Epistle.
2 Corinthians iii. 4-9.
Brethren:
Such confidence we have, through Christ towards God. Not that we are sufficient to think anything of ourselves as of ourselves; but our sufficiency is from God. Who also hath made us fit ministers of the new testament, not in the letter, but in the Spirit. For the letter killeth; but the Spirit giveth life. Now if the ministration of death, engraven with letters upon stones, was glorious, so that the children of Israel could not steadfastly behold the face of Moses, for the glory of his countenance, which is done away: how shall not the ministration of the Spirit be rather in glory? For if the ministration of condemnation be glory, much more the ministration of justice aboundeth in glory.
Gospel.
St. Luke x. 23-37.
At that time:
Jesus said to his disciples:
Blessed are the eyes that see the things which you see. For I say to you that many prophets and kings have desired to see the things that you see, and have not seen them: and to hear the things that you hear, and have not heard them. And behold a certain lawyer stood up, tempting him, and saying: Master, what must I do to possess eternal life? But he said to him: What is written in the law? how readest thou? He answering, said: "Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with thy whole heart, and with thy whole soul, and with all thy strength, and with all thy mind: and thy neighbor as thyself." And he said to him: Thou hast answered right: this do, and thou shalt live. But he, willing to justify himself, said to Jesus: And who is my neighbor? And Jesus answering, said: A certain man went down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and fell among robbers, who also stripped him, and having wounded him, went away, leaving him half dead. And it happened that a certain priest went down the same way, and seeing him, he passed by. In like manner also a Levite, when he was near the place and saw him, passed by. But a certain Samaritan being on his journey came near him; and seeing him was moved with compassion. And going up to him, bound up his wounds, pouring in oil and wine: and setting him upon his own beast, brought him to an inn, and took care of him. And the next day he took out two pence, and gave to the host, and said: Take care of him: and whatsoever thou shalt spend over and above, I at my return will repay thee. Which of these three in thy opinion was neighbor to him that fell among the robbers? But he said: He that showed mercy to him. And Jesus said to him: Go and do thou in like manner.
Sermon CXIV.
The Good Samaritan.
Go and do thou in like manner.
St. Luke x. 37.
How few of us, brethren, are really naturally of a self-sacrificing disposition! How few actually enjoy, for example, the offices of the sick-room, or so much as a little visit of condolence to an afflicted friend!
That is why our Blessed Lord, in this day's Gospel, has given us the beautiful parable of the good Samaritan. Although a heretic and schismatic against the law of Moses, he is chosen as a model because he had a tender, compassionate heart, and was willing to put himself to trouble and expense for his neighbor's welfare.
The corporal works of mercy, brethren, are the easiest of the ways to the love of God. People are fond of admiring the members of religious orders, who, for the love of God, serve the sick and the aged, the insane and the orphans; often forgetting that if this is good as a life-work for them, it is not bad as an occasional practise of virtue for us living in the world. All around us there are shoulders bending under weary burdens and hearts breaking with insupportable cares: yes, even in one's own household. How often do men deny their wives the pleasure of their company; when Sunday comes, going off with any chance companions and leaving the poor mother to mind the children, to miss Mass, and sit lonely at home the livelong day. How very often do young men think of taking anybody's sisters to some respectable place of amusement rather than their own sisters! I think that if a spiritual thermometer were dipped into such men's hearts they would be found pretty near the freezing point.
But, brethren, the sick-room—ah! that is the place on the road between Jerusalem and Jericho where men and women are oftenest found lying in the direst distress. Have you ever been very sick? If so, you know the value of a little good nursing. A man who was just recovering from a very dangerous sickness told me once that when his head was burning with the fever he would willingly have given a hundred thousand dollars for the cooling, restful relief he enjoyed every time the nurse rearranged the pillows for him.
And if you cannot be a regular nurse for the sick, there is no reason why you should not pay an occasional visit to the sick-room. You can spend a pleasant quarter of an hour in cheerful conversation. You can relieve some poor, weary watcher, so that she or he may get a little rest. You can take the ailing child from the worn-out mother's arms and let her lie down and rest her stiffened limbs, or go to church to refresh her anxious soul. You can bring some little delicacy to soothe the sick person's palate. You can read some prayers beside the sick bed morning or night; for we all know that in time of illness it is almost impossible to pray one's self. You can lend a hand to set things to rights, to cook a meal of victuals, or wash the dishes, or run an errand to the drug-store or grocery; and ever and always you can say a word of comfort, of hope, of resignation to the divine will—words cheap to give but precious to receive.
And when at last death is come your presence may be of the deepest comfort. Then is the time to come forward promptly and help to lay out the Christian corpse; to set up for a night beside that strange, silent guest in the coffin; and, when you find two or three gathered about it, to have the courage to lead in reciting the rosary for the soul's happy repose.
I know, brethren, that there are many kind hearts who zealously practise these lovely virtues. But there are others, especially among the men, who nearly quite forget them. And others still who do them grudgingly, and only after many entreaties. To obtain a kind act from an unwilling heart, and after encountering many excuses, is like blowing a dying fire: before you see the bright coals your face is pretty well covered with ashes and cinders.
Brethren, let us not be put to shame by the Samaritan. When confronted with persons suffering from poverty, sickness, death, or any misfortune, do like the Samaritan: forget all about their nationality, or acquaintanceship, or religion. Say something or do something in charity and for the love of God; your neighbor's deepest gratitude and God's sure reward will amply repay you.
Sermon CXV.
Our Neighbors.
Which of these three, in thy opinion,
was neighbor to him that fell among robbers?
But He said, he that showed mercy to him.
—Gospel of the Day.
We are taught in the Gospel of today to love our neighbors as ourselves. Now, if we have this love it shows itself in deeds. If, when we see our neighbor in distress, we pass by, thinking some one else may help him, but we cannot, we are like the proud priest and the Levite, not like the good Samaritan. Our Lord, after describing the charity of this Samaritan, says: "Go and do thou in like manner." We can not pass by our neighbor when he is in extreme necessity without sin; and if his necessity be great we must help him, at least out of our abundance. It is a mistake to think that we are free of obligation in this matter. St. John says: "He that hath the substance of this world and shall see his brother in need, and shall shut up his bowels from him, how doth the charity of God abide in him?"
Are not all men creatures of God? Are not all men redeemed by the Blood of Christ? Does God give more of this world's goods to one man than to another because he loves one more than another? Not at all. The poorest in this world's goods may be rich in God's grace. It is plain, then, that if God has charity for all men, we cannot have his grace if we do not exercise charity towards all, and particularly our neighbor in distress. We must love those whom God loves if we love God, and this love must be active—"not in word nor in tongue," says St. John, "but in deed and in truth."
We all pray to God for mercy; but if we would find mercy we must show mercy. "Blessed are the merciful," says our Lord, "for they shall obtain mercy." But, says St. James, "judgment without mercy to him that hath not done mercy." Mercy shall be granted to the merciful, but it shall be denied to the hard of heart. "Deal thy bread to the hungry," says Isaias, "and bring the needy and the harborless into thy house. Then thou shalt call and the Lord shall hear."
St. Jerome says: "I have never known a merciful man to have a bad death." The word of God encourages us "to redeem our sins with alms and our iniquities with works of mercy to the poor." It says further: "For alms deliver from all sin and from death, and will not suffer the soul to go into darkness." We are taught also in Holy Scripture that Christ considers as done to himself what we do for the poor, but that if we refuse to help those in distress it is as if charity were refused to Christ himself. The sentence which shall decide our eternal happiness or woe will be according to our behavior towards our neighbor in distress.
Let us take care not to be deaf to the cries of the suffering poor; let us rather embrace with affection the lovely virtue of mercy. Bishop Challoner says: "It was mercy which brought the Son of God down from heaven to us, and it is mercy which carries us up to him." He calls "mercy the favorite daughter of the great King." The reward of the merciful will be very great. "He that hath mercy on the poor lendeth to the Lord, and he will repay him."
Those of us who labor in the sacred ministry and those who do work in the Conference of St. Vincent de Paul meet continually with persons whose distress appeals most powerfully to our charity. How we wish the offerings for the poor were more generous! How we wish God would inspire pious Christians to send in donations for the poor! If you would sometimes send into the church-office envelopes containing money for the poor, what good use we could make of it, and how it would call down the mercy of God upon your souls! Brethren, we have Jesus Christ with us in the persons of the poor.
Sermon CXVI.
Occasions Of Sin.
Who is my neighbor?
—From the Gospel of the Sunday.
This is a very important question, my brethren. We depend much for our happiness on the kind of persons who live around us and on how they feel to-wards us. Our Lord answers the question by the famous and touching parable of the Good Samaritan. By that parable he teaches us kindness of heart; he makes that the mark of true neighborly conduct. The good neighbor is the friendly and benevolent one. But may we not turn the question around and learn another good lesson from it? I think we can. The Gospel is like a piece of good cloth. You know when a wise mother buys some cloth to make the children clothes she will get a piece that, as they say, will do to turn—that is, when one side is worn out you can rip up the garment and make it over again with the inside turned outside, and so it will last quite a while longer. So we may learn, perhaps, another lesson from the question in the Gospel by reversing it and asking, "Who is not my neighbor?" The saloon-keeper is not your neighbor. Geographically speaking, no doubt he is your neighbor. He takes care to be handy to you. He is on the ground-floor of the big tenement-house you live in, so that you must pass his door to get to your own. Or he is on the corner you must turn twenty times a day. If nearness were the only mark of a neighbor, the saloon-keeper is very neighborly indeed. But, morally speaking, and in the meaning of our Lord's parable, he is perhaps the last man who can claim to be your neighbor. Yet many honest fellows treat the saloon-keeper not only as their neighbor, but as a partner in their business. They do the hard work; the workingman's share in the partnership is to bend under the heavy hod in the hot sun, or to strike with the heavy sledge on the rocks, or to be half-stifled the livelong day in the hot factory; the other partner has for his share of the work only to smile and pass the bottle. You know which one gets the bulk of the profits; or if you do not, the working-man's wife and family know it all too well. How many foolish men are there who have taken this bad neighbor into partnership the most confidential, and not only give him most of their money in return for worse than nothing, but have made him, besides, the managing partner of their leisure, their friendships, and their politics! As to the sorrows that are bred by the saloon-keeper's traffic, he manages to escape them for a time; and may God give him the grace to repent of his sins and fly from their occasion—that is, change his business—that he may escape the divine wrath in the future.
Another very bad neighbor, and one very unworthy of that name, is a certain class of newsdealers. I say a certain class, for I hope that not all news dealers are alike. But there are very many of them who are guilty of the loss of human souls by selling periodicals and books which can only corrupt the mind and heart of the reader. I ask you, Christian parents, what do you think of those who dress out their windows, with bad pictures to lure passionate youth to the early wreck of soul and body? What do you think of persons who actually make a living in selling journals which are but the pictured proceedings of the police courts? O my brethren! how often is the grace of a good confession and Communion destroyed by a few minutes bad reading! How many there are whose first mortal sin has been some act of youthful depravity suggested by what was bought at a newsdealer's! Such news dealers hold Satan's certificates to teach the science of perdition. What need has the Evil Spirit to fear the Catholic Church and Catholic school as long as he is not hindered from laying his snares for youthful virtue in every direction, as long as the laws against obscene literature are a dead-letter? Therefore, let Catholic parents furnish their families with good reading, both secular and religious; let them take at least one Catholic paper, and let them patronize and direct their children to patronize news dealers who do not sell dangerous matter.
Of course there are other bad neighbors, such as those who invite you to a public dance, or a moonlight excursion, or a Sunday picnic, or a low theatre. But I think you will agree with me that the commonest vices are intemperance and impurity, and that our worst enemies are those two bad neighbors, the saloon-keeper and the vender of impure literature.
