THE SEED OF THE WORD OF GOD THAT FALLS BY THE WAYSIDE, ON THE ROCKS, AMONG THORNS, OR UPON GOOD GROUND

It is hardly necessary to explain this Gospel, for Our Lord Himself gave the explanation of it by His own mouth. Let me ask you what kind of hearts you possess, what good do you derive from the frequent hearing of the word of God?

Let me ask you if the ground is hard and trodden down where the seed falls; is it at once carried away by the devil, or is it rocky soil where it cannot take root? You hear the word of God, but does it grow up within you? Do you become more pious, more attentive, and reverent in God's house? Yon hear the word of God, but do you observe the feasts of the Church with more devotion; do you go more frequently to the sacraments? You hear the word of God, but do you avoid bad companions, who lead you into sin?

You hear the word of God, but do you give good example to your companions; or are you not, by your bad deeds and your wicked words, a rock of scandal to those who come near you? Too often it happens that those who have all the advantages of good advice and example are still wicked themselves and make others so. This is a great source of sorrow to the priest who sows the seed of God with such assiduity, with much labor and solicitude.

"Give an occasion to a wise man, and wisdom shall be added to him. Teach a just man, and he shall make haste to receive it." But it is not so with the bad, who wish to continue in their evil ways; you may preach to them in vain, you may pray for them with many groans and tears; all is useless. You may represent to them the enormity of their sins, tbe scandal they are giving, and the imminent danger of eternal perdition in which they live, but all is in vain. You will not be able to make them say their prayers morning and night, they will not go to confession, they will not even say a Hail Mary in the day. If you tell them they should pray in temptation, that they should call on Jesus and Mary, they only laugh at you.

Heavenly wisdom will not enter a wicked soul, the hearts of such become harder and more obstinate, they are disgusted with the word of God. Is the number of these few, do you think? No, indeed. Go to church on Sundays and holydays; you will see that what I say is true. The streets, the public places, the saloons, are full of people, but few are found in the churches. This is the greatest punishment that God can send us, to let us go on in this disgust of His holy word. You should not belong to this class. You have religious training enough to know better. Do not imitate so many who never give themselves time to hear the word of God, though they have time enough to go to bad places and to immoral plays where the soul is ruined. Never do the like; remember that those who do not like to hear the word of God, have already the mark of damnation on their foreheads. Listen then gladly, for it will be your salvation. St. Bernard says that there is no surer sign of eternal damnation than to despise the word of God. Yes, my good young people, put aside all fear of hell provided you keep in your hearts the love of the word of God.

Here is a beautiful example of the holy virgin Scholastica which is found in the breviary. This holy virgin consecrated herself to God from her earliest childhood. Nothing delighted her more than to hear of God, or to speak of Him to others. At one time, as was her custom every year, she went to visit her saintly brother Benedict, who came out of his monastery to meet her, for women were not allowed within the men's cloister. They had their supper together in the evening, after having passed the day in conversation about God. When Scholastica saw that the hour was getting late, she said to her brother:

"You might do me the favor of staying with me overnight, that we may talk of the goodness of God, for it is now a late hour." He answered, "I cannot do this, my sister; it is not allowed for a monk to remain outside of his cell during the night." When Scholastica
had heard this she was grieved, but she buried her face in her hands and began to pray.

All at once a terrible storm broke out, with thunder and lightning, and the rain fell in torrents. St. Benedict knew that his sister had prayed for this.

"What have you done, sister dear? You have prayed to keep me out of the monastery. May God forgive you." The holy virgin with a bright smile answered: "I asked you to stay,
but you would not listen; I asked my God, and no sooner had I made the petition than He listened to me. The sky, as you saw, was clear, but no sooner did I pray than the storm
broke out." St. Benedict was obliged to remain in the company of his sister, and spent the remainder of the night in prayer and pious reading. In the morning St. Benedict went back to his monastery and Scholastica returned to her home.

Three days after, the holy monk raising his eyes, saw the spirit of his sister carried to heaven by the angels with great joy and festive song.

You, good youth, who like to talk of God, console yourselves for the pretended loss of much pleasure in the conversations of the world, for you are of the number of the elect.
They who are of God hear the word of God. Let me beg of you, since it is in your power, to be always the good soil which receives gladly the seed of the word of God and so yields a hundred-fold. Let us not grow tired in doing good. Many young people indeed begin well; they are good, obedient, and respectful to grown people; they have faith; they love the Church and the sacraments, but when they grow older somehow they lose their piety. "We find them in bad company, idle, beginning to drink, hangers-on at pool-rooms and gambling-places, and they avoid going to church. They go from bad to worse until they are ready for any deed of wickedness.

0, indeed, young men, if you did well you would have joy in this life, you would have the peace of God about you, that peace which the world cannot give, that peace which surpasseth all understanding. What great consolation will you feel at the hour of death when you shall see reserved for your glory and collected for your benefit all the good you have done in this life! The wicked will go to their graves with great show and pomp, but they are indeed poor before the throne of God, who rejects them, and sends them into exterior darkness. But to the good youth He will say,

"Well done, thou good and faithful servant, enter into the joy of the Lord," and then He will show him his beautiful home where he is to reign with God for all eternity.  Amen.
                           
                                        Source: Sermons for Children's Masses, Imprimatur 1900

          “Caught up into paradise and heard secret words that man may not repeat.”

If you want to know what a place is like, the best thing is to ask someone who has been there. In the Epistle of today, St. Paul tells us that by special grace of God he was carried up into heaven. If St. Paul went there, there must be such a place.

Marco Polo was an explorer who lived in the thirteenth century. Marco spent most of his life traveling in the East. He traveled through Asia, India, Persia, Japan, and

China. He was the first white man ever to go to these countries. After many years he came home to Venice and wrote a book about all the wonders he had seen. He wrote about the riches of the East, about fabulous jewels, about strange weapons of war, about animals never heard of before, about lofty mountains and rare fruits. He wrote about so many wonderful things that many people did not believe him. When he was dying they came to him and asked him to say that the things he had written were not true. All he said to them was, “I have not told the half of what I saw.”

That was just about what St. Paul said. He had heard secret words that man may not repeat. “Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, nor hath it entered into the heart of man, what things God hath prepared for those that love Him.”

“Eye hath not seen.” You have seen many beautiful sights. You have seen gorgeous sunsets, the crystals in a snowflake, red roses. You have seen your mother laughing happily. You have seen a good report card. The sights of heaven are far beyond anything you have ever seen.

“Ear hath not heard.” You have heard many sweet sounds, the song of birds in the springtime, stately organ music, the voice of the radio crooner who “sends” you. You have heard a mother singing a lullaby. You have been praised for your good actions. The sounds of heaven are far beyond all these.

“Nor hath it entered into the heart of man.” You can imagine all kinds of things - mountains of ice cream, learning without having to study, a school that you do not have to go to, a swimming pool full of lemonade. After you have imagined all these things you have not even begun to understand the things that God has waiting for you. And all of these things are enjoyed under the smile of God, the gentle hand of Christ, and the loving eye of Mary. Truly, “eye hath not seen nor ear heard, nor hath it entered into the heart of man, what things God has prepared for those who love Him.”

                                                                                    ~ “Heirs of the Kingdom,” Imprimatur 1949 ~

The great Spanish general, named Pizarro, was marching to conquer the city of Peru. Thus far he had beaten his foes. He had gained ground, he had left behind him a trail of victories, and he had conquered most of the country except its capital city. On this capital city he was now marching. One morning the signal to march was given and the men did not move. The general demanded to know why and a man came forward and said, “General, we have crossed the ocean with you in ships that were hardly safe, we have suffered fever, heat, and starvation, we are weighed down with our heavy arms, we are dying with thirst. We wish to quit the campaign and go back to our homes in Spain.” History hinges on the decision of Pizarro. He knew that if they went forward they would conquer and be wealthy for the rest of their lives, but that if they turned back they would be pursued by their enemies and killed before they reached home. He walked to the center of an open space and began to speak to the men. He took out his sword and held it high in the air. He told them of the victories that this sword had led them to. Then he drew a line in the sand at his feet and said, “On one side of this line is death, disease, sorrow, and defeat. On the other success, luxury, happiness, and victory. I call on you, my soldiers, to choose as becomes brave Castilians. That is to choose as becomes brave men. Stay on this side of the line and die in disgrace. Cross the line and either live in glory or die in glory.” He crossed the line and called on them all to follow him. First one man stepped over. Then a few more. Then the drummer boy. And finally the whole army was marching on Peru. The city fell like a tree under a woodman’s ax.

This goes to show that decisions demand only one thing; that they be made and made without recall. If you have been sincere so far in making yourself into an image of Christ, you will have learned how to make a choice. Many and many a time we stand like Pizarro’s men wondering what to do. We are faced with a choice and we do not know which to make. The answer is to behave as becomes good Christians. You may be faced with a choice to stay in bed on Sunday mornings instead of going to church, to eat breakfast or to go to Communion, to go to confession when you are sent or to go home and pretend that you went, to obey your parents, or to argue about it, to wash the dishes or to leave them for someone else, to pay attention in school or to daydream, to do your homework yourself or to copy someone else’s—In all these things you must choose either one or the other. You go forward or go backward. You follow Christ or the devil. Like Pizarro’s men you cross the line to victory or you stay back in defeat. To stay in bed on Sunday morning instead of going to Mass is the same as saying to the devil, “You win.” You have refused to cross the line. You did not choose as became a brave Christian. If a choice is to be made, see that you make the right one. On one side is defeat—that is the easy side, the devil’s side. On the other side is victory—that is Christ’s side.

                                                                                                    ~ “Heavenwords,” Imprimatur 1941 ~