THIRTY-EIGHTH SERMON
ON THE LAST SENTENCE OF THE JUDGE ON THE CRIMINAL
Subject.
Terrible shall be the sentence of the Judge, if we consider only these few words: " Depart from Me, you cursed." Preached on Septuagesima Sunday.
Text.
"For many are called, but few chosen." (Matt. xx. 16.)
Introduction.
Fearful words to come from Infallible Truth, " Few chosen "! So that on the last day the smaller number shall be called to the kingdom of heaven? Yes. And the greater number condemned by the Judge to hell? Yes. Ah, if we blind mortals only thought of that while there is still time, that we might be inspired with a salutary fear, and so live that we may be found among the few elect! My dear brethren, we have hitherto considered the miserable state of the guilty sinner before the judgment-seat, and how he shall be summoned to judgment, questioned therein, accused, and convicted. There is still another and that a most terrible point to be considered, namely, how that summoned, questioned, accused, and convicted sinner shall be condemned by the sentence pronounced on him. This sentence shall form the matter of this and the following meditation. " Then shall He say to them also that shall be on His left hand," so we read in the twenty-fifth chapter of St. Matthew, " Depart from Me, you cursed, into everlasting fire." Ah, those words are enough to dry up the marrow of one's bones! Depart from Me, you cursed! Whereto? Into everlasting fire!
Plan of Discourse.
The first part of this sentence shall form the whole subject of today's meditation; namely, the words, Depart from Me, you cursed. Just souls, who have the good will to serve your God, be not afraid ! Let any feeling of dread that may arise in your minds only spur you on to continue in the pious lives you have been leading! Wicked Christians, who are still in the state of sin, fear and tremble, but with a salutary fear that shall bring you back again to the right path. This twofold effect is the end of our meditation.
Future Judge! God of all hearts! inspire us all with that salutary fear, through the intercession of the Mother of mercy and of our holy guardian angels.
First, let us consider the circumstances of the place in which the sentence is to be pronounced; and that is the valley of Josaphat, where shall be assembled all angels, men, and devils. When an angry father is about to inflict just punishment on a disobedient son, in order to give it more effect he calls into the room his other children as well, and gives them presents, while he permits the guilty one to go empty-handed. He means thereby to say to the latter: see, if you bad conducted yourself properly, you should have got something too; but now come here, and I will give you what you deserve. Children, remain where you are. Then he takes the rod and proceeds to execution. This punishment is far more grievous to the son than if it had been inflicted in secret; partly on account of the envy he feels at seeing his brothers presented with gifts and enjoying themselves; partly on account of the shame and disgrace of being chastised before them. Far worse and more intolerable would the punishment be if the others mocked at him mercilessly and laughed at his tears and cries. My dear brethren, this is a childish simile of the great final judgment which shall be fulfilled on the sinner on the last day. It is mere childishness compared to the anger of the Judge who will then inflict the punishment. Fatherly mildness and affection, with which the chastisement is inflicted on the son for his good, there is no place for you here! Vengeance and implacable anger shall pronounce the sentence. It is mere childishness too, compared to the bitter envy, confusion, shame, and despair with which the wicked shall hear the sentence of their condemnation, and see it actually carried into execution.
The holy Evangelist St. Matthew describes the terrible scene in order in his twenty-fifth chapter. When the whole universe, heaven and earth, and all that is in heaven, earth, and hell shall be gathered together, " then shall the king say to them that shall be on His right hand: Come, you blessed of My Father, possess you the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. Mark how He begins by bestowing the eternal re ward with which His chosen children shall rejoice. Meanwhile the wicked shall have to stand there, gnashing their teeth with rage and envy, seeing the happiness of the others which might have been theirs too had they not excluded themselves from it by the perversity of their wills. " These seeing it," says the Wise Man of them, " shall be troubled with terrible fear, and shall be amazed at the suddenness of their unexpected salvation, saying within themselves, repenting, and groaning for anguish of spirit: These are they whom we had sometime in derision, and for a parable of reproach." fools and simpletons that we were! " Behold, how they are numbered among the children of God, and their lot is among the saints," a with whom they will rejoice forever! Mark too, how the elect, after they have been invited to go into eternal happiness, shall not enter into it immediately, but shall wait till the sentence on the wicked shall be carried out. For although the just shall be the first to hear their sentence, they shall be the last on whom it will be fulfilled, as St. Matthew expressly says: " And these shall go into ever lasting punishment: but the just into life everlasting." Again a source of fearful shame for the reprobate. Who could describe the fierce anger and intolerable shame and anguish of heart that the proud Aman suffered when he was forced to see Mardochai honored by the king, while he himself had to walk on foot, leading the king's horse on which Mardochai was seated in great pomp? Who could describe the rage and fury of the same Aman, when after suffering so much shame be was brought to be hanged in the sight of the triumphant Mardochai on the very gallows he had prepared for him? But what is it all compared to the shame, confusion, and despair of the damned, when they shall be forced to look on the last day at the chosen servants of God seated in glory, and to tremble and shudder at the feet of those whom they scarcely deigned to cast a glance on during life, while they themselves shall be dragged by the demons to hell?
In those circumstances then the divine Judge shall open His mouth, and with a loud voice call out the sentence; He will no longer be meek and gentle as a lamb, but rather like a ravening lion, so that the whole earth shall tremble at the sound of His voice, as the Prophet David says: " At the voice of Your thunder they shall fear." And what shall that sentence be? " Depart from Me, you cursed." Let us consider the full import of these terrible words. "Depart from Me:" to understand this, it is enough to know what it is to be separated from God forever. But alas! who can tell us what that is? A saint who actually sees God and knows Him clearly should come down from heaven to enlighten us on the point, and even then we should fail to grasp it fully. We may get a slight idea of it from the state of mind of Absalom, that disobedient, obstinate, undutiful son, who was banished by his father, but recalled and restored to favor through the intercession of Joab, under the condition, however, that he should never dare to present himself before his father, nor even to look at him: "But the king said: Let him return into his house, and let him not see my face." This condition seemed too hard and intolerable to the son. He saw how the courtiers, ministers, and attendants, how citizens and strangers, and even the poor and oppressed were freely admitted to the king's presence, while he himself dared not venture too near even to his father's chamber. No longer able to bear this reproach, he entreated Joab, saying: " I beseech you. therefore, that I may see the face of the king; " if that may not be, I have no longer any wish to live, and you may tell him that he can have me put to death: "If he be mindful of my iniquity, let him kill me." We may get an idea of it from Syllanus, the son of Manlius Torquatus, of whom Valerius Maximus writes that his father pronounced this sentence on him on account of a crime he had committed: " I declare my son unworthy to be in my house, and I command him to go far away at once out of my sight." The son was so afflicted at this that the next night he laid violent hands on himself, and hanged himself. We may get some idea of it from those soldiers of Alexander who, on account of a tumult they had made in camp, had to hear these words from their king: " Away with you at once out of the sight of Alexander." This sentence smote them like a thunder bolt, so that they laid aside their arms and tried to hide them selves for fear in caverns. We may get some idea of it from Turannius, the minister of Caesar, who, as Seneca writes, being deposed from his office, threw himself on his bed and ordered his family to mourn him as dead. Now if these men were so oppressed with sorrow at a sentence that banished them from the sight of an earthly father, general, and emperor, that they preferred death to banishment, what must it be to be separated and excluded forever from the house of God, from the inheritance of God, from the sight of God, from that God who said to Moses: " I will show you all good;" from that God in whose possession we shall find everything that is desirable, everything that can rejoice and make us happy, and who is moreover in Himself the only true, supreme, most beautiful, and infinite Good, to be separated from whom is nothing less than to be separated from all that is good?
O poor, blind mortals that we are, who so little understand this while here on earth! Our mind is now bewildered and darkened by all sorts of evil inclinations; our appetites are excited by worldly goods and the outward beauty that we behold with the senses; we have never seen God except by the faith darkly; hence what wonder is it that we long so little for the possession of Him, that we feel so little regret at losing Him! What wonder is it that we are so little affected by the threat of being deprived of Him, that we are so callous and undisturbed at the thought of the judgment that awaits us! But, unhappy sinner, how will it be with you when you learn clearly in eternity what God is, and at the same time must hear that you are banished from His sight forever? To be deprived of a good with whose value one is not acquainted is tolerable enough, but to be banished, and that for ever, from a Good that one has before his eyes, and knows to be his only happiness, oh, what a bitter parting that is! Painful it is to be deprived even of the smallest thing to which we have a claim, and which belongs to us. The orphan does not feel any pang at not being allowed to deal with his own property as he wills, for he knows that while he is in a state of pupilage that right does not belong to him. But suppose he has reached the age appointed by law which frees him from the guardianship of others, would he not become angry and indignant if any one tried to interfere with his right to deal with his own property as he wills, or if an attempt was made to deprive him of it unjustly? The soul while enclosed in the body is like the young ward, for as long as it is in that state it has no right nor title to see God in heaven; but when it is freed from the trammels of the body and the bonds of life are loosed, oh, what pain, anger, and rage that soul will experience when it sees itself not only hindered from possessing the eternal Good, but also banished, driven away, rejected in such a manner that for all eternity it will never be possible for it to approach that sovereign Good! Unhappy sinner! I say again, how will it be with you when on that day the glory of the children of God, the joys of heaven will be shown to you, and you at the same time will have to hear what God said to Moses after having shown him the promised land from afar: " You shalt not pass over to it;" that is not for you; it might have been yours had you wished, but now you can never get there? How will it be with you when you see your God, but at the same time hear from Him the words, " You shalt have no part with Me "? How that terrible sentence will thunder in your ears: " Depart from Me"!
What! you will say, from You, my God? From You, my Painful only End ? From You, the Author of my being, and my Repose ? From You, my Father? From You, my Brother? From Thee, my Saviour? From Thee, my sovereign Good? Yes; from Me! Away with you! Depart from Me! Alas! must I go away from Thee? Was I not created to possess You forever; and must I now consider myself as incapable of enjoying the supreme Good ? If I had not such a clear knowledge of You, and knew not Your worth, I should not feel so much pain at being deprived of You; and if the separation lasted only for a time I could and should easily find some consolation. But now thou art my God, and You have been offered to me as my portion and inheritance; and yet I have to go from You! Now thou art my God, whose worth I see only too clearly; and I have to be separated from You! Now thou art my God, my sovereign and only Good, and I have lost You forever! And is there no hope of m ever seeing You again? No; not the slightest hope. Depart from Me, along with the whole rabble of accursed ones ! Because I called, and you refused." I wished to have you with Me in heaven, but you did not wish to come. I became Man for you, shed My blood, gave up My life for your salvation, but you have made no use of My goodness. For years and years I have had patience with you while you were in the state of sin; I have offered you the benefit of My merits, of My Passion in the holy sacrament of penance, "and you refused." You did not wish to acknowledge or love Me as your God; you have offered incense to other deities; you have adored the world and its vanities; I had to yield in your choice to a transitory gain, a filthy pleasure, a breath of honor, a mere mortal! My cross was a scandal to you; My poverty and humility too mean for you; My life and the laws of My Gospel only provoked your laughter; heaven was in your estimation not worth striving for. Away with you, then! what keeps you here? Let those enjoy My glory in heaven who have striven as they ought to gain it, Depart from Me! out of My sight, My kingdom, My inheritance, the society of My beloved children! Never for all eternity shall you have any part with them!
Depart from Me, you cursed! Another thunderbolt, my dear brethren. You are accursed by Me, who purchased a blessing for you; accursed by the blood I shed for you, which cried out for mercy and pardon; accursed by My death, which was offered to gain eternal life for you; accursed by My heavenly Father, who had prepared a kingdom for you; accursed by the Holy Ghost, who wished to sanctify yon; accursed by My Mother, through whom so many sinners have found salvation; accursed by My angels, who were appointed to guard you; accursed by all My saints, who went before you with their good example; accursed by all creatures, who cry out for vengeance on you; ac cursed in your souls, which were subjected to the flesh; in your bodies, which -you petted so much and adorned so extravagantly to the scandal of others; accursed in your mind, your will, and all your outward senses; accursed in yourselves, accursed in your companions! You have loved the curse; it shall be with you for ever! Depart from Me, you cursed! Away, you demons, with those who belong to you; I know then, no more!
Ye heavens! is there no mercy then? Is there no one to show the least pity for. those so miserably banished and condemned souls? No; not one! Angers, saints, the Mother of God; even parents, children, friends, relations among the elect, will all with biting laughter and exultant triumph cry out with one voice: Depart, you cursed! Away! To hell with you! So shall the father among the elect cry out to his reprobate child: Away with you, accursed son! So will children cry out with scorn and contempt to their parents: Away with you, accursed father and mother! So will the husband cry out to his wife; the wife to her husband; one friend and acquaintance to another: Depart, you cursed! Away with you to the depths of hell!
Thus abandoned by all, rejected, and banished, what will the unhappy ones have to do? asks St. Ephrem. What else but with despairing cries to take leave forever of all the just, of God, of heaven and earth? Farewell, all ye just souls, we cannot have any part with you! Farewell, angels and heavenly spirits, you have left us! Farewell, you apostles, martyrs, confessors, virgins; we shall not see you any more for all eternity. Farewell, beautiful heaven, paradise of pleasure! you were created for us, and we in order to possess you; and now we have lost you forever! Fare well to you also, Mary, the Mother of God! Alas, we are shut out from the eyes of your motherly love for all eternity! Beautiful sunlight, farewell; you wilt never shine more for us; our dwelling is in everlasting darkness! Good-bye, earth, we are not worthy of you; swallow us down into your deepest abyss! Fare well, God, and with You all that is good ! Our dwelling must be among the demons in hell! We were created by You, God, called by You, enlightened by You, supported by You, often fed with Your own flesh and blood, preserved by You to the very end of our lives for no other purpose but to bless You in the eternal joys of heaven with Your chosen children; but henceforth You shalt be the object of our fierce hatred, of our eternal cursing and imprecations! Amidst these despairing cries the valley of Josaphat will at length be cleft asunder, and swallow up the unhappy wretches like so many rabid dogs, and their memory will not remain any more.
Christians, what are our thoughts now? Does not our hair stand on end with terror? my dear brother, writes St. Augustine to a certain person, dearest brethren, I say now: "is out flesh of iron that it does not tremble?" Are our hearts marble that they do not become soft? Is our spirit sunk in such a deep sleep that it refuses to awaken even at the terrible voice of the angry Judge: Depart from Me, you cursed? Ah, fear; fear by all means, but fear no one except that just Judge who alone has the power of passing such a terrible sentence on us! Fear, but fear nothing except sin, for it alone can bring down that sentence on us! Fear, but not with an empty fear, that remains only in the imagination, and leaves the mind anxious and dispirited. Fear with an effectual fear that strides on to action, repressing our evil inclinations, withdrawing our hearts from the world and its vanities, confining us always with in the bounds of the divine and Gospel laws! If we know that we are free from sin, or even if we have committed all the sins in the world, but our conscience gives us testimony that we have repented of them sincerely, confessed them candidly, and amended our lives, and if moreover we have the earnest will never again to offend God deliberately, and always to do His holy will as well as we know how: then we can and shall always rejoice in the Lord that we have not to fear that terrible sentence; a sentence that the divine goodness and mercy often suggests to us, now while there is still time, as a subject of meditation to in spire us with a wholesome child-like fear, that we may resolve to be true to Him always, and with this resolution to enjoy even in this life a foretaste of the happiness to which we shall be called with His chosen children by the divine Judge on that day.
Meanwhile, my dear brethren, of all the reprobates who are now in hell, how many think you are there who during: life heard in sermons, or read in spiritual books, and that too with fear and trembling, of the last judgment and the terrible sentence on the wicked? How many of those here present (ah, I sincerely hope that may not be the case! ) who are now filled with fear at the thought of that terrible sentence, and who will nevertheless on the last day be among the unhappy wretches on the left hand of the Judge, so that they will hear that sentence thundered forth against themselves? Why is this? It comes from the fact (and the same may be said of other truths too) that after they have been for some time disturbed in mind by what they have heard, after having considered in a cursory manner what a reasonable man should do to avoid such an irreparable calamity, they forget those good thoughts in a short time, drive them out of their minds, and go on in their usual vicious, tepid, idle, vain, and therefore as far as their salvation is concerned, most dangerous way of life. This is chiefly the case with those who, that they may not become melancholy, as they term it, deliberately avoid all reflection on such salutary and terrible truths, and lest they should be forced to face them, wilfully absent themselves from sermons. Ah, my dear Christians, I augur something better for you!
But you, sinners, who are not yet earnestly resolved to renounce your vicious ways and to return to God by sincere repentance, fear! tremble! Bewail and lament your folly, the hardness and blindness of your hearts! Is it then your determination for such a wretched thing, for a momentary carnal pleasure, for some trifling gain, for the sake of being revenged on your enemy, to satisfy your vanity, or for the love of a mortal creature is it your determination to hear one day the terrible words: Depart from Me, you cursed? Ah, souls, I beg of you by the precious blood of Jesus Christ, which still cries out to heaven for mercy; by the tears that the ever-blessed Virgin Mary, the Refuge of sinners, the Mother of mercy, has shed for you, enter into your selves, and return to your God, most worthy of love, who now sincerely desires not your damnation, but your eternal happiness! I assure you that even I, willing as I am to help you to get to heaven, even I on that dreadful day shall have to appear against you before the divine tribunal, and in the presence of my Judge and yours to cry out before all creatures: I have warned you in the words with which God inspired me at the time, telling me to speak to your hearts in His name, and you have paid no attention; you have heard and understood the truth explained to you, but you became no better. If you will not be influenced by what I say to you now, then hear the words that God your future Judge says to you by the Prophet Jeremias: " I am weary of entreating thee." I have worked hard for your salvation: "Thou have forsaken Me, says the Lord; thou art gone backward and I will stretch out My hand against you, and I will destroy you." a I have begged of you to repent and abstain from sin, but My en treaties were in vain; now I shall lift up My hand against you, and pronounce on you the sentence of eternal damnation.
Ah, merciful God, refrain! I cannot and will not bear to hear that terrible sentence! I confess before heaven and earth that I have richly deserved reprobation by my sinful life; but hoping and trusting in Your endless mercy, which still speaks for me, I sigh forth with a contrite heart in the words of Your penitent servant Augustine: " Lord, although I have done that for which You canst condemn me, You have not lost that by which thou art wont to save." Only grant me time and grace for true repentance; I will bewail all my past sins with sincere contrition, and candidly confess them to the priest. I now execrate and detest them above every other evil, because they have of fended and insulted You, God, most worthy of love! From this moment my firm resolution is (and I take the angels and elect as witnesses thereof) always to live according to Your law and the maxims of Your holy Gospel; You alone shall I love in future with my whole heart,, and then I shall be able to say with more right and confidence: "When You shall come to judge, do not condemn me!" Then I shall comfort myself with the hope of a better sentence, and expect to hear with Your elect to my great joy and exultation the blessed invitation: " Come, you blessed of My Father, possess you the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world;" enter into the joy of your Lord. Amen.
Another introduction to the same sermon for the first Sunday of Advent.
Text.
"Men withering away for fear." (Luke xxi. 26.)
Introduction.
Terrible shall be the day of general judgment. The expectation, no, the bare thought of it should fill men with dread if their consciences are not in a good state. Then they shall see the Son of man coming in a cloud with great power and majesty." A terrible day in all its circumstances! Terrible when we consider the Person of the Judge, who shall be the all-knowing and just God, a Man like to us, our Redeemer, the Pattern of our lives! Terrible when we consider the poor sinner who shall be summoned to this judgment, accused, examined, and convicted therein; as we have seen already in eight sermons. There is still one point, and that a most terrible one, namely, how the sinner, summoned, examined, accused, and convicted, shall have the sentence of condemnation pronounced on him, etc. Continues as above.
END OF THE FIRST VOLUME.