THE SQUABBLING PATRIDGES
                      "Bear one another's burdens and so you shall fulfill the law of Christ."

Partridges are very good to eat when they are baked in a pie. Once there was a man who made his living by catching partridges and selling them to the pie makers. He would wait until all the partridges gathered together to feed, then throw a large net over them and carry them away. The king of the partridges wondered how he could save his people from capture. He gathered all his flock together and cheeped a speech. "We get captured so much because we do not act together. The next time the man throws the net over us, each one must take a strand of the net in his beak and fly away with it all at once in the same direction."

The next time the man threw the net the king cheeped a signal, "One. Two. Three. Fly." Each bird took a strand of the net in his beak, and up went the net into the air. They all flew together and then dropped the net into a pond where the man could not find it again. But the hunter was patient. He knew all about partridges. He said to himself, "I have only to wait until they quarrel and throw another net over them." He waited for his chance. One day it came. The partridges were feeding. Two of them tried to eat the same crumb. "It's mine," said one bird. "No, it's mine," said the other. Then they began to fight. All the other birds took sides and soon there was a full-fledged quarrel going on. At this moment the man threw his new net. The king of the partridges gave his signal to lift, but the partridges on one side said, "Let the others do it." Those on the other side said, "You do it." While they were arguing the man gathered them up and sold them at a fancy profit to the pie makers.

Today's text is a good one to learn by heart. "Bear one another's burdens and so you shall fulfill the law of Christ." Children have to learn the lesson of co-operation or teamwork. What you cannot do alone, perhaps can be done if all work together. A man on a football team does not make a touchdown all by himself. He needs the help of his teammates. He needs them to punch a hole in the line and run interference for him. Working together means praying for one another, helping one another, not causing others to sin, setting good example, being kind. As a special assignment for this week, go home and just for one week, at least, see how kind you can be to your brother or sister. "Bear ye one another's burdens and so you shall fulfill the law of Christ."
                                                            Source: "Heirs of the Kingdom," Imprimatur 1949

                                                                       SEVERED FINGERS
                                                                           Holy Orders

Leaning against the rail of a ship bound for China was a middle-aged businessman. He had hard features and selfishness was written on every line of his face. A few feet away with his hands thrust into his overcoat pockets, stood a young priest. They began a conversation.

"Going to China?" asked the man. "Yes," replied the priest, "I'm a missionary." The businessman began to chide the priest for his foolishness in going to China in the service of God. He said, "Once I read about that young priest — Murphy, I think his name was — who was captured by bandits and held for ransom. For every week's delay in the payment of the money they lopped off a finger of his right hand. The ransom took three weeks to arrive and they cut off three of his fingers. For some reason that I cannot understand he asked them not to cut off the thumb and forefinger of his right hand. He still has them. He is in the States now and I don't think he will go back for any more of that. Something like that might happen to you if you don't watch out." And the man laughed. Then the dinner bell rang and they shook hands in parting. The man noticed that the priest's hand was very limp. He looked down and saw that he held only two fingers and that three fingers of the priest's hand were missing. The priest smiled, "Father Murphy is the name and I 'm going back for more."

Who can tell me, now, why the priest asked the bandits not to cut off the thumb and forefinger of his right hand. These two that I am holding up. The answer is that he wanted to say Mass with those fingers. That brings us to the next sacrament — Holy Orders. The sacrament by which bishops, priests, and other ministers of the Church are ordained and receive the power and grace to perform their sacred duties. Perhaps there is some boy or girl this morning who has thought that he or she would like to be a priest or a nun. I f that thought is in your mind, keep thinking about it and pray over it. The priesthood and the sisterhood are the things which keep the Church alive. God works through them. Perhaps you are thinking of the foreign missions like Father Murphy or perhaps you would rather stay home in this country. No matter which, remember that Christ needs workers in His vineyard. He has said "Come, follow Me." If you follow Him you are entering the happiest life on earth.

This morning during the Consecration, when the priest holds the Host between his thumb and forefinger, think what a noble priest Father Murphy was, and pray that God may give you strength to be just as noble as he was. "The harvest indeed is great but the laborers are few. Pray ye therefore the Lord of the harvest that He send forth laborers into His vineyard."
                                                                        Source: "Heavenwords," Imprimatur 1941

                                                         THE BODY IN THE LIBRARY
                       "The flesh lusts against the spirit and the spirit against the flesh."

IN THIS modern day it is difficult to be pure of heart. One of the greatest dangers to purity, especially to growing youngsters, is the cheap immoral literature which fills our bookstands. There is danger to your soul in these books.

How the student died was a mystery. They found him dead, still seated in the reading room of the library, his head fallen forward onto the ancient book that he had been reading. He had died suddenly and without any outcry. The police could find no cause of death and were plainly baffled. They promised the arrest of the criminal in a few days. They caught the criminal, but were not able to arrest him, so they put him to death on the spot. Out of curiosity a detective looked to see what the book was which the student had been reading. He picked it up, but dropped it quickly just in time. From behind the folds of the leather binding of the ancient volume came a black widow spider. The detective put his big foot on it and that was the end of the criminal. The mystery was explained.

The spider had hidden itself behind the leather folds of the binding and had bitten the student as he opened the book. The bite of the black-widow spider means instant death. For that student there was poison in the book.  In many other books there is poison which can kill your soul.

"The flesh lusts against the spirit," and evil books are evil's most evil weapon. Whatever you read becomes anpart of you. Your eye lifts thoughts from the printed page. This thought becomes a picture in the art gallery of your mind. If you keep taking in evil pictures and no good ones, then your mind becomes evil. You have heard of people who are evil minded. That is how they got that way — by not being careful of the thoughts which they allowed to enter their minds. Do not let that happen to you. For the student there was poison in the book. It caused his death. For you there can be poison in books whose sting is more dangerous than the black widow. It can cause the death of your soul.

Your safeguard in all matters of purity is constant prayer to Mary, for she is the Mother most pure. Ask her daily to cast her blue mantle around you and keep you safe from harm. She it is who crushed with her heel the head of the serpent just as the detective crushed the spider. While you ask her to keep you constantly in mind you must also keep her constantly in mind and adopt as your motto,

"I will not do anything which the Mother of God could not watch me doing."
                                                              Source:  Heirs of the Kingdom, Imprimatur 1949

             Extreme Unction

Who can give the catechism answer to this question:
What is the sacrament of Ex- treme Unction?
Extreme Unction is a sacrament which, through the annointing and the prayer of the priest, ngives health and strength to the soul and sometimes to the body, when we are in danger of death through sickness.

When you think of Extreme Unction you usually think of a priest hurrying to a deathbed on a race with death. That is not quite correct. Unless it is a case of accident or sudden sickness, there should be no need for the priest to hurry. He should be called in time. It is a wrong idea to think that we must wait until the last minute before calling the priest. Extreme Unction is a help to the body as well as the soul. As soon as a person is dangerously ill, a priest should be called. When he comes he will anoint the senses of the person one by one, asking God to forgive whatever sins have been committed through that sense. Then he will recite the beautiful prayers of the Church for the sick and dying. It is a well-known fact that a priest will face any danger even death itself to be with a dying person.

There was once a priest named Father Maturin. He was a famous priest and had written many books on the spiritual life. Father Maturin was sailing on that ill-fated ship, the Lusitania. You have certainly heard your parents talking about the Lusitania at one time or other. At about two o'clock on the afternoon of May 7, 1915, Father Maturin was walking up and down the deck saying his breviary. Suddenly there was an explosion. The ship had been torpedoed. The newspapers said that it sank twenty minutes after it had been struck. During that twenty minutes Father Maturin moved among the crowd, quieting fear, giving absolution, helping people into life belts, gathering the children into lifeboats. Just before the boat went down Father Maturin was seen walking down into the engine room to anoint a man who had been injured by the torpedo. Any priest will risk his own life to be with the dying.

The priesthood is proud of its record in that regard and everyone of us is proud of Father Maturin, who faced death himself to make death easier for others.

"Greater love than this hath no man that he lay down his life for his friends."
                                                                                        Source: Heavenwords, Imprimatur 1941

   A file with the picture that is used in conjunction with this sermon can be found at the end of this post.  It can be printed and and given to the children  while reading this sermon.
                                                                 
                                   HOLY EUCHARIST

Now we come to the next of the sacraments — Holy
Eucharist. Who can give me the catechism answer? What is Holy Eucharist? The Holy Eucharist is the sacrament which contains the body and blood, soul and divinity of our Lord, Jesus Christ, under the appearance of bread and wine.

(This is a famous picture of Christ. Can anyone tell me the name of it? It is called, "Christ the Light of the
World." You were given pictures as you came in this
morning, so follow me as we go along.)

There is a well-known story about this picture. It was
painted by an artist named Holman Hunt. You can see
his name at the foot of the picture. I t shows our Lord
holding a lantern — The Light of the World. He is knocking on an old vine-covered door with very rusty hinges.

His words are, "Behold I stand at the gate and knock." The artist spent a long time at this painting and was very careful, as you can see, with the details. Notice how carefully Christ's garments are painted. He must have been a patient artist. The picture now hangs in the chapel of Kebel College in Oxford. Before it was shown to the public, however, Hunt followed the custom of artists, and called in his fellow artists to look at the picture. They looked at it from this side and that and all agreed that it was a wonderful painting.

"Just a minute," said one of them, "you made a mistake on the door." (Look very closely at the picture and see if you can find out what the artist meant. Have you got it yet?)         
"Well," went on the critic, "there's no lock on the door." The artist, Holman Hunt, replied,

"That is not a mistake. The door represents the human heart and the lock is on the inside." Do you think that Holman Hunt did the right thing? Yes, he did. All Christ can do is knock at the door of your heart, but you must open the door yourselves. Before Communion time Christ knocks at the door of your hearts, but He will not force His way in. You must open the door yourselves because the lock is on the inside. You have a choice when Christ knocks at your heart. You can treat Him as you would a process server or a man with a summons, and leave Him standing outside, or you may welcome Him as you would welcome your grandfather when he knocks on the door and has a gaily wrapped present under his arm.

Your little task for this week: Wouldn't it be pleasing to God if every child in this church went to Communion once during the week, say on Wednesday or Thursday, as well as Sunday. Some go to Communion every day and God is very pleased with them. But not enough go. He will be pleased if He sees you, too, coming during the week. Behold He stands at the gate and knocks.
                                                                            Source: Heavenwords, Imprimatur 1941

                                                                        "God is one."

WHEN God was giving all the flowers their names, so goes the story, He called them all before Him and told them what names they were to be known by. The rose and the lily and all the other flowers quickly memorized their names and never forgot them. Then off they went to make God's world beautiful. But then in the words of the poet:

                                                   When to the flowers so beautiful
                                                              The Father gave a name,
                                                    Back came a little blue-eyed one
                                                                ( All timidly it came);
                                                      And standing at its Father's feet
                                                               And gazing in His face,
                                                    It said in low and trembling tone,
                                               "Dear God, the name Thou gavest me.
                                                                  Alas I have forgot!"
                                                Kindly the Father looked Him down
                                                          And said, "Forget-me-not."
                                                                                               — Emily Roelofson

That is how the blue forget-me-not got its name. God says the same to us. "Forget Me not."
Someone once asked the Emperor Napoleon whether or not he believed in God. They said to him, " How can you believe in God when you have never seen him?" Napoleon answered, "My victories make you believe in me. But which of my victories can be compared to any of the wonders of creation? What military movement can compare with the movement of the heavenly bodies? My victories made you believe in me. The universe and all its glories make me believe in God." St. Paul tells us that "God is one." That means that He should be the only ruler of our hearts. He should be the only one we worship. When we are dishonest and steal, we are making a god out of money and are worshiping a false god. When we insist on having our own way all the time, then we are making a god out of ourselves and are worshiping a false god. There is no room in our lives for two gods, for God is one. We must worship only the one God. Our Lord said, "He that is not with Me is against Me. . . . No man can serve two masters."

When God sent us into the world He said the same words to us that He said to the little blue-eyed flower in the story. He knew that there would be times when we would be tempted to worship other gods beside Him. He knew that we would be weak at times, and thoughtless and careless. He knew that He would never forget us, and does not want us to forget Him so He whispered to us, "Forget Me not."
                                                                            Source: Heirs of the Kingdom, Imprimatur 1949