and youth. When we next hear of him he has begun his mission to
the world. But brief as the record is, it teaches a great
lesson--the lesson of obedience. First it proclaims this lesson
to children and the young generally. They ought to be subject to
their parents. Is this the case? Often, we know, it is not. There
are proud, rebellious, and disobedient children in many
families--girls and boys who will not do what they are told; who
go to places forbidden by their parents; who speak of their
parents as the "old man" and the "old woman"; children who do
their best to make father and mother subject to _them;_ who
think they know better than their parents, and who despise those
set over them by God. So glaring has this disrespect for parents
become that a witty man has said that soon the sign and title of
a firm will be "Jones and Father" instead of "Jones and Son."
Disobedient, proud children, I point you this morning to the
little home of Nazareth. Look in, conceited, self-sufficient boys
and girls.
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What do you see? God obedient to his creatures; Jesus with Joseph
and his Mother; Jesus, "very God of very God," subject to them.
There is your example. Woe to you if you do not follow it!
Disobedience made hell for the devil and his angels, and
disobedience, if persisted in, will make hell for you. Hell is
the headquarters of disobedience, and will be the home of the
disobedient and rebellious for evermore. So, then, you that are
young, cut down your pride, bend the neck a little easier to the
yoke. Be more like Jesus, who went home with his parents, stayed
home with them, and was _subject_ to them.
But not only to children and the young does this lesson come
home; it strikes all of us. In one sense we are all
children--children of holy church whose chief pastor is called
the Holy Father, and whose priests are called by all "fathers."
Now, then, you "children of an older growth," how have you shown
your obedience? Are you very particular to keep the laws of
_mother_ church? How about fasting and abstinence? What of
hearing Mass on a Sunday and of abstaining from servile work? Was
your last Easter duty made? Again, how about the advice of your
_father_ confessor? Have you followed it? How do you keep
the minor laws and regulations which the pastor of each
particular church sees fit to make for the better ordering of his
services, etc., etc.? When the priest has to rebuke you, to
reprove you, how do you take it? O my friends! these are the days
of disobedience and false independence, and therefore these
questions are of vital importance. You must _obey_, if you
want to be good Catholics. You must turn a deaf ear to the
suggestions of worldly pride; you must be submissive to holy
mother church, to our Holy Father the Pope, to the pastors and
fathers set over you in God's providence.
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Obedience! obedience!--that must be your watchword. You must not
be scaling the mountains of pride hand-in-hand with infidel and
heretic, and the devil's staff for a support. You must obey the
church and follow _her_ teachings, and submit to lawful
authority. As St. Paul says: "Be not wise in your own conceits.
For I say, by the grace that is given me, to all that are among
you, not to be more wise than it behooveth to be wise, but be
wise unto sobriety. Let every soul be subject to higher powers:
they that resist purchase to themselves damnation." Finally,
brethren, show yourselves law-loving, obedient citizens of the
country in which you live. Let the Catholic always be found on
the side of order and regularity. In a word, show to your pastors
and superiors, show even to our worst enemies, that you have
learnt well the lesson contained in these few words: "He went
down with them, and came to Nazareth, and was subject to them."
Rev. Algernon A. Brown.
---------------------
Sermon XIX.
_Behold the Lamb of God:
behold, he who taketh away the sins of the world._
--St. John i. 29.
There are no words of the Gospel, my dear brethren, more
frequently used in the church of God than these. You often hear
them from the lips of the priest, but perhaps you do not remember
when. They are more familiar to you in Latin than in English.
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The moment when they are said is that when the greatest of all
gifts is about to be given to you. It is just before the giving
of Holy Communion. The priest, turning to you with the ciborium
in his hand, raises one of the sacred particles from it, and
shows it to you, saying, _Ecce Agnus Dei_--which means,
"Behold the Lamb of God"--_ecce qui tollis peccata mundi_,
"Behold, he who taketh away the sins of the world."
The church has put the words in the mouth of the priest at this
time, when he distributes Holy Communion, because he is then
showing Christ to the faithful. And she puts them in the Gospel
of today, because on this day, the octave of the great feast
which we celebrated last Sunday, she commemorates what we may
call our Lord's second Epiphany after his hidden life of thirty
years, when St. John the Baptist, his great precursor, taking the
place of the star which showed him to the wise men, showed him to
those who were to become his disciples, and who were to accompany
him in that ministry of three years upon which he was about to
enter.
As St. John took the place of the star, so the Catholic priest
now takes the place of St. John. He has now to show Christ to the
world, and especially to the faithful. And St. John, in his
humility and self-concealment, has set an example to him which he
should try to copy, and which a good priest does try to copy.
That is, he tries to show our Lord to the people and to keep
himself in the background; he tries to bring the faithful to his
Master and theirs, not to himself. He desires that they should
see in all that he does not his own power or gifts, but the grace
of God, by which alone he can do them any good; that they should
not be drawn to him, but to the Lamb of God, who alone can take
away their sins.
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And what the good priest does you also, my brethren, should do.
You should not think of the priest, but of Him whom the priest
represents, and in whose power he acts. And especially should you
take care to do this in those sacramental acts which the priest
does more particularly in the name of God; that is, when he
celebrates Holy Mass, baptizes, hears confessions, or gives Holy
Communion. For, in truth, it is not he who does these things, but
our Lord Jesus Christ. He, the Lamb of God, is the true priest.
He who instituted the sacraments also is the one who confers
them.
Remember this when you receive them. When you go to the
altar-rail for Holy Communion, and when the priest holds up the
sacred Host before you, saying, _Ecce Agnus Dei, ecce qui
tollit peccata mundi_, think not of the priest, of his virtues
or his faults, but of the immaculate Lamb of God, who is coming
to you, a poor sinner.
And when the priest is baptizing think not of him, but of the
Holy One who, by his own baptism in the Jordan, gave water the
power to wash away sin. Look at him standing by the side of the
priest with infinite love and compassion, and purifying the soul
which he came from heaven to save.
When you bow your head to receive absolution in the Sacrament of
Penance think not of the minister of the sacrament before whom
you kneel, and who is, at the best, but a sinful man, but of Him
against whom you have sinned, and who is now about to forgive you
once more. Think only of that loving Saviour who is both your God
and your Judge--your judge now not in justice but in mercy.
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And, above all, at holy Mass remember who it is that is saying
Mass; who it is that is there at that altar, offering himself in
sacrifice for you. Do not be criticising the priest, and thinking
whether he is devout or not; his dispositions do not concern you
much more than those of your neighbor who is kneeling by your
side. Say to yourself, as you look at the altar, _Ecce Agnus
Dei ecce qui tollit peccata mundi._ Behold in the midst of
that throne the Lamb standing as it were slain, and fall down
with the angels in adoration before him.
Yes, my brethren, _Christus apparuit nobis: venite,
adoremus_--"Christ has appeared to us; come, let us worship
him." Such are the words of the church in the Divine Office at
this time. Let us, them, seek him, find him, and adore him in
this holy Catholic Church, and in all that is done in it by his
power and in his name.
--------------------
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_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 exhorter 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.
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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 waterpots 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 XX.
_His name was called Jesus._
--St. Luke ii. 21.
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To-day, dear friends, we keep the Feast of the Holy Name. Our
dear Lord is known to us by many names--he is called the Word,
the Christ, the Son of God, the Lamb of God, the Prince of Peace,
and the like--but to-day we are met together to honor his real
name; the name by which he was called when on this earth; the
name which belonged to him just as our names belong to us; the
name by which we are to be saved--the holy name of Jesus!
Brethren, this name is a holy name, because it is the name of a
God made man. It is a precious name: Jesus shed his Blood for us
for the first time as he received it. It is a great and noble
name, for it belongs to the mightiest Warrior the world ever
saw--to Him who fought with sin and death, and conquered in the
fight. It is a terrible name, for when we invoke it hell
trembles, earth fears, and even heaven bows the knee. Oh! then,
dear brethren, if this name is holy--if precious, if great and
noble, if terrible--how much it ought to be revered and
respected. We are told by our dear patron, St. Paul, that our
Lord "humbled himself, becoming obedient unto death, even the
death of the cross. For which cause God also hath exalted him,
and hath given him a name which is above all names: that in the
name of Jesus every knee should bow of those that are in heaven,
on earth, and under the earth." And yet, in spite of all this,
although it is so plain that this name is holy, precious, mighty,
and terrible, although it is clear that when it is uttered the
faithful on earth, the white-winged angels in heaven, ay, and
even the lost spirits in hell bow to do homage to it,
nevertheless there is a creature who will not worship; there is a
created being worse than the very demons; there is found one who
will not reverence that name, holy and good and true--and that
creature is the _blasphemer_.
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Yes, brethren, in our streets, in our factories, in our very
homes that holy name is taken in vain. Jesus--that sweet name is
mixed up with everything that is foul and disrespectful. Jesus'
name, the name of our King, our Saviour, and our Judge, is used
as an oath; and not only by men coarse and hardened, but by boys
and girls, by women, and, unheard of impiety! even by little
children. Passing through the streets the other day, I heard a
volley of curses in which the holy Name was mingled, and the
curser was a boy who could not, I am sure, have been more than
eight or nine years of age; and, alas! it is not the first time
that I have heard such things. O brethren! I beseech you, by the
wounds and cross of Jesus Christ, look to this great sin. When I
hear these little baby blasphemers, who scarce, perhaps, know
what they say, I know they have learned these oaths from the
father, the elder brothers, and perhaps even from the mother, and
I tremble to think how deep the evil has sunk into the hearts of
men. Oh! then let us never again misuse the holy Name; let us
cast out cursing and swearing from our midst, lest it drive us
and our children into hell.
It belongs to us to be devout to the holy name of Jesus, for we
are taught by holy church to ask for every blessing through it.
Are we tempted? Let us call upon it, and He who bears it will
come to our aid. Are we in sorrow? Let us whisper to ourselves,
Jesus! Jesus! and he who knelt in the dark garden and sweat blood
for us, he who faced the horrors of death, forsaken and
heart-broken, will send us comfort and heal our wounds. Do our
sins terrify us? Let us look up to the Cross of Calvary.
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There on the topmost beam is written the sweet name of Jesus;
there beneath hangs the _Saviour_ and the Comforter. Do we
need strength for the battle of life, and courage in the struggle
against the world, the flesh, and the devil? Jesus! Jesus! the
Mighty One, the Conqueror, the Lion of Juda, he who is called
"Faithful and true, and with justice doth he judge and fight"--he
will arm us for the battle and nerve our heart for the combat.
Oh! let us reverence the dear, holy name of our sweet Saviour
while we live; and when at last our death-cold lips can part no
more to utter it, may the great God give us each a friend to
whisper it in our ears, so that Jesus! Jesus! Jesus! may be the
last name that we shall hear on earth, and the first which our
enraptured spirits will hear in heaven.
Rev. Algernon A. Brown.
-------------------------
Sermon XXI.
_His name was called Jesus._
--St. Luke ii. 21,
To-day we celebrate the Feast of the most Holy Name of our Lord
and Saviour Jesus Christ. The church sets apart a special Sunday
for the celebration of this feast, to bring before our minds the
sacredness of this name--its preciousness, and the reverence due
to it.
This name is the name of the God-Man who came into the world to
save us from hell. It is the greatest of all names, because it is
the name of the greatest of all beings. It was given to our Lord
by the archangel when he announced to the Blessed Virgin that she
was to be the mother of God.
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An angel first pronounced it; the Blessed Virgin and St. Joseph
were the first to call the new-born Babe of Bethlehem by that
name; and all holy men and women, from the time of the adoration
of the poor shepherds and wise men down to this hour, have had
the greatest veneration for that name.
The angel St. Gabriel said to the Blessed Virgin: "He shall be
called Jesus, for he shall save his people from their sins." You
see, then, how precious this name is: it is the name by which we
are to be freed from our sins delivered from hell, and admitted
among the blessed, the redeemed of all nations. It is the name by
which we are the receivers of the supernatural graces of all the
holy sacraments. And St. Paul says: God gave to his only-begotten
Son "a name that is above every name, that at the name of
_Jesus_ every knee should bow of those that are in heaven,
on earth, and in hell, and that every tongue should confess that
the Lord Jesus Christ is in the glory of God the Father." It is
the name not only of the Infant of Bethlehem, but it is the name
of that One whom you see in the Stations and nailed to the cross,
bleeding, and dying, and dead for you.
And yet how our blood runs cold, how we tremble with horror, when
we see how little reverence is shown for this name! You need not
go far or stay out very long before you hear that name used most
irreverently by the child who has hardly learned his prayers, as
well as by thieves, drunkards, and murderers, and the lowest
rabble that tread the streets of this city; not only by bad men
and women, but by people who profess to be respectable Catholics.
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How often we are made to wonder why Almighty God does not send a
thunderbolt and strike dead the blasphemer, or cause the earth to
open under those who so treat this holy name, and swallow them up
quickly in punishment for their crime! A man who steals, or gets
drunk, or gives way to lust sees a sensual temporary good in
these sins; but what good, what use is there in blasphemy, in
cursing, in swearing? None. It is a direct blow at Almighty God
himself. If a man were to insult your mother your vengeance would
be roused, and you would think no punishment too great for the
offender. Shall God not be jealous of his name? Shall he not
punish? Yes, he will. He says: "Thou shalt not take the name of
the Lord thy God in vain; for the Lord will not hold him
guiltless who taketh his name in vain."
If, then, you have not controlled your gift of speech, which was
given you to edify your neighbor, to speak and sing the praises
of God, but have given way to a habit of using God's holy name
and that of his Son in vain, ask him to give you the grace to
overcome the habit. If you hear people on the street or in
company blaspheming, cursing, or swearing, lift up your heart to
God and make reparation for the injury by saying the prayer,
"Blessed be the name of the Lord." Never give scandal to others,
and especially the little ones around your family hearth, by
blaspheming, or even by carelessly using the name of God or his
saints without due reverence. Many men and women have grown up
with this old habit clinging to them--a habit that they
contracted at home, and that they learned when young from their
father and mother. Cursing and swearing are the language of hell.
Blessing, prayer, and praise are the language of heaven.
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Do all in your power to learn the language of the saints--that
is, the language of love and reverence for the holy name of
Jesus. For "his name is holy and terrible." Repeat the prayer
which is sung and said in the holy Mass on this feast:
"O God, who hast made thy only-begotten Son to be the Saviour
of mankind, and hast commanded that he should be called Jesus,
mercifully grant that we may so venerate his holy name on earth
that we may be favored with beholding his face for ever in
heaven."
--------------------
Sermon XXII.
_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._
--St. John ii. 1, 2.
As we read the story of this marriage, my dear brethren, it must
certainly occur to all of us how singularly favored it was, above
all that have ever been celebrated since the beginning of the
world, in being honored with the presence of our Lord and Saviour
Jesus Christ, of his Blessed Mother, and of his apostles, and in
the fact that it witnessed the first of the miracles which he
performed in his three years' ministry--the change of water into
wine. But when we come to look at the matter more closely we
shall see that, great as was the honor which this marriage
received, every Christian marriage has the same. For every
Christian marriage is honored really and truly, though not
visibly, with the presence of our Lord, his Blessed Mother, and
the apostles; and at every Christian marriage a miracle of grace
is performed of which we may well believe the change of water
into wine to have been only a shadow or type.
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For what is marriage now in the church of Christ? It is one of
the sacraments. And what does that mean? It means that whenever a
marriage is contracted by those who are baptized there is a grace
given with it by our Lord's infallible promise. This grace,
moreover, is one which, like those given in the sacraments of
Baptism, Confirmation, and Holy Orders, is to remain permanently
in the soul, and to be a source or fountain from which new graces
are continually to flow. So I am right in saying that our Lord is
present at a Christian marriage; for it is only from him that
this grace can come. And I am right in saying that Our Lady is
present at it; because this grace, while it comes from him, comes
through her. For she is the channel through which his grace comes
to us; which is shown in this marriage at Cana, of which the
Gospel tells us, by his working the miracle of the change of the
water into wine at her intercession. And, lastly, I am right in
saying the apostles are present at a Christian marriage; for such
a marriage can only lawfully be celebrated in the presence of the
priest, who represents them.
I said, furthermore, that at every Christian marriage a miracle
is worked which was represented by our Lord's miracle at Cana.
This miracle is the giving of this wonderful sacramental grace;
and it is well represented by the conversion of water into wine.
It is a miracle--that is to say, an extraordinary and
supernatural work of God--because it is not naturally connected
with marriage itself.
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Marriage, in itself, is nothing but a contract or agreement
between two parties, having no special blessing or grace, except
that which comes from its honorable nature and the good
dispositions of the parties themselves. Such is marriage among
the unbaptized. But among Christians it is, as I have said,
elevated to the dignity of a great sacrament--the contract
remaining, but the sacrament being added to it; and it cannot
exist among Christians without both. Now, I think you will agree
with me that this is well represented by the change of water into
wine, in which water, indeed, remains, but is blended with the
spirit in such a way that neither can be taken away without
destroying the very substance of the wine.
Such, then, my brethren, is the dignity of Christian marriage,
represented to us in this marriage at Cana, in Galilee. But is it
honored among Christians according to its dignity?
How many are there who reverence this sacrament as they should?
It is one of the sacraments of the living, as they are called;
that is, one of those which require the soul, when receiving it,
to be in the state of grace. The Catholic who comes to it in the
state of mortal sin commits a horrible sacrilege as surely as he
would if he should go to the altar-rail and receive Holy
Communion without repentance for his sins. Do not forget this. Do
not dare to come to receive the sacrament of matrimony without
preparing your soul by a good confession; not only on account of
the dreadful sacrilege of which you will be guilty in receiving
it unprepared, but also for fear of losing the grace which it is
meant to give you throughout life, and which grace may never
return; for, like that offered to the soul in Holy Communion, if
once despised and rejected, it may be lost for ever.
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