Sunday, November 29, 2015

Judges and Judgment (2015-11-29, Advent)

SUNDAY 29 November 2015   [ advent – week 1 ]

• Jeremiah 33:14-16  • Psalm  25 • 1 Thessalonians  3:12-4:2 • Luke 21:25-28, 34-36 •

Bibliography:   John Henry Newman, “The Immortality of the Soul” (Bk. I, Serm. 2) Parochial & Plain Sermons (1891), San Francisco: Ignatius Press, 1997.

 [__01__]  The judge, or the judges, in a courtroom are, in some ways invisible or obscure to us.   They may even be avoidable.

In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus offered this legal and spiritual counsel, “Make friends quickly with your accuser, while you are going with him to court, lest your accuser hand you over to the judge.” (Matthew 5:25)

Jesus suggested the possibility of a detour around certain judges and magistrates.

I reflect on this theme of the judge and the judgment, because this is the first Sunday of Advent, and in our Gospel reading, Jesus reminds of the importance to pray that we can stand before the Son of Man.

Jesus will, one day, be our judge.

The Good News, however, is that through the Holy Spirit, through the sacraments of the Church, he is also our ADVOCATE, our helper, our adviser.

He is within our conscience in both the legal trials and True-and-False questions of life.

In the Book of the Exodus, just before the crossing of the Red Sea, the Lord encourages Moses to continue forward. As we recall, Moses did not enjoy public speaking, and all the encounters with Pharaoh.  At this point, Moses feared he would drown in the water.  And, at this critical moment, Moses is told, “The Lord himself will fight for you, you have only to keep still.” (Exodus 14:14)

 [__02__]    Thus, in this regard, we need not fear or run from the Day of Judgment, the day that our souls come before God.  We are only called to pray and prepare for this day and to know what the judge expects of us. 

[__03__]      In this case, we see that God’s judgment was against Egypt and in favor of Moses’ people. They were being rescued and taken to the Promised Land.  They only had to keep still, to keep calm.

 [__04__]    Isn’t this calm, this tranquility very difficult to attain  or maintain, in a time of judgment?

The snowboarders and skaters at the Olympics may be calm during their performance….but they appear a bit more nervous just as the judges post the numerical scores for the medal-rankings.

[__05__]    Naturally, we would also be nervous because judgment would indicate that something is going to change.  Perhaps, I should settle out of court or avoid this judge?

 [__06__]     The judgement or the Day of Judgment is, however, not meant to scare us or frighten us but simply to remind us that there is a life beyond this world.

Jesus himself said: “Lay not up for yourselves treasures on earth; where the rust and moth consume and where thieves break through and steal. But lay up to yourselves treasures in heaven.” (Matthew 6:19-20)

Do we believe – with all of our heart, mind and strength – in a life beyond this world?

John Henry Newman observes that we can, in a sense, conclude this by a process of elimination.  That is, we know what is meant by the fragility and limitations of this life. We see that individuals and even institutions may not endure forever.

That is, while it is healthy – spiritually healthy – to  long for a life beyond this world, it is also quite apparent that natural and created things do break down.

Thus, when we would speak of eternal life, we do not speak of our purely physical existence, but rather our soul, our spiritual life. We are a unity of body-and-soul.

The soul is also what makes us distinctly human and rational.  Our soul gives us free will and not merely instinct.  Our soul gives us a conscience and not merely a memory.  Our soul gives us a sense of what is good and evil not only for me but for another.

In our soul is the impetus to seek forgiveness or to forgive another person.

While these aspects – FREEDOM, CONSCIENCE, FORGIVENESS – are certainly demonstrated by our SPEECH or ACTION, can we not say that they exist apart from them?

God gave us, created in us, a soul.

It is our souls which make us unique, non-repeatable ... once born, a copy will never be burned.

It is not DNA or physical attributes or chemistry which make us known to God and to another but rather our soul.

The Holy Spirit, as our ADVOCATE, would also be our original soul mate.

[__07__]    Recently, Pope Francis declared that the year 2015-2016, from the Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception of December 8, 2015 until Christ the King, 2016 would be the YEAR OF MERCY.

Pope Francis prays and calls for all Catholics, priests and people to reflect on and seek God’s mercy.

Here at Our Lady of Lourdes, we observe this on the evening of Monday December 7 with the availability of priests for confession from 6:30 pm to 9:30 pm. This information is also in our bulletin and website.

[__08__]     We are called to seek God’s mercy and to be aware of the judge and judgment in our lives and also of the visible and invisible in each of us.
Is the judge the one we try to avoid?

After all, no one wants to go to court, RIGHT?

Jesus had said…. ,  “Make friends quickly with your accuser, while you are going with him to court, lest your accuser hand you over to the judge.” (Matthew 5:25)

Jesus is not, however, an ordinary judge …but our understanding of judgment, in general, can help us and guide us.

[__09__]   Several years ago, I was called for and served for about a month as a juror in the Hudson County courthouse at Journal Square in Jersey City.

As we may all be well aware, one of the responsibilities of the judge is not only to instruct the lawyers, the defendant, the prosecutor, the plaintiff, BUT ALSO ..the jury, the members of the jury were also instructed.

Of course, the members of the jury could attempt to – or might succeed in avoiding the judge’s instruction. After all, we went home at night. We were not sequestered. How much could the judge really know or see of us?

Now, that trial lasted for about 30 days, but we were not in court all day long or every day consecutively. One day, I left the courthouse and took the PATH train.  I went to my regular place of work in another city and in another state. I was now 20 miles away from the courthouse. There was no judge in sight.

It was, to me, quite a coincidence that I should see one of the other jurors walking down a city street. He did not see me. I did not acknowledge him. I just keep walking.

I thought… I guess this is why the judge tells you not to discuss the case outside the jury room.

In some legal and metaphysical way, I felt the judge was present to us, to both of us.

[__10__]    I use this as an example of how someone’s instruction exists not simply physically, but also spiritually.

When strive to follow the 4th commandment – Honor thy father and thy mother that thou might have a long life on the earth – we do so not simply because our father or mother is over our shoulder. In fact, would we not do so because we believe in the eternal soul of our deceased parents.

When we confess our sins in the sacrament of penance and reconciliation, we recognize that our actions do not have merely physical or material consequences, but rather spiritual and eternal significance.

What is important is not only what we can see but what we cannot see.

[__11__]   In the legal courtrooms of a county or state or federal government, the judge bases a decision based  on what is VISIBLE even if visibility requires an electron microscope or if “visibility” is defined by a fingerprint or phone conversation.

Thus, we try to hide from or avoid such judges. Sometimes, we succeed.

[__12__]    However, from Jesus, as our judge, we gain not by hiding but by disclosure.

And, we disclose not simply what is visible but also what is invisible.

St. Francis de Sales writes that God is a merciful judge and not an angry judge.
(Francis de Sales, “Ch. IX, On Gentleness Toward Ourselves” Part III, Introduction to the Devout Life, p. 112)

This same judgment – this same patience – is what we need when we examine our lives, examine our consciences.

Francis de Sales suggests that when we become aware of our sinfulness, we are not to be excessively anxious. Remember the words to Moses at the Red Sea:
The Lord himself will fight for you, you have only to keep still.” (Exodus 14:14)

This same stillness is valuable, is it not, when we discover the sinfulness or fault in another person. That is, while we may find fault with another, it does little good for us to act with rage and vengeance.

Or, St. Francis de Sales writes, if a judge speaks very impetuously and passionately, he is not punishing the actual faults but only what he perceives to be the faults.

The same is true in ourselves. That is, we become distressed at our faults, at what we can see. We always begin with what we can see.

However, the Lord wishes to forgive and strengthen us, in our souls – where we cannot see – and so we will – through his grace not only be forgiven what has already happened but be stronger for the challenges not yet visible in the next trial.    [__fin__]    

Jesus Christ the King (2015-11-22)

SUNDAY 22 November 2015
34th Sunday Ordinary Time   [ CHRIST  THE  KING ]

• Daniel 7:13-14  • Psalm  93 • Revelation 1:5-8 • John 18:33b-37 •

BibliographyJohn Henry Newman, “Christian Reverence” (Bk. I, Serm. 23) Parochial & Plain Sermons (1891),   San Francisco: Ignatius Press, 1997.

[__01__]     We observe, according to this Gospel, what Pontius Pilate said and did regarding Jesus, our Lord at his trial.

We observe according this Gospel reading – and other Gospel accounts – what happened to Jesus after this Law & Order interrogation by the prosecutor and procurator, Pilate.

Pilate ordered, or at least made little effort to halt or hinder, the crucifixion and death of Jesus.

Pilate, then, is a symbol of indifference to God’s goodness, indifference to God’s truthfulness and indifference to God’s love.
 [*** P A U S E ***]
 [__02__]   If you or I were in a conversation with Pontius Pilate, what would we say about Jesus, our Savior?

More generally, if we were in the presence of anyone who was indifferent to Christ, to the Church, what we would we say?

We might, at times, not say too much.

Pilate is indifferent to Christ …and Jesus does not say too much even in his own defense.  

[__03__]      Consider what happens in our political seasons and scenarios. If you or I were to admire or hold one particular candidate with great honor or respect, we might be careful about what we say and how we express our opinion, our esteem our values.

We might be careful about saying this at the dinner [or Thanksgiving] table of certain family members, we might be careful about saying it near the desks of certain co-workers, or in the company of certain people at at school or in public.

The same might be said of our religious faith, our Catholic faith and doctrine and teaching.

Yes, we are called to be witnesses to  God’s commandments, to pray constantly, in season and out of season.   By the way we care for our families, our health, our children, our spouses, by the way we show affection, we can be witnesses to the sanctity of life at all stages.

We can also be witnesses to the presence of Jesus Christ in the Holy Eucharist by our words and our silence.

 [__04__]   At the same time, is it not also prudent that we consider where and when to express these truths?    

For example, some family members – whether at Thanksgiving Dinner or at other times – might not be ready to hear my profession of faith in the format of the Apostles’ Creed. Some might be indifferent even to grace before meals.

They might be indifferent.

John Henry Newman, in a sermon about “Christian Reverence” writes:

“We must wait for all opportunities of being useful [to men], but beware of attempting too much at once … seldom must we engage in controversy or dispute for it lowers the sacred truths to make them a subject for ordinary debate.”[1]    

[__05__]   In his mandatory Jerusalem court appearance before Pilate, we observe that this is no ordinary debate.

In fact, Jesus is not a candidate for office.

What we observe in District of Columbia, inside the beltway and beyond, and what we observe in Trenton and other capitals is the candidate’s desire for for praise and popularity. Popularity wins votes, wins debates wins elections, raises money.

However, Jesus is not a candidate for office.

He is a king. He is our king. This Sunday is the Solemnity of Jesus Christ the King.

 [__06__]    And, the status and inclination of kings and royalty are different, are they not.  Kings do not ask for votes or for approval.

Of course, there are examples of corrupt kings, queens, monarchs through whom dicatatorships and oppression have existed. However, we can put those aside. Jesus himself said that he would not be such a king or ask his followers to create such a kingdom, but to serve – in leadership – with humility:

You know that those who are recognized as rulers over the Gentiles lord it over them, and their great ones make their authority over them felt.  But it shall not be so among you. Rather, whoever wishes to be great among you will be your servant;  whoever wishes to be first among you will be the slave of all.  For the Son of Man did not come to be served but to serve and to give his life as a ransom for many.” (Mark 10:42-45)

John Henry Newman observes that even in the washing of the feet of the disciples, Jesus is displaying his authority while also serving.   Peter, for example, who protested that he did not deserve to have his feet washed is subdued by Jesus’ command.

[__07__]   What a King asks for is reverence, respect, trust. 

Kings do not try to win debates.

Or, as John Henry Newman states: “kings do not court the multitude or show themselves a spectacle at the will of others.”[2]

Their presence is enough.

I thought it was interesting that when two of the British royal family – Prince William and his wife, Catherine Middleton, visited the French embassy last week to pay their respects due to the terrorist attacks, the news was not based on anything that they said, but simply that they showed up.

There was videotape of William and Kate signing their names in a book of condolences  in London. As royalty, one’s name and one’s presence is all that is required.

Newman: “Kings do not court the multitude or show themselves a spectacle at the will of others.”[3]

Kings do not go on Fox, CNN or CBS News to debate or to arouse curiosity.

[__08__]    And, while Jesus appears before Pilate due to Pilate’s intellectual curiosity, Jesus is not interested in the satisfaction of curiosity.

Rather, our Savior is interested in our commitment our actions.

[__09__]   Yes, there are public manifestations of our faith. There are public testimonies for us to make.

But, first, we are called to pray to our Father in secret so that the Father who sees in secrete will assure us of a place in his kingdom and assure us of opportunities to speak, to be his witness and to share our faith with others in the Church and in his kingdom.  [__fin__]    



[1] John Henry Newman, “Christian Reverence” (Bk. I, Serm. 23) Parochial & Plain Sermons (1891), San Francisco: Ignatius Press, 1997, (p. 196).
[2]  John Henry Newman, “Christian Reverence” (Bk. I, Serm. 23) Parochial & Plain Sermons (1891), San Francisco: Ignatius Press, 1997, (p. 189).
[3]  John Henry Newman, “Christian Reverence” (Bk. I, Serm. 23) Parochial & Plain Sermons (1891), San Francisco: Ignatius Press, 1997, (p. 189).

In This Place / Of This Place (2015-11-15)

SUNDAY 15 November 2015
33rd Sunday Ordinary Time

• Daniel 12:1-3  • Psalm  16 • Hebrews 10:11-14, 18 • Mark 13:24-32 •


[__01__]     If the city – Newark, New York, Los Angeles – were visited by a famous person – PRESIDENT or POP SINGER (or the POPE) – the city would also observe a difference between the visitor and the natives (or, everyone else).

The visiting celebrity is in the city, but not of the city.

 [__02__]     There is, on the one hand a location, a place, or residence. We can be in a place, or location. We may not be of – or from – this place.

The Democratic-party candidates for the U.S. Presidency are in Des Moines, in Iowa, for a debate aobut political and governmental issues.

On October 28th, the Republican presidential candidates were in Boulder, in Colorado, for a similar debate.

place, the venue, is seen as challenge, a mountain for the candidate to climb or clear.  Could the candidate bring the message to a particular place …even if he or she were not from there.  

 Even Jesus himself said, a prophet is not accepted in his own land, in his own hometown

Maybe it is better to go somewhere else to bring the message.
Another example  would be when a new boyfriend or girlfriend shows up at home, to meet our family. We might think. OK, this person is “in” the house, in the family …. But is he or she “of” the family.

To marry someone means we take on, in a way, the origins of the other person. Uniting oneself to one’s spouse, a person is now “of” the family.

This can also be a political process with primaries and voting and debates.  Check the latest Quinnipiac University poll.

[__03__]      Am I in a place? Am I of a place?
        We might ask ourselves this question as we grow into young adulthood and adulthood.

For example, as we grow up, we observe that we spend less time in the home of our parents or grandparents. We might spend less time in the presence of our parents or immediate family.

We may be away at college or university or even if we live at home, we not physically at home as often.

Nevertheless,  can we not admit, confess – profess our faith – that we remain of our home, we remain a son or daughter of our parents.

We would remain their son or daughter even if we have mourned their passing.  So, in this regard, we COULD be “of” a family … or “of” a home, even if we were physically outside the home, or not in the home.

[__04__]    Cardinal John Henry Newman describes the early apostles, the early representatives or emissaries, of Christian in a similar way.

That is, they were in certain places, locales, but not of them.

Jesus says this of himself and his disciples in John, Chapter 17, speaking of his disciples as being in the world, but not of the world.

Newman further observed that the beauty and strength of Christianity is not that we founded a nation, or found a Promised Land, or built a Temple.

Rather, the beauty and strength of Christianity – our Catholic faith, our religion – is that we build on the inside. That is, we are part of God’s kingdom wherever we are.

Newman wrote this about the early apostles and disciples and teachers of the faith. They did not arrive with any celebration or celebrity status. They were truly a grass-roots, bottom-up movement by whom the city and government and world were influenced

Yet, Newman writes:

Who among the wise men or the disputers of this world will take account of a few helpless men wandering from place to place and preaching a new doctrine? It can never be believed, it is impossible that they should be the real agents of the revolution which followed.” (John Henry Newman, Parochial and Plain Sermons, Bk II., Serm. 20, “The Kingdom of the Saints”, p. 377)

[__05__]   Though we are neither in Paris, nor in France, today, in solidarity with the French people, with the victims, the injured, the family and friends and victims.

We are of Paris, of France …even though we may not be in France or Paris.

For we are one body, many parts as St. Paul writes:

As a body is one though it has many parts, and all the parts of the body, though many are one body, so also Christ. For in one spirit we were all baptized into one body, whether Jews or Greeks, slaves or free persons, and we were all given to drink of one Spirit.” (1 Corinthians 12:12-13)

Paul continues:

The eye cannot say to the hand, I do not need you …
But God has so constructed the body as to give greater honor to a part that is without it, so that there may be no division in the body, but that the parts may have the same concern for one another.  If one part suffers, all the parts suffer with it, if one part is honored, all the parts share its joy … Strive eagerly for the greatest spiritual gifts.

And we pray for God’s peace to be in us and of us, to be in our world and of our world that we might be one in his Kingdom and in his body as one people.  [__fin__]  

Monday, November 23, 2015

Founder´s Day, Our Lady of Lourdes Church (2015-11-08)

[__01__]     Several years ago, a co-worker told me about a walk in the woods, a stroll and journey she took with her two children, age 7 and age 5. Jessica, the 7-year-old had become exhausted during this journey.

For years, she and her family and children had lived in New York City, in Manhattan, and they had recently moved to the suburbs [of Connecticut]. I understood they were in a large wooded area, similar to South Mountain or Eagle Rock Reservation, but they were not far from actual the civilization of county roads and traffic lights and pavement. Surely, Jessica well aware of this.

After an hour or so, she was tired but Jessica and her brother and mom and dad were used to long walks … in New York. Jessica started to inquire about alternate means of transportation, a bus … a taxi, perhaps.

I imagine the children benefited physically, spiritually from their walk.  Do we not all benefit, at times, from perseverance and consistency?

 [*** P A U S E ***]
 [__02__]      In Book of the Gospel of Matthew, Jesus reminds us about our walk, our journey with him. Sometimes, it is not easy to find the way.

We read in the Gospel of Matthew, “Strait is the gate and narrow is the way which leadeth unto life and few there be that find it.” (Matthew 7:14)

Jesus was speaking to his disciples and to us about our Christian journey, on which calls us to make choices, to be generous, to repent of our sins.

Strait is the gate and narrow is the way which leadeth unto life and few there be that find it.” (Matthew 7:14)

[*** P A U S E ***]

[__03__]     In our Sunday Gospel, we have just read abou the strait or narrow gate and the way to the Temple and to God’s presence in the time of our Savior.

However, as Jesus points out, many people have missed the gate, have misunderstood the coordinates.

We might say they are too far NORTH or too “HIGH” up being concerned about their position, their prominence or their popularity with others.  We have all been to this longitude of our ego.

They are called – we are called – to come down a bit, further SOUTH.

Or, we might say they are too far WEST, they are concerned about finding a new frontier, a new opportunity, when their call from God might be closer to home.  And, is not Jesus our SUN which rises in our EAST?

I just use this as an example of COORDINATES which help us to find our destination.

By the way, we might observe that it is NOT an evil or bad outcome if someone were to recognize us in the way that the scribes are recognized in the marketplaces.

After all, it is good to be remembered to be identified.

What Jesus is cautioning us about is our attachment to this recognition or the despair, the bitterness that could result if we were not noticed or recognized, saying:

Beware the scribes who like to go around in long robes and accept greetings in the marketplace.” (Mark 12:38)

[*** P A U S E ***]
Of course, naturally, we want to be recognized, noticed.

However, we can walk a narrower way, go through the gate that is not a straitjacket but rather a strait that is a safe passage when we surrender this recognition, or this desire for recognition.

In a similar way, St. Paul is famous for writing us that it is not that money is the root of all evils but that  “the desire of money is the root of all evils”  (1 Timothy 6:10).

John Henry Newman observes that Christian discipline begins not simply by a surrender of something material but of something spiritual. It begins not by writing a check but by allowing God’s law to be written in us, by considering our desires.

Thus, each day, we not only consider what evil we can give up or surrender… but also what good we can give up for the sake of another.

This helps us set our coordinates and find the narrow gate.

[*** P A U S E ***]

[__04__]    

While ignored by most people, the woman of the Gospel was noticed by our Savior because she had her coordinates set properly.

She knows the gate is a strait, the channel has boundaries, and the way is narrow.

She only has 2 small coins and leaves them both at the Temple and for the Temple.

Can we also put up with the loss of what is dear to us, to give up something voluntarily as a gift to God?

For example, we could be challenged at times to give up our anger, our bitterness. Anger – is not necessarily – evil. There is, for example, righteous anger about injustice.  St. Paul writes, “Be ye angry and sin not.” (Ephesians 4:26)

However, is not as – Newman points out – dangerous to “indulge our anger … to fuel our anger.”[1]  After all, what can incite or raise our anger to bitterness is when someone says… hey, you’re angry!  So … it is the narrow way, the disciplined way is to surrender this, to give it up, to seek the narrow way.

[__05__]   On this Founder’s Day, we pause and remember those who also walked a narrow way to establish and build a our first church at Cherry and Chestnut Streets in 1914-1915, and our church here at the Eagle Rock Avenue crossroads in 1964.

It was through their sacrifices – and the sacrifices of many today that we are able to worship, to serve God and to preach the Good News.

 [__06__]    By many acts of kindness and generosity, you also give all that your have to our Temple, our Tabernacle, our church
[*** P A U S E ***]
[__07__]  Our Savior wishes to recognize that our discipleship and discipline are not only about a choice between the good the evil, between justice and injustice.

It is also a discernment about what is the greatest blessing- or the greater of two goods – at any point in time.

In 1914, our founding pastor, Monsignor Nicholas Marnell and his trustees, David J. Blake and Edward F. Byrne, and our first parish community, were called to establish this church, this parish to build.

Yes, the community already had a beautiful church, St. John’s in Orange which was in 1914 …already in existence and thriving for over 60 years. St. John’s was founded in 1851.
Our community had to start small  ..and we had our first Catholic Mass in West Orange, 101 years ago – today [this Sunday / tomorrow] on November 8, 1914, at 7:00 am.

Then – about a year later, the celebration of Sunday Mass started in the church at Cherry and Chestnut Streets.

Strait was the gate and narrow was the way leading to the 1964 construction of this church. We can be grateful for the patience, perseverance of our priests and deacons, our Sisters of Charity, the People of God of West Orange who helped us arrive here today.

[__08__]   In the Gospel this Sunday, our Savior wishes us to remember to put him first, ahead of all praise and recognition. 
Beware the GPS coordinates of the scribes and Pharisees who point themselves too far NORTH with their ego and too far WEST with their explorations to recognize God.

On its own, Newman has observed that this love of praise is “innocent”  an “innocent passion.”[2]  Of course, who among us does not want to be praised, to have our sons and daughters praised, our family recognized. We pray for their prosperity, don’t we? And we pray for our own.


[__09__]  Newman remind us, however, that praise and applause can make us forget our weakness, our fragility our brokenness After all, are we not selective about what praise we will head.

Two different people might praise you – or me – or extend a compliment for the same thing. However, we may treat one of the two unjustly.  We may prefer the praise – or value the opinion – of one person more than another.

Or, as Jesus says in the Gospel, about life and death, one compliment we will take [seriously] the other will be left. (cf. Matthew 24:40)

??? I set myself up as the judge. ??

[__10__]     The 101st Anniversary of our parish foundation reminds us to give thanks for God’s presence among us.

[__11__]    When young Jessica was in the woods [in Connecticut], she made one more attempt to avoid the long walk home. On the way back, she paused, and as any true New Yorker would, put her hand in the air, and turned her attention to find – somewhere in the distance a yellow vehicle with the “on duty and available” light illuminated.

She was hailing a cab.

Her mother, in disbelief, was told,

“Don’t’ worry, Mom, one will come … one will come.”

What hope, prayer, faith.

[__12__]  We can also give thanks for our journey of 101 years, the walk we have made and the fact that our Lord has come and will come again.

He has come to save us in his word, in the Sacraments of the Church which we celebrated here, in his presence in the Tabernacle and with our Holy Communion, his coordinates for us.

Strait is the gate and narrow is the way which leadeth unto life” (Matthew 7:14)

Our Lady of Lourdes, Pray for Us.

[__13__]    


[__fin__]


[1] J.H.Newman, “The Duty of Self-Denial”, Bk. VII, Sermon 7, Parochial & Plain Sermons (1891), (San Francisco: Ignatius Press, 1997), p. 1475.
[2] J.H.Newman, “The Duty of Self-Denial”, Bk. VII, Sermon 7, Parochial & Plain Sermons (1891), (San Francisco: Ignatius Press, 1997), p. 1475