of God or it may not. It is of no consequence whether it does or
not. We have no right to expect it, for God will grant it just as
far as He sees good for us and no farther. It will come,
generally, as the result of habits of virtue, of a long course of
action, in imitation of His holy perfections. We must learn to
know Him and prize Him in order to feel love for Him.
That this is the true idea of the love of God is clear from the
Holy Scriptures. In the Gospel of St. John it is thus described:
"_For this is the charity of God, that we keep his
commandments_." It is not said: The love of God is in a
delightful feeling that possesses one without any effort on his
part.
{96}
That would be very pleasant and very easy. No; that is not said.
But the meaning of what is said is, that the love of God is in
the will and determination to keep his commandments. In another
place it is said in plain terms: "_He that hath my commandments
and keepeth them, he it is that loveth me_." As much as to
say: If your mind and will are directed to me in such a way that
you keep my commandments, don't be worried or afraid, you do most
truly love me. Now this ought to console any one who really and
truly wants to love God, for we see that it lies in his power to
do so. He need not go into raptures of fervor. He need not fly in
the air in an ecstasy. He need not see visions or work wonders.
He need not practise extra ordinary fasting or austerity, or
spend whole nights in prayer. He need only have a determination,
let him feel well or ill, that he will honestly and sincerely act
so as to be agreeable to God, and he loves Him. Let him go on
acting in that way and he will soon love Him exceedingly, far
more than any thing in this world.
{97}
Another argument that proves conclusively that this is the true
love of God, comes from this very command of our Lord Jesus
Christ: "_Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with thy whole
heart, and with thy whole soul, and with thy whole mind_." The
love of God is commanded. Now God commands nothing impossible,
nothing, in short, which is very difficult to set about. As he is
a God of infinite goodness and love, the bare idea of such a
thing is wholly repugnant to right reason and common sense. If He
had commanded us to exercise a sensible love--one of feeling--we
might justly complain and say: I cannot fulfil it; that is a
thing beyond my control. We have to set about a practical
love--keeping his commandments, that is a business we can give
our mind and attention to, as we would to farming, building,
doctoring, or any other business. If a man will set about the
business of practically acting according to the will of God, he
will add every day to his stock of love and to his merit in
heaven. This is a rich mine; it is inexhaustible; out of this
mine is drawn the pure gold of charity to God, richer and more
abundant than all the mines of California or Australia.
{98}
But what degree of this love must we exercise in order to obtain
everlasting life? A high degree of it: not a low measure of it,
but a large and liberal one if we would make our calling and
election sure. Our Lord's answer to the question indicates that
beyond mistake: "_Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy
heart and all thy soul and all thy mind_." That sounds strong;
that sounds hard; words could hardly be put together to convey a
stronger meaning. It would seem to mean that all our thoughts and
desires and actions should be engrossed and taken up with God and
eternity, so as to leave room for nothing else. This would indeed
be hard, and it would be absurd, considering the order of things
which God has established in the world. God created us to live in
society and the most of us for society, to play our part in it,
to bring up families of children--to put bread and butter in
their mouths, and clothes on their backs. We cannot then abandon
the world, and we must devote our attention to its affairs: we
must give a reasonable attention to do them well, for the
advantage of ourselves and those connected with us. What is the
meaning, then, of loving with one's whole heart and soul and
mind?
{99}
We must have our will and determination directed in the first
place to God and to keeping his commandments, leaving every thing
else to the second place. A man must be determined to keep God's
commandments in spite of every obstacle, in spite of every
temptation. He must be determined to keep them all, that is, at
least, to avoid every mortal sin. He must be determined not only
for the present, but so long as the breath is in his body. If he
falls short of this, he does not love God with all his heart and
soul and mind; he does not do what is necessary to obtain
everlasting life, and he will not obtain it.
It is required by God, as an essential condition to our
salvation, that we should be habitually in the determination to
keep free from every mortal sin. What can be more just? We
acknowledge him as our Creator, and as infinitely wise and
infinitely good. He is rightly our sovereign Lord and Master, and
can command what he chooses--there is an equal obligation on our
part to obey him. Is it asking much, that we shall be habitually
obedient? Any thing short of this he could not require--we could
not expect. Is it for Him to be dependent upon our moods and
humors, finding us true to-day and false to-morrow?
{100}
Oh! you say, is that all that is required of us to insure our
salvation--to keep clear of mortal sin? That is nothing new; we
knew that all along; to go that far is not much; we can do that
easily enough. Can you, indeed? Perhaps it is easy enough to
avoid mortal sin for a time, when there is fervor, or particular
grace, or little temptation; but is it easy to do so for one's
whole life? Is it easy to do so when one's fervor is worn off,
and distractions of all kinds occupy the mind, and when in this
state strong temptations beset one? Who ever says this, shows
that he has little knowledge of himself, and little experience in
affairs of the soul. You may avoid sin a little while, but you
will fall, as sure as you live, if your mind is not set against
sin, actively and habitually, so as to turn away from it with
horror in the moment of temptation. No; in order not to fall, our
whole life must be directed toward God. The eternal truths,
heaven, hell, death, judgment, must pass frequently through our
minds and take up our thoughts. In the words of Scripture, we
must keep our lamps trimmed, and well supplied with oil, lest
they go out.
{101}
Our souls must be trimmed with holy meditations, and the oil of
good works supplied in abundance must keep the flame of love to
God burning brightly in our hearts, or else it will go out. It
will fade away gradually for want of nourishment, until it is
gone. We cannot keep clear even of mortal sin, unless we are
thoroughly in earnest about it, and make a business of it. When
our Lord says, "Love the Lord thy God with thy whole heart and
thy whole soul, and thy whole mind," He means to say: Put your
heart and soul in the business of your salvation. Make a sure
thing of it by the energy and determination you apply to it.
"_The children of this world are wiser,_" says the Lord,
"_than the children of light_." All their prudence and skill
is laid out to succeed in their business, to scrape together what
they consider desirable for this life. If any thing like the same
prudence and skill were exercised in serving God, salvation would
be an easy thing. If you want to be saved, you must put your
souls in it. You all know what the meaning of putting your souls
in a thing is.
{102}
It is a saying used every day. 'His soul is in his business; his
soul is in study; her soul is in fashion, in her family. How the
poor girl at service, when she wants to please her mistress, puts
her soul in her work! What delight she takes in having every
thing clean and in order! When she gets a compliment for her
skill or industry, what heartfelt pleasure it gives her! Her
continual study is to please in every way. How the young man puts
his soul in pleasure sometimes! Every cent he can earn is spent
in the saloon, the circus, the theatre. Let him earn a little
money, he breaks off work until it is all squandered. Sundays,
holidays, all are consumed in his darling occupations of drinking
and making merry. In his pursuit of pleasure, God, reputation,
health, must all give way. Nothing is allowed to put any obstacle
in his headlong career. So it is with the covetous man. Money is
his sole delight. His heart is satisfied with the pleasure of
hoarding it, the pleasure of getting more and more. He has more
than he knows what to do with: that makes no difference. He wants
still more. He has nothing to give away. He can't afford this, he
can't afford that.
{103}
He has no time for amusement; business, mortgages, interest,
that's all the amusement he cares for. Anxious and fretful for
little losses, he wears out his life, and leaves his property for
somebody else to spend, perhaps to be a curse to some worthless
relation. He has put his soul in his money-bags.
We see people every day whose souls are so taken up with the
world, that they can't even give a thought to any thing that lies
beyond it. They verify the words of Scripture: "_Let us eat,
drink, and be merry, for to-morrow we die_." that is, they
would be glad to persuade themselves, if they could, that they
have no souls, and are determined to act practically on these
suppositions. Now, in the same way that these poor miserable
creatures put their souls in business, pleasure, love of money,
or worldly ease and comfort, put yours in the business of your
salvation. Make it your study to please God. Don't say: how
little can I do and get off with it? but, how much can I do? What
opportunity, what golden opportunity offers, to do something to
please God?
{104}
Ah! there are plenty of opportunities for all who wish to avail
themselves of them. The poor man can strive to do his duty, by
honest industry supporting his family, setting them a good
example. He has a good deal to put up with, in the shape of
poverty, sickness, cold, hunger, and fatigue. He can love God
with his whole soul, by putting up with these things patiently.
These things are his money, with which he may be sure of
purchasing the kingdom of heaven.
The rich man, if his soul is in his salvation, considers himself
as God's trustee, not to dispose of the wealth God allots him as
he pleases, but to advance His kingdom and the salvation of
souls. He does not care so much for pampering his body, making a
show, or heaping up riches for his heirs, but is satisfied with a
competence and means enough to live according to his station; the
rest he spends in promoting true and deserving objects of
charity. He likes to imitate Jesus Christ in helping the poor and
the sick, keeping a free bed in the hospital, sustaining
institutions for the relief of orphans, the insane, and all who
need it. He likes to help a deserving young man, when he finds
one of the sort, to become a priest in the church of God.
{105}
He doesn't consider it entirely the business of the priest to
build churches, wearing himself out to collect the means, and
that from the hard earnings of the poor, but steps forth
promptly, and takes his full share of the expense and the labor
at tending such enterprises. When he finds a hard-working priest,
zealous for souls, he will stand by him and work with him, only
too thankful to get a chance to do something.
In short, if we would make eternal life secure, we must have a
spirit of self-sacrifice and devotedness, such as led the holy
Martyrs to lay down their lives for the faith--such at least in
kind, if not in measure.
Oh! my brethren, how happy is the man who cherishes such a
principle in his heart. He is not divided and torn asunder by a
continual strife between good and evil. He is not a double
dealer. He is not striving to serve two masters. God reigns in
his heart, and peace prevails in it. Loss of property cannot take
it away, for property is not the main thing in his soul. Neither
can loss of friends. He has long been sensible that God is the
only true unchangeable friend. Death cannot disturb it--for he is
at peace with God, and doesn't fear death.
{106}
Oh! why have we not all this spirit? We acknowledge how beautiful
it is. We cannot but regret if we have it not. Let us then try
for it. Let us begin to-day--by forming a deep and strong
resolution that we will not live for the world, or the things of
the world, but seek God first of all. That we will really love
Him with our whole heart, and that this shall be the business of
our lives. Then shall be true of us what is said by the holy
Psalmist: "_Blessed is the man who hath not walked in the
counsel of the ungodly, nor stood in the way of sinners, nor sat
in the chair of pestilence. But his will is in the law of the
Lord and on his law he shall meditate day and night. And he shall
be like the tree that is planted near the running waters, which
shall bring forth its fruit in due season, and his leaf shall not
fall off, and all whatsoever he shall do shall prosper_." Then
all shall prosper with us here below, for all things shall speed
our way to that world above, where, without effort, in a perfect
manner, to our unbounded joy, we shall love God with our whole
heart and soul, and mind, and strength.
-----------------
{107}
Sermon VII.
Keeping The Law Not Impossible.
"I can do all things in Him who strengthened me."
Phil, vi., 13.
If I am not mistaken, a very great number of the sins that men
commit, are committed through hopelessness. The pleasures of sin
are by no means unmixed. Indeed, sin is a hard master; and all
who practice it find it so. I never met a man who said it was a
good thing, or that it made him happy. On the contrary, all
lament it, and say that it makes them miserable. Why then, do
they commit it? Very often, I am persuaded, because they think
they have no power to resist it. They feel in themselves strong
passions; they have yielded to them in times past, they see that
others yield to them, and so they come to think it impossible not
to yield to them.
{108}
The law of God is too difficult, they say. It is impossible to
keep it. It may do for priests or nuns who are cut off from the
world, or for women, or for the old, or for children, but for us
who mix in the world, whose blood is warm, and whose passions are
strong, it is too high and pure. It is all very well to talk
about; it is all very well to hold up a high standard to us, but
you must not expect us to attain it. The utmost that you can
expect of us is to stop sinning, now and then, and make the
proper acknowledgments to God by going to confession, but
actually to try not to sin, to keep on endeavoring not to sin at
any time, or under any circumstances, that is impossible, or at
least so extremely difficult that, practically speaking, it is
impossible. Are there none of you, my brethren, who recognize
this as the secret language of your hearts? Is there not an
impression in your minds that the law of God is too strict? or at
least that it is too strict for you, and that you cannot keep it?
If so, do not harbor it. It is a fatal error. No: it is not
impossible to keep God's law. It is not impossible to keep from
mortal sin.
{109}
It is, I admit, impossible to keep from every venial sin, though
even here we can do a great deal if we try. Such is the frailty
of human nature that even the best men as time goes on fall into
some slight faults, only the blessed Virgin having been able, as
we believe, to pass a whole life without even in the smallest
thing offending God. But it is possible for all of us to keep
from mortal sin, at all times and under all circumstances. This,
I think, you will acknowledge when you consider the character of
God, the nature of God's law, and the power of God's grace which
is promised to us.
I say the character of God is a pledge of our ability to keep
from mortal sin. God requires us to be free from mortal sin, and
He requires it under the severest penalties, and therefore it
must be possible for us. You may say, "God requires us to be free
from venial sin too, and yet you have just said we cannot avoid
every venial sin." But the case is far different. A venial sin
does not separate us from God, and does not receive extreme
punishment from Him--nay, those venial sins which even good men
commit, and which are only in small part voluntary, are very
easily forgiven--but a mortal sin cuts us off entirely from God,
and deserves eternal punishment.
{110}
You know, one mortal sin is enough to damn a man--one single sin
of drunkenness, for instance, or impurity; a cherished hatred, a
false oath, or an act of grave injustice. One such sin is
sufficient to sink a man in hell, and although we know very
little in particular of the torments of hell, we have every
reason to believe that they are most bitter, and we know that
they are eternal. Now can it be thought that a being of justice
and goodness, as we know God to be, would inflict so extreme a
punishment for an offence which was unavoidable, or could only be
avoided with the utmost difficulty? Holy Scripture sends us to an
earthly parent for an example of that tenderness and affection
which we are to expect from our Heavenly Father. "_If you being
evil know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more
will your Father who is in heaven, give good things to them that
ask him_." [Footnote 46]
[Footnote 46: St. Matt, vii., 11.]
What would be thought of an earthly father who laid upon his son
a command which it was all but impossible for him to comply with,
and then punished him with the utmost rigor for not fulfilling it?
{111}
You would not call that man a father, but a tyrant; a tyrant like
Pharaoh, who would not give straw to the children of Israel, and
yet set taskmasters over them to exact of them the full measure
of bricks as when straw had been given them. Why, if you were
going along the street and saw a man whipping unmercifully an
over-loaded horse, you would not bear it patiently. And would you
attribute conduct so disgraceful among men to our Father in
heaven? God forbid! Far be such a thought from us! It is not so.
We must not think it. At least we cannot think it as long as we
remain Catholics, for when the earlier Protestants proclaimed the
shocking doctrine that though God punished men for disobeying his
law, man was really unable to obey it, the Church branded the
doctrine as a heresy to be abhorred of all men, as most false in
itself, and most injurious to God. No; God loves his creatures
far more than we conceive of. He does not desire the death of a
sinner. He wills truly the salvation of all men. His goodness and
mercy, his truth and justice, are all so many infallible
guarantees of our ability to keep his law.
{112}
He would not have given us his law unless He had meant us to keep
it. He would not punish us so severely for breaking it, unless
our breaking it was an act of deliberate, wilful, determined
rebellion.
But there is another source from which I draw the conclusion that
it is possible to keep the law of God--from the nature of the law
itself. The law of God is of such a nature that, for the most
part, in order to commit mortal sin, it is necessary to do or to
leave undone some external act, which of its own nature it is
entirely in our power to do or not to do. For instance, the law
says, "_Thou shall not steal:_" now to steal you have got to
put your hand into your neighbor's pocket. The law says: "_Thou
shalt do no murder;_" to murder you must stretch out your hand
against your neighbor's life. Nay, it requires ordinarily several
external actions before a mortal sin is consummated. Thus the
thief has his precautions to take, and his plans to lay. The
drunkard has to seek the occasion. He seeks the grog-shop. Every
step he takes is a separate act. When he gets there it is not the
first glass that makes him drunk.
{113}
He drinks again and again, and it is only after all these
different and repeated actions that he falls into the mortal sin
of drunkeness. Now here you see are external acts--acts in which
the hand, the foot, the lips are concerned, and which, therefore,
it is perfectly in our power to do or to let alone. This requires
no proof, but admits of a striking illustration. You have heard
of the great sufferings of the martyrs; how some of them were
stoned to death, others flayed alive, others crucified, others
torn to pieces by wild beasts, others burned to death. Now what
was it all about? You answer, They suffered because they would
not deny Christ. Very well; but how were they required to deny
Christ? What was it they were required to do? I will tell you.
Sometimes they were required to take a few grains of incense and
throw it on the altar of Jupiter; that would have been enough to
have saved them from their sufferings. They need not have said, I
renounce Christ; only to have taken the incense would have been
sufficient. Sometimes they were required to tread on the Cross.
Sometimes to swear by the genius of the Roman emperor; that was
all. And the fire was kindled to make them do these things; but
they would not.
{114}
The flames leaped upon them, but not a foot would they lift from
the ground. Their hands were burnt to the bone, but no incense
would they touch. The marrow of their bones melted in the heat,
and forced from them a cry of agony, but the name of the
emperor's tutelary genius did not pass their lips. Now will you
tell me that you can not help doing what the martyrs would not do
to save them from death? They had a fire before them and a
scourge behind them, and they refused; and you say you cannot
help yourself when you are under no external violence whatever!
They died rather than lift a hand to do a forbidden thing; have
you not the same power over your hand that they had? They died
rather than utter a sinful word; have you not as much power over
your tongue as they? Indeed you have, for you control both one
and the other whenever you will. I say there is no sinner whose
conduct does not show that his actions are perfectly in his own
power. The thief waits for the night to carry on his trade;
during the day he is honest enough. The greatest libertine knows
how to behave himself in the presence of a high-born and virtuous
female.
{115}
And even that vice which men say it is most difficult of all to
restrain when once the habit is formed--profane swearing--you
know how to restrain it when you will, for even the heaviest
curser and swearer ceases from his oaths before the priest, or
any other friend whom he greatly respects. Now, if you can stop
cursing before the priest, why can you not before your wife and
children? If you can be chaste in the presence of a virtuous
female, why can you not be chaste everywhere? If you can be
honest when the eye of man is on you, why can you not be honest
when no eye sees you but that of God?