The young man's guide/Part 1: The Sword of Respect for Authority
The Sword of Respect for Authority
XXIX. A Glance at Nazareth
1. Direct your glance to Nazareth my youthful reader, and their contemplate the holy family. See what a splendid example of obedience the diving Redeemer gives to all and to young people more especially. Of Him, the incarnate Son of God, it is said in Holy Scripture: "Jesus was subject to them." " He advanced in wisdom and age and grace, with God and men." "He advanced in age," in this respect it was with the God-Man the same as it is with us ordinary mortals; He continually grew older.
On the contrary, the expression, "He advanced in wisdom and grace," is not to be understood in a purely human sense. Jesus Christ was, as the God-Man, ever full of wisdom and grace, He could not advance in them; but He showed it more and more plainly; He allowed it to appear more and more openly that He was full of wisdom and grace. At present, however, I desire to impress upon your memory these words: "He was subject to them. " Thereby Jesus became the model of respect for authority, or of the virtue of obedience.
2. Jesus Christ, as the eternal Son of God, was Himself authority personified, yet "He was subject." And to whom was He subject? To a human authority — "to creatures. And ought man, a poor, miserable creature, instigated by pride and a false notion of liberty, refuse to acknowledge the authority set over him by his Creator!
3. Respect and obey authority as God wills that you should do. Obedience is a virtue, an exceedingly precious virtue, and St. Augustine terms it "The mother and root of all virtues"; or, as St. Bonaventure terms it, "A ship which carries one safe to heaven." Obedience, respect for authority, is for all men a most necessary virtue, and for every young man more especially; for obedience is order, and order must exist wherever God rules and reigns. Disobedience, the offspring of pride, kindled the flames of hell, and peoples its awful realms. Hence St. Bernard says: "Take away self-will, and hell would cease to exist."
4. Therefore, continue constantly to practise obedience, in imitation of the glorious example set you by the incarnate Son of God during His sojourn in the holy house of Nazareth. It may sometimes be difficult, when pride, obstinacy, or self-will strives to gain the upper hand. But it is all the more necessary that you should now learn to bow your head, and accustom yourself to obey; for at a later period you will find it still more difficult, perhaps even impossible.
But mark this well: your subjection to authority ought not to be the result of stern compulsion, but a Christian virtue. This obedience springs from humility; faith sanctifies it and love lightens its yoke. Only this Christian obedience, obedience for the love of God, can keep its ground under all circumstances, and throughout your whole life.
5. In an age when respect for both divine and human authority appears to be fast vanishing from the face of the earth, the example of childlike veneration for parents, which was set by a man at the time when he was in high authority, when he was the President of the French Republic, deserves to be mentioned here. I refer to M. Loubet. It is touching to read of the respect and affection with which he clung to his good, simple, old mother.
It was everywhere noticed with approbation that, on the occasion of a visit to Montelimar, he could not be induced to be present at an official reception, to be succeeded by a grand banquet. He preferred to remain at the home of his mother, surrounded by a few relatives and intimate friends. He loved his good old mother with a most tender devotion, and publicly as well as privately showed her every mark of filial love and reverence. This conduct gained him honor in the eyes of all, and the newspapers spoke of it in terms of the highest praise.
Yet why should we look to men for an example of the manner in which the fourth commandment ought to be kept, when the Son of God Himself, in the holy house at Nazareth, furnished the mos: splendid example of this to young people in all ages. Look at this example, strive to copy it, when you find it difficult to obey.
By the recognition of authority, and by submission to it, the world would become a paradise. Do all* that lies in your power, and remember the great reward which is promised to him who obeys: "An obedient man shall speak of victory" (Prov. xxi. 28).
To Nazareth go, and thou wilt mirrored see What thy obedience ought, my son, to be.
XXX. Honor thy Father and thy Mother
1. OF WHAT continual sacrifices is parental love capable! What is it which turns the hair of the father of a family prematurely gray, what imprints wrinkles on his brow, what causes the once vigorous and stalwart frame to be bent and broken before its time? It is the wearing care and anxiety for the temporal happiness and well-being of his beloved children.
Then ask your mother what cruel anguish she endured for your sake, how many hours she watched beside your cradle, how muck anxiety she has felt on your account? Truly. "New every morning is the love, a tender mothers heart can prove!"
2. Maternal love! Eight years ago a cadet seventeen years of age, from the military school at Vienna, slipped from the Traunstein in so unfortunate a manner that he fell into the lake of Gemunden, which lies directly beneath, and there found a watery grave. Every effort to recover the body proved to be without result. Year by year, on All Souls' Day, a lady bowed down with grief, arrives at Gemunden. She is the mother of the poor drowned lad, and she causes herself to be rowed out into the middle of the lake, to the spot where the waters swallowed up her darling son. There, as a token of her unchanging affection, she drops into the lake a splendid wreath, composed of the choicest flowers.
Honor your father and mother; honor them by invariably speaking in a respectful manner to them and of them; by never allowing an insolent or unbecoming expression to pass your lips in regard to them, and by never permitting yourself to make any natural or moral imperfections they may chance to possess, the subject of a jest.
Let your whole external demeanor give evidence of your respect for your father and mother. Even if clouds obscure the sun, I mean if real and manifest faults on the part of your parents lessen the brightness of their dignity, search for, and behold the sun through the clouds; namely, in spite of your parents' failings, remember their position of authority. God did not say in the fourth commandment: "Honor a good father, a good mother," but simply: "Honor thy father and thy mother."
3. In the preceding chapter I quoted an example of childlike respect for parents which was afforded by an official in a very high position. I will now give you another example.
The Blessed Thomas More, the chancellor of England, and consequently the highest personage in the realm after the king, kept his aged father always with him in his own house, and invariably gave him the place of honor. Nor did he ever go from home in order to attend to the business of the State without first asking on his knees for his father's blessing, and kissing the old man's hand.
4. Again I say, love your father and mother, honor them both in heart and deed. Prove your dutiful affection by never causing grief to your parents, but by being always to them a source of satisfaction. Imitate in this way the youthful Tobias, who was called by his aged parents, "The light of our eyes, the staff of our old age, the comfort of our life, the hope of our posterity."
Show your filial love, especially by supporting your parents with the most tender devotedness and the utmost generosity in sickness and old age.
5. Give proof of your filial affection also by praying daily and fervently for your parents.
Truly the prayer of a good son for his father and mother is certain to pierce the clouds and gain a hearing, exercising, as it does, a holy compulsion in regard to God.
6. Once more I admonish you, obey your parents; remember how Jesus Himself was subject to Mary and Joseph until He was thirty years of age. He obeyed them 1 How shameful it is to hear lads who are fifteen, seventeen, or twenty years of age say: "I am no longer a child, it is time to cast off leading strings!" Alas! alas! "I am no longer a child" — such a one is too entirely right! He is no longer a child of God, a child according to the sacred Heart of Jesus, but a child of pride. My dear young man, even should you have attained the age of twenty or thirty years, preserve and give proof of a real childlike affection for your father and mother.
And if perchance your parents sleep in "God's Acre," the best way to remember and to honor them will be to lead an upright and honorable life. If ever in a distant land, amid suffering and affliction and a hard struggle for existence, you miss the kind parents who have been long sleeping in the grave remember that even then you are not an orphan. Has not Christ Himself taught us to pray: Our Father, Who art in heaven?
In this world the sons of men
Are beloved by parents twain;
God is one alone, yet when
Parents forsake, He will remain
XXXI. The Pledge of Blessing
I. AS a young man, enjoying life, you be hold the future spread out before you clad in roseate hues. "What you ardently desire for yourself and what your parents and spiritual directors desire for you from the bottom of their hearts, is that good fortune, happiness, and well-being may perpetually encompass your path. But will these wishes be accomplished, will the sun of prosperity perpetually shine upon you, will the blessing of God accompany you in all your ways? What a joy it would be for you, could all these questions be answered in the affirmative, and a pledge, a surety be given you for all this!
Well, it is possible for you to enjoy this satisfaction! God himself has given you, in the fourth commandment, a certain pledge of happiness and blessing. "Honor thy father and mother as the Lord thy God hath commanded thee, that thou mayest live a long time, and it may be well with thee in the land, which the Lord thy God will give thee" (Deut. v. 16).
God has pledged His word clearly and decidedly that He would bless and prosper those who honor their parents.
2. And numerous examples from history con. firm that God has faithfully kept the promise He so solemnly gave. Think of Sem and Japheth, the dutiful sons of Noe, who received the blessing of God through the mouth of their father. Think of young Tobias, who was a model son, the solace and the joy of his aged parents. How abundantly was he blessed. He attained the age of ninety-nine years, living in the fear of the Lord, and he was privileged to see the descendants of his sons to the fifth generation.
And think of Joseph, who was his father's favorite because he was a model son — good and kind, respectful and obedient.
In hew striking and remarkable a manner did the providence of God pour richest blessings upon his head. He had great delight in his children and grandchildren, he lived to the age of one hundred and ten years, and died at length a quiet and peaceful death. It went well with him, and he lived long upon the earth. His trials and troubles, too, were the gift of God; they were blessings in disguise.
3. And if God grants His protection and blessing to good sons here upon earth, how rich is the reward which awaits them in eternity! When, after a long and peaceful life, these good sons, these dutiful children who have so faithfully kept the fourth commandment, lie upon their death-bed, they may, as they pass in review the whole of their long sojourn upon earth, discover many faults and failings, or even grievous sins, but amid the darkness one bright star shines forth to cheer and comfort them. It is the thought that they always honored their parents, and were ever to them a cause of joy, and never of sorrow.
4. Now they are standing before the Eternal Judge. He looks graciously upon them, for His all-seeing eye discerns in them a resemblance to Himself, since they were obedient to their parents as He was during His life upon earth. He needs no further testimony, but He calls their parents as if to receive a triumphal reception, and invites them to witness the reward bestowed upon their good children in the sight of the whole world.
Then He says to these dutiful children "What you did to your parents, you did to Me. Come, ye blessed of my Father, possess ye the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world." But who can depict the indescribable glory and blessedness of that kingdom I Therefore honor your father and mother, in order that you may be a partaker of the eternal joys of heaven.
Remember the warning words of the Holy Spirit : " Son, support the old age of thy father, and grieve him not in his life. Forget not the groanings of thy mother" (Ecclus. iii. 14; vii. 29).
Honor and love your father and mother,
Cherish them as you cherish no other,
So shall God's blessing surely attend
Your path of life to its very end.
XXXII. The Ambassadors of Christ
1. EVEN under the old covenant, namely in the Book of Ecclesiasicus, the Holy Ghost thus exhorts us: "With all thy soul fear the Lord, and reverence His priests" (Ecclus. vii. 31). It is said expressly, His priests; and if this was said in regard to the priests of the old covenant, how much more does it apply to the priests of the new covenant, to the priests of the Catholic Church.
For indeed, these are the ambassadors of Christ to men, the instruments which He employs, in order to bestow the greatest benefits upon us. On the threshold of our life, at its earliest commencement, He sends the priest, in order that, by means of holy Baptism, heaven may be opened to us, and we may be made sons of God, and fellow-heirs of Jesus Christ. He sends the priest, in order that he may instruct us in the truths of the faith, and in the way of salvation, may guide us in the paths of virtue and piety, and prepare us for the worthy reception of the holy sacraments of Penance and of the Altar. Again, He sends the priest, in order that he may be our faithful counselor and sincere friend. He sends the priest when our hearts are bowed with sorrow and when despair threatens to overwhelm us, in order that he may be to us a loving father, and may pour into our wounds the oil and wine of salutary exhortations and divine consolations, and heal us by means of the sacrament of Penance.
2. Furthermore, God will send the priest when we are overtaken by sickness, even if our relatives desert us. He will send him, in order to help us to save our souls, even if by so doing he were to risk his own life. He will send the priest in order that he may assist us in our last conflict, and bring us pardon in the sacrament of Penance, and give us the food of our souls in the Holy Viaticum, courage and strength in Extreme Unction.
Even after we have breathed our last, God will send the priest, in order that he may pray for us and offer the Holy Sacrifice in our behalf, and thus cause our soul to be delivered all the sooner from the fire of purgatory.
Wherefore thank God, dear reader, for all these great benefits, and reverence His priests — His ambassadors, by whom He sends His gifts.
3. But non-Catholics and even unreasonable and evil-minded Catholics are often heard to say: "It would be quite right to reverence priests if all priests were worthy ambassadors and instruments of God." Some malicious persons are guilty of a most abominable injustice, in that they lay the open sins and failings of individual priests as a burden upon the shoulders of the whole class and dare to make the infamous remark : "They are all alike! " " They are all of the same cloth!" It is true that God permits unworthy members to be found in every class, members who disgrace the body to which they belong; and in this respect He makes the priesthood no exception. On this account our most holy Redeemer, the Son of God Himself, tolerated a Judas among His apostles, although they were but twelve in number. Thus there were at a subsequent period, and there will ever continue to be, traitors among priests. This must be admitted, however, that, despite the many temptations and dangers to which priests are exposed in the world, there are but few — very few — who are not true to their high calling.
4. "They are all alike!" What a shameful slander! When in a community one or another exceptionally vicious individual is found who makes acquaintance with the house of correction, do we on that account condemn the rest and exclaim: "They are all alike!" Would not this be a gross and true piece of injustice?
And tell me, if a rich man were to make you a present of a thousand gold coins, all perfectly genuine, with the exception of a few counterfeit and useless pieces, should you on this account despise, abuse, and reject the whole amount? You are doubtless saying to yourself: "No, I should certainly not be such a fool."
Or suppose you have one autumn an apple tree in your orchard loaded with splendid fruit. Because you espy here and there a few rotten, worm-eaten apples, should you, on this account, consider the tree to be worthless, useless, and only fit to be cut down?
5. The priesthood is a gift which God Himself has bestowed upon mankind; a gift, the value of which can be compared to nothing upon earth, the usefulness of which is illimitable. Can we, ought we, to lightly esteem, or ever despise the priesthood, because here and there it may be found to contain an unworthy member?
The priesthood is indeed for us a magnificent fruit tree, the blessings of which are simply immeasurable. Can we, ought we. calmly to listen and look on, when this tree is reviled, because here and there a rotten fruit is found upon it? Is it on this account to be regarded as worthless or even injurious?
6. When some years ago cholera broke out in Catania, a beautiful town of Sicily, and every one who could possibly do so fled from the plague-stricken place, the priests, with heroic courage, remained at their post in order to bring aid and consolation to the sick and dying. And as they acted, so have all good and worthy priests of the Catholic Church ever acted, from time immemorial, in similar seasons of suffering, sorrow, and want; thus they proved themselves to be in very deed worthy ambassadors of Christ to suffering humanity.
Revere the priest whom God doth send
To be thy wise, thy faithful friend;
To guide thy footsteps on the way
Which leads to realms of endless day
XXXIII. The Dutiful Child of the Church
I. A DISTINGUISHING characteristic of a virtuous young man, and one which makes him universally respected, is the honor, love, and obedience he shows his mother. You, however, have three mothers: your earthly mother; your heavenly mother, the Blessed Virgin Mary; and your spiritual mother, the Holy Catholic Church. And how good, how careful a mother is this last! Reflect upon this thought for a few moments, and lay it well to heart. Thus will you love and honor this mother in an ever-increasing degree, and render her a more exact and willing obedience.
2. If you owe honor, love, and obedience to your earthly mother, how much more to your spiritual mother, the Holy Catholic Church 1 Bear constantly in mind the words of Jesus: "He that heareth you, heareth me." As a good Catholic, true to your convictions, you will never speak in a disrespectful manner of the Church, her doctrines, her services, her ceremonies, or her priests. You will never listen complacently when such conversation is carried on, but, on the contrary, strive to prevent conversation of this nature as far as you are able. Also you will not take in or read books and newspapers which show themselves to be either unsympathetic toward your mother, or openly hostile in regard to her.
3. You must also love the Church, and rejoice in her prosperity and promote her interests as far as it lies in your power to do so. You must understand that any one who looks on with toleration or indifference when his mother the Church, the Pope, bishops, and priests are persecuted can have in his heart no childlike love for his mother, and can not possibly be a good Catholic.
4. As a good Catholic you must, before all things, give proof of the respect and love you feel for the Church by carefully obeying her commands and conforming to her decrees. For how could a son be said to love and honor his mother, were he to show himself indocile in regard to her, and heedless of her commands?
In the same way judge for yourself whether he can really be a good Catholic who says : " I am a Catholic and will remain one; but it is net necessary to bother about Pope, bishops, or priests." Or is he a good Catholic who, on the slightest pretext, neglects to hear Mass on Sundays and holy-days, who scarcely ever goes to hear a sermon, and who, when Easter approaches, has to be driven to the confessional? Do you imagine that such people as these in the depth of their heart regard themselves as good Catholics?
5. There is another highly important thing which you must and will do, if you are a truly good Catholic; you will and must give honor and pleasure to your mother the Church by your good conduct — by an upright life. On this point the words of Jesus are eminently applicable; "Not every one that saith to Me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doth the will of My Father who is in heaven, he shall enter into the kingdom of heaven" (Matt. vii. 21). Not every one who speaks eloquently for the Catholic cause and appears zealous on its behalf is on this account a good Catholic; but he only who unites to this zeal a good life, a thoroughly upright life. Mark this well!
Those members of the Catholic Church who live in mortal sin, for instance, in sins of intemperance, enmity, or impurity; Catholics who do not give up improper connections, and do not seek to avoid occasions of sin, who steal and cheat, are dead members of the mystical body of Christ, and do but dishonor Him, and put Him to shame.
If, however, such persons show at least a certain regard for the Church and speak well of her ministers, and never assume a hostile position in regard to her, but on the contrary defend her, in short, although they are grievous sinners, but not as much from malice as from human weakness, they are yet better than those merely nominal Catholics, who unite to a sinful life contempt for the commands of the Church and hatred for her priests. For the former sin grievously in one respect, the latter in a double sense, according to the words of Our Lord Himself: "If he will not hear the Church, let him be as the heathen and publican" (Matt, xviii. 17).
6. Wherefore be and remain a good, pious Catholic, true to your convictions, a Catholic who honors and loves his Church, obeys her, and rejoices her by leading a truly Christian life. For it is, and must remain true, that a Catholic who does not honor and love his Church, but refuses to obey her, is not acknowledged by God to be His child. This opinion was expressed 1600 years ago by the Bishop, Doctor of the Church, and martyr St. Cyprian in the beautiful words: "He who will not have the Church for his mother, can not have God for his father." Therefore see that you are a faithful, dutiful son of this good, solicitous mother.
Hail Church of our God, most holy and pure,
On the rock of St. Peter thou standest secure;
Sweet Mother of Saints, soon may it be told
All nations are gathered into thy fold.
XXXIV. Diluted Catholicism
I. EVEN in everyday life there is nothing so distasteful to sensible and upright people as the duplicity of a man who says one thing, while he means and does another. Here he speaks in one way, there in exactly the opposite; he desires to offend no party, but holds with both sides, his chief object being to gain money and favor. These are mean fellows without any force of character, who, when no more use can be made of them, are universally despised and cast aside. Therefore, even by the sages of old this saying held good: Be true to yourself in thought, deed, and word! Whatever you claim to be, that you ought to be in all fearlessness! Drop all pretense! Dare to be true to your convictions. What does Polonius say, in "Hamlet":
"To thine own self be true, And it must follow, as the night the day, Thou canst not then be false to any man."
2. This axiom should be laid to heart by many a Christian man, be he young or old, who was baptized a Catholic and holds Catholic opinions, but in his words and actions, in what he does and leaves undone, gives evidence that his is a diluted Catholicism; especially by fawning upon such enemies of the Church who can promote his temporal interest, and by ranging himself on their side where important ecclesiastical questions are concerned.
Certainly in this case the admonition holds good : Be true to yourself in thought, word, and deed. You desire to be a Catholic Christian; very well, but do not be half a one; do not think in one way, and act in another; do not conduct yourself here after one fashion, and there after another; in church like a good Catholic, and in daily life like an apostate; turning about like a weathercock, speaking and behaving in a manner which will please certain persons. Away with this diluted Catholicism, this half-heartedness and miserable sycophancy! Christ has said: "No man can serve two masters ... He that is not with Me is against Me " (Mali. vi. 24; xii. 30). There is no alternative, no neutrality is possible!
3. It always seems to me that a Catholic Christian who really knows his holy Church, and is aware what a treasure he possesses in her, ought to find it difficult, nay impossible, to kick against the goad of his own convictions, and to speak and act contrary to his belief: and yet the number of stanch, loyal outspoken Catholics, true to their convictions, is constantly diminishing, and that of effeminate, sycophantic waverers is ever on the increase!
These waverers, these men who lack force of character, whose hearts are charged with diluted Catholicism, know and believe, and by listening to sermons and religious instructions can completely convince themselves, that the Catholic Church is divine in her origin, holy in her founder, infallible in her doctrines, apostolic in her organization, glorious and wonderful in her saints. Yes, it is true that they know and believe all this. But at the first opportunity, whatever society they may be in, when enemies of the Church mock at and blaspheme this very same Church, her ministers, her precepts, her ceremonies, and her organization, these half-hearted Catholics are silent, and utter no word of defense for their mother; but on the contrary, they perhaps applaud the billingsgate of her adversaries, and even let their own tongues loose against her in vituperation.
4. Moreover, there are Catholics who believe and know full well that our Holy Catholic Church is the only true Church of Jesus Christ upon earth; and yet they concern themselves very little or not at all as to whether this Church possesses freedom of action and can spread herself everywhere in order to effect the salvation of mankind, or whether she is persecuted and regarded with hostility, and impeded in her sacred vocation, in consequence of which infidelity creeps in everywhere, gradually gains a firm footing, and carries on its seductive, destructive work.
Truly these oscillatory, these unprincipled and cowardly individuals possess only a diluted Catholicism; they are called Catholics, but the name of Catholic sounds in their case only like a nickname.
5. To all these undecided, half-hearted Catholics may be fitly applied the words of the prophet Elias: "How long do you halt between two sides? If the Lord be God, follow Him, but if Baal, then follow him." O ye Christians, how long do you halt between two sides, between the side of your Church and the side of her enemies? If in your hearts you are really Catholic Christians, speak and act as such on every occasion, and in every society.
6. We live in an age when decision is necessary, when half-heartedness can no more be tolerated in any struggle, whether in matters of religion, or in any other domain. A very momentous time is before us, a period when the civilized world will divide itself more and more into two opposite camps.
"Either for Christ or against Christ," such is the watchword, the rallying cry! It behooves us to take a firm stand under the banner of Christ. ' The future belongs only to resolute, whole-hearted men! Be a man;
a dauntless, whole-hearted Catholic. O sailor, tempest-tossed on life's rough tide,
Seek Peter's bark and gladly there abide;
Fear not though waves run high and wild winds
rage:
She who has storms outlived from age to age
Will bear thee to the shore
Where tempests are no more.
XXXV. A Few Objections
1. FALLEN man is ever reluctant to submit to the will of another, to obey authority; to do this is irksome to him. This is why so many young people seek to shake off the yoke of obedience. Especially does obedience to the laws and precepts of the Church often appear to them extremely difficult, and often impossible.
As soon as such a command is to be obeyed or such a precept is to be carried out, self-love hunts out every imaginable pretext which can excuse disobedience; meanwhile the evil world with its fatal axioms fails not to aid and abet the disloyal. Let us now examine some of these objections.
2. For instance, people say: "But the Catholic Church gives so very many admonitions and precepts that one can not always remember them all, much less carry them out into practise."
Now as far as remembering them is concerned, Almighty God has taken care that as soon as any precept is to be observed, any doctrine carried out, it should at once recur to your mind. He has placed a special sentinel at the door of your heart, the voice of conscience. Only follow cheerfully when it calls, and all will be well. For the important matter is to obey your conscience.
3. "But," you hear people say, "it is impossible to obey the Church in everything." Yet the Saviour has declared definitely and decidedly : "He that will not hear the Church, let him be to thee as the heathen and publican." Thus we must hear the Church and obey her; therefore it must be possible to do so, since God commands nothing which is impossible. He makes that possible which would be impossible to our unaided powers; nay more, He even renders it easy with the help of His grace. St. Paul testifies to this truth when he says: "I can do all things in Him who strengtheneth me" (Phil. iv. 13).
4. Especially are objections raised to the laws of the Church concerning marriage; people say, for instance: "But there are many mixed marriages which are perfectly happy; the Church is therefore much too severe when she warns her children so strongly and persistently against contracting such unions."
To this I answer in the first place: If the so-called happiness to be found in mixed marriages must be purchased at the cos of the Protestant bringing up of the children, it is much too dearly bought; and however great it may appear in the eyes of the world, it is a transient kind of happiness, which sooner or later, perhaps not until this brief span of life on earth is ended, must be changed into unhappiness.
I answer in the second place: How small, how very small, is the number of these really and thoroughly happy mixed marriages If a census were taken in regard to this point, the result would certainly prove anything but satisfactory.
5. " But the strict regulations of the Catholic Church exercise a tyranny over man's conscience," this is put forward as a further objection. How perverse and stupid this is' Does the Church compel any one, even in the least degree, to become a Catholic, or to remain one? But if the Church declares to those who are in her fold: If you desire to be and remain a Catholic, I require this and this of you, it can as little be called tyranny, as can the rules and regulations for a rifle corps, which its members have to observe. No! tyranny over men's consciences was and is practised in quite another quarter. For example, freedom was formerly the battle-cry of the English, when they threw off the ancient faith of their fathers; but on the Catholics of England and Ireland they laid a heavy yoke, and persecuted them with a tyranny and ingenious cruelty which have seldom been equaled in the annals of history.
Liberty and equality are words which echoed throughout France in 1794; but faithful Catholics alone were excluded from this liberty and equality; they were outlawed. Under the dominion of "liberty and equality," they met with the same fate which fell to the lot of the early Christians under the tyranny of Nero. Therefore the objection that the Church is a tyrant is completely disposed of. The very opposite is true: If ever tyranny was practised, it was practised by the foes of the Church.
6. You may at times be tempted, my friend, when it is your duty to make a sacrifice required by obedience to the Church, to cloak your want of courage in regard to making this sacrifice, by putting forward such foolish objections. But I entreat you, for the sake of both your temporal and eternal happiness, to beware of yielding to this temptation!
Be true to your faith; true to your convictions!
I will never forsake thee; I never will be,
O Church of the saints, an apostate from thee
Lead thou me on; "I'll follow thee
To the last gasp with faith and loyalty."
XXXVI. Secular Authority
1. WHERE true faith reigns, there also exists, like an impregnable wall, the recognition of the authority of the State, the duty of obeying the civil powers. This, obedience receives its sanction from the Church, which is the pillar of the State and of its ordinances. He, therefore, who heeds not the Church, shakes also the principal supports of every well-ordered constitution. He who incites the citizen to unbelief, and in this manner to disobey his spiritual mother the Church, inclines him to become a traitor to the law and to his native land.
And this is what we especially experience in the present day. While the Church preaches obedience, the godless world, which is separated from her, proclaims treachery against the ruler, the laws, and one's native land; and wherever the Church is ignored, obedience to law and authority is ignored likewise. The Catholic Church will always oppose anarchy and every kind of socialism which ignores God and which is inimical to the eternal interests of man.
2. It behooves you, my friend, to be ever on your guard that you may not be entangled in the net of the degenerate spirit of the world.
The Church itself cheerfully serves the lawful secular authority in upholding law and order in the State. The best safeguard of your interests, both temporal and eternal, is obedience to the Church.
Let your obedience to the Church be as a sharp sword that will cut to pieces every net which is attempted to be drawn around you by the false principles and specious sophistry of the spirit of evil as manifested in modernism, rationalism, naturalism, and. godless socialism.
Keep perpetually engraven on the tablets of your memory the words of the apostles :
In the Epistle of St. Paul to the Romans (xiii. i, 2, 4, 5) we read: "Let every soul be subject to higher powers; for there is no power but from God : and those that are, are ordained of God.
"Therefore he that resisteth the power, resisteth the ordinance of God. And they that resist purchase to themselves damnation. . . .
" For he is God's minister to thee, for good. But if thou do that which is evil, fear; for he beareth not the sword in vain. For he is God's minister: an avenger, to execute wrath upon him that doth evil.
" Wherefore be subject of necessity, not only for wrath, but also for conscience' sake."
And St. Peter in his first letter (ii. 13, 15) writes: "Be ye subject, therefore, to every human creature for God's sake: whether it be to the King as excelling, or to governors as sent by him for the punishment of evil-doers, and for the praise of the good.
" For so is the will of God, that by doing well you may put to silence the ignorance of foolish men."
3. Our holy religion, therefore, plainly commands that we should regard those possessed of lawful authority as the representatives of God and should honor them as such, obeying them cheerfully, as long as they command nothing which is incompatible with the commandments of God and of His Church. Obey, therefore, the civil authorities for the love of God, not merely from compulsion or fear of punishment. The example of Jesus Christ and of His apostles teaches this obedience.
The Founder of our holy Church, our Blessed Saviour, gave an example of submission to the laws of the State; He never violated them, unless indeed they were not in harmony with the laws of His heavenly Father. Regarding the coin of the tribute, He said to the Pharisees : " Render 10 Caesar the things that are Caesars, and to God the things that are God's" (Matt. xxii. 21).
4. In the same manner the apostles submitted to the laws of the State as long as it was possible to do this without breaking the laws of God, and they impressed this duty upon others. St. Paul did the same in these words : " There is no power but from God. Therefore he that resisteth the power, resisteth the .ordinance of God."
Accordingly, the Catholic Church has always, and in the most positive manner, inculcated obedience to secular authority as a duty and a matter of conscience, and has opposed and condemned those who taught the contrary. Only if the secular authority commands anything which is actually sinful, one must obey God and the Church rather than men. He who asserts that Catholicism teaches the opposite, is a calumniator.
5. An old soldier was reproached with not having been sufficiently zealous in defending his native land. His reply was an eloquent silence; he showed the scars of the wounds which he had received while fighting his country's battles.
In like manner, we can point to the faithful services which Catholics have rendered to secular authority, even when the latter persecuted and oppressed them unjustly. Need I remind you with what patience, some thirty years ago, the Catholics of Germany and Switzerland bore the sad consequences of the so-called Kulturkampf.
6. Were such obedience practised everywhere, how soon would our deplorable conditions assume a different form! The spirit of the age is a mischievous one, which pervades the nation like some haunting ghost. Can this spirit, which teaches men to deny and withstand lawful authority, can it be overcome by force, by blood and iron? We see how this means is employed, alike in great and in petty States, but how unsatisfactory and short-lived are the results!
No, such means are futile. Faith, religion, constitutes the real power, the main source, whence for the individual and for the nation stability, prosperity, and happiness are derived. Keep this faith firmly rooted, ever alive within your heart.
XXXVII. Freedom
1. THIS word "freedom" is understood by many young people in a totally false sense, and frequently interpreted to their own destruction; hence it is that good, conscientious parents and zealous pastors of souls are in constant dread with regard to the young men of the rising generation.
You desire freedom, and you are not to be blamed for so doing. But do not confuse true freedom with absence of all restraint For this is for the most part fraught with dangers, and its results not unfrequently prove disastrous in the case of young people. I wish to warn you beforehand against these dangers and disastrous results by pointing out to you how you ought to employ your freedom, if you desire to be truly free.
2. How ought you to employ it? Listen to yonder young man, as he greets his newly acquired freedom: "What luck I Now there will be no more schoolmasters, no more home tasks, no more strict regulations, no being kept in, no scolding and petty fault-finding I Now I will let myself go, and do whatever J choose — just please myself 1 99 A truly remarkable manner this, of enjoying freedom 1 Certainly this is not enjoying freedom as a reasonable being or as a Christian, since it opens wide the door to the passions which obscure reason and jeopardize one's eternal interests if allowed to have full sway. It is certainly not enjoying freedom as a well-brought-up young man should do, if good manners, and the regard which is owed to the family, are thus trodden underfoot. To act thus is to enjoy liberty like a savage who knows no Haw, like a wild beast which is destitute o» reason.
3. My dear friend, to enjoy freedom after this fashion is to render yourself unworthy of it, to dishonor and degrade it. Such freedom as this is rebellion against the lawful authority of God, the freedom of sinners, the freedom of evil, of the flesh, of the passions, unreasonable license — yet more — it is bondage itself, according to the words of Holy Scripture: "Whosoever committeth sin is the servant of sin" (John viii. 34).
A madman acts in accordance with the promptings of his own fancy, gratifies his impulses and inclinations, but is he therefore to be called truly free? In the same way may every inordinate passion be more or less designated as a sort of madness, which degrades men and destroys their freedom They are the slaves of their passions,
4. He who goes into the water for the first time in order to learn how to swim, is guided and held fast by the swimming master by means of a rope, in order that, should he begin to sink, he might be drawn out and rescued without any difficulty. But as soon as the pupil has become somewhat familiarized with the water, and has had some practise in swimming, so that he knows how to keep himself afloat, then he is left free, the restraining rope is withdrawn.
Consider the training of a child. In the beginning leading strings are necessary; careful nurses must guide the child, but only in order to teach it how to walk alone; they have to support its steps, but only in order to show it how to direct them; they have to point out the goal to be aimed at, but only to incite it to hasten toward that goal.
5. In matters that pertain to morality, the young man who has been properly trained is free to choose between good and evil; but when he has been accustomed to choose the good, he perseveres in it, even when he is far removed from parents and teachers. He knows that freedom does not do away with duty, that it does not confer the right to do. whatever he chooses, that it must have reference to God as our last goal and final end, and that, in the case of the free man, the spirit must rule the flesh, and reason hold sway over passion.
6. Such is true freedom — the freedom which you are bound to choose; it is the freedom which Jesus Christ purchased for you with His precious blood; the* freedom which He bestowed upon you with His truth, "The truth shall make you free;" in a word it is that freedom which love gives to the Christian heart, according to the saying of St. Augustine: "Love, and do what you will!,, But St. Paul says: "Love is the fulfilling of the Law" (Rom. xiii. 10). I know not what your future will be, but this I do know, that it will exactly correspond to the use you make of your freedom; the abuse of it will lead you to shame, the right use of it to eternal felicity. Take your choice!
Who freedom seeks, true liberty,
Finds it, my God, in serving Thee.
Fetters of steel may him confine
He yields unto no might but Thine.
XXXVIII. The Catholic and His Native Land
I. HOW charming is the expression, "My native land! my Fatherland!" At the sound of it the heart throbs more joyously, the blood courses more swiftly through the veins. Love of country is an innate sentiment, the want of which is something unnatural, and is, fortunately, but rarely to be met with.
" Breathes there the man with soul so dead
Who never to himself hath said,
This is my own, my native land!"
Moreover, true patriotism and love of religion go hand in hand. Remember the Maccabees. Their sole reason for having recourse to arms was that they were determined not to see their altars desecrated by profane hands.
2. But, it is objected, great courage and energy are necessary in order to serve one's country; religion, however, inculcates meekness and resignation; therefore religion makes men cowardly and weak.
This reproach was put forward even by the pagans in the days of Christ and His apostles: but is it fair? is it just? Most assuredly not Do not the countless martyrs of the Catholic religion prove that it does not produce weaklings, but that the holy standard of the Cross imparts greater steadfastness than any other standard can possibly do?
Was it weakness and cowardice which caused St. Ambrose to forbid the Emperor Theodosius to enter the sanctuary of God? Was it cowardice and fear which made St. Leo the Pope advance to meet the savage king of the Huns before the fortified city of Rome and induce him to retreat? Or again, was it not courage of the highest order which induced St. Ulrich of Augsburg to oppose with all his might the Hungarians who swept everything before them like a flood? Truly the Catholic religion does not render men weak, cowardly, and indifferent, but infidelity and materialism are inclined to do this. For he who knows no higher interests than mere worldly ones, how should he be willing to risk life and limb for the sake of his country?
3. Thus religion, our holy faith, enables men, above everything else, to carry out into practice the motto which is inscribed on the banners of so many rifle corps:
Eye, heart, and hand
For our Fatherland!
The eye for the Fatherland! But in order that it may be really useful, the eye — I mean the eye of the mind — must be able to see and perceive what is best and most profitable for the country. But in the case of many a man the vision is obscured by self-interest, egoism, and party feeling. And this is the cancer which in the present day is eating into the greater number of civilized nations; so very many citizens, and among them those who an at the head of affairs, have an eye obscured by selfishness or party feeling. Hence arises the disregard of sacred rights; namely, the flagrant encroachment of the secular power in ecclesiastical affairs. Therefore a free, wide-open, clear eye for the Fathered I But it is religion alone which gives this freedom and clearness of vision; for it alone teaches men to respect and heed the rights of others; only by its light is the citizen able to perceive what truly promotes the welfare of his country.
4. The heart for the Fatherland, that means the affection of the heart. But this love must be inseparably bound up with religion. I have already said, and experience constantly confirms my assertion, that the love of one's country will be all the stronger, more lasting, more self-sacrificing, and more effectual, the firmer is religious belief.
For this faith, this religious conviction, makes men zealous and enthusiastic in their country's cause; it makes them willing, if need be, to fight and die for their native land, to aid it with all their might. In our own day a mighty prince and ruler recognized this fact I allude to the emperor of Germany, William the Second, who expressed himself as follows: "No one can be a good soldier who is not also a good Christian."
5. Finally, the hand for the Fatherland! That must be a strong, a faithful hand, a hand which can and will exert itself with all its might in defense of the Fatherland. A strong, a trusty hand like that which the heroes of Switzerland displayed one hundred years ago in Nidwalden and the canton of Schwyz. And a powerful hand, a wrist of iron, such as that which the Tyrolese caused the enemies of their country to feel in the glorious war of independence in the year 1809; such as that which the patriots of Ireland and Poland displayed in their long struggle and heroic resistance to their anti-Catholic persecutors — suffering fire, sword, famine, poverty, sickness, and every kind of privation for the sake of religious principle and love of country.
What strengthened the hand of all these heroes, what rendered them so courageous? It was our holy religion, our Catholic faith.
Does history furnish a more splendid example of patriotism than that of the heroic Maid of Orleans? In her case love of God and love of country were certainly united most intimately. The Blessed Joan of Arc was convinced that God, Eternal Justice, looked with pity upon her oppressed Fatherland and that she was commissioned from on high to deliver her country; hence her undaunted courage, her valor, her energy, her perseverance, and her triumph.
Do you, therefore, my dear young friend, highly prize your holy Catholic religion, faithfully fulfil all the duties it lays upon you, order your life according to the laws it proclaims; then will you in the right way have eye, heart, and hand for your Fatherland.
I love thee my country, the dearest of all,
I will faithfully serve thee whatever befall;
A powerful source of courage to me
The Faith of my fathers ever shall be.
XXXIX. The Catholic and Politics
1. ON SEEING the title of the present chapter you may perhaps shake your head thoughtfully and say: "What! is the author of a book of this nature going to treat of politics?" Yes, I am certainly about to do so I And why should I not, since very weighty reasons impel me to take this course?
You, my youthful reader, are already, or will be sooner or later, of an age to exercise the suffrage, to vote in municipal, state, and national elections, and will therefore enter the realm of so-called politics. Therefore it is for you, as a Catholic, a matter of conscience to learn what are the real, the true Catholic principles which are to be followed in reference to politics. And it is these principles which I now desire briefly to explain.
2. The Catholic should, before all things, in his relation to politics, never lose sight of the exhortation addressed by St. Paul to the Romans: "If it be possible, as much as is in you, have peace with all men" (Rom. xii. 18). That should be the first principle of a Catholic in his intercourse with his fellowmen in general, and more especially in regard to politics. It is certainly his duty to have peace with all men, but not under all circumstances, not at any price, but only so far as in us lies, as it depends upon us; that is, as far as loyalty to our Catholic beliefs, principles, and convictions permits.
Let us now see how this general principle may be applied to individual matters.
We may consider politics from a fourfold point of view: as politics in reference to mere worldly affairs, to those which concern religious and ecclesiastical matters alone, to mixed questions, and to conditions and circumstances at elections
3. Politics occupy themselves, in by far the greatest part, with mere worldly affairs; for example, with military and financial questions, postal arrangements, railways, forestry and agriculture, the tariff, trusts, and industries. But even in these matters faith and religion have no little influence, and certainly ought to have it, in so far as all these things should be ordered and arranged according to the immutable laws of Christian justice, and that no private or party interest should be considered, but only what will best contribute to the welfare of the community, of the city, state, or country at large.
4. As to matters which deal with purely religious and ecclesiastical questions, no politics should enter into them; i.e., the State ought not to interfere in them. The Catholic, therefore, as a citizen of the State, ought in questions of a purely ecclesiastical nature, to speak and act in accordance with this conviction. It would be acting in direct opposition to St Paul's injunction, it would be disturbing the peace of a large proportion of one's fellow-men, of all faithful children of the Catholic Church, were one, for instance, to side with those politicians who would depose bishops and suspend priests, sup press religious houses, confiscate their property, and devote churches to secular purposes.
5. There are, moreover, questions of a mixed character, which concern ecclesiastical and worldly affairs at the same time, as for instance education and the marriage relation. Both Church and State have an interest in these things; therefore they both ought to arrange them in harmony. Before all things, this saying applies: "Render therefore to Caesar the things that are Caesar's; and to God the things that are God's." It plainly belongs to the Church, and not to the State, to decide what "things are God's," since the Son of God Himself appointed the former to be His representative upon earth. Therefore a loyal Catholic ought never to sanction or lend a hand to the encroachments of the State in matters which the Church has decreed to be "God's."
6. A true Catholic and patriot will be interested in elections, especially when there is question of electing men to important offices in the executive and legislative branches of the government: he will determine his vote by asking himself: First, which of the candidates offers the best security or assurance that he will range himself, not with the enemies of the Church, but on the side of justice with fair and upright men. Second, who possesses in the highest degree the integrity, the courage, intelligence, tact, and ability to safeguard and defend the interests of the country, as well as those of the Church.
These are the fundamental principles which ought to guide a faithful Catholic in regard to politics. Follow them zealously and closely; take an interest in elections; perform your duty as a citizen, and vote according to your conscience and convictions.