would avail nothing if God did not come to our assistance. If our
work or business prospers at all, it is due to him; it is his
free gift. And all the conveniences of modern life which we pride
ourselves so much on are the fruits of his power and skill which
he lends us. It is he who shines on us, not only by the sun and
moon, but also in those lights which we think that we ourselves
produce; it is he who sends our telegraphic messages for us, who
carries us where we will in our steamers and railway trains.
These perpetual and ordinary comforts of life, then, in which we
all share, as well as our very life itself, are God's gift. And
beside these, are there not more blessings which we can see if we
look back on the year, standing out from the rest? Have we
thanked him for all these? If not, let us then really make this a
time to atone for past neglect; a time of thanksgiving in deed as
well as in name.
{477}
But, above all, let us, whom he has given the signal and
unspeakable blessing of the true faith, thank him for that. To
those who have just come from the doubt and confusion of the
world outside this true church this is a happiness which
outweighs all troubles, a perpetual sunshine which drives away
all clouds. Why should it not be so to us all? This is what St.
Paul in his epistle wishes that it should be. "Giving thanks," he
says, "to God the Father, who has made us worthy to be partakers
of the lot of the saints in light, who hath delivered us from the
power of darkness, and hath translated us into the kingdom of the
Son of his love, in whom we have redemption through his Blood,
the remission of sins." Let us think on these words, and see if
there is not enough in them to make at least one Thanksgiving
day.
-------------------
Sermon CXLVI.
The Communion Of Saints.
We are so near the Feast of All Saints and the commemoration of
all the faithful departed--All Souls day--that we may well let
our affectionate thoughts follow after our brethren who have gone
before us and sleep in the peace of Christ.
There is scarcely one of us, dear brethren, who has not been
familiar from childhood with the article of the Apostles Creed,
"I believe in the communion of saints"; and there are few, if
any, who have not derived consolation from this dogma of our
faith, teaching, as it does, that we are not entirely cut off
from those who have gone before us, but form with them one great
family, of which the head is Christ and the members the souls of
the just, whether in heaven or in purgatory, or still in the
flesh.
{478}
But if this truth of holy religion brings consolation, it brings
also the duty of praying for our brethren who are passing through
the cleansing fires of purgatory; who, because of sin or the debt
due for sin, cannot enter their eternal home until they have
repaid the last farthing. They can do nothing for
themselves--their day of meriting is past; they look to us who
are their friends to help them.
While they were with us they were very dear to us--bound to us
by ties of blood or friendship. Let us do our duty to them now;
let us, by our good works in their behalf, show how much we love
them; let us show that our affection for them was not selfish nor
pretended, but so real and strong and lasting that death has but
strengthened it and brought it to its fulness.
What one of us but has his daily task--his allotted work? Yet as
each day brings its own burdens, so each day is full of
opportunities of gaining indulgence for the souls in purgatory.
The many inconveniences we all of us are called upon to suffer,
the many sacrifices of comfort and of pleasure we make, the
disappointments we meet with, the fatigues we bear--all these may
be made sources of refreshment to our friends beyond the grave.
If in the morning we would but offer to God all we shall do and
suffer during the day for his honor and glory, and for the relief
of the departed, oh! how soon would the angels welcome them to
their true country, and how many advocates we should have before
the throne of God!
{479}
But if so much can be done without any particular effort on our
part, what shall we say of the efficacy of the special prayers we
recite for them and the Masses we have offered for their repose!
How shall we tell of their gratitude, of their unceasing
supplications for us! We lose nothing, dear brethren, by praying
for them; be assured we are rather the gainers, for not only do
they pray for us, but more--our charity towards them deepens in
our souls our love for God, and makes us thirst the more after
virtue and holiness, and wins for us a higher place in heaven and
a brighter crown of everlasting glory. Let us be generous, then;
let us storm heaven with our prayers for the souls in purgatory,
and we shall find rest for ourselves as well as for them.
-------------------
{480}
_Twenty-third Sunday after Pentecost._
Epistle.
_Philippians iii._ 17; iv. 3.
Be followers of me, brethren, and observe them who walk so as
you have our model. For many walk, of whom I have told you
often (and now tell you weeping) that they are enemies of the
cross of Christ: whose end is destruction, whose God is their
belly, and whose glory is in their shame: who mind earthly
things. But our conversation is in heaven: from whence also we
wait for the Saviour, our Lord Jesus Christ, who will reform
the body of our lowness, made like to the body of his glory,
according to the operation whereby also he is able to subdue
all things unto himself. Therefore, my dearly beloved brethren,
and most desired, my joy and my crown; so stand fast in the
Lord, my most dearly beloved. I beg of Euodia, and I beseech
Syntyche to be of one mind in the Lord. And I entreat thee, my
sincere companion, help those women who have labored with me in
the Gospel, with Clement and the rest of my fellow-laborers,
whose names are in the book of life.
Gospel.
_St. Matthew ix._ 18-26.
At that time:
As Jesus was speaking these things unto them, behold a certain
ruler came, and adored him, saying: Lord, my daughter is just
now dead; but come, lay thy hand upon her, and she shall live.
And Jesus, rising up, followed him, with his disciples. And
behold a woman who was troubled with an issue of blood twelve
years, came behind him, and touched the hem of his garment. For
she said within herself: If I shall but touch his garment I
shall be healed. But Jesus, turning about and seeing her, said:
Take courage, daughter, thy faith hath made thee whole.
{481}
And the woman was made whole from that hour. And when Jesus
came into the house of the ruler, and saw the minstrels and the
crowd making a rout, he said: Give place, for the girl is not
dead, but sleepeth. And they laughed at him. And when the crowd
was turned out he went in, and took her by the hand. And the
girl arose. And the fame hereof went abroad into all that
country.
-------------------
Sermon CXLVII.
Mixed Marriages.
From the simplest lessons of experience, my dear brethren, I
think it ought to be plain enough how miserable a thing a mixed
marriage is likely to be. Even if the faith and practice of the
Catholic party and of the children is what it should be--which is
certainly hardly to be expected--there will be great and
continual suffering to them on account of the separation of the
Protestant father or mother--who is all the more loved the better
and kinder he or she may be--from the unity of the church and
from the ordinary means of salvation.
In fact, it can hardly be imagined how any one having a lively
faith in the Catholic religion can marry a Protestant or infidel,
unless under the influence of a hope that some time or other the
conversion of the other party will be effected. This hope does
occasionally prove not to be a vain one. There are cases, no
doubt, in which a Protestant, who would not probably otherwise
have turned his thoughts to the question at all, does become a
Catholic by means of marriage.
{482}
But the best chance to obtain such a conversion is before the
marriage is entered on; that is the time to try to secure it; and
it is the duty of every Catholic who thinks of marrying one
outside the church to do the best in his or her power to bring
the other party over, not only in name but in fact, to the true
faith. I say in fact, for, unfortunately, many a non-Catholic,
who has no strong conviction about religion in any way, will be
willing to call himself a Catholic, and even to be baptized, in
order to remove objections which may be made. Take care, then,
that the conversion which is professed is a sincere and genuine
one, and not merely got up for the occasion. I have heard of a
case in which the Protestant party, when his religion was urged
by the priest as an objection to the marriage, which would make
trouble, most cheerfully replied: "Well, father, if it would be
any convenience to you, I am quite ready to be a Catholic." Such
converts are not so very uncommon, though it is not often that
they let their state of mind be seen so plainly. They will sit
through several instructions given to them by the priest, making
no question or remark about anything which he says, that they may
get through as soon as possible; and when they do get through,
that is about the last of their Catholic profession, or at least
of their attendance to any Catholic duties.
If, then, a conversion, and a real and true conversion, cannot be
obtained before marriage, there is certainly much fear that it
never will be accomplished afterward. Be warned, then, in time;
do not indulge false hopes in this regard; do not marry in haste
and repent at leisure.
{483}
And about this matter of conversion I will say a few words, with
reference not to Protestants, but to careless and negligent
Catholics. A Catholic who is negligent of his duties has, it is
true, if he keeps his faith, a resource which the Protestant has
not; he knows what to do to be reconciled with God at the last;
he will probably try to do it, and he may succeed. There is then
more hope for his final salvation in this way than for the
Protestant; but that does not make him a better companion during
life; and many of the miseries of a mixed marriage are met with,
and some, perhaps, even in a greater degree, with nominal
Catholics than with Protestants. If, then, you contemplate
marriage even with a Catholic, be sure to see that he or she
attends to the duties required of Catholics, and has not
contracted vicious and dangerous habits. Do not delude yourself
with the idea that a confession and Communion must be made at the
time of the marriage, and that the priest will attend to all that
is necessary. For this confession and Communion may be in some
cases not so very good and fervent; they may be something like
what some Protestants, as I have said, go through with for
convenience or necessity. No, do not leave it all to the priest,
but do your own part. If the behavior of the other party before
marriage is not such as becomes a Christian, both with regard to
the frequentation of the sacraments and also in the matter of
temperance and in others of which you are the best and indeed the
only judge, it is not likely that it will be so afterward. Take
care, then, before taking a step which you cannot retrace. You,
not the priest, are the one to secure now the amendment of life
which is so necessary. A word to the wise should be sufficient.
-------------------
{484}
Sermon CXLVIII.
Imitation Of The Saints.
_My fellow-laborers,
whose names are in the book of life._
--Philippians iv. 3.
Thus does St. Paul in the Epistle of to-day speak of St. Clement
and the others who had "labored with him in the Gospel." Do you
wish that your name, too, should be written in the book of life?
Follow the path trodden here below by the saints of God, and
then, even while yet on earth, your name will be recorded in
heaven. For holy church commands us to observe this festival of
All Saints, of which we are now keeping the octave, not only in
honor of those whose names are in the calendar, and whose feasts
come round in the course of each year, but also in praise of that
great multitude which no man can number--of all nations, and
tribes, and peoples, and tongues--who stand before the throne and
in sight of the Lamb, clothed with white robes and palms in their
hands. The saints whom the church has honored with canonization
are but a small number in that vast multitude. They were the
heroes of the Christian army, but the great majority of those who
are now receiving the homage of the church were the rank and
file--common every day Christians, like ourselves. The festival
of All Saints, therefore, especially appeals to us by showing us
that sanctity is not something away off out of our reach and
entirely beyond our powers, but that it is what we must each
strive after if we hope to win heaven. For nothing defiled can
enter there, and without holiness no man shall see God, As, then,
we hope to be one day saints in heaven, we must try now to be
saints on earth.
{485}
That is why St. Paul addresses all the faithful as the "beloved
of God, called to be saints." Yet many Christians are forgetful
of this high vocation. They seem to think that God has laid down
one rule, one course of life for saints, and quite another for
ordinary people. This is all a mistake. God's law is the same for
every one. There are, indeed, special duties belonging to
particular states of life, but apart from these there is no
difference in what is required of every Christian. We are all of
us bound to follow the strait and narrow way which leadeth unto
life. The chief happiness of that life will consist in the sight
of God, to be always in his presence, serving him continually in
joy and thanksgiving. And the way to this life our Lord has told
us in the sermon on the Mount: "Blessed are the clean of heart,
for they shall see God."
So, then, in order to attain to this life, to dwell for ever in
the sight of God, it is not necessary to imitate the saints in
their extraordinary deeds, their heroic acts of penance and
self-sacrifice, their suffering for the faith. Some of us are,
indeed, called upon to stand out conspicuously among other
Christians, as they did, and show to the world an example of
courage and heroism. But for all of us the hidden virtues are the
ones required, and if we cultivate these, God, who seeth in
secret, will himself reward us openly in the day when the secrets
of all hearts shall be revealed. The one thing needful for each
one of us is purity of heart, to cleanse our hearts from sin and
from all affection towards sin. "Dearly beloved," says St. John,
"if our heart do not reprehend us, we have confidence towards
God."
{486}
See to it, then, that your heart is all right towards God.
Cleanse your soul from mortal sin by turning your heart away from
the sin you have committed by sincere and hearty contrition and
by a good confession. Then _keep_ your heart right towards
God by giving it to him who says to you, "My son, give me thy
heart." God alone is worthy of the full love of our hearts, and
he alone can satisfy the heart of man. If we set our affections
upon sin or upon the passing things of this world there is
reserved for us in the end nothing but unsatisfied longings and
bitterness of heart. But if we purify our hearts from every
affection that would lead us away from God we shall indeed be
called "blessed," and our names shall be written in the book of
life.
-------------------
Sermon CXLIX.
Heaven.
_Blessed are the poor in spirit,
for theirs is the kingdom of heaven._
--St. Matthew. v. 2.
[USCCB: Matthew. v. 3.]
All Saints' day is a solemn and glorious festival for all heaven
as well as for all the world; for to-day God is praised, and the
great salvation by our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ magnified
and lauded by a common, universal act of holy congratulation and
worship among all the saints--that is, among all souls that are
united to God in the communion of saints, whether in the church
triumphant, in the church suffering, or in the church militant.
{487}
It seems to me that none but Catholics believe in heaven, the
eternal home of the saints after death, because they alone appear
to understand what a saint is, as the church has proved herself
to be the only power which has been able to train and canonize
one.
Yes, all we can know of heaven is, that it is the reward, the
everlasting life, the new and divine state of being which the
saints enter into and enjoy when they have left this world--that
is, when they die in the church militant and rise in glory in the
church triumphant. If any Christian, then, or so-called
Christian, fancies he can meditate about heaven, and hopes to get
there without knowing what a saint is, and without striving to be
as near one as he can, he is simply deceiving himself. I fear
that the kind of place some people think would be a good enough
heaven for them, if we are to judge by the way they live, is, in
fact, not much above what the state of hell really is. Many are
the souls who ought to have been saints, and are damned because
they were unfaithful to the vocation God gave them, and too
sensual to make the necessary sacrifices that such a vocation
demanded. What kind of a heaven, for instance, do you think the
many intelligent Protestants we meet with every day will likely
get, who know they ought to become Catholics to save their souls,
and are yet afraid to take the step; who stand still and count
the cost, and cheat their consciences with the false doctrine
that no real sacrifices are demanded of them, because God will be
more glorified if they leave all to him and do nothing
themselves? And yet these people, and a good many Catholics, too,
are living just such lives, and in their deaths they will not be
divided.
{488}
And now do you say: O Father! tell us, then, what a saint is,
that we may be sure we are not all wrong, but may have some hope
of imitating such, and so join the company of the glorified ones
in heaven when we die! I answer: A saint is one who does
everything he feels that God wants him to do, and carefully gives
up and avoids everything that he feels is not pleasing to God.
Apply that to yourself. God does not want the same thing of
everybody, nor require all to make the same sacrifices. So that,
as a fact, there are all kinds of saints, as we know. But in what
he does require he demands that one should aim at doing it
_perfectly_. "Be ye perfect, as your Heavenly Father is
perfect," said our Lord. Be perfectly honest, be perfectly pure,
be perfectly sober, be perfectly charitable, be perfectly
obedient to the laws of God and man, be perfectly humble, be
perfectly free from loving money or other riches.
Don't let me ever hear you say again that you are "a man of the
world and must live in it" as an excuse for the wretched apology
for a Christian life you lead. You know that is a lie. You are a
man, and _a Christian man of the kingdom of God and of his
saints_, and _that_ is the kind of a place you live in,
and must square your life accordingly, or you will never see the
kingdom of God and of his saints in glory, which is heaven, when
you die. In to-day's Gospel our Lord pronounces the eight
beatitudes. Think on them, and, if you do not know them by heart,
take out your Bible when you go home and read them at the
beginning of the fifth chapter of St. Matthew's Gospel. So live
that you will merit to be one of those our Lord declares to be
"blessed," and you will surely be a saint.
-------------------
{489}
_Easter being a movable Feast which can occur on any day from
the 22d of March to the 25th of April, the number of Sundays
between Epiphany and Septuagesima, and between Pentecost and
Advent, varies according to the situation of Easter. There are
always at least two Sundays, unless Epiphany falls on a Sunday,
and never more than six, between Epiphany and Septuagesima.
Likewise, there are never fewer than twenty-three Sundays after
Pentecost, or more than twenty-eight. The Gospel and Epistle for
the last Sunday after Pentecost are always the same. When there
are twenty-three Sundays, the Gospel and Epistle for the last
Sunday are substituted for those of the twenty-third. When there
are twenty-five Sundays, the Gospel and Epistle for the sixth
Sunday after Epiphany are taken; when there are twenty-six, those
also of the fifth after Epiphany; when there are twenty-seven,
those of the fourth, and when there are twenty-eight, those of
the third, in order to fill up the interval which occurs. In any
year, in which there are more than twenty-four Sundays after
Pentecost, proper sermons for these Sundays are to be found among
those which are arranged for the Sundays following the Feast of
the Epiphany. If one sermon is wanting, it is taken from the
sixth Sunday after Epiphany; if two, three, or four are needed,
the last two or three or four sermons which precede Septuagesima
are to be taken, in their order. _
-------------------
{490}
_Twenty-fourth or Last Sunday after Pentecost._
Epistle.
_Colossians i._ 9-14.
Brethren:
We cease not to pray for you, and to beg that you may be filled
with the knowledge of his will in all wisdom and spiritual
understanding: that you may walk worthy of God, in all things
pleasing: being fruitful in every good work, and increasing in
the knowledge of God: strengthened with all might according to
the power of his glory, in all patience and long-suffering with
joy, giving thanks to God the Father, who hath made us worthy
to be partakers of the lot of the saints in light: who hath
delivered us from the power of darkness, and hath translated us
into the kingdom of the Son of his love: in whom we have
redemption through his blood, the remission of sins.
Gospel.
_St. Matthew xxiv._ 15-35.
At that time Jesus said to his disciples:
When you shall see "the abomination of desolation," which was
spoken of by Daniel the prophet, standing in the holy place: he
that readeth, let him understand. Then let those that are in
Judea flee to the mountains. And he that is on the house-top,
let him not come down to take anything out of his house: and he
that is in the field, let him not go back to take his coat. And
woe to them that are with child, and that give suck in those
days. But pray that your flight be not in the winter or on the
Sabbath. For there shall be then great tribulation, such as
hath not been from the beginning of the world until now,
neither shall be. And unless those days had been shortened, no
flesh should be saved: but for the sake of the elect those days
shall be shortened.
{491}
Then, if any man shall say to you: Lo, here is Christ, or
there, do not believe him. For there shall arise false christs
and false prophets, and shall show great signs and wonders,
insomuch as to deceive (if possible) even the elect. Behold I
have told it to you beforehand. If therefore they shall say to
you: Behold he is in the desert; go ye not out: Behold he is in
the closets; believe it not. For as lightning cometh out of the
east, and, appeareth even unto the west, so shall also the
coming of the Son of Man be. Wheresoever the body shall be,
there shall the eagles also be gathered together. And
immediately after the tribulation of those days, the sun shall
be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light, and the
stars shall fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens
shall be moved. And then shall appear the sign of the Son of
Man in heaven: and then shall all the tribes of the earth
mourn: and they shall see the Son of Man coming in the clouds
of heaven with great power and majesty. And he shall send his
angels with a trumpet, and a great voice: and they shall gather
together his elect from the four winds, from the farthest parts
of the heavens to the uttermost bounds of them. Now learn a
parable from the fig-tree: when its branch is now tender, and
the leaves come forth, you know that summer is nigh. So also
you, when you shall see all these things, know that it is near,
even at the doors. Amen, I say to you, this generation shall
not pass till all these things be done. Heaven and earth shall
pass away, but my words shall not pass away.
-------------------
Sermon CL.
Marrying Out Of The Church.
{492}
In our course of instructions on marriage, my dear friends, we
have so far spoken chiefly of the care which should be taken in
the selection of the person who is to be one's constant companion
through life, and shown that not only earthly happiness, but even
the salvation of the soul, may depend on this choice being made
wisely. We will now go on to consider the ceremony of marriage
itself.