least. You make yourselves a standing committee to decide on the
merits of the various preachers that you sit under. You say to
each other: "What a fine discourse that was!" or, perhaps: "That
was the worst sermon I ever heard." But what either of them was
about it would puzzle you to tell. Your ears were tickled, or
they were not, and that was all.
Perhaps you think I am rather hard on you. You will say: "Father,
surely you cannot expect our memories to be so good. And then we
hear so much that one thing puts out another." Well, there is
some truth in that. Even if you try to remember I know you will
forget a good deal; but the trouble is that you do not try.
You do not hear sermons in the right way. You think whether they
are good or not, but you don't think whether or not there is
anything in them that is good for you; and if so, what it is. If,
perchance, you do hear anything that comes home to you, you fail
to make a note of it. You don't get any fruit from the word of
God, though you often think your neighbors ought to. You say: "I
hope Mr. or Mrs. Smith, Brown, or Jones heard that"; but you do
not hear it yourself. You do not apply it to your own case. You
do not try to find out whether anything has been said that it
would be well for you to know, or to think of if you do know it.
{138}
Try, then, to amend in this respect. Listen, when you hear a
sermon or instruction, to the word of God in it speaking to you.
Do not think who says it, but what is said, and what use you are
going to make of it. One day you will be called to account before
God's judgment-seat for all these words of his that you have
heard; look to it that they bear fruit in your heart. It is
better than remembering them, to have them change your lives; but
if they do that you will remember them. And they will do that,
unworthy as his servants are through whom they come to you, if
you listen to them in the right way. Remember, now, what this
sermon is about, and don't forget it before next Sunday.
-----------------------
Sermon XXXVII.
_A sower went out to sow his seed._
--St. Luke viii. 5.
Our Divine Saviour, in his explanation of this parable, points
out four kinds of soil upon which the seed fell, three of which
gave no harvest. The barren soils represent those souls which
either do not keep the word of God--and they are the wayside; or,
keeping it, do not bring forth fruit--and they are the stony and
the thorny ground. Wayside souls are hardened by the constant
tramp of sin and dried by the scorching wind of passion. On such
ground the seed remains on the surface; it cannot penetrate. "So
it is trodden down, and the birds of the air--that is, the devil,
swift and noiseless in his flight--come and take the word of God
out of such hearts, lest believing they might be saved." Stony
soil looks fair enough, but it is shallow; the rock underneath
hinders moisture, and the seed, though it sprouts, has but weak
roots, which soon wither.
{139}
There are souls "who hear and even receive the word with joy; and
these have no roots," because their Christianity is shallow;
right under the fair appearances of religion is the hard rock of
worldliness and self-love. Now, the soil in "which we should be
rooted," says St. Paul (Eph. ii. 7), "is charity." Again, there
are "those who believe for a while, and in time of temptation
fall away." The word of God has entered into your souls; it has
converted you. But have not evil habits to which you cling, and
cherished sins repeated at the first onset of temptation, taken
all firmness out of your purpose of amendment and nipped in the
bud your good resolution? I hope the mission will have more
lasting fruit among you.
Thorny soil is full of the germs and roots of useless and hurtful
plants. In such ground, says our Saviour, the good and bad seed
started up and for a time grew together. Soon the thorns shot
ahead, sucked up for themselves all the juices of the earth, shut
out the warmth of the sun from the wheat, closed in upon it, and
finally choked it. In our fallen nature are the germs of evil,
the hot-bed of concupiscence. They are part of ourselves; we
cannot get entirely rid of them, as no ground, however well
worked, can be freed from bad seeds. There they are with the
good, and will sprout up with it; the mischief is in letting them
grow until they kill the grace of God and absorb our souls; then,
indeed, we are in a state of spiritual suffocation; the divine
seed is choked in us. Now, the thorns, says our Saviour, "are the
cares, the riches, and the pleasures of life." As long as we are
in the world we shall have to bear with its cares. Yet the great
care, you know, is your salvation. All other concerns become
choking thorns when they take precedence of this.
{140}
Riches are not the best claim to heaven. Yet it is only the
unjust getting, the absorbing love, and the sinful use of them
that choke off the life of the soul. And in riches there is
danger for the poor, strange as it may seem. As the shadow of St.
Peter cured, so the shadow of wealth diseases by causing envy,
want of resignation. The poor should beware of the "evil eye" of
riches; it is poverty _in spirit_ which is a passport to
heaven. The pleasures of life, as you know from your own
experience, unless checked by mortification, are fatal to the
growth of God's word within us. The sunshine of the world is
peculiarly favorable to the tropical vegetation of noxious or
useless weeds.
Remember that your soul is a field in which Satan has put germs
of evil as well as God, of good. Both are watching the growth and
looking out for the final result. On you it depends which crop
your soul will produce, wheat or thorns. The wheat will be
gathered in God's granary, the thorns are only fit to burn. Be
ye, therefore, good ground--_i.e._, "hearing the word, keep
it, and bring forth fruit in patience."
---------------------
{141}
_Quinquagesima Sunday_.
Epistle.
1 _Corinthians xiii_. 1-13.
Brethren:
If I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, and have not
charity, I am become as sounding brass or a tinkling cymbal.
And if I should have prophecy, and should know all mysteries,
and all knowledge, and if I should have all faith, so that I
could remove mountains, and have not charity, I am nothing. And
if I should distribute all my goods to feed the poor, and if I
should deliver my body to be burned, and have not charity, it
profiteth me nothing. Charity is patient, is kind: charity
envieth not, dealeth not perversely, is not puffed up, is not
ambitious, seeketh not her own, is not provoked to anger,
thinketh no evil, rejoiceth not in iniquity, but rejoiceth with
the truth: beareth all things, believeth all things, hopeth all
things, endureth all things. Charity never faileth: whether
prophecies shall be made void, or tongues shall cease, or
knowledge shall be destroyed. For we know in part, and we
prophesy in part. But when that which is perfect shall come,
that which is in part shall be done away. When I was a child, I
spoke as a child, I understood as a child, I thought as a
child. But when I became a man, I put away the things of a
child. We see now through a glass in an obscure manner: but
then face to face. Now I know in part: but then I shall know
even as I am known. And now there remain faith, hope, and
charity, these three: but the greatest of these is charity.
{142}
Gospel.
_St. Luke xviii_. 31-43.
At that time:
Jesus took unto him the twelve, and said to them: Behold we go
up to Jerusalem, and all things shall be accomplished which
were written by the prophets concerning the Son of Man. For he
shall be delivered to the Gentiles, and shall be mocked, and
scourged, and spit upon: and after they have scourged him, they
will put him to death, and the third day he shall rise again.
And they understood none of these things, and this word was hid
from them, and they understood not the things that were said.
Now it came to pass that when he drew nigh to Jericho, a
certain blind man sat by the wayside, begging. And when he
heard the multitude passing by, he asked what this meant. And
they told him that Jesus of Nazareth was passing by. And he
cried out, saying: Jesus, son of David, have mercy on me. And
they that went before, rebuked him, that he should hold his
peace. But he cried out much more: Son of David, have mercy on
me. And Jesus stood and commanded him to be brought to him. And
when he was come near, he asked him, saying: What wilt thou
that I do to thee? But he said: Lord, that I may see. And Jesus
said to him: Receive thy sight: thy faith hath made thee whole.
And immediately he saw, and followed him, glorifying God. And
all the people, when they saw it, gave praise to God.
----------------------
Sermon XXXVIII.
Jesus, son of David,
have mercy on me.
--St. Luke xviii. 38.
There are two points, dear brethren, in the conduct of the blind
man of whom we have just read, that seem to be particularly
noticeable. First, although he could not _see_ Jesus, he
nevertheless knew that he was passing by, and cried out: "Jesus,
son of David, have mercy on me." Secondly, when "the crowd
rebuked him, that he should hold his peace, he cried out _much
more:_ Son of David, have mercy on me."
{143}
Now, that blind man is an image of the souls who are grievously
tempted, and also of those who have fallen into the darkness of
sin. Now, there are, as we all know, some who are dreadfully
tempted. There are good, pious souls who are afflicted with the
lowest and most degrading temptations. Crowds of evil
imaginations fill their minds; the basest suggestions are made to
them by the evil one; the foulest mind-pictures are produced in
them; they are urged to be proud, to be vain, unloving,
uncharitable, and the like. Such people are for the moment blind.
They cannot _see_ Jesus. He is hidden behind these gathering
clouds. It seems to them as if the light of God's grace had gone
out in their hearts, and they sit down by the wayside, weary and
blind. Suddenly they hear sounds in the distance; it is the
Mass-bell, the voice of the priest in the confessional, a word
from the pulpit, the choir chanting out at High Mass or Vespers.
These sounds mingle; they sound like the tread of a multitude,
and in the midst of the clamor a still, small voice says: "'Tis
Jesus of Nazareth who passes by." Oh! then, poor tempted souls,
and you too, unfortunate ones, upon whom has settled the
stone-blindness of mortal sin, never mind if you cannot
_see_ Jesus; never mind if your darkened orbs cannot gaze
upon his sweet face nor meet the look of compassion that he casts
upon you; stretch out your hands towards him, all covered with
the roadside dust as they are, lift up your choked and faltering
voice, and cry aloud to your Saviour: "Jesus, son of David, have
mercy on me!" He will hear you; he will have mercy; he will touch
your poor closed eyes and you shall receive your sight. But now
another word of advice, both to those who are trying to get rid
of besetting temptations and to those who are striving to shake
off the chains of grievous sin.
{144}
When you have given the first heart-felt cry, when you have made
the first move in the right direction, when you have roused
yourselves to make the first real effort either to shake off your
temptations or to get free from the slavery of sin, then it will
very likely happen to you as it did to the blind man: "The crowd
will rebuke you that you should hold your peace." There are a
good many well-known characters in that crowd. Their names are
Timid Conscience, Old Habit, Fear, Despair, Human Respect,
Cowardice, Weak Resolution, Want of Firm Purpose, False Shame, No
Hope, and a host of others. Now, all these will rebuke the poor,
blind, tempted ones and the stone-blind sinners. What, then, must
they do? They must take example from the blind beggar in the
Gospel. When the crowd rebuked him he cried out _much more:_
"Son of David, have mercy on me!" He knew that he must cry out
louder to make his voice drown the buzzing murmurs of the crowd.
Jesus did not seem to hear him, so he shouted louder. O you that
are blind from temptation, you that are blind in sin, you that
have given the first cry, and whose voices seem about to be
drowned by the voice of the crowd of old habits and want of
trust, cry louder, cry much more: "Son of David, have mercy on
me!" Then, no matter if your blindness be never so dark, Jesus
will stand still; he will command you to be brought to him; he
will say to you: "What wilt thou that I do to you?" And then will
be the time for you to pray: "Lord, that I may _see_." O my
God! grant that all the tempted and all the sinners may have the
grace to make that petition. May God "enlighten all our eyes,
that we sleep not in death," and bring us all "to _see_ the
God of Gods in Sion"!
Rev. Algernon A. Brown.
-----------------------------
{145}
Sermon XXXIX.
_And they understood none of these things,
and this word was hid from them,
and they understood not the things that were said._
--St. Luke xviii. 34.
If you have listened attentively to this Gospel, my dear
brethren, it seems to me that you must have been astonished at
this part of it. For our Lord certainly could not have told his
apostles more clearly about what was going to happen to him than
he had told them in the words which immediately preceded these.
"The Son of Man," he says, "shall be delivered to the Gentiles,
and shall be mocked and scourged and spit upon; and after they
have scourged him they will put him to death, and the third day
he shall rise again." What more clear account could he have given
them of his approaching passion, death, and resurrection? And yet
it made no impression on them at all. When the time of his
Passion actually came they were quite unprepared for it, as much
so as if he had said nothing about it beforehand.
How can we account for this? What reason can we give for this
blindness to what was put so plainly before their eyes? It was as
complete a blindness as that of the poor man whose cure is told
in the latter part of the Gospel.
{146}
There is only one way to account for it. You know there is a
proverb that "none are so blind as those who do not want to see."
That was the trouble with them, and that was the reason why their
blindness was not cured, as was that of the poor man of whom I
have just spoken, and who did most earnestly wish and beg to
receive his sight. They had a fixed idea before their minds, and
they did not want to look at anything else. That idea was that
their Master was going to have a great triumph, overcome all his
enemies, and set up his kingdom in this world as a great prince;
and they were going to have high places in that kingdom, to be
rich, powerful, and be respected by everybody. What he said did
not fit in with that idea, so they paid no attention to it. They
thought he could not be talking about himself, that he must mean
somebody else, when he spoke about the "Son of Man."
Perhaps you think this was very foolish on their part, and would
lay it to some special stupidity or prejudice on the part of
these poor, ignorant men. But I think, if you look into your own
hearts, you will find them pretty much the same.
Most Christians, I am afraid, have got an idea very much like
this in their minds. They know, indeed, that Christ did not come
into the world to be a great king, as the world understands the
word; that he did not acquire great wealth for himself or his
friends; that he did not enjoy what we call prosperity and
happiness. But they think that is what they themselves have a
right to expect. They know, of course, all about the Passion of
Christ, but they think it is all over now.
{147}
And yet there are words for us just as plain as those which the
apostles heard and did not understand. We do not see their
meaning, and for the same reason; that is, because we do not want
to see it. They are not only once repeated, but so many times
that I could preach you a long sermon made up of them alone.
Their meaning is that the Passion of Christ is not over; that
each one of us has our share in it; that the life which he means
for us is the same kind of one that he himself led. St. Paul
understood it well when he said: "I fill up those things that are
wanting of the sufferings of Christ."
Try, then, my brethren, to get the idea out of your minds that
you have come into the world to enjoy yourselves and have a good
time. It is an idea unworthy of Christians. Not those who
prosper, but those who suffer, are the ones to excite our envy,
for they are most like our Divine Lord. And, moreover, those who
suffer are really the happiest, if they remember this, for their
suffering is a pledge of eternal happiness. It is a sign that he
has a place waiting for them in his kingdom very near to him.
And let us, like the blind man of the Gospel, ask him to take
away our blindness, that we may really see this and believe it;
that our eyes may be opened to the light coming from the next
world. That will make pain and adversity beautiful and glorious;
and we will even hardly wish to hasten the day when, if we are
faithful, God himself shall wipe away all tears from our eyes.
------------------------
Sermon XL.
Some very important notices have just been read to you, my
brethren. Do you know what they are?
{148}
You ought to by this time, for you have heard them many times
before; and yet I am sure that some of you to whom they have been
read ten or twenty times already know no more about them now than
before you ever heard them at all. Why is this? It is because, as
I said last Sunday, you do not listen, and do not try to
remember, nor care to understand.
What were these notices, then? They were the notices about this
great season on which we are entering: the holy season of Lent,
the most important one of the whole year.
What is the first one of these notices which you have or have not
just heard? You don't know. Well, it is this: _All the
week-days of Lent, from Ash Wednesday till Faster Sunday, are
fast-days of precept, on one meal, with the allowance of a
moderate collation in the evening_. Fast-days--do you know
what that means? I venture to say that many of you do not; or, if
you do, you do not act as if you did. Some people that you would
think had more sense seem to think that a fast-day is about the
same thing as a Friday through the year, except that it is not so
much harm to eat meat on a fast-day as on a Friday. It is hard to
understand how any one can be so stupid.
What is a fast-day, then? It is a day, as you hear in the
notices, on one meal. That does not mean two other full meals
besides, and plenty of lunches in between. It means what it
says--one full meal, and only one. The church has, it is true,
allowed, as the notices say, a moderate collation in the evening
What does that mean? As much as you want to take? No. How much,
then? Eight ounces is the amount commonly assigned.
{149}
That is to say, you have your dinner, and a supper of eight
ounces in weight. Is that all? No, not quite. Custom has also
made it lawful to take a cup of tea or coffee and a small piece
of bread, without butter, in the morning. This is an important
point; for if this will prevent a headache and enable you to get
through with your duties as usual, you are bound to take it, and
not get off from the fast on the ground that you cannot keep a
strict fast on nothing at all till noon.
This, then, is what is meant by a fast-day. It may be a day of
abstinence from flesh-meat, or it may not be. Monday, Tuesday,
and Thursday you can have meat, but at dinner only; and no fish,
oysters, etc., when you have meat--the tea or coffee and the
eight ounces the same those days as on the others. But on
Wednesday, Friday, and Saturday no meat at any time. And
remember, nothing can be eaten on a fast-day but just as I have
described--no lunches, large or small, between meals.
But you say: "I will get very hungry and lose a good many pounds
on such a scant diet as that." Yes, that is quite likely; and
that is just what Lent was made for, that you might get hungry
and lose as many pounds as you can spare. That never seems to
occur to some people. It wouldn't do some of you any harm to lose
a few pounds; you will recover from it, I am sure. The papers say
that one of the pedestrians (a woman, too, by the way) lost over
thirty in a long walk she has just finished. Is it not as easy to
suffer a little for the honor of God as a great deal for one's
own?
{150}
But is there no excuse? Oh! yes. There are plenty. They are given
in the last paragraph of the notices. If you are weak or
infirm--really, that is; not with a weakness beginning on Ash
Wednesday and ending on Easter Sunday--if you are too old or too
young; or if from any reason, like hard work, you really need
abundant food. In case of doubt consult a priest.
But these excuses do not allow one to eat meat. They excuse, as
you hear in the rules, from fasting, but _not from
abstinence_. And yet you will hear people saying: "They told
me I was not bound to fast," and forthwith eating meat as often
as they can get it, just the same as if it was not Lent at all.
Understand, then, it takes a much greater reason to excuse from
abstinence than from fasting. Never eat meat at forbidden times
in Lent without getting proper permission. Ordinary work is no
excuse.
I would like to say much more about these matters, that you might
fully understand them, were there time to do so. But remember
that the rules of Lent are binding, like the other laws of the
church, in conscience; and if you break them in any notable way
you commit a mortal sin. Suffer a little now, that you may not
suffer for ever, banished from the kingdom of God.
-------------------
{151}
_First Sunday of Lent_
Epistle.
2 _Corinthians vi._ 1-10.
Brethren:
We do exhort you, that you receive not the grace of God in
vain. For he saith: "In an accepted time have I heard thee; and
in the day of salvation have I helped thee." Behold, now is the
acceptable time: behold, now is the day of salvation. Giving no
offence to any man, that our ministry be not blamed: but in all
things let us exhibit ourselves as the ministers of God, in
much patience, in tribulation, in necessities, in distresses,
in stripes, in prisons, in seditions, in labors, in watchings,
in fastings, in chastity, in knowledge, in long suffering, in
sweetness, in the Holy Ghost, in charity unfeigned, in the word
of truth, in the power of God; by the armor of justice on the
right hand and on the left: through honor and dishonor: through
infamy and good name: as seducers, and yet speaking truth: as
unknown, and yet known: as dying, and behold we live: as
chastised, and not killed: as sorrowful, yet always rejoicing:
as needy, yet enriching many: as having nothing, and possessing
all things.
Gospel.
_St. Matthew iv_. 1-11.
At that time:
Jesus was led by the spirit into the desert, to be tempted by
the devil. And when he had fasted forty days and forty nights,
he was afterwards hungry. And the tempter coming, said to him:
If thou be the Son of God, command that these stones be made
bread. But he answered and said: It is written, "Man liveth not
by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth from the
mouth of God."
{152}
Then the devil took him up into the holy city, and set him upon
the pinnacle of the temple, and said to him: If thou be the Son
of God, cast thyself down, for it is written: "That he hath
given his Angels charge over thee, and in their hands shall
they bear thee up, lest perhaps thou hurt thy foot against a
stone?" Jesus said to him: It is written again: "Thou shalt not
tempt the Lord thy God." Again the devil took him up into a
very high mountain, and showed him all the kingdoms of the
world, and the glory of them. And said unto him: All these will
I give thee, if falling down thou wilt adore me. Then Jesus
saith to him: Begone, Satan, for it is written: "The Lord thy
God shalt thou adore, and him only shalt thou serve." Then the
devil left him: and behold, Angels came and ministered to him.
------------------------
Sermon XLI.
_Thou shalt not tempt the Lord thy God._
--St Matthew iv. 7.
What is it to tempt God? The words sound very strange; for we
know that God is infinitely good, and that he cannot be tempted,
like us, to commit sin. So that cannot be what is meant by
tempting him.
We shall see easily enough what is meant by it if we consider
what it was that the devil suggested to our Lord. He said to him:
"Throw yourself down from this pinnacle of the temple; no harm
will happen to you, for your life is too precious to God for him
to allow it to be lost. His angels will carry you down safely; a
miracle will be worked in your behalf."