was not known before, or the making clear something that was
obscure. Now, with this idea in our mind, it may excite surprise
to find how much the Christian Revelation abounds in mysteries.
By mysteries, I understand truths which are imperfectly
comprehended. A doctrine which contradicts reason is not a
mystery it is nonsense. A doctrine which is wholly unintelligible
is not a mystery: it is simply unmeaning, and cannot be the
object of any intellectual act on our part. But a doctrine which
is in part comprehended, and in part not, is a mystery. Now, in
Christianity we meet such mysteries on every side. The Sacraments
are mysteries. Grace is a mystery. The Person of Christ is a
mystery. And above all, the great doctrine we commemorate to-day
is a mystery. To-day is the Feast of the Most Holy Trinity.
To-day we call to mind that wonderful Relationship which exists
in God, eternal and necessary, by which, in the undivided Unity
of His Essence, there are three distinct modes of subsistence,
the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost.
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It seems, then, not unfitting on this day to give you some
reasons why you should acquiesce in that mysteriousness of
Christian doctrine, which is certainly one of its marked
characteristics, and which has been urged against it as a serious
objection.
And, first, I observe that mysteries are _necessary_
attendants on religion. There can be no revelation without them.
There can indeed be no knowledge without them. To a little child
the earth is a plane of no great extent, and the stars are
colored lamps hung in the canopy of the night. But as he grows
older, he learns that the earth is very big, and that the stars
are very far off, and that there are many systems of worlds above
us; and now how many questions press themselves upon his mind!
What is the history of this universe? How old is the earth which
we inhabit? Are the stars inhabited? Science with the hard
earnings of human thought and labor gives him some little
satisfaction, but for every question that she sets at rest there
are many new ones that she raises, and at last in every
department there comes a point where she gropes, and loses her
way, and stops altogether. If you light a candle in a large room
it casts a bright light on the table you are sitting at, and on
the pages of the book you are reading, but gives only a dim light
in the distance. You see that there are pictures on the walls,
but you cannot discover their subjects. You see there are books
on the shelves, but you cannot read their titles. When the room
was quite dark you did not know that they were there at all, and
now you know them only imperfectly. So every light which
knowledge kindles brings out a new set of mysteries or
half-knowledges. For this reason it is that a man of true science
is apt to be modest in his language. Your loud-talking
philosopher, who has no difficulties, has but a very narrow scope
of thought and vision. He is clear because he is shallow. But a
highly educated man _knows_ that there are a great many
things he is ignorant of, and so his language is modified and
qualified.
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I believe it was Sir Isaac Newton who used to say, that in his
scientific investigations he seemed to himself like a child
gathering pebbles on the sea-shore. It was his vast attainments
that made him sensible that Truth is as boundless as the sea. And
when scientific men forget this; when they forget how much they
are ignorant of; when they are boastful, over-positive, or
inconsiderate in their statements, how applicable to them becomes
the reproof which the Almighty addressed to Job: "_Where wast
thou when I laid the foundations of the earth? tell Me if thou
hast understanding. Upon what are its bases grounded? or who laid
the corner-stone thereof? By what way is light spread, and heat
divided on the earth? Who is the father of the rain, or who hath
begotten the drops of dew? Dost thou know the order of heaven,
and canst thou set down the reason thereof on the earth? Tell Me,
if thou knowest these things_."
And this holds good just as well in regard to religious
knowledge. Reason teaches us that there is a God, and it tells
something of His Nature; but it speaks to us about Him only in
riddles. God is immutable, and yet He is perfectly free: who
shall reconcile these together? God is infinite, infinite in
Essence, infinite in all His Attributes--try to comprehend
infinitude if you can. Again, what a mystery there is in the
creation of this world! What a mystery in the union of spirit and
matter! Everywhere mystery is the necessary accompaniment of
knowledge; and the more we know, the more mysteries will we have.
If, then, God reveals to us any thing about Himself additional to
that which reason can ascertain, mystery must still be the
consequence. The wider the view, the more indistinct and shadowy
the outline.
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It is revealed to us that in God, without injury to His
Simplicity, there is a Threefold Relationship--that the Father,
contemplating Himself from all eternity, has conceived a perfect
Image of Himself, and that this Image is His Son, and that the
Father and the Son have loved each other from all eternity, and
that this Love is the Holy Ghost--that thus the Father, the Son,
and the Holy Ghost are Three distinct, eternal, necessary
Subsistences. Do not be surprised at this. Here is nothing
contradictory to reason. True, it is wonderful. True, you cannot
pierce it through and through. It is full of darkness. No matter.
You know, when the moon comes out from behind a cloud, how sharp
and well-defined the shadows become. So these darknesses of
doctrine come because the light is brighter. Men talk of the
_simple doctrines_ of the gospel. There are no such things.
The gospel, as a scheme of doctrine at least, is a mystery. St.
Paul called it so, and so it is. It is a mystery because it
reveals so much. If we did not know that God is both One in
substance and Three in the mode of subsistence, our difficulties
would be less, but so would our knowledge. Well does the prophet
exclaim: "_Verily, Thou art a hidden God, the God of Israel,
the Savior!_" [Footnote 139]
[Footnote 139: Isai. xlv. 15.]
What, the _God of Israel_ a hidden God! Did He not manifest
Himself to the patriarchs? Did he not speak face to face with
Moses? Yes, but He is all the more hidden, the more He has
manifested Himself. It cannot be otherwise. God yearns to make
Himself known to man, but He cannot. The secret is too deep and
high. Language is too weak. Thought too slow. Reason too narrow.
The very means He takes to reveal Himself conceal Him. Clouds and
darkness gather around Mount Sinai as He descends upon it. The
Flesh in which He was "manifested" to men serves as a veil to His
Divinity. No, we cannot find out the Almighty to perfection. The
time will come in heaven when by the Light of Glory our
intellects shall be marvellously strengthened, and we shall see
Him "as He is"--but now we see as through a glass darkly.
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Our utmost happiness here is that of Moses, to be hidden in the
rock, while the Almighty passes by and lifts His Hand that we may
see a ray of His Glory. Do not complain if the ray dazzles thy
feeble sight, but receive each glimpse of that Eternal Truth and
Beauty thankfully, and give heed unto it, "_as unto a light
shining in a dark place_."
But, further, mysteries are not only necessary attendants on
revelation, they are really sources of advantage to us. In order
to make this clear, I must remind you that Faith is one of the
conditions of our acceptance with God. There was a time when men
laid too much stress on faith and made light of works; then the
Church had to define that works are necessary, and that there is
no salvation without them. Now the contrary error is afloat. Men
say: "Be moral," "Be religious in a general way, and it is no
matter what a man believes." Now, this is an error as great and
as dangerous as the other. "_Abraham believed God, and it was
reputed to him unto justice._" [Footnote 140] The apostles
believed Christ, and were praised for it. On the other hand,
those who disbelieved are reproved as being guilty of a mortal
fault. "_The heart of this people is grown gross: and with
their ears they have been dull of hearing, and their eyes they
have shut: lest at any time they should see with their eyes, and
hear with their ears, and understand with their heart, and should
be converted, and I should heal them_." [Footnote 141]
[Footnote 140: Rom. iv. 3.]
[Footnote 141: St. Matt. xiii 15.]
In like manner, when our Lord took leave of unbelieving
Jerusalem, He wept over it. Now, why is this? What is there, in
the act of believing or disbelieving, that is of a moral nature,
that deserves praise or blame? Is not faith an act purely
intellectual? I reply, faith is an act partly intellectual,
partly moral. The intellect demands proof that a particular
doctrine has been revealed by God, but, when that is once
ascertained, faith accepts the doctrine, not because it is
perfectly clear in itself, but because God reveals it.
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Clearly, there enter into such an act many elements of
morality--our reverence for God, our desire to do His Will, our
humility and docility. You know it is an honor to a man for one
to believe in his word, and especially for one to make ventures
on the faith of his word. Just so, to make ventures on God's word
is a generous, devout, and noble act. Now, it is the
mysteriousness of Christian doctrine that gives faith this
generous character--or rather, that makes faith possible. The
obscurity of the revelation throws the weight on the authority of
the Revealer. It is mystery which gives life to faith. A man is
not said to _believe_ a thing he sees. "_Blessed are
they_," said our Blessed Lord, "_that have not seen, and yet
have believed_." [Footnote 142]
[Footnote 142: St. John xx. 29.]
There are certain flowers that require the shade to bloom.
Constant sunshine burns them up. So Faith requires the shadow of
mystery. It thrives under difficulties. Abraham's faith was so
admirable, because he considered not his own decrepitude, nor
Sarah's barrenness, but believed he should have a son at the time
appointed by the Almighty. The faith of the apostles was so
pleasing to Christ because they accepted His call so readily.
They might have stopped to ask a thousand questions, but they
rose up without delay and followed Him.
You see, then, what I meant when I said that mysteries are of
advantage to us. They enter into our probation. They are the
occasion of our practising the noble virtue of faith. They are a
test of moral character. Nay more, by calling into action the
best principles of our nature they exalt our character. You know
how it is in the world when some new and great social question is
started--how everyone is affected by it. The indolent take their
opinions about it from others. The prejudiced and interested
judge of it according to prejudice and interest.
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Men of principle decide it on grounds of morality. But everyone's
position is in some way changed by it. So it is with the gospel.
Its preaching throws men into new attitudes. "_The Cross of
Christ is to them that perish foolishness, but to them that are
saved it is the power of God._" [Footnote 143] The proud and
the perverse stumble at this stumbling-stone, but men of "good
will," the humble, and the loving, find it a precious
corner-stone on which their faith has a solid foundation, and on
which they are built up to everlasting life. So it was in the
time of Christ. After our Lord had been preaching for some time,
He inquired of the apostles into the effects of His preaching:
"Whom do men say that the Son of Man is?" And they said: "_Some
say that thou art John the Baptist, and others Elias, and others
Jeremias, or one of the prophets_." "_But whom do you say
that I am?_" [Footnote 144] --and Faith, undaunted by
difficulties, answers by the mouth of St. Peter: "_Thou art
Christ, the Son of the living God_." On another occasion,
after He had performed the miracle of the multiplication of the
loaves, as we read in St. John's Gospel, He taught the people the
doctrine of the Real Presence in Holy Communion: "_Unless you
eat the flesh of the Son of Man, and drink His blood, you shall
not have life in you._" [Footnote 145] Now, what happened?
Many were offended and walked with Him no more. It was too great
a mystery. "_How can this man give us his flesh to eat?_"
they said. And our Lord turned to His disciples and said--it
seems to me I can see His anxious countenance, and hear His tones
of sorrow as He asks the question--"_Will you also go
away?_" And again Peter answered on behalf of all: "_To whom
shall we go? Thou hast the words of Eternal Life_." As much as
to say, "Thou art the Truth; no mystery at Thy mouth can deter
us."
[Footnote 143: I. Cor. i. 18.]
[Footnote 144: St. Matt. xvi. 13.]
[Footnote 145: St. John vi. 54.]
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So it has been, also, throughout the history of the Church. What
are all the heresies that have arisen but the scandal which the
world has taken at the Christian mysteries, and what are all the
decisions of the Church but acts of loyalty and submission to Him
who is "the Faithful and True Witness"?
And the same thing is going on in our day. "_Wisdom preacheth
abroad: she uttereth her voice in the streets_." [Footnote 146]
The Catholic Church publishes those startling doctrines
which have come down to her from the beginning, which have been
held everywhere and by all--the principality of the Roman See,
the Power of Forgiveness of Sins, the necessity of Penance, the
grace of the Sacraments--and what is the result? The children of
wisdom, they whose hearts are tender, enter her sacred fold and
are blessed. But many listen and say: "It is all very well, if we
could believe it. If we could believe it! And is it, then, not
credible? Has not God given His revelation complete credibility?
Can we not believe Jesus Christ? "_God, Who in times past spoke
to the father's by the prophets, hath in these days spoken unto
us by His Son_." [Footnote 147] "_No one knoweth the Father
but the Son and He to whom the Son will reveal Him_."
[Footnote 148]
[Footnote 146: Prov. i. 20.]
[Footnote 147: Heb. i. 1, 2.]
[Footnote 148: Matt. xi. 27.]
Jesus Christ has spoken. Miracles and prophecy attest His Truth
and Authority. Can you, then, innocently refuse to listen?
"_Surely they will reverence my son_," was the language of
the father in the parable; will not God the Father Almighty look
for an equal submission to His Eternal and Coequal Son? Can He
speak, and you go on as if He had not spoken? Can you pick and
choose among His doctrines, and take up one and reject another?
No, to turn back, to stand still, to falter, is a crime. The
trumpet has sounded: men are marshalling themselves for the
valley of decision. Oh, take your part with the generation of
faithful men, the true children of Abraham, who have "attested by
their seal that God is true." Have courage to believe. Plunge
into the waters with St. Peter, for it is Christ that is
beckoning you on. To believe is an act of duty--of fidelity to
your own intelligence, of generosity and devotion to God.
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"_Without faith it is not possible to please God_."
[Footnote 149] Faith is the door to all supernatural blessings.
There is a whole world that exists not to a man that has not
faith. Faith enlarges our thoughts, opens our hearts, elevates us
above ourselves and multiplies a thousand-fold our happiness. Why
do men grope in darkness? Why do they remain in ignorance, when
by one generous resolve, one courageous act of faith, an act so
noble, so meritorious, they might enter into that Glorious Temple
of Truth that has come down out of heaven to man, might enter and
dwell therein, and their hearts wonder and be enlarged? Happy
those who can say with the Psalmist: "_Thy testimonies are
wonderful; therefore hath my soul sought them_." [Footnote
150] They are wonderful--they rest for their evidence on Thy Word
and Thy Truth, therefore I believe them and love them, for to
believe Thee is my first duty and my highest wisdom.
[Footnote 149: Heb. xi. 6.]
[Footnote 150: Ps. cxviii 129.]
Let not, then, the mysteries of our holy religion disturb us, my
brethren, but rather let them make us rejoice. For what are they
but the evidences of the greatness of our religion? They do not
repel, they attract us. We believe them on the authority of God,
and we esteem it both a duty and a delight to do so. Neither are
they all dark in themselves. Nay, they are only dark from excess
of light. Each one of them has much that addresses itself to our
understanding, much that enlists our affections. The angels in
heaven worship the Trinity with devoutest adoration. "_I saw
the Seraphim_," says the prophet, "_and they covered their
faces and cried: Holy, Holy, Holy Lord God of Hosts!_"
[Footnote 151]
[Footnote 151: Isai. vi. 3.]
Incessantly sings the Church on earth: "Glory be to the Father,
and to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost." There have been saints
who so dwelt upon all that Faith teaches us of God, that they had
to go by themselves, in quiet places, for their hearts were all
but breaking with the sweet but awful sense of His Majesty.
{408}
Let us, too, learn to love these mysteries and meditate on them.
We live in the midst of great realities. "_You are come to
Mount Sion, and to the city of the living God, the heavenly
Jerusalem, and to the company of many thousands of angels, and to
the Church of the first-born, who are written in heaven, and to
God the Judge of all, and to the spirits of the just made
perfect, and to Jesus, the Mediator of the New Testament_."
[Footnote 152]
[Footnote 152: Heb. xii. 22, 23, 24.]
Day by day, let it be our endeavor to pierce into these holy
truths more and more, that at last, like Moses, our countenances
may reflect some portion of their beauty and brightness, that
continually "_beholding the glory of the Lord we may be
transformed into the same image from glory to glory_."
[Footnote 153]
[Footnote 153: II Cor. iii. 18.]
-------------------------------
Sermon XX.
The Worth Of The Soul.
(Third Sunday After Pentecost.)
"There shall be joy before the angels of God
over one sinner doing penance."
St. Luke xv. 10.
This is what theologians call an _accidental_ joy. The
essential joy of heaven consists in the perfect knowledge and
love of God, and is unchangeable and eternal; but the accidental
joy of heaven springs from the knowledge of those events in time
which display the goodness and greatness of God. The first of
these events was the creation itself, when the hand of God spread
the carpet of the earth, and stretched the curtains of the
heavens.
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Then "_the morning stars praised Him together, and all the sons
of God made a joyful melody_." [Footnote 154]
[Footnote 154: Job xxxviii 7.]
After this the great historic events of the world have been
successively the burden of the angelic songs--the unfolding of
the plan of Redemption, the birth of Christ, the triumphs of the
Church. But lo! of a sudden these lofty strains are stopped.
There is silence for a moment, and then the golden harps take up
a new and tenderer theme. What is it that has happened? What is
the event that can interrupt the great harmonies of Heaven, and
furnish the Angels with a new song? In some corner of the earth,
in some secret chamber, in some confessional, on some sickbed, in
some dark prison, a sinner is doing penance. He prays, whose
mouth had been full of cursings. He weeps, who had made a mock at
sin. The slave of Satan and of Hell turns back to God and
Heaven--and that is the reason of this unusual joy. It is not
that a recovered sinner is really of more account than one who
has never fallen, but his recovery from danger is the occasion of
expressing that esteem and love for the souls of men which always
fills the heart of God and the Angels. Therefore, as that
contrite cry reaches heaven, the Angels are silent, for they know
that there is no music in the ear of God like that. And then,
when God has ratified the absolving words of the priest, and
restored the contrite sinner to His favor, they cast themselves
before the throne, and break forth into loud swelling strains of
ecstasy and triumph, while He Himself smiles His sympathy and
joy. O my brethren, what a revelation this is! A revelation of
the value of the soul. There are great rejoicings on earth when a
battle is won, or upon the occasion of the visit of some great
statesman or warrior, or when some great commercial enterprise is
successful, but these things do not cause joy in Heaven. The
conversion of one soul--it may be a child, or a young man, or an
old woman--the conversion of one soul, that it is that makes a
gala day in Heaven.
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Now, God sees every thing just as it is, and if there are such
rejoicings in Heaven when a soul is won, what must be the value
of a soul! Let us confess the truth, we have not thought enough
of the value of a soul. We have thought too much of the world, of
its pleasures, of its profits, of its honors, but too little of
our own souls. We have not thought of them as God thinks of them.
Let us, then, strive to exalt our ideas, by considering some of
the reasons why we should put a high value on our souls.
In the first place, we should value a human soul, because it is
in itself superior to any thing else in the world. The whole
world, indeed, with every thing in it, is good, for God made it.
But He proceeded in a very different manner in the creation of
the material world from what He did when He made the soul. He
made the world, the trees, the rivers, the lights of heaven, the
living creatures on the earth, by the mere word of his power.
"_God said, Be light made. And light was made_." [Footnote 155]
[Footnote 155: Gen. i. 3.]
And God said, "_Let the earth bring forth the green herb, and
the fruit tree yielding fruit after its kind. And it was so_."
[Footnote 156] But when He made the soul, the Scriptures tell us,
"_He breathed into the face of man and he became a living
soul_." [Footnote 157]
[Footnote 156: Gen. i. 12.]
[Footnote 157: Gen. i. 26.]
By this action we are to understand that God communicated to man
a nature kindred to his own divinity. The Holy Ghost, the Third
Person of the Blessed Trinity, is the uncreated Spirit of God,
eternally breathing forth and proceeding from the Father and the
Son; and God, when He breathed into the face of man, signified
that He imparted to man a created spirit kindred to his own
eternal Spirit. The Holy Scriptures, indeed, expressly tell us
that such was the case: "_Let us make man to our image and our
likeness_." [Footnote 158]
[Footnote 158: Gen. i. 26, 27.]
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This likeness consisted in the possession of understanding and
free will, the power of knowledge and love--the two great
attributes of God himself. You are, then, my brethren, endowed
with a soul which raises you immeasurably above God's material
creation. You have a soul made after God's image. This is the
source of your power. The two things go together in Holy
Scripture. "_Let us make man to our image and likeness; and let
him have dominion over the fishes of the sea and the fowls of the
air, and the beasts, and the whole earth, and every creeping
creature that moveth upon the earth_." [Footnote 159] In the
state of original innocence, no doubt, this dominion was more
perfect, but even now it exists in a great degree. "_Every kind
of beast, and of birds, and of serpents, and of the rest, is
tamed, and hath been tamed by mankind_." [Footnote 160]
[Footnote 159: Gen. ii. 7.]
[Footnote 160: St. James iii. 7.]
See how a little boy can drive a horse. See how a dog obeys his
master's eye and voice. See how even lions and tigers become
submissive to their keepers. And the elements, often wilder than
ferocious beasts, are obedient to you. The fire warms you and
cooks for you, and carries you when you want to travel for
business or pleasure. The wind fans the sails of your vessels,
and the waters make a path for them under your feet. Even the
lightning leaps and exults to do your bidding and to be the
messenger of your will. Thus every thing falls down before you
and does you homage, and proclaims you lord and master. What is
the reason that every thing thus honors you? It is on account of
the soul that is in you--the power of reason and will--the
godlike nature with which you are endowed.