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

                                                                   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

             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

                                     A Soldier of the Emperor and a Soldier of Christ
                                                                  Confirmation
Confirmation is a Sacrament through which we receive the Holy Ghost, to make us strong and perfect Christians and  soldiers of Jesus Christ.

Here is a story of a man who was made a strong and perfect Christian through the sacrament of Confirmation. This man was born in the year 286 at the time when the Church was being persecuted by the Roman Emperors. He was a soldier of the Emperor of Rome, but more than that, he was a member of the Emperor's personal bodyguard. He was one of those who fought closest to the Emperor in battle and kept danger from him. His name was Sebastian, a brave soldier of the Emperor, The name Sebastian itself means "noble." Through Confirmation, Sebastian had also become a soldier of Christ. He was discovered performing acts of charity in the name of Jesus Christ and accused to the emperor of being a Christian. The Emperor tried to force him to sacrifice to idols but Sebastian would not. Then he was handed over to the archers of Rome who tortured him by shooting arrows at him. Finally they killed him. St. Sebastian is shown to us in art as a young man in the uniform of the Roman army, lying dead, pierced with arrows. A soldier of the Emperor and also a brave soldier of Jesus Christ.

Here is a question you may often have asked yourselves. Could I suffer the things which the martyrs did? They suffered so much for Christ would I be able to do the same? Perhaps you have answered the question to yourself, "No, I could not." That is wrong. You could. If that time should come that you would be called upon to suffer for your faith, the Holy Ghost will give you strength to endure. To give strength means to confirm. The Holy Ghost confirms us in Confirmation. He gives us strength. With the Holy Ghost dwelling within us we will be able to bear suffering if the time should come because Confirmation makes us strong and perfect Christians and soldiers of Jesus Christ. The prayer which the Bishop says after Confirmation is a very beautiful one. He prays for those whom he has just confirmed in these words, "O God, grant that the hearts of these whose foreheads we have annointed with Thy sacred chrism and signed with the sign of the Holy Cross, may, by the same Holy Spirit coming down into them, and by His dwelling in them be made the temple of His glory, who with the Father and the same Holy Spirit livest and reignest God world without end. Amen."

We are talking about the seven sacraments. Today we will try to learn something about Penance. Who can tell me what Penance is? It is the sacrament in which the sins committed after Baptism are forgiven.
Here is our story about Penance. Arathiel was the name of a little angel. He was sent from heaven one day and told to bring back the most beautiful teardrop that he could find. He wandered through the streets of earth eager to finish his work and get back to heaven. Along the street came a little boy crying because his pet dog had been run over and killed. Arathiel put one of the tears into his little bottle and flew back to heaven with it.
"No," he was told, "that is beautiful but not beautiful enough." Back to earth he came again and went this time to a saint's deathbed. Here, thought the little angel, he should be able to find the most beautiful teardrop on earth. As the saint died he scooped the last tear of joy into his little phial and hurried back to heaven with it. He was told, "Now you are getting the idea. That is almost the most beautiful teardrop on earth, but there is still one more fair than that." Arathiel was puzzled. A saint's tear should have been just the thing he thought. By this time it was Saturday night and he went to see what he could find in church. In the back of the aisle he heard a man sobbing. He looked, and there he saw a man weeping for his sins. With one of these tears he flew back to heaven and his quest was over. He had found the most beautiful teardrop on earth.
That is just another way of saying something that would be hard to understand unless our Lord had said it for us Himself. "There is more joy in heaven upon one sinner doing penance than on ninety-nine just who need not penance." If we are unfortunate enough to sin, the first thing we must do is to repent. It is a safe rule to make—and you should all make it this morning—never neglect to go to confession. It is one of the easiest things in the world to let confession slide, to put it off for a long time. We hardly notice the time slipping by. Confession  is the means which Christ has given us to have our sins forgiven. We should use it.
Arathiel will come on his quest next Saturday. He will be looking for people who are sorry for their sins. Rumor has it that he is coming to (St. Patrick's). Be ready for him.
Source: "Heavenwords," Imprimatur 1941

        TOOLS WITH WHICH WE MAKE OUR IMAGE
  This Is the Image of the Man Who Is to Be Your King

A very easy question, who can name the seven sacraments for me? Try to get them in the right order.

Once upon a time the people of a country called Orania had no leader. They wanted someone to be their king. There was a wise old man named Stephen who lived off in the woods by himself. To him the people went for help. "Whom shall we make our king?" they asked him. Stephen told them to come back again the next day and he would decide for them. That night Stephen drew a picture of the noblest and kindest and bravest man in the country. In the morning when the people returned, he gave them the picture and said, "This is the image of the man whom you must make your king." The people were pleased with his choice and went away rejoicing.

The children of this parish need a king too. You found a picture at your place this morning. It is the picture of the noblest, kindest, and bravest man who ever lived. All this year we have been speaking to you about the image of Christ. Again I repeat — in the words of the wise man, Stephen, "This is the image of the Man whom you must make your king." Jesus Christ must be the king of your hearts. He is your king because He created you out of nothing. He is your king because He redeemed you by His blood. You are His by right of conquest in the war with Satan. Christ is your king and you must obey all his commands.

His kingdom is divided into seven towns. All His subjects dwell in one or other of these towns. As they go through life they move on from one to the other. They are his seven sacraments. Baptism is the first town. Penance is the second. And so on till you come to Extreme Unction which is the last of all. In the next few weeks we will see more about each sacrament. We will stop in one town a week for seven weeks. We will go on a conducted sightseeing tour of the kingdom of Christ.

Christ takes care of our souls just as carefully as our parents take care of our bodies. We need things for our bodies and Christ has given us these same things for our souls. For our bodies we need life. We are given that in birth. For the soul Baptism is birth. We need food for our bodies. The Eucharist is the food for our souls. We need strength. Confirmation strengthens our souls. If we are sick we need to be cured. Penance heals the sickness of our souls. We need people to rule over us. Christ has provided the Sacrament of Holy Orders, to give us those who will take care of our souls. Most people marry. Christ has made marriage a sacrament. We need someone to care for us when we are dying. To take care of our souls at death Christ has given us Extreme Unction. Christ takes care of our souls just as carefully as our parents take care of our bodies. That shows that He is the kindest man who ever lived. Not only the kindest but the bravest, the most noble man who ever lived. The Man whose picture was given to you this morning. This is the picture of the Man whom you must make your king.
Source:  Heavenwords, Imprimatur 1941

The last member of Satan's crew — and we are glad to see the last one of them — is Doctor Dodgeit. He stands for sloth, or laziness. Perhaps this morning we can give you a cure for sloth."

The woodsmen in a certain forest when they were finished with their day's work, used to leave their axes in a little woodshed. The next morning they would choose an ax and go off into the forest again. One morning all the axes were taken except one poor fellow that was left in the corner. He began to feel sorry for himself. "Woe is me! None of the woodsmen ever chooses me to chop trees with. I 'm not sharp enough. I 'm all rusty. There is nothing left for me to do but go into the garden and eat worms." A voice came from the opposite corner of the woodshed. "I couldn't help overhearing, but don't worry, Old Man, I'll fix you up as good as new again." The ax looked around and saw that it was the grindstone. The ax began to squeal. "Stop. You're hurting me." The grindstone didn't give him any sympathy. He just said, "This hurts me as much as i t does you." Round and round went  the wheel. The ax began to squeal louder and louder. He shouted at the grindstone. "It's all your fault. If it weren't for you I'd still be asleep in the corner." The grindstone replied, "You want to be sharp and bright, don't you?" The ax replied, "Yes, but isn't there an easier way?" The grindstone replied, "No, the only way to sharpen an ax is to grind it . " The wheel kept going round and round; the ax got angrier and angrier. He was so mad he wouldn't even speak to the grindstone. Finally the man took the sharpened ax and went off to the forest with it . He picked out the largest tree in the wood. Blow and blow he laid at the foot of it . The ax began to sing with joy. He was as good as new again. Down came the oak and all the woodsmen cheered. How proud the ax was then. That night as he lay in the corner of the woodshed he said to the grindstone, "I 'm sorry about this afternoon, Grindstone, Old Boy, I 'm strong now and I owe i t all to you."

Doctors will tell you that there is just one cure for laziness. It does not come in bottles or pills or powders.  It is called hard work. There is no other cure. There is only one way to grind an ax and that is to grind it , and grind it hard. As long as it lies lazily in the corner it will be rusty and useless. If you go to a doctor and complain that you are lazy, you will get this answer — work hard. Every doctor in the world will  tell you that. That is every doctor in the world except our friend Doctor Dodgeit. He will tell you that the cure for laziness is to be lazy. To lie in the corner and get rusty. But we know all about Doctor Dodgeit. He is one of Satan's crew on the Badsoul and he stands for sloth or laziness. The one we should
go to for advice is Doctor Doit from Christ's ship the Goodsoul. He will tell us that if we are lazy the only cure is hard work. If we say we are afraid to do something because it is hard, he has a prescription for that.  He just sits down and writes his name.  He hands you the card.  You read it and it just says, "Doit."
                                                                            Source: Heavenwords, Imprimatur 1941

                                                                           GLUTTONY
The next officer on Satan's ship is Ensign Eatoomuch. He stands for gluttony — the fifth deadly sin. Gluttony means eating too much and drinking too much. A drunkard is a glutton as much as the one who overeats.

Napoleon during his Egyptian wars was riding beside his troops. Suddenly he stopped and stared, and he had good reason to stare. From a soldier's bayonet there hung a fat French sausage. "Why do you hang a sausage to your bayonet?" asked the emperor, not knowing whether to smile or scowl. The soldier answered, "That, sire, is for Philippe, the soldier behind me." At this there stepped from the ranks the fattest soldier in the army, a man easily the size of any three. He began his story, "Sire, I am Philippe. This being the holy season of Lent, I have sworn not to eat any meat until Easter. I have this sausage hung in front of my nose all day long to test my will power." Napoleon replied — and I want you to remember these words, "It is dangerous to test our will power. Under trial we usually find out how little we have." At the end of the campaign Napoleon sent for Philippe. "Did you keep your promise not to eat meat in Lent," he asked. The soldier humbly answered, "Sire, for a long time, for most of Lent in fact, I withstood the odor of that tempting French sausage hanging from the bayonet of the soldier in front of me. But one hot day I could hold off no longer and I ate it nibble by nibble as I marched along." "What day was that?" he was asked. Philippe blushed as he replied, "Sire, it was Good Friday."

In the matter of gluttony children do not have to worry too much. Children have to eat a lot to grow. But you should avoid extremes. The opposite to Ensign Eatoomuch is not Eatoolittle but Ensign Eatenuff. There are, however, one or two cases in which you may be tempted to gluttony. For example: eating meat on Friday. The Church has made it a law not to eat meat on Friday because our Lord died on Friday. She wants us to do penance on that day by not eating meat. Knowing this, if you eat meat on Friday, you are just as gluttonous as Philippe, the fat soldier. Remember, though, that if you forget it is Friday and think about it after you have eaten meat, that is no sin at all. There is another case in which you may be tempted to greediness in regard to food. We will say that there are four of you in the house. You look into the cupboard and see that there are only three pieces of cake. You know that if you grab your piece first your little brother will not get any. You look quickly over your shoulder. Nobody is coming. Swish, gulp, and grunt. The cake is gone. You had your piece of cake and little brother gets the crumbs. If you do that you are a glutton. If someone has to go without something how about letting it be you once in awhile. Greediness is not the thing for one who is trying to carve his soul into the image of his Emperor — Christ. 
                                                                   Source:  Heavenwords, Imprimatur 1941