our Lord upon the mountain in the sight of his Apostles Peter,
James, and John. "His face did shine as the sun, and his garments
became white as snow." And Peter, wrapt in wonder, yet conscious
of the privilege of being present at such a time, exclaimed:
"Lord, it is good for us to be here." Jesus has withdrawn his
visible presence from us. We cannot, like St. Peter and St. John,
behold him with our bodily eyes, nor with our ears can we hear
him speaking the words of life. It is better for us that it
should be so. In our present sinful and imperfect state we could
not bear the splendors of his glorified humanity. When from out
the bright cloud which overshadowed him the disciples heard the
voice of God proclaiming, "This is my beloved Son," "they fell
upon their faces, and were very much afraid." The sight of all
this glory, and the knowledge that they were in the presence of
Almighty God himself, filled them with fear. So, too, would it be
with us now if Jesus were to show himself to us as he now is in
heaven. At the sight of his majesty and glory we, too, should
fall upon our faces with fear and trembling.
{171}
Now, our dear Lord, knowing this weakness of ours, does not
withdraw his presence from us, for he has promised to be with us,
even till the end of the world; but he hides his glory from us
under the humble appearance of bread and wine. Beneath these
outward forms he remains continually in our churches, there in
the tabernacle, by day and night, claiming our adoration and our
love. In Holy Mass he is daily raised aloft by the hands of the
priest, offering himself to God the Father for the sins of the
world. In the Benediction of the Blessed Sacrament he is lifted
up to bless his faithful ones. And God still speaks to us by the
voice and teaching of the church as truly as he spoke to the
disciples upon the holy mountain, saying: "This is my beloved
Son, in whom I am well pleased: hear ye him." We can still see
our Lord, yet only through the cloud which overshadows him--that
is, by the eyes of faith. Yet he is none the less really present
in the tabernacle upon the altar than he was upon Mount Thabor on
the day of his Transfiguration.
When, therefore, we come into his sacred presence, when we enter
the church and see the little lamp burning before the altar to
tell us that he is there, our sentiments should be those of St.
Peter at the Transfiguration: "Lord, it is good for us to be
here." It is good for us to often visit him in the Blessed
Sacrament; it is good for us to often receive his Benediction; it
is good for us, nay, necessary for us, to assist at Holy Mass
when the church bids us do so; above all it is good for us, above
all it is necessary for us, to receive him in Holy Communion, and
especially now at this time for the fulfilment of the Easter
duty. Jesus is present in the Blessed Sacrament only for our own
good, for the good of our souls. When, therefore, we see this
great goodness of our Lord towards us, how can we be so heedless
of our own good as to turn away from him?
{172}
And when you come before the Blessed Sacrament, remember that you
are in God's presence. Do not forget to bend your knee in
adoration. Do not take advantage of his mercy in hiding his glory
from you by forgetting that he is really here, by spending the
whole time of Mass with roving eyes and thoughts. Fix your
attention upon the altar where he is, and offer him the best
homage that your heart can give. It will be good for you to be
here, if you have the same sentiments at Mass which the disciples
had at the Transfiguration. You should be filled with a holy fear
lest your idle thoughts at this holy time should one day be
reckoned against you. For now he veils himself from you in mercy
and love, but one day he will appear to you in far more dazzling
brightness than he ever manifested on earth. Oh! then, despise
not his presence here, that when at last you stand before him he
may judge you worthy to enjoy his presence for ever.
-------------------
{173}
_Third Sunday of Lent._
Epistle.
_Ephesians v._ 1-9.
Brethren:
Be ye followers of God, as most dear children. And walk in love
as Christ also hath loved us, and hath delivered himself for us
an oblation and a sacrifice to God for an odor of sweetness.
But fornication and all uncleanness, or covetousness, let it
not so much as be named among you, as becometh saints: nor
obscenity, nor foolish talking, nor scurrility, which is to no
purpose: but rather giving of thanks. For know ye this, and
understand that no fornicator, nor unclean, nor covetous person
which is a serving of idols hath any inheritance in the kingdom
of Christ and of God. Let no man deceive you with vain words.
For because of these things cometh the anger of God upon the
children of unbelief. Be ye not therefore partakers with them.
For you were heretofore darkness, but now light in the Lord.
Walk ye as children of the light: for the fruit of the light is
in all goodness, and justice, and truth.
Gospel.
_St. Luke xi._ 14-28.
At that time:
Jesus was casting out a devil, and the same was dumb; and when
he had cast out the devil, the dumb spoke; and the multitude
admired: but some of them said: He casteth out devils in
Beelzebub, the prince of the devils. And others tempting, asked
of him a sign from heaven. But he, seeing their thoughts, said
to them: Every kingdom divided against itself shall be brought
to desolation, and a house upon a house shall fall. And if
Satan also be divided against himself, how shall his kingdom
stand? because you say, that in Beelzebub I cast out devils.
{174}
Now if I cast out devils in Beelzebub, in whom do your children
cast them out? Therefore they shall be your judges. But if I,
in the finger of God, cast out devils, doubtless the kingdom of
God is come upon you. When a strong man armed keepeth his
court, those things which he possesseth are in peace. But if a
stronger than he come upon him and overcome him, he will take
away all his armor wherein he trusted, and will distribute his
spoils. He that is not with me, is against me: and he that
gathereth not with me, scattereth. When the unclean spirit is
gone out of a man, he walketh through places without water,
seeking rest: and not finding, he saith: I will return into my
house whence I came out. And when he is come, he findeth it
swept and garnished. Then he goeth and taketh with him seven
other spirits more wicked than himself, and entering in they
dwell there. And the last state of that man becometh worse than
the first. And it came to pass, as he spoke these things, a
certain woman from the crowd lifting up her voice, said to him:
Blessed is the womb that bore thee, and the paps that gave thee
suck. But he said: Yea, rather, blessed are they who hear the
word of God and keep it.
-------------------
Sermon L.
Immodest Language.
How pertinent to our own times are the words of St. Paul in the
Epistle of to-day, addressed nineteen centuries ago to the
Christians of Ephesus: "But all uncleanness, let it not be so
much as named among you, as becometh saints. ... For know ye this
and understand that no unclean person hath inheritance in the
kingdom of Christ and of God."
{175}
There is no vice, my brethren, more common among men at the
present day in all classes of society, from the professional man
to the day-laborer, among the rich and the poor, the old and the
young, than that of obscene or immodest conversation.
Among the better educated this poison of impurity is clothed in
language which serves to veil its disgusting nudity, and thus the
more securely to insinuate itself and to deceive the unwary;
while among the less educated it is oftener expressed in words
that reveal its horrid filthiness and shock common decency.
Listen to the conversation of almost any chance gathering of
young men, and you will soon hear the double-meaning joke, the
attempt of some one to be witty, which serves as much to expose
the shallowness of his pate as the corruption and rottenness of
his miserable heart.
Holy Scripture says that "out of the fulness of the heart the
mouth speaketh." How true this is! But if one were to use this
criterion in judging the thoughts that fill the hearts of many
amongst us, how debased and pitiable must be their condition!
And how shocking it is, my dear brethren, to meet a young man
whose dress and manner at first give evidence of respectability
and good breeding, but who, when an immodest allusion is made or
an impure joke uttered, is the first to shout with laughter! Such
a one is well described by our Blessed Lord as "a whited
sepulchre? full of dead men's bones."
{176}
And yet these whited sepulchres are not very rare in the
community. You meet them in every walk of life--in the
counting-room and in the factory, at the "respectable" club-room
as well as in the grog-shop, and alas! must we say it, among
Catholics as well as among non-Catholics.
Yes, among Catholics, who have been elevated to a supernatural
state through the merits and sufferings of our Lord Jesus Christ;
whose hearts have been sealed by the grace of the Holy Spirit,
and on whose tongue the Body and Blood of our Lord has often been
placed--even these have dared to cherish in their hearts and
express with their tongues thoughts and sentiments that would
shock the moral sense even of the unregenerate.
Are they laboring under the incredible and awful delusion that
they commit no great sin when they entertain or give expression
to such thoughts? Do they think that they escape mortal sin when
their impurity is expressed in the form of a joke or a pun, or
when they by a laugh countenance and encourage the like impurity
in others? Ah! my dear brethren, it is to be feared that too many
consciences have been lulled to sleep by this cunning device of
the devil.
The first introduction to sin for many a one has been the
listening with pleasure to the double-meaning word uttered,
perhaps, by a companion, or while in the company of others. He
was then put on trial not by the devil alone, but by the one also
who uttered it. But the blush of modesty which rose instinctively
to his cheek from a pure heart was by an effort suppressed
through human respect, and the voice of conscience, that told him
to administer a rebuke to the minister of Satan or abandon his
company at once, was hushed into silence, and the demon of
impurity from that moment took possession.
{177}
Take warning, then, my dear brethren, from the words of St. Paul,
and never countenance by a laugh or in any other way any offence
against holy purity, in whatsoever form it may be expressed; "for
know ye that no unclean person hath any inheritance in the
kingdom of Christ and of God."
-------------------
Sermon LI.
Honorary Church-members.
_He who is not with me is against me_.
--Luke xi. 23.
Societies in our day, brethren, have become a great moral force,
the very best means of promoting and spreading any great cause.
Men recognize this fact, and so combine together, that by unity
of purpose they may better advance the principles they desire to
support. Many of these societies are made up of two distinct
classes--the active members, who are the bone and sinew, the life
of the institution, and the honorary members, who take no
personal interest in the management or working of the society,
but who, nevertheless, are good enough, or interested enough, to
advance the cause they honor by the support of their name.
You and I, brethren, belong to a society, the Catholic Church,
which embraces the whole world. We have in view one great
object--the salvation of souls, the spread of the kingdom of
Jesus Christ among men. But this society of ours, a real, living,
organic institution, differs from most others in this: that it
does not need the support of _honorary_ members; neither
will it approve their existence in its bosom.
{178}
No, the church would have all her members living, active, earnest
supporters of her principles, and from them all she requires a
pledge that they will keep her laws, advance her ends, and fight
her battles for the kingdom she was established to uphold. She
will welcome no mere spectators to her ranks, and as for neutral
ground, she recognizes none; for those who are not with her are
against her.
And yet there are many who call themselves Christians,
_would-be honorary_ members of the Catholic Church, who do
not even realize what the word Christian means; who seem to
forget that to be a Christian imposes the obligation of being at
war with all that is anti-Christian. An honorary membership for
such Christians is very convenient; a membership that would allow
them to be on good terms with Christ and Satan. The fasting and
praying, the vigils and good works, the real brunt of the battle
they would leave to the active members, while they would look on
with an encouraging smile of approval.
Ah! brethren, learn this lesson once for all and well: between
Christ and the world there can be no compromise. He who is not
with me is against me. There is no neutral ground, for the moment
we desert the Christian rank and file we give the hand of
fellowship to the enemy. We cannot serve two masters well, and in
the Catholic Church there is no membership worthy the name that
is not an active, complete membership. The drones of the hive may
nourish and thrive for a time, but let them remember they run the
awful risk of final destruction.
{179}
The question I would have you ask yourselves today, and meditate
upon during this holy season, is this: Are you active, living
members of the church, that mystical body of which Jesus Christ
is the head and the Holy Ghost the life-giving principle, or are
you simply _would-be honorary_ members? Have you at heart
the interests of God's holy church; are her sorrows, her wants,
her trials yours? Are the sacraments she offers you the source
and support of your life? If so, you have reason to thank God.
Or are you standing afar off ready to give an approving nod when
the world smiles, or slink off like a coward when the world
frowns? Are the laws of the church irksome to you and so avoided?
If this be the case, you are nothing but dead limbs, and liable
to be cut off without a moment's warning from the living body,
for dead members are against, not with, the parent stem.
Would-be honorary members of the Catholic Church, beware of the
error of trying to give one hand to God and the other to the
devil; beware of the fallacy of thinking that because you are
outwardly connected with the church you cannot be lost--that hell
was never intended for Catholics; that, somehow or other, you
will come out all right in the end. That is what Judas thought
when with his sin-stained lips he kissed his Lord whom he had so
lately sold to the enemy.
Have you still the faith, then beware lest your want of charity
may bring on a want of faith. Have you still a conscience, beware
lest your frequent attempts to stifle it may extinguish it
altogether. If there be a spark of it left I beg of you stir it
up. Be in earnest, and at least let not this Lent pass without a
good confession and communion, the only condition on which you
can become active members of God's holy church. Put your heart in
the work and you will be happier for it here and certainly
happier hereafter.
-------------------
{180}
Sermon LII.
Half-Hearted Christians.
_He that is not with me is against me._
--Gospel Of The Day.
These words, my dear brethren, like many others spoken by our
Blessed Lord, may be interpreted in various ways. They may be
understood to mean that he who is not with Christ, by being
united to his true flock, who does not belong to the one church
which he has founded, is injuring the cause of Christ, is
persecuting and hampering his church in its warfare against its
enemies; or, in other words, that Protestants and heretics in
general, zealous Christians though they may seem to be, are
really hurting Christianity about as much as they help it, if not
more. And it is plain enough to us that this is true. If there
had never been any heresies and schisms in the church, we cannot
doubt that there would have been now few nations not Christian.
But this, true though it may be, seems to have little practical
bearing for us. We are not heretics or schismatics, and I hope
that we have no inclination to be so. Still we must remember that
bad Catholics do about as much harm to the work of Christ and his
church in the world as heretics. In fact, there would never have
been any heretics had there not been bad Catholics to begin with.
{181}
But, after all, it does not seem that our Lord is speaking so
much of heretics, or of bad Catholics, when he says: "He that is
not with me is against me." For he goes on to tell us that "when
the unclean spirit is gone out of a man, he walketh through
places without water, seeking rest; and not finding, he saith, I
will return to my house whence I came out; and when he is come,
he findeth it swept and garnished. Then he goeth, and taketh with
him seven other spirits more wicked than himself, and entering in
they dwell there; and the last state of that man becomes worse
than the first."
The meaning of this is plain enough. It is that a man cannot give
up a bad life, and then remain betwixt and between, neither bad
nor good. His soul cannot stay empty, swept, and garnished. He
must keep the love of God in it; he must have good thoughts and
do good works, or the devil will come back, take possession of
the empty soul, and make it worse than it was before.
So this gives a new sense to the words, "He that is not with me
is against me." He that is not a real good Christian, trying to
live for the glory of God, and to do the work for which God has
put him in the world, will be a bad one before long, if he is not
already. We cannot lie low and shirk the duties which belong to
us as Christians and as Catholics. We must be God's servants, and
live in such a way as to be known as such, or we shall begin
again to serve his enemy.
Let us take an instance, and you will see well enough what I
mean. A young man or woman has been going with bad company, who,
though perhaps they call themselves Catholics, are a disgrace to
the name, and has joined with them in all their vile
conversations and sinful actions.
{182}
Now, too many of those who have been living in this way seem to
think that after their confession and communion they can go back
to this company and still avoid remark; that nobody will have
occasion to say that they are pious, or notice any change in
their life; that they can keep all right in God's sight, and also
in that of their bad companions; that they can avoid doing any
harm, and still do no good.
Let such remember these words: "He that is not with me is against
me." If you want to stay in the grace of God, you must hate sin,
and love virtue; and if you really do this your life and
conversation will show that such is the case. You must be a
friend of Christ and an enemy of the devil and of all his works,
and not only be willing but proud to be known as such; if you
will not do this our Lord will not have you or keep you. Choose,
then, which side you will take; do not fancy that you can take
neither. If you try to steer a middle course, and live an empty
and unprofitable life, neither one thing nor the other, you will
soon slip back just where you were before.
-------------------
{183}
_Fourth Sunday of Lent._
Epistle.
_Galatians iv._ 22-31.
Brethren:
It is written that Abraham had two sons: the one by a bond
woman, and the other by a free-woman: but he that was by the
bond-woman was born according to the flesh: but he by the
free-woman was by the promise. Which things are said by an
allegory: for these are the two testaments: the one indeed on
Mount Sina which bringeth forth unto bondage, which is Agar:
for Sina is a mountain in Arabia, which hath an affinity to
that which now is Jerusalem, and is in bondage with her
children. But that Jerusalem which is above, is free: which is
our mother. For it is written: "Rejoice, thou barren, that
bearest not: break forth and cry out, thou that travailest not;
for many are the children of the desolate, more than of her
that hath a husband"; now we, brethren, as Isaac was, are the
children of promise. But as then he, that was born according to
the flesh, persecuted him that was according to the spirit: so
also now. But what saith the Scripture? "Cast out the bond
woman and her son: for the son of the bond-woman shall not be
heir with the son of the free-woman." Therefore, brethren, we
are not the children of the bond-woman, but of the free: by the
freedom wherewith Christ has made us free.
Gospel.
_St. John vi._ 1-15.
At that time:
Jesus went over the sea of Galilee, which is that of Tiberias:
and a great multitude followed him, because they saw the
miracles which he did on them that were infirm. And Jesus went
up into a mountain, and there he sat with his disciples.
{184}
Now the pasch, the festival day of the Jews, was near at hand.
When Jesus therefore had lifted up his eyes, and seen that a
very great multitude cometh to him, he said to Philip: Whence
shall we buy bread that these may eat? And this he said to try
him, for he himself knew what he would do. Philip answered him:
Two hundred pennyworth of bread is not sufficient for them,
that every one may take a little. One of his disciples, Andrew,
the brother of Simon Peter, saith to him: There is a boy here
that hath five barley loaves, and two fishes; but what are
these among so many? Then Jesus said: Make the men sit down.
Now there was much grass in the place. So the men sat down, in
number about five thousand. And Jesus took the loaves: and when
he had given thanks he distributed to them that were sat down.
In like manner also of the fishes as much as they would. And
when they were filled, he said to his disciples: Gather up the
fragments that remain, lest they be lost. So they gathered up,
and filled twelve baskets with the fragments of the five barley
loaves, which remained over and above to them that had eaten.
Then those men, when they had seen what a miracle Jesus had
done, said: This is the prophet indeed that is to come into the
world. When Jesus, therefore, perceived that they would come
and take him by force and make him king, he fled again into the
mountain himself alone.
-------------------
Sermon LIII.
The Happiness Of True Penance.
_Rejoice Jerusalem_.
--Introit of the Mass for the Day.
This is called "Lætare, or rejoicing Sunday." It may surprise
you, dear brethren, to be told that this is a day of rejoicing;
you will be amazed, no doubt, that, in the midst of the rigorous
Lenten fast, when men should bewail their sins and do penance for
them, and sounds of mirth and joy are hushed, the church should
bid us rejoice.
{185}
Yet thus she does to-day. In mid-Lent even she would have her
children rejoice, would have them forget for the moment penance
and turn their hearts to thoughts of gladness, that, by so doing,
she may teach them that the rigors of this season, the
self-denial and curbing of the flesh she imposes on us, is
undergone that we may realize more fully the spirit of her
teaching--that we may, in truth, preserve, or get back if we
have lost it, that interior joy, that spiritual jubilation which
is the portion of every one who serves Christ as he should be
served.
Our religion is one of joy, because we are Christ's and he is
ours; and what more can we ask, or what greater can be bestowed
upon us, than the having of Christ; Christ, at once perfect man
and true God; Christ, whose life is the model of our lives, whose
grace is the source of all joy; Christ, to have whom is to have a
brother, and, at the same time, the eternal God; the God by whose
word were made all things that are, who knows no limit to his
power, who has in himself all perfections that man can desire or
conceive of; a brother--a man like ourselves, with a human heart
like our own, with affections like those of other men; a brother
burning with tender love for us, knowing our weakness, knowing
our wants and ready to succor us; a man who was himself tempted,
who has himself suffered the miseries of this life, who, in a
word, was made like to us in all save sin. This is whom we have
when we have Christ, and should we not rejoice at having such a
one?
{186}
We should and do rejoice; our hearts are always full of gladness
when we are in God's grace, and Christ is ours and we are his;
and this is what the church wishes for all her children--the
friendship and the love of God. She ever has Christ herself, and
so is never sad; though she may mourn with him suffering, still
there is joy behind all her sorrow.
If she puts on sombre garments, if she calls man to penance, if
she fasts and covers her head with ashes, she is still glad in
the depths of her heart. She is calling you and me to share the
gladness, to get it back if we have lost it by mortal sin; she is
bidding you and me to keep that gladness by chastising our
bodies; she is warning us that we may lose God's grace, as, alas!
too many before us have lost it, unless we are vigilant.