firmly established, our good hermit, growing warm with his
subject, begins to rise to still loftier and more beautiful
conceptions, like a bee coming out from its search in the flower,
and shaking the golden pollen from its wings.
II. All Things Contribute To The Welfare Of The Just.
"We say of some men that they are born to good luck, and that
every thing they put their hands to turns out well. We deceive
ourselves when we say this; it is only true of the Saints, and
in a spiritual sense. '_We know_,' says St. Paul, '_that
all things work together for good to them that love God_.'
[Footnote 68]
[Footnote 68: Rom. viii., 28.]
{184}
Wonderful truth! Beautiful truth! And the Prophet David says
the same thing of every man whose will is in the Law of God:
_All, whatsoever he shall do, shall prosper._ [Footnote
69]
[Footnote 69: Ps. i., 3.]
Now, when the Apostle says that '_all things work together
for good_,' he means not only prosperity, but also what is
called adversity. And why? Why, because those who truly and
perfectly love God remain unchanged in all the vicissitudes of
life. They have but one end in view--eternal life, and only
one means to attain to it, namely, to do the will of God. This
they can do in all weathers, in rain or sunshine. Indeed, like
the stormy petrel, they gather most in stormy weather. For what
reflecting Christian does not know the sweet uses of adversity,
which, by severing the hopes that bound us to the earth, and
opening our eyes to the fact that we are but pilgrims here,
with a right of passage only, teach us to fix our hopes on
heaven alone, and labor to build up our fortunes there? The
great Apostle, who himself had passed through the various paths
of adversity, teaches us how to turn all the vicissitudes of
life, both its joys and sorrows, into golden occasions of
merit, fighting our way onward to heaven, as he says, '_with
the strength which God gives us, by the arms of justice, on the
right hand and on the left;_' that is, as he goes on to
explain, '_through honor and dishonor, through infamy and
good name, as dying and behold we live, as sorrowful and yet
always rejoicing, as having nothing and yet possessing all
things?_' [Footnote 70]
[Footnote 70: 2 Cor. vi., 8-10]
{185}
"All therefore, that passes for prosperity, and is consequently
_on the right hand_, such as glory, and good reputation,
and success in temporal affairs, and all that passes for
adversity, and thus, according to the language of St. Paul, is
_on the left hand_, such as disgrace and evil report, and
temporal disappointment;--all to the perfect Christian serve
alike for arms of justice, holy weapons to win his crown with,
because he receives every thing that comes with the same great
heart, and allows himself to be cast down by nothing. And
therefore the Prophet says of him: '_The holy man continues
in wisdom like the sun_.'[Footnote 71]
[Footnote 71: Ecclus. xxvii. 12.]
[Transcriber's note: Ecclesiastes ends at chapter 12.
Text is similar to Sirach xxvii. 11.]
But for those who change every moment, and show different
humors and different dispositions of heart, according to the
different chances and changes of life--let them listen to these
words of the same Prophet, which were spoken for their especial
benefit: _The fool changes like the moon.'_ [Footnote 72]
[Footnote 72: Ecclus. xxvii. 12.]
[Transcriber's note: The USCCB citation is Sirach xxvii. 11;
"the godless man, like the moon, is inconstant."]
{186}
And, therefore, every thing turns to evil for them, according to
the proverb: '_Every thing to the foolish man is contrary_,'
[Footnote 73] because he does not improve in prosperity, nor
correct his ways in adversity. It will not do for the Christian
to be like wax, which takes any form that may be impressed upon
it; but like a diamond seal, he should keep unchangeably the form
impressed upon his heart by the hand of God, showing no change in
the different events of life.
[Footnote 73: Prov. xiv. 7. So in the lxx. ]
"In Holy Scripture [Footnote 74] we read of one Aod, a great
warrior, and a leader of the Israelites, who was what is called
an _ambidexter_, that is, he could use the left hand as well
as the right. This man," said Abbot Theodore, "is a type of the
perfect Christian, who is always an ambidexter, making use of
both prosperity and adversity to advance the salvation of his
soul, and increase his merits, fighting the good fight of faith,
'_with the arms of justice, on the right hand and on the
left_.'
[Footnote 74: Judges ii.]
{187}
It is the duty of us all to exercise ourselves in the use of this
holy armor, that we may, like Aod, be dexterous warriors, able to
carry our swords in either hand, and meet our foes on whatever
side they may advance, temperate in prosperity, patient in
adversity, never fainting, always rejoicing, seeking for nothing,
hoping for nothing, knowing nothing in this world but "Jesus
Christ and Him crucified," and thus, by this blessed alchemy of
the Saints, turning all things into gold.
"You see, therefore, my dear friends," so concluded the good
hermit, "that we have no occasion to deplore the death of these
saintly solitaries, as if they had suffered some great
misfortune, or as if their enemies had triumphed over them; and
still less have we any right to complain of God, as if He had
forsaken or forgotten his own. On the contrary, they have gone to
their rest, like the laboring man at night-fall; they have been
shaken from the tree where they grew, like ripe figs in the
harvest time, and their Divine Master has gathered them in. Their
death was cruel and miserable in the eyes of man, but precious in
the sight of God, for so the Psalmist tells us: '_Precious in
the sight of God is the death of his Saints_.' [Footnote 75]
[Footnote 75: Psalm cxv., 15.]
[Transcriber's note: The USCCB reference is Psalm cxvi., 15.]
{188}
Do not believe that, even if it were left to their choice, they
would wish to come back again to this world, to live longer in
it, nor would they choose any other death than that by which they
have quitted it. Indeed there was little room for choice in the
matter, since, as the Apostle says, '_for them to live was
Christ and to die was gain_,' [Footnote 76] it being the
privilege of the Saints to prosper in all that befalls them."
[Footnote 76: Phil, i., 21.]
[Transcriber's note: Similarly, Phil., 1., 23,
"I long to depart this life and be with Christ,
(for) that is far better."]
See! my dear brethren, it is not I that have been speaking to
you, but an ancient Father of the desert. I have preached to you
an old sermon, and well nigh word for word as it was spoken
fifteen hundred years ago in the Egyptian wilderness. I have done
so purposely, in order that you may take notice that the
Christians of those early times were subject to disasters and
afflictions as you are now, and tried by the same temptations.
You see also what kind of consolation they found in their
religion, what kind of counsel they received from their spiritual
advisers, and how they turned their sorrows and adversities to
good account.
{189}
Their time of trial was over long ago; and now they are happy. No
doubt, they look back with pleasure upon those very sorrows, as
belonging to the sweetest and holiest days of their pilgrimage on
earth--days of patient resignation, and childlike trust, and
Christian courage--days when they wept much, but prayed all the
more--days when the current of earthly joys was at its lowest
ebb-tide, but the waters of heavenly grace were at their fullest
flood-tide, and therefore, days of golden gain. Oh! let it be so
with you, my brethren, in your afflictions! What would you have?
The Christians of other ages have journeyed on cheerfully toward
heaven bearing their cross. Would you ride thither at your ease?
Would you wear your crown without winning it? Would you be saved
by the sufferings of Christ, and refuse to take your share of
suffering? No! arm yourselves with Christian fortitude. Meet
adversities patiently, manfully, trustfully, as these good
Christians did of old. Be like them in the trials of this world,
and then, like them too in the recompense of the other, "_your
sorrows shall be turned into joy_," and your joy will be all
the greater for the sorrows you have endured.
----------------------
{190}
Sermon XII.
False Maxims.
"Lord, that I may see."
--St. Luke xviii., 41.
(From the Gospel for Quinquagesima Sunday.)
Blindness is a very common thing, if we may judge by the many
false maxims afloat. We find them everywhere and in every thing,
in politics, in business, in the government of children, in
religion. Wherever they are, they are pernicious and destructive.
In business they lead to bankruptcy and ruin; in politics to
disunion, revolution and anarchy; in the government of families
to dissipation and worthlessness. But of all false maxims, the
most pernicious and destructive are those relating to religion:
because they involve the loss of the soul, of all our interests,
hopes, and happiness in one great ruin.
{191}
There are many such. One will say: "It's no matter what a man's
faith may be. All religions are alike, they are different roads
that lead to the same end. Let a man only act right, and he can
throw all creeds over board; whether Jew, Turk, Heathen,
Protestant or Catholic, it makes no difference." A man who speaks
thus is no Catholic, nor is he ever like to be. He has put out
the light of Jesus Christ, who holds up to us "one faith, one
Lord, one baptism," and gropes along to his ruin in a darkness of
his own creation. But I don't mean to speak of such. I would
rather speak of the false maxims of certain Catholics by which
they persuade themselves that all will be right, though the Lord
and Savior says that all is wrong, and so rush blindly to their
ruin.
One of the first of these maxims is this: _Because I'm a
Catholic I shall be sure to get to heaven_. Where did such a
notion come from? You are sure of heaven only on condition of
behaving yourself as you ought.
{192}
If you have a ticket on the cars and misbehave, you are put off
at the first station; so what ever rights you have to heaven in
virtue of being a Catholic are forfeited when you cease to live
as a Catholic ought to live. If you sin, your being a Catholic
won't hinder you from losing all the privileges of your baptism.
Where did you get the notion that it's enough to be a Catholic
without being a practical one? Was it from the Church of God? The
very first word addressed you by her, was in your baptism, when
you were asked: "What dost thou ask of the Church of God?" The
answer was: "Faith." "What does faith bring thee to?" was the
next question. The reply was: "Eternal life." Then spoke out the
Church right solemnly: "If thou wilt enter into life _keep the
commandments_." Keeping the commandments is here the plain
condition for obtaining eternal life, and nothing else. That's
what the Lord himself said to the young man who asked the
question: "What shall I do that I may have everlasting life?" His
reply was in the very same words: "_Keep the commandments_."
[Footnote 77]
[Footnote 77: St. Matt, xix., 16, 17.]
{193}
To whom is that addressed? To Catholics. Who says it? The God of
heaven and earth. Do you believe Him? If you do, you must give up
the idea of being saved merely because you are a Catholic, but
expect salvation by being a good one, and keeping the
commandments. What's more, the Divine Scriptures expressly state
that it is not enough to profess the faith without good works.
"_Know ye not that the unjust shall not possess the kingdom of
God. Be not deceived: neither fornicators, nor adulterers, nor
idolaters, nor the effeminate, nor thieves, nor the covetous, nor
drunkards, shall possess the kingdom of God_." [Footnote 78]
[Footnote 78: 1 Cor. vi., 9, 10.]
Who are addressed? Heathens? No; they are Catholics; the
Corinthians who had been baptized and received the sacraments.
Under what figure is the Church of God represented in Scripture?
As a net that contains fish both good and bad. Yes, they are not
all good fish that are in the net; there are bad ones. What is
said of these bad ones? That at the last day they shall be sorted
out and given to the fire. The Church is compared to a field sown
with good grain and overrun with tares. Are the tares rooted up
in this world?
{194}
No, they grow together with the wheat until the harvest; that is,
until the judgment at the end of the world: then comes the
division, and the burning of the tares. Listen to the explanation
of the Lord: "_So shall it be at the end of the world. The
Angels shall go out and shall separate the wicked from among the
just, and shall cast them into the furnace of fire; there shall
be weeping and gnashing of teeth_." [Footnote 79]
[Footnote 79: St. Matt, xiii., 49.]
If you are acting on any such maxim you have blinded yourself,
you have put out the light of the Gospel of Jesus Christ, and
walk in a way of your own devising, to your eternal destruction.
Another false principle of a great many is this: _Because they
don't lead what they call very bad lives, they cannot, as they
imagine, be among the damned:_ In other words, they don't and
won't believe that one mortal sin is the death of the soul. Where
did this notion come from? From the Church? I would like to know
where. What Apostles, Doctors of the Church, Pontiffs, Priests,
or Laymen, that ever wrote on the matter, ever broached such an
idea?
{195}
For eighteen hundred long years the Church, we may say, has done
nothing else but repeat over and over that one mortal sin will
damn the soul. Did any Priest ever preach to the contrary? I
never heard one do so; I never heard of one who had done so. And
yet, Catholic people do sometimes get this folly into their
minds. An old man, quite a respectable one too, came to me not
long ago: "Father, I have a temptation on a point of faith."
"What is it?" "I can't believe that one mortal sin will damn the
soul. I heard the Missionary say so in his sermon, but I didn't
believe him. I think I have heard the contrary from other
Priests." I said to him: "My friend, I cannot believe you ever
did. It's a notion you've picked up from another quarter." Why,
what do we mean when we speak of mortal sin? The very word mortal
means deadly. Don't you see, the very definition of mortal sin,
is a sin that grievously offends God and brings with it the death
of the soul? It is deliberately rejecting God with your eyes wide
open. Once is enough. Spit in a man's face once, you need not do
it a second time. Play the hypocrite with him once, he won't
trust you again.
{196}
Renounce his friendship once, and friendship is over. Your friend
will forgive you many little offences, but trample once on some
right, on some feeling which he holds dear and sacred, and once
is enough. How many times must you spit in God's face, play the
hypocrite with Him, turn your back on Him, trample on His most
sacred commandments, before you expect Him to be angry? One
mortal sin is enough because it is mortal. Many don't and won't
believe this. Hear what they say: "I'm a good one to attend mass.
I don't miss it of my own fault more than five or six times a
year." "Do you ever get drunk?" "Oh, not a great deal, only a
reasonable share, now and again, a few times in the course of the
year;" and so on of other things. The devil has blinded them.
They are travelling along with the great crowd, singing and
laughing, down the broad road that leads to the pit of hell.
Listen to what the Scriptures say: "_Be converted and do
penance for all your iniquities, and iniquity shall not be your
ruin. Cast away from you all your transgressions by which you
have transgressed, and make to yourself a new heart, and a new
spirit; for why will you die, O house of Israel_." [Footnote
80] That's it. "All" is the word. Nothing short of this will save
from ruin.
[Footnote 80: Ezechiel xviii., 30, 31.]
{197}
Another false maxim: _That we shall be saved by the sacraments,
no matter how we receive them._ A great many have evidently
some such principle lurking in their minds. The way they make
confession shows it. The only idea with them seems to be to wipe
off old scores and to be at more liberty to begin afresh. The
load of sin gets heavy; it begins to press upon the conscience;
it makes one uneasy. What's to be done to get rid of it? Pitch it
off upon the Priest's back. Then he will become responsible; they
need give themselves no farther trouble about it. They have
brought the same load of mortal sin now for many years, perhaps
every half-year, and, what's more, they really expect to do the
same until their death. Some come concealing their sins time and
again. If an absolution can be got out of the Priest, it makes no
matter how. It is the absolution they want; all the same to them
whether God sanctions it or not. So when the Priest refuses,
seeing that they are not prepared, they beg for it.
{198}
"Oh Father, do give me the absolution!" "You are not fit for it."
"Oh, but you can give it if you please," they say. Sometimes they
threaten, "If I'm not absolved, I won't come again." Sometimes
they plead occupation: "If I go away without absolution, I cannot
come again without great inconvenience;" as if their convenience
should entitle them to absolution, without penitence, and the
purpose of amendment.
This is indeed taking out of the sacraments all their life and
spirit, and reducing them to a mere form. This is what our Lord
called the religion of the Scribes and Pharisees, who made clean
the outside of the platter, but left the inside greasy and
filthy. These go through the form of confession, merely keeping
up an outside appearance of piety, but their hearts are full of
rottenness and filth. Does the Church teach any such thing? No,
far from it. She teaches that the indispensable condition of
forgiveness is a true, heartfelt sorrow for every mortal sin,
with a firm, unflinching determination to avoid every such sin
for the rest of one's life.
{199}
She is the _Holy_ Catholic Church, and her teaching is as
pure as the sunlight on this point; it is clearly laid down in
all her catechisms and instructions, so that no one need make any
mistake about it. Nevertheless the Lord foresaw that many would
blind themselves in spite of all this. He represents them
standing at the judgment and saying: "_Lord, have we not eaten
and drunk at thy table?_" [Footnote 81]
[Footnote 81: St. Luke xiii., 26. ]
Yes, we received the sacraments; certainly there can't be any
mistake, it must be all right. What is the answer? "_Depart
from me, workers of iniquity, I know not whence ye are_."
[Footnote 82]
[Footnote 82: St. Luke xiii., 27.]
Sacraments received wrongfully work out, not the salvation, but
the damnation of the soul. So St. Paul speaks of those who,
through their sins, did not discern the Lord's body, being weak
and sickly--speaks also of eating and drinking judgment to one's
self.
If this last is a false and fatal error, how much more horrible
is it when it assumes a new shape and comes out in this form:
_Oh, I will live as I please, and the last sacraments will make
it all right. I'll send for the priest before I die_. Judas
when finishing his act of perfidy, kissed the Saviour whom he had
deliberately and wantonly betrayed.
{200}
So these desert and betray Christ and his holy religion, and then
go to make it up with a last kiss; a kiss full of hypocrisy and
only given through a dire necessity that presses them. Is any
hope held out in Scripture for the victims of such delusions?
"_If ye live according to the flesh ye shall die_."
[Footnote 83]
[Footnote 83: Rom. viii., 13.]
"_What a man soweth that shall he reap_." [Footnote 84]
[Footnote 84: Gal. vi., 7.]
"_Ye shall cry unto me Lord, but the Lord will, not hear
you_." "Ye shall seek me and ye shall not find me; ye shall
die in your sins." [Footnote 85]
[Footnote 85: St. John viii., 21.]
Small comfort this to those who are cheating themselves with the
idea of sending for the priest, and receiving the sacraments on
their death-beds. Priests and sacraments, if they do receive them
(which is a thing extremely doubtful), will do no good without
contrition, and who will answer for the contrition of one who has
persisted in outraging God through a whole life, and who, now
that death stares him in the face, and in the midst of pain and
fever and stupor, must set the accounts of conscience in order.
The whole demeanor of such persons shows, only too frequently,
how little they realize their condition, and what a wretched
reliance death-bed repentance is, for the salvation of the soul.
{201}
Such are some of the false maxims that put out the eyes of the
soul. Whence do they spring? From an evil and perverse heart. A
man given up to sin must justify himself in some way or other. He
therefore makes light of sin--seeks to persuade himself that its
consequences are not so dreadful--that after all, when it comes
to the very point, God will not allow these consequences to fall
upon him. They say a drowning man will catch at a straw. So these
persons, though they know the truth, catch at every straw that
holds out the least prospect of safety--every flimsy pretense
that holds out encouragement for a life of sin; every false maxim
that holds out a ground of hope. They call such things up on
every occasion to fortify their own minds. They repeat them over
to their friends, as if by hearing them a number of times they
might seem to have more foundation in them. They like to hear
others say such things; it gives them a wonderful encouragement
to go on. So the blind lead the blind. At last this false
reasoning gets to be so habitual that they fall back upon it
whenever conscience begins to speak to their hearts.
{202}
As to turning to God and quitting sin, that they won't think of
even for a moment; so, in the words of Scripture, "_a strong
delusion is sent upon them to believe a lie_." It is sent upon
them, in the sense that they have drawn it on themselves. To be
sure, they don't really believe it, but they wish to believe it,
try to believe it, and fancy that they do believe it. Indeed, in
practice they may be said to believe, inasmuch as they have made
up their minds to act upon it. What a miserable state to be in is
this! Self-satisfied and self-blindfolded, to be drifting down
into hell, in a dream of careless and stupid indifference! The
poor blind man cried out with all his might, "_Lord! that I may
see!_" The loss of bodily sight is indeed a great calamity, a
thing to be keenly felt. The bare possibility of being restored
to sight, should be enough to make one cry out, with his whole
soul, 'Lord, Lord, that I may receive my sight!'
{203}
How much more deplorable when the eyes of the soul are put out!
How much more occasion to cry out in agony of spirit to Jesus the
true light, that enlightens every man that cometh into the
world--'Lord! that I may see! that I may understand the things
that belong to my peace; that I may arouse from my stupidity,
throw away all false delusions, and square myself by the maxims
of the Gospel, opening my eyes to those eternal truths revealed
by a God who can neither deceive nor be deceived!
Oh sinner! oh careless, indifferent Christian! if you have the
least desire to make your hope of heaven a sure hope, one that
shall not be confounded, cry with the blind man to Jesus,
"_Lord, that I may see!_" Cry aloud, repeat that cry, until
Jesus shall turn to you, and grant your request. Show that you
are in earnest by taking the means to get your soul enlightened.
Go and hear the word of God preached on the Sundays. Don't do as
so many do, that go to Low Mass, early, and hear no sermon from
one month to another. Make a practice to go to High Mass, where
Jesus Christ, in the person of his priest, stands on purpose to
give you light. How can you expect light when you close your
eyes? How will the truths of the Gospel reach your heart and make
an impression there, if you never listen to them?
{204}
Preaching is the appointed means of receiving the truth.
"_Faith cometh by hearing!_" says the Holy Ghost. [Footnote
86]
[Footnote 86: Rom. x., 17.]
Imitate the blind man. He found out where Jesus was expected to
come by; he went there. Do likewise. Go where Jesus is, to the
Church; cry to Him; listen to Him; when He speaks through his
holy Gospels; read them, and hear them explained by the living
voice of his representative, the Priest. Then you will have
light; you will have it abundantly, to your great joy and
consolation.