THE CAPE OF GOOD HOPE
                            " When the fullness of time came God sent His Son."

            God sent His Son to earth to show us the way to heaven and to give us hope.

          On the southernmost tip of Africa there is a cape which juts out into the ocean. It is now called the Cape of Good Hope. But that was not always its name. Centuries ago the sailors who sailed the Indian Ocean were afraid to sail around it. The seas were so rough, the waves so high, and the wind so strong that they called it the Cape of Tempests. The first man to sail around it safely was the great explorer, Vasco da Gama. He took his ship through the boiling seas and swirling winds and brought it safely around the Cape of Tempests. Others took heart from his example and followed him, Vasco da Gama changed the name from Cape of Tempests to the Cape of God Hope.

          Just as the sailors took heart from the example of Vasco da Gama, so we should take heart from the example of Christ. God knew that the sea of life was hard and dangerous to sail upon. He knew that men would be afraid. He sent His Son to show that it could be done. He sent His Son to give us good hope.

          Youth is filled with hope and looks toward the future always. A young boy was once asked, "Have you lived all your life in the city?" He replied, "Not yet." Youth looks forward. Because God sent His Son to show us the way, youth can look forward with hope.

          We say to ourselves, "The way is hard and long." But if we look we can see the marks of Christ's bloodstained feet showing us the way. That should give us good hope. We say, "I have so much to learn and so little time to learn it in." We can hear Christ saying, "Learn of Me, for I am meek and humble of heart." That should give us good hope. We say, "I don’t feel like trying any more." We can remember that he fell three times under His cross and got up again. We can remember that He did that to give us good hope. There is no time in our lives when we cannot look at Christ and say that He showed us the way. He showed us the way through the storm and the waves and the wind and the danger. He showed us the way safely past the Cape of Tempests. Because it has been done, we know it can be done. That should give us good hope.

                                     ~ Heirs of the Kingdom, Imprimatur: 1949 ~ 

Last week we saw something about the virtue of faith.  Today we want to learn about hope.  Hope is a divine virtue by which we firmly trust that God will give us eternal life and the means necessary to obtain it.  I am going to tell you about two people, without telling you who they are.  As soon as you think you can guess their names, raise your hand and tell me.  Are you ready?                                                       

The first person….  He lived at the same time as Jesus Christ and in the same place.  He came from a town of Judah named Kerioth.  He was a very close follower of Jesus Christ.  In fact he was an Apostle who did not come from Galilee.  He was once at a banquet with Our Lord and did not like it when Mary Magdalen spilled precious ointment over Christ’s feet.  He used to carry the money bag for the Apostles… Yes…Judas… who betrayed Our Lord and then hung himself in despair.

The second person… He came from Galilee and was also an Apostle of Our Lord.  He had a mother-in-law to whom he was very kind.  He could not swim very well.  He used to argue quite a bit.  He was very fond of Our Lord.  He committed a sin as great if not greater than the sin of Judas—because blasphemy is the greatest of all sins.  He denied that he knew our Lord… St. Peter.  But he repented of his sin and was forgiven and elevated to be the head of the Church, the first Pope, by Christ Himself.

Notice the difference between Judas and St. Peter.  Both committed very serious sins.  One had no hope and hanged himself.  The other hoped in Christ and was forgiven… not only forgiven but given greater honor.  Hope means that we trust God will give us eternal life if we do our part.  Despair means that we give up hope.  It means that we think our sins are too great to be forgiven.  Christ would have forgiven Judas for betraying Him, if Judas had only asked for forgiveness.  He can and will forgive any sin, no matter how great it is.  St. Peter was just the opposite of Judas.  He did not despair.  He did not give up hope.  He was sorry for his sin—so sorry that he wept bitterly.  He repented and this is what Christ wants.  Then after Christ arose from the dead, he made Peter admit three times before the other Apostles that he loved him.  That was to make up for the three denials by Peter in the courtyard of Caiphas.  “Lovest thou Me?”  “Lord, Thou knowest all things, Thou knowest that I love Thee.”  Then Christ made Peter the head of the Church.   

                Let us end the sermon this morning by kneeling down and reciting aloud the act of hope.

                “O My God, relying on Thine infinite goodness and promises, I hope to obtain the pardon of my sins, the help of Thy grace and life everlasting, through the merits of Jesus Christ, My Lord and Redeemer.  Amen.”

                                                 "Heavenwords," Imprimatur 1941
               

                                                            Sparky, the Blacksmith's Dog
                                                       "I have nothing on my conscience."

To be able to say he had nothing on his conscience must have made St. Paul a very happy man.  If everybody in the world could say that, it would be a better place for you to grow up in.  Conscience is the small voice within us that tells us when we are doing wrong.  You have to be careful with is because if can be dulled and silenced.

Sparky was the blacksmith’s dog.  He was an old dog, and like all old dogs he liked to snooze before the fire.  He used to lie as close to the blacksmith’s fire as he possibly could.  At first the little sparks from the fire annoyed him very much.  But to keep out of their way he would have to stay too far away from the fire.  So he made himself get used to the little sparks.  After a while he got so he would sleep away and the sparks did not bother him at all.  That is why they called him Sparky.  Every day he went just a little bit closed to the fire, until one day he was so close that when he lay down his tail stuck right into the flames.  Sparky gave a wild yelp and hasn’t stopped running since.

The same thing can happen to our conscience.  If we get used to committing little sins, we find that after a while our conscience does not bother us as much as it did.  We can creep closer and closer to the fire without being annoyed by the little sparks, just like Sparky.  If we keep this up, there will come a day when we will be burned in the fire.  Treat the sparks as a warning.  Do not ignore them until you become used to them.

So much for dogs!  Now a story about a cat.  The engineer in charge of the laying of a telegraph wire across the desert solved his problem in an unusual way.  The wire was to be laid inside a fairly small pipe.  He had trouble threading the wire through the pipe and had to lay it in small sections.  He tried a new idea and it worked.  He tired a piece of thread to a cat’s tail and then chased the cat along the pipe.  He undid the thread at the other end.  Then he was able to pull a string through.  Then a stronger string and then the heavy wire.  He saved lots of time by this method.

That is the way conscience works.  That is the way you will be tempted.  First to little things, then to bigger and bigger.  The small thread was able to pull a string, then a stronger string, then a heavy wire.  A little fault ignored will lead us to a bigger one and a bigger one to a still bigger.

If we keep our conscience clear, we will not fall into little sins, and if we stay away from little sins, we will not fall into big ones.  In that way we will be able to say with St. Paul, “I have nothing on my conscience.”
                                                                                           ~ "Heirs of the Kingdom," Imprimatur 1949 ~

                                                                           Brave Jacques
                                                                                  Faith
To improve our image of Christ a little more we will need some virtues.  For the next few weeks we will see what virtues we need.  The first of them is faith.

The Catholic Church in some parts of France in the eighteenth century was not very popular because some of her teachings were misunderstood.  One of these teachings was the Rosary.  Here are my beads.  How many Hail Mary’s are there?  Fifty.  No. Fifty-three.  You forgot the three at the beginning.  How many Our Father’s?  Six.  Yes.

This is a story about a brave boy and his Rosary.  In a military school in France, a non-Catholic cadet found a pair of beads on the ground.  “Oho,” he said, “some Catholic must have dropped them.  I’ll have some fun with these.”  He hung them up on the branch of a tree and began to make a speech.  “Look, friends, what I have found.  Doubtless some weakling must have lost his pretty beads.  I wonder who he is.”  Everyone started to laugh.  But suddenly they stopped laughing, as a young cadet named Jacques stepped out of the crowd.  He drew his sword and lifted the beads from the branch of the tree with its point.  “Thank you,” he said, “they are mine and I hated to lose them.  But if anyone thinks I’m a weakling, I wish they would say so before I put my sword back in its sheath.”  No one said a word.  In fact, they all looked sheepish.  A voice from the edge of the crowd spoke up, “Good boy!  Let me shake your hand.”  The group parted and the general stepped through.  He said, “I admire bravery wherever I see it.  It takes a brave man to face the ridicule of his friends.”  

What is the lesson?  Some children are ashamed of their religion and would be afraid to face the criticism of their friends as did brave Jacques.  This sometimes happens when it comes to a case of eating meat on Friday, of keeping Lent, or wearing a medal, even of going to church.  That is not the Catholic way of acting.  You need not fear criticism when you stand in the truth.  Faith is a divine virtue by which we firmly believe the truths which God has revealed.  If God has revealed these truths, why on earth should we be ashamed of them—or of any one of them. 

If you are a weak-kneed Catholic, these words of Christ will give you something to think over.  “He that shall deny Me before men, I will also deny him before My Father who is in heaven.”  Put yourselves in the position of Jacques in the story.  How would you have acted?  Would you have claimed your beads publicly or not?  If you think that you would not have acted bravely, then make up your minds that next time you will be brave.  People will admire you more for it.  You can be sure of that.  Here is a practical case.  Suppose you are away on your holidays and you are staying with some people who are not Catholics.  At night before you to bed you say to yourself, “If I kneel down by the bed and say my prayers the might laugh at me, so I’ll just skip them and jump into bed.”  There is your test. How would you act?  Remember brave Jacques.  Have faith.  By all means kneel down and say your prayers.  Very few people will dare to laugh at you.  “Every one that shall confess Me, I will also confess him before My Father who is in heaven.”  Now I want you all to kneel down and recite after me the words of the act of Faith.

O my God!  I firmly believe that Thou art one God in three divine persons, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost; I believe that Thy divine Son became man and died for ours sins, and that He will come to judge the living and the dead.  I believe all these truths which the Holy Catholic Church teaches, because Thou hast revealed them, who canst neither deceive nor be deceived.  Amen.
                                                                                                         ~ "Heavenwords," Imprimatur 1941" ~

                                                                   THE PRAYING PARROT
                                                                                   Prayer

          The second thing we need to put into our image of Christ is prayer.

         You learn all about animals in school.  Can anyone tell me the name of an animal that can be taught to pray, p-r-a-y.  No, not the praying mantis.  You taught your dog to kneel up and pray… That’s good.  But here’s a hint.  What bird can be taught to pray?  The parrot… That’s it.

          A missionary in the South Sea Islands, after years of faithful service among the natives, received from them a token of their love for him.  The chief ordered the natives to go through the woods and bring back a rare kind of parrot.  The parrot was so rare that the search for it lasted a whole month.  When it was caught the chief came to the priest and said, “You have worked so hard among us for so many years, here is a small gift to show our love.  Here is the rarest bird on the islands.  Its plumage is beautiful and has great value.  But I must warn you, it can speak only one sentence.  Be careful because it will speak the first sentence you teach it.”  They brought in the parrot.  The missionary set it and the cage in the corner of his hut and knelt down, as was his evening custom, to say the Rosary.  After he got up he said, “Now I’ll teach the parrot that sentence.”  But it was too late.  The bird could already speak one sentence, and that was, “Hail Mary, full of grace.”  The missionary was surprised but very pleased.  He could not have thought of a better sentence.  Soon after that the missionary died.  Echoing in his ears from the corner of the room came the sentence, “Hail Mary, full of grace.”  The prayer was finished in heaven.

          When the next boat landed at the island, a sailor purchased the parrot.  He took it onto a ship and tried to teach it the things that sailors teach parrots.  All he could hear was, “Hail Mary, full of grace.”  The sailor was not a Catholic and could not understand the meaning of the words.  Together they sailed the seven seas until their travels brought them to Ireland.  The sailor passed a church and heard the priest saying the Rosary.  He could hear, “Hail Mary, full of grace,” followed by some words which he did not recognize.  He told the parrot to speak.  Yes, the words were the same.  After the service he went in and told the priest his story.  The priest explained the Rosary to him and gave him a pair of beads.  Now the man is a Catholic and he and the parrot pray together every night.

          That ought to teach us a lesson.  What is it?  Be kind to animals?  No.  Say the Hail Mary well… That’s it.  What will be your little task for this week?  Say your Hail Mary well, especially before you go to bed.  Then our Lady will watch over you during the night.  Be our Lady’s little parrots.  “Hail,” means “Hello.”  What would you say if our Lady appeared to you tonight?  If you are her little parrots, all you would to say would be “Hail Mary, full of grace.”
                                                                                                            ~"Heavenwords," Imprimatur 1941 ~

                                         "Rejoice in the Lord always; again I say, rejoice."

      Prince Rupert was once riding through the forest with his court. They had been out hunting all day and were returning home in the twilight. As they rode along they were very quiet. Suddenly the silence of the evening was broken by a man's voice lifted in song. The Prince stopped his court and listened. The voice of the singer was praising God's love and mercy. "Doubtless," said the Prince, "this is some good monk at his evening song. Let us go find him and pray with him." They followed the voice and it led into the cave. The Prince went to the door of the cave and then stopped in surprise. It was no monk at his vespers. It was no lucky soul pouring thanks to God. The beautiful melody in praise of God's love and mercy came from the lips of a leper-man stricken with a loathsome disease. The Prince was so impressed that he too began to sing the hymn and all his court with him. St. Theresa of Avila once said that a sad saint is no saint at all-and it is true. Saints are not gloomy people who are always singing blues. They are happy and cheerful souls full of laughter and joy. Those who live the strictest life on earth-Carmelite nuns and trappist monks are always the most cheerful souls on earth.  They remember St. Paul's advice, "Rejoice in the Lord always; again I say, rejoice." In any group of children you will always find a sulky one, and you will always find a cheerful one. You will always find too that the cheerful child has a clear conscience, because joy is one of the gifts of the Holy Ghost. Try not to be like the sulky one but like the cheerful one. Once when a boy died, his friends asked that these words put over his grave, "It was easier to be good when he was with us," because he was so cheerful. He rejoiced in the Lord always, and even now is rejoicing with the Lord forever. Cheerfulness spreads and makes everyone happy. So as a special preparation for the coming season of Christmas this is the season of joy, make an effort during this week to be especially cheerful to everyone. Rejoicing in His coming to earth, we should welcome Him to a joyous world. If a leper in a cave can sing the praises of God, so can we. Rejoicing always in the Lord is the best way to have the Lord rejoice always in us. 
- Heirs of the Kingdom, Imprimatur 1949 -

                              THE WISDOM OF THE WORLD IN ONE LITTLE BOOK
                                                                 The Catechism

There was once an Arab scholar named Malluch. He was young and strong and learned. But Malluch’s brow was wrinkled with thought as he walked out of the Caliph’s palace one day. A Caliph, you know, is an Arab ruler. The Caliph had just told Malluch to do what seemed impossible. He had told him to write all the wisdom of the world into one little book. What would you do if someone told you to do that? You wouldn’t know. Neither did Malluch know what to do. But he was young and strong and learned. He began to travel the world, to study and to write.

After ten years he returned to the Caliph and said, “My Lord, I have brought you all the wisdom in the world, but it is not in one book. It is in five hundred books.”

“It will not do,” said the Caliph. “I have not time to read five hundred books.”      

Malluch went off again and took his five hundred books with him. Ten years later he came back with the wisdom of the world in a hundred books.

“It will not do,” said Caliph, “It will not do. My sight is failing and I have not time to read a hundred books before I die.”

Malluch went off again. He was himself no longer young and strong. He must hurry. He worked and worked until he had all the wisdom of the world boiled down into fifty books.

“It will not do,” said the Caliph.

Malluch walked off again. “I can do no more,” he mused. What will become of me?” He sat down and cried himself to sleep.

He was awakened by a little boy saying things out loud from a small book. Malluch took the book, read it and ran quickly to the Caliph with it. “Here, my Lord, is the wisdom of the world in one book. Take and read.”

The Caliph read it and said, “You have done well, Malluch.

It will do. Name your reward.”

Malluch left the palace mumbling to himself, “If I had only found this book thirty years ago, I could have saved myself a lot of trouble.”

Now what was the book that Malluch took to the Caliph in such a hurry? Three guesses. Here it is if you don’t believe me. Yes, the Catechism. All the wisdom of the world in one little book.

There are many people walking about our City at this moment who are trying to find the answer to some very important questions. They are asking themselves, “Where did I come from? Why am I here? Where am I going?”

In trying to find the answer they flounder around like Malluch did. They could find their answers very easily in the penny catechism. “God made me to know Him, to love Him and to serve Him in this world and to be happy with Him in the next.”

Do you remember what we said last week about making ourselves into images of Christ? For the next few weeks we will tell you some of the things that you will need to put into your image. The first thing you will need is a knowledge of your catechism.  There is a little lesson to be learned from today’s story.

You should be like the boy at the well, who was studying his catechism so hard. You should pay attention at your catechism classes in school and in Sunday school. You have in this little book what Malluch tried to write in thirty years. The wisdom of the world for a penny. The wisdom of the world in the palm of your hand. Remember Malluch’s words, “If I had only found this book thirty years ago I could have saved myself a lot of trouble.” Remember his words and save yourselves a lot of trouble.

                                                      ~ “Heavenwords,” Imprimatur 1947 ~

                                                         THE SEVEN BOOKS OF WISDOM
         "Whatsoever things have been written have been written for our instruction."

The Sultan of Arabia, a man named Haroun, was very anxious to be the wisest man on earth. He spent most of his life studying. One day he learned of a man who lived which contained all the wisdom of the world in them. He went to the man and said that he wanted to buy the seven books, so that he himself could become the wisest man on earth. "What is your price?" asked Haroun. The man replied, "My price is half your kingdom." Haroun was very angry and said, "That is too much." Without a word the man took three of the books and threw them into the fire. "What is the price of the other four?" asked Haroun "The price of four is the same as the price of seven," said the man. "That is too much," said Haroun getting angrier all the time. Without a word the man took three of the books and threw them in the fire. "I will buy the one you have left" said Haroun, "What is the price?" The man replied, "The price of one is the same as the price of seven-half of your kingdom." Haroun bought the one book and paid the same price that he would have paid for the seven of them. St. Paul tells us in his Epistle, "Whatsoever things have been written, have been written for our instruction." Everything that the Church teaches is taught to us for our own good. Now these are not very nice days for children to grow up in, because people do not listen to the teachings of the Church the way they should. You hear people saying, "I am going to get a divorce." I am going to marry a divorced man." "I am not going to let anyone tell me what to do." When you hear these things remember the story of Haroun and the wise man. Haroun had to pay the same price. If he had paid willingly in the first place he would have received greater value. People who defy the Church must pay the price. They must follow the teachings of Christ eventually or lose their souls. The price remains the same but you get less for it if you do not pay willingly. Make up your minds now that you will never go against the teachings of the Church, because the teachings of the Church are the teachings of Christ. They are taught to us for our own good. "Whatever things have been written have been written for our instruction."

Each is given a bag of tools,

A shapeless mass,

A book of rules;

And each must make,

Ere life has flown,

A stumbling block,

Or a stepping stone.

                                                         - Heirs of the Kingdom ~ Imprimatur: 1949 ~

There will two different children's sermons for each Sunday for different age groups.  You will find them both below. 

        The following sermons are taken from a book titled, "Heirs of the Kingdom,"                       by Rev. Wilfrid J. Diamond.  They are Children's Sermons on the Sunday Epistles.
Imprimatur  1947

                                 "Make Your Decision Before You Leave the Circle"
"                                                                  "Now is the hour."

    In the days when the Romans ruled the world, they would always make conquered nations pay large sums of tribute.  This tribute was in the form of money or produce.  King Antiochus was king of Syria, which was one of the nations that the Romans had conquered.  Thinking that perhaps nothing would be done about it, he neglected one year to send his tribute to Rome.  Caesar, the emperor of Rome, however, at once sent one of his most important statesmen, Marcellus, to Antiochus to demand an answer, Antiochus met Marcellus outside the walls of the capital city and Marcellus made his demands, "Pay the tribute or be destroyed."  Antiochus replied, "I'll think it over and let you know my answer in a day or so."  Marcellus knew that he was the ambassador from the greatest power on earth and knew that his emperor, Caesar, would allow no delay.  He took his sword and drew a circle in the sand around Antiochus and said to him, "Give me your answer before you leave that circle or else the legions of Rome will be thundering at your gates."

            Many children waste time because they are not able to make decisions.  Some girls will stand in front of the mirror for an hour trying to decide whether to whether to wear a blue or a read hair ribbon.  There are boys who spend hours making up their minds on whether to do their homework or to do just nothing.  They usually end up doing nothing.  Some children make themselves miserable by spending too much time examining their consciences before they go to Confession, trying to decide whether something was a sin or not.  Some children waste the whole of Lent trying to decide what they will do for Lenten penance; and on Holy Saturday they have done nothing.

            The secret of successful people is that they have built up within themselves the power to make decisions with out delay.  It is a grand thing for children to learn to do this when they are young and to develop this power as they grow older.  The time will come when you will have to make important decisions in big things, and if you have not practiced in little things you will not be able to make them.  So just for practice, next time you have a decision to make, draw a circle around yourself in your mind's eye and say, "I will give my answer before I leave this circle."