Produced by Don Kostuch
[Transcriber's notes: This production is based on
https://archive.org/details/sermonspaulists00unknuoft/page/n7.
Many footnotes have additional citations indicated by "USCCB",
based on the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops Bible
found at http://usccb.org/bible/books-of-the-bible. Most
differences appear to be typographical errors not detected in
proofreading or minor changes in verse numbering.
End of Transcriber's notes.]
{1}
SERMONS.
{2}
{3}
Sermons,
Preached At The
Church of St. Paul the Apostle,
New York,
During the Year 1861.
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New York:
Van Parys, Hugot & Howell,
34 Beekman Street.
1861.
{4}
Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1861, by
VAN PARYS, HUGOT & HOWELL,
In the Clerk's Office of the District Court of the United
States, for the Southern District of New York.
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C. A. ALVORD, PRINTER.
{5}
PREFACE.
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Some of those friends who listened to the sermons contained in
this volume have expressed a desire to see them in print, and
thought they would do good. This friendly counsel has not been
acted upon without hesitation. The great scarcity of Catholic
sermons in English would seem to afford motive enough for
publishing, though it is feared that these may fall too far below
the standard. Certainly, they make no pretence to brilliant
passages of imagination, flowers of style, or appeals to popular
enthusiasm;
{6}
these not comporting with the serious and earnest work in which
we are engaged. But we trust that they will be found plain,
simple, and direct, and that there may be those among our
Catholic brethren who will derive an appreciable benefit from
their perusal--some clearer view of Christian doctrine or moral
duty, some thought to touch the heart, and draw it upward to God.
If so, our purpose will have been accomplished. With so much of
explanation we send out these few sermons into the world;
doubting, somewhat, if all who heard them when they came living
and warm from the preacher's lips, and listened with interest
then, will prize them now as they lie cold and uncolored on the
paper.
St. Paul's. 59th Street, Dec. 1. 1861.
{7}
CONTENTS.
PAGE.
I. The Earnest Man 9
II. Unworthy Communion 26
III. Christ's Resurrection The Foundation of Our Faith 40
IV. Giving Testimony 63
V. Spiritual Death 76
VI. The Love Of God 93
VII. Keeping The Law Not Impossible 107
VIII. The Two Standards 124
IX. The Epiphany 143
X. Renunciation 158
XI. The Afflictions Of The Just 176
XII. False Maxims 190
XIII. Mary's Destiny A Type Of Ours 205
XIV. Mortal Sin Exemplified In The History Of Judas 221
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XV. Interior Life 234
XVI. True Christian Humility 254
XVII. What The Desire To Love God Can Do 270
XVIII. The Worth Of The Soul 293
XIX. Merit The Measure Of Reward 310
XX. Self-denial 330
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SERMON I.
The Earnest Man.
A Sermon For The Commemoration Of St. Paul, Apostle.
(From the Epistle, Gal. i., 11-23.)
I have read the Epistle for the day, rather than the Gospel,
because it contains a brief but characteristic sketch of the
great Apostle, drawn by his own hand. How strange is the history
of this man! We have here the Church's most bitter persecutor
converted into the most zealous and successful of all the
Apostles. At first we discover a careful and devoted student of
the Jewish law; afterward he stands forth the most learned and
eloquent expounder of the Christian Gospel.
{10}
We see him in his youth a witness of St. Stephen's martyrdom,
standing by to hold the garments of those who stoned him to
death, sternly and pitilessly looking on; and again in his old
age we find him lying lifeless on the Ostian road, outside the
walls of Rome, a headless trunk, a martyr in the same cause for
which St. Stephen died. We see him at first "_ravaging the
Church, entering into houses, and hauling away men and women, and
committing them to prison,_" and shortly afterward we hear the
wondering Christians whisper to each other: "_He that
persecuted us in times past now preaches the faith_." In the
beginning, foremost of all the Jews was he in that terrible
energy which they put forth to destroy the Church; and afterward
foremost among the Apostles, he was able to say with truth: "_I
have labored more abundantly than they all_." In fine, one
trait of character distinguished this great Apostle at all times,
both before and after his conversion. He was always an earnest
man. It is worth our while this morning to study his character
well, for--from the bottom of my soul I do believe it--a few such
earnest Christians in our day would be enough to move the world.
{11}
Let us look at him first during the early part of his career, and
see how this earnestness of character displays itself in one
whose mind is misguided, by religious error. In the first place,
then, St. Paul before his conversion was distinguished by an
earnest and ardent love of truth, and consequently, a strong
attachment to what he deemed to be the truth. I have already read
to you in the Epistle what he says of his own early life: "_I
made progress in the Jews' religion above many of my equals in my
own nation, being more abundantly zealous for the traditions of
my fathers._" This earnestness of his sprang from a deep love
of truth, and it made him what he afterward became, the foremost
champion of the true faith. The human mind is created for truth,
is naturally attracted to the truth when fairly presented, and if
not led away by a corrupted heart, embraces it with joy. Truth
comes readily to those that love it, and therefore there is,
after all, nothing unnatural in this conversion of a Hebrew
zealot into a Christian evangelist; for if he loved error at
first, it was only because in good faith he mistook it for the
truth, and if he hated the truth, it was only because he did not
see it in its true colors, but misrepresented and perverted.
{12}
These men who are zealous, honestly zealous, in error, are the
very men to embrace the truth; and, on the contrary, they who
stand perfectly indifferent between contradictory creeds, are the
least open to conviction. Both reason and experience teach this.
Nothing is more common in our day than a class of men who look
with perfect[ly] good nature upon every form of religious
doctrine, except perhaps that particular one in which they
themselves were reared, and which is supposed therefore to have
some practical claim upon them. Did you ever know one of these
"liberal fellows," so called, to be come Catholic? I mean these
men who, having no religious faith to love, can have no error to
hate. I mean, for example, these nominal Protestants who, when in
your presence, turn into ridicule every Protestant form of
religion, without believing a word of yours; one of these
good-natured fellows that think the Catholic religion is quite as
good as any, in some respects the best of any, since it is the
farthest out of their way.
{13}
Take, for instance, one of these liberal politicians that you
always see at the public dinner on Patrick's day; that will
subscribe cordially to a Catholic charity, if you ask him, but
comes back to remind you of it on election day. Did you ever know
a man of this stamp to become Catholic? No, indeed; divine truth
has attractions only for earnest souls. A _hickory_
Protestant is as poor a thing as a _hickory_ Catholic. Such
a man has two fundamental axioms to get by heart, before
religious truth can take possession of his soul; first, that
there is such a thing as truth, and next, that his mind was made
for it, and needs it. Oh! it is sad to see a man in ignorance of
the way of salvation,--sadder still to see him blindly prejudiced
against it; but the saddest, most ignoble, and most hopeless of
all conditions, is to be indifferent to it.
St. Paul was another type of man. He was an earnest one. He
believed the Jewish religion to be the true and only true one,
and therefore he loved it with all his soul, and was zealous for
it. When the scales fell from his eyes, and the Christian faith
was revealed to him in all its truth and beauty, he embraced it,
and clung to it, and abandoned himself to it, with all the
energies of that same earnest soul.
{14}
Had he been a "liberal" Jew, we should have far more reason to
wonder at his conversion; it is still less probable that God
would have selected him for the Apostle of the Gentiles.
An earnest lover of truth, even before his conversion, it
followed as a natural consequence, that St. Paul hated error; and
for this reason he opposed the Christian religion with all his
might, and with his whole soul, because he believed it to be
false and dangerous. "_You have heard_," said he, writing to
the Christians of Galatia, "_of my conversation in time past in
the Jews religion, how that beyond measure I persecuted the
Church of God, and laid it waste._" But he tells us elsewhere:
"_I obtained mercy of God, because I did it ignorantly in
unbelief_." In the same proportion that the earnest man loves
what is good and true, he hates what is false and evil, or what
he thinks so, and opposes it too. St. Paul opposed the Christian
faith with all his power, because he believed it to be false. He
was wrong there: it was an error of judgment.
{15}
He persecuted it too violently, "beyond measure," forgetting the
rules of charity. There he was wrong again; it was an error of
the heart. But in all this he was in earnest, hating false
doctrine; and there he was right. I do not sympathize with his
delusion, but I love him for his earnestness.
Oh! how many such men may there not be in this country of ours,
that we rank among our bitterest foes!--men who honestly oppose
our holy religion, not for what it really is, but what they think
it to be. Could we open that sealed and sacred register of the
divine counsels, wherein the fortunes of mankind are written,
with what delight should we read there the names of many of our
bitterest opponents who are destined to kneel and worship with us
yet, as others, thank God, have done already! Why not? I do from
my heart believe that many of these make war upon us only from
mistake of judgment. They know our doctrines only by false
report. They judge of our morals only by such Catholics as are
either the most ignorant of their own religion, or else entirely
false to the teachings of their Church, and strangers to her
sacraments, although some of these may be loud enough at times in
proclaiming a faith they have not, to further some political
pretension, or sanctify some ungodly trade.
{16}
Under such circumstances it is not strange that many earnest men
should set their faces against us. Could they cease to hate our
religion, while they believe it to be false? Can they sympathize
with us, while they believe us to be corrupted by it? Oh! God,
send these men into thy fold! Take off the scales from their
eyes, and send them to us. We need earnest men amongst us. The
half-hearted, indifferent Protestant who calls himself a liberal,
we do not hope for. We have too many such already; we could spare
them by the thousand, for they neither save their own souls, nor
bring credit to thy cause. But send us earnest men like St. Paul,
who know how to hate error, because they love the truth!
If, even when groping in the darkness of Judaism, St. Paul was so
honest-hearted and earnest, we shall not find him otherwise when
enlightened by the grace of Jesus Christ, and enlisted in his
holy cause. He had before him two great enterprises, which
require not only large grace from God, but all one's manhood and
energy to carry on well.
{17}
He had his own soul to sanctify and save, and he had an Apostle's
work to do. He set about both like a man in earnest, with that
deliberate, deep and concentrated enthusiasm which is not wont to
fail. Let us see first what care he took of his own salvation.
Would you believe it, my brethren, that St. Paul--after all that
wonderful life of toil and privation in the cause of Christ,
after his many voyages and frequent shipwrecks, imprisoned often,
and dragged before different tribunals, after being scourged five
times by the Jews and three times by the Romans, stoned by the
mob in the streets and left for dead, wandering about without any
fixed home, and often famishing for food and drink, and faint for
want of sleep--would you believe, I say, that he yet trembled for
fear of being damned? He was afraid lest that poor, emaciated
body of his might rebel against the spirit, and drag him into
some grievous sin. "_Oh! wretched man that I am!_" was his
mournful cry, "_who shall deliver me from this body of
death?_" For this reason he scourged himself. "_Therefore I
chastise my body, and bring it into subjection, lest, perhaps,
when I have preached to others, I myself should become
reprobate_."
{18}
This is being in earnest. I think, my brethren, our bodies are as
dangerous to us, as St. Paul's was to him. Are we as much in
earnest to guard against a fall? Gluttony, drunkenness, impurity,
idleness and effeminacy--these sensual sins are generated in the
body. We may not, all of us, be guilty of them, not grossly
guilty; but we are none of us quite safe against them. What means
do we employ to subjugate our bodies, or was St. Paul less safe
than we?
According to the idea of this great Apostle, the way to heaven is
a constant and difficult warfare. Nothing in language can be more
striking and vivid than his description of an earnest Christian
struggling to make sure his salvation. He compares him to
wrestlers, boxers, and runners in the public games. Have you ever
seen two strong men wrestling? How their muscles harden into
knots, and their veins swell full as if they would burst! How all
their energies are engaged! How wary they are to guard against a
fall, and how quick to seize upon any advantage! Imagine them to
be real enemies wrestling for life, and then you have an image of
the actual contest of an earnest Christian struggling for
salvation with the enemies of his soul.
{19}
"_Brethren_," says St. Paul, and I seem to hear those deep
tones giving counsel like a friendly voice at the beginning of a
deadly fray, "_Brethren, put on the armor of God, that you may
be able to stand against the snares of the devil. For our
wrestling is not against flesh and blood, but against
principalities and powers, against the rulers of this world of
darkness, against the spirits of wickedness in the high
places_." Tell me, my brethren, is this your idea of the
Christian warfare? Is it with this terrible earnestness you
struggle to work out your salvation, or do you make a pastime of
it?
He compares us Christians to professional racers. "_Know you
not that they who run in the race all run indeed, but one
receiveth the prize? So run that you may win_." For my part,
he adds, "_I so run as not at an uncertainty_," not as if I
had lost sight of the mark, and were only half conscious of what
I were about, but "_forgetting the things that are behind, and
stretching myself forward to those that are before me, I pursue
towards the mark, for the prize of the supernal vocation of God
in Christ Jesus_." Is this the earnest way we follow out our
vocation? Are we thus determined to win?
{20}
The Christian warfare requires careful preparation, drill and
discipline. In respect to this, St. Paul compares us to
professional boxers, and his description shows that these
gladiators of the olden time took as much pride in their art, as
our modern gentlemen of the prize ring. "_Every one that
struggles in a combat, abstains from every indulgence; they,
indeed, that they may receive a corruptible crown, but we an
incorruptible_." How earnest are these miserable
prize-fighters after their belt, and their stakes! How patiently
they submit to all the rules of their training-master during
their long and painful course of training! What abstinence from
food, from indulgence in drink, and all luxurious living, in
order to reduce their bodies to the most athletic proportions!
What long walks under heavy weights! What fatiguing exercises to
harden their muscles! Oh! that we were half as earnest, with
heaven for a prize, and all our eternity at stake! We should be
sure of victory then.
{21}
St. Paul was in earnest. "_I so fight_," said he, "_as not
having to beat the air, but I chastise my body, and bring it into
subjection, lest, perhaps, when I have preached to others, I
myself should become reprobate_."
We have seen now, how, after his conversion, St. Paul set about
the first great business before him--his own salvation. Let us
look at him now as an Apostle, engaged in gaining souls to God,
and in guarding the flock of Christ intrusted to him. Ah! my dear
brethren, here must I be brief. I dare not make any further
demands upon your patience. And, besides, who can draw the
lineaments of that great Apostle, or paint him in colors worthy
of his character? What memory can trace out those long and
frequent journeys, with the incessant fatigue of preaching,
disputing, and writing, with the "care of all the churches" upon
his hands. And yet, not to burden his brethren, he maintained
himself in good part by manual labor. What language is gentle
enough, and warm enough, to represent that tender and sensitive
heart that throbbed in sympathy with all the joys and woes of the
Church, and burned with every scandal?
{22}
"_Who is weak,_" said he, "_and I am not weak? Who is
scandalized, and I do not burn?_" Who can estimate the depth
and fulness of that fraternal love, which made him willing to
part even with his own hopes of heaven, so it could be done
without offence to God, in order to save his brethren? "_My
conscience bears me witness in the Holy Ghost that I have great
sadness, and continual sorrow in my heart, for I wished myself to
be an anathema from Christ for my brethren_." This is the
nearest approach to the love of the Saviour for us, who bore our
sins upon the bitter cross, who died that we might live, becoming
an anathema for his brethren. Oh! holy zeal for souls! how
beautiful it shows in the person of an Apostle like St. Paul! And
what an example it is for those of us who are in the sacred
ministry. We, too, have a share in his Apostleship; we are
charged with the preaching of the Gospel, and the gathering in of
souls. We have pledged ourselves to this holy work of duty and
charity. Woe to such among us as are not in earnest! Joy to him
who, when his Lord comes, shall be able to give a good account of
his stewardship!
{23}
But you, my dear brethren, have also something to learn from this
burning zeal of St. Paul's. You have all something to do with the
advancement of your Master's kingdom, and the salvation of souls.
When God created the human race, so we read in the Book of
Ecclesiasticus, he made each man responsible, in some measure,
for the welfare of his fellows: "_Mandavit illis unicuique de
proximo suo_." and there is still a closer and dearer bond
which embraces all the members of the great Catholic Church, and
holds each one pledged to labor for the salvation of all. Ah!
brethren, do not say with the murderer Cain: "_Am I my
brother's keeper?_" What have I to do with the sanctification
or ruin of souls? No! no! but take to heart your Master's cause.
He came into the world to save sinners. Teach your heart to throb
in sympathy with his, until you can say with St. Paul: "_Who is
weak, and I am not weak? who is scandalized, and I do not
burn?_" This is to love our Lord in earnest. This is the
communion of saints.
{24}
We have traced this distinguishing characteristic of the great
apostle--this earnestness of his--through his entire career. It
only remains now to witness the close of that career. St. Paul
died like a man who had lived in earnest, and for whom therefore
death has no terrors, "_For me to live,_" said he, "_is
Christ, to die is gain_." Is it possible that any fear of
death, any doubt of his salvation could cloud the spirit of such
a man in the closing scene of his career? Listen to his parting
song of triumph! It comes from his prison at Rome, just upon the
eve of his martyrdom. He has still before his mind's eye the
combatants and runners in the public games. "_The time of my
dissolution is at hand. I have fought a good fight, I have
finished my course; I have kept the faith. For the rest there is
laid up for me a crown of justice, which the Lord the just Judge
will render to me at that day_."
Could we say as much, my brethren, if our time were come? Could
we claim as manfully to have fought a good fight? Could we claim
our reward as confidently? No? Then, alas, we have not been so
much in earnest. We have been playing with our salvation, not
wrestling for it; we have not been fighting for our faith with
the world and Satan, but compromising; we have been resting not
running; and if so, what hope have we to reach that crown?
{25}
Oh, let us bestir ourselves! Let us live like men awake; so let
us think, so speak, so act, so move, through this brief but
solemn crisis of life, that all who see us may know that, like
St. Paul, we are in earnest.
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{26}
Sermon II.
Unworthy Communion.
"He that eateth and drinketh unworthily,
eateth and drinketh judgment to himself,
not discerning the Body of the Lord."
--1 Cor. xi., 29.
(From the Epistle for Thursday in Holy Week.)
It is customary at certain seasons of the year, for separated
members of a family to meet and dine together, as a means of
cherishing that affection for one another which we look for among
relations. Thanksgiving Day and Christmas are occasions of this
kind. The Catholic Church, too, is a great family, and the
Paschal Season is such a time with her. She calls her children
around her altars, to receive the Body and Blood of her Lord, who
is the blessed bond of their union, and of their love.
{27}
But as in the parable of the rich man's supper there was found
one at the table who had not on the wedding garment, and was cast
out; therefore the Church warns us at this season, to prepare for
the Paschal Feast, that we may not be found unworthy. And to the
same end she calls upon us to keep this season of penance,
beforehand. In the Church's name, then, and in charity to
yourselves, my dear brethren, I am going to lift up my voice this
morning, against unworthy communions.
But first, I must tell you, that I do not mean unworthy, in the
sense of communions made without profit: as for example, when one
makes but little preparation beforehand, and thinks little of
what he is doing at the moment, and makes but the poorest sort of
thanksgiving afterward. No; compared with such as I mean, these
communions are precious and holy. They do but little good to
those who make them, it is true; and give but poor honor to God;
but at least they are made in the state of grace. By an unworthy
communion, I mean one that is made in known mortal sin. I mean a
sacrilegious communion.
{28}
I shall speak, then,--
1. Of communion in itself.
2. Of unworthy communions.
3. Of those who are guilty of them.
I.--_What is Communion?_
It is the Body and Blood of Jesus Christ, given to us as food for
the sanctification of our souls and bodies. "_He that eateth my
Flesh, and drinketh my Blood, hath everlasting life, and I will
raise him up at the last day._" [Footnote 1]
[Footnote 1: St. John, vi., 55.]
What is Holy Communion? It is to receive the best of friends, who
comes to advise us, to cheer and to encourage us. A friend who
has power to protect us. Who loves to dwell in our hearts as in a
castle, where He may fight for us against the enemies of our
soul.
What is Holy Communion? It is a pledge of Heaven, and a foretaste
of it. Union with God by a perfect love, will be our happiness
for all eternity, and this is begun on earth in Holy Communion.
As St. Peter says, it is to be made "partakers of the Divine
nature." [Footnote 2]
[Footnote 2: 2 Peter i., 4.]
What is Holy Communion? It is the parting gift of one who loves
us better than our mother. He chose the time when He was about to
leave us, to give it an additional value.
{29}
He made it the memorial of His Passion. As in times past, He had
given the rainbow as a perpetual remembrance of His mercy, so He
willed that the Blessed Sacrament of His Body and Blood, should
be a perpetual remembrance of the redemption of the Cross, "_Do
this in remembrance of Me_."
What is Holy Communion? It is the best of all the good gifts of
our good God.
II.--_What then is it to receive this Holy Communion
unworthily?_ It is to be grievously wanting in reverence to
the holiest of all holy things. When you see a person put a thing
to an improper use, what do you say? Why, that is too bad; you
say. Why, you must be out of your head. Suppose you saw a girl in
service, scrubbing the floor with a beautiful camel's-hair shawl,
what would you say? Suppose you saw me filling the water stoups
at the door, and for that purpose dipping out the holy water,
from a pail, with the very chalice I had just used in Mass, what
would you say? Why, you would exclaim, how very shocking! what an
irreverent Priest!
{30}
Now why would you say this? Because when God made your soul, He
put into it a reverence for certain things, above others. But
what does an unworthy communion do? It does this. It takes the
Blood of Christ, and pours it down a sink that is more loathsome
than a city sewer, for what is so loathsome to God, as a soul in
mortal sin? Corruption of matter is good, for God made it, but
moral corruption is an abomination to Him.
This one does who conceals a mortal sin in confession.
What is an Unworthy Communion? It is to crucify Jesus over again.
What does St. Paul say? "_They who have tasted of the Heavenly
Gift and are fallen away, crucify to themselves the Son of God,
and make a mockery of Him._" Now, which is worse, to leave off
keeping a man's company, or to play the false friend with him?
But this a man does who receives Holy Communion unworthily. The
spirit of his act is as if he went up to the throne of God, and
caught hold of those Blessed Hands and Feet, and said, "come down
to earth and be tormented once more." He would pull off the crown
of glory from that Blessed Head, and press down again upon that
Brow the crown of thorns.
{31}
Nay, it does even worse than crucify Jesus over again. His first
crucifixion was a willing one. It was His own love that was the
real executioner; but now He is dragged against His will. This is
what a man does who gets his absolution on the strength of some
promise which he does not intend to keep.
What is an Unworthy Communion? It is to eat and drink one's own
damnation. What does St. Paul say again? "_He that eateth and
drinketh unworthily, eateth and drinketh judgment to
himself_." The wood of the cross drank in the Blood of Christ,
and was sanctified; and here is a soul that has drunk it in, and
is damned. The Centurion was sprinkled with it, as he was
piercing the side of Christ with a spear, and it made a Saint of
him; but here is a Christian soul, that is damned for being
bathed with it. It cleansed the robber's conscience who was
hanging beside his Lord, and pleaded mercy for him; but on this
soul it cries for vengeance, like the blood of Abel, against
another Cain.
{32}
"_Better_," said our Lord, "_had it been for that man, if
he had not been born;_" but now, he has anticipated the Day of
Judgment upon himself. This a man does who gets his absolution
upon the promise of breaking off from a bad companion, which
promise he does not mean to keep. I repeat, then, they make
unworthy, sacrilegious communions, for instance,
1. Who conceal mortal sins in confession.
2. Who get their absolution on the strength of their promising
what they do not intend to perform.
But what am I saying? Surely no one before me has been guilty of
this! Well, God only knows. It has been done elsewhere, and may
have been done here, for alas, unworthy communions are not such
very uncommon things. In case it has been so, I wish to strike
terror into such consciences, and to bring them to penance. I
wish to prevent such a misfortune, in the parish of St. Paul's,
as one coming to the Paschal Feast of the Lamb without his
wedding garment.
{33}
III. _Who has done this?_
As our Lord sat at the table with His Apostles, at the Last
Supper, he said sadly, "_One of you shall betray Me._" Each
in turn, asked Him eagerly and earnestly, "_Lord, is it I?_"
No, Peter, I foresee that you will deny that you know Me. That
you will even swear that you do not. That you will even do this
several times; but no, it is not you who will betray Me.
"_Lord, is it I?_" No, Thomas. You will run away for fear at
my death, though you said you would die with Me. You will not
believe My word that I am risen, and that I am your Lord, until
you put your hand in the prints of the nails; but no, it is not
you who will betray Me.
"_Lord, is it I?_" No, John. You shall be beside Me at the
Cross. I mean that you shall have the charge of my mother; oh,
no, I do not mean you!
"_Lord, is it I?_" Thou hast said it, Judas. I made you an
Apostle, a pillar of my Church. I called you out of the world,
and took you to my bosom, as a dear friend. You have gone in and
out, and eaten and drunk with Me. Nay, you have just received My
Body and Blood, and all the while you hold the thirty pieces of
silver for which you have betrayed Me.
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Now, then, I think I hear you say to me: Father, have I then done
this horrible thing? _Is it I? Is it I?_ No, my good man.
You have enjoyed for years your ill-got gains, but your health
has gone now. Declining years have come upon you, and you are
poor; you can never restore them again. Your communions are not
unworthy for this. But as for you, young man, why have you
presumed to come to the altar? Where are those thirty pieces of
silver for which you sold your soul? You promised in confession
that you would restore them, but why? that you might get your
Easter Communion. In your heart you said, Perhaps I will, some
day, and all the while, you knew that no absolution is valid
without the will to restore, or actual restitution when one is
able; and you _were_ able.
_Father, is it I?_ No, poor fellow. You forgot to mention in
your last confession, a very grievous sin, and only remembered it
just after you had left the altar. Do not be troubled. You tried
your best to examine your conscience, but this escaped your
memory.
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It was forgiven with the rest. But what have you to say for
yourself, O drunkard? You did not leave out one of your many
nights of debauch; but what of that solemn promise to keep from
liquor for so long a time, which you have already so often
broken, as you had no intention of keeping it? You have drunk in
damnation with your liquor, and deeper damnation with your
communion.
_Father, is it I?_ No, poor girl. You should have known
better than to have trusted yourself to a deceiver with his
jewels and wine; but you have done penance. Your sobs in the
confessional have spoken for you. Your communion, though so soon
after your confession, was good. But what have you to say for
yourself, O adulterer, and adulteress? You, O adulterer; you
found a home where there were smiles, and fondness, and peace;
and what have you done? You have made it a home of jealousy and
strife. You have put estrangement between two hearts whom God
joined together, and said, "let no man put asunder." You have
robbed a fellow man of one of his most sacred rights given him in
the face of the Church.
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And you, O adulteress, why have you come here? Our Lord said to
Judas, "_Friend, why hast thou come? dost thou betray the Son
of Man with a kiss?_" You knelt here at the altar-rail, and as
the Priest said to you, "The Body of our Lord Jesus Christ
preserve thy soul unto everlasting life," you put up your lips,
and said, like Judas, Hail Master! and you kissed our Lord. Oh!
where was the Angel of the Blessed Sacrament then? An Angel was
placed at the gate of Eden with a flaming sword to keep guard
over the Tree of Life. Oh! where, I ask, was the Angel of the
Blessed Sacrament? Where was His guardian who said of Himself,
"_I am the bread that cometh down from Heaven, of which
whosoever eateth, he shall live forever!_" Preserve thy soul
unto everlasting life, indeed! It has prepared you for the
everlasting burnings; for the flames that shall never be
quenched. You went to confession, you say! Yes, I know you did,
and you concealed your sins of shame. You have added to these one
of sacrilege. And you, O slanderer, who have robbed your neighbor
of his character, by your lies and calumnies which you have never
told in confession, or if you have, which you never intend to
repair at the price of your own dishonor!
{37}
You have been drinking in your own judgment with the Blood of
Jesus. Jesus, judgment! Jesus, damnation! Why St. Bernard said,
the very name of Jesus "was music in his ear, honey in his mouth,
and joy to his heart." Jesus, damnation! Why St. Gabriel said
"_He shall be called Jesus, for He shall save His people from
their sins._" O cruel perversion of sin! to turn sweetness
into bitterness! But what does God say of such as these? "_When
you stretch forth your hands, I will turn away My eyes from you
and when you multiply prayer, I will not hear for your hands are
full of blood_." [Footnote 3]
[Footnote 3: Isaias i., 15.]
Let me tell you a fact that a Jesuit told to one of our Fathers.
A young man in the neighborhood where he lived, was heir to a
large estate, which he was to receive at twenty-one years of age,
on the condition that at that time he frequented the Sacraments.
He turned out to be very wild and given up to sin. Near the end
of his twentieth year, he was reminded of the danger of his
losing the estate.
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Never fear, said he, I'll easily manage that, and at once he
began to lead outwardly a very correct life. He was now seen at
Mass. He kept out of society, and public places of amusement.
Within a short time before his birthday, he went to confession;
and the morning came, when he was seen to go up to the altar-rail
for communion. The Priest placed the Blessed Sacrament on his
tongue, and had turned back to the altar, when he heard a
frightful shriek, and the words "My tongue! my tongue! it has
burned my tongue!" When the Priest returned to him, he said, "Oh
Father, forgive me, my confession was bad, I had been in the
secret commission of mortal sins which I purposely concealed. I
had no wish to forsake them, but only to secure my property; oh
Father, I repent, absolve me before I die!" The Priest took the
Blessed Sacrament from his tongue, and with much difficulty
consoled him with the promise of pardon. He made a good communion
soon after, and was put in possession of his estate, which he
sold, and gave to the poor, and in penance for his sins, doomed
his false tongue thenceforward to perpetual silence.
{39}
Tremble, then, dear brethren, at the thought of so grievous a
sin. For such as are guilty of it, there is but one thing to be
done. Come back to God with sorrow, now in this time of penance,
for, "_thus saith the Lord; if your sins be as scarlet they
shall be made as white as snow; and if they be red as crimson
they shall be as white as wool_." [Footnote 4]
[Footnote 4: Isaias 1, 13.]
[Transcriber's note: The USCCB reference is Isaias i., 18.]
Confess your sacrilegious communions. Go and repair the scandal
you have given. Restore the goods you have stolen. Abandon the
companions of your guilt. Do this, and there will be joy before
the Angels of God, and with the Priests to whom you may confide
your conscience. If, in spite of all I have said, you live on
with the guilt of an unworthy communion, eternal woe will be your
portion; from which may God in His mercy deliver you, and all of us.
AMEN.
------------------
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Sermon III.
Christ's Resurrection The Foundation Of Our Faith.
"And when the Sabbath was past,
Mary Magdalene and Mary the mother of James, and Salome,
brought sweet spices."
--Mark xvi., 1.
(From the Gospel for Easter Sunday.)
On this day, the bosom of the whole Church swells with
exultation. After the penance of Lent, after the mourning of Holy
Week, the countless disciples of the crucified and risen Saviour,
take up and echo through the whole earth the joyful cry--Christ
is risen! He is risen indeed. For this is the day on which Jesus
Christ, bursting the bonds of the sepulchre, triumphed over
death.
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This is the day which, more than any other, enlivens our faith,
strengthens our hope of eternal salvation, and causes our hearts
to bound with spiritual joy. Even the coldest and most
indifferent Christian feels his bosom warm with some faint
sentiment, at least, of devotion on this day, and remembers with
pride that he bears the name and professes the faith of Jesus
Christ. This is right and proper. For all the doctrines of our
religion are centred in the resurrection. All our hopes are based
upon it. The Resurrection is the grand Fact of Christianity. It
is the proof of the Divinity of Jesus Christ; it is the seal of
God which makes the documents of our faith authentic; it is the
cause and the pledge of our final resurrection and eternal
happiness. This accounts for the joy which swells every true
Christian bosom, on this day. For, my dear brethren and I beg you
to note it well--the source of our hope and of our joy is in our
faith. It is the certainty of faith which banishes all doubt,
wavering, hesitation and gloom from the heart of a sincere and
fervent Catholic. The faith of the Resurrection must be firmly
planted in our minds, if we would have the hope of the
Resurrection, and the joy which springs from this hope, bright
and glowing in our hearts.
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Let me therefore ask your attention this morning, while I
endeavor to show you what a firm and and immovable foundation we
have for our faith, in the resurrection of Jesus Christ. And in
doing so, I will endeavor to establish these three points:
_First_.--That Jesus Christ appealed to his future
resurrection, while he was yet alive, as the proof of his
Divinity.
_Second_.--That He actually raised himself from the dead, as
he had predicted, and,
_Third_.--That the Resurrection of Christ proves his Deity,
and with it, the entire Catholic faith.
May the grace of the risen Saviour increase our faith, through
the intercession of Mary, whose faith never wavered for an
instant, even beneath the Cross of her Son!
I.
Jesus Christ asserted frequently and clearly to the Jews, that he
was God, and required them to believe him. So his disciples
understood him, who believed; so the Jews understood him, who did
not believe, but accused him of blasphemy and condemned him to
death.
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The great sign, the miracle, the proof, to which he appealed to
justify this declaration, was his resurrection on the third day
after his death. He declared himself to be the proper and only
begotten Son of God. He that does not believe this, he says,
"_is already judged, because he believeth not in the Name of
the only-begotten Son of God._" [Footnote 5]
[Footnote 5: John iii., 17.]
[Transcriber's note: The USCCB reference is John iii., 18.]
This title of only-begotten which he gives himself, shows that he
does not merely claim to be a child of God by grace and adoption,
but by nature. This nature he declares positively is not his
human nature, but distinct from it, that it came from heaven, and
was in heaven as well as on earth. "_No man hath ascended into
heaven, but he that descended from heaven, the Son of Man who is
in heaven_." [Footnote 6]
[Footnote 6: John iii., 13.]
He confesses that he is man; but asserts that he is more than
man, that he came from heaven. He asserts also that this superior
nature which is joined with his humanity is eternal. "_Before
Abraham was--I am_." [Footnote 7]
[Footnote 7: John viii., 58.]
Not I was; but _I am_, the word by which God made known his
eternity to Moses. And finally he declares that this super-human
and eternal nature is identical with that of his Father, is the
Divine nature itself. "_I and my Father are one_." [Footnote 8]
[Footnote 8: John x., 38.]
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His disciples who believed in him, understood him to teach his
divinity. "_My Lord and my God_." [Footnote 9] was the
expression of the faith of Thomas. "The Word was God," [Footnote
10] that of John.
[Footnote 9: John xx., 28.]
[Footnote 10: John i., 1.]
So the Jews understood him, who did not believe. "_The Jews
answered him: for a good work we stone thee not, but for
blasphemy, and because that thou, being a man_, MAKEST THYSELF
GOD!" [Footnote 11]
[Footnote 11: John x., 33.]
The Jews understood then perfectly well, that in calling himself
the true, proper, and only Son of God, the Christ and Saviour of
the world; and in working miracles, forgiving sins, and preaching
salvation, in his own name, and by his own authority, and not as
a mere prophet--he asserted his own true and proper divinity, and
made himself God.
{45}
In support of this claim, Jesus Christ repeatedly appealed to his
resurrection. He foretold his death; and declared that he would
show himself to be the true Son of God the Father, having the
same divine nature and the same divine power with him; by raising
himself from the dead on the third day. "_The Son of Man shall
be in the heart of the earth, three days and three nights._"
[Footnote 12]
[Footnote 12: Matt, xii., 40.]
This was said to the Scribes and Pharisees who wished him to give
them a sign which should prove him to be the true Christ. When he
drove out the men who were trafficking in the courts of the
Temple, the Jews said to him: "_What sign dost thou show unto
us, seeing thou dost these things? Jesus answered and said unto
them: Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up.
But he spoke of the temple of his body_." [Footnote 13] It is
remarkable that he does not declare that he will be raised to
life by his Father, but by himself. "_I lay down my life that I
may take it again. No man taketh it away from me, but I lay it
down of my self, and I have power to lay it down and I have power
to take it up again_." [Footnote 14]
[Footnote 13: John ii., 18-21.]
[Footnote 14: John x.. 17-18.]
{46}
These are only samples of the frequent and public declarations
made by our Lord to the same effect. And it was so well known
among the Jews that he had staked his entire cause on his
resurrection, that they came to Pilate, immediately after his
crucifixion, and said to him: "_Sir, we have remembered that
that seducer said, while he was yet alive: After three days I
will rise again. Command therefore the sepulchre to be guarded
until the third day._" [Footnote 15]
[Footnote 15: Matt. xxvii., 63-64.]
Here, then, is the grand test of the truth of Christ's
doctrine--the grand sign of his divinity; the public challenge
which he gives to all his enemies. We have it on the testimony of
the most desperate haters of his name and doctrine; the very men
who nailed him to the Cross. They were resolved to prove his
prediction false, to show that he could not, and would not, rise
again, and thus to manifest him to the world as a seducer. At the
sepulchre of Jesus Christ, then, is the trial of strength between
them. The dead body of Jesus is on one side; the Jewish rulers,
the Roman governor, and a strong watch of soldiers on the other.
And Jesus Christ overcame; he actually did rise, as he had
foretold: "_resurrexit sicut dixit;_" and all their
precautions only served to furnish so many brilliant testimonies
to the fact, that he had fulfilled his word.
{47}
II.