My dear Children:—God our Lord and Creator sent us into the world, that we may serve Him and after our death go to Him in heaven. If by perseverance we live up to our destiny and do the will of God in all things, we shall be admitted into the heavenly court.
Being the ambassadors of God we must carefully shun whatever is incompatible with our dignity. Remember well, my dear children, that you act contemptibly, if, unmindful of your dignity, you give way to your passions: when you are self-willed or quarrelsome, when you are jealous, and when you act in other ungodly ways. You dishonor God, whose ambassadors you are, and compel Him, on account of the insult which you offer Him, to deprive you of your dignity. Let us never forget who we are, and in every temptation say to ourselves: I must not, I will not, do this; it would disgrace me, an ambassador of God.
As ambassadors we must defend the honor of our Lord and Master. If any remarks be made in public injurious to His honor, we must defend Him. We must honor God in our heart, and rejoice over the honor and homage given to Him in heaven and on earth, wishing that He may be known, loved and praised by all men. We must honor Him with the mouth, by public and private prayer; by assisting at public worship, by bowing our head when at public worship pronouncing the name of Jesus. We must honor Him in actions by doing all things for His honor and by giving good example to our fellow playmates. St. Francis of Assisi, whenever he found a piece of paper on which the name of God was written, carefully preserved it in his cell with great veneration.
Way off in an out-of-the-way corner of India a missionary had gone to baptize some men and women, and received them into the true Church of God. During the course of the service the missionary noticed a boy about twelve years of age, sitting away Back in the corner of the little church, looking very much interested and listening with all his might. After he had baptized and received into the Church the grown-up converts, the missionary was surprised to see the boy come forward and stand at the railing. The missionary said to him: "What, my lad, do you want; do you also want to be baptized and go to Holy Communion ?" The boy said, "Yes, Father." The missionary looked at him lovingly, and said, "But you are very young, and I know nothing about you, and no one has taught you about the Christian Faith, and after a while you might grow careless and indifferent. Perhaps it will be better for you to wait." The boy said nothing, but turned away to his seat with a sad heart, and the missionary saw that he was very much disappointed. After a while a man stood up and spoke: "Why, Reverend Father, this boy has taught us all we know about Jesus."
And what he said proved to be the truth. That boy had learned the story of the Gospel and his catechism at a mission school in a distant village, and had returned to his heathen home to tell the story of Jesus to his own people. He read to them out of the New Testament until they gave their hearts to God and were consecrated to Jesus. So you see this little lad was a real ambassador of God and a young missionary. I am sure if boys love Jesus and live as He would like to have them live, kind and obedient and true, that they will be able to do more for Him than they could do even if they were able to preach great, eloquent sermons. Many a father and mother were; led back to God by their own little boy or girl.
As ambassadors of God we must have the good of our Holy Mother, the Church, at heart. It is she who made us children of God and heirs of heaven. She constantly instructs us in the divine law, entreats, rebukes, reproves and punishes us, in order to save our soul. She administers to us the sacraments, through which we are justified. She offers up for us daily the glorious sacrifice of the Mass, and petitions God for every good we need for time and eternity.
There was in the house of a certain Spanish lady called Gratia a poor slave girl who had been brought up in the religion of Mahomet. There sprang up between the lady and her slave a great friendship. Gratia loved her, and the poor girl showed that she loved her mistress in return by attending to her wants with great diligence. One thing only saddened the affectionate soul of Gratia: she could not look upon the maid without shedding tears, for she knew that her soul was still in the power of the devil.
"O my God give me that soul” she prayed; "let not the soul perish for whose salvation Thy beloved Son died on Calvary."
The pious lady wept and prayed, till at length God granted her request The slave became a fervent child of God's one true Church, and a faithful imitator of the piety of her mistress.
Be mindful, therefore, of the high dignity which you possess as ambassadors of God, and fulfill your duties conscientiously. Well for you, if, as ambassadors of God, you fulfill your duties faithfully; when the time of your departure shall come, you will be able to say with Jesus: I go to Him that sent me.
Source: Story Sermonettes for the Children's Mass, Imprimatur 1921
Being the ambassadors of God we must carefully shun whatever is incompatible with our dignity. Remember well, my dear children, that you act contemptibly, if, unmindful of your dignity, you give way to your passions: when you are self-willed or quarrelsome, when you are jealous, and when you act in other ungodly ways. You dishonor God, whose ambassadors you are, and compel Him, on account of the insult which you offer Him, to deprive you of your dignity. Let us never forget who we are, and in every temptation say to ourselves: I must not, I will not, do this; it would disgrace me, an ambassador of God.
As ambassadors we must defend the honor of our Lord and Master. If any remarks be made in public injurious to His honor, we must defend Him. We must honor God in our heart, and rejoice over the honor and homage given to Him in heaven and on earth, wishing that He may be known, loved and praised by all men. We must honor Him with the mouth, by public and private prayer; by assisting at public worship, by bowing our head when at public worship pronouncing the name of Jesus. We must honor Him in actions by doing all things for His honor and by giving good example to our fellow playmates. St. Francis of Assisi, whenever he found a piece of paper on which the name of God was written, carefully preserved it in his cell with great veneration.
Way off in an out-of-the-way corner of India a missionary had gone to baptize some men and women, and received them into the true Church of God. During the course of the service the missionary noticed a boy about twelve years of age, sitting away Back in the corner of the little church, looking very much interested and listening with all his might. After he had baptized and received into the Church the grown-up converts, the missionary was surprised to see the boy come forward and stand at the railing. The missionary said to him: "What, my lad, do you want; do you also want to be baptized and go to Holy Communion ?" The boy said, "Yes, Father." The missionary looked at him lovingly, and said, "But you are very young, and I know nothing about you, and no one has taught you about the Christian Faith, and after a while you might grow careless and indifferent. Perhaps it will be better for you to wait." The boy said nothing, but turned away to his seat with a sad heart, and the missionary saw that he was very much disappointed. After a while a man stood up and spoke: "Why, Reverend Father, this boy has taught us all we know about Jesus."
And what he said proved to be the truth. That boy had learned the story of the Gospel and his catechism at a mission school in a distant village, and had returned to his heathen home to tell the story of Jesus to his own people. He read to them out of the New Testament until they gave their hearts to God and were consecrated to Jesus. So you see this little lad was a real ambassador of God and a young missionary. I am sure if boys love Jesus and live as He would like to have them live, kind and obedient and true, that they will be able to do more for Him than they could do even if they were able to preach great, eloquent sermons. Many a father and mother were; led back to God by their own little boy or girl.
As ambassadors of God we must have the good of our Holy Mother, the Church, at heart. It is she who made us children of God and heirs of heaven. She constantly instructs us in the divine law, entreats, rebukes, reproves and punishes us, in order to save our soul. She administers to us the sacraments, through which we are justified. She offers up for us daily the glorious sacrifice of the Mass, and petitions God for every good we need for time and eternity.
There was in the house of a certain Spanish lady called Gratia a poor slave girl who had been brought up in the religion of Mahomet. There sprang up between the lady and her slave a great friendship. Gratia loved her, and the poor girl showed that she loved her mistress in return by attending to her wants with great diligence. One thing only saddened the affectionate soul of Gratia: she could not look upon the maid without shedding tears, for she knew that her soul was still in the power of the devil.
"O my God give me that soul” she prayed; "let not the soul perish for whose salvation Thy beloved Son died on Calvary."
The pious lady wept and prayed, till at length God granted her request The slave became a fervent child of God's one true Church, and a faithful imitator of the piety of her mistress.
Be mindful, therefore, of the high dignity which you possess as ambassadors of God, and fulfill your duties conscientiously. Well for you, if, as ambassadors of God, you fulfill your duties faithfully; when the time of your departure shall come, you will be able to say with Jesus: I go to Him that sent me.
Source: Story Sermonettes for the Children's Mass, Imprimatur 1921
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