especially when we think how little, after all, we have to suffer
compared with what was asked of our Lord's chosen apostles. We do
not have to sleep on the ground, or live on grains of wheat
picked off the stalk in the fields, as they sometimes had to do.
We have not got to look forward, as they did after his death, to
long and painful labors and journeyings, to being driven from one
city to another, to being scourged and buffeted, and put at last
to a cruel death. No; on the whole, we have got a pretty easy
time. We probably will not starve; nobody will persecute us; we
will most likely always have a house to live in, and die in our
beds.
It is not much, then, is it, to eat fish instead of meat, to fast
enough to have a good appetite, to lose a little sleep and get a
little tired? Perhaps if we would think more of the reward for
such little things, and think a little more of the good time
coming in heaven, we might even wish that Lent was more than
forty days long.
-------------------------------
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_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.
Now if I cast out devils in Beelzebub, in whom do your children
cast them out?
{170}
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 XLVII.
_Every kingdom divided against itself
shall be brought to desolation._
--St. Luke xi. 17.
We can see at once how true the sentence just read is; for if the
head of a kingdom were to rise against the members, the king
against his ministers, the people against both king and
government, and the army and navy against their proper
commanders--if all this should take place, then I say that
kingdom would certainly be brought to desolation, and any enemy
could easily come along and take possession of it.
{171}
Now, dear brethren, the Christian family is a little kingdom. The
father and mother are the king and queen, the older and more
experienced members of the family are the counsellors, the
children the subjects of that kingdom. The Christian family ought
to be most closely united, and this for many reasons. Each member
has been baptized with the same baptism, been sanctified by the
same Holy Spirit. They have all been pardoned for their sins
through the same Precious Blood, do all eat of the same spiritual
food, the Body and Blood of Christ. Then, to come to natural
reasons, they are bound together by the tie of blood, by the tie
of parental and filial affection; they live together, pray
together, rejoice together, suffer together. So there is every
reason why the Christian family should be united; and if it is to
fulfil its mission properly it _must_ be united, or it will
be brought to desolation. O my dear friends! how many of these
little kingdoms which should go to make up the grand empire of
Jesus Christ upon earth fall away from their allegiance to him,
and all because they are divided against themselves. We see a
father, for instance, given over to habits of drunkenness; he
comes home either in a dull, heavy stupor or else in a perfect
fury of rage; he worries his wife, scares his children, disgraces
himself; all his family shrink from him. There you see at once
the head divided against the members. Or there is in the family a
cross, ill-tempered, scolding wife, and, as the Scripture says,
"there is no anger above the anger of a woman: it will be more
agreeable to abide with a lion and a dragon than to dwell with a
wicked woman. As the climbing of a sandy way is to the feet of
the aged, so is a wife full of tongue to a quiet man."
{172}
Such a woman would divide any family; she destroys the unity
thereof just as much as the drunken husband. What, also, must be
thought of interfering relations, cousins, aunts, uncles, and
last, but not least, mothers-in-law? How often do they make
mischief and destroy the kingdom of the Christian family! So,
too, rebellious children, quarrelsome brothers and sisters--they
all destroy peace, they all help to divide the kingdom, they all
help to bring it to desolation; and in the end, instead of a fair
kingdom, strong and united, nothing remains but a wretched scene
of strife and contention, and in comes the devil and takes
possession of everything. Now, my dear friends, when by your
drunkenness, your crossness, your mischief-making and
party-spirit, by your rebellion against parental authority, you
divide the kingdom of your family, not only you yourselves will
suffer, not only will you and your family have to endure
spiritual injury and perhaps loss of salvation, but the great
kingdom of Christ, now militant here on earth, and one day to be
triumphant in heaven, suffers also. Who make up the church on
earth? Individuals, families. Who are to fill the ranks of the
heavenly kingdom? The same. Oh! then, if you are divided against
yourselves, if you are brought to desolation, you are part of the
devil's kingdom on earth, and will form part of his empire of sin
and death in hell. For God's sake, brethren, _stop this evil
war_. Stop these things which make the family miserable. Have
peace in your homes. Let men see that the peace of Christ and the
union of Christ dwell there. Correct your faults; curb your
tongues and your tempers; be obedient.
{173}
Remember, the first words the priest says when he comes to your
homes on a sick-call are these: "Peace be to this house and all
that dwell therein." Try to profit by that benediction. Try
always to have the peace of God, which passeth all knowledge, and
then shall your kingdom stand.
Rev. Algernon A. Brown.
----------------------------
Sermon XLVIII.
"Are you going to make your Easter duty?" This is an important
question just now, my dear brethren. You should put it to
yourselves, and your answer should be: "Yes, certainly." The
church commands it; and you know very well that he who will not
hear the church is to be held as a heathen and a publican; that
he who despises the church despises our Lord, and he who despises
the Lord despises his Father who is in heaven. Surely you will
not make yourselves guilty of this frightful sin of contempt;
surely you do not wish to be held as a heathen. But knowing, as
you do, the precept of the church binding at this time, how can
you expect, if you do not fulfil it, to escape from the
consequences of your disobedience, as expressed in the words of
our Lord which I have just recited?
To go against the church in one of her commands is to spurn her
authority altogether. It is strange that people should make, of
their own wits or fancy, distinctions between the precepts of the
church, when the church makes and acknowledges no such
distinctions. The authority in all cases is the same, and,
therefore, the commands are all equally binding. Yet how many
Catholics who would scruple to eat meat on Friday or miss Mass on
Sunday think nothing at all of breaking, without reason, the fast
and abstinence of Lent, and give no heed whatever to the
obligation of going to confession and communion in Easter-time!
{174}
It really looks, to judge from their conduct, as if this Easter
duty was not on an equal footing with the other commands of the
church; as if the church did not mean what she prescribes. Now,
the truth of it is, to this precept is attached a more severe
sanction than to any other. The church makes any Catholic who
violates it liable to excommunication, and deprivation of burial
in consecrated ground. So you see the obligation is very strict
and the church is terribly in earnest about it, if you are not.
To take matters in your own hands, as so many Catholics do on
this point, and call little what she calls great, and slight an
order that she is so anxious about, is to be a heathen, or, at
any rate, a Protestant; it is to set your private judgment above
her authority; it is to despise God, who commands through her. If
you would only take this view of it--and this is the true view to
take--you would think more than once before you would say: "O
pshaw! any other time will do. Once a year? All right; I find it
more convenient to go at Christmas." No, any other time will not
do; once a year will not do, unless it be just now at this time.
Christmas is a glorious feast, and Christmas-tide a joyful
season, but it is not the season prescribed by the church for
your annual communion; and, heathen that you are, your
convenience is not the main point to be considered. The question
is: has the church power from God to command me, and what does
the church command?
{175}
Oh! then, my brethren, let not the penances, the prayers, the
instructions, the special graces of this holy season go to naught
and be of no avail; but rather let them lead you up to the end
for which they are intended--that is, to bring you to repentance
for past sins, amendment for the future, to restore you to the
friendship of your God, and strengthen you, for further battling
in life, with the bread of heaven, his most precious Body and
Blood.
----------------------
Sermon XLIX.
_He saith: I will return into my house
whence I came out._
--St. Luke xi. 24.
The warning which our Lord gives us in this Gospel is certainly a
most terrible one, my brethren, but it may not seem plain to whom
it is addressed; who they are who, now and at all times, are in
danger of having the devil come back to them in this way of which
he speaks. For nowadays, thank God! it is not very often that we
find people who are really possessed by the devil, in the proper
sense of the word.
But, in a more general sense of it, there are plenty of people
who are possessed by the devil. They are those who are in a state
of mortal sin. In them Satan has regained the possession from
which he was driven out in holy baptism--that is, the soul which
was his at least by original, if not by actual, sin. And he is in
them as a dumb devil, like the one which the Gospel tells us that
our Lord cast out; that is, he makes the people dumb whom he
possesses, by keeping them from telling their sins and getting
rid of them by confession.
{176}
But the dumb devil is often cast out, particularly at times of
special grace and help from God, like this holy season of Lent
through which we are now passing, or at the time of a mission or
of a jubilee. At such times you will always find people, who have
been away from the sacraments for years, coming back to them and
making an effort to amend their lives and save their souls.
Now, this is very unpleasant to the devil, who has counted on
these people as his own. He has a special liking for the souls
which have been his so long. So when he is driven out of them he
does not simply go off on other business, as we might expect; but
he always has an eye on his old home. He says to himself, when he
finds that he does not get along so well elsewhere: "I will
return into my house whence I came out. I will see if I cannot
get in again."
So he comes back to his old house, to the soul which has been
his, and too often he finds it pretty easy to get in again. He
finds it, in fact, "swept and garnished," as our Lord says, and
all ready for his reception. So, of course, he goes in and takes
his old place. The soul, which has escaped from sin by a good
confession, relapses into it again.
What a pity this is! And yet how common it is! How many, how very
many, there are who a month or so after a mission, or some other
occasion when you would think they would really be converted in
good earnest, are back again in their old sins just the same as
if they had never confessed them at all!
It seems strange, perhaps. And yet it is not so strange when you
come to think of it. The reason is not very hard to find. It is
just the one that our Lord gives: it is that the house of the
soul, from which the devil has been driven, is empty, "swept and
garnished." Nothing has been put there in the place of the vices
and bad habits that were there before.
{177}
There is no habit of prayer; there is no remembrance of the good
resolutions that were made at confession; there is no attempt to
avoid the occasion of sin; and, above all, there is no grace
coming from the sacraments. That is the great mistake these
converted sinners have made. They have promised at confession to
go every month for the future; but they have not kept that
promise. Now, it is perfect folly and madness for one who has
been in the habits of sin to hope to persevere by saying a few
short prayers and going to confession once a year. Such a way of
going on leaves the soul empty of grace, and without anything to
prevent its enemy from coming in.
If you want to persevere after a good confession, go every month
to the sacraments. This is not a practice of piety; it is only
common prudence. This is the means which God has appointed in his
church to fill the soul with grace, and leave no room for the
devil in his old home from which he has once been driven away.
--------------------
{178}
_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. Now
the pasch, the festival day of the Jews, was near at hand.
{179}
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 L.
_When, therefore, Jesus 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?"_
--St. John vi. 5.
To-day is mid-Lent Sunday, dear brethren. Half of the holy season
has passed away, and the Pasch is near at hand. All through Lent
the church has been praying, fasting, and preaching, making extra
efforts to bring in the sinners who have so long stayed without
the fold.
{180}
Like the Divine Master, she looks down upon the crowd and she has
pity on them. She wants to heal the sick; they will not be
healed. She wants to feed the hungry; they will not be fed. The
church looks round upon the vast crowd of her children and wants
them to make their Easter duty; alas! how many neglect it. Why
should you make the Easter duty? First, because it is a strict
law of the church. If you fail to make it by your own fault you
commit a grievous mortal sin and put yourself in a position to be
excommunicated from God's church. Secondly, for your own
spiritual good. What kind of a Christian can he be who does not
go to confession or communion at least once in a year? How shall
you make it? First go to confession, and then, when you have
received absolution, go to communion. That is all simple and
plain enough. Why, then, do some people stay away from their
Easter duty? Let us tell the truth. Confession must come first,
and confession is the difficulty. A man has been engaged for
years in an unlawful business, or he has stolen a sum of money,
or he has been the receiver of stolen goods, or in some way or
other cheated in trade. Such a man is a thief. He knows it, and
he is also aware that if he goes to confession the priest will
say: "Give up the ill-gotten money, sell your fine house and your
gilded furniture, and make restitution; you must restore or you
will damn your soul." They won't do that, won't give up the
dishonest gains, and so they won't make the Easter duty. Or there
are some who have committed sins of impurity; they have been
unfaithful husbands, dissolute wives.
{181}
They won't give up their bad habits or won't tell their shameful
sins, and so they won't make the Easter duty. There are others on
whom the fiend of drunkenness has settled; they are always on a
spree, always pouring the liquor which stupefies them down their
throats; they won't repent and they won't make the Easter duty.
Ah! then, if there be any such sinners here--if there be any
thieves, if there be any who are living upon dishonest gains, if
there be any who are wallowing in impurity and drunkenness--tell
me, how long is this going to last? How many more years will you
slink away from your Easter duty like cowards and cravens? Will
you go on so to the end of your lives? Oh! then you will go down
to hell, and your blood be upon your own heads. No one stays away
from Easter duty except for disgraceful reasons. There is always
something bad behind that fear of the confessional, and such a
man deserves to be pointed at by every honorable Catholic.
Suppose you _have stolen_, or been an adulterer, or a
fornicator, or a drunkard, or what not. Now is the time to
repent, and amend, and make reparation. Don't you see the church
looking down with eyes of mercy upon you? Why, then, stay? There
can be only one reason, and that reason is because you want to go
on being thieves, adulterers, and drunkards. O brethren! do not,
I pray you, so wickedly. The church is kind. The blood of Christ
is still flowing. The confessionals are still open. Go in there
with your heavy sins and your black secrets. Go in there with
your long story of sin. Go in, even if your hands are red with
blood--go in, I say, and if you are truly penitent you will be
cleansed and consoled. Let there not be a single man or woman in
this church who can have it said of them this year: "You missed
your Easter duty."
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And you that have been away for years and years, don't add
another sin to your already long list of crimes. You are sick,
you are fainting with hunger, you are a poor wandering sheep; but
never mind, remember Jesus looks with pity upon you, and he will
heal your sickness in the sacrament of penance, and feed you with
his own Body and Blood.
Rev. Algernon A. Brown.
-------------------------
Sermon LI.
_Gather up the fragments that remain,
lest they he lost._
--St. John vi. 12.
It seems rather odd, does it not, my brethren, that our Divine
Lord should have been so particular about saving all the broken
bits of those loaves and fishes? He had just worked a wonderful
miracle, and he could have repeated it the next day without any
difficulty. When he or his apostles or the crowd who came to hear
him were hungry, he had nothing to do but to say the word, and
they could all have as much to eat as they wanted. Why, then, be
so particular about hunting up all the crusts of bread and bits
of fish that were lying round in the grass?
Perhaps you will say: "It was to show what a great miracle he had
worked; to show that, in spite of their all having dined
heartily, there were twelve basketfuls of scraps left over--much
more than they had to start with."
I do not think that was it. The greatness of the miracle in
feeding five thousand men on five loaves and two fishes was plain
enough. At any rate, that was not the reason that he himself
gave.
{183}
He said: "Gather them up, _lest they be lost_." "Well,
then," a prudent housekeeper would say, "the reason is plain
enough. It was to teach us economy--not to let anything go to
waste; to save the scraps, and make them up into bread-puddings
and fish-balls."
I know you do not think that was it. Most people who are not
forced to this kind of economy are apt to turn up their noses at
it, and connect it in their minds with a stingy disposition,
which they very rightly think is not pleasing to God.
But, after all, I don't see what it could very well have been but
economy that our Lord meant to teach. I don't see what other
meaning you can get out of his command to gather up the
fragments, that they might not be lost. If that does not mean
economy, what does it mean?