChrist\": \"We are apt to inquire _how much_ a man has done,\nbut with _how much virtue_ he has done it is not so\ndiligently considered. We ask whether he be strong, rich,\nbeautiful, ingenious, a good writer, good singer, or a good\nworkman; but how poor he is in spirit, how patient and meek, how\ndevout and internal, is what few speak of.\" Yes, it is not so\nmuch the long and splendid record of the work, but the spirit of\nthe working, the pure, unambitious, God-loving intention ruling\nour labors, that makes them worthy of everlasting memory and\nmeritorious of the renown of a great name, which leaves behind\none a memory held in benediction and the history of a life\ndelicious to recall.\n\n-------------------\n\n Sermon XCVIII.\n\n Idleness.\n\n\n _And they had nothing to eat._\n --Gospel of the Sunday.\n\n\nThe people who crowded about our Lord had nothing to eat, because\nout of love of the word of God they had for a time quit their\nwork and their homes. This docility, this constancy argues well\nfor their earnestness in the fulfilment of all their other\nduties. They were out of food, not through laziness, but because\nof set purpose they preferred spiritual to temporal nourishment.\nHence they merited this extraordinary and unlooked-for\nmanifestation of our Lord's goodness and providence in supplying\nthem with food.\n\n{327}\n\nWe may confidently expect, my brethren, the assistance of God\neven in temporal want and necessity if our honest endeavors fail.\nWe are not to be over-solicitous; we are not to desire nor strive\nafter an over-abundance of such things. This promise, however, we\nhave: that our Heavenly Father knows our needs, and he will come\nto our aid. But we have a duty, an obligation to discharge, and\nthat is to work, to earn our bread. Now, this is the point of my\nsermon: that there are many people--the number seems to be\nincreasing--who have nothing to eat, or who say they have not,\nand it is their own fault.\n\nThey do not merit any special interposition of Heaven to save\nthem from the consequences of their own laziness; they do not\nseem to deserve, they do not deserve, the assistance of the\ncharitable, who are the stewards and the representatives of the\nLord. Now, brethren, do not imagine that this is a harsh and an\nunchristian way of regarding the necessities of the very poor; do\nnot suppose that I make no allowance for the sickness, the lack\nof work, the hard times, the calamities which from time to time\nafflict the deserving and the laborious. If you are in a position\nto know, you cannot but be persuaded that the tendency to ask for\nhelp, the inclination to throw burdens on institutions public and\nprivate, the frequency, the boldness, the unreasonableness of\nsuch demands is on the increase; the number of those who are\nunwilling to exert themselves, to undergo the routine, the strain\nof work, grows day by day. Yet the Apostle says, \"If any man will\nnot work, neither let him eat.\"\n{328}\nHe bids every one labor faithfully in the calling wherein he has\nbeen placed. There is no such thing as true religion save in the\nfaithful discharge, first of all, of our natural duties, and in\ncompliance with the first great law of labor.\n\nNow, I have frequently noticed one peculiarity about many of\nthose who say they have nothing to eat, and that is, they cannot\nbe said to have nothing to drink; and the presence of this kind\nof nourishment explains very often the lack of all other. No, my\nbrethren, let us be industrious, saving, and sober, mindful that\nthe law of God has imposed labor on us; let us try to help\nourselves; then, if we fail, Heaven will surely help us, even in\nways as truly miraculous as our Saviour's for the multitude in\nthe desert.\n\n-------------------\n\n{329}\n\n _Seventh Sunday after Easter._\n\n\n Epistle.\n _Romans vi._ 19-23.\n\n Brethren:\n I speak a human thing, because of the infirmity of your flesh.\n For as you have yielded your members to serve uncleanness and\n iniquity, unto iniquity; so now yield your members to serve\n justice, unto sanctification. For when you were the servants of\n sin, you were free from justice. What fruit therefore had you\n then in those things, of which you are now ashamed? For the end\n of them is death. But now being made free from sin, and become\n servants to God, you have your fruit unto sanctification, and\n the end everlasting life. For the wages of sin is death: but\n the grace of God, everlasting life in Christ Jesus our Lord.\n\n\n Gospel.\n _St. Matthew vii._ 15-21.\n\n At that time Jesus said to his disciples:\n Beware of false prophets, who come to you in the clothing of\n sheep, but inwardly they are ravenous wolves. By their fruits\n you shall know them. Do men gather grapes of thorns, or figs of\n thistles? Even so every good tree yieldeth good fruit, and the\n bad tree bad fruit. A good tree cannot yield bad fruit, neither\n can a bad tree yield good fruit. Every tree that yieldeth not\n good fruit, shall be cut down, and shall be cast into the fire.\n Wherefore by their fruits you shall know them. Not every man\n that saith to me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of\n heaven: but he that doeth the will of my Father who is in\n heaven, he shall enter into the kingdom of heaven.\n\n-------------------\n\n{330}\n\n Sermon XCIX.\n\n Mortal Sin The Death Of The Soul.\n\n\n _The wages of sin is death._\n\n\nWhen the Apostle, my dear brethren, wrote these words, he did not\nmean only to express the truth (for truth it is) that the\ninevitable result of sin, even in this world, is the misery, and\nfinally the death, of the sinner; nor even (though this also is\ntrue) that by sin death was introduced into the world. But he\nwished especially to teach us that the direct and immediate\neffect of mortal sin is a death much more fearful in itself, and\nmuch more awful in its consequences, than any mere cessation of\nthe life of the body--namely, the death of the soul.\n\nMortal sin cuts a man off from his last end; it, as it were,\ndisconnects the soul of any one who is unhappy enough to be in\nthat state with all the springs of the supernatural state. A soul\nwhich is in mortal sin is cut off from the mystical body of\nChrist, and, like a limb cut away from the body of a man, it\nceases to have any part in the nourishment with which that body\nis supported and enabled to pass through the wear and tear of the\nevery-day life of the world.\n\nThe soul from the time of baptism to the time of death is kept\nalive by the gift of sanctifying grace. Remove this and the soul\ninevitably dies. Restore this and it is alive again. Now, it is\njust the removal of this sanctifying grace which is the immediate\neffect of mortal sin.\n{331}\nAs long as any baptized person remains free from the fearful\nstain of deliberate mortal sin sanctifying grace remains, and\nevery sacrament received, nay, every good act performed, every\ngood word spoken, and every aspiration to higher and better\nthings which passes through the mind, increases the grace which\nis conferred upon that soul; but the moment the will is\ndeliberately turned away from its Creator, at that moment\nsanctifying grace ceases and the soul dies. This death is a real\ndeath of the soul; it prevents the soul from meriting anything\ntowards the attainment of its last end, and should any one be\nunhappy enough to die with mortal sin upon his conscience his\nsoul must, by the law of its very being, be buried for all\neternity in hell.\n\nSee, then, my dear brethren, how fearful a thing this sin is\nwhich can have such fearful effects. God has made us to enjoy him\nfor all eternity in heaven, and yet by sin we turn against\nourselves, and, if I may so speak, compel the good God to issue\nagainst us an eternal sentence of banishment from his divine\npresence. We prevent our own souls from reaching that end for\nwhich alone they were created. We reap for ourselves an eternity\nof untold misery, instead of one of surpassing bliss.\n\nLet us, then, to-day make a firm and constant resolution that,\ncost what it may, nothing in this world shall induce us to kill\nour souls by staining them with sin; and if any one is so unhappy\nas to be in that state now, let him now resolve that he will by a\ngood confession cleanse his soul, and from henceforward, casting\nbehind the things that are past, he will press forward to the\nthings that are before.\n\n-------------------\n\n{332}\n\n Sermon C.\n\n False Prophets.\n\n\n _Beware of false prophets._\n --Gospel of the Day.\n\n\nI think, my dear brethren, that you all know pretty well what our\nLord means when he says in to-day's Gospel, \"Beware of false\nprophets.\" You would tell me, at least if you stopped to think\nfor a moment, that he means to warn us against those who were to\ncome after him, pretending to teach his doctrine, claiming that\ntheirs was the true and pure Christian religion, or putting on,\nas he says, the sheep's clothing, but really striving to draw the\nfaithful away from the unity of the church which he had\nestablished; being, in fact, to use his own words, ravenous\nwolves.\n\nYes, you would tell me this, and you would be right in your\nexplanation of his words. It is, indeed, of these false Christian\nteachers that he would warn us. It is against the innumerable\nerrors which are taught as Christianity, and against the\ncountless self-appointed guides to his one religion who were to\nmultiply as time went on, that he wished to forewarn us; to keep\nus from listening to them, or allowing ourselves to be turned by\nthem from the one source of truth which he has provided for us in\nhis holy Catholic Church.\n\nAnd no doubt, in a way, we listen to his warning, and are not\nmuch deceived by their pretensions, at least in these days. If a\nCatholic loses his faith nowadays, it is usually easy enough to\nsee that he does so, not because he is really deceived by the\nfalse prophet and takes him for a true one, but because he wishes\nto lead an easier life without being blamed for it; because he\nobjects to confession and the other laws of the church as\nimposing too much restraint on him, or because his temporal\ninterests will be advanced by the change.\n\n{333}\n\nBut still, in spite of this general security which we now have\nagainst being deceived by the persuasions of those who would lead\nus into error, nay, even on account of this very security which\nwe feel, we do not obey quite carefully enough our Lord's\nwarning. We think we are in no danger from these false prophets,\nand so we are willing enough to hear what they say. We would not\njoin with them; far from it; but we think there is no harm in\nhearing or reading their discourses, or acquainting ourselves\nwith their books. We do not, in short, beware of them; we think\nthat there is no need to do so.\n\nReally, however, there is. When our Lord said, \"Beware of these\nfalse prophets,\" he meant just what he said. He knew that they\nwould do us harm if we did not beware; that, if they did not\ndestroy our faith, they would at least mar its purity or diminish\nits intensity if we did not take care to avoid them and their\nteachings in every way. And the church has always acted on the\nprinciple which her Divine Founder here laid down, in her\ninstructions to her children. She does not wish even her priests\nto concern themselves with heretical or infidel doctrines, except\nwith the intention of confuting them as their office requires,\nfortified though they be with the most thorough instruction in\nand knowledge of the truth.\n\n{334}\n\nWe are none of us perfectly wise and above the reach of even the\nmost absurd errors, especially when our nature, corrupted by sin,\nis enlisted on the side of those errors; and, if not in danger of\nactually falling into any of them in particular, we may at least,\nby acquainting ourselves with those into which great men have\nbeen led, be likely to fall into the most dangerous of all\nerrors, that of believing that truth is so hard to find that it\ncannot be expected that all should find it, and that it makes no\ndifference what a man believes, as long as he does what seems to\nthe world in general to be right.\n\nThe true course for us is, then, to beware of false guides in\nreligion by keeping out of their way altogether; and, on the\nother hand, to study as far as we can the truth, which, if we\nlearn it and grasp it as we should, conveys in itself the answer\nto them all. Listen to the true prophets, and leave the false\nones alone; that is the highest wisdom from the mouth of our\nDivine Lord himself.\n\n-------------------\n\n Sermon CI.\n\n The Last Sin.\n\n _For the wages of sin is death;\n but the grace of God,\n life everlasting in Christ Jesus our Lord._\n --From this Sunday's Epistle.\n\n{335}\n\nThis is not the only place in Holy Writ, my brethren, where\neternal life and death are set before us as the wages we shall\nsome day be paid. The word of God frequently admonishes us of the\nchoice we are compelled to make between eternal sorrow and\neternal joy, and for this most evident reason: we are always\nactually engaged in making the choice. The very essence of our\nmerit hereafter will be that we shall have freely and\ndeliberately chosen Almighty God and his friendship, in\npreference to any and everything besides. And the reason, and the\nonly reason, why a man will lose his soul will be because he\ncommitted mortal sin and died unrepentant--that is to say,\nchoosing to love what God bids him hate. What we call the choice\nbetween virtue and vice St. Paul calls the choice between life\nand death. And with that choice we are constantly confronted. Not\nthat we always realize it, nor do I mean to say that the first\ntime one grievously offends God he settles his fate eternally;\nbut that each mortal sin really earns the wages of eternal death,\nand only the blessed mercy of God saves us from our deserved\npunishment. And furthermore, it is some mortal sin or other that\nat last breaks down God's patience. If at any particular occasion\nhe does not see fit to take us at our word, so to speak, and\nleave us for ever in that state of enmity that we have chosen, it\nis not because we do not deserve it; it is because he is a loving\nFather to us, and is often willing to stand a great deal of\nwickedness on our part; or because we have some dear friends who\nare servants of God and who pray for us; or because the Blessed\nVirgin has acquired some special attachment to us and intervenes\nfor us; or because God reserves us for a later day, when he will\nmake such an example of us as will save other sinners; or\nbecause, again, he saves us for a later day to make us models of\ntrue penance.\n\n{336}\n\nBut just look around you, brethren; just call to mind what you\nhave heard or perhaps seen of God's judgments, and the Apostle's\nlesson becomes object-teaching. Have you not heard of a sudden\nand unprovided death and then remembered how years ago that man\nstarted a disreputable business? It was thus that he made his\ndecision for all eternity. On the other hand, a man now\ntemperate, once a drunkard, will tell you that long ago he took\nthe pledge and broke it, and broke it again, but still\npersevered, and finally, by the grace of God, has managed to keep\nit. He was fighting the battle of fate and he won the victory.\nThat dreadful appetite overcome, the practice of religion became\neasy to him.\n\nIn another case a man is led away little by little from the rules\nof honest dealing; at last he refuses to pay a certain just debt,\none that he can easily pay if he wishes. After that avarice eats\ninto the core of his heart and he is lost for ever.\n\nAnd, brethren, what a relief to hear after a sudden death that\nthe poor soul was a monthly communicant!\n\nMany are tested by Almighty God demanding that they shall\nwithdraw from the proximate occasions of mortal sin. The voice of\nconscience, a sermon heard in the church, the private advice of\nsome good friend--for all these are the voice of\nGod--admonish[ing] them against what leads them to mortal sin;\nagainst very bad company, or the saloon, or the Sunday excursion,\nor dangerous reading, or lonely company-keeping. Perhaps one's\nconduct about such dangers has more to do with his choice in\neternity than any thing else.\n\nI do not mean to say that this fateful decision is a mere\nlottery, but it is a moment at the end of years of rebellion\nagainst God when an effort is made by the grace of God to save\nthe sinner; and for weal or for woe it is the last chance. Some\ntime or other the last sin will be committed, the last grace will\nbe granted.\n\n{337}\n\nO my brethren! how very reasonable is the holy fear of God. Oh!\nhow wise are they who have joined fear and love of God together\nso that the fire of love has burned the dross of slavishness out\nof fear, and fear has mingled reverence and humility with love.\nAlas! that so many should live as if eternal life and death had\nno meaning for the present hour.\n\nSome are like that millionaire I heard of. Walking home one day,\na heavy shower of rain began, he stopped a hack and asked what\nthe driver would take him home for. Fifty cents, was the answer.\nhe began to beat him down, and finally, refusing more than\ntwenty-five cents, he walked home in the rain. But he caught\ncold, went to bed, and died. He had played the miser many a time\nbefore, but the last time had come. So many a one thinks his one\nsin more, his one other rejection of grace, is but like the\nmultitude of other such offences gone before; and all the time he\nis deciding an eternal fate.\n\n-------------------\n\n{338}\n\n _Eighth Sunday after Pentecost._\n\n\n Epistle.\n _Romans viii._ 12-17.\n\n Brethren:\n We are debtors not to the flesh, to live according to the\n flesh. For if you live according to the flesh, you shall die.\n But if by the spirit you mortify the deeds of the flesh, you\n shall live. For whosoever are led by the spirit of God, they\n are the sons of God. For you have not received the spirit of\n bondage again in fear: but you have received the spirit of\n adoption of sons, whereby we cry, Abba (Father). For the Spirit\n himself giveth testimony to our spirit, that we are the sons of\n God. And if sons, heirs also; heirs indeed of God, and joint\n heirs with Christ.\n\n\n Gospel.\n _St. Luke xvi._ 1-9.\n\n At that time:\n Jesus spoke to his disciples this parable:\n There was a certain rich man who had a steward: and the same\n was accused unto him, that he had wasted his goods. And he\n called him, and said to him: What is this I hear of thee? Give\n an account of thy stewardship: for now thou canst not be\n steward. And the steward said within himself: What shall I do,\n because my lord taketh away from me the stewardship? To dig I\n am not able, to beg I am ashamed. I know what I will do, that\n when I shall be put out of the stewardship, they may receive me\n into their houses. Therefore calling together every one of his\n lord's debtors, he said to the first: How much dost thou owe my\n lord? But he said: A hundred barrels of oil. And he said to\n him: Take thy bill and sit down quickly, and write fifty. Then\n he said to another: And how much dost thou owe? Who said: A\n hundred quarters of wheat. He said to him: Take thy bill and\n write eighty.\n{339}\n And the lord commended the unjust steward, forasmuch as he had\n done wisely: for the children of this world are wiser in their\n generation than the children of light. And I say to you: Make\n to yourselves friends of the mammon of iniquity, that when you\n shall fail they may receive you into everlasting dwellings.\n\n-------------------\n\n Sermon CII.\n\n Spirit And Flesh.\n\n\n _For if you live according to the flesh you shall die.\n But if by the spirit you mortify the deeds of the flesh\n you shall live._\n --Romans viii. 13.\n\n\nWhat does the Apostle mean by this? This only, that the flesh\nwith its concupiscence and lusts must never get such power over\nour will that it will carry us along with it and make us obey its\nlongings and desires when we know these are forbidden by Almighty\nGod. I say \"this only\" because to have the flesh is no sin;\nneither is it a sin to feel the disorderly movements of the flesh\nthat lead to sin; but it is a sin to consent to these and to\nfollow them. For this reason we are told that if we mortify the\ndeeds of the flesh, to which these movements of the flesh lead\nus, we shall live. But what does the word \"mortify\" mean? It\nmeans to destroy that which makes the life of a thing. Notice\nhere the Apostle does not tell us to mortify the flesh itself but\nthe deeds of the flesh. To do this we need not then attempt to\nkilt the flesh, but we must destroy all that gives life to its\ndeeds.\n\n{340}\n\nWhat are the deeds of the flesh? They are the seven capital\nsins--pride, covetousness, lust, anger, gluttony, envy, sloth.\nCan we kill them? In the most important sense we can. We can get\nthem so under our control that, after awhile, they will move us\nbut slightly and cannot influence us to any great degree. We\nshall feel from time to time that they are still present in us,\nbut that cannot disturb us much. We shall have taken their\nstrength away. We shall have made them so weak that we can check\nthem easily.\n\nOught not each one of us strive to get ourselves into that\nblessed state? But how can we do it? Make up your mind to do it.\nForm a good resolution, one that will not change but that will be\nfirm for life. Then live according to that resolution. When pride\nis aroused, refuse to follow its promptings; when covetousness\nmoves the heart, stop the eager desire for gain; when lust would\nlead you away, contend against the thought until it is driven\nout; when anger disturbs, seal the lips with the sign of the holy\ncross; when gluttony makes you long for feasting and drinking,\nrefuse to go where these things are going on; when envy racks the\nsoul, pray for the one who is the object of envy; when sloth\ntempts you to self-indulgence and inactivity, stir up the fear of\nGod and holy shame within the soul, for sloth is a destroyer\nindeed of all that is truly manly and heroic in us.\n\nBut all this is about as hard to do as anything a man can do,\nsome may say. Yes, it is hard to do, but the success is\n_sure_. Shall a man do less for God than for himself? See\nthe time and labor spent to secure that which is necessary for\nthe body and success in the life of only a few years in this\nworld. Shall a man not do as much for the good of his soul and\nfor eternal life in the next world?\n\n{341}\n\nIs it really so hard as it seems? By no means. We make it harder\nthan it really is by putting it all together and by thinking we\nare to do it all at once. This is not true. It must be done by\ndegrees, slowly, patiently, perseveringly, but surely.\n\nThe devil makes us think it harder by telling us, when we feel\nthe sharpness of the first struggle, \"You can't bear it this way,\nfor life.\" You can if God wills it and gives you the grace. And\nmost people, almost all Christian souls, do not have it \"this\nway, for life.\" Those who keep up the struggle get stronger day\nby day. In them the flesh and the movements of sin grow less day\nby day. The devil, however, wishes us to believe the lie he\ntells, to make us give up the struggle. Do not listen to the lie\nand it cannot hurt you. Remember always, it is a lie, and the\nmind will not take hold of it.\n\nWe can make it all the easier by trusting God, who will always\nhelp us in the struggle. _Pray_ more. Go to confession\noften. The confessor will then help us and remove much of the\nburden by good advice. Go to Communion often, and God himself\nwill make it easier for us than we imagine by giving his own\nstrength to the soul at that time. Only begin earnestly to\ncontrol the flesh, continue perseveringly to use confession and\nCommunion. This, with daily morning and evening prayer, will take\naway very many difficulties. Soon we shall find we have truly\nmortified the deeds of the flesh, and then indeed we shall live,\nfor the flesh will then be dead or dying fast and too weak to\nhurt the soul. Keep, then, in the mind the text from the Epistle\nof to-day: \"For if you live according to the flesh you shall die.\nBut if by the spirit you mortify the deeds of the flesh you shall\nlive.\"\n\n-------------------\n\n{342}\n\n Sermon CIII.\n\n The Business Of The Soul.\n\n\n _The Lord commended the unjust steward,\n forasmuch as he had done wisely._\n --Words Taken From To-day's Gospel.\n\n\nOne of the things which strikes us most forcibly in reading the\ninstructions of our Blessed Lord as we have them in the holy\nGospels is the matter-of-fact, common-sense, business-like manner\nin which he sets before us the way we must act in order to save\nour souls. We find no sentimentalism, no rhetoric, no\nfine-sounding flights of eloquence which delight the imagination\nand please the fancy indeed, but which are too fleeting and\nflimsy to serve as a basis of every-day action. No; with our Lord\nthis matter of the salvation of our souls is a matter of infinite\nbusiness, a question of eternal profit and loss. Let me recall a\nfew examples: \"The kingdom of heaven is like a merchant seeking\ngood pearls, who, when he had found one of great price, went his\nway and sold all he had and bought it.\" Here the way in which we\nare to act in order to get the kingdom of heaven is compared to\nthe way in which the man of business acts who finds a good\narticle--something worth his money. What does he do? Why, if it\nis really worth it--and the kingdom of heaven, the salvation of\nour souls is worth it--he sells all that he has and buys it.\n{343}\nAnd yet again our Lord places before us the salvation of our\nsouls as based upon a calculation of what is the more profitable\ncourse to take in those words the realization of which has called\nforth the highest heroism of the greatest of the saints: \"If thy\neye offend thee pluck it out and cast it from thee.\" Why? Because\n\"it is better for thee with one eye to enter the kingdom of God\nthan, having two eyes, to be cast into the hell of fire.\" Here\nagain it is a calculation of loss and gain--the loss of an eye in\nthis world as against that of the whole body in the next. Shall\nI, on the principle that a bird in the hand is worth two in the\nbush, keep my two eyes; or shall I, for the sake of saving the\nwhole body, pluck out the eye, cut off the foot or hand? But of\nall the places where this way of looking at things and of acting\nis inculcated and enforced, the most striking is in the parable\nread in to-day's Gospel. Here our Lord, in order to lead us to\ntake a practical, hard-headed way of acting with reference to the\nsalvation of our souls, brings before us the conduct of the\nunjust steward, and, strange to say, actually praises it. And how\ndid this unjust steward act? The unjust steward was a dishonest\nman. He had been placed in a position of trust, but had wasted\nhis master's goods--perhaps speculated with his money, made false\nentries in his books, or something else of that kind. Well, the\ntruth came out at last, as it generally does sooner or later, and\nhe was at his wits end what to do. No thought of repentance\nenters into his head; he has got on a wrong road, and he found\nit, as we all find it, very hard to get out of it.\n{344}\nAnd so, knowing the men with whom he has to deal, he sends for\nsome of his master's debtors, and, in order to make them his\nfriends and to establish a claim on them for help and assistance\nwhen he gets into trouble, he alters their bills and makes them\nless. \"And the Lord commended the unjust steward because he had\ndone wisely.\" Our Lord does not commend, of course, the\ndishonesty of his conduct; this we all understand. But he\ncommends his clearness of sight as to what was for his worldly\ninterest, and his promptitude in taking wise and suitable means\nto further that interest. What our Lord wants to teach us is that\nwe must act for our highest interest in the same clear-sighted,\ndetermined, wise, and prudent way in which this specimen of a\nworldly man acted for the sordid and selfish and foolish ends of\nmen of this world. Well, my brethren, take these thoughts home\nwith you, and ask yourselves, each and every one of you, how you\nare acting. Have you an intelligent view of the end you have to\nattain, of its value and importance, and of the means by which it\nis to be attained, and are you acting earnestly in order to\nattain that end?\n\n-------------------\n\n Sermon CIV.\n\n The Judgments Of God.\n\n\n _Make to yourselves friends of the mammon of iniquity;\n that when you shall fail\n they may receive you into everlasting dwellings._\n --Gospel of the Day.\n\n{345}\n\nMy dear brethren, there will come to each one of us a day when\nall those earthly goods we now enjoy shall fail us, when we shall\nhave to turn our backs on the world and all that it has to give\nus, and prepare ourselves to stand before him to whom all things\nthat we had and enjoyed belong, and give an account to him of the\nuses which we have made of them. We have, like the steward in\nto-day's Gospel, a Lord and Master; and to him we must sooner or\nlater give an account of our stewardship.\n\nAnd it is only too likely, we may say it is indeed certain, that\nwhen that dread moment comes at which this world must be left\nbehind, the charge will also be made against us, as against the\nsteward in this parable, that we have wasted our Master's goods.\nOur consciences will rise up and condemn us, and anticipate the\naccusation which shall be brought against us when we shall\nactually come face to face with God. Then all the security we\nhave had in the thought that we are not murderers, robbers, or\nadulterers shall vanish; we shall not be able to console\nourselves with the idea that we have done no great harm to any\none. We shall see how selfish and how sensual our lives have\nbeen; that we have wasted for the pleasure of a passing moment\nthe greater part of those gifts which God gave us for his\nservice. Wasted our time, our strength, our knowledge, and our\nabilities in getting for ourselves the means of gratification or\namusement, or in raising ourselves for our own sake to a position\nof honor or of wealth. We shall see what we might have been, what\nGod meant that we should be, and compare it with what we are.\n\nFain would we then be able to say with St. Paul, \"I have fought a\ngood fight, I have finished my course.\" Our faith indeed we\nshall, it is to be hoped, have kept; but we shall feel that our\nfight has been but a poor and cowardly one, and that we, instead\nof finishing the course which our Lord laid out for us, have gone\nover only a very small part of it, and that its goal is far, far\naway.\n\n{346}\n\nWhat, then, shall be our hope? For hope we must have if we would\nnot offend God even more then than through life. He commands us\nto hope; but in what shall our hope be placed?\n\nWhere or in what but his mercy? He will take us, grievously\ndeficient as we are, and make the little, miserable offerings\nwhich we have to present to him, the remnant of what he gave us,\ninto some kind of a crown of eternal life, if only we will turn\nto him with our whole hearts; if we will at least, at that last\nmoment, really believe in him, hope in him, and love him. He that\nperseveres to the end, he that will not die in mortal sin, shall\nbe saved.\n\nBut what shall obtain for us at that last moment the faith, hope,\nand charity which we need? Who will help us to persevere when the\nenemies of our salvation are making the most of their last chance\nto snatch it from us? Will those with whom we have enjoyed life\nthen stand by to help us? It is to be feared that they and all\nthat they have done for us will not avail us much then. No, the\nfriends who will then be most valuable to us will be those, if\nindeed we have such, whom we have not sought for our own sake,\nbut whom we loved for God's sake. And it is not the riches which\nwe amassed that will then be precious to us, but such as we have\ngiven away to those who needed it more than we.\n\n{347}\n\nThese are the friends which our Lord, in to-day's Gospel, tells\nus to make, that they may help us at the hour when our eternal\ndestiny hangs trembling in the balance. These are the friends\nwhich may be made by that mammon of iniquity, those worldly\nriches which are too often the occasion of sin, and whose prayers\nand blessings may indeed be the means of our being received, in\nspite of our unprofitableness, into everlasting habitations.\nHappy is the man who, when he comes to die, knows that God's poor\nhave prayed for him, and have blessed his name.\n\n-------------------\n\n{348}\n\n _Ninth Sunday after Pentecost._\n\n\n Epistle.\n 1 _Corinthians x._ 6-13.\n\n Brethren:\n We should not covet evil things, as they also coveted. Neither\n become ye idolaters, as some of them: as it is written: \"The\n people sat down to eat and drink, and rose up to play.\" Neither\n let us commit fornication, as some of them committed\n fornication, and there fell in one day three and twenty\n thousand. Neither let us tempt Christ: as some of them tempted,\n and perished by the serpents. Neither do you murmur: as some of\n them murmured, and were destroyed by the destroyer. Now all\n these things happened to them in figure; and they are written\n for our correction, upon whom the ends of the world are come.\n Wherefore let him that thinketh himself to stand, take heed\n lest he fall. Let no temptation take hold on you, but such as\n is human. And God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be\n tempted above that which you are able; but will make also with\n temptation issue, that you may be able to bear it.\n\n\n Gospel.\n _St. Luke xix._ 41-47.\n\n At that time:\n When Jesus drew near Jerusalem, seeing the city, he wept over\n it, saying: If thou also hadst known, and that in this thy day,\n the things that are for thy peace; but now they are hidden from\n thy eyes. For the days shall come upon thee: and thy enemies\n shall cast a trench about thee: and compass thee round, and\n straiten thee on every side, and beat thee flat to the ground,\n and thy children who are in thee; and they shall not leave in\n thee a stone upon a stone: because thou hast not known the time\n of thy visitation. And entering into the temple, he began to\n cast out them that sold therein, and them that bought, saying\n to them: \"It is written: My house is the house of prayer\"; but\n you have made it a den of thieves. And he was teaching daily in\n the temple.\n\n-------------------\n\n{349}\n\n Sermon CV.\n\n Justice And Mercy.\n\n\n _And when he drew near, seeing the city,\n he wept over it._\n --From the Gospel of the Sunday.\n\n\nWhich one of the children is best loved by the father and mother?\nIs there any poor little cripple in the family? That is the\nfavorite child. It makes the parent's heart bleed to see the\nlimping walk or the hunched back, to see the sallow, pain-marked\nface of the little one. That is the one who receives the warmest\ncaress; for that one the kindest tones and cheeriest words and\nnicest presents are reserved. Well, brethren, it is the same in\nthe spiritual order. God has his best favors for his most\nunfortunate children: for men and women in the state of mortal\nsin. That is one reason why our Lord lavished such affection on\nthe Jews; they had most need of it. Their hearts were the hardest\nhearts in the world. Jerusalem was the most accursed city in the\nworld. It and its people were on the point of committing the most\nawful crime possible to our race. Hence our Lord wept over it\nthose bitter tears of rejected love, and breathed those deadly\nsighs of a heart wearied and disappointed in fruitless efforts\nfor their salvation.\n\nIt is true, amidst those tears he told of the persistent\nobstinacy of the Jews, and of their final impenitence, and of\ntheir terrific chastisement. But he did it all with many tears\nand with a depth of regret better told by tears than words.\n{350}\nBrethren, there is a deep mystery taught us by this scene. It is\nthe mystery of the union of two sentiments in God which to us\nseem essentially different--justice and mercy. How could our\nSaviour weep over a downfall so well deserved? How could he\nregret what none knew so well as he was to be a punishment all\ntoo light for the crimes of the Jews? Is there not a mystery\nhere? How can it be explained? There is no adequate theoretical\nexplanation of it. But there is a practical one, and a very\nexcellent one, too. It is this: Put yourself in a Jew's place;\nfancy yourself one of that apostate race; stand up before our\nLord and listen to his sentence given against you with infinite\nreluctance--every hard word a sigh of tender regret. Do you not\nsee that this exhibition of mercy in the Judge only renders the\njustice of the sentence more evident to you and more dreadful?\nMercy thus lends to Justice a weapon which, while it only crushes\ndown its victim the deeper, at the same time elevates much higher\nin the culprit's eyes the rectitude of the sentence.\n\nOf course, the justice of God and his mercy are perfectly equal.\nYet in some true sense we may say that his mercy is more powerful\nthan his justice. Does not the Psalmist say that God's mercy \"is\nabove all his works\"? Do we not know by observation and\nexperience that where the wrath of God sets apart a single victim\nhis tender love wins over a thousand? Why, the very sentiments of\nour hearts, the very convictions of our minds by which we earn\nforgiveness in the Sacrament of Penance, are they not the free\ngift of God, earned by us only because \"us\" means persons\npenetrated with light and strength streaming down from the throne\nof mercy?\n{351}\nWe offer our repentance to God in a kind of a way as children\nmake Christmas presents to their father. Where do they get money\nto buy them? From their mother, and she saves it up from the\nhousehold expenses or gets it as a gift from her husband. In the\nlong run the presents were bought by the one to whom they are\ngiven. Yet they are very dear to the father; he values them; they\nare real presents to him; they express a real devotion; they lose\nnothing of their character of presents because he is at the\nexpense of it all. So with our Heavenly Father. If he gives the\ngold we coin it; we stamp the beloved form of the Son of God on\nour poor prayers, so that when they have made the circuit and are\nback again in the divine bosom from which they sprang forth,\nsomehow we have added something to them.\n\nBrethren, let us hope that when our Lord's tears concerned us it\nwas not in view of our reprobation, but of our salvation. Let us\nbe inflamed, too, with a sense of our ingratitude that we are\nsuch unworthy children of so good a Father. A man may swagger and\nbrag down his better self when merely threatened with punishment.\nBut who among you can face, without flinching, the tears of so\ngood a friend as our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ?\n\n-------------------\n\n Sermon CVI.\n\n Neglect Of Divine Warnings.\n\n{352}\n\nThe Gospel to-day tells us, my dear brethren, that Jesus wept as\nhe approached Jerusalem; not for himself, nor for all he was so\nsoon to suffer there, but for the city itself, and for his chosen\npeople, to whom he had given it for their glory and joy. Yes,\nthis beautiful city was their joy and their pride; long before\nthey had been taken from it into captivity by their enemies for a\ntime, and as the Psalmist says, speaking in their name, \"By the\nrivers of Babylon we sat and wept when we remembered Sion.\" And\nhe goes on: \"If I forget thee, Jerusalem, may I forget my right\nhand; may my tongue cleave to my mouth if I do not remember thee,\nif I do not make Jerusalem the beginning of my joy.\"\n\nAnd now this city of theirs was to be taken from them again by a\nmore grievous and fatal disaster than it had ever yet suffered.\nThey were to be scattered from it all over the world to do a long\npenance for their sins and their rejection of him who had come to\nredeem them. And our Divine Lord's Heart yearned for them, for\nthese his creatures, and at the same time his brethren and his\ncountrymen. Fain would he have saved them, if they would but have\nbeen willing, from the terrible sufferings they were to undergo.\nGladly, as he says himself, would he have sheltered them, if they\nwould even now have come to him, from the tempest which was about\nto break upon them from the justice of God. He wept because they\nwould not come and avail themselves of his love.\n\nWe should pray for them that the day may be hastened when they\nshall return and acknowledge their true Messias, their own Lord\nand Master, the only true King of the Jews. But they are not the\nonly ones to weep for; they are not the only ones whom he has\nloaded with favors, and who have been ungrateful; there are\nothers besides the Jews whom Almighty God has chosen for his\npeople, but who have rejected him and distressed his loving\nheart.\n{353}\nWho are they? They are in general all sinners, but especially\nsuch as are Catholics; they are those souls for whom Jesus has\ndone so much from their earliest years, in the midst of whom he\nhas lived and wrought so many works of power and goodness; those\nwhom he has enlightened with his truth, those whom he has warned\nagainst sin, those whom he has borne with so long and forgiven so\noften, those whom he has fed with his own Body and Blood. And\nyet, through evil habits, by frequent mortal sin, they live on,\ndeaf to his warnings, despising his love, not knowing the time of\ntheir visitation, until evil days and a sad ending come upon\nthem. Can we wonder that their enemies, the evil one and their\nbad habits, compass them round about, and straiten them on all\nsides, and beat them down and leave them wasted and desolate? Can\nwe wonder that, since they would not bear the sweet and ennobling\nyoke of Christ, they will be forced to groan in the fetters of\nSatan and be exiled for ever from the true Jerusalem, the home of\npeace, which is above? No, brethren; such is the fate of those\nwho persistently abuse God's grace, who reject his mercy and his\nefforts to save them. God forbid that such a career, such an\nending, be ours. Let us, then, take warning; let us be careful\nabout temptations; let us not presume on our own strength nor on\nGod's goodness in the past; let us not make light of anything\nwhich is dangerous or forbidden. Let us endeavor not to grieve\nour Lord by any infidelity, great or small, but try to be\nfaithful to every grace in this the day of our visitation, and to\nfollow the things that are for our peace here and our happiness\nhereafter.\n\n-------------------\n\n{354}\n\n Sermon CVII.\n\n Living From Day To Day.\n\n\n _If thou also hadst known, and that in this thy day,\n the things that are for thy peace._\n --St. Luke xix. 42.\n\n\nThe fault of the Jews, my brethren, was twofold: boasting of the\npast and waiting for the future. It is especially on account of\nthe latter fault that our Lord in this day's Gospel lays such\nstress on the words \"and that in this thy day.\" It is a warning\nagainst trying to live in the future.\n\nWe all know, to be sure, that one may go to the other extreme,\nand by a form of sloth be too careless of the future. Some things\nthere are which are certain to come upon us, and their coming\nmust be provided for. There is a judgment to come, and every\nminute of to-day is like a bailiff busy gathering evidence for\nthat Divine Court. Temptation is sure to come, and its strain\nupon our virtue must be foreseen in every prayer of every day.\nThe common wants of life for one's self and family are inevitable\nin the future, and must be prudently provided against. In all\nsuch things we know that the future is an actual fact, and is\njust as present to God as this very instant is to us.\n\n{355}\n\nWhat our Lord would rebuke is not a prudent foresight, but that\nweak and idle state of mind which postpones to the future what\nshould be done at once. This is the commonest of human delusions.\nIn a temporal point of view it is condemned by the saying,\n\"Procrastination is the thief of time,\" and it might be added of\nmany other valuable commodities. In a spiritual point of view the\ndreadful result of delaying till to-morrow what should be done\nto-day is expressed by the saying, \"Hell is paved with good\nintentions.\" Wise men resolve to do in the future only what they\ncannot do now. Many and many a poor soul has lost the kingdom of\nheaven for that one reason: resolving instead of doing.\n\nBrethren, a practically-minded Christian lives his spiritual life\nfrom day to day. He knows that the future is something entirely\nin God's hands. As for himself, his actual ability to do good\nbegins and ends with each passing hour. If he provides well for\nit as it comes and goes he has done his part; God will not fail\nto take care of the future. One's peace of mind is never secure\ntill one has learned to be content with present duty well done.\nOh! what a happiness when one's soul is unburdened of care for\nthe future. Do you covet that happiness? It is yours if you leave\nnothing undone for the present. If you can honestly say, \"That is\nall I can do for the present,\" you may add, \"and the future\nalso.\"\n\nBut, you say, what about a purpose of amendment? Does not that\ndwell specially on the future? Yes, it does; but it springs from\na present sorrow. And if the sorrow be as heartfelt as it should\nbe the purpose of amendment will take care of itself. A deep\nhatred of sin is the only true sorrow, and such a hatred must be\nenduring. The test of a contrite man is not what he promises but\nwhat he does. His sorrow unites the past and future in the\npresent. Warned by his past weakness, he begins right here and\njust now by prayer and work to guard against a future relapse.\n\n{356}\n\nLearn a lesson, brethren, from our Lord's warning and from the\nfate of the Jews. It is better to say one's morning prayers\nto-day than to resolve to become a saint next week. To-day is\nhere, and next week is nowhere. This day is mine; I know not if I\nshall have so much as one other. God has the past and the future.\nI will thank him for the past, I will beg him for the future. As\nto the present, with God's help, I will set to work to do my\nutmost.\n\n-------------------\n\n{357}\n\n _Tenth Sunday after Pentecost._\n\n\n\n Epistle.\n 1 Corinthians xii. 2-11.\n\n Brethren:\n You know that when you were heathens you went to dumb idols,\n according as you were led. Wherefore I give you to understand,\n that no man, speaking by the Spirit of God, saith Anathema to\n Jesus. And no man can say, The Lord Jesus, but by the Holy\n Ghost. Now there are diversities of graces, but the same\n Spirit; and there are diversities of ministries, but the same\n Lord. And there are diversities of operations, but the same\n God, who worketh all in all. But the manifestation of the\n Spirit is given to every man unto profit. To one, indeed, by\n the Spirit, is given the word of wisdom: to another, the word\n of knowledge according to the same Spirit: to another, faith in\n the same Spirit: to another, the grace of healing in one\n Spirit: to another, the working of miracles: to another,\n prophecy: to another, the discerning of spirits: to another,\n divers kinds of tongues: to another, interpretation of\n speeches: but all these things one and the same Spirit worketh,\n dividing to every one as he will.\n\n\n Gospel.\n _St. Luke xviii._ 9-14.\n\n At that time:\n To some who trusted in themselves as just, and despised others,\n Jesus spoke this parable: Two men went up into the temple to\n pray: the one a Pharisee, and the other a publican. The\n Pharisee, standing, prayed thus with himself: O God, I give\n thee thanks that I am not as the rest of men, extortioners,\n unjust, adulterers, nor such as this publican. I fast twice in\n the week: I give tithes of all that I possess.\n{358}\n And the publican, standing afar off, would not so much as lift\n up his eyes towards heaven; but struck his breast, saying: O\n God, be merciful to me a sinner! I say to you, this man went\n down to his house justified rather than the other; because\n every one that exalteth himself shall be humbled: and he that\n humbleth himself shall be exalted.\n\n-------------------\n\n Sermon CVIII.\n\n Sympathy for Sinners.\n\n\n _O God, I give thee thanks\n that I am not as the rest of men,\n extortioners, unjust, adulterers,\n nor such as this publican._\n --St. Luke xviii. 11.\n\n\nDid you never notice that pride and hardness of heart go\ntogether? That miserable Pharisee could not enjoy his\nself-glorification without condemning his neighbor, a person, as\nit happened, far more deserving than himself. Indeed, the worst\nvices seem to love each other's company as if they were all blood\nrelatives. Coveting our neighbor's goods, for example, goes along\nwith stinginess of our own; gluttony and lust are twins. Almost\nthe same may be said of oppressing others and disobeying lawful\nauthority; and in this hateful Pharisee we behold the union of\npride in one's self and contempt for one's neighbor. The sinner\nseems to be bound with a chain every link of which is double.\n\nNow, brethren, this is a fault often found in far better souls\nthan this haughty Pharisee. Many of us have too little sympathy\nfor persons whom we know to be in mortal sin. To be sure, it is\nno harm to rejoice that we are at friendship with heaven. But the\nworst of it is that some of us are never really happy at the\nthought of our own virtues till we are quite miserable over our\nneighbor's wickedness; and when we say with our lips, How wicked\nSo-and-So is! our heart whispers, And how good I am!\n\n{359}\n\nThe spirit of correction possesses many good people--a spirit\ncommonly the sign of hidden pride. No sooner do we take the first\nsteps in amendment of life than we are divided between rejoicing\nin our own goodness and lamenting over other folk's vice. I know\nnot what we good people should do for something to talk about\nwere it not for our neighbor's shortcomings.\n\nBrethren, this vanity is very foolish and very dangerous. Who\ndare say that he has nothing to fear from the judgments of God?\nWho can count himself safe so much as one day from his own\nnatural feebleness, or from the wiles of Satan, or from human\nrespect? And if we do rightly trust in God's favor, how can we\nforget that progress in virtue is a necessary condition of our\nremaining virtuous at all? Now this progress means simply a right\nknowledge of our remaining defects and a solid purpose to\novercome them; something with which the vice of the Pharisee is\nquite incompatible. Nothing so blinds us to our own little faults\nas too much regard for our neighbor's big ones. Doubtless it\nwould have been just as difficult for the Pharisee to correct his\nharshness of voice, or his lofty bearing, or his patronizing airs\nas to overcome his great sin of pride itself; and such is the\ncase with many of us. The beam in our neighbor's eye looks so\nshocking that we quite forget that we have quite a squint in our\nown eye from various little motes in it.\n\n{360}\n\nBe certain, therefore, brethren, that, if you find hard feelings\nin your heart toward sinners, you have no long journey to make\nbefore you discover the capital sin of pride in your own. Why can\nwe not leave judgment to God, and treat poor sinners after our\nLord's example, praying and suffering for them? I do not mean to\nsay that we should forget to mention to them the awful\nchastisements of God; indeed, a truer friend does not exist than\none who warns us of our future destruction, and some, such as\nparents, are in duty bound to give such admonition. But in the\ntreatment of moral maladies we should bear in mind that bitter\nwords and harsh looks spoil good medicine. And especially should\nwe bear in mind that we have had our own wicked days.\n\nLet us, therefore, regard sinners with much tenderness, dropping\nout of our view while we deal with them our own darling selves.\nLet us realize that we ourselves are poor souls, quite capable,\nbut for God's singular favor, of falling into the worst state of\nsinfulness.\n\n-------------------\n\n Sermon CIX.\n\n Morning Prayers.\n\n\n _Two men went up into the temple to pray._\n --From the Gospel of the Sunday.\n\n\nThe lesson of this day's Gospel, my brethren, is prayer; its\nnecessity and its humility. Our short sermon must be contented\nwith a little corner of this great field--that is to say, morning\nprayers.\n\n{361}\n\nSuppose that your child is sick, what is your first word in the\nmorning? It is, How is the baby this morning? Then follows much\nmore: I think it is a little better to-day; it seems easier; or\nit passed a bad night; I hope the day will be cool, for it\nsuffers from heat. So, anxiety for your poor little child\nconsecrates your first thoughts and words to its welfare. And do\nyou not know that your poor soul is either sick or runs the risk\nof catching a deadly sickness every day you live? There are bad\nsights on the streets that tend to sicken it; there are snares of\nthe devil, such as cursing and foul-talking companions, bad\nreading and saloons; there is a spiritual cancer within--I mean\nthe temptation of the flesh--which can only be kept from\ndestroying the soul's life by constant and severe treatment. Now,\nthoughts and words do your sick child little good; but they are\nthe very best things for the soul, especially early in the\nmorning. The man or woman who kneels down and says the morning\nprayer guards against temptation, heads off the noon-day demon,\nand provides that happiest of evenings, that is to say, the one\nwhich follows an innocent day.\n\nThere's a saying against braggarts and promise-breakers that\n\"fine words butter no parsnips.\" It is not true of words said in\ncharity to our neighbor or in prayer to God. Sincere words\naddressed to God as the day begins sweeten every morsel of food\nthe livelong day, lighten every burden and weaken every\ntemptation. Why, then, are you so careless about morning prayers?\nIt can only be because you do not appreciate your spiritual\nweakness or you do not care what becomes of your soul before\nbedtime. But somebody might say: Father, can't you tell us\nsomething to make the morning prayers easy? It is very hard to\nremember them, and then it is so pleasant to get even five\nminutes more sleep, especially in the winter time; and, again, I\nam always in a hurry to get off to work, etc.\n{362}\nNow you might as well ask me to tell you something to make you\nrelish a good wash and a clean shirt. If a man does not hate\ndirt, it is preaching up the chimney to try to make him love to\nbe clean. Prayer cleans the heart. Prayer clothes the soul with\nthe grace of God. Prayer brings down God. Prayer drives away the\ndevil. Or, I might rather say, that for a clean heart, and in\norder to get the grace of God, and in order to vanquish\ntemptation, prayer is simply and indispensably necessary.\n\nOnce a man came to me and said: Father, for years I was addicted\nto habitual vice of the worst kind (and here he named a fearful\nsin), but I began some time ago to say the Litany of the Blessed\nVirgin every morning and the Litany of Jesus every night, and\nthis practice has entirely cured me of that dreadful habit. Some\nsuch story as that, my brethren, every man must tell before he\ncan say that he is delivered from sin.\n\nFor my own part, I look upon regular morning prayers as a plain\nmark of predestination to eternal life. \"Ask and you shall\nreceive; seek and you shall find; knock and it shall be opened to\nyou,\" is our Lord's promise to those that pray; and the best\nprayer is the morning prayer. Be ready, therefore, to correct\nyourself for omitting it. The day you forget it go without\nsomething you like to eat, put a nickel in the poor-box, double\nup your night prayers, make a special request to your guardian\nangel to get you up in good time for morning prayer the following\nmorning. For the \"Our Father,\" \"Hail Mary,\" \"Apostles Creed,\"\n\"Confiteor,\" and Acts of Faith, Hope, Sorrow, and Charity, that\nyou say in the morning will in the end give you a happy death and\nthe kingdom of heaven.\n\n-------------------\n\n{363}\n\n Sermon CX.\n\n Feast Of St. Mary Magdalen.\n\n _Many sins are forgiven her,\n because she loved much._\n --Gospel of the Day.\n\n\nMy dear brethren, no one who has faith can fail to be more or\nless anxious as to whether he will in the end save his soul. We\nall know that our faith alone will not save us; that faith, as\nSt. James tells us, without works is dead. And we know that\neverything depends on the last moment; that as the tree falls, so\nwill it lie for all eternity. So we tremble to think that perhaps\nthat last moment will find us with our sins unforgiven, and all\nunprepared to meet our Judge; and that, in spite of our having\nborne the name of Christ, we may be then cast away from his\npresence into the outer darkness for ever.\n\nSome people, I know, have a very simple way of reassuring\nthemselves about this all-important matter. They think that, of\ncourse, when they come to die they will send for the priest;\nthen, if he gets there in time, of course there can be no\nquestion about their salvation. And even if he does not, perhaps\nthey would not altogether despair; certainly their friends will\nnot despair of them. God, they think, will not utterly cast off\nthose who have always believed in him; their prayers and those of\ntheir friends will certainly obtain them a place in purgatory,\nand at last they will save their souls, at least by fire.\n\n{364}\n\nBut, after all, do not even the most confident of us sometimes\nhave a fear that even the last sacraments may not make our\nsalvation absolutely sure? The last sacraments are not so very\ndifferent from the others we have received before; and do we\nalways feel fully prepared to die after every Communion which we\nmake? No, there is a haunting fear that something is not right\nwhich pursues us even at the altar-rail; we would give much if we\ncould only do something which would take it away altogether.\n\nLet us not be troubled because we have this fear; it is better\nnot to be entirely free from it; above all, let us not stay away\nfrom the sacraments because we have it. If we stay away in any\ncase except that of known and certain mortal sin which is not\nforgiven, we shall only make matters worse. But still this fear\nis generally a sign of something wrong; it does not altogether\ncome from humility, or from the desire of salvation. It comes\nfrom a want of something which we ought to have; from a want of\nthe greatest of all virtues, of that which includes all others,\nand brings all others with it--from a want of the love of God.\nNot an entire want of it, but a want of strength in it, a want of\naffection; a want of that feeling which we have for our friends,\nand which, above all, we should have for the greatest and best of\nall.\n\nYes, perfect love, as St. John tells us, casts out fear. It is\nthe short cut out of all these worries, difficulties, and\nanxieties which all who are not hardened sinners must have\nwithout it. It was the direct and simple road which St. Mary\nMagdalen took in escaping from sin.\n{365}\nShe followed the Friend of sinners as he went on his mission of\nmercy; she saw the miracles of his power and goodness; she saw\nthe love for men which shone in his face and inspired his every\nword and action, and her heart was touched and melted. She took\nit away at once and for ever from all those vain things to which\nit had been attached and gave it truly and entirely to him who\nhad made it, and who had come in sorrow and suffering to win back\nhis own. And her many sins were forgiven because she loved much;\nbecause all the powers of earth and of hell cannot put an\nobstacle between God and the soul that loves him as he should be\nloved.\n\nIf we would only do as she did; if we would put away all these\nbargainings about just how much we are bound to give to God, and\nhow much we can safely keep for ourselves; if we would love him\nas she did, not with a mere passing sentiment, but with that\ndevotion and self-sacrificing affection which it is so easy\nsometimes to give to a mere creature; if we would let him, as he\nwishes, into our hearts as our dearest and best, and make\neverything else give place, then fear would pass away, and we\nshould say, \"Let God take me when he will; let me suffer what my\nsins deserve, but surely he will not keep me from loving him.\"\nYes, my brethren, to love God is the one thing necessary; to love\nhim is to save our souls.\n\n-------------------\n\n{366}\n\n _Eleventh Sunday after Pentecost._\n\n\n Epistle.\n 1 _Corinthians xv._ 1-10.\n\n Brethren:\n I make known unto you the gospel which I preached to you, which\n also you have received, and wherein you stand: by which also\n you are saved, if you hold fast after what manner I preached to\n you, unless you have believed in vain. For I delivered to you\n first of all, which I also received: how that Christ died for\n our sins, according to the Scriptures: and that he was buried,\n and that he rose again the third day, according to the\n Scriptures: and that he was seen by Cephas, and after that by\n the eleven. Then was he seen by more than five hundred brethren\n at once, of whom many remain until this present, and some are\n fallen asleep. After that he was seen by James, then by all the\n apostles. And last of all, he was seen also by me, as by one\n born out of due time. For I am the least of the apostles, who\n am not worthy to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the\n church of God. But by the grace of God I am what I am: and his\n grace in me hath not been void.\n\n\n Gospel.\n _St. Mark vii._ 31-37.\n\n At that time:\n Jesus going out of the borders of Tyre, came by Sidon to the\n sea of Galilee, through the midst of the territories of\n Decapolis. And they bring to him one that was deaf and dumb;\n and they besought him to lay his hand upon him. And taking him\n aside from the multitude, he put his fingers into his ears, and\n spitting, he touched his tongue: and looking up to heaven, he\n groaned, and said to him: Ephpheta, which is, Be opened.\n{367}\n And immediately his ears were opened, and the string of his\n tongue was loosed, and he spoke right. And he charged them that\n they should tell no man. But the more he charged them, so much\n the more a great deal did they publish it. And so much the more\n did they wonder, saying: He hath done all things well; he hath\n made both the deaf to hear, and the dumb to speak.\n\n-------------------\n\n Sermon CXI.\n\n Want Of Confidence In God.\n\n\n _He hath done all things well._\n --St. Mark vii. 37.\n\n\nThe spectators of the double miracle related in this day's Gospel\nwere filled with admiration at our Lord's power and goodness;\nthey could not help exclaiming, \"He doth all things well.\" Would\nto God, brethren, that such a sentiment of our Lord's love and\npower filled our hearts! Confidence in God, however, is the very\nvirtue many Christians lack most. True, we say and believe that\nGod is infinitely good--that he is mercy itself. But such\nlanguage is very indefinite and may express a very dim\nconception. It is something like saying that a stone is very hard\nor that water is very wet. We are apt to form pictures of God's\nattributes in our minds, just as a painter may make a portrait of\nsome historical personage he never saw; many of our notions of\nGod are fancy portraits, all imagination.\n\nBut just think of the actual grounds of our confidence in our\nBlessed Lord. Just realize that this wonderful being is filled\nwith the tenderest human love for the worst of us, and has all\nthe divine power at his command--being both man and God--to make\ngood his love by bringing about our spiritual and temporal\nwelfare.\n{368}\nThe Incarnation is the divine Mercy made man for the love of us.\nCan we suppose that such a being, having begun the good work of\nour salvation by giving us the true religion, will leave anything\nundone, that we will let him do, to bring us to the kingdom of\nheaven? Do you think that such a loving Father would teach us,\nhis children, A B C except with the set purpose of going clean\nthrough to X Y Z? Just think, that it positively never happened\nthat any wretched sinner, how ever degraded, ever implored our\nLord's forgiveness and was rejected; nay, that he himself\nsecretly inspires sinners with their grief and horror for their\nevil ways, and then imparts forgiveness in return for his own\ngift. The fact is that the question is not whether God will\nforgive us, but whether we will let him do it. In a word, this\ninfinitely good and infinitely powerful being is bent and\ndetermined that we shall enjoy perfect happiness, world without\nend.\n\nWhat a wonder, then, that we can treat our Lord in our\ncold-hearted way! Scrupulous persons treat him as if he were a\ntyrant; lukewarm Christians treat him like a stepfather;\nobstinate sinners treat him with open contempt. The practise of\nprayer, the reception of the sacraments and other aids of\nreligion--we treat them as school-children do their lessons: we\ndo it all because we are afraid of the consequences if we don't.\nConsidering how much God loves us his service should come as easy\nto us as breathing the air; it should be the element in which we\nlive. If our faith were a little more practical God's loveliness\nwould be as plain to us as the open day and the sun in the\nheavens.\n\n{369}\n\nFurthermore, and this is still more practical, lack of confidence\nin God is why we repine at his visitations. It is easy enough to\nsay, be resigned to the will of God, but how can we be content to\nsuffer unless we are penetrated with confidence in the divine\ngoodness? Brethren, you know how we sometimes take medicine. We\nwrap it up in a pleasant-flavored wafer or hide it in a spoonful\nof sugar, and down it goes and we never taste its bitterness. So\na lively confidence in God, if we only had enough of it, is the\nsweetness to wrap around the bitter things of life. Temptations,\nlong and wearisome poverty, ill-health, unpleasant companions in\nthe household--these and other such trials are the bitter pills\nof the soul; when we fairly realize that God means them for our\nspiritual good we can bear them with patience, even with\nthankfulness.\n\nDid you ever hear of the witch-hazel, and how people used to\nfancy that a crooked branch of it thrown into the air would fall\non the spot where a good spring of water could be found? Well,\nthe witch-hazel of the Christian soul is just this question: How\nmuch confidence have you in the love of our Lord Jesus Christ for\nyou? If that does not reveal the hidden springs of your heart and\nbring the waters of love gushing forth, then that heart is\nhopelessly dry.\n\n-------------------\n\n Sermon CXII.\n\n Devotion To The Blessed Virgin.\n\n\nWhy do Catholics pay so much honor to the Virgin Mary? Are they\nnot doing an injury to her Son by over-honoring his Mother? What\nis the reason, the doctrine, of the Catholic's devotion to Mary?\n\n{370}\n\nVery fair questions, brethren; questions which you should be\nready to answer with intelligence and kindness. So that now, as\nwe approach the Feast of Our Lady's Assumption into heaven, let\nus renew our faith in her dignity. What, then, does the Catholic\nfaith teach us about her? It teaches us that she is the Mother of\nGod; and further, that, on account of the foreseen merits of her\nSon, she was preserved from the stain of original sin; that she\nwas always a virgin; and that it is lawful and profitable to ask\nher prayers. Such are the articles of faith concerning the\nBlessed Virgin.\n\nOnce you know something about her Son's divinity you easily\nperceive her dignity of Mother of God. Her title of Mother of God\nplainly rests upon the fact that her Son is God. Jesus Christ is\nGod; his nature is divine and his person is divine. And here you\nmust bear in mind the distinction between nature and person. He\nhas the nature, being, essence of God. And he has the person of\nGod; for our Saviour is God the Son, second person of the Most\nHoly Trinity. What, then, is human about him? for we know that he\nis as truly man as he is truly God. The answer is that he has a\nhuman nature as well as a divine nature. He became man; and he\ndid so by taking human nature from Mary, his Mother. But, you ask\nagain, is he a human person also? No, for we have seen that he is\nthe divine person, God the Son. There cannot be two persons in\nChrist. He is but a single person, one individual, and that is\ndivine. So that the divine personality of the Son of God takes\nhuman nature and unites it to the divine nature. The one divine\nperson whose name is Christ, and who is of both divine and human\nnature, has no human personality, but divine.\n\n{371}\n\nAnd this is the Son of Mary. Is she not the Mother of our Lord,\npersonally his Mother? Can any one be a mother and not be mother\nof a person? Is he not personally her son? What a dignity! What a\nmysterious and wonderful eminence, to be mother of the divine\nperson of the Son of God made man. No wonder that we honor her;\nalthough we know full well that all she has of dignity and\nsanctity she has by no power of her own, but by gift of God, and\nthat she is purely a human being. Those who do not honor Mary\nfail to appreciate the majesty of Christ; fail to understand the\ndoctrine of the Incarnation; fail to grasp the immensity of the\ndivine love in God becoming man.\n\nNo wonder, then, that God should have saved her from the taint of\nAdam's sin, should have preserved her a spotless virgin, should\nhave saved her pure body from the grave's filth by the Assumption\ninto heaven. The Angel Gabriel tells us what Mary is: \"Behold\nthou shalt conceive in thy womb, and thou shalt bring forth a\nson, and thou shalt call his name Jesus. He shall be great, and\nshall be called the Son of the Most High. ... The Holy Ghost\nshall come upon thee, and the power of the Most High shall\novershadow thee, and therefore the Holy (One) that shall be born\nof thee shall be called the Son of God.\"\n\n{372}\n\nNow, brethren, to be a mother is to hold an office. It is to\nexercise by divine right the highest powers committed to a human\nbeing. What wonderful rights a mother possesses! An affectionate\nallegiance is due her from her son: an obedience instinctive,\nsacred, supreme; a reverential and hearty loyalty which arouses\nthe noblest emotions in the hardest heart and gives birth to\nheroic deeds even in men of the weakest natures. A mother is\nentitled to her son's love by the most sacred of all obligations.\nWell, just think of it: our Blessed Lord was, and is yet, bound\nto his Mother by that imperative divine law; he was, and is yet,\nsubject to the sweetest and, for a noble nature, the most\nresistless impulse to do his Mother's will and to make her happy.\nHe owes her love, obedience, reverence, friendship, support,\ncompanionship, sympathy. And he that doth all things well, would\nhe not do his whole duty as Son, would he not be a model Son?\nWould he not grant her lightest wish while he lived with her on\nearth, will he not gladly do so now in heaven?\n\nHence our Lord Jesus Christ spent nearly his whole life in his\nMother's immediate company, consenting to postpone for her sake\nhis Father's work of publishing his divinity and preaching his\nGospel. Hence he worked his first miracle at her request at the\nwedding of Cana. Hence he inspired her to prophecy that all\ngenerations would call her blessed. Hence, too, our Lord has\ninstilled into every Christian heart some little glow of his own\ndeep filial love for her.\n\nIn truth, brethren, whatever Christ's Mother is to him by nature,\nthat she is to us by adoption. Just in proportion to our union\nwith him are we bound to her. And if we wish to know him well we\ncan study in no better school than his Mother's. If we wish to\nlove him tenderly, her maternal heart can best teach us how. And\nif we have favors to ask him we shall be glad, if we are not too\nself-conceited, to secure her prayers to assist us.\n\n-------------------\n\n{373}\n\n Sermon CXIII.\n\n Gratitude.\n\nMy brethren, we have had a word to say before this about the vice\nof ingratitude, and of how mean a vice it is, especially in a\nChristian. Now let us consider the opposite virtue--gratitude. It\nis, to be sure, one of the little virtues. Yet how can we call\nany class of virtues little? No doubt there are, strictly\nspeaking, grades of merit very much higher one above the other.\nBut that is not so much from the action done in each case as from\nthe motive that inspires the action. One saves a man's life for\nthe love of money; another gives a glass of cold water for the\nlove of God. The glass of water is nothing compared to a human\nlife; yet the glass of water will be rewarded for all eternity,\nand the saving of the human life is paid for as we pay for a load\nof coal. Brethren, beware of thinking there is any thing to be\ncalled little that has to do with God and eternal life; and\nalways bear in mind that, by practising little virtues with an\nearnest purpose to please God, your merit is according to your\nheart, and not according to your hand.\n\nI do not intend to speak specially, just now, of gratitude to\nGod; but between man and man gratitude is one of those gentle\nvirtues that increase our fondness for each other. Gratitude is a\nshort cut to sincere and lasting friendship.\n{374}\nAnd if a supernatural motive inspires one's gratitude to his\nfriends, then a holy friendship is the result. Some people\ncomplain that they have no friends. I think they are most to\nblame themselves. Have they never had a favor done them? Why,\nevery one of us has had a score of favors done him every day of\nhis life. Those who bear it in mind, who say a word of hearty\nthanks, who watch a chance to do a favor in return, never lack\nfriends. Brethren, never forget a favor. Return it if you can, at\nleast in part; but at any rate never forget it. Feel grateful at\nleast; say a thankful word; offer up a prayer for your\nbenefactors now and then. The best use we can make of our\nmemories is to remember our benefactors. Favors done and favors\ngratefully remembered are the two halves of a happy life. It\nwould be only simple justice if we looked on gratitude as we do\non a just debt; for gratitude pays debts, first in good-will, and\nbefore long in a more substantial manner. You know that an honest\ndebtor will always try to save a little from day to day to pay\nhis debts. So we can do a little from time to time by way of\ninstalments, so to speak; we can say a daily prayer for our\nbenefactors, write an occasional letter, pay a visit now and\nthen, often praise them to our friends.\n\nOf course, those who have done us the greatest favors are\nentitled to the deepest gratitude. Now, who has done so much for\nus as our parents? Certainly, next to God, our parents stand\nfirst in the list of our benefactors. Yet many, especially after\nthey have married and settled down in their own families, are\nwanting in gratitude to their parents. Married persons who are\nbadly treated by their own children should sometimes ask\nthemselves if it be not in punishment for their forgetfulness of\ntheir own parents.\n{375}\nOf course, when we are in middle life, what was done for us in\nchildhood seems very far away; it was diffused over many years;\nit was a regular habit and course of life; it was bound up in our\nparents own happiness. But let us bear in mind, all the same, how\ntrue and deep the love that inspired it; how unwearied the\npatience; how self-forgetful the devotion of our parents, and let\nus seek every chance to make their last years happy.\n\nBrethren, shall I say a word about gratitude due to us of the\nsanctuary? Has not some priest done you a favor; converted you by\na sermon, inspired you to perseverance by his advice in the\nconfessional, soothed your sick and weary heart, or reconciled\nyou to a dreary burden? If so, you ought to pray for him, and\nespecially for your pastors.\n\nBut gratitude to God is, of course, the first and best of all.\nFrom him we have received all, and, having forfeited every favor,\nagain and again received them back from the divine bounty.\n\n-------------------\n\n{376}\n\n _Twelfth Sunday after Pentecost._\n\n\n Epistle.\n 2 _Corinthians iii._ 4-9.\n\n Brethren:\n Such confidence we have, through Christ towards God. Not that\n we are sufficient to think anything of ourselves as of\n ourselves; but our sufficiency is from God. Who also hath made\n us fit ministers of the new testament, not in the letter, but\n in the Spirit. For the letter killeth; but the Spirit giveth\n life. Now if the ministration of death, engraven with letters\n upon stones, was glorious, so that the children of Israel could\n not steadfastly behold the face of Moses, for the glory of his\n countenance, which is done away: how shall not the ministration\n of the Spirit be rather in glory? For if the ministration of\n condemnation be glory, much more the ministration of justice\n aboundeth in glory.\n\n\n Gospel.\n _St. Luke x_. 23-37.\n\n At that time:\n Jesus said to his disciples:\n Blessed are the eyes that see the things which you see. For I\n say to you that many prophets and kings have desired to see the\n things that you see, and have not seen them: and to hear the\n things that you hear, and have not heard them. And behold a\n certain lawyer stood up, tempting him, and saying: Master, what\n must I do to possess eternal life? But he said to him: What is\n written in the law? how readest thou? He answering, said: \"Thou\n shalt love the Lord thy God with thy whole heart, and with thy\n whole soul, and with all thy strength, and with all thy mind:\n and thy neighbor as thyself.\" And he said to him: Thou hast\n answered right: this do, and thou shalt live. But he, willing\n to justify himself, said to Jesus: And who is my neighbor?\n{377}\n And Jesus answering, said: A certain man went down from\n Jerusalem to Jericho, and fell among robbers, who also stripped\n him, and having wounded him, went away, leaving him half dead.\n And it happened that a certain priest went down the same way,\n and seeing him, he passed by. In like manner also a Levite,\n when he was near the place and saw him, passed by. But a\n certain Samaritan being on his journey came near him; and\n seeing him was moved with compassion. And going up to him,\n bound up his wounds, pouring in oil and wine: and setting him\n upon his own beast, brought him to an inn, and took care of\n him. And the next day he took out two pence, and gave to the\n host, and said: Take care of him: and whatsoever thou shalt\n spend over and above, I at my return will repay thee. Which of\n these three in thy opinion was neighbor to him that fell among\n the robbers? But he said: He that showed mercy to him. And\n Jesus said to him: Go and do thou in like manner.\n\n-------------------\n\n Sermon CXIV.\n\n The Good Samaritan.\n\n\n _Go and do thou in like manner._\n St. Luke x. 37.\n\nHow few of us, brethren, are really naturally of a\nself-sacrificing disposition! How few actually enjoy, for\nexample, the offices of the sick-room, or so much as a little\nvisit of condolence to an afflicted friend!\n\n{378}\n\nThat is why our Blessed Lord, in this day's Gospel, has given us\nthe beautiful parable of the good Samaritan. Although a heretic\nand schismatic against the law of Moses, he is chosen as a model\nbecause he had a tender, compassionate heart, and was willing to\nput himself to trouble and expense for his neighbor's welfare.\n\nThe corporal works of mercy, brethren, are the easiest of the\nways to the love of God. People are fond of admiring the members\nof religious orders, who, for the love of God, serve the sick and\nthe aged, the insane and the orphans; often forgetting that if\nthis is good as a life-work for them, it is not bad as an\noccasional practise of virtue for us living in the world. All\naround us there are shoulders bending under weary burdens and\nhearts breaking with insupportable cares: yes, even in one's own\nhousehold. How often do men deny their wives the pleasure of\ntheir company; when Sunday comes, going off with any chance\ncompanions and leaving the poor mother to mind the children, to\nmiss Mass, and sit lonely at home the livelong day. How very\noften do young men think of taking anybody's sisters to some\nrespectable place of amusement rather than their own sisters! I\nthink that if a spiritual thermometer were dipped into such men's\nhearts they would be found pretty near the freezing point.\n\nBut, brethren, the sick-room--ah! that is the place on the road\nbetween Jerusalem and Jericho where men and women are oftenest\nfound lying in the direst distress. Have you ever been very sick?\nIf so, you know the value of a little good nursing. A man who was\njust recovering from a very dangerous sickness told me once that\nwhen his head was burning with the fever he would willingly have\ngiven a hundred thousand dollars for the cooling, restful relief\nhe enjoyed every time the nurse rearranged the pillows for him.\n\n{379}\n\nAnd if you cannot be a regular nurse for the sick, there is no\nreason why you should not pay an occasional visit to the\nsick-room. You can spend a pleasant quarter of an hour in\ncheerful conversation. You can relieve some poor, weary watcher,\nso that she or he may get a little rest. You can take the ailing\nchild from the worn-out mother's arms and let her lie down and\nrest her stiffened limbs, or go to church to refresh her anxious\nsoul. You can bring some little delicacy to soothe the sick\nperson's palate. You can read some prayers beside the sick bed\nmorning or night; for we all know that in time of illness it is\nalmost impossible to pray one's self. You can lend a hand to set\nthings to rights, to cook a meal of victuals, or wash the dishes,\nor run an errand to the drug-store or grocery; and ever and\nalways you can say a word of comfort, of hope, of resignation to\nthe divine will--words cheap to give but precious to receive.\n\nAnd when at last death is come your presence may be of the\ndeepest comfort. Then is the time to come forward promptly and\nhelp to lay out the Christian corpse; to set up for a night\nbeside that strange, silent guest in the coffin; and, when you\nfind two or three gathered about it, to have the courage to lead\nin reciting the rosary for the soul's happy repose.\n\nI know, brethren, that there are many kind hearts who zealously\npractise these lovely virtues. But there are others, especially\namong the men, who nearly quite forget them. And others still who\ndo them grudgingly, and only after many entreaties. To obtain a\nkind act from an unwilling heart, and after encountering many\nexcuses, is like blowing a dying fire: before you see the bright\ncoals your face is pretty well covered with ashes and cinders.\n\n{380}\n\nBrethren, let us not be put to shame by the Samaritan. When\nconfronted with persons suffering from poverty, sickness, death,\nor any misfortune, do like the Samaritan: forget all about their\nnationality, or acquaintanceship, or religion. Say something or\ndo something in charity and for the love of God; your neighbor's\ndeepest gratitude and God's sure reward will amply repay you.\n\n-------------------\n\n Sermon CXV.\n\n Our Neighbors.\n\n\n _Which of these three, in thy opinion,\n was neighbor to him that fell among robbers?\n But He said, he that showed mercy to him._\n --Gospel of the Day.\n\n\nWe are taught in the Gospel of today to love our neighbors as\nourselves. Now, if we have this love it shows itself in deeds.\nIf, when we see our neighbor in distress, we pass by, thinking\nsome one else may help him, but _we_ cannot, we are like the\nproud priest and the Levite, not like the good Samaritan. Our\nLord, after describing the charity of this Samaritan, says: \"Go\nand do thou in like manner.\" We can not pass by our neighbor when\nhe is in extreme necessity without sin; and if his necessity be\ngreat we must help him, at least out of our abundance. It is a\nmistake to think that we are free of obligation in this matter.\nSt. John says: \"He that hath the substance of this world and\nshall see his brother in need, and shall shut up his bowels from\nhim, how doth the charity of God abide in him?\"\n\n{381}\n\nAre not all men creatures of God? Are not all men redeemed by the\nBlood of Christ? Does God give more of this world's goods to one\nman than to another because he loves one more than another? Not\nat all. The poorest in this world's goods may be rich in God's\ngrace. It is plain, then, that if God has charity for all men, we\ncannot have his grace if we do not exercise charity towards all,\nand particularly our neighbor in distress. We must love those\nwhom God loves if we love God, and this love must be\n_active_--\"not in word nor in tongue,\" says St. John, \"but\nin deed and in truth.\"\n\nWe all pray to God for mercy; but if we would find mercy we must\nshow mercy. \"Blessed are the merciful,\" says our Lord, \"for they\nshall obtain mercy.\" But, says St. James, \"judgment without mercy\nto him that hath not done mercy.\" Mercy shall be granted to the\nmerciful, but it shall be denied to the hard of heart. \"Deal thy\nbread to the hungry,\" says Isaias, \"and bring the needy and the\nharborless into thy house. Then thou shalt call and the Lord\nshall hear.\"\n\nSt. Jerome says: \"I have never known a merciful man to have a bad\ndeath.\" The word of God encourages us \"to redeem our sins with\nalms and our iniquities with works of mercy to the poor.\" It says\nfurther: \"For alms deliver from all sin and from death, and will\nnot suffer the soul to go into darkness.\" We are taught also in\nHoly Scripture that Christ considers as done to himself what we\ndo for the poor, but that if we refuse to help those in distress\nit is as if charity were refused to Christ himself. The sentence\nwhich shall decide our eternal happiness or woe will be according\nto our behavior towards our neighbor in distress.\n\n{382}\n\nLet us take care not to be deaf to the cries of the suffering\npoor; let us rather embrace with affection the lovely virtue of\nmercy. Bishop Challoner says: \"It was mercy which brought the Son\nof God down from heaven to us, and it is mercy which carries us\nup to him.\" He calls \"mercy the favorite daughter of the great\nKing.\" The reward of the merciful will be very great. \"He that\nhath mercy on the poor lendeth to the Lord, and he will repay\nhim.\"\n\nThose of us who labor in the sacred ministry and those who do\nwork in the Conference of St. Vincent de Paul meet continually\nwith persons whose distress appeals most powerfully to our\ncharity. How we wish the offerings for the poor were more\ngenerous! How we wish God would inspire pious Christians to send\nin donations for the poor! If you would sometimes send into the\nchurch-office envelopes containing money for the poor, what good\nuse we could make of it, and how it would call down the mercy of\nGod upon your souls! Brethren, we have Jesus Christ with us in\nthe persons of the poor.\n\n-------------------\n\n Sermon CXVI.\n\n Occasions Of Sin.\n\n\n _Who is my neighbor?_\n --From the Gospel of the Sunday.\n\n{383}\n\nThis is a very important question, my brethren. We depend much\nfor our happiness on the kind of persons who live around us and\non how they feel to-wards us. Our Lord answers the question by\nthe famous and touching parable of the Good Samaritan. By that\nparable he teaches us kindness of heart; he makes that the mark\nof true neighborly conduct. The good neighbor is the friendly and\nbenevolent one. But may we not turn the question around and learn\nanother good lesson from it? I think we can. The Gospel is like a\npiece of good cloth. You know when a wise mother buys some cloth\nto make the children clothes she will get a piece that, as they\nsay, will do to turn--that is, when one side is worn out you can\nrip up the garment and make it over again with the inside turned\noutside, and so it will last quite a while longer. So we may\nlearn, perhaps, another lesson from the question in the Gospel by\nreversing it and asking, \"Who is not my neighbor?\" The\nsaloon-keeper is not your neighbor. Geographically speaking, no\ndoubt he is your neighbor. He takes care to be handy to you. He\nis on the ground-floor of the big tenement-house you live in, so\nthat you must pass his door to get to your own. Or he is on the\ncorner you must turn twenty times a day. If nearness were the\nonly mark of a neighbor, the saloon-keeper is very neighborly\nindeed. But, morally speaking, and in the meaning of our Lord's\nparable, he is perhaps the last man who can claim to be your\nneighbor. Yet many honest fellows treat the saloon-keeper not\nonly as their neighbor, but as a partner in their business. They\ndo the hard work; the workingman's share in the partnership is to\nbend under the heavy hod in the hot sun, or to strike with the\nheavy sledge on the rocks, or to be half-stifled the livelong day\nin the hot factory; the other partner has for his share of the\nwork only to smile and pass the bottle.\n{384}\nYou know which one gets the bulk of the profits; or if you do\nnot, the working-man's wife and family know it all too well. How\nmany foolish men are there who have taken this bad neighbor into\npartnership the most confidential, and not only give him most of\ntheir money in return for worse than nothing, but have made him,\nbesides, the managing partner of their leisure, their\nfriendships, and their politics! As to the sorrows that are bred\nby the saloon-keeper's traffic, he manages to escape them for a\ntime; and may God give him the grace to repent of his sins and\nfly from their occasion--that is, change his business--that he\nmay escape the divine wrath in the future.\n\nAnother very bad neighbor, and one very unworthy of that name, is\na certain class of newsdealers. I say a certain class, for I hope\nthat not all news dealers are alike. But there are very many of\nthem who are guilty of the loss of human souls by selling\nperiodicals and books which can only corrupt the mind and heart\nof the reader. I ask you, Christian parents, what do you think of\nthose who dress out their windows, with bad pictures to lure\npassionate youth to the early wreck of soul and body? What do you\nthink of persons who actually make a living in selling journals\nwhich are but the pictured proceedings of the police courts? O my\nbrethren! how often is the grace of a good confession and\nCommunion destroyed by a few minutes bad reading! How many there\nare whose first mortal sin has been some act of youthful\ndepravity suggested by what was bought at a newsdealer's! Such\nnews dealers hold Satan's certificates to teach the science of\nperdition.\n{385}\nWhat need has the Evil Spirit to fear the Catholic Church and\nCatholic school as long as he is not hindered from laying his\nsnares for youthful virtue in every direction, as long as the\nlaws against obscene literature are a dead-letter? Therefore, let\nCatholic parents furnish their families with good reading, both\nsecular and religious; let them take at least one Catholic paper,\nand let them patronize and direct their children to patronize\nnews dealers who do not sell dangerous matter.\n\nOf course there are other bad neighbors, such as those who invite\nyou to a public dance, or a moonlight excursion, or a Sunday\npicnic, or a low theatre. But I think you will agree with me that\nthe commonest vices are intemperance and impurity, and that our\nworst enemies are those two bad neighbors, the saloon-keeper and\nthe vender of impure literature.\n\n-------------------\n\n{386}\n\n _Thirteenth Sunday after Pentecost._\n\n\n Epistle.\n _Galatians iii._ 16-22.\n\n Brethren:\n To Abraham were the promises made, and to his seed. He saith\n not, \"And to his seeds,\" as of many: but as of one, \"And to thy\n seed,\" who is Christ. Now this I say, that the testament which\n was confirmed by God, the law which was made after four hundred\n and thirty years, doth not disannul, to make the promise of no\n effect. For if the inheritance be of the law, it is no more of\n promise. But God gave it to Abraham by promise. Why then was\n the law? It was set because of transgressions, until the seed\n should come, to whom he made the promise, being ordained by\n angels in the hand of a mediator. Now, a mediator is not of\n one: but God is one. Was the law then against the promises of\n God? God forbid. For if there had been a law given which could\n give life, verily justice should have been by the law. But the\n Scripture hath concluded all under sin, that the promise by the\n faith of Jesus Christ might be given to them that believe.\n\n\n Gospel.\n _St. Luke xvii._ 11-19.\n\n At that time:\n As Jesus was going to Jerusalem, he passed through the midst of\n Samaria in Galilee. And as he entered into a certain town,\n there met him ten men that were lepers, who stood afar off: and\n lifted up their voice, saying: Jesus, master, have mercy on us.\n And when he saw them, he said: Go, show yourselves to the\n priests. And it came to pass that, as they went, they were\n cleansed. And one of them, when he saw that he was cleansed,\n went back, with a loud voice glorifying God; and he fell on his\n face, before his feet, giving thanks: and this was a Samaritan.\n{387}\n And Jesus answering, said: Were there not ten made clean? and\n where are the nine? There is no one found to return and give\n glory to God, but this stranger. And he said to him: Arise, go\n thy way, for thy faith hath made thee whole.\n\n-------------------\n\n Sermon CXVII.\n\n Thanksgiving.\n\n _Where are the nine?_\n --St. Luke xvii. 11.\n [USCCB: St. Luke xvii. 17.]\n\nOf the ten lepers whose cure is related in this day's Gospel,\nonly one returned to give thanks, and he was a Samaritan; the\nothers went their way; they were cured indeed of their dreadful\ndisease, but disgraced by our Lord's sad question, Where are the\nnine?\n\nThanksgiving, brethren, should follow after God's mercies to us,\nnot only as a matter of justice, but in order to secure the\neffect of those mercies themselves. Just as, in our bodily life,\nin order to get the benefit of fresh air, breathing _in_\nmust be followed by breathing _out_, so the giving of thanks\nmust follow the reception of all divine favors. The grace of God\nis to the soul what the breath is to the body; and the body, to\nlive, must not only draw the air in, but give it forth again to\nmake room for new and fresher air. So in the life of our souls we\nbreathe in God's grace and we breathe out thanksgiving.\n\nThanksgiving is furthermore a matter of justice. The holiest debt\nwe owe to God or man is the debt of thanks. Every honest man\ngives thanks for favors received from other men, and every\nupright soul gives thanks to God.\n{388}\nIt is the most indispensable of all our obligations, because it\nis the least that we can do. In all our traffic with heaven,\ngratitude is the only coin we can mint ourselves. Thanksgiving is\nthat part of our sanctification necessarily our own. Well,\nbrethren, if this be really true and who can deny it?--then a\ngreat many of us are insolvent debtors of the worst kind. Now you\nhear it said sometimes that the man who does not pay his debts is\nas bad as a thief, and in many cases this is perfectly true. So\nthe difference between an open sinner and a thankless Christian\nis that between a thief and a man who by his own fault does not\npay his debts. Indeed, we sometimes feel as if God ought to thank\nus for the favor we do him by condescending to serve him.\nConfession and Communion and daily prayer, forgiveness of in\njuries and resisting temptations so puff us up with conceit that\nwe are apt to blame God because in view of our holiness he does\nnot exempt us from the ordinary ills of life!\n\nAs a matter of fact it is with God and us as with a storekeeper\nand his customer. You know why a man cannot get trust at a store;\nit is because he was trusted before and didn't pay his debts. Now\npretty nearly all the pay that God asks for his favors is that we\nshall give him thanks, and if we will not do that much he can\nhardly think us worthy of his further bounty. If we do give\nthanks he multiplies his favors; for he is determined to keep us\nin his debt, and as fast as we return thanks so much the faster\ndoes he lavish his love upon us.\n\nSo when we ask why we suffer this miserable stagnation in our\nspiritual career, perhaps the true answer would be that we are\nmembers of a big multiple of that original thankless nine.\n\n{389}\n\nOh! let us thank God that we have the blessings of the true\nreligion, that he is our Father, Jesus Christ our Redeemer, and\nthe Blessed Virgin Mary our Mother. Let us thank him for his\ngracious promise of the everlasting joys of Paradise. For these\nunspeakable favors our thanks should be ceaseless.\n\nLet us give thanks, too, in our fervent morning prayers that we\nhave escaped the dangers of the night, and in our night prayers\nthat we have been saved from the noon-day demon. When we rise\nfrom our meals let us offer a word of thanks, making at least the\nsign of the cross, blessing God for the health he gives us and\nour family. Let us thank him for our afflictions--yes, even for\ntemptations; for the pains we suffer thereby are the\ngrowing-pains of the soul. Especially after receiving Holy\nCommunion let us give long and heartfelt thanks for all God's\ndealing with us; for we have then received the greatest of all\nhis gifts, his only-begotten Son.\n\n-------------------\n\n Sermon CXVIII.\n\n Shamelessness In Sinners.\n\n\n _There met him three men that were lepers,\n who stood afar off and lifted tip their voice,\n saying: Jesus, Master, have mercy on us._\n --The Gospel of the Sunday.\n\n\nLeprosy, my brethren, is often spoken of in Holy Writ, and is\nconsidered a type of sin. It is a loathsome and contagious\ndisease, and when a man was so unhappy as to contract it, besides\nbeing driven away by the Mosaic law, he fled in very shame from\nthe company of others.\n{390}\nSo it is with the common run of sinners; one of their direst\nsufferings is shame, from which comes such remorse, such\nself-detestation, such reasonable envy of the happy state of the\ninnocent, that, standing afar off, the poor sinner at last lifts\nup his voice and cries to our Lord for mercy. So there is always\nsome chance for a poor sinner while he is ashamed of himself;\nwhere there is shame there is hope.\n\nBut, brethren, it happens in our times that there are many\nsinners without shame. Many great sins are done almost as a\nmatter of course, and some even made matter of jest, perhaps of\nboast. Need I mention them? Time was that if a man wished to see\na vulgar play he was forced to creep up some dark alley; now he\nmay go to a filthy opera in a coach and four, and with the lords\nof the land, ay, even the ladies of the land. When you and I were\nboys there was but one commonly known illustrated paper with\nimmoral pictures and bad reading matter; the news dealers now\nhang their stands all over with them, and young men, and even\nyoung women, buy and read them without a blush. You and I can\nremember when it was a disgrace for a man to idle behind a\nbar-room counter and get his living from the drunkard and\nspendthrift. These men make our laws now. It used to be the pride\nof a young man to get to work as soon as possible to help the old\nfolks along; we hear now too often of hearty young men\nshamelessly dependent on their parents. And we know of too many\nparents who are not ashamed of habits of intoxication nor of\ncursing in the hearing of their little ones.\n{391}\nAnd how many mothers of families are there whose harsh voices are\nheard all over the neighborhood, quarrelling with their husbands\nand scolding their children! Time was when a drunken woman was\nwhat Scripture says she is, \"a great wrath, and her shame shall\nnot be hid.\" Now they publicly send their little boys and girls\nto the saloon for beer.\n\nDo I exaggerate? Am I not, on the contrary, forced for decency's\nsake to pass over other shameless sins, which all but the blind\nand deaf know of among us? Indeed, dear brethren, the word of God\nis true now as of yore that sinners \"preach their shame like\nSodom.\" The lepers laugh at their leprosy. They run in among us\nto blight us. Their disease, that blight which withers the soul\nwith eternal decay, they rub off upon us. They do it by bad\nexample, by laughing at the simple virtue of good Christians, by\njesting and mockery, by bullying, by ill-gotten riches and\nill-gotten power.\n\nBut we must remember that they are all this time really sinners,\nand worse than ordinary sinners, because without shame. Here,\nthen, is our first duty; not to permit human respect, worldly\nposition, or a bullying tongue to silence our love of God's\nhonor, our detestation of what does it harm and our pity for the\nsinner himself. A good remedy against shamelessness in sinning is\njust a little plain talk. If sometimes, instead of laughing at a\nvile jest, we should say, \"You ought to be ashamed of yourself,\"\nwe should please God and save souls. In the family, especially,\nparents should create a sound family opinion about places and\npersons and reading and amusements and all things else that lead\nto sin: bad theatres, moonlight excursions, public balls, liquor\nstores, and beer-gardens. A little plain talk, accompanied by\ngood example and much prayer on the part of good Christians, will\ndo a great deal, if not to cure the leprosy of sin in those who\nhave it, at any rate to keep the lepers standing afar off from\nthe uncontaminated and innocent.\n\n-------------------\n\n{392}\n\n Sermon CXIX.\n\n Dangers Of Venial Sin.\n\n\n _I know thy works,\n that thou art neither hot nor cold._\n --Apocalypse iii. 15.\n\n\nIt is plain that these words of Holy Writ describe a person in\nthe state of venial sin; or rather one who is in that state\nwilfully and quite careless about it. Now, my brethren, I do not\nwish to make you scrupulous, but there is no mistake about this;\nall experience shows that persons careless of venial sins are\npretty sure to slip down into mortal sins. Indeed (on the other\nhand), about the only ones who manage to keep clear of mortal\nsins are those who are fearful of falling into venial sins. Save\nthe pennies and the dollars will take care of themselves; or,\nwaste the pennies and the dollars will waste themselves.\nScripture applies this as follows: \"He that despiseth small\nthings shall fall little by little.\" If one keeps the dogs and\ngoats out of the garden the cows will have small chance to get\nin. Keep a watch on the venial sins and the mortal sins will keep\nout of sight.\n\n{393}\n\nAnd does it not stand to reason that, if one is habituated to\nlook keenly after little sins, it is morally impossible for him\nto be carried away by great sins? If you are anxious and\ndistressed because your soul seems less pure, less holy, less\nbeautiful than it ought to be, with what horror will you be\nfilled at the bare thought of becoming a regular slave of the\nevil spirit! And how much easier is it, brethren, to keep a sharp\nlookout for a few little trifles, rather than to be always\nrunning the risk of eternal woe!\n\nAnd now I will tell you of some of those who are full of venial\nsins, and pretty sure to be sooner or later in a state of mortal\nsin. Those who are content with their Easter duty--a soul content\nwith a spiritual meal once in twelve months cannot have very\nvigorous spiritual health or a very strong appetite for divine\nthings. Those who are often late for Mass--once in a while they\nwill miss it altogether, and for no particular reason, except\nthat they feel it a great bore to have to do anything for the\nlove of God. Those who continually neglect their morning prayers:\neven though they make an effort to say their night prayers, they\nhave omitted deliberately the most necessary religious act of the\nday. Those who are addicted to idleness; for that is one of the\nworst occasions of sin, both mortal and venial. Those who are\nstingy, especially to their near relatives and the poor; to love\nmoney is to love something our Lord has a great contempt for.\nThose who are touchy and resentful; for they cannot live in peace\nwith anybody, and peace is necessary for our spiritual welfare.\nThose who tell improper stories, and are fond of hearing others\ndo it; but as to this class, I am not sure but that they are in\nmortal sin already: \"Can a man put fire in his bosom and not be\nburned?\" Those who are fond of gossip; for God will not permit us\nto trifle with our neighbor's good name, and gossipers and\ntale-bearers are often not in mortal sin, only because, malicious\nas they are, they are just as stupid.\n{394}\nThose who, though they don't get drunk, yet hang around saloons,\nand those who are fond of drinking and treating; and this is a\ncase, my brethren, where only judgment-day will tell where venial\nsin ends and mortal sin begins.\n\nDear brethren, the only really safe way of dealing with God is\nthe generous way. Arouse yourself with high and noble motives to\nbe a real friend of God, faithful and true in things little as\nwell as great, and religion will seem something new and ever so\nmuch pleasanter to you. Otherwise you will not have the comfort\nof being sure of God's friendship at all. You may be like an old\nlady who once told me very sorrowfully about how her daughter\ndied. \"I was watching at her bedside,\" she said, \"and, after a\nlong spell of suffering, she dropped off at last into a gentle\nslumber. I turned down the lamp and stepped softly into the next\nroom, waiting to hear her call me when she woke up. An hour\npassed, another hour, a third, and still she slept on. Finally\nthe doctor came, and so we had to wake her up. But oh! when we\ncame to the bedside we found her dead, cold and dead, while I\nthought her asleep.\" So your soul may seem to you only sleeping,\nonly lukewarm in God's service, only careless about your\nreligious duties; whereas it may be all the time, if not in the\nvery state of spiritual death--mortal sin--at least in the\ntorpor which goes before it.\n\n-------------------\n\n{395}\n\n Fourteenth Sunday after Pentecost.\n\n\n Epistle.\n _Galatians v._ 16-24.\n\n Brethren:\n I say then, walk in the spirit, and you shall not fulfil the\n lusts of the flesh. For the flesh lusteth against the spirit:\n and the spirit against the flesh; for these are contrary one to\n another: so that you do not the things that you would. But if\n you are led by the spirit, you are not under the law. Now the\n works of the flesh are manifest, which are, fornication,\n uncleanness, immodesty, luxury, idolatry, witchcraft, enmities,\n contentions, emulations, wrath, quarrels, dissensions, sects,\n envy, murders, drunkenness, revellings, and such like. Of the\n which I foretell you, as I have foretold to you, that they who\n do such things shall not obtain the kingdom of God. But the\n fruit of the spirit is charity, joy, peace, patience,\n benignity, goodness, longanimity, mildness, faith, modesty,\n continency, chastity. Against such there is no law. And they\n that are Christ's, have crucified their flesh with the vices\n and concupiscences.\n\n\n Gospel.\n _St. Matthew vi._ 24-33.\n\n At that time Jesus said to his disciples:\n No man can serve two masters. For either he will hate the one,\n and love the other: or he will hold to the one, and despise the\n other. You cannot serve God and Mammon. Therefore I say to you,\n be not solicitous for your life, what you shall eat, nor for\n your body, what you shall put on. Is not the life more than the\n food, and the body more than the raiment? Behold the fowls of\n the air, for they sow not, neither do they reap, nor gather\n into barns: and your heavenly Father feedeth them. Are not you\n of much more value than they?\n{396}\n And which of you by thinking can add to his stature one cubit?\n And for raiment why are you solicitous? Consider the lilies of\n the field how they grow: they labor not, neither do they spin.\n And yet I say to you, that not even Solomon in all his glory\n was arrayed as one of these. Now if God so clothe the grass of\n the field, which to-day is, and to-morrow is cast into the\n oven: how much more you, ye of little faith? Be not solicitous\n therefore, saying: What shall we eat, or what shall we drink,\n or wherewith shall we be clothed? For after all these things do\n the heathen seek. For your Father knoweth that you have need of\n all these things. Seek ye, therefore, first the kingdom of God\n and his justice, and all these things shall be added unto you.\n\n-------------------\n\n Sermon CXX.\n\n The Poverty Of Christ.\n\n\n _For after all these things do the heathen seek._\n --St. Matthew. vi. 32.\n\n\nIn this day's Gospel our Blessed Lord would teach us that the\ndifference between men is the difference between the objects for\nwhich they live. And he lays down the fundamental law of his\nkingdom, that if the chief object of one's life is the enjoyment\nof the things every where about us--eating and drinking and money\nand lands--he has therein a mark of belonging to the kingdom of\nthis world. To belong to our Lord's kingdom we must live for none\nof these things as the end of our endeavors. We may, indeed, have\nand use the things of this world, but for higher purposes than\nthe world itself can offer; as far as any enjoyment in them is\nconcerned, it is too trifling a matter to engage our serious\npursuit.\n\n{397}\n\nYet, brethren, is not the whole Christian world absorbed in\nseeking after what should be the heathen's peculiar treasure? Is\nnot this the most anxious inquiry, How shall I get rich? Is not\nthe possession of riches deemed the most enviable happiness? Is\nit not the best praise of an individual that he is prosperous,\nand of a nation that it is wealthy? What a serious lesson it is,\ntherefore, that our Lord expresses his contempt for what is\ndeemed the height of human wisdom among us--a contempt no less\nprofound because so gently expressed! If--he as much as says--if\nyou and I are to make choice of beauty, you may choose King\nSolomon's wardrobe with all its jewels, and I will take the\nnew-blown lily; if you talk to me of foresight and skill in the\nbusiness of life, you may admire the successful speculator, but\nthe little sparrow is my model.\n\nAnd our Lord's life was fully in accord with his doctrine. For it\nwas of set purpose that he saw fit to lack those things that\nnearly all men covet most; that he was the child of a poor\nmaiden, and the apprentice of a country carpenter; that he was a\nwanderer barefoot and needy about Judea, yet all the time the\nonly-begotten Son of the Lord of all majesty; that he was\nseemingly a tried and convicted malefactor, and died naked and\nall but alone upon the gibbet, yet all the time the immortal King\nof ages.\n\nThe truth is that this unhappy overvaluing of the more lowly\nthings of life is a fault deeply rooted in our fallen nature.\nThat the eager pursuit of wealth is not compatible with God's\nservice; that it is the peculiar province of the heathen we\nindeed know.\n{398}\nAnd we know that the human soul is too noble a being to expend\nits dearest action to purchase any perishable thing whatever. Yet\nvery many persons who deem themselves good enough Christians are\nquite proud of their success in the heathen's way of life. And\nmany other Christians fall into downright despair because God has\ndeprived them of the things that \"the heathen seek.\" Far be it\nfrom us indeed to underestimate the burden of poverty, or to say\nthat it is an easy thing to suffer it. God knows that it is a\nterribly hard thing to be poor; to see one's family suffer actual\nhunger; to wander about the streets with no roof to cover one; to\nlie helplessly sick and be too poor to get proper food or\nmedicine. But on the other hand it is wrong to act under such\ncircumstances as if all were lost, or as if God hated us; that is\nthe very time to arouse one's faith in God's love and one's\nreliance on his promises; to seek his consolation in the holy\nsacraments; to raise one's eyes hourly to his countenance by\nfervent prayer that he may relieve the burden, or at any rate\ngrant patience to bear it.\n\nOh! how few there are who gladly and heartily choose the Kingdom\nof God and his justice in preference to the treasures of this\nworld! How few there are who do so even grudgingly and\ndoubtfully!\n\nYet the doctrine stands: to labor for a postponed reward is the\nChristian's life, and for a present reward the heathen's. To pass\nby a seen and present joy for the sake of an unseen joy is the\nChristian's wisdom. To trust the voice of an unseen benefactor--in\na word, to walk in the darkness of a supernatural faith--is\nthe fundamental virtue of our religion.\n\n-------------------\n\n{399}\n\n Sermon CXXI.\n\n Brotherly Love.\n\n\n _But the fruit of the spirit is charity._\n --Epistle of the Sunday.\n\n\nMark these words, brethren; for they describe the Christian\nreligion, at least as far as its practical effects are concerned.\nThe presence of the Holy Ghost is known by a kindly disposition,\na friendly feeling towards others, a longing to make others\nhappy, an affectionate sympathy for their sufferings; and all\nthis for the love of God. So St. John says: \"We know that we have\npassed from death to life because we love the brethren.\" The\nnecessary result of sanctifying grace is a deep attachment to our\nfriends and a loving forgiveness towards our enemies. \"For all\nthe law,\" says St. Paul, \"is fulfilled in one sentence: thou\nshalt love thy neighbor as thyself.\" Kindness of heart,\ngenerosity, self-forgetfulness, done to be like Jesus Christ, is\nthe beginning and the end of our holy faith.\n\n\"I give you a new commandment,\" said our Lord to his disciples,\n\"that you love one another; as I have loved you, that you love\none another.\" Again: \"By this shall men know that you are my\ndisciples if you have love for one another.\" He thus tells us\nwhat his law is--fraternal charity; that is the newness of life\nman got from heaven above; that is the torrent of heavenly\ninfluence rushing down upon us and bearing us away upon its\nbillows; and that is the mark set upon us by which we know\nourselves, and others may know us, to be the fruit of the Holy\nSpirit.\n\n{400}\n\nBut somebody might say, How about the love of God? Is not the\nlove of God the end of all religion? Is it not our first duty to\nlove God so strongly that we prefer him to all things else, even\nour nearest relatives? Is not the love of God the one absorbing\nduty of our lives? In answer, my brethren, I have only to say\nthat that is but another way of looking at the same thing; for\nsince the coming of our Lord among us God has become man, and we\nare born in holy baptism, \"not of blood, nor of the will of the\nflesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.\" When our Lord, true\nGod as he was, took human nature, he took our poor nature just as\nit is, saving its sinfulness; and it is his blessed will that one\nby one every man, woman, and child in the world should personally\nbe joined to his divine nature by baptism, and, as St. Peter\nsays, be made partakers of the divinity he possesses. And even\nthe poor, unbaptized heathen, they are to be gifted with this\ndivine privilege by our love for them and our loving efforts to\ngive it to them. Now do you not see why our Lord, his Apostles,\nand his church made so much of the love of one's neighbor? And do\nyou not see that, whether you begin to love with God or with man,\nif you do it along with Jesus Christ, you do it with the God-man,\nand therefore always in God and never out of man?\n\nYet another might say: But, Father, what about the sacraments,\nand what about the practice of prayer, and what about the laws of\nthe church? I answer by a comparison: Why do men plant and then\nreap a field of wheat? That they may in due time get the grain,\nmake bread of part for themselves and families, and sell the rest\nto their neighbors.\n{401}\nNow, some may use the very old-fashioned way of thrashing out the\ngrain by the tread of oxen, and others by the beating of the\nflail, and others by the great, roaring thrashing-machine. The\nlast way is the quickest and cleanest and best. So our Lord, when\nhe became man, invented the sacraments; he established his church\nas the new and best way of obtaining the ripe fruit of the Holy\nSpirit, and that way he commands us to use. So the man who really\nloves his neighbor as himself learns to do it by using our Lord's\nmethods, the sacraments, and he cannot get along without them.\nSo, brethren, cultivate more and more this sweet Christian virtue\nof fraternal love; and especially in your families. When the\nchildren cry, when they are sickly and peevish, when others are\ncross and exacting, when some are dull and stupid, when the meals\nare too late or the food is not cooked right, when the\nthousand-and-one annoyances of living with others vex and harass\nyou, remember that you are a Christian, and that loving patience,\ngreat good nature, fondness for friends--to say nothing of zeal\nfor the conversion of poor sinners--are virtues that will win you\nthe kingdom of heaven.\n\n-------------------\n\n Sermon CXXII.\n\n Religion For Week-days.\n\n\n _No man can serve two masters. ...\n You cannot serve God and Mammon._\n --Gospel of the Day.\n\n{402}\n\nWhat does our Lord mean by this, my brethren? \"No man,\" he says,\n\"can serve two masters.\" \"Why,\" you might perhaps answer, \"I do\nnot see any difficulty about serving two masters. What is to\nprevent a man, for instance, after his regular hours of work are\nover, from hiring himself out for the evenings to some other\nemployer, if he has strength enough to spare? Or, if he can make\nsuch an arrangement, why should he not work for one in the\nmorning, and another in the afternoon? And are there not, in\nfact, many people, teachers, for example, who give private\nlessons, who have a great number of employers whom they agree to\nserve at stated times?\"\n\nYes, this seems true enough. It seems so true that I believe\nthere are many people who, in spite of our Lord's statement to\nthe contrary, divide their service between God and Mammon. They\nhire themselves out to the devil, or at least to the world during\nthe week, and when Sunday comes round, and they put on their good\nclothes, they change their master at the same time, and, at least\nfor the time that they are in church, read certain words out of\ntheir prayer-books, in which they offer their service to God. And\nthey do not appear to think that there is anything strange about\nthis. They think that, of course, decency requires that God\nshould want part of their time for his service, and that he is\nquite reasonable in only asking for one day out of seven; but\nthat he should have any claim on them during the part of the week\nthat he does not specially reserve does not seem to occur to\ntheir minds. That is the time engaged to the other master--that\nis, to their worldly interests or pleasures. They find no\ndifficulty in reconciling the service of God and Mammon at all;\nthey can be good Christians and also men of the world like others\nwithout the slightest trouble.\n\n{403}\n\nBut I seem to hear some one say, \"Father, are you not pushing\nthis matter rather too far? Surely one cannot be in church or\nsaying his prayers at home all the week. Some people may find\ntime to come to early Mass and all the devotions, and live what\nyou may call a pious life generally; but I have to go to my\nbusiness or my family will starve. What would you have me do?\"\n\nWell, I will tell you. I do not find fault with any one for\nattending to his business during the week, and working as much as\nhe is obliged to provide for himself and his family properly; but\nI must say, by the way, that many people, under this excuse, fall\ninto the snare of avarice, and work early and late to hoard up\nriches which neither they nor their family need, and which, left\nto their children, is only too likely to be an occasion of sin.\nHowever, I repeat, no one is to be blamed for attending to the\nproper duties of his state of life; for working at his business,\nif it is a legitimate and useful one. But what one is to be\nblamed for is for attending to it as if, instead of being God's\nbusiness, as it ought to be, it was no business of his at all; as\nif he had nothing to say about it, and his laws did not apply to\nit. The delusion that too many Christians are under is that their\nreligious life and their life in the world are entirely separate\nconcerns; that religion, morality, God's laws in general, have\nnothing to do with politics, business, buying or selling, or what\nthey call practical affairs. They say, If we did not do as others\ndo about these things, we could not get on at all; so they calmly\ntake for granted, even, perhaps, in the confessional, that such\nthings have no moral aspect whatever.\n\n{404}\n\nThis is a great delusion and a fatal blunder. A Christian has got\nto be a Christian first, last, and all the time; one cannot be a\nCatholic on Sunday, and to all intents and purposes a Protestant\nor an infidel during the week. If you can't get on on the\nprinciple of serving God and trying to find out and do his will\non Monday as well as on Sunday, then all I have to say is, \"Don't\nget on.\" I dare say there is some truth in your complaint; a man\nwho manages his business and daily life generally, as if there\nwas no God in the world, will probably make money faster, and\nhave in some ways a better time, than one will who believes in\nGod and tries to do his will. Very well, then, if you prefer this\nworld to the next, act according to its standard Sunday, Monday,\nand all the time; but don't try to cut inside of it and get a\npass to heaven on the ground that you have used another standard\nnow and then.\n\n-------------------\n\n{405}\n\n _Fifteenth Sunday after Pentecost._\n\n\n Epistle.\n _Galatians v._ 25; _vi._ 10.\n\n Brethren:\n If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit. Let\n us not become desirous of vainglory, provoking one another,\n envying one another. And if a man can be overtaken in any\n fault, you, who are spiritual, instruct such a one in the\n spirit of mildness, considering thyself, lest thou also be\n tempted. Bear ye one another's burdens, and so shall you fulfil\n the law of Christ. For if any man think himself to be\n something, whereas he is nothing, he deceiveth himself. But let\n every one prove his own work, and so he shall have glory in\n himself only, and not in another. For every one shall bear his\n own burden. And let him who is instructed in the word\n communicate to him that instructeth him, in all good things. Be\n not deceived, God is not mocked. For what things a man shall\n sow, those also shall he reap. For he that soweth in the flesh,\n of the flesh also shall reap corruption. But he that soweth in\n the Spirit, of the Spirit shall reap life everlasting. And in\n doing good, let us not fail. For in due time we shall reap, not\n failing. Therefore, whilst we have time, let us do good to all\n men, but especially to those who are of the household of the\n faith.\n\n\n Gospel.\n _St. Luke vii._ 11-16.\n\n At that time:\n Jesus went into a city called Naim: and there went with him his\n disciples, and a great multitude. And when he came nigh to the\n gate of the city, behold a dead man was carried out, the only\n son of his mother; and she was a widow: and much people of the\n city was with her. And when the Lord saw her, he had compassion\n on her, and said to her: Weep not.\n{406}\n And he came near and touched the bier. (And they that carried\n it stood still.) And he said: Young man, I say to thee, Arise.\n And he that was dead sat up and began to speak. And he\n delivered him to his mother. And there came a fear on them all:\n and they glorified God, saying: That a great prophet is risen\n up among us: and God hath visited his people.\n\n-------------------\n\n Sermon CXXIII.\n\n The Fruits Of A Bad Life.\n\n _Be not deceived, God is not mocked;\n for what things a man shall sow,\n those also shall he reap._\n --Epistle of the Day.\n\n\nOne would think, my dear friends, that the Apostle would hardly\nhave needed to remind any one having common sense, or even a\nlittle experience, of such an obvious truth as this. Surely no\none expects, when he plants some kind of seed, to have some other\nkind of crop come from it. \"Do men,\" says our Divine Lord,\n\"gather grapes of thorns, or figs of thistles?\" No, we are all\nwell aware that if we want to grow any kind of grain or fruit we\nmust sow the seed or plant the tree which produces it.\n\nAnd yet, strange to say, though we all do acknowledge this law of\nnature in everything outside of ourselves, we fail to apply it to\nourselves, and especially to our souls. In matters simply\npertaining to the body we do indeed know that the cause will\nproduce its effect. If we sow the seed of some fatal disease in\nourselves we expect it to break out and run its course; we do not\nbelieve that, as a rule, tears or even prayers are going to stop\nit.\n\n{407}\n\nBut when it comes to the soul, many Christians seem to think that\neverything regarding it may be shifted at their own will; that\nthey may go on for years sowing the seeds of all kinds of\nabominable vices in their souls, and that, later on, whenever\nthey may desire, all this work can be undone in a moment, and\nthose souls, which sin has rotted through and through, can be put\nright back where they were as they came from the baptismal font,\nor even set on a perfect level with those in which the seed of\nevery virtue has been implanted and carefully nurtured from\nchildhood.\n\nAh! my dear brethren, this is a great and a terrible mistake.\nHear the words in which St. Paul continues: \"He that soweth in\nhis flesh, of the flesh also shall reap corruption; but he that\nsoweth in the spirit, of the spirit shall reap life everlasting.\"\n\n\"He that soweth in his flesh, of the flesh also shall reap\ncorruption.\" Here is the great evil of sin, which repentance,\nhowever sincere, cannot utterly undo. True contrition will, no\ndoubt, especially if accompanied by the Sacrament of Penance,\ntake away the guilt of sin; but unless it be very intense, and\naccompanied by an extraordinary love of God, like that of the\ngreat saints, it will not, in releasing from guilt, remedy all\nthe deformity which long-continued habits of vice have worked in\nthe soul. Yes, sorrow may come in such an overflowing torrent as\nto break down and sweep away all obstacles in its path; but how\noften does it come so? To have such sorrow for sin is a rare and\nremarkable grace from God which the sinner has no right to\nexpect.\n\n{408}\n\nAll this is specially true, as the words of the Apostle teach us,\nof the sins of the flesh, such as drunken-ness and impurity. The\nbody will hang on to sin after the soul has given it up, and will\ndrag the soul again down with it. Oh! that those who are addicted\nto these horrible sensual habits would realize their danger, and\nfeel the net which the flesh has been weaving round their spirit.\nBut no; they go on from week to week, from month to month,\nmaking, it may be, now and then a feeble effort to escape; but\ntoo often it can be seen after each confession, though they are\nindeed on their feet again, that the odds against them are\ngreater than ever, and that their weapons are dropping out of\ntheir hands.\n\nBrethren, grace is powerful, surely; but you are much mistaken if\nyou think it is going to destroy and make of no effect the law of\nnature. Rouse yourselves to the combat which is before you while\nthere is yet time; for the time may come, and perhaps sooner than\nyou think, when the corruption of the flesh will quench the\nfeeble spark of contrition which God has hitherto given you, and\nin which lies your only hope.\n\n-------------------\n\n Sermon CXXIV.\n\n Sins Of Parents.\n\n\n _And Jesus said, Young man, I say to thee, arise._\n --St. Luke viii. 14.\n\n{409}\n\nMany mourning parents, brethren, are represented by the poor\nwidow of Naim, told of in this day's Gospel; and their mourning\nis for sons dead in mortal sin. These are indeed days of many and\nvarious vices, and our young people are far from being exempt.\nBlasphemy and religious indifference; neglect of prayer, Mass,\nand the sacraments; drunkenness and impurity; such are the\nplague-spots on the spiritual corpses of many of our young\npeople.\n\nYet, alas! as parents raise their eyes to our Lord's gracious\ncountenance and beg his pity, they should sometimes confess that\nthey are not without blame for their misfortunes. Many parents\nspoil their children by bad example. For if they profane the name\nof God in the midst of their families, they need not be surprised\nto find that in after-years their children have no reverence for\nGod or for his church or his sacraments. Fathers who come home\nsmelling strong of drink, and now and then plainly intoxicated,\nmay indeed hope to save their own souls by thorough repentance,\nbut are likely enough to have drunkards among their children.\nParents who tolerate improper language in the household, and can\nlaugh at a double-meaning joke, and see no harm in a lascivious\ndance or a doubtful novel, need not be surprised to find that\ntheir daughters have lost maidenly reserve, and that their sons\nare given to open debauchery. Parents who neglect their Easter\nduty, and who easily excuse themselves from Sunday Mass, need not\nbe surprised if their children fall quite away from the practice\nof religion and even from its belief.\n\nNow, it often happens that children who have been treated too\nleniently while quite young are treated too severely when a\nlittle older. Too much authority should not be used with boys and\ngirls who are some years in their teens.\n{410}\nWith them authority is at best a medicine, and not a food. To\nstrengthen a boy's virtue, to make him love religion, to give him\na bright notion of the next world and of the value of his soul,\nthe exercise of authority is one means, but perhaps the least\nuseful of all. In some cases authority can only do harm. To make\na person who has full use of reason a good Christian it is\nnecessary to put him in the way of intelligent instruction, by\ngiving him good, readable religious matter, books or papers; by\npersuading him by such inducements as an occasional little\npresent, and by a continual interest in his progress, to keep his\nplace at Sunday-school; by introducing and discussing religious\ntopics in family conversation, and by interesting him to attend\nsermons and lectures. Meantime let there be many kind words and\nmuch sympathetic conduct, forgetfulness of past offences,\npatience with natural difficulties and with youthful folly; let\nall this go beforehand and authority will find nothing left to\ndo.\n\nBrethren, do not suppose that it is always best to _force_\none to do what he ought to do; try rather to induce him, to\nattract him. St. Francis de Sales says: \"You can catch more flies\nwith one drop of honey that with a barrel of vinegar\"; and he\nalso says: \"For every ounce of good advice add a pound of good\nexample.\"\n\nTherefore it is that so many scolding parents end by becoming\nweeping parents. Parental authority, which should be merely the\nsupremacy of all that is worthy of affection, has made home\nhateful and driven the children into occasions of sin--the saloon\nand the low theatre for the boys, the stolen interview and the\ncommon dance for the girls.\n\n{411}\n\nBut, some one might say, what if your child has got beyond you\nand will be bad in spite of every best endeavor on your\npart--what then? Well, at any rate there is no sense in railing\nat him. If you can not make him better, what is the sense of\nmaking him miserable? And is not then the very time to lay him,\nspiritually speaking, in his coffin, and lead our Lord up to him,\nand, kneeling down, say: O Lord! have pity on me, for this is my\ndear son, dead in mortal sin? Say but the word; touch his dead\nsoul with thy loving hand; stir him up to repentance!\n\nMany such prayers cannot be said without producing their effect:\nthe resurrection of your child's soul from the death of mortal\nsin.\n\n-------------------\n\n Sermon CXXV.\n\n The Law Of Charity.\n\n\n _Bear ye one another's burdens,\n and so you shall fulfil the law of Christ._\n --Epistle of the Day.\n\n\nThe law of Christ, dear brethren, is essentially a law of\ncharity. \"Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with thy whole soul\nand with all thy strength, and with all thy mind, and thy\nneighbor as thyself.\" This is the whole law of Christ summed up,\nand it is plain that this is a law of love. But the Apostle bids\nus bear one another's burdens that we may fulfil this law, which,\nas is evident from the text just quoted, imposes upon us the love\nof our God and of our neighbor. How, then, will the bearing of\nothers burdens help us to serve God better?\n\n{412}\n\nThat we have burdens, and some of us rather heavy ones, is clear\nenough; and that most of us are only too willing to have some one\nhelp us to carry them will be, I think, generally agreed to.\nEvery one has his own difficulties; every one has something which\nhe would like to get rid of if he could, because it interferes\nwith his comfort. Now, I do not think the Apostle wished us to\nsuppose from his words that God would have us free each other\nfrom _all_ suffering, since that is not possible, as we know\nthat hardship forms a necessary part of our probation. We must\nexpect to have something to suffer always.\n\nBut what he would have us do, it seems to me, is to help each\nother by counsel and material aid, to make what otherwise might\nbe almost unbearable easier to carry. \"My yoke is sweet and my\nburden light.\" This is the spirit he wishes us to strive after.\nIt is an unselfish spirit he desires for us, such as will make us\nforget our own sufferings in ministering to the wants of others.\nHe wants us to cultivate charity; to look beyond ourselves and\nour own interests, and take up the troubles of our brethren.\n\nBut you say to me: \"I do not see what advantage there is in all\nthis; if I take another's burden, I am but adding to my own.\" It\nis just here that our really helping each other appears. It is by\nthis very assistance we give our neighbor that we fulfil the law\nof Christ, which demands suffering of us. For by our sympathizing\nwith others and sharing in their difficulties our own burdens\nbecome lighter. If we simply took care of ourselves and were\nforgetful of all the rest of the world, we would chafe beneath\nour load; we would be so wrapped up in ourselves that nothing\ncould persuade us that our sufferings were the very best things\nthat could befall us.\n\n{413}\n\nBy helping our neighbor we help ourselves. We are led to be\nreconciled to our lot, to expect nothing more from God for\nourselves than what we see others getting. We know that they have\nas just a claim upon him as we, yet they have their troubles as\nwell as we. The road to heaven is open to all, but all must take\nwhat they get as they go along, and be thankful for it and make\nno comparisons. All get a goodly share of what is disagreeable to\nnature on the way; our own portion differs only in kind and\nquantity from that of others.\n\nBy helping our neighbor, too, we fulfil, as the Apostle tells us,\nthe law of Christ, for the law of Christ is charity--love towards\nGod, love towards our fellow-man. Our stooping to our neighbor's\nneed fosters God's love in our souls no less than love of our\nneighbor. It makes us go to God as our Father and recognize his\njustice. We perceive the necessity of mortifying our rebellious\nappetites and placing ourselves entirely in God's hands. How much\nhappier, how much better Christians we would be did we but bear\neach other's burdens! Then we would soon learn what now seems so\nhard: that the yoke of Christ is indeed sweet and his burden\ntruly light.\n\n-------------------\n\n{414}\n\n _Sixteenth Sunday after Pentecost._\n\n\n Epistle.\n _Ephesians iii._ 13-21.\n\n Brethren:\n I beseech you not to be disheartened at my tribulations for\n you, which is your glory. For this cause I bow my knees to the\n Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, of whom all paternity in\n heaven and earth is named, that he would grant you, according\n to the riches of his glory, to be strengthened with power by\n his Spirit unto the inward man. That Christ may dwell by faith\n in your hearts: that being rooted and founded in charity, you\n may be able to comprehend, with all the saints, what is the\n breadth, and length, and height, and depth. To know also the\n charity of Christ, which surpasseth knowledge, that you may be\n filled unto all the fulness of God. Now to him who is able to\n do all things more abundantly than we ask or understand,\n according to the power which worketh in us: to him be glory in\n the church, and in Christ Jesus, throughout all generations,\n world with out end. Amen.\n\n\n Gospel.\n _St. Luke xiv._ 1-11.\n\n At that time:\n When Jesus went into the house of a certain prince of the\n Pharisees, on the Sabbath day, to eat bread, and they were\n watching him. And behold, there was a certain man before him\n that had the dropsy. And Jesus answering, spoke to the lawyers\n and Pharisees, saying: Is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath day?\n But they held their peace. But he, taking him, healed him, and\n sent him away. And answering them, he said: Which of you whose\n ass or his ox shall fall into a pit, and will not immediately\n draw him out on the Sabbath day? And they could not answer him\n to these things.\n{415}\n And he spoke a parable also to them that were invited, marking\n how they chose the first seats at the table, saying to them:\n When thou art invited to a wedding, sit not down in the highest\n place, lest perhaps one more honorable than thou be invited by\n him: and he who invited thee and him, come and say to thee:\n Give place to this man; and then thou begin with blushing to\n take the lowest place. But when thou art invited, go, sit down\n in the lowest place: that when he who invited thee cometh, he\n may say to thee: Friend, go up higher. Then shalt thou have\n glory before them that sit at table with thee. Because every\n one that exalteth himself shall be humbled: and he that\n humbleth himself shall be exalted.\n\n-------------------\n\n Sermon CXXVI.\n\n Christian Humility.\n\n\n _He that humbleth himself shall be exalted._\n --Gospel of the Day.\n\n\nAs we hear these familiar words, my brethren, some of us will\nperhaps be inclined to say, or at least to think, that this\nmatter of humility is just a little threadbare, so to speak; that\nwe have already heard pretty much all that can be said about it.\nI dare say this is true; but when a thing is very important it\nhas to be spoken of quite often. And humility is very important;\nafter the love of God and of our neighbor, there is nothing more\nso. In fact, the difficulties in the way of loving God and our\nneighbor as we should, come, we may say, entirely from our\ninordinate love of ourselves; and this inordinate love of\nourselves generally takes the shape either of pride or\nsensuality. In other words, pride and sensuality are the two\ngreat causes of all our sins; what wonder, then, that our Lord\nshould warn us so frequently about them?\n\n{416}\n\nAnd the very fact that we think we have heard enough about\nhumility shows that we are not so humble as we ought to be. If we\nthink that we are well up in this matter, it is a good sign that\nwe are not. Many people will say, especially when they are on\ntheir knees, \"Oh! I am a miserable sinner; I am everything that\nis bad\"; but when they get up from their knees, and look around\nthem, you will find that they think themselves in point of fact\npretty nearly as good as anybody else, and perhaps, on the whole,\nrather better than most people whom they know.\n\nIt is not, however, after all, about the matter of goodness that\npride is most sensitive. Most Christians, unfortunately, do not\ntry very hard to be saints, and are not very much tempted to be\nproud of their achievements in that direction. But almost every\none considers himself tolerably well gifted in the matter of\nnatural common sense; he thinks his brains about as good as any\none else's, though he may readily admit that he has not had so\ngreat advantages as another, or, in other words, that he is \"no\nscholar.\" So, to be thought or called a natural-born fool is a\nvery hard trial for any one's humility; almost all of us, I am\nafraid, would rather be called a rascal. To be considered\nbad-looking, that again is a great mortification to some people;\nor to have one's birth and family despised, to be thought low and\nvulgar, how many can you find that will put up with that? That is\nthe real reason why you so often hear some one find fault with\nsomebody else for being \"stuck up\"; it is that when he or she is\nstuck up I am stuck down.\n\n{417}\n\nYou notice, my brethren, that this matter of pride is mostly\ncomparative, as I may say. We should not mind other people being\nstuck up, if we could only be stuck up too. And it is just here\non this tender point that the parable of our Lord in to-day's\nGospel touches. He says: \"When thou art invited to a wedding, sit\nnot down in the first place, lest, perhaps, one more honorable\nthan thou be invited.\" This is where the shoe pinches, this\nadmitting that some one else is more honorable than we are;\nespecially in this country, where every one shakes hands with the\nPresident, and all are made, as far as possible, equal. Still, we\ncan manage to admit that there are some who are better entitled\nto the first place than ourselves; indeed, we cannot well help\nthat. But our Lord would have us go farther than this. He says:\n\"Sit down in the lowest place.\"\n\nThat is the great lesson of humility that is so hard for us to\nlearn. Not to say, \"I am a miserable sinner; I am blind, weak,\nand fallible.\" Oh! yes, we can say that easily, because we feel\nthat everybody else ought to say it of himself, and probably will\nsay it. But to be ready to acknowledge, especially if the general\nopinion goes that way, that we are inferior to anybody else,\nwhoever it may be that we may be compared with; to take this for\ngranted, and not be surprised if others agree with us, this is\nthat true humility which is exalted, not by being put in a place\nwhere it can be able to crow over others and thus be turned into\npride, but by being granted the exaltation of being brought\nnearer to God.\n\n-------------------\n\n{418}\n\n Sermon CXXVII.\n\n Vanity.\n\n _When thou art invited to a wedding,\n sit not down in the highest place._\n --St. Luke xiv. 8.\n\n\nIt is not many Sundays ago that our Lord's words taught us\nhumility by the spectacle of the Pharisee's pride contrasted with\nthe publican's lowliness. Yet holy church repeats the same lesson\nto-day by telling us what our Lord thinks of one who is vain\nenough to take too high a place at the wedding-feast. And indeed,\nbrethren, it takes much teaching for us to learn the corruption\nof our own hearts. If there is anybody we lack close acquaintance\nwith, it is our own very selves. If there is one book harder for\nus to read than any other it is the book of our own hearts. Yet\nin spite of this ignorance of ourselves, either before God or in\ncomparison with our neighbor, we are always tempted to set\nourselves up for something far better than we really are, and no\nless tempted to depreciate our neighbor.\n\nWe are too anxious to exercise the same certain judgment about\nrelative merit in spiritual things as we fancy we can do in\ntemporal affairs. You doubtless know the various standards of\nworldly preference. One person looks around at others and\nexclaims in his or her secret heart: With what shocking bad taste\ndo such and such ones dress! They must be very vulgar indeed;\nsurely I cannot be expected to demean myself by going in\n_their_ company. Another says: There is a great deal in\nsocial standing. Let every one know his place in the world and\nkeep it; as for me, I am certainly quite above the company of\nsuch and such persons.\n{419}\nAnother says: Brains is the standard; good clothes and social\nposition--what are they but miserable vanity and prejudice? But\nI have brains; and I know it, and can show it; therefore, stand\naside for me, for I am entitled to preference.\n\nNow, brethren, what is there in the spiritual life that answers\nto good clothes? I will tell you: it is certain external\npractices of devotion. External devotions are indeed necessary\nfor the soul just as clothes are for the body, and if used in the\nright spirit give one spiritual warmth and adorn the soul with\ninterior virtues. But we must not be vain of them. And what\nanswers in the spiritual life to the consciousness of social\nposition? The remembrance of many years spent in God's service\nand the various spiritual gifts received from him. But beware of\nspiritual pride. And what answers to human talents and ability?\nFacility in prayer, glibness of speech about spiritual things,\nknowledge of devotional books, and the like. And these may be\nmade a cause of vanity.\n\nSo when our Lord looks in among the guests at his spiritual table\nwe may well imagine his saying to one or other of us: Friend, I\nperceive that you have been trusting a trifle too much to certain\nexternal practices; they are very good in themselves, but should\nbe joined to a deeper and truer contrition for your sins and a\nmore practical use of penance and mortification. I am sorry to\nmake you blush, but really you must step down a few seats lower.\n{420}\nTo another he says: Friend, you are in the wrong place; I know\nthat you have received many graces from me in the past, but I\nalso notice a great want of gratitude on your part; besides this,\nI see from your present disposition of mind that, if you are left\nwhere you are, you are likely to be quite puffed up with vanity.\nSo I will set you down a little lower to a place opposite a good\ndish of thanksgiving and an other of humility. To another he\nsays: What are you doing there, you who are so fault-finding and\noverbearing? Do you trust to your knowledge of spiritual things\nand your pious talk? Your religion consists of words, words,\nwords, and what I want is deeds. So, down with you to the last\nplace at the table; and if I had any place lower than the last\nyou should certainly have it.\n\nBrethren, let us be glad to sit down anywhere at our Lord's\nbanquet; glad of so much as the crumbs from the table. That is to\nsay, the friendship of God is too precious a thing, and too much\nall his own to give, that we should presume to glory in it.\nHumility, detachment from our own excellence, willingness to\nthink poorly of our own merits--such are the virtues that\nunderlie all true piety.\n\n-------------------\n\n Sermon CXXVIII.\n\n Behavior In Church.\n\n\n _And he spoke a parable also to them that were invited,\n marking how they chose the first seats at the table._\n --Gospel of the Day.\n\n\nOur Blessed Saviour in this day's Gospel teaches us a lesson of\ngood order and practical conduct which may be applied in many\nways. I will make the application of it this morning to our\nconduct in church.\n{421}\nWe will consider the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass, the great feast\nto which we are invited, the church the banquet-hall, and the\npews the places set apart for the guests.\n\nThere is nothing more conducive to the pleasure and purpose of an\nassemblage than the good order and proper arrangement of\neverything connected with it, and we often hear persons speak of\nsome event in which they participated as being most enjoyable\nbecause everything was so well ordered and arranged. Now, all\nthis applies with double force to the public services of\nreligion. Catholics greatly enjoy the public services of the\nchurch when every is well ordered and arranged, and there is\nnothing to distract them or jar upon them. For at every service\nthere is the divine presence, and where perfect order reigns it\nsoon makes itself felt: its calm peace steals in upon the soul,\nit communes sweetly, and worships \"in spirit and in truth.\"\n\nBut in order to secure an external condition of things in our\nchurches so essential to recollection and prayer, each one must\nknow his place and occupy it without delay or confusion, and in\nour present system of church arrangement each worshipper is\nsupposed to have his or her special place assigned, and the\nregular seat in the church has become a requirement of devotion\nas well as a necessity of church finance.\n\nHence, to secure a permanent place in the church is a duty of\ndevotion as well as something of an obligation; and we find that\ntruly pious Catholics almost invariably try to secure seats in\ntheir parish churches, be they ever so humble. Indeed, Catholics\nwho fail to do this are not apt to be very steady in the practice\nof their religion; and there can be no doubt as to the neglect of\nduty in the case.\n{422}\nTo contribute to the support of religion is as much a positive\nlaw of the church as to attend Mass on Sundays, and the ordinary\nrevenue for the support of religion comes from the pew-rents. We\ninsist, therefore, that every Catholic who can possibly afford it\nshould have his seat in church; good order requires this as well\nas duty and devotion. It is a poor business to be all the while\noccupying other people's pews, and sometimes, perhaps, be\nrequired to vacate them. Pew-holders have their rights, and they\nmust be protected in them. Nevertheless, to secure good order and\nharmony at the services of the church, pew-holders must be\nwilling at times to waive their rights and allow strangers and\nothers to occupy the vacant seats in their pews. This is no more\nthan politeness and common Christian charity demand. To refuse a\nvacant seat in church to a stranger is selfishness gone to seed,\nand they are few, I hope, who would be guilty of such vulgarity.\n\nBut while all who possibly can should have their regular places\nin church, there will, no doubt, always be a very considerable\nnumber who, through poverty or perverseness, will be pew-holders\nat large, and to them I would also address a few remarks. The\nCatholic Church is the church of the poor! This is our glory and\nour pride. No one can be too poor to attend the services of the\nCatholic Church. God is no respecter of persons, nor is his\nchurch. The poor are always welcome in her grandest temples, and\nnone should ever miss a single service of religion because they\nare too poor to hire a regular seat. In this church, thank God,\neverything is free to them, and there are always vacant seats for\nthem to occupy.\n{423}\nWe not only wish non-pew-holders to occupy the vacant seats in\nour church, but we insist on their occupying them, for the good\norder and harmony of the services require that, as far as\npossible, all should be seated. The only condition we impose is\nthe Gospel injunction: \"Do not sit down in the first place\" or in\nthe place of another; and if you are told to move up higher, do\nnot refuse. Crowding around the doors is more objectionable than\nanything else, for there is nothing else that interferes so much\nwith the good order and arrangement of the services. Let me\nrepeat, then, in conclusion, the words of the parable: \"Friend,\ngo up higher,\" and don't crowd around the doors.\n\n-------------------\n\n{424}\n\n _Seventeenth Sunday after Pentecost._\n\n\n Epistle.\n _Ephesians iv._ 1-6.\n\n Brethren:\n As a prisoner in the Lord, I beseech you that you walk worthy\n of the vocation in which you are called, with all humility and\n mildness, with patience, supporting one another in charity,\n careful to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.\n One body and one Spirit: as you are called in one hope of your\n vocation. One Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father\n of all, who is above all, and through all, and in us all, who\n is blessed for ever and ever.\n\n\n Gospel.\n _St. Matthew xxii._ 35-46.\n\n At that time the Pharisees came nigh to Jesus: and one of them,\n a doctor of the law, asked him, tempting him: Master, which is\n the great commandment in the law? Jesus said to him: Thou shalt\n love the Lord thy God with thy whole heart, and with thy whole\n soul, and with thy whole mind. This is the greatest and the\n first commandment. And the second is like to this: Thou shalt\n love thy neighbor as thyself. On, these two commandments\n dependeth the whole law and the prophets. And the Pharisees\n being gathered together, Jesus asked them saying: What think\n you of Christ? Whose son is he? They say to him: David's. He\n saith to them: How then doth David in spirit call him Lord,\n saying: \"The Lord said to my Lord: Sit on my right hand, until\n I make thy enemies thy footstool\"? If David then called him\n Lord, how is he his son? And no man was able to answer him a\n word: neither durst any man from that day forth ask him any\n more questions.\n\n-------------------\n\n{425}\n\n Sermon CXXIX.\n\n Prayer For Sinners.\n\n\n _And the other is like unto this:\n Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself._\n --St. Matthew. xxii. 39.\n\n\nHow great must be the dignity of human nature, my brethren,\nsince, as we learn by this day's Gospel, our Lord couples the\nlove of his fellow-men with the love of his own sovereign and\ndivine self! Perhaps if we appreciated the native worth of human\nnature we should be a trifle more patient with its faults. I\nmean, of course, other people's faults, for with our own faults\nwe are all too patient.\n\nThe practical lesson conveyed by the commandment, \"Love thy\nneighbor as thyself,\" is that it is our duty to love sinners and\nto pray for them. To love good people is easy enough, and we\nthink a man a kind of a monster who has not at least one or two\ndear friends whose virtues have won his love. But it takes a good\nChristian to love what at first sight seems so hateful--a\ndrunkard, a libertine, an apostate, a bully, a thief. To have an\nactual, practical affection for such persons, even when one is\nrelated to them, seems quite a special thing--a peculiar\nvocation, a side-path in the spiritual life, and not by any means\nthe common business and regular vocation of every-day Christians.\nYet a moment's thought shows that it is, without any doubt, our\nLord's blessed will that we should have a special affection for\njust such hardened sinners. Are they not men, and are they not\npurchased by the Blood of Christ?\n\n{426}\n\nHow much we mistake our duty in reference to such poor wretches!\nWhen you say of one, \"Oh! he is a most worthless creature,\" how\nsurprised you would be if you could hear a whisper coming from\nhis guardian angel: \"Jesus Christ thought him worth dying for.\"\nAnd when you say of another, \"Oh! I can't bear him; I can't stay\na moment in his company,\" how surprised you would be to hear,\n\"And I, an angel of God, I gladly keep him company day and\nnight.\" Surely, brethren, there is something worth loving,\nheartily loving, in a soul that our Lord would die for, and to\nwhom God would give a bright angel as a constant companion. We\nare like men going through a picture-gallery: we admire only the\nbrilliant and unmistakable beauties displayed there--here a\ngorgeous sunset, there a fine battle-scene, and again a ship\ntossing upon the waves. But one of better taste than common,\nwithout forgetting all these, will be able to detect the work of\na great master, though faded with the lapse of many years and\ncovered all over with dust. So it is with the poor sinner's soul:\nit is the work of a great master. And what though it be all\nstained and spotted with mortal sin; is there no such thing as\ntrue repentance? Are there no fountains of living waters in the\nsacraments in which it may be washed whiter than snow? Are there\nno gems of divine grace with which it may be decked out as a\nbride waiting for the bridegroom?\n\nPrayer for the conversion of sinners should be far more practised\nthan it is. Why, brethren, look around you in this great city,\nand if you can count the stars of heaven or the sands of the\nsea-shore you can count the men and women in mortal sin; and,\nalas! very many of them belong to our religion. Nay, look about\nin your own families.\n{427}\nHow seldom will a family be found where there is not at least one\nmember living openly at enmity with God! Now, just here, in the\nmidst of the worst wickedness, are many thousands of devout\nservants of God, and in every family one or two souls whose very\nnames might be Faithful and True. And God arranges this mingling\nof good and evil, that the good souls by their prayers may save\nthe bad ones from eternal death; just as in southern countries\nmen plant eucalyptus-trees in low, marshy places, for the\neucalyptus, with its fragrant leaves, counteracts the poisonous\nvapors of the swamp.\n\nIf, therefore, you pray for yourself you do well; but do not\nforget that, if you are a true Christian, the poor sinner is your\nother self. And if you pray for the souls in purgatory, do not\nforget that there are many souls about you who are always in\ndanger of hell, and unless many prayers are offered for them they\nare likely enough to be lost for ever.\n\n-------------------\n\n Sermon CXXX.\n\n The Christian Vocation.\n\n _I beseech you to walk worthy of your vocation\n in which you are called._\n --Epistle of the Day.\n\n\nIn the Gospel our Lord says that the perfect love of God and of\nour neighbor fulfils all the law and the commands of God through\nthe prophets. At another time he said: \"Be ye perfect as your\nHeavenly Father is perfect.\" It is plain that every Christian has\na vocation--that is, is called to a Christ like, a God like life.\nSomething more is expected of him because he has received infused\nlight to know by divine grace how to do more. In general, we call\nthat a higher, a more exalted spiritual state. Now, there are\ndegrees even in this depending upon the particular grace it\npleases God to give to one person or another.\n\n{428}\n\nOne star differeth from another star in brightness and glory, and\nso shall the glory of the Christians differ in heaven, according\nto the perfection to which they have brought their souls while in\nthis school-time of the world-life. Over and above what are\ncalled strict Christian laws, which one must obey or lose heaven,\nthere are certain principles of Christianity called Evangelical\ncounsels--namely, poverty, chastity, and obedience. Some folks\nfancy these counsels apply only to monks, nuns, and priests. That\nis a great mistake. Monks, nuns, and priests receive grace and\nare bound by _their_ vocation to practise these counsels in\na high degree, and yet not even all these in the same manner. A\nsecular priest, for instance, is not called to practise poverty\nin the same manner as a priest of a religious order, although he\nor even a layman living in the world may practise that counsel,\nas he may the other counsels, too, just as perfectly as any monk\never heard of. All depends on the grace one has. His vocation and\nhis responsibility and his position in heaven all hang on his\nfidelity to grace.\n\nAll Christians should practise the counsel of poverty. Yes, both\nrich and poor. The spirit of poverty is detachment from created\nthings. One's heart must not be set on them. One must not love\nriches for their own sake. One must feel obliged to share with\nthe poor. One must not despise the poor, but love them for\nChrist's sake.\n{429}\nOne must give a good deal for religious purposes. One must keep\nhis baptismal vows to renounce the devil and all his pomps. One\nmust, therefore, deny himself in many things that savor of the\npride of riches, even if he is rich. Why? Not because he is a\nmonk, nun, or priest, but because he is a Christian.\n\nEvery Christian must practise the counsel of chastity. Heaven\nhelp us! In these degraded times, to judge by the fashionable\nindecencies sanctioned by so-called society people--the horrible\nabuses of the holy state of marriage, the filthy accounts\nappearing every day in the newspapers--one would think that even\nthe Sixth Commandment was abolished. Now I need not enter into\nparticulars, but you know, without further argument or\nillustration, that every Christian man, woman, and child would be\nunworthy the name if they did not, almost every day, make many\nsacrifices and struggles against temptation--all of which mean\npractising the counsel of the Christian perfection of chastity.\n\nSo also of obedience. One must obey the Ten Commandments and the\nlaws of the church. Oh! yes. And have we not also to obey the\nspecial decrees of the Holy Father, of our bishop, and of our\npastor? What sort of a Christian is he who is his own shepherd,\nor one who is always \"standing up for his own rights,\" as they\nsay, submitting just within law and only when he cannot help\nhimself? And does _Christian humility_ mean nothing in act?\nThat is a narrow road of obedience and a long one, as you all\nknow; and blessed is he who joyfully walks therein.\n{430}\nInstead of wanting to shirk these counsels, and put all upon the\nshoulders of religious, every one ought to be praying hard that\nGod will, of his divine bounty, give us, too, men and women\nliving in the world, more and more grace to practise all that our\nworldly condition will allow us to do, convinced by faith that he\nis most truly happy here, as he will certainly be hereafter, who\nis filled with high Christian aspirations, striving to \"walk\nworthy of his vocation\" and realize in himself the picture of a\nperfect Christ-like life.\n\n-------------------\n\n Sermon CXXXI.\n\n Erroneous Views Of Vocation.\n\n\n _As a prisoner in the Lord,\n I beseech you that you walk\n worthy of the vocation in which you are called._\n --Ephesians iv. 1.\n\n\nBrethren, has it ever occurred to you that each one of us has a\nvocation in this life? I refer not to our Christian vocation,\nwhich we all have in common, but to the particular state of life\nto which each one of us has been called. It is not an uncommon\nerror for people to think that priests and nuns are the only\nprivileged mortals who are called by God to some special work,\nand that to their vocation alone God has attached peculiar and\nextraordinary graces.\n\nThis is an error we must correct. We have all, thank God, the\nvocation to be Christians and the call to be saints, but we have,\nmoreover, our own special calling, suitable to our character and\ndisposition; and our common Christian vocation, and in a great\nmeasure our eternal salvation, depends on our fulfilling worthily\nthe particular vocation in which we are called.\n\n{431}\n\nSome of us God has called to be priests, to serve continually at\nhis altar. Some to be fathers of families, and others to remain\nsingle all their life. Some he has called to the higher\nprofessions, and others to the hard but manly toil of every-day\nlife. But to all these vocations, to all these different states\nof life, he has attached certain duties, peculiar obligations,\nwhich must be met and fulfilled.\n\nThe great danger, brethren, that we have to avoid is the common\nand stupid error of those who hold that their every-day vocation\nhas nothing to do with this Sunday calling; that there is little,\nif any, connection between their own special calling and their\ngeneral calling to be Christians; who maintain that as business\nmen they can and must act in their own business-like way,\nbanishing God from their hearts and his law from their lives, at\nleast during their hours of business.\n\nThis error, stupid as it is, is not so uncommon as one might at\nfirst imagine. Take a few practical cases. How many are there\nwho, when they examine their conscience, ever think of\nquestioning themselves upon the duties of their position in life?\nHow many fathers of families, listening to these words to-day,\nquestion themselves daily as to how they govern those whom God\nhas put under their charge; how they watch and provide for the\nspiritual and temporal welfare of those whom they are called upon\nto support? How many young men ever think of asking themselves\nhow they have fulfilled the obligations they are under to\nparents, now perhaps unable to take care of themselves? How many\nbusiness-men question themselves as to the honesty or propriety\nof this or that mode of action they have been following?\n{432}\nAlas! they are few indeed. And this is the practical outcome of\nnot recognizing the close connection there is between our\nevery-day calling and our Christian vocation. As every vocation,\nbrethren, has its duties and its difficulties, so every calling\nhas its special helps and graces. God saw each one of us from all\neternity--just as we are to-day, with all the weaknesses of our\ncharacter, with all the difficulties that surround us, and all\nthe temptations with which we have to contend. He foresaw all\nthese things and provided for them, regulating his helps and\ngraces according to our wants, and directing all things towards\nour final destiny. His grace is always sufficient for us, and as\nlong as we remain in his friendship there is no vocation or\ncalling so difficult or trying but what can be cheerfully and\nmanfully borne and worked towards our soul's salvation. The lot\nof some is certainly not an easy one, but God always fits the\nback for the burden.\n\nThe practical question I would have you ask yourselves to-day,\nbrethren, is this: Granted that I have a vocation in this life;\ngranted that Providence has placed me in a position that involves\nduties and obligations to God, my neighbor, or myself; how am I\nfulfilling these obligations? How am I walking in the vocation in\nwhich I am called? Worthily or unworthily--that is the\nall-important question for me to answer to-day to the\nsatisfaction of my conscience, as I will have to answer it one\nday to Almighty God.\n\nAm I the father or mother of a family? If so, do I discharge the\nduties of my calling? Do I make my home pleasant and agreeable\nfor my children? Do I supply them with suitable home amusements?\nDo I furnish them proper reading matter, or do I allow them to\nwaste their time and ruin their souls with the vile penny\nliterature of the day?\n{433}\nDo I oblige them to come to Mass and approach the sacraments,\nwhile I neglect these duties myself? Or am I a business-man who\ndeals squarely and honestly with my neighbors, never on the alert\nto take advantage of the ignorant and weak? Am I in the\nemployment of others, and, if so, do I fulfil my calling worthily\nby doing all that strict justice or Christian charity requires of\nme? Or am I just to men who work for me? These are some of the\nquestions regarding your vocations that I would have you ask\nyourselves to-day.\n\nBrethren, when we come to render our account to God, be sure of\nthis: he will not trouble us with the question as to whether we\nhave been experts in our respective professions, whether we have\nbeen successful business-men or skilled mechanics; no, but\nwhether we have been just and honorable, whether we have walked\n_worthily_ in the vocations to which we have been called.\nWalk then, brethren, worthy of your vocation, worthy of the\nchurch which has reared you, worthy of the hope that is in you,\nworthy of the name you bear, that of Christ, who has redeemed\nyou. Imitate him, live as he lived, and suffer in your calling\nthe things he suffered. Then the prayer of our patron St. Paul\nwill not be in vain, and we will walk worthy of the vocation in\nwhich we are called.\n\n-------------------\n\n{434}\n\n _Eighteenth Sunday after Pentecost._\n\n\n Epistle.\n I _Corinthians i._ 4-8.\n\n Brethren:\n I give thanks to my God always for you, for the grace of God\n that is given you in Christ Jesus, that in all things you are\n made rich in him, in every word, and in all knowledge: as the\n testimony of Christ was confirmed in you: so that nothing is\n wanting to you in any grace, waiting for the manifestation of\n our Lord Jesus Christ, who also will confirm you unto the end\n without crime, in the day of the coming of our Lord Jesus\n Christ.\n\n\n Gospel.\n _St. Matthew ix._ 1-8.\n\n At that time:\n Jesus entering into a boat, passed over the water and came into\n his own city. And behold they brought to him a man sick, of the\n palsy lying on a bed. And Jesus, seeing their faith, said to\n the man sick of the palsy: Son, be of good heart, thy sins are\n forgiven thee. And behold some of the Scribes said within\n themselves: This man blasphemeth. And Jesus seeing their\n thoughts, said: Why do you think evil in your hearts? Which is\n easier, to say, Thy sins are forgiven thee; or to say, Rise up\n and walk? But that you may know that the Son of man hath power\n on earth to forgive sins (then saith he to the man sick of the\n palsy), Rise up: take thy bed and go into thy house. And he\n rose up, and went into his house. And the multitude seeing it,\n feared, and glorified God who had given such power to men.\n\n-------------------\n\n{435}\n\n Sermon CXXXII.\n\n Presumption Of God's Mercy.\n\n _Unless you have believed in vain._\n 1 Corinthians xv. 2.\n\n\nDear Brethren: The Apostle appears to be of a different mind from\nsome of us, who seem to think that there is no such thing as\nbelieving in vain. Do not sinners rest quite secure in their\nwickedness just because they believe in the true religion? Do\nthey not feel sure of salvation because they know how to be\nsaved? Is not the blessed privilege of the holy faith the secret\nreason of many a person's delay of repentance? It is against all\nsuch that St. Paul stands when he speaks of a vain faith; and our\nBlessed Lord himself when he says that pagan Tyre and Sidon shall\nrise up in witness against those who had the true religion and\nused it only to puff them selves up with spiritual pride.\n\nTo be guilty of an unused faith is the high-road to eternal loss\namong Catholics. Some poor souls will be lost because, though\nborn in error, they have refused to follow the light of reason\ninto the church. But we shall be lost, if at all, because we have\nbelieved in vain. Some outside of the church shall be lost\nbecause they have sinned even against the simplest precepts of\nnature's law. But we shall be condemned for believing all that\nour Lord revealed and making it vain by our wicked deeds. A vain\nfaith is like the background of a picture: the eye catches and\ndwells on the objects in the foreground, but these could not be\nseen clearly but for the tints in the background against which\nthey are drawn. So what we do will one day be contrasted with\nwhat we know; the strong light of faith will only cause the\nblack, filthy sins of our life to be more fully revealed to the\nJudge.\n\n{436}\n\nHave you never seen a blind man whose eyes seemed perfectly good,\nclear, and bright, and yet utterly blind? There is such a kind of\nblindness; some men really have eyes and see not, because the\nnerve is dead, and the nerve is like the soul of the eye. So with\nour faith: God gave it to us to see by and walk by and live by;\nto know his law and live up to it, to know our sins and to\nconfess them with true sorrow--in a word, to practise what we\nknow that we ought to practise. But some become like the idols of\nthe nations you read of in one of the Vesper psalms: \"They have\neyes, and see not; they have ears, and hear not.\" Wicked\nCatholics perceive the right way; they hear of the dangers of the\nwrong way, and go right along with this knowledge, and neglect\nprayer and Mass, blaspheme and fight, get drunk and debauch, and\nsteal, yet having all the time full assurance that somehow or\nother their faith will save them. Brethren, their faith is vain;\ntheir hope of eternal life is not reasonable or well founded; the\nbeauty of the truth they possess is like the cold beauty of a\ncorpse, which makes one shudder only the more from its\nincongruity with the putrid decay so surely approaching.\n\nYet how rich a treasure is the true faith! What a comfort to know\nthe truths of religion! What a privilege to know our Lord and\nSaviour Jesus Christ, and to be in communion with him, his\nBlessed Mother, his glorious saints, his holy church! What a\nperversity, then, to use all this as a burglar uses his\nrope-ladder: a means of making a criminal life more secure.\n{437}\nBut it cannot be. It is a delusion. There is no means of making a\ncriminal life secure, except by turning quickly away from it,\ndetesting it, confessing it, and, by the light of faith and the\nstrength of charity, leading a good life.\n\n-------------------\n\n Sermon CXXXIII.\n\n Drunkenness.\n\n\n _Take heed to yourselves,\n lest perhaps your hearts be over charged\n with surfeiting and drunkenness,\n and the cares of this life._\n --Luke xxi. 34.\n\n\nThese words of our Lord recorded by St. Luke contain a very\ndirect admonition against intemperance and its associate vices.\nGluttony and drunkenness are closely allied, inasmuch as the\nformer is generally associated with excessive eating, and the\nlatter is used to denote excess in intoxicating drink. Not only\nfrom a religious standpoint, but from medical science, St. Luke\nknew and could teach the injurious effects on the human system\nproduced by the unrestrained gratification of the appetites. His\nknowledge in these matters was evidently recognized by those\nassociated with him in preaching the Gospel, for St. Paul speaks\nof him as \"the beloved physician\" (Colossians iv. 14).\n\nThere are many passages of Holy Scripture that show forth the\ndangers of drunkenness. In the Old Testament we read that Noe and\nLot were both taught by sad experience the shame and degradation\narising from the loss of self-control through the excessive use\nof intoxicating drinks.\n{438}\nNo sanction can, be found in the Bible for the opinion that\nintemperance is a pardonable weakness. It is a very long time\nago, indeed, since this vice of drunkenness was first condemned\nby the authorized teachers of religion. Among the vices it is\nproperly classified with gluttony, which is one of the seven\ndeadly sins.\n\nThe Apostles sent forth by our Lord to teach all nations\nstrenuously inculcated the duty of _sobriety_ and\n_watchfulness_ on each individual Christian. St. Peter and\nSt. Paul especially insist on this personal vigilance as being of\nthe utmost importance. _\"Being sober_, hope perfectly for\nthat grace which is offered you at the revelation of Jesus\nChrist. _Be sober and watch_, because your adversary, the\ndevil, as a roaring lion goeth about, seeking whom he may devour\"\n(First Epistle of St. Peter v. 8-13).\n\nSt. Paul teaches the same lesson of _personal vigilance_ in\nthese words: \"Let us _watch and be sober_, having on the\nbreastplate of faith and charity, and for a helmet the hope of\nsalvation\" (1 Thessalonians v. 6-8). \"For the grace of God our\nSaviour hath appeared to all men, instructing us that, renouncing\nimpiety and worldly desires, we should _live soberly_, and\njustly, and piously in this world\" (Titus ii. 3).\n\nA great doctor of the church, St. Augustine, in the fourth\ncentury declared that there were at that time drunkards, plenty\nof them, and that people had grown accustomed to speak of\ndrunkenness, not only without horror, but even with levity. This\ncondition of things was brought about by the vicious teaching of\nthe pagans, who sanctioned every form of sensual gratification.\n{439}\nIn one of his sermons St. Augustine uses these words: \"The heart\nof the drunkard has lost all feeling. When a member has no\nfeeling it may be considered dead and cut off from the body. Yet\nwe sometimes are lenient, and can only employ words. We are loath\nto excommunicate and cast out of the church; for we fear lest he\nwho is chastised should be made worse by the chastisement. And\nthough such are already dead in soul, yet, since our Physician is\nAlmighty, we must not despair of them.\"\n\nAgain in a letter to a bishop, written in the year 393, St.\nAugustine refers to the intemperance then prevalent in the city\nof Carthage. \"The pestilence,\" he says, \"is of such a magnitude\nthat it seems to me it cannot be cured except by the authority of\na council. Or, at least, if one church must begin, it should be\nthat of Carthage. It would seem like audacity to try to change\nwhat Carthage retains.\" Then he proceeds to urge that the\nmovement against intemperance be conducted in the spirit of\nmeekness, saying: \"I think that these abuses must be removed, not\nimperiously, nor harshly; by instruction rather than by command,\nby persuasion rather than by threats. It is thus one must act in\na multitude: we may be severe towards the sins of a few.\"\n\nFrom the words just quoted we see that St. Augustine was justly\nopposed to the indiscriminate condemnation of a multitude for the\nsins of a few. And it is very necessary to bear this in mind\nwhile dealing with the vice of intemperance, which is so widely\nprevalent at the present time. The crimes of drunkards are\nfrequently exposed to view in the columns of newspapers, yet the\nunvarnished truth is seldom stated concerning those who\nco-operate with them in the nine ways of being accessory to\nanother's sin; and this means especially those who, in cities\ninfected with intemperance, keep saloons, and those who invite\nmen to drink whom they have reason to fear will abuse it.\n{440}\nWe know that there are leaders in the ways of vice as well as in\nthe ways of virtue. Special severity is needed with those who\ndeliberately persist in doing wrong with malice aforethought. Men\nwho strive to make laws to defend iniquity, who teach and foster\nvice for their own personal profit, may properly be called blind\nleaders of the blind, whose fate has already been predicted by\nour Lord, the Supreme Judge of the world.\n\n-------------------\n\n Sermon CXXXIV.\n\n The Dignity And Happiness Of Obedience.\n\n\n _Children, obey your parents in all things;\n for this is pleasing to the Lord._\n --Colossians iii. 20.\n\n\nBrethren, there are many new things found out nowadays; but there\nare also some old ones and good ones being forgotten. Among other\nthings we are apt to forget the happiness of obedience. Of course\nI do not mean obedience to the church; perhaps there never was an\nage when Catholics rested so content in the gentle restraint of\nour holy mother the Church. But I refer to the practice of\nobedience one to another, done after the pattern of our Lord\nJesus Christ. The loveliness of this virtue is best seen in the\nbosom of the Christian family. Affection, indeed, is the bond of\nthe family, but the fruit of affection is obedience. There is\nnothing more pleasing to God than the son who is always at the\nservice of his father and mother.\n{441}\nFew families are without at least one such son. He is often the\none of whom at first the least was expected; of poor natural\ntalents, of delicate health, of irascible temper, or one whose\nearlier years were wayward. But all the time he was observant,\nthough no one, not even himself, gave him credit for it. Year by\nyear the spectacle of father's and mother's affection and\nsacrifice penetrated him, till he became deeply attached to them.\nHow much this reverent love for his parents had to do with his\nreligious state as a boy and a young man! It may be true that\nscarcely any boy ever grows up to be a man and is never a liar to\nhis father and mother, or a pilferer of cake and fruit and\npennies about the house. But the good boy drops all this at First\nCommunion or when he goes to learn a trade, and he becomes honest\nand truthful in little things as well as great. One of the\nhappiest days for him between the cradle and the grave is when he\nruns and puts the first dollar he has earned into his mother's\nhands. That good son lets all his brothers go away from home to\nseek their fortunes; he stays with the old folks, comforts their\nold age, closes their eyes in death, and with much love and many\ntears follows them with his prayers beyond the grave. The others\nwere, perhaps, good children, but he is the hero of the family.\n\nThen there is the good daughter, who in childhood is the sunshine\nof the family, and in maturer years everybody's other self. How\nmany parents, too poor to hire a servant, have living riches in\nan industrious daughter! How often do parents find one at least\nof the girls who from very infancy is the joy of the whole\nfamily; who seems to have received in baptism such a fulness of\nthe Holy Spirit that charity, joy, peace, patience, long\nsuffering, kindness, and piety are the common qualities of her\ncharacter!\n{442}\nThe faith also finds an apostle in such women. An intelligent\nwoman, though perhaps unable to argue skilfully, can establish\nthe truths of religion by methods all her own. A friendly jest,\ngood-natured silence, a patient return of loving services for\nill-treatment, the spectacle of her good life, not an hour of\nwhich lacks a virtue--all this in one instinct with religion is\nan unanswerable argument and often irresistible. How did it\nhappen, people sometimes ask concerning this or that person, that\nshe did not marry? She had good enough looks, excellent sense, a\nbright mind, affectionate disposition, and saw plenty of company.\nWhy did she not marry? My brethren, the day of judgment will tell\nus that it was because God had set her apart that she might be\nfor her widowed mother or her shiftless, unhappy brothers and\nsisters the pot of meal that should not waste and the cruse of\noil that should not diminish. Brethren, I know of no order of\nnuns more pleasing in God's sight than the devout women who live\na dependent, obscure, hard life in the world, and are old maids\nfor the love of God.\n\nFinally, you may say that such sons and daughters are hard to\nfind. I answer that there are multitudes who approach the\nstandard we have been considering, and more, perhaps, than you\nfancy who actually attain to it.\n\n-------------------\n\n{443}\n\n _Nineteenth Sunday after Pentecost._\n\n\n Epistle.\n _Ephesians iv._ 23-28.\n\n Brethren:\n Be ye renewed in the spirit of your mind: and put on the new\n man, who, according to God, is created in justice, and holiness\n of truth. Wherefore, putting away lying, speak ye the truth\n every man with his neighbor: for we are members one of another.\n Be angry, and sin not. Let not the sun go down upon your anger:\n Give not place to the devil. Let him that stole, steal now no\n more, but rather let him labor, working with his hands that\n which is good, that he may have to give to him who is in need.\n\n\n Gospel.\n _St. Matthew xxii._ 2-14.\n\n At that time Jesus spoke to the chief priests and Pharisees in\n parables, saying:\n The kingdom of heaven is like to a man being a king, who made a\n marriage for his son. And he sent his servants to call them\n that were invited to the marriage: and they would not come.\n Again he sent other servants, saying: Tell them that were\n invited: Behold, I have prepared my dinner; my beeves and\n fatlings are killed, and all things are ready: come ye to the\n wedding. But they neglected, and went their ways, one to his\n farm, and another to his merchandise. And the rest laid hands\n on his servants, and, having treated them contumeliously, put\n them to death. But when the king heard of it he was angry, and,\n sending his armies, he destroyed those murderers and burnt\n their city. Then he saith to his servants: The wedding indeed\n is ready; but they that were invited were not worthy. Go ye\n therefore into the highways, and as many as you shall find,\n invite to the wedding.\n{444}\n And his servants going out into the highways, gathered together\n all that they found, both bad and good: and the wedding was\n filled with guests. And the king went in to see the guests, and\n he saw there a man who had not on a wedding garment. And he\n saith to him: Friend, how camest thou in hither not having a\n wedding garment? But he was silent. Then the king said to the\n waiters: Having bound his hands and feet, cast him into the\n exterior darkness: there shall be weeping and gnashing of\n teeth. For many are called, but few are chosen.\n\n-------------------\n\n Sermon CXXXV.\n\n Lying.\n\n\n _Wherefore, putting away lying,\n speak ye the truth every man with his neighbor._\n --Epistle of the Day.\n\n\nOf all the vicious habits into which we are prone to fall, there\nis none more common, and none more miserable, mean, and\ncontemptible, than this one of which the Apostle here speaks.\nThere is also none about which Christians in general have so lax\nand careless a conscience. True, every one regards lying as in\nsome sense at least sinful; and many would hesitate about going\nto Holy Communion if they had told a lie after confession. But in\nspite of that, when the Communion is once made, the tongue which\nhas just received the God of justice and truth will immediately\nbegin again to offend him by telling falsehoods which are too\noften unjust as well as untrue.\n\n{445}\n\nStill, when there is an injustice done by telling a lie; when\nsome one else suffers by it in his character or his goods, there\nare, I hope, few who do not see what a sin they have committed,\nand understand that they must make reparation by taking back what\nthey have said, if they wish to be good Christians. But, for all\nthat, how many injurious lies are told, even by those who think\nthemselves good Christians, and never properly retracted or even\nthought of afterward by those who tell them! The most abominable\nslanders pass from mouth to mouth; they are listened to and\nrepeated with the greatest interest and eagerness, without any\ntrouble being taken to ascertain whether what is said is true or\nnot. These people who are so free with their tongues never seem\nto imagine for a moment that, even when circumstances would\njustify them--and it is very seldom that they do--in telling a\nfact bearing against their neighbor they are under an obligation\nfirst to find out by careful examination whether it be indeed a\nfact; otherwise the sin of an injurious lie will rest on their\nsouls.\n\nThere are, however, some, and indeed many, who abhor slander, and\nwho are really careful about telling injurious lies, and who\nhasten to retract what they have said against others, if they\nfind out that, after all, the fact was not as they had good\nground to believe. But there are not by any means so many who are\ncareful about the truth for its own sake, and who do not scruple\nto tell white lies, as they are sometimes called.\n\nWhat are these white lies? They are of two kinds. The first are\nthose which are told for some end in itself good, to get some\nadvantage for one's self or for another, or to get one's self or\nsome other person out of a scrape; to conceal a fault, to avoid\nembarrassment, or to save somebody's feelings. These are called\nofficious lies.\n{446}\nThen there are others, called, jocose, which do no good to any\none, but are told merely for fun; such as the little tricks on\nothers which are often indulged in, or boasts made about things\nwhich one has never done. They may be taken back before long, and\nonly meant to deceive for a moment; still they are meant to\ndeceive, if only for a moment, and are, therefore, really lies.\n\nNow officious lies are really forbidden by God's law as well as\ninjurious ones, though of course not so bad as those. And yet how\nfew act as if they really were sins at all! People will say, \"I\ntold lies, perhaps three or four every day, but there was no harm\nin them.\" No harm! No harm to other people; no, perhaps not,\nexcept by bad example and the loss of confidence in your word and\nthat of others; though there is great harm even in that way. But\nthere is a greater harm than this: it is that which the liar does\nto the sacredness of truth itself, and, as far as he can, to God\nwho is the eternal truth, who loves truth unspeakably, and\nrequires that we should love it for his sake. He will not allow\nus to tell the most trivial falsehood, though by it we could save\nthe whole world from destruction, or bring all the souls which\nhave been damned out of hell and put them in heaven.\n\nRemember this, then: there are lies which are not injurious, but\nthere are no lies which are not harmful and sinful; no lies for\nwhich you will not have to give an account at the judgment of\nGod. Stop, therefore, I beg you at once, this mean, disgraceful,\nand dishonorable habit of falsehood; it will never be forgiven in\nconfession unless you make a serious and solid purpose against\nit. Put away lying then at once and for ever, and speak the truth\nin simplicity; you may sometimes lose by it for the moment, but\nyou will profit by it in the end, both in this world and in the\nworld to come.\n\n-------------------\n\n{447}\n\n Sermon CXXXVI.\n\n Truthfulness.\n\n\n _Wherefore, putting away lying,\n speak ye the truth every man with his neighbor,\n for we are members one of another._\n --Ephesians iv. 25.\n\n\nSt. Paul here teaches us that truthfulness of speech should be a\nmark of those who profess the true faith. He speaks of the\ndarkness of understanding, the ignorance, the blindness of heart\nof those who are alienated from the life of God; \"but you,\" he\nsays, \"have not so learned Christ. You have been taught the truth\nas it is in Jesus. You have been taught to put off the old man\nwho is corrupted according to the desires of error, and to put on\nthe new man, who, according to God, is created in justice and\nholiness of truth: _wherefore_, putting away lying, speak ye\nthe truth every man with his neighbor, for we are members one of\nanother.\"\n\nYet, even without these supernatural reasons and motives, the\nduty of truthfulness is plain to everyone by the light of natural\nreason alone. The gift of speech which so strongly marks the\ndistinction between man and the lower animals enables us to\nclearly communicate our thoughts to each other. If, then, we make\nit a means of deceiving others, we plainly offend against the law\nof nature, which is God's law. In every relation of life we are\nobliged to depend upon the statements of other men; we have a\nright to the truth from them, and it is therefore our duty to\ntell the truth to others.\n{448}\nWe can have no feeling of security if we cannot trust the word of\nthose with whom we are brought into daily contact. If lying is\ncommon in any class or community, it creates a spirit of distrust\nand uneasiness instead of that mutual confidence which should\nprevail.\n\nA high sense of honor in men of the world will often make them\nstrictly truthful. Such men despise a lie as something base and\nmean and utterly beneath them. If, then, purely human motives, a\nmere sense of worldly honor, will keep men from lying, how much\nmore should this fault be avoided by those who claim to be trying\nto serve God, and who are constantly assisted by his grace. Our\nLord has told us that liars are the children of the devil, \"for\nhe is a liar and the father thereof.\" But we are called to be the\nchildren of God, who is the eternal truth; we have been given the\nlight of the true faith. We glory in the certain truth of our\nreligion; should we not then be zealous for the cause of truth in\nall things, even in the least. Absolute, unswerving truthfulness\nin speech should therefore mark the true disciple of Christ.\n\n\"But,\" some may say, \"a lie is only a venial sin.\" Yes, it is\ntrue that a lie which is not malicious, which does not, and is\nnot intended to, harm our neighbor in any way, is not a mortal\nsin; but it is the meanest of venial sins, and we know that a\nlong and terrible purgatory awaits those who are guilty of\ndeliberate venial sin. Moreover, carelessness about the\ncommission of venial sin leads to mortal offences, and there is\nnothing which will more readily lead a man into other and graver\nfaults as the habit of deliberate untruthfulness.\n\n{449}\n\nCultivate, then, a love for truth, and seek to acquire the habit\nof truthfulness even in the smallest matters. Every one despises\na deceitful person, and there is nothing a man resents so much as\nbeing called a liar. If you do not like being called a liar, do\nnot be one.\n\n-------------------\n\n Sermon CXXXVII.\n\n White Lies.\n\n\n _Wherefore, putting away lying,\n speak ye the truth every man with his neighbor._\n --Epistle of the Day.\n\n\nThere is perhaps no sin, my brethren, for which people seem to\nhave so little real sorrow, or for which they so seldom make a\npractical purpose of amendment, as this miserable one of\nfalsehood, of which the Apostle here speaks. You will hear it\nsaid: \"I told lies, but there was no harm in them; they were to\nexcuse myself, or to save trouble.\" They are matters to be\nconfessed, oh! yes; the liar will perhaps even run back to say\nthat he is a liar, if he (or quite likely she) has forgotten to\nmention it at the time. But as for correcting the habit, that is\nquite another matter. It would seem that the Sacrament of Penance\nis expected to take effect on these sins by mere confession,\nwithout contrition or purpose to avoid them for the future.\n\n{450}\n\nBut the liar will say: \"I am sorry; I have contrition for these\nlies.\" Let me ask, however, what kind of sorrow have you? You are\nsorry that things were so that you had to tell a lie; but if\nthings were so again to-morrow, would not you tell the lie again?\nIf you are sincere, I am afraid you will say: \"Yes, I suppose I\nshould.\" Where, then, is the purpose of amendment? Without\npurpose of amendment contrition is nothing but a sham.\n\nLet us, then, my friends, look into our consciences about this\nmatter, and get them straightened out properly. I do not want to\nbe too harsh about it; for after all there are some expressions\nwhich people call lies, which are not really so, because the one\nto whom they are addressed is not expected to be deceived by\nthem, but merely to be prevented from asking further questions.\nSome people, too, call it a lie when they do not tell the whole\ntruth, but we are not always required--though we often are--to\ntell the whole truth; and when we are not, there is no lie, as\nlong as what we say is actually true as far as it goes. But it\nwould take too long to go into all the cases concerning what is\nor is not a lie; and as a general rule one can by a little common\nsense find them out for himself. Find them out, then; if you\ncannot surely do so by yourselves, get advice; and when you are\ncertain that you are all right, do not call it a sin to act\naccording to your conscience and reason, and do not make a matter\nof self-accusation out of it.\n\nBut when you cannot see any way to make out that what you say\nreally is not a lie, then do not fall back on the idea that, if\nit does not injure anybody, there is no harm in it. You are false\nto yourself in this; for you know there is harm in it, otherwise\nyou would not feel uneasy about it.\n\n{451}\n\nAnd what is the harm? The harm in a lie is simply that it is a\nlie, and therefore an offence against God, who is the truth. This\nis what St. Paul tells us in this very Epistle of to-day. \"Put\non,\" he says, \"the new man, who, _according to God_, is\ncreated in justice and holiness of truth. Wherefore,\" he\ncontinues, \"putting away lying, speak ye the truth every man with\nhis neighbor.\"\n\nYes, my brethren, God is the truth, and he infinitely loves the\ntruth, in himself and in his creatures. He does not wish us to\nsacrifice it in the slightest degree, even to save the whole\nworld from destruction. There is harm in a lie, then; harm, if I\nmay say so, to God himself and to his dearest interests. Do not\nthink, then, to save his interests, or any one else's, by lying.\nTell the truth and let him look out for the consequences. Tell\nthe truth for God's sake, because he loves it, and hates a lie;\ntell the truth, and love the truth, for its own sake. We are, as\nSt. Paul says, \"created according to God, in holiness of truth\";\nlet us keep the pattern to which we have been made.\n\nStop, then, deliberate lying for a purpose, which is but too\ncommon. But also be careful in what you say; try not even to fall\ninto falsehood thoughtlessly. Let it be your honest pride that\nyour word is as good as your oath.\n\n-------------------\n\n{452}\n\n _Twentieth Sunday after Pentecost._\n\n\n Epistle.\n _Ephesians v._ 15-21.\n\n See, brethren, how you walk circumspectly: not as unwise, but\n as wise: redeeming the time, for the days are evil. Wherefore\n become not unwise, but understanding what is the will of God.\n And be not drunk with wine, wherein is luxury, but be ye filled\n with the Holy Spirit. Speaking to yourselves in psalms and\n hymns, and spiritual canticles, singing and making melody in\n your hearts to the Lord: giving thanks always for all things,\n in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, to God and the Father:\n being subject one to another in the fear of Christ.\n\n\n Gospel.\n _St. John iv._ 46-53.\n\n At that time:\n There was a certain ruler whose son was sick at Capharnaum. He\n having heard that Jesus was come from Judea into Galilee, went\n to him, and prayed him to come down and heal his son, for he\n was at the point of death. Then Jesus said to him: Unless you\n see signs and wonders, you believe not. The ruler saith to him:\n Sir, come down before that my son die. Jesus saith to him: Go\n thy way, thy son liveth. The man believed the word which Jesus\n said to him, and went his way. And as he was going down, his\n servants met him: and they brought word, saying that his son\n lived. He asked therefore of them the hour wherein he grew\n better. And they said to him: Yesterday at the seventh hour the\n fever left him. The father therefore knew that it was at the\n same hour that Jesus said to him, Thy son liveth; and himself\n believed, and his whole house.\n\n-------------------\n\n{453}\n\n Sermon CXXXVIII.\n\n Christian Marriage.\n\nMy dear brethren, we shall, on this occasion, occupy the short\ntime allotted to us with some remarks on a most important\nsubject, namely, that of Christian marriage. We ask for your\nespecial attention to what we have to say on this matter, on\naccount of the great bearing which it has on your happiness both\nhere and hereafter, and hope that you will endeavor to understand\nthoroughly the teaching of the church regarding it, and that you\nwill resolve not only to obey the laws, but also to follow her\nsuggestions and be governed by her spirit in an affair in which\nyour welfare is so deeply concerned.\n\nThe great majority of Christians, as well as of the world in\ngeneral, are called in the providence of God to the state of\nmarriage; and their calling is as truly a divine vocation as that\nof others to the religious life and to the priesthood. If, then,\nthe priest or the religious cannot expect to save his soul if he\nneglects the virtues and the duties proper to his state, neither\ncan those who enter the state of matrimony, if they do not\nappreciate and endeavor to fulfil the requirements and conditions\nwhich God has attached to it; if they rush into it without\nthought, and remain in it simply from convenience or necessity,\nwithout realizing its responsibilities or feeling the burden\nwhich it imposes on their consciences.\n\n{454}\n\nAnd yet this is what very many seem to do. Of course we take it\nfor granted that a Catholic, worthy the name, will not marry a\nperson of a different religion. But one should not marry a bad\nCatholic. Many appear to be indifferent in this matter to their\neternal salvation and act as if conscience and religion had\nnothing to do with it, but they disregard and fling to the winds\neven the most common and obvious dictates of prudence as to their\ncomfort and peace in this world. What possible hope of happiness\nin married life, for instance, can a young woman have who unites\nher destiny with that of a man who is evidently falling, if,\nindeed, he has not already fallen, into confirmed habits of\nintemperance; whose past and present life gives no assurance of\nadvancement or worldly success, but, on the other hand, every\nindication of the drunkard's failure, ruin, and degradation? What\ncan she be thinking of who, for a mere fancy or caprice, accepts\nthe offer of one to stand as her protector and support whose\nselfish and beastly appetites are sure to make him soon trample\nher under his feet, and treat her merely as a drudge to be\nstarved with her children in order that he may gratify his\npassion for drink, and to be kicked and beaten if she so much as\nimplores him to reform? Or how can she dare to take for her\nhusband one whose sensual passion is certain soon to extinguish\nevery spark of true love he may have felt for her, and who will,\nbefore long, be unfaithful to her for the very reason that made\nhim at first seem faithful?\n\nIt is painful to speak of these things; but, unfortunately, the\nfrequency of such cases obliges us to do so. Such miseries in\nmarriage cannot be considered, at least in cities like this, as\nexceptional and extraordinary; no, they must be taken into\naccount, not as mere possibilities, but as actual realities. And,\nof course, there are others which we have not time to enumerate;\nthe ones of which I have spoken will serve as examples.\n{455}\nIt is, then, the part not only of Christian prudence but also of\nworldly common sense, to make sure, as far as possible, to avoid\nthese dangers. It is far better to remain single than to make a\nbad marriage; let every one, then, before taking this most\nimportant of all steps in life, look carefully where it will\nlead. Let every one, and certainly every Christian, before\nselecting a companion for life, whose place no one else can take,\nsatisfy himself or herself that the one who is thus selected has\nthe qualities that are calculated to insure happiness to both\nparties; that he or she has natural virtues and good habits, well\nand solidly formed; at least industry, sobriety, and those\nqualities in general which business-men, for example, try to\nsecure in those who are to be charged with matters of far less\nconsequence than the support and care of a family.\n\n-------------------\n\n Sermon CXXXIX.\n\n Mortification Of Our Lower Nature.\n\n\n _Now if we be dead with Christ\n we believe that we shall live also together with Christ._\n --From the Epistle of the Sunday.\n\n\nThe meaning of the Apostle, my brethren, is expressed in one\ngreat Catholic word--mortification. The lower nature that is in\nus must be put to death that the higher may live. The animal must\ndie that the man may live. And if literal death be not hereby\nsignified, yet so really destructive of mere appetite is the\nChristian's union with Christ that mortification or putting to\ndeath is one condition of obtaining it.\n{456}\nHuman ease and pleasure are opposed to the soul's fulfilment of\nits destiny. In itself no doubt the natural joy of this life is\nnot evil. But there is no joy of man simply \"in itself.\" It all\nflows from that root of bitterness which original sin planted in\nour hearts, and which makes it necessary that we be not simply\nobedient to God's law, but \"born again\"; \"for,\" says the Apostle\nin this same Sunday's Epistle, \"we are buried together with\nChrist by baptism into death, that as Christ is risen from the\ndead by the glory of the Father, so we also may walk in newness\nof life.\" \"Knowing this: that our old man is crucified with him,\nthat the body of sin may be destroyed.\" \"For he that is dead is\njustified from sin.\"\n\nThese are very strong words, my brethren. They and the many other\nsuch words in Holy Scripture have much to do with explaining our\nreligion--the cross on our churches, the crucifix over our\naltars, the shamefaced confession, the constant self-denial; even\nthe plaintive tones of the church's voice in her chants, even the\ntouch of sadness in her most joyful offices. Indeed, the true joy\nof a Christian is in the theological virtue of hope--is placed in\na paradise which for him is yet to begin. He is too hardly\npressed with the conflict of his higher and lower nature to be\nquite happy, except in anticipation of a victory never fully\ngained this side the grave. And it is only when the very taste\nfor ease and pleasure has become blunted that the consolations of\nthe Holy Spirit begin to be felt. The whole inner life of a\nChristian is regulated by his power to deny himself, and to deny\nhimself, especially in outward things--in eating and drinking, in\nworking and resting, in seeing and hearing.\n\n{457}\n\nTo noble spirits the very innocent care of the body is irksome;\nand this from no sin of sloth, but because the soul, absorbed in\nhigh spiritual things, is vexed by the mean things of our animal\nnature. Hence the every-day business of a religious man is to\nrestrain the headlong folly of corrupt nature by the bit and\nbridle of mortification. And this is every Christian's duty.\nThough one may feel no call but to the ordinary Christian state,\nyet is he plainly called to self-denial. Outside the church there\nis little or nothing of the practical self-restraint of the\nGospel. And even among ourselves many are forgetful of this war\nof the spirit against the flesh, except at the rare intervals of\ninfrequent confession or during such seasons as Lent and Advent.\nThe need of constant self-denial is one of those truths that the\never-flowing waters of forgetfulness wash out of our memories the\nquickest. Hence it is related of St. Philip Neri that he was\naccustomed to say in the morning: \"Lord, keep thy hand upon\nPhilip to day, or, Lord! Philip will betray thee.\"\n\nSo, my brethren, there is no grace you have more need to pray for\nthan the strength of will to practise some daily mortification.\nNay, pray for the grace to accept those that God sends every day\nand it is enough. Oh! if we could bear patiently for the love of\nGod with his own visitations, with such things as sickness of\nbody and dulness of mind, with poverty and disappointment, with\nthe evil temper of other members of the family, their stupidity\nand selfishness, we should soon be safe. Brethren, we are all\nnovices, and God is the universal novice-master, and these are\nhis daily mortifications. Others he gives us, too, through the\nministry of holy church. Not a week passes over but we must give\none day to God and to our better selves by abstinence from flesh\nmeat.\n{458}\nNot a season goes by but the three Ember days are set apart for\nhunger and thirst. Holy Advent, the penitential season of Lent,\nmake a loud call--would it were better heeded--on our higher\nnature to reduce the beast to subjection. Meantime, if one wants\nmore self-denial, let him advise with his father confessor, let\nhim consult spiritual writers, let him hearken to the spirit of\nGod within him, always bearing in mind that beyond such\nmortifications as are of obligation it is not prudent to go,\nexcept by advice of a prudent spiritual adviser.\n\n-------------------\n\n Sermon CXL.\n\n The Value Of Time.\n\n\n _Redeeming the time._\n --Epistle of the Day.\n\n\nThere is a precious treasure, my dear brethren, which is always\npartly, but only partly, in our possession. Now and then we wake\nup to the conviction how valuable it is. There is something which\nmust be done, and there is only just time to do it in; we wish\nthere were more, but no, only just so much is allotted to us.\nThen we realize how priceless time is. The sinner, suddenly\nstruck down by some terrible accident, and with only a few\nminutes to live--what would he not give for a half-hour more;\nfor time to look into his confused and disturbed conscience; for\ntime to rouse himself to real contrition for his sins; for time,\nat least, to send for a priest, and with his help make some sort\nof preparation for eternity!\n\n{459}\n\nBut it is not only at the end of our lives, or in moments of such\nsupreme importance, that we would pay for time with gold, or with\nother things upon which we set great value here. Often we would\ngive much to be able to put ourselves back a day or even an hour\nin our lives; what an advantage it would give us! We look back on\nmany hours and days in the past; there they were, once at our\nservice, but now squandered and gone for ever.\n\nTime, then, is this precious treasure, which we shall never\nwholly lose till we pass out of this world for ever. Its golden\nsands are running rapidly away from us, but still some remain.\nThe uncertainty how much of it is still left should make us put\nto the best use each instant as it passes. Who would not draw\nprudently from a chest in which his whole fortune was locked up,\nif its amount were unknown to him, if the next demand might\nexhaust it; and who would not put to the best use each penny that\nhe drew?\n\nThis is the instruction, the warning that the Apostle gives us in\nto-day's Epistle: \"To walk circumspectly; not as unwise, but as\nwise, redeeming the time.\" Saving it--that is to say, not letting\nit slip by us idly and unprofitably; not only having it while it\nlasts, but receiving also the precious fruits with which it is\nladen.\n\nHow much this caution is needed! How careless we are about this\npriceless possession which is ours from moment to moment! Some\npart of it indeed we are generally obliged to employ, and\nfortunate we are that it is so, in some occupation of profit to\nourselves or to others.\n{460}\nYes, fortunate; for that man must earn his bread by the toil of\nhis body or mind is hardly after the fall a curse, but rather a\nblessing. Place fallen human nature in the paradise of our first\nparents, and its final loss could hardly be averted. But the\nrest: how often do we see, when work is over, that the only\nthought, even of Christians, is to get rid of this invaluable\ngift, the precious time which God has given them! They seem to\nhave no thought but to lose themselves and it in some mere\nsensual pleasure, to fritter it away in gossip or some foolish\nand needless diversion, or to forget it and throw it away in\nslothful and unnecessary sleep.\n\nBrethren, some day we shall want all this time that we are now\nwasting. Then it will stand out before us in its true value; we\nshall see that it should have been redeemed, and that it is now\nirredeemable. And what is more, God, who gave it to us, will\nrequire an account of it at our hands. He gave it to us for an\nobject; there is not a minute of it that he did not mean us to\nturn to good use. And we can carry out his purpose if we only\nwill. Let us, then, beware of idleness; even our recreation and\nrest should be such that we can feel that he would approve of\nthem, and that they will help us in our remaining hours to do the\nwork that he has required and expects us to do. To kill time--let\nthis be a word unheard among us; to kill time is to trample down\nthe seed of eternal life and to invite death to our souls.\n\n-------------------\n\n{461}\n\n _Twenty-first Sunday after Pentecost._\n\n\n Epistle.\n _Ephesians vi._ 10-17.\n\n Brethren:\n Be strengthened in the Lord, and in the might of his power. Put\n you on the armor of God, that you may be able to stand against\n the snares of the devil. For our wrestling is not against flesh\n and blood: but against principalities and powers, against the\n rulers of the world of this darkness, against the spirits of\n wickedness in the high places. Wherefore take unto you the\n armor of God, that you may be able to resist in the evil day,\n and to stand in all things perfect. Stand, therefore, having\n your loins girt about with truth, and having on the breastplate\n of justice: and your feet shod with the preparation of the\n gospel of peace: in all things taking the shield of faith,\n wherewith you may be able to extinguish all the fiery darts of\n the most wicked one. And take unto you the helmet of salvation;\n and the sword of the Spirit (which is the word of God).\n\n\n Gospel.\n _St. Matthew xviii._ 23-35.\n\n At that time Jesus spoke to his disciples this parable:\n The kingdom of heaven is likened to a king, who would take an\n account of his servants. And when he had begun to take the\n account, one was brought to him that owed him ten thousand\n talents. And as he had not wherewith to pay it, his lord\n commanded that, he should be sold, and his wife and children,\n and all that he had, and payment to be made. But that servant,\n falling down, besought him, saying: Have patience with me, and\n I will pay thee all. And the lord of that servant being moved\n with compassion, let him go, and forgave him the debt.\n{462}\n But when that servant was gone out, he found one of his\n fellow-servants that owed him a hundred pence; and laying hold\n of him, he throttled him, saying: Pay what thou, owest. And his\n fellow-servant, falling down, besought him, saying: Have\n patience with me, and I will pay thee all. And he would not:\n but went and cast him into prison, till he should pay the debt.\n Now his fellow-servants, seeing what was done, were very much\n grieved, and they came and told their lord all that was done.\n Then his lord called him, and said to him: Thou wicked servant!\n I forgave thee all the debt, because thou besoughtest me:\n shouldst not thou then have had compassion also on thy\n fellow-servant, even as I had compassion on thee? And his lord\n being angry, delivered him to the torturers until he should pay\n all the debt. So also shall my heavenly Father do to you, if\n you forgive not every one his brother from your hearts.\n\n-------------------\n\n Sermon CXLI.\n\n Forgiveness Of Injuries.\n\n\n _Shouldst not thou then have had compassion\n on thy fellow-servant,\n even as I had compassion on thee?_\n --St. Matthew, xviii. 33\n\n\nThese words of to-day's Gospel are spoken by our Lord to every\none who has been wanting in charity to his neighbor. Each one of\nus, as a servant of God, as a steward of the gifts, both temporal\nand spiritual, which he has entrusted to us that we may use them\nfor the furtherance of his honor and glory, is a heavy debtor to\nthe divine justice. But his mercy and love are always ready to\ntemper his justice, if only we show the proper dispositions, if\nonly we bend our rebellious wills to the condition he requires of\nus, without which it is impossible for us to obtain forgiveness.\n{463}\nThis condition is found in the oft-repeated but little thought of\npetition of the Lord's Prayer: \"Forgive us our trespasses, as we\nforgive those that trespass against us.\" The servant in the\nparable received forgiveness from his lord for the sum of ten\nthousand talents (a very large sum of money), yet he was\nunmerciful to his fellow-servant, who owed him a hundred pence.\nThe difference between these sums is by no means so great as the\ndifference between our offences against Almighty God and those of\nour brethren against us. If we could only realize who it is that\nwe have offended, and then reflect as well upon our ingratitude\nin offending him, as upon the innumerable benefits he has\nshowered upon us, we might form some faint idea of the gravity of\nour sin, and of the immense debt that we owe to his justice. We\ncould not then refuse forgiveness to our neighbor for the\ntrifling, and perhaps merely fancied, injuries that we may have\nsuffered from him. \"With what measure you shall mete, it shall be\nmeasured to you again.\" \"If you forgive not every one his brother\nfrom your hearts,\" you cannot hope for pardon from God.\n\nHow, then, can we best practise this forgiveness which is so\nnecessary for us? In the first place, it must be earnest and\nsincere forgiveness. It must be \"from your hearts,\" as our Lord\nsays. No mere outward show of forgiveness will be enough, for God\nsees the heart, and no appearances will satisfy him. But, on the\nother hand, the forgiveness will not be real and earnest unless\nit be shown outwardly. Many profess their willingness to forgive\nwho yet show resentment and a spirit of revenge in many little\nways, by looks, words, and actions which prove that there is no\nreal forgiveness in the heart.\n{464}\nThen again we find persons who, when they are urged to forgive\nsome wrong, answer: \"Well, father, I suppose I must forgive, if\nyou tell me so.\" It is plain that this is but a very unwilling\nand faint-hearted forgiveness, which, will not answer before God.\nWhy will not the generosity of God towards us lead us to show a\nlike spirit towards our brethren?\n\nWe should strive to forgive offences the moment they are\ncommitted against us. Our natural impulse when any insult is\noffered to us is to resent it at once, and pay back in the same\ncoin. How different is this from the example set us by our Lord,\n\"Who, when he was reviled, did not revile; when he suffered, he\nthreatened not.\" We should check the first uprisings of\nresentment, and keep back the angry reply, in imitation of our\nBlessed Lord's silence before his accusers and tormentors. By the\npractice of this Christian silence many a feud of long\ncontinuance would be prevented.\n\nWe must also \"lay aside all malice,\" and be ready, when an injury\nhas been done, to be reconciled with our offending brother. This\nis often very hard for us to do, and very repugnant to our\nnatural inclinations, but it is, nevertheless, absolutely\nnecessary. If we bear malice towards any one, we are not worthy\nof the name of Christians, or followers of Christ.\n\nTry, then, to put in practice the teaching of this day's Gospel,\nand forgive from your heart those who have offended you, showing\nyour forgiveness by your words and acts. There is nothing more\nscandalous and injurious to the Christian name than constant\nquarrels and long-continued animosities between those who go\nregularly to the sacraments. Follow, then, the injunction of St.\nPaul: \"Let all bitterness, and anger, and indignation, and\nclamor, and blasphemy be taken away from you, with all malice.\nAnd be ye kind to one another, merciful, forgiving one another,\neven as God has forgiven you in Christ.\"\n\n-------------------\n\n{465}\n\n Sermon CXLII.\n\n Gossiping.\n\n\n _Laying hold of him he throttled him, saying:\n Pay me what thou owest._\n --Words Taken From To-day's Gospel.\n\n\nThe Gospel of this Sunday, my dear brethren, inculcates in the\nstrongest possible way the distinctively Christian virtue of\nbrotherly love--the duty, that is, of cherishing a spirit of\ncharity and consideration for other men, and especially of\nforgiving any injuries which they may have done us. This\nobligation is, however, so clearly and frequently and earnestly\nenforced in the New Testament, and from our earliest days has\nbeen brought home to us in so many ways, that at first sight it\nmight seem that I could do something better this morning than to\ngo back to such an old and familiar subject. And yet, old and\nfamiliar as it is, every-day life affords so many proofs that we\ndo not carry our knowledge into practice that I am sure that nine\nin every ten, perhaps ninety-nine in every hundred, stand in need\nof being reminded of this old and familiar though badly learned\nlesson.\n\n{466}\n\nFor of what is the every-day talk of most women and a great\nnumber of men made up, if not of ill-natured criticism and\ndepreciation of their acquaintances, neighbors, and even friends?\nIn the words of St. Paul, are we not continually biting and\ndevouring one another? Are not the newspapers filled with stories\nwhich pander to this uncharitable spirit? What, in short, is more\ncommon than detraction, and even slander? Yet even these evils,\ngrave and deadly as they are, are but small compared with other\nmanifestations of this same uncharitable spirit. Why, I have been\ntold of people who have worked side by side in the same\nwork-shop, attended the same church, even knelt at the same\naltar-rail, and yet, for some trifling cause or other, have\nrefused to speak to one another for years! What trouble priests\nhave with people who come to confession to them! Sometimes the\nvery most they can get is a vague, half-hearted expression of\nforgiveness, but on no account can they in some cases induce\ntheir penitents to extend to one another that which is due to\nevery man, be he Jew or Turk, Catholic or Protestant--the\nordinary salutations which civility requires.\n\nNow, that all this is wrong is evident. Not one of us is so blind\nas not to be able to see that. But what the Gospel to-day points\nout, and what I wish to present to your serious consideration\nthis morning, is the very unpleasant consequences which will\ninfallibly follow upon such conduct. We know the story very well.\nA slave is in debt to his master for a very large amount--an\namount which, while quite willing, he is utterly unable to pay.\nHis master releases him from this debt. Whereupon this fine\nfellow, meeting a brother-slave who owed him a paltry sum,\naccosts him in the brutal manner mentioned in the text, demands\nimmediate payment of the money, and, not withstanding the\ndebtor's entreaties and his willingness to make it good as soon\nas possible, locks him up in prison until the amount is\nforthcoming.\n{467}\nThereupon his conduct is brought to the knowledge of their\nmaster. He at once summons the wicked slave before him and\n\"delivers him to the torturers until he pays all the debt.\" Then\nour Lord says, and I ask for your serious attention to his words:\n\"So also shall my Heavenly Father do to you if you forgive not\nevery one his brother from your hearts.\"\n\nOf course, it is unnecessary to point out how strictly this\napplies to us. Many other texts might be cited from the Gospels\nto the same effect. One only I will mention, and that is, that we\ncannot say an \"Our Father\" without making the very forgiveness of\nour sins, which we ask for, dependent upon our forgiveness of the\nfaults of others. We must forgive if we wish to be forgiven, and\nthis forgiveness must be from the heart; no mere form of words,\nsufficient to satisfy men, but it must be a forgiveness sincere\nand genuine, such as to satisfy God, the searcher of hearts,\nbefore whom we must appear to give an account of our whole life.\n\n-------------------\n\n Sermon CXLIII.\n\n Mixed Marriages.\n\n\nI wish to give a short instruction on the Sacrament of Matrimony\nthis morning.\n\n{468}\n\nIf a marriage with a merely nominal Catholic be fraught with\ndangerous consequences, and be the cause of much disturbance and\nanxiety to one who wishes to be a Christian in deed as well as in\nname--and that it is so I think all will agree--what shall we say\nof a mixed marriage, as it is called--of the union of a Catholic\nwith one who holds religious views opposed to the faith of the\nchurch, or who, perhaps, has no belief or religion at all? How\ncan any true harmony or peace be expected when there is\ndiscordance in the matter of religion, which lies nearest to the\nheart, and is more thoroughly interwoven in all the ideas,\nopinions, feelings, and practices of a practical Catholic than\nany other whatever?\n\nSympathy, union of interests and desires, of plans, hopes, and\nefforts, must exist in all true friendship; nay, more, without it\nassociation or companionship of any kind soon becomes a burden.\nThere is no remedy for this except by dropping or putting in the\nback ground those aspirations and affections which are not shared\nby the other party. And what is true of all friendship is, of\ncourse, true above all of that which should be the highest,\nnearest, and dearest of all friendships--namely, that of\nmarriage. The only way for a Catholic to be at all happy in a\nmixed marriage is to put religion in the background; to regard\nit, as, unfortunately, too many do, as a matter of very little\nimportance; as something to be professed, indeed, and\noccasionally practised, but which is to have no special influence\non the general course and tenor of one's life.\n\n{469}\n\nHow can a Catholic wife, for instance, who is earnest about her\nreligion be really happy with a husband who cannot attach any\nimportance to, or see any sense in, her practices of devotion; to\nwhom holy Mass, Benediction, the sacraments, the veneration of\nthe saints and angels, and many other things which are her great\nhelps and consolations in life, are mere idle mummeries and\nsuperstitions; who looks contemptuously on her observance of\nLent, of Fridays, and fast days; who considers all the teachings\nand laws of the church an imposition and a fraud, to be done away\nwith as far as possible; who, in short, either looks forward to\nnothing at all beyond this life, or, if he hopes for heaven, has\na different one from hers, and seeks for it in a different way?\nThe only plan that can be followed to secure even a seeming peace\nand agreement is to bring down the Catholic religion to its\nlowest level, to make out that it is not so very different from\nProtestantism after all; to be content with Mass on Sundays; to\neat meat on Fridays whenever it is more convenient; to let the\npope and the church generally get on as best they can, and to say\nno more about them than can be helped. Yes, this mixture even in\nthe Catholic party of Catholic and Protestant is only too likely\nto be the result of a mixed marriage.\n\nI know that it may be said, and with truth, that Protestants are\nnot always prejudiced against our religion; that sometimes a\nProtestant husband is not only willing but anxious that his\nCatholic wife should attend thoroughly to her religious duties;\nand we find cases of Protestant wives even becoming Catholics,\nmainly, as it would seem, to induce by their example a more\nfaithful practice of religion in their Catholic husbands. But\nthese are results which we have no right to expect--no, not even\nif they are promised beforehand. And too often we find a state of\nthings in a mixed marriage much worse than what I have described.\n{470}\nWe find, in spite of the most solemn promises made beforehand, a\nbitter and shameless persecution; Mass and the sacraments\nforbidden; children denied not only Catholic instruction, but\neven the grace of baptism; the priest not allowed in the house\neven in time of sickness, and nearly all hope gone of receiving\nthe last rites of the church at the hour of death. We do not wish\nto blame the Protestant party too much in these cases; he may be\nacting according to his conscience, but such a conscience, though\nperhaps good enough for him, is not one which a Catholic should\nrun the risk of being governed by.\n\n-------------------\n\n{471}\n\n _Twenty-second Sunday after Pentecost._\n\n\n Epistle.\n _Philippians i._ 6-11.\n\n Brethren:\n We are confident of this very thing, that he, who hath begun a\n good work in you, will perfect it unto the day of Christ Jesus.\n As it is meet for me to think this for you all: because I have\n you in my heart; and that in my bonds, and in the defence, and\n confirmation of the gospel, you all are partakers of my joy.\n For God is my witness, how I long after you all in the bowels\n of Jesus Christ. And this I pray, that your charity may more\n and more abound in knowledge, and in all understanding: that\n you may approve the better things, that you may be sincere and\n without offence unto the day of Christ. Replenished with the\n fruit of justice through Jesus Christ, unto the glory and\n praise of God.\n\n\n Gospel.\n _St. Matthew xxii._ 15-21.\n\n At that time:\n The Pharisees going away, consulted among themselves how to\n ensnare Jesus in his speech. And they sent to him their\n disciples with the Herodians, saying: Master, we know that thou\n art a true speaker, and teachest the way of God in truth,\n neither carest thou for any man; for thou dost not regard the\n person of men. Tell us, therefore, what dost thou think, Is it\n lawful to give tribute to C\u00e6sar, or not? But Jesus, knowing\n their wickedness, said: Why do you tempt me, ye hypocrites?\n Show me the coin of the tribute. And they offered him a penny.\n And Jesus saith to them: Whose image and inscription is this?\n They say unto him: C\u00e6sar's. Then he saith to them: Render,\n therefore, to C\u00e6sar the things that are C\u00e6sar's, and to God the\n things that are God's.\n\n-------------------\n\n{472}\n\n Sermon CXLIV.\n\n Obedience To The Civil Authorities.\n\n\n _Render therefore to C\u00e6sar\n the things that are C\u00e6sar's,\n and to God the things that are God's._\n --Matthew xxii. 21\n\n\nOur Lord made this reply, my dear brethren, to the question of\nsome who asked him whether it was lawful to give tribute to\nCaesar or not; or, in other words, whether it was right to pay\ntaxes to support the government of the Roman Empire, to which the\nJews were then subjected, and which was a pagan, and in many ways\nan impious and ungodly power. They hoped that he would say that\nit was not; for if he did, they would have a very good charge to\nmake against him before the Roman governor, as one who was a\nrebel and a disobeyer of the laws; and could thus bring about his\nruin, which they earnestly desired. Now, if it really had been\nwrong to pay these taxes Christ would of course have said so;\nfor, as they had said to him in truth, though they meant it as\nflattery, he was a true speaker, and would not betray the truth\nto please any man or to escape any danger. But instead of\nanswering in this way, as they hoped, he surprised them by saying\nthat they ought to pay the taxes which were imposed on them; he\ncommanded them to obey the power, hateful in many ways as it was,\nwhose subjects they were.\n\nWe must, therefore, conclude that the power of the state, or the\nlaw of the land as it is called, has a real claim in the name of\nGod and of Christ to our obedience. For if our Lord required\nthose who heard him to obey the Roman authorities, he would also\nrequire us to obey the duly constituted authorities under which\nwe live at any time. For the cruel and persecuting pagan empire\nof Rome was surely no more worthy of respect and obedience than\nany other under which our lot is like to be cast.\n\n{473}\n\nAnd if we could have any doubt as to our duty in conscience on\nthis point, St. Paul confirms this lesson most emphatically.\n\"There is no power,\" he says, \"but from God; and those that are,\nare ordained of God. ... And they that resist purchase to\nthemselves damnation. ... Wherefore be subject of necessity, not\nonly for wrath\" (that is, for fear of the consequences) \"but also\nfor conscience sake.\" And coming to the very matter of which our\nLord has spoken, he proceeds: \"Render, therefore, to all men\ntheir dues. Tribute to whom tribute is due; custom to whom\ncustom.\"\n\nWe see then clearly, my brethren, that the laws of the land bind\nus in conscience. And we do not by any means need to go back to\napostolic times to find instruction to this effect. The\nsuccessors of St. Peter, and those teaching in union with them,\nhave always insisted on this duty of obedience to the civil power\nvery strongly. Only last year, for instance, our Holy Father,\nPope Leo XIII., has, in an encyclical letter, taught it to us\nvery clearly. \"The church,\" he says, \"rightly teaches that the\npower of the state comes from God.\" And he tells us that,\nwhatever the form of government may be--that is, whether the\nrulers are chosen by the people or not--it is not simply from\nthe people that their right to rule and to be obeyed comes; the\npeople in an elective government do not make the power, although\nthey designate the person or persons in whom the power of God is\nto rest.\n\n{474}\n\nOf course no one denies that the civil power may, in particular\ncases, forfeit its claim to our obedience by requiring of us\nthings manifestly unjust or plainly contrary to the law of God or\nof the church; as, for instance, if it should require us to\nattend Protestant worship, or should forbid us to make our Easter\nduty. But such cases are very rare, at least here in this\ncountry. We shall know easily enough when they arise. There is\nlittle fear, as things now are, of too great respect for law\namong us; the danger, rather, is of our regarding laws as the\nmere decisions of a majority, to which we have to submit as far\nas we cannot help it, and because we cannot help it, but to which\nwe owe no interior reverence, and by breaking which we commit no\nsin. Whereas the truth is that we do sin by breaking any law of\nthe land which is not manifestly unjust or contrary to the rights\nof God and the obedience we owe to him.\n\nRemember, then, my brethren, to render to C\u00e6sar the things that\nare C\u00e6sar's. The President, Congress, our governors and\nlegislatures, and the other powers that be are really God's\nvicegerents, though not in so high an order as the spiritual;\nstill in their own place they truly act in God's name. Find out\nand consider what they require; confess and amend any disregard\nor disrespect for their laws, unless you wish to be guilty of\ncontempt and disobedience to him from whom all law comes.\n\n-------------------\n\n{475}\n\n Sermon CXLV.\n\n Thanksgiving Day.\n\n\n _Giving thanks to God the Father._\n --Colossians i. 12.\n\n\nThis week, as you know, my brethren, a day has been appointed by\nthe civil authorities, according to long-established custom,\nwhich we are invited to devote specially to thanksgiving for the\nmany blessings which we have received from God during the year.\nAnd though the observance of this day is not an ecclesiastical\nobligation, yet there is a singular appropriateness in it for us\non account of its falling just at the close of the year which the\nchurch celebrates. At this time, when we have completed the round\nof the mysteries of our faith, and are about to recommence it in\nthe season of Advent, it must naturally occur to us to look back\nand thank God, not only for all his temporal benefits, but also\nand especially for the spiritual blessings which he has given us,\nand which we have just finished commemorating.\n\nEven in the temporal order, however, we have abundant cause to be\ngrateful to God. True, we have had our trials and sufferings,\nsome more, some less; though even these we can perhaps even now\nsee, and shall see more clearly hereafter, to have been blessings\nin disguise. But we have had much happiness and comfort in spite\nof these trials. Surely we ought not to pass this by unnoticed.\n\nBut this is just what we are too likely to do. Somehow or other,\nwe are all apt to take things when they go right as a matter of\ncourse, and only to notice them when they go wrong. When we are\nsick we complain and make a great fuss, and perhaps are not\nsatisfied unless we can make everybody else unhappy as well as\nourselves; but when we are well, that is just as it should be: no\nthanks to anybody for that.\n{476}\nNo thanks to God, whose loving care and providence are necessary,\nand are given to us at each moment of our lives, and who is\ncontinually warding off from us a thousand dangers to which we\nare exposed, often through our own fault; no thanks to him whose\nangels watch over us to keep us in all our ways. By our ignorance\nand imprudence we are frequently endangering this wondrous life\nwhich he has given us; with all the science in the world, we do\nnot understand it and could not direct it; it is he who causes\nour breath to come, our hearts to beat, and our blood to flow in\nour veins.\n\nSo also in the common affairs of life, our industry and skill\nwould avail nothing if God did not come to our assistance. If our\nwork or business prospers at all, it is due to him; it is his\nfree gift. And all the conveniences of modern life which we pride\nourselves so much on are the fruits of his power and skill which\nhe lends us. It is he who shines on us, not only by the sun and\nmoon, but also in those lights which we think that we ourselves\nproduce; it is he who sends our telegraphic messages for us, who\ncarries us where we will in our steamers and railway trains.\n\nThese perpetual and ordinary comforts of life, then, in which we\nall share, as well as our very life itself, are God's gift. And\nbeside these, are there not more blessings which we can see if we\nlook back on the year, standing out from the rest? Have we\nthanked him for all these? If not, let us then really make this a\ntime to atone for past neglect; a time of thanksgiving in deed as\nwell as in name.\n\n{477}\n\nBut, above all, let us, whom he has given the signal and\nunspeakable blessing of the true faith, thank him for that. To\nthose who have just come from the doubt and confusion of the\nworld outside this true church this is a happiness which\noutweighs all troubles, a perpetual sunshine which drives away\nall clouds. Why should it not be so to us all? This is what St.\nPaul in his epistle wishes that it should be. \"Giving thanks,\" he\nsays, \"to God the Father, who has made us worthy to be partakers\nof the lot of the saints in light, who hath delivered us from the\npower of darkness, and hath translated us into the kingdom of the\nSon of his love, in whom we have redemption through his Blood,\nthe remission of sins.\" Let us think on these words, and see if\nthere is not enough in them to make at least one Thanksgiving\nday.\n\n-------------------\n\n Sermon CXLVI.\n\n The Communion Of Saints.\n\n\nWe are so near the Feast of All Saints and the commemoration of\nall the faithful departed--All Souls day--that we may well let\nour affectionate thoughts follow after our brethren who have gone\nbefore us and sleep in the peace of Christ.\n\nThere is scarcely one of us, dear brethren, who has not been\nfamiliar from childhood with the article of the Apostles Creed,\n\"I believe in the communion of saints\"; and there are few, if\nany, who have not derived consolation from this dogma of our\nfaith, teaching, as it does, that we are not entirely cut off\nfrom those who have gone before us, but form with them one great\nfamily, of which the head is Christ and the members the souls of\nthe just, whether in heaven or in purgatory, or still in the\nflesh.\n\n{478}\n\nBut if this truth of holy religion brings consolation, it brings\nalso the duty of praying for our brethren who are passing through\nthe cleansing fires of purgatory; who, because of sin or the debt\ndue for sin, cannot enter their eternal home until they have\nrepaid the last farthing. They can do nothing for\nthemselves--their day of meriting is past; they look to us who\nare their friends to help them.\n\nWhile they were with us they were very dear to us--bound to us\nby ties of blood or friendship. Let us do our duty to them now;\nlet us, by our good works in their behalf, show how much we love\nthem; let us show that our affection for them was not selfish nor\npretended, but so real and strong and lasting that death has but\nstrengthened it and brought it to its fulness.\n\nWhat one of us but has his daily task--his allotted work? Yet as\neach day brings its own burdens, so each day is full of\nopportunities of gaining indulgence for the souls in purgatory.\nThe many inconveniences we all of us are called upon to suffer,\nthe many sacrifices of comfort and of pleasure we make, the\ndisappointments we meet with, the fatigues we bear--all these may\nbe made sources of refreshment to our friends beyond the grave.\nIf in the morning we would but offer to God all we shall do and\nsuffer during the day for his honor and glory, and for the relief\nof the departed, oh! how soon would the angels welcome them to\ntheir true country, and how many advocates we should have before\nthe throne of God!\n\n{479}\n\nBut if so much can be done without any particular effort on our\npart, what shall we say of the efficacy of the special prayers we\nrecite for them and the Masses we have offered for their repose!\nHow shall we tell of their gratitude, of their unceasing\nsupplications for us! We lose nothing, dear brethren, by praying\nfor them; be assured we are rather the gainers, for not only do\nthey pray for us, but more--our charity towards them deepens in\nour souls our love for God, and makes us thirst the more after\nvirtue and holiness, and wins for us a higher place in heaven and\na brighter crown of everlasting glory. Let us be generous, then;\nlet us storm heaven with our prayers for the souls in purgatory,\nand we shall find rest for ourselves as well as for them.\n\n-------------------\n\n{480}\n\n _Twenty-third Sunday after Pentecost._\n\n\n Epistle.\n _Philippians iii._ 17; iv. 3.\n\n Be followers of me, brethren, and observe them who walk so as\n you have our model. For many walk, of whom I have told you\n often (and now tell you weeping) that they are enemies of the\n cross of Christ: whose end is destruction, whose God is their\n belly, and whose glory is in their shame: who mind earthly\n things. But our conversation is in heaven: from whence also we\n wait for the Saviour, our Lord Jesus Christ, who will reform\n the body of our lowness, made like to the body of his glory,\n according to the operation whereby also he is able to subdue\n all things unto himself. Therefore, my dearly beloved brethren,\n and most desired, my joy and my crown; so stand fast in the\n Lord, my most dearly beloved. I beg of Euodia, and I beseech\n Syntyche to be of one mind in the Lord. And I entreat thee, my\n sincere companion, help those women who have labored with me in\n the Gospel, with Clement and the rest of my fellow-laborers,\n whose names are in the book of life.\n\n\n Gospel.\n _St. Matthew ix._ 18-26.\n\n At that time:\n As Jesus was speaking these things unto them, behold a certain\n ruler came, and adored him, saying: Lord, my daughter is just\n now dead; but come, lay thy hand upon her, and she shall live.\n And Jesus, rising up, followed him, with his disciples. And\n behold a woman who was troubled with an issue of blood twelve\n years, came behind him, and touched the hem of his garment. For\n she said within herself: If I shall but touch his garment I\n shall be healed. But Jesus, turning about and seeing her, said:\n Take courage, daughter, thy faith hath made thee whole.\n{481}\n And the woman was made whole from that hour. And when Jesus\n came into the house of the ruler, and saw the minstrels and the\n crowd making a rout, he said: Give place, for the girl is not\n dead, but sleepeth. And they laughed at him. And when the crowd\n was turned out he went in, and took her by the hand. And the\n girl arose. And the fame hereof went abroad into all that\n country.\n\n-------------------\n\n Sermon CXLVII.\n\n Mixed Marriages.\n\n\nFrom the simplest lessons of experience, my dear brethren, I\nthink it ought to be plain enough how miserable a thing a mixed\nmarriage is likely to be. Even if the faith and practice of the\nCatholic party and of the children is what it should be--which is\ncertainly hardly to be expected--there will be great and\ncontinual suffering to them on account of the separation of the\nProtestant father or mother--who is all the more loved the better\nand kinder he or she may be--from the unity of the church and\nfrom the ordinary means of salvation.\n\nIn fact, it can hardly be imagined how any one having a lively\nfaith in the Catholic religion can marry a Protestant or infidel,\nunless under the influence of a hope that some time or other the\nconversion of the other party will be effected. This hope does\noccasionally prove not to be a vain one. There are cases, no\ndoubt, in which a Protestant, who would not probably otherwise\nhave turned his thoughts to the question at all, does become a\nCatholic by means of marriage.\n{482}\nBut the best chance to obtain such a conversion is before the\nmarriage is entered on; that is the time to try to secure it; and\nit is the duty of every Catholic who thinks of marrying one\noutside the church to do the best in his or her power to bring\nthe other party over, not only in name but in fact, to the true\nfaith. I say in fact, for, unfortunately, many a non-Catholic,\nwho has no strong conviction about religion in any way, will be\nwilling to call himself a Catholic, and even to be baptized, in\norder to remove objections which may be made. Take care, then,\nthat the conversion which is professed is a sincere and genuine\none, and not merely got up for the occasion. I have heard of a\ncase in which the Protestant party, when his religion was urged\nby the priest as an objection to the marriage, which would make\ntrouble, most cheerfully replied: \"Well, father, if it would be\nany convenience to you, I am quite ready to be a Catholic.\" Such\nconverts are not so very uncommon, though it is not often that\nthey let their state of mind be seen so plainly. They will sit\nthrough several instructions given to them by the priest, making\nno question or remark about anything which he says, that they may\nget through as soon as possible; and when they do get through,\nthat is about the last of their Catholic profession, or at least\nof their attendance to any Catholic duties.\n\nIf, then, a conversion, and a real and true conversion, cannot be\nobtained before marriage, there is certainly much fear that it\nnever will be accomplished afterward. Be warned, then, in time;\ndo not indulge false hopes in this regard; do not marry in haste\nand repent at leisure.\n\n{483}\n\nAnd about this matter of conversion I will say a few words, with\nreference not to Protestants, but to careless and negligent\nCatholics. A Catholic who is negligent of his duties has, it is\ntrue, if he keeps his faith, a resource which the Protestant has\nnot; he knows what to do to be reconciled with God at the last;\nhe will probably try to do it, and he may succeed. There is then\nmore hope for his final salvation in this way than for the\nProtestant; but that does not make him a better companion during\nlife; and many of the miseries of a mixed marriage are met with,\nand some, perhaps, even in a greater degree, with nominal\nCatholics than with Protestants. If, then, you contemplate\nmarriage even with a Catholic, be sure to see that he or she\nattends to the duties required of Catholics, and has not\ncontracted vicious and dangerous habits. Do not delude yourself\nwith the idea that a confession and Communion must be made at the\ntime of the marriage, and that the priest will attend to all that\nis necessary. For this confession and Communion may be in some\ncases not so very good and fervent; they may be something like\nwhat some Protestants, as I have said, go through with for\nconvenience or necessity. No, do not leave it all to the priest,\nbut do your own part. If the behavior of the other party before\nmarriage is not such as becomes a Christian, both with regard to\nthe frequentation of the sacraments and also in the matter of\ntemperance and in others of which you are the best and indeed the\nonly judge, it is not likely that it will be so afterward. Take\ncare, then, before taking a step which you cannot retrace. You,\nnot the priest, are the one to secure now the amendment of life\nwhich is so necessary. A word to the wise should be sufficient.\n\n-------------------\n\n{484}\n\n Sermon CXLVIII.\n\n Imitation Of The Saints.\n\n\n _My fellow-laborers,\n whose names are in the book of life._\n --Philippians iv. 3.\n\n\nThus does St. Paul in the Epistle of to-day speak of St. Clement\nand the others who had \"labored with him in the Gospel.\" Do you\nwish that your name, too, should be written in the book of life?\nFollow the path trodden here below by the saints of God, and\nthen, even while yet on earth, your name will be recorded in\nheaven. For holy church commands us to observe this festival of\nAll Saints, of which we are now keeping the octave, not only in\nhonor of those whose names are in the calendar, and whose feasts\ncome round in the course of each year, but also in praise of that\ngreat multitude which no man can number--of all nations, and\ntribes, and peoples, and tongues--who stand before the throne and\nin sight of the Lamb, clothed with white robes and palms in their\nhands. The saints whom the church has honored with canonization\nare but a small number in that vast multitude. They were the\nheroes of the Christian army, but the great majority of those who\nare now receiving the homage of the church were the rank and\nfile--common every day Christians, like ourselves. The festival\nof All Saints, therefore, especially appeals to us by showing us\nthat sanctity is not something away off out of our reach and\nentirely beyond our powers, but that it is what we must each\nstrive after if we hope to win heaven. For nothing defiled can\nenter there, and without holiness no man shall see God, As, then,\nwe hope to be one day saints in heaven, we must try now to be\nsaints on earth.\n{485}\nThat is why St. Paul addresses all the faithful as the \"beloved\nof God, called to be saints.\" Yet many Christians are forgetful\nof this high vocation. They seem to think that God has laid down\none rule, one course of life for saints, and quite another for\nordinary people. This is all a mistake. God's law is the same for\nevery one. There are, indeed, special duties belonging to\nparticular states of life, but apart from these there is no\ndifference in what is required of every Christian. We are all of\nus bound to follow the strait and narrow way which leadeth unto\nlife. The chief happiness of that life will consist in the sight\nof God, to be always in his presence, serving him continually in\njoy and thanksgiving. And the way to this life our Lord has told\nus in the sermon on the Mount: \"Blessed are the clean of heart,\nfor they shall see God.\"\n\nSo, then, in order to attain to this life, to dwell for ever in\nthe sight of God, it is not necessary to imitate the saints in\ntheir extraordinary deeds, their heroic acts of penance and\nself-sacrifice, their suffering for the faith. Some of us are,\nindeed, called upon to stand out conspicuously among other\nChristians, as they did, and show to the world an example of\ncourage and heroism. But for all of us the hidden virtues are the\nones required, and if we cultivate these, God, who seeth in\nsecret, will himself reward us openly in the day when the secrets\nof all hearts shall be revealed. The one thing needful for each\none of us is purity of heart, to cleanse our hearts from sin and\nfrom all affection towards sin. \"Dearly beloved,\" says St. John,\n\"if our heart do not reprehend us, we have confidence towards\nGod.\"\n{486}\nSee to it, then, that your heart is all right towards God.\nCleanse your soul from mortal sin by turning your heart away from\nthe sin you have committed by sincere and hearty contrition and\nby a good confession. Then _keep_ your heart right towards\nGod by giving it to him who says to you, \"My son, give me thy\nheart.\" God alone is worthy of the full love of our hearts, and\nhe alone can satisfy the heart of man. If we set our affections\nupon sin or upon the passing things of this world there is\nreserved for us in the end nothing but unsatisfied longings and\nbitterness of heart. But if we purify our hearts from every\naffection that would lead us away from God we shall indeed be\ncalled \"blessed,\" and our names shall be written in the book of\nlife.\n\n-------------------\n\n Sermon CXLIX.\n\n Heaven.\n\n\n _Blessed are the poor in spirit,\n for theirs is the kingdom of heaven._\n --St. Matthew. v. 2.\n [USCCB: Matthew. v. 3.]\n\nAll Saints' day is a solemn and glorious festival for all heaven\nas well as for all the world; for to-day God is praised, and the\ngreat salvation by our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ magnified\nand lauded by a common, universal act of holy congratulation and\nworship among all the saints--that is, among all souls that are\nunited to God in the communion of saints, whether in the church\ntriumphant, in the church suffering, or in the church militant.\n\n{487}\n\nIt seems to me that none but Catholics believe in heaven, the\neternal home of the saints after death, because they alone appear\nto understand what a saint is, as the church has proved herself\nto be the only power which has been able to train and canonize\none.\n\nYes, all we can know of heaven is, that it is the reward, the\neverlasting life, the new and divine state of being which the\nsaints enter into and enjoy when they have left this world--that\nis, when they die in the church militant and rise in glory in the\nchurch triumphant. If any Christian, then, or so-called\nChristian, fancies he can meditate about heaven, and hopes to get\nthere without knowing what a saint is, and without striving to be\nas near one as he can, he is simply deceiving himself. I fear\nthat the kind of place some people think would be a good enough\nheaven for them, if we are to judge by the way they live, is, in\nfact, not much above what the state of hell really is. Many are\nthe souls who ought to have been saints, and are damned because\nthey were unfaithful to the vocation God gave them, and too\nsensual to make the necessary sacrifices that such a vocation\ndemanded. What kind of a heaven, for instance, do you think the\nmany intelligent Protestants we meet with every day will likely\nget, who know they ought to become Catholics to save their souls,\nand are yet afraid to take the step; who stand still and count\nthe cost, and cheat their consciences with the false doctrine\nthat no real sacrifices are demanded of them, because God will be\nmore glorified if they leave all to him and do nothing\nthemselves? And yet these people, and a good many Catholics, too,\nare living just such lives, and in their deaths they will not be\ndivided.\n\n{488}\n\nAnd now do you say: O Father! tell us, then, what a saint is,\nthat we may be sure we are not all wrong, but may have some hope\nof imitating such, and so join the company of the glorified ones\nin heaven when we die! I answer: A saint is one who does\neverything he feels that God wants him to do, and carefully gives\nup and avoids everything that he feels is not pleasing to God.\nApply that to yourself. God does not want the same thing of\neverybody, nor require all to make the same sacrifices. So that,\nas a fact, there are all kinds of saints, as we know. But in what\nhe does require he demands that one should aim at doing it\n_perfectly_. \"Be ye perfect, as your Heavenly Father is\nperfect,\" said our Lord. Be perfectly honest, be perfectly pure,\nbe perfectly sober, be perfectly charitable, be perfectly\nobedient to the laws of God and man, be perfectly humble, be\nperfectly free from loving money or other riches.\n\nDon't let me ever hear you say again that you are \"a man of the\nworld and must live in it\" as an excuse for the wretched apology\nfor a Christian life you lead. You know that is a lie. You are a\nman, and _a Christian man of the kingdom of God and of his\nsaints_, and _that_ is the kind of a place you live in,\nand must square your life accordingly, or you will never see the\nkingdom of God and of his saints in glory, which is heaven, when\nyou die. In to-day's Gospel our Lord pronounces the eight\nbeatitudes. Think on them, and, if you do not know them by heart,\ntake out your Bible when you go home and read them at the\nbeginning of the fifth chapter of St. Matthew's Gospel. So live\nthat you will merit to be one of those our Lord declares to be\n\"blessed,\" and you will surely be a saint.\n\n-------------------\n\n{489}\n\n\n_Easter being a movable Feast which can occur on any day from\nthe 22d of March to the 25th of April, the number of Sundays\nbetween Epiphany and Septuagesima, and between Pentecost and\nAdvent, varies according to the situation of Easter. There are\nalways at least two Sundays, unless Epiphany falls on a Sunday,\nand never more than six, between Epiphany and Septuagesima.\nLikewise, there are never fewer than twenty-three Sundays after\nPentecost, or more than twenty-eight. The Gospel and Epistle for\nthe last Sunday after Pentecost are always the same. When there\nare twenty-three Sundays, the Gospel and Epistle for the last\nSunday are substituted for those of the twenty-third. When there\nare twenty-five Sundays, the Gospel and Epistle for the sixth\nSunday after Epiphany are taken; when there are twenty-six, those\nalso of the fifth after Epiphany; when there are twenty-seven,\nthose of the fourth, and when there are twenty-eight, those of\nthe third, in order to fill up the interval which occurs. In any\nyear, in which there are more than twenty-four Sundays after\nPentecost, proper sermons for these Sundays are to be found among\nthose which are arranged for the Sundays following the Feast of\nthe Epiphany. If one sermon is wanting, it is taken from the\nsixth Sunday after Epiphany; if two, three, or four are needed,\nthe last two or three or four sermons which precede Septuagesima\nare to be taken, in their order. _\n\n-------------------\n\n{490}\n\n _Twenty-fourth or Last Sunday after Pentecost._\n\n\n Epistle.\n _Colossians i._ 9-14.\n\n Brethren:\n We cease not to pray for you, and to beg that you may be filled\n with the knowledge of his will in all wisdom and spiritual\n understanding: that you may walk worthy of God, in all things\n pleasing: being fruitful in every good work, and increasing in\n the knowledge of God: strengthened with all might according to\n the power of his glory, in all patience and long-suffering with\n joy, giving thanks to God the Father, who hath made us worthy\n to be partakers of the lot of the saints in light: who hath\n delivered us from the power of darkness, and hath translated us\n into the kingdom of the Son of his love: in whom we have\n redemption through his blood, the remission of sins.\n\n\n Gospel.\n _St. Matthew xxiv._ 15-35.\n\n At that time Jesus said to his disciples:\n When you shall see \"the abomination of desolation,\" which was\n spoken of by Daniel the prophet, standing in the holy place: he\n that readeth, let him understand. Then let those that are in\n Judea flee to the mountains. And he that is on the house-top,\n let him not come down to take anything out of his house: and he\n that is in the field, let him not go back to take his coat. And\n woe to them that are with child, and that give suck in those\n days. But pray that your flight be not in the winter or on the\n Sabbath. For there shall be then great tribulation, such as\n hath not been from the beginning of the world until now,\n neither shall be. And unless those days had been shortened, no\n flesh should be saved: but for the sake of the elect those days\n shall be shortened.\n{491}\n Then, if any man shall say to you: Lo, here is Christ, or\n there, do not believe him. For there shall arise false christs\n and false prophets, and shall show great signs and wonders,\n insomuch as to deceive (if possible) even the elect. Behold I\n have told it to you beforehand. If therefore they shall say to\n you: Behold he is in the desert; go ye not out: Behold he is in\n the closets; believe it not. For as lightning cometh out of the\n east, and, appeareth even unto the west, so shall also the\n coming of the Son of Man be. Wheresoever the body shall be,\n there shall the eagles also be gathered together. And\n immediately after the tribulation of those days, the sun shall\n be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light, and the\n stars shall fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens\n shall be moved. And then shall appear the sign of the Son of\n Man in heaven: and then shall all the tribes of the earth\n mourn: and they shall see the Son of Man coming in the clouds\n of heaven with great power and majesty. And he shall send his\n angels with a trumpet, and a great voice: and they shall gather\n together his elect from the four winds, from the farthest parts\n of the heavens to the uttermost bounds of them. Now learn a\n parable from the fig-tree: when its branch is now tender, and\n the leaves come forth, you know that summer is nigh. So also\n you, when you shall see all these things, know that it is near,\n even at the doors. Amen, I say to you, this generation shall\n not pass till all these things be done. Heaven and earth shall\n pass away, but my words shall not pass away.\n\n-------------------\n\n Sermon CL.\n\n Marrying Out Of The Church.\n\n{492}\n\nIn our course of instructions on marriage, my dear friends, we\nhave so far spoken chiefly of the care which should be taken in\nthe selection of the person who is to be one's constant companion\nthrough life, and shown that not only earthly happiness, but even\nthe salvation of the soul, may depend on this choice being made\nwisely. We will now go on to consider the ceremony of marriage\nitself.\n\nSome people, though they have always been Catholics and lived\namong Catholics, seem to be entirely ignorant of the laws and\nrequirements of the church on this subject. They appear to think\nthat nothing has to be done but to call on the priest some fine\nevening, and that he will marry them then and there. And if it is\nnot convenient to go to the priest, or if he makes any difficulty\nabout it, why, then a Protestant minister or his honor the mayor\nwill do at a pinch.\n\nNow there are several points which these people need instruction\nabout, and several mistakes which they make in this very\nimportant affair. We shall have to consider them separately. And\nwe will begin with the greatest mistake of all which can be\nfallen into by Catholics who wish to get married, and that is to\ngo to a Protestant minister for the purpose.\n\nWhat is, then, the harm exactly of going to a Protestant minister\nto get married? Is it that a Protestant minister is an immoral or\nvicious character, with whom we should have nothing to do? By no\nmeans. He is, indeed, more likely to be to blame for his errors\nin religion than his people, for he has, from his greater\nknowledge in religious matters, a better chance to know the\ntruth; but even a minister may be in good faith about his\ndoctrine. And in other respects he may be a worthy and estimable\ngentleman.\n\n{493}\n\nBut the reason why Catholics should avoid going to him for\nmarriage is that marriage is one of the seven sacraments which\nour Lord has entrusted to the keeping of his church. These\nsacraments, then, belong to the church, and we cannot recognize\nthe right of those who separate from her to administer them or to\nassist officially at them, though they may have the power to do\nso validly. Therefore, though marriage be real and valid when\ncontracted before a Protestant minister, and though his own\npeople, of course, are not to blame, if in good faith, for\navailing themselves of his services, we cannot do so. In deed,\nthis would be the case even if marriage were not a sacrament, but\nmerely a religious rite or ceremony; we cannot allow the\nministers of any sect separated from the church to act as such\nfor us in any religious function; to do so would be to allow\ntheir claim to act in the name of Christ. This we can never do,\nand, above all, where the sacraments are concerned.\n\nAnother, and a very weighty reason, why Catholics cannot go\nbefore a minister for marriage, is that no one but the Catholic\nclergy can be supposed to be sufficiently acquainted with the\nlaws of God and of the church regarding Christian marriage. There\nare impediments, as they are called, which make marriage invalid\nunless a dispensation is obtained from the proper source. Some of\nthese are commonly known, such as those which proceed from a near\nrelationship of the parties; but there are others which are not\nknown even by name to the great mass of the faithful, and which a\nProtestant minister, even should he happen to know them, would\nnever for a moment regard.\n{494}\nCatholics, therefore, if they go to a minister to get married,\nrun a great risk of not being really married at all, owing to\nthese impediments not being detected or attended to. By the law\nof the State their marriage may be a good and real one, but in\nthe sight of God it will not be so, if any such impediment should\nexist, and not have been removed by dispensation; and this holds,\neven though no suspicion of such an impediment should have\narisen. You see, then, how important it is in this matter to\nconsult those who are competent to advise them.\n\n-------------------\n\n Sermon CLI.\n\n Joy In God's Service.\n\n\n _Let the peace of Christ rejoice in your hearts, ...\n and be, ye, thankful._\n --Colossians iii. 15.\n\n\nOf the several great lessons contained in to-day's Epistle, the\none most insisted on and brought out is that of thankfulness and\njoyfulness in the service of God.\n\nIn the labors of St. Paul (and his labors were more abundant than\nall the Apostles), in his frequent tribulations and crosses, he\nnever ceased giving thanks in all things--nor did he ever tire of\ninculcating this same duty on the first Christians. If, then, my\nbrethren, thankfulness and joyfulness are such a great part of\nreligion, it would be well this morning to see if they be\ncharacteristic of our service. We have a multitude of reasons for\nbeing thankful to God, if we but thought of them--the gifts of\nnature--life, health, strength, the pleasures and gratifications\nof the mind, learning, objects of interest, of study and beauty,\nboth in nature and art, the pleasures of home, the joys of\nfriendship.\n{495}\nThese are real and great benefits; they are causes of joy and\nmotives of thankfulness. Our good God intended us to find\nenjoyment in the moderate use of them, not, indeed, as ends in\nthemselves, but as means to our one great end. And so he has\nspread the charm of beauty over this place of our sojourn and\nmade it pleasant and interesting, lest we lose heart and become\nsad, and languish on our journey to heaven.\n\nBut to speak of higher gifts and benefits: What motives of joy\nand thankfulness ought we not to find in the knowledge of God,\nhis truth, mercy, and goodness as made known to us in the\nScripture and in his Divine Son, our Saviour and friend, the\nGod-Man; in the gift of the faith, the spiritual riches of the\nchurch and the sacraments, his mercies to us\npersonally--blessings on our labors, the removal of dangers from\nour paths, his gracious forgiveness of our sins, time and again.\nThen, too, what we expect and through his mercy count on for the\nfuture--the joys of heaven, those delights which pass our\nunderstanding. The life of heaven will be pure joy, and its one\noccupation thankfulness. Surely, then, this life should be a\nfigure and foretaste of it; and so St. Paul thought, for he bids\nus \"be thankful,\" \"rejoice and rejoice always\"; singing in grace\nin our hearts, and in every word and work giving thanks to God.\n\n{496}\n\nIt is plain that, since God has done his part in bestowing the\nbenefits in such abundant measure, we should do ours in returning\nthanks, for gratitude is the correlative of benefit. It is\nequally plain that the true religion is joyful. Now, is such our\nreligion? Is this the way we act? Is it the way we consider God's\nservice? We see, I think, more anxious and sad faces than\nthankful and glad ones; and I fear that the joyfulness of the\nlatter does not come generally from the reasons I have given. It\ncomes too often from worldly causes, from success in temporal\nthings, from hopes and prospects which relate to indifferent\nthings, if they are not dangerous and positively bad. Whereas the\ncommon idea of religion is that it is an unpleasant, sad, up-hill\nsort of a thing, which imposes restraints upon us, and, far from\nbeing a cause of thankfulness and joy, is a great interference\nwith the pleasure of life. Pious people, too, are regarded as\ndull, simple, spiritless creatures, quite the opposite of joyful.\n\nThis is all wrong, all false, and, if it be our religion, then we\n_have not_ the true religion, at least practically. For as\nGod's benefits are real and great, so our thanks and joy should\nbe in them and correspond to them. Religion, being our highest\nduty, should be and can be our highest pleasure. God says it is,\nand he is truth; those who have tried say the same. \"What shall I\nrender to God for all he hath rendered to me?\"--\"better one day in\nthy courts than a thousand years in the tents of sinners\"--\"taste\nand see how sweet the Lord is.\" Our consciences and\nexperience bear out the same truth; for surely evil cannot be\ncompared to good in fulness, in intensity; and, above all, it\nwill not wear, it will not last, and it leaves us dissatisfied,\nfearful, sad. The pleasure and joy of a good life to a good man\neven here are far greater than the pleasure of sin to a sinner.\n{497}\nLet us, then, make up our minds, once for all, that not only is\nreligion the most necessary, but the wisest and the happiest\nthing for us. Let us serve God with thankfulness, both for what\nhe has done and will do for us, if we are faithful. If he has\ndone so much in this state of probation, exile, and punishment,\nwhat will he not do when the time of reward and enjoyment\narrives. Surely, considering what we are and what we have done,\nthe pains and crosses bear no proportion to the benefits, and we\nhave cause even in present labors to be thankful and in every\nword and work to give him praise through Jesus Christ our Lord.\n\n-------------------\n\n Sermon CLII.\n\n Forgive And Be Forgiven.\n\n\n \"_Bearing with one another\n and forgiving one another,\n if any have a complaint against another.\n Even as the Lord hath forgiven you,\n so you also._\"\n --Colossians iii. 13.\n\n\nThis, my dear brethren, is the law of Christ. It is a law we are\nbound to keep. We cannot save our souls unless we do keep it.\nThere is no possible way to escape its requirements, for our Lord\nhimself declares positively: \"But if you will _not_ forgive\nmen, _neither_ will your Father forgive _you your\noffences_\" (Matthew vi. 15). Therefore, there is no way to\nsave our souls, no way to be true Christians in life, unless we\nforgive all and every one, without exception, every injury they\nhave done us.\n\n{498}\n\nBut one may say: I do forgive all who have injured me if they\nrepent, say they are sorry, and ask pardon! My dear brethren,\nthis won't do. You must forgive whether they repent or not.\nNothing less will satisfy the Lord. The best reason is that since\nthe Lord has forgiven us, so we also are bound to forgive all. A\ntrue lover of the Lord doesn't want a better reason. A greater or\na better cannot be given. Our Lord himself has set the example.\nHe has taken our sins upon himself, and caused the Eternal Father\nto forgive us our sins for his sake beforehand, before we have\neven repented or shown by a single sign that we want to belong to\nGod and to hate sin. Do we not receive in our baptism, as\ninfants, the grace that destroys original sin? Original sin\nplaced us under the power of the devil, and made us unworthy to\nbe called the sons of God, but our Christian baptism made us\nagain the sons of God. Does not God forgive us also our mortal\nsins, giving us time to repent, and even waiting patiently for\nour repentance? Remember, these sins after baptism are all the\ngreater because after being made innocent we again become guilty.\n\nBut some try to excuse themselves and say: It is hard to have to\ndo this; I can't do it. The sin against me is too great; it ought\nnot to be forgiven. This is not true. There is nothing we can't\nforgive, nothing we are permitted to leave unforgiven. We can\nforgive any sin against us if we will. If it is hard, pray and it\nwill become easy. Sincere prayer for him who is our enemy is sure\nto remove very soon all feeling against him. This is certain:\nthat it will, _without fail_, prevent the malice and revenge\nin our hearts from overcoming us and causing us to sin grievously\nagainst charity. Remember that everything we do well for our Lord\nis hard at first, but is made easy by prayer and faithful,\npersevering effort.\n\n{499}\n\nAgain, some object: I try to pray but cannot, because when I pray\nI think of my wrongs and begin to hate my enemy, so that my\nprayer is insincere or stops on my lips! Then pray for all poor\nsinners, and don't mean to leave your enemy out of your prayers.\nThis is a good beginning, and keeps you from mortal sin, for pray\nwe must _for our enemies_. This is a fundamental law of the\nChristian life. If we intentionally leave out one single soul\nwhen we pray for all poor sinners, we sin in the very presence of\nGod, and our prayers are rejected; nor shall they be accepted\nuntil we include that soul also.\n\nLet us remember, my dear brethren, that we are called by our Lord\nto show to the world that being the friends of God means that he\nputs into our souls his loving, merciful, long-suffering Spirit,\nand thus makes us like to himself. Does any one want to be\nGod-like? Then let him forgive from his heart every injury and\nall who injure him.\n\nTo gain courage to forgive, let us see what forgiveness does. It\nsaves God's honor. It prevents his being insulted. For example:\nwhen one insults us, he sins against God and insults him also. If\nwe answer back, we also insult God, and make two sins instead of\none. Next, our angry answer makes our enemy reply again; for\nanother sin are we responsible. So it goes on until a number of\nsins are committed by each one. Silence on our part would have\nprevented these insults to God and left our souls unstained. We\nwere not silent. The consequence is we not only increased\nanother's sin, but we added our own and lost the friendship of\nGod.\n{500}\nHad a forgiving spirit been in each soul this could not have\nhappened. Had it been in one of them, one soul at least would\nhave been kept from sin. Cultivate, then, a forgiving spirit, and\n\"even as the Lord hath forgiven you, so you also\" forgive all.\n\n-------------------","title":"Five Minute Sermons, Volume II.: For Low Masses on All Sundays of the Year by Priests of the Congregation of St. Paul","tradition":"scripture-revelation","translated_text":null,"word_count":139949}