in this. There is no escape from suffering here if we reckon on
happiness hereafter. And there are good reasons for this. One is
because we must atone for sin. Do not our own sins, little or
great, continually cry out for penance? And if we give not
suffering willingly they threaten to crucify us in spite of
ourselves. And there are the sins of others, of heathens, and
heretics, and bad Catholics--all these demand atonement, and, as
it was not beneath the dignity of the Son of God to die for them,
so, if we are Christians more than in name, we shall be ready to
suffer with our blessed Lord for the sins of the world. Another
reason why we mast suffer is that we may not become attached to
the joys of this world, for we must leave them all some day or
other. And, besides, God demands a heart quite undivided; he
wants all our love, and not what is left after we have expended
our chief affections on created things. And yet another reason
for suffering is that we may merit more happiness in heaven. The
Christian has a kind Father in heaven, who notes every pang, and
sigh, and tear, and who will know how to reward.
So one would think that a wise man would seek sufferings rather
than avoid them; would thank God for the afflictions of his
providence, and would look upon the troubles of this life--the
loss of health, the loss of reputation, the loss of money--would
look upon all this as God's way of elevating our life here on
earth and of increasing our happiness hereafter; and that it
would be true wisdom to voluntarily deny ourselves the joys of
this world, reckoning rather upon those of the future life as the
apostles did.
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Yes, brethren, patient suffering is the very A B C of the
Christian religion. What are Christ's blessings? Blessed are the
poor; blessed are they that mourn; blessed are you when they
persecute and revile you. Truly his religion is a religion of the
cross.
But what kind of Christians must we think ourselves since we all
hate to suffer? We reckon fondly upon the joys of this life;
those of the life to come may take care of themselves. Although
we have a lifetime of horrid sins in our memory, and know that we
have not done any penance, still we not only refuse to suffer
willingly, but we speak and act as it God were a cruel tyrant
thus to send upon us sickness, and poverty, and disgrace. And as
to suffering in union with our Lord Jesus Christ for the sins of
the world, such a generous thought never enters our mind at all;
nor do we think of mortifying the rebellious passions, nor of the
merit of sacrifice, nor of anything except to enjoy this world,
to cling to this poor, fleeting world and its deceptive joys.
Brethren, let us strive to obtain a wiser and stronger spirit in
regard to suffering. I know that we may not hope to become heroes
all at once, but may in time if we begin without delay; and the
only way to begin is by prayer. You complain of the company of
wicked and unpleasant people; but instead of snapping at them and
quarrelling, offer your annoyance to God and pray him to assist
you.
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Are you in poverty? Instead of giving way to weariness and
despair, think of Jesus and Mary at the humble cottage at
Nazareth; think of the poor, wandering life of our Lord while he
preached the Gospel, and beg him to give you some of his own
patience. Are you afflicted with incurable illness? Remember that
God has sent you this for your own good and will know how to
recompense you. Instead of making your friends miserable by your
impatience, think of Christ upon the cross, and of your sins
which crucified him.
St. Teresa had for her motto these words: "_Either to suffer or
to die_." Oh! that we had only a little of the heroic spirit
of the saints. Then we could welcome every dispensation of divine
providence, whether of pleasure or of pain, and should be able to
say with St. Paul: "I have learned in whatsoever state I am to be
content therewith. I know both how to be brought low and how to
abound ... both to be full and to be hungry, both to abound and
to suffer need; I can do all things in him who strengtheneth me"
(Phil. iv. 11-13).
---------------------
{314}
_Fifth Sunday after Pentecost_.
Epistle.
1 _St. Peter iii._ 8-15.
Dearly beloved:
Be ye all of one mind, having compassion one of another, loving
brotherhood, merciful, modest, humble: not rendering evil for
evil, nor railing for railing, but on the contrary, blessing:
for unto this are you called, that by inheritance you may
possess a blessing. "For he that will love life, and see good
days, let him refrain his tongue from evil, and his lips that
they speak no guile. Let him decline from evil, and do good:
let him seek peace, and pursue it: because the eyes of the Lord
are upon the just, and his ears unto their prayers: but the
countenance of the Lord against them that do evil things." And
who is he that can hurt you, if you be zealous of good? But if
also you suffer anything for justice' sake, blessed are ye. And
be not afraid of their terror and be not troubled; but sanctify
the Lord Christ in your heart.
Gospel.
_St. Matt. v_. 20-24.
At that time:
Jesus said to his disciples: I say to you, that unless your
justice abound more than that of the Scribes and Pharisees, you
shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven. You have heard that
it was said to them of old: Thou shalt not kill. And whosoever
shall kill shall be guilty of the judgment. But I say to you,
that whosoever is angry with his brother, shall be guilty of
the judgment. And whosoever shall say to his brother, Raca,
shall be guilty of the council. And whosoever shall say, Thou
fool, shall be guilty of hell fire. Therefore if thou offerest
thy gift at the altar, and there shalt remember that thy
brother hath anything against thee, leave there thy gift before
the altar, and first go to be reconciled to thy brother, and
then come and offer thy gift.
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Sermon XCIII.
_Unless your justice abound
more than that of the Scribes and Pharisees,
you shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven_.
--St. Matt. v. 20.
The Scribes and Pharisees were very particular about keeping the
_letter_ of the law, and prided themselves mightily on this
kind of "justice." But Jesus Christ says that unless _our_
righteousness exceed theirs we shall not save our souls. Here,
then, he teaches us that we must keep the _spirit_ of the
commandments as well as the letter. And to show what he means by
the _spirit_ of the law, he quotes the commandment which
forbids murder. "Now, it is not enough," he says, "that you
refrain from committing murder; you must equally refrain from the
passion of anger--anger, that is, which destroys charity, and
breeds ill-will, hatred, and revenge; for those who give way to
these malicious feelings shall be arraigned at my judgment-seat
side by side with murderers." Among those who heard him was St.
John, his apostle; and St. John says: "He that hateth his brother
is a murderer."
Again, our Lord tells us that the spirit of the Fifth Commandment
includes lesser sins than anger--that to call our brother
contemptuous names, to provoke and irritate him by hard words
(except, of course, in the case of just rebuke), is a grave
violation of this law as he would have us Christians understand
it.
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The words which follow--addressed to those who were in the habit
of going into the temple to lay their gifts before God's
altar--apply with even greater force to _us_. _We_ come
before God's altar when we come to hear Mass, and we come with
the profession, at least, of offering a gift--that worship which
is the tribute of our faith and love. There is one thing, then,
which our Lord requires before he will receive our offering: that
"our brother have" not "anything against us." In other words, we
must be in perfect charity with our neighbor. If we have anything
against _him_, we must forgive him there and then "from our
hearts." If _he_ have anything against _us_, we must
either have already done our best towards reconciliation and
reparation, or at least be prepared and determined to do it at
the very first opportunity.
Now, it may be we are not in the state of grace when we come to
hear Mass, but, on the contrary, laden with mortal sins. Well, we
still have the right to hear Mass--nay, are bound to hear it;
and, further, we can still offer a gift, and a very acceptable
gift--an earnest prayer for contrition and amendment--a cry for
mercy and deliverance. Our Lord once said to St. Mathilda:
"However guilty a man may be, however inveterate the enmity of
his heart against me. I will patiently bear with him whenever he
is present at Mass, and will readily grant him the pardon of his
sins if he sincerely ask it." Clearly, then, dear brethren, there
is but one thing that can keep even a poor sinner from coming
before God's altar with an acceptable gift--viz., the want of
charity to his neighbor; that is, either the refusal to say from
his heart: "Forgive us our trespasses _as we forgive_ those
who trespass against us"; or, equally, the refusal to seek
reconciliation or make reparation for wrongs of his own doing.
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Now, in either case there is a brother who "has something against
us," and that brother is Jesus Christ himself, who calls all men
his brethren without exception, and especially our
fellow-Catholics, having given to all his Sacred Heart and the
love of his Blessed Mother.
Rev. Algernon A. Brown.
---------------------------
Sermon XCIV.
_He that will love life and see good days,
let him refrain his tongue from evil._
--1 St. Peter iii. 10.
The words of the blessed Apostle St. Peter teach us that the
good, peaceable man is the happiest, that God rewards a kind
heart even in this life. Yes, the kindly-spoken man is a happy
man. He has no quarrels on his hands. You cannot make him
quarrel. Though he be strong and active, yet he is incapable of
using his strength to injure his neighbor. Say a sharp, bitter
thing to him, and instead of feeling insulted, he will laugh it
off, and tell you to be good-natured, or will act as if _he_
had offended _you_. And the good, peaceable man is no
slanderer or tale-bearer. When he hears anything to his
neighbor's detriment he is sorry; he buries it in his kind heart,
and tries to forget it. If his friends quarrel among themselves,
he is the ready and successful peacemaker. If death, sickness, or
misfortune of any kind afflicts his neighbor, he is the kind and
skilful comforter. What do people think of such a man? Everybody
loves him. And is not that happiness? Why, if a dog loves you it
gives you joy, and the affection of many friends makes this world
a paradise. So the good, peaceable man has that element of a
lovely life and good days.
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I need not say that the good, peaceable man is happy in his
family. How children love a kind parent! How they enjoy home when
he is there, with his happy laugh and innocent jest! His wife is
proud of that husband, and blesses God for such a father for her
little ones. There is no bickering, jealousy, or ill-will in that
home, but charity and joy the whole year round.
And the good, peaceable man is happy in his own self-respect.
Without presumption he may say with the apostle: "I owe no man
anything." He owes no man any grudge. He has inflicted sorrow
upon no man. He has deprived no man of honor or of goods. He who
is not at war with his neighbor is at peace with himself. His
conscience is at peace, and a peaceful conscience is a soft
pillow. So that by his kind words and deeds he really loves his
life, as St. Peter says, and has provided himself with good days.
But besides all this, God watches over the good, peaceable man.
"He that loveth his neighbor hath fulfilled the law," says the
Scripture. Our Lord loves those who love his children, and he is
one who can make his friends happy. Did he not promise a reward
for even a cup of cold water? And are not kind words often of
more worth than bodily refreshment? God loves the good, peaceable
man, and the love of God is enough to make any one happy.
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So the next time you complain and say, "Oh! why am I so
miserable? what ails me or my family, or my neighbors, that I am
always in hot water, and can scarcely call one day in ten really
happy?" just ask yourself: "Am I a peaceable, good-natured man?"
Anger, hatred, and ill-will poison one's food as well as kill the
soul, disturb one's sleep as well as perplex the conscience. To
be happy you must be loved; and who will love one who hates? A
sour face, a bitter tongue, a bad heart, gain no friends. A harsh
voice, a cruel hand, a selfish heart, turn wife and child into
enemies. So the suspicious man is unhappy; he breeds treason and
jealousy among his friends. The touchy man is unhappy; you shun
his company, for you fear to offend him. The critical man is
unhappy; he is over-zealous about others and careless of himself.
And, brethren, I might continue the sad litany, and to every
unkind act, or thought, or word I could answer, it makes men
miserable.
Come, brethren, let us all try and be good-natured. Let us be so
for the love of our Lord, who made and loves us all, and died to
bind us all together in one happy household.
----------------------
{320}
_Sixth Sunday after Pentecost._
Epistle.
_Romans vi._ 3-11.
Brethren:
We all, who are baptized in Christ Jesus, are baptized in his
death. For we are buried together with him by baptism unto
death: that as Christ is risen from the dead by the glory of
the Father, so we also may walk in newness of life. For if we
have been planted together in the likeness of his death, in
like manner we shall be of his resurrection. Knowing this, that
our old man is crucified with him, that the body of sin may be
destroyed, and that we may serve sin no longer. For he that is
dead is justified from sin. Now if we be dead with Christ, we
believe that we shall live also together with Christ: knowing
that Christ rising again from the dead, dieth now no more,
death shall no more have dominion over him. For in that he died
to sin, he died once: but in that he liveth, he liveth unto
God. So do you also reckon yourselves to be dead indeed to sin,
but alive to God in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Gospel.
_St. Mark viii._ 1-9.
At that time:
When there was a great multitude with Jesus, and had nothing to
eat, calling his disciples together, he saith to them: I have
compassion on the multitude, for behold they have now been with
me three days, and have nothing to eat. And if I send them away
fasting to their own houses, they will faint in the way, for
some of them came from afar off. And his disciples answered
him: From whence can any one satisfy them here with bread in
the wilderness? And he asked them: How many loaves have ye? And
they said: Seven. And he commanded the people to sit down on
the ground, and taking the seven loaves, giving thanks, he
broke, and gave to his disciples to set before them, and they
sat them before the people.
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And they had a few little fishes, and he blessed them and
commanded them to be set before them. And they did eat and were
filled, and they took up that which was left of the fragments,
seven baskets. And they that had eaten were about four
thousand: and he sent them away.
-------------------
Sermon XCV.
_Taking the seven loaves, giving thanks,
he broke and gave to his disciples to set before them._
--St. Mark viii. 6.
On this and on other occasions our Lord Jesus Christ blessed the
food that was to be eaten. In imitation of his divine example we
are taught to give thanks and bless ourselves and our food at
meals. This pious practice is commonly called grace before and
after meat. The word "grace" is English for the Latin word
"_gratias_," which means thanks, taken from the thanksgiving
to be said after meals. There are two prayers to be said,
therefore: the first, a blessing to be invoked upon ourselves and
upon the food prepared; and the second, a thanksgiving to be said
after we have eaten it. The first is as follows: "Bless us, Lord,
and these thy gifts which we are about to receive from thy
bountiful hands, through Christ our Lord. Amen."
When we say the words, "Bless us, Lord," we should make the sign
of the cross on ourselves. When we say "These thy gifts," we
should make the sign of the cross over the table. The
thanksgiving is said thus: "We give thee thanks, Almighty God,
for all thy benefits, who livest and reignest for ever and ever.
Amen." And it is also proper to add: "May the souls of the
faithful departed, through the mercy of God, rest in peace." The
Catholic practice is also to say these prayers standing.
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In religious communities the blessing and grace are much longer,
consisting of versicles and sentences from Scripture appropriate
to the ecclesiastical season or festival; the Lord's Prayer is
said and the "Te Deum" is said.
This is a pious practice which ought to prevail in all Catholic
families. The children should be taught to do it from the time
they can bless themselves and lisp the words. Yes, everything we
eat and wear ought to be blessed first before we use it. The sign
of the cross and asking God's blessing is to acknowledge, as we
are in duty bound, the source of all that is given to us, and to
sanctify it to our own use, and also to make a good intention in
using it. To act otherwise--to hurry to table and eat and drink
without a thought of God or a word of religion, as I have seen so
many do--is to act like a heathen or a beast.
And this practice is not only for those who have a table set
before them supplied with every luxury in the way of food, but it
is especially good for those whose poverty compels them to sit
down to scanty and common meals. The rich certainly ought to
bless their bountifully-supplied tables, lest they prove to them
the dangerous occasion of intemperance and gluttony, but the poor
should remember the miracle of to-day's Gospel, when our Lord
blessed and gave thanks over seven loaves and a few little
fishes, and with that small store satisfied the hunger of four
thousand people. God is ever a kind, loving Father, and will not
forget the cry of those who put their trust in him.
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Such was the trust of the poor man who had nothing but a little
porridge to set before his family at dinner when he said: "God be
good to us, and make this trifle of porridge go far enough for a
poor man with a wife and seven children."
This makes me think of two classes of people who I wish could be
obliged to bless with the sign of the cross what they give and
receive as nourishment. I mean the liquor-seller and the
drunkard. The grocery-keeper, the butcher, the baker could do it,
and why not the liquor-seller? You know the result if they did;
the one would soon give up the business, and the other would soon
give up drinking.
But do not forget, as some do, to return thanks--to say the
_grace_ after meals. Thank God for what you have received
from his bounty. Again I say, act like a reasonable being and a
Christian in this, and not like a heathen or a beast. You who are
parents should see to the carrying out of this instruction. If
you have not done so yet, begin to-day. Let the father say the
prayer and make the sign of the cross over the table, and if one
of the children come late don't give him a morsel to eat till he
has said his blessing. In all things remember you are Christians,
"giving thanks always for all things in the name of our Lord
Jesus Christ to God and the Father."
----------------
Sermon XCVI.
_Know you not
that all we who are baptized in Christ Jesus
are baptized in his death._
--Romans vi. 3.
{324}
These are strong words, brethren, too strong, I fear, to be
accepted in their full meaning by many of us; for we are quite
too apt to mitigate the strong doctrine of Christ. Those great
maxims of penance, of poverty, of obedience, of perfection, which
the saints understood in their plain reality, we are very anxious
to understand in a figurative sense, or to apply to somebody else
besides our guilty selves. But let us look fairly and frankly at
these strong words of St. Paul. How are we baptized in Christ's
death? By being guilty of the sins which delivered him up to his
enemies. Did he not die on account of mortal sins, and have we
not committed mortal sins--violated God's most sacred
commandments, and done it often--and wilfully, and knowingly, and
habitually done it? Then the innocent blood of the Lamb of God is
upon our hands, and nothing but penance can ever wash it off. And
what sort of a penance? So thorough, so heartfelt, so practical
that the apostle says it must condemn and put us to death with
Christ; a penance so thorough that our Lord himself tells us that
it must produce a new being in us: "Unless a man be born again he
cannot enter into the kingdom of heaven." So you see that St.
Paul, in the words of our text, has given us the very charter of
Christian penance; just as he explains it a little further on:
"Knowing this, that our old man is crucified with Christ, that
the body of sin may be destroyed."
Behold, therefore, brethren, the plain statement of the greatest
of all the practical duties of the Christian; to make reparation
to God for his sins in union with the sufferings and death of
Jesus Christ. They tell us that our only hope of restored
innocence is in participation in the crucifixion--its shame, its
agony, and its death.
{325}
Oh! that we could fully realize the necessity of penance. Oh!
that the terrible form of Christ upon the cross could be ever in
our eyes as it is ever above our altars. Oh! that the awful cries
of Jesus' death agony could be ever sounding in our ears. Then we
should be Christians indeed. Then the profound hatred of sin, the
Christian duties of fasting and prayer, the holy offices of
helping the poor and instructing the ignorant, the devout
reception of God's grace in the sacraments; in a word, all the
yearly round of a good Catholic life would have its true meaning.
If we appreciated that Christ died for our sins, we should not
have to drag ourselves so reluctantly to confession, we should
not grumble at the fast of Lent, we should not strive to creep
out of the duty of paying our debt of penance to God by this or
that all too ready excuse, but we should take Christ for our
example and his cross for our standard, and long for stripes and
even death as the wages of sin. We should appreciate the wisdom
of what the old monk of the desert said to the novice when asked
for a motto: "Wherever you are, or whatever you are doing, say
often to yourself: I am a pilgrim." Yes, a pilgrim; a banished
son wearily waiting till his Father shall call him home; a
convicted traitor working out the years of his banishment. I
know, brethren, that this sounds like a melancholy doctrine. Yet
is it not true? And to know the truth is the first beginning of
peace in the heart. And listen to the joyful side. Hear it stated
by the apostle in this very epistle: "For if we have been planted
together in the likeness of his death, in like manner we shall be
of his resurrection."
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Yes; if we die to our old selves and to sin, we shall rise with
our Lord Jesus Christ to everlasting glory. He sprang forth from
the grave filled with joy, triumphing over sin; and so shall we
rise if we are buried with him in penance. And what is the
world's joy compared to the joy of paradise? What care we for a
few years of labor and waiting here, when we think of the
countless ages of the kingdom of heaven! You have heard,
brethren, that St. Peter of Alcantara led a very penitential
life; well, shortly after death he appeared to one of his friends
surrounded with heavenly light and his face beaming with joy, and
he exclaimed: "Oh! happy penance which has gained for me so great
a reward." Brethren, let us do penance while we can, and leave it
to a good God to provide us with happiness, and he will give us
joys which will never fade.
---------------
Sermon XCVII.
_That as Christ is risen from the dead
by the glory of the Father,
so we also may walk in newness of life._
--Romans vi. 4.