remarks you have made do not apply, that is, sins of thought. You
must admit that they are of such a nature that it is all but
impossible not to commit them. No, I do not admit it. I
acknowledge that sins of thought are more difficult to guard
against than sins of action; but I do not acknowledge that it is
impossible to guard against them. To prove this I have only to
remind you that an evil thought is no sin until we give
_consent_ to it.
{116}
To keep always free from evil thoughts may be impossible, because
the imagination is in its nature so volatile, that but few men
have it in control; but though it be not possible to restrain the
imagination, it is always possible to restrain the will. In order
for the will to consent to evil it is necessary both to
_know_ and to _choose_, and therefore from the nature
of the thing one can never fall into sin either inevitably or
unawares. And besides, the will has a powerful ally in the
conscience, whose province it is to keep us from sin and to
reproach us when we do sin--so that it is scarcely possible, for
one who habitually tries to keep free from mortal sin, to fall
into it without his conscience giving a distinct and unmistakable
report. And this is so certain that spiritual writers say that a
person of good life and tender conscience, who is distressed with
the uncertainty whether or no he has given consent to an evil
temptation, ought to banish that anxiety altogether and to be
sure that he has not consented. But suppose these evil
temptations are importunate, and remain in the soul even when we
resist them, and try to turn from them? No matter. They do not
become sins on that account; nay, they become the occasion of
acts of great virtue.
{117}
It is related in the life of St. Catherine of Sienna that on one
occasion that pure virgin's soul was assailed by the most
horrible temptations of the devil. They lasted for a long time,
and after the conflict our Saviour appeared to her with a serene
countenance. "O my Divine Spouse," she said, "Where wast thou
when I was enduring these conflicts?" "In thy soul," he replied.
"What, with all these filthy abominations?" "Yes, they were
displeasing and painful to thee; this therefore was thy merit,
and thy victory was owing to my presence." So that we see even
here where the danger is greatest, the law of God exacts of us
nothing but what in its own nature is in our power to do or not
to do.
But if you wish another proof of your ability to keep God's law,
I allege the _power of his grace_. I can imagine an objector
saying: You have not touched the real difficulty after all. The
difficulty is not on God's side; no doubt He is good and holy.
Neither are the requirements of his law so very hard. The
difficulty is in us. We are fallen by nature. We have sinned
after baptism.
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We are so weak, so frail, that to us continued observance of the
divine commandments is impossible. No, my brethren, neither is
this true. It is not true from the mouth of any man; least of all
from the mouth of a Christian. "_No temptation_," says the
Apostle, "_hath taken hold of you but such as is human. And God
is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that
which you are able; but will also with the temptation make a way
of escape that you may be able to bear it_." [Footnote 47]
[Footnote 47: 1 Cor. x., 13.]
The weakest and frailest are strong enough with God's grace, and
this grace He is ready to give to those that need it. At all
times and in all places He has been ready to give his grace to
them that need it, but especially is this true under the gospel.
The Holy Scriptures make this the distinguishing characteristic
of the times of the gospel that they shall abound in grace.
"_Take courage, and fear not_," the prophet says, in
anticipation of the time when Christ should come in the flesh,
"_Behold God will come and save you. Then shall the eyes of the
blind be opened, and the ears of the deaf unstopped. Then shall
the lame man leap as an hart, and the tongue of the dumb shall be
free; for waters are broken out of the desert, and streams in the
wilderness. And that which was dry land shall become a pool, and
the thirsty land springs of water_." [Footnote 48]
[Footnote 48: Is. xxxv., 4-7.]
{119}
Such was the promise, hundreds of years before Christ, of a time
of peace, of happiness and grace; and when our Lord was come, He
published that the good time had indeed arrived: "_The spirit
of the Lord hath anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor. He
hath sent me to heal the contrite of heart. To preach deliverance
to the captive, and sight to the blind, to set at liberty them
that are bruised, to preach the acceptable year of the Lord_."
Yes, the great time has come; the cool of the day; the evening of
the world; the time when labor is light and reward abundant. Oh,
my brethren, you know not what a privilege it is to be a
Christian! You enter a church. You see a priest in his
confessional. A penitent is kneeling at his feet. The sight makes
but little impression on you, for you are accustomed to it, but
this is that "_fountain_" promised by the prophet "_to the
house of David and to the inhabitants of Jerusalem, for the
washing of the sinner;_" a fountain that flows from the
Saviour's side, and not only cleanses, but strengthens and makes
alive.
{120}
You pass an altar. The priest is giving communion. Stop! it is
the Lord himself! the bread of angels! the wine of virgins! the
food "_whereof if a man eat he shall live forever_." And not
only in the Church do you find grace. It follows you home. You
shut your door behind you, and your Father in heaven waits to
hear and grant your prayer. Nay, at all times God is with you,
for you are the temple of God, and He sits on the throne of your
heart to scatter his grace on you when ever and wherever you ask
Him. Do not say, then, Christian, that you are unable to do what
God requires of you. It is a sin of black ingratitude to say so.
Even if it were impossible for others to keep the law of God, it
is not for you. He hath not done to every nation as he hath done
to you. When the patriarch Jacob was dying, he blessed all his
children, but his richest blessing was for Joseph. So God has
blessed all the children of his hand, but you, Christian, are the
Joseph whom He hath loved more than all his other sons. To others
He hath given of "_the dew of heaven,_" and "_the fatness
of the earth,_" but you "_He hath blessed with all spiritual
blessings in Christ._"
{121}
Away, then, with the notion, that obedience to the commandments
of God is impracticable. A notion dishonorable to God and to
ourselves. It is possible to keep free from mortal sin--for
all--at all times, under all temptations. Nay, I will say more.
It is on the whole, easier to live a life of Christian obedience,
than a life of sin. I say on the whole, for I do not deny that
here and there in particular cases, it is harder to do right than
wrong, but taking life all through, one who restrains his
passions will have less trouble than one who indulges them.
Heroic actions are not required of us every day. In order to be a
Christian, it is not necessary to be always high-strung and
enthusiastic. It is not necessary to be a devotee, to adopt set
and precise ways, to take up with hypocrisy and cant--in a word,
to be unmanly. It is just, for the most part, the most matter of
fact, the most practical, the most simple and straight-forward
thing in the world. It is to be a man of principle. It is to have
a serious, abiding purpose to do our duty.
{122}
It is to be full of courage; not the courage of the braggart, but
the courage of the soldier--the courage that thrives under
opposition, and survives defeat, the courage that takes the means
to secure success--vigilance, humility, steadfastness and prayer.
Before this, all difficulties vanish, and this is what we want
most of all. It is amazing how little courage there is in the
world. We are like the servant of Eliseus, the prophet, who, when
he awoke in the morning, and saw the great army that had been
sent by the King of Syria to take his master, said, "_Alas,
alas, alas, my lord; what shall we do!_" But Eliseus showed
him another army--the army of angels ranged on the mountain, with
chariots of fire and horses of fire, ready to fight for the
servants of God, and he said, "_Fear not: for there are more
with us than with them._" [Footnote 49]
[Footnote 49: 4 Kings, vi., 15-17.]
[Transcriber's note: The USCCB reference is 2 Kings, vi.,
15-17.]
Why should we fear? Christianity is no new thing. The path of
Christian obedience is not an untried path. Thousands have trod
it and are now enjoying their reward. God, and the angels, and
the saints, are on our side. And there are multitudes of faithful
souls in the world who are fighting the good fight, and keeping
their souls unsullied.
{123}
We cannot distinguish them now, but one day we shall know them.
Oh! let us join them. Yes, we will make our resolution now.
Others may guide themselves by pleasure or expediency; we will
adopt the language of the Psalmist: "_Thy word is a lamp to my
feet, and a light to my paths_." [Footnote 50]
[Footnote 50: Psalm cxviii., 105.]
[Transcriber's note: The USCCB reference is Psalm cxix., 105.]
We will be Christians not in name, but in deed. Not for a time
only, but always. One thought shall cheer us in sadness and nerve
us in weakness, "_I have sworn and am determined to keep the
judgments of thy justice_."
-----------------
{124}
Sermon VIII.
The Two Standards.
"No man can serve two masters."
--St. Matt., vi. 24.
(From the Gospel of the 14th Sunday after Pentecost.)
There are two hostile camps pitched on the surface of the earth,
and two great armies engaged in warfare against each other. The
chiefs of these two armies are Jesus Christ and Satan, The war
between them is not a new one. It began in heaven, when Lucifer
and his companions rebelled against God. It broke out in a more
deadly and decisive manner, when Jesus Christ erected his
standard on Mt. Calvary, and from his Cross triumphed over the
devil, while Satan, enraged at his defeat, summoned all his
forces from earth and hell to an eternal war against the Cross.
{125}
This is a war in which every one must take part. Here no one can
remain neutral; either for the Cross or against it--a soldier of
Christ or a servant of the devil. You must choose your side.
Which, then, do you take? Will you have Christ or Lucifer for
your king? In the name of Jesus Christ, I call on you to renounce
the infamous service of the devil for ever, and enroll yourself
under the standard of the Cross, and I promise to give you good
reasons for doing so. Listen, then, and make your decision. If
the devil has the best claim, and offers the highest price, then
follow him, and take his lot in this world and in eternity. But
consider well what you have to look for, beforehand. If Jesus
Christ is your rightful Lord, and heaven is worth having, then
come out boldly on his side, and renounce the devil once for all.
You cannot serve both, you must serve one; and the one whom you
serve on this earth, will have possession of you for all
eternity.
{126}
Survey, then, the two camps, the two standards, the two kings. On
Mount Calvary see the Cross, the standard of salvation, rising
above the camp of Jesus Christ. Look on the King who rules in
this camp! Regard his features: they are full of majesty and
humility, of power and of love, of authority and of compassion.
Around Him the Blessed Virgin, the apostles, martyrs and
confessors, all the saints and all the righteous, are grouped;
and from his Cross He sends out his messengers into all the
world, inviting all men to share his humility, self-denial, and
suffering in this world, and his everlasting kingdom in the next.
Now turn your eyes toward the other camp. It lies near the city
of Babylon, the city of this world, a city of idolatry,
sensuality, and worldly pomp. In the midst of it, Satan is seated
on a high and burning throne, his features full of melancholy,
pride and cruelty, surrounded by his demons, his false priests,
and the multitude of his worshippers. He also sends his
messengers through the earth, offering honors, pleasures, and
riches here, and the fire of hell hereafter, to those who enlist
in his service.
Unhappy man! soldier of Christ by baptism! have these ministers
of Satan persuaded you to renounce your lawful standard, and
enlist under that of the devil?
{127}
Have you been persuaded by some worldly bribe, some passing
pleasure, to renounce God and heaven, and to receive the black
brand of mortal sin in your soul, the mark of your allegiance to
the devil? What have you done? What master is this, to whom you
have sold yourself? What have you to expect in his service?
Listen to me, and I will prove to you that you have sold yourself
to a detestable tyrant and usurper; that you have cast in your
lot with a desperate cause, and that everlasting ruin is the only
wages you will ever get.
Satan is a detestable usurper. What right has he to reign in this
world? What right has he to your soul, or to your service? Did he
create the world, or make you? Has he conferred any benefit on
the human race, that he is entitled to the gratitude and
obedience of men? He is a miserable rebel against God, an outcast
from heaven, the great enemy of mankind. He is the author of sin,
misery, and death. He became master of your soul by mortal sin.
He seduced you to offend God by lying promises, and treacherously
got possession of your heart. Is he not then a usurper?
{128}
He is also a cruel tyrant. Satan tyrannizes over the soul which
is subject to him, by making it a slave to its passions. He makes
it sweat and toil like a negro slave, fast, and watch, and deny
itself, like a hermit, in the service of these cruel taskmasters.
One he forces to labor night and day for a lifetime, to scrape up
a little money which he has no time to enjoy. Another he compels
to sacrifice health, reputation, and fortune, to the
gratification of lust. A third he turns into a beast by
drunkenness. He tyrannizes over his subjects, also, by continual
and insupportable torments of conscience. They have none of that
peace and tranquillity which the servants of God enjoy, but a
horrible foretaste of the pains of hell, in the incessant
gnawings of a guilty conscience, and the continual fear of
eternal damnation.
The service of Satan is odious, on account of the companions with
whom you must associate. You become the associate of demons,
murderers, thieves, harlots, drunkards, and villains of every
hue. The promises which the devil holds out to you are all false,
and his words all delusive. He holds out to you an illusory hope
of liberty and happiness, and deceives you with glittering but
unreal pictures of future enjoyment.
{129}
For these you renounce Christian self-denial; for these you throw
down the Cross of Christ, abandon the straight and narrow way,
and sacrifice your hopes of heaven. But the devil will disappoint
you. The pleasure he will give you will leave behind in your
heart only bitterness and disgust. You will have to endure in his
service labors and sufferings more than enough to make you a
saint, if you performed them for God. You threw down the cross
which God placed on your shoulders. It was a light cross, and was
exactly measured for your size and strength. It was a cross full
of blessings and graces, and if you had carried it courageously
up the narrow way of life, after a time it would have supported
you, and you would have been borne up by it to the gate of
heaven. But you threw it down, because it was too heavy and
galling, and turned from the steep path of virtue to the
downward, flowery road of sin. Immediately the devil came up
behind you, and fastened on your back an immense cross of rough,
unhewn timber.
{130}
Loaded with this devil's cross, you are stumbling along the way
of perdition toward the mouth of hell, into which you will fall
at death, with the heavy burden of your sins on your back to
press you down, and crush you forever beneath its weight. Such is
the hard and bitter slavery to which you have bound yourself
under this detestable tyrant.
Moreover, his cause is a desperate one. A certain and ignominious
defeat, from which he will never more arise, awaits him. He has
already been conquered. Jesus Christ met him once in single
combat in the desert, and put him to an ignominious flight.
Afterwards, on the cross, He gained a still more signal and
decisive victory over him, and made him serve by his own plan for
our Lord's destruction, as an instrument for accomplishing our
salvation. The Blessed Virgin has trampled on the head of this
malicious serpent. All the saints and martyrs have triumphed over
him, and the weakest Christian child can put him to flight, by
resisting his temptations--by breathing a little prayer, or by
making the sign of the cross. He is a weak and miserable coward.
His cause is already desperate and lost. And although God allows
him a certain liberty to tempt and trouble the world for a short
time, the day of judgment is fast approaching, in which Jesus
Christ will put him to shame before the whole universe, and cast
him, together with all those who follow his standard, into the
burning abyss of hell.
{131}
Such is a true picture of Lucifer, of his services, and of the
reward which awaits his followers. Are you not ashamed, then, O
false Christian! to have renounced your allegiance to your
rightful Lord, for the service of such a master, who trembles at
the very name of Jesus Christ?
In the churches of the middle ages the statue of the martyr St.
Christopher was frequently sculptured, carrying, in accordance
with his name which signifies Christ-bearer, the infant Jesus on
his shoulder. As his real history was unknown, the poetic fancy
of that period invented several beautiful legends about it, of
which the following is one:
"A heathen youth of gigantic size and strength determined to seek
out the strongest man in the world, and serve him. After many
inquiries, he engaged himself to a Christian prince, who was
famous for prowess and warlike achievements.
{132}
He served him contentedly for a while, but at length, observing
that he often made the sign of the cross, he asked him the
meaning of his doing so. The prince told him it was to keep off
the devil. The youth asked him who the devil was, and if he was
afraid of him. He told him that the devil was a wicked being,
more powerful than any man, and that he feared him greatly. If
that is the case, said the youth, I will serve you no longer, but
I will serve the devil, because he is the strongest. Immediately
he set out to seek for him, and passing through a forest was
accosted by a dark-looking personage who asked him what he was
looking for, and on receiving his his answer, replied: I am the
devil you are seeking, follow me if you wish to enter my service.
So saying, he went on, followed by the youth, toward a certain
city. As they drew near the city, the devil turned aside from the
highway, and took a bye-road which was much more circuitous. The
youth asked him why he did not keep the high-road. Do you not
see, said the devil, that crucifix? I do not wish to pass it.
'What is a crucifix?' said the youth. 'The image of my greatest
enemy, who once conquered me' replied the devil.
{133}
Farewell, said the youth; if you are afraid of Him who hangs on
that cross, I shall leave you, and serve Him, because he is
stronger than you. So saying, he went in search of Jesus Christ,
and having stopped at a monastery, and asked the way to find Him,
was instructed, baptized by the name of Christopher, and became a
martyr."
Now, dear Christian, you are a Christopher, a Christ-bearer, for
you have the image of Christ stamped in your soul in baptism. You
are bound to serve the most powerful, and not only the most
powerful, but the best master; the one who has the best right to
your services, whose service is the most honorable, whose rewards
are the greatest, and whose final victory is certain. Listen to
me now, and I will show you that this Prince is Jesus Christ.
Jesus Christ is our lawful King.
I. By hereditary right. He is the Son of God. In his divine
nature He is equal to his Father, and equally with Him the
Creator of all things, and therefore our sovereign Lord. In his
human nature, He is the first begotten Son of his Father, the
heir of all things, in a special sense, the chief of the human
race.
{134}
II. By purchase. By Adam's sin, the special gifts which God had
given to him and his posterity--integrity of nature, sanctifying
grace, paradise and the title to heaven--were forfeited. Mankind
fell from a free to a servile condition. Jesus Christ, by a
compact with the eternal Father, and by pledging His life for us,
has purchased his right over us.
III. By redemption. He has redeemed us by his blood, from exile
and slavery, and restored to us our forfeited inheritance of
grace and eternal life.
IV. By conquest. When the whole world was subject to the usurped
tyranny of Satan, He made war on him, conquered him, and wrested
our souls from his possession. As subjects of a conquered empire,
we are therefore subject to the dominion of our conqueror.
V. By our own election. We have freely chosen his service, when
we were confirmed and ratified our baptismal vows, and a thousand
times we have offered ourselves to his service, and sworn
allegiance to Him.
{135}
His service is glorious. Because He is the greatest and wisest of
all princes; because angels and saints are our companions;
because his service consists in performing great and heroic
actions, warring against vice, overcoming self, practising
virtue, doing good, and conquering the world, the flesh and the
devil. It is happy and delightful, because of peace of
conscience, the friendship of God, and the consolations of divine
grace. These are a sort of bounty or earnest-money given now; but
the real reward is eternal life, to be given hereafter.
Jesus Christ is certain to obtain the victory and to triumph
gloriously over all his enemies--over treacherous and cowardly
followers within his own camp, that is, bad Christians who
preserve the faith but live and die in sin; over all those who
are nominally his followers, but who really are fighting under
the devil's standard, that is heretics, and schismatics; over
infidels, his open enemies among men; over Satan and hell.
Here now are the two chiefs. There are the two standards. This is
the war in which every one of you is engaged, on one side or the
other? Which side is it? Under what banner have you till now been
ranged? Do you belong to the party of Jesus Christ or that of the
devil?
{136}
Do you reply, I am a baptized Christian, marked with the sign of
the cross, and a member of the Catholic Church, and therefore a
servant of Jesus Christ? It is true you are a soldier regularly
enlisted and sworn into Christ's army, and wearing his uniform.
But the question is, are you a true-hearted, obedient and brave
soldier of Jesus Christ, or are you a traitor in the camp, a
servant of the devil in the guise of a Christian? Let us see. You
call yourself a soldier of Jesus Christ. What are you doing then
with the devil's bounty? The devil's bounty is a license to
steal, cheat and swindle. What is that pile of bank-notes
pilfered from your employer, you dishonest clerk? What is that
heap of gold, you bribed judge, you corrupt legislator, you
dishonest official, you swindling speculator in government
contracts, in public distresses and private miseries? Jesus
Christ will tolerate no thieves in his camp. If you are one of
these unjust, dishonest, avaricious, overreaching robbers of your
neighbors goods, standing ready to sell your voice, your pen,
your vote, your oath, your conscience, your country, your faith,
your soul, your God Himself, for gold, then you have touched the
devil's bounty, you are his servant, and a traitor to your
colors.
{137}
You are a soldier of Jesus Christ, are you? But you have been
caught drinking the devil's treat. There, where his sergeants
recruit for hell, in those grog-shops whose flaming signs and
glaring windows tempt the fool and the unwary; where misery,
beggary, despair and death are dealt out to wretched fathers,
brutal husbands, ragged, bloated women who are wives and mothers;
there you have drained the cup of drunkenness, the pledge of
friendship with Satan and all the company of hell.
You are a Christian soldier, are you? But I hear on your lips the
devil's passwords, those curses and oaths, those obscene words
and profane jests which show that you belong to the devil's camp.
Your cursing tongue has betrayed you, false deserter, your speech
is the speech of hell, and your presence among the faithful
soldiers of Jesus Christ is an offence and a scandal not to be
borne by those who have any zeal for the honor of their Lord.
{138}
You a Christian soldier?--and flaunting on the devil's
parade-ground, the theatre, the ballroom where the lascivious
waltz goes on, the midnight revel of thoughtless and giddy young
people, flushed with wine, intoxicated with excitment, whirled
away by the tide of passion, where they know not and care not,
until at length remorse, disgrace and ruin tell them where, but
too late to save them. These are the pomps of the devil which you
renounced and foreswore at your baptism. If you take them up
again, you are an outcast from Jesus Christ, and a servant of the
devil.
You dare to call yourself a Christian, and all the while you are
living on the devil's pay, feeding on sensuality, plunged
overhead in impurity, the miserable, beastly reward that the
devil gives to his followers. By the law of Moses, those who
committed such crimes were to be stoned to death without the
camp. Is the camp of Jesus Christ less holy, think you, that an
impure man or woman can be tolerated within its sacred precincts?
{139}
You pretend to wear the livery of Jesus Christ. What, then, is
that badge, what are those insignia you are wearing? They tell
that you belong to some secret society, that you have defied the
law of the Church, and braved her excommunication. You are then
shut out from the sacraments, and not only are you no soldier of
Jesus Christ, but you belong to the devil's own body-guard.