Category: God The Teacher Of Mankind

Mondays with Father Muller - God the Teacher of Mankind continued . . . . . . . . . . .

6/15/2015

3. What does it mean to love God above all things ?
It means to be willing to lose all things, even life itself rather than displease him by sin. Our love for an object must be in proportion to its value. The more valuable a thing is, the more we ought to praise and love it. If an object is of immense value, our love for it should also be immense.

Now God is an infinite good. Whatever good is found in created things, is found in him in an infinite degree. All creatures, however great and excellent they may be, are as nothing compared with God. Whatever good they possess, is entirely from God. Our love for God, therefore, must be greater than the love we bear to any thing else. We must love God above all things, that is we must love him more than all our wealth. All the goods of this world are perishable. God alone is unchangeable and immortal. The rich man in the Gospel loved his wealth more than God. Consequently he died in sin, and was buried in hell. We must love God more than our parents, more than any one in the world. "He that loveth father or mother more than me," says our Lord, "is not worthy of me. And he that loveth son or daughter more than me, is not worthy of me." (Matt, x, 37.)

There is a young woman. She is not a Catholic. She is, however, convinced of the truth of the Catholic religion. She knows that she cannot be saved unless she be comes a practical Catholic. Her parents are wealthy. They are bitter enemies of the Catholic Church. She knows that, if she becomes a Catholic, she will be disinherited, and even expelled from her home. Now, if she wishes to be saved, her love for God must surpass the love she bears to her parents, to her home, and to all
earthly enjoyments. She must, as she hopes for heaven, embrace the true faith, no matter what may be the consequences.

There is a mother of a family. She has an amiable and affectionate daughter to whom she is greatly attached. Her daughter is called by Almighty God to leave the world and serve him in religion. Now, this mother must love God more than her daughter. She must be willing to give up her daughter and suffer her to follow her vocation. We must love God, more than ourselves, more than our very lives. We must be willing even to suffer death rather than renounce Jesus Christ or deny a single article of our holy faith. Now, it is not necessary that we should feel this love of preference for God ; for such love is not a matter of feeling. Neither is this love a mere act of the understanding by which we know that God is the sovereign good, worthy of all our love. No one, who is in his right senses and believes in God, can doubt that the sovereign good is worthy of all our love. This love of preference lies in the will which deliberately chooses God in preference to all things, and is determined to sacrifice every thing rather than offend him grievously.

A certain person once heard a sermon on the love of God. Amongst other things, she heard the priest say that we must love God more than every thing else, more than our parents, more than our dearest friends. After the sermon, she went to confession and accused herself of being guilty of not loving God more than her parents; "for," said she, "whatever pleases my parents, also pleases me, and whatever displeases them, displeases me also. I feel that I love them most tenderly, and nothing gives me more pain than to see them in trouble. Now, I do not feel thus towards God. It seems to me I am quite cold and indifferent towards him." The priest said : "Tell me ; would you commit a mortal sin in order to please your parents?" "Oh, no! Father," answered the penitent; "I would rather die than commit a mortal sin." "Then be quite easy," said the priest, "for you love God more than your parents."; Indeed, we may feel more intense love for our parents than for God, and yet not sin against charity ; for, as long as we are ready even to give them up, were God to require this of us, we would not really prefer them to him. should feel this love of preference for God ; for such love is not a matter of feeling. Neither is this love a mere act of the understanding by which we know that God is the sovereign good, worthy of all our love. No one, who is in his right senses and believes in God, can doubt that the sovereign good is worthy of all our love. This love of preference lies in the will which deliberately chooses God in preference to all things, and is determined to sacrifice every thing rather than offend him grievously.

To be continued . . . . . . . . .

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Mondays With Father Muller - God the Teacher of Mankind continued:

6/8/2015

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2. Which is the greatest commandment of God?
The greatest commandment is, to love God above all things, with our whole heart, and our neighbor as ourselves.

We read in the Gospel that the Jews often put questions to our dear Saviour. Some questioned him through malice, to tempt and to ensnare him in his speech; others questioned him through curiosity ; and others through a sincere desire to know what they must believe and do, in order to be saved. Jesus answered all of them with admirable sweetness and charity. Thus one day, the Pharisees came to him, and one of them, a doctor of the law tempted him, saying :

"Master, which is the great commandment in the law !" Jesus said to him :

"Thou shalt love the Lord thy God, with thy whole heart, and with thy whole soul, and with thy whole mind, and with thy whole strength. This is the greatest and the first commandment. And the second is like to this : Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself." (Matt, xxii., 35.)

Our Lord gave this answer, because he knew that there were many who observed the commandments only externally, without loving God above all things. Even the great Apostle St. Paul acknowledges that though before his conversion he observed the law externally, without blame (Phil, iii., 6.), yet he did not observe it internally, by loving God above all things.

"We ourselves," he says, "were some time unwise, incredulous erring slaves to divers desires and pleasures, living in malice and envy, hating one another." (Tit. iii., 3.) In deed a person may not curse or break the Sabbath, or disobey lawful authority, or commit adultery or steal, thus keeping the second, third, fourth, sixth and seventh commandments, and yet, for all that, he may not observe the precept of loving God above all things.

"All these things,:" said the young man in the Gospel, "I have observed from my youth." But when he was told to leave his wealth and follow Jesus, he refused, and, therefore, our Lord silently reproved him by saying :

"How hardly shall they who have riches enter into the kingdom of God." (Mark x./23.)

One, therefore, may keep the commandments externally without keeping them internally. Now the mere external observance of the commandments is not sufficient to merit heaven. Hence, when our Saviour was asked:

"Which is the greatest commandment in the law?" he answered :

"The greatest and first commandment is : Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with thy whole heart, and with thy whole soul ; with thy whole mind, and with thy whole strength ; and thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself."

From these words of our Lord it is clear that the keeping of the commandments must be accompanied by divine charity in order to merit heaven. A good father is not satisfied with his children if they merely do what he commands them ; he also wishes that they should obey him out of love. In like manner, our heavenly Father is not satisfied with us if we merely observe his commandments externally. He also wishes that we should keep them out of real love for ,him.

"Salvation," says St. Thomas "is shown to faith, and prepared for hope ; but it is given only to charity."

But what is charity?

"Charity" says St. Thomas, "is that special kind of friendship which is based on the interchange of goods and affections." Jesus Christ said to his disciples that, as he had made them his friends, he had communicated to them all his secrets. (John, xv., 15.)

True love naturally tends to union with the object beloved. It is like a golden chain which binds together the hearts of those that love. Hence, he who loves, always desires the presence of the object of his love. Divine charity, also, establishes, between God and man, a communication of goods and a union of sentiments. A loving father yearns intensely to communicate himself and all his goods to his children. Now, since God is our Father, he has an unbounded yearning to communicate himself to us. This infinite desire of communicating himself is essential to God's nature, for God is infinite love, and love is always communicative. We see clearly the effects of this love of God, in the mystery of the Incarnation. We see these effects in the preaching of Christ, in his miracles, in his passion and death. We see them in the mission of the Holy Ghost. We see these effects in the holy sacraments, especially in that of the Holy Eucharist, in which God may be said to have exhausted his omnipotence, his wisdom and his love for man. Finally, we see them in God's most wonderful care for his Church as well as for each individual soul.

In the act of justification by which God frees the soul from sin and sanctifies her, he communicates himself to the soul, not only by grace, charity and other virtues, but he also communicates himself substantially in giving the Holy Ghost. There is in God the Father, as I have said, an infinite desire of communicating himself and all his goods. In this love he generates from all eternity, his only-begotten Son. This is, undoubtedly, the greatest act of his infinite Charity. But this heavenly Father still continues to beget, in time, children who are by grace what the Son of God is by nature, so that our sonship bears the greatest resemblance to the divine sonship. Hence, St. Paul writes :

"Whom He foreknew He also predestined to be made conformable to the Image of His Son, that He might be the first-born amongst many brethren." (Rom. viii., 29.) Behold, the great things which Divine love effects ! We are the sons of God, as the Holy Scripture says :

"Ye are the sons of the living God." (Osee i., 107.) In this divine adoption there are infused into the soul not only the grace, the charity and other gifts of the Holy Ghost, but the Holy Ghost Himself, who is the first, the uncreated Gift that God bestows on us. In justifying and sanctifying us, God might infuse into our souls His grace and charity to such a degree only as would render us simply just and holy, without adopting us as His children. This grace of simple justification would, no doubt, be, in itself, a very great gift, it being a participation in the Divine Nature in a very high degree ; so that in all truth, we could exclaim with the Blessed Virgin: "Fecit mild magna, qui potens est, He that is mighty has done great tilings to me." (Luke i., 49.)

But to give us only such a degree of grace and participation in his Divine Nature, is not enough for the love of God. The grace of adoption is bestowed upon us in so high a degree as to make us really children of God. But even this measure of the grace of adoption might be bestowed upon us by God in such a manner only as to give, thereby, no more than His charity, grace and created gifts. This latter grace of adoption would, certainly, surpass the former of simple justification, so that,in all truth, we might again exclaim with the Mother of God: "Fecit potentiam in brachio suo He hath showed might in His arm." (Luke i., 51.)

But neither is this gift, great though it be, great enough for the charity which God bears us. God, in His immense charity for us, wishes to bestow greater things upon us, in order to raise us still higher in grace and in the participation in his Divine Nature. Hence He goes so far as to give Himself to us, in order to sanctify and adopt us in person.

The Holy Ghost unites Himself to His gifts, His grace, and His charity, so that, while infusing these gifts into our souls, He infuses with them Himself in person. On this account St. Paul writes : "The charity of God is poured forth in our hearts by the Holy Ghost, Who is given to us." (Rom. v., 5.) On this very account, the same Apostle calls the Holy Ghost, the Spirit of adoption. "For you have not received," says he, "the spirit of bondage again in fear; but you have received the Spirit of adoption of children, whereby we cry : Abba, Father ; for the Spirit Himself giveth testimony to our spirit, that we are the children of God; and if children, heirs also : heirs indeed of God, and joint -heirs of Christ. 7 (Rom. viii., 15.) And : "Whoever are led by the Spirit of God, they are the children of God." (Galat. iv., 6.)

This Divine charity and grace is, no doubt, the height of God s charity for us, and is at the same time, the height of our dignity and exaltation, because, on receiving these Divine gifts, we receive, at the same time, the Person of the Holy Ghost, who unites Himself to these gifts, as I have said, and by them lives in us, adopts us, deities us, and urges us on to the performance of every good work. Truly, the love of God effects great things ! But even this is not all we receive still greater favors. In coming personally into the soul, the Holy Ghost is accompanied by the other Divine Persons also, the Father and the Son, from whom He cannot be separated. Therefore, in the act of justification, the three Divine Persons come personally and really into the soul, as into their Temple, living and dwelling therein as long as the soul perseveres in the grace of God. For this reason, St. John writes : "He that abideth in charity, abideth in God and God in him" (I John iv., 16.) St. Paul writes the same thing: "He who is joined to God is one spirit."(I Cor. vi., 17.)

Jesus Christ obtained for us this grace, when he prayed on the eve of his passion : "Holy Father, keep them in Thy name, that they all may be one, as Thou, Father, in Me, and I in Thee, that they also may be one in Us." (John, xii., 11,29.) Jesus Christ asks of His Father that all His followers may participate in the one and same Holy Ghost, so that, in Him and through Him, they may be united to the other Divine persons. St. Bonaventure says that the just not only receive the gifts, but also the person of the Holy Ghost. (1 Sent, d. 14, a. 2, 9, 1.) The same is taught by the renowned Master of Sentences (Lib. I dist. 14 & 15.) who quotes St. Augustine and others in support of this doctrine. St. Thomas Aquinas asserts the same thing. (I p. 9. 43, a. 3, and 6 & 9. 38 art. 8.)
"Grace," says Suarez, " establishes a most perfect friendship between God and man. Now such a friendship requires the presence of the friend, that is the Holy Ghost. The Holy Ghost, therefore, abides in the soul of his friend, in order to unite himself most intimately with him ; he resides in the soul of his friend as in his Temple in order to be honored, worshipped, and loved."

From what has been said it is easy to see why charity is called the queen of all virtues. "God is charity," says St. John (1. iv., 8.), "He who abides in charity, abides in God, and God in him. "The Holy Ghost, the Spirit of charity, who lives in the just, urges them on to the practice of virtue and the performance of good works. Hence, as St. Paul says, "Charity is patient, is kind-, charity envieth not, dealeth not perversely, is not puffed up ; is not ambitious, seeketh not her own, is not provoked to anger, thinketh not evil, rejoiceth not in iniquity, but rejoiceth with the truth, beareth all things, believeth all things, hopeth all things, endureth all things." (1. Cor. xiii., 4-7.) ; that is, Charity, or the Spirit of God, makes the just believe all things revealed by God and taught by his Church, hope for all things, and do all things commanded by the Lord ; it makes them God
fearing, it makes them generous ; they are full of confidence in God, and have courage to undertake every thing for his glory.

Charity makes the just strong ; it makes them triumph over their passions, over the most violent temptations and the greatest trials; it makes them obedient ; they promptly follow the voice of God ; it makes them pure : they love God only and love him because he deserves to be loved on account of his most amiable, infinite perfections. Charity makes the just ardent they wish to inflame all hearts and to see them consumed with divine love.

Charity ravishes the souls of the just, so that they seem to be no longer occupied with earthly things, but with loving God alone. Charity makes the just sigh unceasingly ; it fills their souls with an evident desire to quit the earth in order to be united to God in heaven, and there to love him with all their strength. Since Charity is unitive, it unites the will of the just to that of their Creator;
it makes them love all that God loves and hate all that he* hates. Charity thus is the queen of all virtues : it produces them, and brings them to perfection ; it embraces them all, directs them all to
God, gives chem all their supernatural dignity and value, and makes them truly deserving of an eternal reward.

Hence it is that the commandment to love God with our whole heart, and our whole soul, and with our whole mind and with our whole strength, is the greatest and first commandment. It is the greatest and first in obligation, because it must be preferred to all other commandments ; it is the greatest and the first in authority because it refers immediately to God, and is intimately associated with him: it is the greatest and first in dignity, because it is the foundation of all the others and leads to the height of perfection ; it is the greatest and the first in merit, be cause without charity no good work can merit heaven ; it is the greatest and the first in sweetness, because charity renders the yoke of Jesus infinitely sweet and agreeable, filling the soul with joy, and with the peace and unction of the Holy Ghost ; and finally, this commandment is the greatest and the first in efficacy, because it includes and fulfils all the other commandments, for he who truly loves God can do nothing to displease him.

As charity is the parent and queen of all virtues, it is evident that where this gift of the Holy Ghost is wanting there cannot be any virtue sufficient to merit eternal life. "If I speak with the tongues of men and of angels and have not charity," says St. Paul, "I am become as sounding brass or a tinkling cymbal. And if I should have prophecy, and should know all mysteries, and all knowledge, and if I should have all faith, so that I could remove mountains, and have not charity,! am nothing. And if I should distribute all my goods to feed the poor, and if I should deliver my body to be burned and have not charity, it profiteth me nothing." Indeed all mere natural gifts, however precious and sublime, cannot put us in communication with God, for an effect can never surpass its cause. A natural cause cannot produce a supernatural effect, that is, nothing merely natural can produce divine charity. Charity is produced by the Holy Ghost. "The charity of God is poured forth into our hearts by the Holy Ghost who is given to us. ?" (Rom. v., 5.) When God bestows his grace or charity upon us, it is the same as if he gave himself to us. Now God is an infinite good. It is, therefore, self-evident, that no natural gift, or good work proceeding from mere natural virtue, can put us in possession of an infinite good.

One mortal sin is enough to destroy charity. The soul has a twofold life: the one natural, the other supernatural. The natural life of the soul cannot be lost cannot be lost even in hell. But the supernatural life of the soul, which is called the life of grace or charity, is destroyed even by one mortal sin. The Holy Ghost himself is this life. Now mortal sin is directly opposed to the Holy Ghost, for mortal sin consists in turning away from God. Sin and charity are as much opposed to each other as life and death. "The wages of sin is death." (Rom. vi., 23.) As death is the destruction of life, so is sin the destruction of charity. If charity were a merely natural virtue, one sinful act would not destroy it; for a natural habit can subsist notwithstanding a contrary act. But charity is a supernatural virtue, it is the Holy Ghost himself. Hence, as soon as we commit but one mortal sin, charity, that is the Holy Ghost, the true life of the soul, leaves us. "Man," says St. Agustine, "is in light and grace when God is present; and he is in darkness and error as soon as God is absent, not on account of the distance that separates him from us;but in consequence of the depravity and corruption of our will."

To accustom ourselves to make acts of charity, we should often meditate on our dear Lord, especially on his goodness, mercy and love. We should meditate on the mystery of the Incarnation, on our Lord in his Passion, on the Presence of Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament. We cannot love a person unless we know him ; how, then, can we love God unless we often think upon what he is, what he has done, and what he still does for us? God says in Holy writ: "Thou shalt love the Lord thy God, with thy whole heart, and with thy whole soul, and and with thy whole strength; these words shall be in thy heart ; thou shalt meditate upon them, sitting in thy house, and walking on thy journey, sleeping and rising. And thou shalt bind them as a sign on thy hand, and write them in the entry and on the doors of thy house." (Deut.vi., 69.) In these words, our Lord tells us that we should often make acts of love of God, for he who does not frequently make such acts, will scarcely be able to keep the law. Acts of love are the fuel which keeps the holy ardor of divine love burning in our hearts.

Now we are particularly obliged to make acts of charity:
1. When we are in danger of death, especially if we are in mortal sin, and no priest is at hand to absolve us. In this case we are bound to make an act of perfect contrition, which necessarily includes an act of charity.
2. When we are sorely tempted.
3. It is probable that a child is bound to make an act of charity as soon as it comes to the age of reason and is able to appreciate the goodness of God.
4. We are also bound to make an act of charity at the hour of death.
5. St. Alphonsus says that those who neglect to make an act of charity for a whole month are guilty of a grievous sin.

In fine, if we wish to preserve, in our hearts, the precious virtue of divine charity without which we are nothing in the sight of God, we must never let a day pass without making frequent acts of love for God.
It is not necessary to use a particular form of words. Whenever we say the Lord's Prayer, and sincerely desire that God s holy name should be hallowed, that his kingdom should come into our hearts, we make thereby an act of perfect charity. Acts of love may be made with out using any words at all. It is an act of charity to give alms, to hear mass, to receive holy communion, to confess our sins, and in fact, to perform any good work with the intention of pleasing God.

To be continued . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

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Mondays with Father Muller ~ God the Teacher of Mankind

6/2/2015

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Every Monday we will post more from Father Muller's Catechism books. They are excellent and the best I've ever read.   There are nine volumes total. The following is from Volume III, "The Greatest and First Commandment."   You can find the e-books in their entirety on Books we have enjoyed under Catholic Reading.

                                                                      by: Father Michael Muller, Imprimatur 1881
                                                                THE GREATEST AND FIRST COMMANDMENT

                                                                              THE COMMANDMENTS OF GOD
MANY centuries ago, there lived in the far Orient, in Asia, a great king named Solomon. In his search for happiness, he sought to gratify every desire of his heart. "1 said in my heart: I will go, and abound with delights and enjoy good things. I made me great works, I built me houses, and planted vineyards. I made gardens, and orchards, and set them with trees of all kinds, and I made me ponds of water, to water therewith the wood of the young trees. I got me men-servants, and maid-servants, and had a great family ; and herds of oxen, and great flocks of sheep, above all that were before me in Jerusalem : I heaped together for myself silver and gold, and the wealth of kings and provinces : I sought out singing men, and singing women, and the delights of the sons of men : cups and vessels for wine : and I surpassed in riches all that were before me in Jerusalem : my wisdom also remained with me. And whatsoever my eyes desired, I refused them not : and I withheld not my heart from enjoying every pleasure, and delighting itself in the things which I had prepared : and esteemed this my portion, to make use of my own labor." After so ample an enjoyment of all earthly pleasures, may we not think that this king was happy indeed? Nevertheless, he tells us that his heart was not satisfied. "And when I turned myself," he says, "to all the works which my hands had wrought, and to the labors wherein I had labored in vain, I saw in all things vanity, and vexation of mind, and that nothing was lasting under the sun." (Eccles. ii.)
What happened to Solomon happens still to every man on earth. Well has the poet written :

"Oh ! what is all earths round,
Brief scene of man s proud strife and vain endeavor,
Weighed with that deep profound, that tideless ocean river,
That onward bears time s fleeting forms for ever?"

Give to that man whose dream, whose waking thought, day and night, is to grow rich ; to live in splendor and luxury; whose life is spent in planning, and thinking, and toiling give him all the kingdoms of the earth, all the gold of the mountains, all the pearls of the ocean : give him the desire of his heart, will he be happy ? Will his heart be at rest ? Ah ! no. He will find that riches are
like thorns ; they only wound and burn. They seem sweet when beheld at a distance ; but indulge in them, and at once you taste their bitterness.

Dim twilight broods o'er land and sea,
The birds have hushed their melody :
I sadly gaze on yon bright star
My soul's true home is far, so far !

My restless heart's a stranger here !
Where e'er I wander far or near
I seek in vain for joy and peace,
My homesick soul longs for release.

Earth's sweetest joys last but a while,
Dark tears soon quench the brightest smile.
The sparkling eye is dimmed by death,
And beauty pales at his chill breath !

Earth's pleasures tempt but to defile,
Earth's beauty lures but to beguile;
Wealth, like the thorn, with stinging smart,
Can only burn and wound the heart !

Where have the joys of childhood gone ?
Where have youth's golden visions flown ?
Where shall my yearning hopes be bleat ?
Where shall my weary heart find rest ?

The stream e'er seeks the sounding sea,
The flow'ret lures the honey-bee,
The wild bird flies to its fond nest
In heaven alone my soul can rest !

All the goods and pleasures of this world are like the fisher's baited hook. The fish eagerly swallows the bait, it sees not the hook ; but no sooner does the fisherman draw up his line than it is tormented and soon after comes to destruction. So it is with all those who esteem themselves happy in their temporal possessions. In their comforts and honors they have swallowed a hook. The time will come when they shall feel the cruel hook which they have swallowed in their greediness.

Now, why is it that the riches and pleasures of this world cannot make us happy ? It is because the soul was not created by them and for them, but by God and for God. The enjoyment of God alone can make the soul happy. A thing is made better only by that which is better than itself. Inferior beings can never make superior beings better. The soul, being immortal, is superior to all earthly things. Earthly things, then, cannot make the soul better. Hence it is that here on earth we are never satisfied. We always crave for something more, something higher, something better. Whence comes this continual restlessness that haunts us through life and pursues us evento the grave ? It is the home-sickness of the soul; its craving "after a Good that is better and more excellent than the soul herself is. God alone is this Good, He is Supreme Goodness itself. He who possesses God, possesses the goodness of all other things ; for whatever goodness they possess they have from God.

Where, then, are we to seek true happiness ? In God alone. God has certainly reserved to himself far more beauty and goodness than he has bestowed upon his creatures. This truth admitted, it necessarily follows that he who enjoys God possesses, in him, all things ; and consequently, the very same delight that he would have taken in other things, had he enjoyed them separately, he enjoys in God, in a far greater measure and in a more elevated manner. For this reason, St. Francis of Assisi used to exclaim, "My God and my All" a saying to which he was so accustomed that he could scarcely think of any thing else, and often spent whole nights in meditating on this truth. So also St. Teresa would exclaim, " God alone is sufficient!"

True contentment is found in the Creator, and not in the creature. It is a contentment which no man can take from the soul, and in comparison with which all other joy is sadness, all pleasure sorrow, all sweetness bitter, all beauty ugliness, all delight affliction. It is most certain that when "face to face, we shall see God as He is, "we shall have perfect joy and happiness. The more closely, then, we are united with God in this life, the greater contentment of mind and the greater happiness of soul shall we enjoy ; and this contentment and joy are of the self-same nature as that which we shall have in heaven. The only difference consists in this : that here our happiness is in an incipient state, whilst in heaven it will be brought to perfection. The very essence of all happiness consists in being intimately united with God. Hence it is that St. Augustine, who had tasted all pleasures, exclaimed : "Thou hast made me, O God! for Thyself; and my heart was uneasy within me until it found its rest in Thee!"

Tell me why forever flowing
Hastes the streamlet to the sea;
Tell me why forever blowing
Speeds the wind o'er hill and lea.
Why the stream forever doth flow,
Why the wind forever doth blow
This deep secret I would know.

Tell me why the stars e'er wander
Through the darkling waste of space ;
Why the bright sun and the pale moon
Restless march from place to place ;
Why they wander to and fro ;
Tell me for I long to know
This deep secret I would know.

Tell me why the winds are moaning
Like a banished soul in pain ;
Why the waves are ever sobbing
On the restless stormy main;
Why the ocean's bosom heaves,
Like one who though sleeping grieves
O er the loved and lost he leaves !

Tell me why the birds are flying
Far away from their fond nest,
Why the roses bright are dying,
And the dear ones we love best
They whose love our life hath blessed
Why can they not with us rest ?
Why can they not with us rest ?

Why is my sad heart so restless ?
Why still longs my soul for bliss ?
Why are all earth's honied pleasures
Like the Judas traitor kiss ?
Riches bring but care and pain,
Beauty blooms to fade again,
Nought that's fair can here remain !

Restless heart so sad and weary,
Wouldst thou then the secret know ?
All thou seest above, beneath thee,
Stars that shine and streams that flow
All things yearn and seek for rest ;
And thy soul shall ne'er be blest
Till with God in heav'n thou rest !

Now, when is it that we possess God, are closely united with him, and find our rest in him ? It is only when we do his holy will. This God has given us clearly to understand in the words he addressed to Adam : "And of the tree of knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat. For in what
day soever thou shalt eat of it, thou shalt die the death." (Gen. ii., 17.) By this commandment man was clearly given to understand that the continuation of his happiness, for time and eternity, depended upon his obedience to the will of God. To be free from irregular affections and disorderly passions, and to transmit his happiness to his posterity, was entirely in man's power. If he made a right use of his liberty by always following the law of God, if he preserved unsullied the image and likeness of his Creator and heavenly Father, if, in fine, he made a proper use of the creatures confided to his care, he was to receive the crown of life everlasting as reward for his fidelity. But if he swerved even for a moment, from this loving will of God, he was to subject himself to the law of God's justice, who would not fail to execute the threatened punishment. But did God, perhaps, afterwards, when man was redeemed, lay down other and easier conditions for his happiness and salvation ? No; God did not change these conditions in the least. Man's happiness still depends on his obedience to the divine will. "Now if thou wilt hear the voice of the Lord thy God, to do and keep all His commandments, the Lord thy God will make thee higher than all the nations of the earth, and all these blessings shall come unto thee and overtake thee : yet so if thou hear His precepts." (Deut. xxviii., 1, 2.) And our divine Saviour says : "You are my friends, if you do the things that I command you." (John xv., 15.) And again : "Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven : but he that doth the will of my Father who is in heaven, shall enter the kingdom of heaven." (Matt, vii., 21.) Our Lord himself gave the example of obedience to the divine will, since he was obedient even unto the death of the cross. He thereby taught all men that their happiness and salvation depend on their unswerving obedience to the will of their heavenly Father. All men without exception were made by God to be happy with him for ever in heaven ; but only on this condition : "He that doth the will of my Father who is in heaven, he shall enter the kingdom of heaven." Now the will of God is expressed in his commandments and in the precepts of his Church. Hence the answer to the question -

1. Will faith alone save us ?
No ; Christ says : "If thou wilt enter life, keep the commandments." (Matt, xix., 17.) "Therefore, Faith without works is dead."- (James ii., 26.)

To be saved it is not enough to believe that there is a God, who is the Creator and Lord of heaven and earth, the judge of the living and the dead, the just rewarder of the good and punisher of the wicked ; it is not enough to believe that the Son of God became man and died for us on the cross ; that he founded the Roman Catholic Church, that it might, in his name and by his authority, teach all nations what they must believe in order to be saved ; in a word, it is not enough that our understanding be united to God by faith. We must also be united to him by the affections of our heart and will; that is, we must really love God and show this love by keeping faithfully all his commandments.

"Though I have all faith so that I could remove mountains," says St. Paul, "and have not charity, I am nothing." (1. Cor. xiii., 2.)

"What will it profit, my brethren," says the Apostle St. James, " if a man says he hath faith, but no works ? Shall faith be able to save him? " (Ch. ii., 14.)

"Every tree that doth not yield good fruit shall be cut down and cast into the fire." (Matt, iii., 10.) From these passages of Holy Writ it is evident that good works are required, that the keeping of the commandments is necessary, and that faith alone will not save us.

Indeed, a Christian, without good works, is like a tree without fruit, a field without produce, a lamp without oil. His faith is barren and this barrenness is a kind of iniquity which renders a Christian very culpable. The fig-tree, which produced no fruit, was cursed. The talent was taken from him who had hidden it in the earth. Those who do not practise what they believe will soon cease to believe. Faith does not long exist in the soul when the fruitful life of charity is destroyed. Those who believe and do not practise what they believe, will be more severely punished than those who are ignorant of the true faith.

Our delight and occupation in this world, then, should be to do the holy will of God. It was for his obedience to the will of God that Abel obtained from the Lord the testimony that he was just. It was for his obedience that Enoch was translated by God. On account of his obedience to the will of God, Noe with his family was saved from the deluge. It was for his obedience that Abraham became the father of many nations. It was for his obedience that Joseph was raised to the highest dignity at the court of Pharaoh. It was on account of his obedience that Moses was chosen to be the great prophet and law-giver of the people of God. As long as the Jews were obedient to the law of God, they were protected against all their enemies as by an impregnable rampart. Obedience to the will of God changed Saul from a persecutor of the Church into the Apostle of the Gentiles. The
martyrs merited their glorious crown, not so much because they shed their blood, but because they died in obedience to the holy will of God. In fine, Jesus Christ has declared :

"Whosoever shall do the will of my Father who is in heaven, he is my brother, and sister, and mother." (Matt, xii., 50.)

He who leads a life contrary to God's will, is altogether out of place. A tool which is useless is cast away. A wheel which hinders other wheels from working is taken out and replaced by another. A limb which is out of joint and endangers the health of the other members of the body is cut off. A servant who does no longer his master's will is discharged. A rebellious citizen who violates the laws of the state is put into prison or banished. A child who is stubbornly and sinfully disobedient to his parents, is disinherited.Thus men naturally hate and reject whatever is unreasonable, or useless, or destructive of good order. What wonder, then, that the Lord of heaven and earth, the author of good sense and good order, should bear an implacable hatred towards those who disobey his holy will? He who lives in opposition to God"s will suffers as many pangs as a limb which has been dislocated. He is continually tormented by evil spirits, who have power over a soul that is in enmity with God. He is no longer under the special protection of God, since he has voluntarily withdrawn from his holy will. God sent Jonas, the prophet, to Nineve, but the prophet, instead of going there, set out for Tarsus. What was the consequence the disobedient prophet was buffeted by the tempest, cast into the sea, and swallowed by a monster of the deep.

Behold the just punishment of all those who abandon God's will to follow their own passions and evil inclinations. They will be tossed like Jonas, by continual tempests. They will remain asleep in their sins, heedless of their danger, until they, finally, perish in the stormy sea, and are swallowed up in the abyss of hell!

"Know thou and see that it is a bitter and fearful thing for thee to have left the Lord thy God, when he desired to lead thee in the way of salvation, saith the Lord God of hosts." (Jeremiah ii., 19.)

God grants to the devil great power over the disobedient. As in Juda the Lord permitted a lion to kill a prophet in punishment for his disobedience, so he permits the infernal lion to assail the proud and the disobedient with the most filthy temptations ; and as they are too weak to resist, they easily fall a prey to the rage of the hellish monster.

Disobedience to God's will was the cause that the rebellious angels were cast out of heaven, and our first parents expelled from paradise ; it made Cain a vagabond on the face of the earth ; it was the cause that the human race was drowned in the waters of the deluge ; it brought destruction upon the inhabitants of Sodom and Gomorrah. Disobedience to the will of God was the cause that the Jews were often led into captivity; it was the cause that Pharaoh and all his host were drowned in the Red Sea. Disobedience turned Nabuchodonosor into a wild beast ; it laid the city of Jerusalem in ashes ; it has ruined, and will still ruin nations, empires, and kingdoms ; it will finally
put an end to the world, when all those who have obstinately rebelled against the will of God, will be hurled into the everlasting flames of hell by the irresistible words of the Almighty :

"Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, which was prepared for the devil and his angels," there to obey the laws of God's justice for ever.

                                                                                   To be continued. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

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Mondays with Father Muller - God the Teacher of Mankind continued . . . . . . . . . . .

Mondays With Father Muller - God the Teacher of Mankind continued:

Mondays with Father Muller ~ God the Teacher of Mankind

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