what is far better. Come when he calls you. Come, that you may
not offend him, as those ungrateful men of whom the parable tells
us offended the master of the house. Come, that he may not say to
you, as the master of the house said: "Those men who were called
shall not taste my supper," not even when they shall desire it at
the hour of their death. Come, that your inheritance in the
kingdom of heaven may not be taken away from you, and others
called in to take the places which you have refused. Come and
show love and not base ingratitude to Him who has taken so much
pains to prepare this feast for you; this feast which is not only
the greatest gift that he can give you now, but also a pledge of
the kingdom which has been prepared for such of you as are
faithful, from the foundation of the world.
------------------
{295}
Sermon LXXXVII.
_And they began all at once to make excuse._
--St. Luke xiv. 18.
When men are in sin and do not wish to give it up the answer
which they commonly make to an invitation of God is an excuse.
Excuses! Yes, there are plenty of them. But from what do these
men of whom our Lord speaks in this parable wish to be excused?
Is it from something painful and humiliating? No, strange to say,
it is from a great privilege; it is from a wonderful feast in
which men receive the Food of Angels and are made one with God;
it is from the feast of the Blessed Sacrament, in which our
Blessed Lord offers his own Body and Blood. What! is it possible
that one who has the faith and is possessed of reason can slight
such a gift from the God who has redeemed him? Listen to the
excuse of one: "I have bought a farm." What is a farm? It is
dirt. His excuse, then, is that he does not want the Bread of
Heaven, because he is occupied with dirt. In a word, he prefers
dirt to God. But another man has this excuse for spurning the
heavenly banquet: "He has bought five yoke of oxen," and he wants
"to go and try them." He declines the company of the saints and
angels because he prefers that of oxen. He had rather be with the
brutes, because he is much like them himself. His body rules his
soul, and he is too much of an animal to care anything about a
feast which furnishes only good for the soul.
{296}
But we hear yet another excuse. Here is a man who "has married a
wife, and therefore cannot come." What does this mean? Does he
pretend that the holy sacrament of matrimony is keeping him away?
But this is not the shadow of an excuse. Ah! if he would speak
out his mind clearly he certainly would have an excuse. He means
that he cannot come because he is wallowing in the mire of sin.
He is too filthy to come. He would have to purify himself. He
cannot put on the wedding garment of divine grace and wallow with
the swine, so he thinks that he will leave the Body and Blood of
Jesus Christ to others and stay where he is.
You see, brethren, what it is to offer an excuse when God invites
or commands; and these are only fair samples of the excuses which
all sinners who seek to justify their conduct make. But what do
such excuses denote? They are sure signs of impenitence. Men
often make hypocrites of themselves by their excuses. Some even
make bad confessions by covering their guilt with an excuse; and
a great many show their imperfect sorrow for sin in this way. On
the other hand, the man who is sincerely sorry for his sins fears
nothing so much as to excuse a fault. He would rather accuse
himself of too much than to excuse himself for the least fault.
Excuses such as are mentioned in this parable may justify men
before the world, but never before God. When our souls come
before the Divine Judge all their disguises shall be torn off.
Eternal justice shall then reveal all; it shall weigh every
motive; it shall judge every act.
But what does our Divine Lord say of those who now refuse his
invitation to this heavenly banquet? He says: "None of those men
who were called shall taste my supper."
{297}
Those who now receive the sweet invitation of our Blessed Lord to
approach the altar will at the hour of death wish for that divine
food, which they now treat with so much contempt; but God may
then say to them: "You did not come when I invited you, and now
you shall not taste my supper."
---------------------------
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_Third Sunday after Pentecost._
Epistle.
1 _St. Peter v._ 6-11.
Dearly beloved:
Be you humbled under the mighty hand of God, that he may exalt
you in the time of visitation. Casting all your solicitude upon
him, for he hath care of you. Be sober and watch; because your
adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, goeth about seeking
whom he may devour. Whom resist ye, strong in faith: knowing
that the same affliction befalleth your brethren who are in the
world. But the God of all grace, who hath called us unto his
eternal glory in Christ Jesus, when you have suffered a little,
will himself perfect, and confirm, and establish you. To him be
glory and dominion for ever and ever. Amen.
Gospel.
_St. Luke xv._ 1-10.
At that time:
The publicans and sinners drew near unto Jesus to hear him. And
the Pharisees and the Scribes murmured, saying: This man
receiveth sinners, and eateth with them. And he spoke to them
this parable, saying: What man among you that hath a hundred
sheep: and if he shall lose one of them, doth he not leave the
ninety-nine in the desert, and go after that which was lost
until he find it? And when he hath found it, doth he not lay it
upon his shoulders rejoicing: and coming home call together his
friends and neighbors, saying to them: Rejoice with me, because
I have found my sheep that was lost. I say to you, that even so
there shall be joy in heaven upon one sinner that doth penance,
more than upon ninety-nine just who need not penance. Or what
woman having ten groats, if she lose one groat, doth not light
a candle and sweep the house and seek diligently until she find
it? And when she hath found it, call together her friends and
neighbors, saying: Rejoice with me, because I have found the
groat which I had lost. So I say to you, there shall be joy
before the angels of God upon one sinner doing penance.
-----------------------
{299}
Sermon LXXXVIII.
_Rejoice with me,
because I have found my sheep that was lost._
--St. Luke xv. 6.
I am sure you have often heard related, if you have not
yourselves known, examples of the singular affection which
parents show towards the worst behaved child they have, the
"black sheep of the flock," as their neighbors call him, or her,
as the case may be--some wretched, ungrateful, dissipated son
whose disgraceful life and cruel treatment of them fairly breaks
their hearts; or some disobedient, wild daughter who is led off
and gets ruined. While they are in the height of their bad career
the parents are very apt to act as if they wished every tie
between them broken. No one dares mention the name of their lost
child to them. Instances have been known where the angry parents
have blotted out the name of the dishonored one from the record
in the family Bible where it was written on the day when he was
brought back an innocent child from the font of baptism, and when
they have taken the little lock of flaxen hair cut from their
darling's head, and kept so many years as a treasure, and have
scattered it to the winds. But what do we see? There comes a time
when things are at their worst, when their poor lost one has
reaped the bitter fruits of his disobedience and is in utter
misery and despair; then the hearts of the parents are softened;
they yearn to see their poor child once more, and all on a sudden
there is a reconciliation, all is forgiven and forgotten; the one
who was dead has come to life again, and the lost one is found.
{300}
The parents will not hear one word said against him, but on the
contrary, in word and action, say to all their friends: Rejoice
with me, because I have found my child that was lost.
Now, if we examine into any such a case we shall almost certainly
discover that the penitence of the bad child bears no comparison
to the greatness of the parents' affection or to the magnanimity
of their forgiveness. Very few such repenting sinners are
deserving of the joyful pardon they receive. Mercy is always a
mystery, and pardon ever a miracle. So it is with God and his
divine forgiveness of repenting sinners. Our Lord tells us there
is joy in heaven over their return. Did you ever know any such
case whose repentance you thought was worthy of such celestial
rejoicings? Very, very few, I am sure. And how many forgiven
sinners, do you think, realize that God loves them so much as
that--so much that, when he has brought back to his love and
obedience one so unworthy, he should tell all his holy angels of
the happy event and bid them rejoice with him? Not many. This
truth however, is a most important one which our Lord wishes us
to learn. It is the greatness of his mercy and the depth of his
love. To tell the honest truth, it is the revelation of God's
mercy and love that will bring hardened sinners back, which will
win and convert them when nothing else will. We often see the
proof of this on our missions, when we find the hardest cases,
the most abandoned and hopeless sinners, coming to confession
after the sermon on the mercy of God.
{301}
And who does not know that an appeal made to sinners by showing
them the crucifix, where they see their Lord and Saviour dying
for his great love, with arms outstretched to receive them back,
is an argument few of them can withstand? The sermon of the Cross
is one the holy church is always preaching--the sermon of love
and mercy.
Well, dear brethren, learn this lesson from the Gospel. When you
find the burden of sin heavy on you, and your conscience tells
you that you have wandered far from God, go before a crucifix and
let the love and mercy of your crucified Lord preach to you.
There is nothing helps one so much to overcome the horror and
shame of going to confession as a few minutes' prayer on one's
knees before a crucifix. Are you in temptation and danger of
losing God? Kiss the feet of a crucifix and you are saved. Do you
want to win and save those who have sinned against you? Preach to
them the sermon of mercy and love, in your own way, and, like
God, you will win them and convert them, and rejoice with your
friends that you have found the lost one again.
Rev. Algernon A. Brown.
----------------------
Sermon LXXXIX.
_Be sober, and watch._
--1 St. Peter v. 8.
These few words of the Epistle, my brethren, contain a most
important lesson for us. We may indeed say that of all the
innumerable souls which have been lost, and which are going down
every day into hell, far the greater part have come to this
terrible end for neglect of this warning.
{302}
There is a proverb, with which you are all familiar, that [the
road to] hell is paved with good intentions. What does this mean?
Does it mean that a good intention in itself is a thing which
leads to hell? Of course not. But it means that the kind of good
intentions which people are too apt to make are signs rather of
damnation than of salvation, as they should be.
What is this kind of good intention? It is one which stops just
there, and which the one who makes it does not take the means to
carry out. Sometimes we call them by a stronger name than
intentions. We call them purposes, even firm purposes of
amendment. They are the kind of purposes which a great many
people make when they repent, or think they repent, of their
habitual sins.
A man comes to confession with a fearful habit of sin--of profane
swearing, for instance. It has been on him for years. He has
learned it in his youth, perhaps, from wicked parents or
companions. He has almost become unconscious of it, and it seems
to him no very important thing; it may be that he would not even
mention it, did not the priest question him pretty closely. But
when the priest does warn him about it he makes up his mind in a
certain way that he ought to stop it, and makes a kind of purpose
to do so. It is to be feared, however, that this is one of the
purposes or intentions with which hell is paved. And why? Because
it stops just there. It has no effect at all. It is all gone
before he gets out of the confession-box. He will swear just as
much to-morrow as he did to-day. He does not, probably, even
remember his purpose, at any rate only till the time of his
Communion; or if, perchance, he does remember it, he does not
take the means to carry it out.
{303}
And what is that means above all others? It is to watch against
his sin. This he does not do. He does not keep on his guard to
avoid those horrible oaths which have become a fixed habit with
him. He does not watch himself, and, of course, falls again as he
did before.
Now you see, perhaps, the importance of St. Peter's warning in
the Epistle. Most of you who will be lost will be lost on account
of habitual sins like this I have spoken of, not on account of
occasional and unusual ones. It may be a habit of impure thoughts
or words, of drunkenness, or something else; but it is a habit of
some kind that will cause your damnation. The habit is a disease
of your soul; you must get rid of it, if you wish to have any
well-grounded hope of salvation. And you cannot get rid of it
without watching as well as praying. "Watch," says our Lord,
"that you enter not into temptation."
Yes, a bad habit is a disease of your soul, a weak spot in it
which you must guard. It is there your enemy is going to enter.
What does St. Peter go on to say? "Be sober, and watch," he says,
"for your adversary, the devil, as a roaring lion, goeth about
seeking whom he may devour." Very well; the devil is not such a
fool as to neglect your weak points. So it is those which you
must watch and guard.
If, then, you would be saved, keep before your mind all the time
your habitual sins. Be on your guard against them continually,
just as a man going on slippery ice is all the time careful how
he places his feet. Repeat your resolutions frequently; make them
practical and definite. Say to yourself, "Next time I am provoked
I will keep down that profane word; next time such an object
comes before my eyes I will turn them away; next time such a
thought occurs I will instantly repel it."
{304}
Be on the lookout for danger, as a sailor is for rocks or
icebergs in his course. Pray, of course, earnestly and
frequently, but watch as well as pray. If you do you will save
your soul; if you do not you will lose it.
----------------------
Sermon XC.
_There shall be joy in heaven
upon one sinner that doth penance,
more than upon ninety-nine just
who need not penance._
--St. Luke xv. 7.
I do not think, my brethren, that there is any parable in the
Gospel which comes more home to your own experience than these
which you have just heard about the lost sheep and groat. I am
sure you have all of you lost something at some time or other;
and I am sure, too, that, even though it was not very valuable,
you began to think it was when it was lost, and hunted for it
high and low. It seemed to you that you cared more for it than
for any other article of your property, and that you did not mind
much what became of your other things as long as that was
missing.
That, of course, was not really the case. For, although you
seemed to give all your thoughts and energy in searching for the
lost article, you cared just as much all the time for what you
meanwhile left at home or unnoticed. And if, while you were
hunting up one thing, another should get lost, you would start
out after that with just as much anxiety as you did for the
other.
{305}
So our Lord spends his time, not only now and then but always,
chiefly in hunting after what he has lost, and lets what he has
got shift a good deal for itself. Always, I say; for he has
always lost something. He keeps losing things all the time. The
sheep keep straying away from his fold continually. As soon as
one is brought back another has gone, and he has to set out in
pursuit of it. And meanwhile the sheep in the fold do not seem to
get as much care and attention as they think they deserve for
their obedience and general good behavior.
Now, this is an important thing for the sheep to understand, both
for those who have not strayed away and for those who have. Those
who are faithful must be contented with his absence, and those
who are not should thank him and reward him for his labor for
them.
Those who need no penance--that is, those who remain habitually
in the state of grace--are apt to say: "Why is it that religion
does not give me more happiness? Why is it that I have so little
devotion and that God seems so far away?" Well, the reason is
because he is away. He is off hunting for sinners. He is giving
them his chief attention and his choicest graces because they
need them. The just can get along with the sacraments, which are
always open to them, and with the other ordinary means of
salvation.
Or you say, perhaps: "Why is it that the best preachers and
confessors among the fathers are out on the mission, so that we
seldom or never see or hear them?" Well, that is for the same
reason. Our Lord sends them out on the hunt in which he is so
much interested. Surely you will not find fault with him. You
will not deprive him of his greatest joy--that of bringing
sinners back--for the sake of offering him a little more
devotion, which he does not care so much about.
{306}
No, you will rather be faithful, and do your duty in the place
where he has put you, and be very thankful that you are not among
the lost, and perhaps one among them who will never be found.
And surely those who have strayed away and whom he is seeking,
when they come to think of it, will try to give him the
consolation which he takes so much trouble to secure. They will
not let him spend all his time on them and get nothing for it in
return. No, they will not hide from him any longer; they will
give themselves to him, never to stray again; and be the occasion
of a joy in heaven which shall not be merely for a moment, but
which shall last for evermore.
-------------------
{307}
_Fourth Sunday after Pentecost._
Epistle.
_Romans viii._ 18-23.
Brethren:
I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not
worthy to be compared with the glory to come, that shall be
revealed in us. For the expectation of the creature waiteth for
the revelation of the sons of God. For the creature was made
subject to vanity, not willingly, but by reason of him that
made it subject, in hope: because the creature also itself
shall be delivered from the servitude of corruption into the
liberty of the glory of the children of God. For we know that
every creature groaneth, and is in labor even till now. And not
only it, but ourselves also, who have the first-fruits of the
spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting for
the adoption of the sons of God, the redemption of our body, in
Christ Jesus our Lord.
Gospel.
_St. Luke v._ 1-11.
At that time:
When the multitudes pressed upon Jesus to hear the word of God,
he stood by the lake of Genesareth. And he saw two ships
standing by the lake: but the fishermen were gone out of them,
and were washing their nets. And going up into one of the ships
that was Simon's, he desired him to thrust out a little from
the land. And sitting down, he taught the multitudes out of the
ship. Now when he had ceased to speak, he said to Simon: Launch
out into the deep, and let down your nets for a draught. And
Simon answering, said to him: Master, we have labored all the
night, and have taken nothing: but at thy word I will let down
the net. And when they had done this, they enclosed a very
great multitude of fishes, and their net was breaking. And they
beckoned to their partners that were in the other ship, that
they should come and help them.
{308}
And they came, and filled both the ships, so that they were
almost sinking; which when Simon Peter saw, he fell down at
Jesus' knees, saying: Depart from me, for I am a sinful man,
Lord. For he was wholly astonished, and all that were with him,
at the draught of the fishes which they had taken. And so were
also James and John, the sons of Zebedee, who were Simon's
partners. And Jesus saith to Simon: Fear not, from henceforth
thou shalt be taking men. And when they had brought their ships
to land, leaving all things, they followed him.
----------------------
Sermon XCI.
_And sitting down,
he taught the multitudes out of the ship._
--St. Luke v. 3.
The ship, as the Gospel tells us, was St Peter's, and our Lord
continues to teach his divine doctrine from the same ship. This
ship of St. Peter is the Catholic Church. Its captain is the
Pope, the Vicar of Jesus Christ. He not only guides the ship in
its ordinary course, but knows also what special orders to give
when particular dangers threaten it. The plain duty of every
Catholic is, therefore to receive with obedience the teaching of
the Pope, and in times of danger to be on the alert and obey
quickly, without hesitation and with perfect confidence. There is
no fear for the ship herself, no matter what storms may arise.
The danger is for those who are in her, and each one's safety
depends upon his prompt obedience. There are some Catholics who
appear to think that because the ship is always safe they are
safe too, no matter how they behave.
{309}
Alas! this is often a fatal mistake. Christ teaches by the mouth
of Peter, and their salvation depends upon their listening to
what is taught, and learning the lessons of faith and morality
which fall from his lips. But what do we see? We see many who
remain so ignorant of their religion that they ought to be
ashamed to call themselves Catholics. There is plenty of
instruction given, but they take no pains to hear it. Year in and
year out they never come to a sermon or instruction. They never
think of reading a good religious book or a Catholic newspaper.
They have time to go to some immoral play at the theatre, they
read the trashy, beastly stuff that is served up daily and weekly
to pander to depraved appetites such as theirs, but of their
sublime, true, and holy religion, which should be a light to
their minds and a comfort to their hearts, they know next to
nothing. They let their children grow up in the like ignorance,
who are swift to follow the bad example set before them. Now, the
chief duty of a Catholic is to learn what his religion teaches,
and it is a grievous sin to neglect the opportunities one has to
acquire that knowledge. The devil is busy scattering the seed of
false doctrine, and keeping his agents at work telling all sorts
of lies about God and Jesus Christ and the Catholic Church, and
it is not possible for one to keep his faith pure unless he takes
care to learn all he has the chance to learn of the truths of his
holy religion.
Then, again, see how anxious people are nowadays that their
children should have what is called "a good education." What is
the teaching of Christ from the ship of Peter on this subject? It
is that _without religion education cannot be good_.
{310}
Our faiths, as well as our experience, tells us that an education
with religion left out is apt to prove rather a curse than a
blessing to a child. Pride, conceit, loose morals, love of money,
disobedience to parents and clergy--these are the things we see
plenty of in the lives and habits of children who have received a
"good education" with religion left out.
There is another thing which is often the subject of much wonder
to me. From time to time the bishops and priests find it
necessary to warn their people against certain prevailing vices,
or to denounce certain secret societies as anti-Christian, or to
make regulations which are required to secure the proper
administration of the sacraments--for instance, the publication
of the bans of marriage--and there are found Catholics who set
themselves in opposition to these counsels and laws of their
pastors with a pertinacious obstinacy such as one would not
expect to see except in a downright heretic. The conceit of these
people is truly marvellous. They talk and act as if the whole
Catholic Church belonged to them, and their priests were a
miserable set of hirelings who can be persuaded to connive at
anything they choose to pay them for. What is the reason of this?
I'll tell you. It is due to their ignorance. The better
instructed a Catholic is the more docile and humble he is. He
hears Christ teaching when he hears the instructions of his
pastor, and he rejoices to follow his counsels. "He that heareth
you heareth me," said our Lord. God send us Catholics who love
their religion well enough to make them desirous of being well
instructed in its doctrine!
----------------------
{311}
Sermon XCII.
_I reckon that the sufferings of this present time
are not worthy to be compared with the glory to come._
--Romans viii. 18.