While the Candle Burns
                                                                      Judgment

Who was the great general who conquered the whole world and then sighed for more worlds to conquer? No, not Napoleon. Here are some hints. He was a Greek general. . . conquered the Persians. . . before Christ was born — Alexander the Great. You have heard of him.

Alexander was a pagan and a merciless conqueror. Yet when he took a city, instead of putting the people to the sword, as other conquerors did, he had his own way of dealing with them. Alexander would march into the conquered city and set up his judgment seat. Then he would take a candle (a small candle just like this one) and light it—(like this). The herald would then proclaim to the people, "All who have committed crimes against Alexander the Great, must kneel before him and confess their crimes while the candle burns. As long as it burns you will be forgiven. When it has burned itself out, do not look for mercy." The citizens of the fallen city would then come forward to confess their crimes and the general would forgive them. After the candle burned out, no mercy was shown. Guilty ones were punished with death.

The lesson in this story is an easy one for you to draw out. The candle in the story is the flame of life. You have all heard life compared to the flame of a candle haven't you? The rest is easy. As long as the flame of life burns in the candle, you may confess your crimes against Christ the King and be forgiven. When the candle goes out -- what does that stand for? Death. After death there is no mercy. Mercy belongs on this side of the grave. Beyond the grave justice reigns.

"It is appointed unto all men — once to die, and after death — the judgment." We will be asked to give an account of our stewardship. Have we loved Christ? Have we built our souls into little images of Him? Have we left our images to be spoiled by sin? All these questions will be asked at the judgment. A child who has done his or her best need not be afraid. If our souls look like Christ's then God will recognize us as His own. As souls come to be judged, God asks them, "Do I see the image of my Son in you?" If you have tried to make your souls like to Christ, God will see His Son in you and welcome you to heaven for all eternity. If He does not He will banish you out of His sight forever. Keep this in mind when you are tempted. Think often about the judgment. Remember that you must account for each misdeed. Remember thy last end and thou wilt never sin.
                                             Source: Heavenwords, Imprimatur 1941

                                                             Good Neighbors or Bad?
                                                    "We are members of one another."

In today's Epistle St. Paul is telling us about the Golden Rule, which is: Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.

Farmer Wiseman was sitting on his porch one day when a family drove up in a car and said to him, "We are the Greedy family. If the neighbors are any good we will move into the neighborhood." Farmer Wiseman smoked his pipe for a while and then asked the Greedys, "What kind of neighbors did you have in the place you came from?" The Greedys replied, "Oh, they were terrible neighbors, always fighting with us and stingy."  Farmer Wiseman said, "I reckon you'll find the same kind of neighbors here." The family decided that they would not move into the neighborhood and drove off. Farmer Wiseman was glad to see them go.

The next day he was sitting on his porch again and another family drove up in a car. They were the Friendly family. They said, "We are going to move into the neighborhood. Are the neighbors nice?" "Well, " asked Farmer Wiseman, "how were the neighbors  in the place that you just came from?" They said, "The neighbors were very nice, very friendly, and very generous." Farmer Wiseman replied, " I reckon you'll find the same kind of neighbors around here." The family moved in and he was glad to have the Friendlys in the town.

People treat us about the way we treat them. That is the Golden Rule. As St. Paul puts it, "We are members of one another." In every class of children you will find at least one who does not get along with the teacher. You will also find that it is just this one child who spends all his time saying, "The teacher is down on me and won't give me a break." That kind of talk is foolish. If you were fair and square in your treatment of teacher there would be no more trouble. If you fail geography, that does not mean that the teacher is down on you. It means that you have not paid attention and do no know your subject. If you had been fair and square and studied, you would have a good mark. Farmer Wiseman would have an answer to that if you asked him what kind of teacher you are going to have in the next grade. He would say, "What kind of teacher did you have in the last grade?" If you say, "Teacher was down on me," he would pull on his pipe a while and say, " I reckon you'll have the same kind of teacher in the next grade."

In your relationship with your teachers you can be like the Greedy family in their relation to their neighbors, or you can be like the Friendly family and practice the Golden Rule. Do unto others as you would have them do unto you, or in the words of St. Paul, "Wherefore put away lying and speak truth each one with his neighbor because we are members of one another."

                                                                                         Death
What is a diary? A book in which you write down what you do each day, or what you intend to do. Some people keep a diary and write things in it like this: "Be sure to go to the dentist tomorrow," and so on.

A man who died some years ago (not in this parish) used to keep a diary. I have it here. To read a page of it is a sermon in itself. Here it is:

- Monday, January 1, 1934. I have just made a New Year's resolution to go to confession and set my soul at peace with the Lord. I have been in sin too long as it is.

- Sunday, January 7, 1934. I really must go to confession. I will do it soon.

- Sunday, January 14, 1934. I have delayed long enough. I will go to confession before the month is out.

- Sunday, January 21, 1934. I have made up my mind to go to confession before the end of the week — and I mean it. (These last four words are underlined.)

- Wednesday, January 24, 1934. My conscience won't let me rest. I will go to confession on Saturday. I will leave the house a little earlier before I go to the movies.

- Friday, January 26, 1934. Tomorrow I will go to confession.

Then there is a little note written by someone else, in the margin, "Mr. So and So died on Friday."

The lesson in that story should be an easy one for you to tell me. Don't put off till tomorrow what you can do today. . . . Excellent. You hit it on the nose that time.

The first of the four last things is death. Death means just that our bodies die. Our souls live on. That is why we should not be as foolish as the man in the story. We must always be prepared for death.

                             "Mr. Meant-to had a comrade, And his name was Didn't Do;
                                                 Have you ever chanced to meet them?
                                                                Did they ever call on you?
                                                          These two fellows live together
                                                               In the house of Never Win.
                                                            And I'm told that it is haunted
                                                        By the ghost of Might-have-been." *

"If thou shalt not watch; I will come to thee as a thief, and thou shalt not know at what hour I shall come to thee."
Prepare for death on the day before you die. Perhaps you may die tomorrow. Then prepare for death today.
     * Anonymous, Liguorian, August, 1919.
                                                                                Source: Heavenwords, Imprimatur 1941

                                "While awaiting the appearance of our Lord Jesus Christ."

On an island in the Caribbean sea, which you have heard about in your geography lessons, there is a graveyard. In that graveyard are three tombstones which tell their own story. The inscription on the first headstone reads, "Here lies Hugh Trent. Died fighting for the king. 1621." The traveler moves to read the next headstone and sees a surprising thing. It reads, "Here lies Hugh Trent. Died fighting for the king. 1710." He shows further surprise when he reads the next stone, which says, "Here lies Hugh Trent. Died fighting for the king. 1820." The traveler would say, "The Trents must have been a fighting family. There was always one of them ready to lay down his life for the king."

Christ is a King. Perhaps in our own families we have a glorious heritage of those who died fighting for Him . What a glorious epitaph to be put over any grave, "Died fighting for Christ the King ."

The warfare in which Christ the King would have us fight is the warfare against sin. It is a struggle which is going on all the time, not in the smoke and the flash and the crack of battle, but in the silent battlefield of our own hearts. We win the battle only by obeying the King's orders. We say to ourselves, "This is the way the King wants it, and this is the way it must be." In the silent battlefield of your own hearts may be going on the struggle whether you will steal or not. You do not. Why? Because the King wants it that way. Because someone else is in the room with you you decide that you will skip your night prayers. You do not. Why? Because the King wants it that way. You have read Tom Brown's Schooldays and remember how Arthur knelt down to say his night prayers in a dormitory. When the other boys made fun of him, Tom came to his defense. That was the beginning of a lifelong friendship between h im and Arthur. You may be tempted in your own hearts to indulge in the telling of indecent stories just so that you can appear smart. You do not. Why? Because the King wants it that way. You may be tempted to be mean and cruel to your younger sister. Older sisters can sometimes be very, very cruel to the younger ones. You do not. Why? Because the King wants it that way. Conduct like that and settling your problems like that is fighting for the King. You keep fighting for the King and keep fighting to the end. When they write on your headstone "Died fighting for the King," you will have nothing to worry about, "while awaiting the appearance of our Lord Jesus Christ, who will also keep you secure unto the end."
                                  Source:  Heirs of the Kingdom, Imprimatur 1949

                                                                 Archbishop Stepinac
                                "Brethren, I , a prisoner of the Lord, exhort you to walk 
                             in a manner worthy of the calling in which you are called."

In this country where we enjoy the freedom of our religion, we often forget that there are other countries in the world where people are not free. There are countries where children cannot go to church, where they cannot\ attend their own schools, where they must suffer for their faith.

An evil government will always persecute the Church. The Roman Empire did it in the days of St. Paul. He was imprisoned, and yet from his prison cell, he wrote fearlessly. Paul accepted prison willingly to defend his faith.

In our own day, and at this very moment, in Jugoslavia, there is another prisoner of the Lord. Archbishop Aloysius Stepinac was imprisoned by the Tito government for his
defense of his faith. Even now while you enjoy freedom of religion he is suffering for his faith. He is condemned to sixteen years of hard labor. The archbishop is not complaining. His faith is too strong for that. He knows that his sacrifices make h im dear to the heart of every Catholic in the world, because the Church does not belong to one city or country, but to the whole world and to every part of it.

I am not telling you any story this morning. But I am asking that the children of this parish remember Archbishop Stepinac in their prayers. Pray that he may be strong and stay strong. He needs prayers and he will be eternally grateful to every child who remembers him in his difficult hours.

Sometimes when you are tempted to say that it is hard to be a Catholic, that it is difficult to live up to the laws of the Church, that it is burdensome to keep the Ten Commandments, that it is tiresome to keep praying; remember Archbishop Aloysius Stepinac, who is undergoing sixteen years of hard labor in prison because of his Catholicism, and draw strength from that. If he can be strong, so can you. He must and so must you.

If Archbishop Stepinac were to write a letter from Jugoslavia to the children of this parish, I am sure that he would tell you to be strong in your faith and I am sure that he would quote the words of St. Paul to the Ephesians, "Brethren, I , a prisoner of the Lord, exhort you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling in which you were called, with all humility and meekness, with patience, bearing with one another in love, careful to preserve the unity of the spirit in the bond of peace: one body and one spirit, even as you were called in one hope of your calling, one Lord, one faith, one baptism; one God and Father of all , who is above all, and throughout all, and in us all, who is blessed for ever and ever."
                                        Source:  Heirs of the Kingdom, Imprimatur 1949

                                                                   The Last Supper
                                                   The Image of Christ in Our Souls

There were pictures left in your places this morning. Who can tell me the name of it? The Last Supper. The picture shows Christ at the Last Supper, surrounded by the twelve Apostles. Look very carefully at the picture and see if you can answer this question. It is a hard question but you can get it. Suppose a movie were taken of the Last Supper and this picture were one of the still shots—like those that are put outside theaters—what part of the Last Supper would it be taken from? Is it taken before or after Judas left? Judas is still there. The Apostles are upset about something. Look at St. Peter. Our Lord has just said, "Amen I say to you, that one of you is about to betray Me." And they being very much troubled began every one to say, "Is it I , Lord?" No wonder they are excited.

There is a well-known story about this picture. The painter was an artist named Leonardo da Vinci. The original is painted on the wall of the dining room of a monastery. For years da Vinci labored over his painting. Everything had to be perfect. The first person da Vinci painted was Christ, our Lord. Can you find him on the picture?
The artist was looking for a man to pose as Christ. He must look something like the bravest, kindest, and noblest man who ever lived. Going to the cathedral he saw a young man kneeling in prayer. He was just the type. The artist asked him to pose and he did. Da Vinci then went on to paint the other characters. Years later the picture was finished except for the picture of Judas. Da Vinci looked all over the city for a man who looked like Judas He went to the jail and there he saw a man into whose face crime had carved its initials, the lines of the face were hard and evil looking. He asked him to pose for Judas. The man said, " I will if you pay me." He posed for the picture sitting at the table as you see him, grasping the money bag. When it was done the artist payed the man and he turned to go. He stopped at the door and said, "Leonardo da Vinci, don't you recognize me? You should. I am in your picture twice. Years ago I posed for you as Christ."

We have been speaking often about the image of Christ. We showed you how it was to be built up. This story is told to you as a lesson. The image of Christ in us may be destroyed. Our souls may be like images of Christ now and in a few years they may not be. The thing which will destroy the image of Christ within us is sin. We must watch and pray. Our image of Christ is to be carefully guarded. We have worked hard to make it and we should work just as hard to keep it. If it is worth making it is worth keeping. Let people see the image of Christ in your faces and on your souls.

We will never fall into sin if we keep in mind the four last things. Does anyone know what the four last things are? Death, judgment, hell, and heaven. Right. These are the reasons why we must build up our image of Chns and take care of it. Remembering them we will not want to do anything that will harm our souls We will avoid sin because that is the poison of our souls. Remember thy last end and thou wilt never sin.
                                              Source: Heavenwords, Imprimatur 1941

                                                       THE CROSS AND THE HOST                                                                                     "To know Christ's love which surpasses knowledge."

THE love of Jesus Christ which surpasses all knowledge is shown to us best in the Holy Eucharist, which is the sacrament of love.

A teacher in a First Communion class was explaining to the children the difference between the crucifix and the Eucharist. After the explanation she asked one of the children if the lesson was understood. The child gave a beautiful answer that proved she did understand the lesson. The child said, " The difference between the crucifix and the Eucharist is this: When I look at a crucifix I see the body of Jesus, but He is not really there. When I look at the Host, I do not see the body of Jesus but He is really there." That is what makes the Eucharist a sacrament of love. Jesus hides all His glory as God under the appearances of a thin wafer of bread. What we see with the eyes of our body is the appearance of bread. What we see with the eyes of the soul is the Body of Christ.

If we are to be faithful to Jesus Christ, we must be frequent visitors to the altar rail . There are times when we do not feel strong enough to stand up against temptation. It is from the altar that we draw our strength. There are times when we feel troubled and worried. It
is from the altar that we draw peace for our souls. There are times when we want something very badly and need God's help to get it. After Communion is the best time to ask Him, because then He is the guest in our hearts.

When the Emperor Napoleon was captured and imprisoned on the Island of Elba, he had time to think about many things. During that time he returned to the faith of his childhood which he had been neglecting. They asked him one day what he thought to be the greatest
triumph of his life. "Was it your victory at Marengo? At Lodi? At Vienna?" He replied, "None of those. The greatest triumph of my life was the day of my first Communion."

St. Thomas More was the adviser to King Henry VIII of England. One day while St. Thomas was attending Mass, he was told that the king would be angry if he did not come immediately to the throne room. St. Thomas replied, "The king should not be angry at the homage that I show to his King."

The touchstone of a good Catholic is his devotion to our Lord in the Sacrament of the Altar. If we really believe in Christ's presence there we will spend much time with Him and receive Him as often as we can. I want to exhort every child in this parish to take up the practice of daily Communion. Daily Communion is a pledge of our future salvation. Christ loves those who love Him in the sacrament of His love. Daily Communion helps us to "know Christ's love which surpasses knowledge, in order that you may be filled into all the fulness of God."
                            Source:  Heirs of the Kingdom, Imprimatur 1949

                                                                   MATRIMONY

A little girl once asked her mother, "When I grow up, if I don't get married, will I be like Auntie Nell?" "Yes, dear." " If I do get married my husband will be like Daddy?" "Yes, dear." The little girl sighed and said, "Ain't life tough." But marriage is not really as bad as she thought, is it?

Matrimony is the sacrament which unites a Christian man and woman in lawful marriage.
It is a sacrament. That means that it is instituted by Jesus Christ Himself. It must then be something holy and sacred if Christ made it a sacrament.

It is often asked, are there any married saints? Of course, there are. Who can name some? How about your own parents? They are wonderful people, aren't they? St. Louis, king of France, whom we saw in the sermon on Baptism was a married saint. So was St. Rita, St. Jane Frances, and St. Elizabeth of Hungary. How about St. Monica, the mother of St. Augustine?

St. Monica was born in Africa about the year 333 (also an easy date to remember). When fairly young she was married to a government official named Patritius. He was a pagan and had many faults. One of these was his violent temper. Monica, by her sweetness and patience, made life very happy for him and after some years he became a Christian.

About the same time her eldest son Augustine began to lead a wicked life. Monica prayed hard for him to return to God. One day while she was praying in church, the priest said to her, "The child of those tears will never be lost." She followed her son to Rome, then to Milan, till by her prayers he was converted and became not only a Christian but a saint. Soon after that St. Monica died. She has always been an example of praying for what we want until we get it. She is a very popular saint and don't, a married woman, just the same as your mothers.

We learn from this that it is not necessary to join a convent to be a saint, nor is it necessary to be a priest. You can be a saint and at the same time be the parent of many children.

Pius X, after he had been made bishop of Rome and pope of the Church, spoke to his mother of how happy he was. He showed her his ring. She said to him, "You are very proud of that, but here is one of which I am also proud." She showed him her wedding ring. " If I did not have this one you would not have that one.
                                          Source: Heavenwords, Imprimatur 1941