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March
28, 1875 (Easter Day)
[The Seen and the Unseen Worlds]
1. INTROD.—This
is the greatest day of the year, because it is the day on which our
Lord rose from the dead. He said while He died on the Cross, 'Consummatum
est'—'It is finished,' and in the Resurrection we behold the
fruit of His 'finishing.'
2. (1) The miracle itself—and this special,
because without corruption; others [who were miraculously raised to
life] died again. (2) Next it is a reverse after a sorrowful
week. (3) It was a conquest of the foe. (4) It was the exaltation of
our nature.
3. But further, it gives us a great lesson, never
to despair. There are two worlds, and nothing which we see in this
world images to us what is going on in the next.
4. This world runs by laws. All things go on as
at the beginning of the Creation. The sun rises and sets; and so human
affairs. They thought by killing Him to have stamped out religion.
5. And so now—the political world, commercial,
scientific; telescopes, calculations, ships, etc., etc.—but another
world going on too. This world a veil.
6. The mass of men only see this world. Each
{258} man enters in this world with hopes for a career, etc., etc. Not
wrong in minding this world, but in not minding the next. Their view
of life.
7. The flood; 'marrying and giving in
marriage'—but another world too.
8. We walk by faith, not by sight.
9. Therefore acts of faith, hope and charity.
10. Therefore attending Mass, in which the whole
mystery of redemption, atonement, resurrection, etc., [is set forth].
11. Let us thank God for giving us eyes, and pray
Him to give others eyes too, for He died for all.
Perhaps no laws in heaven, but every act from God's
personality; and each perfect in itself, so that we could not reason
from one to the other [Note 1].
June
6 (Third Pentecost)
The Sacred Heart
1. INTROD.—Many
devotions in Holy Church. This is one which has spread of late years,
more, I may say, than any other. Today is the special feast of it; and
[this] leads me to explain in what it consists.
2. Our Lord is One. He is the one God. He took on
Him a manhood, a body and soul; that body from Mary. Still, He was
one, not two—one, as each of us is one.
3. We too, in our way, are each of us one, though
we are two—soul and body—and the body has parts; {259}
[nevertheless] each of us is one. This is what is meant by
speaking of our Lord's [oneness] as we speak of our own.
4. And though each of us is thus composite, we
can love each other as one, though of so many parts. And in like
manner, though our Lord is God and man, with a soul [and body], we can
contemplate Him as one, and worship, love Him as one.
5. Further, if I said I loved the face, or the
smile, or liked to take the hand of my father or mother, it would be
because I loved them. And so, when I speak of the separate portions of
our Lord's human frame, I really am worshipping Him. So in the Blessed
Sacrament we do not conceive of His Body and Blood as separate from
Him.
6. Devotions at various times [and ages]—the
Wounds, the Blood, the Face—and in like manner the Heart. We worship
[each] as Him, as that One Person who is God and man; we
worship [Him] by the memento, the pledge of His Heart.
7. Why? The Heart a symbol—so the Wounds
and the Blood. [In contrast with these] a symbol is sometimes that
which [only] expresses and reminds—thus water, oil, wine, bread.
8. What is the Heart the symbol of?—of His
love, His affection for us, so that He suffered for us—the agony in
the garden.
9. Moreover, of His love in the Holy Eucharist.
10. The Heart was the seat, first, of His love
for us; secondly, of His many griefs and sorrows.
[The following were appended, apparently as
alternatives:] {260}
7. Of two things especially to remind us now,
when the world is so strong—His power and His love. He will overcome
by love.
8. The Heart is the emblem of His love—in
worshipping It we worship Him.
Christmas
Day
[Christmas Joy]
1. Almighty God condescends to be represented in
human language as hoping, fearing, suffering disappointment,
repenting, feeling anger, etc. But there are two human feelings and
affections which may be predicated of Him, not in the way of figure,
but proprie—joy and love; of course I mean as being perfectly
free from human passion.
2. Of the two great festive seasons of Easter and
Pentecost [on the one hand], and Christmas [on the other], Easter,
with the fifty days of Pentecost, is the season of love, Christmas of
joy.
3. I need hardly say so—our churches, our
altars are dressed up as token of our joy—and our houses, according
to our opportunity—and we meet together for social enjoyment, and to
provide festive meals and entertainments of various kinds for the poor
and for children. And all this, of course, is right, and is the proper
token of our faith and hope, of our Christian joy. It is, I say, the season
of joy, and therefore it is fitting that we should exhibit these signs
of our being full of joy.
4. But a warning needs to be given. It is quite
{261} possible, rather, alas! it is not uncommon, for men to stop at,
to get no further than the outward signs. Nay, I may say that it is
quite plain in a country like this, in a place like this we may—nay,
we do—content ourselves with rejoicings which are temporal, earthly,
visible, without going at all to what is the real reason, after all,
for those external signs. All around us men are doing so, and thus we
are led to do as they do.
5. Therefore most necessary to recollect that
there are two sorts of joy, earthly or outward, heavenly or inward,
and that we may easily place the former in the place of the latter.
6. We shall understand best what the true joy is
by what is told us in Scripture of the first Christmas. If that joy
really consisted in anything external, joy could not have been there.
(1) Go through the journey to Bethlehem—winter—slow
journey—lagging behind—no room in the inn, as the inn was full,
doubtless the stable also—caravanserai—the stable, etc. State of
the stable—not like our stables, neat and clean. This is what the
shepherds found. They themselves had a hard time of it, watching their
flock by night, but they came to a worse place; not so cold, but less
like a home. Yet, I say, they rejoiced. Contrast of Herod in his
palace close by. (2) The angels sang 'Glory to God in the highest; and
on earth peace to men of good will'; and the angel said to the
shepherds, 'Behold, I bring you tidings of great joy,' and the
shepherds returned 'rejoicing': and Mary [in] the Magnificat at
an earlier time shows her thoughts. Yet what were the outward
circumstances? {262}
7. Paragraph in newspaper: 'Somehow Christmas
festivities fall flat when one has grown up.' The shepherds, etc.,
rejoiced even in [the midst of] their own outward discomfort and
hardships; but men of the world cannot lastingly rejoice even in the
midst of their good things. Oh how this shames our delicacy, our
desire of comfort, etc.! Of course we may thankfully take what God
gives us; but at least, while we rejoice in these gifts, let us not
forget to let our inward spiritual rejoicing keep pace with our
external.
8. Let us recollect the apostle's words. [Perhaps
the preacher quoted here from the epistle read at the first mass of
Christmas: 'The grace of God our Saviour hath appeared to all men,
instructing us that, denying ungodliness and worldly desires, we
should live soberly, and justly, and godly, in this world; looking for
the blessed hope, and coming of the glory of the great God and our
Saviour Jesus Christ.'—Titus ii. 11-13.]
December
26 (St. Stephen)
[The Martyrs]
1. INTROD.—The
first martyr—what meant by a martyr—witness for the truth. Christ
the first martyr [Note 2], but He more
than a martyr.
2. There is one God, but He was forgotten by all
the earth (except the Jews). {263}
3. If one God, only one religion. But every
nation had its own god or gods, and they never thought of interfering
with each other.
4. God suffered this for a long while (Acts xiv.
16 [Note 3]), but at length, etc.
5. Hence preachers and evangelists,
apostles—but men did not like to be interfered with. It was a new
thing; hence persecutions, and the preachers became martyrs.
6. In Jerusalem they first suffered, because they
came in collision with the prejudices of the Jews—such St.
Stephen—then a wider range—the apostles all martyrs.
7. The Te Deum calls them an
army—(enlarge upon this). Contrast to Mahometans—nay, to
Protestantism, which spreads, not indeed by persecution, but by the
patronage, etc., of the State. What can be more wonderful than an army
conquering by being beaten?
8. The most horrible deaths; stoning is bad
enough, but it [was] only one way—St. Andrew, St. Bartholomew, St.
Peter, St. James, St. Paul, St. John (oil)—the young, the old, the
weak, the strong, men and women.
9. FIRST REFLECTION.—Thus
are we Christians. What, under God, do we not owe to them?
10. SECOND
REFLECTION.—How comfortable
our lives are! The thought of the martyrs should support those too who
are in pain, etc., and those who see their friends in pain.
11. All this should humble us. {264}
January
9, 1876
[Life a Pilgrimage]
1. Life a journey or pilgrimage, Gen. xlvii. 9,
(Jacob) [Note 4], Luke xiii. 33 [Note
5], John xi. 9 [Note 6]. This
is a thought befitting the beginning of the year.
2. In a journey we have a start and a goal. So
life. Again, in a journey, obstacles—rivers, mountains, etc. So in
life, temptations.
3. Now journeys have different lengths—so
different lives have different lengths; one man dies old, another
young—each life is long enough to reach the goal. Each length
according to capabilities—one can go three miles an hour, another
four, etc.
4. The length of each is determined by the length
of light. No one has to travel in the dark, John ix. 4 [Note
7] and xi. 9-10 [Note 8]—as
one man's journey might be near the pole, another's far
south—different times of year.
5. If we linger or deviate on a journey, the
light goes.
6. Have we not lingered or gone out of the
road? Double loss of time if we have to get back; and then how
to find the way? {265}
7. We shall have to run.
8. Perhaps a carriage—increase of grace.
9. Now let us think of the past year and the year
to come.
February
20 (Sexagesima)
[Christ our Fellow-Sufferer]
1. INTROD.—We
have to labour and suffer, as I said last week [Note
9], but we have this support and consolation, that Christ labours
and suffers with us. This a great subject.
2. Adam fell. God never puts on us more than we
can do; He gives grace sufficient.
3. But it is much more than this. He might have
forgiven and restored us without Christ's death; but He has
done so in a more excellent way.
4. The Prince of Wales going into a labour
prison, putting on dress of convicts, having his hair cut, all for the
sake of converting convicts. So—
5. Christ has sought us—but more, for He has
wrought and suffered for and instead of us.
6. Still more; not only He has taken ours,
but has given us His—the vine and branches—one body, He the head,
Rom. xii. [5] [Note 10]; 'Why
persecutest thou me?' [Acts ix. 4].
7. We are all [that] He is—sons of God—full
of grace—heirs of heaven.
8. Is not this sufficient to sweeten labour?
{266}
February
27 (Quinquagesima)
[Communion with God]
1. God the Creator of all—all things depend
on Him.
2. But the happiness of intellectual beings is
not only [in] dependence [upon], but in union with Him.
3. This union shows itself in communion—that
is, a fellowship—intercourse of thought, or a spiritual
conversation.
4. The fall of Adam has placed a huge obstacle,
as a wall or a mountain, between us and God, and Christ has broken it
down. He has opened the kingdom of heaven to all who believe. This is
why He took flesh and came on earth.
5. Now this communion requires love and grace on
the part of God, and faith and prayer on the part of man.
6. In His part God is not wanting. His love is as
expansive, as diffusing, as powerfully and constantly overflowing as
the sea, or as the wind, or as the flame, and whereas their expansion
is for evil, that of the Divine Attributes is for good.
7. Now we have instances of this communion
between God and man in Scripture clearly defined.
8. Enoch 'walked with God'—and Noe. What is
meant by 'walking with God' is plain; men who are companions on a
journey talk while they walk. The two journeying to
Emmaus; our Lord joined them—this was communion.
9. Another image is that of friend.
Abraham is {267} friend of God, 2 Paralip. xx. 7 [Note
11], Isa. xli. 8 [Note 12],
James ii. 23 [Note 13]. Friends
are in possession of each other's confidence; and Gen. xviii. [17],
'Shall I hide from Abraham what I am about to do?'—and [Abraham's]
intercession for the cities.
10. And so Moses—Num. xvi. 18 and Ex. xxxiii.
11.
11. What was, then, the privilege of the few, for
the Jews were 'servants' in Judaism, is the right of all Christians. Vide
Luke xxii. [4], 'friends,' and John xv. 15, when our Lord speaks of 'omnia
quaecunque,' etc.
12. CONCLUSION.—(1)
Those who make friends of the world cannot have this Divine
friendship; (2) Those who have that Divine friendship have a disgust
of worldly friends. 'Jesus Christ the same yesterday, and today, and
for ever.'
First
Lent [1876]
[Sin]
1. INTROD.—This
is a time when the Church calls upon us to put off sin—both the reatus
[guilt] and punishment of it—and the indwelling power.
2. That there is such a thing as sin—something
distinct from everything else—I shall take for granted; it is an
offence against God: 'against Thee only have I sinned.'
3. It is different from a mistake, intellectual,
{268} social, or practical; different from an offence against
beautifulness, etc.
4. I shall take this for granted. And the
question is about its gravity—is it of little consequence or
great?—this is my point.
5. Now here I shall dwell on one consideration,
viz. of what Almighty God thinks of it, by what He has done in
consequence of it.
6. The GOSPEL.
What is meant by Gospel, and why?
7. It is the coming of God in our flesh, thus to
humiliate Himself—to suffer, to preach, etc., etc. Can it be a light
thing to bring about this? This is indubitable if Christianity is
true—there cannot be two opinions.
8. Nay, He had to suffer—to be tortured—to be
crucified. Texts.
9. His terror: it was more then than the outward
appearance, John xii. [27] [Note 14],
Luke xxii. [Note 15], Heb. v.
[7] [Note 16].
10. Now what is to be said to those who ignore
all this?
March
12 (Second Lent)
[Hell]
On future punishment—on hell.
First, we are not fair judges of the malignity of
sin.{269}
1. Because like men who have ever lived in a
mine, and never seen the light of day.
2. Because skill in any art (and so in holiness)
raises the standard.
3. Because culprits make bad judges.
Secondly, God is a consuming fire; sanctity burns
what is not holy.
Thirdly, consider Scripture. St. John Bapt.,
'burn up the chaff'—Matt. xxv., Mark ix., fire—St. Luke, Dives and
Lazarus—St. Paul, St. Peter, St. John, St. Jude.
March
19 (Third Lent)
[Punishment of Sin]
1. Recapitulation—God 'a consuming fire' [Deut.
iv. 24]; the nature of things; His nature cannot alter; He cannot
alter it; He cannot make sin a blessedness, or make it other than
antagonist to Him.
2. An atmosphere—we cannot live in water, or
except in air—a sinful soul cannot breathe the atmosphere of the
spiritual world; that atmosphere is fire to it.
3. While in this world punishment is sometimes
delayed; but even here it commonly comes as heathens witnessed, (thus
old men suffer for their youth). But [if not here] certainly
afterwards—a 'fiery indignation' [Heb. x. 27], etc.
4. Not only deliberate sinners, but even God's
own children; and this is what I wish to bring {270} before you,
especially this evening. This is the doctrine of purgatory.
5. Such is the divine law—even after repentance
and reconciliation after a firm faith; yet those whom God loves, who
die in grace, nevertheless suffer for the sins which they did before
their conversion and after it.
6. Matt. v., 'last farthing.'
7. 1 Cor. iii., 'by fire.'
8. (1) Delaying repentance. 'I will repent by and
bye'—but purgatory.
9. (2) Every sin has its punishment.
10. (3) Joy that there is a purgatory.
11. (4) The willing plunge. The content of
purgatory—next to the content of paradise.
March
26 (Fourth Lent)
How to Escape Purgatory
1. The first thing to do is to be in constant
union here with our Lord and Saviour; that is, in a state of grace.
2. This we are able to do through the sacraments
and our own care—that care is to avoid mortal sin. Venial sin no one
[can avoid] but by special privilege; but it is our own fault if we
fail into mortal.
3. If we are always in and out of grace (1) shall
we persevere? (2) at least we shall not save ourselves from purgatory.
4. Next, if we are in grace and reunited to
Christ, our penitential works tell—1 Cor. xi., 'judged'; {271} (1)
prayers—'Knock, and it shall be opened'; (2) alms; (3) fastings.
5. Thirdly, indulgences. Still depending on a
state of grace.
6. Fourthly, but better than all, contrition.
7. Two kinds of contrition. With love or with
fear; for God or for self.
8. Anyhow there must be hatred, grief, resolve.
9. But contrition with love does everything; it
saves without the sacraments when they can't be had.
10. St. Vincent Ferrer and his penitent (Bail,
t. 5).
April
16 (Easter Day)
[Gifts of the Resurrection]
1. INTROD.—This
day is the foundation of all our hopes for eternity. Recollect that
our souls will never die; the body dies, but not the soul ever; always
in being. The body dies—rises; but there is no break of continuing
being as regards the soul.
2. What condition are our souls in to encounter
immortality? Who is there who, if he can bring himself to think
steadily, would like to live for ever with no better outfit for
eternity than he has? Who would like to go out of this world to
judgment with no clearer conscience than he has?
3. In this tremendous difficulty our Lord came to
be our Saviour. The Son of God came, etc., etc. He died. He took upon
Him all our miseries, and made Himself a sacrifice.
4. And he has gained us great gifts by which to
reverse our state. Salvation consists in five. We {272} have virtues
which God cannot have, e.g. faith and hope, but these [five]
gifts are much more; [they make us] 'partakers of the divine nature'
[2 Pet. i. 4]. Five—GRACE and
TRUTH, John i. 16-17 [Note
17]; LIGHT and LIFE;
ib. 4, 9 [Note 18], and ib.
xiv. 6, 'the way,' etc. [Note 19]
PEACE or JOY,
ib. xiv. 27 [Note 20]. So
in apostolic greetings in the Epistles. All five Divine
Attributes—'partakers of the divine nature.'
5. The first is grace or holiness (instead of
unholiness).
6. The second truth (instead of ignorance),
witness to the truth—faith—hearing.
7. The third is light—seeing, knowledge,
everything clear—as eyes correspond to ears. John viii. 12 [Note
21]; ib. xii. 35, 36 [Note
22].
8. Fourth, life, John x. 10 [Note
23], 28 [Note 24], ib.
iv. 14 [Note 25], ib. v.
24 [Note 26].
9. Fifth, peace or joy, John xiv. [Note
27], ib. xx. Twice [Note
28]; {273} joy, ib. xv. 11 [Note
29], 1 John i. 4 [Note 30].
All five in John xvii. [Christ's prayer for His disciples].
10. Oh how different is all this from the ideas
and language of the world!
11. Let us recollect, to realise it in ourselves
is the only true way of keeping the Resurrection.
November
19 (Twenty-fourth Pentecost—
Sixth Epiphany)
[The First and Second Advents]
1. The mustard seed.
2. The Church between the two comings of Christ.
3. Those comings both awful, Mal. iii, and Mal.
xxiv. 29, etc.
4. [But] this difference—the first expected;
the latter sudden—Mark xiii.—the ten virgins.
5. The first—Jacob's prophecy [the time fixed, i.e.
when the sceptre shall have departed from Judah]—Daniel's 70
weeks=490 years.
6. The second [sudden] like the Flood and [the
destruction of] Sodom—Luke xvii. 26-30.
7. Hence 'watch and pray,' Mark xiii.
8. And so St. Paul—a first duty to wait,
1 Thess. i. 10 ['to wait for his son from heaven'], Rom. xii., and
Heb. x.
9. But it may be said, What difference between
this and waiting for the death of each? {274}
10. Against building and planting—progress.
11. Making this structure and polity of visible
society a god to be worshipped, though the individual dies.
12. No, all we see will come to nought, however
great and beautiful, Isa. ii. finis.
December
3 (First Advent)
[The Second Advent]
1. The gospel this day a portion of our Lord's
prophecy [of the destruction of Jerusalem and the second coming],
rising out of the apostle's admiration of the beauty of the Temple.
2. It seemed to them too beautiful to be
destroyed.
3. This is the way with men; they wonder at their
own great works; they look up to the great works of their fellows; and
when they are able to trace out the beauty of God's creation, that too
they make an idol, and bow down before their own work, loving the map
[which they have made] of it, and say they have discovered it to be
too beautiful to be broken.
4. It is well for man, an homuncio, thus
to think, for he can do a great thing but once; but God destroys His
own works, however beautiful, because He could from His infinite
resources create many worlds each more beautiful [than] those that
were before it.
5. And His own works He regards not, if they have
not that note of sanctity which He breathed on them in the
beginning. {275}
6. Therefore when the Jews, His own people, came
to nought, if He did not spare the work of His own hands, much less
[was He likely to spare] Herod's work.
7. Babylon and Nabuchodonosor.
8. Now in this [the present] state of society it
is pride, not open sensuality [which is conspicuous]; i.e.
think of the greatness of an army, of a popular assembly, of some
queen's ball. But whenever the world looks imposing and likely to
last, that is the most likely time that it will be brought to an end,
or at least [is the likely time] of some great judgment.
December
10 (Second Advent)
The Immaculate Conception
1. The great feast of this church [of the
Birmingham Oratory], being the mystery to which it is dedicated.
2. Describe Adam's state [before he fell], and
original sin. He became a child of wrath—enemy of God—and the
dwelling-place of the evil spirit—[Lex orandi lex credendi:
this last point illustrated by the] exorcisms at baptism.
3. Now, could this be the state of the Blessed
Virgin?
4. [It could not be.] How is this proved? By meditating
on the Incarnation. (Explain)—deeper and deeper knowledge the saints
have in gazing on the Beatific Vision—and in this life the more we
meditate on divine truths the more we find.
5. She is [the] Mother of God. He not merely
{276} inhabited a man, etc. Doctrine of the Incarnation.
6. Therefore immaculate in [her] conception.
7. Hence the Holy Fathers, etc., and so on to our
times, till Pius ix. has made it an article of faith.
8. It does not, cannot interfere with the supreme
glory of her Son, but subserves it.
December
17 (Third Advent)
[Signs of the Second Advent]
1. Sign of our Lord's coming, though we don't
know the day, viz. an apostasy or revolt—[ho anomos] [the
lawless one, 2 These. ii. 8]; Antichrist [cf.] [he anomia],
Matt. xxiv. 12.
2. Give circumstances of St. Paul saying
so—belief that our Lord was then to come when St. Paul wrote.
3. Our Lord says, Matt. xxiv. [9, 'Then shall
they deliver you up to be afflicted, and shall put you to death: and
you shall be hated by all nations for my name's sake']—contrast of
prosperity, ib. 38, ['For as in the days before the flood they
were eating and drinking ... so also shall the coming of the Son of
man be'], and persecution, the greatest persecution, as holy men have
anticipated.
4. But why will they not persevere, as [the]
first Christians [did]? Want of faith (vide verse 12). We can
do all things by faith if we have faith; but false reason cuts at the
root (vide verse 24, false prophets).
5. Sophistry and false reason—even the elect.
{277}
6. This all is opening on us—like the last age.
7. But as sun shining through clouds, or as a
dying man kept alive by prayer, always going and never gone, so (for
the chance of more conversion and more elect), the world ever dying.
8. Alas! the next generation—young people, I
fear for you! [Note 31]
9. Let us at this time of year pray that as
Christ on His first coming came with preparation, so we may be
prepared for His second coming.
December
24 (Fourth Advent)
[The First Advent]
1. 'A thousand years as one day.' Quote 2 Pet.
iii. 7-8 [Note 32].
2. Illustrated in preparation for Christianity.
Abraham two thousand years before His coming.
3. He was told, 'In thee [shall all the kindred
of the earth be blessed,' Gen. xii. 3], but his faith tried by the
delay.
4. Mount Moriah the illustration of that faith
which was against sight, for Isaac was the child of promise. {278}
5. This a type of all holy men; instances in Heb.
xi. 13 [Note 33].
6. Not only did not our Lord come, but all events
seemed to look the other way.
7. Prophets said again and again, Persevere in
faith; but what chance was there when the people rebelled and
apostatised, and there were captivities, etc., and at last deportation
of the whole people to Babylon?
8. Elias and the seven thousand—a remnant.
9. Solomon, 'There hath not failed [so much as
one word of all the good things that he promised by his servant
Moses'], 3 Kings viii. [56]; Isaias to Hezekiah, Isaias xxxvii. 32 [Note
34]; Habacuc iii. 18 [Note 35].
10. At length Herod king; a heathen—but man's
extremity God's opportunity. Christ at length came.
11. Apply this to these times—and personally to
individuals.
[A line along the margin shows that § 8 was to
be inserted in § 7, presumably after 'apostatised.']
December
31
[The Past not Dead]
1. We are accustomed to keep the beginning of the
year, but not the ending; we congratulate each {279} other on the new
year, but we let the old year go its way. Why is this?
2. It is, first, because the old year, whether it
was a happy year or unhappy, suggests thoughts of pain. If unhappy,
that is painful; if happy, it is [painful] because it is gone.
3. Also, because the past year is dead, and
whatever is dead naturally inflicts pain upon us. And therefore we
turn to the new year with hope.
4. But is it really dead? No; in one sense it is
awfully alive. All things live to God—the past as well as the
present. No; to us only the past year is dead, and to us also
one day it is to [be] alive again. On the last day the books will be
opened, chronicling all events. Quote Apocalypse xx. 12 [Note
36].
5. Think of the number of events—e.g. in
the newspapers—yet they are nothing to the sum-total.
6. Every soul has its history; every soul is
immortal and independent.
7. What are the events of the year but a history
in millions of souls of the unceasing warfare between good and evil.
We talk of battles in the world, etc., but what are they?
8. How many have gone right? how many wrong? how
many turning-points for life? how many have died good and bad, young
and old?
Photographs; light from distant stars not yet
arrived here. How much we need God's protection; the future quite
dark. {280}
May
13, 1877 (After Ascension)
[Particular Providence]
1. INTROD.—[The
Ascension] the end of the miraculous series of events which our Lord's
life comprises. From birth to Ascension, as is said in the Creed,
2. Till He shall come to judge.
3. The world goes on by fixed laws, and they are
such as in themselves are good, and subserve and proclaim His General
Providence. All these contrivances and final causes, etc. But nothing
personal in this—a cold system. He does not speak. No encouragement
to us to speak to Him—Acts xiv. 17 [Note
37] and xvii. 26-27 [Note 38].
4. But He has been more merciful than this—the
hairs of our head numbered. Particular Providence
everywhere and always. How was He to show this particular providence?
By suspending the laws [of Nature] by miracles.
5. This He did. But that particular providence He
has mercifully brought [out] in a distinct form, first in the Mosaic,
and then in the Gospel economy. He has suspended His laws. {281}
6. Especially when, after suffering, He ascended
to heaven.
7. He promises us heaven. He has gone first to
prepare a place for us individually there.
8. Patria—Heb. xi. [13], pilgrims [Note
39]; Eph. ii. [19] [Note 40].
9. Sursum corda—Col. iii. 1 [Note
41].
10. We think of meeting our friends in
heaven; we do not think of Him who is the best of all friends.
11. Don't say we don't know Him; Gospels,
especially Gospel of St. John, bring Him close to us.
12. Sursum corda—Col. iii. 1. Pray
without ceasing, after pattern of Luke xxiv. 52 [Note
42], Acts i. 14 [Note 43].
May
27 (Trinity Sunday)
[The Holy Trinity]
On this day we close our celebration of the
merciful truths of the Gospel by a solemn commemoration of the Holy
Trinity,
1. Lest we should forget who and what God is.
2. He has so humbled Himself, e.g. our
Lord's human life, also the Holy Ghost—a gift poured
out—received—quenched—[al.] extinguished—grieved.
3. Therefore the Church appoints this feast, that
{282} we may have that holy fear, and awe, and wonder at Him which
becomes His greatness, while we believe in Him and love Him.
4. State the doctrine—that there is a Divine
Trinity or Triad, a Divine Three in heaven. Each is God in the fulness
of Divine Attributes, yet there is only One God, as the Creed
says—this is the beginning and end of the Holy Truth—we cannot say
more or less.
5. Three devotional sentiments towards
it—faith, fear, love—all three feelings together.
6. Faith—that there should be a mystery,
congruous. He might not have told us, but if not, still we might be
sure there was one. Unitarians—Credo quia impossibile. I
would not believe in a God who had no mysteries.
7. Awe, as I have said [secs. 1-3].
8. Love; the mystery no difficulty, for each
part of it is clear; the most ignorant can confess God the
Father—then [God] the Son, etc. [Note
44] Though how all three [propositions] are true together, and why
the second does not contradict the first, etc., the wisest cannot
know. And in heaven we shall know all.
9. The Mystery brings before us the peace, as
well as the love which [we] shall have in heaven.
June
24 (Fifth Pentecost)
[Anger]
1. INTROD.—Epistle
[1 Pet. iii. 8-10], Gospel [Matt. v. 20-24]. {283}
2. The anger thus spoken of by our Lord [Note
45] is a sin against charity; it is something more than
indignation, for it is a personal feeling, the consequence of
some slight or injury to oneself.
3. And more than want of self-command. Passion or
irritableness, which is parallel to concupiscence, a sin against self.
Passion or irritableness leads a child to beat the ground. To
shout, to abuse, to strike is a relief. All this is sinful, but not [in
se] against charity; one may really love the person who provokes
us.
4. Yet, though it [anger] is not this common
affection, in spite of the phenomena being the same, it is a common
sin, and far worse than an affection.
5. It shows itself in this, that it does not go
off or evaporate; it remains as spite, resentment, a grudge, a desire
of revenge—and who will say this is not common?—in a feeling of
repulsion, alienation, hatred.
6. How wrong it is we shall see by the
contrast of the Christian feeling, as darkness is understood by
light—how beautiful the generosity, the nobleness of returning good
for evil! Joseph and his brethren; David with Saul.
7. I have said it is a personal feeling; but
there is a kind of hatred, which is only partially personal, or only
at first, but when the keen personal feeling is gone, leaves a habit
of hatred and repulsion—a dull negative feeling. This too is against
charity.
8. It may be said, indeed, How can I help it? I
{284} don't like the man, as I don't like a certain taste or sound,
etc.
9. On the other hand, you must feel towards all
men as those you can bear to meet in heaven.
10. This one effect of purgatory, to burn away in
every one of us that in which we differ from each other.
August
5
[The End of Man]
1. Why are we placed here on earth? This is a
question which comes often to children, and is the beginning of their
responsibility.
2. Too often the question ceases to be asked by
the young soul; but it drowns the thought in the levity of the small
world of children around it.
3. But I repeat it, my brethren, think of it
now—Why are you here in this world? Were you put here merely
to eat, drink, sleep, etc., for a certain [number] of years, to marry,
to grow old, to die? Were you put here merely to get on in life, to
make a fortune and a name, to gain power, influence, to be in a
position to gratify ambition, etc.? You know you have a higher end
than this.
4. Now consider what the real reason is. You were
put here to prepare yourself for a higher and eternal state; and for
this all the riches, power, name—all the cleverness, sharpness and
knowledge you may have or acquire, nay, I will say, all the industry,
all the affectionateness, all the good-heartedness you have by nature
(though these qualities are entirely good)—will not avail at all.
{285}
5. You are come to make the raw material of your
souls into (as I may say) a vessel of honour for the Lord's house
above.
6. Consider the instance of various trades on
earth, and you will understand—bread, pottery, moulding, and the
fine arts—a building, a statue.
7. So there is the raw material of your soul—it
is called in Scripture the flesh; it is human nature in the rude
condition to which Adam's sin has reduced it. Take the instance of the
brute animals—you will in a measure understand what human nature
is—the passions, etc.
8. On bringing the soul into shape—the small
trials of every day.
9. How different good old men are from what they
were when young. So, on the other hand, you can't help moulding
yourself. Woe to you if you mould the wrong way.
June
9, 1878 (Pentecost)
[The Coming of the Holy Ghost]
1. INTROD.—The
Holy Ghost, whose feast is today, is God. But God is the object of
every day's devotion, not of festivals. Saints, our Lord's Humanity,
have festivals. What is today? (This is so large a subject that I fear
I shall hardly say all I wish this morning.)
2. God is in Himself all good, and not only all
good, but one characteristic of that goodness is the attribute of
communicating that goodness to all His creatures. He gives Himself to
them in order {286} that they may in their measure partake of that
perfect[ion] which is He.
He is not only the Giver but the gift, and this
day we thus view Him as the gift; for, considered [as] the great and
heavenly gift of all good, He is the Holy Ghost; therefore this day is
the solemn commemoration of that mercy of God by which He has given
Himself to us. The gift—(keep to that—say if we have peace, etc.,
etc.)—and this a feast of St. Philip, etc.; vide sermon on
Whitsunday, p. 146.
3. But further. God the Holy Ghost is not [only]
the great gift, but the promised gift. His goodness is especially
shown in His giving us Himself in spite of difficulty and resistance.
This is a world of sin and evil, created good by Him in the beginning,
and therefore His goodness is specially shown in reparation, and in
the triumph of His goodness over evil at the end of a long contest
occasioned by sin. And here is another aspect of this day—it
commemorates the end of a great and long course of providence, the
accomplishment of promise and prophecy. It was not only a gift, but a
promised gift. Hence our Lord speaks of it as 'the promise of the
Father.'
4. A long process involving in it the mission of
the eternal Son to mankind; the world had to be made fit in the
fulness of time—meanwhile the chosen people, etc.
5. Promises and prophets—a long expectation.
6. And when our Lord had come, then, not for a
long time, but still for a time, for forty days, the suspense
continued.
7. The apostles in expectation, 'Lord, wilt thou
at this time,' etc. {287}
8. At last Whitsunday came; wind and fire;
Malachias iii., 'Fire upon earth'—Holy Ghost by fire.
July
21 and 28 (Sixth and Seventh Pentecost)
On the New Creation
I
1. We find from St. Paul that its life [i.e.
the life of the New Creation] is gratitude for our Lord's sufferings
for us, 2 Cor. v.; Gal. ii., sin.
2. Gratitude implies (and requires) (1) sense of
sin; (2) faith.
3. Leads to (3) hope; (4) hope implies fear.
4. And gratitude is a kind of love.
II
But love is charity, such as is necessary to
fulfil the command for 'eternal life,' 'Thou shalt love the Lord thy
God with,' etc.,
Involves
1. Gratitude.
2. Likeness to God. Like loves like, i.e.
love of appreciation.
3. The love of friendship—'Abraham the friend';
John xv., 'friends'—which involves a mutual consciousness of
love—John xxi., 'Lord, thou knowest,' etc.
4. Companionship—'Walk before me'; 'Walk with
me'—journey to Emmaus.
5. Dilectio—preference. {288}
(Twentieth
Pentecost)
[Faith and Thanksgiving]
'Unless you see signs and wonders, you believe
not,' John iv. 48.
1. INTROD.—This
gospel opens a subject too long to treat well today, especially as
this day has subjects of its own, one of which I cannot pass over.
2. How is it that our Lord seems to accuse the
nobleman of unbelief?
3. He certainly does in some sense, but in what
sense?
4. His disbelief was not as if he did not believe
our Lord's power; he did not try our Lord's power to get evidence
(see the narrative), but he was (naturally indeed) so earnestly set
upon his one desire, his son's recovery, that he did not show
resignation. He urged our Lord to make haste.
5. Contrast Martha and Mary—'Lord, he whom thou
lovest is sick' [John xi. 3]. And the event showed how fully they
might trust—for [though] He did not make haste, still he who was
even dead was raised again.
6. Ephesians v. 19-20 [Note
46]; Phil. iv. 3 [Note 47];
1 Thess. v. 18 [Note 48]; 2 Cor.
vi. 10 [Note 49].
7. I am led to these remarks by the thanksgivings
to be made in this day's service for the answer to the prayers we have
been offering by direction of his Lordship for a blessing on this year's
harvest and the trade and manufactures of this country.
8. The distressed father in the gospel asked for
a miracle; we do not, but our cases are the same—whether by miracle
as he, or by providence as to us, both he and we prayed to God for an
object. We have both severally received what we ask for.
9. His distress and ours.
10. He showed his gratitude, and so, I trust,
shall we.
11. He was admonished—(go through his case).
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Notes
1. This paragraph is placed at the end. It was
written on an empty space, and it is not clear where it was meant to
be.
Return to text
2. 'Thou sayest that I am a
king. For this was I born, and for this came I into the world, that I
should give testimony to the truth.'—John xviii. 37.
Return to text
3. 'Who in times past
suffered all nations to walk in their own ways.'
Return to text
4. 'The days of my pilgrimage
are a hundred and thirty years: few and evil, and they have not come
up to the days of the pilgrimage of my fathers.'
Return to text
5. 'Nevertheless I must walk
today and tomorrow.'
Return to text
6. 'Are there not twelve
hours in the day? If a man walk in the day, he stumbleth not.'
Return to text
7. 'I must work the works of
him that sent me, whilst it is day: the night cometh, when no man can
work.'
Return to text
8. 'If a man walk in the day,
he stumbleth not, because he seeth the light of this world. But if he
walk in the night, he stumbleth, because the light is not in him.'
Return to text
9. There are no notes of the
sermon here alluded to.
Return to text
10. 'So we, being many, are
one body in Christ.'
Return to text
11. 'Didst not thou our God
kill all the inhabitants of this land … and gavest it to the seed of
Abraham thy friend for ever?'
Return to text
12. ' … the seed of
Abraham my friend.'
Return to text
13. 'And the scripture [Gen.
xv. 6] was fulfilled, saying, Abraham believed God: ... and he was
called the Friend of God.'
Return to text
14. 'Now is my soul
troubled; and what shall I say? Father, save me from this hour: but
for this cause I came unto this hour.'
Return to text
15. The agony at sweat of
blood.
Return to text
16. 'Who in the days of his
flesh, with a strong cry and tears offering up prayers to him that was
able to save him,' etc.
Return to text
17. 'And of his fulness we
have all received, grace for grace … The law was given by Moses;
grace and truth came by Jesus Christ.'
Return to text
18. 'In him was life; and
the life was the light of men ... The true Light, which enlighteneth
every man.'
Return to text
19. 'I am the way, and the
truth, and the life.
Return to text
20. 'Peace I leave with you,
my peace I give you ... Let not your heart be troubled.'
Return to text
21. 'I am the light of the
world.'
Return to text
22. 'Walk while you have
light, that the darkness overtake you not ... Whilst you have the
light, believe in the light.'
Return to text
23. 'I am come that they may
have life, and have it more abundantly.'
Return to text
24. 'I give them [my sheep]
life everlasting.'
Return to text
25. 'The water that I will
give him shall become a fountain of water springing up to life
everlasting.'
Return to text
26. 'He who heareth my word
... hath life everlasting.'
Return to text
27. V. supra.
Return to text
28. The salutation 'Peace be
to you,' after the Resurrection.
Return to text
29. 'These things I have
spoken to you, that my joy may be in you, and your joy may be filled.'
Return to text
30. 'These things we write
to you, that you may rejoice, and your joy may be full.'
Return to text
31. Father John Pollen, S.J.,
remembers the great impression made on him by this sermon, and
especially by the pity expressed for the rising generation. He heard
it as a boy at the Oratory School.
Return to text
32. 'But the heavens and
earth, which are now, by the same word are kept in store, reserved
unto fire against the day of judgment and perdition of the ungodly
men. But of this one thing be not ignorant, my beloved, that one day
with the Lord is as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one
day.'
Return to text
33. 'All these died
according to faith, not having received the promises, but beholding
them afar off.'
Return to text
34. 'For out of Jerusalem
shall go forth a remnant, and salvation from Mount Sion.'
Return to text
35. 'But I will rejoice in
the Lord; and I will joy in God, my Jesus.'
Return to text
36. 'And I saw the dead,
great and small, standing in the presence of the throne; and the books
were opened: and another book was opened, which is the book of life:
and the dead were judged by those things which were written in the
books, according to their works,'
Return to text
37. St. Paul's address to
the Iconians: 'Nevertheless he left not himself without testimony,
doing good from heaven, giving rains and fruitful seasons, filling our
hearts with food and gladness.'
Return to text
38. St. Paul's address to
the Athenians: 'And hath made of one all mankind to dwell upon the
whole face of the earth, determining appointed times, and the limits
of their habitation. That they should seek God, if haply they may feel
after him, or find him.'
Return to text
39. 'All these died
according to faith, not having received the promises, but beholding
them afar off, and saluting them, and confessing that they are pilgrims
and strangers on the earth.'
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40. 'You are no more
strangers and foreigners.'
Return to text
41. 'Therefore if you be
risen with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is
sitting at the right hand of God.'
Return to text
42. 'And they adoring went
back into Jerusalem with great joy.'
Return to text
43. 'All these were
persevering with one mind in prayer.'
Return to text
44. See p. 158, footnote.
Return to text
45. 'Whosoever is angry with
his brother, shall be in danger of the judgment.'
Return to text
46. 'Speaking to yourselves
in psalms and spiritual canticles, singing and making melody in your
hearts to the Lord; Giving thanks for all things in the name of our
Lord Jesus Christ to the Father.'
Return to text
47. 'In everything, by
prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your petitions be made
known to God.'
Return to text
48. 'In all things giving
thanks; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you
all.'
Return to text
49. 'As sorrowful, yet
always rejoicing.'
Return to text
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