The poor miserable sinner is represented in these lepers. The leper's body is not more horrid than is the condition of the sinner's soul. Leprosy is a very loathsome disease; it attacks different parts of the body, until they fall off from rottenness. It is an incurable disease and is propagated by contact. All nations, even uncivilized ones, have made laws against lepers. They are not allowed to mingle with the rest of humanity, they are excluded from cities and villages, and have to keep to themselves, in unfrequented places; they are allowed to come close to villages only to obtain food from the kindness of relatives, but they cannot live with them in their houses; in short, they have to live like the beasts of the field and shelter themselves as best they can.

Sin is like leprosy, that deforms the soul and deprives her of the grace and friendship of God. A soul adorned with the favors of God is one of the most beautiful of God's creations, little inferior to the angels. Such a beautiful soul is dear to God, to the Blessed Virgin, to the angels and to all the saints; this soul possesses such excellence that the inhabitants of heaven desire her company for their enjoyment and the glory of God. No tongue can describe the greatness of the love of Jesus for a soul that is in grace. But when the soul is in a state of sin she becomes an object of the greatest abhorrence to almighty God. If we could only see the spiritual life as it really is, and realize what a horrible being the soul is which is covered with the rottenness of sin, we should fear to remain in that state.

God revealed to St. Catherine of Genoa the filthiness of sin, and she was so struck by it that she was at the point of death from the shock. Paul the Simple was accustomed to sit at the gates of a church to invite in the passers-by, good and bad. One day he saw a sinner in an abject condition coming along, accompanied by two devils; behind him followed his guardian angel full of shame and looking more like a vanquished prisoner than an angel of God. We all have pity when we see a convict going along, handcuffed, the guard standing over him with a loaded gun, and treating him with harshness. But we have more pity for such a one when we know that he is well educated, of good family, and that his condition forces him to lead such a life. Sin reduces us to the same condition of slavery, and binds us hands and feet to the devil, who is our attendant, who gives his commands in such a manner as to frighten us into obedience. 0, if Christians would think what a great evil sin is, they would not commit it so easily.

The saints, the great friends of God, had a just appreciation of what sin is; they trembled at the mention of sin; they would allow themselves to be cut into pieces rather than commit one. St. Frances of Rome when passing near a house where she knew sins were committed fainted, and afterwards said, "That is a house of ingratitude to God." St. Stanislaus, on hearing bad words at a dinner, fainted because he was so horrified. St. Anselm says, "If on the one side hell was open before me, and sin came from the opposite
direction, I would rather throw myself into the flames of hell than go to meet sin." My dear young people, should you ever be in sin, go at once and show yourself to the priest, and get rid of that leprosy by tears of compunction.

Why did Our Lord send the ten lepers to the priest uncured, while He could have cured them at once? Evidently Our Lord had a hidden meaning in His action. He sent them to the priest to be inspected and to be declared free from leprosy, according to the law of Moses. It signified to the lepers that the authority of the Church must be maintained, and to us that self-accusation to the priests appointed by authority is necessary. You, also, my young friends, when you find yourselves in sin, show yourselves to the priest at the tribunal of penance, for the priest has authority from Jesus to loose and to bind the sins of the penitent. Do not delay a long time, for if, through negligence, you hesitate to confess, you will little by little lose the horror you have felt at the seriousness of your condition, and you will put aff your confession longer and longer, until you would be content to wait for years, as it often happens; for while you see that you prosper, that you enjoy health, that you continue to have friends and good companions, and that God shows no signs of present anger, you will think that the matter of sin has been much exaggerated, and you will continue to indulge in it.

"To sin is human," said a holy Father, "but to remain in sin, and to persevere in it, is diabolical."
Leprosy is a malady that goes on increasing from day to day; it attacks the different members of the body successively, until the extremities are eaten away, then it strikes a vital point and the patient dies. Sin acts in the same way, especially the sin of impurity. We find many young people who are sunk so deeply in the meshes of this vice that it looks almost impossible to cure their poor souls of the wounds already inflicted; so these poor sinners excuse themselves to the confessor, maintaining that they cannot overcome their vice. According to human means, without the grace of God it would be impossible. The blind demands of our passions on us are very imperative. If you have a bodily sickness. what do you not try in order to find a cure? You remain at home, stay in bed, call a doctor, take disagreeable medicines, and do not hesitate to spend any amount of money. What should we not do for the soul? We think little of the soul that has to live for all eternity; of that soul which, when once lost, is lost forever, and for which the Son of God has shed His precious blood. In the words of the Sacred Scriptures, I beg of you, "take care of your soul," and never let the leprosy of sin infect it. I read of a youth in the olden time who would rather lose all his possessions than renounce his faith; he said that his salvation was most precious to him. A worldling said to him, "Ah, what do you know of your soul? you are too young to entertain such thoughts," but the child answered, "Small as I am, I know that my soul is as precious as that of a wise philosopher; my soul can go to heaven or hell, and I am determined to lose all rather than lose my soul."

The Gospel gives us also a lesson in gratitude in the history of the ten lepers; only one of these came back to Our Lord, and he was a Samaritan, one who was supposed to belong to a false religion; he returned and gave thanks to God for his cure; the other nine went home. A great many of us Christians never feel the sentiment of gratitude. When God has freed us from the burden of our sins, and has healed our souls, we fall back into our old ways; hardly have we come out of the confessional, having hurriedly said our prayers, having perhaps received communion, before we are off to our sports and plays without an after-thought of thanksgiving to almighty God. When we have received a gift from God we ought at least to have the politeness to say, "I thank you."

Hence, after confession and communion we ought to stay a while on our knees and prolong the sentiment of gratitude that these sacred moments should produce in our heart. This, then, you ought to do: when God has pardoned your sins in confession, thank Him for that great act of kindness, and understand fully that He loves you and wants to bring you to heaven. Remember that you ought, at least, to show your gratitude for His goodness to you, and should never fail to do so.

It was the custom of Our Lord to speak in parables to His dear disciples and the Apostles. "And without parables He did not speak to them," as we read in the Gospels. It is an easy way of giving instruction, and makes a deep impression on the mind.

Who is that rich man and who is the steward? God is the rich man, who possesses the whole earth, and the fulness thereof. That unjust steward is the man to whom God's wealth is committed for administration; God is then the master of all, rich in all things, powerful because He can do all things; all that is on this earth He has given, for man's use, and besides He has given us many other gifts and graces; in short, all that we have comes to us from God. What have we of ourselves? Be not so foolish as to imagine that anything about your body or your soul comes from any other source than from God's generosity. Would it not then be natural that we should use all things for God's glory? But what are the facts? We misuse the gifts of God, we abuse our bodies; for, finding ourselves strong and healthy, we delight in committing sin. We abuse the gifts of the tongue, for we say bad words; we even curse and blaspheme the name of God. We abuse our sight by looking on objects that stir up concupiscence; we abuse our hands by thefts, by injuring our neighbor; we abuse our memory, which is frequently the willing receptacle of all past wickedness; we abuse our intellect by learning more and more of the ways of committing sin; we abuse our will by desiring that which is evil, "the
soul of the wicked desireth evil."

My dear young people, appreciate the gifts of God in this life, for a time will come when you shall have to give an account of the use you have made of these gifts and graces. This rich lord had heard that the steward or manager of his property was throwing it away. He became angry, he called him to him and said, "How is it that I hear this of thee? Bring your account books to me, that I may look into them, for I will not allow this squandering, and you shall not be my manager any longer." God will call us before Him at the hour of our death and an account will be exacted from us of all our life. Every one must die, every one must make this accounting. "It is appointed unto men once to die, and after this the judgment." Follow me now in what I am going to say. Set aside for a while that lightness of mind which is the mood of the young especially, and think seriously for a few moments. There will be great pain and torment when you will have to leave in death all that you have in this world, parents, friends, and riches: but it will be harder to appear before Jesus Christ the Judge. There we shall stand before that throne, without friends, without father or mother to excuse us; without companions, without help or encouragement, before a most just Judge, who, without regard to persons, will be most exact in His demands of justice. "I will judge thee according to thy ways."

At that dreadful moment we shall not be altogether alone; two angels will be at our side; the good angel, our guardian angel, and the bad one, the demon. These have been struggling for possession of our soul all our life, and now they stand at the judgment-seat of God with us until they hear what God's decision will be; and in the company of the one or the other we will go to the place assigned for us by God's judgment. If we died in the grace of God, the good angel will stand beside us, bright and triumphant; if on the contrary our life has been bad, the demon prepares to take us with him into the place of eternal torture. "Give an account of your stewardship," says Our Lord. I have created you that you may love Me and serve Me faithfully, but no sooner did you come to the use of reason, when you should have known Me, than you turned your back on Me, and waged an implacable war against Me. Now give an account of all the bad thoughts you have entertained during your lifetime, of the lustful glances, of the many bad words. What evil deeds have you done in public and in secret; give an account of those acts of disobedience to your superiors. These things have you done and I have been silent." Give an account of the Sundays and feasts of the Church desecrated by hardly hearing a Mass, that you passed in looking for pleasures, never thinking of God. You did not hear the word of God. What scandals have you given! Give an account of the souls you sent to hell by your bad example and your bad advice. What good could you not have done, and you were so neglectful as to do nothing. You had time, and threw it away in pleasures and amusements; whole days were spent at play with your companions; many hours of day and night were passed reading books, novels good and bad, but you could not find time for a short prayer. Up in the morning and to bed at night without a thought of God.

Yes, give an account of the many means of salvation which I gave you. I instituted for you the Sacraments, which are intended for every station in life. I left you My most precious Body and Blood in the Blessed Sacrament, to be a food to your soul, to strengthen you in the journey of life. You neglected to receive it, or you received it unworthily, and consequently My graces and benefits were thrown away on you. For you, I descended from heaven, became a child, and was laid in a manger in extreme poverty; for you I was persecuted by the Jews^ apprehended by them, delivered unto death, crowned with thorns, scourged, nailed to a cross where I shed the last drops of My blood for your redemption: "You thought that, like you, I was silent." All these gifts you have abused; they were pearls thrown before the sinner and you trod them under foot and despised them.

Remember the day will come when you will have to give an account; it may be very close at hand, it may be in a short time, this year or the next. If God should call you to Him to give this account of yourself, would you be ready, and would you go gladly because you knew everything was in order? Many, yes, all of us, would beg for a little respite, in which we might redouble our efforts to get ready, still to do a little good and to repair the evil which we have committed. St. Bridget was told by an angel that in three days she would die, and she began to cry.
"Three days!" she said. "Only three days to prepare for eternity? 0h, at least a year." And this is the case of a saint.

But if you, my young friends, knew that now or in three days you would die, what dread would come over you at your want of preparation! and if you had but these three days, would you not spend them in prayer? The man who is condemned to die does nothing but pray before his execution; the priest is constantly with him, so as to keep his mind on holy subjects. Under such circumstances you, too, would think only of holy things; you would fast and do severe penance, you would give away all that you had to the poor, in order to be prepared to go to the other world. But since you know neither the day nor the hour when you will have to appear before God, live as you would if you had only a few moments to prepare. "Thinkest thou this, man, that thou shalt escape the judgment of God?" How foolish is such bold presumption! The thought of the judgment peopled the deserts with anchorites and penitents. Even great saints trembled at the thought. Holy King David trembled at the judgments of God, as we see frequently in his psalms. "Lord, enter not into judgment with Thy servant" he said, and punished his body with fasting and severe penance, "Until his flesh was changed." St. Hilarion, a very severe penitent, coming to the hour of his death, had great fear, but he spoke to his soul: "Soul, have courage; you have served the Lord for seventy years in the desert and you still fear?'' St. Jerome thus wrote: " When I recall the thought of the terrible judgment which shall be passed on me at my death, I look with terror around my rocky cell in the desert, and it appears to me as if every stone would speak against me, and would hurl itself down on me." St. Jerome prayed day and night in a most lonesome desert and still he feared the last judgment. Mary Magdalen of Pazzi after forty years spent in her baptismal innocence, asked her confessor with a trembling voice:
"Father," she said, "do you think I will be saved?" What fear will not those experience who from their tender years have committed sin? "It is a terrible thing to fall into the hands of the living God." None will feel this more than those who feel the weight of their sins. When you fall into the hands of the great Judge, there will be no chance to escape. The unjust steward, it is true, found means to put himself out of the danger of starvation by smart entries in his account book. The sinner will not be able to do this. Our Lord praised the ingenuity of the steward, for He said: "The children of this world are wiser in their generation than the children of light." Because we have so much care for the goods of this world, while for the soul we have no care. We know that to escape the consequences of an adverse judgment, we must observe all the laws of God, for "whosoever shall keep the whole law, but offend in one point, is become guilty of all." We break all the laws of the Decalogue, and we are unmoved, because we do not realize the gravity of our act; at the same time we know that one wilful, impure thought is a mortal sin and sufficient' to condemn us to hell, though certainly a thought is of little importance. What matters it if we eat meat on a day on which it is forbidden? What if we satisfy the demands of our passions? These things are serious; think how terrible it is to fall into the hands of the living God! The efficacy of prayer will then be at an end; no one can put in a plea for us. Now it is easy to conciliate the just Judge by a good act of penance, by a good thought, by a holy aspiration; we can make Him our friend now. How precious then are our present moments, when by so slight an act we can gain heaven, by such slight repentance obtain the forgiveness of our sins! Use them then with the greatest care, and be as greedy of the treasures of heaven as the miser is avaricious of his money. St. Francis had a revelation of his predestination, and by it was so overcome with joy that he nearly died. What will be your joy when you shall enter into the realms of the blessed?
Source: Sermons for Children's Masses, Imprimatur 1900

" Beware of false prophets who come to you in the clothing of sheep, but inwardly they are ravening wolves."
This will prove an important lesson to our young people, for the young are more easily led: the youth will do anything in which he finds encouragement, especially if it flatters the senses. Not only did Our Lord warn us against heretics and unbelievers whom He might place first among false prophets and who teach errors to the people, but we can apply these words also to people who are Christians by name only and otherwise are corrupted by bad principles and lead bad lives. These nominal Christians are so well disguised that the wolf appears as a lamb. They are really more to be feared than the devil himself. It is important then to study the ways of these false lambs; you will sometimes see them act in a very holy manner; they go to Mass and consider themselves better than the rest of mankind; their good works are done to secure the praise of men not for the glory of God; their principles are wrong; they say that the young should have a good time and all liberty should be allowed them; parties, balls, picnics, theatres; in fact, that they must sow their wild oats, and that they will make better men and women if they have been wild. Such talk is nonsensical. Supposing these principles were of general use, where would it all end? and what a dreadful state all young people would be in!

These people will say, too, that you are now getting big and are no longer helpless infants, that you have certain rights that every one in authority must respect. Obedience to parents is not so necessary, and blind obedience to the Church and its authority is stupid. They will tell you that your parents are old fogies, with antiquated notions; that in our modern days many things have been changed; that these unbearable old people, with their continual complaints, need not be heeded, for they have neither reason nor common sense on their side.

They say, Church authorities, too, have no right to search into every action, for they are too strict. These false prophets consider that sin is not so great an evil as it is represented by priests; that it is a little forbidden fun, indeed, but sweeter because stolen; and in this way you are led by degrees into considering your transgressions as light. Instead of being innocent little angels, yon are now experienced in wickedness. These false prophets approach, most readily the innocent lambs that have never been corrupted by sin; those who strive to belong to God, and those who are very devout to the Blessed Virgin.

St. Bernard of Siena was a very amiable character, and of most agreeable manners; some wicked companions tried to persuade him to do wrong, and thus lose the great treasure of
the grace of God; but the holy youth soon noticed it, and with tears in his eyes he begged God's pardon; and he was on his guard for the future. Not only be on your guard against those who are covered with sheep's clothing go further than that even; be on your guard against bad Christians who do not assume any disguise, but appear to be as bad as they can; their principle is, that those who do not know how to enjoy the world, or are afraid to enjoy it, are really to be pitied.

There once lived in Lancaster, England, a young man of a noble and virtuous family, who was well brought up and well educated; as long as he was a pure boy, he was good; but as he advanced in years and in his classes, he came in contact with bigger boys, who were unrestrained in their language and bold in their intercourse with others. Their manners seemed to our young hero to be the very perfection of manhood; he lost all taste for quietness and modesty, from mere talk he went further and committed acts of uncleanness, at first with qualms of conscience, but in a short time he was known as one of the worst in that neighborhood. Such things happen every day, and this is the way in which
they begin.

So far I have considered you innocent lambs, which I hope you are, and will always remain; for that reason I have repeatedly cried out, "Be on your guard against the cruel wolves who appear in sheep's clothing." But may there not be such wolves among you? What can I say to you, miserable beings, who have taken upon yourselves the office of the devil and seek to ruin souls? "You have your father the devil, and you do the will of your father the devil, who was a murderer of souls from the beginning." How great is the crime of which you are guilty! Had you taken the life of the body, what a monster you would be; but you have done a great deal worse ^you have ruined a soul and sent it to hell. Let me continue the picture: suppose that in your fury against all good people, you should arm yourself with a dagger, and on Sunday, coming to church, plunge it into the heart of a young man who has just received holy communion; it would be a horrible crime, but what harm would you do his soul?
None that we can see, for his soul would go to heaven, with Jesus in its bosom. But, on the contrary, suppose the wicked young fellow accosted this pious youth after communion, and led him into sin, with Our Lord in his heart what harm would he then do? A great and terrible harm, for he would then be the occasion of the spiritual death of this youth. How terrible would be the curses of this unhappy boy, suffering in the fire of hell, against his wicked seducer, nor would he cease to utter them for all eternity.

The sin of scandal is for that reason so awful, because its consequences continue for all time. "Woe to the world because of scandals. For it must needs be that scandals come: but nevertheless wo to that man by whom the scandal cometh. But he that shall scandalize one of these little ones that believe in Me, it were better for him that a mill-stone should be hanged about his neck, and that he should be drowned in the depth of the sea." They who give scandal may expect the most tremendous chastisements of God, unless they make reparation in time.

The person who reflects seriously on this would be inclined to fly from the world and hide himself in prayer in a desert, like St. Benedict, who, while young and pursuing his studies, saw the danger, and preferring to be ignorant and virtuous, rather than to be learned and wicked, began with thirty companions to lead a monastic life.

How are sins and vices propagated? They certainly do not all come from a corrupt heart. No; the heart is corrupted by exterior influences and circumstances, through scandal. These wolves in sheep's clothing cause it. But supposing you have been guilty of scandal, how are you to rectify it? You must make reparation. Let me give you an example of a woman who had given scandal. The young man whom she had led astray was murdered at the very door of her house. " What a miserable creature I am," she said. "This blood cries against me for vengeance. I will go and do such public and severe penance that every one will be edified."

It is very easy to give scandal; a bad word, an act or a gesture may suffice to encourage others to fall into sin. Then do not think lightly of your exterior conduct; regulate it and watch over it with such solicitude that you will not lead others into sin or into the ways of a careless life.
"Every tree that doth not yield good fruit shall be cut down and cast into the fire."
"Not every one that saith to Me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven, but he that doth the will of my Father, who is in heaven, he shall enter into the kingdom of heaven."
And certainly it is not doing the will of God to ruin souls. If you have given scandal, pray fervently at the foot of the cross and do penance all your life. This the holy King David did, after his great fall into sin:
"I will teach the unjust Thy ways, and the wicked shall be converted to Thee."

Source: Sermons for Chidren's Masses, Imprimatur 1900

                  THE VIRTUE OF CHARITY
The great lesson today, my good young people, is, that we should be kindhearted, merciful, and charitable. The saints, the friends of God, were charitable. What did they do for their fellow-men? Did they possess a thing and not give it away? Did they spare themselves in any way in their labors for the benefit of others? They tried to be merciful as your heavenly Father is merciful, and if we wish to be perfect, we must endeavor to be the same.

Then Our Lord wished us to be very careful in our judgment of others.  "Judge not, that you may not be judged." Be careful of being suspicious, lest you form rash judgments accordingly. Do not put a bad construction on others' actions; do not ascribe bad motives to them. When a man does a good act, do not suspect him of a bad motive, and thus lead yourself and others to question the merit of it. St. Augustine says, "If you have charity for others, you will wish only what is good for them." A good and wise teacher of morality gives this beautiful lesson: ''Humility does not see the faults of others; simplicity does not believe
them; charity does not disclose them." But, you will say, am I to be such a fool, that if I see my companion doing wrong, I am to believe he is doing good? Do not, of course, think an evil action a good one; that would be nonsensical; but may there not be many extenuating circumstances which will make him less culpable? Pray for the culprit with charity in your soul, and think what you would be, had not God kept you from sin; what falls would have been yours; what disgrace; consider your frailty, and ask yourself sincerely, "Why am I still good? Does it depend on myself?" 0, no, you must admit, it was a special providence that cared for you more than for others. They fell deeply; you, too, would have fallen and further; but the mercy of God held on to you for its own ends. A good monk who witnessed the sad fall of a soul in the spiritual life, said in the most compassionate tone, "Alas, it is his turn to-day; it may be mine to-morrow."

Our Lord commands us to forgive injuries, saying, "Forgive, and you shall be forgiven." How easily we are aroused to anger, and how hard it is to come forward, with open hand and open heart, to meet a friend who has offended us, and take him back to our confidence. The slightest disagreement repels us from each other, and immediately there seems to be an impassable gulf, which shame and stubbornness or our own meanness will not allow us to bridge.

"Thou shalt not hate thy brother in thy heart." Do you know when you can refuse to look your companion kindly in the face? When he comes to you to lead you into sin; then your anger and zeal may show itself, and you may let him know that you are no friend of his; a man who injures your soul cannot be looked upon with indifference. But in all other things, be careful to keep charity; forget and forgive injuries. Our Lord in another Gospel tells us, "If we love one another, God abideth in us and His charity is perfected in us." What a beautiful example of this virtue have the first Christians given us; even the pagans used to admire them in their charity and love towards one another. What fights and grudges are often seen among our young men; if they have anything against another, they take the law in their own hands, and undertake to punish the offender. Give that up, and look for no revenge; revenge and punishment really belong to God; let Him take charge of your grievance, and at the same time pray fervently to God, that He deal lightly with your enemy and not punish him.

Our Lord gives us a great example of forgiveness to our enemies. What did Our Lord do for His enemies? He prayed to His heavenly Father: "Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do." Jesus was God Himself, and to do any injury to God ought naturally to bring down the anger of the Deity on the offender. He could have sent a legion of angels against them, or He might have allowed fire and brimstone to fall upon them and consume them. But not so with God. He waits patiently, sending His grace into their poor hearts to see if they would become better. The saints did the very same thing; for they loved their enemies
and performed many acts of kindness for them, forgetting every injury that was committed against them.

Our Lord in teaching charity certainly could not omit one great act of charity. He asks us to practise almsgiving. My dear young people, you have not yet the means of giving alms of your own; hence you are not obliged to observe this command; still learn early to feel for the poor. Do not laugh at their poverty, their dirt, their tattered garments, or their roughness; have compassion on them, show Sympathy for them, and help them if you can. " Reach out your hand to the poor." What you give to the poor shall not be thrown away, it will return to you again sometime, in divine blessings. What do we see good people do, not to speak of saints? They are kind-hearted and hospitable, they share their possessions with others to a certain degree. It is not necessary to give our all, but to give a little from it. Our Lord has promised great things to those who have acted in this spirit of charity. He will repay us with a measure that is well heaped up, well shaken down and overflowing.

We have to carry a good record of charity toward our neighbor to the judgment-seat of God, for there this very question will be discussed. Our Lord has already described that judgment in the Gospels: "When the Son of man will come in His majesty He will say, I was hungry and you gave Me to eat, I was thirsty and you gave Me to drink. Amen I say to you, as long as you did it to one of these My least brethren, you did it to Me." Our Lord gives a parable about the blind leading the blind; they both fall into the ditch. The parable is plain enough; a blind man would not entrust himself to another blind man to be led. And yet it is done frequently in the spiritual life. Do you not entrust yourself to the guidance of blind companions? You are blind already, because your passions do not allow you clear judgment, and you consult some one on your imaginary difficulty. The devil is ready for you, he knows your dilemma, and at the right time he brings one who will advise you according to his ideas; these ideas coincide with your own, you are confirmed in your evil resolution, and both of you fall into the ditch of sin. The priest sees this very often. Not a day passes but
young men and women of his parish go off with their blind counsellors. How have they fallen into those sins? "Ah, my dear father, a bad guide, a bad companion led me astray, and reduced me to this condition; once I was pure, I did not even suspect there were such sins; but I was led into them, and now I have satisfied my taste for them. I have ruined my life, and I am a miserable wreck." But this is not the worst of it; that we have been led into sin is bad, but far worse is it to stay in sin and to continue to indulge in those vices. It is related by Thomas Cantiprates of a companion who was led astray and died a horrible death without having time to go to confession. He died with these words in his mouth,

"I am now going to hell but what about him who dragged me into sin ?"

If he said this before he was judged, what would his words be when he stood at the gates of hell, and looked back at his fearful loss for a never-ending eternity.

You wish to go to heaven. Well, then, choose for yourself a good priest, a good confessor; chosen from among thousands, as St. Francis de Sales used to say. Pray fervently to Our Lord, that as He sent the archangel Raphael to guide Tobias, so He will send you, if not an angel, a man of angelic qualities; and to him yield up your guidance entirely. This man, enlightened by God, will show you the way that leads to eternal life.

"Make your ways and your doings good, and I will dwell with you." St. Philip Neri, when he observed a youth who governed himself well, frequented the Sacraments, and allowed himself to be directed by a good confessor, used to say, '' If he does not go to heaven, who will?" Our Lord in His sermon on the mount says, "Why seest thou the mote that is in thy brother's eye and seest not the beam that is in thy own eye." You hypocrite, take first the beam from your own eye; then you may be able to remove the mote from your brother's. We see the smallest defect in others, but of our own great shortcomings we make not the least difficulty. Thomas a Kempis tells us, "In others we blame the smallest failings, whilst the greater defects in ourselves we pass over lightly." You notice a slight disobedience in your companion, and you cry out in astonishment, "What insubordination!" You see another talking in church. " What little piety he has!" you say. Another has been caught in a lie; you never forget it; in your eyes he is a liar forever. In short, you see the mote in your brother's eye. Since you know that you are sometimes guilty of these very failings yourself, do you ever say to yourself, "You unruly fellow, you liar, you wretch without devotion"? Therefore study to know yourself, and by frequent examination of conscience learn your own condition.

Be humble, for humility is pleasing to God, and you will not be of the number of those of whom Jesus Christ speaks,
"Thou hypocrite, cast out first the beam out of thy own eye and then shalt thou see clearly to cast the mote out of thy brother's eye."

Source: Sermons for

The disciples and the Blessed Virgin were assem- bled in the cenacle. For ten days they had been meditating and praying in unison with God, when of a sudden a great noise was heard, as of a violent hurricane, which shook the house in which they were, and then they saw that fiery tongues settled down on the heads of each one of them. They felt themselves illumined, strengthened, encouraged by the Spirit of God, the Holy Ghost. They began to speak in different languages. People of every nation had come to Jerusalem to celebrate the great Jewish feast of Pentecost, a feast which was held by them in commemoration of the giving of the law on Mount Sinai to Moses; and all the Jews wished to see the magnificent ceremonies in their temple in Jerusalem.

Though these Jews had come from different places, where different languages were spoken, still they understood what the Apostles said. Such were the wonderful effects which the Holy Ghost produced in the Apostles. They were illumined by a clear, celestial light, which made them understand all the truths of God, and the future Church, and gave them the faculty of forming right judgment in all things that came under their jurisdiction.

This will also be the effect on you, my dear young people, if you beg the Holy Spirit to come into your hearts. You will feel these effects when He has come, and your way of thinking, your old way of judging, will have changed. New thoughts and other desires will grow up in you. You understand what the thoughts of young people are generally; what their hearts are fixed on; what they delight in. The young man and woman want pleasure, enjoyment, plenty of money, and good company, and they care not whether these things are sinful or not. But when the Spirit of God shall come into their hearts they will no longer love what is sinful; they will avoid all such pleasures. Then they will know, too, that all in this world is vanity, and that it is all-important to serve God and love Him.

Not only did the Holy Spirit infuse a great light into the minds of the Apostles He also inspired them with great courage. After the death of Christ, the Apostles had become very much disheartened, and very fretful. They had not the courage to stand up openly and boldly. Before the death of Christ, Peter even denied Christ three times, and the Apostles all fled in dismay when He was apprehended. As soon as the Holy Ghost had come down on them they were changed men; they no longer feared; they confessed Christ before the tribunals of tyrants; they were not dismayed at tortures; they feared neither the sword nor the bitterest death; they braved every danger to preach the Gospel before the nations of the earth.

My dear young people, if you really receive the Holy Ghost into your hearts, you also will courageously profess the faith of Christ, and human respect will not affect you any more. How many, however, are there who in spite of having received the strength and illumination of the Divine Spirit, are weak and infirm in doing good; they fear to speak a word of correction to a wicked companion, who is likely to draw them away from the path of rectitude.

With all the other gifts came that of holy charity upon the Apostles. With what lively flames of love did not their hearts burn towards their neighbor. Charity is the great virtue of the Apostles. With their hearts burning with this divine flame they went forth to enkindle it in all parts of the world, and to set the hearts of all on fire. Their sermons were frequent appeals to the intellect and hearts of their hearers. At. St. Peter's first sermon three thousand were converted, and at another five thousand. St. Peter came out on a balcony, his face all aglow with a holy zeal. It is thus related in the Acts of the Apostles: "Ye men of Israel hear these words: Jesus of Nazareth a man approved of God among you by miracles and wonders and signs, which God did by Him in the midst of you, as you also know: This same being delivered up, by the determinate counsel and foreknowledge of God, you by the hands of wicked men have crucified and slain: Now when they had heard these things, they had compunction in their heart, and said to Peter and to the rest of the Apostles: What shall we do, men and brethren? But Peter saith to them: Do penance, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ, for the remission of your sins: and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost.'' They were converted, and baptized; they, too, received the Holy Ghost, and after that became zealous members of the holy faith.

Let us pray, my dear young people, that the Holy Spirit kindle in our hearts also this fire, that we may become, like the Apostles, strong in word to persuade people to follow Christ; and that we ourselves show our love for God by openly practising virtue. Happy shall we be if such is the fire of love of God and man in our hearts. But is your heart really inflamed with divine love? Do you not on the contrary feel that you are cold and careless?

Few there are indeed among young people who think so much of religion and God that they become enthusiastic to do something for His greater glory. In your younger days, in your school-days, perhaps, you were better; you loved God more tenderly. Now it may be said of you,

"You always resist the Holy Ghost." You have the spirit of the world and of sin for your guide, and in this way you sadden the Holy Ghost. We resist the Holy Ghost when we go to confession, and fall back into sin, because we do not reform our lives, as the Holy Spirit asks of us. We resist the Holy Ghost and sadden Him when we follow bad companions, when we are disobedient or impudent to our parents, who wish to guide us in the paths of virtue. On the contrary we give joy to the Holy Spirit by our good will, and He will fill our hearts with His heavenly graces. Should one of you not yet be confirmed, let him look for an opportunity to receive this sacrament, so that he may receive the necessary virtues which it confers, namely: the spirit of Wisdom, and of Intellect, spirit of Counsel and of Fortitude, of Piety and of Knowledge, of the Fear of the Lord. In order that we may be filled with the Holy Ghost, let us live always a pure, good, and holy life.

It is only with those who lead such a life that the Spirit of God remains. We read a beautiful example illustrating this in the Roman breviary. The impious governor Paschasius asked of St. Lucy, 

"Is this Holy Ghost in you?" The virgin answered,

"They whose hearts are pure, and who live piously, are the temples of the Holy Ghost."

"But," said the wicked man, "I will make you fall into sin, and then the Holy Ghost will leave you." To which the virgin Lucy answered,

"I will remain faithful to God, and not consent to sin, and the Holy Spirit will double my reward of glory."

Then the tyrant had her dragged to a place of infamy. Arriving there she stood so firm in the one spot that no power could move her further, and she had to be brought back, when she said to the tyrant:

"You see, now, I am the temple of the Holy Ghost, and He protects me; no power on earth can move me, unless He permits it." In this wise, too, should we fly from sin, and we shall be the temple of God and the habitation of the Holy Ghost.

Come, Holy Ghost, fill the hearts of Thy faithful, enkindle in them the fire of Thy love. Yes, the Holy Spirit will help us to pray "with inexpressible groans." Let us pray to the Holy Ghost, and in our soul will burn such a flame that we will not be able to resist any longer, we shall run delighted in the odor of the love of God. Then may we repeat the words of the Apostle Paul to the Thessalonians: "All you are the children of light and children of the day."

Source:  Sermon's for Children's Masses, Imprimatur 1900

The disciples are to be pitied for the desolation they felt at the approaching separation from their good Master. He tells them that now He is about to leave the world to go to heaven, there to be united to His heavenly Father. It was a sad thought. They would no longer hear His words; they would no more see His benign countenance. His sacred personality, which went about doing good to all, healing the sick, curing the lame, giving sight to the blind, raising the dead to life, would no longer be of this earth. Had the disciples been more perfect they would not have suffered so much, still their attachment was a sign of their love for Jesus. He did not rebuke this holy affection; on the contrary He left it in their hearts, only calming their fears for the future by holy promises.

My dear young people, do not give way to fretful brooding and moroseness if you have to endure sorrow. You ought to be happy and cheerful in the Lord, keeping yourselves free from sin. You have often been told that sin is the greatest misfortune in the world, and that this should be the only thing to make us sad. Be cheerful then; this is the lesson I wish to inculcate, the lesson which I have drawn from this day's Gospel.

Ecclesiasticus wishes us always to chase sadness from our heart. St. Anthony, the abbot, used to tell his disciples that the strongest arm to conquer the enemy was cheerfulness of mind and heart which has God always before our eyes. With this light of God's presence, the shadows of sorrow, of trouble and misfortune disappear. St. Francis of Sales, whom they call the sensible and rational saint, tells us that, after sin, there is nothing does more harm to the soul than melancholy, and that we ought to banish it with all our might. St. Philip Neri wanted young people especially to be happy. Young people can always be happy because their bodies are sprightly and full of life, while old people are frequently sad from care and many other reasons. Young people should be encouraged to love life in all its activity and enjoyment, and it is sad indeed to see them morose or overwhelmed with care.

St. Aloysius Gonzaga and St. Stanislaus Kostka were happy, but at the same time greatly mortified; they were never melancholy or morose, they did not avoid the company of their companions; on the contrary, their manner made all about them feel a holy joy; their companions did not avoid them, they were favorites. The saints all were happy and contented, they were unhappy only when they saw sin. When they thought that they could not prevent the loss of so many souls to God, they lamented and wept. I wish you to reflect well on this day's lesson: never be sullen and disagreeable in company, as there is no reason for it, unless you are of a whimsical mind; correct it as soon as possible. A youth who is good and pious, but holds himself apart, and likes to pray and read pious books out of the proper time, does wrong; he may go to the sacraments, but the joyous laugh of youth is no longer heard, the light foot and the agile form is gone; he likes to walk with old men and become as slow as they. All this is not as it ought to be. Young people ought to be happy among themselves, for if the young see one who is pious and at the same time morose, they think moroseness a necessary consequence of piety, and they hate piety and goodness. My good young people, always show yourselves happy and you will do good. The young man who has true piety is always cheerful and happy, and never seems to have the blues; he does what is right.

There is no doubt that a pious life naturally leads to cheerfulness, and this latter attracts the careless; nothing looks so dark and severe as a holy life "Serve the Lord in joy." Then may discontent, unhappiness, and sorrow be lodged in the hearts of the wicked as a punishment for their sins, and may happiness be in the hearts of the good.

The disciples were silent at the announcement made by Our Lord. He said to them,
"None asks Me, 'Whither goest Thou?' "

We, my dear children, know where Our Lord has gone. He has gone to heaven. But we should ask ourselves, "Are we following the divine Redeemer in that way which leads to paradise?" Tell me, do all young people walk in the path that leads there? My heart grows sad when I think that so many do not follow in the footsteps of Our Lord, but from earliest childhood fall into ways that will surely lead them to hell. The prayers and advice of their parents avail nothing: they are obstinate and go on in their sins. Better than any advice is good example. Let the light of your good works so shine among your companions that they may see it and follow it; pray to Mary that your example may be effective in leading others to God.

Then Our Lord told His disciples that it was expedient He should go, and that unless He went, the Paraclete would not come to them. What great love Our Lord had for His Church and for His disciples! For when the Spirit shall come. "He will convince the world of sin, and of justice, and of judgment." St. Thomas says he will convince the world of sin, which they must avoid, of justice which they must adopt, of judgment which they must fear continually. Understand, my dear young people, that the only evil which you ought  to avoid is sin: understand that you must embrace justice, for it is the scrupulous observance of the law of God. You must fear the judgment of God, and not the decisions of men: you ought, therefore, keep in mind that dreadful day when you and all the world will have to appear before God's throne, there to receive the sentence of approval or condemnation from the mouth of God Himself. On that day you will have to appear before the whole world and make a public confession; there will be no support from friends, parents, or relations; we will have no advocate.

Our Lord tells His disciples that He has still many things to tell them, but that they are not now in a condition to understand them, until the Spirit of truth shall come to enlighten them. My dear young people, what light would the Lord infuse into our minds, what inspirations into our hearts, if we were only in a state to receive them and make use of them. Why live so distracted, with your heart so attached to the things of this world, your mind and thoughts so continually on the pleasures of the world that you neglect the performance of your duties? Why do you chase away the salutary thoughts of eternity, avoiding them as if they were something sad which disturbs you? By such carelessness we
render ourselves very unworthy of heavenly favors. Stop it now, once for all, and place no obstacle to the blessings and graces with which Jesus wishes to favor us. By a really fervent life, merit that God may notice you at all times, and give you new graces, and that the Holy Ghost will illumine more and more your mind and heart.

We can learn from the life of St. Catherine of Genoa to correspond to the grace of Our Lord. From her very youth she was always ready to obey the inspirations of God. When she was young, it is true, she sometimes became cold in the service of Our Lord, but no sooner did she hear the voice of conscience stirred in her by God than she turned to her calling and labored more faithfully. She used to say, "Lord, no more world, no more sins." She had many visions of Our Lord, who came to her instructing and consoling her according to the needs of her soul. Once He appeared to her, inviting her to make with Him a fast of forty days, not touching a thing all that time beside the heavenly bread which
she received every day in holy communion. She obeyed with joy, but became so sick that it was thought she was dying. The Blessed Sacrament was carried to her room, and on the third day she was perfectly cured. She had not given much time to study in her youth, but by the help of God she wrote books which, at the present day, astonish the learned and those skilled in spirituality. In short, she corresponded perfectly to the will of God, and thus became a saint.
Source: Sermons for Children's Masses, Imprimatur 1900

The Children's Sermons that I posted from the above listed book have been removed from the site.  One of my readers, to whom I'm very grateful, brought to my attention that it is NOT a CATHOLIC book but Anglican.  I should have researched it's author before using it.  Please dear readers forgive me for this error.

It is always a grand, inspiring sight to see young people come together in great numbers to hear the word of God, to consider the wonderful deeds of God, and listen to His beautiful discourses, which have been preserved in the gospels. Today there is proposed to our consideration the wonderful feeding of five thousand people with five loaves and two fishes.

The evening was approaching, and still the crowd, charmed by the words of Our Lord in His sublime instruction, made not the least move to leave Him and go to their homes in the city, nor did they even think of procuring food. Our Lord was still busy healing the sick. What a preacher He must have been! You see the mass of people, closely gathered about Him, listening with eagerness to every word addressed to them, and so intent are they that they forget their food.

In the time of Our Lord there were thousands who went to Him with a good heart; He loved them for it and this evening they were to be the guests of the divine Master. In our day we do not as a rule find that hunger after the word of God; people do not like sermons, and especially young people can hardly contain themselves and sit still to listen to the word of God. Parents can plead and threaten, the confessor can admonish, the pastor shows his zeal in vain. But what great damage results to our soul from this carelessness! From this comes that ignorance of religion and God and blindness of the mind which is the mother of all evil. From this you can trace the hardness of men's hearts, obstinacy in vice and sin, and at last eternal damnation. There is not, says St. Bernard, a more certain sign of people losing their immortal souls than their aversion to the word of God.

One day as St. Hilary was about to preach, after having finished the reading of the Gospel, many got up to go out. The saintly preacher was stirred, and he called to them to return and resume their places, saying, "You are going out, but you will not so easily go out of hell." It is related of St. Anthony of Padua that he wanted to preach to a number of heretics, but they all went away and would not listen; he then went to the seashore and began to preach to the fishes.

"Listen to the word of God, ye fishes of the sea, for these unhappy heretics will not listen to me." With that an immense number of fishes gathered as near as they could come to him, with their heads slightly raised out of the water as if they were all attention. When St. Anthony saw this he said,

"Blessed be God, for the fishes honor God more than the people of the earth." In many churches is witnessed this eagerness to run away, and to such these words can be applied,

"You can easily leave the church, but you cannot so easily get out of hell."

Dear children, if you wish to save your souls and go to heaven, it is absolutely necessary to hear the word of God.

When our dear Lord saw this great crowd of people that had followed Him and had continued with Him so as not to lose one of His discourses, He was touched with compassion for them. Turning to Philip, one of His disciples. He asked him,

"Whence shall we buy bread, that these may eat?" Philip answered Him,

"Two hundred pennyworth of bread is not sufficient for them, that every one may take a little." Our Lord, calling the Apostles about Him, asked,

"How many loaves have you?" Andrew answered,

"There is a boy here that hath five barley loaves and two fishes, but what are these among so many?" "Bring Me," said Our Lord, "the little you have, and make the people sit down on the grass." Our Lord then took the loaves, and, raising His eyes to heaven, blessed them, and distributed to them that were sat down. What a magnificent miracle Our Lord worked for the benefit of His followers on this occasion! Be ye also true followers of Jesus; live in His holy love and fear, and He will provide for you in all your necessities. Would that you were convinced of this! There are, indeed, many who have to undergo terrible sufferings, some even die of hunger; but you must not accuse almighty God of carelessness in their regard.

Often it is their own fault on account of the bad lives they have led. Wickedness produces untold evil in this world; you know there are many young people who lead impious and criminal lives, who are Catholics only in name, who never go to confession, though they have been taught to go from their early childhood; they do not go to communion nor observe Sundays and holydays; they blaspheme the word of God, and they act worse than the brute in the pursuit of the object of their passions. God will not prosper such as these, they cannot have the peace of mind which is the share of those who serve God; they are harassed by discontent and anger, and these vices sometimes produce terrible effects, and could really be a sufficient explanation of much of the misery with which we find poor humanity afflicted. Yes, if sin could be removed from this world, no doubt many of the scourges which come upon us, many sicknesses, terrible and unforeseen deaths, would be removed also and heavenly peace would reign supreme. Often and often we read of this in the word of God. The impious are told that they are hurrying toward their destruction, and the good are the favorite children of God. But, you will say, the good are often afflicted; for we have met them suffering hunger, misery, and persecution.

Why does God allow His faithful followers to be so tried, as was the good and holy Job? God permits these trials to the just to purify them, to detach them from the things of this world, and to give them opportunity to merit more for eternal life. God reigns supreme in the hearts of the just; He gives them His grace to suffer with patience whatever may come to them, and this is the reason that these trials are no longer afflictions but rather consolations. St. Paul says, "We glory also in tribulations."

The loaves which fed such a multitude represent the Holy Eucharist. Every day this mystical bread is multiplied and distributed from the altar. What a great gift is this Blessed Sacrament, what a proof of God's love for His children, what a display of His omnipotence! The bread on our altars remains no longer bread; it is changed by the power of Jesus Christ into His sacred body and blood. With this bread you can feed your soul every day. It is natural fo suppose that the crowd that was fed miraculously had knowledge of it, and ate that blessed bread with avidity. What fervent thanks did they not return to Him who had so favored them! The same joy tills the heart of the generous young man or woman after the reception of the body of the Lord. You have felt this; it is the greatest consolation and the most exquisite enjoyment of your life.

Many there are who do not realize what they do, and are cold and indevout. To them communion is without consolation; they go, perhaps from habit or because their companions of a sodality are going in a body, but not that they really hunger; after this Bread of life. It is related of a young man, whose wicked parents did not wish him to go to communion, that by some means he eluded their vigilance, and at the very dawn, when no one in the house was yet stirring, he would hasten to first Mass and go to communion; then making his thanksgiving on his way back, he went to bed again before any one had noticed his absence. This young man appreciated the happiness of holy communion. Let us approach this sacred banquet and eat our fill; we will derive strength and endurance from it. If Our Lord sees us approach with affection. He will return love for love and be the greatest friend we have.

But you, smaller children, my lambs, who have not yet had the happiness of drawing so closely to Our Lord, look forward to the day of your first communion; you are now learning the teachings of the Church concerning the real presence; you are beginning to distinguish this Bread of angels from ordinary bread, and as soon as you reach the use of reason you will be admitted to the divine festival. Be anxious to know your holy faith by learning the Catechism; try to realize that it is Jesus you are going to receive, and begin now to form in your heart sentiments of great love and desire.

Mary Magdalen of Pazzi, when a young child, had a great desire to go to communion; but she was denied the happiness because she was not old enough. She had a great knowledge of Jesus on the altar in the Blessed Sacrament, and spent hours on her knees in the church. At one time her mother went to communion and little Magdalen saw her. How beautiful her mother looked! The child was so struck at the sight that she begged to be allowed to make her first communion, that she, too, might feel that great happiness. She afterwards called the days of communion days of love. I cannot persuade myself even now to cease speaking of the Blessed Sacrament. Approach the altar with exterior as well as interior reverence and holy fear. Let the world, your companions and the parish, see that you realize the sacred act in which you are engaged. Your mind must be centred on the great God whom you are to receive, and you certainly know that you owe Him fervent love and holy fear. St. Thomas a Kempis, in his "Following of Christ,^' says, "If you had the purity of the angels or the sanctity of a John the Baptist, you would not be worthy to touch this Holy Sacrament."

Holy men and women know that they are not good enough to go to communion; still they go because Our Lord draws them to it. With what severity they judge themselves and make their confession, so that every stain of sin may be effaced! It is a dreadful action to go to Jesus and receive Him who is the God of the universe.

After this great number of people had been fed, they were enthusiastic; they wished to take Jesus and make Him their king. But Our Lord wanted no temporal dominions, so He
hid Himself from them. He wishes to be king of your heart. After having received Our Lord, it is your duty to make Him the king and master of your soul. Be faithful to Him, be not a disciple like Judas, who betrayed Him. No longer allow the devil to have the direction of your actions. Let Our Lord alone have His throne there, Jesus the good Master, the Prince of peace, the God of joy and of all consolation. A great missionary once laying his finger on a wicked man's heart asked, '^Who reigns in this heart, God or the devil?" Ask yourselves the same question, and your conscience will give the answer; in fact, you know it already, if you are in real earnest about your eternal welfare.

Our loving Redeemer, in all His journeys through Judea, performed many works of mercy and kindness to poor humanity. All the sick people who could approach Him were cured, the blind received their sight, the deaf heard, the lame walked, and even the dead were raised to life. He was the great wonder-worker of those days, and the sick and unfortunate especially flocked around Him.

But not only did He work miracles ^He also led a most holy life, a life that was an example to every one. In Him there was no defect, no vice, no fault. From all this it would appear to us that He should he known by all as the Messias. The crowds, indeed, knew Him, but they were the common people, who followed, loved, and adored Him as their Saviour.

But the Pharisees were not of this class; they were full of envy of Jesus because He was not of their school; they calumniated and persecuted Him; His greatest and holiest actions were presented in a bad light, and in this very day's Gospel we have an example of their perversity. Our Lord had cast out the devil, and the Pharisees, with a significant shake of the head and frightened mien, said, "This man casteth not out devils but by Beelzebub the prince of devils.'^ There are many in the world that imitate the Pharisees; whatever good is done by a person is looked at in a bad light; evil purposes are attributed to the purest intentions.

Young people are much given to this sort of criticism; they are so thoughtless that they will say almost anything of another. They see a companion serious and pious, and they say he is crazy, or a devotee; here is one that goes to communion regularly ^and they call him a hypocrite; here is a noble young fellow, polite and good to his masters and obedient to their directions they say he is a mean, sneaky character and does it all to obtain power; a retired, quiet boy is considered a fool; if he is found praying in church, they make fun of his devotion; in fact, the bad boy cannot see any good in a well-behaved, religious lad. It is a singular thing, but nevertheless true, that Jealousy is in our hearts, especially in regard to the good qualities of our companions. All the good they have seems to detract from us, and we cannot acknowledge ourselves inferior to others. It is an abominable trait, hateful to God and to our fellow creatures.

Then speak no evil of the goodness of others; commend your good companions, love them the more, recommend them to the notice of others, and make up your mind to avoid the company of evil talkers and detractors. If this detraction should strike you, and make you feel the injustice of mankind, continue in your goodness, let them talk. Would you become bad because the wicked see no good in you? Did Our Lord change the manner of His life when the Pharisees spoke evil of Him? On the contrary, He quietly continued, as if He did not hear them at all.

The devil had deprived the poor man of the power of speech, not for his own good you may be sure; he might have left him the use of his tongue, and instigated him to speak very much evil: for though the tongue is a small member, it can do an immense amount of harm. Just consider for a minute what the tongue can do: the blasphemies against God, the frauds against men, detraction, deception. bad counsel, immodest words, ridicule of religion and religious usages; these are the fruits of an unguarded tongue. St. James tells us that the tongue is the universe of iniquity.

If our young people were only dumb in regard to the vices of the tongue, they would not have to answer for so many sins or for the eternal ruin of their companions. St. Vincent Ferrer relates an example of a dumb woman who was brought to him to be cured. "What do you wish me to do for you, my daughter?'' She, that had never spoken before, said, "Give me the knowledge of how to live a holy and spiritual life, besides the faculty of speech." St. Vincent replied, "Yes, you shall have the first request, but as to the faculty of speech I will not obtain it for you; it is better to save yourself without being able to speak, than to damn your soul by the sins of the tongue. Even though now you have spoken you will again become dumb."

How many men at the judgment-seat will wish that they had been born dumb, when they see that they have lost their souls by the faculty of speech! As I said before, the devil did not deprive this youth of whom we are treating in this Gospel of speech for his own good. Satan never does anything for our good, but for our destruction. The devil's delight is to make men spiritually dumb; he enters into their hearts, takes possession of them, and makes them incapable of speaking. They become mute and do not open their mouths in prayer; even when pressed by the greatest need they cannot go to confession. They have committed a great sin and he makes them tremble with fear; they would rather conceal the poison in their breast than confess the fault. Bold as men are before committing a crime, they are real cowards after it is done; he suggests to the poor sinner that he will lose the esteem and good opinion of the confessor; that he will be scandalized, that he will scold and that he will deny him absolution.

No, my dear children, allow not yourselves to be led away by the devil. The confessor does not think less of his penitent by hearing his confession; on the contrary he is impressed by his openheartedness; he is not scandalized at the recital of sins, he only sees an example of faith and piety; he will not scold, only to put you on your guard and give you the necessary advice to escape faults in the future; and if he does scold, it is because, aroused by the danger you are in, he wants to put sufficient emphasis to his words, so that you may appreciate the importance of your fall. The confessor will never deny absolution except in cases where he sees that there is going to be no effort made at correction.

Be on your guard, my dear young people, against sin; but should you commit any, make up your mind at once to get rid of that dark stain on your conscience by a sincere confession. Oh, what miseries are heaped up by those who conceal their sins! All their confessions are worthless; the sin of sacrilege is added to the rest, their condition is even worse than it was before. Then there is the danger that when a sin is once concealed, it will close the mouth of the penitent so effectually that even at the hour of death it will not be revealed, as we find in many cases. An unhappy woman was ashamed to confess a certain sin. She fell seriously ill, and her confessor was called; when she saw him she cried out, "You have come in time to see a lying penitent of yours go to hell. I have often confessed to you, but have always concealed the graver faults." He begged her to make her confession, but she said, " I cannot, I am damned! " and she breathed her last.

When you have overcome this dumb devil by a good confession, and he shall have gone away from you, have the doors of your heart well under observation that he may not come back again; then you will have peace of mind. "When a strong man well armed guards his house, all that he has will be secure." Our Lord does not say to guard the interior, but He desires you to have special care of the entrance. And why? Because when the door of the soul, by which all manner of evil may enter, is not looked after, there will be little hope of your continuing in good. Is it not written, "He who loveth danger shall perish in it!"

Easter is near, and you wish to make a good confession; you desire to be really converted. Then you will have to make a good and firm resolution not only to avoid sin, but to watch every approach to the soul. If your conversion is not of this kind it will not be real, and you will not persevere to the end. You cannot imagine all the tricks the devil is going to employ to catch you again. "When the devil has gone out of a man, he wanders about in lonesome places, looking for a home; but not finding a suitable one he will say to himself, I will go back to the soul from which I came. He finds the soul cleansed and beautifully ornamented with virtues, a thing not at all to his taste, and he sees that the soul evidently thinks herself strong. He goes and takes with him seven others worse than himself; they make a sudden attack by wily means, and again they triumph; they enter, and the last condition of that soul is worse than the first.

The devil will not quietly give up what he has lost; he makes every possible effort, employs every artifice to regain possession. He tempts the poor soul with a sense of false security, he follows her in all her acts of piety and devotion, he fills her imagination with magnificent promises. "All these things will I give thee.'' He would give the whole world if it were his, to gain his point. You can, from this, form an idea of the value of a soul, when you see the devil make such efforts to gain it. You can see how valuable it is, when it has cost the life of Our Lord to ransom it from the grasp of the enemy. What insanity, then, to think the soul of little worth! From henceforth have a great care of your soul; do not sell it to the devil for any price; certainly not for a momentary pleasure, or for some unlawful satisfaction.

When the devil has come into possession of your soul for the second time, how hard it will be to dislodge him again; if he takes seven other devils worse than himself, how much
stronger will be his hold; he will rivet the chains firmer. The devil does in your case as you would do to a bird that has escaped the meshes of your net; you will choose stronger cords, and should you succeed in alluring it to the net again, you will make sure that it shall not escape a second time.

The devil would do with you as you would do to a slave who has struck off his chains. You would put heavier chains on him, and keep such a guard over him that it would be impossible for him to get away. So also will the devil shut off every avenue of approach to your relief. Should you find some benefit to your soul from the reading of a good book, he will lead you to places where there are none to fall into your hands; should you have an opportunity to hear a good sermon that would perhaps open your eyes, he will lure you to plays and enjoyments. In this way he will use every artifice and all the cunning of which he is master, until at last you will be firmly under his dominion. And thus it is that the last state is worse than the first. So it is that those who fall again into the slavery of Satan rarely find the power of resistance until they are led to the gates of hell. May such a terrible thing never happen to you; that having put the devil from you, you should again make peace with him and allow him to regain your soul.

When Our Lord had concluded His words, such admiration came over the crowd that they could no longer contain themselves, and a certain woman cried out, "Blessed is the womb that bore Thee and the paps that gave Thee suck." Our Lord was certainly conscious of the great glory of His Mother Mary, but He answered, "Yea, rather, blessed are they who hear the word of God and keep it." Be of the number of those happy and blessed ones. The Pharisees heard the word of God, but kept it not. You, my good children, listen with simplicity of heart and with humility. Many have gone and many will go to heaven because they heard the word of God and kept it. St. John of God was a wanderer on the face of the earth; he had run away from his home: was twice a soldier, and was once condemned to death. He had the happiness once to hear a sermon; he heard it with a contrite and humble heart, he fell on his face in the church, publicly confessed his sins, and rose to become a saint.
                                Source: Sermons for Children's Masses, Imprimatur 1900