cease not to pray for you, ... that you may walk worthy of God."
These words may, no doubt, be understood to mean that we should
live in such a way as to be worthy to receive God in his Real
Presence at the time of Holy Communion, and by his grace at all
times; and, finally, to receive him, and to be received by him,
in his eternal kingdom of glory. But there is another sense,
perhaps a more natural one, and certainly a more special one, in
which we may understand them.
{472}
This sense is, that we should live in a way worthy of, and
suitable to, the dignity and the favor which he has conferred
upon us, in making or considering us worthy, as the apostle goes
on to say, "to be partakers of the lot of the saints in
light"--that is in bringing us into, and making us members of,
his one, true, and Holy Catholic Church. In other words, that we
should behave in such a way as to be creditable to him and to his
holy church, to which we belong.
Now, this is a point the importance of which cannot be overrated,
and which we are too apt to forget. We lose sight of the fact
that the honor of God and of his church has been placed in our
hands, and confided to our charge; so that every sin which we
commit, besides its own proper malice, has the malice of an
indignity to the holy state to which we have been called. For
this reason, a sin committed by a Catholic is always greater than
the same sin committed by any one else; not only on account of
the greater grace and clearer light which he has received, but
also because God is more specially robbed of his honor by it.
You all see this plainly enough when it is a question of a sin
committed by one who has been called to the ecclesiastical or
religious state. If a priest or a religious is guilty of any
offence, though it be but a small one, you are scandalized by it,
not only because he ought to have been better able to avoid it,
but also because it dishonors God's choice of him to be a special
image in this world of his divine goodness.
{473}
But you forget that you also, merely because you are Catholics,
dishonor God, and bring him and his holy religion into contempt
by the sins which you commit. It is plain enough, however, that
you do, though in a somewhat less degree than those whom he has
more specially chosen.
And other people do not forget it, though you may. "Look at those
Catholics," the world outside is continually saying; "they may
belong to the true church, but they do not do much honor to it.
See how they drink, lie, and swear. If that is all the good it
does one to be a Catholic, I would rather take my chance of
saving my soul somewhere else than be reckoned among such
people."
Now, it is all very true that such talk as this is unjust and
unfair, and that the very persons who say such things may really
be much worse, at least considering their temptations, than those
whom they find fault with. But still they have a right to find
fault that those whom God has brought into the true church are
not evidently as much better as they ought to be, than those whom
he has not; and you cannot altogether blame them for finding
fault with him rather than with yourselves, and saying that this
Catholic Church of his is rather a poor instrument to save the
world with.
Remember then, my brethren, that a bad Catholic is a disgrace to
his church, and a dishonor to Almighty God, who founded it. A
story is told of a man who, when drunk, would deny that he was a
Catholic; he had the right feeling on this point, though he
committed a greater sin to save a less one. Imitate him, not in
denying your faith, but in taking care not to disgrace it; for
God will surely require of you an account, not only of your sins,
but also of the dishonor which they have brought on the holy name
by which you are called.
------------------
{474}
Sermon CXLII.
_As lightning cometh out of the east,
and appeareth even unto the west:
so shall also the coming of the Son of Man be._
--St. Matthew xxiv. 27.
These words of our Lord, my dear brethren, refer principally to
the general judgment, which will come suddenly upon all, at least
all of those who shall be alive at the time when it shall occur.
And he could not have used a more striking comparison to show how
sudden it will be; how it will take every one unawares, even of
those who will be expecting it. You know that when you watch the
flashes of lightning in a thunder-storm, though you are expecting
them all the time, yet each one takes you by surprise; you hardly
know that it has come till it has gone; you do not so much see it
as remember it. So it will be at the last and awful day; all at
once, without any warning, the heavens will open, and God will
come suddenly, not this time in mercy, but in justice; not to
save the world, but to judge it; there will be no time even for
an act of contrition, but as every one is then found, so will he
be for all eternity.
Probably you and I will not be in this world at the time of the
general judgment; it is most likely that we shall die before it
comes. We shall rise from our graves and be present at it, but we
shall have been already judged; so that it will not be by it that
we shall be saved or lost. But that judgment which we shall have
gone through will perhaps also have come on us suddenly; as
suddenly as the one on the last day. For it will come on us the
instant that our souls leave the body; the moment after we die we
shall appear before the throne of God to receive the sentence of
eternal salvation or condemnation. So it may surprise us at any
moment; for we may suddenly die.
{475}
There is not one of us here who has any certainty that he may not
before to-day's sun sets, nay, even this very hour or minute,
even before he can draw another breath, be standing before that
terrible judgment seat, and receiving that sentence from which
there is no appeal.
How often do we hear of people suddenly struck down by death
without a moment's warning; people who were promising themselves,
as you no doubt are promising yourselves, many more days to live.
They did not do anything, so far as we can see, to deserve such a
sudden blow; they were living lives no worse and no better than
those of others around them. "Those eighteen," says our Lord,
"upon whom the tower fell in Siloe, and slew them; think you that
they also were debtors--that is to say, sinners--above all the
men that dwelt in Jerusalem?" No, God calls us suddenly in this
way to show that he is the owner of our lives, that he has made
no promise to give any one of us a single moment beyond those
which he has already given.
But sudden death is not, we may say, any special visitation of
God. It is natural, not wonderful. If you could see the way in
which your own bodies are made, you would wonder not so much that
people die suddenly, but rather that they should die in any other
way. It is not more surprising that one should die suddenly than
that a watch should suddenly stop. The body is in many ways a
more delicate thing than a watch; and in its most delicate parts
the slightest thing out of order may be fatal. So we continue to
live rather by the special care which our Lord takes to preserve
our lives, than by any hold which our souls have on our bodies.
{476}
But you will say, "After all, father, very few really do die
suddenly, compared to those who have time to prepare." Well, it
is true that there are not many who pass instantly from full
health into the shadow of death; but if there were only one in a
million, is it not a terrible risk for one who is not prepared?
And, besides, in another way it is not true. For almost all die
sooner than they expect. All think, even when they have some
fatal illness, that they will have more time than is really to be
given them. Death, when it actually comes, is a surprise; for
every one, perhaps, the coming of the Son of Man is at the last
like the lightning; every one expects it, but not just then;
every one looks for a few moments more.
When you think of these things, my dear brethren, there is only
one reasonable resolution for you to make. It is to live in such
a way that you may be ready to die at any instant; to be like
those wise virgins of whom the Gospel of to-day's feast, the
feast of the glorious martyr St. Catherine, tells us, who had oil
in their lamps when the cry came at midnight: "Behold the
bridegroom cometh, go ye forth to meet him." To have the grace of
God, which is represented by that oil, always in the lamp of your
soul; to be always in the state of grace, never in that of sin;
for most assuredly that cry will come to each one of you, and
sooner than you think; and woe be to you if you are not prepared
when it shall sound in your ears!
----------------------