consists the beauty of a man? Is it a mere regularity of form and
feature? Do you judge of a man as you do of a horse or a dog?
{412}
No; the most exquisitely chiselled features do not interest you,
until you see intelligence light up the eye, and charity
irradiate the countenance--then you are captivated. A man may be
a perfect model of grace in his movements without exciting you,
but when he becomes warm with inspirations of wisdom and virtue,
when his words flow, his eye sparkles, his breast heaves, his
whole frame becomes alive with the emotions of his soul, then it
is you are carried away, you are ready almost to fall down and
worship. What is the reason that Christian art has so far
surpassed heathen art? that the Madonna is so far more beautiful
than the Venus de Medicis? It is because the heathens portrayed
mere natural beauty; the Christians portrayed the beauty of the
soul. And if the soul is so beautiful in the little rays that
escape from the body, what must it be in itself? God has divided
his universe into several orders, and we find the lowest in a
superior order higher than the highest in the inferior order. The
soul, then, is more beautiful than any thing material. "_She is
more beautiful than the sun, and above all the order of the
stars: being compared with the light she is found before it_."
[Footnote 161]
[Footnote 161: Wisdom vii. 29.]
O my brethren, do not admire men for their form, or their dress,
or their grace, but admire then for the soul that is in them, for
that is the true source of their beauty.
It is also the secret of their destiny. God did not give you this
great gift to be idle. He gave it for a worthy end. He gave
understanding that you might know Him, and free will that you
might love Him; and this is the true destiny of man. You were not
made to toil here for a few days, and then to perish. You were
made to know God, to be the friend of God, the companion of God,
to think of God, to converse with God, to be united to God here,
and then to enjoy God hereafter forever. Once more, then, I say,
do not admire a man for his wealth, or his appearance, or his
learning. Do not ask whether he is poor or rich, ignorant or
learned, from what nation he springs, whether he lives in a cabin
or palace.
{413}
Let it be enough that he is a man, possessed of understanding and
free will, spiritual and immortal, with a soul and an eternal
destiny. That is enough. Bow down before him with respect. Yes,
respect yourselves--not for your birth, or your station, or your
wealth, but for your manhood. "_Let not the wise man glory in
his wisdom, and let not the strong man glory in his strength, and
let not the rich man glory in his riches. But let him that
glorieth glory in this, that_ HE UNDERSTANDETH AND KNOWETH
ME." [Footnote 162] Yes, my brethren, this is your true dignity,
the soul that is in you--the soul, that makes you capable of
knowing and loving God.
[Footnote 162: Jer. ix. 23, 24.]
And yet, there is another reason why you should value your souls,
besides their intrinsic excellence--I mean, the great things that
have been done for them. Do you ask me what has been done for
your souls? I ask you to look above you, and around you, and
under you. Oh, how fair the earth is! See these rivers and hills!
Look on the green grass! Behold the blue vault of heaven! Well,
this is the palace God has prepared for your abode; nay, not for
your abode--your dwelling-place is beyond the skies, where
"_the light of the moon is as the light of the sun, and the
light of the sun seven-fold, as the light if seven
days_,"--but for the place of your sojourn. This earth was
made for you; and, as your destiny is eternal, therefore the
earth must have been made to subserve your eternal destiny. Why
does the sun rise in the morning, and go down at night? It is for
you--for your soul. Why do summer and winter, seed-time and
harvest, return so regularly? It is for you, and your salvation.
The earth is for the elect. When the elect shall be completed,
the earth, having done its work, will be destroyed. This is the
end to which, in God's design, all things are tending. God does
not look at the world, or its history, as we do.
{414}
We say: "Here such a great battle was fought;" "there such a
celebrated man was born;" "in this epoch such an empire took its
rise, such a dynasty came to an end." But God says: "Here it was
a little child died after baptism, and went straight to heaven;"
"there it was I recovered that gifted soul, which had wandered
away into error and sin, but which afterward became so great in
sanctity;" "in such an age it was that I lost that great nation
which fell away from the faith, and in such another, by the
preaching of My missionary, I won whole peoples from heathenism."
I know we shrink from this in half unbelief: When it is brought
home to us that this little earth is the centre of God's
counsels, and our souls of the universe, we are amazed and
offended. But so it is. "_All things work together unto good to
them that love God_." [Footnote 163] All things; not blindly,
but by the overruling Providence of Him who made them for this
end.
[Footnote 163: Rom. viii. 28.]
Do you ask me what has been done for your souls? I answer, the
Church has been established for them. Look at the Church, and see
how many are her officers and members--Bishops, Priests,
Levites, Teachers, Students. All are yours--all are for you. For
you the Pope sits on his throne; for you Bishops rule their Sees;
for you the Priest goes up to the altar; for you the Teacher
takes his chair, and the Student grows pale in the search for
science. That the Apostolic commission might come down to you,
St. Peter and St. Linus and Cletus ordained Bishops in the
churches. That the true doctrine of Christ might come down to you
uncorrupted, the Fathers of the Church gathered in council, at
Nice, and Ephesus, and Chalcedon, and Trent. That you might hear
of the glad tidings of Christ, St. Paul and St. Patrick labored
and died. For you, for each one of you, as if there were no
other, the great machinery of grace, if I may express myself so
coarsely, goes on.
{415}
Do you ask what has been done for your souls? Angels and
Archangels, and Thrones and Dominions, and Principalities and
Powers--all the hosts of Heaven--have labored for them. "_Are
they not all ministering spirits, sent to minister for those who
shall receive the inheritance of salvation?_" [Footnote 164]
[Footnote 164: Heb. i 14.]
For you the whole Court of Heaven is interested, and one bright
particular Angel is commissioned to be your guardian. For you St.
Gabriel flew on his message of joy to the Blessed Virgin Mary,
and St. Michael, the standard-bearer, waits at the gate of death.
Do you ask what has been done for your souls? From all eternity
God has thought of them, the means of salvation have been
determined on, the chain of graces arranged. And the Son of God
has worked for them. Galilee, and Judea, and Calvary were the
scenes of His labors on earth, and on His mediatorial throne in
heaven He carries on still His unceasing labors in our behalf.
And the Holy Ghost has worked. He spake by the Prophets, and on
the day of Pentecost He came to take up His abode in the Church,
never to be overcome by error, or grieved away by sin, to vivify
the Sacraments, and to enlighten the hearts of the faithful by
the preaching of the Gospel and His own holy inspirations.
Why, who are you, my brethren? The woman at Endor, when she had
pierced the disguise of Saul, and knew that she was talking with
a king, was afraid, and "_said with a loud voice: 'Why hast
thou deceived me, for thou art Saul?_'" [Footnote 165]
[Footnote 165: I. Kings xxviii. 12.]
[Transcribers Note: The correct reference is I. Samuel
xxviii. 12.]
So, I ask you, who are you? I look upon your faces, and I see
nothing to make me afraid; but faith tears away the disguise, and
I see each one of you radiant with light, a true prince, and an
heir of heaven. I look above, and see Heaven open and the Angels
of God ascending and descending on errands of which you are the
object.
{416}
I look higher yet, and I see God the Father watching you with
anxiety, and the Son offering his blood for you, and the Holy
Ghost pleading with you, and the Saints and Angels, some with
folded hands supplicating for you, and others pointing with
outstretched finger to the glorious throne reserved in Heaven for
you.
Have you, my brethren, so regarded yourselves? Have you valued
that soul of yours? Have you kept it as your most sacred
treasure? Is it now safe and secure? Oh, how carefully do men
keep a treasure they value highly! Kings spend many thousand
dollars yearly just to take care of a few jewels. The crown
jewels of England are kept, as you know, in the Tower. It is a
heavy fortress, guarded by soldiers who are always on watch. At
each door and avenue there is an armed sentinel. The jewels
themselves are kept in glass cases, and visitors are not allowed
to touch them. And all this pains and outlay to take care of a
few stones that have come down to the Queen by descent, or been
taken from her enemies! And that precious soul of yours, before
which all the wealth of the world is but worthless dross with
what care have you kept that? Alas! every door has been left
open. No guard has been at your eyes to keep out evil looks. No
guard at your ears to keep out the whispers of temptation. No
guard at your lips to stop the way to the profane or filthy word.
Nay, not only have you kept up no guard, but you have carried
your soul where soul-thieves congregate. The Holy Scripture says:
"_A net is spread in vain before the eyes of a bird_."
[Footnote 166]
[Footnote 166: Provo i. 17.]
Yes, the birds and beasts are cunning enough to avoid an open
snare; but you go rashly into dangers that are apparent to all
but you. Sinners lie in wait for you. They say, in the language
of Scripture: "_Come, let us lie in wait for blood; let us hide
snares for the innocent without cause. Let us swallow him up
alive like hell, and whole as one that goeth down into the
pit_"--and you trust yourself in their power. Oh, fly from
them!
{417}
Consider the treasure you carry. "_What shall it profit a man
to gain the whole world and lose his own soul?_" Will you sin
against your own soul? you that are made after God's likeness;
you that are princely and of noble rank, will you defile that
image, and degrade yourselves to a level with the brutes that
perish?
But there are others whose offence is of another kind. They let
their salvation go by sheer neglect. If a man plants a seed, he
must water it, or it will not grow. So the soul needs the dew of
God's grace; and prayer and the sacraments are the channels of
God's grace. Yet how men neglect the Sacraments! Even at Easter,
when we are obliged to receive them, some absent themselves. It
has been a matter of the keenest pain to us to miss some members
of this congregation during the late Paschal season. You say, you
have nothing on your conscience, and it is not necessary to go to
confession. But is it not necessary to go to communion? Will you
venture to deprive yourselves of that food of which, unless ye
eat, the Saviour has said, "_Ye have no life in you?_" Or;
you have a sad story to tell. You have fallen into mortal sin,
and you are afraid to come. But do you think we have none of the
charity of the Angels? Only convert truly, for it is a true
conversion that gives the Angels joy, and we can give you the
promise that Thomas à Kempis puts into the mouth of Him whose
place we fill: "How often soever a man truly repents and comes to
Me for grace and pardon, as I live, saith the Lord, who desireth
not the death of a sinner, but rather that he should be converted
and live, I will not remember his sins any more, but all shall be
pardoned him."
And to you, my brethren, who, during the Easter season just past,
have recovered the grace of God, I have a word of advice to give
in conclusion. Keep your souls with all diligence. Keep your
souls; that is your chief, your only care. Keep them by fleeing
from the occasions of sin.
{418}
Keep them by overcoming habitual sins. Nourish them by prayer and
the sacraments. How great a disgrace, that all the irrational
world should do the will of God, and you, the rulers of the
world, should not do it! "_The kite in the air hath known her
time; the turtle, and the swallow, and the stork have observed
the time of their coming; but my people have not known the
judgment of the Lord_." [Footnote 167]
[Footnote 167: Jer. viii. 7.]
How great an evil it is in a state when an unworthy ruler is at
its head. The people mourn and languish, and at last rebel. So,
when a man neglects the end for which he was made, the whole
creation cries out against him. The stones under his feet cry
out. The air he breathes, the food he eats, protest against the
abuse he makes of them. Balaam's ass rebuked the madness of the
prophet; so, when you live in sin, the very beasts cry out: "If
we had souls, we would not be as you. Now we serve God blindly,
and of necessity; but if we had souls, it would be our pride and
happiness to give Him our willing service." All things praise the
Lord;--"showers and dew;" "fire and heat;" "mountains and hills;"
"seas and rivers;" "beasts and cattle." O sons of men, make not a
discord in the universal harmony! Receive not your souls in vain!
Serve God; "praise Him and exalt Him forever."
-------------------------------
Sermon XXI.
The Catholic's Certitude Concerning
The Way Of Salvation.
(Fifth Sunday After Pentecost.)
"I know whom I have believed, and I am certain
that He is able to keep that which I have committed
to Him against that day."
--II. Tim. I. 12.
No one can deny that this sentiment of the Apostle is a very
comfortable one. To be confident of salvation is surely an
excellent and desirable thing. But the question with many will
be, is it possible to attain it?
{419}
Now, there is one sense in which we cannot have a security of our
salvation. We cannot have personally an infallible assurance that
we are now and shall always continue in the grace of God, and
shall at last taste the joys of heaven. Our free-will forbids
such an assurance, and neither our happiness nor the attributes
of God demand it. But there is another sense in which a man may
be said to have a security of his salvation, viz.: that he has
within his reach, beyond all doubt, the proper and necessary
means for attaining that end; for if the means are certain, it is
plain that in the use of those means he may acquire a moral
certainty that he is doing those things which God requires of
him, and a well-grounded hope of everlasting life. Such a
security it would seem a man ought to be able to attain. Without
it the service of God must be slavish. There can be no free and
generous service where there is not confidence. When one is
travelling at night on a road he is ignorant of, he goes slow, he
falters; but in the broad daylight, in a road he is sure of, he
walks with a free, bold step. So in religion, if we have no
security that we are right, we can never do much for God. Man is
not an abject being; he is erect; he looks up to heaven; he seems
to face his Maker and to demand from Him to know the terms on
which he stands toward Him. A confidence, then, at least of being
able to secure our salvation, must be within our reach. The only
question is, how is it to be attained? I answer, the Catholic has
within his reach the security of his salvation, and he alone.
In order to show this to you, I must remind you of what I mean by
salvation. Put out of your minds that childish idea that
salvation is an external, arbitrary reward, given to some men
when they die, and denied to others, as a father gives a book or
a plaything to an obedient child, and refuses it to a
disobedient. Salvation is union with God. We are made for God.
That is our high destiny. In God are our life and happiness; and
out of God our death and ruin.
{420}
Salvation is our union with God for all eternity, and, in order
to be united to God for all eternity, we must be united to Him
here. Our salvation must begin here. Now, we are united to God
when our intelligence is united to His intelligence by the
knowledge of His truth, and our will united to His will by the
practice of His love. When I affirm, then, that the Catholic
alone has the means of attaining a security of salvation, I mean
that he alone has the certain means of coming to the knowledge of
His truth, and the practice of His will.
I say _the certain means of coming to the knowledge of His
truth_, for it is one thing to have a certain knowledge of a
thing, and another to have only some ideas about it. We see this
difference when we contrast the language of a man who is master
of a science with that of one who has only vague notions about
it. One possesses his knowledge--knows what he knows--can make
use of it; while the other is embarrassed the moment he attempts
to use his knowledge--is uncertain whether he is right or
wrong--is driven to guesses and conjectures. In the same way, in
religion, it is one thing to have convictions more or less
deep--opinions more or less probable, to be acquainted with its
history and able to talk about it--and quite another to have
certainty in religion, to know that one is right. This is the
assurance I claim as the special possession of the Catholic.
There can be no doubt that Catholics do, in point of fact, show a
much deeper conviction of the truth of their religion than
Protestants. This is a matter of common observation, and the
proofs of it are on every side. Officers who come back from the
army tell how struck they have been with the fact that the
Catholic soldiers believe their religion and carry it with them
to the camp. Proselyting societies make frequent confession of
the difficulty they find in undermining the faith even of
ignorant and needy Catholics. Those who have experience at
death-beds, know that faith is found sometimes surviving almost
every other good principle, and making a return to God possible.
{421}
Those who are familiar with the history of the Church know that
this faith is strong enough to bear the severest tests which can
be applied to it; that it has often led men to despise what the
world most esteems--wealth, pleasures, honor; that it sends the
missionary to heathen countries without a regret for the home and
the native land he leaves behind him; that, in fine, it has often
led men in times past, and still at this day leads them joyfully
to the rack, the stake, and the scaffold. Now, whence comes this
deep and fixed certainty in religion? Is it a mere prejudice that
melts before investigation? Is it a stupid fanaticism? Or has it
a reasonable basis, and are its foundations deep in the laws of
the human mind? I answer, Catholics have this undoubting
conviction on the principle of faith in an infallible authority.
There are but two principles of Christian belief, when we come to
the bottom of the matter. One is the Protestant principle, viz.:
that each one is to settle his faith for himself, by a study of
the clear records of Christianity. The other is the Catholic
principle, viz.: that each one is to receive his faith from an
infallible authority. I feel as if I ought to pause here for a
while to explain to you what is meant by this principle, for
there exists in regard to it in some minds a misconception which
does us the grossest injustice. Some persons imagine that our
creed is manufactured for us by the Pope and the Bishops; that
whatever they may think right and good they may decree, and
forthwith we are bound to believe it. But this is an enormous
mistake. The authority to which I submit myself is something far
more august. It lies behind Pope and Bishop, and they must bow to
it as well as I. The Pope and the Bishops are the organs of this
authority, not its sources. When we speak of learning from an
infallible authority, we mean that a man is to find out the truth
by putting his intelligence in communication with that living
stream of truth that flows down through the channel of tradition,
that living word of God, that public preaching of the truth in
the true Church, begun by the Apostles, carried on by their
successors, confessed by so many people, recorded in so many
monuments, adorned by so many sacrifices, attested by so many
miracles.
{422}
Unquestionably, this was the mode in which men were expected to
learn the truth in apostolic days. It would not have been of the
least avail for a man to have said to the Apostles that his
convictions differed from theirs. He would have been instantly
regarded as in error. "We are of God," says St. John; "he that is
of God, heareth _us_; he that is not of God, heareth not us.
_By this_ shall ye know the spirit of truth, and the spirit
of error." [Footnote 168]
[Footnote 168: I St. John iv. 6.]
Nor is there the least intimation in the New Testament that this
principle was to be departed from after the death of the
Apostles. On the contrary, we find that the Apostles ordained
others, and communicated to them their doctrine and authority,
that they might go on and preach just as they had done. And we
find in the early Church that whenever a dispute arose about
doctrine it was settled on the same principle, viz.: by an appeal
to the tradition of the churches that had been founded by the
Apostles. Thus, when a heresy arose in the second century,
Tertullian confronts it by bidding them compare their doctrine
with that of the Apostolic Churches: "If thou art in Achaia," he
says, "thou hast Corinth; if thou art near Macedonia, thou hast
Philippi; if thou art in Italy, thou hast Rome. Happy Church! to
which the Apostles bequeathed not only their blood, but all their
doctrines. See what _she_ has learned, see what _she_
has taught." [Footnote 169]
[Footnote 169: Adv. Præscr. Hær. n. 32-6.]
Such is the principle on which the Catholic Church acts to this
day. Now, while the Protestant principle of private judgment in
its own nature cannot lead to certainty, while in point of fact
it has led only to endless dispute, until in our own day it has
ended by bringing those Divine Records, which it began by
exalting so highly, into doubt and contempt; the Catholic
principle, which, I have stated, is the principle of tradition,
is adapted to give a complete and a reasonable certainty and
assurance.
{423}
The reasons why this public tradition of the living Church has
this power are manifold. They are in part natural, and in part
supernatural--universal consent, internal consistency, Divine
Attestation, the Warrant and Promise of Christ; all of which are
so well summed up by St. Augustine, in that famous letter of his
to the Manichees: "I am kept in the Catholic Church," he says,
"by the consent of peoples and nations. By an authority begun
with miracles, nourished by hope, increased by charity, confirmed
by antiquity. By the succession of priests from the chair of St.
Peter the Apostle--to whom our Lord after His resurrection gave
His sheep to be fed--down to the present Bishop. In fine, by that
very name of _Catholic_, which this Church alone has held
possession of; so that though heretics would fain have called
themselves Catholics, yet to the inquiry of a stranger, 'Where is
the meeting of the Catholic Church held?' no one of them would
dare to point to his own basilica." [Footnote 170]
[Footnote 170: Con. Ep. Manich. i. 5. 6.]
The conviction which such considerations produce is so deep that
a Catholic rests in it with the most undoubting certainty. He can
bear to look into his belief, to examine its grounds; he feels it
is a venerable belief. He says it is impossible that God would
allow error to wear so many marks of truth. To imagine it, would
be to impugn _His_ Truth, _His_ Justice, _His_
Power, _His_ Goodness. And therefore, our belief in the
Catholic religion is only another form of our belief in God. The
foundation of that belief is deep and abiding, for it is the
Eternal Throne of God. That desire for truth which is implanted
in man's nature is not, then, given only to be baffled and
disappointed--here is its fulfilment. Man is not raised to a
participation in Christ of the Divine Nature, to be left in doubt
of the most essential truths.
{424}
To the Catholic are fulfilled those pleasant words of Christ:
"_I will not now call you servants, for the servant knoweth not
what his Lord doeth; but have called you friends, because all
things, whatsoever I have heard from my Father, I have made known
to you_." [Footnote 171]
[Footnote 171: St. John xv. 15.]