beloved brethren, he retired into the desert, where he remained
forty days in prayer and fasting. At the end of this time he
directed his steps towards the river Jordan, where John was
baptizing. Here a large concourse of the Jewish people had
assembled to listen to the preaching of the forerunner of Christ.
In the midst of these St. John, inspired by the spirit of God,
and professing his deep and ardent faith, testified of our Lord
that he is the Lamb of God, and that it is he who taketh away the
sins of the world.
{73}
What a glorious testimony this, and how cheerfully received by
the fervent Christian! Have you ever pondered over these
beautiful words, and made them the subject of your meditation?
Have you ever tried to find out their true meaning, and thus make
them profitable to your souls? Yes, truly, Jesus Christ is the
Lamb of God. He is the Lamb slain from the beginning of the
world. For you and for me he voluntarily left the bosom of his
Father, and lowered and even debased himself by assuming a nature
like our own. For us he endured the sufferings and privations of
his childhood; for us he sent up many heartfelt prayers to God
the Father before the beginning of his public life; for us he
labored and preached; for us he suffered the ingratitude of his
disciples, the ignominies of the Jews, the insults of the
soldiers, the hardships of the journey to Calvary, and, finally,
ended his torments on the cross, with the cry "_Consummatum
est_--It is finished." This, and much more, did our Blessed
Lord gladly undergo for us all. And how have you, dear brethren,
requited such infinite love? Fathers, are you solicitous for the
little household which Almighty God himself has so fondly
entrusted to your care? Then are you imitators of the patience
and endurance of your Saviour during his bitter passion. Mothers,
do you strive to make yourselves patterns of the Christian
virtues of gentleness and forbearance? Then do you imitate the
example of your Lord in bearing the defects of others and
treating them with kindness and compassion. Oh! how watchful
would we not be, dear brethren, could we but understand the
infinite love our Lord Jesus Christ manifested for us during his
life on earth! But St. John not only gave testimony to our Lord
being the Lamb of God, but he further testified that it is he who
takes away the sins of the world.
{74}
He did not come simply to announce to the world the divine
mission which he received from the Father; he also came to heal
the infirmities of our souls by imparting to them the abundance
of his grace. This office he performed himself during his mortal
life on earth. He it was that purified the soul of Mary Magdalene
and enriched it with sanctifying grace. It was he who gave the
living water of eternal life to the sinful Samaritan woman. And
what our Lord did for these and many others, beloved brethren, he
is now effecting in the midst of us. It is not necessary to
remind you of how our Lord chose a small band of apostles, and
made them the beginning of his church; how he bestowed upon them
and their successors the unheard-of and marvellous power of
forgiving sins. Yes, brethren, the bishops and priests of the
Catholic Church are the visible representatives of Jesus Christ;
they are the comfort of the afflicted, the strength of the weak;
they have an efficacious remedy for those who are living in the
state of mortal sin; by pronouncing the words of absolution they
restore to the penitent and contrite sinner his lost inheritance
of sonship, and make him an heir of the kingdom of heaven. Oh!
how thankful we should be for the mercy and goodness of our God!
What a tender love we ought to cherish for the Church, the Bride
without spot! What respect is not due to those who hold the place
of Christ in our behalf! How sufficiently prize the inestimable
blessing of the tribunal of penance! Let us remember and meditate
upon those three precious graces, beloved brethren, that they may
be the source of sweet joy to us now, and the earnest of a happy
eternity hereafter.
-------------------
{75}
_Second Sunday after Epiphany._
Feast Of The Holy Name Of Jesus.
Epistle.
_Romans xii._ 6-16.
Having gifts different, according to the grace that is given
us, whether prophecy, according to the proportion of faith, or
ministry in ministering; or he that teacheth, in teaching; he
that exhorteth, in exhorting; he that giveth with simplicity;
he that ruleth with solicitude; he that showeth mercy with
cheerfulness. Love without dissimulation. Hating that which is
evil, adhering to that which is good; loving one another with
brotherly love; in honor preventing one another; in solicitude
not slothful; in spirit fervent; serving the Lord; rejoicing in
hope; patient in tribulation; instant in prayer; communicating
to the necessities of the saints; pursuing hospitality. Bless
them that persecute you; bless, and curse not. Rejoice with
them that rejoice; weep with them that weep; being of one mind
one to another; not high-minded, but condescending to the
humble.
Epistle of the Feast.
_Acts iv._ 8-12.
Then Peter, filled with the Holy Ghost, said to them: Ye rulers
of the people and ancients, hear: If we this day are examined
concerning the good deed done to the infirm man, by what means
he hath been made whole; be it known to you all, and to all the
people of Israel, that in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ of
Nazareth, whom you crucified, whom God hath raised from the
dead, even by him doth this man stand here before you whole.
This is the stone which was rejected by you, builders; which is
become the head of the corner; nor is there salvation in any
other. For there is no other name under heaven given to men,
whereby we must be saved.
{76}
Gospel.
_St. John ii._ 1-11.
At that time:
There was a marriage in Cana of Galilee: and the mother of
Jesus was there. And Jesus also was invited, and his disciples,
to the marriage. And the wine failing, the mother of Jesus
saith to him: They have no wine. And Jesus saith to her: Woman,
what is that to me and to thee? my hour is not yet come. His
mother said to the waiters: Whatsoever he shall say to you, do
ye. Now, there were set there six water-pots of stone,
according to the manner of the purifying of the Jews,
containing two or three measures apiece. Jesus saith to them:
Fill the water-pots with water. And they filled them up to the
brim. And Jesus saith to them: Draw out now and carry to the
chief steward of the feast. And they carried it. And when the
chief steward had tasted the water made wine, and knew not
whence it was, but the waiters knew who had drawn the water,
the chief steward calleth the bridegroom, and saith to him:
Every man at first setteth forth good wine, and when men have
well drunk, then that which is worse: but thou hast kept the
good wine until now. This beginning of miracles did Jesus in
Cana of Galilee, and he manifested his glory, and his disciples
believed in him.
Gospel Of The Feast.
_St. Luke ii._ 21.
At that time:
After eight days were accomplished that the child should be
circumcised, his name was called Jesus, which was called by the
Angel, before he was conceived in the womb.
-------------------
Sermon XXI.
Profanity.
To-day, my dear brethren, as you know, the church celebrates the
festival of the Holy Name of Jesus; of that name which is above
all other names, at which every knee shall bow, and every tongue
shall confess the glory of him to whom this great name belongs.
{77}
Yes, the holy church does indeed reverence this holy name, and
we, her children, do not fail to honor it. Following a pious
custom, we bow the head when it is mentioned, and it is to be
hoped that we also make at the same time with our hearts an act
of homage to him who bears it, and thank him for all that he has
done for us.
And yet, strange to say, some of these very Christians who pay to
the name of their God and Saviour, at least outwardly, this
tribute of honor on certain accustomed occasions seem to take at
other times a pleasure in trampling it, if I may so speak, in the
very dirt under their feet. To see them in church, you would
think that they would hardly dare even to take at all upon their
own lips this holy name which they hear from those of the priest;
but outside, on the street, and even, it may be, in their own
homes, they show a horrible familiarity with it. This name above
all names is coupled with every foolish, passionate, and even
filthy word which the devil can put into their hearts and on
their tongues.
{78}
Do I say this is strange? Ah! that is far too weak a word. To one
who will stop and consider, even for a moment, it seems
incredible, impossible that a Christian, one who believes himself
to have been created by the great God whose name he bears, and to
have been redeemed by him from the power of the devil, at the
cost of his own Precious Blood; who has knelt in prayer before
him; who has received from him the pardon of his sins; who has
received him in his real and true Presence on his tongue in the
sacrament which he has instituted with such infinite
condescension and love--I say it seems impossible, intolerable,
inconceivable, that this wretched worm of the earth, on whom so
many and such surpassing favors have been showered by the Divine
Goodness, should, with this very tongue on which his God has
rested, outrage and insult the name of this God, and that the
name which above all others tells how good and merciful he has
been. It seems as if even the infinite patience and love which
our Lord has for us could not brook this indignity, this spittle
cast in his face, not as at the time of his Passion, by one who
did not know who he was, but by those who from childhood have
known full well all the truths of their holy faith, and who well
understand that it is the Divine Majesty which they despise.
Indeed, my brethren, believe me, even the infidel shudders when
he hears in passing along the street the holy name of our Lord
God and Saviour Jesus Christ, of him whom even he respects above
all other men that have ever lived on earth, thus outraged,
profaned, and defiled by those who profess to believe him to be
far more than the best and greatest of men; who invoke him as the
One who sitteth on the Eternal Throne, before whom the angels
veil their faces, to whom is due benediction and honor and glory
and power for ever and ever. Even the infidel, I say, shudders;
and he wonders how it can be, if what Christians believe is true,
that the God whom they thus insult suffers them to live.
{79}
But you may say it is a habit you have got; that is the excuse
which seems good to you, and which you seem to think that God
ought to accept. Sup-pose you had a habit of spitting on your
neighbor's face or clothes by preference to any other place, how
long would he endure it? It is a habit, yes; but it is one which
you can amend and get rid of altogether, and which you are most
urgently and seriously bound to get rid of, if you would not have
to answer for it at the bar of him whom this insufferable habit
outrages and defies. Take care, take care, take care, I warn and
beseech you, for God's sake, for the sake of those who hear you,
and for your own sake, that this habit come to an end. Watch,
keep guard against it; punish yourself should you even
inadvertently fall into it, that your offended God may not have
to take the punishment into his own hands.
-------------------
Sermon XXII.
The Sin Of Cursing.
_Bless them that persecute you;
bless, and curse not._
--Romans. xii. 14.
These words are found in the epistle appointed for the second
Sunday after Epiphany, and were read by the church long before
the institution of the Feast of the Holy Name of Jesus, which is
now always celebrated on this day, yet they contain a lesson most
appropriate to this feast. For there is no way in which God's
most holy name, which to-day is especially set before us for our
veneration, is more frequently or more grossly dishonored than by
cursing. To curse is to call down God's judgment or vengeance
upon our fellow-men, and its worst form is when the holy and
awful name of God or our Lord is made use of.
{80}
Unhappily the fault has become so common, even among those who
think themselves good Catholics, that its grievous nature is
seldom realized or, perhaps, even thought of.
The habit is often acquired in childhood, frequently from the
example of parents, themselves given to cursing. Like all
early-acquired habits, it grows stronger and more deeply-rooted
with advancing years, until at last the habit is made the excuse
for the sin. It is a vain excuse. You are guilty before God of
mortal sin if you have formed this habit, and you are guilty of
remaining in the state of mortal sin if you make no effort to
break yourself of it. It will do you no good to go to confession
and accuse yourself of cursing, unless you are contrite and
follow the advice which your confessor gives you, and really make
an earnest resolution and a serious effort to overcome this
scandalous habit.
You should begin by making each morning a resolution to avoid
cursing throughout the day, begging God's assistance for your
efforts. If, during the day, you fall inadvertently into the old
fault, you should impose some little penance upon yourself, such
as the recitation of the "Hail Mary," or the pious ejaculation of
the holy name of Jesus, with a prayer for God's forgiveness. And
then at night you should examine your conscience as to how often
you may have fallen into the habit during the day, and resolve to
make the next day a better one in this respect. If you faithfully
persevere in this practice you will soon be the master of your
tongue, and able to restrain it from cursing by a little
watchfulness; but if you do not adopt some such practice as this,
and really set to work in earnest to overcome this habit, you are
guilty before God of mortal sin, and your contrition at your
confessions is not good for much.
{81}
I have spoken of this habit as scandalous, as this is one of its
worst features. Besides the insult that is offered to God and his
holy name, an incalculable amount of harm is done to our
neighbor. Children, especially, learn to curse from their elders,
and the extent of this fault among young children is frightful to
contemplate. Those, too, who are not of our faith, when they hear
Catholics cursing and swearing, are apt to set it down to some
defect in our religion, and thus the true faith is brought into
contempt.
But the habitual curser seldom thinks of these consequences of
his sin. He rarely even attends to the meaning of the words he
uses. If he could only be brought to stop and think of all that
is implied in the expressions we so often hear upon our streets,
he would shudder at the thought of using them. To ask Almighty
God to send a soul to hell for all eternity, to utter that holy
name whereby we are saved in a prayer for the eternal damnation
of a soul redeemed by the Precious Blood of Christ, is an impiety
so dreadful that we could scarcely believe it possible did not
our ears tell us the contrary.
Yet there are those who not only say these things, but mean them,
at least at the moment when they are uttered. How carefully,
then, should we guard ourselves against those outbursts of anger
in which we are led to make such a fearful abuse of the gift of
speech, the noblest of God's natural gifts to man!
{82}
Above all, we should try to realize the spirit of the Gospel as
expressed in the words of St. Paul, "Bless them that persecute
you," remembering that no affront that can be offered to us can
even justify the spirit of revenge that is implied in a curse.
"Bless," therefore, "and curse not," that so you may yourselves
receive the blessing of the Lord.
-------------------
Sermon XXIII.
Reverence For The Name Of God.
The Feast of the Holy Name of Jesus, brethren, affords an
opportunity for meditating upon reverence for the honor of God,
especially in the person of our Blessed Saviour. Reverence for
God is something different from the love of God and the fear of
God. Have you not noticed that when a bad boy neither fears his
father nor (as far as we can see) loves him, that he yet often
keeps up at least a show of respect for him? I don't care much
for him, he says, but after all he is my father; I must respect
him. So with sinners. Many a sinner will break every commandment
of God and the church except one or two, which he fancies he must
observe in order to keep up appearances; that is to say, show at
least some outward respect. The most atrocious scoundrel will not
eat meat on Friday, because that would be a sign of losing all
respect for religion. A wretch abandoned to every vice will say a
Hail Mary or make the sign of the cross sometimes in order to
persuade at least himself that he has not lost all respect for
religion. He will not despise the piety of his friends, but
rather respect it. Respect for holy things and holy practices is
the last remnant of religion in the sinner's soul.
{83}
Well, brethren, let us ask if Almighty God has not set up any
particular sign of reverence that we are to pay him? What is
that, among all religious practices, which he would have us do as
a token of inner and outer reverence? Of course you know what I
mean; you know that it is reverence for his holy name.
The name of God, and especially the name of Jesus, are set up as
the divine standard before which every man will prove his
reverence for God. Cursers and swearers and blasphemers forget
this. No sin is so common as profanity in its various forms. Yet
it shows a heart not only void of the fear of God, and of the
love of God, but also, and worst of all, void of even reverence
for God. A man who habitually curses is penetrated with defiance
of the Divine Majesty. Holy Scripture says that he has put on
cursing like a garment; that it has entered in unto his bones. In
the old law a blasphemer was stoned to death. And in our own
times God often anticipates the wrath to come by sending sudden
death upon profane men. I lately read in the papers that a man,
standing at a saloon-counter, cursed his own soul, and instantly
sank down upon the floor stone dead. Many of you have doubtless
heard or even seen such visitations of divine justice.
And it is in view of the sacred obligation of reverence to God in
his chosen symbol--which is his name and his Son's name--that,
although he had but ten commandments to give us, one of them was
set apart to secure respectful speech when dealing with God: Thou
shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain, for the Lord
will not hold him guiltless that taketh his name in vain.
{84}
Brethren, you and I in [the] future will be particularly careful
to honor the sacred name of Jesus. Are you tempted? That name is
a resistless charm against assaults of flesh, world, or devil.
Are you tired out? The name of Jesus is a restful and soothing
influence. Are you sick? That holy name will strengthen you with
supernatural vigor. I hope that when you come to die your last
breath may utter that name of Jesus with deep confidence, and
that our Lord will answer your dying sigh with an affectionate
welcome into his heavenly court.
-------------------
{85}
_Third Sunday after Epiphany._
Epistle.
_Romans xii._ 16-21.
Brethren:
Be not wise in your own conceits. Render to no man evil for
evil. Provide things good not only in the sight of God, but
also in the sight of all men. If it be possible, as much as is
in you, have peace with all men. Revenge not yourselves, my
dearly beloved; but give place to wrath, for it is written:
"Revenge is mine; I will repay, saith the Lord." But if thy
enemy be hungry, give him to eat; if he thirst, give him drink;
for doing this thou shalt heap coals of fire upon his head. Be
not overcome by evil, but overcome evil by good.
Gospel.
_St. Matthew viii_. 1-13.
At that time:
When Jesus was come down from the mountain, great multitudes
followed him; and behold a leper coming, adored him, saying:
Lord, if thou wilt, thou canst make me clean. And Jesus,
stretching forth his hand, touched him, saying: I will; be thou
made clean. And immediately his leprosy was cleansed. And Jesus
said to him: See thou tell no man; but go show thyself to the
priest, and offer the gift which Moses commanded for a
testimony to them. And when he had entered into Capharnaum,
there came to him a centurion, beseeching him and saying: Lord,
my servant lieth at home sick of the palsy, and is grievously
tormented. And Jesus said to him: I will come and heal him. And
the centurion, making answer, said: Lord, I am not worthy that
thou shouldst enter under my roof; but only say the word, and
my servant shall be healed.
{86}
For I also am a man under authority, having soldiers under me;
and I say to this man, Go, and he goeth, and to another, Come,
and he cometh, and to my servant, Do this, and he doeth it. And
Jesus, hearing this, wondered, and said to those that followed
him: Amen I say to you, I have not found so great faith in
Israel. And I say unto you that many shall come from the east
and the west, and shall sit down with Abraham, and Isaac, and
Jacob, in the kingdom of heaven; but the children of the
kingdom shall be cast out into exterior darkness: there shall
be weeping and gnashing of teeth. And Jesus said to the
centurion: Go, and as thou hast believed, so be it done to
thee. And the servant was healed at the same hour.
-------------------
Sermon XXIV.
Practical Faith.
_Many shall come from the east and the west,
and shall sit down with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob
in the kingdom of heaven;
but the children of the kingdom
shall be cast into the exterior darkness._
--Gospel of the Day.
These words, my dear brethren, were spoken by our Blessed Lord to
the Jews on the occasion of the cure of the servant of the
centurion. This centurion was an officer, like what we would call
a captain, in the Roman army; he was not a Jew, so he did not
belong to God's chosen people, his church of the old law. No, he
was a heathen by birth; he had been brought up in error, in
ignorance of the true religion; he had not the prophecies which
the Jews had to tell him clearly that a Saviour was to come into
the world.
{87}
He was indeed in darkness compared with this favored Hebrew
people among whom his lot was cast; but he saw our Lord, and that
was enough for him. He saw the power of God, and he believed. He
knew that this Messias, whom the Pharisees were rejecting, was
the Master of life and death. "Lord," said he, "I am not worthy
that thou shouldst come under my roof; but only say the word, and
my servant shall be healed." Immortal words these, which the
Catholic Church has treasured up, and puts on thousands of lips
every day, and which were rewarded by the divine acknowledgment,
"Amen I say to you, I have not found so great faith in Israel.
And I say to you that many shall come from the east and the west,
and shall sit down with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob in the kingdom
of heaven; but the children of the kingdom shall be cast into the
exterior darkness."
Now, my brethren, what lesson have we to learn from this praise
of the heathen centurion, and this warning to God's own people,
coming to us from the mouth of God himself? Simply this: that our
salvation depends on the use which we make of the graces which he
gives us; that the least will suffice, if we will but avail
ourselves of them; but that the greatest will only serve for our
eternal condemnation and ruin if we slight them and pass them by.
A simple and evident truth this surely, and yet how apt we are to
forget and neglect it! We are Catholics from our infancy, we say;
we belong to families which have always kept the faith. We are
indeed the faithful, to whom the kingdom of heaven is promised.
And if we have not been always so, but have been brought from
darkness into light, then still more is the divine favor to us
manifest.
{88}
Will He, then, who has done so much for us, not complete his
work? We believe his word, we are in his true church, we receive
his saving and life-giving sacraments; how, then, shall we not be
saved? Are we not indeed those of whom he said, "My sheep hear my
voice, and I know them, and they follow me; and I give them life
everlasting, and they shall not perish for ever, and no man shall
pluck them out of my hand"?