PO PULA R S E RMO NS

ON T HE C A T E C H IS M

F r om the Ge r m a n Qf

R EV A.
. HUBERT BA M BERG

Ed ite d by

REV HERBERT T HURST O N, S J

. .

V O LUME I
F A IT H

NEW YORK C INC INNA TI C HIC A GO

, ,

BENZ I G E R B R O T H E R S
P UB LI S HE RS O P
n i hil ® be t at .

1! m p r i m a t u r .

44 JO HN C A RD INA L FA RLE Y ,

NEW Y OR K A u g u st
, 31 , 1 9 1 4 .

C O P Y R IG HT ,
 PREFA C E

“
IF IT be generally admitted that the poet is
”
born and not made the same may be s aid with
,

hardly less truth of the teacher In the cas e of .

the teacher it is even harder perhaps to define , ,

in words what the precise quality is which makes

“ ”
the instruction bite which presents a new
,

idea with clearness and impres ses it indelibly

upon the memory By poetry w e are often daz
.

z l e d and awe struck

-

We are overwhelmed by an
.

aptnes s of phras e or by a metrical ski ll which im

presses us a s heav en inspired and of u n a pp r o a ch
-

able difli cu l ty But with teaching it is otherwise

. .

The art of the teacher is most effectively di s

played when his exposition appears to be the
easiest thing in the world Simplicity of lan .

guage lucidity of thought homely illustration

, , ,

all play their part but there is nothing which

,

does not s eem to be within the reach of the

humblest and least gifted A r s e s t ce la r e a r te m
’
.

i t i s a r t t o hi d e o n e s a r tfu ln e s s but genius has ,

no need to dis semble and it is in the spontaneity

of this n u d a s i m p li ci ta s that the in spiration of
the ho r n teacher stands revealed .

If I affirm then that the C atechetical D iscourses

, ,

of F ather Bamberg possess something of the

touch of genius it will be readily understood that
,

I do not mean that they are necessarily brilliant

in style or that they present any remarkable n o v
cl ty in substance or treatment N one the less it
.
,

3
 PR EFA CE

seems to me that they are quite admirable as

essays in popular instruction and that the ,

straightforward simplicity which is their most

,

conspicuous quality is ex alted by something in

,

the personality of the author and lifted above the

level of the trite or the commonplace The dis .

courses we are given to understand were origi

, ,

nally taken down by a stenographer in shorthand

’
and in spite of the author s revisions an d the
,

inevitable drawbacks of a translation they retain ,

much of the spirit and the familiar tone char

a ct e r i s t i c of such impromptu utterances Of .

cours e they are not all of equal merit In some

,
.

the preacher seems to have been in a specially

happy vein But nearly all are interesting
.
,

nearly all are clear in e x pres sion and animated

with a certain simple piety which strikes home ,

and there are none from which something which

is both instructive and helpful may not be
learned .

And this is the special utility of such a collee

tion of s ermons as the present They convey i n
.

struction of a most necessary kind Taken as a

‘

whole they present a practically complete pic

,

ture of Christian doctrine and practice s o far as ,

it is important that the laity should possess what

we may call a working kn owledge of C atholic
principles N o one who has acquainted himself
.

w ith the contents o f thes e volumes will be

ignorant of what it behooves him most to know ,

either for the s alvation of his o w n soul or to give

a reasonable account of the faith which is in him
when he is brought into contact wi th his non
C atholic neighbors .Such a man may not be
 PR EFA CE

learned but he kn o w s hi s r e lig i o n and he need

,

not be ashamed in matters of greater difficulty to

refer questioners to the clergy whose profession
,

it is to expound the doctrines of o u r faith .

F rom this point Of view it i s hoped that these

addresses may be of use to many classes o f per
sons some of whom read for their own in str u c
,

tion and others because they find them s erviceable

in imparting instruction to others There are I
.
,

v enture to s a y many congregations to whom it

,

would not be displeasing if s ome such cours e of

practical ex planations of the catechism as is out ,

lined here were to replace for a while the more

,

ornate and rhetorical discours es to which they

usually listen on Sundays It is perhaps one of
.

the most striking characteristics of F ather B am

’
berg s work that he is never content to impart the
dry bones of instruction without infusing into
them something of the s oul of piety .

HERBE R T T H UB S T ON , S J .
 C O NTENT S
S ERMO N I
ON T H E END OF MA N

S ER MO N II
FA I T H

S ERMO N III
HO L Y SC R I PT UR E

S ERMO N I V
T R ADI T I O N

S ERMO N V
T HE NE C E SS I T Y OF FA I T H

S ERMO N V I
T HE Q u A LI TIEs O F FA I T H

S ERMO N VII
T HE C ON FEs sm N O F OUR FA I T H

S ER MO N VIII
T HE ESS E N C E OF G O D

S ERMO N I X
T H E ET E RN I T Y A N D T HE UN C H A N GE ABL E N E SS OF
GOD

S ERMO N X
T HE O MN I P RE S E N C E OF G O D

S ER MO N XI
THE O MN I S C I E N C E OF G O D
 0 O N TENT S

S ERMO N X II
T HE W I S DO M OF G O D

S ERMO N XIII
T HE O MN I POT E N C E OF G O D

S ERMO N XIV
T HE HO LI N E SS OF G O D

S ERMO N XV
T HE J US T I C E OF G O D

S ERMO N X VI
T HE G OO D N E SS , ME R C Y, A N D P A T I E N C E OF G O D

S ERMO N X VII
T HE T RU T H F U L N E SS A N D FI DE LI T Y OF G O D

S ERMO N X VIII
T HE EX I S T E N C E OF G O D

S ERMO N XIX
T HE Ex I S TEN C E OF G O D

S ERMO N XX
T HE Ex I S TEN C E O F G OD

S ERMO N XX I
T HE Ex I S T ENC E O F G OD

S ERMO N XX II
T HE HO L Y T R I N I T Y
S ERMO N XX III
T HE HO L Y T R I N I T Y
S ERMO N XX I V
T HE C R E A T I O N O F T HE W O R L D
 C O NTENT S

S ER MO N XX V P AG E
THE P R E S E RVA T I O N AND G O V E RNM E N T OF T HE
WO RLD

S ER MO N XX VI
T HE PE RM I TT I N G OF EVI L

S ERMO N XX VII
S U FF E R I NG

S ERMO N XXVIII
T HE A N G E L S

S ERMO N XXI X
T HE A N G E L GU AR D I A N

S ERMO N XXX
T HE C R E A T I O N OF AD A M

S ER MO N XX XI
T HE C RE AT I O N OF EVE

S ERMO N XXX II
T HE EN DO W M E N T OF T HE FI RS T MA N

S ERMO N XXX III

T HE S IN OF OUR FI RS T PA RE N T S

S ERM O N XXXIV
O R I G I N A L S IN
S ERMO N XXX V
T HE PR O M I S E OF T HE S AV I O UR

S ERMO N XXX VI
T HE N A M E OF J E SUS f a x
W V “

S ERMO N XXX VII

JE SUS ,
T HE ME SS I A S
 C O NTENTS

S ERMO N XXX VIII

J E SUS C H R I S T, T RU E G O D

S ERMO N XXX I X
T HE I N C A RN A T I O N

S ER MO N XL
THE S U FF E R I N G S OF C H R I S T

S ERMO N XLI
T HE DE S C E N T OF C H R I S T I N TO HE LL

S ERMO N X LII
T H E RE SURRE CT I O N

S ERMO N X LIII
T HE RE SURRE CT I O N

S ERMO N X LIV
T HE A S C E NS I O N

S ERMO N XLV
T HE G E N E RA L J U D G M E N T

S ERMO N X LVI
T HE HOL Y G H O S T

S ERMO N X LV II
C O NC EPT I O N, D E FI N I T I O N, A N D O R IG I N OF T HE
C H UR C H

S ERMO N X LVIII
P E T E R T HE HE A D O F T HE C H UR C H

S ERMO N X LI X
T HE PO P E T HE S U C C E SS O R OF S T P E T E R
.
 C O NTENTS

S ER MO N L
T HE UN I T Y OF T HE C H UR C H A ND T HE MA RK S BY
WH I C H WE MA Y K N O W HER

S ERMO N LI
THE CA T H O LI C C H UR C H A S T HE T RU E C H UR C H

SERMO N LII
T HE EN D S A ND T HE EN D O W M E N T OF T HE C H URC H 38 1

S ERMO N LIII
T HE I N FA L LI BILI T Y OF CAT H O L I C T E A C H I N G

S ERMO N LIV
T HE C O M MUN I O N O F SA I N T S

S ERMO N LV
DEAT H

S ERMO N LV I
T HE RE SURR E CT I O N OF T HE BO DY

S ERMO N LVII
P UR GA T O R Y

S ER MO N LVIII
HE LL

S ERMO N LIX
HELL

S ERMO N
HEAVE N
 POPULAR
SERMONS ON THE CATECHISM
S E RM ON I
O n t he E nb of { Da n
Wha t do th i t pr ofit a m a n, i f he ga i n the w h o l e w or l d
a n d su fi er the l oss Of his own s ou l ? ( Ma t t xv i
. .

ll the help of the Holy Ghost to undertake a s e

our purpose from this day forward with
‘
T IS ,

ries of discourses which shall be devoted Sunday

by Sunday to the e xplanation of the catechism .

“
D o not s a y : We do not need an explanation of
”
the catechism That is for school children
. It .

is true that a s school children you have had the

catechism in your hands and have learned it by
,

heart and have had it explained to you But can

, .

you honestly s a y you have ever learned it tho

roughly or that you fully u nderstood the explana
,

tion given and that in the cours e o f years you

,

have forgotten nothing ? No one I thi nk can s a y , ,

this with truth ; but if any o n e could say s o we

S hould reply that there is nothing more useful
than to have these e x planations brought again
clearly and forcibly before our minds and as we ,

grow older to be helped to s e e their deeper and

wider meaning .

I
L et me , therefore , begin wi th
one of the very
first questions : Why did God make you ? This is
a most natural as well as a most important ques
13
14 P O P ULA R SER MO N S ON THE CA TE C HISM

tion Children when they s e e anyt hing n e w and

.

strange to them ask at once : What is it for ?

What are you going to do with it ? W hy do you
want it ? What is a knife for ? To cut with .

What is a pencil for ? T o write with Wh at i s a .

spoon for ? To eat with Is it not therefore very

.
, ,

natural to a sk : W hy am I in the world ? What

have I got to do here ? Wh at purp ose do I serve ?
On e would imagine that thoughts such a s thes e
must occur to every man as soon a s he is old
enough to reflect at al l The question is not o nly
.

natural but als o pre eminently important S o

,
-

long a s I do not understand the us e of a thing I

really know nex t to nothing about it Show a .

flute to a deaf and dumb man—h e has no know

ledge o f sound and the flute remains a riddle to
,

him because he can not un derstand the use to

,

which it is put A man who does not know for

.

what purpose he has been brought into this world

is an enigma to himself If he does not know what
.

his end is he can not possibly fulfil it A man who .

neither knows nor fulfils his end i s fundamentally

a failure A man who can not give a clear and
.

“
decisive answer to the question Why am I i n ,
”
this world ? even S hould he hav e counted the
-

stars and probed all the secrets of nature— knows

absolutely nothing .

L et us then look for an answer to this primary

, ,

and most important question : What is our end in

life ? We may help ourselves to get at the tru e
answer if w e determ i ne first what it is not Have
, , .

we power to choose it ? There are many things in

which choice is free : our dwelling place our busi -

ness our undertakings our j ourneys But can w e

, ,
.
 ON THE END O F MAN

choose in the s ame way what our last end is to

be ? Wh ether it S hall be high or low of the earth ,

earthy or s oaring above the stars ? N 0 that we ,

can not do A n d why not ? Because in this mat

.

ter w e are not our o w n masters If we wo ul d go .

to the root of the matter it is S imply b ecause we ,

are creatures .

The potter out o f w e t and plastic clay molds

a vas e When it i s fini shed to whom does it
belong ? Who is to decide its fate—whether it
.

shall be destroyed or preserved whether i t S hall be ,

put to noble o r base uses whether the potter shall ,

keep it for hi mself o r S hall s ell it or give it

, ,

away ? Al l this the potter himself must decide .

The v ase is his o w n work and belongs to him ,

.

Well n o w are w e ourselves the authors of our

, ,

o w n being ? O n the contrary o u r body and s oul ,

are the work of the almighty hand of God We .

are Hi s creat ures and entirely dependent upon

Him It is therefore not for us to decide what
.

our end in life is to be but for Him who is our ,

master A n d He ha s decided it He s ays of man

. .

“
kind : I have created him for M y glory ; I have
”
formed him and made hi m, ( Is xliii We . .
-

must therefore give glory to God with our

, ,

understanding by endeavoring to apprehend Him

,

and H is perfections Al l the powers of our so u l

.

and body must glorify Him by striving to do Hi s

holy will that is by keepin g Hi s commandm ents ;
, ,

we must als o work for Him by making Hi s glory

our highest aim and our greatest happines s We .

are in this world to kn ow God to love Hi m and , ,

to serve Hi m This is the end which God Himself

.

has appointed for us .

16 P O P ULA R SERMO N S ON THE CA TE CHI S M

M oreover ,the final end of man can not be found

o n earth for if it were then it would consist in
, , ,

s ome one or other of the goo d thi ngs of this

world No w what i s it that this world h a s to
Treasures riches poss essions —the lust
.

Ofi e r us ? , ,

o f the eyes C omfort pleasure amusement— the

.
, ,

In s t of the flesh Honors distinctions a great

name—the pride of life L et us pile all these
.
, ,

things together —although as a r ul e the pursuit

.

of one of them wi ll be found to exclude the others

—but even taking them all together could they ,

form our true and fin al end ? I sa y no they ,

could not and I hop e to pro v e thi s conclusively

,
.

The real end of man must be such that not only ,

a fe w but the greater number of mankind may be

,

able to reach it V ery well then ; suppose the

.
,

competition to begin Suppos e every one to give

.

hims elf up to the pursuit of wealth of money

’
and money s equivalents What is the result ? A.
, ,

few millionaires ; but from the beginnin g to the

end o f the world the maj ority of men will have to
scramble eve ry day for the crust of b read whi ch
keeps the wolf from the door Suppos e them all .

to run after pleasure and enj oyment A fe w may .

secure it but what of the sick the su fi e r in g the

, , ,

dying ? They can not possibly attain their end

if it consist in the j oys of this earth Suppos e .

every one to j oin in the race for worl dl y honors .

Ho w many are successful enough to be recog

n i z e d and acknowledged by the world to have a ,

monument rais ed to them to live in hi story ? O nly

,

a fe w a v ery fe w Take a palpable illustrati on of

,
.

this Ho w many thousands or even hundreds

.

of thousands have lived during the last t w o or

18 P O P ULA R SERMO N S ON THE C A TE CHI SM

vanity and vexation of spirit History recalls .

.

that Alexander the Great who while still a young

,

man had conquered half the world on co m i ng to ,

the shores of the s e a wept like a child W h y ? .

B ecaus e the se a s e t a boundary to his ambition

,

and because al l he had already acquired was not

enough to s atisfy him No this world is not big
.
,

enough to be the final end of an immortal s oul .

It would be an unworthy end and one which would

,

leave us no bette r off than the beasts It is only

’
.

thos e who assert that man s life ends with death

who can propo se earthly happiness as his goal .

The Holy Scriptures put into the mouths of cer

“
tain men words like these C ome therefore and
let us enj oy the good things that are present and ,

let us speedily us e the creatures as in youth L et .

us fill ourselves with costly wine and ointments ,

and let not the flower of the time pass by us L et .

us crown ourselves with roses before they be

withered ; let no meadow escape our riot L et none .

of us go without his part in luxury ; let us

everywhere leave tokens of j oy for this is our ,
”
portion and this our lot i e our goal or end
“

. . .
, ,

But who are they who speak s o ? Thos e who

as sert that the body returns to dust that the soul ,

dissolves into thin air that life melts away like a

,

mist a cloud a S hadow It is clear that those

’
.
, ,

who place men s goal here below must also deny

the existence of an eternal God and an immortal
s oul.

But just as it is true that G od exists and that

the s oul is imm ortal s o als o it is true that o u r
,

last end lies beyond this world and in God We .

are here on earth to know God to lo v e Him and , ,

 ON THE END O F MAN

to serve Him and by these means to reach heaven

,
.

To know God is the beginning of the way Hi s .

love and s ervice are the steps by which we plod

along the path which leads to the end T o be
‘

u nited to God to live wi th God by God in God

, , , ,

that is the end itself In this way God is glori .

fi e d and the creature made happy When w e con .

sider it in this light this world is not the end , ,

but the battle fi e l d where the Victory is won the

-

scene of ou r labors where the reward is earned ,

the road along whi ch we struggle until we come

to the goal .

II

We have been created to k now to love and serve ,

God in this world that we may be happy with Him

for ever in the next The terms of this answer .

recall the principal hea di ngs into which th e cate

chism is di v ided .

The first thing required to attain our end is to

kn ow God By reason and reflection we can come
.

to recognize the existence of a God just as we can ,

s e e the stars with the naked eye But if we want .

to k now the L ord our God Hi s perfections and Hi s ,

works more fu ll y a n d completely then just as an

.
,

astronomer makes use of the telescope to study

the fi r m a m e n t more closely s o must we accept
some extrinsic aid which is supplied by God s
,
’ ,

revelation about Himself F or this reason the .

first part of the catechism treats of faith .

In order to attain our end we must love and

s erve God We do this in s o far as we keep Hi s
.

comman dments The second part o f the cate

.

chism therefore deals with the C ommandments

, ,
.
20 P O P ULA R SERMO N S ON T HE CA TE C HI S M

But it is beyond our poor strength always and ,

under all circumstances to have perfect faith and ,

to keep the C ommandments To do this we need

’
.

the help of God s grace which we obtain chiefly

,

by prayer and the holy sacraments The third .

part of the catechism treats therefore of the

means of grace .

F aith the C ommandments and the M eans of

, ,

Grace are the headings of the three principal

,

divisions of the catechism with all of which we

,

must be well acquainted if we are to work o u t

our s alvation The catechism then contains the
.
, ,

three points which are of the highest importance

,

to us which we can never know and understand

,

too well and the meaning of which should be as

,
“
dear to u s as our eternal welfare What doth .

it profit a man if he gain the whole world and ,

”
suffer the los s of hi s o w n s oul ? What shall it
profit us indeed to know all the stars of heaven
, , ,

all the concerns of men all the secrets of nature

, ,

if we do not understand that which will lead us

to our end ?
L et us conclude with a prayer that God may
give to me the grace to instruct you rightly and ,

to you S O to receive these instructions that they

may help you to eternal salvation A m e n . .
 S E RM ON II
f a it h
He
”
ha th ca ll e d you ou t f da r k ness i nto His
o m a rv e l ou s
lig h t ( 1 P e ter ii .

ROM our consideration on the end of man which ,

was the theme of our instruction last Sunday ,

w e s a w that F aith the C ommandments and the , ,

M eans of Grace form the principal subj ect matter

,
-

of the catechism .

We propose in our discours e to —day to take the

first of these three div isions and with the help ,

of the Holy Ghost to consider it under two heads :

I The nature of faith
. .

II The obj ect of faith

. .

The catechism s eeks to define our conception

“ ”
of faith by asking What is faith and the a n , ,
“
swer runs : F aith is a theological virtue by which
w e firmly believe the truths which God has r e
”
vealed .

F aith therefore consists in believing E very

, ,
.

kind of human knowledge rests on a foundation

of belief in somethi ng but the question before us ,

is to di fferentiate betw e en k nowledge founded on

faith and every other kin d of human knowledge
,
.

A round us we see many different classes of o h

j e ct s animals plants minerals Am ong animals
, , , .

we distinguish the birds of the air the fish in ,

the s e a and all those brute beasts which live on

,
-

land In speakin g thus we are classifying them

.
,

21
22 P O P ULA R SERMO N S ON THE CA TE C HISM

according to the regions they inhabit A gain .

,

amongst the stars we have fixed stars which do ,

not move planets which revolve more or les s reg

, ,

u l a r l y round the sun and comets whos e orbit is

, ,

more uncertain N o w just as we clas sify those

.
,

things which are outside us s o must w e deal with

,

the things that are within us But on what lines .

is our classification to be made ? This I will e u

d e a v o r to S how In all knowledge something has
.

to be accepted as true That belongs to the very

.

nature of knowledge But for what reason is it

.

accepted as true ? If we keep that question well

before our mind it will give us the right basis upon
which to work .

When C olumbus and hi s companions after a

long voyage at last reached land and disembarked ,

in A merica for the first time they at that moment ,

certainly believed in the Ne w World They b e .

l i e v e d in it becaus e they had s een it with their

eyes and trodden it with their feet They trusted .

the evidence of their senses But C olumbus him.

self had been already long and firmly convinced

of the reality of its existence What had con .

v i n c e d him ? Ha d any one told him of it ? No

one The pos sibility of such a thing had barely
.

been surmised C olumbus from his o wn obs erva

.

tions had draw n his conclusions He had seen .

some strange flotsam brought in by the westerly

wind to the S hores of E urope pieces of wood curi,

ou sl y carved and of a kind hitherto unknown .

The se a could not have produced thes e he rea ,

s o n e d to himself ; the unfami liar wood must be

the product of some far o ff undiscovered country

-

whose inhabitants have done the carving In this .

way pondering over these pieces Of wood he
, ,

found evidence to persuade him of the existence

of America just as when we s e e smoke ascending
,

from a chimney we feel sure there is a fire burn

ing inside although we have not seen it But
,
.

to continue : Columbus with his companions r e

turned to E urope to the court of K ing F erdinand ,

and there to the amazement of all who heard them

, ,

they told of the wonderful country they had dis

covered o n the other S ide of the ocean and of ,

the strange varieties of plants animals and men , ,

they had found there N ow did F erdinand and

.
,

his court really credit all this ? C ertainly they

di d
. O n what grounds did they credit it ? They
had not like Christopher and his companions
, ,

seen it with their o w n eyes nor had they proved

, ,

as he had done the likelihood of its existence by

,

their o wn logical reasoning N ot at all Then . .

w hy did they as sume that it was all true ?

Becaus e C olumbus who w a s an honorable and
,

conscientious man bore witnes s to it with his

,

companions S O C olumbu s we observe had b e

.
, ,

li e v e d in America before s eeing it because he had

found evidence of its existence ; his companions
believed becaus e they had beheld it with their
o w n eyes ; and F erdinand and his court b e lieved

simmy on the testimony of C olumbus .

N ow I am able to S how you exactly in what

F aith consists In a strict and proper sens e we
.

have fa i th ,o n ly when we accept a s true something

'

we have néi th e r s een for ours elves nor deduced ,

from our o w n observations ; in other words when ,

we hold something to be true which another per

so n has told us a nd indeed because he ha s told
,
24 P O P ULA R S ERMO N S ON T HE CA T E C HI S M

us . T his
kind of knowledge which we get by rely
in g on the word of s ome one else figures very ,

largely more largely indeed than any other in the

, ,

su m total Of human learning Al l that we know .

of the past Of distant countries and people rests

, ,

on faith Ho w could children be educated unl es s

.

they accepted as true what their parents tell them ?

Ho w would pupils ever learn who refused to b e
lieve the word of their teacher ? Ho w could his
tory be written if we di d not admit the credibility
of earlier chroniclers ? Ho w could a judge come
to a decision unles s he trusted the testimony
given by witnesses under oath ?
I am saying then that one ki nd of human knowl
, ,

edge consists in believing what trustworthy people

have told us Here we have faith in the secular
.

sens e of the word F aith in the Christian sense

.

consists in our believing what the L ord God has

said or revealed to us And surely if it be in the .

nature of things to believe what people worthy

of confidence tell us h o w much more firmly more
, ,

un c ompromisingly more unswervingly may we

, ,

believe what God tells us F or God knows all .

things He is the very tru th w h o can neither

.
,

deceive nor be deceived It is on the eternal truth .

and infallible veracity of God and on Hi s infinite

holiness that we found our faith in all that He
“
tells us F aith therefore is a theological Virtue
.
, ,

by which we firm l y believe the truths which G o d

h a s revealed .

II

We n o w go on to a sk what are the propositions

or truths which we are bound to believe ? We are
bound to believe everything without exception that
26 P O PULA R SERMO N S ON T HE CA TE C HI SM

ask what is the subj ect matter of the truths r e

,
-

vealed to us by God ? They contain everythin g :

absolutely everything which we require to know l

for our eternal salvation O h what a multitude .
,

of great and weighty matters God has unfolded

to us concerning Himself and the Godhead Hi s ,

perfections Hi s works and the creation of the

,

world—things that the most perfect telescope ever

,

invented by man would fail to bring within the

—
range of human eyes the origin of our first
parents the beauty of their primary state their
, ,

first home i n Paradise— their temptation their ,

S i n and misery ! Then comes the human race with

the history of its many wanderings enter prises , ,

and retributions of the cho sen people of God their

, ,

patriarchs and prophets kings and judges and , , ,

finally their rej ection and downfall Above all

, .
,

w e learn of the life su fferings and gl ory o f Jesus

, ,

Christ the Son of God made man for us Hi s

, ,

apostles Hi s Church Hi s sacraments — the end of

, ,

the world the judgment and our own eternal

, ,

—
destiny heaven or hell .

O h what a multitude of divine truths the rev

,

elation o f God embraces ! Ho w it lights up the

past and radiates into the future ! Ho w much it
makes known to us which it would have baffled
all the discernment and wit of man to discover !
’
God s knowledge is infin ite He reveals to us .

many things which w e can not and never will

understand in this world and because Hi s wisdom , ,

surpasses ours in such an infinite degree we must ,

believe all He tells us and hold it to be true not

, ,

because w e u n d e r s ta nd i t but because an all holy

,
-

and omniscient God has revealed it to us This .

is the foundation on which w e Catholics build our
faith .

L et us thank the L ord our God who has called ,

“
us as St Peter says out of the darkness into
”—
, .
,

Hi s marvelous light o u t of unbelief which is ,

t r uly a groping in darknes s F or what does the .

unbeliever know either of where he came from

, ,

or whither he is going ? He is enveloped in a

gloom which all the electric light in the world be ,

it ever S O powerful i s unable to dispel ; he has

,

no as surance of what awaits him after death no ,

knowledge of the pitf al ls which lurk on the road ,

no conception of the fearful abys s of hell He i s .

blind in the light of day .

L et u s indeed thank God who has called us

, , ,

out of the darkness into Hi s wonderful light who ,

not only il lumi nes the way we have to go but in ,

Hi s merciful love treads it with us It is that .

s ame road on which mankin d had traveled since

the beginning of the world and will ever travel , ,

the very ground over which with i t s heights and ,

depths its hills and hollows its dangers and ulti

, ,

mate goal you yourselves each one o f you have

, , ,
.

to make your eart hl y pilgri mage .

“
We wi ll sa y with the Psalmist Thy word is .

”
a lamp to my feet and a light to my paths
( P s cxviii
. Y e s L ord faith wi ll be the
.
, ,

light to guide my feet on the long weary and , ,

thorny road that may perhaps still lie before me .

Grant that this light may never grow dim in my

heart but let it burn s o brightly that I may not
,

only kn ow the way but may walk in it ; may not

,

only s e e the dangers but may shu n them ; that I

,

may not only recognize the goal but may attain

it —
,

life everlasting Amen . .

 S E RM ON III
b o lg S cr i p t u re
“
A ll scr i p tu r e i n spi r e d o
f Go d is pr ofita b l e to tea ch
(2 Tim . ii i .

W is a theological Virtue by which w e firmly

s een that faith in the Christian sense
E H AV E

believe the tru ths which God has revealed God s ’ .

revelations to man were made under the O ld La w

through the patriarchs and prophets and under ,

the Ne w La w through Jesus Christ and Hi s apos

tles But the age of the patriarchs and the
.

prophets the days of Christ and Hi s apostles

, ,

have long S ince past away Whole centuries and .

,

even many centuries have elapsed S ince then ,

.

Where are w e now to look if we want to find

’
God s revelation or in other words h o w shall we
, ,

be able to kn ow the things which we must believe ?

I answer that divine revelation is contained partly
in the Bible and partly in the teaching of tradi
,

tion Hence it reaches us through t w o channels ;

.
,

that portion which i s written comes to us through

Holy Scripture and on the other hand those, , ,

t r uths not recorded in writing are preserved for

us by the verbally transmitted traditions of the
Church .

In our discours e to day we will concern our -

s elves only with Holy Scripture and under the ,

guidance o f the Holy Ghost we will consider ,

I What Holy Scripture i s

. .

II Ho w i s it divide d ?
.
 HO L Y S C RIPT URE

Wh at then is Holy Scripture ? By Holy Scrip

, ,

ture we mean those books which have been writ

ten under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit and ,

which are recognized by the Church as contain

ing the word of God .

The Holy Scripture therefore is not a single , ,

book written in one and the same language by ,

one individual author No it is made up of a .

,

multitude of books and of books di ffering very ,

widely in character S ome are by M oses some .

,

by S amuel D avid and Solomon and other dif

, , ,

fe r e n t prophets and their disciples F rom this .

great diversity it is apparent that thes e di fi e r e n t

books can neither have been written at the s ame
time nor in the s ame country nor in the same
, ,

tongue The earliest book of Holy Scripture

.
,

namely Genesis the first book of M oses was writ

, , ,

ten more than fifteen hundred years before Christ ;

and the last the Apocalypse of St John was com
,
.
,

posed nearly a hundred years after Christ ; so

that from first to last we get a period of S ix teen
hundred years M ost of the O ld T estament w a s
.

originally in Hebrew and the greater part of the ,

Ne w Testament was written in Greek The con .

tents o f these different books are very various .

Some relate Bible history others consist of ,

proverbs and sayings others contain canticles , ,

warnings and admonitions ; some are concerned

,

with the past others again with the future S o

,
.

we have a number of books written by di fi e r e nt ,

people in various places and languages and very

, ,

unl ike each other as to th e i r si z e and contents

'

But you will a sk why S hould they all be clas sed

, ,
30 P O P ULA R SERMO N S ON T HE CA TE C HI SM

together be treated a s making up one whole and

, ,

called the Book of B ooks the Holy Bible ? They ,

are bound up a s one and the s ame volume read ,

and expounded as one Why ? Becaus e although .

s o di fferent they are in one particular all the

s ame .Pre eminent among all books that e x ist or

-

ever have e x isted or ever will exist written by

, ,

men for men and in human language still they

, ,

are to be distinguished from all others because ,

they are the outcome of the direct inspiration of

the Holy Ghost The holy men who wrote them
.

were inspired to do so by the Holy Spirit w h o ,

enlightened and instructed them in what they

wrote and who pres erved them from all error
, .

These books are really divine in the fulles t sense

of the word for they have their origin in the
,

min d of God If I were to take a lad and urge

.

him to write something and egg him on and if , ,

into the bargain I were to S ketch out for him

what he w a s to write and then to stay by ,

him to save him from any possible mistakes

, ,

the document when finished although in the

’
boy s handwriting would in reality be my ,
,

work .

Therefore the di fferent books of the Bible are

,

all alike in this that they are all written under

,
'

the inspiration of the Holy Ghost But that is .

—
not their only distinguishing mark there is a n
other point of similarity between them— they are
all recognized by the Church to be the word o f
Go d L et us suppose that a book is written a
.
,

good pious work and the author claims to have

,

composed it under the inspiration of God IS that .

su ffi cient to constitute it part of Holy Scripture ?

 HO L Y S C RIAT URE

N ot at all ; if that were the Holy Scripturesso ,

would increase in bulk day by day and nobody ,

could s a y where they would end We must have

’
.

a reliable witnes s to testify to God s word and

tell u s where to find it and such a witnes s is ,

the Church An illustration may help to make

.

my meaning clear .

A rich man dies leaving an immense fort u ne but ,

no children to inherit it To whom is it to go ? .

That must depend entirely must it not o n what , ,

is in the will ? A will is found but is it a valid ,

will ? That again depends on the signature .

C ertainl y ; but the signature is foun d to be there

in due order ; n o w everything woul d seem to be
plain s ailin g N o we still have to inquire if the
.
,

signature is genuine O h ! surely it i s ; it is his

.

o wn hand and exactly his way of writing his name .

That may be but forgers we kn ow can imitate

, , ,

handwriting most accurately No w ho w is any .

,

one to prove whether the signature is genuine or

not ? F rom the will ? But the validity o f the
will is exactly what is in question F rom the .

deceas ed himself ? But he i s dead Ho w then ? .

By means of witnes ses D id the deceased in his

.

lifetime read o v er hi s will to any friends o r S ign

it in their presence o r has he left any kind of
,

formal record which woul d go to establish the

authenticity of the signature ? If s o there is no ,

di ffi culty at all for witnesses are forthcoming to

,

testify to its genuinenes s In this very s ame way .

the Church bears testimony that the books which

make up the H oly Scriptures contain the word of
God By Holy Scripture therefore we mean
.
, ,

thos e books which have been written under the

32 P O P ULA R SER MO N S ON T HE CA TE CHI S M

direct inspiration of the Holy Ghost and ,

w hich
the Church testifies to be the word of God .

No w let us go on to consider how the Scriptures

are divided Into h o w many parts ? The Scrip
.

tures are di vided in to the O ld and the N ew Testa ~

“ ”
ment The word T estament signifies a com
.

pact o r covenant B efore the coming o f Christ

.

God made a covenant with the patriarchs and ,

later on with the people of Israel That was the .

covenant of the O ld L aw and the books in which,

it is set forth are called the O ld T estament But .

through Jesus Christ God made a n e w and more

merciful covenant with mankind and the history ,

of this n e w covenant is called the Ne w Testament .

If we open the O ld Testament we S hall find

twenty one books relating to Bible history ; s even
-

books containing moral teaching and s eventeen ,

books Of prophecy The five books o f M oses for

.
,

instance and the books of K ings contain the Bible

,

history ; the P salms Proverbs and th e B ook of

, ,

Wis dom moral principles ; and the books of Isaias

, ,

J e r e m i a s E zechiel and D aniel the prophecies

, , , .

The Ne w Testament consists of the four Gos

pels according to M atthew M ark L uke and , , ,

John ; the A cts of the Apostles written by St .

L uke ; the fourteen epistles of St P aul addressed .

to di fferent communities and to a fe w private ,

individuals ; and the s even epistles of the other

apostles : one of St James tw o of St Peter three
.
, .
,

of St John and one of St Jude ; and finally the

.
, .
, ,

Apocalyp se of St John . .

The four Gospels are placed rightly quite at the

34 P O P ULA R SERMO NS ON THE C A TE CHI SM

It i s s aid that thes e four signs are taken from

the Vision of the prophet E zechiel before the
throne of God where he s a w the four living
,

creatures : An d as for the likeness of their faces ;

‘

there w a s the face of a m a n and the face of a

lion on the right side of all the four ; and the face
of an ox o n the left side of all the four and the ,
”
face of an eagle over all the four ( E s cch i . .

“
A nd further on he s ays whither the impulse of,
”
the spirit was to go , thither they went
( E e e ch i
. .

It needs no great stretch of the im agination to

apply this as being a typ e Of the four E vangelists
in whom the S pirit of God worked and inspired ,

them in the writing of their Gospels ; and on the

feasts of the E vangelists the Church has no doubt ,

with a purpose ordained these portions of

,

E zechiel to be read Without in any way reject .

ing this interpretation there is another suggestive,

ex planation attached to these emblems by St .

Jerome He considers them to have reference to

.

the beginning of each of the four Gospels The .

Gospel of St M atthew begins with the birth of

.

Christ an infant in the manger s o St M atthew

, , .

i s k no Wn by the face of the man child St M ark -

. .

begins with the sermon of St John in the desert .

,
“ ”
The voice of one crying in the wildernes s It .

is the lion who raises his voice in the wildernes s

in such an a w e inspiring way so St M ark s
-
’ ,
.

symbol is the lion St L uke begins with the s a c

. .

r i fi ce of Z acharias ; therefore beside St L uke w e .

have the ox which w a s the most frequently us ed

,

as a sacrifice St John opens his Gospel by rais

. .

ing us up from this eart h to heaven from time to ,

 HO L Y S CRIPT URE

eternity to the begetting of the E ternal S on by

,
“
the F ather In the beginning w a s the word and
.

”
the word w a s with God and the word w a s God .

L ike the eagle who by a fe w strokes of his wings

, , ,

leaves this earth and soars beyond the clouds into

the immeasurable heights of the fi r m a m e n t St ,
.

John in a word or tw o transports us into

, ,

eternity S o he is symbolized by the eagle

. .

But what we specially se t out to consider in r e

lation to the Holy Scriptures their substance and ,

their various parts is their relation to God They

,
.

contai n the revelation of God and for this reason

their every word and phras e is to be held in r e v
erence This lesson is taught us by the Church
.
,

both by the solemn incensing of the book before

the S inging of the Gospel and by the rubric that ,

in every M ass before he reads it the priest shall

, ,
“
s a y this special prayer Cleanse my heart and,

my lips O almighty God who didst cleanse the lips

, ,

of the prophet Isaias with a burning coal that I ,

may worthily and in a becomi ng manner proclaim

Thy Holy Gospel ”
The faithful als o as a token
’
.
, ,

of reverence for God s word rise up and S ign , ,

forehead mouth and breast with the S ign of the

, , ,

cross to S how that they receive it with their mind

, ,

confess it with their lips and love it with their ,

heart The Holy Scriptures used to be written

.

in letters of gold and silver and bound in a gold ,

and silver cover inlaid with ivory and s e t with

,

precious stones ; s o great w a s the reverence felt

’
for God s word M any o f the martyrs shed their
.

blood to s ave the Holy Books from falling into

the hands of the heathen St Charles Borromeo . .

never read them but on his kn ees and many holy ,

36 P O P ULA R SERMO N S ON THE CA TE CHI SM

men have spent their entire lives in studyin g

them meditating upon them translating expound
, , ,

ing and defending them Is it too much to a sk

, .

of Christians that they shall never in any way

profane these holy words or u se them lightly or
,
“
irreverently for oath or j est ? Al l Scripture in
”
spired of God is profitable to teach ( 2 Ti m .

A men .
 S E RM ON IV
E r a b it i on
Th er efor e b r e thr en
, ,
s ta n d fast a nd ho l d the tr a di ti ons
w hi ch you ha v e l ea r n e d w he ther
, by ou r w or d or by ou r
,

l
ep is t e ( 2 T h ess i i
. .

G channels : the Holy Scriptures and the v e r

EErevelation of God reaches us through tw o

bally transmitted tradition of the Church We .

have just seen in what Holy Scripture consists

that it is composed O f a number of books which
are of di fferent kinds but whi ch have all t w o
,

important features in common— the first that they

are written under the inspiration of the Holy
Ghost and the second that they are recogni zed by
,

the Church a s being the word of God The whole .

of Holy Scripture is comprised in the O ld and

the Ne w Testaments There can be no question.

that w e must believe Holy Scripture—i t contains

the word of God But we might ask is that not
.
, ,

enough ? The C atholic Church s ays no that is ,

not enough ; we must also believe the teaching of

tradition F rom this arise tw o questions which
.

with the help of the Holy Spirit w e will endeavor

to answer
I Wh at is tradition ?
.

II W hy must w e believe its teaching ?

.

I
What do we understand by tradition ? By tra
dition we understand those revealed truths which
37
38 P O P ULA R SERMO NS ON THE C A TE CHI SM

were taught by the apostles but of which they ,

left no written record .

Tradition therefore consists of revealed truths ,

that means t r uths revealed by God In this r e .

S pect it may be considered in the same light as

Holy Scripture which also consists of truths r e
,

vealed by God Where then lies the difference

.
, ,

between Scripture and tradition ? Holy Scripture

’
does not contain all God s revealed truths but ,

only thos e which under the O ld L aw and later on

were preserved in writing by the apostles N either .

does tradition contain all the truths revealed by

God but only thos e which though taught by the
, ,

apostles were never by them comm itted to writ

,

ing— b r i e fly the Scripture is the written and tra

,

dition the unwritten word of God Taken to .

gether Scripture and tradition contain the whole

,
’
treasure of God s revelation the entire word of ,

God They hang together and supplement each

.

other ; they mutually e x plain one another what ,

is obscure in the o n e becoming clear in the other .

It is a simple matter to trace h o w tradition grew

up quite naturally F or three years our blessed
.

S aviour preached almost without intermission .

A re we to suppos e that everything He said w a s

compressed into the four Gospels which can
easily be read through in a fe w hours ? IS it
probable that Hi s every word w a s written down ,

when numbers of Hi s miracles were left u n r e

corded ? S t John tells us at the end of his Gos
.

pel But there are many other things which Jesus

,

did which if they were written every one the

, ,

world itself I think would not be able to contain

”
the books that S hould be written ( Jo hn xx i .
 TRA D ITI O N

Can w e conceive the apostles allowing a portion

’
of O ur L ord s teaching to escape their memory ,

or their deliberately passing over both in their

teaching and in their writings a great part of
those things which they recollected O ur L ord to
have said and done ? The one is not pos sible for ,

O ur L ord pro m ised that the Holy Ghost would

“

bring to your minds whatsoever I shall have s aid

”
to you ; and to entertain the idea of the other
woul d be sheer blasphemy So it resolves itself
.

into this : our Saviour di d and said many things

which are not written in Scripture but which the,

apostles proclaimed by word of mouth and

preached and that in this w a y an unwritten tra
,

dition sprang up When we S peak of an unwrit

.

ten tradition however w e do not mean that wha t

, ,

belongs to tradition has never at any time been

written down ; tradition has been put on record ,

o nl y not by the apostles and not in the writings

of H oly Scripture F or thi s reason it i s call ed
.

the unwritten word of God .

The answer to our s econd question—why must

the teaching of tradition be believed as fully and
firm l y a s that of Holy Scripture—i s not hard to
find O n what grounds do we believe the Scrip
.

tures ? Is it on account of their being in writing ?

N ot in the least but because they are the word
,
’
of God Well if tradition be als o God s word it
.
,

must be believed just a s firmly as what is written .

This reason is so simple yet s o forcible that for

, ,

many hundreds of years the authority of tradi

tion w a s never called into question It was not .
40 P O P ULA R SERMO NS ON T HE CA TE CHI SM

until the six teenth century that the great schism

arose the leaders of which however much they
, ,

contra di cted each other on other subj ects agreed ,

in rejectin g tradition Christians were to believe

.

what the Bible taught and everything for which

,

they could not find chapter and verse they were

free to put aside as the invention of man Sacra .

ments dogma instruction or teaching not to

, , ,

be found in the Bible they threw over The pro .

pounders of this heresy by acting in this way

rem i nd one of the man w ho declared the only
neces sary part of his house to be the bricks S O ,

he p r oceeded to get rid of the w indows and doors ,

to tear OR the ro of and remove the staircase

, ,

till the hous e at last became uninh abitable and

fell in.

F urther than this this teachin g contradicts

,

( a ) History F rom when do we consider the

.

Church dates i ts existence ? It might be said to

have sprung into life when our S av iour chose Hi s
twelve apostles or when He called Peter to be
,

the head of it Any one who looks upon these

.
-

dates as being too early must admit it at the

latest to have been in e xistence at Pentecost ,

when St Peter preached and converted and bap

.

tiz e d souls I think there can be no doubt

.

that the first congregation founded and taught by

St Peter pos ses sed the truth in all its fulness and
.

purity No w did thes e early Christians accept

.

only what they found in the Scriptures ? Think

well over your answer ; remember not a word of
the Ne w T estament had then been written neither ,

Gospels nor E pistles IS it not obvious that they

.

must have believed more than w a s written in the

42 P O P ULA R SERMO NS ON THE C A TE CHI SM

hearted manner What St Jude wrote would not

. .

fill more than a medium sized sheet of paper ; St -

Peter wrote but two epistles St James but one

’
.
, .

C an this be regarded a s a fulfil ment of their life s

work ?
( c ) Those who rej ect tradition are at v ariance
with the Scriptures themselves F or if Christian .

belief is to have as its s ole foundation the words

of Holy Scripture nothing more nor less then we
, ,

should ex pect instructions to that e ffect to be

clearly conveyed in Holy Writ We find on the .
,

contrary nothing of the ki nd ; St Paul s ays

, .

Therefore brethren S tand fast and hold the tra

, ,

d i t i o n s which you have learnt whether by word

”
or by o u r epistle ( 2 T h e s s ii They were . .

to stand fast and hold what they had learned !

Wh at had they learned ? St Paul had instructed .

them both by his preaching and by hi s epistles ;

so evidently they were enj oined to hold to both
, , ,

and to believe the spoken word as firm l y as the

w ritten teaching .

( d ) But even yet we have not quite finished

, ,
.

Whoever asserts that though we are bound to

believe all that was written in the Scriptures we ,

are free to rej ect what tradition teaches will soon ,

go a step further and discard the Scriptures them

selves We should like to know h o w the followi ng
.

question is to be met ? U pon what authority do

we accept the Scriptures ? N ot upon their o w n
authority but upon that of tradition It i s tradi
,
.

tion which tells us what is to be accounted Scrip

ture and what is not It is tradition which stands
.

pledged that these books have weathered the

storms of so many hundreds of years and passed ,
 T RA D ITI O N

through so many di fi e r e nt hands without having

su ffered either change or falsification curtailment , ,

or interpolation And finally what key do we

.
, ,

possess to the meaning of Holy Scripture for ,

without explanation it is a dead letter a book from ,

which w e can gather no account of its origin its ,

antiquity its signifi cance whos e leaves are so to

, , ,

speak blown about by every breeze and to no

, ,

purpose But united to the teaching of tra di tion

.
, ,

what does it become ? A treasure of priceles s

worth the breath Of the Holy Spirit ; given by the
,

Holy Spirit to that Church of whi ch He i s himself

the guide ; and by her defended protected and , ,

guarded .

We are bound therefore to believe both the

, ,

written word of God contained in Holy Scripture ,

and also the verbally transmitted truths which

make up tradition s o far at least as the Holy
,

C atholic Church proposes them to our belief .

 S E RM ON V
t hen ece ss ity ; of f a i t h
f th i t is i m p oss i b l e to p l ease God ( He b
”
Wi thou t a i .

xi .

if lieve the truths which God has revealed

is a divi ne Vi rtue by which we firm l y b e
A IT H

These revelations we find in Holy Scripture and ,

in the verbally transmitted tradition Of the

Church or in other words in the written and
, , ,

unwritten word of G od We have reached s o far .

in our instructions .

The nex t point i s to consider the ne cessity of

faith Is faith necessary for mankind ? To that
.

question we reply : Y e s faith is neces s ary for ,

mank ind and we will go further and a d d that it

,

is also a s ource of happin ess We propose with .

,

the help of the Holy Ghost to exam ine briefly ,

thes e tw o statements .

I
F aith is necess ary , but to what end ? Certainly ,

in order to lead a co m fortable and enj oyable life

faith is not only unneces sary but it i s a positive ,

hindrance and drawback It is with regard to .

eternal life if we wish to save our s ouls that

, ,

faith is neces sary But we ask h o w far is it

.
, ,

necessary ? F aith is s o indispensably necessary

that just as w e must have air in order to breathe
and nothing in the world can supply the need of
it so if we wish to be s aved we must have faith
, , ,
.

44
 THE NE CE SS IT Y OF FA ITH

But what grounds hav e w e for representing

,

faith as so imperatively essential to s alvation ? It

must su fli ce that our S aviour Himself spoke in
the most decisive way of the necessity of faith .

“
He that beli eveth not S hall be condemned and ”
, ,

again He that believeth not is already judged

,
“ ”
.

Why should he be already judged ? Because n u ,

belief is in its elf a sin so grievous that it i s alone

su fli ci e n t to condemn a soul There i s no gain
’
.

saying O ur L ord s o w n words By their sin our .

first parents lost for themselves and their d e

sce n d a n t s the grace of God and their right to
etern al life They were already judged—all were
.

children of w rath Then our Saviour came and

.

by Hi s su fi e r in g s and death opened once more for

u s the source of g race and the gate of heaven He .

reversed s o to speak the judgment prono u nce d

, ,

upon us But in order to participate in this merci

.
,

ful sentence w e must keep ourselves in close union

with our S aviour and the first connecting link in
,

the chain is to believe in H im Hi s work s Hi s , ,

merits and Hi s Church Th erefore the unbe

,
.
,

liev er remains still under the ban pronounced by

God in P aradi se and is a lready judged St
, . .

P aul confi rms this statement of O ur L ord when

“
he says Without faith it is impos sible to please
”
God .

In the face of these very clear grave and u n , ,

equiv ocal statements made by our Saviour and

Hi s apostles the objections brought against the
,

necessity of faith for salvation by unbelievers or ,

tho se who are lu kewarm and i n di fi e r e nt can ,

carry but little weight But let us s e e what they

’
.
,
“
advance against it Th ey sa y . A man s life is
46 P O P ULA R SE R MO N S ON THE CA TE CHIS M

of more importance than what he believes It is .

quite possible to lead a good l ife without faith .

”
An unbeliever can be an honorable man L et us .

sift this argument .

What do we mean by leading a good life ? I

suppos e it means doing our duty Well certainly .
, ,

there have been many unbelievers who have faith

fully acquitted thems elves Of all their responsi
b ili ti e s toward their fellow men who did not mur
-

der or comm i t adul tery or steal neither did they

, , ,

lie nor break their word nor calumniate others .

Though unbelievers they are thoroughly honor

,

able men in the eyes of the world But does a .

man o w e no duty to God ? In the ten command

ments the duties of man toward God Hims elf are
given the first place F or a s truly as God exists
.

and we are Hi s creatures so truly are we sub ,

j e ct to Hi m and
,
H e can not Himself without
stultifying Hi s o w n word release us from this
subj ection and dependence Wh at remains then
’ ,
.
,

for a man to do in the face of Go d s clearly ex

pres sed and co nfi rmed statement but to accept ,

and believe H is word ; and if he refus e to believe

he o ffends God and denies Hi s truth ; he sins —h e
,

violate s his primary and most es senti al duty and ,

though to the world he may pas s as a man Of

honor he does not deceive the eye of God .

M oreover it is greatly to be doubted whether

,

an unbeliever can be expected to be always faith

ful to his duty under all circumstances when it
happens to be of a painful nature Ho w will he .

act when no eye see s him when considerations of

,

honor name or public opin ion are not at stake ;

, ,

when there are no police no tribunals no punish

, ,
 THE NE CESSI T Y OF FAITH

ments to fear ; when self interest calls or passion -

possesses hi m ? The remembrance of God will not

hold him back nor will the thought of hell stri ke
,

fear into his heart He h a s no faith ; the s o called

.
-

man of honor will not be equal to the occasion .

All i s not gold that glitters and mere gilding , ,

bright as it may appear will not stand much wear ,

and tear An unbeliever may have the s emblance

.

of an honorable man but in the hour of t e m p ta

,

tion and passion his apparent virtue will not

endure .

II
If faith i s a necessity it is equally a source of
happines s F ood is ess ential to life and taste s
.
,

sweet to a hungry m a n even though it be but a ,

c r u st of bread It is true we come from dust and

.
,

the unbelie v er as serts we are dust and nothing

more ; and if thi s is s o then as the end O f all
, ,

things we s e e only the grave waiting to receive

us. Ho w comfortles s to feel and s a y : “
N othing
”
remains for me but the tomb ! What a consola
tion to kn ow that beyond this world our eternal
“
home awaits u s Where death S hall be no
.

”
more .

By our bodies we are related to the beasts but ,

the un believer wo ul d mak e this relationship much

closer when he asserts that we are merely highly
developed animals of a better and more intelli gent
kind F or if we be animals even of the most per
.
,

fe ct species and nothing more then we are at

, ,

the same time the most miserable of beings The .

lower animals are at all events never haunted with

memories of the past nor with dread of the ,
48 P O P ULA R SERMO N S ON THE C A TE C HISM

future nor do they feel th e cares and sorrows of

,

the present pressing on them as we do If we .

are but highl y developed animals then we have

good reason to envy the brutes for they are hap
,

pier or at least less unhappy than we How

, ,
.

blessed i s faith that raises us above all this lower

creation and s ays to us : Y ou pos sess an i m m o r
tal s oul which was made for God and is destin ed
to eternal blessednes s C an an animal think or
.

speak or laugh or repent ? N o N either can it

’
.

kneel down in God s presence a n d adore H im nor ,

love Him nor s erv e Him M an by his understand

.

ing and the power of speech which he possess es

i s placed on an incomparably hi gher plane than
the brute — beasts ; but it i s the faith that is in
hi m which raises him to a pinnacle above them
and which shows him the grandeur of hi s ultimate
end and destiny .

We came from the dust we are a kin to the

,

beasts but w e are als o closely related to our fel

,

low creatures It has been said that man is the

.

w orst enemy of his fe ll ow man and in our o w n ,

day a certain very celebrated and widely read

philosopher has writt en many thick v olumes to
prove that the weakest must go to the wall that ,

might i s right that the fittest must survive Ho r

, .

rible doctrine the outcom e of unb e lief

, Ho w
much sweeter is the teaching of faith whi ch em
p h a s i z e s every tie which binds u s to our fellow
men and makes us brothers all created by G o d
,

and for God Ho w cheerin g it is to realiz e that

.

numbers of human beings are living a li fe of faith ,

as we are with the same convictions and the same

, ,

hopes and are aiming at th e same goal so that

, ,
 S E RM ON VI
crb e Eu a ltt te s of ifa i th
‘

“ ”
Fa i th wi thou t w or ks is dea d ( Ja m es ii .

“
S ta n d fas t i n t he fa i th ( 1 C or . xv i .

" necessary— indispensably necessary—to s alva

last discourse we said that faith was
‘
N OU R

tion and w e need har dl y add that in making this

,

statement w e were speaki ng of the true faith

taught by Jesus Christ But it is an important .

matter to know where we are to find this true faith .

We find it in the C atholic Church Christ has not .

only taught us the truth ; He founded an in sti tu

tion a Church to promulgate and preserve it
, ,
.

What Church did He found ? That one surely , ,

which as the C atholic Church alone can do traces

, ,

her origin and history right back to Christ and

Hi s apostles Al l other bodies whatever be their
.
,

name arose more recently They are all cadets

,
.

in comparison with the C atholic Church In many .

wealthy families the eldest so n succeeds to the

whole estate and if a dispute should arise with
,

one of the other s ons as to who is the heir it ,

would be easil y s ettled by referring to their r e

s p e ct i v e birth certifi cates .

There is but one obj ection that can be urged

against the conclusion that the C atholic Church
is the only real heir to the truth of Christ and ,

it is frequently made use of M en s a y : No doubt .

it is true that the Catholic Church is O lder than

any other and that in the beginning she possessed
,

50
 THE Q UA LITIE S O F FA ITH

the truth But in the course of time sh e deviate d

.

more and more widely from her origi nal doctrines

and then younger and more modern Churche s
’
arose and restored Christ s teaching in all its
purity and freshness This obj ection is absolutely
.

u ntenable because Jesus Christ not only founded

a Church but He promised that it should last
“
forever T he gates of hell shall not prevail
against it . He further promised that He
H imself and the Holy Spirit would dwell with
it always when He said “
And behold I am
with you always even to the consummation
” “
of the world and H e wil l abide with you
,
”
forever .

C ould a Church so guided and supported los e

the true faith ? We can not consider even the
possibility of such a thi n g for in order to do s o
,

o n e must adm i t either that O ur L ord w a s m i s

taken o r that H e failed to keep Hi s word O nce .

that i s allowed it follows as the next step that

,

Christ was not tru ly God ; and whoever s ays s o

must go the whole way and call the entire Chris
tian religion a myth If the Catho lic Church does
.

not posses s the truth we need not further to seek

,

it ; it i s not to be found elsewhere .

To su m up : the F aith the true faith taught by

,

Jesus Christ is necess ary to s alvation and is to

, ,

be found in the C atholic Church alone .

E ssential as it is in itself our faith must have ,

certain quali ties if it is to contain for us the germ

Of eternal life It must be e ntirei firm, steadfast
.
,

L et u s wi th the help of tthe Holy

v

and li ving .
,

Spirit consider as S hortly as possible the first

,

three of these characteristics .

52 P O P ULA R SERMO N S ON THE C A TE C HI SM

I
O ur faith i s to be {e nti r a When i s it entire ?
When we believe not only a part but all that the ,

Catholic Church proposes to our b elief All the .

truths of faith have been rev ealed by the s ame

G od a ll are therefore e qually true ; and they are
,

all presented to us by the same Church s o they ,

must all without exception be a ccepted and b e

li e v e d one a s firmly as the other It i s by no .

means perm issible to mak e a Selection to choos e ,

some and to reject others but this unfortunately

,

is what i s o nl y too often done M any people r e

.

ce iv e with great alacrity the sweet and cons oling

’
doctrine of God s m ercy H is patience H is will
, ,

ingn e ss to forgive ; they welcome the pro m i s e of

the unspeakable happines s o f heaven But su g .
,

gest to them that He exacts repentance penance , ,

and that in Hi s inconceivable justice He tolerates

a hell to puni sh etern ally and they are filled wi th
,

horror and refus e to accept it Those t r uths

.

which human in telligence can grasp are to be b e

l i e v e d ; but tho se incomprehensible mysteries of
faith which our minds can not penetrate we are
to be free to throw aside This is not perfect
.

faith it is not in its ess ence faith at a ll

,
“
Who .

s oev er shall keep the whole l a w but o fi e n d in ,

”
one point i s become guilty of all
, H e who d e
.

nies one article of faith denies them all If one .

stone of an arch loosens and slips the whole arch

i s wont to collaps e . We must believ e a ll that
God has rev ealed and that the Holy C atholic
Church proposes to our belief .

Good heav ens ! s ome of you may exclai m what ,

a task to believe everything which God has r e

,
 THE Q UA LITIES O F FAITH
’
vealed and the Church teaches ! Why I don t even ,

know half of it At school I learned very little

.

and I have forgotten most Of that M y i nte lli .

gence i s lim i ted my memory weak and I go very

, ,

s eldom to s ermons C an one believ e a thing that

.

one does not kn p w ? Certainly one can Suppose ,

.

you receive a letter and you se e by the writing

on the envelope and by the s eal that it comes from
a friend whom yo u highly respect and consider
to be an absolutely truth loving perso n Y ou-
.

know that this friend ha s been an eye witness of -

certa i n occurrences which the letter details to you .

A re you not satisfied that you hold in your hand

an authentic and truthful acco u nt of all that hap
pened ? Y ou believed the contents of the letter
really before you read it before you opened it
, ,

or knew what w a s in it We must therefore b e

.
, ,

lieve a ll that God has revealed e v en if w e hav e ,

not complete knowledge of it all .

11

O ur faith must be (firm is firm when

w e do not wilfully doubt of any article of faith .

Fi r rnn e ss is the opposite of doubt or rather Of

“ ,

wilful doubt for many st a IInch Christians are fr s

,

quentl y troubled and tormented with difficulties .

This is not to be wondered at for the evil spirit,

knows what he i s doing and when he finds his

,

assaults in other directions make no impression

then he seeks to disturb us about the truths of
religion F or if faith the foundation o f the
.
, ,

Christian life b e once undermined the whole

, ,

structure totters and falls to the ground M ore .

over faith deals with s o many unfathomable m ys

,
54 P O P ULA R SER MO NS ON THE C A TE CHI SM

te r i e s
that it is an easy matter to induce people ,

to call it in question but a s long a s these doubts

,

are not voluntary and are not wilfully entertained

they are not si n and do not in any way S hake the
firmness of o u r faith .

What then are we to do if we find ourselves

, ,

assailed by doubts of one or other article of faith ?

What S hould we do if we found a stak e or p aling
not tightly fixed into the earth but swaying from ,

side to S ide to and fro ? We should hammer it as

,

hard as we could driving it deeper and deeper into

,

the ground until the stake stood steady and im

movable S o if doubts against faith trouble you
.
, ,

recall to mind the rock on which your belief is

built namely the truth of God which 1 s eternal
, , ,

and never failing which can not err and can not
,
“
lie Say with all your heart
.
, M y God I b e ,

lieve all T hou hast revealed ; because Thou art

the infallible truth I trust Thy word more than
”
my o w n understanding E xcite in yourself .

lively s entiments of faith and boldly ignore all

temptations against it .

O urfaith must b e ls t e a dfa ] It is steadfast v

when w e are ready to s acrifice everyt hi ng e v en ,

life its elf rather than give it up

,
.

I read s omewhere of a s ailor who in a battle

’
at se a caught hold of an enemy s bo at wi th his
,
, ,

hand and held it tight s o as to give hi s comrades

time to come up and capture it The enemy yelled .

at him to let go but he clung on all the harder ;

,

they hurled threats at him but he stuck to it ,

with all the more determ ination They slashed .

 THE Q UA LITIES O F FAITH
at his fingers wi th their swords but he still ,

grasp e d the boat with the wounded hand till it

was cut right through and then he substituted the
other He preferred to lose both hands rather
.

than to relinquish what he had secured This .

must be our attitude toward the F aith We must .

choos e rather to part with all we have— goods ,

honors position ye s even with life itself sooner

, , ,

than loosen our hold on it .

The holy martyrs are striking e x amples of this

steadfastnes s There was no advantage they were
.

not wi lling to forego no su fi e r i n g they would

,

not gladly endure for the s ake of the F aith and ,

the later history o f the Church is full of such

e x amples in people of e very age condition and , ,

sex We are children of the s ame religion and

.

of the same Church as they and w e ought to be

,

ashamed if we are not r eady to follow in their

footsteps We will close our instruction with the
.

resolve to be ready to bear for our faith if n e ce s

sary the ule and c o gtgmp t of the world and
, ,

the slig hts an dis advantages which even in our

.

day are not infrequently the portion of those who

believe By s o doing we shall walk in the blood
.

stai ned footsteps of the saints and shall attain

with them the reward of the life to come Amen . .
 S E RM ON V II

wa r f a i t h
‘

Cihe C onfe ss i on of

the r e for e, tha t sha ll c o nfe ss Me b efor e m e n

“
E v er y o n e,
e ss hi m b e o r e M
”
I w i ll a ls o co n f f y Fa th e r w ho is i n h ea v e n
( Ma t t x . .

W qualities It must be en ire fi m and stead

E s een that our faith must have three
H A VE
t
.
l , ,

fast and we considered thes e qualities in our last

,

instruction But there is yet s omething wanting

.

to i t—i t m u st b e livi ng This is the last but

m h w
.

the most i m p o r t a ht characteristic of faith and ,

is productive of tw o results
I That we regulate our life by faith
. .

II That we confes s our faith

. .

I
‘

If w e have really a living faith our life w ill

be in accordance with it We can be said to have.

a living faith only when W e regulate our lives in

conformity with its teaching and avoid evil and ,

do good as it lays down for us th e course we

ought to follow This is S impl e and easy to ex
.

plain What are the conditions which make us

.

look upon a man a s being alive and having life in

him ? A s long as he is able to move Or w e find ,

the least S ign of activity about him If he can .

make the least movement with his hands or his

feet or hi s tongue or his eyes he is still alive
, , ,

and even if we perceive the li ght e st b r e a th or the '

least beat of the heart we know that he i s not,

56
58 P O P ULA R SERMO N S ON THE CA TE C HI S M

v ery short time thous ands and thousands of

people poured into these c ountries in order to
S hare in such a rich harvest When faith is living .

and real to us it brin gs forth great results It

,
.

i s like a grain of seed which growing into a tender

plant throws out S hoots in a ll di rections produc ,

ing stem and branches boughs and leaves buds , , ,

“
blossom and fruit The just man liveth b y
.
l

”
'

faith ( Ga l iii But where faith brings forth

. .

no results : no fear of God no repentance no , ,

hope no desire for better things then it is dead

, , ,

and is a husk W ithout grain and a hindrance to ,

”
eternal s alvation F aith without works is dead
.

( Ja m e s ii St Thomas A quinas says that hell

. .
:

was made for t w o kinds of men— for those who

will not believe and for thos e who while believing
,

live as if they had no b elief .

If th e first fruit of faith is that we live in a c

'

c o r d a n ce with our faith , the s econd is that we con

fes s i t E veryt hing that is i n w a r d

. to us m
seeks to find s ome e x ternal e xpres sion A power .

ful light sheds its rays to a great distance like ,

the su n A burning fire not only heats the sto v e

.

and the oven ; it warms the whole hous e Joy .

and sorrow are not confined to the recesses of the

heart they show themselves in the face the eyes
, , ,

the gait and even in the tone of voice Intens e

,
.

and burning anger displays itself by the v e h e

mence and rapidity Of our utterance Shall faith .
,

then if it is mw a r dmsgp n g and living to u s

, ” , ,

have no outlet ? There is no doubt that if it be

alive it wil l display itself by the profession of
 THE C O NFES SI O N O F O UR FA ITH

our beliefs by prayer by takin g part in the se r

, ,

vices o f the Church by going to the sacraments

, ,

and at the very least by the refusal ever to con

ceal disguis e or deny _our religion What can
‘ I
, ,
.

in du ce a C hristian man to deny his be lief ? If it

“

be fear of w o r l dt a r m what can hurt him s o ,

much as the denial of hi s faith ? “

He that shall
deny M e before men I will also deny him before ,

( Ma tt x
”
M y F ather who I S in heaven Or . .

if the desire of profit or advantage weighs

with him what benefit can the world Ofi e r so great
,

as that whi ch the open profes sion of our faith

“
brings Us : E very one therefore that shall con , ,

fes s M e before men I will als o confess him before

,

M y F ather who is in heaven ”

( M a t t x . .

A gain are we infl uenced by dread Of the contempt

,
°
and s ggrn which some people deal ou t t o t ho s e
who believe ? Surely it is no degradation to con
fes s the truths revealed by God and taught by the
apostles for which the martyrs shed their blood
, ,

and whi ch for s o many hundreds of years have

been believed expounded defended and confes sed
, , ,

by such numbers of holy people Those who ought .

to feel ashamed and degraded are those creatures

of God who think in their hearts that man is noth
ing more than an ani mal without soul and without
purpos e ; that there is no God no heaven no hell , ,

or eternity no tie of wedl ock no rights of owner

, ,

ship no authority But instead of being ashamed

, .
, ,

they confess their principles by word and deed u n

blushingly while we stand by confused at a ckn o w l
,

edging the holy teachin gs of our religion on which ,

our o w n well being and that of the whole st r u c

-

“
ture of human society rests I am not ashamed .
60 P O P ULA R SERMO N S ON THE C A TE C HI SM

of the Gospel for it is the power of God unto s a l

,
”
v ation to every one that believeth ( Ro m i . .

We pos ses s in the S ign of the cross a v ery sp e

c i a l way of confessing our faith ; it is eas il y made ,

any child can make it ; it takes but a moment but ,

it is full of meaning What do we s a y when we

.

“
make the S ign of the cross ? In the name of the
F ather and of the S on and of the Holy Ghost ”
,
“
or als o Glory be to the F ather and to the Son
,

and to the Holy Ghost ”

These words constitute
.

an open acknowledgment Of the first and greatest

mystery of the Christian belief the mystery of ,

the blessed Trinity .

A s we s a y the wor d s we make upon ourselves

the form of the cross to S how that w e believe that
—
Jesus Christ died on the cros s that He died for
us and by Hi s death gave us life—that He is the
,

S on of God the S aviour of the world the creator

and judge of all mank ind—w e confes s in fact the
, ,

mystery of our redemption In baptis m the priest

.

makes the S ign of the cross not only on the fore

head of the pers on about to be baptize d to signify ,

that he must never be ashamed of his belief in

O ur L ord crucified but als o on the sho u l ders to
,

express that he will fight in the armor of the cross ,

and on the breast to indicate the love we ought to

hav e for the su fi e r in g s of the Cross F urther a s .
,

the us e of the S ign of the cross has been entirely

given up by heretics it i s to be looked upon a s
,

a confession not o nl y Of Christianity but of the

, ,

C atholic faith .

L et us accustom ourselves to make it very often

and especially on particular occasions a s for in , ,

stance
 THE C O NFES S I O N O F O UR FAITH

( 1 ) O n rising in the morning in order to ,

range ourselves under the banner of Christ It .

i s the S hortest w a y of forming our intention for

the day .

( 2 ) B efore going to S leep The savage beasts .

w hen night comes on look for s ome hedge or bush

behind which to shelter S o w e before we drift
.
,

into the unconsciousness of S leep and dream s ,

ought to take refuge under the tree of the cross .

( 3) Before and after prayer Al l that w e ask .

of God and all that He grants us comes to us

through the merits of the cross F or this reason .

we S hould make the S ign of the cros s before and

after prayer a s an act of humility and co n fidence
in God .

( 4 ) B efore all important actions from the same ,

motive as before prayer Ag ai n in all t e m p ta

.
,

tions and dangers for temptations come from

,

the evil spirit and ev en if not from him directly

,

they are at a ll events kept alive and encouraged

by him The devil is always close at hand and
.
,

the S ign of the cros s is a powerful weapon against

him He has reas on to know the cross It is the
’

. .

symbol of hi s greatest encounter and of hi s heavy

and shameful defeat and the token of Christ s
,
’
victory and triumph F or this reas on no ev il spirit
.

can endure the S ign of the cros s They hate it .

and fly at the S ight of it ; they yield and tremble

before it By this S ign the s aints have conquered
.

temptation and driven out ev il L et u s also in .

, ,

our hour of struggle make this holy S ign with

devotion and hi de ourselves in the wounds Of the
S aviour .

By this sign 0 L ord w e will live ; by it w e wi ll

, ,
62 P O P ULA R SER MO N S ON T HE CA TE CHI SM

fight and conquer With the crucifix in our dying

.

hands and c o nfi din g in the Virtue and merits of

,

Thy su fferings and death we will pass before Thy

,

judgment s eat to obtain from Thee life e v e r l a st

ing Amen
. .
 S E RM ON VIII
Cthe E ssence Of 3 00
‘

”
God is a spi r i t ( J ohn iv .

W what truths we must believe also the neco s

E already consider e d what faith is and
H AV E
,
,

s i ty of faith what should be ,

and h o w we are boun d to confess it by our lives .

We will n o w go on to contemplate the other vari

ous truths of religion and will take them in the
’
order of the Apostles C reed It is called the
,

’
.

A postles C reed becaus e it dates from the time of

the apostles and is supposed to have been com _

posed by them and it is divided into twelv e parts

,

or articles .

The first article of the C reed is I b eliev e

in God the F ather Al m i ghty C reator of heav en
, ,
”
and earth .

“ ”
The very first words I believ e in God call , ,

fo r long and careful consideration The catechism .

“ ” “
asks, What is God ? and the answer is God ,
”
is a S pirit infi nitely perfect
, With the help of .

the H oly Ghost we wi ll try to explain this d e fini

tion.

I
The statement that God is a spirit is compre
he n si b l e only to those who know what the nature
of a spirit is We recognize a stone because it is
.

hard and heavy and by its color a tree by its roots ,

branches blossom and f r uit ; a man by hi s face

, , ,

63
64 P O P ULA R SER MO N S ON THE C A TE C HI SM

speech and gait But ho w can we know a S pirit ?

,
.

No w the first thing to be said of a spirit is that

, ,

it is not a body A body is composed of various

.

material and therefore fi sib l ep ar t s which can be

cut and torn asunder beaten and disconnected , ,

from one another ; therefore a body is destru ct i ,

ble S o if a S pirit is the opposite of a body then

.
, ,

it does not consist of m a t e r ialg a r t s i s invi sible , ,

indestructible and therefore i mmort al

, .

But this takes us a very S hort way When I .

state that light is not darkness I have only con

v e y e d what light i s not and not in the least what ,

it is S o to define a spirit by s ayin g that it i s

.
,

not a body is not enough I must also try to de ,

scribe i n what it actually consists L A spirit is a .

being endowed with understanding and free wi ll

any being which i s not capable of thought and
is not posses sed of free wi ll so that it has not ,

the power of d e t e r m inin its o w n 0 rations and

actions i s not a spirit
,
n de r StaIi m g and . q g
will are the ess ential attributes proper to
God is a S pirit ; who can doubt it ? T he mere
’
mention of God s name brings to our minds a
being whos e understanding and in telligence per
v ade all thi ngs and accor di n g to who se decrees
,

the universe is ruled M oreo v er our Saviour s aid

.
,
“
s olemnl y to the S amaritan woman G od i s a ,
”
S pirit .

The fact that the H oly Scripture speaks at times

of the eyes ears or hands of God as the case may
, , ,

h e need be no reason for our feeli n g perp lexed

,

and troubled in our conception of G od H oly .

Scrip t ure is addressed to human beings and uses ,

the phras es and imagery current in human lan

66 P O P ULA R SERMO NS ON THE CA TE C HI S M

—
near the su n what a fulnes s of illum ination we
get there ! Al l e a r th ly d
r a i a n c e becomes a s noth
ing compared with It But e v en th e ra ys of the .
fl g

s u n have their limi t ; there are di stances which

they can not penetrate L et us picture to our .

s elves if w e can a body a thousand times larger

, ,

and streaming with light a thousand times

brighter than that of the su n We can im agine it .

growing hour by hour larger and more lum inous ,

and this increase continuing for a thousand years .

What a wonderful substance ! How large how ,

transparent h o w r a dia n t l But could we even then

,
~

say in the p r o pg r sense of the word ,

i s in
finite ? N 0 It s size has its limit and i t s bri ht
.
,

nes s equally so Ru t God i s i nfi nitgly p e r fe c in

.

finite from every point of View The re are some .

perfections which we are familiar with others of ,

which w e have no experience at all ; s ome that we

can i magine others of which we can form no idea
—
,

but all are present in God to an in fi niteQ e g r e e

’
.

God s perfections do not ex ist in Him as sep _

arate things which though j oined a nd united to

,

gether are yet divisible In a rose one point of .

beauty i s the color and another the p erfume ,

.

C olor and perfume are united in the same flower ,

but the color is not the perfume n o r the perfume

the color But in God all perfections merge and
.

become fundamentally one and the same .

God bein g i nfi n i t e ly_p e r fe ct it follows that H e ,

is inconceivable a n dI nco m p r e h e n sib l e No meas .

ure of sp a ce is vast efi o u gh to enclose Hi m no

"
l

f h r
,

p e r i og g i j i m e is long enough to mark the lengt h

n

of Hi s days no cr e a t e/d i nt e ll e ct i s clear or keen

,
"

or subtle enough to under s tand Hi s nature ng ,

 THE E SSEN CE OF G OD

h ea rt great enough to love Hi m as Hi s infi nite

perfections deserve N o words no name no mode
.
, ,

of speech can express the infinitely perfect being

we call God .

O n account of Hi s infinite perfection it fol

lows that our reverence toward God can never
“
be too great never great enough
, No w to the
K ing of ages immortal invisible the only God , , ,
”
be honor and glory for ever and ever Amen ( 1 .

Tim i. . Wh at is any one Of us compared to

the number of people gathered here together ? In
significant O ne more or less i s scarcely notice
.

able And what are your numbers in comparison

.

with all the creatures who have lived and who

are living and have yet to live on this earth ? A s
,

nothing And what is all mankind all the angels

.
, ,

a ll the stars of the heavens in comparison with ,

God ? N othing What an immeasurable i n co m

.
,

prehensible di stance ! N ow compare yourself to ,

“
God : What is man 0 L ord that Thou art
, ,

mindful of him or the Son of M an that Thou dost

,
” “
Visit him ( P s viii O L ord there is none
. .
,

like T hee and there is no other God beside Thee

”
of all whom we have heard of with our ears ( 1
P a r a l xvii
. .

”
God is a spirit infinitely perfect the L ord of ,

heaven and earth from whom all good flows If .

God is the supreme eternal and infinitely perfect

spirit it is self evident that
,
68 P O P ULA R SERMO N S ON THE C A TE CHI SM

and men heaven and earth land and s e a ! What

, ,

a kingdom but belonging to how great a king !

“
O f Him by Him and in Him are all things
, ,
”

( Ro m xi 36 ) says St Paul and we venture to add

. . .

all things are for Him

All thi n g s of Him —a king who was the
.

creator of Hi s o w n kingdom All thi ngs by

”—
.

Him everythi ng in Hi s kingdom works a ccord

ing to the plans of Hi s wisdom “
All things in
”—
.

Him God is in the world or better still the ,

world is in God The K ing i s so great that the

.

confi nes of Hi s kingdom can not enclose him “

All
’
.

things for him A S the K ing lives for Hi s people

.

and for Hi s kingdom s o the whole world and all ,

that it contains can s erv e no other end or aim ,

but the glory of their sovereign .

If God is king and lord of the whole world ,

ho w honorable and great and ess ential a thing

to be in Hi s service Better to s erv e Him than to
—
.

“
be master of the whole world TO serv e God i s
to rule ”
. We owe Him not only our b est service ,

but a s our highest good our d e e p e stl gv e i s due ,

to Him O n whom coul d w e more worthily bestow

.

our hearts than on Him who is in fini tely perfect .

“
What have I in heaven and besides Thee what ,

do I desire upon earth ? Thou art the G od of

my heart and the God that is m y p ortion for
,
”
ever ( P s lxxii 2 5 . .
,
 S E RM ON IX
t he E t e rnity anb t he u nchangea b le ne ss of $ 05
( Ma l
“
F or I am the L or d a nd I cha n g e n o t . i ii .

m s last instruction that God is in

SAW in ou r

fini te i n all Hi s perfections and that there ,

fore He possesses all perfections to an infinite

degree This being so it follows that it is not pos
’
.
,

sible to grasp entirely or explain all God s a tt r i

butes We can onl y single out a few and we have
.
,

selected for closer contemplation thos e which a p

’
pear to be s e t forth most fully in God s revelations
and which seem to hav e a special bearing upon
our own lives .

To day we will consider with the help of the

-

Holy Ghost
I The eternity of God
. .

II The unchangeableness of God

. .

I
What do w e mean when we sa y th at God is
“
eternal ? We mean that God had no beginning ;
He always w a s and He always will be ”
, God had .

no begin ning ! There has been a steeple belonging

to this church for four hundred years yet there ,

w a s a time when no stone of it existed and no ,

one had ever even thought of building it O ne .

can s a y the same of every work wrought by the

h a nds o f man We can take our minds back to
.

when there w a s not a single house in this town ,

when there were no town s at all such a s we now

69
70 P O P ULA R SER MO NS ON THE C A TECHI SM

know no nations such as exist to d ay when no

, ,

human being breathed on this earth There is .

nothing to prev ent our going back further stil l to

a tim e before the terrestrial globe itself w a s
formed when there were neither su n nor moon
,

nor stars nor heavens when the angels had not

,

been creat e d when nothing existed except God

,

alone But we can not go back to a point when

.

there w a s no God “
. God had no beginning He
.
,

always w a s and He always wi ll be ”

He i s from
—
.

”
eternity to etern ity J The ancient of days ( D a n .

V ii .

N ot only had G od no b eginning , H e wi ll hav e

“
no end A s it w a s in the beginning is n o w and
.
, ,
”
ever shall be world without end Am en . We .

s e e with our own eyes h o w all earthly thin gs grow

old and fall into decay and finally go to ruin ; the

,

strongest building cru m bles to dust the most ,

powerful kingdoms are submerged But of God .

“ ”
it is s aid : Thy years shall not fail ( P s ci . .

If we give free rein to our thoughts and let them ,

fly on through the countless centuries yet to come -

before the end of the world—when all men will be

dead the su n burned out and the stars fallen
, ,
—
from the heavens such a time will in the end
of all things be reached ; and if we think on
further and ever further still through as many
,

years as there are leaves on the trees or drops ,

of water in the ocean surely we must reach

,

the end when G od will cease to e x ist But no : .

“ ”
F rom eternity to eternity Thou art God ( P s .

The eternity of God should not strike us as b e

ing les s wonderful because our own souls and all
 THE E TERNIT Y OF G OD

spirits created by God are immortal There i s a .

threefold d i fi e r e n ce between the eternity of Go d

and the immortality of our s ouls : ( 1 ) The life
of the s oul has no end but it had a beginni ng
,
.

God had no beginning and will have no end ( 2 ) .

God will have no end becaus e of Hi s essence He

,

can never end O ur soul and all other S pirits are

.

im m ort al o nl y becaus e God does not choose to

destroy them ( 3 ) O ur existence i s dependent
’
.

on God s support for its continuance and preser

v ation ; but God exists of Himself and Hi s eternity ,

is an essentia l attribute of Hi s nat u re “

Who
”
o nl y hath immortality ( 1 Ti m Vi 1 6 ) in the . .

full meaning of the word .

This takes u s to the very heart of the matter .

The eternity of God does not in its ess ence con

sist of Hi s being without beginning and wi thout
end but in something quite di fferent The Bible
,
.

s ays He is ever ”
What does that mean ? I
.

w ill t r y to explain O ur life and the life of a ll

.

creatu res is made up of di visions minute portions ,

Of time moments whi ch follow closely one upon

,

the other There are past pres ent and future

.
, ,

moments The present lasts but an instant a nd

.
,

it is always a different o n e like the me di cine of ,

a sick pers on whi ch is measured out in drops But .

the li fe of God is not made up of successive parts

or di visions or mi nutes ; Hi s duration is a perma
nent state E verythi ng is present in H im Hi s
. .

life i s neither openin g before Him nor passing ,

away nor i s it in any s ense divisible H e is from

,
.

eternity to eternity The Ps alm i st s ays of Him

.

“
F or a thousand years in Thy S ight are a s ye s
”
t e r d a y which is past ( s lxxxix
P . .
 '

72 P O P U LA R SER MO N S ON THE CA TE CHISM

Holy holy holy is the L ord God Al m i ghty who

, , , ,

w a s in the beginning is n o w and ever shall be , ,

.

T O the K ing of eternities to the imm ortal and in ,

visible Go d alone be glory from eternity to ,

eternity B ecaus e H e i s eternal m a y H e b e

.
,

eternally praised .

’
The second of God s attributes which we desire
to contemplate is Hi s unchangeableness What is .

“ ”
the meaning of unchangeable ? It means n u
changing It means that G od remains eternally
.

the same without ever changing in any of his

couns els E veryt hing i n this world is subject to
.

change The earth alters from day to day rotat

.
,

ing s ometimes nearer and s ometimes further from

the su n Interiorly and e x teriorly it bears traces
.

of the constant mighty upheaval and revolutions '

to which it is subject by fire water earthquakes , , ,

storms heat and cold Whate v er is on the earth

, ,
.

is in a state of change Trees grow up and die .

,

flowers bloom and fade sunshine alternates with ,

rain heat wi th cold O ne season follows another

, .
,

nations ring the changes on war and peace friend

'

ship and enmity ; treaties are S igned and revoked

And we ourselves —
.

do we not alter ? N ot only o u r

garm ents but our v ery body changes It was
, .

small and it becomes big young and it grows old , ,

healthy and it falls sick The soul too becomes .

, ,

transformed A man learns and understands and

.

as sim i lates what at another time he did not kn ow

or dream of M emory in old age dwindles and
.

dim inishes till it returns nearly to the blank nes s

of infancy The w i ll v acillates between good and
.
74 P O P ULA R SERMO NS ON THE CA TE CHI SM

in what you ask it to reflect A gain as you stand .

before it s ome one comes and places himself

beside you standing first on your left and then
,

on your right ; as he shifts his position s o is the ,

reflection in the mirror difi e r e nt Y ou have not .

changed but the pers on stan di ng by you has

,

moved In the s ame way it i s not God our L ord

’
.

who alters ; it is we the creatures and so God s ,

attitude in relation to us does not remain always

the s ame
’
.

God s unchangeablenes s and Hi s eternity con

tain a great lesson for us all What do we all .

prefer ? A lasting or a pas sing benefit ? Which is

most to be prized and s ought for ? Surely that
which is lasting If w e order a pair of shoes or a
.

n e w dres s we are particular to ensure that they

shall wear well O f earthly desires amongst the

.
,

strongest is the wish for continued good health ,

long life and lasting happiness But what is the

,
.

most permanent of all goods ? N 0 other but God ,

the eternal and unchangeable To love Hi m to .

,

seek Him to s erve Hi m to put Him before all

, ,

earthly things this is genuine wisdom and we

, ,

are fools if w e let our hearts cling to this earth

and love anything in this world more than the
eternal God C an any man who believes in God
.

be s o mistaken ? C an he not see that everyt hing

earthly bears engraved on it by the hand of God
the mark of change ? L ook at the fading leaves
’
look at the furrows of an old man s face look at ,
,

death monuments tombstones Al l all thi ngs are

, ,
.
,

pas sing away F ools are they who love any o n e

.

more than God ; but wis e thrice wis e is he who , ,

with all th e strength of his heart and wi th every ,

 E TERNI T Y OF GOD

fiber of his being clings to God and loves Him

,
“
above all things
. This world pass es away and
the desire thereof but he that doth the will of
,
”
God abideth for ever ( 1 Jo hn ii .
 S E RM ON X
Ghe Omnip r e se nce
‘

of O oh
G r e a t is the L or d a n d gr e a t ly
, to b e pr a ise d, a nd o f
His gr ea tn ess ther e is n o en d
”
( s
P . cxl vi .

W tions of Alm ighty God the subj ect of our

continue to make the differ en t p e r fe c
e W ILL

instructions and to day with the help of the Holy

,
-

Spiri t we w ill consider the omni presence of God

,
.

When we s a y that G od is omni present what do ,

we mean ? We mean that G o d is pres ent ev ery

where in a ll places .

A man can be bodily present onl y in o na s ingl e

place at once While I am spea king to you from
.

the pulpit I can not at the s ame time be in my

o w n house rea di ng or writing ; and had I remained

at home I could not b e here spe aking to you I .

can o nl y be pres ent in one pla ce and what applies ,

to me in this respect applies equall y to a ll of you ,

and to all cr e a ted sp i r it s Should any created

fi
.

being be s een in s everal places at the s ame tim e ,

it would be a wonderful phenomenon We hear .

such things of the saints ; we are told of a m i racle

of this kind in the life of St F rancis X avier for .
,

example It i s vouched for by faith that the

.
,

sacred body of our Saviour while sitting at the ,

right hand of the F ather is also present under ,

the appear an ce of bread and wine on the countless

altars where the Bles sed Sacrament is res erv ed .

The Body of Ch rist or rather H is Sacred H uman

,

i ty i s therefor e p r e sent in num b erles s places S i

,

76
 THE OMNIPRESENCE O F G O D

m but God the F ather is omni present

u l t a n e o u sly, ,

m
whi ch means present everywhere in all laces in
heaven and on earth This .

Himself who s ays by the mouth of the prophet

,
“ ”
J e r e m i a s : D o I not fill heaven and earth ? ( Je r .

xxiii . Holy Job and the R oyal Prophet vie

with each other in describing and praising in
sublime language the omnipresence of God In .

the Book of Job it is s aid “

He is higher than
heaven and deeper than hell ; the measure of Him AL
,

is longer than the earth and broader than the I

”
se a ( Jo b xi D avi d describes a s oul flying
.

from the face of God and yet meeting Him every

“
where . If I ascend into heaven Thou art there ,

if I descend into hell Thou art present ; if I take

m y wings early in the morning and dwell in the
uttermost parts o f the s e a even there also shall ,
”
T hy hand lead me Thy right hand S hall hold me ,
“
( P s cxxxviii 8
. Great is the L ord En d of
.

Hi s greatnes s th ere i s no end ( P s cxli v

”
If . .

we scrutinize carefully and compare all these texts

of Holy Scripture they can not fail to bring home
to u s the fact that God i s everywhere in a ll places , ,

in heaven and in hell He is omnipresent for Hi s .

,

greatnes s is without limit .

The omni presence of God helps us to realiz e

W
o u r o w n restrictions as r e a tu r e s in comparison

with God O ur soul is . W hi ch 5

occupies in life no more than a fe w feet and when A , .

we are dead is measured by a co ffin It costs u s .

t o i_l _a n d trouble to get from place to pla ce and in ,

o r d e r t Ofbach one spot w e must

‘ -
'

'
another ;
if we remain always stationary we s e e nothing of
other places but if on the other hand w e choose
,
78 P O P ULA R SERMO N S ON T HE CA TE CHI S M

to wander about we can not remain long anywhere .

Ho w paltry and miserable does this state of

things s eem in view of the omnipresence of God ,

Who is present in all countries and town s in ,

every street and hous e in all heights and depths

, ,

mountains and valleys with the stars and the vast

exp ans e of the heavens—simultaneously really
,

, ,

and truly pres ent We kn ow of numbers of con

.

s t e ll a t i o n s and have some idea of the immens e

space that separates them from us There are .

some among them so far o fi that an express train

would not reach them after traveling u nint e r m i t
’
t e n tly for a thous and years An d yet G od s pres .

ence in these distant constellations is just as real

as it is here in our o w n planet God is every .

“
whe r e Great is the L ord and greatly to be
pr ais ed and of Hi s greatness there is no e n d J
,
’ A

( P s c xliv
. .

When we s a y that G od i s ev erywhere we must

be careful not to understand this in a wr ong way .

The globe on which w e live is large ; but if we

picture it to ours elves growing larger a n d larger
so as to reach the moon the su n and a s far a s
, ,

the farthest star and to fi ll up all cr e a te d sp a ce

, , .
,

then we could in a certain sens e s a y that the

earth is everywhere .But is it in this sense
that we s ay G od is everywhere ? N ot at all What .

is the di fference ? The earth i s a substance and is

ma d e up of material parts and howev er vast it i s
, , ,

one part of it m u st b? on the top another under

‘

neath one in the interior another on the surface

, , ,

and where o ne part is another ca n n o/ t be nor

x
,

can the whole be where each p art is Th at this is

‘ ‘

.
A

s o must be plain to e v ery one But when we sa y .

 THE OMNIPRESENCE O F G O D

God is
everywhere we mean somethi ng quite dif ,

fe r e nt God is not m a dg’up qf p arts much les s

.
l h l

Where He is present He is
g

Of material parts .

entir ely present ; therefore He is entirely in

heaven on earth and in every place entirely
, , ,

within and without us entirely in the world and ,

In every part of it entirely in the soul and in all,

S pirits and in the body Hi s entire being— is every .

“fi s

where withfl l fl j fi p erfections Hi s power a n d

h u nfi n

, f _ _ ,

wisdom O h how small and narrow do we se e

} ?
.
,

when we consider the omn ipresence o f God ! t

When we s a y that God is present everywhere

in the whole world we have not exhausted the
subj ect God is present everywhere but is not
.
,

in any w a y bounded or hemme d in like water in ,

a bucket or as a lake enclosed by its o w n banks

,
.

The world and the whole space of the univer se ,

large as they are have a limit But God i s sublime

, .

and h am mi t ; He is everywhere and even if ,

the world were a thous and times larger than it

now is God would be pres ent everywhere upon
it It is true God is in the world but it i s much
.
,

more true that W o r ld He is in it ,

I over it outside it The world does not contain

.
,

God God contains the world

,
“
Heaven of b e av .

”
ens can not contain Thee ( 3 K i n g s viii God .

is omnipresent .

It is impos sible to exaggerate the influence

which the thought of the univer esence of
God should h ave upon our lives to .

illum ine the darkest places of our earthly pil

grimage and give us courage and hope ( P s xv 8 . .
,

24 ,
It should be also a powerful rein hold
ing us back from S in In a clas s of big boys if .
80 P O P ULA R SERMO N S ON T HE C A TE CHI S M

the teacher is called away what a hubbub tak es ,

place ! What chatter and noise what restless ,

movement and shu fllin g of feet ! But the teacher

suddenly appears and in a twi nkling hi s presence
alters everything S o should it be with us when
.

w e thin k of the presence of God Though our .

s enses be in rebellion our passions on fire and , ,

hell itself let loose one thought of the holy pres

,
°
e n ce o f God wil l bring everything under control .

S O thought Susann ah who when sorely tempted , , ,

“
cried : It i s better for me to fall into your hands
without doing it ( the wi cked action ) than to si n ,
”
i n the sight of the L ord The thought of the j
fi
.

presence of God i s a continual spur urgin g us o n

to higher thin gs The s erv ant works more dili
.

gently when hi s master o v erlooks him the soldi er ,

fights more bravely under the eye of his general ;

we too will labor more earnestly pray more de
, , ,

v o u tly s u fi e r more patiently if we never forget

, ,

that God is present that He looks on at all that

,

w e do not as one blind but in the plenitude of

,

Hi s omniscience Hi s holines s and justice G od

,
,

— ,

who counts the drops of our sweat who k nows our ,

so rg g w s who hear s o u r s i gh s who ove rlo oks and

, m ,

fo r g e t w o thmg and who rewards u s a hundred

,

fold with etern al l ife Am en . .

82 P O P ULA R SER MO N S ON T HE C A TE CHI SM

knowledge ? God knows all things Holy Scrip .

ture says : “
O f Hi s wisdom there is no number ” ‘
s

“
( P s cxlvi
. . All things are naked and open
to Hi s eye ( He b iv 1 3 )
” “
The eyes of the L ord
. .

”
are far brighter than the su n ( E cclu s xxiii . .

H e is omniscient ; consider what that represents !

If He k nows everything it follows that He
knows the When we try to e x am i ne our
conscience confes sion w e often have great ,

trouble in recalling to mi n d the things that we

have said and done and thought during a period
of a few months or even weeks But it is all pres
, .

ent to the mind of God and He knows not o nl y ,

what w a s done here and there yesterday or the , ,

day before but everything that every creature

, ,

at the farthest end of the earth and in every ,

corner of the globe has s aid done thought or , , ,

e x perienced He knows and understands the se

.

q u e n ce of the various occasions causes motives , , ,

and circumstances of everything that has ever

“
taken place in heaven and on earth O h the .
,

depth of the riches of the wisdom and of the

”
knowledge of God ! ( Ro m ii S o deep are . .

they t hat they stretch down into the very root of

things and into the most remote reces ses of the
past
m
.

He knows also the C onsider what that

means If w e look at a d r op gf yva t e r through a
.

'

magnifying glass thousands of living atoms b e

come Visible attacking each other fightin g con
, , ,

quering killing and destroying one another and

, , ,

each has its own o rigin constitution and parts , ,

.

C onsider one s m gl e leaf that falls from the tree

—the th o u sand s gf i iny y ein s and arteries of
h i
 T HE OMNI S CIENCE O F G O D

whi ch it is composed every one with its own b e

,

ginnin g and end made of di fi e r e n t materi al and

, ,

standing In a specifi ed relation to other things

'

and with a particular purpose What numbers of .

fish in the sea h o w many leaves in the forest and

, ,

yet everything connected Wit h them their size , ,

number relation to each other formation and

, , ,

purpose i s known to Go d ! The s ame must be

said of eve ry creature of every drop of ,

blood every vein nerve bone and muscle of our

, , , ,

bodies ; of every worm crawling upon the ground ,

of every star shining in the heaven of every hair ,

of our heads T h e Scripture tells u s

.
“
He has ,

counted the hairs of our head ” “

He has meas ,

u r e d our every step

” “
He has numbered the stars
,
”
and called them by their name O h the depth .
,

of the riches and of the wi sdom and of the knowl

edge o f God which penetrates everything great
,

and small to its innermost being !

God knows th e ifu tu r e ) Ou r outlook over the
.

future is not far reaching and is very misleading

-

We can hardly tell what the weather to morrow -

will be ; we can not be sure even of h o w we our

selves will act from day to day P eter in the eve .

“
ning s aid to our Saviour : E ven if I should die
with Thee I w ill not deny Thee I will go with .

Thee to prison and to death ”

Ho w little he .

kn ew what was coming ; the very revers e hap

pened and the omniscient Son of God foretold it
,

The cock shall not crow this day till thou thrice
”
d e n i e st that thou kn owest M e ( Lu k e xxii .

And s o it actually came to pass God k nows not .

only what we are doing n o w but what we shall do ,

to morrow throughout the year and in the fu

-

, ,
84 P O P ULA R SERMO N S ON T HE CA TE C HI S M

ture ; how long we have to live when where and , , ,

ho w w e shall die and if we shall be eternally

,

happy He fores ees not o nl y in our case but in

.
,

that of all men and creatures their duration their , ,

deeds and sufferings the good and bad in them , ,

their end and everything concerning them It is

,
.

all as clearly b efore Him as if it were this mo

ment actuall y happening O h the depth of the .
,

riches of the wisdom of God which reaches into the

most distant future !
It i s not enough to sa y that G od kn ows every
thing past present and to come God could out
, ,
.
,

of Hi s infinite power create thousands of crea ,

tures more than already exist He ha s conceived .

W
in Hi s mind all thos e things which He e ,

but has not created and knows what t e y would

i
, ,

go if He had created them An other thing is .

also true ; we ourselves would pos sibly think

, , ,

speak and act quite di fi e r e ntly if we had lived

,

at another time or in another place amongst

, ,

di fferent people with more or less grace ; in a

,

word if we had lived under di fi e r e n t conditions

, .

Such conditions may be multiplied simply count

les s times for each creature O nl y God can kn ow .
,

not only what each one has done or will do but ,

what they wo ul d have done u n d eg di ffe r e n t n

m st a n ce s and in di fi e r e nt surroun di ngs In .

a word He knows all things what i s actual and

, ,

what is possible the things of tim e and thos e of

,

eternity and He knows also Himself the C r ea tor

, .

“
The S pirit s earcheth all thin gs yea the deep ,
”
things of God ( 1 C o r ii . .

W hat God kn ows He knows p e r fe y and from,

all eterni ty Wh at we learn w e erive fro m the

.
,
 THE OMNIS CIENCE O F G O D

e xterior from the lips of our teachers or from

, ,

what w e read in books or by observing what we ,

see around us We learn it slowly and labori

’
.

o u sl y. God s knowledge is not derived from any l -

thing outside of Himself He knows a ll—thi ngs of .

Himself because they were planned b y Hi s Wi s

‘

df fi? and brought a b o ut/ b y Hi s i nfi ni e ower _

.

Wh at we have taken pains to learn we must take

trouble to remember and it easily fades from our
,

memory To God it is im p o s siblg tq forget He

. .

knows everything from the beginni ng and remem

bers it from all eternity The little that our mind .

is capable of retaining we can not use all at once ,

but only pieceme al in bit s one item after the other

, ,
—Ou r knowledge is patchwork and is made up of ,

scraps Wh ile you are listening to me attentively

.

yo W b e thinking of your household

duties and any one who is n o w turning over in his
,

mind any w o r l l M e ss is not in

a position to take in what I am saying O ur minds .

can not t w o different thoughts at the s ame

instant Al mi ghty God grasps if one can s o
"

,
.

e xpress it all thing s i n on e s ing le t hou ght It

, m ‘
.

is not that He remembers or does not forget or , ,

learns but that everythi ng is constantly present

,

to Hi s mind O h the unfathomable wisdom of

.
,

God whi ch embraces all things and retains them

,

from etern ity to eternity ! God knows our most

secret thoughts and all that in the innermost re
,

cesses of our hearts w e desire and long for He .

“
is the searcher of the hearts and the reins
’
.

The realization of God s omniscience must ex

cite in us the need of turni ng to Him and ,

hum bling ourselves deeply before Him the o m ,

 86 P O P ULA R SE RMO NS ON T HE CA TE CHI S M

n i s ci e n t God to whom all things relating to our

,

selves are known o u r past our weaknesses our , , ,

sins our future ; for what are w e in Hi s sight but

,

i gn o r a tj r e atu r e s to whom the pa st is blu rred

g ,

the futu re a blank and who do not even under ,

stand the movements of their own hearts or

’
whether they be worthy of God s love or of H is ,
,

hate .

O h omniscient God w e humble ourselves before

, ,

Thee and promis e never to outrage Thee by try

l ing to appear other than we are N o one can .

deceive Thee and before Thy sacred tribunal in

,

the sacrament of Penance w e will accus e ourselves

as we are and as T hy eye s ees us to be
, .

The thought of Thy omniscience wi ll be our

comfort for when the path of our life becomes
,

s o comple x and entangled that we can see no

w ay th r ou gh it when the future looks so dark s o

u , ,

frightening so oppressive as almost to overwhelm

,

us ,
we will not let despair take hold of u s but ,

like S imple chil dren will place our hand in that

“
of the alll wis e F ather : T hough I should walk
in the midst of the shadow of death I will fear ,
”
no evil for Thou art with me ( P s xxii
,
The . .

thought of Thy wisdom will console us for the

want of insight of men It may be that our st r i v .

ings are not recognized our virtues not a p p r e ,

c i a t e d ; our pains and su fi e r in g s may be viewed

with indi fferent eyes our struggles held as noth ,

ing But Thou knowest O my God h o w it is with

.
, ,

us Thou hast counted our tears and measured our

.
,

work and s een our battles ; nothing escapes Thee

, ,

and nothing not even what is un kn own to men in

,

this l i fe will be without its reward Thy infinite .

 T HE OMNIS CIENCE O F G O D

knowledge will console us for our o w n S h o r tc o m

ings and deficiencies S O much in this world that
.
,

i s k nown to others remains hidden to us

,
.Time
opportunity means capability are all in part
, , ,

wanting to us to understand things which many

people have fully mastered L et us take comfort
. .

The day will dawn when we shall see Thee when ,

Thou wilt be our teacher when in the full j oy

,

of eternal life w e S hall read clearly in Thy co u n te

nance all that our heart longs to know Thy s e
.

cr o ts will be our secrets in the l ife to come which

Thou wilt give u s Amen
. .
 S E RM ON XII

Ci he W is oom of ( Bob
‘

Thou has t m ad e a ll thi n gs i n w is d o m ( Ps . ci i i .

“ T fitting that we S hould follow up our dis

IS

cours e o n the omniscience of God by the con

sideration of Hi s wisdom for although God s ’ , ,

wisdom and Hi s omniscience are not by any means

the same thing still they are s o closely connected
,

as to be sometimes mistaken one for the other .

We therefore propose to ask three questions con

cerning the wisdom of God to which with the help ,

of the Holy Spirit w e will endeavor to reply ,

namely
I What i s wisdom ?
.

II Ho w does the divine wisdom S how itself ?

.

III In what way can w e imitate it ? O r in other

.
,

words our instruction will deal with the nature

, ,

indications and imitation of the divine wisdom

,
.

I
What do w e mean when we S peak of the wi sdom
of God ? We mean that God knows how to orde
all things s o that they shall fulfill Hi s eternal de
S igns F rom this answer we can already see the
.

di fference that must exist between omniscience and

wisdom God in Hi s omniscience knows every
.

thing but in Hi s wisdom He orders all for the

,

best namely for the realizing of Hi s o wn eternal

, ,

ends Wisdom is concerned w ith dgci si o n s made

.
n
m ,

with a definite obj ect in ord er to reach a p a r ti c

ss
90 P O P ULA R SERMO N S ON THE CA TE CHI SM

II

If Wisdom , then necessarily consists in what

,

w e have advanced it is easy to prove and

,

demonstrate that God our L ord is infini tely

Wi s e
.

( a ) H i s perfection furnishes proof of it for an ,

infi nitely perfect God can in all Hi s works ends , ,

“

and designs be actuated only by the best holiest , ,

and most sublim e motives and intenti ons—the

glory of Hi s name and the good of Hi s c r eatures
—th e r e can be no higher or holier purpose M ore
,
w

over God by Hi s omniscience can discern all the

,

means and ways which will accomplish Hi s wil l .

He kri OWs all creatures and can di scrimi nate

whether and h o w far they are qualified to as sist i n
working out Hi s designs an d in what way they,

can best be utilized He has at Hi s dispos al Hi s

.

own omnipotence and He is complete master Of

,

Hi s o w n creatures He can call out of nothing

.

what is necessary to Him and even the obstacles ,

in Hi s path the sins of man He can caus e to work

, ,

together for go od Hi s ends are the holiest and

.
,

all means are at Hi s command ; so h o w can there

be a shadow of a doubt that a ll thi ngs are enter
eternal plans ?
Scripture gives us further evidence of this
by its frequent references to the Wisdom of God .

“
It is said in the Ps alms Thou hast made all
”
things In wisdom ( P s ciii and the Book of
. .

Wisdom speaking in sublime lan g uage s ays

, ,
“
She reacheth therefore from end to end might
”
ily and ordereth all things sweetly ( W i s viii . .

Y es from the smallest to the greatest from

, ,

the first to the last of Hi s creatures from the least ,

 THE WI SD OM OF G OD

part to the entire univers e from the beginning to ,

the end of the world the wisdom of God governs ,

all things and guides them to the fulfillment of Hi s

’
( e ) We can draw endless proofs of God s w i s
dom from the a ctu al or de r i n g of Hi s creation We .

will sketch at least in outline a fe w of its prin

ci p a l features L et u s consider for example this
.
, ,

earthly globe su sp e n d e cligsp a ce far enough from

, ,

the su n to escape being b u r n e di i p and sufficiently ,

near to derive from it warmth and lig ht ; so poised

upon i t s axis in its r e v o lifl i o n round the su n as
to give rise to the difi er e ny s easons of the year .

An d then the constitution of th e earth itself made

up a s it is Of land and water Without water we .

S hould have clouds to p r qdq r a in nor y

,

rain to fos ter the gr o w th o f vegetati on n

f ‘
,

t a t i o n to use fo r o u rj fgo df Th e n while leaving

- m

out thousands of other thi ngs we may pas s on

’
to God s creature man the monarch of the earth ,
,

'

What a marvel i s the eye ! L arge enough to em

brace distance with one glance s e t fast amid its ,

bulwarks of bone like a city p r o t e c e d by ram

,

parts pfov id e d with lids to S hut and open Truly

'

.
,

the eye is formed for light and light for the eye .

Consider the mouth the tongue ! What a multi ,

tude of sounds h o w many syllables words and

, , ,

sentences this simple organ i s capable of produc

ing from the first cry of an infant to the notes
,

of the most melodious sin ger the tones of the most ,

finished orator L ook at the hand ; it can catch

.
,

grasp hold draw strike thru st wrench press

, , , , , ,
.

It h a s been said by a pagan that the hand is the

in strument of a ll instruments for what would any ,
92 P O P ULA R SER MO N S ON THE CA TE C HI S M

implement be worth without it ? We could count

over in this way all the members and parts of our
body Think of the properties of the atmosphere
.

which surround the whole eart h ! W i th o ut a gr no

living creature could live for five m in utes What
"

an abundance of it is made for u s h o w easily it ,

penetrates everywhere with what facility do we ,

breathe it in and o u t !
’
God s wi sdom is evident in all Hi s creation i ts ,

constitution i t s pres ervation its disposition ; in

, ,

the workings of nature as well as the workings of

grace ‘C o nt e rnpla t e th e r e d e m p ti o n l By it the
.

S on of God became man éii d su ffered and died

fl ”
'

for u s True man else He could not have su f

.
,

fe r e d nor would Hi s su fl e r i n g s have had any

,

meaning for u s ; but true God als o which gave , ,

unending merit to all He endured T r u e God yet .

,

He willingly did what was necessary and more

than was neces sary to s atisfy the divine justice ;
true man He showed us the value of mercy and
, “

love Wisdom permeates everyt hing from begin

.

n i ng to end It runs through the lives o f individ

.

n a l s as well as that of nations

, Study the history .

of the people o f I srael or that of the Church of ,

Christ which the eternal wisdom has gfi i de d

through a s e a o f blood to victory a n d st a b ili ty and ,

which at the last day wil l appear in all her splen

dor Then God w il l disclose Hi s plans to u s and
.
,

w e S hall understand how all things have be en made

and regulated by Him or the best for the work ,

ing out of Hi s designs M ooves us to imitate

.

the divi ne wisdom Ho w can we do thi s ? By s e t

.

ting before ourselves a worthy gnd infi fe toward ,

whi ch to direct all our e fforts and labors If w e .

 THE WI SD OM OF GOD

test ourselves on this point it will easily be made ,

clear to us whether we deserve to rank among

,

fools or whether we may count ours elves as wise

, .

What is your ambition ? The answer o f thou

s ands and thousands would be : To pas s ou r lives
as happ ily and c o m fo tably as possible Away .

w ith you among the fools O thers reply : w e want

to acquire r i ches for ourselves that our old age ,

may be free from care and that there may be ,

enough to provide for our children and if possible

’
for our children s children F ools join the ranks .
,

of the fools ! D eath follows in the train of worldly

wis dom .

And you to what do you aspire ? We desire to

,

m a ke a n gme that will live after us and that will ,

be remembered from generation to generation .

But h o w let me ask do you intend to accomplish

, ,

that and when you hav e done so what will it profit

,

you ? F ools as you are you must take your place,

with the rest .

And we what do we long for ? Y ou will reply

, ,

I hope we are not to be classed with all the foolish

,

men our ideal in life is hi gher and h g_

, ig
l_ r ; w e want

to travel as pilgrims through this world to our

heavenl y home That is wise but recollect that
.
,

wisdom consists in u si ng t he r ig ht m e a n s to reach

(
the best end Y our end is .the right one but do ,

you hope to reach it by the p ath of evil doing ? -

M adnes s ! D o you hope to avoid sin without shun

ning the occasions ? M adness madnes s ! D O you ,

imagine you can attain your ideal without grace ,

without prayer without the help of God ? F olly

, ,

folly threefold foll y ! Cling to the goal you hav e

chosen—eternal life for there can be none more
,

,
94 P O P ULA R SER MO NS ON THE C A TE CHI SM

sublime But seize hold of and employ those

.

means which lead to it : ho r r o r of p in fear of the

w ,

occasions of it the p r a ct i cgp w a ye r and the

y

, ,

fm o st u n broken confi dence in the wisdom of the

n i di n g hand of God A men
ig . .
 S E RM ON XIII
t he Om nip ot e nce of O oh
“
A l m ighty is His na m e ( Ex . xv .

M to day to follow up our instruction

E I N T E ND -

on the wis dom of Go d by pas sing on to the

consideration of Hi s omnipotence for in point of ,

fact thes e tw o attributes of the Almighty are

clo sely interwoven The o m n i p o tgnge of Go d
.

makes known to us Hi s power ; Hi s wis dom di rects

and guides that power to the accomplishment of
the di vine intentions and designs Therefore .
,

under the guidance of the Holy Spirit w e wi ll ,

contemplate
.
’
I What God s omnipotence is in itself .

II What it means for u s

. .

I
“
Why i s G od called al m i ghty ? God is called
almighty be cause He can d o_all thin g s and noth '
,

ing i s hard or impos sible to Him This answer

i s s o plain that it wo u l d seem to requ i re no further
explanation ; but in order that we may form a
clearer conception of the omnipotence of God w e
wi ll endeavor to day to bring home to ourselv es
-

that it i s a power which is in itself ( 1 ) entirely jg .

dep endent and ( 2 ) absolutely unbounded .

It is entirely inde endent This signifies that .

God derives Hi s power from Him self and from

no other All creatures pos se s s w ithin given great
.

or narro w lim i ts a Certain amount of power .

95
 96 P O P ULA R S ERMO N S ON THE CA TE CHI SM

K_g hav e a wide influence They regulate w a r

s .

and p e a ce a sign from them sets armaments in

,

motion l aws are made by a stroke of their pen

, ,

thousands hang on their every word Ne v e r th e .

les s the greatest amongst them have recogni zed

that their power comes not from thems elves but ,

from God ; their o fficial style and even their ,

“
coinage often describes them as
,
By the grace
”
of God kin g or emperor of such a realm and
, , ,

even where it is not emphasized the fact remains ,

that they of themselves are powerles s L ook at .

the authority wielded by the n e He draws up .

laws for the Whole Church he forgives sin he , ,

remits and inflicts punishment But his strength .

is not his own ; it is derived from the providence

of God who has placed him where he is Go d alo n e
,
.
n

’
L G o d s power is not su
bppdi
to the material
n a t e

w ith and by which He works A pai nter could not

.

give expression to his art without color nor a ,

cu tor without stone Or wood or marble and ,

w a t wo ul d a writer do without paper or i nk ?

They are all dependent on their materials and are
as helpless without them as is a smith without a
hamm er or an astronomer without a telescope
,
.

But God for Hi s qp e r a ti o n s requires neither mate

rial nor instpu m e nt s What He wills comes to
—
.

pas s “
He spoke and they were made ”
( Ps .

cxlviii
’
.

God s mig ht is n ot the result of l abor and e xe r

tion s o it is n ot liable to grow weak from fatigue
, .

and weariness The most skilful hand the strong

.
,

est arm Will tire with prolonged labor ; the fl e e t

e st foot wi ll slacken with continued tra v eling ; the
98 P O P ULA R SERMO N S ON THE CA TE C HI SM

only to Hi s o w n divine mind all in fact which , , ,

“
the mind Of God I S capable of conceiving NO .

”
[ word shall be impos sible wi th God ( Lu k e
But there is much which God is incapable of He
can not si n He can not be irrational He can do
, ,

nothing fo olish or u n r easgn a b l e He is lim i ted .

by Hi s o w n infinite p e r fe cti o n s Hi s holiness and

w “ ,

wi sd om But He could in a moment create thou

.

sands o f worlds more more angels more stars

, , ,

more creatures of e v ery ki nd than we can pic

ture
.
“
Whats oever the L ord pleased He hath
done in heaven in earth in the se a and in all the
, , , ,
”
deeps ( P s cxxxiv . .

The power of God is something unfathomable ,

not only because it is unlimited it

can do but als o because it is
, it
—
self a n inexhaustible force E verything created .

has an appointed measure of strength : the most

powerful steam engine is made to draw a certain
-

weight and not a j ot more ; the camel may be

loaded up to a point but beyond that it breaks down
—
,
“
w e say it is the last straw th a t b r e a k s the
’ —the one straw to o many If our
.

camel s bac .

earth were to come into violent contact with one

of the other heavenly bodies what a tremendous ,

collision would ensue ! Y et the strengt h of that ,

sh o ok great a s it would be can be counted and

,
’
reckoned with ; but God s power is infi nite Ho w
,

can we tell this ? Becaus e He can create out o f

nothing If all the powers mental and physical
.

of man were j oined to those of the angels ; and all

the forces of nature and of all the heavenly bodies ]
were added to them and if every nerve were
,

strained to find a way they still could not su c,

 T HE OMNIP O TENCE O F G O D

ce e din creating out of nothing even a fly or a ,

blade of straw or a grain of s and O h how help , .

,

less are men who though they can change and ,

refin e mold and fashion what is already beauti

,

fu l can not create out of nothin g ! God only can

,

do this O h the fe eblenes s 9_f rna n compared with

.
, fi

the power of God ! S e v e nty times in Scripture m

is He called almi ghty .

II
What then for us i s the signification of the
, ,

almi ghtines s of God which being independent of , ,

all thi ngs yet extends to everything and is in i t

,

s elf infinite ? What practical meaning can we find

in it and to what S hould the thought of it excite
,

us? Surely it should m ove u s to fix all ou r ho pes

in God and to trus t to nothing In this world not
m
, ,

to ourselves or other s nor to the judg ent , ,

strength influence promi ses or capability of any

, , ,

one alive wi th the s a mg ggnfi d e n ce that we gi v e to

,

God This i s quite consistent ; God i s stronger

.

than creatures without Him they c a n do nothing , fl

.

We honor God by l e a n 11 in1 OI1 Him more than on

"
any creature more than a creatures put together
, % .

If w ith our whole hearts we t r u sLHim we shall ,

not falter in our confid ence toward Him when

p e o p l e tu r n fr o m u s or rise up threateni n gly
i
.

fi ,
“
against u S : In God have I hoped : I wil l not fear
”
what man can do to me ( P s lv So says the . .

“
R oyal Prophet If I should walk in the midst of
.

he S hadow of death I will fear no evil for Thou ,

”
art with me ( P s xxii E ven when God Hi m

w
. .

self se e m mn us we must not cease ,

to hope in 1 m “
Although He should kill me I
.
,
1 00 P O P ULA R SERMO NS ON T HE C A TE C HI SM

w ill trust in Him ( Jo b xiii ”

S o spo k e the
.

holy and patient Job a g a in st w h o m the whole

, w

world seemed to be arrayed Hi s cattle were .

stolen his chil dren murdered his health de

, ,
~

stroyed ; mocked at by his wife mist r usted by his ,

friends he sa t alone in hi s m i sery But his trust

, .

in God w a s never shaken “

T hough He S hould
.

kill me I will trust in Hi m ”

Hi s healing power
.

will s ave me if not in this world then in the next

, ,
.

We S hould not only rely on God in every physical

and S piritual danger ; we should give Hi m a con
fi d e n ce s o firm and unshaken that it will bear s ome
proportion to Hi s infinite power for on what more ,

secure foundation could our confi dence rest ? Go

is not only good and merciful not onl y o m n i sci e n i
, I
and omnipresent He is alm i ghty We hav e no)
, .

en em y from whom He can not protect us n ot} ,

'
dang er out of which H e can not rescue u s no ,
'

so rg
pw for which H e can not console us
“
If God
”
be for u s who is against us ( Ro m V II I
,
L et . .

us , then s a y from our hearts the words of the

, ,

Psalmist which w e find at the end of the T e D e u m :

,

In Thee O God have I hoped ; let me never be

, ,
”
confounded ( P s xxx . Amen. .
 1 02 P O P ULA R SER MO NS ON THE C A TECHI SM

pp r o p o r t i on
as the good i s greater If we describe
‘

a man a s holy we mean that he not only will s

no evil but that he practis es a ll Virtues and loves
,

God abo v e all things We represent the blessed in

.

heav en as being united by unalterable love to the

highest good Holiness is therefore the relation
.
, ,

of the will toward good the highest good , .

But h o w is God holy in Hi s essence ? This has

al ready been indicated ; O ur L ord God is the su
preme and hi gh e s go o d the in fini t e ly r fe ct b e
pg
m
, y
“
i ng But one is good G od o nl y
. God
,

recogni zes Hi s o w n ex cellence and as the hi gh

Iest good He l o v e sH 1m se lf T his knowledge of
,

H imself i s eternal s o therefore is the love He

, , ,

bears Hims elf ; and just as Hi s kn owledge of

Himself will be everlasting s o wil l Hi s love of
Himself be ; and as He must of neces sity know
Himself s o does He of neces sity love Himself
, .

To love Hims elf first above all things and of n e ce s

s i ty and everyt hing else for Hi s o w n sake in
agreement with Hi s holy will—in this consists the
,

sancti ty of God F rom this naturally arise the

.

various qualities of the holiness of God .

The holi nes s of God i s infinite He loves Him .

self as He deserves and Hi s loo v e is worthy of the

highest good ti the holines s of any creature has its
.

limits E ven the holiest

.

N o light of earth , however powerfu l , can at

the strength of the su n .

The sanctity of God i s a necessary s anctity and

is inherent In Hi s nature ; He must love Himself
The most abandoned of Hi s m em es may be
.

purified and made holy and even the angels of ,

 THE HOLINESS O F G O D

heav en have power to S in and f al l away but God ,

is of neces sity holy .

The ho lines s of G o d is M able J and can

neither be increased nor di mi nished oly people . H
on earth climb up ste p by g tgfi but are also sub
'

j e ct to fall back and los e ground ; but the holines s

of God is i nherent in Hi s nature and is its very ,

essence A s He Is infinite wisdom so is He in

.
,

fini te holiness He is the highest good a n d He

.
,

it is who loves this highest good H e is at the ] .

same t ime the lover and the beloved T he essence .

of light is to illumine ; s o must God perforce love .

What can b e more at o n e with God th an God

Hims elf ? Therefore Hi s holines s is to be e x
and prais ed in a S pecial way above all Hi s
fe cti o n s. The fo u r living creatures seen by St .

John b e fore the throne of Go d cried without i n

te r m i ssi o n day and ni ght “
Holy holy holy L ord
, , , ,

God almighty who was and who i s and who is to

”
,

come ( A p o c iv
.
’ ,

Three of God s perfections ;

.
,

Hi s holiness H is omnipotence Hi s e tgnpi ty

, , ,

were ever on their lips biit fi r st they praised three

,

times consecutively Hi s holiness What is the .

s anctity o f any creature compared wi th the holi

“
ness Of God ? There i s none holy as the L ord
”
is ( 1 King s ii .

F rom what has been said it can be seen that

the intrinsic holines s of the divine essence exists
apart from creatures , and would have e xisted just
the same had He never created or purposed creat ,

ing a s ingle being ; He would still have been the

,

Holy of holies F rom thi s inherent holines s of

.
1 04 P O P ULA R SERMO N S ON THE CA TE C HI S M

’
God s it results that thal aws which He has given
to Hi s children are and must b e holy for He is
, , ,

holy also in Hi s laws .

F or as G od lo v es Himself as the most supreme

,

go od abo v e al l thi ngs He can lay down n o other,

r u lp s for Hi s rational creatures than to love Him

above all things and to avoid e v e r ythifig that is

,

not in conform i ty with Hi s holy will That is in

’
.

a fe w words the whole substance of God s com

“
mands to men Thou shalt love the L ord thy
God with thy whole heart thy whole soul and thy , ,

whole mind ; this is the greatest and the first com

mandm ent O n this d e p e n d e th the whole l a w and
.

( Ma t t xxii 37 38
”
the prophets [ Thes e
. .
, ,

words are made use of by our Saviour and they ,

“
are also the l a w of the old covenant : Thou shalt
love the L ord thy God with thy whole heart thy ,
”
whole soul and with all thy strength ( D e u t V i
, . .

This holy law is engraven in the souls of all

rational creatures by their M aker and in a sense , ;
the unreasoning creation comes under it als o for ,

it too has a mission— to glorify and bear wi tnes s

, ,

to God O h if eve r y heart were to beat in unis on

.
,

with the divine heart of God wi th pure love for ,

Him what harmony what peace what complete

, , ,

ness would be established in this world ! Sin would? '

be banished with envy hate war strife and all , , , ,

wrong doing Sorrow there still would be su f

-

.
,

fe r in g would remain and illness and death for, ,

thes e things though evils indeed are o nl y such as

, ,

tend to purify test and augment our charity

, ,

toward God and by increasing the measure of

,

our love earn for us a hi gher degree of blessed

nes s .
 1 06 P O P ULA R SERMO N S ON THE CA TE CHI SM

banishes sinners from Hi s sight — “

Come ye ,
”—
blessed of my F ather a s anctity which unites

the blessed to Hi mself for evermore Hell is a .

work of God and i s not only an act 0 j stice

, ,

but is also an indication of that holines s which

{p ursues sin with eterna hatred The
work of God a deed o j ustice and mercy it is
Cros s is a .

, ,

tru e but more than all it i s the symbol of Hi s

, , ,

holines s to which s in is s o abhorrent that only

the blood of the Son of God could move Him to
look with clemency upon it God is holy in all .

Hi s works for they all make manifest h o w highly

,

He th e highes t good values and loves Himself

, , ,

and h o w great is Hi s detestation of al l that o p

po ses Hi s holy will .

Holiness is that divine attribute which we can

best imitate and on which it is incumbent on us
—
,
“
to model ourselv es B e ye holy because I the ,
”
L ord your God am holy ( L e v xix
,
It was . .

sin and folly for our first parents to wish to make

themselves like to God knowing g o o d a nd e v il , J
‘
.

It would be ma dnes s for us to think we could imi

tate God in Hi s omniscience Hi s o mnipresence , ,

Hi s almi ghtines s It is folly only to think of it

.
,

but Hi s holines s we can and must follow after .

“ ”
This is the will Of God your sa n ctifi c a t i o n ,
It .

i s the most important Of all the duties that devolve

Q upon us for if w e be not holy we are lost God
, ,
.

has called us to s anctity and He Himself invites

u s and helps us to it What numbers of the human.

ra ce have attained it ! It i s not difficult for noth ,

1 ing can hinder us from fixing our hearts on the

supreme good ; and to do s o is the foundation of

sanctity What i s to prevent us from keep ing our
.
 THE HO LINESS O F G O D

selves ever tu rned to God and loving Hi m above

,

all things and everything for Hi s sake— to work ,

to su ffer to endure to live or die a s God wil ls

, ,
.

“
Wash me yet more from my iniquity and cleanse
me from my sins ; create a clean heart in me O
”—
,

God; and renew a right S pirit within me the

spirit whi ch wills what Go d wi lls that hates what
,

He hates that loves what He loves

,
.
“
R enew a
”
right S pirit within me .Amen .
 S E RM ON XV
t he S us t i ce of ( Bob
”
Thou ar t j u st , 0 L or d ,
and Thy j u dgm ent is r i ght

( Ps . cxv ii i .

E same thing but in a n o the r s e n se justice is

A K EN in one s ens e justice and holines s are the
,
“

much more the result an d e ffe ct of holines s ”

, , ,

.
n

“
S ometimes the term j ustice is employed to de
scribe the poss es sion o f all Virtues and p e r fe c
tions and us ed in this way it is syn onymous with
,

holiness ; but more comm o nl y it designates that

peculiar virtue by which we are prepared to give ,
t o every one what is due to them No w can it be
said that anything is due from God to Hi s crea l
,
.

tures ? He was n ot bound to cr e a tg th e m nor is

’
He bound to sustain them God s responsibility .
,

is not to us but to Himself to H is OM IIfi Il lt C

,

h ogness which demands that Hi s dealings with u s ' ,

shoul d with Hisp a n cti ty We call .

God just therefore because He r e w a r dp g o o d and

, ,

p u n i sh e sp v il dispensing recompens e or exacting

,

penalty according to the deserts of Hi s creatures

’
.

Holy Scripture is full of passages in which God s

decrees Hi s judgments rewards and punishments
, , ,

are praised and e x alted

’
.

Cons equently God s justice works in tw o ways

,

in rewarding and in _u n i shin g N ow it does not

'
.

come hard t oT S tOBOi e v e in the justice of God as

the recompenser of a ll good ev en of the slightest ,

good desire or o f the cup of cold water given

,

1 08
 110 P O P ULA R SERMO N S ON THE CA TE CHI SM

that he dare not find fault or co g e ct and is no ,

longer m a st er _i n his own house it ceases to b e a ,

virtue or a go od fi nality at all and b e co m e s_sin fu l,

and b l a m e w o r thy yyp alm e s s It is beauti ful to s e e

z
.

a sovereign r u ling __ gg a ci ou sl y mildl y and i

,
n ,

du l ggn tly over hi s people ; but if he goes so far

a s to tolerate theft murder robbery and vice a l

lowing evil—
, , ,

doers to run riot and thu s gnd a n ge r fi

ing the life honor and property of his subj ects we

, ,

can no longer adm ire his conduct ; it has degen

e r a t e d into mer a xi ty by which the goo d of the
,

State and the sa ety of the throne is j eopar di zed , .

God is indeed good and a b u n d a n tly p i e r ci fu l

, w
.

But He does not on the plea of mercy su sp e n d Hi s

j tj g
u s u d m e n ts .God is the supreme good a n d as ,

such Hu o v e s and prizes Himself and because ,

He loves Himself as this highest good He d e t e st s '

all that is o p p o se dt g Ahe he st Hi s hatre d of all

s
.

that is evil is equa l to Hi s loye of Himself This .

hatred is M i o u s not onl y i n forbidding

in a tta ch ing t ow u n i shm e n t as in the case of,
“
the first commandment given to man F or on
what day s oever thou shalt eat of it thou shalt die , ,
”
the death . A law the breaking o f which in
,

volves n Q_pe n a l ty is void and becaus e the hatred

, , ,

directed against S i n is an e fli ca ci o u s hatred S O ,

th e punis hm ents attached to it are not only threat

l
[ ened ,
but
,
in the cas e of an unrepentant S inner are ,

actually carried into e ffect This is due to the .

rev ere nce which God owes to Himself If a man

’
.

will not w illingly follow God s commandments ,

then whether he lik es it or not he is obliged to

bear the punishment God metes out to him If he .

refuses to gl o r i fL n J olu n t a r ily then he must ,

 T HE J U S TICE O F G O D
’
perforce furnish an e x ample of G o d s justice ,
.

This is necessary for our own well being God -

i s s o good one might think it would be easy to

serve Hi m out of lo ve but h o w fe w do so ! By far
,

the greater number are faithful to Him not out

of love but from fear of Hi s j p d gm e n t s Greater
,
.

stil l I S the number of thos e Wh o follow Hi m p ap tly

out of love but w h o when they find their love
, ,

wavering and growing weak strengthen their res ,

o lu t i o n against S i n by thinking of the ete r nal pun

i shm e n t s of hell Greater than all i s the number

.

of thos e who neither from love nor fe aL o f God

allow themselves to be drawn away from evil and
’
who although believing i n God S justice s in and
, ,
,

s i n grievously O God if the thought of hell be

.
,

n o t powerful enough t Okeep us from evil what ,

would become of us if it were not for Thy just

judgments ! Passion would run riot si n would ,

know no li mit the m sp i r a ti o ng p i sorrow and

,

penance would be of no avail But God I s just to .

punish ; Hi s J stice was manifest on the threshold

of heaven ,
‘

di
e n the e a r l i e st s i nn e r s the fallen
p w ,

angels were p r e ci p i t a t edgptq pe ll ; it showed i t

,

s elf when after their sin o u r __fi rst _p a r e n t s were

turned out of para di se ; we se e it i n the C r u cifi xi o n
where the S on of M an gave Hi s blood for our \
sins It is exemplified in the awful prison of
.

which encloses never to release th em those wh o

, ,

are the enemies of God .

II
We trust th at the first bar to our recogni tion
’
of God s justice namely the idea that He is too
, ,

merciful to punish i s removed We will n o w pass

, .
 1 12 P O P ULA R SERMO N S ON THE CA TE CHI SM

on to the second O bj ection which is a yet more ,

vicious o n e It is said that here in this world

.

the a u th o r i ty p fl na n has established a system of

l ,

punishment for wrong doers which ought to s a t J ~

i sfy the r equirementp d is justice NO doubt .

w e have t r ibup l s and j udgments p r o n s and

g ’is ,
l
d e a th s e n t e nce s to deal with men s o fi e n ce S I
w ,

against one another ; this must always be s o as

long as we have a properly constituted human
society But the fact that these things are ex
.

d i n t for the protection of the co mm unity does

’
p e e

not in any way render the exercis e of Go d s _r ig htl

to p u n i st u p e r flu o u sm
F or from whom does .

e a r thly a u thOr i ty derive i t s power ?

p
F rom God
and from God only ; therefore if authority derived
from God claims the right to wield the sword of ‘
,

justice shall we deny it to the L ord God Himself ?

,

But on what grounds and h o w fa r does human

{na u th o r i t punish the evil doer ? He is punished
y
-

according to the seriousness of his o fi e pse against

society But w h o can punish defiance of th e m a j
.

esty of Go d Al m ighty ? He alone ca n d O this

Q ‘

It is only e xt e r n gl tpa n sg r e ssi o n s that come within

[the scope of human justice ; the l a w they say takes , ,

no account of m otives but God who s earches the , ,

heart and the reins can pronounce judgment on

,

o u r m o sLhidde n Si n s M oreover legal justice

L
.
,

tied and bound down by the laws of evidence But .

who is to punish the Criminal against whom there

i s no legal testimony
— ? O nly H e surely who is , ,

b o thf Wit fi S SS and jud ge F urther in order to deal

'

.
,

with evil doers the l a w must fi r st d e te ct them and

-

p ‘

then a r ggst an d hold th e rn fgst ; many succeed in

‘ p

evading detection s ome avoid arrest by esc a ping

,
 1 14 P OP ULA R S ERMONS ON THE CA TE CHIS M

unrighteousness spending their lives in comfort

, ,

health and happines s while the children of God

, , ,

who are upright and God fearing and righteous -

are st r uggling along with s orrow and suffering

,

for their daily portion Is it fair that the

.

should live as blest as though they were

and the just be full o f misery a s
sinners ?
D oes this not actually happen ? Is it not fr e
quently the case ? Y es it does happen ; but What
,

is to be argued from it ? a ny ever as sert “

rewards i n g penalties
full in this l ife ? W h
”1
,
7 w a s it told us the story
o f he I l Ch man and L azarus ? O ur Saviour Hi m
'

s elf The rich man in the parable is the complete

.

typ e o f the W icked me rcil es s p i t il e ssm a n ; he w a s

, ,

rich and strong ; with good food and clothing in

plenty L azarus is the very picture of a good
.

man in adversity ; poor naked sick and hu ngry , , , ,

he is treated with contempt and unkindness What .

lesson did our S aviour wish to teach us by draw

ing this comparison ? Y ou hear people exclaim
“
God does not make use of Hi s justi ce to punish
”
the W icked D id Christ e x plain it in that way ?
.

N o He pointed to the other world as the place

,

and time where things woul d Be m a de ggu a l The .

rich man died and was buried in hell L azarus

’
.

died and angels carried him to Abraham s bosom .

This exactly answers your obj ection for e v en ,

though the wicked often prosper in this world ,

while the good s eem never to meet with succ ess ,

it furnishes no r oof against th e j ustice of Go d ;

f
becaus e pm fl éfi t and reward are not doled out
{ e u a lly here below but are r e se r v e d j ori te r n i ty
,
.
 T HE JUS TI CE OF GOD

What w a s the lot of St Jos eph in this world ?

’
.

Work s orrow and anxi ety And that of Christ s

, ,
.

Holy M other ? Poverty and heartache upon heart

ache And W hat of our Sa v iour H imself ? S or
.

r o w and death And were they not just ?

.

0 my God who can doubt that Thou didst fully

,

requite them in another life ? L et us then firmly , ,

“
believe in the justice of God Thou art just 0 .
,
”
L ord and Thy judgment is right ( P s cxviii
‘

.
, .

And because Thou art just it i s for me to

fear Thy jud gments The fear of God is the b e
’
.

ginning of wisdom If I walk in the fear of God s

.

judgments here on earth I shall experience in

eternity the mercy with which He rewards Hi s
children Amen . .
 S ER MO N X VI
E b e 6 00011 6 8 8 , m er cy , a no p at i ence Of ( 300
gi v e His on ly b ego tte n
“
F o r Go d so l ov e d the w or l d as to -

”
S on ( J ohn i i i .

[D perfections of God one after another in turn

with our instructions and taking the
ROC EEDI N G

we come next to the contemplation of the divine

goodne s s This attribute consists in dispensing
.

bene fits and is closely akin to mercyj n d patience

, '
.

We shall better understand these th r ee qu a li ti e s ,

their nature and relation to each other if we seek ,

with the help of the Holy Spirit to find the r eply

to the following questions
I What are the benefits which God dispenses ?
.

II To whom does He dispense them ?

.

III Why does He dispense them ?

.

I
The goodness of G od mak es H im love all H is
creatures and shower innumerable blessings on
them It is characteristic o f e v e r ythin g that is
.
fl

really good that it has the pow er o f co m m u n i ca tin g _

its elf and allowing them to participate

in it A reall y good man if he be wealthy will
.
, ,

share his money with the poor ; if he be

he will give the ignorant the benefit of his kn owl
edge ; i f he be ski ll e d i n medicine he will bring
w ,

his science to bear upon the sick .

God is the highest good the substance of all ,

good What are the benefits He dispenses or in

.
, ,

1 16
118 P O P UL A R S ERMONS ON THE C A TECHISM

the fishes of the s e a that pas s through the paths

”
of the sea .

N ext to the b e n e fi t m f comes that of

pre ser vation A s without God nothing can come
.

from nothing s o neither could it c o n tin ue i n ex

,

i st e n c e for a m o m e nt w ith o u t Hi s support When “

.

we k nee l before God to return thanks to Him for

a.

all Hi s benefits we ought rightly never to ris e up

,

again for each su cce ss ive in st a n t of life i s a n e w

,

favor fo r w hi ch we o w e Him fresh gratitude

’
.

If I go further and begin to count over God s

goodnes s to us in the su p e r n a tu r al crd e r of things ,

I find myself in a perfect ocean of

seems to have neither b eginning nor end We .

will pas s these benefits shortly in review using ,

the sublime words of St Thomas A quinas in his .

hym n to the R edeemer each o n e of the four lines

,

o f which seems to point out a fresh favor bestowed

by God .

S e n a s c e n s d e di t s o ci u m — B y becoming man He .

made Himself o u r friend the companion of our ,

p qver ty our mi sery and death

C o n v e s c e n s i n e du li u m —A t the last supper He
.
, ,
‘

made Himself our food N ot only has He given .

us Hi s c r e a tu r es i or our u se but He has given ,

us Himself to be our nourishment

S e m o r i e n s i n p r e ti u m —
.

In death he gave Him

.

s elf for our ransom

—
.

S e eg m s d
r m a t i n r
p ae m i u m In Hi s kingdom .

He is Himself our reward .

O goodnes s o fHo d ! C an it go further than to

”
lay at o u r feet all created things and make Him ,

self the Creator o f all things o u r fr i n d o u r

p
x
, , w
,

f o d our ransom a n d our reward ? a

q , ,
G OO DNE SS ,
MERC Y ,
AND PZ TIENOE OF GOD 1 1 9

II

On whom has God conferred the se h en e fi t s ? He

h a s showered them on every creature animate or ,

inanim ate living and dead rational or irrational

, , ,

men and angels He is full of love toward Hi s

.

whole creation and l a v i sh e s o n it endles s kind

'

ness .

But if out of creation we select the rational

“

bein gs and amongst them take men ; and if among

,

men single out and consider sinners we shall see

’
that God s goo dness is shown and revealed in a
,

special Wa y to them ; so much is this th e _ca s e that

tw o fu r th erm e r fe cti o n s—the S p e ci al attr i b u t e s of
"

our heavenly F ather— I mean Hi s m ercy and pa;

t i e n ce are n o w brought before us
, .

That God in Hi s mercy should s e e fit to create

the universe we can easily understand ; and that
having created it He should equip it with every
thing needful and useful is also pe r fectly compre
’
h e n sib le But what is God s attitude toward those
.

creatures who are rebellious and ung rateful to

Him and prove themselves to be Hi s enemies ?
,

They may be divided into tw o classes : repenta n t -

and unrepentant sinners Ho w does God deal with .

sinners who repent ? They have earned Hi s chas

t i s e m e nt ; what prevents Him from letting it take
i t fi ib u r s e ? N othing hinders Him e x cept Hi s o w n
in co n ce i v a b l i e r cy which is ever ready to rec
et n ,

o n cil e to Himself all those who cr a v e s pardon

i l i
“
.

T he o fi e n d e d maj esty of God fo rgi ves and for

g iv eséga dil y not o nl yc n ce but e very s i n of which
, ,

we repent E ven were our sins r e rLagFEaTr l e t and

.

as numerous as the s ands on the seashore they ,

are a ll forgiven as soon as repentance enters the

 1 20 P O P UL A R SERMON S ON T HE C A TECHISM

s oul s o completely that they are not even r e mem

,
’
bered This token of God s infinite goo dn ess
.
u a w

which g o ers b e yond a ll oth e r_bl e s sin gs and which

w
_

Holy S cr Ip tu r e tells us surpasses all Hi s works ,

we call by the name of mercy .

Ho w does God d e mea m li i m se lf toward the u n

r e p e nt a nt si nn e r ? T here is nothing to hinder Hi m
d

from puni shing” the evil doer on th e sp o t and -

“
m
,

s o m etimes as In the case of the fallen angels He

, ,

does do s o It would be nothing verysfr p r i sin g

-

.
,

therefore if the Al mi ghty were to treat sinful man

,

in the s ame w a y But oh the incomprehensible

.
, ,

goodness of God which inclines to show tender

,

nes s even to the unrepentant and which stays Hi s

hand in order that there may be time for change
of heart ! \ God is quick to f or give sl o wi o p un i sh ; I ,

H e was slo w to punish A dam ; He wait ed hundreds

a

of years before sending the flood Hi s desire to .

compassionate flows from Hi s o w n merciful heart ;

Hi s l a w i gi igt fib u ti o n are forced on Hi m by the
'

hardnes s ang obstinacy of men ; He waits often

- ,

but n ot g lw a ys He waits a long time s ometimes

d

]
.
,

for years and years unto o ld age th r ough sick ,

~
, -

nes s up to the day even the very hour of death

, ,
.

W hat i s He waiting for ? He is waiting for the

sinner to repent N ot only does He wait but He
.
,

calls the sinner by grace to return to Hi m and ,

showers Hi s favors upon him “

The L ord is long .

”
l The r e la ti n e tw e e n these three attributes of
s u ffe r in g and plenteous in mercy ( P s cii
‘

. .

q jp
G od—goodness mercy and patience— may be
, ,

s u mm ed up by saying that Hi s g ood nes s is poured l

 1 22 P O P UL A R S ER MONS ON THE C A TECHISM

is entirely and absolutely disinterested and has

(
,

no foundat ion but that of Hi s i nfi n i e love .

We must not end our instruction wit out as ki ng

ourselves What effect these perfections of Go d Al
mighty should produce upon o u r hearts .

What do I not o w e Thee O L ord for the ines , ,

timable benefits which Thou hast showered upon

me L ove b e g e ts lo v e and I owe it to Thee to
.
fi ,

love Thee with my w h o le hea r t a nd soul But if .

I find it hard to pay thi s debt of love I can at ,

least th ai ikfl he e for all Thy favors If a ellow

f
.

creature shows me a kindn ess I have no culty

in acknowledgin g it and to fail to exp ress my
,

gratitude to Thee who hast given m e e v e r yt hin g

, ,

even M yself would be indeed th e height of in

” , ,

gratitude .

J; What r etu rn can I make Thee O my God for , ,

Thw r cy ? When I have fallen into si n I can at

a l l events not delay to avail my sel f of Thy com
passion The S avi our did not turn away from
.

the w e e p ing Mag da l e n nor from the Canaanite

r
,

woman who cried to Him nor from the woman

‘

taken in adli lt e r y ; He did not despise the prayer

,

of the publican ; He did not condemn the apostle

who denied Him nor the persecutors of Hi s
,

Church nor even th o s e w h o cr u cifi e d Him

, m w
.

N either will He cast me o fi A t least I will be care.

,

ful not to misuse Hi s merciful readiness

give me by committing fresh o ffenses hee
as though one might s afely run the risk of con
t r a ct ing j i se a s e because doctors and me di cines
,

are s o ready to hand .

Ho w great is my i ndeb t e dn e s s to Thee for Thy

p atience O ,
my God ; I will repay Thee in ever so
v
G OO D NE SS , MERC Y AND PA TIEN CE O F
, G OD 1 23

small a way by not u singj t as a prete x t

repentance God has often withheld Hi s punish
.

ments but is this a proof that He wi ll always

,

withh old them ? If He has already waited s o long ,

is it a sign that He in tends to go on waiting ? If

He stays Hi s hand in order that we may have time
for repentance will He stil l be patient when He
,

sees that He is o nl y gi v i ng qs fmsh qpp o r t u n i ti e s

m fi m ‘

for m a k ing o u r se lj e s guilty inl l i s sight and that

w fl ,

Hi s mercy is turned into the corruption of si n ?

‘ h
a

N o surely He will not

, .

0 L ord my God I adore Thy patience and

, ,

mercy and I will glorify Thee by making the

,
“
t use of them The mercies of the L ord I
.

”
will s ing forever ( P s l xxxviii . M ay Thy .

eternal goodness be exalted and may I have cause ,

to praise and love it for all eternity Amen . .

 S ER MO N XV II
t he t r u t hfu lne s s a no f ioe lttg of ( 300
“
He w as ca ll e d fa i thfu l a n d tr u e ( A p oc xi x . .

M E to day with the help of the Holy

PROPO SE -

Spirit to meditate on the t w o last of the

,

divine attributes which it has been our purpose

to consider in these instructions namely Hi s , ,

truthful nes s and Hi s fidelity .

I
L et us b egin with the tru thfulnes s of God .

Truthfulness or veracity is to be distinguished

from truth Truth implies accordance either
.
,

of a thing with what is known of it or of ,

what is known of it with the thing L et .

us try to illustrate our meanin g A builder .

has to construct a church ; he first forms a

plan of it in his own m i nd and then m ak es ,

a sketch of his plan on paper H ere w e have .

the design of the church that is to be The

building i s put in hand and the builder overlooks
,

it and s ees that the work I s carried out according

,

to the plan made for it If this I s done then the

.
,

c hurch i s true to the forecast whi ch the buil der

originally made of it In hi s mind N ext comes an .

artist and paints a picture of the church on can

vas .This is a fresh presentation and is a true one ,

only if it represents the actual church correctly .

No w God created all things and the mind of

God conceived all things before He created them .

1 24
 1 26 P O P UL A R SER MONS ON T HE CA TECHISM

wa s lying intentionally and knowingly and had ,

i t s root in s elf interest A lie a lways originates .

either in a wish to or of fear ,

env y hate or greed E very untrue word arises

from a fl a w in _the n n de r st a n din g—ignorance or
, , .

__ ,

in the will—j zicke dn e s s

g fl
.

No w it i s your turn to answer is it possible for ,

God to be mi staken ? Impossible for He i s c m ,

ni sci e n t C an He
. tell a lie ? Im p o s
sible He I s in fi ni t e l1purposely
, y ho l y So clearly if God I s .
, ,

omniscient and all holy it follows that Hi s every ,

word is true If I know that a light has fallen

.

into a barn of dry hay and straw and that it i s ,

fanned by a violent storm of Wind I can not help

b elieving that a co nfi a g r a ti o n will be the result .

M oreover Holy Scripture teaches in emphatic

,
“
terms the truthfulnes s of God It is impossible .

for God to lie said St Paul ( He b v i

”
,
N ote
. . .

well i m p o s s i ble O ur S aviour s ays of Himself

,
.

that the F ather who s ent Him was truthful He ,

calls Hims elf the truth and the Holy Ghost the
1 S pirit of truth F rom Hi s truthfulnes s God de
.

riv es one of Hi s titles : “

I s a w the heavens open
and He that sat upon Him was called faithful and ,
t r ue .
”
Who i s then called true ? ,
“
And He hath
,

on his garment and on His thi gh written K ing of

”
kings and L ord of lords ( A p o c xix . .

We should recall to our mind the truthfulnes s _

o f God when arise in our m i nds about the

teachings of our faith when the w o r L offi n ,

believers try to u n de r m u h e j e h e f of our

hearts when books writings newspapers come
, , , ,

under our notice wherein our religious convictions

are represented a s false un true and mislea di ng , ,
.
 T R U THF UL NESS AND FIDELIT Y O F G O D 1 27

We hold our convictions from God who is the ,

v ery truth ; w e learned them from the Church ,

whi ch is guided by the Spirit of Truth What

room can there be for doubt—none S ta t e i n fid e l
.

Stan d fast in the F aith and s a y with St Paul .

I know whom I have believed— the God of

”
truth .

We should try to produce in our o wn lives some

’
reflection of God s infi n i Lj r u thfu ln e ss Ho w can .

w e do thi s ? By abominating e v e rzi pm o f de

ce i t
,
and never under any circumstances having
recours e to it either ,
or
to p l ay gg est or to heW ,
e lv e s in any way

whats oever An d above all things let parents

.
, ,

look to this in the bringing up of their children ,

for a regard for truth is the very A B C of edu . . .

cation To guard against untruthfulness i s to

.

g u ard against much evil becaus e l y

,
ing prepares
the w a y and gives ris e to many sin s and make s ,

opportunity and excuse s for offending God B y

’
.

protecting one s self and others from untruth we

strengthen the bonds of friendship we confirm ,

family ties we establish security in all the goings

,

and comings and busines s o f life and consolidate ,

the v ery foundations on which human s ociety rest .

lS p e e ch is a gift of God bestowed on us that we

.

may the truth ; we must not m Isu se o r

degrade it .

II
We will close by adding a fe w words about the
fidelity of God To sa y that God i s faithful means
.

that M fo r m s what He r o m i se s and carries ,

out what He threatens or In other words that

, , ,
1 28 P OP ULA R SERMONS ON T HE CA TEC HISM

God keeps and

threats .

Thes e attributes of God are easily to be deduced

from Hi s other perfections Why is it that men .

promise s o much and perform so little ? O ften

their promis es are not in the first instance made
sincerely and s o end in smoke ; but God s word
,
’
i s W ays t y en and faithfully redeemed .

F urther men are subj ect to moods and changes

, ,

and are to day of o ne W -

o m or ro w of a n
fl
-

other ; they fre quefitl y come to regret their most

s erious undertakings ; but Gro g
He is not like man liable to alteration
~

“ ” ’

,
M ore
,
.

often still insuperable obstacles ris e up to pre

,

vent a man doing w h a t he ha d e ng a ged j o do ; ‘

he finds he has neither power nor stre ng th nor

influence to m a ke g o o dhi g wb i d But God is c m .

n ip o t e nt ; what He wills He can accomplish Again

fi

.
.

it happens that in the course of time a man for ;

get s what he said at an earlier period But God
.
.

i s omniscient and all things are constantly pres

,

ent to Hi s mind It is obvious that the reasons

.

which cause the promi ses of men to rem ain u nfu l

filled do not e xist for God H e i s faithful Holy . .

Scripture which is full of the prai ses of the

,

divine fidelity while it warns u s not to lean too

,

m uch on the word of man or on his wisdom or

power calls upon us earnestly to place the great
,

est trust in G od The Sav iour says He a v e n

and earth shall pass away but my word shall k
.

,
”
not pas s away N othing s eems to us more real
.

than the earth under our feet or the

our heads but they are not near]
,

a s the p r o m i s es a n d w arnings of God T ruth and .

 S ER MO N XVII I
“
(t he E xis t e nce of ( Bob
F or the i n v is i b l e thi ngs of Hi m fr om the cr ea ti on of
“

the w or l d a r e c l e a r ly s e e n b ei n g u n d er stood by the thi n gs

,
”
th a t ar e m a de ( Rom . i .

W E H AVE considered one after another the long

sequence of the d in r fe ct i o n s :
’
Go d s
et ernity and unchangeableness Hi s omnipresence , ,

omniscience wisdom and power Hi s holiness and

, , ,

justice Hi s unending goo dness mercy and patience

, , , ,

Hi s truthfulnes s and fidelity God is possessed , .

not o nl y of all these attributes upon which w e have

made some attempt to meditate but of an in ,

finitely greater number which w e have not touched

upon and in an infinitely higher degree and meas
,

ure than we can conceive or im agine much less ,

expres s .

No w it may very well occur to you to sa y : But

we have been told that Go d is an invisible S pirit ;
h o w then when no one in this life has e v er even
, ,

s een Him can s o much be known of Him and Hi s !

,

attrib utes as to supply material for all thi s dis l -

cu ss i o n and writing all this teachi ng and pri nt ,

ing ? Ho w has all this knowledge been acquired ? !

God h a s Himself led men to know Him in vari

ous ways : ( 1 ) by the visible world ( 2 ) through ,

the voice of conscience ( 3) by supernatural rev ,

elation S o we come to recognize God in three

.

ways : by the visible world a r o u g dys by the v oice fi fl

,

of co n sci e n c e w i thi n us by the word of Go dfi o v e ,

1 30
 THE EXISTEN CE O F G O D

us We will follow the first of these three paths

.
,

and wi ll consider to day with the help of the

-

Holy Spirit in what way the outer visible world

,

rais es our thoughts to the almighty C reator .

I
Ho w does the outer and visible world point to
an alm i ghty God and Creator ? B e fo r ei n sw e r
ing this question we must lay a sure foundation ,

a firm groundwork on which we can afterward

build What is to form this groundwork ? It is
.

the very simple and understandable proposition

that outside of us an outer visible world really
does exist This will be our foundation stone
. .

D o you doubt that the su n the moon the stars , , ,

shine in the heavens ; that the earth is under our

feet and is made up of alternating land and water
, ,

mountain and valley ; that plants grow on it that ,

it is inhabited by man and beast ? D o you feel

any uncertainty on this subj ect ? I am aware that
a certain clas s of smart thinkers have gone so
far as to question the e x istence of any outer world
at a ll It is they s a y nothi ng more than a wak
.
, ,

ing dream engendered by the work ings of our

,

o w n brain just as the spider produces the threads

,

of hi s web But I can not believe that this theory

.

w a s ever seriously entertained or if seriously , ,

entertained I can not credit i t s ever having been

,

acted upon The originators of it walk with their

.

feet upon the groun d they li ft their food to their

,

mouths and enj oy it just a s we do If they really .

consider the world an illusion and carry that idea ,

to i t s logical issue they would become lunatics

, ,

fit for a mad house There can be no question

-

.
1 32 P O P UL A R SER MONS ON THE C A TECHISM

about this matter and we are all agreed that the

,

outer visible world really and truly does exist .

This conviction is our foundation stone : more

than that it is a bridge and if w e use it it will
, ,

surely conduct us to a k nowledge of the existence

o f God .

Ho w is that to be ? O n looking on the world

which we se e around us and on every part of it
“ ”
the question Where does it all come from ?
,

o u ghLto and does rise to our lips

E
By r .

“
often enough that question where we
fail to be brought to the k n o w l e d e of God fo ,

it i s the key that opens the door to the whole

mys tery No w let us test the strength of o u r
.

b ri dge P ick up the first good apple lying on the

.

grass under a tree Where does the apple come .

from ? F rom the tree Where does the tree come .

from ? F rom the s eed of an apple planted in

the earth Where did the s eed come from ? F rom
.

an apple Where did that apple come from from

.
,

a tree Ho w long need we keep up this weari

.

some repetition ? We are following a long and

tiresome path ; let us fi nd a shorter cut If w e go .

on repeating our question long enough w e should

come to a point where the answer loses its value .

W e get back either to the original tree which grew

[
up w i th o uLs e e d or to the fi r sm e d which was
,

taken from ng__app l e or to the fi r sLap p l e which

,

did not grow on a tree But where di d these .

all come from ? We must here v ary our reply .

A re you prepared to assert that the primary apple

or tree or s eed aro se by chance through the acci ,

dental combination o f ce r ta in e l e m e nt s much in g ,

the way that rain falling on and mixing with the

1 34 P O P UL A R SER MONS ON THE CA TECHISM

this Cause I s no o th eg than n lm ighty g o d Thos e .

who deny the existence of God gain no advantage

by drawing out the chain indefinitely for w e must ,

s ooner or later reach the starting point They .

may go on ass erting that man developed from

anim al s and animals from plants and that the
, ,

M
se e d o p l a n t came from a star falling
on the earth It does not alter matters to assure
.

u s that the earth was once a liquid body and that

further back still it consisted of transparent

/
vapor and that the entire univers e is but the
,

ruin o f an earlier world which perished ages ago ,

and that this vanished world was not even the

primary universe What i s the outcome of all
.

this s tuff and nonsense ? We can not in this way

brush God aside L et thousands and hundreds of
.

thousands of years be heaped together together ,

with millions of annihilated worlds which each ,

in their turn give birth to a n e w universe .

A s in the case of the apple and the tree w e ,

reach back to the first world a n d its primary

state and a sk from whence did this first world
,

come ? Can a different answer be found than

the one w e hav e already given ? N o a thousand ,

tim es no !

If there w a s nothing in the whole wide world

more than a fe w bl adg s p f g r a s s they would be
g fl ,

sufficient to p r o v e th e ex istence of an almighty

fl

God for they could not have c ome into existence

,

w i th o utW Go d which cr e a t e i j h e m .

And n ow raise your eyes to the heavens on a

clear starry night D o not the constellations be ar
.
 THE EXIS TENOE OF GOD

clg g r though s il e n _yz tness_to

God and seem to t i ,
“ ”
sa y : Ye s there lives an alm i ghty God ? The
,
“
prophet Baruch writes of them : They were )
called and they s aid here w e are and with cheer — l
l
,

fulness have they shin ed forth to Him that mad e

” “
them ( B a r iii In the P s alms it is s aid the
i
. .
,

heavens show forth the glo r y of God and the

fi r m a m e nt declareth the work of Hi s hands ”
( s
P .

xviii . Glance at the s e a ; the cry of the rush

“
ing waves i s There lives an alm ighty G o d .

All creatures hill and valley brute and man

, , ,

earth and heaven call out with a thousand united ,

v oices s o loudly and clearly that even th e deaf

“
must hear T here lives an alm i ghty God .

we are nothi ng without Him we ,

L
not exist IL you notice t h e print of a
human f oot in pure freshly—
.

fallen snow ev en , ,

\
thou gh no one is visible you know that a man has ,

pas sed that way Y ou gaze on a .

ture ; you hav e not seen any one engaged in paint

ing it but you know that it i s the work of an
,

artist Y ou enter a great cathedral ; you have

.

not heard of the architect but without reflecting ,

you feel at once that the plans were drawn up by

a m a ster _ha n d L ook round about you In the
. . .

visible world so great and beautiful so vast and

, ,

wide can you se e no trace of the alm i ghty hand

,

of God ? Y e s it i s true If a world e xists cer

,
.
,

tain it is that there is an almi ghty God who

created it “
F or the invisible thin gs of Hi m from
.
,

the creation of the world are clearly s een being ,

”
understood from the things that are made ( Ro m .

i . St Paul says that the heathen that does

.

not k now God it IQ LQx

Q cu s e for from the ,
1 36 P O P UL A R SER MONS ON THE CA TECHISM

hings of the visible world he m i ght hav e di s

c overed Hi m .

Ho w iniquitous it i s that the clear evidence of

such numberless witnes ses who all bear testimony ,

to God sho ul d be disregarded Indeed dearly

,
.
,

beloved brethren I am quite sure you are not ,

among the rank s of those who deny Him but it ,

seems to me e xpedient and us eful considering the ,

times in which we live to ,

in the e x istence of s
b elief depends all religion all order among na ,

the holmess of families the s a n gti ty of an ,

indeed one might

e entire universe L et us .

pray therefore out of the fulnes s of our heart

, ,

I believe in God the F ather almighty creator , ,

”
of heaven and earth What dignity this belief .

bestows upon the soul We need not say to the .

“ ”
earth Thou art my mother n o r to the dust
, , ,
“ ”
Thou art my father ; w e have God for our
F ather What an honor to be allowed to serve
.

such a M aster Creator and L ord of the universe !

,

What rewards may w e not hope for from Him ,

what happines s to be allowed to love Him ! He

says to thee M y Son gi ve M e Thy heart ”
, ]
( P r ov x x iii . O my God h o w would it be
.
,

possible not to love Thee who art my creator my , ,

lord my king my sa n ctifi e r ; Thou lovest me and

, ,

askest my love in return I wi ll love Thee above .

all things Thou w h o art the source of m y l ife for

, ,

surely it is but right that the C reator sho ul d be

loved above everything that He creates “
Wh at .

have I in heaven and besides Thee what do I de

”
sire o n earth ? H ere below I fin d onl y creatures
 S E R MO N X IX
t he E xi st ence of 6 00
“
S he r e a che th ther efor e fr om en d to en d m i ghti ly
( Wi s . v ii i .

m last Sunday that w e are led in three

m SAW

different ways to the knowledge of God .

F irstly from what we se w o u n d u s secondly ,

from what w e feel wi thin us and thirdly from

’ l
,

what God s o w_r_i_word te ls us It is open to us to .

examine th e fi r st of thes e three ways from differ

ent points of view directing our attention either
,

to the origin of the thin gs we se e in this world ,

or to the wonderful order which governs them If .

once we begin to inquire into the causes of things

we need take but one step so to speak to find , ,

ourselves face to face with God ; for as it is true ,

that the world exists so is it true that it di i n o t

,

create itself an d that only at the comm and of an

,

almighty Bei ng could it have sprung into life .

here is no smoke without fire and a great uni ,

.

v erse points to a mighty C reator .

This is the ground which we traveled over last

week and n o w we propos e to day to contemplate
,
-

the order the systematic order of the universe

, , ,

and we shall surely find that this road als o leads

us to the same conclusion With the help of the .

Holy Spirit let u s therefore consider these two

, ,

points :
I That the univ erse is ruled with order and
.
 THE EXIS TENOE OF GOD

II That thi s order a n d purpose are the work

.

of the wisdom of an o m ni scient C reator .

I
It is i mpossible to deny that an outer world
exists a n d it i s equally impossible to refuse to
,

hg p
r e co gni agl z r d e r and p u gp p se whi ch go vern it
as well as the w h o lg’uni vers e L et us glance at .

the course and disposition o f the stars especially ,

of the planets What marv elous bodies they are !

.

C onsider their S ize their number their v ariety ;

, ,

and yet with what regularity swiftnes s and p u nc , ,

tual i ty they accomplis h their course After r e .

volving for thousands of years they are never one

moment too late or too early The b e s a tch .

will gain or lose a m i nute or tw o and after a ,

fe w years will require to be done u n u

lated : and finally it will st op o f no further

use L ook at the li h whi ch ill umi nes space

.
,

Who can deny that 1 would hav e e x iste d to no

purpos e if no eye existed to s e e by it and that
, ,

eyes in their turn would be of no avail if there

, ,

were no light C onsider the a tm osphere whi ch is

.

diffused o v er the whole surface of the globe .

While it is ob viously made to correspond to the

needs of o u r lungs the lun gs are s o constituted
,

as to breathe it in and out In the s ame way the .

ear is made for sound and sound for the ear ;

,

and who wi ll deny that the tongue is made for

W
speech ? A s i milar u r ose pervades the entire
world and whole
, ould not suffi ce to
point it out in each separate instance In exam .

ining the hu m an i ram e it would be difficult to de

ci d e whi ch member’ o f It might be removed with
-
fi
- M M
1 40 P O P UL A R SER MON S ON THE C A TECHISM

out alterin g its b eauty and appropriatenes s ; not

one could be w e d neither could they bu dded
,

to The ancient poets wrote of a one eyed man

.
-

and painters hav e tried to depict him on canvas ,

but the result w a s a ghastly caricature O n the .

other hand it has been recognized even by non

,

Christian writers that so much as am agldi t i o n a l

finger would be a burden to the human body .

C onsider well that the more closely we look

,

into things the more complete does this purpose

and appropriateness appear to be What a
.

variety of things there are in the world many of ,

them inani mate ! Wh at numbers of di fferent

kinds classes and S pecies of p lants from the
, , ,

cedar of L ebanon down to the hyssop ,

Holy Scripture tells us grows out of

,

E ach plant has its own peculiar leaf bloss om and

, ,

fruit with characteristic color and shape What

, .

countless are in ex
i st e n c e ! species of
beetles alone are said to be known to science I .

w a s reading a paper lately o m ants written by a

,

S pecialist on the subj ect and he stated that a

,

certain learned s ociety in Holland ha d p u b li sh e d

thirty _ thick volumes dealing with all the d i fi e r e nt

’
kinds of ants in the world ; the paper went on to
complain that these v olumes are most incomplete ,

and that there are still many kinds which they

omit to mention A gain every ant and every ani
.

mal has its o w n p e cu l i g fo r m and or ganism its

f
,

a p p o in t e s its own mode of tak

c ,

ing nourishment its o w n means of movement

, ,

whether through the air In the water or on land

, ,
.

L ift up your eyes to the M ilk y Way glimmering

1 42 P O P UL A R S ER MONS ON THE C A TECHISM

each other against each other through each other

, , ,

on each other s ometimes one way s ometimes a n

, ,

other way In all this motion these atoms come

.

into contact with each other and form thous ands

and thousands of di fi e r e nt combinations and in ,

this way they gave rise to the material world ;

and who can s a y after h o w many failures and
false adjustments at last by a fortun a te chance
, ,

this universe whi ch n o w looks to us as though it

,

had been ordered with s o much forethought and

”
purpose suddenl y developed
,
In truth a fine .

explanation of the ma gnificent structure of the

world ! Where are the materials ? The atoms ?
Where are the masons and the laborers ? The
movement ? Where is the plan ? There is no plan .

Where is the builder ? There i s no builder This .

marvelous structure has grown up by chance ! By

chance ! Chance w o gldn ot exp lainthe tini e st h u t _

Pagan writers themselves have pointed out the

folly of this theory and I will reproduce their ,

thoughts on the subj ect making o nl y a fe w S light

,

alterations Take your p .

out one page after another and let them loose on

the wind D o you believe the wind will ever r e
.

store them an d put them back in the order in

whi ch they were in the book ; and this not o nl y
in the case of one b ook but of them all ? If th e ,

wind were to blow to the end o f the world that

would never happen Ho w would it be if with .
,

a pair; of scis sors w e cut up every page line by

,

line and s eparated the letters of each line one

,

from the other and then scattered all these frag

,

ments either on the win ds or the waves ? D oes

,

any one s eriously believe that the letters the ,

 THE EXISTEN CE O F G O D

wo_ r_ds or the p_a_ggs o f a Si ngle bo ok will ev er

,

find themselv es together again W O one believ es

it The world contains more than the pages
.
,

words and letters of a book IS not the smallest

,
.

l e ggofi a i r e e more artistically put together than

n

a nybo qk in existence ? a n d you woul d suggest that

thi s whole great purpose ful world is a work of
chance ! N ot a hair of your head grew by chance ;
p aw s e and s ystem are the work of a dispensing
and thinking jl e ity who knows what Hi s obj ect
i s and the means to be directed to its accomplish
ment The constitution of the uni vers e is the work
.

of a M ind and what is that M ind ? O ne to whom

,

all things with their qu gli_t_ i e s nature powers and

, , ,

S i ze ar e g l o w n ; one that possess e

f
d fr o m tli e begin
ning without aid of books or teachers a complete
—
, ,

comprehension of all thin gs a n omniscient

one to which all thi ngs were obedient and
arranged themselves as He ordained a n c m -

n i p o t e nt M ind ; a n d one that was pres ent in a ll

things exterior and interior ; an omnipresent
M ind In a word the system of the universe can
,
.
,

o nl y emanate from that Mi nd which created it .

Th is world points s o clearly and disti nctly to

the alm i ghty Creator that o nl y v ery little thought
on our part is n e ces sary to bring us to the knowl
edge o f God Th e existence of God is so palpa
.

even the i i
s a v a ge rb e s have ne v er been at any time
w hol
‘ w hw tl e l i gi o n , but have always had their

W
a cr ifi ce s Plutarch s ays it would
i
.

e easier to find a place devoid of su n , than a

1 44 P O P UL A R SER MONS ON THE CA TECHISM

people w ithout God and the Holy Scripture dubs

,

straight away a s f l i i ll Q fi e who deny Him St

o
. .

Paul in speaking 0 those who refuse to a ck n o w l

,

edge their Creator s aid they are without excus e

, ,

for they have H is works by which to study Him .

The existence of God is s o distinctly revealed to

us in creation that the Church excludes from her
fold no t o nl y those who do not believe in the
,

existence of God but likewise thos e who s a y that

,

in the strict s ense of the word it can not be clearly

proved .

L et u s thank God for calling q early to H is

certain kn owle dge ; let us suppres s th es u g g e sti o n s “

of passion which try to make God a n d Hi s e xi s w

tence doubtful to us ; let us a v o id__the fr i ends the ,

b ogk s and the writings which attempt to under

,

m in e our con victions I believ e in God ; He i s

.

{ the begin ning and the end the alpha and the
,

\ omega ; He is my li ght i n li fe my h o pe j n d e a th
, , ,

and He will be my h a pp in esg in eterni ty Amen

M M . . u se! "
a
. .
1 46 P O P UL A R SER M ONS ON THE CA TECHISM

Is to be posses sed and enj oyed and every desire ,

of the heart gratifi ed .

I am indicating these things only in the most

cursory mann er We feel within u s not only a
.

longing for happiness which obliges us to hav e ,

recourse to God as our last end and aim ; but also

the voice o f conscience which makes us aware of
Hi m as our C reator and M aster L et us t ak e for .

our consideration under the gu idance of the H oly

Spirit t w o simple points :
,

I That the voice of conscience is actually pres

.

ent within us .

II T hat the s ource of this v oice can only be

.

God .

The voice of conscience is actually pres ent

within us We will examine a little more closely
.

what this means In the first place conscience

.
,

tells us the difference between good and ev il ; it

i s both teacher and couns elor Truly all men as .

soon as they come to the use of reas on draw a

distinction between right and wrong These .

words e x ist in all l a nguages and they would not ,

have come into u se had right and wrong been one

and the s ame thing ; nevertheless conscience is ,

not only our teacher and couns elor it is als o our ,

l a w giver
-
It not only tells us what is right and
.

what is wrong but it urges us to do the one and

,

to avoid the other D o the promptings of con .

science really amount to a law ? Y es indeed they , ,

do and one which has all the signs and tokens of

,
.

a genuine one The ordinary and popular d e fi ni

.

tion of a l a w is that it is the constant and bind

 THE EXISTEN CE O F G O D

ing ordinance of authority for the common good .

V ery well let us s e e if w e find in conscience all

,

that goes to make up a l a w .

Is conscience an or di nance ? C ertainly it i s for ,

its voice tell s us what to do and what to leave

undone Is it a constant ordinance ? Who can
.

doubt it ? A l a w must represent something perma

nent for many people and must provide for
,

numerous contingencies and embrace many ,

places otherwise it would be in the nature of a

,

passin g command a single recommendation or

,

in stru ction In the voice of conscience w e have

.

truly a permanent ordinance ; it speaks to all old ,

and young Christian and Pagan saint and sin

, ,

ner ; its value is life long The voice of con

-
.

science has the same weight n o w that it pos ses sed

hundreds and thousands of years ago and it wil l ,

retain this power as long a s there are rational

creatures ; it is a constant ordi nance Human .

laws can be altered improved and repealed ; but

, ,

the l a w of conscience is for all time .

A re the commands of conscience di rected to

the general good and to the benefit of the whole
comm uni ty ? D o you not thi nk that if every one
were under all circumstances to follow the di c
tates of conscience it would prove highly beneficial
to the world at large ? It would bring happi
nes s to the individual ; it wo u l d mean peace o f
soul contentment in families the well being of all
, ,
-

comm unities the happines s of nations and

,

people and the salvation of the whole human race

,

in time and eternity .

And are the impositions of conscience made

kn own to us with su flici e nt clearness ? A l a w is
1 48 P O P UL A R SERMON S ON THE CA TECHISM

of no avail if it be not s u fficiently promulgated .

Ho w then i s the law of conscience brought home

, ,

to us ? T hrough our reason ! The laws o f the

R omans were cast in metal on twelve tables of
bronze which stood in the market place of R ome-
.

The laws o f the Jews were written on tables of

stone and were read aloud frequently to the
,

people The laws of nations are announced in the

.

public pres s But the law of conscience is writ

.

ten in the heart of each one of u s E very chi ld .

recogn izes its voice as soon as reas on awakens ,

and it reaches the aged on the threshold of the

grave when eyes are dim and hearing gone The .

most hardened sinner hears it before he sins ,

while S inning and after hi s sin N o l a w has ever

, .

been more clearly proclaimed than that of con

science H uman laws can be made known by
.

means of the voice which echoes and dies away

and does not reach every one ; or by writing ,

which every one h a s not po wer to read ; or by

language which is not comprehensible to all But .

the l a w of conscience is planted in the center of

the s oul ; every one s ees it every one hears it
, ,

every one reads and understands it .

But the principal quality of a l a w i s to enforce

obedience to impose an obligation D o we find
, .

this distinguishing mark in the l a w of conscience ?

“
Y es certainly ; it is a binding l a w ; it s ays
,
Y es , ,

you must do this ; but you are forbidden to do

”
that ; it praises us when we obe y it blames us ,

when we disregard it M ore than thi s it rewards

.
,

us for docility and punishes us for revolting

against it ; for it is univers ally recognized that
the p e ace of a good conscience which has nothing
1 50 P O P UL A R SERMONS ON T HE C A TECHISM

does it happen that every one hears the voice of

conscience and that it speaks in the same way to
people who in other respects di fl e r so widely ?
M oreover what men have built up they can de
,
,
’
stroy and therefore why do ne er do wells rob - -

bers murderers adulterers deceivers not abolish

, , , ,

this voice these tiresome warnings this worry

, ,

ing fault —
,
fi n d in g this terrible torment ?
,
They
have tried often enough but they can not succeed , ,

for it i s written in their hearts by a stronger

hand than theirs .

Is it possible that this law is human work that ,

it is the result of our education teaching or su r , ,

roundings ? N o it is impossible E ducation is

,
.

conducted on such varied lines and in s o many ,

cases is conspicuous by its abs ence But every .

o n e has a conscience and to all it s ays the same

,

thing E ducation can certainly do a great deal

.

to awaken it to enlighten and refine it but it can

, ,

not produce it The agriculturist prepares the

.

earth for s owing by breakin g it up raking it ,

over and manuring it ; he can foster the growt h

, ,

but he can not produce a single grain of seed .

The l a w of conscience is one that we have not '

laid down for ourselves and that no human being

has imposed upon us ; it comes from a l a w g iver -

who has power over the inmost being of every

reasonable creature—a n almighty La w giver -

O ne who can fully reward all good and adequately ,

punish all evil even that which has escaped the

,
—
eye of man a just L aw giver -

S ee h o w the voice of conscience bears wi tnes s

to God A s truly as the ir lives a holy just and
.
, ,

almighty God s o truly is this l a w engraven in

,
 THE ’
EXISTEN CE O F G OD

our s o ul s When conscienc e S peaks to us let us

.

remember whose voice it is If w e listen to it

.

and respect and obey it it wil l be our happiness

,

in life our comfort in death our reward in eter

,

n i ty
. A men .
 S ER MO N XX I
{ the E xis t e nce of ( Bob
b esi de Me the r e
“
I am th e fir st , and I am the l as t
,
a nd
”
is no Go d ( Is . xl i v .

have already several times told you we

a come to the kn owledge of the true God in three
s WE ,

ways F irstly by the contemplation of the u n i

.
,
~

vers e which c ou m
, xi st and endure wi thout
an almig hty and a ll wise God to _cr eate o rder -

, , ,

maintain and g o v e rrL i t ; secondly by the —

, inner ,

life o f conscience whose voice can only b e that ,

of a h oly _ari d j u st God And n o w there is yet a .

a im s that leads us to know God even more

?
nearly ; namely the supernatural revelations made
,

to us by God Himself under t he O ld as well as ,

under the New L aw In our instruction to day I .

-

propos e to foll ow up this thi rd way .

When we se e the prints of human feet in

freshly fallen snow we at once s ay to ourselves
that a man has gone past If we examine a little .

mo re closely we can find out if he took lar e or

,

als o the direction fr o m __wh1 c he

came and in which he was going ; while the S ize
,

of the fo o t m t will tell us if it was a child or

I

a grown2 p person I have read that s ome semi

-

s avage tribes are able with a fair amount of cer ,

tainty to recognize from the marks of the feet

,

in the dust of a road if the traveler w a s walking

fa st or slow and whether he was t ired and ca u i e d
,

a burden There is no doubt that our footprints

.

1 52
1 54 P O P UL A R SERMONS ON THE C A TEC HISM

ye that I alone am and that there is no other

”
Go d _b e si d e M e ( D e u t xx x ii H e S po k e in
. .

this way to M oses and to Isaias when He said

“
I am the first and I am the last and besides M e
”
there i s no God ( Is xliv O ne must certainly
. .

adm i t that the enlightenment of the people of

‘

Israel compared to the knowledge of the heathens

, ,

w a s as brightness to S hadow or as su gg hin e to ,

m gonlight In the m og g li ght the

. of a
l a n d sca p e stand o u t ; but what a much clearer view
‘

we get when the same scene is lit up by a flood

of sunshine U nder the New La w the k nowledge
.

of G od S hines forth yet m ore brightly by the a d

v ent of the S on o f God to b g the j g ht o f e
world .
“
N o man
“
”
( by this i s meant no earz y
s

g
creature ) hath seen God at any time ; the o nl y
begotten Son who is in the bosom of the F ather
who hath declared Him ( Jo hn i ”
God con .

firmed and amplified the revelation of the O ld

L a w by manifesting to us the h og p ersons of theC ?
'
-

Godhead the F ather S on and Holy Ghost ; b y@

, , ,

making kn own to us Hi s merciful decrees ; by giv

ing u s tidings of our h e a v e nlu o m e and of the®
gl g
e te r n g q u i t al O pen the H oly
. Scripture at any
place you lik e ; you will not find a p age hardly ,

a line which does not treat of God Hig n a tu r e

, , ,

Hig decr e e s Hi s works Hi s perfections

fi

.
, ,

Al l things then; unite in bearing witness to the

,

exis tence of an almighty a ll wise and holy G od : ,

-

the world without the world within and the word, ,

of G od ab o v e But you will sa y if it be s o in

.
, ,

controvertible that there is a God ho w do you ,

explain that in S pite of this s o m any people thi nk ,

s a y and write a nd e v en undertake to pro v e that

, ,
 THE EXIS TENOE OF GOD

He does not exist ? That there have been and still

are such people must be adm i tted and further ,

than this we are bound to acknowledge that never 5

before ha s the number of those who deny God
been s o great as it i s at pres ent A t all times a .
,

there have been instances of learned men who

‘

brought the existence of God under discussion but ,

these were o nl y in di viduals and they were always

,

to be fo u n d amongst students and thos e who a s ,

i
p r e d to eru di tion But to day the deni al of God
.
-

h a s spread to the lower classes and what is s aid ,

in a higher s ocial S phere is echoed a hundred

,

thousand times among the lower orders We not . .

o nl y have infi d e l s and u n believers among the

l e ggge d ; but all kinds of workers s ervants labor , ,

er s
, and peas ants undertake to assure u s that
there is no God .

What is the reason of this ? F irst let me call

your attention to one point A theists shelter .

themselves behind k nowledge ; the standard

bearers of unbel ief are men of learning but the ,

danger does not lie there N o one has yet r efu te d

.

the p_1_oofs o f the e x i ste n ce of God and no one

'

‘
,

ever will becaus e they are surer than the stars

,

in heaven E verything that has been s aid and

.

written against them i s easily answered .

There is very little in the reputation for learn

ing which atheists have acquired If we take the .

names of all the learned men ever S ince k nowl

edge existed and class ify them like the stars of
heaven di v iding them into stars of the first sec
, ,

ond and third magnitude and s o o n up to the

, ,

tenth or twelfth magnitude we find what is very ,

con soling T he stars of the first ma gnitude in

.
,
1 56 P O P UL A R SER MONS ON THE C A TECHISM

other words the philos ophers of the first rank ,

Pagan a s well as Christian under the old order ,

as well a s under the n e w are unanimous in de ,

cl a r in g there is a God Those w h o as sert the .

contrary are all stars of the second or even

—
the third class pedants theo ri sts talkers charl , , ,

a ta n s .

O ne must not think therefore that erudition , ,

leads to atheism O n the contrary the branch

.
,

of human learning which has developed beyond

all others is the science of nature E very day .

thi nk ers discover n e w powers n e w laws greater , ,

purpose greater consistency in the works of God

,
.

The deepe r they penetrate the more they dis ,

cover and the more apparent it becomes that the

,

world can only be the work of one author S o .

even a glance at the di al and the hands of a

clock makes it apparent to us that it emanates
from a thinkin g mind but the more closely the ,

mechanism is exam i ned th e l e u o s sib l e it a p

pears to us that it could b e the work of blind
chance .

If knowledge does not lead to the denial of God ,

what is it then that d oes ? It is S in ; S i n

, ,

takes a double form : the t he fle s

the si g e f the intellect .

Taken in a wide sense the sins of the flesh are

thos e passions whi ch are directed to s atisfying
the body and all i t s appetites cupidi ty i n t e m p e r , ,
“
ence unchastity
,
F or wisdom will not enter in
.

a malicious s oul nor dwell in a body subj ect to

,
”
sins ( W i s i fig .eye.full of dust and
“
dirt !
can s e e neither degp nor far nor clearly ,
But ,
.

” “
the s ensu al man s ays St Paul perceiveth not
,
.
,
1 58 P O P UL A R SERMONS ON THE C A TECHISM

Him and gr a ce j g wi md m m fm m them ; it is

, ,

then no wonder that they then think and sa y there

,

is no God What fearful scandal is given in this

.

w a y by I ghly endowed minds to their less gifted

- -

brethren ! D o not believ e what they s a y N ever .

listen to any one who speaks at the prompting of

wounded pride ; even should they have the elo
qu e n ce of an angel and furnish every proof cut
and dried do not put faith into them do not listen
, ,

to them .

There is a God from It is easy to

mak e good this proposition and that is exactly ,

why there are s o m any unbelievers It is the

_ stone of our whole S piritual and i
.

fou n d a t i gn_
moral life L et us thank God that this conviction
.

is a ligv e in our hearts but let us als o make the

,

p r a c t i gl
g g pp l i ca t i o n which is needed for our own
lives There is a God who is my Master and I
.
, ,

must s erv e Him He is omniscient and almighty ;

.

therefore I must surr nder mys elf entirely to

,

H is fa tye ly p a r e He is a ls o a j u st_G
p
.
_ o d ; there

fore my labors my prayers my sufferings are

, , ,

n ot without purpos e H e is an infi n i l

. er

feet God an abyss o f p erfection and it is He

, ,

whom I ought to love Wi th all the Strength of

my h e a rt ig
R ej oice then my brethren that there i s a God
, , ,
“
to whom you can s a y O ur F ather who art in
”—
heaven for He is your F ather ; hallowed be
“

” —
Thy name the gl og p p g fi o d should be the l a w ,
“ ” —
of your life ; T hy kingdom come the kingdom
“ ”
of God i s what w e h op e i o r ; Thy will be done
—w e will resign ours elves in all things to Hi s
“
holy will ; give us this day our daily bread
 THE ’
EXISTEN CE O F G O D

only pray and all wi ll be given to you .

Y ou will obtain forgi v enes s of your S ins , and

strength and protection against temptation ; and ,

finally you wil l receiv e the onl y true good

,

eternal life Am en
. .
 S E R MO N XXI I
t he 1 30132 t r ini ty
“
A n d ther e a r e thr e e w h o gi v e tes ti m o n y i n hea v en ,

Fa ther the W or d a n d the Ho ly G hos t a nd these thr ee

, , ,
”
on e
( 1 J o h n v .

E Creed “ I believe in God ” have a fi o r de d

m : opening words of the first article of the
, ,

matter for a long s eri es of meditations on the

es sence the attributes and the knowledge of God
, ,
.

“ ”
But w e do not assert merely I believ e in God ; ,

we supplement this by addi ng something t o it and ,

“ ”
s aying I believe in Go d the F ather almighty
,
.

“
L et us pause to day on this one word F ather -
.

We have twg re a s o n s for calling God our F ather

the first becaus e He i s actually the F ather of
,

l
al mgn k i n d who m inim ,
a l loy_es and preserves ,

us all A child is indebted to hi s father fo ri ife

.
,

sh e l t e r
i p o d and clothing , and greatest obliga , ,

tion o f all for the love he bears him D o we owe

,
.

God less than this ? O n the contrary a thousand ,

times more for W ith o utJE , Ii m we S hould be noth

ing Hi s goo dnes s provides for—o g p j o dily and
.

S p i r i tu g l
p e e d s for our t e mporal a ,i d eternal wel
fare with more than paternal care and Hi s love ,

for us surpasses that of any father So it is fi t .

ting we S hould give Him this sacred title L S ec .

o n dl y w e call Hi m by this name because there are

fl

in God three persons of whom the first i s the ,

F ather the s econd the S on and the third the

, ,
“ ”
H oly Ghost This word F ather leads us to the
.

1 60
1 62 P O P UL A R SER MONS ON T HE C A TECHISM

But it is not s o with God—i n Him there is one

nature but three pers ons
, .

Ho w do w e k now that there are three persons

in God ? N ot fromi lgi l ifl bl d gge a ti o n It cer .

t a inly makes clear to us the existence of God but ,

it reveals nothing definite about the number of

the divine pers ons ; and the voice of conscience
within us is equally reticent The number and .

name of the three pers ons are made known to us

by su p e r n a tu r gl ge v e l a ti on In the O ld Testa .

ment we fi ni a l iggad g lgesh a d o w in g s of thi s

—
mystery God before the creation of the first ,
“
man said :
,
L et gs make man to our o w njm a ge
Here we have Go d represented
p f
"
and likenes s .

S p e a k i ng t9_ Himself v
and speaking not in the
,

S in gu la r but in the p hp a l as if one of the divine

'

g
, ,
“
pers ons was addressing the others L et us
”
make man to o u r o w n image and likeness The .

dim foreshadowings of the O ld T estament be came

cl e ar _d e fin i t e and reiterated in the Ne w Testa
/ , _ ,

m e nt W e have for e x ample the m pg iee t which

marks the first unfolding of the mystery of the
“
R edemption Th e angel s aid to M ary The
“

Ht o st shall come upon thee and the

p ower ,

of the M ost High shall overshado w thee and ,

therefore a ls o t he Holy O ne which S hall be born

”
of thee S hall be called the Son of God We fin .

here the entire Go dhead the F ather the S o n and , , ,

the Holy Ghost referred to in one sentence [Ce p , .

sider als o that s o l e m gp er e m o ny with which O ur

, ,

L ord 0 ened Hi s u b l i c li fe A t Hi s bap tism in

d
.

the Jor an the voices of the F ather and the Son

both make themselves heard and w e have the v i s ,

ible manifest ation of the Holy Ghost under the

 THE HO L Y TRINITY

form of a dove lT a k e .
’
the occasion of O ur L ord s
“ ”
a s ce n s I o n int o heav en Teach ye a ll nations .
,

He said to Hi s apostles on the M ountain of

“
O lives , baptiz ing them in the name of the
F ather the Son and the Holy Ghost _ three
, ,

names the names o f three pers ons the names of

, ,

—
three di vine persons for only in the name of
G o d can men be baptized W
W
a v iou r r e .

vealed formed the t e a chi ng o f e _apostles ; and

’ ‘

their t éabh i n g Church ; and the

_
doctrine of the Church has been believed and is
still believed by her children up to this very hour .

Whoev er does not a ccept the mystery of the

Blessed Trinity—three persons in one God—can
not be a member of that Church .

F urther , it is to be considered , W on

si s
W
chism defines It for us by saying
the s W
cate
these three
sons
“
. T he
,

persons are one and the same God having one and ,
”
the s a me diyig e p a tu r e
p
In other words they
‘
.

have not — o nl y the name of God

‘ n h o
r b fl . “ ,

what the name implies The toy which a father ,

’
.

gives to his little s o n may be called a horse b u t ,

'

it i s not really one and the resemblance it bear s ,

t
to the g e nu ipeg r t icl e is very superficial and fare
fetched But each of the three divine persons is
.

really God .

Al l the three persons are alike in thi s that they ,

all posses s the di v i nw nib u t e s in the s ame de

gree They are all e tegn a l and are e qu glu p ely
.
,

omniscient and powerful ; in short equally per

,
M
,
1 64 P O P UL A R SERMONS ON THE C A TECHISM

No w , the fundamental reas on why all these

three pers ons are and all agree in
possessing the same perfections Is that they are ,

in their essence and nature one and the sa me ;

and this brings us back to t he p o m t from which
we started namely
,
e differen ce between a e r
,

s o n and a _ nature pers on i s the owner t e ,

pro pr i etor s o to speak of a rational nature C an

the s ame nature belong to more than o n e person ?‘
.
, ,

To this we must reply yes N ot s o many years

,
.

ago the whole o f E urope was interested in the

appearance of two remarkable creatures — twins
no v a

in s o extraordinary a manner that theywere tied

to each other and a ctu a fl y pp sse ss e d yg gi e g g p a r t s
of their bodies in common Supposing them to
.

have had only tw o arms between them one ha d ,

just as g o ow l gh t to claim them as the o ther

“ ”
and say That i s my arm When o ne wrote
.

the other did the same and each would be enabled

,
“ ”
to assert That is my writing Imagine if .

they had had only one heart ! The hea rt beats

of the one would then have been the heart beats ,
of the other Can we in the same way imagine
.

two soul s in one body ? M ost certainly O ne .

might picture als o 0 e body and one oul belong

ing to two people e E
“
, li
Hone of whom mi g ht say
”
,

that is my body that is my soul

,
O f course .

it would neces sitate that these tw o pers ons be

always engaged on the same work for they would ,

have but one body Their thoughts wishes and

.
, ,

desires must also invariably agree and as regards ,

knowledge and moral conduct they would be on

an equal footing for they pos ses s but one soul
,
.
1 66 P OP ULA R SERMONS ON THE C A TECHISM

world thought as God thi nk s and were unanimous

acting in ev ery
wa and happi
nes s would descend on this earth ! It is th i a l
of the l i fe of the Church The S a
“
prayed to the F ather That they may be one a sl
. m
”
we als o are one If this could only come to
.

pass then the days o f the early Christians of ,

“
whom it w a s written they were one heart and
,

j
”
one s oul wou l d come back a g a i n/
, It i s ,

exemplar for all communities throughout

State a model for the family a type of Christ
, ,

marriage .

And n o w let u s look into ourselves for we each , ,

one of us individually must try to live as far as

,

we have powe r in communion with the Bles sed

Trinity ; united to them in thought by accepting ,

all that God has revealed ; in all that we pos sess ,

by ardently desiring the life to come ; w ith our

’
wil l by d e t e r m i n i ng’fi e fai thfu l to God s com
,
‘

m a n dm e n t s and finally in every action of our

, , ,

lives by remaining always by grace children of

,

God S ometimes in this world people a little

.

hi gher in the s ocial s cale than ourselv es give us

the cold shoulder ; often t o o \ fr i e n d shi p s that we
, ,

prize are broken up either by the flight of time ,

the conflicting claims of self interest or the vacil -

l a t i o n s of the uman heart or failing all these , , ,

by death Wha does it matter ? L et u s take com

.

fort and cement more strongly our friendship

with the persons o f the Holy Trinity entering ,

more and more clos ely into relation with them by ,

fa ithj nd p r aye r ho p e love and good desires

k h i
.

A r e they not great enough ? Will they not

 T HE HO L Y TR INITY

be faithful ? Indeed they wi ll L et us live in their

.

company here below and by s o doing we shall

,

attain that eternal indissoluble and blessed com

, ,
'

munion with them which i s prom i sed us in the

life to come Am en
. .
 S ER MO N XX III
( the 1 3019 ( t r ini ty
A n d ther e a r e thr e e w ho gi v e t e s ti m on y i n hea v e n th e ,

Fa ther the W or d a n d the Ho ly G host ( 1 J o hn v

”
.
,

our instruction on the Holy Trinity

W last week by aski ng three questions :
E O P E N ED

1 Ho w many persons are there in God ? There

.

are three persons in God really distinct and equal ,

in all things the F ather the Son and the Holy

, , ,

Ghost This is the teaching of Scripture of tra

.
,

dition and of the Church

,
.

2 A re the three divine persons one and the

.

“
same God ? The three divine persons are one
and the same God having one and the s ame divine
,
”
n a tl u e and substance .

3 Ho w are the divine persons distinct from

.

one another ? We di d not answer this question ,

but we will n o w with the help of the Holy Spirit

, ,

attempt to do s o Al though these three persons

'

are in their nature and su b st a n ci in div i si b l e as ,

p e r s o n_
s
__t h e y a r e d i s t i n c t and from this d i s
,
t i n c

tion arises a difference in their works S o we

fi

have to consider a two fold di fference -

I In w h aLw a y the three divine persons are

.

distinct from one another .

II The di fferent works attributable to each of

.

them .

I
We will take the first point Ho w are the three .

divine pers ons distinct from one another ? They

1 68
 1 70 P O P UL A R SERMONS ON THE CA TECHISM

F ather and the Son , He is called the Holy Ghost .

M ay w e go a step further and ask in what

way the Son takes Hi m _iginj r o m the F ather ,

and the Holy Ghost from the F ather and the Son ?
We may indeed— but w e will not seek to go beyond
,

the indications of Holy Scripture the tradition ,

of the Church and the teaching of the F athers

,

who are unanimous in their doctrine concerning

this great mystery Ho w does the Son proceed
.

from the F ather ? He w a s b e g o tW im .

“
Thou art my Son ; this day I have begotten
T hee ”
. Ho w did this come to pass ? It w a s a
—
S piritual begetting the S on was begotten of the
knowled ge of th e F ather M ore than once in .

Holy Scripture mention i s made of the second

“ ”
pers on of the Godhead as the Word and the
” “
Word of God . In the beginning w a s the
Word and the Word was with God and the Word ,
” “ ”
w a s Go d ( Jo hn The Word alluded to
fi“
“
e clearly a pers on for ,
In another place we read
”
the Word was made flesh ; this I s the very Word ,
“
who we are told in the same s entence was born
, ,

of the F ather so that it is clearly God the Son

,
”
who is the Word “
W h y is this name given
—
.

Him ? It would appear to indicate _tha m a nn e r

of Hi s origin Words are the outcome the ex 1
.
,

pression of thoughts N ow in the mind of God

.

a multitude of thoughts do not follow each other ,

crowding and pressing in rapid and brilliant suc

ces s i on ; one single a M b r a cin g thought which
, ,

is not to be distin g u ished from the di v in na tu r e v

and which is i n truth its very essence p ervades ,

Hi s whole being And h o w does the F ather give

.

utterance to this thought and how does He clothe

,
 T HE HO L Y TR INITY

it ? In Hi s Word— in one single word for it is ,

one thought ; a word of eternal duration not like , ,

human words spoken merely to di e away ; a word

,

of the Spirit ; an e s s e n ti al w o r d as the thought

that gave it being is essential ; a word containing
the whole essence of the F ather ; a word which
He speaks to Himself ; a word which is a e r s o n
— the second Person of the Go dhead— God the Son
“
i s born of the knowledge of the F ather In the .

b e gi nn In g was the Word and the Word w a s with ,

”
God and the Word w a s God

w
.

Seeing that th of God has borne such

fruit it seems na ur a o Expec t His will and Hi s
‘

lo v e to be a s productive The F ather and the .

S on are equal in all things e x cepting only that ,

the F ather is not the Son nor the Son the F ather ,
.

No w there can be no stronger bond of union no ,

more powerful incentive to love than similarity

and equality The deepest attachments spring up
.

between men of the same age and rank ; brought

‘

up at th e s a m e school sharers of the same fate

,

and home and with the same principles and

,

habits What must the love of the F ather be for

.

the Son Who is the brightnes s of Hi s glory and

“
,

the figure of Hi s substance ( He b i 3 ) and that

”
. .

of the Son for the F ather from whom He derives

Hi s origin Their love for each other is equally
.

great and equally eternal and is inseparable from

the divine substance It is the very essence of
.

God No w just as the thought found e x pression

.

“ ”
in the Word s o this love realizes itself in
,

pres ents and gifts They are bestowed by the

.

F ather on the Son and by the Son on the F ather

, ,

and this manifestation of their mutual love is the

1 72 P O P UL A R SERMONS ON THE C A TECHISM

H oly Ghost the third pers on of the Blessed Trin

,
“ ”
ity, who is also called the Gift A gift given .

to the Son by the F ather and by the F ather to the

Son ; a gift that holds all that the substance of
God contains ; a gift given and accepted from all
eternity a Gift which is God Himself The S on
,
.

is born of the knowledge of the F ather and the ,

Holy Ghost proceeds from the mutual love of the

F ather and the S on .

II
We now pas s on to the second point which is ,

to distin guish between the di fi e r e nt works of the

three divine persons F irst we must explain why
.
,

the F ather is to be described as the first person ,

the S on as the second person and the H oly Ghost ,

as the third pers on of the T rinity .

A flame gives light and from both flame and

,

light arises a certain warmth No w certainly as .

,

soon as we have a flame w e get the light and the

,

warmth als o N otwithstanding this if we want

.
,

to get at the root of things we must treat the ,

flame as being first the light s econd and the

,

warmth third ; for the flame causes the light and

not the light the flame It is true that the per
.

sons o f the Godhead are equal but if we consider ,

the order in which they proceeded one from the

other we must s a y the F ather is the first person ,

the Son the second person and the Holy Ghost the
,

third pers on .

In the s ame w a y there i s a s equence to be

followed in the works of God F irst in order .

comes the work of creation ; second the work of ,

redemption ; third the work of s a n ctifi ca t i o n

,
.
1 74 P O P UL A R SERMONS ON THE C A TECHISM

F ather ; the work of s a n ctifi ca t i o n is a work of

lo v e , and belongs to the Holy Ghost because H e
i s the outcome of the love of the two first persons
o f the Blessed Trini t y .

In this manner the great works of God are a p

portioned between the three divine persons We .

can not better honor the F ather than by exalting

Him as the author of a ll things and thanking
Him from our hearts for having called us out of
nothing to serve Hi m as intelligent beings We .

honor the Son of God by praising Him a s the

Saviour of the world who shed Hi s blood to rec
,

o ncil e heaven and earth We g ive glory to the .

Holy Ghost by acknowl e dging H im a s the di s

penser of grace with which He enlightens s anc
, ,

t ifi e s and comforts our hearts

,
L et us beg of .

Him all the helps neces sary for our salvation and
endeavor to enter more and more fully into uni on
with the three divine persons We have a ll of us .

special caus e for thankfulnes s to each one of

Them special reasons for praising Them special
, ,

favors to beg of Them We will resolve to s a y

.

“
often In the name of the F ather and of the
, , ,

S on and of the Holy Ghost

,
“
Gl o r y b e to the .

F ather and to the S on and to the Holy Ghost

, , ,

as it was in the beginning is n o w and ever shall

”
be world without end
, This is the prayer of
.

the Church and is made in heaven as well a s on

,

earth Amen . .
 S ER MO N XX IV
t b e t r ea t i on of t b e 1111101 10
“
In the b egi n ning God cr ea te d h ea v e n and ea r th

( Gen . i .

6 God the F ather alm i ghty creator of heaven

1m first article of the Creed is I believe in
, ,
”
and earth We have already fully e x plained the
.

”
words : I believe in God the F ather almighty , ,
“
and will n o w pass o n to what follows : C reator
”
o f heaven and earth The consideration of these
.

words will require a long series of instructions

dealing with the oi gin the obj e p t and govern , ,

of the whole world with the l s and the

ment ; a ngg
e a r l i e sm em b e r s o f the human race To day with .
-

the help of the Holy Spirit we will think over ,

t w o points :
I The origin
. .

II The purpose of the univers e

. .

I
W h y is God called creator of heaven and
”
earth ?
“
God i s called creator of heaven and earth ,

because He created heaven earth and a ll things , ,

thi ng by Hi s word only ; that is by a

,

The world
did not origin at e itself Thi s is s o undoubted.

a truth that the mere fact of there being an actual

world at all furnishes oof of the e xistence of
God So if the world id not arise of itself fro m
.

1 75
1 76 P O P UL A R S ERMONS ON THE C A TEC HISM

what then did it come ? It was brought forth

/
, ,

out of nothin g and by a C ause which is outside , ,

and above and before it A C ause c o m p e t e n t c

,
.
o

to bring forth out of nothing What i s this .

Cause ? The almi ght

‘

wer of God R eason .

asserts this and R eve lation confirms it The .

“
Bible opens with the W o l ds In the begi nning
‘ '

”
God created heaven and earth God and God .
,

alone is the creator of the entire univers e The

,
.

prophet Isaias asks Who hath forwarded the

Spirit of the L ord or who hath been Hi s coun
,

s elor and hath taught Him ? ”

( Isa i a s xl .

N o one ; for God alone is almighty and before the

creation o nly /Hi g xi st e d The world was created
.

by a single act of Hi s a ll power ful will H e r e .

quired neither materials from which to make it ,

nor implements with which to fashion it nor di d

it cost Him either labor or fatigue F or He .

spoke and they were made He commanded and ,

”
they were created ( P s cx lviii . .

To gauge the greatness of the M aster let us ‘

turn to the magnitude of the work C onsider the .

—
di mensions of the universe The earth . had su b

si stEd thousands of years before a ny man v en

tu r e d to sail round it or succeeded in e xplori ng
it L ook at the su n ! If a train running day
.

and night without interval at the rate of fg r ty f

,

miles an hour were to travel toward it in a direct

,

line 1 50 years would pass before even the outer

,

border of it could be reached Y et the space which .

the ex pres s train would require 1 50 years to cover

can be traversed by a ray of light in eight min
utes V ery well We will imagine a m a n_p o s
. .

s essed of the fl e e tn e ss of a sunbeam F or h o w .

1 78 P O P UL A R SER MONS ON T HE CA TECHIS M

formati on of the whole vast mass of the universe

was followed on the three first days by a three
fold partitioning : o n the first day God divided the
light from the darkness ; on the second the waters
that were under the fi r m a m e n t from the waters that
were above the fi r m a m e n t ; a n d on the third the
land from the s e a L ight—air—earth O n the
. .

three succeeding days these regions were beauti

fi e d by inh abitants : on t h e fo u r t h day the su n ,

moon and stars were added to the domain of

,

light O n the fifth day the air was people d with

.

birds th e s e a with fish ; on the six th the earth w a s

,

filled with be a sts and fi nally man was called into

, , ,

being .

That God i s the creator of the entire universe

is a truth which we are cal led upon to believe
fir
c o n di t i o n a lly T o thos e who refuse
.

to accept it this life the s o ul and the world will

, , ,

be eni g mas which must remai n unanswered and ,

which while they will seem incapable of b e

,

i n g_u n r a v e l e d will nevertheless be constantly

~ , , ,

callin g for s olution F or what can be of more.

pressing importance than this : to know from

whence I come and whi ther I am going
,
.

II
As
s oon as we know fr o m_w h e n ce the world
came it is easy to tell whither it is going or , ,

in other words what w a s the obj ect (If creating

,

it God had a two fold purpos e : 1 H is o w n

.
-
.

glory ; 2 The good of Hi s creatures

. .

The principal end to which God made the world

is therefore Hi s own glory God is suffici ent to
, ,
.

Himself and is in Hi mself infi ni te ly b l e sse d He

,
.
 THE CREA TI ON O F T HE W O RLD

had no need of the world bu t creat ed it of Hi s

,

o w n free will ; and as He has been pleased to do

so It is for us to a s k ourselves why and for what

,
’
purpose it w a s made God s infini te holin es s e xy g
.
k

acts that Hi s purpos e shall be of But é

what is the Iibli e si u r p o s e ? N o other than the
[ honor and glory of God S o . the world was
created primarily to gl o r if God and Holy Scrip
g
,

ture assert sthis most e x p r sly

-

“
T h e L ord hath
.

m ade all things for Himsel f

”
( P r o v xvi 4 ) and . .

of man God says “

I have created Him for my
,
”
glory I have formed him and made him ( I s a i a s
’
.

“
xl iii. These words of God s I am the Al pha ,

and the Omega bear the same meaning In o u r

”
,
.

alphabet A is the first and Z is the last letter .

In Greek Alpha is the first letter but O mega is ,

the last So what is the meaning conveyed by

.

“ ”
I am the Alpha and the O mega ? It signifies :
I am the first b eginning of the world and oLa ll
things and H m the last end of a ll creatures
,
.

It is clear that if to gi v g glo r y to God is the

obj ect of a ll thi ngs it is also the Mgh e su n d
,

that can pos sibly be s e t b e fo r e l i s and it will be ,

real ized fully and certainly in every respect Ir .

r a t i o n a L cr e a t i o n praises and gl o r ifi e s God by

showing forth the pm e r the wi sdom and the

—
, ,

g gg
o n
‘
e s s o f the creator and we r e a so n a b lg p r e a
tures are asked to do the s ame thing but to do " ,

it volunt aril y of our own free will .

But whether we do it or not even should w e ,

rebel against God a n d blaspheme and deny Him

we must perforce in the end contribute to God s
,
’ ,

glory by u n de r g o i n g éig g u n i shm e nt s whi ch w e

fi
shall have deserved .
 1 80 P O P UL A R SER MONS ON T HE CA TECHISM

But God in Hi s creation had a two fold obj ect -

in view : his secondary aim is the wel lb eing the -

s alvation the happi ness of Hi s creatures

,

rational and irrational By a ckn o w l e dging fi o d .

,

by lo ving and s e rving Him Hi s creatures can b e ,

come more and more united to Him and enj oy ,

t r u e h a p p in e ss
_ They attain and partici pate in
.

the Mgh e stgm o d which ,

S o let us rest in thes e two sublime truth s whi ch ,

are s o firm l y established that on them the order

of the whole univers e depends We are M o d .

creatures of God We are for God—to give .

Him_glor y I s our end both in time and e ternity

‘
.

We oan n ot a ltgr this ; on the contrary these tw o

h , ,

principles should be fi n g egzpo st s giving the right

direction to o u r w h o n iv e s Of G o d — This . .

finger points back ward ; it teaches us hu mility ,

showing w h aLwe come from and the e t e r n al_ g_ r at

i tu d e we owe t JGo d for having called us out of

nothing and placed us in the ranks of Hi s rea
sonable creatures F o r G o at —This in dicates the
.

mission we have received and what our goal

sh d fil d be namely to gl o r i w p i afi al Ltim e s and
, ,

in all aces by our work and sn fi e r in g s in life ,

and in eath We are asked to give of o u r se l v e s

.
m

and with fullJ ind e r s t a n din g that which the u n r e a

sonable creatures give without wi ll o r kn owledge ' ,
.

O u t prais e of God should s o to speak take the , ,

place and fulfill the functions of ey e s tongue , ,

heart and mind to Hi s i r r a t i o nal g r e a t i o n e x alt

, ,

I ing Him in its name

‘
The prophet D avid s ays.

“
T h e heavens show forth the glory of God and
the fi r m a m e nt declareth the works of Hi s hands ”

( s xviii
P . .St John of Avila when walk ing
.
,
 S ER MO N XXV
t he p r e s e rva t i on a no ( Bor e r nm ent of t b e W or lo
“
For i n Hi m wer e a ll thi n gs cr ea te d a nd by Hi m
”
a l l thi n gs con si s t ( Col . i .

® creation of the world We sa w that God is

last instruction was concerned with the
UR
.

the caus e the origin of the world that He is the

, ,

crea tor and that the univers e is Hi s work O ut

, .

of what did He create it ? O ut of nothing by ,

Hi s w o r d/only Ho w did He create it ? By a

.

single act of Hi s all pow er ful wi ll In h o w many

’
-
.

days ? In S w ays F urther we considered God s .

purp os e in creation that He had a tw o fold end ,

-

1 Hi s o w n glory ; 2 The good of Hi s creatu res

. . .

It n o w remains for us to see whether God when ,

He had completed Hi s work a b apgon e d it to i t ,

s elf o r whether after the creation He continued

, , ,

to watch over it We assert most emphatically

.

that God d o e sp rg serv e and world and ,

we will proceed to e xplain h o w this is manifest .

We will consider therefore under the g u idance

, ,

of the Holy Spirit

I Ho w God pres e r ves the world
. .

II In w hat way God governs the world

. .

I
Ho w does God preserve the world ? H e pre
serves i t by so_ord g i ng that it shall continue in
existence i n he manner He pleases and a g i g n g
“
,

as He pleases orks wrought by hu m a n__ha n d s

.
.

1 82
 T HE PRE SER VA TI ON O F T HE W O RLD 1 83

can and often do subsist fo r a long time after the

author has ce a s e i tu zo nce r n himself about them .

A house a palace a church a tower continue in

, , , ,

ex istence just the same after he w h o built them

has all interest In them and has fo rg_tt e n all ,

about them ; they last for years and hundreds of

years after he is dead But can the world con
’
.

t in u e in existence without any care on God s

part ? M ost decidedly not And why not ? The .

reason is not hard to find An o p ag gej o dy has A .

of itself no light but it can be lit up by the r e

,

fl e ct i o n of some foreign lu m i nous substance and

then it becomes bright The m o on i sj it up in .

this way by the sun But h o w long does the .

brightness of bo di es s o illumined last ? Just s o

long and no longer a s the luminous substance
, ,

shed si ts ri s o n t h e m If this latter becomes too

.

far removed for i ts light to reach them then nat , ,

u r a ll y dark obj ects re t u rn to their former state ?

,

of shadow What does thi s serve to illustrate ?

.

Just a s any dark substance has of itself no light ,

so must we s a y of all creatures and of the entire

universe that they h av e of themselves n b e 1 n g , ,

Th ey a r e nothing— a b s o
y
-

nu xi s t e n ce n q life
lu t e ly nothing—o f themselves ; the almight will
, .

of God brought them forth and it I s by the ac I o n ,

of Hi s influence that they continue to subsist s o l ,

that i t fbllow s that they wil l last just s o long and

'

no longer than Hgg yfl l s .

T hifl u e n ce exerted by Go d to mai ntain Hi s

creation calls for further e x planation Wherein .

does it consist ? Is it merely that God does not

destroy the world ? N o its p r e se ry a t i o n deman s
,

mo r e than tha t To keep a lamp burning it is not

,
.
1 84 P O P UL A R SERMONS ON THE C A TECHISM

that w e merely abstain from extinguish

su fli ci e n t

ing it ; we must also pour in the neede d oil or it ,

w ill go out of i t s own accord In the s ame w a y

.
,

the mere refr aining on the part of the Alm i ghty

from annihilating the world would not be ade
quate to m a in t a ifi i fi fi u st do more than this .

He h a s S ‘Ll fi fi p e ak t o co n t iw
: , m u ifim
ti on by put ting forth Hi s wfl q kee t M mg .

To e the tones of a flute mere n e g a tive__ ac

tion is su ffi ci e n t— i t is enough for the player to
ceas e to blow ; but if he wants the music to con
t inu e defini te action is necessary o n his p a r t ; he
must breathe air from his lungs into the in st r u
ment by means of his mouth T Q’QQS II OY the .
'

world God would need only to w ithdraw Hi s a l

m i ghty h an d and at the same moment everything
would relapse into the chaos from which He drew
it But if it is to stand and
. must
from
b o t t o m l e s_
s
_pI t of n th i n gn e s s
’p
.

infl uence which God e x ei Ts t o preserve the

'

world does not merely consist in Hi s warding o ff

and remo v ing all that may prove a source of
harm and hurt to Hi s creatures threatening their
,

life and existence Y ou may protect a burning

.

lamp from any gust of wind or from the slightest

draught as much as you will ; it will none the
less die out when the oil which feeds the flame is
e xhausted S o als o all creatures and the world
.
, ,

they live in may be sheltered from all baneful i n

flu e n ce s but this wi ll not sustain them unles s the
,

p ower of God upholds their innermost being .

Think over what this means : God preserv es

the world ! It means not onl y that H e does not
1 86 P O P UL A R S ERMONS ON T HE CA TEC HISM

t r o ll e di h e m s e lv e s But why are we cgyr e ct in

.

saying they are controlled by the coachm an ? F or

three reasons : 1 Because it is he who knows
.

wh at th eir d egtj g a ti o n i s ; 2 Because he 1 8 a c

-

q u a i n t e d with the road they must travel to Izgach

it whether it is up or
,
over sm__oth
o_ or
sh o
w n g crooked or straight ; ,

also he can judge if the horses a e e ual to draw

ing the lo ad hh d co v e r in the distance in t he a l
l o t t ed fi m e ; 3 B ecause h ih
. f m
gg se s

as w e ll gs ofj h e car r i a g e It is he who harnesses

‘
.

and unharness es the horses who h a gdlhs the ,

reins and can ur ge them on or

, or ,

pull them up and who by the ,

of
the b ridl e has power to make them turn to the
left or to right He groo m’ .
s; them and sees
fodder and st a b lm g at the right
time that their shoes are In order and the car
, ,

r i a g e k e t in re a m It s eems logical that the

‘

coachman knowing the destination in view and

,

the road to be traversed and having the charge ,

of the carriage and hors es should also b e held

w
,

r e sp o n
aimb w i fl
m
p i h
l s e d . No w may w e,
no s a y m e m a s e n se

of the word that God governs the world ? What

is wantin g to m a ke Him its ruler ? D oes He not !
know the e n d__to b e re ached ? O h ye s ; it is He
” ,

Himself who in Hi s e te r n alfi o u n s e l s decided what

i ts aim and ob j e cLsho u l d be God Himself and ! .

Hi s glory are its pur p ose O r is He ignorant .

w h a t J ne a n s to employ which road to follow to , ,

reach Hi s purpose ? He has an int im ati kn o w l

He knows them through
and through their inmost nw r e capacity and
, , ,
 THE PRESER VA TI ON O F THE W O RLD 187

p o
w gr s their ; inclinations the temptations i
,
n to

they r e cgi ve ; their

-

which they fall ; the

past their
, f u t p r e ; their Ii f e a n d j e a th H e is u
.

omn iscient And has He not p ower o vg r us ? Y e s

.
,

the most complete Hi s hand is might to r g e

us on ; Hi s g r a cg strong to move us ; H
.

i s p u g i sh
ments rigorous to a w e us ; our und erstan di ng our ,

w ill
,
our h eg rt our life our d ga
,
t h are ,
in H i s ,

( hands Who . then is king and

,
ruler ,
of the world !
if not God ? Who knows its destination and the
road that leads to it ? And who has constant and
co m p l e u th o r i t y over the W hole u p i v e r s e and
tu
a l cr e a tu r e s

Who would not fear Thee R uler of all nations , ,

K ing of the univers e ! Thy dominions are s o

great so comprehensive : they embrace all crea
,

tures from the greatest to the lowest from the ,

sparrow on the housetop to each hair of our

heads not one of which can fall to the ground
'

without Thy knowledge and consent Thou art .

our immedi ate ruler An earthly kin g can n ot b e

“
.

everywhere nor se e to all matters himself ; he

,

can not give e v e r y p r de r with his o w n_ _ l i p s nor ,

do everything with his o w n hands A great deal .

must be delegated to o fficials and subordinates .

Bu t God the ru l er of the univers e is omnipresent

f ,

and guides and directs all thin gs Himself Hi s is

,

a firm rule which kn ows neither wavering nor

delay but goes straight to Hi s purpos e from
, ,

which no opposition on the part of creatures has

power to turn Hi m O my s oul what a consoling .
,

thought that thou to o art a part of this king

,

dom and one of i ts subj ects governed by the all ,

good the all knowing the all wis e God He has

,
-

,
-
.
1 88 P O P UL A R SERMON S ON THE C A TECHIS M

a ss i gn e
dl h thy
ee place in the world and ,
H e has
a sp e ci M e S i gn in regard to thee He knows thy
.

heart th y inclinations thy work thy j oys and

, , ,

sorrows S u b m i tJhys e lf to Him absolutely and

.

entirely B e solicitous to s e r vL Hi m and He in

.

Hi s turn will W hee and will l e a t

, ee

to glorify Him and gain thy eternal salvation .

Amen .
1 90 P O P UL A R S ERMONS ON THE C A TECHISM

I Wh at i s the diflicu l ty to which the presence

.

of si n in the world gives rise ?

II Ho w to s olve the diffi culty
. .

I
If Go d orders and directs all things why does
He not p r e v ente v i l ? Ho w many heads and hearts
have pondered this question ? To h o w much tor
turing d oubt h a s it not given birth ? Ho w many
mistaken answers have ignorant minds and em
bittered hearts not furnished to it ?
And is it not an actual di fficulty ? Is sin not
a reality ? D oes it not constantly happen ? Will
‘

it not always contin ue to happen ? The ve ry fi r st

‘

page in the history of the ang els tells us of the

s i n by w
“

hich th ey ’r e b e ll e d against God The .

SM of mank ind In like manner begins with the

fall of our first _p arents and fo ll o w ing _i m m e di
ately on this o ffense against the Almighty comes
the s tory of the crime by which the sacred ties
o f family were outraged — the fratricide of C ain .

C an any one deny that in the whole subsequent

histo ry of the human race sin has never at any
time or place been absent ? O n the contrary w e ,

find men who are not only born in sin but w h o ,

li vo a nd dj e in it ; men for whom law e x ists only

‘ y

to be s e t at naught ; gr a cm o nly to be rej ected ,

sacraments__ b e p rofaned ; w h o persecute the

Church and who look upon their fellow men as
objects of hatred to be tortured and
, ,

p ty m
i e t e
yi n o ck at G o d th
, e j
n
o b l a s p h e m e a n d_
d eny
.

There can be no doubt that grievous s i n o f many

different kinds is rampant in the world and that
it will always continue to be so .
 THE PERMITTIN G O F E VIL

But is it not also a certaintruth that G od does

,

n t will the commission of s in ? We are bound

o
to believe this Ho w often h o w earnestly how
.
, ,

solemnl y He has forbidden it ! Wh at heavy pun

“ i shm e n t s He attaches to it ! A s Go d is holy si n ,

can not be accordin g t o Hi s will .

{W It is equally b e yo nd __ d _o u b t that if God wished

t“ fHe could prevent each in di vidual si n He h a s it .

in Hi s power to out of l ife b efo re they

become guilty o f it before they are tainted with
, ,

even the thought of it L IL e co u l d de pr ive them o f

.

the necessa r y strength and ab ility for wrong

doing ; He could p r ote ct t h e m fr om t e m p t a ti o n , .

and fr o m/Jhu cca si o n s of sin ; He co u ln p u r

i

forth Hi s grace upon them grace so p owerful and

“ ,

e fli g i o u s as to enable them to t r Iu m p h over every

pg
inclination and attachment to evil ; all this Go d
has undoubtedly the power to do He holds in
Hi s almighty hands not one but a t h ou sa nd m e a n s l
.

by which He could prevent sin .

S o on th e kg e h p d) we find that sin h a s b e en Q

g
, m fi

committed and is e In g co n st a n tly__ c m m i tt e d in

o
_
’
the world that it i s in o pposition to the di v in e Cf
,

will of God who has pow e r to p r e v e nti t a nd who

,
.

yetl efnse s t o IIIt ér fe r e A ll this is tru e while

.
, ,

on the lother hand ,; it i s als o tru e that God does

g u ide and govern the world Are we able to.

s qu a re thee ee t a t e m e n t s ?
‘
D o they not palpably
contradict one another ? Ia a ki ng in_fa ct be , , ,

s aid to r u le w he n day after day he s ees his laws

fl

se t at defiance yet takes no step to enforce them

, ,

or when he su fl e r s whole a rmies of r ebels to rise

up again st him a lthough he could easily suppres s
,

such rebellion ? It would seem indeed as though

1 92 P O P UL A R S ERMON S ON THE CA TECHISM

H e were not troubling Himself much about Hi s

kingdom Ho w can w e s a that God is govern
.

ing the world when day in and day ou tj o n n a n y

sins are committed whi ch He could and yet does
,

not ta e measures t q pre ye n t ?

II
No w we are face to face with our difficulty ,

and we find that it is easy to s olve for the simple ,

answer to it i s that God does not will the evil

, ,

but permits it He permits it : 1 Because He has

. .

given free will to man 2 Because out of evil . .

He knows ho w to bring good .

God i s not the author of si n It is against Hi s .

will He forbids it He punishes it but He per

.
, ,

mits it and this permis sion is in opposition

,

neither to Hi s holines s nor Hi s providence He .

.

must permit sin becaus e He has endowed man

with free will and this entails that man though ,

not obliged to sin is free to do s o if he chooses

,
.

This does not in any way imply that si n is the

work of God ; on the contrary it stamps it as the
’
act of man w h o incurs God s displeasure for the
,
,

evil he is guilty of It is just the fact that we

.

are free agents that gives value to the efforts we

make in av oiding sin and fighting temptation in ,

shunning all that leads to evil and giving our

s elves u p to the practice of virtue In a word .

free wi ll involves that man is master of his fate .

“
I call heaven and earth to witnes s this day
that I have s e t before you life and death blessing ,

and cursing Choos e therefore life that both

.
, , ,
”
thou and thy s eed shall live ( D e n t xxx So . .

spoke M oses to the people of Israel and God can ,

1 9 4: P O P UL A R S ERMONS ON T HE C A TECHISM

of this ultimate end retarded or forwarded by the

permitting of evil ? C ertainly it is fo r w arded .

T h e patience of God is never more touchingly di s

played than when He bears with the sin s of men ,

although He has it in Hi s power to punish the

sinner on the instant Hi s mercy never shines out
.

more clearly than in the forgiving of those who

have longest and most grievously offended Him .

Hi s goodness has never ful ler scope than when

He is pouring grace into the most hardened hearts
s o plenteously that at last they are softened and

converted to Him And should they refuse to r e

.

s p o n d and turn to Him what do we se e happen ,

then ? Where can we find more terrible examples

o f Hi s justice than in Hi s condemnation to the

fire o f hell of unrepentant sinners Sin can .

,

therefore be made to s erve the great end of crea

,

tion the glory o f God Why then should the

,
.
, ,

Al mighty not allow its continuance ?

Sin moreover can be made to contribute not
, ,

only to the glory of God but to the s alvation of ,

mankind To a converted sinner there can be no

.

stronger incentive to redoubled m o r tifi ca ti o n and

fervor ardent charity and abiding sorrow than
, , ,

the remembrance of former offenses D o you

’
.

think St M ary M agdalen s life would have been

.

so full of divine love and a desire fo r penance o r ,

~

that St Paul would have developed such zeal for

.

souls or St Peter so deep a fountain of tears

,
.
,

if they h a d never sinned ? Such are the blessings

bestowed on those who become converted but God ,

can bring good even out of the persistent wrong

doing of the unrepentant W h o knows h o w many .

hearts are expiating sins not their o w n how many ,

 THE PER MITTIN G O F E VIL

s ouls are atoning for the evil done by others ! It

i s true there are sinners who refuse to amend but ,

the prayer of the just o fi e r e d for them in vain ,

the word of the preacher who strives to soften

their hearts the patience of the confessor who
,

waits for them all to no purpose are truly works ,

o f holiness There are sinners who wanto nl y and

.

maliciously injure the liv es the honor the health , , ,

and the property of others by whom innocence is ,

betrayed and youth corrupted and who are a liv ,

ing source of scandal everywhere they go But .

we find this wickednes s counterbalanced by deeds

of patience and forgiveness of charity fidelity , , ,

and endurance and of genuine and steadfast love

,

of God O ut of the most bitter root God can

bring sweetest fruit—Hi s glory and the salv ation
.

of Hi s creatures .

A s for us we wi ll never on the plea of the evil

,

in the world doubt the dispens ation of D ivine

Providence God permits evil from the holiest
.

motives but He has not given up the government

,

of the world What did the good man of the house

.
-

say to those who told him that his field had been
o v er sowed with cockle ? F irst he disclai med the
-

cockle saying : “
An enemy hath done this ”
He .

could have uprooted the weed as his servants b e

“
s ought him to do but no ; he s aid : , Su ffer both
”
to grow unto the harvest and why ? Because,

the cockle could not be gathered without injuring

the good seed and the day w a s yet to come when
,

they should be separated D o not let us accuse

.

God because He allows sin How would any o n e .

of us have fared if sin were always followed by

immediate punishment ? L et u s make u s e of our
1 96 P O P UL A R SERMONS ON THE C A TECHISM

o wn falls to do penance for them and the faults

,

and failings of others to learn patience and

brotherly love L et us pray for the conv ersion of
.

sinn ers and be on our guard against scandal S o

.

we shall be doing what in us lies to turn our own

,

sins and the sins of our neighbor to profit for ,

the glory of G od and the s alvation of souls .

Amen .
1 98 P O P UL A R SER MONS ON THE CA TECHISM

If God ha s care of all things in the world why , ,

then is there such an amount of su fi e r in g ? O r

, ,

to put it another way it does not seem po ssible

,

to reconcile the belief in a watchful Providence

guiding all things with the m as s of suffering which
we s e e around u s .

It is beyond doubt that the world is full o f

su ffering Holy Scripture testifies to it :
.
“
In the
”
sweat of thy face thou shalt eat bread and man ,

kind groans under this decree of the Alm i ghty .

L ook h o w men labor on farms and plantations .

Go down into a mine visit workshops and fac ,

tories and you w ill s e e that by far the greater

,

part of adult humanity toils till worn out and

di s abled in the sweat of its face d a y by day from , ,
“
youth to old age A heav y yoke weighs on the
.

children of men s ays Holy Scripture in another

”
,

place But w e need not appeal to Holy Scripture ;

.

these things are the common experience of each

one of us S ome ev ils such as heat and cold old
.
, ,

age dis ablement illnes s and death are the result

, , ,

o f the natural disposition of things ; but others

take the m r i se In the malice of men M any people .

su ffer much at the hands of enemies o r unkind

neighbors ; from bad degenerate children ; evilly
,

disposed superiors or refractory subordinates

,
.

Wh at anguish a husband can caus e his wife or ,

a wi fe her husband ! Ho w we inju re ourselv es

through our own fault by our ignorance and im ,

prudence and by the evil pas sions of our hearts !

,

There is sick nes s of body and sicknes s of mind ;

who can count the maladies and i nfi r m i t i e s to
which flesh is heir ? Walk t hrough th e hospitals
and you wi ll s e e these things for yourselves The .
 S UFFERIN G

diseases of the m i nd are also innumerable A .

v isit to a madhouse will furnish proof of this .

S ome trials are but transient others make their ,

pressure felt during an entire lifetime There are .

private griefs affecting one or the other of us

individually and public calamities involving v il
,

lages towns and coun tries Think of the hor

, ,
.

r o r s of war pestil ence and famine

,
Sometimes
,
.
,

sorrow can speak and is openly acknowledged ,

but often too it is deeply hidden in the heart

, ,

locked away from the eyes of men O h ! if it were .

possible to break down barriers to s e e through ,

the walls of houses to penetrate the reces ses of

,

every heart what an immensity of su fi e r in g h o w

, ,

much secret anguish w e should come face to face

,

with ! We are forced to admit that this world

is indeed as it is called a vale of tears
, ,
.

Y et it is true that God if He so wil led could , ,

by Hi s almighty power prese r ve and deliver us.

from all these bitter evils What is there to .

hinder Him from disposing of all things in such a

w a y that everlasting spring should reign upon
the earth yielding so great an abundance as to
,

make labor superfluous ; that unbroken health ,

old age free from infirmity followed by painl ess ,

dissolution should be the common lot and undis

, ,

t u r b e d peace with universal j oy be established in

the world ? The golden age so often referred to
by the poets was supposed to be a time of just
such unclouded happiness But either it was a .

remembrance of Para di se or it is an unreal ,

dream which will never be verified on this earth

, .

But nevertheless the undoubted fact remains

, ,

that almighty God has power to make it true .

2 00 P O P UL A R SERMONS ON T HE C A TEC HISM

why does He not act in so fatherly a man

An d
ner ? Ho w can Hi s loving providence tolerate s o
much wrong and not try to put it right look on ,

such heavy su ffering and not seek to alleviate

it contemplate such enduring sorrow without
,

stretching out Hi s hand to cut it short ? A lov

ing Providence grows les s and les s evident to our
eyes when we consider that for many perhaps ,

for most of us su ffering is an occasion of discon

,

tent and despondency causing murmurs against

,

Go d and doubt even of Hi s goodn ess driving s ome ,

even to despair and s elf destruction If there

-
.

must be su ffering in the world why at least is

it not distributed so that each one should get his
portion of the j oy as well as of the s orrow of
life ? O ne would ex pect a kind father to deal
out good and evil equally among his children .

Here then is our d ifii cu lty The su ffering which

, ,
.

plays s o lar g e a part in the world seems to stand

out in the sharpest contradiction to the dispensa
tion of a divine and a fatherly Providence .

II
All that we have said can be res olved into one
“
great question If God has care of everything ,
”
why is there s o much su ffering ? N ow listen to
the simple answer which gives the whole solution
,

of our diffi culty Su ffering is in the world : 1

. .

In order to incline the sinner to turn to God that

he be not lost for all eternity ; 2 That the good .

may become richer in merits and have a greater

reward hereafter in heaven .

T h e di fficulty is solved chiefly by pointing to

another life which is to follow our probation in
2 02 P O P UL A R SERMON S ON THE CA TECHISM

opened to the nothingness of all that is earthly .

It subdues the desires of the flesh breaks down ,

the pride of life s oftens the heart and prepares

, ,

it for sorrow and penance We have abundant .

proofs o f thi s When did A dam repent of his

.

dis obedience ? When e x iled from Paradise he

, ,

labored the earth in the sweat of his brow When .

w a s Pharaoh induced to allow his Israelites to

leave E gypt ? When plague stricken he began
,
-

at last to fear the hand of God In the same .

w a y D avid repented o f his pride when he s a w

his people devoured by pestilence N aaman when .
,

afflicted with leprosy sought out the prophets ;

,

and the people of Israel returned contrite to the

s erv ice of the true God when defeated and i m ,

pris oned they found themselves scattered and in

,

captivity E very one who has the care of souls

.
,

indeed almost every Christian can from his o w n , ,

pers onal ex perience point to sinners w h o in pov

, ,

e r ty ,captivi ty misfortune sicknes s and death

, , , ,

became converted to God and repented of the

sins of their days of opulence freedom health , , ,

and prosperity The ex ample which our Saviour

.

Himself gave us of a repentant sinner was that

of the prodigal s o n who was moved to be con
verted only when he had been reduced to a state
of absolute destitution .

S o suffering must be looked upon by sinners as

a well deserved punishment and an e fficacious
-

means of salvation But in this world w e often

.
, ,

find that good people su ffer more than bad An d .

yet for them also sorrow i s a blessing Is it n o t .

a protection against sin a me ans of practising ,

patience and fidelity and of giving proof of their

,
 S UFFERIN G

love of God ? IS it not the way to earn a richer

reward in heaven ? Surely this alone wou ld be
sufficient to justify the Providence of God in a l
lo w in g the just to be affl icted N o one will be .

found wi lling for the wage of a fe w pence to

, ,

undertake hard and painful labor under a burn

ing sun requiring much e x ertion and entailing
,

great privations But if the pay is at the rate of

.
,

three six or fifteen dollars a day many a ppli

, , ,

cants will be forthcoming who wi ll consider them

selves lucky to be engaged for such work because ,

the remuneration is s o good N ow do you under .

stand why God chastises thos e whom He loves s o

much ? He wants to enable them to earn a very
great reward Wh at did He give St Peter ?
. .

Suffering St Paul ? L abor upon labor sorrow

. .
,

upon sorrow Hi s holy M other ? Grief deeper

.

than the s e a D o you see n o w why s o many saints

.

hoped and prayed that suffering might be their

portion ? St John of the Cross cried
. O L ord ,
”
to su fi e r and to be despised for Thee ! They
knew that the su fferings of time are short and
light but the crown eternal The surest way to
,
.

heaven is not by the grandest words not by the ,

g reatest deeds not even by the m i racles and

,

graces b u t by suffering borne with enduring p a

,

ti e n ce and resignation for the love of God .

L et us cease to accuse and complain of the

Providence of God He is more far seeing than .
-

w e and knows what is best for us

,
Suffering is a .

gift from Hi s kind and merciful hand The so r .

rows o f others should be to us as s o many o pp o r

tu ni ti e s of practising works of mercy O ur o w n .

sorrows w e must accept in a S pirit o f atonement ,

2 04 P O P UL A R SERMONS ON T HE CA TECHISM

regarding them a s calls to repentance opportuni

,

ties of merit mercies vouchsafed to us by a l

,

mighty God We will pray that He may g ive us

.

grace to bear every sorrow He sends with p a

ti e n ce resignation and even j oy ; making known
, ,

to us even in this world the consolations of su f

, ,

fe r i n g and giving us hereafter the reward of

,

eternal life Amen

. .
2 06 P O P UL A R S ERMON S ON THE CA TECHIS M

mals it contains what thousands of families , ,

orders and species of material things of every

,

description ! Ho w numerous are the steps to be

counted in the scale of gradations beginning ,

from the lifeless stone lyi ng inanimate upon the

road up to the marvelous structure of the human
,

body which dust though it be remains to this

, , ,
’
day a perpetual s ource of admiration and won
der But this visible world wonderful as it
,
’
.
,

i s has not exh austed G od s creative power

,
.

He has made another a second an invisible , ,

world which comprises not material bodi es but

, ,

S pirits .

If we could o nl y s e e this other this invisible ,

world in the s ame way in which we look upon

,

the material things around u s what would meet ,

our eyes ? A univers e probably larger and more

ex tensive than that we live in ; more lum i nous ,

more varied adorned with a greater multitude of

,

creatures F or the spirits of the other world are

.
-

entirely free from everything material ; they are

beings whos e entire existence is made up of
thought and will and who are in their whole na
,

ture the image of God They are cal led “angels .

”
,

from the Greek word a ng e l o s which means mes

’
senger because they are God s messengers sent
,
,

by Him to make known Hi s will to mankind .

Their number is s o great that the angels them

s elves can not count it it can not be gauged and , ,

is known only to their M aker Himself “

Thou .

s ands o f thousands ministered to Him and ten

g
,

thousand times a hundred thousand stood before

Him ( D a n v i i
”
Some are more perfect than
. .

others They are described by Holy Scripture as

.
 THE AN GEL S
’
God s legions of Hi s hosts ; and a s a great
wa r ,
army is broken up into squadrons and regiments
s o Holy Scripture di vides the angels into nine

choirs Begin ning wi th the highest we count

.
,

S eraphim Cherubi m Thrones D ominations

, , , ,

Principalities Powers ,
Virtues A rchangels , , ,

Angels These di fferent designations are not too

.

’
easy to explain T h e names of the three first
.

choirs have regard to the close relation in which

they stand to the Al mighty : the Seraphim con
sumed with burning love of God ; the Cherubim
e x alted by wonderful knowledge of God ; the
Thrones immediately surrounding the throne of
God The three ne x t choirs take their name from
.

the peculiar maj esty dignity and strength which

, ,

is proper to themselves ; while the names of the

three lowest choirs contain a reference to their
relations toward other beings that are su b o r di
nate to them .

It must not be forgotten that the spirit world

was created by God o u t of nothing just as was ,

the material world ; and though by their nature

and knowledge they are a s hi gh above u S as the
su n is above the earth the angels must n e v e r th e
, ,

less i n common with u s b o w down before God and

, ,
“
sa y We als o are nothing absolutely and e n ,

t i r e ly nothing less than the dust of earth

, Al l .

that w e are all that we have is the pure and u n

, ,
”
deserved gift o f God So we must unite our
.

selves to them and they must j oin with us in s a y

“
ing Thou art worthy O God our L ord to , ,

receive glory and honor and power because Thou ,

hast created all thin gs and for Thy will they were
,
”
and have been created ( A p o o iv . .
2 08 P O P UL A R SER MONS ON THE C A TEC HISM

II

N o w that know the origin of the angels w e

we ,

naturally would like to inquire in what state God

created them ? T h e catechism asks Were the
”
angels as Go d created them good and happy ?
, ,
“
And the answer i s The angels as God created ,
”
them were good and happy
,
M oreover they
.
,

had a richly gifted nature and were endowed with

s anctifying grace The gifts of kn owledge and
.

learning lavished on them far excelled in depth

and breadth in subtlety and clearness the knowl
,

edge o f even the most profound among men .

What were the words in which the woman of

Th e cu a praised the wisdom of K ing D avid :
Thou L ord my k ing art wise according to the
, , ,
”
wisdom of an angel of God ( 2 K i ng s xiv .

An d how did our S a viour expres s Himself when

He wished to impres s on us that the coming of
the last day wo u l d not be foreseen even by the
most penetrating minds ? He said that it would
remain hidden even from the angels of heaven .

They were endowed with the precious gift of free

will unencumbered with any burden of fle shly in
,

fi r m i ty and illumined by the light o f a great

,

knowledge which quickened and defined its work

ings keeping it unmoved in its resolves A feather
, .

thrown into the air by a little child even with ,

great exertion and effort will not fly high or

, ,

straight but will flutter about for a fe w moments

, ,

and then drop powerless to the ground T he r e .

s i st a n c e of the air prevents it rising But a very .

heav y missile shot out of a cannon w ill fly with

extraordinary velocity for miles straight in the ,

direction of the obj ect aimed at and i s capable ,

210 P O P UL A R SER MON S ON THE CA TECHISM

Al l the angels did not remain good and happy ;

many of them sinned and were cast into hell and ,
”
thes e are called devils or bad angels .

We learn from Holy Scripture and from the

teaching of the Church that there is no doubt
many of the angels sinned grievously What was .

the nature of their sin ? That it was by pride we

know with certainty but in what form h a s not
,

been made clear I will merely indicate the ways

.

in which various learned theologians have a t

tempted to explain the pride of the fall en angels .

Some suppos e that they demanded from the lower

S pirits a reverence to which they had no right ;
some that they refused to render to God the
,

thanks due to Him for their magnificent gifts or ,

that they wished to attain a higher state than that

to which God destined them ; others that they had ,

endeavored to reach the goal appointed for them

by their o w n exertions without Hi s help ; or that
,

they refus ed to adore the coming Saviour the Son ,

of God on account of Hi s becoming man They

,
.

may or may not have done one or all of thes e

things but certain it is that they rebelled in some
,

way against the decrees of God and w anted if , ,

not to b e equal at least to be indepe ndent of Him

,
.

This fearful sin was all the greater b e cause they

owed s o much to their C reator and because they ,

knew so clearly the full import of what they were

doing ; they acted with s o much obstinacy and
deliberateness that a change of heart humanly ,

speaking was impossible Ho w many fell we do

,
.

not know The Apocalypse of St John relates

. .

h o w the seven headed dragon when cas t out o f

-

heaven d r ew down in his fall with hi s tail the

 THE AN GEL S
third part of all the stars ( A p o c It i s .

thought by some that the dragon signifies L ucifer ,

the leader of the bad angels the first rebel against

’
God s l a w the revolutionary of heaven T h e stars
,

.
,

drawn after him by his tail are supposed to be

the angels w h o followed his example S o accord .
,

ing to this theory one third of the angels must

,
-

have fallen It is a well thought out idea and may

.
- -

b e right but w e have no proof of it

,
We know .

only that very many fell away but what the num ,

b er w a s w e have no means of telling .

The sin w a s followed by immediate punish

ment All the rebels were cast into hell N o
. .

respite was allowed no time for grace for r e , ,

“
p e n t a n c e or conversion St Peter says . Go d .

spared not the angels that sinned but delivered ,

them drawn down by infernal ropes to the lower

”
hell unto torments to be reserved unto judgment
,

( 2 P e t e r ii Their fate w a s decided instan

.

t a n e o u sly ; and the same moment that s ealed their

doom determined also the lot of the good angels
,

who had refused to be led away They had e n .

dured the test and were admitted without delay

,

to the b e a tifi c vision of God Ho w just art Thou .

,

O God and in Thy holiness h o w T hou dost hate

,

sin. S o much dost Thou hate it that the angels ,

the master works of Thy hands Thy favorites

-

, ,

were for the first o ffens e one sin of thought , ,

turned away from the door of heaven and cast

every one without e x ception in to the botto m l ess
pit to be puni shed by the fire of hell
,
.

0 L ord h o w we ought to fear Thee ! Ho w wil l

,

it go with us if T hou cut short the time for r e

p e n t a n ce w i th u s who s i n and
, s in repeate dl y not ,
212 P O P UL A R SER MON S ON THE C A TEC HISM

only in thought but in deed and who even after

,

obtaining forgiveness return to our old sin ! Who

wo u l d not fear Thee !
We have the stronger reason to dread S in b e
cause it i s so near to us The greatest among
.

the angels despite their gifts their many graces

, , ,

their intelligence were not safe but fell into evil

, ,

of their own free will H ow carefully must we be

.

on our guard against it w e who are born in sin

, ,

who carry the tendency to it within u s who are ,

moved to it by our flesh who are surrounded by

,

temptations opportunities and examples of it on

, ,

every S ide who have already fallen and e xp e r i

,

e nce d human weakness and frailty If the strong .

e s t angels did not resist h o w must we tremble

,

who are but dust and ashes ! N othin g remains for

us but to desire from our heart a l ively horror of
s i n and remembering the punishment due to it to
, , ,
“ ”
work out our s alvation in fear and trembli ng .

Amen .
214 P O P UL A R SER MONS ON THE C A TECHISM

numerous examples in Holy Scripture and in his

tory both sacred and profane of their lo ving care
, ,
.

Tobias was accompanied by the angel R aphael ;

an angel protected Judith ; St Peter w a s de l iv .

ered from prison by an angel But what i s of .

much more importance for us even than this i s ,

the assistance they give to the souls of men .

We are taught expressly by Holy Scripture and

by the Church that certain spirits are appointed
to watch over us and to such we giv e the name of
,

guardian angels O ur Saviour when speaking of

.
,
“
children said :
,
T heir angels se e always the face
of M y F ather who i s in heaven ( Ma t t xviii
”
. .

T he i r angels S o even as children we are pro

.
, ,

v i d e d with a pure spirit to guard and protect us .

“
M oreover St Pa u l s ays of the angels
,
. A re they :

not all ministering spirits sent to minister for ,

them who shall receive the inheritance of s alva

tion ? ( He b i
”
T hi s would appear to mean
. .

that all are accompanied on their earthly pil

grimage by one of these b e n e fi ce n t S pirits In the .

O ld Testament we read of the angel of the Per

sians of the Greeks of the Jews ; s o we may take
, ,

it that nations als o have guardian angels to pro

t e ct them We may well believe that the Church
.
,

too is g uarded in a special way by an angel that

, ,

prince of heaven the archangel M ichael and what

, ,

i s there to prevent us from thi nking further that

particular comm unities and bodies of people have
likewis e special m i nistering spirits appointed to
watch over them ?
What motive can the angels have in devoting
themselves in this way to our protection ? F irst
—
,

God has placed us under their car e “

He h a s
 O UR AN G EL G UA RD IAN

given Hi s angels charge over thee — and they

are ever prompt and zealous in performing the
duties laid on them by their divine master But .

they do it als o out of love for us We are their .

relations so to speak conn ected with them not

, , ,

by the flesh but through the S pirit for we too are

, , , ,

S piritual beings L ike them we are children of

.

God and future citizens of heaven Then they are .

,

driven to our assistance also o u t of feelings of

abhorrence for the evil spirits They see h o w .

s orely men are tried by th ese corruptors who are ,

s o well versed in the arts of temptation so full ,

of envy and malice that their efforts are fr e

quently crowned with succes s and always fraught
with danger Could the ang els possibly look on
.

unmoved at such a spectacle ? E ven if obedience

’
to God s commands did not actuate them or if ,

love of humanity did not spur them on detesta ,

tion of the old enemy would urge them to come

forward on the side of mankind These are three .

potent S prings of action obedience to God love

.
,

for us and hatred of the evil spirits which S upply

, ,

strong motives t o the angels for condescending

to be our guardians and protectors .

A t the s ame time let no one think that it i s in

,

any sense a degradation for the subli me pure , ,

and holy beings to devote themselves to the ser

vice of unh oly and sinful creatures like ourselves ,

who at th e best are on a far lower plane than

“ ” “
they. What you may e x claim the higher to
, ,
”
serv e the lower ! Y et surely you must have
, ,

often noticed h o w in a home the mother s ometimes

will place the baby of the family who perhaps , ,

can not yet walk or even stand alone under the ,

21 6 P O PUL A R SERMONS ON THE C A TECHIS M

special charge of the older brothers and sisters

who will then try to out do each other in petting
-

and tending such a precious treasure We se e .

the same thi ng in the larger community of the

State M en who are specially gifted with insight
.

and knowledge who have wide e x perience and

, ,

strong powers of influencin g others frequently ,

devote their entire lives to directing guiding con , ,

trolling a n d protecting their weaker brethren

,
.

N 0 one I think would say that such an occupa

, ,

tion was degrading Then why should there be

.

a different order of things in the great community

’
of God s creatures ? The angels and the elect i n
paradise form with us w h o though still pilgrims
,

of earth are bound for heaven one great com ,

munity which makes up the house of God Hi s ,

famil y Hi s kingdom The great F ather of us

, .

all places us poor ignorant and inexperienced

creatures under the charge of the guardian angels ,

and by helping us they are s erving God and Hi s

kingdom and are the instruments of Hi s divine
,

Providence This is not a humiliation but a high

.
,

honor .

Such being the dispositions of the angels in our

regard we have next to ask ourselves what should
,

be our attitude toward them St Bernard ex . .

pres ses it shortly and pithily in these words

We must respect their pres ence be grateful for ,
”
their good will and trust In their protection
, .

Re sp e ct t he i r p r e s e n ce The company of a pure

.

and heavenly spirit one who looks continually on

,

the face of God should indeed tend to purify our

,

thoughts bridle our tongues and give to all our

, ,

dealings the impress of modesty and decency .

218 P O P UL A R SER MONS ON T HE CA TECHISM
gifts which He gives us and all that comes from ,

Him and the Church which is Hi s kingdom

, .

This bitter hatred is mingled with envy The .

e vil S pirits envy u s E nvy is the grief felt at

.

the happines s of another and they have indeed ,

strong grounds for envy ! T he good of all goods ,

happines s in God is lost to them ; what they have

,

foregone is n o w the portion of men who will fill ,

the places in heaven which the bad angels have

left empty The greater the desired good the
.
,

more torturing the envy ; the more glorious the

spirit the lower in comparis on was man in his
,

origin ; heaven once so near them is n o w so far

, ,

out of their reach ; while to man from whom it

,
’
w a s once s o far it is n o w through God s gr ac e ,
,

brought s o near .

Hating and envying us a s they do it is to be ,

expected that the evil spirits will harm us as much

“
as they can : An d your adversary the devil as , ,

a roaring lion goeth about seeking whom he may

”
devour ( 1 P e t e r v God permits us to be
.

tried in this way to test our allegiance and for ,

the ultimate confusion of the evil one .

There is only one w a y to meet this envious and

malicious adversary and that is by incessant
“ ”
watchfulnes s . B e s ober and watch s ays St ,
.

P eter ( 1 P e t e r v Pray especially to the

.

guardian angels Their love is more potent than

.

the hatred of the demons ; they make constant

intercession for us ; they are well acquainted with
e v ery wile of t h e evil one ; they will help us to
gain the mastery fighting with us and for u s
,
.

L et us rely on our good angels and unhurt by the , ,

assaults of the devil pres s fo r w ard on the road

,

to eternal l ife Am en. .

 S E R MO N XXX
t he c r eati on of R ea m
“
A n d the L or d Go d for m e d m a n o f the s li m e of th e
”
ea r t h a n d b r ea the d i nto his f
, ac e the b r ea th of l ife

( Ge n i i . .

1b angels in relation to God as well as in rela

AV I N G considered thos e heavenly S pirits the ,

tion to ourselves w e must n o w turn to the inh a b

,

i t a n t s of earth men Y ou may ask W h y select

, .
,

men ? There are plenty o f other creatures in the

world quite as worthy of consideration There .

are many di fferent kinds o f ani mals both in the ,

s e a on dry land and in the air and a multitude

, , ,

of plants from the cedar of L ebanon down to the

,

hyssop that grows out of the wall M ost cer .

t a inly all these creatures are highly interesting .

But we want to give our attention to the study

,

of man just for the reason that we ours elves are

,

men It matters more that each one of us should

.

be thoroughly at home in his o w n hous e than that

he should make himself familiar with the w a y
about any large town situated at a distance It .

i s of greater importance to know ourselves than

’
to be acquainted wi th all the rest of God s works
’
.

M oreover we shall come to s e e that man is God s

,

noblest and most important creation o n earth .

We will to day consider his origin and wi ll con

-

template the first man A dam in order that we , ,

may understand
I The nature of man
. .

II Hi s di gni ty
. .
22 0 P O P UL A R SER MONS ON THE C A TECHISM

H oly Scripture relates the creation of man

“
briefly in the following words An d the L ord
God formed man of the S lim e of the earth ; and
”
breathed into his face the breath of life Thes e .

words S how clearly that man is a creature made

by the hand of God and more than this that
, , ,

the nature of the first man consisted of tw o com

ponent parts : the body which God formed of the,

S lime of the earth which i s the material element ;

,

and the breath of li fe breathed in to the body by

,

God the im m ortal s oul which i s the spiritual ele

, ,
“
ment Why does H oly Scripture s ay
. He ,

breathed ? Ha s God a mouth like ours through

”

which to breathe ? C ertainly not The term is .

made us e of in order to convey to our minds the

nature of the spiritual element in man “
He .

”
breathed The S lime of the earth existed before
.

the body was fo rmed of it but before God ,

“
breathed the soul di d not exist H e breathed . .

Breath is invisible ; the soul is invisible and

purely spiritual “
He breathed
.
”
It was God s’ .

o w n breath ; s o the s oul is absolutely and entirely

of God and i s not like the body formed of the

, ,

earth God breathed into it the breath of life

.
,

the breath of the living God whi ch caused the ,

inanimate body to live It is from the soul that.

the body deriv es its life and vitality .

M an is made up of body and s oul of a mortal ,

body and an immortal s oul of a material body and ,

a S piritual soul ; by his body he is related to the

animals and to material things but by his soul ,

he partak es of the natu re of the angels H e is .

,

a s it were the central point of creation in which

,
2 22 P O P UL A R SERMONS ON T HE C A TECHISM

But even were all we have been s aying not

true and no word of it to be found in H oly
,

Scripture it must still be adm itted that man is

,

king of the earth and that by reason of his i m

,

mortal so u l he stands high above all the other

inh abitants of the world It ought to be su p e r flu
.

ous amongst Christians to a ccentuate and insist

on the immortality of the s oul and I am quite ,

sure that of all who are listening to me not one

has any doubts or misgivings on that all impor -

tant point But we go out into the world and

.

mix with all kin ds of people and we hear theories ,

and principles enun ciated calling in question

truths that for hu n dreds of years have been r e
garded as certain and unalterable M an we are .
,

told has no soul least of all one that i s im mortal ;

, ,

he is an animal a cleverer shrewder more per

, , ,

feet animal more developed than the other ani

,

mals but still an animal and the descendant of

, ,

animals ; he lives for a time to eat and dri nk and ,

then he di es and when he i s dead as i n the case

, ,

of animals all is over C an thi s be s o ? A sk

,
.

yourselves can this be so ? N o a hundred times

, ,

no ! It is diametrically opposed to Holy Scrip

ture ; it is in direc t contradiction to the teaching
of the Church ; it upsets the whole basis on which
’
man s s elf respect rests
-
N o ; from whatever .

point of view we look at these repulsive doctrines

which degrade mankin d it is apparent that they
can be refuted L ook into the face of a man It
. .

bears engraven upon it the stamp of the spirit ;

as the poet s ays “
Hi s eyes are raised to the
stars ”
Hi s glan ce carries a long way but the
.
,

eyes of his soul reach further still and penetrate

 THE CREA TI ON O F A D AM

to the v ery origin and as far as the last end of

things N o mere animal has a gaze s o searching
.

and profound L ook into the heart of man ; what

.

do you s e e there ? An incessant yearning for

happiness— perfect happiness What can he find
.

here on earth to satisfy this yearning ? Is this

world capable of s atisfying it ? N o a thousand
,

times no ! T o fil l this longing the s oul has need

of a life deeper and fuller than the miserable
space of time allotted to us here below If we .

examine more closely still into the character of

man we find above all a natural instinct of jus
tice which demands that evil S hall be punished
and good prevail Is this what happens in this
.

world ? Al as too often it is vice that gets the

,

reward while virtue is trodden under foot In

,
.

another life our sense of justice wi ll be upheld .

A man is able to give utterance to words sen

tenoes phrases—evidences of spirituality Have
,

.
,

animals been ever known to speak ? E very word

spoken written printed or read is a further
, , ,

proof that man is a S piritual being standing far

,

above all that is animal The human race h a s

.

done great work It has founded States and cities

.
,

developed and cultivated art and science pro ,

moted the e x ercise of religion ; even the vir tues

and vices characteristic of mankind testify by
their very existence to the heavenly spark the ,

immortal soul within which makes them possible

,
.

Have animals founded States ? D o they make d i s

cov e r i e s ? Wh at has been their progres s in s o ,

many thousands of years ? The spider spins his

web in the same way that he did years ago ;
the bee constructs his hive just
2 24 P O P UL A R SERMON S ON T HE CA TECHISM

bee that ever lived ; they follow the instinct im

planted in them by God It is strange to hear .

mankind pluming himself one moment on the

wonderful progres s he has made in the cours e of
centuries while the next he disclaims to be more
,

than an ani mal the dust o f the earth C onsider

’
.
,

man s relations with the animals They are often .

fl e e t e r and much stronger than he and many are ,

quite s avage ; yet he i s able to catch them as they

fly in the air o u t of the water in the woods He
, ,
.

is able to restrain with studied dex terity the most

powerful to tame the wildest bend them to his
, ,

will and oblige them to serve him He is para

,
.

mount o u earth L ook where you will everythin g

’ ,
.

tells the same tale man s face his heart his feel , , ,

ings hi s words his works his attitude to the

, , ,

other creatures on earth M an is a spiritual b e .

ing Hi s soul will live eternally

. .

L et us endeavor to imagine ourselv es present

at the moment when as almighty God breathed
’
into his face A dam s eyes opening for the first
,
,

time looked on the earth and sa w the fi r m a m e n t

above him the wide world and all God s works
,
’ ,

around hi m The prais e of God burst from his

.

lips Ho w great art Thou O L ord ”

Hi s first ,
.

heart beat was a throb of thank fulnes s to his

-

M aker of love from the creature to the C reator

’
.
,

A dam s first impuls e can have been no other than

to prais e and thank God What w a s natural to .

A dam 1 8 for us a duty T o praise love and thank .

, ,

God is our mi ssion ; if we faithfully fulfill it a

life of eternal happines s will be our portion in
the world to come Am en . .
22 6 P O P UL A R SER MONS ON T HE C A TECHISM

woman is not intended to be the head or in other , ,

words is not made to be the ruler of man

, .

N either was S he made from his feet because sh e ,

is not the slave of man to be despised and trod

,

den under foot But why should sh e have been

.
,

formed of his rib ? T hi s holy theologian explains

it by s aying that it betokens the partnership whi ch
is meant to exist between man and woman ; woman
’
is to stand by man s side as hi s helpmate in life ,

aiding him in his work consoling hi m in sorrow

, ,

S haring his happines s taking her place as the

,

nearest and dearest to hi s heart This high ideal

’
.

of woman s relation to man coul d not hav e been

e x p r e s s s e d in a manner more simple m ore clear , ,

more ingenious .

An d for what reason w a s it that the rib was

’
taken out of A dam s side during his sleep ? The
D octors of the Church see a very mystical pur
pose in this A dam the father of the whole hu
.
,

man race is a figure of Christ the n e w A dam the

, , ,

second and supernatural father of humanity

’
.

A dam s sleep is a typ e of the sleep of death on

the cross from which our Saviour w a s awakened
by Hi s glorious resurrection Du ring A dam s ’ .

S leep E ve his bride was formed ; and a similar

, ,

th ing came to pass while our S aviour slept in

death F or as He hu n g dead upon the cros s Hi s
.

side was pierced and blood and water flowed

therefrom T h e water is an image o f holy bap
.

t i sm and the blo od is emblematic of the Blessed

S acrament of the Al tar By these tw o s acra .

ments the bride o f Christ Holy Church w a s , ,

founded built and perfected ; and as the bride of

, ,

A dam was made from his S ide while he S lept so ,

 THE CREA TI ON O F E VE

out of the side of the unconscious body of Christ

came forth Hi s bride the Church ,
.

This then is the manner of the creation of the

, ,

first members o f the human race : the man was

made out of the slime of the earth the woman ,

from the rib of the man God Himself who created .

“
him gave the name of A dam which means man ,
”
of earth to the first man The woman was by
,
.
,
“
A dam named E ve si gnifying mother of the l iv
, ,
“ ”
ing. It can be said that the name A dam looks
backward to the past to the origin al slime of the
,

earth and is intended as a hum i liation The

,
.

“ ”
name E ve on the other hand looks forward
, ,

and points to what sh e shall be in the future

the mother of living children who in accordance , ,

with the designs of God S hall live not only in ,

time but for all eternity— a constant rem i nder of

,

the high destiny and vocation of woman .

We n o w pas s on to the second point of our

meditation the union of A dam and E ve
, .

W hen God had created E ve he brought her to

A dam F or what purpose ? To be his wife M ark
. .

well that God had created but one man and one
woman and that He Himself brought the woman
to the man It was God Himself who instituted
.

marriage ; He ordaine d it in Paradis e Thes e .

tw o beings were created one for the other and

were brought together by the C reator Himself .

And what conditions did God lay down for mar

r i a ge ? That it shall be between one man and one
woman This is no interpretatio n of my o w n
.

making ; our Saviour Himself interpreted it in this

2 28 P O P UL A R SERMONS ON THE C A TEC HISM

w ay and Hi s explanation can not mislead us .

Wh en questioned as to the divorce customary with

the Jews H e replied that o n account of the hard
,

nes s of their hearts divorce was allowed them by

the la w of M oses but that it was not s o in the
,

beginning ( Ma t t xix Such was not the pri

. .

mary ordinance of marriage and the beginni ng

alluded to by our S aviour is the first marriage in
Paradis e O bserve then h o w ancient is the unity
.
, ,

of marriage It is as old as the human race S ee

. .

i t s holines s It was ordained by God Himself

. .

C an w e then wonder if despite the passions of

, , ,

men and regardles s of all human laws or regu

,

l a ti o n s of State the Church with inexorable

, ,

severity insists on the unity of the marriage tie ?

,

A dam and Ev e , the first man and the first

woman were j oined by God Himself in wedlock ;
,

they were the first bride and bridegroom and

their union was decreed ratified and consecrated , ,

by God Hims elf They were the first married

.

pair on eart h .

L et u s then consider in conclusion th at as of all

mankind thes e tw o onl y were created di rectly
and i mmediately by God Himself s o it follows ,

that all other men are descended from them and ,

that they are the parents of the whole human

race This is the teaching of Holy Scripture
.

“
Wherefore as by one man si n entered into this
world and by S in death : and s o death pas sed
,
”
upon all men in whom all have sinned ( Ro m v
,
. .

B ecause we are all children of A dam we are

all sinners and must all die O r as we find it .
, ,
2 30 P O P UL A R SER MONS ON THE C A TECHISM

primeval epoch j oined to A sia M oreover these .

,

tw o worlds are in one place only about thirteen

hours apart and the se a which divides them b e
,

comes frozen every winter into a firm and fairly

passable road Why S hould thi s not have been
.

a means of acces s from one continent to another ?

A chain of islands leads from A sia to Australia ,

and so clos e do thes e islands lie together that the

inh abitants can pas s from one to the other quite
easily by water M oreover who can assert or .
, ,

who will undertake to pro v e that land and water ,

bore at all t imes the s ame proportion and stood in

the same relation to one another that they do
now ? N o one i s in a position to do this It i s .

quite possible that co untries and continents which

are n o w entirely cut o ff may formerly have been
conn ected and who knows h o w far apart those
,

places which are in our day connected may have

’
been at s ome early period of the earth s history .

It i s certain then that all men are children

, ,

of A dam and that they make up together one

,

race one family all clos ely related all brothers

, , ,

and sisters T hi s supplies a strong motive for

.

charity and brotherly love What would A dam .

,

if he were still on earth find to s a y to the poorest

, ,

the least the most unhappy even the most degen

, ,

e r a t e man alive ? Surely his own heart would be

“
filled with mercy and compassion : Ah my own
poor child ” ’
And what would be E ve s feelings ?
.
,

What a wealth of sympathy and love she would

unfold And shall their s entiments not be ours
.

als o ? There is on earth no race no people no , , ,

not one S ingle human being whom w e are entitled

to despis e either on account of hi s position or
, ,
 THE CRE A TI ON O F E VE

origin hi s poverty mode of speech or religious

, , ,

beliefs hi s ignorance or even his sin s They are

, ,
.

our brothers and sisters and have a right to our

sympathy our love our help We are all crea
, , .

tures of God a ll children of A dam all trav elers

—
, ,

to the same bourn e eternal life Am en

. .
 S ER MO N XXXI I
t he E noowment of t he f i rs t m an
“
Le t u s m a k e m a n to ou r ow n i m a ge a nd li k en ess
( Gen . i .

1b bers of the human race we will n o w pas s

considered the creation of the first mem
A VI N G

o n a n d examine more closely the state of our first

parents when they came from the hand of their

M aker They were distin g uished by being created
.

to the i mage of God both in the natural and the

supernatural order The F athers of the Church
.

s e e indications of this t w o fold resemblance in

-

“
th e words of God L et u s make man to our
own image and likenes s By the words image
.
’ ‘

“ ”
and likenes s they understand the natural and
the supernatural resemblance O ur instruction .

to day will be concern ed with considerin g where

-

this resemblance lies .

I
We wil l begi n with the natural resemblance .

In what does it consist ? The catechism asks

“
Ho w is the soul like to God ? and the answer is
”

The soul is like to God becaus e it is a spirit

that wi ll never die and has understanding and
”
free will To speak of a resemblance at once
.

implies an obj ect to be resembled If we make .

a reproduction of anything it need not necessarily

be of the same material a s the origin al nor even ,

of equal size or extent We see representations

.
2 34 P O P UL A R SER MONS ON T HE C A TECHISM

not creating pun ishing or forgiving choosin g or

, ,

rej ecting as best pleases Him O ur soul also is

, .

endowed with free will Holy Scripture tells us

.

that God has delivered man to his o w n counsels ,

to choos e water or fire life or death good or evil

, ,
.

We h a ve an inner consciousnes s that tells us we

are master of our o w n actions and if such were ,

not the cas e there would be an end to all responsi

b ili ty ; laws tribunals judges prisons might be
, , ,

abolished and even the distinction between right

,

and wrong must disappear But man is free and .

,

in his freedom he is an image of God .

God is i mmortal ; He lives from eternity to

eternity The soul also is immortal though de
’
.

pending for its life on God s eternal support .

Thes e then are the great characteristics by

, ,
“
which the s o ul is like to God : It is a spirit which
w ill never die and which h a s understanding and
,
”
free will Thes e features are spoken of as con
.

s ti t u ting the natural image of God in the soul

becaus e they are inherent in the nat ure of man ,

and being part of his nature they can never be

e ffaced .

II
The second point of our me di tation is to con
sider in what consisted the supernatural likeness
o f God in the s oul
’
It consisted in man s endow
.

ment of sanctifyi ng grace which made him a chil d

of God and an heir to heaven “ The presence of
,

sanctifying grace in the soul s of our first parents

was the v ery es sence of their supernatural like
ness to G od Wh at i s sanctifyi ng grace ? In the
.

“
words of the catechism It is that grace which
 THE END O WMEN T O F THE FIR ST MAN 2 35

”
makes the soul holy and pleasing to God The .

soul in a state of grace i s holy for as darknes s , ,

gives way to light s o i s sin driven out by grace

, ,

by which it is so b e a u tifi e d that it fin ds favor

in the sight of the Trinity and is raised up to ,

the dignity o f child of God and heir to heaven .

“
O h precious g ift of God !
,
Behold what manner
of charity the F ather hath bestowed upon u s that ,

w e S hould be called and should be the sons of

”
God ( 1 Jo hn iii This is the cry of St John
. .
,
“
and St Paul says
. And if sons heirs als o ; ,
”
heirs indeed of God and j oint heirs with Christ ,
-

R
( o m viii. Without the soul the body is but
.

a lifeless corpse ; so the soul without sanctifying

grace is a s a king who has neither kingdom nor ,

crown nor scepter

, .

The dewdrop on the blade of gras s in the early

morning bears perhaps no very special si gn ifi
cance for us ; but the su n rises and is mirrored
in the little dewdrop giving it the imprint o f its ,

countenance full of the light of heaven m aking

, ,

it sparkle and S hine with the purest and most

beautiful colors green red blue white and caus
, , , , ,

ing it to look more lovely than the most costly

precious stone Without sanctifying grace the
.

s oul still remains an immortal being far above ,

all that i s material But what does it become .

when sanctifying grace is infused into it ? A

child of God an heir to heaven ,
When the .

daughter of the E gyptian K ing Pharaoh saved

the infant M oses from the water and adopted him
as her o w n s o n S he had power to give him the
name title and rights of a royal prince O ne
, ,
.

thing however sh e w a s unable to bring about ;

, ,
2 36 P O P UL A R SERMONS ON T HE C A TECHISM

that the face of the rescued child should resemble

her o w n But the L ord God not only adopted
.

A dam as Hi s child ; He at the s ame time e u , ,

graved upon his s oul a supernatural likeness to

Himself .

If we carry our simi le further we se e that

’
Pharaoh s daughter not only took M oses as her
child sh e also furnished him with everyt hing suit
,
’
able for a king s son causing him to be educated
,

according to the methods of the E gyptians plac ,

ing s ervants at his disposal and providing him ,

with a dwelling in keeping with his n e w digni ty .

God our L ord acted in a S imilar way toward our

, ,

first parents Having raised them by sanct ify

.

ing grace to the position of children of God He

then heaped upon them further graces and bene
fits o f all kinds .

God imparted freely to A dam and E ve wi thout

requiring any corresponding e fi o r t on their part
the higher knowledge of spiritual and moral
things “
He created them in the science of the
S pirit and showed them both good and
”
evil ( E cclu s xvii . This knowledge which
.

lies outside the scope of human understanding ,

even were it tax ed to the uttermost brought to ,

man a bright stream of clear and unfailing light

from heaven enabl ing him to comprehend God
,

to whom he w a s in such close relationship and ,

showing him his end and destiny and illuminating

the way whi ch lay before him .

It is untrue to sa y that man has gradually in ,

the cours e of history developed from a condition

,

of animal barbarism to his pres ent state of civ

i l i z a t i o n O n the contrary In the beginning man
. .
2 38 P O P UL A R SERMON S ON T HE C A TECHISM

go forward ; one would move rapidly the other ,

would advance slowly With A dam all w a s dif

.

fe r e n t By the supernatural gift of God all the

.

powers of hi s s oul and body worked in perfect

harmony and obedience to his wi ll
’
.

When Pharaoh s daughter took the infant

M oses home as her child sh e brought him to a
palace worthy of the s o n of a king God did not .

do les s for the child of Hi s adoption when H e

placed him in P aradise It was a spot well
.

worthy of such an inmate for though a portion , ,

of this earth it might well be called the fore court

,
-

of heaven Burning heat and piercing cold were

.

not ex perienced there ; no savage beasts invaded

it ; it harbored neither hunger nor thi rst nor so r , ,

r o w ; work meant neither strain nor fatigue ; pain

was unheard of so were diseas e and death from

, ,

which A dam and E ve were s ecured by the fru i t

growing on the tree of life O h glorious dwell .
,

ing place of our first parents ! O h h o w great

-

were their possessions dwelling as they did in

,

Paradis e possessed of the k nowledge the power , ,

the immortality of the children of God .

L et us thank God for the privilege s and graces

which He showered on our first parents and which ,

were in a measure ours als o as we were destined

, , ,

to inherit them L et us deplore s in which robbed

.
,

man o f the enj oyment of his first state and r e , ,

j o i cin g with all our hearts that the one thing

needful has been restored to us make it our great ,

e s t care never to los e it again A dam lost it .

through his o wn fault and we in our turn have

, , ,

each of us the strongest reasons for bein g watch

ful.
“
He that thinketh him s elf to stand let him ,
”
take heed lest he fall ( 1 C o r x Amen . . .
 S E R MO N XX XIII
t he S in of ® a r f ir st p a rent s
Of the tr e e of k n ow l edge of goo d a n d evi l thou sha lt
n ot ea t ( Gen . ii .

1] first parents were endowed with natural and

N OUR last instru ction we explained how our

supernatural gifts which made them res emble

God and we propose to day to consider whether
,
-

or not they retained thi s likenes s We learn in .

o u r catechism that A dam and E ve on account

of their sin lost innocence and holiness and were
doomed to sicknes s and death A s s oon a s they
became gui l ty of sin the supernatural likenes s to
God was e ffaced sanctifying grace was lost and
, ,

the supernatural k nowledge with which God had

enlightened them w a s as it were wiped out The
, , .

lower faculties of the soul and body oppo sed the

mastery of the will ; the flesh rose up in rebellion
against the S pirit : they became liable to sick nes s ,

sn fi e r i n g and death and were driven out of Par

, ,

adis e where their days of innocence grace and , ,

happiness had been spent What a glorious in .

heritance they fo r feited !

Those natural gifts which constitute the nat
ural likenes s of God in the s o ul being inherent in ,

the ve r y essence of human nature were not lost , ,

but were weakened and disfigured If we try to .

erase what has been written on a clean n e w sheet

of white paper we can if we are careful succeed, ,

in keeping the paper intact but its first freshness ,

239
2 40 P O P UL A R S ERMONS ON THE CA TECHISM

and crispnes s are gone S o the s oul of m a n .

,

though it retains the natural image of God hav ,

ing lost it in the supernatural order i s but a ru i n ,

of i t s former glo ry The catechism explains to .

“
u S that the soul though still immort al i s a fal
, ,
” “
len S pirit O ur nature was corrupted by the
.

sin of our first parents which darkened our u n ,

d e r st a n din g weakened our w ill and left in u s a

, ,
”
strong inclination to e vil .

It must indeed have been a great and griev ous

, ,

sin that could work such havoc What w a s i t s .

nature ? A dam and E ve believed the word of the

serpent in preference to that of God whose com ,

mand they disobeyed by eating the forbidden

fruit In order that w e may recognize the grav
.

ity of this sin let u s with the help of the H oly ,

Spirit consider the three follo w ing points

,

I The command disobeyed

. .

II The tempter and the nature of the t e m p t a

.

tion .

III The sinner and the nature of the sin

. .

I
The command which by their sin Ou r first par , ,

ents disobeyed would have been easy to observe .

While free to satisfy their wants on all the trees

of Paradise the fruit of one single tree was for
,

bidden them T hey could plead neither hunger

.

“
nor want in extenuation of their sin O f every .

tree of Paradis e shalt thou eat ; but of the tree

of k nowledge of good and evil thou shalt not
eat No w if all the trees had been forbidden
'

them a n d th e y had been all owed to eat of the

,

fruit of one only the command of Go d though , ,

2 42 P O P UL A R SER MON S ON T HE C A TECHISM

for this re ason external tempta tion w a s allowed

to as sail them .

W h o w a s the tempter ? It w a s he who a s St ,

.

Bonaventure tells u s well versed in the art of

,

temptation is ever ready and willing to tempt

, .

It w a s the spirit of evil .

He has reason to be well v ersed in the art of

temptation for he w a s him s elf precipitated from
,

the greatest heights into the depths of damnation .

He knew the desires and thoughts that brought

about his o wn fall and he was well aware that
,

to awaken these s ame impulses of pride in the

hearts of others was to lead them surely into the
path of temptation and this was what he abo v e
, ,

all desired to accomplish

, .

Why did S atan s o ardently desire to lead m e n

into temptation ? B ecaus e of the deeply rooted -

poisonous hellish envy he felt toward them H e

,
.

w a s s o unhappy and they were so happy ; he was

in hell and they were in Paradise ; he had been
turned back on the very threshold of heaven ,

while they were almost about to mount the thrones

whi ch had been originally prepared for hi m and
the other fallen angels That a great spirit .
,

created in glory as he was should be lodged ,

eternally in hell while men formed of the dust

, ,

of the earth were to be exalted and bles sed for

,

ever in heaven was to him an unendurable

thought He would do anything and eve r ything
.

to rob them of their happines s and mak e them a s

miserable a s hims elf
’
.

There is no m i staking Sata n s desire to lead

men astray ; but had he the power ? Y e s as far ,

a s God permitted and in the manner God per

,
 T HE SIN O F O UR FIR ST PA REN TS 2 43

God all owed him to assume the form of

m i tt e d ;
a s erpent and abase him s elf to the lev el of thi s
crawling poisonous treacherous animal not only
, , ,

in order to humiliate the tempter himself but ,

to a fford a warning for A dam and E ve to be

on their guard against deceitfulness and cun
m ng .

A s regards the manner of the temptation , the

e vil one began with the woman , as the weaker ves
sel, and in order that through her he m i ght reach
the man We note in this temptation of E v e s
.
’
three clearly defined stages : 1 A question ; 2 An . .

as sertion ; 3 A promise
. .

“
The question w a s : Why hath God commanded
you that you should not eat of ev ery tree of Para
dise ? ”
He detected the weak spot which indeed ,

E ve herself had unsuspectingly made known to

him by telling him what w a s allowed and what
,

was forbidden them They m i ght eat o f all the

.

trees of Paradis e only not of the tree of the

,

knowledge of good and evil lest they die the ,

“ ”
death .L est perhaps w e die Thes e words .

laid bare the dangerous place in her s oul giving ,

utterance to a slowly faintly dawning doubt as , ,

to whether the threatened pu n ishment would

really be carried into e fi e ct .

F rom interrogation the corrupter passed on to

bold and blasphemous assertion or rather to de ,
“
nial ; he contradicted the Almighty N o you ,
”
S hall not die N ext an alluring bait a tempting
.
, ,
“
promi se w a s held out In what day soever you
shall eat thereof you S hall be as God knowi ng ,

good from evil What a prospect to become l ike

.
,

God mi ghty wi se independent o m n iscient !

, , , ,
2 44 P O P UL A R S ER MONS ON THE CA TECHISM

III

And in conclusion we will contemplate

now , ,

the pers on of the sinner and the nature o f the

,

sin The first to sin amongst mankind was E ve

.
,

and after her A dam A s soon a s the promise of

.

the tempter became intelligible to her E ve forgot

the command of God and the threatened punish
,

ment forgot God Himself and became intoxicated

, ,

with the proud thought of becoming lik e unto

God A s she pictured in her mind this undreamed
.

o f elevation it became pleasing to her and she

, ,

desired it ; and desiring it Sh e agreed to eat and ,

by the enj oyment o f the forbidden fruit to s a t

i sfy her desire The root of her sin was the wish
.

to be like God She then turned her eyes on the

.

fruit and finding it beautiful to look upon and

good to taste S he stretched out her hand took it , ,

and ate Sin originated in her mind from pride

.

and was matured by the sensual desire to eat .

She gave to her husband and he also ate .

Here we have the gr ievous and terrible history

o f the first si n by which w ith full kn owledge and

consent the first command of G od clearly ex

, ,

pres sed and easy of fulfil ment was dis obeyed ,

.

It was a S in of unbelief because the word of ,

God threatening them with death was di sr e

, ,

garded and the deceitful pro m ise of greatnes s

,

made by the enemy were trusted and believed ; a

si n of ingratitude whereby they forgot that every

thing they were and a ll they had or coul d have

was the gi ft of God ; a sin of overweening pride ,

which hoped independently of God and in spite ,

of Him to attain a height which i s beyond the

,

reach of all creatures ; a sin of levity comm i tted

24 6 P O P UL A R SER MONS ON THE C A TECHISM

learning from their fall to rate sin a nd i t s con

sequences at their true value whi le we realize
,

h o w easily one becomes a prey to it and h o w

hard it is to e xpiate it We have followed them
.

in their sin ; we must follow them in their r e

p e n t a n ce and like them w e will fi n d one day the
, ,

gates of heaven open to receive u s Amen

. .
 S ER MO N XXXIV
Or igi nal S i n
“
A n d s o d ea th passed u po n a l l m en i n w hom a ll hav e
”
si n n e d ( Rom v . .

® in all its detail s the sin commi tted by our first

UB last instruction brought before our minds

parents in Paradise with the di s astrous results

,

which followed from it A s a consequence of their

.

fall they lost thos e supernatural gifts with which

they had been endowed at their creation thereby ,

defacing the natural image of God in their s ouls .

M oreover the e fi e ct s of their sin have not been

confined to o u r first parents themselves but have ,

brought misery and trouble upon the whole human

race Sin with its attendant evils h a s been trans
.

m i tt e d by A dam to his descendants so that men ,

are born into thi s world already tainted with the

guilt of it Tw o thi ngs both of which with the
.
, ,

help of the H oly Spirit we to day propos e to con

,
-

s ider , ha v e pas sed from A dam upon e v ery o n e

of u s
I The sin itself
. .

II The consequences of the sin

. .

I
In reflecting o n the sin inh erited by all men
from A dam w e hav e to take into consideration
the character of the S in itself the manner in which ,

w e i nherit it, a nd the name by which it i s known

to us .
2 48 P O P UL A R SERMON S ON THE C A TE CHISM

A dam bequeathed to his descendants one si n

only namely that one which he w a s guilty of in

, ,

Paradise Any sins he may have committed sub

.

sequently have not descended to u s N evertheles s .

it would not be correct to suppose that the i n

h e r i te d si n is the same in us that it was in A dam .

What i s the difference ? The sin of A dam was

an action ; a passing probably even a momentary
,

action He took and ate But in ourselves it is

. .

not an action but a condition ; in other words our

, ,

sinfulnes s consists in the state of sin in which we

come into the world L et me give you an illustra
.

tion of what I mean A thief stretches out his

.

hand and takes what does not belong to him ; this

is the act of a moment But he keeps the stolen .

goods in his possession maybe his whole life long ,

.

No w knowingly and willingly to harbor stolen

, ,

goods i s S inful ; it is to live in a state of sin In .

the same way the si n actually comm i tted by A dam

becomes in us merely a state What goes to con .

s t i tu t e this state in u s ? It must be borne in m i nd

that the wonderful and glorious supernatural
gifts bestowed on A dam would had he not sinned , , ,

have passed to his descendants The whole hu .

man race was endowed and equipped in the per

s o n of A dam but he sinned and by his s in he
,

lost this endowment and property not only for

hims elf but for all who came after him Being
, .

children of A dam w e are denied the grace that

should b e ours the grace given to mankind as
,

represented by A dam and s o we find ourselves ,

in a condition which w a s not intended for u s ,

and which is displeasing to a lmighty God Y ou .

may sa y it is easy to understand that being chil ,

2 50 P O P UL A R SER MONS ON T HE C A TECHISM

E ve alone fallen there would have been no original

'

s in . Onwhom did it devolve ? O n all the children

of A dam who have b een or who are yet to be
born wi th the one single exception of the Bles sed
,

V irgin M ary Wh at i s the cause of s in passing

.

to us in thi s w a y ? It passes by reason of our

descent from A dam ; to be a child of A dam is to
be a sinner Picture to yourselves an enormous
.

chain of great length each section and divi sion of

,

which i s attached to the one immediately preced

ing it and s o all are j oined to the initial lin k
,
.

This first link i s stoutly fastened up to a great

height s o that if it becomes loose givi ng way
, ,

and breaki ng then the entire chain must sustain

,

a great fall and perhaps go to pieces altogether .

It is because we are by descent j oined to A dam

, , ,

our father that we m ust all share in the effects

,

of hi s fall .

F rom what has been said the name of the sin

of which we are S peaking can easily be gathered .

“
The catechi sm explains This sin i s called orig
inal because it comes do wn to us from our first
parents and we are brought into this world with
,
”
its gu ilt on our s oul .

We understand what an inheritance i s and ,

what i s meant by inheriting The property of .

the parents pas ses by right of inh eritance to their

, ,

children ; children inherit the property of their

parents and often with it their debts and r e sp o n
,

s ib i li t i e s ; s ometimes e v e n di so r d e r s of the body

and tendencies and inclinations of the mind A s .

his descendants w e were entitled to succeed to all

the magni ficent g ifts bestowed upon A dam but ,

because they have been squandered and lost we

 O RI GINA L SIN
come into the world depriv ed of this inheritance
of original grace and this constitutes for us orig
,

inal sin The terms original grace and original

.

si n explain each other .

No w that w e have made clear what it is let us

, ,

s e e if original si n is a real i t y It s eems shadowy .

and mysterious to us but it i s certain that it really

,

does exist H oly Church the Scriptures and the

.
, ,

teachi ng of tra di tion are all fully agreed o n the

subj ect The Church speaki ng at the C ouncil of
.
,
“
Trent said ( S e s s v 2 )
,
If any one as sert that
. .

through hi s di sobedience A dam has transmitted

to the human race only death and the punishments
of the body and not sin which is the death of
, ,
”
the soul let him be anathema
, This establishes .

clearly and beyond doubt that A dam h a s trans

m i tt e d sin which i s the death of the soul to the
whole human race .

H oly Scripture is in accordance with the teach

ing of the Church and the doctrine of original
,

sin i s brought before o u r minds by St Paul in .

“
hi s epistle to the R omans when he says : Where
fore as by one man sin entered into this world
and by sin death ; and s o death passed upon all
”
men in whom all have sinned ( Ro m v The . .

“ ”
one man spoken of by the apo stle i s A dam .

Hi s act it was that first introduced sin into the

world and from s in came death ; and because sin
,

passed upon all men s o too h a s death passed , , ,

“
upon all without exception In whom all hav e .

sinned .

The teaching of tradi tion bears out what i s said

both by the Church and in Holy Scripture F rom .

tim e immemorial it h a s been customary to baptize

2 52 P O P UL A R SER MONS ON THE C A TECHISM

infants a s soon as possible after birth They are .

baptized for the forgiveness of sins but what sins

,

could they be supposed guilty of ? Certainly not

of any comm i tted of their own free will for they ,

are incapable of evil F rom what then are they

.
, ,

being cleansed ? F rom ori ginal sin St Augus . .

tine foremost among all the doctors of the

,

Church ha s laid special stres s on the doctrine of

,

original sin In confuting certain heresies deny

.

“
ing it he says It is not I who have disco v ered
the doctrine o f original sin which has been held
,

by the Church from the mo st ancient times but ,

”
it is you who by denyi ng it are innovators ; and
“
again : What I have wr itten difi e r s in nothing
from what the commentators of Holy Scripture
have taught concerning o riginal S in and they r e ,

ce i v e d the same teachi ng from their forefathers

and handed it on to those who came after

”
them .

We have thoroughly exam ined the nature of

original sin and seen that it really exists It is .

not only the sin itself but also the consequences

,

of it that have come upon mankind What are .

thes e consequences ? Briefly they may be de

,

scribed as being the direct opposite of those mag

’
n ifi c e n t qualities which were A dam s before the
fall A dam pos ses sed sanctifying grace but his
.
,

descendants have fallen into disfavor with God .

Hi s mind was enl ightened by the higher knowl

edge ; his children are in darkness darknes s s o ,

profound that many of them have lost even the

k nowledge of the true God In him every move
.
2 54 P O P UL A R SERMONS ON T HE C A TECHISM
“
ing open to receiv e u s ? 0 happy fault of A dam ,
”
which gave u s so great a R ed ee mer
. Why should
we fear death which through the mercy o f God
, ,

will be for us but the beginning of eternal life ?

Am en .
 S ER MO N XXXV
t he p r om i s e of t he S a vi ou r
“ ”
I wi ll pu t en m i ti es b e tw een the e a n d the w om a n
( Ge n . i ii .

M E last week the state of misery

C O N S ID E RE D
into which the whole human race w a s thrown
by the S In of A dam Sin with i ts e vil couse .
,
~

qu e n ce s was transmitted to all mank i nd except

, ,

ing o nl y the Blessed V irgin M ary who as the , ,

“
catechism explains through the merits of her
,

d ivine Son was pres erved free from the gu il t of

,

original sin and this privilege is call ed her Im

,
”
maculate C onception In the course of the year
.

on the feasts of O ur L ady and especially on that ,

of her Immaculate C onception w e hope to find ,

opportunities of addressing you more p a r ti cu

l a r ly on this subj ect A t present we will proceed
.

to consider under the guidance of the Holy Spirit :

,

I What would have become of man if Go d had

.

abandoned him after the fall .

II What the mercy of God ha s done for him

. .

I
,

If God had abandoned man after he fell into

s in and shown him no mercy not a single human ,

being could have received grace or been sav ed .

The reason of this is clear If you give a man .

the most entrancingly interesting book in the

world illustrated with the most beautiful pictures ,

he will not be able to read it if he has no eyes

2 55
2 56 P O P UL A R SERMON S ON T HE CA TECHISM

to se e it E xert yourself a s much as you like

.

with your hands and feet you will never fly with ,

out wings ; neither can a dead man mo v e N ow .

listen to what is neces sary for eternal salvation .

It is necessary to be a chil d of God by s anctifying ,

grace or what i s the same thing to contain

,
’ ,

within one s self the germ of eternal life A dam

,

had lost for all mank ind the gift of s anctifying

grace ; therefore if Go d had abandoned mankind
,

after the fall no one could have been s aved

,
.

The is sue is the s ame if we start from the ,

proposition that the descendants of A dam were

all sinners Could they by their o w n power free
.

themselves from the evil e ffects of sin ? To do

‘

this it would have been necessary for them to

make complete s atisfaction to God for their sin ,

and this is not in the power of either man or angel

or of any creature They were helples s by the
.

very nature of things for to atone to the divine ,

justice such s atisfaction was neces sary a s would

be commensurate with the maj esty and dignity of
the person o ffended compared to the nothingnes s
,

and lowliness of the o ffender Ho w imm easurable .

and unfathomable i s the chasm between God and

Hi s creatures ! The small est child is able by its
act to spoil and mar and destroy the greatest
picture in the world yet i s not capable of con,

tributing one single line or stroke of the brush

toward its restoration .

Therefore if man had been left to his o w n r e

,

s ources he could nev er have released himself

,

from the bonds of sin nor regained sanctifying ,

grace N o one could have been saved and who

.
,

knows to what depths of unbelief superstition , ,

2 58 P O P UL A R SERMONS ON THE C A TECHISM

left the earthly para di s e ! Ho w the remembrance

of them must have upheld them through the to il
‘

and su fi e r in g s of thei r lives and in the pains of

death ! Ho w earnestly di d they surely strive to
imprint these consolations deep in the hearts of
their children
’
.

God s me rcy did not rest after making the

promis e He began at once to prepare mank ind
.

for the coming R edeemer and si gns o f this prep ,

aration become evident in the hi story of the hu

man race in two ways .

F irst in the history of the Jews God chose .

them before all the nations of the earth giving ,

them Hi s l a w and binding them to Himself by

,

mutual promises in order that belief in the true

,

God and hope in the coming of the R edeemer

,

might be kept alive in their hearts It seems a l .

most incredible that this people could have for

gotten God the L ord and the S aviour E very
, ,
.

letter of their l a w their di fferent r e li gi o n s cele

,

b r a t i o n s the m i racles wrought for them i n

,

E gyp t in the R ed S ea in the desert all ought to

, , ,

have kept Hi m constantly before their minds ;

their temple and the Holy of Holie s should have
deepened their consciousness of H im ; their cu s
toms and s acrifices pointed significantly to the
future S aviour and their prophets spoke to them
,

constantly of the hope of Israel Without doubt .

the O ld L aw was a preparation of the people of

Israel for a n e w covenant .

M oreover the P agans were not left to them

selves God S poke to them as He speaks to them
.

still i n our own day by the vo ice of conscience and

“
by interior inspiration St Paul s ays . The.
 THE PR OMISE OF T HE
,
S A V I O UR

Gentiles who have not the l a w are a law to

thems elves Who show the work of the l a w writ
.

”
ten in their hearts ( Ro m II 1 4
’
.
.
,

F urther God s terrible judgments on man

,

should have gone far to keep alive belief in Him

and in the workings of Hi s justice In these days .

o f train and telegraph when a calam i ty of any

kind comes to pass be it a flood a railway acc i

, ,

dent or a mining disaster the news of it flies

, ,

like wil dfi re a ll over the world In a few hours .

i t i s the universally absorbing topic ; a week later

every one has forgotten all about it But in olden .

days news traveled much more slowly though it ,

became after a lapse of time just as widely dif

fused and w a s therefore impressed much more
,

deeply on the mind Thi nk of the world wide fame

.
-

of the history of the flood of the building of the ,

tower of Babel or of the destruction of Sodom

,

and Gomorrha What a vivid recollection of these

.

terrible occurrences men must long have retained .

C ould these thin gs be heard and thought of and

discussed without reference to God the ruler of ,

the human race ? God also raised up amongst the

Pagans themselves or ca used to be sent to them
,

from other nations specially remarkable men to

,

teach them and more important than all Hi s

, , ,

Providence s o disposed things that the Je w ish

people came into contact with all the then most
civilized and foremost Pagan nations The .

patriarchs Abraham Isaac a nd Jacob traveled

, , , ,

like beacons in the darkness through the land of

Cana . Their descendants found their way to
E gypt the stronghold of idolatry and there bore
, ,

the most wonderful testimony to the true God .

2 60 P O P UL A R SER MONS ON T HE C A TECHISM

They returned through C ana meeting on all side s ,

wi th opposition from the neighboring heathen

states L ater w e find the w isdom of Solomon and
.

the building of his temple making as great a stir

among the Gentiles a s among the Jews and the ,

Queen of Saba even visited S olomon The people .

of Israel having been conquered made pris oners

, ,

and dispersed were scattered through A ssyria

, ,

Babylon Persia M acedonia Greece and R ome

, , , , ,

bringing with them wherever they went their b e

lief i n the one true God their hopes of a S aviour , ,

their feasts their prayers their customs and

, , ,

their holy writings It was by the dispensation of

.

Providence that the very greatest of the people of

Israel found themselves amongst strangers
M oses in E gypt D aniel in Babylon E zechiel in
, ,

A s syria and s o on T ruly God did not deny to

, .

the heathens opportunities of the k nowledge of the

promised R edeemer Hi s mercy was clearly man .

i fe st e d to them als o .

A question which may very justly be asked is

why God should have been more merciful to the
s in of man than to that of the angels F irst b e .

caus e the angels sinned with great d eliberation

and were hardened in evil ; not so man M oreover .
,

the angels incited themselves to sin but man w a s ,

tempted and led away F inally only a part of .

,

the angels fell a large part certainly but there

, ,

were still countless choirs left for the glory of

heaven But after the S i n of A dam the entire hu
.

man race from first to last would have been lost

, ,

but for the mercy of God .

O h thanks eternal thanks be to the most holy

, ,

and merciful God that He has h a d compassion on

,
 S E R MO N XXXVI
t he n a m e of S e su s
sha l t ca ll His na m e J esu s
”
Thou ( M a tt . i .

® the explanation of the first article of the Apos

UB instruct ions hitherto have been directed to
’
tles C reed : “
I believe in God the F ather a l ,
”
mighty C reator of heaven and earth
, It is .

therefore G od the F ather the first person of the

,

Blessed Trinity and Hi s work of creation that

,

form the subj ect matter of the first part of the

’
-

A postles Creed The s econd part from the sec

.
,

ond to the seventh article inclusive treats of the ,

Son of God Hi s in carnation Hi s life and su ffer

, ,

ings and Hi s work of redemption

, .

We will embark to day on the consideration of

-

“
the second article of the Creed And in Jesus
Christ Hi s only Son our L ord
,
”
, A t the close of .

our last meditation w e s a w that deeply and ,

shamefully as the human race had sinned God in ,

Hi s mercy promised a R edeemer a R edeemer for ,

whos e coming He prepared all men Gentiles a s ,

well as Jews God kept Hi s promis e to the full

.
,

really and actually sending a Saviour to man

kind and we learn from the following answers of
,

the catechism who it was that He sent

“ ” “
Who is the R edeemer ? O ur blessed L ord
and S aviour Jesus Christ is the R edeemer of man
” “ ”
kind. What do you believe o f Jesus Christ ?
“
I believe that Jesus Christ is the S on of God ,

the s econd person of the Blessed Trinity true God ,

2 62
 T HE NAME O F JES US .

”
and true man That person therefore whom we
.
, ,

know by the name of Jesus Christ is our R edeemer

and is no other than the Son of God Himself and
is O ur L ord and our M aster L et u s for the time .

being put every other consideration on one side ,

giving ourselves up to day simply and s olely to

-

the contemplation of the two sacred names of our

S aviour : the name of Jesus and the name of
Christ .

T he name Jesus i s a Hebrew word whi ch

“
,

translated into our language is equivalent to de ,

liv e r e r rescuer liberator s aviour

, ,
We find tw o ,
.

people mentioned in the O ld Testament who are

called Jesus and who if we take them as types of
,

our S aviour fully bear out this si gnification of

,

the name F irst there is Joshua or Jesus the

.
, ,

son of Nun He was appointed by God to be the

.

head of the chosen people and after the death of ,

M oses actually led them into the promised land

, ,

besieging and conquering the cities that re sisted ,

subduing hostile countries and dividing the a o ,

quired land among the twelve tribes o f Israel .

Truly he was the saviour of his people Then we .

have the so n of Josaphat who w a s also called ,

Jesus. After long captivity he j ointly with ,

Z orobabel led his people safely home to their

,

native land Both these men were saviours of

.

their people in deed as well as in name ; but h o w

much more truly a Saviour is Jesus o u r L ord ?
They delivered their o w n people but Christ is the ,

Saviour of all peoples They conducted those .

under their care to an earthly fatherland but ,

2 64 P O P UL A R SER MONS ON THE C A TEC HIS M

Christ opened the w a y to our eternal and heavenly

home If further proof of the meaning of the
.

“
word Jesus were necessary it can be found in
the fact which surely removes all doubt on the
,

subj ect namely that the angel before the birth of

, ,

our S aviour gav e him the name Jesus and ,

pointed out the reason and significance of it :

T hou shalt call Hi s name Jesus for He shall ,

save Hi s people from their sins ( Ma t t i

”
. .

L et u s look a little more clo sely into the origi n

and meaning the power and e fli ca cy of this name
,
‘
.

A s regards its origin and the us e made of it ,

Jesus is the holiest of names It originated in .

heaven created by Go d Himself and brought on

, ,

earth by the angel Gabriel M ary and Joseph.

were the first to pronounce the s acred name and

to repeat it with reverence and devotion It was .

used by the apostles and martyrs and is contin

u a lly on the lips of the s aints in heaven Where .

can we find a name which has been spoken with

more love and devotion than has the name of
Jesus ? “
Holy is Hi s name ”
s o holy that we
,

are scarcely w o r thy t o utter it and when we do ,

s o it should be with the greatest reverence and

devotion .

The signification of the name for us is very

sweet for w ho is it that it recalls to our mi nds ?
,

When we hear that word of whom do w e think ?

,

O f the eternal S on of God who came down from

,

heaven and made Himself our brother ; of the little

infant in the crib made man for us ; of Hi m who
,

su ffered and died for us upon the cros s ; of the

S on o f God made man hidden under the appear
,

ance of bread in the Blessed S acrament of the

2 66 P O P UL A R SERMONS ON THE C A TECHISM

filled This bein g s o why was Christ called the

.
,

A nointed ?
F or the reason that under the O ld La w the
prophets high priests and ki ngs were anoin ted
, ,

wi th oil and because Jesus is our chief prophet

, ,

priest and king C oncerning the prophets we have

’ ,
.

“
God s co mm ission to E lias Go and return on
thy way through the desert to D amascus and
E liseus the s o n of Saphat of A b e lm e u l a thou
, ,
”
shalt anoint to be prophet in thy room ( 3 K ing s
xix 1 5. A t the command of God M oses
, ,

anointed A aron as high priest Instructions for -

the preparation of the oil and its pres ervation ,

j oined to the strict prohibition to use it for anoint

ing any one else are all s et forth in E x odus ( Ch
, .

S aul the first king of Israel was anointed

, ,

by S amuel D avid in the s ame way T ill they had

,
.

been anointed E liseus was not a prophet A aron ,

w a s not high priest Saul w a s not ki ng By an

,
.

anointed person therefore is meant one chosen , ,

by God Himself for a hi gh and holy o ffice a p ,

pointed by Him by Him made fit for it and e n ,

dowed with the grace needful S o what then is .

, ,

the meaning of calling Jesus the Anointed ?

F irst becaus e He was cho sen by the F ather to
,

fill the most sublime o fli ce one which makes Him ,

at th e same time first king most high priest and , ,

greatest prophet— that of S aviour of the world .

It also signifies that He was appointed to this

sublime o ffice by God and by the miracle of Hi s ,

life and death proclaimed as the Saviour before

men F inally the a fli xin g of Christ to the name of
.
,

Jesus conveys to us that He was speciall y fitted

and provided with the grace of God for the work
 T HE NAME O F JES US
He had to do He w a s Himself God and Hi s v ery
.

incarnation constituted Hi s anointing Being .

God Jesus Christ w a s born a prophet whose

,

vision of the future w a s more far reaching than -

that of any other ; a king to whom the allegiance

of all creatures i s due ; the most hi gh priest who
surpas ses all others alike in personal holines s in ,

the merits of Hi s sacrifice and in priestly a u ,

th o r i t y .

L et us lay well to heart what we when we sa y

add Christ to the name of Jesus We mean : Thou .

art for us the teacher of the truth the interpreter ,

of the future the heaven sent prophet and w e

,
-

believe Thee as we are bound to do We mean .

Thou art our king s e t over us by God and we will ,

faithfully keep Thy commandments Shall we

’
.

dare to refuse obedience to God s anointed ?

“ ”
The name Christ points to Jesus a s our
priest With what infin ite trust and dev otion we
.

should contemplate the s acrifice which completed ,

on the cross is yet renewed day by day in the

,

Holy M ass Y es it is a holy sweet sublime and

.
, , , ,

mighty name Ho w gla dl y we should sa y :

.

“
Praised be Jesus Christ ! Ho w full of meaning
”

are these words compared to the unmeaning

phrases current at the present day ; they are a s
pure gold to dross M ay we never dishonor the
.

name of Jesus Christ by using it thoughtlessly o r

in anger still les s with wi lful irreverence
, .

A peasant who was grievously ill was about to

undergo a very severe O peration T he doctor told .

him if there was anything he wished to s a y he had

better sa y it without delay The worthy fellow .

rais ed him s elf up in bed and cried out in a fi r m

2 68 P O P UL A R SERMONS ON THE C A TEC HISM
“ ”
v oice : Prais ed b e Jesus Christ ! H e could not
hav e expres sed more clearly what he wished to be
the last feeling of his heart the last words on his
,

lips L et us make use often of the same words

Jesus for Thee I live for Thee I di e—Thine a m
. .

, ,

I in life and in death Amen . .

2 70 P O P ULA R SER MON S ON THE C A TECHISM

will meet you ; he will meet you at the entrance

to the town ; he wil l carry a water jug These -
.

were the marks by which they were to recognize

—among thousands — the man whom they sought ,

and whom they were to follow In the same way .

God the L ord gave us in the O ld Testament not

, ,

one but a hundred S igns by which the Saviour

,

can be recognized among all men He in whom .

these marks are to be found He is the S aviour ,

.

No w in whom do we find united all these S igns

without exception ?
With the help of the Holy Spirit we will give
tw o answers to that question :
I Al l these si gns without e x ception are united
.
, ,

in the person of Jesus Christ .

II They are to be found in no one else

. .

I
In Jesus Christ all the signs and marks of the
pro mis ed R edeemer are clearly to be recogni zed .

The prophesies concerning Him contained in the

O ld Testament were written long before the birth
of Christ and are still read by the Jews The
,
.

entire life of our Saviour is there foreshadowed ,

and if taking the O ld Testament in one hand and

,

the Ne w T estament in the other hand you first ,

carefully s earch o u t everything that is foretold

of the coming R edeemer and then reading , ,

through all the circumstances of the life of Jesus

Chris t compare the tw o closely you will find that
, ,

everything made known by almighty God through

the p r Op h e t s concerning the S aviour was fulfilled
in Him L et us go more particularly into the de
.

tails We find that it w a s prophesied that O ur

.
 JES US ,
THE MESSIA S
L ord was to be preceded by a precursor that He ,

would be a descendant of Abraham and of the

Hous e of D avid that He would be born in B e thl e
,

hem o f a virgin The moment when the scepter

.

shall have passed from Juda i s indi cated a s the

time at which Hi s birth wil l take place ; in other
words when Israel shall have fallen under the
,

power of a foreign State It i s not necessary to .

point out that all these signs attended the birth

of Christ E very child k nows who w a s Hi s
.

precurs or who w a s Hi s M other and when a n d

, ,

where He w a s born We will compare and exam.

ine the matter more closely still What does the .

O ld Testament sa y of the life of the Saviour ?

That He would be the teacher of the poor and
the ignorant “
The bruised reed He shall not
bend the smoking flax He shall not queno
,

C ountles s miracles would be wrought by Him on

the lame the blind the deaf on those possessed
, , , ,

o n the dead He would enter Jerusalem o n the

.

colt of an ass No w glance through the Ne w Testa

.

ment : Y ou will see that all this was realized in

’
O ur L ord s life down to the very smallest par
t i cu l a r.If w e turn once more to the O ld Testa
ment w e find the sufferings of the R edeemer
graphi cally described D ismis s from your mind .

all that you already know o f the passion and look

onl y at this picture drawn of Christ in the O ld
Testament He i s presented to u s as a man
.

the Ma n of Sorrows acquainted with grief su r , ,

rounded by enemies s old for thirty pieces of ,

silver beaten wounded spat upon mocked at

, , , , ,

trodden under foot from the crown of Hi s head

,

to the sole of Hi s foot one single wound a wo r m ,

2 72 P O P UL A R SER MON S ON T HE C A TECHISM

and no man counted with the wicked ; H is hands

,

and feet pierced Hi s clothing divi ded having gall

, ,

and vinegar to drink fors aken by God but , , ,

through all patient as a lamb and praying for

, ,

Hi s persecutors ; put to death but rising again in ,

glory ; ascending into heav en whose gates are ,

flung open wide to receiv e Him In the Ne w .

Testament the s ame pictu re is drawn line for ,

line ; noth ing is wanting Jesus Christ is in truth.

the pro m i sed R edeemer for in Him alone were ,

all thes e things fulfilled

’
.

N ot o nl y were the circumstances of O ur L ord s

life foreshadowed in the O ld Testament but the ,

particular ev ents which were to follow on it were

also forecast : the descent of the H oly Ghost the ,

downfall of Jeru salem the growth of a new king,

dom its extent and the length of its duration

, ,
.

Well truly after the ascension of Christ the Holy

,

Ghost did come in a visible and wonderful man

,

ner ; Jerusalem w a s destroyed and Christianity

took root growing and increasing in spite of all
, ,

obstacles and contrary to all expectation

,
.

Ho w then did it come about if everyt hing

, , ,

pointed s o clearly to Jesus Christ as the prom

ised R edeemer that the Jews who were expecting
,

and loo king for a M es sias and who kn ew the S a ,

cred Books thoroughly refused to acknowledge ,

Him ? F irst it is to be noted that the most pious

, ,

the holiest among the Jewish people did recognize

in the person of Jesus Christ the promi sed Re
deemer This is true of St John the Baptist
. . .

” “
B ehold he said to his disciples the lamb of
, ,

God behold Him who takest away the sins of the

,
”
world It i s tru e also of the parents of St John
.
.
,
2 74 P O P UL A R SER M ON S ON THE C A TECHISM

live at the time of the second templ e and before

the destruction of Jerus alem ; the temple has been
destroyed long ages ago and the city conquered , ,

plundered and ann ihilated S o if as the Jews

, .
,

s a y the S aviour is yet to come we are in a posi

, ,

tion to reply with the greatest decision that they .

will look for his coming in vain If Jesus Christ .

was not the promis ed Saviour of the world then

there has been and never will be and can be no
, ,

other and it was all to no purpose that He was

,

promised and foretold and so long and earnestly

, ,

expected ; then the books of prophecies should be

consigned to the flames and burned as liars .

But the promised S aviour did surely come and ,

so clear and certain is thi s truth that in order

to remain ignorant of it one woul d be obliged to
’
shut one s eyes deliberately Jesus Himself s aid .

“
to the Jews : Search the Scriptures and the ,
”
same are they that give testimony of M e ( Jo hn
v. He meant to s a y that if w e read in the s a
cred books all that had been foretold o f the M es
sias we should s e e that all the things spoken by
the prophets had their fulfillment in Him imply ,

ing beyond doubt that He is the M ess ias When

’
.
, ,

the Samaritan woman at Jacob s well s aid to

“ ”
Jesus I know that the M essias cometh
,
He ,

answered : I am He who am speaki ng with

”
thee ( Jo hn iv 2 5 . To the disciples going
,
“
to E mmaus the ris en Christ said
,
O ught not ,

Christ to have suffered these things and s o e n

t e r e d into Hi s glory ? A n d beginning at M oses
and all the prophets He expounded to them in
,

all the Scriptures the things that were concerning

Him ( Lu k e xxiv 26
”
He showed them that
.
,
 JE S US , THE MESSIA S
in Him and in Hi s passion what the prophets had
predicted had come to pas s .

O ur L ord Jesus Christ is the R edeemer who w a s

promised to our forefathers in Paradi s e and who , ,

foretold by the prophets was p r e fi gu r e d in typ es

,

and ardently looked for by the Jews Both the O ld .

and the Ne w Testaments testify to it the apostles ,

taught it the Church believes it and Jesus Christ

, ,

Himself declares it This fact is full of the deep

.

e st signi fi cance for us Jesus Christ it is whom

.

we have to believe whom we must follow and on

, ,

whom all our hopes of salvation are to be built ,

while we rej oice that He came and return Him ,

unending thanks for H is coming F or there i s no .

other name giv en us under heav en whereby w e ,

can be s ave d than the name of Jesus Christ

, ,

Saviour of the world Am en . .

 S E R MO N XXXVIII
Sesns t b r i st t r u e 6 00
,
”
Thou ar t Chr ist the S on of the li ving
, God
( Ma t t . xv i .

the s econd article of the Apostles ’

1] Creed
N E XP L AI N I N G
we have at the very outset tw o thi n gs
to maintain concerning Jesus Christ :
1 That H e is the promised R edeemer of man
.

kind .

2 That H e i s the S on of God and is H ims elf

‘

truly God .

We devoted our instru ction last Sunday to ex

a m in i n g into the truth of the first of these two

statements an d we foun d that absolutely every

,

thing foretold by the prophets concerning the

M essias w a s fulfilled in the person of Jesus
Christ The obj ect of our discours e to day w ill
.
-

be by considering carefully the second of these

,

tw o statements to make clear to you what it i s

,

we mean when we S peak o f Jesus Christ as the

Son of God and true God We are aware that
, .

e v ery one who i s in a state of grace is a chi ld of

God ; but there i s a great di fference between
Christ the only begotten Son of God and the just
,
-

, ,

who are the chil dren of God Jesus i s by nature .

and from all eternity the S on of God and i s of o n e ,

essence and substance with the F ather The just .

are children of God not by nature nor yet from , ,

a ll eternity They are made to Hi s im age and

.

have become Hi s children by grace There is but

‘

27 6
2 78 P O P UL A R SERMONS ON THE C A TECHISM

When a rich man dies having mentioned In hi s

will only one name as succes sor to all his wealth ,

it devolves upon the n e w heir to prove hi s iden

tity and show that he really is the person he de
clares hims elf to be Hi s identity once established
.

he is in a position to lay claim to everything b e

longing to the deceased : money houses fu r ni , ,

ture estates anything and everything be it great

, ,

or small O nce it i s pro v ed that Jesus Christ i s

.

the pro m i sed R edeemer then all the expressions

made us e of by the prophets in designating the
S aviour apply equally to Him H e i s therefore
God— God with u s—the all holy—the wonderful
.
, ,

the F ather of the future .

2 N ext we have to consider how God the F ather

.

Himself bears witnes s to the divini ty of Christ ,

and no higher testimony than Hi s can be found

either in heaven or on earth T w ice during O ur
’
.

L ord s public life ; once at the beginning on the ,

occasion of Hi s baptism in the Jordan and once ,

toward the close of it at the Transfiguration God

, ,

the F ather made H is v oice heard s aying in loud ,

“
tones T his i s my beloved Son in whom I am
well pleas ed ”
( M a tt iii 1.7— xvii
. What
’
.

further proof can we consider necess ary when we

have such evidence a s this ?
3 The testimony born e by Jesus Christ to H im
.

self is o f the highest i mportance and there can ,

be no doubt that H e declared Himself most ex

“
p li c i t l y to be the S on of God I and the
. F ather
”
are one ( Jo hn x . Those who acknowledged
Him as the S on of God He openly commended and
rewarded whi le He blamed those who refused to
,

recognize Hi s divinity Peter who He appointed

.
,
 JE S US CHRIST TR UE G O D ,

head of Hi s Church and to whom He gave the ,

keys of the kingdom of heaven s aid to Hi m : ,

”
‘
Thou art Christ the Son of the living God,
.

Questioned by N athanael He adm i tted it freely

and Hi s m iracles were clearly di rected to mani
festing it Well then dearly beloved if Jesus
.
, , ,

Christ knew Himself to be the Son of God does it ,

not follow that He was in very truth what He de

cl a r e d Himself to be ? If you refuse to admit this
it will not be difficult to drive you into a corner
from which there will be no logical way out .

L isten and se e if I am not right

,
.

If Christ be not the S on of God then clearly He ,

stated what w a s not true and He must have made ,

this m isstatement either knowingly or unk now

i n g ly .

If Jesus Christ w a s capable o f deliberately stat

ing what He kn ew to be untrue what are we to ,

think of Hi m ? O h dearly beloved I hardly dare

, ,

to say it but what can we call a man but a liar

,

who knowing what he s ays to be false claims to

, ,

be himself God N ot only is he a liar ; he is a

.

trickster playing on our credulity in the most

,

sacred matters ; a criminal arrogating to himself

divin e honors ; an outcast who desires to be
adored as God by the whole world and for all
time although he knows he is not what he pre
,

tends to be It might well be described as the

.

greatest outrage ever perpetr ated against human

society C an we reconcil e this picture with our
.

idea of our S aviour with Hi s humility Hi s p a, ,

t i e n ce Hi s love Hi s mercy and all Hi s virtues

, , ,

and infinite perfections : it is true that great v i r

t u es may exi st S ide by side with many faults but ,
280 P O P UL A R SERMONS ON THE C A TECHISM

that a man could be at the same time both the

pattern and model of all that is perfect and the ,

greatest criminal and most accomplished rogue of

all times p asses the limi ts of possibility
, .

C ould it be that our S aviour called Himself the

Son o f God under a misapprehension think ing it ,

to be true although such w a s not actually the

,

cas e ? What would our opinion of a man be who

thought himself to b e the S o n o f Go d givin g ,

himself out a s such although in reality s imply an

,

ordinary human being ? We would consider him

clearly out of his mind C an we think this of Him
.

whose discourse so entranced the people that they

remained near Him day and night in order to
listen to it ; of Hi m whos e teaching s o pure s o, ,

beautiful s o holy was more sublime than any

, ,

thing that this world had ever heard o r will ever

hear again ; of Hi m who se word has echoed and
r e echoed through the centuries believed all the
-

world over ; whose Church has endured beyond all

the kingdoms of the world ? C an we I s a y believe
, ,

it of Him who has wrought upon this world more

e fl e ctu a ll y for good than all the great philos

Oph e r s put together have done ? C an words s o

sweet teaching so sublime works so powerful
, , ,

emanate from a madman ? A re such things the

outcome of a diseased brain ? N o a thousand ,

times no !
If our Saviour be not truly God then He is
either a shameful impostor or one suffering from
,

an unfortunate delusion N either of these con

.
,

tin g e n ci e s seems possible and moreover they

, , ,

would still leave unex plained the miracles worked

by Hi m in support of Hi s word If it i s denied
.
2 82 P O P UL A R SER MON S ON THE C A TEC HISM

co u n tles s unnumbered witnesses stand behind the

apostles in the millions of holy martyrs all cry ,
“
ing out with one voice Jesus Christ is true
God Hi s teaching is true Hi s Church is true If
, ,
.

He be not the Son of God for whom have we e n ,

dured heavy chains and bloody torture and for ,

whom have we shed our blood with s o much love

”
and j oy ?
5 We have still as the final witnes s to the
.
,

divinity of Christ to bring forward the C atholic

,

Church with her saints her popes her bishops and, ,

priests as well as all the pious Christians who

,

have lived and died happy strengt hened and con ,

s oled by the bles sed faith S he teaches O ne cry .

echoes through the centuries and is r e echoed in -

every single church and congregation in every ,

“
s ervice in every Christian heart :
,
Jesus is truly
”
G od .

We will close our meditation by devoutly pray

“
ing with the Church : I believe in the L ord Jesus
Christ the only begotten S on of the F ather ; God
,
-

of God light of light true God of tru e God ; con

, ,

substantial with the F ather by whom all things

”
were made .

L et us strive earnestly ourselves to bear w i t

ness to the divinity o f Christ with our hearts and
lips ; by our actions and in our life and death .

“
E very one therefore that shall confess M e b e
, ,

fore men I will als o confess him before M y F ather

who is in heav en ( Ma t t x
”
Am en . . .
 S E R MO N XXXI X
t he i nca r na t i on
“ ”
A n d the W or d w as m a de fl
esh ( J ohn i .

H
'

S as w e begin to try and understand the

S OO N
’
second article of the Apostles C reed w e find
ours elves face to face with three propositions con
cerning Jesus Christ : ( 1 ) that He is the prom
ised R edeemer ; ( 2 ) that He is the Son of God ;
( 3 ) that He i s als o O ur L ord This last proposi.

tion arises out of the t w o first for if Jesus Christ ,

b e tru l y God it follows that He is also our C reator ,

and if He be our C reator then He must be als o our

M aster ; for who can be considered more strictly
master of a thing than he who made it ? If He
be our R edeemer then it is equally true that we
,

belong to Him ; for whose property could we be if

not Hi s who dearly bought and ransomed us pay ,

ing for us the price of Hi s most precious blood ? ’

T o day we propose to continue o u r study o f the
’
-

A postles C reed and wi ll pass on to the third

article : “
Who was conceived of the Holy Ghost ,
”
born of the Virgin M ary words which again lead
,

u s to the consideration o f the person of Jesus

Christ the o nl y begotten S on of God

,
-

Placing ourselves first under the guidance of

the Holy Spirit let us endeavor to keep before
,

our minds in a special manner the tw o following

points
I The tw o fold nature of Jesus Christ
.
-
.

II The unity of the pers on of Jesus Christ

. .
2 84 P O PUL A R SERMONS ON THE C A TECHISM

I
Ho w w a s the S on of God made man ? The ” “

S on of God w a s conceived and made man by the

power of the H oly Ghost in the womb of the ,
”
Bles sed Virgin M ary Thes e are the words in
.

which the catechi sm mak es known to us the m ys

t e r y of the Incarnation and it i s our obj ect to
,

day to endeavor to grasp clearly the sens e in

which they are to be u nderstood Y ou remember .

that at the marriage feast of C ana water w a s

changed into wine A s soon as the change had
.

been e fi e cte d the water disappeared ; it had b e

come non— existent D id the s ame thing happen
.

when God became man ; did He in becoming man , ,

ceas e to be God ? N o He w a s both God and man ;

.

and b ecom ing man He remained G od The Son .

of Go d took to Himself the nature of man and

united it to Hims elf wrapping Himself round a s
,

it were in human flesh as in a garment If a king .

chos e to clothe himself in the rags of a beggar

and travel from door to door begging his bread it ,

would be correct to s a y that a king had made him

self into a beggar No w this i s precis ely the
.

s ense in which the Son o f God took to H imself

o u r human nature .

Human nature consists o f two essential but

distinct parts the material body and the spir
,

i tu a l s oul
. When the Son of Go d as sumed our
human nature He too k a v eritable human body .

( R ead what the Scriptures record concerning

Jesus Christ ) A body which received birth in
.

the natu ral w a y which was able to experience

,

hunger thirst and fatigue whi ch ate and drank

, , , ,

su fi e r e d and bled and which underwent the pangs

,
286 P O P UL A R S ERMONS ON THE C A TECHISM

would not be required to adopt a nature other

than his own If the world considers it fitting to
.

commemorate the memory of its great men as

year by year the dates of the i r birth and death
recur ; if the anni vers aries of notable battles and
victories are celebrated with national pride ;
surely the least that Christians can do is to s o l
e m n i z e day by day and every day the mystery of
“
the Incarnation of th e S on of God And the .

”
w ord was made flesh and dwelt amongst us .

Although Jesus Christ really and tru ly assumed

our human nature nevertheles s humanity in Him
,

w a s distin g uished by gloriou s privileges H is .

soul was filled with a measure of s anctifying grace

beyond that which would be possible for any other
human soul to contain He was in perpetual e n
.

j o ym e n t of the B e a tifi c V ision of God ; such w a s

the enlightenment of Hi s mind that although as
a man He was not omniscient He pos sessed a de
gree of knowledge s o great so extensive s o clear , , ,

s o accurate that the learning of all creatures put

,

to gether pales and becomes insignificant before

it The human will of Christ was incapable of
.

s in . It was sinl es s and w a s in co m plete union

with the divine and eternal will of God .

In Christ therefore there are tw o natures —the

, ,

divine because He is God the human because He

is man—s o that He is at the same time tru e God
,

and true man He has been God from all eter

.

mity but man only from the time of Hi s Incarna

,

tion .

II

We have n ow to consider ( and thi s is the se c

 T HE IN CA RNA TI ON

ond point of our meditation ) if there be two per

sons in Jesus Christ .

The catechism asks Is Jesus Christ more

” “
than one divine person ? N o Jesus Christ is ,
”
but one divine person If there were in Jesus
.

Christ tw o persons a divine pers on and a human

,

person what would be the result ? We would have

,

to adm i t that Hi s su fferings and death could a f

fe et only Hi s human person and that being so ,

it w a s onl y a man w h o su fi e r e d and died for us ,

and we are not redeemed T o go further we could

.

not even say that God had become man but only ,

that He became closely and intimately connected

with man N ow the truth is very di fferent : The
.

S on of God took to Himself our human nature

in such a manner that it became Hi s o w n and ,

we are able to speak of the hands and feet and

body of the S on of God ; of H is soul Hi s heart , ,

Hi s blood Jesus Christ spoke of Himself as both

.

“ ”
div ine and human I and the F ather are one
.

“
( Jo hn x . I am the resurrection and the
”
life ( Jo hn xi . He also speaks of Himself
a s the Son of God .

There being in Jesus Christ only one person ,

the person of God the Son what then we paus e , ,

to a sk is the Blessed Virgin M ary ? To her b e

,

longs a dignity and a height of glory u n a tt a i n

able to men or angels that of M other of God
,
.

What an honor to be the M other of God It would .

seem as though her divine S on while humiliating ,

Himself beyond our understanding took pleasure ,

in exalting to an unspeakable degree her whom

he had chosen as Hi s mother In what relation .

did St Joseph stand to M ary and Jesus ? He w a s

.
288 P O P UL A R SER MONS ON THE CA TECHISM

the virgin spouse of M ary the protector and ,

guardian of Jesus How sublime a mission w a s

.

that of being intru sted with the care of the S on

of God ! In c onfi din g it to St Joseph God gave .

him a high proof of Hi s confidence If a rich .

man of busines s were to allow any one of hi s

young clerks in his o fli ce to handle the key o f '

hi s s afe it wo ul d be a proof of the favorab le

,
’
O pinion he had formed of the youth s integrity ;
but in proportion as the love he feels for his
, ,

children is greater than his love of money s o ,

much more does he honor the man to whom he

entrusts the education of his s o n What then .
, ,

must have been the confidence almighty God felt

in St Joseph when He gave Hi s only begotten
.
,
-

S on in tenderest infancy with Hi s holy M other

into hi s charge We know with what fidelity S t
. .

Joseph requited and justified that confidence N o .

wonder that the Vicar of Christ has placed the

whole C atholic Church in a special way under the
protection of St Joseph . .

In considering the third article of the Creed

we find these three names Jesus M ary Joseph
closely interwoven as co —
, , , ,

operating in the mystery

o f the Incarnation Jesus the Son of God made
.

man— M ary Hi s M other from whom He vouch

, ,

s afed to take his sacred humanity and St Joseph , .

,

Hi s protector and foster father O h let us r ev -

.
,

erence and try to imitate the Holy F amily L et .

us have constantly on our lips the words : Jesus ,

M ary Joseph I give you my h eart and my soul ;

, ,

Jesus M ary Joseph assist me in my last agony ;

, , ,

Jesus M ary Joseph may I brea the forth my

, , ,

s oul in peace in your holy company Am en . .

2 90 P OPULA R~S ERMONS ON T HE C A TECHISM

I Who it was that suffered

. .

II Wh at the su fi e r in g s were
. .

III The manner in which they were born e

. .

I V What the fruit of these sufferings h a s been

. .

I
’
The magnitude of Christ s su fferings becomes
m anifest when viewed in connection with the per
s o n o f the s u fl e r e r The damned sn fl e r in hell
.
,

but they su ffer justly for they revolted against

,

God T h e holy s ouls su ffer in purgatory but they

.
,

too have deserved punishment and have need of

purifi cation M en su fi e r here on earth ; s orrow
.

i s the portion of mank ind in this vale of tears .

But in the person of Jesus it w a s the Son of God ,

the embodiment of innocence and holines s the ,

L ord and Creator of a ll things that suffered In .

time of war the rank and file of the s oldiery have

to undergo the privation and hardships inciden
tal to the lot of a soldier ; and however much we
may admire their endurance we would admire
still more the heroism of the king himself the ,

head of the whole army if he were to associate

,

and identify himself with thes e sn fi e r in g s em ,

bracing them voluntarily i n his o w n person In .

this latter case the su ffering is of i mmeasurably

higher value O h the magnitude of the su fferings
.
,

of Christ the Son of God who was crucified and

, ,

died for us ! Y ou may reply that after all Jesus ,

Christ did not su ffer in Hi s divine nature but ,

only in Hi s human nature That is true The . .

divine nature is as incapable of sn fi e r i n g as of

death but it is equally true that Hi s human na
,

ture belonged to the person o f the Son of God .

 THE S UFFERIN G S O F CHR IST

It w a s the body and the soul of the Son of God ;

the pains the wounds the snfi e r in g s the death
, , ,

pangs were those of the Son of God ; so we may ,

rightly s a y the S on of God su fi e r e d the Son of

, ,

God died .

The depth o f suffering which Christ our L ord

underwent for o u r s ake is brought home to us
v ery forcibly when we consider in themselves the
pains which He endured All through Hi s life He .

w a s ne v er free from snfi e r in g and su ffering of ,

such an order that its like h a s never been e xp e r i

e n ce d on this earth I will not a sk you to trace
.

step by step the weary road of poverty toil and , ,

prayer which our S aviour hum bly traveled here

,

below . I want to emphasize one thing only

namely that Hi s passion was ever present to Him
, ,

that the cros s was the central point of all Hi s

thoughts If He foresaw our life and our death
.
,

He foresaw also Hi s o w n for He was omniscient ,

and had foretold Hi s passion Trouble that is .

foreseen clearly and distinctly presses on the s oul

in anticipation When a mother hears from a
.

doctor that a beloved child has only a few weeks

or a fe w months longer to live every look at her ,

darling cuts her to the heart reminding her of ,

the death struggle the co ffin the grave that are

-

, ,

drawing nearer and nearer N ot a single hour

’
.

or day of our Saviour s life was free from pain

“
and sn fi e r in g M y sorrow i s continually before
.

”
Me ( P s xxxvii
. .

It may be urged that the actual passion of our

Saviour w a s compressed into a fe w hours Y et .
,
2 92 P O P UL A R SERMON S ON T HE C A TECHISM

consider what a road of agony he traveled in that

short space of time : from the Garden of Ge th se
mani stained with Hi s sweat of blood to the house ,

of the high priest ; from the hi gh priest to Pilate ;

from Pilate to Herod and back again to Pilate
, ,

who s ent Him laden with Hi s C ross to C alvary

, ,

and to death ; Hi s way was lined with enemies on

all sides priests and people Pagans and Jews
, , ,
“
men of high and low degree M any are they
”
who ris e up against M e ( P s iii Ho w mani
. .

fold were Hi s pains h o w numerous were Hi s

,

wounds ho w cru el the blows with which He was

,

struck h o w great Hi s los s of blood ! There was

,

no member of Hi s body no power of Hi s soul that

, ,

did not su ffer .

If viewed only from the outside so to speak , ,

Hi s su fferings are heavy beyond all question but , ,

in addition to and before everyt hing else we h ave ,

to take into account the inward desolation o f Hi s

s o ul T o this desolation Hi s friends and Hi s apos
.

tles who fors ook Him greatly contributed ; and it

w a s increased further by the cruelty of Hi s ene
mies who not satisfied with tormenting and tor
, ,

turing Him mocked and j eered at Hi s anguish

, .

A t the thought of the many so u l s for whom all

Hi s su fferings would not only be in vain but ,

would constitute even a further occasion of sin ,

this desolation welled up in Hi s heart like a deep

spring whose bitternes s was but further increased
by the thought of Hi s heavenly F ather for by ,

Him too He felt Himself forsaken O h the i n

, ,
.
,

tensity of the su fi e r in g s of Christ ! A dded to this

we have to remember that the sacred humanity of
Christ was in the highest degree s ensitive and
2 94 P O P UL A R SERM ONS ON THE C A TECHIS M

ing our hearts with lo v e and sym pathy and mak

ing the patient endurance of pain meritorious and
precious in the sight of G od and men .

IV

We would have learned but v ery imperfectly

the less ons taught u s by the life of Christ if we
failed to estimate the fruit of Hi s su fi e r in g s .

“ ”
Why did Christ su ffer and die ? asks the cate
“ ”
chism . Christ suffered and died for our sins .

The great and wonderful result of the passion of

Christ is that it atoned for the sins o f the whole
world .

We speak of atonement only when there ha s

been some o fi e n se s ome insult to be made good
, ,

and in every single s in that has ever been com

m i tt e d insult has been o f fered and offense given
to the great La w giver the high and eternal
-

Judge When insult has been o ffered t o any one

.

reparation is demanded and exacted and a l ,

mighty God demanded complete and full repara

tion such reparation as amply compensated Him
,

for the glory of which He w a s robbed by S In ,

making good the o ffense given Him and com ,

p l e t e l y restoring the honor due to Him The

.

greatness of the reparation must he a r s ome pro

portion to the status of the pers on to whom it is
ofi er e d and h o w is an o fi e n se against the maj
,

esty of almighty God to be measured ? To deal

a child a blow i n the face is a rupture of the
peace and to strike a judge is a criminal o ffense
, ,

but s o to treat the maj esty of a king would be

high treason O n a cert ain occasion a captain of
.

the F rench troops stru ck Pope Boniface V III a

 THE S UFFERIN G S O F CHRIST

blow in the face with hi s mailed hand and the

whole of Christendom rang with indignation and
horror at such an act N o w what is sin ? It is
.
,

an offense against the infini te maj esty o f God

and call s for reparation and atonement of an in
finite order Who i s to afford to God this repara
.

tion ? We are but weak men ; sinners ourselves

and finite beings ; h o w can w e repair an infi nite
wrong ? T h e angels and the holy M other of God
hersel f innocent and pure though they be are
, ,

but fini te creatures and as such could not restore

to the infinite God the honor He had lost .

But Jesus Christ at one and the s ame time true

,

God and true man could do it A s head of the

, .

whole human race He could o fi e r in o u r name

full and complete s atisfaction for the sins of the
world by su ffering whatever the heavenly F ather
,

requi red of Him : “

O bedient unto death ; even to
”
the death of the cross ( Phi lip p ii Hi s suf
. .

fe r in g s furni shed a complete atonement which ,

vicariously o ffered ful ly satisfied the divine j u s

,

tice A s the S aviour lay dying on the cros s the

.

shameful chains laid by the evil spirit upon men

were loosened ; a s Hi s precious blood flowed from
Hi s sacred wounds the terrible flames of hell were
extinguished .

The su fi e r in g s of Christ atoned not only com ,

p l e t e ly but superabun dantly to the divine jus

, ,

tice : With H m there is plentiful redemption

“
i ”

( P s cxxix 7
. .
They hav e won for us all graces ;
they have restored us to the position of children
of God and opened once more the gates of heaven
,

so long closed against us

’
.

O ur Saviour s su fferings were bitter indeed but ,

2 96 P O P UL A R SERMONS ON T HE C A TECHISM

to us they are of unspeakable value Who can .

estimate the evil they have o v ercome or count the ,

bles sings which have flowed from them ? N ever

has a tree borne fru it so sweet so precious a s the ,

tree of the holy cros s .

B ecaus e Christ endured Hi s pas sion for all and

each one of u s have w e then all a right to con
, ,

sider ourselves s aved and bless ed ? By no means .

There remains s omething for us to do which some ,

of us are apt to neglect If we want to have part

.

in the redemption Of Christ w e must believe in the

S aviour in Hi s divinity in Hi s love Hi s su fl e r
, , ,

ings and merits fixing in this way all our hopes

,

in Him and Hi s sacred passion We must gather .

for ourselves the fruit of the cross by using with ,

contrite and grateful hearts and in the spirit of ,

penance and humility the means o f salvation

,

placed in our hands by our S aviour in the holy

Sacraments ; and earnestly try to follow H im by
walking in Hi s footsteps “
If any man will come
.

after M e let him deny him s elf and take up his

,

( Ma t t xvi Ho w
”
cross and follow M e . .

blessed is he who thus reaps the fruit of the

s n fi e r in g s of Christ ! Ho w truly mise r able i s that

s oul who in spite of the grace of God goes to

, ,

perdition ; it is as though standing by a fresh ,

spring of water he were to die of thirst I thank

,
.

Thee O L ord Jesus Christ that Thou hast di ed

, ,

for me M ay I never deserve to forfeit the merit s

.

of Thy precious blood and of Thy infinite su ffer

,

ings Amen
. .
298 P O P UL A R SERMON S ON THE C A TECHISM

L et us inquire what became of the body of

n ow

Christ after death .

( a ) Jos eph of A rimathea a n d N icodemus o b

t a in e d permission from Pilate to take the lifeless
body of Jesus down from the cross and having , ,

done s o they laid it in the arms of Hi s affl icted

,

mother That the mother of Jesus really received

.

her S on into her embrace after death is not

recorded in the Gospel ; but surely it seems nat
ural to believe that sh e who had been s o cruelly
divided from Him at the moment of Hi s death
would wish to clasp Him once more to her heart .

Christians have at all times felt this and we s e e ,

in every country indeed almost in every church

, ,

representations of the M other of Sorrows sunk in

grief and in tears at the foot of the cross and
gazing upon the lifeles s body of her S on which she
holds in her arms This picture tells us h o w to
.

bear the los s of thos e who have been torn from

us by death Sorrow is not forbidden ; we are
.

allowed to weep and mourn for them but in the ,

midst of our su ffering and tears w e should recal l

the thought of the M other of Sorrows to cons ole
and strengthen us He r los s was m er e than ours
. .

He r suffering w a s greater but in the depth of her ,

grief she remained an example of resignation ,

self s a cr ifi ce and fortitude

-

,
.

( b ) Joseph of A rimathea and N icodemus

anointed the sacred body as was customary in the,

E ast with sweet spices and wrapped it in a cloth

,

of finely spun pure linen of rare and beautiful tex

ture What could be precious enough to envelop
.

the body of the Son of God ? N othing in the whole

world In the same way nothing can be too costly
.
 THE DE S CEN T O F CHR IS T IN T O HELL 2 99

or too precious for us to give or sacrifice if it , ,

enables us to preserv e and retain in ou r souls the

S on of God when He comes to us in the Blessed
Sacrament of the Al tar Ho w pure should be the
.

body the tongue the heart the soul that becomes

, , ,

even momentarily the resting place of the body of -

Christ in holy co m muni on !

( c ) The sacred body was laid in a grave near
at hand which was n e w and in which no man had
, ,

ever yet been placed .

The tomb is the scene of the final and greatest

humiliation of our S aviour Hi s whole life on .

earth had been one of humi liation and abasement ,

but at every step the light of Hi s di vinity had

pierced through the clouds which obscured it .

O ver the manger shone forth the marvelous star ;

side by S ide with the lowlines s of Hi s life we have
the wonder of Hi s miracles ; at the ignominy of
the cros s the earth shook rocks were rent asunder
, ,

and the su n refused to give its light But in the .

tomb every ray of glory s eemed to be hidden and ,

the God made man becomes nothing more than a

-

lifeless corpse to be li fted and carried about and

disposed of at the wil l of others The only paral .

lel to thi s humiliation is to be found in the Blessed

S acrament of the Altar where the Son of God
,

is really present under the lowly semblance of

bread and wine and allows Hi mself to be lifted
,

up by human hands carried from place to place

, ,

and used by men as they think fit What an ex .

ample o f hu mili ty .

II

We have s een what God permitted to take place

’
after our Saviour s death as far as Hi s sacred
300 P O P UL A R SERMONS ON T HE C A TECHISM

b ody w a s concerned If we n o w turn to the con .

sideration of the words He descended into hell

“
, ,

we shall learn from them what became of Hi s

divine s oul when in accordance with the laws o f
, ,

nature it forsook the body The catechi sm seeks

, .

“
to make the meaning of the words H e descended
into hell ” “
clear to us by asking D i d Christ s
,
’ ,

,
”
soul descend into the hell of the damned ? The
answer given is ’
The hell into which Christ s
:

s oul descended was not the hell of the damned ,

but a place or state of rest called limbo where the ,

s ouls of the j ust were waiting for Him ”

The .

body was in the grave the s ou l descended into ,

limbo We will explain this answer of the cate

.

chism bit by bit considering the nature of this

,

place called limbo who they were who there ,

awaited Christ and with what obj ect He de

,

scended into it .

L imbo is not to be co nfused with the hell of

the damned for out of that hell there is no s a l
,

vation whereas the inhabitants of limbo were r e

,

leased from their captivity N either is it to be .

confounded with purgatory which is a state of ,

punishment and su fi e r in g L imbo wa s not pun .

i shm e n t .M oreover it is in its character very ,

distinct from heaven to whi ch the s ouls in limbo ,

were admitted as s oon as they were s e t free .

If limbo however is neither hell nor heaven

, , , ,

nor purgatory what can it be ? It is yet another

,

place or state which can not be further described .

It was there that those s ouls who had departed

this life in a state of grace and had already atoned
for and been pur ified from their sins were de ,

t a i n e d and that the saints of the O ld Testament

,
302 P O P UL A R SER MONS ON THE C A TECHISM

of j oy and thank fulness the whole host of the

just kn e lt in adoration before the Saviour We
.
.

can hear the words of burning gratitude and lo v e

poured out by A dam prostrate at the divine feet
“
of his L ord : 0 Thou second and n e w and b eav
e nl y A dam ! Through my fault the whole human
race fell in to sin ; by Thy death h a s it been res
cued from this state I thank Thee not only for .
,

myself but for all my children E ternity will not

, .

be long enough to repay by praise and love my

”
debt of gratitude And Abel the S on of A dam :
.
,

Hail to Thee whose death yet more bloody and

, ,

unmerited than my o wn sent up Thy blood to ,

heaven crying not for vengeance but for mercy

, ,
” “
and pardon And N oah. I have seen the
fl o o d gates of heaven open to punish the world
-

But these floods great and powerful as they were

, ,

did not suffice to cleanse the world from sin Ho w .

much more efficacious has been the blood which

”
flowed from Thy s acred wounds ! L et us listen
to the last of all the patriarchs and prophets St ,
.

“
John the Baptist : O n earth I called Thee the
L amb of God who takest away the sins of the
world and n o w as we meet beyond the world I
,

say again behold the L amb of God behold Him

, ,

by whom the sins of the world have been taken

”
away . Y et another s oul presses forward that ,
“
of the penitent thief Thanks be to Thee O ,

L ord that Thou wast mindful of me ! All praise

,

to Thee in that paradise which Thou pro m i sed and

”
hast given me With one voice all unite in ador
.

“
ing and giving praise to the Saviour Blessed
be the L ord God of Israel ; because He hath v i s
i t e d and hath wrought the redemption of Hi s
 THE D E S CEN T O F CHRIS T IN T O HELL 303

”
people ( Lu k e i The S aviour having a n
.
,

n o u n ce d the redemption to the just in limbo He ,

consoled them and s e t them free and led them ,

Himself to the j oy of heav en manifesting Hi s

,

power and H is glory .

I s there any less on for us in thi s descent of our

Saviour into hell ? Sure ly there is After Hi s .

death our R edeemer hastened to go to the aid of

the s ouls of the just There is no reason against
.

our holdin g the belief that He als o visited the

s ouls in purgatory to console and encourage them .

We wil l als o descend in thought into this lower

world by prayin g for the holy souls in purga
,

tory and in this way consol ing them and further

,

ing their deliverance .

F inally let us not fail to v isit even hell in our

,

thoughts There let us contemplate those w h o

.

have mocked at the v irtue of the blood of Chri st ,

and who w ill never hear the word that s e t them

free They at least w ill teach us to repent and
.

“
do penance while there is yet tim e R emember
”
thy last end 0 man and thou shalt never sin !
, ,

A men .
 S E R MO N X LII
t he R e su r re ct i on
T he thi r d da y He r ose a ga in fr om the dea d
”

’
W E H AVE considered our Saviour s descent into
hell and we n o w turn to the contemplation
,

of Hi s glorious R esurrection that great truth in ,

which we e x press our belief when we s a y thes e

’
words of the Apostles C reed “
The third day
He rose again from the dead ”
The instruction .

which we propos e to giv e you to day o n this most -

important subj ect can be divided into three heads ,

namely
I The number of wi tnesses that testify to the
.

truth of the R esurrection .

II The weakn ess of the objection s that are

.

urged against it .

III T h e enormous significance which the fact

.

of the R esurrection bears .

We will under the guidance of the H oly Spirit

, ,

begin by considering briefly and devoutly the tw o

first of these headings .

The R esurrection is an event which came to

pas s many hundreds of years ago in a distant
country on the other side of the world We are .

always desirous in the case o f any important o c

currence to fix the exact date at which it took
place and in this case we learn from the Apostles
,
’
C reed that Christ ros e again o n the third day
after Hi s death The third day H e rose again
”
from the dea d Christ rose therefore a s it
.
, ,
306 P O P UL A R S ERMONS ON THE C A TECHISM

dead and buried If you met th is morning here

.

in the street a friend whom you had yesterday

s een o fi on the train you co uld confidently assert
,

that your friend had returned from hi s journey .

No w just thi nk what numbers of di fi e r e nt people

s a w the risen S av iour ! H e w a s s een by the tw o
di sciples going to E mmaus and the s ame evening ,

he appeared to the assembled apostles in J cr u sa

lem Thomas w a s absent s o a week later H e
.
,

came to them once more Thomas being then pres ,

ent H e w a s seen by s ev en apostles on the L ake

.

of Ge n e sa r e th and later on by fi v e hundred di s

,

ci p l e s on a mountain in Galil ee F in ally He w a s .

,

with the assembled apostles and disciples in

Jeru salem before He ascended into heav en from
the M ount of O liv es under the eyes of numerous
witness es .

Y o u wi ll adm i t that there i s an abundance of

reliable testimony furnished by wi tnes ses all of ,

whom had known the S aviour intimately having ,

lived with H im in clos e and constant in tercours e ;

every feature and line of Hi s sacred face was
fresh in their memory every tone of Hi s v oice
,

was familiar to them Hi s most s a cred wounds

.

gave them the means o f identifying Him with i n

fallible accuracy a s the s ame whose death on the ,

cros s they had wi tnes sed M en a s well as women .

sa w Him not only in the dusk of ev ening but i n

, ,

the clear li ght o f day and that not once b u t r e

, ,

p e a t e d ly ; and they not only s a w H im but they ,

talked with Him ate with Him and touched Hi m

, ,
.

M any of them were far from being ready and i n

cl in e d to be credulous ; s ome were skeptical and
“
hard to con vince lik e T homas , U nless I put
 THE RES URRE C TI ON

my fing er into the place of the nails and pu t my ,

hand into Hi s side I will not believe ( Jo hn xx

,
”
.

Thomas meant in other words that unless

, ,

he could with hi s hands find proof that it was our

Sav iour he refused to believe it An other im .

portant witnes s i s St Paul who enemy of Christ

.
, ,

and persecutor of the Church became transformed ,

by the sudden appearance of the risen Christ into

one of Hi s most zealous disciples “
And last of .

all He w a s seen by me also ( 1 C o r xv

”
With . .

out a doubt wi tnes ses are plentiful enough .

What character do thes e various witnesses

bear ? D id they give their evidence in confused
and hesitating language in broken and di sj ointed
,

sentences retreating to some distant coun try to

,

tell their story where no one could contradict

them or reserving it for the ears of friends w h o
,

would not pain them by sho w ing up their delu

sions ? Qui te the contrary The apostles after
.

the Holy Ghost was come upon them preached

with great power and strength concerning the
R esurrection of the L ord in the presence of Hi s
enemi es Hi s a ccusers Hi s murderers in the very
, , ,

city where He had been put to death but a fe w

weeks before and which contained Hi s grave
, .

O penly and to their faces He said : “

Y e men of
Israel hear these words : Jesus of N azareth whom
, ,

you by the hands of wicked men have crucified

and slain this Jesus hath God raised again ,
”
whereof we are a ll w itnesses ( A cts 1 1 Do .

you perhaps suggest that thes e were picked w i t

nesses and merely deceitful and self interested -

men ? Such a thing has never even been hinted .

They had no reward to hope for from the world ;

308 P O P UL A R S ER MONS ON THE CA TEC HISM

they expected and looked for nothing but what

they receiv ed namely ridicule contempt and
, , , ,

persecution toil and labor martyrdom and death

, ,
.

E ternal life was the reward they hoped for and ,

this they would have forfeited had they been im

p o st o r s trying to deceive their fellow men It -

seems clearly established beyond the shadow of a

,

doubt that wi tnes ses to the R esurrection are so

,

numerous and s o unanimous that it would be u m

reasonable not to accept their testimony .

When we consider and e x amine into the o b j e c

tions urged against the truth of the R esurrection
their weakness and u n reality seem but to
strengthen our position and make more sure the
foundation on which our belief rests Thes e o b .

j e c t i o n s broadly speak ing may be reduce d to

, ,

tw o
F irst it has been alleged that Christ di d not
,

really die Under the appearance of death He

.

was taken down from the cross and buried and ,

in the grave He revived and arose s o that no ,

resurrection from the dead ever took place at all .

But the words of the S aviour Himself “

F ather ,
”
into Thy hands I commend M y sp i rit ( Lu k e
‘

xxiii .
ar e the cry of one at the last extremity .

The Gospel thus describes Him : “

And bowing
Hi s head He gave up the ghost ( Jo hn xix
”
.

Then w e have the piercing of the di vine side by

the sharp lance o f the soldier in order that the ,

least S park of life which m i ght still flicker in the

sacred body m i ght be extin g u ished When Jo seph .

of A rimathea crav ed p ermis sion from Pilate to take

O ur L ord down from the cross Pil ate first of all
made inquiries to ascertain if H e were really dead .
31 0 P O P UL A R SER MONS ON THE C A TECHISM

over can we fancy the timi d di sciples finding cour

,

age for such a daring undertaking ? Ho w could

they know the guards would be asleep ? But even ,

conceding every point adm ittin g black to be white

, ,

and making the impossible possible what would

,

the disciples do with a dead body on their hands

which they must find some w a y of concealing ?
D early beloved brethren those w h o bear w i t
,

ness in proof of the R esurrection are s o numerous ,

and their veracity s o absolutely to be trusted ,

while o n the other hand the obj ections adduced

, ,

against it are s o weak paltry and far fetched

, ,
-

that nothing remains for us but to s a y with the

angel “
He is risen ! ”
It is a fact as well
authenticated and a s firm l y established as any in
history .

M ay it be to us all a s ource of j oy and let u s

’
pray saying in the words of the Apostles C reed
,
,

the third day He rose again from the dead .

Amen .
 S E R MO N XLIII
t he Resu r r e ct ion
The thi r d da y He r ose a ga i n f r om the d ea d

’ —
® UR Saviour s resurrection a fact founded on
proof s o reliable and convincing that all o b j e c
tions urged against it are utterly valueless— is an
event ful l of the deepest significance for u s .

Strengthening a s it does our faith in the divinity

of our S aviour and givin g us the certain hope
,

that we too will one day ris e again it should als o

, , ,

greatly stimulate us to lead a life of holines s and

virtue L et us implore the help of the Holy
.

S pirit that we may during this meditation realize

,

in some measure the three fold manner in which -

the R esurrection h a s power to influence the lives

of each one of us indiv idually It should .

I Strengthen our faith

. .

II Secure our hopes

. .

III Incite u s to holiness of life

. .

I
It is not difficult to s e e that the more closely w e
s t udy the full meaning of the R esurrection the
stronger should be our faith In the course of .

Hi s life on earth Christ constantly claimed and

put forward that He w a s the S on of God and by ,

countless m i racles pro v ed that He was s o in

truth But the last and strongest evidence of Hi s
.

di v inity the most strikin g proof of it i s to be

, ,

31 1
31 2 P O P UL A R SER MONS ON T HE C A TECHISM

found in the R esurrection While on earth He

.

“
had said : I shall be delivered into the hands of
M y enemies ; they will destroy M e but in three ,
”
days I will ris e again . F riends and enemies
al ik e knew that He had spoken in this way and ,

after Hi s death they awaited in suspens e and ex

p e ct a t i o n the third day to s
,
e e if really rising ,

again He would make good what He had s aid

,
.

An d H e di d . This fact is beyond question and ,

from it the tru th shines forth that He w a s indeed

the S on o f God Can an impostor raise himself
.

from the grave or would God have us ed Hi s a l

,

mi ghty power to uphold a liar and a cheat ,

strengthening his hands by causing him to rise

from the dead and s o enabling him to carry o n
,

his course of fraud ?

It follows that if Christ be the S on of God H is
teaching must be true and that w e can not follow
it too closely or believe it too firmly It follows .

further that the Church founded by Christ is the

Church of the living God to be clung to with every
fiber of our being that the s acraments really a f
,

ford u s the means of salvation and as the food ,

of o u r souls are to be us ed constantly with the

great e st love and devotion In a word as St .
,
.

Paul has pointed o u t in his first E pistle to the

Corinthians the whole truth a n d meaning of our
,

faith rests upon the R esurrection : And if Christ ‘

”
be not risen again your faith is vain ( 1 C o r xv . .

17 It must equally be the cas e that if Christ

be really ris en from the dead then is o u r blessed
,

faith in i t s smallest part and detail founded in

truth upon a rock—the rock of Christ .
31 4 P O P UL A R SER MONS ON THE C A TECHISM

difference The one pos ses sed of light and bright

.

ness i mmortali ty youth and beauty ; the other

, , ,

with the gloom and darkn es s of the grave staring

it in the face certain death advancing to meet
,

it the decay of o l d age the horrors of dissolution

, ,

awaiting it In corruption instead of corruption

.
,

strength and unfailing youth in place of weakness ,

sorrow pain and old age What does a little

, , .

su fi e r in g matter when we know that we will rise

“
again and that Christ will as St Paul says : Re ,
.

form the body o f our lownes s made like to the

body of Hi s glory ( P hi lip p iii
”
Wh at real . .

i ty what comfort what confidence our h Op e gath

, ,

ers at the thought of the R esurrection of the L ord !

Though it is true that all things here below are
perishable that the body is subj ect to infi rmity
,

and decay becoming defaced by the hand of time

, ,

ravaged by di seas e destroyed by death and that , ,

i ts last remains crumble to dust a prey to corrup

tion why should we be frightened ? A s surely as
,

dawned the first E aster D ay as surely as this ,

present day has dawned for each one of us s o ,

certainly will the day come when ou r S aviour

will awaken us and transform the body of our ,

lo w nes s making it like to the body of Hi s glory

,

in unfa di ng bri ghtness in youth that does not ,

grow old in strength that knows no weakness in

, ,

supern atural beauty transcending all thi ngs in ,

life that is eternal .

The R esurrection of Christ is full of beautiful

meaning a s regards the inner and moral life of
each one of us St Paul puts it before us as a
. .
 THE RE S URREC TI ON

type of our o wn spiritual renewal when he s ays

“
A s Chri st is risen from the dead by the glory
of the F ather so we also may walk in newnes s
,
”
of life ( Ro m vi It is typical of a complete
. .

change o f heart not only in its completeness but

, ,

also with regard to the characteristics of such a

change and the difficulties with whi ch its a cco m
,

p l i shm e n t is invari ably beset .

It particularly illustrates the difli cu l ti e s and o b

s t a cl e s which line the path of one who is really

struggling to reform hi s heart and life Wh at .

seemed more i mpossible than that Christ S hould

rise again ? He was dead having received count ,

les s wo u nds any one o f which w a s sufficient to be

,

a death blow The lance had opened Hi s di vine

-

side ; Hi s blood had been shed in torrents ; H e

had endured a protracted death agony of e xcr u
ci a ti n g pain There was the hard rock of the
.

grave with the enormous stone sealed by the a u

,

th o r i t i e s to close the opening ; the armed guard

consistin g of numerous sol diers watching and ,

ready if needs b e to defend it All these things .

seemed to be insurmoun table obstacles But noth .

ing i s insurmountable to th e power of God and ,

with the very first stirring of Hi s coming to life

“
they all fell away N or bolt nor grave nor , ,

s eal nor stone nor rock can withstand Him

, ,
”
.

There are people in thi s world of whom we can

say that their state presents obstacles to the
di vine grace of such a nature that a change of
heart seems humanl y speaking impossible
, ,
.

They are dead to all that concerns their spiritual

life with not one but who kn ows h o w many mor
, ,

tal sins upon their soul ? These are the wounds ;

31 6 P O P UL A R SER MON S ON T HE C A TECHISM

the bondage of passion formed by the habits of

years i s a s it were the hard rock of the grave
, ,

whi ch h a s closed round them holding them a s in

a prison The guard is also on the alert namely
.
, ,

the evil companions the participators of their ,

life of sin who oppose e v ery step in the direction

,

of conversion But great a s thes e obstacles are

.

they will not prevent regeneration of heart if the

sinner allowing himself to be carried on the tide
,

of divine grace breaks all bonds and exclaims , ,

“ ”
By the mercy of God I wil l begin a n e w l i fe .

The R esurrection of Christ is a type not of con

v ersion only but of a complete and entire con
,

v ersion F or ho w did O ur L ord appear after H e

.

was risen ? With the self same body that had been -

torn and beaten racked co v ered with stripes and

, ,

blood one wound from head to foot ; but n ow b e

,

come beautiful and pure streaming with heavenly ,

light giving j oy to all w h o looked upon Him

,
.

“
Before mortal now imm ortal : Christ rising
, ,

from the dead dieth no more ; death shall no more

,

have dominion over Him ( Ro m vi

”
S o can . .

the sinner rise from his sins the s a me yet dif , ,

fe r e n t ; where formerly he was sluggish and dil

a t o r y he can n o w be fervent and dili gent ; without

good works where he now abounds in acts of love

,

of God a n d of his neighbor ; before always ready

to fall back and degenerate but now steadfast in ,

resisting the old sins the old habits the old , ,

passions .

Although the change which took place in the

S aviour through Hi s R esurrection w a s so great ,

Hi s sacred body still retained certain ma rks of i t s

former condition The five sacred wounds though .
,
 S E R MO N X LIV
t b e a sce ns ion
He asce n de d i n to he a ve n , si t te th a t the r i ght ha n d o f
Go d the
, Fa ther A l m ighty
Hi s death the s oul of our S aviour Jesus
E Christ descended into limbo on the third day
F TER
;
Hi s s acre d body rose triumphantly from the
grave ; and forty days later He ascended body ,

and s oul gloriously into heaven In co n t e m p l a t

, .

ing to day with you the great mystery of the A s

-

c e n s i o n I propose divi di ng my instruction into

two heads and will consider with the help of the

, ,

Holy Spirit
I The A scension as a fact
. .

II The A scension in its obj ect

. .

I
That our Saviour did actually ascend into
heaven is a fact based on authority fully as r e
liable as that o n which we hold the truth of the
R esurrection The Scriptures bear testimony to
’
.

the tw o events and in the Apostles C reed the

, ,

most ancient and best known of all the forms of

creed we profes s our faith in both mysteries
, .

O ne follows immediately upon the other “

He
ros e again from the dead He ascended into
”
heaven Surely if our S aviour was powerful
.

enough to ris e again from the dead He was also

able to ascend into heaven Seeing that the .

truth of the R esurrection is established so clearly

31 8
 T HE A S CENS I ON

and firm l y on such overwhelming proof we feel ,

that w e are justified in accepting the fact of the

A scension without further question and passing ,

on at once to consider th e di fi e r e nt circumst a nce s

attending this great mi racle .

( a ) When did the A scension take place ?

O n the fortieth day after the R esurrection O ur .

L ord fasted forty days in the desert in prepara

tion for Hi s public life and He spent an equal
,

number of days on this earth after the R esur

rection in training Hi s apostles for their high
calling ; in comforting them and co nfi rming their
belief in Hi s R esurrection ; in teaching them about
the kingdom of God which they were to establish
on earth ; infl a m in g their hearts with longing for
Hi s heavenly kin gdom and exciting them to lo ve
,

God more and more fervently .

( b ) Where did our Saviour ascend into heaven ?

In the Garden of O lives from the sum mit of
,

that same mountain which had been the scene of

the beginning of Hi s passion What a contrast ! .

In that same Garden of O lives H e had lain pros

trate upon the ground covered wi th a sweat of
,

blood and sorrowful even unto death imprison ,

ment anguish and pain awaiting Him But at

, , .

Hi s glorious A scension what a di fi e r e n t picture

the mountain presents ! O ur blessed S aviour
stream i ng with light and r adiance a s at the mo
ment of Hi s t r a n sfi gu r a t i o n soaring on high
,

where the glories of heaven await Hi m to take ,

possession of that throne on which He reigns in

everlasting bliss Such bitter su ffering replaced
.

by immeasurable j oy ! S o with us too if we e n , ,

dure them patiently the deeper keener and more

, , ,
32 0 P O P UL A R SERMONS ON THE C A TECHISM

protracted our su fferings the greater will be our

reward and consolation .

( 0 ) W h o accompanied our S aviour in Hi s A s

ce n s i o n ?

All those countles s multitudes of blessed spirits

whom He had released from limbo T hose first .

fruits of the redemption who n o w with their Re

,

deemer at their head triumphantly enter heaven ,

to take pos ses sion of the glory prepared for them .

( d ) In whos e presence di d the Saviour ascend

into heaven ? In presence of the disciples and
apostles of St M ary M agdalen and of Hi s blessed
,
.

M other thos e privileged beings who were als o

,

witness es o f Hi s R esurrection .

( 6 ) Ho w did He ascend into heav en ? In the

act of bles sing Hi s apostles and extending Hi s
hands over them in benediction Ho w full of .

divine unction must that blessing have been which

the departing S aviour left on this earth to Hi s ,

holy M other the apostles and disciples and to

, ,

the whole human race including present and fu

,

ture generations ! With what manifestations of

loving reverence must all present have received it ,

kneeling praying thank ing ! O ur Saviour went

, ,

up into heaven not in a fiery chariot lik e E lias ,

not in a mighty storm of wind but by an act of ,

Hi s o w n power : “
And a cloud received Him out
”
of their sight In the O ld T estament God was
.

accustomed to appear and speak to Hi s people

from a cloud The cloud whi ch received the
.

Saviour at Hi s ascension is the final testim ony to

Hi s divinity .

Who can attempt to describe the feelings which

filled the hearts of the onlookers a s they sa w the
32 2 P O P UL A R SERMONS ON THE C A TECHISM

s ong of praise heard by St John in the Apoc .

“
a lyp s e The L amb that w a s slain is worthy to
receive power and divinity and wi sdom and
”
strength and honor and glory and benediction
( poc v
A . .

II
H aving considered a ll
the circumstances of the
A scension of our S aviour we must now contem
plate i t with a view to learni ng what its obj ect
was .

To what end and for what purpose did our

S aviour ascend into heaven ?
1 T o enter into posses sion of Hi s glory
. The .

souls of the just whom He had liberated from

limbo were received into heaven which He had ,

won for them All those blessed creatures who

.

since then have entered it or who are still to ,

enter it owe their happines s to the merits of the

,

S aviour Having done and gained so much for

.

others was no reward due to Him for al l He had

,

done and su fi e r e d ? An exceeding great reward

awaited Hi m in the glorifying of Hi s sacred hu
manity particularly of Hi s s acred body He had
,
.

wh il e on earth enj oyed uninterruptedly the

B e a tifi c V ision of God and though su fferin g a l
,

ways H e was still glorious in heaven But the .

glory of Hi s s acred humanity had shone forth

only at rare intervals as at the moment of Hi s
,

t r a n sfi gu r a t i o n and in the R esurrection O n Hi s .

ascension into heaven He took Hi s pla ce a s man

beside the heavenly F ather and w a s exalted as
man above all other human creatures .

2 He ascended into heaven to be our mediator

.
with Hi s F ather When it is a question of recon
.

oiling t w o people one of whom has grossly o f

fended the other a g o between is a necessity and

,
-

the closer the relationship in which he stands to

both parties the more likely are his go od o ffices to
be e fi e ctu a l In this case it is the great and eter
.

nal God who has been o fi e n de d and it i s w e poor

sinners who o fi e n d Him Jesus Christ our medi
.
,

ator stands close to God being Hims elf God but

, , ,

He i s very near to man als o having lived on earth

, ,

and taken on Himself from the cradle to the grave

the shame and ignominy of s in And n o w that He .

is s eated in glory at the right hand of the F ather ,

He is a mediator who for all time will plead for

u s pointing to the wounds which He received for
,

the glory of God and the salvation of mank ind .

What trust and confidence may we not repos e in

Him !
3 O ur Saviour ascended into heaven to prepare
.

a place for us Before Hi s ascension He said :

.
“
I
”
go to prepare a place for you ( Jo hn xiv He .

went for Hi s o w n s ake to enter into Hi s glory ,

but for ours also to prepare a place for us He .

promised us heaven and then he went to prepare

it for us Wh at an incentive to o u r hopes ! If any
.

man had the certainty that in a very short time

he would leave this country and go to America
where a beautiful n e w home all ready awaited
him h o w very unimportant everything that had
,

up till then formed part of his life woul d appear !

Ho w his thoughts would wander to his future
home ! The thoughts the desires the hopes of
, ,

our hearts should tend ever upward to our b eav

“ ” “
emly home .Seek s ays St Paul
, the things.
,
32 4 P O P UL A R SER MONS ON T HE C A TEC HISM

that are above where Christ i s sitting at the right

,

hand of God ; m i nd the things that are above not ,

”
the things that are on earth ( C o l iii 1 .The .
,

things of earth will have but little value for us if

we be really full of desire and longing for the
eternal life to come where our S aviour awaits us .

Poverty or riches sicknes s or health s orrow or

, ,

happiness what does it matter ? 0 L ord and

,

S aviour glorious in heaven after a life of poverty

, ,

pain and su fi e r in g w e beg of Thee by Thy won

, ,

d e r fu l ascension to fill our hearts with the hope

of heaven that we may be consoled in our suffer
,

ings encouraged in good works and co m forted

, ,

at the hour of death Amen . .

32 6 P O P UL A R SERMONS ON T HE C A TECHISM

I The judge
. .

II The witnes ses

. .

III The s entence “

.

No w what character does the j udge bear before

whom w e will have to stand ? We will find Him
inex orable and i nflexible in Hi s dealings with us ,

confronting us with witnesses whom there will be

no gainsaying and passing s entence upon u s from
,

which there will be no appeal We will take these .

three points to day and consider them briefly

-

and devoutly under the guidance of the Holy

Spirit .

He before whom we must appear at the last gen

eral judgment is no other than Jesus Christ our
L ord who appointed by God the F ather judge of
, ,

the whole world and vested by Him with full

,

power and authority will be unbending in Hi s

,
“
adm i nistration T he F ather hath given all
.

”
judgment to the S on ( Jo hn v H e wi ll know .

h o w to establish and make good Hi s authority ,

and will leave us no pos sible loop hole for doubt -

in g that we are indeed face to face w ith Him who

has power to judge us Clothed in Hi s s acred .

humanity and accompanied by Hi s apostles point ,

ing to Hi s sacred wounds and hold ing on high ,

the holy cros s that potent S ign with which we

,
“ ”
are told the L ord will come to judgment He ,

will convince us with overwhelming conviction of

the truth of what He claim s—that He i s th e
Saviour who died for us and who n o w in Hi s ,

capacity of judge comes to render to ev ery man

,

a ccording to hi s works .
 THE GENER A L HUD GMENT
N either does He lack any of the qualifications
requi red for this o ffi ce He is mighty enough to
.

summon all men before Him and Hi s voice which ,

no one will disregard will reach even to the tomb

, ,

and will be obeyed by all who hear it Hi s wis .

dom will penetrate and search out everythi ng be ,

it ever s o hi dden that concerns thee and me and

, , ,

all men The laws of the interior life as well as

.

those of the exterior are known to Him He u n .

d e r st a n d s the hearts of men their conscience , ,

their entire history Which of us will dare to lie

.

to such a judge or concealing anything seek to

,

deceive H im The character of justice so essen

.
,

tial in awardin g judgments will shine forth con ,

sp i cu o u sly in a ll that He does Y et He is the .

“
L amb of Go d who taketh away the sins of the
”
world and no one will have cause to complain
that the fate of the world h a s been placed in the
hands of one so m i ld s o patient so merci ful
,
“
He , .

”
will take equity for an invincible shield ( W i s .

v .

What a panic of fear will aris e when He a p

“
pears in our midst ? Truly the just shall stand
” “
with gr eat constancy but the wicked shall be
,
”
troubled with terrible fear ( W i s v 1 . .
,

II
W h o are the witnesses that shall be called to
give testimony against us ? They will be such as
there will be no gainsaying F irst our own con .

science will come forward What words of e x cuse .

wi ll our ton gue be able to utter when we find o u r

selves confronted by our S ins of thought of de ,
“
sire of word of work of o m ission
, , ,
T hou art .
32 8 P O P UL A R SER MONS ON T HE C A TECHIS M
”
just 0 L ord ; and Thy judgm ent i s r i ght ( P s
, .

cxviii .

A second witness against us will be the Sacred

Heart of our divine L ord Himself O h where .
,

S hall w e find anythi ng to urge in self— defence when

w e gaze on the rich s ource from whence s o many
graces and blessings such boun dl ess love such, ,

merciful forgivenes s have flowed to u s In face of .

such incriminating testimony we shall be dumb

indeed .

“
What shall I do when God shall rise to judge ?
and when He shall e x am i ne what shall I answer
”
H im ? ( Jo b xxxi What shall w e indeed be
.

able to answer when pres sed by thos e tw o w i t

—
nes ses our s ins on the one hand and God s ’ ,

mercy and goodnes s to us on the other ? The most

skillful excuses ever invented by the ingenuity of
man will die away on our lips .

“ ” “
L ord we may try to say it is true I have
, ,

sinned grievously I confess it but I beg Thee to

, ,

bear in mind that when I w a s young my parents

trained me very badly N o wonder that I grew .

into what I am “
Ho w n o w
.
”
o u r S aviour will
,
“
reply you s e e s o clearly that a bad bringing up
,

i s the root and beginning of a dissolute life and ,

yet you have done no better for your o wn chil

dren Y ou complain o f your parents but your
.
,

children have twice as much reason to complain

”
of you Away wi th such excuses
. .

“
O nce more 0 L ord I acknowledged my guilt !
, ,

But remember that as a child I learned and knew

very little I have lived in ignorance of Thy laws
.
,
”
and it is through i gnorance that I have sinned .

Y es it is true yo u have sinned in i gnorance but it

, ,
330 P O P UL A R SER MONS ON THE C A TECHISM

F ar from vindicating your conduct , your very

confessions tell heavily against you .

“
O L ord Jesus Christ Judge of the living and ,

the de ad I admit my e x cuses to be poor and weak

,
.

But leave me I implore Thee one ground of hope !

, ,

Though my sins be red a s scarlet Thy sacred

wounds are redder still T o them I fly for shelter
.

” “
and mercy M y wounds have bled for love of
.

you All through your life you knew they were

.

open to receive you T housands and m i llions of

.

sinners have found in them mercy and pardon ,

”
but you refused their shelter .

Before such a judge and face to face wi th such

,

witnes ses it will be vain to put forward useless

,

excuses The words wi ll die on our lips before

.

we have the courage to give utterance to them .

F rom the sentence pronounced by the Judge ,

there will be no appeal M ankind wil l stand .

divided into tw o camps the good on the right ,

hand the wicked on the left O ur S aviour Hi m

, .

self ha s told us What He W ill Sa y to the W icked

“
D epart from M e ye cursed into everlasting fire
, , ,

which w a s prepared for the dev il and Hi s angels ”

” —
.

“
D epart as far as heav en is removed from
earth
”—
.

“
'

F rom M e from M e your creator your , ,

Saviour N ever will you se e M e more never Will

.
,

you gaze upon M y face again D epart from M e .

,

from heaven from the angels from the saints

, , ,

from M y blessed M other .

“ ”—
Y e cursed O my Saviour to ha v e Thy curse ,

upon us for a ll eternity !

 THE G ENER A L J U D GM E N T
”
D epart from M e , ye curs ed ! Where to ?
Into hell fi r e —to terrors torture punishment—to
-

, ,

lose the highest good and be subjected to the ex

,

treme penalty of hell .

“
To the just our S aviour will s a y Come ! ,

C ome to M e that we may never more be s e p

“ ”
a r a te d : Y e blessed of my F ather T h e bless
ing of God—a grace containing in itself all honor
.

and glory all happines s and j oy

”—
, .

“
Posses s ye c ome in and take possession of

the heavenly and eternal kin gdom whose citizens ,

are holy Whose laws are peace and j oy whi ch will

, ,

last forever and whos e king is God

, .

This is the wording of the judgment and the

sentence is irrevocable To repeal the verdi ct it
.

wo ul d be neces sary to appeal to another judge ,

appear before a di fferent tribunal to produce ,

fresh Witnesses and open up a n e w inquiry But .

this proceeding i s impos sible The Judge who .

h a s pronounced sentence i s powerful and omni

scient and from Him there is no appeal ; the
tribunal is the highest the witnes ses were all
,

heard all w a s in order Sentence has been pas sed

, .

and will be enforced for the almighty Judge h a s

,

power to carry it out N o s ooner are the words

.

spoken than hell opens to complete its revenge and

—
to swallow up its victims and at the same time
heaven throws W ide its gates to receiv e its chil
dren . He that openeth and no man shutteth ;
”
shutteth and no man O peneth ( A p o c iii 7 . .

Terrible judgment given by an inflex ible judge

, ,

whos e evidence there wil l be no contesting from ,

whose verdict there will be no appeal What can .

w e do to make it favorable to u s ? We can do three

332 P O P UL A R SERMONS ON THE CA TECHISM

things : We can judge ourselves in examining our

conscience we can accuse ourselves at t he tribunal
,

of penance ; w e can refrain from judging others

“
whether by word or by deed . Judge not and ,

you shall not be judged ( Ma t t vii 1 ) Amen

”
. . . .
334 P O P UL A R SER MONS ON THE C A TECHISM

Who was it that on the tenth day after the A s

,

ce n s i o n and the fiftieth after the R esurrection o f

the S aviour w a s sent by Him from heaven to us

—
,

here below A great and sublime guest the Holy

?
Spirit of God .

We can come to form some idea of h o w high

and e x alted a guest He w a s when w e consider ,

from whom He came N 0 one contests that the .

Church g ives to the apostles the highest dignity

and pays them the greatest honor because they
were the messengers of Jesus Christ comm i s ,

s i o n e d and sent out by Hi m to do Hi s work :

“
As
”
the F ather ha s sent M e s o I als o send you ,

( Jo hn xx An d by whom was the H oly Ghost

.

sent ? F rom the tw o most exalted personages ,

apart from Himself in the u niverse the F ather ,

and the Son .

Hi s high and e xalted dignity shines out if w e con

sider the names and titles of honor bestowed on
Hi m . Ho w do w e find Hi m described ? O ur
Saviour calls Hi m the Spirit of T ruth The Scrip .

tures tell us of Hi s omnipresence saying “

He ,

hath filled the W hole world ( W i s i 7 ) that He

” “
. .

”
s earcheth all things yea the deep things of God
,

( 1 C o r ii . therefore He is also omniscient ;

.

that by Him the heavens were established ( P s

“ ”
.

xxxii . showing Him to be almighty The .

Church calls Him the L ord the L ife giver who

“
,
-

proceedeth from the F ather and the Son w h o to ,

gether with the F ather and the S on is adored and

”
glorified who spoke by the prophets ( C ouncils
,

of N ice and C onstance ) .

We best succeed in r e a liz m g In some measure

 THE HO L Y GHO ST

Hi s greatnes s when w e considered who and what

He is in Himself F or what is He ? True God
.
,
“
the third person of the Blessed Trinity There .

are three who give testimony in heaven the ,

F ather the Word and the Holy Ghost and these

, , ,
”
three are one ( 1 Jo hn v St Peter makes
. .

it clear that to deceive God or to deceive the ,

Holy Ghost is one and the same thing

,
“
Ananias .
,

why has S atan tempted thy heart that thou

S houldst lie to the Holy Ghost thou hast not
”
lied to men but to God ( A cts v 3
,
St Paul .
,
“ ” “
uses the words temple of God or the temple ,

of the Holy Ghost as though they were syn o n y

”
,
“
mous terms Know you not that you are the
temple of God and that the Spirit of God
,
”
dwelleth in you ? ( 1 C o r iii Why are you
. .

temples of God ? Because the Holy Ghost dwelleth

in you .

In the Holy Ghost therefore we have a guest

, , ,

who by reason of Hi s coming to us as He does ,

sent by the persons of the Bles sed Trinity has the ,

highest claims to be looked upon a s one of the

most exalted dignity ; moreover we have heard ,

Him described by the most sublim e titles ; and we

kn ow Him to be Him s elf God .

II
L et usnext turn our thoughts to the manner in
which the Holy Ghost came on earth considering ,

to that end what preceded Hi s coming what signs ,

accompanied Him and what followed on Hi s

,

co m i ng .

( a ) The comi ng of the H oly Ghost had been

announced by the prophets w ho foretold the out ,
336 P O P UL A R SERMONS ON THE C A TECHISM

pouring of the H oly Spirit D uring Hi s life our .

S aviour repeatedly in clear and distinct words ,

and finally in the act of ascen di ng into heaven ,

promised that He would sent the Holy Ghost

Stay you in the city till you be endued with
”
power from on high ( Lu k e xxiv .

b
( ) The coming of the H oly Spirit w a s a cc o m

p a n i e d by the sound of a mighty wind and parted ,

tongues as it were of fire s a t upon every one of

thos e pres ent .

What is the signi fication of the s o u nd from

heaven ? Great events are generally ushered in by
a great s ound The clang of the bell c a lls u s to
.

church the notes of the bugle summon to battle ;

,

the call of the trumpet will awake us at the last

day ; and the coming of the H oly Ghost was a n
n o u n ce d by the s ound of a great wind .

What signification attaches to the mi ghty wind ?

In the first place wind moves with extraor di n a ry
,

v elocity ; no steam engine can travel with a rapid

-

ity equal to that with which the storm and the

wind can fly along This lightning S peed i s ex
.

pressive of the power of the Holy Ghost by which ,

the teaching of the Gospel was to spread from

town to town from country to country from
people to people—a thi n g which actual ly came to
, ,

pass A great storm is indeed a wonderful and

.
, ,

a w e inspiring thing ; yet wind is no more than air

-

in movement and nothing s eems li ghter weaker

, , ,

thin ner s ofter than air But once it i s s e t in

,
.

motion it becomes pos sessed of pro di gious

strength When the power of the winds i s added
.

to them the waves of the sea the currents of a

, ,

river are m i ghty enough t o sweep along with

338 P O P UL A R SER MONS ON THE C A TECHISM

was endowed with that quality which enabled it to

’
reach and touch men s hearts enl ightening those ,

that were in darkness giving warmth to the cold

, ,

softenin g the hard of heart and melting them to ,

tears of contrition to fervor in the lo v e of God

, ,

to zeal in doin g penance .

( c ) What followed o n the coming of the H oly

Spirit ? A remarkable change to ok place in the
apostles St Peter who had trembled with fear
. .
,

on being questioned by a s ervant maid n o w b e -

came filled with the power of the Holy Ghost and ,

fearlessly facing the multitudes he publicly con

fes sed Jesus Christ whom he had denied in s o
—
cowardly a w a y to be the Son of God h e boldl y
laid the murder of the Saviour the innocent o ne , ,

at the door of the Jews showing them clearly that

,

the proof of Hi s divinity is in the fact of Hi s

resurrection from the dead F inally he called .
,

upon them to believe to receive baptism and to

, ,

enter the Church of Christ What w a s the resul t ?

.

L ook upon the fi r st fruits of the working of the

-

Holy Spirit N early

. souls were conv erted ,

thus laying the foundation of the C atholic Church

and forming the first C atholic congregation .

As our last point we will n ow consider to whom

it was that the Holy Ghost w a s sent where H e ,

n o w dwells and what are H is o f

,
fice and works He .

was sent to and He dwells and works in a special

manner in the Holy C atholic Church and i n the ,

souls of the just .

( a ) What is the work of the H oly Ghost in the

Church ? The catechi sm tell s u s the Holy Ghost
“
 THE HO L Y GHO ST

will abide with the Church forever and guide it

in the w a y of holin ess and truth ”
T hat the Holy .

Ghost teaches and guides th e Church i s palpable .

The truths proposed to ou r belief by the Church

consist of a collection of sublim e and wonderful
and mysterious propositions whi ch to believ e calls ,

for the greatest exercis e of faith Ho w i s it that .

these propositions have been preserv ed s o sa ~

cr e dl y in all their purit y and are s o faithfully ,

and s o fully accepted by the faithful ? N ot by

human agency Call to mind the many theories
.

and speculations concerning all manner of su b

j e ct s that have been formulated and advanced ,

defended attack ed and upset by men outside the

, ,

Church What numbers of great thi nkers have

.

created a s ensation with their n e w doctrines and

their n e w views of the universe ! But as one
wave succeeds another so have their beliefs and,

O pinions come and gone sometimes washed away ,

while the originator of them w a s yet living often ,

forgotten b efore they had time to be properly

understood and in most cases leaving v ery little
,

trace behind But the teaching of the Holy

.

Ghost preserved in i ts integrity lasts for all

, ,

tim e and i s like the rock in the se a o v er which

, ,

the tide ebbs and flows .

( b ) The Holy Ghost is the sa n ctifi e r o f the

Church The graces neces sary for our s a n ctifi ca
.

tion are dispensed pre eminently through the s a c

-

r a m e nt s which viewed from a purely obj ective

,

standpoint would appear to consist of nothing

more than a fe w outward symbols a fe w weak ,

words N o one is capable o f discerning in the

.

water used in baptism in the holy oil or the , ,

340 P O PUL A R SERMONS ON THE C A TECHISM

chrism in C onfirmation in the words spoken by

,

the priest in the sacram ent of P enance the power ,

and virtue to make men holy But to these out .

ward signs is j oined the activ e operation o f the

Holy Spirit working and bringing forth results
which neither the forces of water nor steam nor ,

electricity ; nor the hand of men nor the agency of ,

spirits be they good or bad is quali fied to pro

, ,

duce namely the s a n ctifi ca ti o n of s o ul s With

, ,
.

out a power behind it to apply its strength a sa w

will not cut The sacraments work and bring
.

forth fruit through the action and power o f the

Holy Spirit o f God .

( 0 ) The H oly Ghost i s the ruler of the Church .

We sometim e s se e the Church beautifully and su g

g e s t i v e ly represented in pictures as a tiny boat
on a stormy se a with either St Peter or the Pope .

seated at the rudder C all to your m i nds the

.

length of time that little bo a t laden wi th its ,

heavy hu man freight has been afloat on that

,

stormy and treacherous ocean and what ha nds ,

have held the rudder T hey have always been

.

weak hands and oftentimes they have been aged

and infirm as well ; they have been inexperienced ,

trembling and unstable frightened and s ometimes

, ,

even dying hands O h if that li ttle boat had been

.
,

guided on its long j ourn ey by human power alone ,

the storms of passion which have broken o v er

it would long since hav e destroyed it ; the want
,

of u nion among the crew would have brought ru in

upon it ; the rudder would have slipped altogether
from the feeble grasp of those that held it and ,

been broken up into a thousand pieces ! O nly the

thought that the Church is guided and directed
342 P O P UL A R SER MONS ON THE C A TECHISM

will lead you to repentance Hard of heart ? The

.

warmth of the Holy Spirit will mo v e you to con

t r i ti on and penance
. We w ill pray often that the
power of the Holy Spirit may be made m an ifest
in u s in life and in death and in eternity Amen
, . .
 S E R MO N XL VII
t oncept ion, D efi nit ion, a no ® r igi n of t he t b u r cb
I b e li e v e i n the Ho ly Ca tho li c Chu r ch
“ ”

M come to the consideration of those im

E N OW

portant words “
I believ e in the Holy
”
Catholic Church which brief as they are are
, , ,

full of the richest and deepest meaning and con

tain much that i s not at first sight easy to under
stand The subj ect they deal with may be divided
.

into four parts : the first setting forth the history

of the institution and the ordering of the Church ;
the s ec ond sho w ing the marks and signs by which
we may know her ; the third treating of her aims
and purpose ; and the fourth and last dealing with
the doctrine o f the comm union of saints We will .

begin with the first part whi ch treats o f the ,

founding and ordering of the Church co nfining ,

ours elves to day to co nsidering u nder the

-

g uidance of the Holy Spirit

I The definition of the Church
. .

II The origin of the Church

. .

I
In making the following meditation dearly b e ,

loved brethren we must at the outset form a clear

,
“ ”
idea of what we mean by the word Church
when w e s a y I believe in the H oly C atholic
“
Church The catechism asks :
. Wh at is the
” “
Church ? and the answer given is T h e Church
is the congregation of all those who profess the
343
344 P O P UL A R SER MONS ON T HE C A TECHISM

faith of Christ partake of the same s acraments

, ,

and are governed by their lawful pastors under

one visible head .

“ ”
The wor d Church in this context means a
congregation but we notice that it is capable of
,

bearing s everal very di fferent meanings It is .

sometimes used to designate a building c o n se

crated to the service of God with tower and bell ,

and containing an altar a chancel and an organ

, ,
.

We have many such churches big and small in , ,

our towns and villages O ften by the word

.

“ ”
Church w e mean the service itself as for in , ,
“
stance when w e s ay :
, Church begins at such an
” “ ”
hour Church is o v er But when in the
’
.
,
“
Apostles C reed we s a y I believe in the H oly
,
”
C atholic Church we mean neither the building
,

itself nor the service which is held in the building ,

but something quite different namely a congrega , ,

tion or community of people .

No w what i s understood by a community ? A

community consists of a num ber of p eople who ,

agreeing on one or more points are j oined by a ,

common bond A number of men of the s ame

.

origin and speaking the s ame language posses s

community of race and people inhabiting the s ame
,

country and obeying the s ame laws make up the

communi ty of a State Children of the s ame par
.

ents living under the same roof with the s ame ,

tie s of blood constitute the community of the

,

fam ily N ow the congregation which we call the

.

Church i s a commu nity which includes a v ery

large num ber o f people indeed ,
.

Who are thes e people who belong to the Chu r ch ?

In what way are they conn e cted ? Th ey a r e a l l
346 P O P UL A R SER MONS ON T HE C A TECHISM

laws nor sacraments a body which would be in

,

reality no body at all .

Therefore the Church i s a visible community ,

the union of all faithful Christians on eart h under

one head which is the Pope of R ome and under
, ,

hi m the assembled bishops .

Considered in its extent the congregation of the

Church bears some resemblance to the community
of the human race All mank ind form one body
.

b y reas on of their hav ing a common origin and

a im and they share the s ame hum an nature and
,

are all go v erned by the pro vidence of G od The .

Church does not embrace the whole of mankind ,

though it is her a im to w i n all men and to endure ,

as long a s human creatures exist in this world .

“ ” “
G o ye and teach all nations ; There wil l b e
”
one fold and one shepherd ( Jo hn x .

In its laws and constituted authority the Church

is on th e same lines a s a constitutional State its ,

leaders m aking the laws which govern it and ,

watching over and enforcing their observ ance In .

the Church it is the head of the Church the Pope , ,

that g uides the entire community fram ing laws , ,

altering and explaining them dispensing from ,

them and awarding and rem i tting punishm ent a s

“
he think s right Wh atsoever thou shalt loo se on
.

e arth it shall be loosed also in heaven ( Ma t t

,
”
.

xv i .

C onsidered from the point of view of the rela

tion of one member to the other the Church closely
resembles one great family The members of a .

fam ily are bound together not only by reas on of

their common dwelling place and mutual interests
-

but also by the b ond of a ffection and love habit ,

 THE CHURCH

of thought religion and even by the resemblance

, ,

of their fea tures The members of the Church ar e

.

b ound together not only by the same professions

and beliefs but by a common head whom they call
,

F ather and whom they truly love as a F ather ;

and they are also uni ted amongst themselves by
“
the bond of mutual charity See h o w they love .

”
one another .

But the closest analogy of all is that which

exists between the Church and another great com
munity that of the blessed in heaven F or who
, .

i s their head ? God Himself What I s their aim ? .

The glory of God How are they constantly o c

.

cu p i e d ? In praising God What laws govern .

them ? L ove alone S o the Church if w e consider

.
,

her aims is but the preparation the be gin ning

, , ,

the s eed of the ki ngdom of heaven F or this rea .

son sh e is s ometimes herself called the kingdom

o f God . St John compares her to the City of
.

God the heavenl y Jerusalem which he witnessed

, ,

descending upon earth decked as a bride going ,

out to meet her bridegroom .

11

No w that we know what is to be understood by

“ ”
the word Church we will go further and i nquire
into the origin of the Church We are told by the .

catechism that it w a s founded by Christ the S on ,

of God made man and it i s because it is the work

,

of the Son of God that it is called in Holy Scrip

“ ”
ture the Church of God ( 1 C o r x 32 ; xi 1 6 . . .
,

22 ; xiv 4 ; xv 9 ; Ga l i 1 3 ; P hi l iii 6 ; T i m iii

. . . . . . . .

Being Hi s own work the fru it of Hi s most ,

precious blood it is no wonder that Christ loved

,
348 P O P UL A R SERMONS ON THE C A TECHISM

it and loved to speak of it N o subj ect i s s o

, .

dear to o u r hearts as the work we consider the

masterpiece of our hands and after the R esur ,

rection we find Christ constantly talking to the

apostles of the kingdom of God the Church , .

Standing in such intimate relation to the S aviour ,

and being so tenderly loved by H im it is s ome ,

times called the body the mystical body o f Christ

, ,
“
and farther than that it i s even called the Bride
, ,
”
of Christ In the Apocalypse the angel said to
.

“
St John :
. C ome and I will show thee the bride
, ,
”
the wife of the L amb ( A p o c xxi Christ is . .

the lamb and Hi s bride is the Church

, .

The Church is therefore the work of Jesus

, ,

Christ and though a community of human crea

, ,

tures is one founded by God Him s elf F or truly

, .
, ,

if the Church be not founded by God then it must ,

be the work of hum an hands ; and lik e everyt hing ,

that is human it would be subj ect to change and

, ,

would be es sential or unessential to us o nl y a c

cording to the measure of human thi ngs and cer
t a inly not deserv ing of a place in the A postles
’ ,

C reed .

The Church of God is the work of infi nite w i s

dom and it is wrong of ignorant foolish men to
, ,

find fault with its constitution and worki ngs even ,

attempting to impro v e alter or upset them N o , ,

.

wisdom prevails against God and the Church , ,

founded as it is by Him is unchangeable inde , ,

s t r u cti b l e and incapable of M p r o v e m e n t

,
.

The Church is the work of the A lm i ghty and ,

herein lies the secret of its durableness and

stability The foundations thereof are in the
”
holy mountains ( P s lxxxvi It is madness
. .

and folly to think of underminin g the Church for ,

 S E R MO N X LVIII
p et e r t he b e ab of t b e t b u r cb
The Ho ly Ca tho lic Chu r ch ,
the C o m m u ni on of Saints

® understood by the word “ Church ” as used

UR last instruction made clear what i s to be

’
in the Apostles Creed ; we sa w that it means the“

congregation of all those who profes s the faith

of Christ partake of the same s acraments and
, ,

are governed by their lawful pastors under one ,

”
visible head We s a w further that the founder
.

of the Church is no other than Jesus Christ the ,

Son of God made man and we indicated to what

,

weighty conclusions this one great truth must

lead We wi ll n o w go on with our questions from
.

“
the catechism and ask you : Who is the visible
head o f the Church ? ” “
O ur Holy F ather the
Pope the Bishop of R ome is the Vicar of Christ
, ,
”
on earth and the visible H ead of the Church
,
.

“
Why is the P ope the Bishop of R ome the v i s
, ,

ible Head of the Church ? ” “

The Pope the ,

Bishop of R ome is the visible Head of the Church

,

because he is the succ ess or of St Peter whom .

,

Christ made the chief of the apostles and the

visible Head of the Church ”
These are not mere
.

idle questions but are of the utmost importance

,

and we can furnish overwhelming and convincing

pro of of the accuracy of the answers given to
them
.
’
I F rom our Saviour s o w n words .

II F rom the conduct of St Peter himself

. . .

350
 PE TER THE HEA D OR THE GE OR GE 351

III . F rom the attitude of the other apostles .

These are the three points of the meditation ,

whi ch with the help of the Holy Ghost we pro

, ,

pose to make with you to day -

( a ) If w e consider that Christ in the first in

stance solemnl y promised the highest o ffice in the
Church to St Peter and then at a later perio d
.

formally laid this great charge and responsibility

upon him it becomes very apparent that St Peter
,
.

ac t u ally and in truth was appointed by the

Saviour to the exalted position we are n ow claim
ing for him .

( b ) The promis e w a s made in the neighborhood

of Cesarea Philippi O ur Saviour was question.

ing the apostles as to whom He was s aid to be

“ ”
Whom do men s a y that the S on of M an is ?
and they answered Some John the Baptis t ,

and other some E lias and other some Jerem i as , ,

”
or one of the prophets Still our Saviour .

“
pres sed the subject further But whom do you
”
sa y that I am ? To this great question Peter
“
alone replied saying : ,Thou art Christ the Son ,
”
of the living God Thes e words constitute a
.

glorious profession of faith and a public a ck n o w l

e d gm e n t of Jesus Christ as the promised M essias ,

Son of God and true God and elicited from our ,

S av i our the praise and the reward which they

deserved No w listen carefully to what O ur L ord
.

replied to P eter F irst He pointed out to him

.

that his faith and knowledge were gifts of God

“
and the work of grace : Bles sed art thou Sim on ,

Bar Jona because flesh a n d blood hath not r e

-

,
352 P O P UL A R SERMONS ON THE C A TECHISM

v ealed it to thee , but M y F ather who is in

” “
heaven . Then continuing H e said : An d I s a y
”
to thee : thou art P eter By this our Saviour
.

clearly meant T hou hast told M e who I am ,

n o w I will tell thee who thou art and what I will ,

have thee to do Thou art Peter and upon thi s

.

rock I will build my church and the gates of hell

”
shall not prev ail against it No w “
Peter a s .
, ,

you kn ow means rock a n d he w a s to be the rock

, ,

on which the Church w a s to be built A stone .

invariably forms the foundation of any building ,

and the foundations are als o that part of the

structure which requires to be most carefully and
firmly laid P eter it w a s who was to bear the
.

whole weight of the Church giving it strength and ,

s olidity just a s the foundations of any e di fice a r e

,

responsible for the cohesion and steadin ess o f the

“
entire building The gates of hell shall not pre
.

( Ma t t xv i
”
v ail against it . .

U nquestionably these words actually do occur

in the Gospel and their signification is plain The
,
.

one and only loophole for an obj ection to the

’
Church s reading of them whi ch the O pponents
of the Papacy can di scover i s to try and make
o u t that in speaking of the rock o n whi ch H e was

going to build Hi s Church our Saviour intended

to and actually di d indicate H im self But this .

theory does not hold water for it is clearly to ,

St Peter that O ur L ord w a s speaking and whom

.

H e w a s addres sing when He used the phrase “

I ,
”
s a y to thee It was Peter whom he wished to
.

“
reward and to whom the words Bles sed art
—
, ,
”
thou Peter B ar Jona were applicable and there
, , ,

can be no doubt that if there i s any s equen ce or

354 P O P UL A R S ERMONS ON THE C A TECHISM

Saviour gave hi m charge of Hi s lambs and of Hi s

”
sheep F eed my lambs feed my sheep The , .

faithful are the lambs of Jesus and H is sheep are ,

their pastors and lambs and sheep together make

,

up the whole flock of Christ which is the Church ; ,

and to this flock He appointed Peter shepherd .

The shepherd is we know the head of the whole

, ,

flock and St Peter is the shepherd of all those

, .

who belong to Christ the guide and head of all,

faithful Christians .

II

Ou r S aviour all through Hi s li fe seemed to

single out St Pete r from the other disciples a s
.
,

if in anticipation and in order to prepare the

,

way for the final signal mark of Hi s favor which

He intended to bestow o n him It was in P eter s ’ .

boat that He pushed o fi from land when H e

preached to the people from the se a ; He paid the
didrachma for Himself and P eter and it was for ,

St Peter He prayed that his faith might not fail

.
,

but that he might strengthen his brethren Al .

though Holy Scripture does not mention it many ,

F athers of the Church hold that at the L ast Sup

per at the washing of feet our Saviour washed
,
’
St Peter s feet first and from the account given
.
,
,

by St Paul it is clear that Jesus after Hi s R esur

.

rection appeared first of all to Peter ; and finally , ,

shortly before Hi s ascension into heaven H e fore ,

told to P eter the martyrdom he was s o soon to

undergo A ll this s eems to agree and b e in keep
.

ing with the fact that Peter was the one appointed
by Christ to be the head of Hi s Church .

M oreover St P eter himself showed by his

,
.

whole line o f conduct that he looked upon him

 PE TER THE HEA D O F THE CHU RCH 355

self as the divinely appointed head o f the Church ,

for after the ascension of our S aviour he seemed

at once to assume the leadership It w a s he who .

caused a n e w apostle to be cho sen in the place of

the traitor Judas presiding himself over the elec
,

tion A t Pentecost it was he who preached to the

.

“
assembled multitudes conv erting 3000 ,
But
Peter standi ng up with the eleven li fted up hi s
, ,
”
v oice ( A c ts ii . In conjunction wi th St John .

he worked the first miracle s aying to the lame ,

“
man at the gate of the Templ e: In the name of
”
Jesus Christ of N azareth arise and walk ( A cts ,

iii
. H e decreed the pu nishment which God
actually brought to pas s on Ananias and Saphira .

It was his action in first adm itting P agans to be

members of the Church that contributed so enor
m o u sly to i t s e x tension and development H e on .
,

his o w n responsibility excluded Simon M a g u s

,

from the fold When the apostles and disciples

.

a ll assembled at Jerusalem to di scus s and pro

no u nce on matters of the gravest import it w a s ,

again St Peter who spoke and as the Holy Scrip

.
,
“
ture tells us All the multitude held their
”
peace . It was moreover he who established the
, ,

Holy See at R ome and let it be noted he di d

, , ,

all this in the presence and with the full knowl

edge o f the other apostles not one of them dis ,

puting his authority They fully recognized St

.
‘

Peter as appointed by Christ to be their head and

the head of the whole o f Christendom .

N ot o nl y this ( and now come to the third we

point of our discourse ) the other apostles e x ,
356 P O P UL A R SER MONS ON THE C A TECHISM

pressly ackn owledged St P eter a s their leader . .

Wherever the names of the twelve apostles are

enumerated in Holy Scripture St Peter is always .

“
mentioned first And the names of the twelve
.

apostles are these : the first Simon who is called ,

Peter ( Ma t t x
”
Why was he called the first ?
. .

He was not the first among them to be chosen by

O ur L ord for that was Andrew N or was he the
,
.

best loved ; St John is known to have been that

-

. .

N either was he supposed to have been the eldest

in point of years F or what reas on then w a s he .
, ,

called the first ? Perhaps you will sa y that after

’
all some one s name had to come first N o doubt ; .

but why even when we find the names of the other

,

apostles occurring in different order does that of ,

St P eter invariably come first ; and though he i s

.
,

always described a s the first are none o f the ,

others ever called the s econd or the third ? M ore

over he is mentioned by name even when the
, ,
“ ” “
others are not Peter and the rest
. P eter and ,
” “
the twelve Peter and the others
, and while , ,

he is always put first another name that of , ,

’
Judas is always mentioned last All this can not
, .

surely be mere coin cidence ; it i s done intention

ally and clearly indicates and emphasiz es that
,

among all the apostles St Peter is the highest and .

the first chief of the apostles and head of the

,

Church .

What more can you require to be convinced on

this subject O ur S aviour continually sin gled St
. .

Peter out from among the other disciples He .

‘
promised him the highest o fli ce and in the end ,

He bestowed it on him St Peter himself con . .

s i s t e ntly behaved a s only one vested with the hi gh

 S E R M O N X L IX
t he p ope t he 5 110C€ 8 5 0t Of S t Det er .

’“
I b e li ev e i n the Ho ly Ca tho l i c Chu r ch
”

G Church appointed by the divine F ounder

EEapostle St Peter was the first head of the
.

Himself O ur S aviour promised this dignity to

.

St Peter and then actually bestowed it upon him

.
, .

A fter the ascension of Christ St Peter acted a s .

the ruler of the Church and he w a s reco gnized ,

and accepted as such by the other apo stles .

In continuing the course of our instructions the

ne x t question to be considered is who has been the ,

head of the Church since the death of St Peter ? .

A little thought on the three following points wil l

give us the answer
I It was neces sary tha t the o ffi ce of chief
.

shepherd should continue to exist after the death

of St Peter . .

II St Peter went to R ome and there became

. .

Bishop of R ome and was holding this o ffi ce at the

,

time of his death .

II I The Pope is the head of the Church because

.

he is the legitimate success or of St Peter to the .

See of R ome .

It was necessary that after the death of St .

Peter the Church should still have a supreme

head This w e kn ow was the intention of Christ
.
,

for He instituted the Church that it might last

358
 THE P O PE THE S UC CESS OR OF ~
PE TER 3 59

not only for a fe w years or a couple of centuries , ,

“
but for all time Behold I am with you always
.
,

even to the consummation of the world ( Ma t t

”
. .

“
xxviii . The gates of hell shall not prevail
” “
against M y Church and The spirit of truth will
,
”
abide with you forever Clearly Christ meant
.
,

Hi s Church to endure forever and we have proved ,

to you beyond doubt that in the beginning He

Himself appointed who was to be its head If a .

supreme head of the Church was neces sary at the

beginning was it not just as necessary later on
,

and at all times of her existence ? O ur S aviour

likened Hi s Church to a building and certainly ,

a building can neither be erected nor can it stand

firm without foundations He compared her to a .

flock which whether it be a large flock o r a small

, ,

flock will not long remain intact without a

,

shepherd O ur Saviour als o called Hi s Church a

.

k ingdom and you will agree that a kingdom where

,

there were no regent to rule in the absence of the

king would be in grave danger St Paul likens . .

the Church to a body and neither in youth nor in

,

old age can a body e xist without a head The .

position of the Church in later centuries became ,

if a nything more complicated and difficult than

,

in the beginning and therefore more in need of

, ,

a ruler and guide In the early days of Christian

.

ity the Church was more limited ; congregations

were smaller consisting perhaps o nl y of a hand
,

ful of people and they were closely united being

, ,

one heart and one s oul and living really as fellow

,

citizens of the one great k ingdom o f God M ore .

over the apostles had themselves been learners

,

at the feet of the Saviour but a short tim e before ,

36 0 P O P UL A R SERMONS ON THE C A TECHIS M

and full of the Spirit of G od were unerring in

, ,

what they taught If ever the Church could have

.

dispensed with the authority of a supreme rul er

it would have been at this time and yet one w a s ,

definitely named and appointed by our Saviour .

Hi s wisdom and providence foresaw the p e r se cu

tions and divisions that were to follow the greater
expansion of the Church which H e knew would ,

grow and increas e S preadi ng over many countries

,

and nations and embracing many di fi e r e n t races

,

of people H e realized that the apostles them

.

selves would pas s away in a very fe w years while ,

the ranks of the faithful growing larger and ,

larger would require a greater number of priests

,

and bishops He knew too that Hi s Church

.
, ,

would number more sinners than s aints amo ng

her chil dren and that enemies from without and
,

from within would ris e up against her C ould .

He in Hi s wisdom and providence have meant

, ,

to leave her to face thes e dangers and difli cu lti e s

with no supreme head no ruler and guide to con ,

trol and direct her ? Such a thing is incredible .

If our Saviour appointed a supreme head for the

days of the apostles it is beyond question Hi s will,

that the o ffi ce of Pope should always exist in H is

Church .

II
’
O n whom was to fall St Peter s mantle after .

his death or in other words who was to be his

, , ,

succ essor ? The following points will make this

clearly apparent .

( 1 ) We s a y that St P eter went to R ome and .

remained in R ome No w i s this true ? Since the.

36 2 P O P U LA R S ERMONS ON T HE C A TEC HISM
“
he w a s in Babylon : The Church that is in Baby
”
lon elected together with you saluteth you ( 1
, ,

Pe ter v Which Babylon can he mean ? Was

.

it Babylon on the riv er E uphrates in di stant

A sia where K ing N abuchodonosor and K ing Bal
,

thasar reigned where D aniel performed his mir

,

acles the city which was finally conquered by

,

Cyrus the G reat ? N o this is not the Babylon ,

meant for at the time St Peter wrote his epistle

, .

it had long been a heap of ruins N one of the .

apostles ever went there ; it had had no Christian

community The Babylon to which the apostle
.

alludes is R ome The early Christia ns were fond

.

of comparing R ome to the ancient city of Babylon ,

and of bringing o u t and accentuating the points

of res e mblance between them ; and there were
many Babylon which once represented an em
.
,

pire with 1 20 provinces had been as R ome w a s , ,

the most powerful capital of the world in its o w n

day It had been like R ome ,the center and the
.
,

bulwar k of P aganism and a perfect swamp o f ,

iniquity and vice The rulers of B abylon were .

the great enemies of the re ligion of the true God

under the old dispensation and the emperors of ,

R ome played the s ame part to the divine d i sp e n

s a t i o n s under the Ne w L a w by the zeal a nd bit ,

t e r n e s s with which they persecuted the Christians .

“
Y ou will agree that the name of the n e w Baby
”
lon given to R ome can not be considered very
far fetched In the Apocalypse St John s pe ak s
-
. .

of the mighty Babylon which he describes as a ,

city built on seven hills having dominion over all ,

the kings of the earth which though at that time ,

prosperous and flourishing would in the end be

 THE P O PE THE S U CCE SS O R O F PE TER 36 3

overthrown and meet its downfall Clearly thi s .

,

is the city of R ome which is actually built on

,

seven hills and which then held do m i nion over all

,

the kings of the world Though it w a s glorious

.

and appeared unconquerable it was nevertheles s , ,

hurrying to i t s en d If St John alluded to R ome

. .

“ ”
simply as Babylon it woul d b e natural that
St Peter should do the sam e So it i s St P eter s
.
’ . .

“
own lips that tell us of his being in R ome : The
”
Church that i s in Babylon s aluteth you ,
“ ”
means the Church th at is in R o m e .

St P eter not only went to R ome he died there

.
,
.

I will give you the evidence of but one of the

many writers of old from whom we learn this .

E usebius the F ather of Church history writes

, ,

A ccording to tradition Paul was decapitated in

R ome during the reign of N ero while Peter w a s ,

crucified and this tradition i s supported by the

,

fact that the holy apo stles are buried in R ome and
their remains venerated there up to this v ery
”
day . Tradition vouches fo r the fact that both
the holy apostles suffered martyrdom under N ero ,

and at the tim e o f this writer it is shown that

their remains were v enerated actually in their
sepulchers The same author appeals to another
.

writer who liv ed and wrote in R ome a hundred

,
“
years earlier : I can direct you to the memorials
of the apostles In going to the V atican or along
.

the Osti a n Way you will se e the memorials of the

”
founders of this church in front of you So .
,

apparently at the tim e at which this w a s written

,

there existed in R ome either at the place where

36 4 P O P UL A R SERMONS ON THE C A TECHISM

they su ffered death or at the spot where they ,

were interred memorials to St P et e r a n d St Paul ;

,
. .

the writer had himself seen them there is no ,

doubting his word No w would memorials be .

,

erected in R ome to people who had nev er been

there or would the people of R ome be likely to
,

commemorate the death of those who were u n co n

n e ct e d with their city ? R ome w a s not an unknown
village but the capital of the world full of Chris
, ,

tians divines learned men and artists of all

, , ,

kinds It i s impos sible that a monument com

’
.

m e m o r a ting St P eter s martyrdom could have

.

been erected there that the place of his burial

,

could have been venerated for centuries if it were ,

not true that he had died and been buried there .

Such a thing is absolutely incredible .

St Peter w a s in R ome and died in R ome as

.
, ,

bishop and guide of the R oman Church No w .

,

whoever became Bishop of R ome in hi s place

would naturally be his successor and here w e have
the beginning of the supremacy of the Bishop of
R ome over all the other bishops of the world .

Their judgment i s appealed to and with them ,

rests all decisions in matters relating to faith ;

they summon Church councils presiding them ,

selves on all occasions and always ta king pre ,

ce d e n ce Here we s e e the working of divine

.

Providence R ome w a s originally the center and

.

capital of the world the home of many different,

forms of worship the sink of immorality and vice ;

,

but it w a s likewise the seat of the most powerful

emperor where all the culture knowledge art
, , , ,

and magnificence of Pagani sm was concentrated .

All roads lead to R ome It seems but fit that the .

 S E R MO N L
t he t l nitu ot t he t hu re h a nb t he m ar ks b u
t u b icb W e { Dag k now h er
“
I b e li ev e in the Ho ly C a tho li c C hu r ch

W E LE AR N E D in our last instruction

P eter was the first Head of the
that St
Church
.

founded by Jesus Christ and that e v er since his ,

time whoever o ccupies the episcopal s e e of R ome

has always been ackn owledged his legitimate su c
cessor a s visible head of the Church and V icar of
Christ Although St P eter represented the su
. .

preme authority in the Church this does not by ,

any means imply that it has no other rulers and

governors ; o n the contrary the apostles were a ll ,

by divine appointment rulers of the Church only ,

subject to their head St Peter E very bishop , . .

who rightly consecrated i s in communion with

, ,

the Pope or in other words who acknowledges

, , ,

the S overeign P o nti fi as his head and is in turn ,

recognized by him as a bishop of the Church is ,

a direct succes sor of the apo stles The different .

bishops each govern the particular di ocese a s

signed to them by the Pope and a s this im plies , ,

more work than it would be possible for one per

s o n to accomplish S in gle handed the bishops in -

their turn have under them priests to assist them

in carrying on the labors involved by their o ffi ce .

In this way unity and order reign throughout

the Church of Christ The faithful follow their
.

priests the priests obey their bishops while the

, ,

36 6
 UNITY AND MA RKS ON THE CHU RCH 36 7

bishops in their tu rn act in submission to the

Pope The whole presents the appearance of a
.

well disciplined army and is a picture of the

-

heavenly hosts whose angelic choirs rising one

, ,

above the other a ll b o w in unison and harmony

,

before the throne of the m ost high God .

Having considered the material constru ction

and constitution of the Church I now want to ,

pass on with you to tw o more very important

points asking first the help and guidance o f the
,

Holy Spirit .

I The unity of the Church

. .

II The marks by which we m a y kn ow the

.

Church .

D id Jesus Christ , think you , found several

Churches or only one ? Ther e can be no two a n
,

sw e r s to this question Just as our Saviour taught

.

but one faith and appointed but one head s o did

, ,

He found but one Church .

T hi s is a proposition of extreme importance but ,

is nev ertheless one which can be easily proved in

the clearest possible manner Whenever our .

S avi our S poke of Hi s Church He invariably did

“
s o in the singular Thou art Peter and upon
.
,
”
this rock I will buil d my Church O ne rock one .
,

P eter one Church built on the rock

,
In Holy .

Scripture and by the lips of our S aviour Himself

, ,
“
the Church i s constantly spoken of as th e king
”
dom of heaven and this name well describes
,

what i s indeed nothing else but an institution to

prepare souls for heaven But it is always of .

one single ki ngdom of heaven that we hear men

36 8 P O P UL A R SER MONS ON THE C A TECHISM

tion O ur L ord was in the habit of frequently

.

comparing H is Church to earthly obj ects of dif

fe r e n t kinds F or instance H e likens it to a field
.
,

in which grow plants of all kin ds cockle a s well

as wheat—but all in the one single field ; to a
,

vineyard where many laborers come and go at

di fferent hours of the day to do their work in —
the same vineyard ; to a flock with lambs and
sheep and it is always one flock under one
,

shepherd of which He speaks ; to the grain of

mustard seed which growi ng into a big tree the
,

birds of the air come and dwell in the branches

thereof—but it sprang from one single grain of
mustard seed H e further compares the Church
.

to the net which enclo ses good fish and b ad ; to a

house ; to a banquet ; to a kingdom ; in fact to ,

the most various and di fi e r e nt things but w e find ,

that it i s invariably a single obj ect

“

O ur Saviour taught but one faith and H e a p ,

pointed but one head ; moreover before H is pas ,

sion He prayed earnestly to H is heavenly F ather

“
for the unity of the Church : K eep them in
Thy name whom Thou hast given M e ; that they
,
”
may be one a s we als o are ( Jo hn xvii
,
.

There can be no more complete unity than that

of the F ather and the S on w h o are one in thought
, ,

in wil l in essence Such is the unity and union

,
.

which our S aviour prayed might be that of Hi s

Church .

F e w things are easier to pro v e conclusively and

clearly than that our S aviour founded but o n e
,

Church and this being the case it follows that

, ,

let there be as many Churches as there wil l one ,

only i s justified ; for one only among them all can

37 0 POP UL A R S ER MONS ON THE C A TECHISM

is apostolic It is further asked

. In what
” “
Church are thes e marks found ? These marks
are found in the H oly R oman C athol ic Church
”
alone .

When a murder is perpetrated and the mur ,

derer escapes he is searched for everywhere

, .

But the question i s ho w will he ever be detected

,

and singled out from among the multitudes of men

in the swarm ing streets of populous cities or on ,

crowded steamers and trains ? He can change his

name alter his dres s and shave his he a r d ; there
, ,

fore clues such as these are of no value whatever

, .

What is wanted is some eccentricity s ome per ,

sonal individual distinguishing mark or trait that

,

can not be easily cast OR or got rid of as for , ,

instance a squint a stammer a scar a limp the

, , , ,

absence of a finger etc etc If at the tim e of the

,
.
, .

murder he was known to pos sess any peculiarity

of this kind the police will have no great diffi culty
,

in tracing him T elegrams describing him are

.

despatched in all directions and the criminal will ,

betray himself and will be tak en it may be e v en

, ,

in some far distant co u ntry on the other side of

-

the sea .

Why do we kn ow s o surely th at the Church of

Christ must be one holy catholic and apostolic ?
, , ,

Simply because Christ in foun di ng Hi s Church

gave it these four marks and that from the b e ,

ginning they were stamped upon it It i s evident .

that the Church of Christ must be one The

’
.

Church is God s kingdom and is to last forev er .

”
T he gates of hell shall not prevail against it .

No w the merest child kn ows that a disunited king

dom has no stability O ur Saviour Himself said
.
,
 UNITY AND MA RK S O F THE CHURCH 37 1

E very kingdom divided against itself shall be

made desolate ( Ma t t ; x ii
”
What manner .

of kingdom or Church therefore do we think our , ,

S av iour would have been likely to establish ? A

united kingdom or a disunited one ? Clearly a
, ,

united one
’
.

O ur L ord s obj ect in fo u nding a Church was to

guide men to heaven and this is why He so often ,

S poke of it as a kingdom In order to lead men .

to heaven it must first sanctify them and make

them holy and this it can not do unles s it is i t
,

self holy To il luminate others a light must burn

.

brightly ; to heat the room the stove must first get

warm itself ; s o too the Church in order to sanc
, , ,

t i fy mankind must be itself holy ,

.

F urther let us consider for whom and for what

,

length of time Christ founded Hi s Church It i s .

“
for all men without exception Go ye into the
whole world and preach the Gospel to every crea
” “
ture . It is for all time : And behold I am with
you always even to the consummation of the
,
”
world . It must therefore be catholic or univer
s a l spreading over the whole earth and subsisting
, ,

from the days of Christ onward through the cen

tu r i e s Any Church which dates its existence from
.

a time after the life of our S aviour can not po s

s i b ly be the Church which He came on earth to

found .

F inally the Church is apostolic because Christ

,

entrusted Hi s teaching to the apostles in all i t s

integrity appointing them to be the rulers of Hi s
,

Church The Church of Christ must therefore

.
, ,

necess arily be apostolic ; that Church is clearly so

which like the C atholic Church can trace her
, ,
37 2 P O P UL A R SER MONS ON THE C A TECHISM

origin back to the apostles and which having its

, ,

doctrine founded on apostoli c tra di tion can count ,

as her rulers the legitim ate succes sors of the

apostles .

O ne holy catholic and apostolic these four

, , , ,

marks are not selected at random but are the ,

v ery es sence and substance of the Church and ,

were adduced when it was still in its infancy at

the second C ouncil of C onstantinople All four .

marks were imprinted by our S aviour Himself on

Hi s Church We have need of no others for
.
,

thes e are easy to recognize ; they can not be o b

literated nor are they capable of being counter
,

fe i t e d b y fals e im itators
. N o Church for in ,

stance can alter the date of it s birth making

, ,

itself more ancient than it i s L et us lift up o u r

.

eyes to the city seated on the mountain which can

not be hid ; to the sign s e t for all generations .

There and there alone is the true Church founded

by Jesus Christ To that Church w e will be faith
.

ful following its teaching in life and in death

, ,

until it bring us s afely to heaven for all eternity .

Amen .
37 4 P O P UL A R SERMONS ON THE C A TEC HISM

agreed It was s aid of the early Christians that

.

they were of one heart ; and where belief is con

cerned it can still be s aid of C atholics that they
are of one heart and one faith .

But our unity has deeper roots still The mem .

bers of the C atholic Church as semble eve r y Sun

day and holy day round the altar to assist at the
-

s elf same sacrifice ; and all through their lives they

-

seek and find support and strength for their souls

from the same divine sources o fi e r e d them by the
Church namely the s even s acraments
, , .

Just as it is clear that the holy C atholic Church

i s one so is it equally clear that to all other
,

churches this unity is wanting Where the vari .

ous sects have S plit o ff from the Church of Christ

we find that earthly kings and princes have taken
upon themselves the o ffi ce of Church rulers ; so
that we have as many heads of churches a s there
are States and nations There is no community.

of faith or of sacraments They di spute amongst .

themselves as to which books do and do not belong

to Holy Scripture ; whether there be one tw o or , ,

three s acraments or no sacram ents at all ;

,

whether Christ is God or whether He was merely

,

a man These discussions go on and there is no

.
,

one who has autho rity to decide the points under

discussion The longer the argument continues
.

the more heated it becomes and the m ore a p ,

parent i t als o appears that the unity which the

real Bride of Christ bears a s an emblem of glory
on her forehead i s entirely wantin g to them
II T HE H OLI N E SS o n T HE C H UR C H —
.

. The Church .

bears upon itself the mark of holiness which ,

means that it has power to make holy all who

 CA THO L I C CHURCH A S TR UE CHURCH 37 5

follow its teach ing Where holiness dwells sin .

can not exist and the C atholic Church neither

,

allows nor defends sin but forbids it with ,

stringent severity Holin ess demands the e x e r

.

cise o f every good and there is no virtue which

,

the C atholic Church does not recognize praise , ,

glorify and hold up to us for our imitation

,

hum i lity purity patience charity penance the

, , , , ,

love of God T h e Church pronounces no man a

.

s aint till it is proved that he has practised virtue

to an heroic degree No w holiness is not the
’ ,
.

work of man but of God and of God s grace ; and

,

in the Church means are not wanting to help men

o n the road to holines s to sustain them when they ,

fall to strengthen them when they are weak to

, ,

encourage them when they feel downcast and

despairing Think of the sacraments that are
.

daily administered in the Church : B aptism ,

C onfirmation Penance and the M ost Blessed

, ,

Sacrament the bread of l ife

, .

N ot only does the Church o ffer to all the means

of holiness sh e has in point of fact sanctified and
,
“
made holy hundreds and thousands The queen .

”
stood on thy right hand in gilded clothing ( P s .

xliv. So said K ing D avid in the Psalms The .

k ing i s Christ and the queen is H is bride the ,

Church ; and her vesture of gold represents the

multitudes of saints and of martyrs dyed red in
their own blood of virgins in their lily inn ocence
,

and purity of penitents confessors hermits and

, , , ,

the whole host of s aints radiant in the glory of

their virtue and holiness In many instances so .

great w a s their sanctity that God bestowed on

them while still on this earth the gift of miracles
37 6 P O P UL A R SERMONS ON THE C A TECHIS M

and after they were dead preserve d their bodies

miraculously from corruption Is that Church .
,

then not holy that forbids S in and enj oins good

,

ness strengthening thos e who are weak in the

,

path of virtue and bringing s o many of her chil

,

dren sanctified and made perfect to God to give

Him glory for all eternity ?
It is sometimes obj ected that m any C atholics
are bad— just as bad as the worst in other r e
lig i on s That certainly can not be deni ed but is
.
,

the holiness of the Church of God blotted out b e

cause s ome of i t s members are not and do not
wish to be holy ? Should w e necessarily count a
teacher incompetent becaus e a few of his pupils ,

whether from incapacity laziness or inattention, , ,

make no progress ? I hardly think s o A gain it .

,

i s argued that in other religious bodies out side

the C atholic Church we find just as many men and
women leading upright honorable and blameless
, ,

live as in the true fold of Christ Quite so but .

,

this has no special signifi cance There is human .

as well as divine goodness ; natural as well as

supernatural virtue In attempting the ascent o f
.

a great mountain we find that its lower stages

,

can be reached by women children and every , ,

one There are eve n hills of no inconsiderable

.

height the summ i ts of which are acces sible to all

,

pers ons who are not actual invalids Good roads .

,

experienced guides sure footed mules and horses

,
-

carriages and electric railways will convey u s a l

most to the very top Such an ascent can not
.

be considered any great achi evement But onl y .

the boldest and bravest and most heroic souls can

attempt to scale the snow capped peaks wher e -

,
37 8 P O P UL A R SER MONS ON T HE C A TECHISM

of the merchant and the ambition of the ex

l
p or er Where they led the Church went with
.

them or s o on followed carrying with it the

, ,

hope and salvation of the world the light of the ,

Gospel .

The word C atholic or universal does not onl y

, ,

mean that the Church must continually strive to

extend its boundaries it als o signi fies that the
,

Church o f Christ subsists in all ages from the ,

days of Christ up to the present time and con ,

tinu a lly It must be evident and clear to the

.
,

meanest capacity that if a Church claims to be

,

the true Church founded by Christ it must of

necessity have existed continuously from the time
of Christ up to the present day No w let us ques .

tion all religious bodies of every description a s

to their age the length o f their existence the
, ,

date of their establishment O ur Church can mak e .

but the one answer : “

History shows me to have
”
e xisted unbrokenly S ince Christ It has been .

already pointed out to you that we count our

years wi th reference to the birth of Christ but as ,

regards the age of the Church we consider that

the first s eed was s own at the choosing of the
twelve apostles ; that the foundation stone w a s
laid when Christ designated St Peter as the rock .

on which it was to be built It came to birth when .

out of the side o f the S aviour flowed water and

blood ; it received its baptism when in the form o f
fire the Holy Ghost descended upon the apostles .

Since that time the Church ha s never ceased i n ,

spite of hatred persecution and contempt to live

, , ,

and flourish No w what length of li fe can the

.
,

other Churches boast of ? What does their cer

 C A THO L I C CHURCH A S TR UE CHUR CH 37 9

t ifi ca t e of birth clai m for them ? When was their

beginn ing ? Three hundred years—1 000 years
1 800 years — after Christ But on their o w n show
.

ing they can not pretend to have been founded

by our S aviour O ne can reply to them what
.

St Irenaeus replied to the heresies of his day

.

”
Y ou have come too late .

IV T HE C H U R C H IS AP O S T OLI C
. Th e true .
-

Church must be apostolic No w the C atholic .

Church can claim t o be this in every sense because

its records and history go back to the times of the
apostles its doctrines agree with their teaching
, ,

and it is governed by a Pope and bishops who

are their lawful and direct successors I can give .

you a practical illustration of the tru th of this .

I am your pastor sent to you by my bishop —now

to whom did he succeed ? He succeeded to his
predecessor We can follow the chain in this w a y
.
,

till we get back to the very first bishop whom we ,

will find to be an apostle empowered by Christ ;

thus the first link of our chain is in the hands of
the Saviour Himself No w in other religions this
.

can not be so for if we retrace our steps to their

,

first beginning we come face to face not with an

an apostle but with some man who at one time
, ,

or another broke the chain opening the link s and , ,

s evering all the bonds of unity There is nothing .

apostolic either in their history their teaching or , ,

their authority .

The C atholic Church is the only true Church ,

and this fact carries wi th it the most weighty con

s equences .

The first is that we can never thank God su ffi

,

c i e n tl y for having made us its children We are .

38 0 P O P UL A R S ER MONS ON T HE C A TEC HISM

ungrateful in deed if we have no feelings of grati

, ,

tude for such a blessing .

S econdly it follows that it is by no means a

, ,

matter of indifference which Church we belong to .

T ruth and error can never be equal ; pure gold and

pinchbeck are not of the same value We can not .

walk at the same time on the right and the wrong

road .

Thirdly we are bound to giv e evidence in our

,

lives and by our actions of our belief in the one

true Church If you really thank God for the
.

privilege of belonging to Hi s Church do not send ,

your children to schools where all religions are

looked upon a s equal ; do not contract a mix ed
marriage Ho w can you hope to live in the clos
.

e s t communion on earth and yet reach heav en by ,

different roads ?
F urther it behooves us to pray fervently for
,

all thos e outside the true fold that they may ,

come in the end to embrace the true Church .

Prayer can do more than argument and reason

ing L et us pray fervently then t hat the city
.
, ,

seated on the mountain the sign se t for all gen ,

e r a t i o n s may be visible to the whole of mankind

,
.

M ore than all if we be really children of the

,

true Church we must obey her as a ch il d obeys its

,

mother ; believing what she teaches and doing ,

what she co m mand s S o guided and sustain ed .

,

by her hand we shall reach eternal life Am en

,
. .
38 2 P O P UL A R SERMONS ON THE C A TECHISM

Why did Christ found the Church ? Christ

fo u nded the Church to teach govern sanctify and , , ,

save all men ”

Here in a fe w words we have
.

the m is sion of the Church which beginning on ,

earth finds its accomplishment in heaven O ur .

S aviour loved to describe Hi s Church a s a king

dom and a kingdom inde ed it i s Whose aim and
, , , ,

obj ect i s to prepare men for their heavenly home ,

directing guiding and leading them on the road

, ,

that leads to it .

What a stupendous task ! In view alone of the

immense multitude of s ouls to be dealt w ith its
“
magnitude i s enormous To teach govern sanc .
, ,

t i fy and s ave all men

,
all wi thout exception -

who till the end of time shall ever come into ex

i st e n ce And this i s not the only difficulty of
.

well nigh insurmountable gravity which the

-

Church has to encounter in fulfilling her mission .

When we consider in themselves the souls whom

sh e is commissioned to guide and s ave men s o ,

self willed and s elf su fficient s o insubordinate and

- -

full of pride that they will follo w nothing but

their o w n opinions and be led o nl y by their o wn
,

passions and inclin ations we may well feel that ,

the task is an impossible one .

A gain the difficulties of the work the Church

,

has to do strik e u s forcibly when we try to realize

what the dangers are through which men are to
be guided Their hearts are to be drawn away
.

from this alluring world which binds them by s o

many ties to love it and to take delight in its ,

pleasures .

F urther we have to take into consideration the

,

end toward which the Church is trying to lead

END S AND END O WMEN T O F T HE C HURCH 38 3

them It is heaven which they have never seen

.
, ,

which seems s o far above them and which a s , ,

the Gospel tells us w e can not make our o w n u n

,
“
less we take it by storm T h e kingdom of
heaven su fi e r e th violence and the violent bear it
away ( Ma tt xi
”
. .

It is a heavy and ove rwhelm i ng burden indeed ,

this mighty undertakin g which entrusted as it is, ,

to the Church and to the Church only can not

, ,

be shirked or the respo nsibility of it thru st onto

other shoulders .

But h o w supreme and sublime a mission !

Where can we find on earth another community or
body which has been called to a vocation s o ex
alted and grand Y ou may talk of the functions
.

of the State N o doubt the work that has to be

.

done by the State is very arduous and diffi cult ;

but the State is concerned with the temporal wel
fare the earthly happines s of its subj ects and
, ,

certainly that implies a great deal ; but beyond

that it does not go N ote on h o w much higher a
.

plane is the work of the Church A s far as .

heaven is above earth s o far is the sacred mis

,

sion of the Church to mankind raised above that

obligation by which States and nations are bound
to secure the well being and greater good of those
-

under their juris di ction .

II
Christ did not lay on Hi s Church the heavy r e
sponsibility and burden of s o high and noble a
mission w ithout providing it fully with the meces
s ary powers and placing in its hands the weapons
,

needful to enable it to accomplish the end He had

38 4 P O P UL A R SERMONS ON T HE C A TECHISM

in v iew Whoever launches a ship intending that

.

it should sail acros s the ocean and come s afely

'

into harbor on the other side of the world will

not merely push the bare ves sel out to s e a ; he
will als o fit it out and furnish it in many ways
F irst a compas s is an absolute necessity to steer
,

by ; then there must be sails or else a powerful

steam engine to propel the boat through the
-

water ; an experienced captain and crew to direct

it ; and provisions must be provided to ensure
them against hunger and thirst If an army goes
.

out determined to defeat a powerful enemy it

could hardly take the field with empty hands ; it
would be sure to be well equipped with powerful
and e ffectiv e arms E verything requires to be
.

specially prepared and made ready for the par

ti cu l a r purpos e it is destined to s erv e .

No w what steps did Christ our L ord take to

,

ensure that Hi s Church shall be enabled to do

that which He requires of it and fulfill the d iffi
,

cult mission H e has laid upon it H e endowed it

.

with powers of a very special nature by which it ,

i s rendered capable of performing three very i m

portant o fli ce s to the human race : the teaching
o fli ce the priestly o fii ce and the pastoral o ffice
‘

T H E T E AC H I N G O FF I C E —In order to attain eter

, ,
.

nal life it is before all things es sential to believe

“
all that Go d has revealed : H e that be lieveth
not S hall be condemned ( Ma r k xv i
”
No w if
.

the Church has the responsibility of leading man

kind to heaven it i s necess ary that it should be
in a position to put before men what God s reve ’
lation to Hi s creatures has been F or this rea .

“
s o n is i t empowered to teach : Goin g therefore , ,
38 6 P O P ULA R S ER MONS ON THE CA TECHISM

es sential part of the power necessary to it if ,

it is to accomplish its di vine mission F eed my

” “
lambs feed my sheep ( Jo hn xxi 1 5 1 7 )
, . Wh at
-

s oever you shall bind on earth shall be bound also

in heaven ; and whats oever you shall loos e on

earth shall be loos ed als o in heaven ( Ma r k xviii
”
.

T h e angel R aphael could not have ventured

to constitute himself the g uide of the youthful
T obias to the city of the M edes had the latter not
undertaken to follow hi s guidance leaving it to,

him to determ ine the road by which they wer e

“
to travel I have often w al ked through a ll the
.

”
ways thereof ( T o b v . . Here w a s indeed a
guide to be relied on ; He knew the w a y “
I will .

conduct him thither and bring him back to thee

( Tob v
. . H e accepted the charge and faith
fully performed all that he s e t out to do ; and
Tobias o n his side was a faithful disciple a t ,

t e n tiv e to every S ign from his guide and fully ,

meritin g by hi s docility the j oy and happiness

which the archangel w a s the means of bringing
to him .

Christ appointed the Church to the three fold -

o fii ce o f teacher priest and shepherd

, ,
Ho w .

richly endowed is the bride of Christ ! F rom her

lips flows the stream of div ine truth ; her heart
i s the spring from which wells up the fountain
of divin e grace ; and in her hands she holds the
s t a fi which points the w a y to etern al life .

But Christ h a s done eve n greater things yet

for Hi s Church ; things which give to a ll the rest
their real value and from which they receive s o ,

to speak their heavenly radiance and luster He

, .

promised that the Holy Ghost would abide w ith

END S AND END O WM ENT O F T HE CHURCH 38 7

Hi s Church always to support it in the functions

,

of its three fold o fli ce Viewed by this light how

-

wonderful and marvelous is the part the Church

plays to the human race ! It teaches under the
guidance of the Holy Spirit a n d i s therefore
, , ,

infallible ; its priesthood is supported by the Holy

Spirit and can therefore never die out ; it car
, , ,

ries the grace of God to man in vessels that

will never break or be exhausted or become pol
luted Its sacraments remain forever valid The
. .

stream of mercy and grace will fl o w unceasingly

and never run dry In performing the o ffice of
.

shepherd its arm and st a fi are guided and upheld

by the Spirit of God It can not err or go astray
.
,

and all who follow it will attain the blessed and

holy heights of eternal life Amen . .
 S ER M O N LII I
t he 1! nt a llihili t g ot t h e t a t ho li c t e a chi ng
“
I b e l i e ve in t he Ho ly C a tho li c C hu r ch ”

® entrusted to Hi s Church the sublime m i s sion

UB discours e last week showed us that Jesus

of leading all mankind to s alvation ; and we

further s a w that in laying this great charge upon
it our Saviour at the same time endowed Hi s
Church with marvelous powers and privileges to
enable it to carry out Hi s directions and to fit
it for the three fold o ffice of teacher priest and
-

, ,

shepherd .

In the exercis e of this three fold o ffi ce it is u p -

held and assisted by the Holy Ghost whom Christ ,

specifically pro m i s ed to Hi s Church and whose ,

presence gives to its teaching a special quality

and characteristic We learn in the catechism
.

“
that The Church can not err when it teaches a
”
doctrine of faith or morals ; in other words that ,

the Church as a teaching body is infallible It .

w ill be our obj ect to day to inquire and examine

-

closely what this doctrin e of infallib il ity exactly

consists in .

The teachi ng body of the Church is composed

of the Pope and the bishops Instruction is no .
,

doubt also given from the pulpit by individual

,

priests but they teach only as au xiliaries and in

,

the name of the particular bishop w ho sent them .

Though they teach they do not belong to what is

known as the teachi n g body proper which is com ,

posed exclusively of the Pope and the bishops It .

39 0 P O P UL A R SERMONS ON THE CA TECHISM

teach ye all nations and behold I am with

you all days even to the consummation of the
,

world ( Ma t t xxvi ii 1 9
”
. This means that
.
,

Jesus i s ever present to inspire and uphold the

teachings of Hi s Church and to support and as sist
it Ho w then could it err in its doctrines ? I
.
, ,

think you will agree that such a thing is an utter

impossibility .

O ur Sa vio ur made yet another promise I

will a sk the F ather and He S hall give you another
Paraclete that He may abide with you forever
, ,
”
the Spirit of truth ( Jo hn xiv 1 6 O ur .
,

Saviour promised to intercede for Hi s Church

and Hi s prayer was granted ; and the Holy Ghost ,

co m i ng down on it n o w abides with it forever

,
.

Animated by the Holy Spirit of God is it con ,

ce iv a b l e that the Church could err in the doctrines

she formulates and teaches ? It is impossible ;

we feel that it is s o and that therefore the Church
,

as a teaching body must be infallible .

We come to the same conclusion by recalling

’
the Saviour s words to St Peter Thou art .

Peter and upon this rock I will build M y Church ,

and the gates of hell shall not prevail against

it ( Ma tt xv i
”
. If then hell i s nev er to
.
, ,

prevail against the Church h o w can that Church ,

ever be in error in matters of belief ? It can be

persecuted and has indeed su ffered much o pp r e s
sion ; it can be despoiled of its possessions which ,

has actually come to pas s ; its m embers and even ,

its heads and rulers can transgr es s the laws of

,

God and make themselves guil ty of grievous si n ;

,

but it is an impossibil ity that the Church should

ev er teach false doctrines for then indeed the , , ,
 INFA LL IBILITY O F C A THO L I C TEA CHIN G 39 1

gates of hell would have prevailed against it and ,

this can never be .

See h o w deeply rooted is the I nfallibility of the

Church resting as it does on the inspiration of
,

the Holy Ghost and the support of Christ our

,

L ord blessings promised to her not once but

, , ,

three times over by the lips of the S on of God

,

Himself .

If the Church is infallible in its teaching then ,

St Paul rightly points to it as the pillar and

.

ground of truth It would seem but rational to

.

ex pect that C atholics instead of being so anx ious

,

to weigh and analyze the O pinions of the wise and

learned of this world or to know and be in touch
,

with the latest idea or to adopt and make their

,

o w n what appeals to their fancy should ask ,

What does the Church guided by the Holy Spirit

, ,

say on the subj ect ? We should imagine that in all

disputed matters both past and present they
, ,

would adhere firmly and loyally without any sec ,

ond thoughts on the subj ect to whatever is or , ,

has been or will be decreed and defined by the

,

teaching body of the Church .

II T H RO U G H W H AT I N S T RU M E N TALI TY D OE S T H I S
.

I N F A L L I B LE T EA C H I N G R E AC H U s —Here we are
confronted with a further difficulty which is our ,

s econd point of meditation namely : through ,

whom or by whose mouth does the teaching body

, ,

of the Church give utterance to her infallible de

ci si o n s ? The catechism asks this same question ,

saying When does the Church teach in fa l

”
l i b ly ? The Church teaches infallibly when it
speaks through the Pope and the bishops united
in general council or through the Pope alone when
,
39 2 P O P UL A R SER MONS ON THE C A TEC HISM

he proclaims to all the faithful a doctrine of faith

”
or morals .

We s e e therefore that such decisions a s claim

, ,

to be infallible can not be made by any single iso

lated bishop much les s by any individual priest
,
'
.

They can be arrived at only in tw o ways either ,

by a general council of the Church o r by the Pope

alone .

What is meant by a general council of the

Church ? It is a council presided over either by
the Pope hims elf or by hi s legate to which he ,

invi tes and calls all the bishops of the Church ,

and the decisions of which are ratified by the sanc

tion of the Holy See The decrees of such a gen
.

eral council concerning faith and morals are i n

fallible and must on account of their infallibility
, ,

be firmly and unconditionally accepted These .

great councils are the grand opportunities and

occasions on which the entire teaching body of
the Church comes together Pope with bishops
, ,

and bishops with Pope to formulate their de

,

crees F or many hundreds of years the Church

.

has held thes e general councils for the deciding

of the most important questions and their de ,

crees have ever been accepted by the faithful with

the greatest respect and reverence Pope Gregory .

the Great speaking of the four first councils said :

, ,
“
I believe and reverence these four general
”
councils as I do the four Gospels St Am brose
. .

exhorts the faithful to suffer death sooner than

rej ect their decisions In point of fact to assert
.
,

that a council of the Church is in error on any

doctrine concerning faith or morals is equivalent ,

to saying that the Church has made a mi stake and

394 P O P UL A R SERMONS ON T HE CA TECHISM

his decrees and pronouncements claim to be in

fallible .

The infallibility of the Pope is further limited

by the subj ect matter upon which he is p r o n o u n c
-

ing for he is not infallible in all matters but o nl y

, ,

in questions of faith or morals There is a legend .

about one of the ancient Greek heroes to the e ffect

that he was invulnerable in every part o f his
body ; neither dagger nor sword nor any other , ,

weapon could wound him except only in one

, ,

place the heel N ow with the Pope it is the other

,
.
,

w a y about He can make mistakes in all s orts

.

of things : in his knowledge of people names num , ,

bers and places ; in making calculations in his

, ,

tory in geography in the management of his

, ,

o w n affairs and concerns ; but there is just o n e

department in which error is impossible to him ,

namely in defining and deciding as he ad and

,

S hepherd of all Christians doctrines of faith or

morals .

The final limitation to Papal infallibility is a f

forded by thos e whom he is addressing F or a
’
.

decree of the Pope s to be infallible it must be

directed not to one single person or even to s e v
, ,

eral people ; not o nl y to one or more o f the bish

ops but to all the faithful in the whole world
,
.

We find these three limits clearly laid down in

“
the catechism T h e Church teaches infallibly
when it speaks through the Pope and the bishops ,

united in general council or through the Pope ,

alone when he proclaims to all the faithful a doc

trine of faith or morals .

b
( ) T H E F O U N D AT I O N —On what foundations
does this doctrine of Papal infallibility rest ? At
 INFA LLIBILITY O F CA THO L I C TEA CHIN G 39 5

the last general V atican Council in R ome which ,

w a s held in the year 1 8 7 0 it w a s solemnl y decreed

,

that within certain and defined lim i ts which w e

have giv en you the pronouncements of the Pope
were to be considered infallible and the faithful ,

were called upon to accept them as such Thi s .

decision a s we hav e already stated s ettled the

, ,

question once and for all The council had been

.

summoned in the regular w a y and w a s attended ,

by an unprecedented number of bishops The .

propositions to b e discus sed and decided upon

were clearly laid before them and all were free ,

to give their v ote as they thought right The de .

cree of Papal infallibility w a s carried by a large

maj ority onl y tw o bishops pronouncing against
,

it and they later on became entirely reconciled to

,

it T herefore if the decrees of this particular

.
,

council are to be put aside the same must apply

,

to the decrees of former councils and the doctrine ,

of the infallibility of the Church and that of

Christ Him self may be rej ected and thrown o v er
board .

N evertheless the teachi ng of this council agrees

,

perfectly w ith that of Holy Scripture The gates .

of hell shall not prevail against the Church b e ,

cause i t is founded on a rock No w Peter is the .

,

rock If then the Church is infallible then must

.
, , ,

the Pope be infall ible .

M oreover Peter and his successors are the

,

shepherds and teachers of the whole Church Is .

it conceivable that the Pope can err when he is

engaged in teaching the whole Church ? In that
case he who should be guiding and directing the
,

flock might be leading it astray ; he whose o fli ce it

396 P O P UL A R S ERMONS ON THE C A TECHISM

is to shelter and protect it might be urging it on

to its destruction M oreover our Saviour prayed
.
,

for P eter that his faith might not fa il and that ,

he might be in a position to confirm his brethren .

Was this prayer o fi e r e d for St Peter alone ? The .

other apostles were not in special need of being

strengthen ed The words surely apply a s much
.

to the s u cce s s o r s of St P eter and the apostles a s

.

they do to St P eter and the apostles themselves ;

.

and we have a right to think that the prayer of

our Saviour w a s o fi e r e d that the faith not onl y ,

of St Peter but also of all hi s succes sors m i ght

.
, ,

never fail If therefore the prayers of our

.
, ,

S aviour were heard the V icar of Christ can nev er

,

go astray in matters of faith .

( 0 ) T HE O B JE CT I O N S RAI S E D A GAI N S T T HI S D OC
T BI N E —The first obj ection always made is based
.

on a misconception Ho w can the Pope be in fa l

.

l ib l e ? E very human creature i s liable to sin and

error and therefore s o is the P ope H e prays
, .

“
at the beginnin g of every M as s I hav e sinned ;
through my fault through my faul t through my
, ,
”
most grievous fault and he goes to co nfes sion
,
.

T o sa y that the P ope is infalli ble does not m ean

that he is incapable of sin .

If he were indeed incapable of fault he would

no longer belong to the ranks of mere human cre a
tures ; he would be like to God N ow the Pope is .

not infallible like God and incapable of fault H e .

is s o only under certain limited circumstances ,

and not of himself but by virtue of the action o f

'

the Holy Spirit L astly he is infall ible not for

.
,

hi s o w n advantage and interests but for those of ,

the Church of G od D oes it not come wi thi n the

.
398 P O P UL A R SERMONS ON THE C A TEC HISM

henceforth w e be no more children tossed to and

fro and carried about with every wind of doc
trine by the wickednes s of men by cunning cr a fti
,
”
nes s by which they lie in wait to deceive ( Ep h .

iv 1 1
.
,
L et u s rej oice for this blessing is
,

for our profit and salvation It is the lighthous e

.

which in the midst of the restless waves of human

opinion S hows the s afe co urse to the harbor of
,

rest and of eternal life Am en

. .
 S ER MO N L IV
t he t om m u ni on o f S a i nt s
“
I b e li e v e i n t he Ho ly C a tholi c C hu r ch ”

W E H AV E devoted several instructions to

ering the Church in its essence and origin
c o n si d

its constitution and various o ffices its distin g uish ,

ing marks ends and obj ect We have seen that

, ,
.

it is as it were a great kingdom or a flock and

, , ,

a shepherd ; a flock scattered over the whole world ,

yet guided by one single shepherd to a super

natural and heavenly destination .

If we lift up our eyes higher still we shall s e e

a yet greater kingdom the co m munion of saints
, ,

of which mention is made in the second part of

“
the ninth article of the Creed I believe in the :

”
communion of saints .

If we ask what the communion of saints means ,

“
the catechism tells us : The communion of saints
means the union which exists between the mem
bers of the Church on earth with one another and ,

with the blessed in heaven and with the su fi e r in g

”—
,

s ouls in purgatory the Church militant the ,

Church su fi e r in g the Church triumphant

,
.

We wil l select two points only for our medita

tion to day and will consider under the guidance
-

of the Holy Spirit :

I What are the component parts which make
.

up the communion of saints ?

II What is the bond b y which these parts are
.

un ited and held together ?

399
4 00 P O P UL A R SERMONS ON T HE C A TECHISM

The comm union of s aints is composed of s ouls ,

who though all members of the Church are in

, ,

three di fferent states of existence F irst there .

,

are the faithful on earth who form the Church ,

m ilitant so long as they are on earth The mem .

bers of the Church can not live otherwise than

in a state of struggle and warfare A genuine .

and sincere C atholic w h o is honestly trying to a t

tain his end must of necessity be fighting un ceas
i ngly against the desires of the spirit and of the
flesh against bad in fluences and fals e principles
, ,

and all the dangerous circu mstances of hi s j our

ney through this world as well as the attacks and
,

assaults of the evil spirits T he Church is p o s .

s es sed of all kinds of weapons with which to car r y

on this warfare ; and her children each individu
ally wage i t s ome with more some with less
, , ,

courage and with very various results There

,
.

are sharp weapons and blunt weapons ; heroes and

cowards ; v ictories and defeats But s o long as .
,

this world exists s o long as this life lasts , the

,

battle must continue .

The communion of saints is further composed

of the suffering s ouls in purgatory Their bat .

tle is over and won but their triumph is delayed

,

till their wounds are healed and they have ex ,

p i a t e d by su ffering the sins they have been guilty

, ,

of and completed the punishment due to them

,
.

N o one can s a y what the number of these s ouls

may be but we may s afely conj ecture that it is
,

very great indeed .

The last and highest division of the communion

of saints is formed by the bles sed in heaven N ot .
402 POP ULA R S ERMONS ON THE C A TEC HISM

saintly In this sense they may be called saints

.
,

and it is with this meaning that St Paul without .

,

hesitation s o addressed the members of the Chris

,
“
tian community to whom he was writing the ,
”
saints at E phesus and s o on We ourselves b e
, .

long to the communion of s aints This name .

,

which is in itself a whole sermon ought to act ,

as a spur an incitement Shall w e not each one

, .
,

of us endeavor to do credit to it and strive to be

, ,

in reality what it implies ? If any one should

give himself out to be a painter without either
being able to paint or having the least idea of
learning he would be making himself thoroughly
,

ridiculous O dearly beloved brethren we belong

.
,

to the communion of s aints ! We are not saints ,

but at least let us excite in our hearts the earnest

wish and desire to become so .

No w that we hav e seen what mak es up the com

munion of s aints it still remains for u s to know
,

what is the bond that holds thes e divisions to

gether making them a s one whole
,
.

It is an invisible and S piritual bond that j oins

them for the union is an invisible union It is
,
.

the three fold bond of thought of deeds and of

-

, ,

being united under a common head .

T H E B O N D o r T H O U G H T — If we begin with the

.

Church triumphant it is quite certain that the

,

thoughts of the blessed in heav en often go back

to those whom they have left behind them here
below This earth w a s their battlefield ; it was
.

h ere they fought and won their victory and where ,

the foundations of their s anctity were laid Wi ll .

 T HE C OMMUNION O F SA IN TS
they have no sympathy with u s who have come ,

forward to fi ll their places in the rank s to face ,

and withstand the same foe ? Y es surely they , ,

take the keenest interest in u s just as veteran ,

warriors love to live their battles over again g o ,

ing back in their minds constantly to former e n

g a g e m e nt s and counting up their deeds of valor
,

with the marches accomplished and the victories

w on . T he thoughts of the blessed in heaven are
often turned in the same way I feel sure to the , ,

holy souls in purgatory M any among them have

.

themselves experienced the purifyi ng flames and , ,

even were it not s o surely it seems only right

,

that those s ouls who free from every stain are

,

rej oicing in complete blessedn ess should remem ,

b er their brethren who still linger in s orrow and

suffering If even in this life when we are in
.
, ,

luck ourselves it is considered despicable and

,

mean to forget friends w ho are down in the world ,

with how much greater force would this prin ciple

apply in heaven ?
The thoughts of the souls in purgatory must
dwell a great deal almost uni nterrupte dl y with
, ,

the blessed in heaven for there is their home the

, ,

object of all their hopes and longings They look .

,

without doubt frequently also to us below who

are bo und to them by s o many ties—it may be of
, ,
'

blood and friendship ; but at least by the bond , ,

of a common faith and by the self same hopes ; -

s ometimes alas by the bond of s in !

, ,

And we who still soj ourn in this vale of t e m p t a

tion and tears turn our thoughts and eyes I will ,

not s ay frequently or even continuously but at ,

least from time to tim e toward heaven and to , ,

4 04 P OP ULAR S ERMONS ON T HE C A TECHISM

the s ouls in purgatory C an any believing Chris

.

tian fail to think occasionally of the destination

toward which he is hurrying ? And if such ,

thoughts do not come to u s naturally and of them

s elves the Church takes care to bring them to our
,

minds on the feast of All Sain ts and the C om

memoration of the Holy Souls .

But mere thoughts even though they be earnest

,

and frequent are still but a feeble bond of union

, .

The w e b of the spider stretches from tree to tree

or from w a ll t o wall but it takes very little to
'

destroy it The Church m ilitant triumphant and

.
, ,

su ffering is not united o nl y by the bond of

thought ; it is knit firm l y together by the more
powerful link of mutual help and influence .

What can the action and in fluence be which we

can bring to bear upon the saints ? We can pay
them honor as the friends of God and victorious
, ,

combatants ornaments of the Church our ex

, ,

amples and models our patrons and helpers We

, .

erect churches and altars in their memo ry In ,

which we exp ose pictures an d images of them ;

we preserv e their relics and pay them rev erence ;
we invoke their powerful interces sion s o often ,

and with s o much confidence that our enemies ,

hav e made it a reproach to us This action and .

influence is not one sided While we on our part

-

.
, ,

honor and pray to the s aints they assist us by ,

interceding powerfully for us with G od If the .

prayer of the just man av ails much then surely ,

the prayers of not only one but of m any or all

the saints the prayer of the M other of God must
, ,

be of immeasurable value .

W h at e ffort and exertion can we make to help

4 06 P O P UL A R SER MONS ON THE C A TECHISM

securely and the hand to grasp more firm ly The .

quality of our blood and its circulation through

our veins depends in great measure on the quality
of the food w e eat and are able to digest and ,

one can go on e x tending the simile almost in de fi

n i t e ly
. No w the same thing takes place in the
,

mystical body of Christ the Church m i litant The , .

prayers the works of penance the continual su f

, ,

fe r in g of such numbers of good Christians the ,

daily offering of the Holy Sacrifice though cer ,

t a inly benefiting primarily those w h o actually do

thes e good works exercise an infl uence over the
,

whole Church and have an e fi e ct particularly on

,

those who are in a state of grace It i s indeed a .

, ,

matter for rej oicing that we are members of this

powe r ful grace infusing mystical body
,
-

F inally the Church militant suffering and tri

, , ,

u m p h a n t is bound together through submission

to one common head who is no other than Jesus ,

Christ He is the s overeign L ord of the saints

.
,

the invisible head of the Church king and judge ,

of the suffering s ouls in purgatory and all are ,

united together in Hi m This form s a powerful .

tie which has endured for long ages and has

,

never yet been broken thus j oining together the ,

three divisions of the Church to make one king ,

dom under one s overeign K ing D early belo v ed .

brethren may we never forget that we are mem

,

bers of it L et us work mercy to the poor s ouls

.

in purgatory by praying for them and armed with ,

the weapons whi ch the Church militant puts into

our hands let us fight after the e x ample of our
holy patrons the saints and we too shall one
, , , ,

day attain to the glory of the Church triumphant

in heaven Am en . .
 S E R MO N LV
E eat b
( Heb
“ ”
I t 119 a pp oi n te d u n t o m e n, on ce to di e . ix
.

m u brought our instructions on the ninth

ms
article of the Creed to a close we should n o w , ,

if w e continued to take the articles in regular

order pass on to the consideration of the tenth
,
“
article I believe in the forgivenes s of sins ,

but later on when we come to the explanations of

,

th e v arious sacraments , particularly those of

Baptism and P enance we shall have better o p ,

p o r tu ni ti e s of dwell ing on thi s power of the

Church to forgive sin and i ts penalties So we .

“
will n o w go on at once to the eleventh article : I
”
believ e in the resurrection of the body .

The resurrection of the body is the coming to

gether again of the soul and the body which had
been separated by death We w ill begin our dis .

courses o n thi s article of the Creed by asking tw o

questions concerning death
I What does death do and what cfl e ct does it
.

have ?
II Wh at are its characteristics ?
.

What effect does death produce ? What results

does it bring about ? It divides and it determines .

It separates from every link with earthly things ,

tearing a man away from all his goods and pos

ses sions however many o r fe w or beloved they
, , ,
4 08 P O P UL A R SERMONS ON T HE C A TECHISM

may be All that 1 s left to him is a couple of

.

boards which enclose his dead body and a fe w

, ,

feet of earth to make h i s gr ave All feeling of .

j oy and delight in life v anishes and is replaced ,

by the bitternes s the pains the fears that hover

, , ,

round a deathbed Ho w insipid the pleasures of .

this world appear at that moment ! D eath divide s

us from any reputation we had acquired and e n
j oyed here below S ooner or later we hear of .

even the most famous among men : he is sick he ,

is dying he is dead he is buried— the bell rings

, , ,

the obituary notices s ound his praises his name ,

and title are inscribed on his gravestone and in ,

a few weeks or a fe w months at the latest he

, , ,

is forgotten quite forgotten By d eath man is

,
.

cut o ff from all means of grace Hi s opportuni .

ties o f merit repentance and penance are over

, ,
.

F inally the u ni on which has lasted so long b e

,

tween soul and body and which bound man so

closely together i s dissolve d Hi s powers of hear .

ing are dulled the eyes become sightles s speech

, ,

fails the lungs can no longer draw b reath the

, ,

heart ceases to beat the soul leaves the body the

body is dead it has become a corpse But death s
,
’ .
,

work of separation is not yet ended B arely has .

dissolution taken place when the ally of death ,

corruption tak es possession of the body and b e

,

gins to divide the flesh from the bones and to

dismember the limbs T he moisture of the s oil .

claims i ts share the earth als o demands a portion

, ,

the worms crave theirs ; and s o it goes on till there

is nothing left but a handful of dried up and
“
crumblin g bones : D oth bitter death separate
”
i n thi s manner ? ( 1 K i ng s x v Is thi s r eally .
41 0 P O P UL A R SER MON S ON THE C A TECHISM

hand its accompanying circumstances are wrap

,

ped in uncertainty and mystery Where shall you .

die and when ? D uring the day or in the night ?

,

Will it find you prepared or unprepared ? C an

you or I or any one tell ?
, , ,

( 3 ) In all this uncertainty we are told by the

S aviour that only one thing is certain D eath .

will come like a thief in the night A thief does .

not choose the early evening hours for hi s visit ;

he steals in late in the darknes s of the night
, ,

not by the hall door but at the window or down ,

through the roof He carries no light in his hand

.

and does not knock but creeps in as silently as ,

pos sible He will be there have done his busi

.
,

nes s and have disappeared before any one has

,

noticed his presence S o it is that death will come

.

upon us It surprises youth that counts securely

.
,

on a long life ; old age that thinks to live a couple ,

of years longer ; the sick man who with his doctor ,

and all his friends persu ades himself he is not

'

so very ill ; that when the cough gets better when ,

the n e w medicine takes effect when the spring ,

comes back bringing better weather ; then health

als o will return to him But instead it is death .

that comes T hose who are to day in full health

.
-

and strength may be stru ck down wi th apoplexy ;

they may meet with an accident suddenly by land ,

or sea on board ship in the train or even walk

, , ,

ing riding driving eating or drinking awak e or

,
’ ,

aslee p O ur Saviour s words are

.
“
,

like a thief ,
,

”
in the night We shall di e without warning b e
.
,

fore we have time to expect it .

( 4 ) O nce come death will not be kept waiting

,
.

It can not be put o ff from one day or month to

another like other matters in life O h fearful .
,

guest who unfailingly presents himself and is not ,

to be denied for a single hour or minute ! But

the most terrible thought of all in connection with
death i s that it can not b e repeated We di e .

( 5 ) But once A spoiled document can be made

.

out and drawn up afresh ; a lawsuit lost may be

regained instituted anew on fresh grounds with
, ,

further evidence before a di fi e r e nt tribunal But

, .

death can not be repeated A b ad death remains .

eternally a bad death ; a goo d death is a good

death for all eternity .

Such is death such is its action such its char

, ,

a c t e r i s t i cs Wh at i s the meaning for us of the

.

solemn truths it holds ? Wh at does death teach

us ? By death we shall perforce be obliged to , ,

leave everyt hi ng w e possess here below L et u s .

,

then as a preparation for that dread hour keep

, ,

our hearts free from false unjust un principled , , ,

and inordinate attachments to anything earthly ,

be it money pleasure or persons ; then death wil l

, ,

be powerles s to hurt u s .

The moment of death determines everyt hing for

us s o let u s have a care that we make a good
,

end Ho w shall we se t about doin g this ? L et

.

death be our teacher .

If it is certain that dea th will come then it is ,

also certain that we must prepare for hi s com

ing Clearly tru e as this is it is so easily for
.
,

gotten that in season and out of season we require

to be reminded of it It i s certain that I shall
.

die and it is equally certain that I must prepare

,

for death .

So deeply hidden from us are all the circum

41 2 P O P UL A R SERMON S ON THE C A TECHISM

stances that will acc ompany our death the prob ,

ability is that i t will come upon us as a shock ,

before we have realized it and when w e are least

,
“
e xpecting or thinking of it To say.
I must
.
,

prepare is not putting the cas e strongly enough

,

— I must be prepared holding mys elf in readines s

,

to die let death come where and when it w ill

,
.

“
Wherefor e be you also ready because at what
”
hour you kn ow not the Son of man will come
( Ma t t xxiv
. . It is not enough for the soldier
at his post to have his weapons lying in readiness
near him ; no he must stand fully armed the
, ,

loaded rifle in his hand and he dare not lay it

,

aside even for a moment .

D eath itself will not be put o fi therefore still , ,

less ought the preparation for it to be delayed .

“
Watch ye therefore because you know not the
, ,

day nor the hour ( Ma tt xxv

”
D eath can
. .

never be repeated ; therefore ( and what a big

therefore we must be in readi ness always pre ,

pared a scarefully as we know h o w It is an event .

on which depends that which can never be put

right for all eternity What good is your life if
.
,

it end with a bad death ? It had been better for

you never to have been born .

L et us begin to die n o w at once saying as w e

, ,

pray : L ord I submit humbly to the l a w of death ;

,

may I die where and when Thou willest I su b .

mit to this l a w as a creature a man made out of ,

the dust of the earth as a Christian who should

,

walk in the footsteps of his Saviour as a sinner ,

who has deserved death by his sins I ask of .

Thee the grace to die as a Christian with the con

s olation of the last sacraments ; and as one who ,
 S ER MO N LVI
“
(the Resu r r ect i on Of t he 18 o
“
I b e li ev e i n the R esu r r e cti o n of the B ody

E i t a b l e fate that awaits our body and as we

EA T H and corruption in the grave i s the in e v
;
consider it one question forces itself upon us : Is
,

this then the end ? Will the body remain thus

, ,

forever the prey of corruption ? To this the elev

e n th article of the C reed answers an emphatic no

the body will not be buried forever in the grave ;

“
it will rise again I believe in the resurrection
.

”
of the body .

With the help of the Holy Spirit we will con

sider the resurrection of the body under three
heads
I A s a fact
. .

II In its obj ect

. .

III A s to its nature and manner

. .

I
In the ordinary w a y when one speaks of a fact ,

one means an event that has already taken place .

No w the resurrection of the body although a fact , ,

is one that will happen only in the distant future ,

on the last day at the end of all thin gs It will .

be the last event to come to pass on the stage

of this world .

It is a future fact A fact generally implies

.

something sure and certain an event that has a l ,

ready actually occurred No w nothing i s more u n

.

414
 THE RES URREC TI ON O F THE B OD Y 41 5

certain th an the future and the more distant it

,

is the more uncertain it appears If the resur .

rection of the body is not to be till the end of

all time it pres ents itself to us in a very uncertain
,

light indeed N evertheles s it is a sure and stable

,
.
,

fact as you wil l see by e x amining closely and

,

taking well to heart the source from which our

kn owledge of it springs .

Primarily we know it from the written word

,

of God in the Holy Scriptures In the O ld Testa .

“
ment Job says : I know that my R edeemer liveth
and in the last day I shall rise out of the earth ,

and I shall be clothed again with my poor skin ,

and in my flesh I shall se e God Whom I myself .

shall s e e and my eyes shall behold and not a n

, ,
”
other This my hope is laid u p in my bosom
.

( Jo b xix 25 . The ma rvelous sight witnessed

by the prophet E zechiel is clearly a figure of the
general resurrection A wide plain covered with
.

“
bones was shown to him S on of man dost thou
.
,
”
think these bones shall live ? T h e prophet a n
“
sw e r e d O L ord God Thou knowest God
,
.

then commanded him to speak to the bones and

“
sa y : Y e dry bones hear ye the word of the L ord
, .

Thus saith the L ord God to thes e bones Behold ,

I shall send spirit into you and you shall li v e

and you shall know that I am the L ord .

E zechiel did as he w a s comm anded and the bones ,

j oining together once more became clothed w ith

nerves and sinews and skin ; and the spirit ani
mated them and they stood before him a great
,

army ( B e e ch xx xvii 3 . In the Ne w Testa

.

ment our Saviour foretold the resurrection of the

“
body in the clearest manner I am the resur
41 6 P O P UL A R S ER MONS ON THE C A TECHIS M
”
rection and the life ( Jo hn xi The hour .

cometh when all that are in the graves shall hear

the voice of the S on of God and they that have ,

done good thin gs shall come forth unto the resur

rection of life ; but they that have done evi l unto
”
the resurrection of judgment ( Jo hn v 2 8 .
,

O ur S aviour was the omniscient God who sees ,

into the most distant future and H e has already ,

pro v ed to us that He does not lack the power to

rais e from the dead He proved it primarily by
.

Hi s own glorious resurrection and next by restor ,

ing to life the daughter of Jairns who had died

’
in childhood ; the widow s so n at N aim who had
,

died in early youth and L azarus who w a s of

’ ,

riper age Jairus daughter was recalled to life

.
,

by our Saviour while she still lay on her bed of

’
death ; the widow s s on when his body was on hi s
way to the grav e and L azarus after three days in
,

the tomb corruption having actually se t i n

, .

The apostle St Paul giv es in his epistles ex

.

p l i ci t and unequivocal teaching concern ing the

resurrection of the body and the Church has a l
,

ways treated belief in thi s doctrine as one of t he

fundamental articles of faith Because of the .

resurrection which sh e believ es awaits us sh e

treats a dead body with the greatest respect and
reverence inv ok ing benedictions on it accompany
, ,

ing it to the grav e with prayer and hym n ody ,

blessing the grave and s etting up upon it the holy

sign of the cros s The S pot where her deceased
.

children rest she calls in s ome part of the world

“ ’ ”
,

Go d s acre th e field of God and elsewhere the

, ,
,

”
cemetery which means resting place ; and sh e
,
-

sees in the dead body the grain of seed that will

41 8 P O P UL A R S ER MONS ON T HE C A TECHISM

certain ly the powers of the soul are principally

call ed into play still even fol di ng the hands bend
, ,

ing the knee moving the lips and the general de

, ,

meanor of the body enter in some m easure into

the performance of this duty F asting affects .

chiefly the body ; night watching is also irksome to

-

it ; and the fatigue incidental to work and labor ,

the e x ertion required to make pious pilgrimages ,

the endurance of pain and sicknes s all are burdens ,

that press heavi ly on the flesh It can not be .

denied that the practice of the beautiful virtues

of temperance and chastity need the help of the
body R uler and leader though the soul may be
.
,

the body is nevertheless i t s fellow worker and -

colleague If therefore the body has done its

.
, ,

part in the performance of good it is but just that ,

it should receive a share of the eternal reward .

L aurels are not the portion of the leaders of an

army exclusively ; they are given also to the rank
and fil e who have followed the co m mand The .

credit of winning a race is not entirely due to the

j ockey ; he allows a great deal of it to the horse
that carried him just as a brave soldier thanks his
,

good sword which helped him to win the vic

tory .

A s with the good we have done s o with the evil ,

.

The body vacillates between one and the other .

O ut of love of the body the s oul comm i ts many

a sin of omission of sloth of carelessnes s ; and
, ,

the body has power to drag the s oul down into

a perfect swamp of intemperance and impurity .

Surely then it should bear its punishment along

, ,

with the soul All this furnishes an adequate rea

.

s on for waki ng th e b o dy from the sleep o f the

 THE RE S URREC TI ON O F THE BODY 41 9

“
grave that it may share in the reward or pun
,
”
i shm e n t of the s oul .

The other reason for the resurrection of the

’
body is that Christ s victory over death may be
complete O ur Saviour triumphed over de ath
.

Himself when He arose glorious from the tomb ,

but if there be no resurrection of the body for

those whom He died to redeem then Hi s victory
is incomplete and imperfect D eath can taunt .

Him sayi ng
,
“
Thou hast conquered me but not ,

entirely Thou didst Thyself rise from the tomb

.
,

but the bo di es of Thy brethren shall not escape

from the grave where they lie rotting and no one ,

has power to rescue them from me But by raising

up to life the bodies of all mankind Christ per
fe ct s Hi s victory and can reply “
A s A dam has
caused the death of all men s o through M e all ,
” “
shall rise again 0 death where is thy v i c
.
,
”
tory ? 0 death where is thy sting ?
, ( 1 C o r xv . .

Thou art conquered completely and wholly .

L et us cast a glance at the nature and manner

of our resurrection It is hardly necessary to s a y
.

that our risen bodies will be entirely free from all

earthly requirements needs and weaknesses ; but
, ,

are we to understand that the bodies of all will

be alike in their condition ? N o ; the teachin g of
St Paul is th a t the bodies of the wicked will be
.
'

wretched and miserable in their vileness while the ,

elect will shine resplendent and like to the glori

“
fi e d body of Christ We shall all indeed rise
.

”
again but w e shall not all be changed i e glori
, , . .
,

fi e d ( 1 C o r xv . .
42 0 P O P UL A R SERMON S ON T HE C A TEC HISM

The bodies of the wicked bearing the marks of,

sin i mpressed upon them and branded with the

brand of shame and eternal damnation will be ,

so repulsive in their hideousnes s that the s oul

will shudder at returning to such a dwelling place ; -

and will feel it torment and torture to appear in

such a covering before the universal judgment
s eat A convict shrinks from displaying himself
.

handcu ffed and attired in pris on dress to his

fellow men I have repeatedly obs erved these u n
-
.

fortunate people tryi ng w i th the utmost care to

hide the chains that bind their hands O h what .
,

must be the feeling of degradation and shame of

a sinful body !
The bodies of the just will be resplendent and
like to the glorified body of Christ Glorified and .
,

like to the risen Chri st ! We are told that the

negroes in Africa are flattered if they are thought
to resemble E uropeans But to resemble the risen
.

body of Christ ! To be like Christ ! R adiant with

brightness ; capable of movement quicker than
thought ; i mmortal and free from illness s orrow
, , ,

or death ! 0 dearly beloved breth r en consider ,

each of you your body ! M aybe it is old decayed '

, ,

enfeebled with o n e foo t in the grave What does

,
.

it matter ? We have no reason to fear death lik e

them that have no hope Y our body will die .

but it will rise again Perhaps it is racked with

.

a terrible cough tortured with gout and suffering

, ,

from many other disorders In the resurrection .

it will be immortal and free from all infi rmity ;

it m a y n o w be crippled ugly and deformed— i t
, ,

wi ll then become transformed and made like to ,

 S ER MO N LVII
p u r ga t or y
“
L ife l
ev e r a s ti n g . A m en

1,we dwelt particularly on the effects of death

N C O N S I DE R I N G the eleventh article of the Creed
,

and on what becomes of the body afterward We .

s a w that corruption in the grave would be our

portion till the general resurrection at the last

day .

We now enter upon the study of the twelfth and ,

last article of the Creed and the first thing we ,

learn from the catechism in connection with it is ,

“
that God will judge us immediately after our
death . This is kn own as the particular judg
ment and is to be distinguished from the general
,

judgment dealt with in the seventh article What .

constitutes the di fference between the particular

and the general judgment ? F i r st th e time at ,
'

which each will take place The general judgment .

will not be held till the last day but the particular ,
“ ”
judgment will be immediately after death .

F urther the purpose of each will be differ ent

,
.

A t the general judgment all mankind from every ,

part of the world will be present body and soul

, , ,

and all will be judged simultaneously the par -

t i cu l a r judgment will be held specially for every

s e p a r a t e p e r s o n as s oon as each individual soul
,

has left its body But the principal di fference lies

.

in the sentence w hi ch m a y be pronounced on us .

A t the general judgment there will be but t w o

 P UR GA T O R Y

alternatives— heaven or hell A t the particular .

judgment there is a third pos sibility for the cate ,

“
chism tells u s The rewards or pun ishments
’
appointed for men s souls after the particular
”
judgment are heaven purgatory and hell
, ,
.

These three places or states which await the

, ,

s oul after death will be the subj ect of our last

,
’
three discourses on the Apostles C reed .

T o d ay we will consider purgatory invoking ,

first the help of the Holy Spirit .

I The existence of purgatory

. .

II What so ul s go to purgatory
. .

I
Is there really a purgatory namely a pla ce , ,

where souls not yet entirely pure go to be cleansed

from sin and to complete the punishm ent due to
them ? There i s indeed : Holy Scripture tradi
, ,

tion and the constant teaching and practice of

,

the Church tell us th a t it is s o .

The opponents of the doctrine of purgatory are

never tired of s aying that there is no authority
for it in Holy Scrip ture N o doubt you wil l fail
.

“ ”
to find the actual word purgatory in the pages
of the Bible but e ven th e O ld Testament contains
,

ample teaching on what is repr es ented by that

word The books of M achabees in which is writ
.
,

ten the history of the last heroes of Jewish tim es ,

relate that they fought bravely and V ictoriously

against the kings of Syria In the course of thes e
.

wars their leader Judas Ma cha b e u s a God

, ,

fearing man engaged in a bloody campaign

,

again st certain P agan races and some fe w Jews

,

were killed in battle When Judas returned after

.
424 P O P UL A R SERMONS ON THE C A TEC HISM

the S abbath to view the battlefield and giv e the

dead honorable burial he found concealed amongst
their clothing various idols made of gold and sil ‘

v er ,
which they must have stolen a fe w days b e
fore at the taking and plu ndering of a certain
Pagan city No w by the Jewish laws it was
.
,

strictly forbidden to keep idols or anything a p

pertainin g to the worship of idols The fallen .

s oldiers therefore had sinned grievously and

, , ,

that shortly before their death and their sin w a s ,

s o much the more serious because they had com

m i tt e d it while engaged in a war havi ng for its

obj ect to uphold the l a w of God N evertheles s .
,

Judas Ma ch a b e u s believed that their souls would

be saved Ho w could this be ? They fell follow
.

ing a gallant leader in a go o d cause fighting for

, ,

God and Hi s l a w It was a beautiful death and

.

Judas believed a glorious reward awaited them

for it in the world to come O n the one side w e.

have their sin on the other their glorious death

, .

There was much to fear from the one much to ,

hope from the other No w Judas instead of tak

.
,

ing for granted that they would be lost forever ‘

on account of their sin believed that they had

,

gone to a place where they stood in need of help

and were in a condition to benefit by it He there .

fore collected 1 2 000 drachmas which he sent to

Jerusalem that a s acrifice might be o ffered to
obtain the remis sion of their si n It is evident .
,

therefore that not only Judas but the s oldiers

, ,

who helped to contribute the money as well a s ,

the priests who received it and o ffered the s acri

fi ce believed in a place of expiation
, This belief .

has the sanction of Holy Scripture for the rela ,

42 6 P O P UL A R SERMONS ON THE C A TECHISM

lian writing in the second century speaks of it

, ,

as having come down to us from them This is .

borne o u t by the fact that in the M as s those

prayers which are of oldest date all contain peti
tions for the s ouls departed and unles s a place,

of expiation really exists these prayers are mean

i n gl e s s The Church moreover s olemnly p r o m u l
.
, ,

gated this doctrine of purgatory at the C ouncils

of F lorence and Trent .

II
No w , as to what souls go to purgatory the cate ,
“
chism tells us that it i s for those w h o die guilty
of v enial sins or without having satisfied for the
,
”
punishment due to their sins .

P urgatory e x ists only for spirits who having ,

been s eparated from their bodies by death have ,

not yet been reunited to them for after the last ,

day it will ceas e to be It is peopled with the

.

s ouls only of thos e who by departing this life in

,

a state of grace have secured heaven and who

, ,

love God and are loved also by Him It i s the

,
.

place of expiation the work of whos e cleansing

,

flames it is to atone for venial s in and to com ,

p l e t e the punishment still due to those sins the

guilt of which had been forgi v en in this life The .

souls in purgatory are pure ; but not wholly pure .

They are penitential s ouls in a penitential state .

Ho w many of us will be found at the hour of

death stil l in need of purification ? M ost probably
far the greater number among us If St John . .
,

in speaking of the blessed in heaven could sa y ,

“
I s a w a great multitude which no man could
number of all nations and tribes and peoples and
 P UR GA T O R Y

tongues s o might any one to whom it was given

,
“
to s e e purgatory equally exclaim : I s a w a great
multitude whom no man could number o f all na
”
tions and tribes and peoples and tongues The .

s ouls in purgatory therefore are penitential s ouls

, ,

expiating and atoning for the sins of their life

with a depth of sorrow earnest and heart felt a -

love of God ardent and pure such as they never ,

experienced while here in this world ; enduring

the punishments laid on them by God with a p a
ti e n c e a self abnegation and a fortitude far sur
,
-

passing anything attainable o n earth What are .

the punishm ents they have to endure ? F irst and

foremost they are deprived of the vision of God
, ,

for whom they long with indescribable longing ;

then further they suffer those punishments which
, ,

are generally associated in our minds as proper to

purgatory— cleansing fires kindled and kept alive ,

by God to purify the soul and render it fit to a p

,

pear in Hi s divine presence These holy and pen .

i t e n t i a l souls overflow in their feelings toward

each other with that love and pity which they are
s o well deserving of .

Purgatory is a place of puni shment and of suf

fe r i n g but it is also the home of faith hope love
, , , ,

contrition patience sympathy and cons olation

, , ,
.

F inally th e souls in purgatory are related to

,

us in this world and to the Church not materially ,

but wi th a spiri tual relationship L et us each one .

,

of us help to increase the rich stream of love

,

and charity which i s constantly flowing to them .

N o one is too old no child is too young to c o n

,

tribute M ay purgatory n ever d eserve to be called

.

the dwelling of forgotten and forsaken souls By .

42 8 P O P UL A R SERMONS ON THE C A TEC HISM

the exercise of charity toward these our brethren

’
God s justice which punishes the smallest trans
,
,

'

g r e ss i o n of Hi s l a w will be kept vividl y before

,

our minds and we will be filled wi th a dread not

, ,

only of mortal but of venial s in Walking thus in

, .

the fear of God and in the exercise of charity

,

toward our neighbors we may go forward our

,

selves to a merciful judgment Amen . .

4 30 P O P UL A R SER MONS ON T HE C A TECHISM

sible perhaps to learn to do without such things

, , ,

but a far higher gre ater good than all else is

,

wanting to them T hey are shut out forever from

.

the for which they were created

and destined and by which alone man s insatiable
,
’
thirst for h a ppines s can be s a ti sfi e d the vision - _

of God which makes the j oy of the s aints and

angels in heaven for all eternity and is the center
of every hope and longing of the souls in purga
”
tory . D epart from M e ye cursed ! What a ,

torturing thought it must be to realize that we

hav e i r r e p a r a bly l p st the best and highest good ,

that w e have fa iled to gain our highest end and

‘

that it had been better for us never to have been

born ! Ho w we shall be filled with 9111 1 at s e e
ing others who were o u r companions in life who . ,

were in the same position and of the same age ,

and faith as ourselves perhaps even participators ,

in our sins take possession of the happines s which

,

we must forego for all eternity !

But the su fferings of the damned are not e n
t i r e ly comprised in the loss of _th e_h i gh e st good ;
they consist also in the p a w s an d su fi e r i n g they
have to endure F or w h a tT fi v e their eyes to look
.
,
“
upon ? D arkn es s e t e r n al da r k n e ss
,
C ast him w
.

out into the e x terior darknes s ( Ma tt xxv

”
. .

What sounds do they hear ? Curses complaints , ,

'
accusations weeping and gnashing of t e e th fi
, ,
“ ”
There shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth
( Ma t t xxii . . N o kind or friendly word will
ever fall on their ear nothing but groans and ,

shrieks to which they add their o w n lamentations

and unavailing regrets What is their food what .
,
“
do they eat and drink ? The chalice of the wrath
 HELL

of the L ord .
”
Ho w full of gall and bitternes s
must the draught from that chalice be ! Wh at
feelin gs do they experience ? They will feel the
fire which is the only one o f the elements we hear
“
o in hell
. D epart from M e ye cursed into , ,
”
everlasting fire .The fire of hell even though ,

we can not say that it will be e x actly the same

as that with which we are familiar on earth will ,

be really fire E lectric light is real light even

.
,

though it is produced and maintained lighted and ,

exting u ished differently from gas or oil lamps ;

and it gives if anything a brighter illumination
, ,
.

So the fire of hell though produced and main

,

t a in e d in a w a y other than our fire here on earth ,

is nevertheless genuine fire It is a fearful truth

.

that men are n o w actually at this moment living

in a fire kindl ed by the j ustice of Go d to punish
them O ne shudders and shrinks from pursuin g
.

this terrible thought The gro u nd they stand on

.

is fire ; the air they breathe is fire ; fire burns their

t
e ye s penetrates their lungs flows in their veins
, , ,

‘ permeates their bones burning into

, and searing
tt h e i r very brains .

Such are the tortures both of the senses and

of the body to which the damned are subj ected .

But let us look deeper still and see the poor soul
,

itself overpowered with this terrible fire and su f

fe r i ng special tortures T h e soul is a spirit and
.
,

it is the nature of spiritual beings to inquire into

the c aps es a n d m s o n s of things and even the ,

souls in hell are no ex ception to this rule Why .

am I here ? Wh ose fault is it ? Here w e have the

“
worm that never dies : I might have been happy
if I had liked fool and wretch that I am I had
, .
4 32 P O P UL A R SER MONS ON T HE C A TEC HIS M

power to avoid hell but I have fallen into it

, ,

and I have done it myself I believed in hell I . .

w a s well warned A moment of repentance a

.
,

word of acknowled g ment a short time of penance

,

would have w o n for me the vision of God What .

madness what incomp rehensible madn ess ! I

,

might have been eternally happy but instead of ,

”
that I am in hell 0 the gnawing pain of the
.

worm that dieth not ! We are justified in calling

that a great evil which forces us to forego a good
s o desirable to endure such sufferings and to
, ,

be tor tured eternall y by the worm of conscience .

Hell is an eternal e vil ; it will last forever .

D epart from me in to ev erlasting fire It is .

just this quali ty of being e verlasting that consti

tu t e s the real evil of hell for anything can be ,

borne or at least borne more easily if one can

,

s e e the end of it Prisoners count the years and

.

the days to their release ; a wounded man wants to

know h o w s oon his wounds wil l be healed ; when we
are sick w e look forward to the time whe n we
shall be able to leave our bed But what have the .

damned to look forward to ? Their punishment

will nev er—n e v e r h a v e an end ; God is eternal
h

their s oul is eternal the sentence w a s for all eter

,
“
n i ty : D epart from M e ye cursed into e v e r l a st
, ,
”
ing fire . 0 torture of tortures abys s of despair ! ,

,
—
N o change no amelioration no end evil abo v e ,

all evils !
Now I will not detain you by trying to describe
,
“ ”
the meaning of that word eternally N o com .

bination of numbers can be found great enough

4 34 P O P UL A R SER MONS ON THE C A TECHISM

put the thought of hell out of their heads ; they

then cease to fear it and do not try to avoid it
, .

But its existence is a certainty nevertheless R ea .

s o n tells us so E verything in creation has been

.

ordered with regard to weight measure and num , ,

ber The weightier and bulkier a body i s the more

.

heavily it falls to the ground The lighter a body .

,

on the other hand the higher it rises What

, .

weight is to material things l ove is to S piritual ,

be ings The deeper the purer the more heartfelt

.
, ,

our love of God the highest good the higher the

, ,

s oul rises and the closer is its un ion with Him in

heav en ; the more the soul revels in the dros s of
earth and s eeks earthly pleasures the deeper it ,

sinks into the abys s It would be contrary to '

’
.

reason were it otherwise God s revelation .

teaches that there is a hell D oes our S aviour .

not speak of a fire an eternal unquenchable fire

, ,

of weeping and gnashin g of teeth of the worm ,

that dieth not o f the outer darkness and do not

, ,

the apostles make use of the same e x pressions ?

Ha s the Church not always put forwa rd as an ar
t i cl e of faith that thos e who die in mortal si n are
condemn ed to hell for all eternity ? What then , ,
“
is the use of s aying or thin king things will not
be s o bad and that it is a mistake to preach so
,
”
often on hell and to think s o much about it ?
Suppos e we do actually represent hell as wors e
than it reall y is will that make it more terrible in
,

fact ? N ot at all N or will its flames be miti

.

gated S hould a preacher draw a pictu re of them

milder and easier than the reality ; neither will
he be able to extin g u ish them by abstaining from
mentioning them altogether Were all preachers .
 HELL

and teachers to agree to keep silence on the sub

j e ct of hell it would still continue to burn on F or .

as sure as there is a heaven to hope for s o surely ,

is there a hell to fear O ur S aviour told us s o

.
,

and it is as true as that He is the teacher of

truth and the Son of God He has not dressed
.

up a bogey to frighten us A s surely as the .

Church is the pillar and the ground of truth as ,

certainly as there lives a just God and that there ,

is a di fference between good and evil s o surely ,

and certainly does hell e x ist This being so it .

serves no purpose to be silent on the subj ect to ,

put it out of our thoughts or to S pe ak of it with

“ ’
honeyed words and sa y It won t be s o bad as
,
”
all that . There burns its fire for all eternity ;
and therefore w e ought to think of it and speak
of it day and night morni ng and even ing ; it
,

would be cruel to keep b ack the knowledge of it

and it is a real work of charity to paint it in its
true colors and bring its terrors home to men s o
.

that they may learn to know it and fear it and , ,

avoid it .

IV

Hell is an evil a great evil an eternal evil a

, , ,

certain ev il but that is not all— i t is a just evil

,
.

It is just on the part of God almighty to inflict

the punishment of hell fi r e on the unrepentant
-

S inner after having poured mercy out on him

,

in vain F or what has a sinner dese r ved for

.

whom Christ died for whom Hi s blood has flowed

, ,

w h o could have received forgivenes s of his sins

in the sacrament of Penance who was o ffered the
,

body and blood of Christ a s his food for whom ,

436 P O P UL A R S ERMONS ON T HE C A TECHISM

heaven was waiting and on whom all through his,

life patience and mercy have been e xpended ?

Wh at I ask has he deserved ? Hell God is merci
, ,
.

ful but God is als o just A s our tw o hands are

’
.
,

alike s o are God s mercy and justice als o alike

,
.

Hi s mercy in forgivi ng is as incomprehensible a s

is Hi s justice in punishing
H ell is just with re gard to the S inner who su f
,

fers the punishment What has he deserved but .

hell who has o ffended such a master abused such ,

goodness e xhausted such patience ? What does

,

he deserve who having died in S in remains a sin

, ,

ner for a ll eternity ?

Hell i s a just evil and wholesome in its effects
for all living Christians The fear of it prevents .

many a sin and converts many a sinner M any

, .

serve God and wil l s ave their souls thanks to the

, ,

fear of eternal punishment Hell is an act of .

justice to the damned but it is stil l more ; it is a ,

work of mercy to the living compelling those who ,

are unwilling to s erve God out of love and grat

i tu d e to be faithful to Him out of fear of Hi s
punishments and s o save thei r souls for all eter
,

n i ty Amen
. .
4 38 P O P UL A R SER MONS ON THE C A TECHISM

just punishment of sin This proposition rests on .

a three fold foundation : the nature of the sin i t

-

self for which hell i s the punishment ; the nature

of the damned who are undergoing the punish
ment ; and the nature of God who imposes and e n
forces the punishment We will consider these .

three points briefly u nder the guidance of the

, ,

Holy Spirit .

I
The first reason for eternal punishment is found
in the character o f th e s in which it e xists to pun ‘

ish We find no one in hell but sinners ; and not

.

o nl y no one but sinners but o nl y those who have ,

been guilty of mortal sin ; and further than this

only those who havi ng been guilty of mortal s in
, ,

die unrepentant without contrition or penance

,
.

Consider well what mortal S in is It is to violate .

the l a w of God with clear knowledge of what we

are doing with the full c qn se nt of our will in a
,

matter of g r a v e im p o r t This implies in other

v
.
,

words that a mere worm of the earth a creature

,
’
the work of God s hands made out of nothing and ,
,

of itself capable of nothing rises up against the ,

king of the universe the creator and r ul er of the

,

world the almighty God in order to oppos e Hi s

, ,

clearly expressed will M ortal S in is paramount .

to s aying by our actions if not in words : I know

’
what God s w ill is but I want something di fi e r
,
,

ent ; and I will not do Hi s will I will follow .

my own way It is s aying wi th the full consent

.
,
“
of our wi ll to God almighty
,
I refuse to s erve
”
Thee What insolence what arrogance what
.
, ,

temerity ! Wh ere can punishment be found severe

 HELL

enough for such an outrage against the majesty

of the all holy and eternal God !
’
-

O n a hot sum m er s evening if we are annoyed ,

by gnats we have no compunction in destroying

,

ten twenty or a hundred of these tiny atoms in

, ,

one sweep merely because they are a nuisance to

,

us And yet these little animals were they able

.
,

to understand and speak to us might very well ,

obj ect and say I never intentionally and will

:

ingly did you any harm and I am one of God s ’

,
”
creatures as well as you Y et we go on killing
.

them all the same because we consider the lives

,

of these little gnats of les s importance than ou r

o w n comfort and well being A n d what are we in
-

comparison with God almighty and what can be ,

a de qu a t w t r ib u ti o n for an outrage perpetrated

knowingly and will ingly by us who are the work
of Hi s hands in opposition to and in contempt of , ,

Hi s holy will E ternity is not long enough to

.

punish one mortal s in as it deserves .

M ortal sin is something s o grievous that it mer

its only eternal punishment The greatnes s o f an .

o ffense is in some measure gauged by the position

and di gnity of the person o ffended Insults o f .

fe r e d to kings and emperors pay the penalty of

impris onment and what are all the kings and em
,

p e r o r s of the world in comparison with the maj

esty of the eternal omniscient almighty God ?
, ,

II
The second reason why hell must neces sarily
be eternal lies in the character of the damned
themselves who for all eternity remain hardened
,

1 n S in .
440 P O P UL A R S ERMONS ON THE C A TECHISM

It is of faith that every man s o long as he ,

remains in thi s life receives from God sufficient

,

grace to be converted and to save his s oul It is .

also of faith that the means of salvation ceas e

with death If a man dies in friendship with God
.
,

he remains forever the f r iend and the child of

God ; he can never los e this grace If he dies in .

mortal sin the enemy of God he must remain in

, ,

mortal sin and be the enemy of God for all eter

n i ty. The time for conversion is at an end ; for
w e must further believe that conversion without
’
the help of God s grace is impos sible .

It follows from all this that hell must of n e ce s

si ty be eternal N o soverei g n would grant for
.

g i v e n e s s to a condemned criminal who great ,

crimes having been proved against him S hows ,

S igns neither of repentance nor of a desire to

reform If any one in authority were to do such
.

a thing it would be a very ill judged ill advised -

,
-

proceeding Is it likely then that God will ever

.
, ,

put an end to hell ? N ever ; the souls of the lost

died in their sins and did not become converted
,
.

They must remain and persevere an d become

, ,

hardened in S in cursing the judge w h o condemned

,

them and blaspheming God who created hell ; and

,

though they must perforce endure their punish

ment it does not lead them to reform their hearts .

O ne can even as sert that they continue to s in ,

repeating it aggravating it sinking deeper and

, ,

deeper into it multiplyi ng their S ins If then

,
.
, ,

the sin cont i nues for all eternity why S hould the ,

punishm ent also not last forever ? If the souls

in hell remain for all eternity sinners why should ,

the flames of punishment not eternally devour

44 2 P O P UL A R SERMON S ON T HE C A TECHISM

But if he revolts against God and refus es Him the

honor which is Hi s due then the Creator has the
,

right to vindicate Hi s own glory by punishing

him Hi s infinite mercy to S inners w a s evinced by
.

giving Hi s only S on to redeem and s ave them by

Hi s blood and what penalty could the div in e
,

justice devise that woul d be e x cessive for shed

ding in vain the blood of Jesus Christ ? The in
fi ni te mercy o f God led Him to forgive the sinner
again and again— who can s a y h o w often ? — no
punishment can be too great for him who in spite
of this goodness returns again to his S ins God s
,
’ ,

goodnes s in pro m i sin g an eternity of happines s as

a recompense of our short life h e re below is in
comprehensible and the fool who puts aside and
,

refuses such happines s deserves e x treme punish

’
ment It is God s goo dness that warns us against
.

hell makin g its e x istence known to us ; telling us

,

that it is eternal and that all who die in mortal

,

S in will fall into it ; and does he w h o neglects

such a warning sinning and living in his s in
, ,

not merit to go there ? God has manifested Hi s

mercy to man by creatin g him and rede eming him ,

by o ffering heaven to him and threatening him

with hell What more could He do to Hi s vine ?
.

The sinner having repulsed all thes e evidences

,

of divine mercy surely the time must come to

,

make him feel the weight of the divine justice .

The justice of God is on a level with Hi s mercy .

Thes e t w o qualities in the divine nature are like

the two hands of the one m an of the s ame S ize
, ,

shape and bu ild of equal weight strength and

, , , ,

power The o nl y difi e r e n ce is that the right is

.

not the left nor i s the left the right T herefore

,
.
,
 HELL
’
s eeing that the proofs of God s mercy to us e x
ce e d all w e could e xpect or imagine are w e not ,

justified in asserting boldl y that Hi s justice will

also far surpass all our conceptions of it ? Hell
is eternal .

We may without hesitation assert that hell is

, ,

not only a just but a most wholesome evil It is

, .

just to the souls who are in it wholesome for all ,

others T his is the plain truth There are many

. .

people w h o falling into great temptation are i n

, ,

fl u e n ce d neither by the thought of heaven nor of

the goodnes s of God But the remembrance of the
.

flames of hell comes to their mind and turns them

away from the commission of evil There are
. .

souls who on their very deathbed would refuse

, , ,

to be converted were they not driven to it by

,

the thought of hell M any of those w h o are n o w

.

s aints in heaven would never have succeeded in

reaching it i f the kn owledge of hell had not
,

caused them to walk in the fear of God It is a .

fact that for many their hope of heaven their love ,

of God their hatred of S i n would lose their force

, , ,

if not backed up by horror of the flames of hell .

F or this reason the great Italian poet D ante tells , ,

us that it was the highest wisdom and the truest

,

love that founded hell .

Justice the founder of my fabric moved

,

To rear me w a s the task of power divine ,

”
Supremest wisdom and primeval love .

N othing is bad but that good can be drawn

so

from it Hell is a great evil but w e may derive

.
,

from it the fear of God and strength to avoid sin ,

and to a ttain life everlasting Amen . .

 S ER MO N L X
h e aven
“
I b e li ev e in L ife Ev er las ting . A m en
the particular judgment the soul enters
E heaven or it descends into hell or it goes to
r m a

, ,

be purified in purgatory We have already made .

our meditations on purgatory and hell The most .

consoling of all that on heaven n o w remains for

, ,

us. Those s ouls which depart this life in a state

of grace and free from the pains and penalties
of S in or who have expiated them afterward in
,

purgatory are then allowed to enter heaven to

,

receive their reward .

In what does this reward consist ? The cate

chism tell s us ( 1 ) that the bles sed in heaven
,

see God face to face ; ( 2 ) that they are made like

to Him in gl ory and enj oy eternal happines s .

In order to realize the j oys of he aven it would

be necessary to call one of the saints down again
“
on earth and listen to his words
, E ye hath not
” “
seen he would surely s a y
, nor ear heard , ,

neither hath it entered into the heart of man what

things God hath prepared for them that love
Him ”
( 1 C o r ii . .

In attempting to picture to ourselves in s ome

measure the j oys of heaven we will make use of ,

the figure of the Queen of Saba She entered .

Jerusalem to see K ing Solomon wi th a great

train a n d riches and camels that carried spices ,

and an immense quantity of gold and precious

44 6 P O P UL A R S ERMONS ON THE CA TECHISM

all ardently desire enl ightenment far reaching

and consoling to still this lon ging of the spirit .

Ho w little is it given to us to know here below !

We have to be content with shreds and patches .

But when we enter the house of God then all the ,

gu r h eart wil l be fully answered ,

and our dearest aspirations s atisfied We S hall .

learn the secrets of N ature which she has hidden

,

from u s here in a manner s o impenetrable that

not all the s agacity and industry of the most
learned minds assisted by the most subtle i n st r u
,

ments that human ingenuity could devise have ,

availed in unraveling them They still remain

.

S hrouded in darknes s and mystery each answer ,

giving rise to fresh questions A single glance

. .

in the divine countenance will teach u s more in

one moment concerning heaven and earth the ele 3 ,
-

ments the sun and the stars than is known to all

, , ,

the naturalists combined F or God is not limited

.

“
like S olomon who could treat about trees from
the cedar that is in Lib a nu s unto the hys sop that
,
”
cometh out of the wall ; God almighty i s the
creator of nature the king of the uni verse who
, ,

knows and understands from beginning to end ,

in their es sence and substance all Hi s creatures

,
.

In the light of Hi s countenance not only the

secrets of nature but thos e mysteries of
, ” religion
about which the F athers of the C hurch have
thought and discoursed and written s o much w ith
out ever fully appreciating them and which we ,

have accepted in faith and humility w ill be u n ,

veiled Then we shall get the answer to those

'

“
great questions Why was I poor creature , ,

ever created ? Ho w have I a miserable sinner

, ,
 HE A VEN

been rescued from the abyss of sin ? Wh erefore

w a s I bes et with s o many temptations and s or
rows while o n earth ? Ho w were my steps g uided
along the road out of the vale of tears to my
, ,
”
heavenly fatherland ? They will unlock for u s
the secrets of the d1 v 1 n g oodness and mercy and
”

make clear t o us the workings of God_s__P r ov i ’

dence and the e n i gm a o f p_re d e st1 n a t 1 0 n S o we
S hall question the divine Solomon God ; He will
,
m

teach us not in words but by the mere unveil ,

ing of Hi s sacred countenance all things those of , ,

nature as well as those o f_fa ith ; the secrets of

the past and the fu tii r e of heaven and earth of , ,

time and eternity of things human a n d divine

,
.

All you who here below are by reason of a lack of

intelligence or memory or education or leisure
, , , ,

or opportunity counted amongst the ignorant ,

take comfort ; a time will come when in an instant

you will make up all the ground you have lost .

Take co m fort all who here walk in the twilight

,

of faith ; a day will dawn when the darknes s will

be illuminated fully and radiantly by the light of
the divine countenance .

_
W e will go further and ask what did,
the Queen
“
of Saba see ? And when the Queen of S aba saw
all the wisdom of S olomon and the house which ,

he had built and the meat of his table and the

, ,

apartments of his servants and the order of his ,

”
ministers sh e had no longer any spirit in her
,

( 3 K i ng s x 4
. Y et she was hers elf a queen
, ,

born and brought up in a palace accustomed to ,

royal splendor and S he brought with her princely

,
448 P O P UL A R SERMON S ON THE C A TEC HIS M

gifts and was accompanied by a numerous and

costly retinue But everything in the palace of
.

Solomon w a s much more magnifi cent than in Saba .

Hi s servants were so numerous and of such high

effi ciency their apartments were s o well a p
,

pointed the food at the royal table s o choice the

, ,

whole house s o spacious and so bri ght with gold

and ivory the king him self was such a marvel
,

of beauty and wisdom A s the queen gazed on all.

this S plendor S h e became lost in wonderment and ,

fell into an ecstasy of delight and as Holy Scrip ,

“
ture expres ses it sh e had no longer any breath
,
”
in he r.

With what feelings will our soul look upon the

city and the house of God ! We S hall see the count
les s servants that wait on the K ing of heaven ,

the multitudes of angels the nine choirs of the ,

hosts of the Almighty Ho w great and well .

ordered are their numbers ! We think nothing

of taking a considerable j ourney to be present at
military maneuvers to watch the operations of
the troops There is very little more to be s een
.

than a good deal of dust and gunpowder a crowd ,

of bright uniforms and faces ; often it is only

through fog and ra i n and the smoke of the g u n
,

powder mingled wi th the dust of the roa d that

, ,

we get a glimpse of them at all heated and tired ,

and covered with sweat as they are But in S pite .

,

o f these drawbacks we still consider it a very

fine sight But what will the vision of all the

.

“
heavenly host be arrayed in i ts choirs : thou
,

s ands o f thousands minis te red to Him and ten ,

thousand times a hundred thousand st ood before

Him ? ( D a n v ii
”
Then there will be the
. .
4 50 P O P UL A R SER MONS ON THE CA TECHISM
”
the place of H is poss ession ( B a r iii L et
us wait and persevere—heaven is worth sorrow
. .

and su ffering and hard work .

III
“
What did the Queen of S aba s a y : The report
is true which I heard in my o w n country concern
ing thy words and concerning thy wisdom And .

I did not believe them that told me till I came

myself and saw with my own eyes and have found
that the half hath not been told me ; thy wisdom
”
and thy works e x ceed the fame which I heard ?
( 3 K ing s x 6 This is exactly the language
.
,

we will hold when we come before the heavenly

kin g: 0 h o w true is all that was spoken on
“
earth There I was told eye hath not seen nor
.

ear heard neither hath it entered into the heart

,

of man what things God hath prepared for them

that love Him ”
( 1 C o r ii No w I see that
. .

not half not the hundredth part had been de

, ,

scribed to me O h God Thy beauty and T hy

.
, ,

works far exceed all that has been said of them ;

s o wonderful are they that human lan guage and
human thoughts are not adequate to give ex pres
sion to them .

The prophet E zechiel drew on a tile a picture

of Jerusalem and whoever looked at that tile s a w
,

only a small and very imperfect representation

of the beautiful city But thos e w h o were famil
.

iar with the real Jerusalem with i t s beautiful ,

gates high towers strong walls and magnificent

, , ,
“
temple must hav e said That picture on the
little tile was in a sense like the original ; it was
correct but of course it w a s impossible by a fe w
,
 HEA VEN

miserable strokes and lines scratched on a t i le

to give an impres sion of the beauty and splendors
”
of such a city In the same way all that we
.

hear and read on earth this vale of tears of the

, ,

heavenly Jerusalem is but a we a k and feeble

,

picture of the glories of heaven .

“
The Queen of Saba further said : Bles sed are
thy men and blessed are thy servants who stand
, ,
”
before thee always and hear thy wisdom (3
K i ng s x . She justly considered thes e men
happy to be from day to day before the most wise
king s eeing and hearing him living in intercourse
, ,

with him and dwelling constantly in his house

,
.

But happier above all comparis on are those who

stand for all eternity before the throne of G od ,

gazing on Hi s divine coun tenance .

In considering the j oy and happiness of the

blessed in heaven we must not forget that w e are
called to share it that heaven is our true home
, ,

where w e are to abide for all eternity and where ,

s o many of our loved ones have gone before u s .

This earth is a place of transition and we have

here no abiding city To earn by work and suf
.

fe r in g by battling with temptation and by p r a c

,

t i s in g detachment the eternal life which awaits

,

us is the object of this life here below S o let us .

begin without delay to devote all our powers to

deserving our heavenly home ; refusing no work ,

however hard that is to merit eternal rest ; a c

,

ce p t i n g every sorrow that is leading us to u n

S peakable happiness —traveling through this

world as pilgrims indeed but with the hope and
, ,

the belief that we shall one day arrive in the land

of eternal life Amen. .
 ’I N TY P E A N D P R O P HE C Y M AA S V o l s I d II
C HRI S l
‘
an
P cl
. . . .

t 2 00
’ 1
CH R I ST S T E A C H IN G C ON C ER N IN G D I V O R C E I N T HE
ne ,

N EW T E STAM ’ E NT G I G O T
C LER GY MAN S H AN D BOO K O F LAW S CA N LA N
. .

C OM P E N D IUM U R I S C ANONI C I S M IT H
. .

C OM P E N D IUM U R IS RE G U LA R IUM B A C K O E N
. .

F
C OM P E N D I UM A C RA E LIT URG IA E W
. .

H A PE L O RS T .
C O NS EC RA N D A ; or R it s d C r mo i s O b s rv d a t t h
.

e an e e n e e e e
C o s crat i o f C hurch s Al tars t S C H U LT E
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n e n O e e c
C O RRE C T T H IN G F O R C AT H O L I C S T HE B UGG
, , . .

O F ST AN G EL A TO H ER SIST ER S IN RE
IH
, . .

C OU
E IO F
E
Z J .

I t ne 25
DEV OTION S TO T HE SA C RED HEA R T F O R TH E F I R ST ,

FR I D A Y O F EVERY MONTH H UGUE T

T HE S A C RED HE A R T O F J ESUS T HE
. .

D EV T IO N
QO L DI N STO ,
. .

D I G N IT Y AN D UTI E S O F TH E P R I E ST L I GU O R I
,

D I V IN E G R A C E Ex pla i s t h doctri of t h C hurch d i v i

. .

n e ne e on ne
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D O G MATI C THE O L O G Y OUT L IN E S O F H U N T E R V ols I
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E CC LE SIASTI CA L D I C TIONA RY T H E I N
, . ,

ED U C ATION O F OU R G I RL S T HE S H I ELD S
. .

ELE M E NTS O F E CC LE SIASTI C A L LAW S M IT H V ol s I

.
, .

I I III E ach
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E N CY C L I CA L LE TT ER S O F P O P E LE O X I II
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,

E P I ST LE S AN D G OS P EL S L arg typ
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e e
E U C H A R I STI C C HR IST R fl ctio s t h B l ss d Sa c ram t
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. e e n on e e e en .

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ES I RE t ne u 25
E X P L ANATION O F B IB LE H I STO RY N A S H
.
,

t ne u 60
E XP LANATION O F C AT H O L I C MO R A L S S TA P LE T O N ,
. .

o 50
E X P L ANATION O F T HE BA LTIMO RE C AT E C H I SM K I N K EAD n t
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e w 00
E X P LANATION O F T HE C OMMAN D M E NTS R U
. . ,

OL F S o 50
E X P LANATION O F T HE C REED R U
. .

OLF S o 50
E X P L ANATION O F T HE G OS P EL S AN D CAT H O L I C WO R
. .

S H I P LAM B ER T P a C loth e r,
E X P LANATION O F T H H O LY SA C R AM E NTS R US
. . ,

OL F
E X P LANATION O F T H E MASS C O C H EM
. .

E X P L ANATI ON O F T HE OU R F AT HER A N D TH E H A I L
. .

MA RY L I GU O R I t ne 75
EX P LANATION O F T HE P R A YER S AN D C ERE MONI E S O F
. .

T HE MASS L N O S E A S L OT S,
E X P LANATION O F THE SA LVE RE G I NA L I GUO R I
. . . .

E X T RE M E UN C TION P H I LL I P S
. .

FL OW ER S O F T HE P AS SION D v ou t T hough ts
. .

e
F O R PRE UENT C OMMUNI CANTS
. .

F OU R L A T T H IN G S M ditatio s C O C HEM
.

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F UN D AM E NTA L S O F T H E REL I G IOUS L I FE Tra slat d b y
. . .

n e
R EV P M S H U
.

C d LE T ER n 60
G E N ER A INT R O D U C TIO N 0 T HE STUD Y O F T HE
. . .

H O LY S C R I P TU RE S G I G O T
G E N ER A L INT R O D U C TION TO T HE STU DY O F T HE
. .

H O LY S C R I P TU RE S A b r i dg d G I G O T t e ne 50
G E N ER A L P R IN C I P LE S O F T HE REL I G IOUS L I FE
. . .

V ERHEYEN
G E NT LE MAN A M rs d Socia l Usag s E GA N
.

anne an e
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g T HE K IN G T HE A Ex pla at i o o f t h Mass f or
. . .

Ch i d
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—
.
,

1 ren .
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G L O R I E S O F T HE SA C R D HEA R T H AU S HERR S J
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G O F F INE S DEV OUT IN ST R U C TION S
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,

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H I STO RY O F THE MASS O B R I EN
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,

H O LY H OU R THE K E I L EY
.
, .

H O LY MASS T HE L I GU O R I , . .

H O LY V IATI C UM O F L I FE AS O F DEA TH TH E A p r o
, . .

v isio n for t h j our of lif as w ll as of d ath D EV ER , .

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,

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. .

BI R T H AN D IN FA N C Y O F CH R IS T
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I NC RNA T I O N
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, ,

IN DE X TO L I G UO R I W O RK S
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.

d ar o s b d ath B L O T S
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e ne e net 0 60
INS T RUC T I O S F O R F I R ST C MMUNI C A NT S S C H M ITT n t 0 6 0
. .
, ,

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INST R U C TION S ON T HE C OMMAN D M E NTS AN D SA C R A
. .
,

M E NTS L I GU O R I P ap r Cloth e
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.
,

, . I A Y .
,

’
INS RUC IO N S ON P R A YER P O P U L A R C R R EY P ap r
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F1 5 ; Cl t h , . I A D Y . e ,
o
INT ER IO R O F JE SUS A N D MA RY G R O U S J 2 vol s
.

SUS L I V IN G IN T HE P R I E ST M I LL E T RNE
. . .

Y
A DY A Ma rs d Soc i al Usa B UGG
. .

nn e an es
LAWS O F THE SA V IOU R Tal S C omman dm ts
. .
, .

th on e en
for C h i ldr
.

en
’
O F T HE SA V IOU R Ch rist s Mirac l s D scri b d for
.

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LE TT ER S O F ST A LP H ON SUS L I G UO R I 5 v o l s E ach
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t 1 50 ne
L I FE O F TH E B LE SS ED V I R G IN R O H NER B REN NAN
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, ,

0 50
L I FE O F C HR IST B U NG B REN NA N P rofus ly illustrat d t 1 0 00
-
. .

SI ER e e ne
L I FE O F CHR I ST C O C HEM H AM MER
-
. . .
,

0 50
L I FE O F C HR I ST Adapt d from B U S NG R M U LLE TT
-
. .

2 00 e I E
SIST ER ANN E K AT H A R IN E E MM ER I C H
. . .

liIC GO
LIF l
OWF A N
L I FE O F VE N C RE S C E NTIA H OSS
L I GH T F O R N EW TIM E S A Boo k f or C athol ic Y o u g
. .

n
Wom F L E TC HER
.

en
L I GUO R I C OM P LET E WO R K S V ols I XX II Ea ch
.

L ITT LE MASS BOO K L YN C H

-
. . . .
,

L ITT LE O FF I C E O F THE IMMA C U LAT E C ON C E P TIO N

. .

L I VE S O F THE SAINTS Adapt d from A LEAN B U T L ER

.

e
L I VE S O F THE SAINTS F O R C H I LDRE N B ER T H O L D
. .

L I VE S O F T HE SAINTS P I C TO R IA L S H EA Illustrat d
. .

e
L I VE S O F THE SAINTS S H O R T D O N NE LLY , . . .

L I VE S O F THE SAINTS L ITT LE P I C TO R IA L Illustrat d , .

, . e .
L O UR D E S Its I h ab i ta t s It Pil im d Mira cl s C LA R K E S J n n s s an 0 50
MAN UA L O F H OMI LE TI C S A Ng CAT E CH ETI C S S H H
. , e .
, .

C UEC ne t, 1 25
MAN UA L O F MO R A L T HE O LO G Y S m S J V ol s I d
. .

u an
II Each
. . .
,

ne t 2 75
MAN UA L O F S ELF K NOW LED G E A ND C HR I STI A N P ER
.

H ENRY C SS R P a r Cl oth
-

F ECT I O N
MANUA L OF T HE O L O G Y FOR E L A IT Y G m m m
. , . . .
,

n x,
C S S R Pa r Cl oth
.

MA RY HEL P F C HR ISTIANS I stru c tio s L g d s N o

.
. .
,

n n e en
v as d P ra H AM M E R
, .
, ,

en an e r s.
M A RY TH E UE N A L if of h B l ss d V ir gi f or Ch i ld r
, .

e t e e e n e n.
M EAN S O F R A C E Co mpl t E x pla ati o of t h S ac ram ts
.

e e n n e en
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MY P R A YER B OO K H A PP IN E S S IN G OO D N E S S
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R fl ctio s C ou s l s P ray rs d D v ot i o s 1 6 mo 1 2 5 1 7 5—
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P R A YER BOO K in dia P a 1 6 mo
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d t 5 00 er e l ion.
M Y P R A YER BOO K I dia ap r d i t io With
-
. .

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Epistl s d G os l 1 6 m o
-
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B LE SS ED S A C RA M NT BOO K O ff rs a l arg r d
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T H G O D A ook’of P ra d R fl ctio s 1 6 mo 1 2 5
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P RA YER BOO K F O R R LIGI O U A m pl t ma ual
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T H OU G H TS O N T HE REL I G IOUS L I FE R fl ctio s
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V I SITS TO E S S IN T HE TAB ER NA C LE H our s ,

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MA N UA L O F T H E H O LY E U C H A R IST C o f r c s
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S H O R T V ISITS TO T H E B LE S S ED SA C R AM E NT
. .

32 mo
.

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MA SS D i V OTION S A N D R EA D IN G S ON T HE
.

MASS T w l v m thods o f h ari Mass O b 2 4mo 0 7 5 e e

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T HE S AC RED H E A R T BOO K O b g 2 4 mo
. . .
.

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L ITT LE MAN UA L O F ST ANTH ON Y O bl 32 mo 0 2 5
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P IOUS P RE P AR ATION F O R F I R ST
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P RAYER BOO K S -
F O R G E N ERA L US E
A LL F O R ES US With E i tl dG l Sma l l 32 mo 0 30 es an 0 40 —4 50
B RE A D F L I FE T H E A Com t C ommu i o
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Book for C athol i cs B y R V F O b lo g
,

M E I L LA n
2 4 mo
. . . .

0 75 1 25
C OM E LE T US A D O RE A E ucharistic Ma ua l
.

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By R E V B H AM MER O F M Small 32 mo
, . .

0 75 1 25
DEV OTIONS AN D P R A YER S B Y ST A L P H ONSUS
. . . . . .
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L I G UO R I A C ompl t Ma ua l o f P ious Ex rc i s s
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WAR D 1 6 mo
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1 25 1 75
DEV OTION S AN D P R A YER S F O R T HE SI C K
.

R OOM A Book for E v y C atholic F am i ly B y er

A K RE B S C S S R 1 2 mo
. .

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D OMINI AN M ISS ION BOO K B y a D omi ica
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FL OW ER S O F P I ET A p pro v d P ray rs for Ca th
. . .

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F O LL OWIN G O F C HR I ST TH E By T H O MA S A
. .

K EM P I S W i th R fl ct i o s t 32 mo 0 40 e e n
,
e c
.

0 60 —2 00
F O LL OWIN G O F C HR I ST T HE By T H O MA S A —
.
, . .

K EM P I S Without R fl ctio s 32 mo , .

O 35 e e n 0 55 1 75
F O LL OWI N G O F C HR I ST T HE By T H O MA S A
. . .

K EM P I S Illustrat d I d i a P ap r E d i t i o d , .

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e n e n e
Lu x 32 mo
.
.
,

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G A RLAN D O F P R A YER T HE A d a i ty pray r b ook
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C o ta i s Nupt i al Mass 32 mo
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n n 1 50
G O LDE N KEY TO HEA VE N W i t h E p i st l s d
. .

G osp l s Small 32 mo
e 0 80
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0 60 —1 80
HEL P F O R T HE P OO R SOU L S IN P U R GATO RY
. .

B A C K ERMAN N Small 32 mo
.

05 0 60 1 00
H OL OU R O F A D O R ATION T HE By R I GH T
. . .

R E V W S TANG D D Obl 2 4 mo
, .

0 60 on 0 90
IMITATION O F T HE B LE SS ED I R G I N A f t r t h
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IMITATION O F T HE SA C RED HEA R T O F JE SUS
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By R E V F A RN U S J l 6 m
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R t 1 25 O DT , o ne 1 75
INT R O D U C TION TO A DEV OUT L I FE By S
. . .
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F RAN CI S D E S ALE S Small 32 mo
. .

0 50 1 00
KEY O F H EA VE N TH E With Epistl s d Go sp l s
.

48 m 0. 0 25
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0 40 —6 00
L ITT LE MASS BOO K B y R I GH T R E V MGR J S M
LYN C H P a 32 mo
. . . . .

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MANUA L O F HE H O LY NAM E 2 4
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MANUA L O F T HE SA C RED HE A R T NEW
.

O blo g 2 4mo n
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MANUA L O F ST ANTH ON Y N E W 32
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MANUA L O F ST JOS EP H LITT LE B y R m
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R E V M A A L I NG S O blo g 32 mo
. , .

GR 0 25 n 0 60
MISSION BOO K F O R T HE MA RR I ED By R E V
. . . . . .

F G C SS R 32 mo
-
. .

I RA RD EY 0 50 l 00
MIS SION BOO K F O R T HE SIN G LE By R EV F
. . . . .

C S S R 32 mo
-
. . .

G I RA RDE Y, 0 50 1 00
MI SSION BOO K O F T HE R E D E M P T O R I S T
. . . .

F ATHER S THE 32 mo
-

0 50 1 00
MISSION R EM E MB R AN C E O F THE RED EMP
. .

T O RI S T F AT HER S B R P G M N N 32 mo 0 50 —1
O FF I C E O F T HE HO LY W EK C OM P LET E 1 6 mo 0 4 5
. EV . E I ER A . . 1 00
0 90 — 1
50
10
OU R F A V O R IT E DEV OTIONS By R I G HT R E V
. . .

A A L I NG S O blo g 2 4mo
. .

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OU R FA V O R IT E DEV OTIONS By R I GH T R M
. . . .

A A L I NG S I d i a P a dit i o O blo g 2 4mo n er

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O UR F A V O R I TE N OVE NA S By R I G HT REV MGR
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A A LI NG s I n d ia P a r e d it i o n O bl o n g 2 4mo
. . .

1 50 — 2 50
O U R MONTHLY DEV OTI N S B y R I G HT R E V MG R
. . . .

A A L I NG S 1 6 mo
. . .

2 00
P E A RL S O F P R A YER The t i n i e s t p ra yer boo k pu b
. . . .

Me asur e s o nly 1 54 in che s —

-
.

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l s he d
i 0 45 0 60 2 25
P O C KE T C OM P ANION A p o e d P ray e rs O b 48 mo
. .

0 10 0 25
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P RA C TI C A L C ATH O L I C fl l E Ma xims Suit e d to

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C athol i cs of t h e D a By FA TH E R PALA U O b 2 4 mo
.

o 60 1 00 — 1 60
P R A C TI C A L GAT H O IC THE Max ims Suite d to
. . .

C atho l ics o f t he D a y B y FA TH ER PALA U I n d i a

, .

P a e r e ditio n with i llustrati o n s O blo n g 2 4m o

. .

S ER A H I C G UI DE T HE 2 4mo
. .

0 60
VE ST P O C KE T G E MS O F DEV OTIO N Obl o n 32 m o , . .

0 20
VE ST P O C KE T G E MS O F DEV O TIO N Wi th %p i stl e s
-
.

a n d Go sp e ls 8 2 mo —
-

Ob l o n 0 50 4 50
V I SITS TO THE MOS H O LY S A C R AM E NT A N D
. .

TO T HE B LE S S ED V I R G IN MA R Y B y S T
ALP H ON S U S L I G U OR I 8 2 m o . .
. .

0 85 0 75 —1 00

P RAY ER B OO K S WIT H LA R G E TYP E -

KEY OF H EA VE N Wit h E pist l e s a n d Go spe l s 2 4 m o 0 45 0 90 —

— 3 75
KEY O F H EA VE N Epi st le s a n d Ga s e l s 8 2 mo
. . .

P O C KE T MAN UA L E i stl e s a n d C osp e S O bl o n 8 2 mo 0

0 . . . 30
25
0 65
0 50 — 1 85
1 35
WA Y TO HE A VE N T E C o n tain s m an y in dug
—
. . .

g e n ce d
p raye rs t ake n f r o m th e R accol t a 8 2 m o
, .

0 . . 35 0 75 1 85

P R AYE R B OO K S F O R CH I LD RE N AN D F I R ST C O MMUNI C ANTS

-

’ ’
B O Y S AN D G I RL S MISSI O N B OO K Lar ge 48 m o 0 35 0 7 5
B RE A D O F AN G EL S I n struction s a n d P ray e rs E sp e
-
. .

c i a l l y Suit e d for F ir st C ommu n i ca n t s B y REV B

.

H A M M E R O E M Large 48 mo 0 6 5—
. . .

0 25 4 50
CH I LD O F MA RY TH E E sp ci al l y f the U o f
, . . . .

F irst C ommu
’ ica ts 32 mo n
,

0 45 n
. e or se
0 95 — 2 00
CH I LDRE N S P R A YER BOO K T HE B y REV P J
. .

S LO’
A N Small 8 2 mo
-

, . . . .

C H I LD S P R A YER BOO K T H E 4 8 m o
. 0 20
0 15
. 0 60
0 40 — 0 90
DEV OUT C H I LD T HE With 1 8 f ull page i ll ustratio s
-
. .

n
of t h Mass 4 8 mo ’
-

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F I R ST C OMMUNI C AN T S MANUA L Sma ll 8 2 mo 0 35
0 10
—2
. .

0 65 50
F I R ST C OMMUNION P RA YER BOO K F O R SMA LL
. .

C H I LDRE N B R’EV P S LO A N Sma l l 8 2 mo 0 2 0

-

0 50
L I T T LE A L TA R B Y S MA UA L I structio s for
. . . . .

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S r v i g at Mass V With p ray r s
.

e n t 0 25 es e r s, e c. e 0 60
L ITT LE F I R ST C OMM NIC ANT T HE B y REV , .

B H AM M ER O E M Sm a l l 32 m o
, . .

0 25 0 65
P I O U S CH I LD T HE With 1 8 fu l l p age i ll ust ratio s
. . . . .
,

n
of t he Mass 48 m o
-

, .

0 12 0 45
S H O R T P R A YER S F O R Y O UN G CAT H O L I C S W i th
. .

E pistl s’a d Go s l 4 8 mo
e n 0 20 e s.
.

0 45 — 1 95
S O D A L IS T S V A D M E C UM TH E P ray r Boo k
.

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a d H ym a l for th C hil dr e n of Mar y 8 2 mo
-

, .

n n 0 40 e . . 0 65

T he follow in g c a t al ogu e s wi ll b e s n t f re e o n appl ic at ion e

e
’
Catal ogu o f B ig r Broth rs Sta dar d C atholi c P u blicatio s
e nz e e n n
C atalogu of School b ook s C atalogu o f P r mium Book s
.

e e e
C atalogu of P ray r Boo k s C at logu o f L ib rar i s
. .

e e a e e
Catalogu o f Import d Book s C atalo of Lat i a nd Li tu rg i cal
-
. .

e e e n
A copy o f C atholic Book s i n E gl i s n w p ri t Am r i ca d
.
.

n o in n in e an
Europ wi ll b s t r c i pt o f 50 c t s B ou d n c loth i t co ta i s ov r
e e en on e e en n i n n e
titl s d o v r 300 i llustratio s o f author s Suppl m ts W i ll be
. ,

e an e n e en

issu e d f rom tim to tim t o mak e t h catalogu as compl t as

.
,

e bl e e e e e OS S i e

d th s will b fur ish d f r e o f c ha rg t o th ose ord r i g Ca tho li c

,
‘
an e e e n e e e e n
Bo ok s in En gl ish .
”