The following excerpts were taken from the book titled:
              “THE FAITH THAT NEVER DIES”
                         Imprimatur: 1900

Do My Christian readers clearly understand what it truly is to be a Christian? It certainly is not, as some people with slightly confused ideas appear to imagine, merely to abstain from murdering or plundering your neighbor. To do this is just to escape being a villain, that is all.
To be a Christian is not merely to be a good father, a good husband, a good son, a good workman, and industrious and honorable man, a good comrade, etc.; that is only to be an honest man, and a Christian is something more than an honest man.
    To be a Christian is not merely to respect religion, to consider it good and useful, to acknowledge that Christianity has inspired noble deeds; that is imply to judge fairly, and to possess the good sense of an intelligent man: in order to hold such opinions as these nothing is needed but to rise above vulgar prejudices, and to despise the pointless sneers of a shallow philosophy.
Lastly, to be a Christian is not merely to observe certain exterior practices, such as to hear Mass regularly, to abstain, or even to go to confession. These practices, although very excellent, are nevertheless only means by which to become and to remain a true Christian. Then what is the Christian life? And what is a true Christian?
    A Christian is a baptized man, who believes with his whole heart all that is taught, in the name of Jesus Christ, by the Pope and the Bishops, who have been entrusted by the Saviour to spread the Christian religion throughout the world; a man, moreover, who observes, as far as human weakness will allow, all the commandments of God and the laws of the Church; and who earnestly strives to the best of his power to imitate Jesus Christ, his God, his Saviour, and his great example.
    A Christian is a man who loves God before all things, who would choose to suffer anything rather than to offend Him, who detests sin in others, and still more in himself; he is a man who loves and practices the right, who battle constantly and perseveringly with all his evil passions, and who, in spite of the evil inclinations which will sometimes rage powerfully within him, is still pure and humble, patient and merciful, indulgent to the faults of others, patient and resigned in misfortune.
    A Christian is a man who is constant in prayer, and who follows in the footsteps of his Lord and Master, and thus, ever looking to Jesus, learns from Him the daily lessons of virtue that he needs. He pardons his enemies, even as Jesus Christ pardoned His. Like Him he goes about doing good. He loves all men, but especially the poor, the forsaken and the insignificant. In prosperity his heart is ever detached from earth, and lifted up to that heavenly home where the only true good is to be found. In poverty and suffering he is calm and full of hope, remembering that to the sorrows of Calvary succeeds the joy of the resurrection and that, it is only through the cross that we can gain the crown.
    A Christian, then, is a living copy of Jesus Christ; a man who loves what Jesus Christ loves, condemns what He condemns, and judges in all things as He judges; and in this man, His faithful servant, Jesus Christ Himself does, in a manner, still live and walk with men.  Such is the true Christian, such we all ought to be, such we should all become or remain!
    There is no position in life in which it is impossible to be a Christian. In poverty or wealth, in health or sickness, in youth or age, it is all one; and we should each, without exception, be holy, and should model our lives by that perfect pattern which we have just sketched out. Are we true Christians? Do we possess that humility, that singleness of heart, that disinterestedness and the purity of life, which constitute the Christian character? Let the conscience of each of us answer this question! Alas! Mine does not respond to it very readily – and reader, what of yours?
    Let us, then, take courage, and turn to the Lord our God. Pagans, perhaps, until now, let us make haste to become Christians. If our own weakness causes us to shrink from such great and serious duties, let us have recourse to that powerful aid which the mercy of God has placed in the bosom of the Church. Let us pray, let us frequent the sacraments; let us seek in the confession of our sins a remedy for the past, and in frequent communion strength fro the future. Let us make a vigorous effort, not shrink from any trouble that is required of us by God; does He not deserve it from us? Life passes quickly! Let us work while it is day: blesses is that servant whom He shall find watching; a few hours of weariness, a few hours of brave and patient fighting, and then, to the passing trials of this earthly probation succeeds the eternal rest, the unutterable gladness promised by the Saviour.
                                                        FEAR OF HUMAN OPINION
    “I would willingly fulfill my religious duties, but I am afraid of ridicule.” – Then you are afraid to go to heaven, and not afraid to go to hell? You must have a very singular courage and a remarkable determination! O man, feeble and faithless! You are indeed faint-hearted, and should blush for your own weakness and dishonor; for what, I ask, is a greater dishonor than cowardice?
Respect for human opinion in matters of religion is the greatest cowardice of all. It is a voluntary renunciation of that which is holiest and most sacred in man – his conscience. It is a weak abandonment of our most essential rights and of our most important duties! That of leading holy Christian lives, of accomplishing our destiny here, and of saving our soul hereafter! Such cowardice is something worse than weakness; it is a folly and a sin.
    You are afraid to say your prayers, to avoid evil company and places of temptation, to go to church, to serve God. And what could be more deserving of honor than a conscientious fulfillment of such duties as these? Prayer, the service of God, and obedience to His law are the marks which most perfectly distinguish us from creatures without reason. For the animal destitute of reason has no eternal destiny, and fulfills all the laws of its being when conscious only of the passing moments of its limited existence. But you yourself are here on earth only that you may hereafter go to heaven; and time for you is nothing but a prelude to eternity. HEAVEN AND ETERNITY! Behold the end and aim of life, the end which should reign supreme above all others, and without which everything is lost. Therefore by not daring to serve God during your life, you willfully renounce both heaven and eternity; you sacrifice God, your own salvation, your own soul, and your own happiness, even as you sacrifice your duty and your conscience to a miserable fear of man, which is a thousand times unworthy of a Christian, and is despicable in a man.
    “I should be ridiculed,” you say! What a grievous affliction! What effect would it have upon you? You can surely afford to despise what is so utterly beneath your notice. Supposing men laughed at you because you ate when you were hungry, and drank when you were thirsty, and warmed yourself when you were cold, because you loved your mother, because you were not a scoundrel. I am speaking seriously – would you change, do you think, and try to act in some manner which would give greater satisfaction to those who thus criticized you? You will not trouble yourself to answer such a question? There is that which is more reasonable, more natural, more lawful, and more necessary still; obedience to God your Creator, the practice of religion, and the keeping of His commandments. To fear to be a Christian is to fear to be a reasonable being, it is to fear to be a good, conscientious, and honorable man.
    Go, therefore, to confession, coward that you are! And fear God rather than man!
                                                                           NEGLIGENCE
    For many years the world has been devastated by a fatal and terrible sickness, which has made dreadful ravages, in all places at one and the same time: in France, England, Italy, Europe, whether the air be bad or good, the people civilized or barbarous, the whole world suffers from its fatal and deathly influence; and for centuries victims have succumbed to it. You doubtless imagine that I am referring to some one of those scourges which we call pestilence, cholera, typhus fever, etc.: but no; the evil that I would point out to you is still more terrible, and causes the death of a still greater number of men; it not only affects the body, but it also poisons the soul, and its fatal effects endure beyond the portals of the grave.
    This deplorable evil is negligence. This it is which causes the ruin of whole families and plunges them into the frightful miseries to which they sooner or later succumb. This epidemic is so much the more to be dreaded because there are no signs which give warning of its terrible approach, and it seizes a man before he suspects it is near; it draws him little by little from his duties to God, and soon after from his duties to his family and toward his fellow-men. This scourge is one of the fatal fruits of original sin.
    The first symptoms show themselves, then, on being confronted by some difficulty, you stop, hesitate, and address such words to yourself as these: I cannot! It is too difficult! I have no time! I will do it on some other occasion, but not now! It is not worth the trouble of beginning, because I shall never be able to go on! It is beyond my capabilities! Oh! then, while there is yet time, ask yourself quickly these two questions, and answer them by the light of your own conscience.
    1st, What should I do if I were quite assured that directly I had accomplished that which now appears to be impossible, I should receive five pounds as the price of my efforts? 2nd, What should I also do if I were equally certain that I should receive a hundred stripes directly I had yielded to those insidious suggestions of negligence, which I believe at this moment that I cannot resist?
    These two questions, with the answer which your conscience cannot fail to give, will prove a sure and simple remedy against the evil I have pointed out to you.
                                                                          I HAVE NO TIME
    Out of ten persons who do not fulfill their religious duties, there are at least six or seven who will say to you when you speak to them about it, “I should be glad enough to do so, but I have not time; every one must gain their living. Religion is good for people with nothing else to do, who can live without working.”
Nothing is more false than such reasoning as this, nothing could be more opposed to the spirit of Christianity; religion is made for all, even as God is the Father of all; and if there were any distinction to be made among men, it would, unquestionably, be the poor and the insignificant who would take precedence in the sight of God.
    This is a very common error among the working classes, especially in large towns; and we must say that it entirely results from ignorance. They have and absurd idea of religion – they believe that it solely consists of a very great number of outward observances; and the daily work which is absolutely necessary to workmen in order to gain a living, being evidently incompatible with such practices, they solve the difficulty by the habitual words, which they lay down as an axiom, but which are in truth an unconscious blasphemy: “I have no time.” But tell me, my friend, how much time does it take to love God? How much time do you need to think of Him sometimes during the course of the day; to ask Him to bless you, to crown your efforts with success, and to give you the rest of heaven after your sorrows and weariness of earth? How much time does it take to keep from swearing, to honor your father and mother and lawful superiors, to abstain from drinking, to pardon your enemies, not to return evil for evil, to bear with the faults of others? How much time does it take to be chaste and pure, to turn from evil thoughts, to avoid sinful conversation, to shun such and such a bad companion who would be sure to lead you into wrong? Does it take much time to repent when we have done some wicked foolish thing? Still more, does it take much time to pray morning and evening? In five minutes, in ten minutes at the most, this great duty can be perfectly fulfilled; and where is the man who cannot, if he so will, spare some few minutes, at the beginning and at the end of the day?
    But then, you will say, religion commands so many other things. You must hear mass on Sundays and Holydays. You must go to confession, and go to communion, and does not all that take time? That is what I mean when I say I have no time. And what do those who are quite as busy as you are, and often much more busy and still more in need of gaining a salary, and who yet do all that, and more than that? I know some who never pass one week without receiving the sacraments. How do they find time to fulfill their duties? What they do, you can do. It is the will that is wanting, and not the time. The reason that you do not find time, just as they find time, is because you have not the deep conviction that they have of the vital necessity of religion. You consider the body before the soul; they consider the soul before the body. Not that they neglect their families and their own bodily requirements, no; only they know the value and the difference of things, and rule their lives according to the truth.
What would you say if your employer attempted to deprive you of the time to eat? You would leave him, and you would say: First of all, we must live! I say to you still more emphatically: first of all, even before the life of your body, take thought for your soul, which is the noblest part of your self; your soul, which makes of you a man, since through the body we are only animals; it is the soul which makes the man, and distinguishes him from the beast.
    The eternal salvation of your soul may not be taken away from you by any living creature, and if any one should attempt to rob you of the most sacred of your rights, then is the time to practice the great Christian rule: To lose everything rather than to lose God.
    But it is my calling, you add, which prevents me from attending to my salvation. Is that true? Answer me carefully; for if, after having well reflected, you still answered “yes,” I would say to you: then you must give it up, and find some other. What will it profit you to gain the whole world and lose your own soul?
Therefore, say no longer, I have no time to be a Christian, for you only deceive yourself. Say, if you wish, I have not as much time, or as many opportunities, as I should wish. That may be so, but, after all, it is but the heart and the will to serve Him that God requires, and for this there is no question of time. To him who will not give to God his time, God will refuse His eternity.

    CONSCIENCE is that inner voice which rules our conduct, and passes judgment upon our actions, teaching us whether they are good or evil, justifiable or clearly forbidden. The voice of conscience sounds approvingly when we do right, and visits us with sharp remorse when we do wrong. This voice, this judge, is God Himself; it is the living Truth; it is Jesus Christ dwelling within us. We can by no possibility drive this divine voice out from the sanctuary of our hearts. We may close our ears that we may not hear when we are bent on resisting it and the desire to do evil, but we can never silence the voice of God, which thus becomes, even in this world, our judgment and our condemnation. If, on the contrary, we are obedient to its teaching, if our lives are ruled by this hidden law, then shall the soul enjoy on earth a foretaste of the joys of Heaven, and shall see in God only a Saviour, a Father, and a Friend, who communicates to it, even in this world, that peace and happiness which it is destined to possess, in perfect plentitude, hereafter.
    Conscience is an unerring tribunal, and we must either be guided by its judgments or fall into sin. But it often happens that human weakness and the wiles of the devil prevent us from clearly discerning the voice of conscience. We are, then, in the same embarrassment as the servant who hears but indistinctly the orders of his master, or, rather, under the same delusion as a man partially deaf who believes that he hears something different from what has been really said. How should one act who finds himself in this false position?
    In the first place, and this is a general rule, it is never allowable to go against the conscience – that is to say, no one may ever perform an action which they believe to be guilty, or abstain from an action which they believe to be commanded. Therefore the one thing needful is to cultivate a clear, true, loyal, and upright conscience, and to do this, it is generally sufficient to seek the truth earnestly, and to resist all deceptions.
    If, nevertheless, in spite of good intentions we cannot succeed in forming a conscientious judgment, we must seek and follow with simplicity the advice of some enlightened person, of a good priest, if that be possible, and be guided by his decision. There is not rule of conduct more practical than this, for many good people, whose conscience is tender and scrupulous, will often feel embarrassed and doubtful as to how they ought to act. If, by any misfortune, we have neither time nor means of seeking advice, let us form as conscientious a decision as we can, and strive earnestly to do that which we think to be right, in all cases when we cannot feel certain. When involved in absolute doubt, let us ever choose the safest side, and follow it to an extreme rather than risk the chance of offending God.
    We do not hesitate to say that a clear conscience is the true secret of happiness. Happiness is deeply rooted in the heart of man: it is not shut up within the purse, nor is it to be attained by means of bodily indulgence. Those who enjoy an inward peace, who love God, and seek to please and serve Him, may be happy even in sickness and suffering, and amidst all the privations of poverty. Death itself wears a different aspect, and every day good Christians prove, by their calmness, their serenity, and their happiness at that supreme moment, the truth of what we have just said.
    “This is a happy day for me,” said a poor soldier, condemned to death, to the priest who was assisting him and leading him to the place of execution, “a very happy day, father! I shall soon be with God, I am going home. My heart is so full of gladness, it seems as if I must be going to some joyful festival. I have sinned very heavily, but I hope God will show me much mercy.” This poor condemned soldier had fully made his peace with God during the two months which passed between the sentence and its execution. Moved to the deepest repentance, he had approached the sacraments of penance and the Holy Eucharist every week, and his conscience, transfigured by religion, was now in the enjoyment of a perfect peace, and a marvelous calm.
    Do not wait until the last moment to purify your conscience. If it reproach you with some serious fault, do not harden your heart and deceive your own self; but rather repent of the evil of which it accuses you, and at once, like the prodigal son, arise, and return unto your Father. Summon all your courage; do not wait until it is too late. Go and make a good and sincere confession of your sins to some priest; from him you will obtain mercy, encouragement, and consolation, and he will restore to you the inestimable treasure of a quiet conscience, by pardoning your sins in the Name of Our Lord Jesus Christ. (In the case that we have no priest a Perfect Act of Contrition will suffice.)
            “The Faith That Never Dies or the Priest of God in the Catholic Home” ~ Imprimatur 1900

We must not think that we only need a clear knowledge of our duty, and shall then necessarily accomplish it. To think that would be to lose sight of human weakness, and the strife of human passions. We need strength to do the right, and to obey God; and so much the more strength, since, by reason of original sin, tumult and disorder lay waste the heart of man, which ever inclines to evil rather than to good.
    This necessary strength to live as a good Christian to avoid sin, and to practice Christian virtues, is given to us by God through Jesus Christ our Saviour, and it is this strength which we call grace. Without it, we could neither do right nor avoid wrong, but with its help we are capable of doing all things and suffering all things in order to accomplish the will of God. Grace is to the soul what light is to the eyes; without the light we cannot see, but with the light we are enabled to perceive even dim and distant objects.
    Grace is the internal and spiritual union of the soul with Our Lord Jesus Christ; it is the indwelling of Jesus Christ in the soul, and the indwelling of the soul in Him. From the inmost recesses of our soul, as from the inmost recesses of His temple and His sanctuary, the Son of God gives to us the continual assistance of His Holy Spirit to enable us to repulse the attacks of the devil, our enemy and His, and to help us to observe all the commandments of God. He never abandons us to our own weakness; He never refuses us His grace; and when we sin, we alone are guilty of turning willfully and deliberately away from God.
    This union of the soul with Jesus Christ constitutes the true life of the soul. The life of the body springs from its union with Jesus Christ, its Saviour and its God. And this life of the soul need never end, since, in heaven, we are destined to enjoy an eternal union with God, if we will but make the noblest use of our free-will while here on earth and constantly endeavor to preserve the grace of God. And next, let us ask, in what manner is this grace bestowed upon us? And how is the mystical union of the soul with Jesus Christ accomplished? By prayer and the holy sacraments.
                  “The Faith That Never Dies or the Priest of God in the Catholic Home” ~ Imprimatur 1900

From the Hand of God - A Theology for the People,                                     Imprimatur 1918
 
    ALMOST every home in the United States has a picture of George Washington. And why? It reminds them of the man. Could they not recall the man without this reminder? They could. Would they? Perhaps some would occasionally. Many, very many, would not at all or but very seldom. When we look upon the picture of Washington we think of himself. His life reminds us of the struggles our infant country made for its existence. It tells us of the sacrifices he made for his native land and ours, and it makes us value patriotism.
    We venerate Washington because he was faithful to the duties assigned him by Congress, because he was upright in his dealings with his countrymen, and because he labored so much and sacrificed so much for the nation's life. There may have been thousands of men just as patriotic as he, but of his patriotism there was open and manifest evidence. He was distinguished in the service of his country, and in consequence is now distinguished in the honor paid him by a grateful people and confirmed by an appreciative government.
    We honor him by statues, by pictures, by a special day dedicated to his memory, by orations, by organizations named after him, and by cities and states that glory in being called by his name. The government encourages all this, and sets us the example by naming the capital of the country after the Father of His Country.
    And why all this? Because men understand that patriotism is nourished on noble deeds and by noble examples. Moreover, the government would show that she knows how to reward those who live for her.
    There is a kingdom among men called by God Himself the Kingdom of God. It has its heroes like other realms. It has its subjects like other governments. It has its service and its struggles like other kingdoms. Men and women have distinguished themselves in its service, they have given an example of devotion to its cause, and they have laid down their lives that it might carry on its service of devotion to mankind.
    Should it not honor them? If we venerate Washington, should we not venerate Paul and Augustine and Bernard and Francis and Dominic and Gregory and Ignatius and Xavier? These were heroes of the cross. Is not the cross worthy to stand alongside the eagle or the Stars and Stripes? The saints are the heroes of Christianity, the oldest and most extensive kingdom in the world.
    The kingdoms of this earth honor their noble sons in the best way they are capable of. Every mark of honor they can bestow on those whom they wish to honor is gladly conferrred on them. And the Church of God does likewise. Her power of honoring goes farther than that of the rulers of this world, and so does the honor she bestows go beyond what man can bestow.
    All very well, I hear a non-Catholic rejoin, but why should the saints, who are after all but mortals, receive honor which belongs to divinity? Why should we pray to the saints, and ask them to grant us favors, when that is God's province? The Catholic cult, you contend, puts the creature in the place of the Creator. It is paying honor to a servant which belongs to the Master.
    My dear man, whoever you be that think thus, I should agree with you if what you say were Catholic belief. If the Catholic veneration of the saints is what you declare it to be, we Catholics would be the first to reject it. If the veneration of the saints were not also the veneration of God, we should proclaim it idolatry. But does the honor we pay to Washington or Lincoln detract from the honor we owe our country?
Rather, does not our veneration of those distinguished sons of the Republic show our vener-  ation for the Republic itself? Can you Imagine a man dishonoring the name or statue of Washington without also dishonoring the country he served so well?
On the contrary, can we not measure the patriotism of our people by the esteem in which they hold their notable patriots? In our schools we inculcate the study of their lives. In our cities we decorate their monuments. In our armies we salute their standards. And who would dare say that in thus honoring our heroes we are dishonoring our mother country!
    The saints are the heroes of God. They won their crown by living for Him, laboring for Him, dying for Him. He welcomed them after life's warfare by bestowing on them the crown of immortality and adopting them into the divine family. "Blessed is the man that endureth temptation, for when he hath been proved he shall receive the crown of life" (James i, 12). "They are equal to the angels and are the children of God" (Luke xx, 36).
    Does a father of a family gain or lose honor by the honor and esteem paid his children? Do you know of any greater pleasure you can give a father or mother than to praise their children? The saints are the children of God. Not as we on earth who are on probation. They have stood the test of divinity and have been approved. They are the gold tried in the fire and found to be pure gold, fit for the Kingdom of Heaven.
    It is said that the eagle before it acknowledges its young as genuine holds them with their eyes looking full at the sun, and if they cannot gaze on it, drops them to destruction. The saints have looked upon the Sun of Justice during life and guided their steps by Him and molded their lives by His pattern, and now they are the children of God. As the Apostle puts it, they are "sharers of the divine nature." In honoring them, we are honoring those whom God has honored. He sets us the example. Moreover, in honoring the saints, we are honoring
God indirectly, for it is His gifts in them that we honor. All they are and have they received from Him. Their sanctification is the fruit of His grace. Now would you feel that you were detracting from an artist by praising and honoring his work? Just the reverse. If you want to pay the highest compliment to an architect, enthuse over the building he has erected. If you want to honor an author, inform bin: that you place his book on the most honored shelf in your library. If you wish to honor God, venerate His workmanship, the living temples of triumphant grace, the saints.
    However, I hear you remark, there is another side which you ignore altogether. There    certainly can be no objections to the veneration of the saints as you describe it, but you Catholics put the saints in God's place. You go to them instead of to God; you ask them favors as though they and not God were the bestowers of gifts.
    I grant that if you judge some Catholics by their way of speaking, you are right in making this statement. For they say: "I am going to ask St. Anthony for this favor, or St. Joseph for that." But this is only a way of expressing themselves. What they have in mind is that they are going to ask the intercession of St. Anthony or St. Joseph. You do the same daily. If you want a favor from a railroad or an express company, or from a bank, you say: "I am going to ask so-and-so for it." But so-and-so is only an official, a servant, a secretary. He has no power except what he receives from higher up. What favor he does, whatever he dispenses, is only what the railroad or express company or bank authorizes him to do.
    And when you seek this favor, you know it is not something of his own the man is giving you, but only his good will in the matter. Ah, but that is just it. Why should we require anybody's good will where God is concerned? We do not. We can go direct to God if we wish. There is nothing to prevent it. But most people find it easier to approach majesty through the friends of majesty. If you have offended a great personage, you certainly feel more comfortable approaching him to ask pardon or get a favor if you are accompanied by his mother or close friend-Moreover, suppose that God, in order to honor His saints, tells us to go to them. If you want a favor from the President of the United States and he tells you to see Senator So-and-so, by whom he distributes that patronage, you cannot say that by going to that Senator you are overlooking or underestimating the Chief Executive.
    Now God has distinctly commanded us to go to the saints for favors and for help. "My wrath is kindled against thee and thy two friends; go to my servant Job, and he shall pray for you, his face I will accept. So they did as the Lord had spoken to them, and the Lord accepted the face of Job" (Jobxlii, 8).
    If God heard the prayers of His saints on earth, how much more will He barken to those offered Him by the saints above ! "When thou didst pray with tears I offered thy prayer to the Lord" (Tob. xii, 12). Thus Raphael addressed Tobias. "Pray for one another, for the continual prayer of a just man availeth much" (James v, 16).
    The saints are the just who have entered into their glory. In order to encourage us here below by holding up for our imitation men like ourselves who have fought the good fight and won, God is pleased to have us helped by them. By going to them we recall that they were once as we now are, and the very act of praying to them for aid is a stimulus to our imitation of them. God knows our frame. He made us. He gave us the saints for help because He wanted to give us the best help. He considers them a channel for His graces. For that is all they are after all, as regards their veneration,—a way to Him. He as truly gives by them as if He gave directly Himself.
    For when it comes to prayer, why should we pray at all, for that matter? Does not God know what we need? Why then pray to Him, why inform Him of what He knows? It is because prayer shows our dependence upon Him, that what He gives us is not our due but His bounty, and it reminds us of Him and our duty. And so in His dispensations in regard to the saints. He could hear and grant us without them, and He often does, but He wants us to go to them in order that we may be thereby helped and the saints honored.
    The Our Father is a prayer direct to God Himself, and we are bidden to say it daily. In directing her children to seek the intercession of the saints, the Church does not at all suggest that we should neglect God or show lack of confidence in Him. Experience shows that the Church which fosters the intercession of the saints Is the only one in which prayer to God Himself is paramount.
    It is safe to say that there is no religion in the world in which there is so much prayer to God as in the Catholic faith. Praying to the saints reminds us of God, that is why. The saints reign with Christ. "To him that shall overcome, I shall give to sit with me on my throne" (Apoc. iii, 21). And what does reigning with Christ mean ? Just what the intercession of the saints implies. With Christ, as His friends, they are powerful. They never so truly reign as when they help us. Their one desire is to glorify their Lord by aiding us to be with Him one day. In dispensing God's favors they are exercising their function of reigning with Him. When we go to them we give them the opportunity of exercising their power. In that they are honored, by that we are helped. That is the practice of the communion of saints, the ninth article of the Apostles' Creed: "I believe in the Holy Catholic Church, the Communion of Saints."
    We know from history that in rejecting the saints, it was but a short step to the rejection of Christ. Catholics think too much of Christ to belittle His friends. The saints are the friends, tried and true, of Jesus Christ. In honoring them in the way He wants us to we are honoring Himself.
The more we honor the saints, the surer are we of eventually being with them in the home of Our Father in heaven.

  “And now you shall not see me.” John 16: 16.

Humanly speaking, these are strange words. Who could ever imagine that the sacred presence of our Lord Jesus Christ could ever be injurious to his disciples? And yet he says expressly, I am going away from you, and you will not see me any more; “but I tell you the truth; it is expedient to you that I go;” it is better for you not to see me any more. “If I go not,” added our Lord, “the Paraclete will not come to you.” The consolation you have in my presence is only a sensible one; this must be taken away from you, if you wish to receive the consolation and grace of the Holy Ghost. Now, if the consoling presence of our Lord on earth was incompatible with the presence by grace of the Holy Ghost, how, then, can that grace abide with willful, carnal glances at vanities, earthly beauties, or dangerous objects? Oh, certainly, a necessary means of guarding the heart and keeping it in the grace of God is watchfulness over our outward senses, especially the eyes. Hence,

 I. He who allows his eyes to wander about curiously on all sides will not long remain free from sin; and

II. In order to persevere in grace, we must all keep custody over our eyes,

  I. Amongst all the outward senses there is none from which we can better judge the state of the soul, as to whether it is healthy or not, than from the eyes. “The fornication of a woman shall be known by the haughtiness of her eyes, and by her eye-lids;” (and the same is to be understood of men); therefore, “take heed of the impudence of her eyes” (Ecclus. 26 : 12, 54). It is a rare and unusual occurrence for the fire of lust not to be ignited, when the eyes are allowed to rest needlessly and with satisfaction, on a per­son of the other sex. Bad thoughts are so many treacherous let­ters which the enemy of our souls sends to our hearts, to stir up impure images therein, and to persuade us to give up our souls to him. The spies who bring those letters are generally the eyes. “Death is come up through our windows” (Jerem. 9: 21). The look is followed by the thought, the thought by pleasure, and pleasure by consent,

     It is an undoubted truth, discovered even by besotted heathens, that the eyes first lead to impure love; therefore Seleucus, a pagan legislator, commanded that, as a first punishment for adulterers, their eyes should be plucked out, because, as he said, that part should first suffer which was the first cause of the crime. The Holy Scripture often alludes to and condemns the eyes alone, as the chief cause of sin. Thus God, by the prophet Ezechiel, speaking of idolaters, declares: “I have broken their heart, that was faithless and revolted from me, and their eyes, that went a whoring after their idols” (Ezech. 6: 7). In the same way he reproaches, not the envious themselves, but their eyes: “The eye of the en­vious is wicked” (Ecclus. 14: 8). He calls, not the avaricious, but their eyes, insatiable: “The eye of the covetous man is in­satiable in his portion of iniquity he will not be satisfied till he consume his own soul, drying it up” (Ibid. 9). In a word, in or­der that we may avoid all transgressions of the law, God warns us to mortify our eyes: “Let every man cast away the scandals of his eyes” (Ezech. 20:7).

Do you intend to avoid sin, and to keep on the right road to heaven? If so, what about your eyes? Do you allow them to wander about unhindered? Do you give them full liberty to gaze on everything that presents itself to them? Do you permit them to look with deliberate curiosity persons of the opposite sex, and to take pleasure in such looks? Do you wish to see and to be seen? Alas! if so, I venture to prophesy, no matter how innocent, pious, and firm may be your present good resolutions, your piety will not last long. You will not have a chaste heart, if your eyes are not modest. In a short time, you will be forced to sigh forth, with the prophet Jeremias: “My eye hath wasted my soul!” (Lament. 5: 51.) My soul was once rich in the treasures of divine grace which it had arduously collected. Alas! one curious look has robbed me of all those riches, “I saw and was lost,” you will have to acknowledge with the poet. In the morning, I confessed my sins with the firm resolution rather to die a thousand times than again offend my God. Yet, on the very same day, I looked on a dangerous object, and stained my conscience by a new sin: “I saw and was lost.” Af­ter hearing that sermon on the eternal truths, I thought heaven and earth would perish before I would consent to offend my God again; but, alas one imprudent glance has made me forget my resolution: “I saw, and was lost.”  I went into the church in a state of inno­cence, to hear holy Mass, and to beg many graces from God, but I came away laden with mortal sin, the result of a single lustful glance at another’s beauty. “I saw, and was lost.” “Lust,” says St, Thomas of Aquin, “can hardly be avoided, unless its beginning, namely looking at a woman’s beauty, be avoided.” There­fore, the Holy Ghost warns us: “Look not upon a woman, lest thou fall into her snares: gaze not upon a maiden, lest her beauty be a stumbling block to thee; look not round about thee in the ways of the city, nor wander up and down in the streets thereof: turn away thy face from a woman dressed up, and gaze not upon another’s beauty” (Ecclus. 9: 3, 5, 7, 8).

“What?” Some will say: “must we, then, go about like blind men? Why has my Creator given me eyes, if not that I may use them? And what harm, is it for me to look at what pleases me?

I answer: Your Creator has given you ears to hear; are you, therefore, allowed to hear anything you please? He has given you a tongue to speak; can you therefore say whatever you like? He has given you hands to stretch forth, but not to take everything you please. And yet you are not obliged to go about deaf, dumb, or lame. Truly, you have eyes to see with, but not to look at everything you please. Otherwise, the Holy Ghost would not warn you so often to keep from gazing at another’s beauty; yet you are not forced on that account to go about like a blind man. “What harm is therein it?” you ask. And I ask you: What harm is it for a little child to take a sharp knife in its hand? And yet you do not allow him to keep it. Why? He has not yet cut him­self with it. “That may be,” you reply; “but it is very danger­ous, and he might hurt himself with it.” Seeing in itself is not sinful; but take care lest it be the beginning of sin.

What harm was it for Eve to look at the forbidden fruit in para­dise? And yet, that one look brought death to her and to us all. Ah! Said Eve, let me look at it! Do not be afraid I will only admire the fruit. I will not stretch forth my hand to pluck it. I am not forbidden to look, but only to eat. Alas, if Eve had not looked, she would not have eaten, and she and all of us would not have lost paradise! Eating followed seeing, and the sin was con­summated. What harm was it for the wife of Putiphar to look at her servant Joseph? Yet when she did so, shame, honor, and con­jugal fidelity were cast to the winds. What harm was it for David that holy king, to look out through the windows of his palace at Bethsabee? And yet, if he had not done so, he would not have be­come an adulterer and a murderer. What harm was it for Ammon to look at his own sister? And yet those looks of his led him into incest. But what need is there of further proof? Often enough in our own days, we hear converted sinners giving expression to this heartfelt wish: “Ah! Would that I had never seen that person; I would not have fallen into sin!”

Therefore, keep the windows closed, if you do not wish to be robbed of your greatest treasure! Guard your eyes carefully, if you really wish to persevere in the friendship of God! If an an­gel had foretold to our first mother in paradise what would follow if she looked at the forbidden fruit, would she have been so in­cautious as not to have mortified her eyes? If the prophet Na­than had said to David when the latter opened the window of his palace, and was about to look out into his garden: “O David, what are you about to do? It would be better for you to fall down and break your neck than give that one unguarded look! You will forget your God, you will become a murderer and an adul­terer, your favorite child will die ; dishonor will come upon your house, your son Absalom will drive you from your throne and persecute you until he dies on a tree in the state of sin and is lost forever; you will be made a laughing-stock to your own subjects, who will vilify and throw stones at you like a hunted dog, and all this will be as a punishment for your sin!” If such a dreadful an­nouncement had been made to that then pious king, would he have been so foolish as still to have gratified his curiosity? That is not likely. And yet, one incautious glance, without his fore­seeing any harm, or having the least bad intention, brought all that evil on him.

  Dissolute young man! Vain girl! Weak mortals! I am neither a prophet, nor an angel; yet, I warn you that if you do not learn to keep your eyes always in check; if you give them full liberty to gaze at everything that offers itself to them; if you cast them freely on persons of the opposite sex; if you mix unrestrainedly in all kinds of company, you may be assured that it will soon be all up with your purity of heart. You will be guilty of murder and incest, if not in reality, at least in inclination and desire. Some of you will be tormented, day and night, by the spirit of impure love, which will give you no rest; some will seek opportunities, and consume the best years of their lives in impurity; some will be addicted to that vice till their old age, nay, till their death some will perhaps indulge in it publicly, before the whole town, And then, hear what follows: “Thus saith the Lord: If any man violate the temple of God, him shall God destroy. For the temple of God is holy, which you are.”

II. If curiosity of the eyes is to be avoided with regard to dan­gerous objects, or persons, it is even more necessary with regard to dangerous reading. Just as there is nothing more useful for us if we wish to persevere in good, and to become more devout, than the reading of spiritual books, so also there is nothing more injurious, especially to holy purity, than the reading of books that treat of unchaste subjects and impure love. This is an ac­cursed invention of the devil, with which he endeavors to infect hearts, as with a pestilence. His attacks in this way are directed chiefly against the young, whom he tries to bewitch, and to lead a-stray; nor is he hardly ever disappointed. If he can but induce a person to read a bad book through curiosity, he is tolerably sure of his soul. Alas, he scatters those abominable books abroad in all places, at all times, by wicked agents. Are not we poor mor­tals already versed enough, by our own corruption in this filthy knowledge, without being taught it by these agents of the devil? The crafty tempter well knows that with the ordinary run of good Christians be can do little by openly immoral books. Such books would rather disgust than attract them. In order then to ensnare their souls, he places before their eyes amusing comedies, well-written romances, sensational love-stories, full of passion, which are in reality more dangerous to soul, the more cunningly they conceal the filth they contain the more they are able to amuse, and the more eager they make the reader to know the end of the story; for they fill the heart and mind with violent and unruly desires and softly fan the flames of impure passion, feeding it and keeping it alive. Eternal truths, which should and ought to lead us to heaven, are often explained in sermons, and are some­times listened to with pleasure! But, alas, how soon are they lost sight of! Hardly is the sermon over, when they are forgotten! But these love stories and romances generally so captivate the imagination and the memory of young people, that sometimes they are never forgotten. But, one may say: There is nothing wrong in those books, Father I read them only for the sake of the style,—for the skill shown in developing the plot. A fine ex­cuse, indeed! You must be a great admirer of elegant language! There are enough Lives of the Saints and like spiritual books published (good specimens even of a better style, and filled with still more wonderful and true incidents), which elevate the mind and heart to heaven and heavenly things, and teach us how to a-mend our lives. Why do you not read those books with the same pleasure and eagerness? They are not mere fictions, which be­tray your understanding; they are true, and can instruct you not only in the beauties of style, but also in the duties of a Chris­tian life. Ah I tell the truth, do you not slight those good books because their contents do not gratify your sensuality? And even if those romances and love tales were better written, should you not be more anxious about the purity of your soul than about the elegance of your style? More careful to live well, than to speak well? To be learned in the school of Christ, than in that of the de­mon of impurity?

Do you wish to act as a good Christian? Then pitch those filthy books at once into the fire, as an agreeable burnt-offering to God. Better for you to do that, than for one soul to be cast by them into the fire of hell.

“Woe to the man by whom the scandal cometh!” I must cry out here, in the threatening words of God to all those who give to others occasion of sin, by placing bad books in their way, or by allowing them to look at indecent statues or bad pictures, or by not observing the rules of modesty in their own dress; for all those things are so many snares to catch souls and to betray them into the clutches of the devil. Theologians teach that a woman (and the same is to be understood of a man) who knows for certain that she is the object of an impure affection commits a mortal sin if, without necessity or reasonable cause, she puts herself deliber­ately in the way of being seen by that person, although she has no intention or wish to excite an impure passion in him. Now, if the law of Christian charity binds every one, to avoid giving others such an occasion of sin, even when clad with a due regard to modesty, how shall they answer to God for their actions, who deliberately place in the way of others objects that, of their na­ture, are apt to incite them to sinful thoughts and desires ? All the sins others commit through his instrumentality will be recorded against him, although he may not have had the deliberate wish or intention to lead others into sin.

I might here give vent to a bitter complaint against those care­less parents, who allow their innocent little children to see things that would be unlawful amongst unmarried people. Let no one tell me that the children are too young, and that they do not un­derstand. Granted that they do not understand it now, are not the impressions of such things imprinted on their imaginations and memories, so that they will never be eradicated? If you have not another room in your house for your children, it were better to let them go and stay in the pig-sty, than see what could be an occasion of scandal to them, and ruin their precious souls. There are parents who toil and moil from morning till night, while their daughters do nothing but deck themselves out in the latest fashions, and let themselves be seen. Parents, watch over your children more carefully! Fish are never safe, unless when in water. If they leave their own element, they die in a short time. Never are your daughters safer that at home, under your own eyes, and occupied with some work befitting their condition. The goods exposed constantly in the shop windows are either damaged, or are in a fair way to become so. No matter how pious, devout, and innocent your daughters may be, if they are fond of seeing and being seen, although they may not do anything wrong outwardly, yet they will have wickedness enough in their hearts. When young maidens begin to go about too freely, they soon lose their virtue, as their hearts become sullied with sinful thoughts and desires.

Christian parents, I beseech of you, listen to the warning of holy Writ: “On a daughter that turneth not away herself, set a strict watch; lest, finding an opportunity, she abuse herself” (Ecclus. 26: 53). Father, look after your son! Mother, watch over your daughter, and keep her constantly at work at home: “Take heed of the impudence of her eyes, and wonder not if she slight thee” (Ibid. 14). If you let her have too much of her own way, you must not be surprised to find her dead to all shame in the end.

And know, that the Lord will require her soul at your hands. Chris­tians, of whatever condition, sex, or age you may be, guard your eyes from all curious and vain glances, if you wish to persevere in the grace and service of God. Alas! In what fragile vases we carry about the precious treasure of sanctifying grace I our own carnal desires of themselves are always dragging us down into sin, and we are often forced to complain of our weakness and evil inclinations. Why, then, should we open the doors and windows to further temptations? Say to yourselves, each one of you: Have a little patience, O my eyes! Restrain yourselves for a short time! The beauty of creatures is not worth your consideration! In a little while, I will give you pleasure enough in heaven, where you may gaze forever on the infinite loveliness of God, on Jesus Christ, the most beautiful of the children of men, on Mary, the beautiful Spouse of the Holy Ghost, and on all the glories of the elect of God ! Reserve your curiosity till then I beg of you.    Amen.                                Sermons of Father Hunolt,   Imprimatur 1891

Taken from: 
 “EXPLANATION of the EPISTLES  and GOSPELS
                                       for the                             
         SUNDAYS, HOLYDAYS, and FESTIVALS                                               throughout
                THE ECCLESIASTICAL YEAR”
       By: Rev. Leonard Goffine, Imprimatur 1918            "One Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all." (Ephes. iv. 5. 6.)

THESE words of the great Apostle of the Gentiles show clearly, that it is not a matter of indifference, what faith or religion we profess. Yet in our times so poor in faith, we often hear the assertion from so-called enlightened men: "It is all the same to what religion we belong, we can be saved in any, if we only believe in God and live uprightly." This assertion is impious! Consider, my dear Christian, there is but one God, and this one God has sent only one Redeemer, and this one Redeemer has preached but one doctrine, and has established but one Church. Had God wished that there should be more than one Church, then Christ would have founded them, nay, He would not have preached a new doctrine, established a new, Christian Church; for the Jews also believed in one God. But Jesus cast aside Paganism and Judaism, promulgated a new religion, and founded a new Church. Nowhere does He speak of Churches, but always of one Church. He says that we must hear this Church, and does not add, that if we will not hear this Church, we may hear some other. He speaks of only one shepherd, one flock, and one fold, into which all men are to be brought. In the same manner He speaks always of one kingdom upon earth, just as there is only one kingdom in heaven; of only one master of the house and one family, of one field and one vineyard, whereby He referred to His Church; of one rock, upon which He would build His Church. On the day before His death, He prayed fervently to His Heavenly Father, that all who believe in Him, might be and remain one, as He and the Father are one, and He gave His disciples the express command to preach His gospel to all nations, and to teach them all things, whatsoever He had commanded them. This command the apostles carried out exactly. Everywhere they preached, one and the same doctrine, establishing in all places Christian communities; which were all united by the bond of the same faith. Their principal care was to prevent schisms in faith, they warned the faithful against heresy, commanded all originators of such to be avoided, and anathematized those who preached a gospel different from theirs. As the apostles, so did their successors. All the holy Fathers speak with burning love of the necessary Unity of faith, and deny those all claim to salvation who remain knowingly in schism and separation from the true Church of Christ.
    Learn hence, dear Christian, that there can be but one true Church; if there is but one true Church, it naturally follows that in her alone salvation can be obtained, and the assertion that we can be saved by professing any creed, is false and impious. Jesus who is the Way, the Truth, and the Life, speaks of but one Church, which we must hear, if we wish to be saved. He who does not hear the Church, He says, should be considered as a heathen and publican. He speaks furthermore of one fold, and He promises eternal life only to those sheep who belong to this fold, obey the voice of the shepherd and feed in His pasture. The apostles were also convinced that only the one, true Church could guide us to salvation. Without faith it is impossible to please God, writes St. Paul
to the Hebrews, (xi. 6.) and this faith is only one, he teaches the Ephesians. (iv. 5.) If the apostles had believed that we could be saved in any religion, they would certainly not have contended so strenuously for unity, they would not have declared so solemnly, that we should not belong to any other than to Christ alone, and that we must receive and obey His doctrine. As the apostles taught so did their successors and all the Fathers agree that there is no salvation outside of the true Church. St. Cyprian writes: "If any one outside Noah's ark could find safety, then also will one outside the Church find salvation." (De unit. eccl. c. 7.) From all this it follows, that there is only one true Church which insures salvation, out of which no one can be saved.
    But which is this Church ? The Roman Catholic, Apostolic Church, for she alone was founded by Christ, she alone was watered with the blood of the apostles and of thousands of holy martyrs, she alone has the marks of the true Church of Christ, [see the Instruction for the first Sunday after Easter] against which He has promised that the powers of hell shall not prevail. Those who fell away from the Church three hundred years ago, do, indeed, contend that the Church fell into error and no longer possessed the true, pure gospel of Jesus. Were they right, Jesus might be blamed, for He established this Church, promising to remain with her and guide her through the Holy Ghost
until the end of the world. He would, therefore, have broken His word, or He was not powerful enough to keep it. But who dare say this? On the contrary, she has existed for eighteen hundred years, whilst the greatest and most powerful kingdoms have been overthrown, and the firmest thrones crumbled away. If she were not the only true and saving Church, founded by Christ, how could she have existed so long, since Jesus Himself said: Every plant which my heavenly Father hath not planted, shall be rooted up. (Matt. xv. 13.) If she were not the Church of Christ, she would have been destroyed long ago, but she still stands today, whilst her enemies who battled against her have disappeared, and will continue to disappear; for the gates of hell shall not prevail against her, says our Lord. He has kept His promise and will keep it, notwithstanding all the oppositions and calumnies of her implacable enemies.
    You see, therefore, my dear Christian, that the Catholic Church is the only true, the only saving Church; be not deceived by those who are neither cold nor warm, and who say: "We can be saved in any religion, if we only believe in God and live uprightly," and who wish to rob you of your holy faith, and precipitate you into the sea of doubt, error, and falsehood. Outside of the Catholic Church there is no salvation; hold this firmly, for it is the teaching of Jesus, His apostles, and all the Fathers; for this doctrine the apostles and a countless host of the faithful have shed their blood. Obey the teaching of this Church, follow her laws, make use of her help and assistance, and often raise your hands and heart to heaven to thank God for the priceless grace of belonging to this one, true Church; forget not to pray for your erring brethren, who are still outside of the Church that the Lord may lead them into her, that His promise may be fulfilled: There will be one fold and one shepherd.

                        Catholics and the Bible
Many non-Catholics do not understand the Catholic attitude towards the Bible. They foolishly believe that we are not allowed to read the Bible, or, if permitted to do so, that we are not encouraged to study the Holy Scriptures. Could you explain the real attitude of the Church towards the Old and New Testament?
Catholics are taught that the Bible is the inspired word of God. Their attitude toward Sacred Scripture is expressed in the words of the Vatican Counsel: “The Church holds these books as sacred and canonical, not because, composed by mere human industry, they were thereupon approved by her authority; nor alone because they contain revelation without error; but because, written under the inspiration of the Holy Ghost, they have God for their Author, and as such were delivered to the Church.”

This does not mean that the Catholic Church holds that the inspired human writes of Sacred Scripture received from the Holy Ghost a direct revelation of what they were to write of that they were merely passive scribes or instruments exercising a mere mechanical activity. The writers were obliged to use their own human industry to obtain information and they preserved their own peculiarities. What happened was this: the Holy Ghost, when using these human instruments, “so stirred and moved them by supernatural power to write—so stood them as they wrote—that their minds could rightly conceive only those thing and all those things which He Himself bade them conceive; only those tings that they could faithfully commit to writing and aptly express with unerring truth. Otherwise it could not be said the He was the Author of the entire Scripture” (Pope Leo XIII in his Encyclical Letter on the Study of Holy Scripture.)

While Catholics revere the Bible, they do not hold it as the only rule of Faith. The present books of the New Testament were not put together until long after the death of Christ and the Apostles. It was only at the end of the fourth century that the New Testament was accepted as we have it today. Many of the Apostles never wrote a single line. St. John wrote his Gospel toward the close of the first century. The Apostles taught and existed before any Gospel was written. Christ commanded them to teach and there is no evidence of and command to them to write. If the written word and not the teaching Church were to be our only guide would not Christ Himself have written what we must believe? Christ instituted a living Church and we believe what the Church believes and teaches. We hold that the teaching of Christ was never the religion of a book to be privately interpreted as each sees fit. It cannot be so when private interpretations are so varied and even contradictory. The multiplicity of sects and doctrines exists because many interpreted the Bible, and rejected entire books, according to their own fancy, and denied the living Church of Christ, to which thee are indebted for the preservation of the Bible.

Are Catholics allowed to read the Bible? Certainly, and they are urged to do so. The New Testament is especially recommended to be read. Catholics are warned, however, that translations must have the approval of Church authorities and must contain notes explaining obscure passages, lest we be led into error by ignorant private interpretations. We must rememberalso that certain passages of the Bible, especially of the Old Testament, are vividly realistic in their description of sin. They are not written for children. If the perusal of these passages would be an occasion of sin to any individual, he would be obliged by God’s Law not to read them. While Catholics are recommended to read the Bible, there is no obligation to do so in order to obtain salvation. Our guide to salvation is the living Church which preserved the Bible and interprets for us the word of God ass contained in Holy Scriptures and in Apostolic tradition given to the Church for our guidance unto salvation.

The oft-repeated assertion of non-Catholics that the Catholic Church “chained the Bible” in medieval times to prevent its being read is amusing to one who knows history. Bibles in those days were hand-lettered on parchment were exceedingly valuable. If the Church did not wish them to be read, they would not have been put into churches. They were chained to the reading-desks to prevent their being stolen by dishonest vagabonds. Even in our modern museums valuable reference books are today often “chained” for the same reason.
The Catholic Bible differs from the Protestant in the number of its books. In the Catholic Bible there are twenty0seven books in the New Testament and forty-six in the Old Testament, or forty-five if the prophet Baruch is included with Jeremias. The Protestant Authorized Version, also known as the King James Version, contains in its Old Testament only thirty-nine books instead of forty-six. The missing seven books were rejected by Luther, Calvin, and the so-called reformers, and were put in an inferior position in the Protestant Bible until about one hundred years ago when they were omitted altogether, despite the fact that they were found in every collection of Holy Scripture since the fourth century and were included in the list of inspired writings given by the Council of Hippo in Africa in the year 393. These seven missing books are Tobias, Baruch, Judith, Wisdom, Ecclesiasticus, First and Second Machabees, together with seven chapter of the Book of Esther and sixty-six verses of the third chapter of Daniel.

The Catholic Bible in English, known as the Douay Version, is a translation from the approved Latin Vulgate. It is superior in accuracy to the Protestant Authorized, or King James Version, though the latter is more beautiful in style and diction. The Authorized Version lacks, of course, the seven books noted above and shows here and there traces of controversial prejudice in the rendering of original texts.
                                                                          ~ Can You Explain Catholic Practices?” Imprimatur 1937 ~

                                   -THE VERSE-
Galatians 6:8 “For what a man sows, that he will also reap. For he who sows in the flesh, from the flesh also he will reap corruption. But he who sows in the spirit, from the spirit he will reap life everlasting. “
Philippians 4:8 "For the rest, brethren, whatever things are true, whatever honorable, whatever just, whatever holy, whatever lovable, whatever of good repute, if there be any virtue, if anything worthy of praise, think upon these things.”
                                  
                                    -THE BREAD-
                                    "The Stranger"
A few months before I was born, my dad met a stranger who was new to our small town. From the beginning, Dad was fascinated with this enchanting newcomer, and soon invited him to live with our family. The stranger was quickly accepted and was around to welcome me into the world a few months later.
As I grew up I never questioned his place in our family. Mom taught me to love the Word of God, and Dad taught me to obey it. But the stranger was our storyteller. He could weave the most fascinating tales. Adventures, mysteries, and comedies were daily conversations. He could hold our whole family spellbound for hours each evening. He was like a friend to the whole family. He took Dad, Bill, and me to our first major league baseball game. He was always encouraging us to see the movies and he even made arrangements to introduce us to several movie stars.
The stranger was an incessant talker. Dad didn't seem to mind, but sometimes Mom would quietly get up -- while the rest of us were enthralled with one of his stories of faraway places -- go to her room and pray. I wonder now if she ever prayed that the stranger would leave. You see my dad ruled our household with certain moral convictions.
But this stranger never felt an obligation to honor them. Profanity, for example, was not allowed in our house-not from us, from our friends, or adults. Our longtime visitor, however, used occasional four letter words that burned my ears and made Dad squirm. To my knowledge the stranger was never confronted. My Dad was a teetotaler who didn't permit alcohol in his home -- not even for cooking. But the stranger felt like we needed exposure and enlightened us to other ways of life. He offered us beer and other alcoholic beverages often. He made cigarettes look tasty, cigars manly, and pipes distinguished.
He talked freely (too much, too freely) about sex. His comments were sometimes blatant, sometimes suggestive, and generally embarrassing. I know now that my early concepts of the man/woman relationship were influenced by the stranger. As I look back, I believe it was the grace of God that the stranger did not influence us more. Time after time he opposed the values of my parents, yet he was seldom rebuked and never asked to leave.
More than thirty years have passed since the stranger moved in with the young family on Morningside Drive. But if I were to walk into my parents' den today, you would still see him sitting over in a corner, waiting for someone to listen to him talk and watch him draw his pictures. His name? We always just called him . . . . TV.
                                                                   
                                                                    -COMMENTS-
The saying, "what you reap is what you sow," is so very true. There are so many things in this world today that we can allow to influence our minds. It's hard as a Christian to be discerning, but Christ has come so that we may know the truth. Through all the ways the media affects our lives directly today, it's more than easy for them to seep their message of lies and hate into our hearts. In this story, as we read through, we think, "What kind of good Christian parent would let their child be subjected to someone who is so immoral much less bring it into their own home, yet as we read on we see that most of us if not all of us have brought this same guest into our households. Some things that they tell us are harmless and maybe even helpful, but as the years go by, it gets harder and harder to find those things. I pray that we as Christians will stand to be men, women, boys, and girls of integrity and allow only the things that are good and of God, and reap and sow in our lives.

By: Rev. Edward F. Garesche, S.J.

        You feed your body at least three times a day. But how do you feed your mind? You do feed it; and it is hungry for knowledge, information, news, all the time. You give it food by the talk to which you listen, the books, magazines, and what not, which you read, and by the deliberate or chance attention you give to the thoughts which constantly pour through your consciousness. You can choose to what talk to listen, what to read, on what thoughts to dwell, and you are so choosing, all your waking hours. Your mind takes the food you thus give it, digests it, makes it part of itself, by memory and reasoning, and brings it up to you again, sometimes against your will, and when you least expect it. Pray earnestly to God for His help, to keep your mind healthful, innocent and pure, by giving it only wholesome nourishment.
Your mind, as it is now, is the result of the food you have given it, and the use you have made of that food. If you have chosen wise and good friends, and listened to their talk; have read books and magazines and leaflets which are good, true and interesting; and have accustomed yourself to think and say things which are honest, sound and worthwhile, then you should have a well-trained, well-stocked and noble mind; and a good will, which is aided by such a mind.
        If on the other hand, you have made friends who are shallow, foolish, or bad; have read trash; or, worse, evil stuff; have dwelt on thoughts of no importance, or which are positively bad; then you have an ill-fed weak and sickly mind, and you are an unhappy person, because no one can be happy with such a mind. Fortunately, the remedy depends on yourself, for if you seek good companions, choose good reading, and turn your thoughts deliberately to what is worth while, your mind will grow by what is feeds on; and become healthy, honest, well nourished and strong. It is worth while to act on this suggestion. Your happiness depends on it.
                                                                               PRAYER
May the Holy Spirit of God, Who enlightens the minds of men, give us sense and courage to seek only good friends, read only what is worthy, and think and say what is wholesome; so may we be happy and sand in this life; and blessed forever in the Life to come; through Jesus Christ, our Lord. Amen.
                                                                                                                           ~ Imprimatur 1946 ~

The following most excellent PRAYERS are recommended to the frequent repetition of persons of all denominations and sects whatsoever, who, in sincerity of heart, wish to arrive at the knowledge of the ONE, ONLY, TRUE AND SAVING FAITH, " without which it is impossible to please God," and consequently obtain eternal happiness.

I.  O Lord, I humbly beseech thee to teach me thy true religion, that leads to everlasting happiness, through Jesus Christ thy Son, our Lord.  Amen.

II.  O Lord, I humbly beseech thee to guide me to that form of religion which is most pleasing to thee for me to follow upon earth, in order to fulfill thy will here, and obtain everlasting happiness hereafter, in the name of Jesus Christ thy Son.       Amen.

III.  Almighty and eternal God, Father of mercies, Saviour of mankind, I humbly entreat thee, by thy sovereign goodness, to enlighten my mind and touch my heart, that by true faith, hope and charity, I may live and die in  the true religion of Jesus Christ.  I am sure, that as there is but one true God, so there can be but one faith, one religion, one way of salvation, and that every other which is opposite to this, can only lead to endless misery.  It is faith, O my God! which I earnestly desire to embrace, in order to save my soul.  I protest, therefore, before thy Divine attributes, that I will follow that religion which thou shalt show me to be true; and that I will abandon, at whatever cost, that in which i shall discover error and falsehood:  I do not deserve, it is true, this favour, on account of my sins, for which I have a profound sorrow, because they offend a God so good, so great, so holy, and worthy of my love; but what I do not deserve, I hope to obtain from thy infinite mercy, and I conjure thee to grant, through the merits of the precious blood which was shed for us poor sinners, by thy only begotten Son, Jesus Christ.        Amen.