Jesus said to his disciples: Blessed are the eyes that see the
things which you see. For I say to you that many prophets and
kings have desired to see the things that you see, and have not
seen them: and to hear the things that you hear, and have not
heard them. And behold a certain lawyer stood up, tempting him,
and saying: Master, what must I do to possess eternal life? But
he said to him: What is written in the law? how readest thou?
He answering, said: "Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with thy
whole heart, and with thy whole soul, and with all thy
strength, and with all thy mind: and thy neighbor as thyself."
And he said to him: Thou hast answered right: this do, and thou
shalt live. But he, willing to justify himself, said to Jesus:
And who is my neighbor?
{376}
And Jesus answering, said: A certain man went down from
Jerusalem to Jericho, and fell among robbers, who also stripped
him, and having wounded him, went away, leaving him half dead.
And it happened that a certain priest went down the same way,
and seeing him, he passed by. In like manner also a Levite,
when he was near the place and saw him, passed by. But a
certain Samaritan being on his journey came near him; and
seeing him was moved with compassion. And going up to him,
bound up his wounds, pouring in oil and wine: and setting him
upon his own beast, brought him to an inn, and took care of
him. And the next day he took out two pence, and gave to the
host, and said: Take care of him: and whatsoever thou shalt
spend over and above, I at my return will repay thee. Which of
these three in thy opinion was neighbor to him that fell among
the robbers? But he said: He that showed mercy to him. And
Jesus said to him: Go and do thou in like manner.
-------------------
Sermon CXII.
_Which of these three in thy opinion
was neighbor to him that fell among the robbers?
But he said: He that showed mercy to him.
And Jesus said to him:
Go and do thou in like manner._
--St. Luke x. 36, 37.
You would not think it a compliment if one should say that you
were a bad neighbor, for that would mean that you were
quarrelsome and tale-bearing, that you kept late and noisy hours,
that you beat the neighbors' children; perhaps that you would
steal something, if you got the chance. So none of us would like
to be called a bad neighbor. But let us see how good a neighbor
we are, using our Blessed Lord's words read to-day as a text.
{377}
As we pass along the road of life here and there we see a
neighbor lying half dead. He is stricken down with sickness; his
body tormented with racking pains, burning with fever, and
perhaps deserted by all--not one left to give him a drink of cold
water. What kind of a neighbor are we to this poor brother of
ours? When we hear him moan and cry, and ask for a bite of
nourishing food, for a little money to buy some medicine, does
our heart soften towards him, do we kindly assist him, or do we
pass on as if we saw him not, hard of heart like the degraded
Jewish priest or the self-sufficient Levite?
And we come across many a poor creature who has fallen among the
worst kind of thieves--viz., those who have stripped him of his
good name. Alas! you are often forced to stand by and see and
hear your neighbor deprived of his reputation by scandal-mongers.
How do you act in that case? Does your heart burn with sympathy
for him? Do you raise your voice in his defence? Do you correct
your children when they engage in such talk? Do you turn out of
your house those notorious backbiters and tale-bearers of your
neighborhood when they begin their poisonous gossip? If you act
in this way you are a good neighbor, a good Samaritan to an
outraged and dying brother. But if you fail in this--if you hold
your peace when you could say a good word of praise or excuse; if
you permit those subject to you to talk ill of others; if you let
your house be made a gossip-shop--then, by your silence and your
consent, you are like the priest and Levite of this day's Gospel.
And if you join in backbiting, why you are worse yet; you are
yourself a robber of your neighbors dearest possession, his good
name.
{378}
But O my brethren! what lot so sad as that of the poor wretch who
has fallen into the clutches of Satan and his devils, who has
been robbed of God's very grace, his soul killed by mortal sin?
The ways of life are full of such poor sufferers. Oh! what pity
have you for the poor sinner? What prayers do you offer to God
for the conversion of the sinner? What warnings and exhortations
do you give him, especially if he be dear to you by ties of
blood? What example do you set him? I fear that some of us
despise the poor sinner, and feel quite too holy to seek him out,
to invite him to hear a sermon, to ask him to come and get the
pledge, to try and get him into good company.
Brethren, may God give us grace to be good Samaritans; to have a
tender heart and a generous hand for Christ's poor and sick and
outcast; to have a charitable word for the saving of our
neighbor's good name; and, above all, to be always ready to bind
up the spiritual wounds of the sinner by our prayers and example,
and to pour healing oil upon them by our exhortations!
Rev. Algernon A. Brown.
-----------------------
Sermon CXIII.
There are two opposite faults to both of which almost everybody
is more or less inclined. The first of these is meddling with
other people's business; the second is shirking one's own.
It is rather the second of these than the first which is rebuked
in the Gospel of to-day, in the persons of the priest and the
Levite who went by without helping the poor wounded man.
{379}
Now, in the first place, let me explain what I mean by shirking
one's own business or duties. It is not simply leaving them
undone and expecting that they will remain so; but it is putting
off what one ought to do one's self on to somebody else, and
expecting somebody else to do it for you. So it is, you see, just
the opposite of meddling, which is trying to do somebody else's
duty for him when he would prefer to do it himself.
Now, this shirking was just what the priest and Levite were
guilty of. I do not suppose that our Lord meant to describe them
as really hard-hearted men, willing to let the poor man die
rather than help him; but they said to themselves, "Oh! this is
not my business particularly; there are plenty of other people
passing along this road all the time, and I am a little hurried
now. I have got a deal to attend to, and there will be somebody
coming this way before long. Five minutes or so will not make
much difference; and perhaps there is not so much the matter with
the man after all. It may be his own fault. Very likely he has
been drinking. At any rate, he has got no special claim on me."
This is a very natural state of mind for a person to get into,
and how common it is, in such a case as this, we can see from the
common proverb that "everybody's business is nobody's business."
There are very many good works that really are everybody's
business, that everybody ought to do something towards at least,
but which are in great danger of not being done at all on account
of this habit of shirking which is so common. And the ones which
are most in this danger are those of the kind of which this
Gospel gives us an example; that is, works of charity toward our
neighbor.
{380}
People say to themselves, just as the priest and Levite did: "Oh!
there are plenty of other people that can attend to this matter a
great deal better and easier than I can. I am sure it will be
done somehow or other. Such things always are attended to. I
don't feel specially called on to help in it."
Well, this might be all very good, if those people did really
help in some things generously, and the case before them was one
of no very urgent need. Of course we cannot contribute to
everything. But the difficulty is that too often we find them
shirking, not occasionally, but all the time. If a poor man comes
to the door, or a collection is taken for the poor in the church,
they say to themselves: "The St. Vincent de Paul Society can look
out for those things; I am sure they must have money enough. I
shall do my duty if I put a few pennies in the poor-box now and
then." If contributions are called for in times of famine or
pestilence, they say: "There is plenty coming in to supply all
that is wanted; I can see that by the papers. They can get along
very well without me." And so it goes all the way through. They
do not give anything to anybody or do anything for anybody--that
is, nothing to speak of--without getting a return for it. They
will go to picnics, fairs, or amusements for a charitable object;
but when it comes to doing anything simply for the love of their
neighbor, that is left for somebody else.
Let us all, then, my brethren, examine ourselves on this point,
and resolve to amend and to do our fair share of the work of
charity, which is everybody's business; and not, like the priest
and the Levite, pass it on to the next man who comes along.
---------------------
{381}
Sermon CXIV.
_But he, willing to justify himself,
said to Jesus: And who is my neighbor?_
--St. Luke x. 29.
The lawyer of whom the Gospel tells us to-day, my brethren, seems
to have wanted to be excused from loving everybody, and to find
out just how far the circle of his affections must be extended;
or, at least, to get our Lord's opinion on that point. The
question which he asked was something like that of St. Peter when
he enquired how often he must forgive his brother; though I
hardly think the lawyer was as much in earnest as the great
Prince of the Apostles to know the answer.
Well, our Saviour, as you see, did not answer the question
directly, but told a story which is, or should be, familiar to
all of you: the story of the good Samaritan. He made the
Samaritan give his judgment on the point, and then approved that
judgment.
"Which of these three," he asked of the lawyer after telling him
the story, "was neighbor to him that fell among the robbers?"
That is, "Which of the three seems to have considered the poor
fellow to be his neighbor?" "The Samaritan," replied the lawyer,
of course, "because he showed love for him." "Very well, then,"
said our Lord, "adopt his opinion, for it is the right one. Go
and do thou in like manner."
And yet what reason had the Samaritan to consider this man to be
his neighbor? He must naturally have supposed him to be a Jew,
finding him so near to Jerusalem; and the Samaritans had no very
neighborly feeling toward the Jews.
{382}
The Samaritans and Jews were, in fact, very much like cats and
dogs to each other. You may read in the chapter of the Gospel
just preceding this how the inhabitants of a certain place in
Samaria would not let our Lord into it, simply because he seemed
to be going to Jerusalem; and in another of the towns of the
Samaritans a woman thought it strange that our Lord, being a Jew,
should even presume to ask her for a drink of water. And though
this was a good Samaritan who was passing over that road between
Jerusalem and Jericho, still he must have had some of the
feelings of his people.
The reason why the good Samaritan considered the man his neighbor
is, then, plain enough. If he regarded a Jew as his neighbor it
was because he regarded every one as such. That was the judgment
of his which our Divine Lord approved. Let there be no limit to
your charity. Love every one; that is the meaning of his command,
just as he told St. Peter to forgive any number of times.
But how few there are who obey this law of his! Some only care
for their relations or acquaintances, and regard the rest of the
world with the most supreme indifference. Others, on the
contrary, live in a perpetual quarrel with almost every one whom
they know, though very willing to be friendly with strangers.
Others stop at the limit of their own nation or race; a man who
is so unfortunate as to speak a foreign language or have a skin
somewhat darkly colored is quite beyond the reach of their
benevolence.
{383}
It is plain enough that this is all wrong. If we would be like
our Lord, and do as he commands, we must get over all these
feelings. Above all, we must sink for ever out of sight those
hateful standing quarrels which are more after the devil's own
heart than anything else which he finds in this world; we must
drop at once all that humbug about not wishing any harm to Mr.
and Mrs. So-and-so, but being never going to speak to them again.
It is not enough to wish no harm to any one; we must wish good to
every one, and try to do every one all the good that comes in our
way; make up our minds to feel kindly to every one, and to show
every one that we are willing and anxious to act as we feel. Of
course there must be degrees in affection; we are not required to
love every one as much as a father or mother, or a son or a
daughter; but that no one must be excluded from it; that we must
have a positive love for all; that it will not do even to pass by
with indifference a single one of our brethren, however seemingly
estranged from us--this is the lesson taught us by the parable of
the priest, the Levite, and the good Samaritan.
----------------------
{384}
_Thirteenth Sunday after Pentecost._
Epistle.
_Galatians iii._ 16-22.
Brethren:
To Abraham were the promises made, and to his seed. He saith
not, "And to his seeds," as of many; but as of one, "And to thy
seed," who is Christ. Now this I say, that the testament which
was confirmed by God, the law which was made after four hundred
and thirty years, doth not disannul, to make the promise of no
effect. For if the inheritance be of the law, it is no more of
promise. But God gave it to Abraham by promise. Why then was
the law? It was set because of transgressions, until the seed
should come, to whom he made the promise, being ordained by
angels in the hand of a mediator. Now, a mediator is not of
one: but God is one. Was the law then against the promises of
God? God forbid. For if there had been a law given which could
give life, verily justice should have been by the law. But the
Scripture hath concluded all under sin, that the promise by the
faith of Jesus Christ might be given to them that believe.
Gospel.
_St. Luke xvii._ 11-19.
At that time:
As Jesus was going to Jerusalem, he passed through the midst of
Samaria in Galilee. And as he entered into a certain town,
there met him ten men that were lepers, who stood afar off: and
lifted up their voice, saying: Jesus, master, have mercy on us.
And when he saw them, he said: Go, show yourselves to the
priests. And it came to pass that, as they went, they were
cleansed.
{385}
And one of them, when he saw that he was cleansed, went back,
with a loud voice glorifying God; and he fell on his face,
before his feet, giving thanks: and this was a Samaritan. And
Jesus answering, said; Were there not ten made clean? and where
are the nine? There is no one found to return and give glory to
God, but this stranger. And he said to him: Arise, go thy way,
for thy faith hath made thee whole.
---------------
Sermon CXV.
_And as he entered into a certain town,
there met him ten men that were lepers,
who stood afar off._
--St. Luke xvii. 12.
The leprosy is a most foul and loathsome disease which attacks
the skin and sometimes spreads itself over almost the entire
surface of the body. This pestilential disorder, besides the
intense suffering it must cause, renders its victim an object of
disgust and aversion to those around him. It seems to have been
very prevalent in the East in former times, and during the middle
ages it was quite common in Europe, where it was brought by the
Crusaders returning from the wars carried on for the possession
of the Holy Land. A man infected with leprosy was looked upon by
the state as dead, and hence the disease was called civil death.
The leper was cut off from all intercourse with his fellows, and
compelled to live alone or in the company of other lepers.
Leprosy, therefore, subjected a man to the most galling sort of
exile, since it forced him to part from home and friends, and to
tear asunder every tie which binds the heart of man to this earth
and to his fellow-men.
The holy Fathers have always regarded leprosy as a strong figure
of sin. Sin spreads itself over the soul as leprosy does over the
body, tainting and corrupting it, rendering it disgusting in the
sight of its Maker, and forcing him to separate it from himself
and the company of his angels and saints.
{386}
Sin, too, forces the soul into exile from God, its true home, and
severs all those endearing attachments which cluster round the
thought of home. In this sense all mortal sin is a spiritual
leprosy; but the one sin which deserves the name above all others
is the sin of impurity, because it defiles body and soul alike,
and is more infectious even than the ancient leprosy of the East.
Impurity not only reproduces its pestilential self, but has,
besides, the sickening power of engendering a horde of other
frightful maladies distinct from, and only less disgusting than,
itself. And yet, alas! impurity is now, as it was in the days of
Noe, the crying sin of the world; a sin that is foreign to no
class of society, to no order of civilization; a sin that each
individual has to take constant and wearisome precautions
against, if he would not be infected by its virus, which seems to
permeate the very air we breathe, and lurk unseen in the meat and
drink we take for the support of life.
St. Clement of Alexandria calls impurity the metropolis of vices,
by reason, doubtless, of the numberless other vices which are
born of it and make their home around it. This leprosy of the
soul, impurity, is worse than any leprosy of the body, inasmuch
as the death of the soul is an infinitely greater evil than that
of the body.
God has at times allowed some of his saints to experience
something of the foulness which the sin of impurity inflicts on
the soul of the one who commits it. So it was with St. Euthymius
and St. Catherine of Siena, who discovered impure persons by the
stench which emanated from their presence.
{387}
It were well, perhaps, if all innocent persons possessed this
rare gift of some of God's saints, for they might then easily
avoid contracting from others the foul leprosy of impurity. No
one, indeed, can look for a grace so extraordinary, but every one
who has charge of others, especially of the young, should take
every means suggested by wisdom and experience to preserve them
from contact with persons already infected with this vile
pestilence. A brief conversation with one badly tainted with the
leprosy of impurity is oftentimes enough to implant its seeds in
young and innocent hearts; and once the seeds are planted, they
are hardly, if ever, entirely uprooted.
Leprosy not only attacked persons, but was found also in garments
and in houses. So it is with the contagion of impurity, which not
only watches its victim from the muddy eye of the libertine, but
hides itself also in the folds of the lascivious dress, by which
it is scattered abroad, and clings like some noxious vapor to the
walls of houses where wanton deeds are done and loose language
spoken. From all such persons, and things, and places keep the
young and the innocent afar off. Let us remember that those only
who love cleanness of heart shall have the King of heaven for
their friend; and as we know from Holy Scripture that we cannot
be chaste unless God gives us power to be so, let us ask him
fervently and frequently for this most royal of all royal gifts,
the gift of purity. Let us put aside all pride of heart, which,
more than anything else, would provoke Almighty God to leave us
to our own weakness and folly. Impurity is the lewd daughter of
pride, while humility is the chaste mother of purity.
{388}
Finally, brethren, let us all listen to the exhortation of St.
Paul, and walk in the love of Christ, and let not fornication and
uncleanness be so much as named among us; nor obscenity, nor
foolish talking, nor scurrility, but rather giving of thanks
(Ephesians. v. 5-6).
Rev. Algernon A. Brown.
-------------------------
Sermon CXVI.
_And it came to pass,
as they went, they were cleansed._
--St. Luke xvii. 14.
You will find people who go to the sacraments pretty regularly
sometimes giving rather a strange excuse when they have been away
longer than usual. They will say, "My mind was upset," or "I had
a falling out with my neighbor"; and they seem to think that, of
course it was out of the question to go to confession till their
minds got right side up again, or till they were thoroughly at
peace with themselves and all the world.
And you will find people who do not go to the sacraments
regularly, who, in fact, have not been for a long time, and who
make a similar excuse for staying away--that is, that they are
not in good dispositions to receive absolution. These people also
think that they should not go to confession till in some way or
another they have got in good dispositions.
It is natural enough, perhaps, that both these kinds of people
should think as they do. They want, of course, to make a really
good confession. They would not like to receive absolution
feeling just as they do now; so they put it off till some time
when their dispositions will be improved; but they make a great
mistake, and lose a great deal of time by doing so.
{389}
The mistake which they make is in not understanding that the
preparation for confession which they could make with their
present dispositions is the best way for getting them into better
ones.
They might learn a salutary lesson from the Gospel of to-day. You
will have noticed, if you have listened to it carefully, that the
poor men whom our Lord cured were simply told by him to go and
show themselves to the priests, and that they set off, with the
defilement of the leprosy still upon them, to obey his commands.
They might very well have excused themselves by saying that they
were not fit to go before the priests; and it would have been
very true that they wore not. For, according to the law of the
Jews, it was only lepers who had already been cured who were to
show themselves to the priests; just as now it is only sinners
who are penitent who can ask for absolution. The priests of the
Old Law could not cure the leprosy, any more than those of the
New Law can absolve a sinner before he repents.
But, nevertheless, they went, though it seemed to be of no use
for them to go. And what happened to them on the road? Why, it
happened, as the Gospel tells us, that as they went they were
made clean.
Now, this, as I have said, has a lesson and a meaning for such as
now are laboring under any spiritual disease or disorder, be it
small or great, which is keeping them from the sacraments. The
remedy for them, as for these men of whose cure we read in this
Gospel, is to set out to show themselves to the priests; that is,
to prepare themselves for confession. If they do they also will
be cured on the way.
{390}
I will venture to say that if those Catholics throughout the
world who now feel themselves in any way indisposed for
absolution would go to a church at the next opportunity, kneel
down by a confessional, say a few prayers in earnest, examine
their consciences, and then go in when their turn should
come--and these are surely things that any one can do--far the
greater part of them would be in good dispositions for absolution
before it was time for the priest to give it. Some time, perhaps
when they were on the way to the church, perhaps when they were
kneeling and trying to prepare themselves, perhaps not till they
were telling their sins or receiving the priest's advice, but
some time or other the affection to sin or the temptation which
now disturbs the peace of their souls would be taken away.
Why, then, not try such a simple remedy? If you really want to
recover the health of your soul set out to make your confession,
to show yourself to the priest, whether you feel it or not. If
you will believe me, depend on it, it shall also be true for you
that your faith shall make you whole.
----------------------
Sermon CXVII.
_Were not ten made clean?
and where are the nine?_
--St. Luke xvii. 17.
How often, my brethren, has our Lord been obliged to ask this
question and to make this reproach! Times there have been when
your souls were suffering from the leprosy of sin, times when the
sight of your defilement, the pangs of a guilty conscience,
roused you to a sense of your unhappy state, and you have raised
your voice and cried out, "Jesus, Master, have mercy on me."
{391}
And he, who is goodness and compassion, has looked upon you, and
bid you show yourself to the priest, and you have been healed.
But have you followed the example of the one grateful leper--have
you gone back to thank him? Have you prostrated yourself before
him, mindful of the greatness of the favor, and in word and deed,
by fervent prayer, by humility, by a new life, shown your
gratitude? Or have you, like the nine, gone your way, thankful
indeed, but with a momentary, imperfect, unspoken gratitude,
because the greatness of the benefit was not dwelt upon?