Epistle.
1 St. Peter iv. 7-11.
Dearly beloved:
Be prudent, and watch in prayers. But before all things have a mutual charity among yourselves: for charity covereth a multitude of sins. Using hospitality one towards another without murmuring. As every man hath received grace, ministering the same one to another, as good stewards of the manifold grace of God. If any man speak, let him speak as the words of God. If any man minister, let it be as from the power which God administereth: that in all things God may be honored through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Gospel.
St. John xv. 26-xvi. 4.
At that time:
Jesus said to his disciples:
When the Paraclete shall come whom I will send you from the Father, the Spirit of truth, who proceedeth from the Father, he shall give testimony of me. And you shall give testimony, because you are with me from the beginning. These things have I spoken to you, that you may not be scandalized. They will put you out of the synagogues: yea, the hour cometh that whosoever killeth you, will think that he doeth a service to God. And these things will they do to you, because they have not known the Father, nor me. But these things I have told you, that when the hour of them shall come, you may remember that I told you.

Sermon LXXVI.
After A Mission.

There is nothing, my dear brethren, which can give more joy and consolation both to pastor and people than a mission such as that which was closed last Sunday.

Thank God, there were many who had been living previously in sin, but who really turned from it then with their whole hearts, and who now have a happiness in those hearts to which they had long before been strangers. This happiness ought to last all their lives. God means that it should; they can make it do so if they will.

But how will it be in fact; how is it too often, after such times of grace and fervor? We have had missions before, which really seemed as if they marked a new era in the history of our parish; but we look for their fruits now and find them only few and far between. Too many of those who made them went back a month or so afterward to the old ways of sin.

What was the reason that they did not persevere? Why was it that they had the same sad story to tell when they came back this time that they had a few years ago?

Was it that they never expected it to be otherwise? Perhaps so. Some Christians—shame to say it—seem to think that mortal sin cannot be avoided. Such do not really try to avoid it; how can they? How can any one seriously attempt what he believes to be impossible? No wonder that such as these fell; the question is if indeed they ever arose. For how could they have made the purpose of amendment which a good confession requires? Let them understand, at least now, that it is possible to abandon mortal sin at once and for ever.

But was it, perhaps, that they thought they could keep the grace they had got by their own unaided strength; that they could fight the devil single-handed, or even that he would never trouble them much again? Ah! my brethren, if any of you thought that he made a terrible mistake. Satan does not give up the souls which he has once possessed so easily. He knows the advantage which all habits of sin give him, and he is going to make the most of them. He will surely attack you, and you are weak, while he is strong. If you undertake to fight him alone, you will go to the wall. You cannot conquer him unless God helps you.

But, after all, there are not many Catholics who do not know that it needs God's help to persevere. Oh! yes; almost every one will say, when asked after confession if he is going to avoid sin for the future, that he will, "with the help of God."

Well, then, what is the matter? If we know that we are in danger, and that we can escape from it, but only by God's help, why does not that help come and save us?

I will tell you why it does not. And to do so I have only to turn to the first words of to-day's Mass: "He shall call on me, and I will hear him; I will deliver him and glorify him."

That is the whole story. If we want God to deliver us, we must ask him to do it. In other words, if we wish to persevere, we must pray. If we do not go to God to get the strength which we need, we must be without it.

The sinner who repents, and does not pray often and fervently afterward to keep the grace he has, being especially careful of his morning prayers; who does not, above all, make often the best of all prayers—that of again coming to the sacraments—is a fool, and the devil's laughing-stock.

The great majority of those who have been leading a bad life, and who abandon it at a mission, or at any other time, will not persevere unless they are willing to take the trouble to make frequent and earnest prayers, and to come to confession again within a month. That is simple fact; it is the teaching of experience, not mere guess-work. Are you, my friends, willing to take that trouble for your soul's sake, or do you prefer to fall as you have fallen before?

Sermon LXXVII.
Bearing Witness For Our Lord.

And you shall give testimony,
because you are with me from the beginning.
—St. John xv. 27.

It might be asked, dear brethren, what need God has of our testimony, or why the creature should act the part of witness for the Creator? Certainly Jesus Christ needed not the testimony of men, but in his infinite goodness and wisdom he has seen fit to commit to each one of us a sublime and holy mission, none other than that of giving testimony of him before the world, for the sake of our fellow-man. "You are," says St. Peter, "a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, that you may declare the virtues of him who hath called you out of darkness."

This, then, is our mission, to be witnesses for Jesus Christ; and to-day we are going to consider how we are fulfilling it. You know, brethren, with what a keen sense of criticism the world examines the testimony of those witnessing in behalf of others, and how it values their testimony in proportion to their uprightness and integrity. Well, so it is with regard to us and the testimony we are called upon to give of our Blessed Lord. We Christians are all on the witness-stand of this great world. To-day the unbelieving world is passing judgment upon our testimony, deciding whether it be for or against Jesus Christ; but, brethren, there will come a day when Christ himself will sit in judgment upon this same testimony and reward us accordingly.

Since, then, this our mission is so important, brethren, how are we to fulfil it? It seems to me in no better way than by leading truly Christian lives, and thus forcing the world to acknowledge that we are animated by the spirit of God. The early Christians brought the light of faith to thousands, not by preaching, but by the holiness of their lives; and so, when the pagans and infidels came in contact with them, they were forced to admire and exclaim, "Behold how these Christians love one another!" Would to God that the life and conduct of every Christian to-day could force a similar confession from the unbelievers of our time.

Indeed, brethren, all Christians of our day have a great mission to fulfil in this regard; but we especially, for the reason given by our Lord himself—"because you are with me from the beginning." You, beloved brethren, who have had the faith from the beginning—from your earliest childhood—have a special reason why your testimony for Jesus Christ should never be failing. Has it ever been so? Have your virtuous lives and edifying example brought home the truths and beauties of the Catholic faith to those outside the church? I fear, brethren, the conduct of bad and negligent Catholics has kept back many from inquiring into the true faith. Such Catholics, wearing the livery of Satan, have given false testimony of God, and will have to render an account for it.

We can all of us, brethren, give testimony of Jesus Christ by every action of our lives. Parents can and should render this testimony by the good example they give their families, and the Christian solicitude they have for their spiritual welfare. Young men and women should give this testimony by the profession and practice of God's law and the church's precepts. Let the consideration, dear brethren, of this our high mission, our being called to give testimony of God, be the means of animating us to renewed fervor in the service of Jesus Christ.

Sermon LXXVIII.
The Indwelling of the Holy Spirit.

Watch in prayers.
—1 St. Peter iv. 7.

To-day is the Sunday of expectation, and it brings to our minds that upper chamber in Jerusalem, where the little band of the chosen disciples of the Lord were gathered together waiting for the coming of the Holy Ghost. There were the eleven Apostles and the faithful women, and Mary, the Mother of Jesus, and his brethren. "All these," says the sacred chronicler, "were persevering with one mind in prayer." Hence the Epistle of to-day urges us to imitate them, and begins with the exhortation: "Dearly beloved, watch in prayers."

We too must watch and wait for the coming of the Holy Ghost. He has, indeed, already come into our souls in Holy Baptism, cleansing them from original sin and making them his temples. He has come again in Confirmation, with all the fulness of his sevenfold gifts, to make us strong and perfect Christians and soldiers of Christ.

Yet he comes to us continually every day, knocking at the door of our hearts and begging for admittance. Every impulse of what is known as actual grace is from the Holy Ghost, and such graces we are receiving all the time, every hour of the day. We must therefore prepare ourselves for his coming, and when he has entered into our souls we must strive to keep him there. The Holy Ghost is the life of our souls. It is his constant presence and indwelling which is the state of grace which makes us pleasing to God. To obtain and to preserve this abiding presence of the Holy Ghost we must imitate the Apostles in their watchfulness and prayer. We must watch lest the time of temptation should find us unprepared and off our guard; we must pray that the Holy Ghost may come into our hearts, bringing with him ever richer treasures of divine grace; that he may take possession of our souls and make them all his own; that he may guide our minds, and with the fire of his love inflame our hearts to do his holy will in all things.

But we must first of all prepare for the Holy Ghost by cleansing our souls from sin. Where sin reigns the Holy Ghost can never dwell. The Apostles prepared for his corning by penance. To that upper chamber in Jerusalem came St. Peter, who had denied his Lord, St. Thomas, who had doubted his resurrection, and the others who had wavered in their faith, and, in the time of trial, had forsaken their Master and fled. But now they had been convinced of their error, and they came together with sorrow for their past unfaithfulness, and a full determination to lay down their lives, if need be, for him who had died for them. This is the spirit in which we should prepare for the Holy Ghost. If your hearts are defiled with mortal sin, delay not the time of penance. The Holy Ghost is ready to descend upon you. He only waits for you to do your part. Make ready, then, a place in your heart, that he may enter in and dwell there.

"O my dearly beloved brethren!" exclaims St. Gregory the Great, "think what a dignity it is to have God abiding as a guest in our heart! Surely, if some rich man or some powerful friend were to come into our house, we would hasten to have our whole house cleaned, lest, perchance, when he came in he should see anything to displease his eye. So let him that would make his mind an abode for God cleanse it from all the filth of works of iniquity."

"And they were persevering with one mind in prayer." Our prayer must be persevering if we would gain that which we desire. This is what our Lord meant when he said that we ought always to pray and not to faint. Unless we persevere in prayer we shall without doubt faint by the way in the journey of life. And let us do as the Apostles did, join our prayers to those of Mary, the Mother of Jesus, and we shall have a sure hope of obtaining what is most needful for us. Then, as the Holy Ghost once descended upon her, and wrought within her the Incarnation, so also will he come into our hearts, and make them the abode of the Holy Trinity. Then, if we listen to his blessed voice within us, we shall grow in grace and in the knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, for the Holy Ghost will teach us all things, according to the promise.