perhaps better appreciate. Some few years since, in England,
there was a young lady of noble family, and of very attractive
manners, who became a Religious in a convent near the town where
I then resided.
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To please her father, she had, for several years past, attended
the numerous parties that were given among her circle of
acquaintance. Her presence was always thought to be a great
acquisition. But all the while, her heart was in religion. She
longed for the time when her father would yield, and allow her to
try her vocation within a convent's walls. At last, he did; but
what was his grief when he found that she had chosen one of the
most austere orders in the church. She wished to become a Poor
Clare. Now, you may not know that a Poor Clare never leaves the
walls of her convent; she never sees any one; she walks
bare-footed; she uses the painful discipline, and spends many
hours of the dead of the night in prayer, while the outer world
is asleep. Here, then, was a young girl who had been brought up
in luxury, entering at once upon a life of the greatest severity.
When I last heard of her, which was a long time after she had
entered this convent, she was said to be as merry as a cricket,
and the life of her convent, as she had formerly been of her
parties of pleasure.
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Now, how shall we account for such fortitude as this? I will tell
you. It was our Lord in her heart, where she had made Him a home,
that gave her the courage and strength she needed to comply with
his call to her, to be a spouse of his. That became easy to her,
which her relatives and friends could not comprehend. There is no
one who can do any thing great for God, without this interior
life. I will say even more than this; neither she nor any other
member of a religious community, can hope to persevere in any
well-regulated convent, on any other ground than this. With this,
any one, whether in religion or in the world, can trample
underfoot the difficulties and trials peculiar to their state of
life.
God offers us this interior life, on two conditions. In the first
place, we must be in the state of grace. One must first be
introduced to a man, before he can become his personal friend. A
man in mortal sin is as though he did not know God. He needs to
make his acquaintance. He is in a condition that is even worse
than that of a stranger; he is God's enemy, and he must be first
reconciled.
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To drive a locomotive at the rate of forty miles an hour, one
must first get it upon the track, before it will move at all.
You, then, my dear brethren, who are so unfortunate as to be in
mortal sin--you can take no comfort from any thing that I have
said. I have been offering peace to such as lead a Christian
life; but what does Holy Scripture say of you? "_There is no
peace, saith my God, for the wicked_."
Again, we must be generous with God. Ah! now that I have told you
the terms, I tremble for the cause I am advocating. It seems to
me that I hear you answering, as some other disciples of our
blessed Lord answered him: "_This saying is hard, and who can
hear it_." [Footnote 108]
[Footnote 108: John vi., 61.]
[Transcriber's note: The USCCB reference is John vi., 60.]
What is it to be generous? It is to give from a motive of love,
and because it is a pleasure to give. It is to consider the
object to which we are giving, rather than the amount of what we
are giving. What millions of dollars are being expended on the
Central Park here just beside us? We consider the money
contributed, as little in comparison with the importance of the
work. It is an object of pride with us to see tins Park as
ornamental as money and art can make it.
{251}
See what generous efforts are being made, by both sides, in this
unhappy conflict, which has made a battle-field of our country!
Not money only, but blood and life, are as freely offered as
water.
Our citizens who hurried off to California at the time of the
gold excitement of which I have spoken, thought nothing of the
discomfort of a close state-room on board a crowded ship, for a
five months voyage. They had already sacrificed home, friends and
business, and all this was on the mere chance of success.
Now, how is it with us? The burden of the sermons preached from
this altar, the year round, has been merely to get _justice_
done to God. We have been doing our best to get from you what is
barely God's _due_. Our endeavor has been to get you to
restore to God those rights of his, of which you have defrauded
Him; and at best, we have had but partial success. But to-day, I
ask you not for justice, but for generosity. Did I not say well
then, when I expressed my fear that God would find but few who
would accept his terms?
{252}
On his part, He offers to come and dwell in your souls. He offers
you interior peace, supernatural strength, holiness, and
salvation. Now what does He ask of you in return for all this?
That you will act the part of a generous friend toward Him, by
giving Him a large share of your thoughts, words, and actions. He
is the magnet in the centre of your hearts. He is always drawing
you toward Himself. He asks that you will put no obstacle in the
way of his influence upon you. If disturbing causes for the
moment turn you from Him, like the needle which may be shaken so
as to point to the East or the South, like it He calls upon you
not to rest till you have found your rest again in Him. St.
Teresa says, that a generous soul _flies_ to God. She does
not say that it runs, but that it flies to God. Now, what are we
doing? We are content to creep and crawl toward God, like worms
and caterpillars.
My dear brethren, I have told you a great truth, I have
discovered to you a great treasure. It is within the reach of
each one of you. Now I call upon this congregation for some
companions to go with me in search of this treasure.
{253}
I do not expect to arouse the mass of you, as the cry of "gold"
from California aroused the people of this city. I know the sad
truth, that most people love gold better than they love God. But
I _do_ count upon some. You would not expect that I should
urge this "Interior Life" upon you, and remain myself as I am?
Well then. I am going to try for it, and I call again upon you
for some souls, few though they may be, who with me, will try to
be generous with God. I call upon you by your Saviour's love in
dying a painful and shameful death, to purchase it for you. I
call upon you by his still further love in securing to you his
abiding presence, in the most Holy Sacrament of the altar.
Lastly, I call upon you by that act of his love which would be
satisfied with nothing short of making your heart a tabernacle,
as it were, where He may dwell perpetually, where He may live
your life, and where you may live his life, as true children of
St. Paul, who said: "_I live now no longer, but Christ liveth
in me_." I have put my question. I have made my call upon you.
I leave the answer with yourselves.
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{254}
Sermon XVI.
True Christian Humility.
"Every one that exalteth himself shall be humbled,
and he that humbleth himself shall be exalted."
--St. Luke, xviii. 14.
(From the Gospel for the 10th Sunday after Pentecost.)
It is impossible to mistake the great moral of this parable of
the Publican and the Pharisee. It is intended to teach us
humility. The Pharisee, with all his pretensions to piety and
morality, was rejected because he was proud. The Publican, like
the generality of revenue officers in that day, was loaded with
sins; but he was sorry for them, and being humble, and ready to
acknowledge himself for what he was, his prayer was accepted. All
piety, therefore, without humility, is false. No matter what they
may say about a man's good deeds or virtues; if he is proud, he
is no saint.
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There is no surer test of solid Christian virtue than humility.
St. Philip Neri once called to see a sick Roman lady, who enjoyed
a high reputation for sanctity. He found her sitting up, looking
very weak, and very pious. Being desirous of putting all this
perfection to the test, he lifted his dusty shoe upon the
beautiful counterpane which covered the bed, and which, as it
appeared to him, the good dame regarded with more than ordinary
satisfaction. It turned out as he expected. He might as well have
put his toe into a hornet's nest, for the pious lady was so
mortified at the soiling of her counterpane that she let loose
her tongue upon him in such strong Italian terms as came first to
mind. "I wish you good morning, holy sister," said St. Philip. We
may easily imagine what he thought of her sanctity.
Indeed, to prove the necessity of this virtue, we need go no
farther than to the example contained in this day's gospel, and
to the words of our blessed Lord in the text; for He tells us in
plain terms: "_Every one, that exalteth himself shall be
humbled; and he that humbleth himself shall be exalted_."
{256}
Since, then, humility is so necessary, let us study it this
morning; let us try to discover what true humility is, and to
fill our hearts with the esteem of it, and the love of it.
Christian humility I understand to be this: _A lowly estimate
of one s own worth in the light of Divine Truth_. This is, I
am well aware, a definition of humility in the mind, rather than
that of the heart; but it is not necessary to dwell upon any such
distinction here, for humility of the heart is nothing else than
the heart's consent to this lowly estimate of one's self, and
practically speaking the two are seldom found apart.
1. Humility, I say, is a lowly estimate of one's own worth. Men
are proud because they esteem themselves too highly; and this
they do because they look at themselves in a false light. They
look at themselves with worldly eyes, and compare themselves with
what they see around them. They plume themselves up on advantages
which, in the eyes of faith, are of little value. They look too
low. The king sees nothing greater than himself, and looks down
upon the nobles; the nobles look down upon the untitled gentry.
{257}
We have neither king nor nobles in our country, but we have a
class of gentry who live upon fortunes made by their fathers, and
were reared in good society. These look down upon those who have
made their own fortunes by some honest trade. The tradesman looks
down upon the farmer, the farmer upon the hired laborer, and the
laborer who has a shanty, with a cow and pigs, finds some one
still poorer to look down upon; and this last, perhaps, is
proudest of all, for he is descended from some patriot of the
Revolution, or, it may be, from Brian Boroihme. If, on the
contrary, they would look at the sacred law of God, if they would
study the pure and holy lessons of the Gospel, if they would
raise their eyes upward to the high and heavenly destiny for
which they were created--if by this new light they would compare
themselves as they are with what they might be, and ought to be,
the trifling advantages of this world would disappear, their
pride would wither away, and give place to humility, the
earliest, if not the sweetest flower of the Christian year.
{258}
But how is it with those who are _spiritually_ proud? Do not
they estimate themselves by the light of faith? No. Their pride
would soon die out if they did. Faith, directing their eyes
upward, would discover to them in God, in Jesus, and in the
Saints, what true holiness is, and their poor store of sanctity
would show like thumb-marks in a prayer-book, or spots upon the
sun. In the darkness of a cloudy night, when only the nearest
objects that lie about your feet are visible, your thoughts are
bound up in that little circle as if all the universe were near
you and beneath you, and you walking on its summit; but when the
clouds are driven away, and the moon and the vast world of stars
appear, the heaven seems like a measureless dome, and you, a
little insect creeping upon the floor, look up in breathless
wonder. So the pathway of a conceited devotee is lighted only by
a few straggling rays of religious truth, and he sees himself
shining as a luminous point in that narrow circle which is
visible to his eyes; but let faith open the sky above him, and
give him one long, calm, thoughtful look at the world above, and
he stands rebuked and humbled. Oh! how little our virtue appears
when, instead of comparing ourselves with the worldly crowd
around us, we look up to see how the saints have lived, and what
they have done!
{259}
During the Moorish wars in Spain, while the Spaniards were
besieging a city of the Moors, a brave Castilian knight advanced
before his comrades, at great peril of his life, and for a
memorial of his valor, wrote upon one of the city gates:
"Hitherto came Vasco Fernandez." His companions were scandalized
at his pride, and anxious to teach him a lesson. The next day,
therefore, another hero of superior prowess forced his way still
farther, and wrote in large letters upon another gate: "Hitherto
Vasco Fernandez did not come." This, my dear brethren, is a
lesson for the Christian soldier also, and well worth learning.
Instead of comparing ourselves with the feeble and imperfect, and
feeding our pride thereby, let us humble ourselves before the
achievements of the Saints.
2. If humility is a lowly estimate of one's self, it is none the
less truthful on that account. We must look upon ourselves as we
really are, "in the light of Divine Truth," for this is included
in my definition. One may think meanly of himself upon false
grounds.
{260}
One may be ashamed of himself for things which in reality are
praiseworthy. There is no virtue in this. Genuine humility needs
to borrow no aid from falsehood. She is a grace bestowed by the
God of truth. Now, there is something very unhealthy and
degrading in this spurious sort of humility, which is founded
upon self-calumny and pious exaggeration, for it leads to
self-degradation. And this is the reason why I abhor the
Protestant doctrine of "total depravity." It teaches men to say
that they are, from their birth and by nature, so thoroughly
corrupt, that there is absolutely nothing good in them. That
there is, in reality, no such thing as natural virtue. That
filial piety, honesty, fidelity, love of truth, chastity and
temperance, have no merit in the unregenerate man, but, on the
contrary, are sinful and displeasing to God. And their doctrine
of justification leaves the Saint as bad as the sinner; for
although his life is acceptable with God, it is not because he is
in reality any better, or that his actions are more meritorious.
On the contrary, his righteousness is all "filthy rags," and
there is positively nothing good in him. He is justified and
saved by faith alone.
{261}
If you say to them, "Ah, well, I understand you; this faith of
which you speak is at least something meritorious, because it is
enlivened and made holy by charity, or the love of God. It is
this which makes faith so efficacious." No; they will not admit
your explanation; there is popery in it; it is only an entering
wedge to make way for the doctrine of good works. They refuse to
accept any principle by which the good man may be supposed to be
really any better than his neighbors. He is regenerated by the
mantle of Christ's righteousness, which does not take away, but
only covers up his "filthy rags." And his lesson of humility is,
to insist upon it that there is nothing good in him. Now, I never
saw any one, either man or woman, so bad that I thought there was
no good in him; and I am always sorry to hear my Protestant
friends speak so ill of themselves, for I don't believe them--I
have seen too much real merit among them.
In truth, all this is false humility. It is but a form of words,
and nobody in his heart believes it, or can believe it. Virtue is
not vice. There is such a thing as real virtue and real merit in
man.
{262}
God has given to all a conscience, which is nothing else than His
own voice applauding or rebuking. There is such a thing as
natural virtue, which deserves a reward in the natural order of
God's providence; and there is such a thing as Christian virtue,
which is begotten by supernatural grace, and deserves the
supernatural reward of the Saints.
No wonder that, in the world, humility is too often looked upon
as a counterfeit and degrading virtue, which takes away all
manliness, hope, courage, and generous ambition, from the soul.
Oh, if it were so, I would suffer my tongue to be torn out of my
mouth, before I would preach it at this altar. If ever there was
a time when we needed manly virtue in the Church, it is now. If
ever there was a time when Christianity seemed to have melted
into effeminacy and pusillanimity, it is now. The race of
Martyrs, of Confessors of the faith, of Christian athletes, of
true Sages and sacred Scholars, of men of action who knew how to
open their eyes, and men of prayer who knew how to shut them, of
Catholic Matrons and Virgins whose hunger after holiness was not
satisfied by crosses and medals, scapulars and holy water--this
ancient race of Christians has well nigh dwindled away.
{263}
We of the present day seem to be playing with religion. We are
not in earnest. We are ashamed of what ought to be our glory; we
are proud of that which constitutes our shame. We have no blushes
for our sins; while we are too bashful to be devout, and too
timid to practise virtue. We acknowledge that we are wicked;
although we do not hold it to be precisely our own fault, but a
fault of our nature, and we have no ambition to be better. We
confess our sins by throwing all the blame upon the God who made
us, and this we call humility. Oh! this is false humility. God
made us well enough; our sins are all our own. If we look at
ourselves as we really are, in the light of divine truth, we
shall find matter enough to make us humble.
3. True Christian humility, so far from degrading, ennobles the
heart in which it dwells. It leads directly to hope; and
hopefulness is, in all great hearts, the essential element of
their courage, energy, enterprise, and success. Now Pride, with
her two brazen-faced daughters Self-conceit and Self-confidence,
stands directly in the way of Christian hope and courage.
{264}
In spiritual matters, so long as one depends upon himself, he is
sure of failure; for without the grace of God one cannot advance
a single step. "_Without Me_," said our Lord to His
disciples, "_you can do nothing_." [Footnote 109]
[Footnote 109: St. John xv., 5.]
With repeated failure comes despair, or at least, despondency;
and then all hope, courage, and generous enterprise take flight.
But how different is the experience of the humble heart! It
begins with self-distrust; it acknowledges its own feebleness.
"_For I know_," says the Apostle Paul, "_that there is no
good dwelling in me; that is to say, in my flesh. As for the will
to do good, that I find present, but the power to do it I do not
find_." [Footnote 110]
[Footnote 110: Rom. vii. 18.]
Not daring, therefore, to trust in himself, the humble Christian
learns to lean upon God, and to confide fully in his grace; and
then he becomes strong and full of courage, and can say with St.
Paul, "_I can do all things through him who strengthens
me_." [Footnote 111]
[Footnote 111: Phil, iv., 13.]
{265}
Thus, in the Christian warfare, humility is the first and last
lesson of all noble, generous, and heroic souls; for their great
hearts are sustained by great hopes, and their hope is nourished
by humility.
Humility, and that hopefulness and courage which grow out of
humility, are also the most efficacious means of converting the
shamefaced, downcast sinner. Take, for example, the habitual
drunkard. The pledge will not help him long; and why? Because he
is degraded in his own eyes, and has no confidence in his own
resolutions. What he wants most is courage, and the pledge cannot
give him that. The pledge teaches him to rely on himself, and on
himself he cannot rely. "I'm willing," says he, "but I'm weak. If
you are going to give me the pledge, put it on me strong, so that
I won't break it." See how the poor fellow is anxious to find
some support to lean upon, outside of his own weak will, and is
almost ready to believe that the priest can give him that
stability which he so much needs. Now, what is to be done? The
only way is to put confidence and courage into his heart; and
this is done by pointing him upward to God, the only source of
grace and strength, and "_who is able to do all things more
abundantly than we can ask_." [Footnote 112]
[Footnote 112: Ephes. iii., 20.]
{266}
Do not take the heart out of him by words of contempt and
scalding abuse, but speak to him kindly and encouragingly. "I
know, my dear friend, that you are weak; but God is strong, and
his grace is able to make you strong. He has had worse cases than
you in hand before now, and made glorious Saints of them too.
Never despair; you were created for better things. Make one more
trial now, and with the help of God you'll shake off this
miserable habit forever." That's the way to reform a confirmed
drunkard who has grace enough, at least, to be ashamed of
himself. Do not strike a man that is already down. Do not make
him more self-degraded than he is, but out of his humiliation
endeavor to fill him with hope in God. Talk to him cheerfully.
Give him a clean shirt and a clean collar. Get him to wash
himself and shave himself, and brush his hair. He will now begin
to feel like a man; and the next step is to feel like a
Christian. Take him then to the Church, and to confession; and
when upon his knees, with, a contrite heart, he has confessed and
renounced his sins, let him there pledge himself against that
drink which has poisoned him, body and soul; and the grace of God
will carry him through.
{267}
In this way, courage and strength are born of humility. It is a
virtue that does not degrade, but ennobles the heart where it
lodges.
I have said enough, I think--all, at least, my dear brethren,
that can well be said within the compass of a morning's sermon,
to illustrate the true nature of Christian humility. I need not
enlarge upon the advantages or the necessity of it. Humility is
one of those sweet virtues which carries its own recommendation
with it, which needs only to be seen in order to be prized.
Enough has already been said to justify that maxim of the ascetic
writers, that humility is the foundation of all the virtues. Any
mason will tell you, that before you can build a substantial
Church you must dig away the loose dirt below, and hollow out a
foundation for the walls. This is the first step of all, and
until this is done, neither walls, nor tower, nor roof, nor any
part of the building can be safely undertaken. It is the same in
that spiritual temple which has to be erected in every soul that
is saved.
{268}
Before we build up we must first go down. Humility must first
begin the work; must dig up and throw aside the sand and rubbish
of pride, and self-conceit, and vain confidence, which have
gathered like a loose soil upon our hearts. Then, and not till
then, are we ready, with faith, and hope, and charity, and the
other virtues, to rear the strong walls, and towers, and arches,
with all the parts and ornaments which make the Temple of God
complete within our souls. In fine, religion is of little use to
one who will not learn to be humble; and therefore an English
poet, varying the figure which I have employed, says very well:
"Ye who would build the churches of the Lord,
See that ye make the western portals low!
Let no one enter who disdains to bow!"
If any thing were needed to confirm this view of the necessity of
humility, we have the words of our Lord himself: "_Unless you
be converted and become as little children, ye shall not enter
into the kingdom of Heaven_." [Footnote 113]
[Footnote 113: St. Matt, xviii., 3.]
{269}
Are we then, my brethren, anxiously desirous of saving our souls?
Would we be something in the kingdom of God? Would we become
strong in faith, great in hope, abounding in charity? Then let us
cast pride away! Let us learn to be humble! Let us become willing
imitators of Jesus Christ, who has said: "_Learn of me, for I
am meek and humble of heart, and you shall find rest to your
souls_." [Footnote 114]
[Footnote 114: St. Matt, xi., 29.]
And let us believe his word, that there is no other way of
salvation; for He it is who tells us in this day's Gospel, that
"_every one that exalteth himself shall be humbled; and he that
humbleth himself shall be exalted_."
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Sermon XVII
What The Desire To Love God Can Do.
"Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with thy whole heart,
and with thy whole soul, and with all thy strength,
and with all thy mind."
--St. Luke x., 27.
(From the Gospel for the 12th Sunday after Pentecost)
There are two ways in which one may set about fulfilling this
commandment of the Lord.