Chapter II: Part 2

"_He that had received the one talent came and said: Lord, I know that Thou art a hard man_" expecting the impossible, "_and being afraid I went and hid Thy talent in the earth; behold here Thou hast that which is Thine._" He could have traded and made _cent per cent_ as the others had done and earned the "_Euge_" ("Well done!") He not only did not do this, but he put all the blame on his Master Who with such care had given him just the talent that was suited to his ability. He was _afraid_, he said, afraid of what? Of his Master because He was hard and unjust? No, this was only an excuse, he knew his Master and he knew it was not true. What he was afraid of was hard work, effort, ceaseless watching against temptation. It was far less irksome to bury the talent and live a life of ease, letting things just take their course, and hoping all would come out right in the end; but at the end things were not right, for he had nothing to give to his Master, the one talent _was_ the Master's, he knew that quite well: "Behold here Thou hast that which is Thine."

"_Wicked and slothful servant_"--wicked, because he had robbed God of His rights; slothful, because he would not raise a finger to serve his Master.

"_Take ye away therefore the talent from him and give it him that hath ten._" It is a solemn thought that a grace refused by one may be handed on to another who is more faithful.

"_To everyone that hath shall be given_" is a principle of the Kingdom. He ever giveth "grace for grace" (St. John I. 16). For every grace used He gives "more grace"--"he shall abound."

"_From him that hath not, that also which he seemeth to have shall be taken away._" There is such a thing as a last grace, a last opportunity. God has nowhere pledged Himself to give the grace of repentance; grace is ever a free gift and He is not unjust if He withholds it. I can never say: I will sin and repent after! To sin is in my power, but to repent is not. Our Lord speaks of sinners filling up the measure of their iniquity (St. Matt. XXIII. 32). Had Herod reached the limit, filled up the measure? Is that why Our Lord refused to speak to him? We do not know, but we do know that it is possible for a sinner to sin to such an extent--not necessarily by gross sin, but by steadily refusing God's grace and the opportunities offered to him--that what he has, that is, his opportunities, will be taken from him.

"_The unprofitable servant cast ye out into the exterior darkness._" He ever shunned the light and now it will _never_ be his. He was _unprofitable_, that was his sin, he did nothing for his Master. All sins, however terrible, will be forgiven if the sinner turns to God and repents, because his repentance shows that he is "trading," though he may often fail in his business; but the unprofitable servant carries on no trade with God at all, he leaves Him out altogether. There is nothing for God to do but to leave him out in the "exterior darkness" which he has deliberately chosen.

_Colloquy_ with the Master, Who though He is a "long time" coming, is never far from those who are trading for Him.

_Resolution._ Never to leave the Master out of anything I do.

_Spiritual Bouquet._ "Well done good and faithful servant!"

STIR UP!

"I think it meet ... to stir you up by putting you in
remembrance."

(2 Pet. I. 13).

_1st. Prelude._ Paul writing to Timothy: "Stir up the grace of God which is in thee" (2 Tim. I. 6).

_2nd. Prelude._ Grace to stir myself up this Advent.

On the Sunday before Advent and nine times during the Advent Masses, the Church puts on the lips of her children this prayer: _Stir up, O Lord_. Let us try in this Meditation to catch her spirit which runs all through the Advent season and see what it is that she wants God to stir up.

POINT I. HIS OWN MIGHT.

We ask Him during Advent to stir up His might for four different reasons.

(1) _To protect and deliver us._ "Stir up Thy might, we beseech Thee O Lord and come: that by Thy protection we may deserve to be delivered from the threatening dangers of our sins and by Thy deliverance be saved." (The "Collect" for Advent Sunday.)

We ask Him to show His might by _protecting_ us from dangers and by _delivering_ us from sin. We want to spend a good Advent, we want to prepare well for His Coming, then there rise up before us the "threatening dangers of our sins"--those old temptations that are sure to come back again as soon as we begin to put forth fresh effort. Are we to be discouraged, to dread them, to say we are sure to fall again, and thus give the enemy a hold over us? No, but to believe that our God Who is coming will protect us in the day of battle, that though to humiliate and to strengthen us, He may still permit the temptations, yet He will Himself be our shield and buckler, and will deliver us if we trust in His strength and not in our own--"Stir up Thy might, O Lord, and come to protect and deliver."

(2) _To free us from adversity._ "Stir up Thy power, we beseech Thee O Lord and come, that they who confide in Thy mercy may be more speedily freed from all adversity" (The "Collect" for Friday in Ember week).

The adversity from which the Church prays to be freed here is probably the same as she continually teaches us to pray for deliverance from in her Litanies: war, pestilence, famine, floods, earthquakes--all things which damage the peace of nations and the produce of the earth, great national disasters. From all such the world will never be free till the Advent of her Lord, till God stirs up His power and comes to save it. Meanwhile for our consolation we can remember that it is when God's judgments are in the earth that the nations learn justice (Isaias XXVI. 9). Adversity is a great teacher and trainer for Heaven, and as we advance in the spiritual life we see more and more that many things which are adversity to the body are prosperity to the soul. We should naturally like to be freed from the adversity of sickness, poverty, failure, loss of friends, of health and strength, but all these adversities have their work to do. "These are they who came out of great tribulation," and it is probable that but for the tribulation many would never "have washed their robes and have made them white in the blood of the Lamb" (Apoc. VII. 14). Let us strive to be amongst those who _trust_ Him, who _confide_ in His mercy, who believe that He knows what is best for them, and who gladly let Him arrange all for them. He _will_ stir up His power and speedily free them one day, but it will not be till the flail of adversity has done its work and the corn is ready to be garnered in the heavenly barns.

(3) _To save us._ "Stir up Thy might O Lord and come to save us."

In the Masses for the third week, that is Ember week, the prayer occurs five times, twice in the Mass for the third Sunday and three times in that for Ember Saturday. The time of the birth of the Saviour is drawing nearer, and the Church is beginning to be importunate. Stir up Thy _might_; for though He is coming as a little helpless infant, He is God "mighty to save."

(4) _To accelerate His Coming._ "Stir up Thy might, we beseech Thee O Lord and come; and succour us with great power, that by the help of Thy grace, the indulgence of Thy mercy may accelerate what our sins impede." (The "Collect" for the 4th. Sunday of Advent).

We ask Him to stir up His might in _coming_. His Advents show His Omnipotence. Only a _God_ could come to this world to save it, only a _God_ could come to a soul and raise it to the supernatural state. These are miracles and we ask Him to stir up His might to come and work them. It is our sins that hold Him back and hinder His work both in our own souls and in the world. We want them to do so no more and so we ask for His succour and indulgence.

POINT II. OUR WILLS.

"Stir up the wills of Thy faithful, O Lord, we beseech Thee; that earnestly seeking after the fruit of good works, they may receive more abundant helps from Thy mercy." (The "Collect" for the Sunday before Advent).

Here we pray for something which it is far more difficult to "stir up"--our own wills. We are not sufficiently in earnest; the might and the mercy of God are there waiting to help us, but we have not the energy nor the desire to receive them. We weaken our wills by yielding to temptation, by deliberately going into occasions of sin, by allowing ourselves to be careless about rules and resolutions, by letting things drift and contenting ourselves with a low standard. Advent is a time to rectify all this, to pull ourselves up and make a fresh start, and if we are in earnest, we shall gladly join in the prayer: "Stir up the wills of Thy faithful, O Lord," stir up _my_ will. It is not a prayer to be said lightly for it means much--a will stirred up to "seek after the fruit of good works" means constant and continued effort; it means mortification, suffering, death to self; it means a determination to do or suffer _anything_ rather than run the _least_ risk of committing the _least_ sin; it means constant unremitting attention to little things--to the smallest duties, the least prickings of conscience; it means hard work. _Dare_ I say this prayer? If I am _really_ anxious for "the fruit of good works," I shall dare anything. Fruit is impossible without hard work either in the natural or the spiritual world.

"Who is sufficient for these things?" Certainly I am not, but the consolation is that the work is _co-operative_. As soon as I pray: Stir up my will, O God, because I want to bring forth fruit to Thy glory; He will be there giving me "_more abundant helps_" from His mercy. God does not expect me to work alone, nor to suffer alone, nor to make efforts alone. What He wants is a good will. He is coming "to men of good will," and nothing can prove that I am one of them, better than a fervent prayer that my will may be stirred up, cost what it may. The "abundant helps" will immediately be at my service; and when it seems sometimes as if, in spite of all my efforts, the day is going to be lost, I will hold on still, remembering that the help is "_more_ abundant" when the need is greater. The stores of His mercy are infinite and He ever gives _more_ to the generous soul.

POINT III. OUR HEARTS.

"Stir up our hearts, O Lord, to prepare the ways of Thy only-begotten Son: that by His Coming we may be worthy to serve Thee with purified minds." (The "Collect" for the 2nd Sunday of Advent).

Here lies the secret; if our _hearts_ are stirred up there will be little difficulty about our _wills_. If I _love_, I shall gladly make efforts, no trouble will be too much, no work too exacting, no sacrifice too great, no mortification too hard. "_If you love Me, keep My commandments._" My will is to be stirred up to _seek_, but my heart is to be stirred up to _prepare_. It is my King Who is coming, He Who has a right to my heart, and He is quite sure to pass by my way, for to win my heart and make it all His own is one of the special reasons of His Coming. No pains, no cost shall be spared in my preparation; my heart shall be decorated with the flowers that I know He loves and hung with banners which shall speak of my gratitude for all He has done. This is the preparation of the heart--the preparation of _love_; and it will not stop at my own heart, for if I really love my King I shall take an interest in all the work that He is coming to do; I shall try to prepare His way for Him in the hearts of others; I shall let them know that JESUS of Nazareth is going to pass by. Perhaps I shall have no opportunity of speaking about His visit, but the careful preparations I am making will not go unnoticed--each thing that I do out of love to Him will in some way or another spread His Kingdom in the hearts of men.

_Colloquy._ With my King Who is coming.

_Resolution._ To do something _to-day_ in preparation.

_Spiritual Bouquet._ "Stir up!"

ST. JOHN THE BAPTIST. (1)

HIS PREPARATION.

"This is he of whom it is written: Behold I send my Angel
before Thy face, who shall prepare Thy way before Thee."

(St. Matt. XI. 10).

_1st. Prelude._ Picture of the Naming Day of St. John the Baptist who is on Our Lady's knee, while Elizabeth and the kinsfolk are discussing the name and Zachary is writing on a tablet; St. Joseph is looking on.

_2nd. Prelude._ The spirit of penance.

Often during Advent the Church directs our thoughts to the great Precursor of JESUS Christ, to him who was sent to prepare His ways. On four occasions she chooses for the "Gospel" in the Mass, passages which relate to St. John the Baptist and his work of preparation. If we would prepare well for the coming of our King, we cannot do better than meditate on St. John the Baptist and try in our small measure to prepare as he did.

POINT I. THE PREPARATION BEFORE HIS BIRTH.

(1) _A prophecy._ Four hundred years before the Precursor's birth, Malachias prophesied of him: "Behold I send My angel," that is My _messenger_; and Our Lord tells us expressly (His words are noted by three of the Evangelists, St. Matthew, St. Mark and St. Luke) that this messenger was John the Baptist, who was sent by God to prepare the ways of the Messias.

(2) _His miraculous conception_--for his parents were both "well advanced in years." Both his father and mother were "just before God walking in all the commandments and justifications of the Lord without blame;" and they had their cross to bear--the "reproach" of having no son and therefore no hope of the Messias being born to them; but this did not prevent them from praying, as all fervent Israelites prayed, for the coming of the Messias. The answer to their prayer was nearer than they thought. One day as Zachary was performing the most solemn part of his priestly office--offering incense on the golden altar that stood "over against the veil" which separated the Holy Place from the Holy of Holies--he saw an angel standing on the right side of the altar, who, after he had calmed his fear, told him that his prayer was heard, that the Messias was coming, and that his wife Elizabeth was to bear him a son who was to be His Precursor, "he shall go before Him." The angel then prophesied many things about this child, which all show how careful was God's preparation of His Precursor:

"Thou shall call his name John" (the Grace of God). Only those who had an important future before them were named by God Himself before their birth.

"Many shall rejoice in his nativity." Many--both angels and men.

"He shall be great before the Lord." Great in sanctity and great in office.

He "shall drink no wine nor strong drink." He shall be a Nazarite, one separated and consecrated to God by a vow.

"He shall be filled with the Holy Ghost even from his mother's womb"--that is, he shall be cleansed from the stain of original sin and put into the state of grace before his birth as was Jeremias (Jer. I. 5).

"He shall convert many" by preaching penance and telling of Him who takes away sin.

"He shall go before Him ... to prepare unto the Lord a perfect people." Zachary listened but he could not believe that what he heard was true, though Gabriel, who stands before God, had been sent expressly to him with the message of good tidings. He asked for a sign and He received one which not only proved to him that God can do what He wills as He wills, but also that He expects His children to trust Him.

When at length Zachary appeared from behind the curtain to the waiting and wondering people, instead of giving them the accustomed blessing (Num. VI. 24, 26), he made signs to them and remained dumb and they understood that he had seen a vision. God dealt severely with Zachary because he was so closely bound up with the Advent of the Messias. He had to be taught, and we through him, that the least venial sin may hinder God's work and designs, and that if we would be His instruments used by Him for the preparation of the Coming of His Son, we must be absolutely faithful about little things, full of confidence in God, setting no limit to His power and never doubting His dealings with us.

(3) _He was filled with the Holy Ghost._ Six months later, Elizabeth who had been waiting in solitude and silence for God to fulfil His designs, received a visit from the Mother of God, and the Precursor and the Messias Who was to come were brought into close contact. We cannot doubt that it was at that moment when, as Elizabeth said "the infant in my womb leaped for joy," that John was "filled with the Holy Ghost." Thus God cleansed His Precursor before his birth from the stain of original sin, again showing us that those who are to prepare for the Coming of His Son must be distinguished by their purity.

(4) _By the holiness of his mother and his home._ His mother taught by the Holy Spirit was the first to recognize Our Lady as the Mother of God; she was saluted by Our Lady and ministered to by her. She had the unspeakable privilege of having Our Lady with the blessed Fruit of her womb JESUS living under her roof for three months. A home where the Mother of God was welcomed and honoured--such was the home God chose for the Precursor of His Son.

POINT II. THE PREPARATION AFTER HIS BIRTH.

"There was a man sent from God, whose name was John. This man came to bear witness of the Light, to prepare unto the Lord a perfect people." (The "Gradual" for the Vigil of St. John the Baptist). The Feast of the Nativity of St. John the Baptist is a Double of the First Class with an Octave, for Mary and her Son were present at his birth and he was "great before the Lord."

The eighth day was the day of circumcision and the naming day. Everybody naturally was calling him Zachary, but his mother who knew from her husband that the name was fixed, said: "Not so, but he shall be called John." They would not have it and appealed by signs to the deaf and dumb father, who wrote: "John _is_ his name," for "he was so named of the angel before he was conceived." At that moment Zachary's penance came to an end and "he _spoke_ blessing God." This fresh miracle was soon "noised abroad" and the people asked in fear: "What an one, think ye, shall this child be?" Zachary, "filled with the Holy Ghost," used his loosed tongue to sing his beautiful hymn of praise to God who had remembered His holy testament, and had allowed "the _Orient_ from on high" to visit them. And then addressing his little son, he said: "And thou child shalt be called the prophet of the Highest, for thou shalt go before the face of the Lord to prepare His ways."

He began to "prepare His ways" by a life of hardship, solitude and penance, having no fixed home, living on what he could find in the deserts--locusts and wild honey, and wearing as a garment camels' hair with a leathern girdle. Tradition tells us he began all this at a very early age and he continued it "until the day of his manifestation to Israel," that is, until the day he left his solitude and began to preach--nearly thirty years later. He had thirty years' preparation for his life's work, like Him whose way he was preparing, and he was preparing it no less as a solitary in the deserts than as the great preacher of penance by the Jordan.

What lessons can we learn for our own preparation for the Coming of Christ this Advent?

1. That because we are going to be amongst those who in some way or other "prepare His ways," God has occupied Himself with our preparation even before we were born. Either by surrounding us with good, or by bringing good out of evil or by some of His many ways which are not our ways, He has had a hand in all that concerns us. We have first firmly to believe this, and secondly to co-operate with all God's designs for us, as John did.

2. That if we would prepare the ways of Christ we must be familiar with His Mother, accustomed to receiving her salutations and to returning them. That we must have her to live with us and take an interest in all that concerns us. Who could better help us to prepare for the Coming of her Son than His own Mother?

3. That we must be filled with the Holy Spirit and never turn Him out of our hearts by sin. It would be useless to try to prepare the way for Christ if we had not the co-operation of the Holy Spirit.

4. That penance in one form or another must have a share in our preparation for the Coming of Christ. All we know of John from the time of his infancy till he began his mission is that "he was in the deserts." It was not that he preferred such a life, but he felt that it was the one most suited to his own preparation for the Messias, for during those long years in the deserts he was preparing the way of Christ in his own heart; during his mission he prepared it in the hearts of others. Solitude, fasting, lack of ease and comfort, coarse clothing--these were the allies which John chose to aid him in his preparation for the Coming of the King, for His "Kingdom is not of this world" and "the weapons of our warfare are not carnal" (2 Cor. X. 4). He was consecrated to God, and he separated himself from everything that might interfere with his entire consecration.

_Colloquy._

(1) With God the Father Who has chosen me to prepare the ways
of His Son.

(2) With Him Who is coming.

(3) With God the Holy Ghost Who is co-operating with me.

(4) With Our Lady who is ready to let me do all my work by her
side. (Ecclus. XXIV. 30).

(5) With St. John the Baptist who will obtain for me, if I ask
him, the spirit of penance.

_Resolution._ To examine myself to-day as to the place penance is having in my Advent, and if it has none, to fix at least _one_ daily penitential act.

_Spiritual Bouquet._ "He was in the deserts."

ST. JOHN THE BAPTIST. (2)

HIS MISSION.

"In those days cometh John the Baptist preaching in the
desert of Judea.... preaching the baptism of penance unto
remission of sins."

(St. Matt. III. 1. and St. Mark I. 4).

_1st. Prelude._ John preaching and baptizing by the Jordan.

_2nd. Prelude._ Gratitude to the "Friend of the Bridegroom" for pointing Him out to the Bride.

POINT I. THE PROPHET.

When John was about thirty years of age the "word of the Lord" (St. Luke III. 2) reached him in his solitude, just as it had done all the prophets of old from Samuel down to Malachias, but since then, that is for a period of four hundred years, God had spoken through no prophet. As a result of this "word" the "Prophet of the Highest" came into all the country about the Jordan--a large area--and began his mission. His arrival made a great stir and the people flocked to see and hear him. There "went out to him Jerusalem and all Judea and all the country about Jordan." All classes went--publicans, soldiers, even the Pharisees and Sadducees, for if this man were really a prophet sent from God, it behoved _them_ to know all about him. What did the multitudes see? A man wearing a "garment of camels' hair and a leathern girdle about his loins," whose food consisted of locusts and wild honey--a man as the Angel Gabriel had prophesied "in the spirit and power of Elias" (see IV Kings I. 8). What did they hear? A voice of one crying in the desert: "Prepare ye the way of the Lord, make straight His paths." (St. Matt. III. 3). And what were their conclusions? That this was he who was spoken of by Isaias the prophet (verse 3), that he was "sent from God" (St. John I. 6) and that he "came for a witness, to give testimony of the light" (St. John I. 7). What light? The "Light of the world." John came to proclaim that the dawn which the world had been so long watching was on the point of giving place to day, that the "Sun of justice" was even now rising with "health in His wings" for those that feared God's name, and that they must go forth to meet him (Mal. IV. 2).

I too must go forth. What am I going to do to-day which will prove to myself, to my Guardian Angel, to my Patron Saint, to Mary my Mother and to Him Who is coming that I am preparing the way of the Lord?

POINT II. HIS PREACHING.

John came "preaching the baptism of penance for the remission of sins" (St. Luke III. 3). His voice was like that of a herald proclaiming a great event that was close at hand. "Do penance, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand" (St. Matt. III. 2). The Messias is coming to set up His Kingdom. He Whom you have so long expected is close to you, prepare for Him. Then John told them shortly and explicitly how to prepare: (1) "To believe in Him Who was to come" (Acts XIX. 4). (2) To repent of their sins and bring forth fruits worthy of penance such as fasting and self-denial (St. Mark II. 18). (3) To confess their sins (St. Mark I. 5). (4) To be baptized as a sign of hope that their sins had been forgiven. John's baptism could not wash away sin, for it was no sacrament, St. Paul, as well as St. Mark and St. Luke, called it the "Baptism of penance" (Acts XIX. 4). It was a baptism which proclaimed to all that he who submitted to it acknowledged himself to be a sinner and a penitent.

John the Baptist was greatly in earnest, for the time was short; he spoke very plainly to those whom he noticed coming to be baptized out of curiosity or human respect without any repentance or intention of doing penance. He warned them of the wrath of God which would fall upon sinners who persisted in their sin, of the folly of thinking that all was well with them because they had Abraham for their father; he told them that every tree which did not yield good fruit would be cut down and cast into the fire, that He Who was coming and was even now so nigh would divide all people into two classes--the wheat and the chaff, and that the great winnowing fan was already in His Hand.

The people then began to feel uncomfortable and alarmed, and anxious to make sure that they were not going to be blown away as chaff, or burnt "with unquenchable fires" by the Mighty One Who was coming; and different classes began to ask John what they must do. His answers were singularly appropriate and confirmed the opinion that he was indeed a prophet. To the people generally he counselled charity, kindness and brotherly love as the best possible preparation; to the public tax-collectors, who grew rich on the sums that they demanded in excess of the fixed tax, that they should do nothing more than that which was appointed; to the soldiers, that they should avoid violence and calumny and be content with their pay (St. Luke III. 10-14). He showed clearly by his straight and simple answers that the best way for us to prepare for Him Who is coming, is to look into our daily life and occupations and change anything and everything that we know He would find faulty.

POINT III. HIS BAPTISM.

One after another the people made up their minds to change their evil lives and bad habits. They made their good resolutions and as a proof of their sorrow for the past and firm purpose of amendment for the future, they went into the Jordan confessing their sins, and John baptized them. He told them then that He Who was coming was mightier than himself, and that He would baptize them with the Holy Ghost and fire. "Then cometh JESUS from Galilee to the Jordan unto John to be baptized by him!" Where had He come from? Straight from His home, from Nazareth, from His Mother. He had come to fulfil John's prophecy, to begin His public ministry to the people, and He would begin it by identifying Himself with them. They were sinners, coming to confess their sins and He would be numbered with the transgressors (Isaias III. 12). "But John stayed Him, saying: I ought to be baptized by Thee, and comest Thou to me?" (St. Matt. III. 14). Though they were cousins it is probable that they had not met since their early childhood. One had lived in the seclusion of Nazareth and the other in the seclusion of the desert. "I knew Him not," (St. John I. 31, 33) John said. It was probably the fact of someone coming for the baptism of penance who had no sins to confess that made John suspect and then protest; but he could not resist the gentle, authoritative words: "Suffer it to be so now, for so it becometh Us to fulfil all justice." Then when He had gone out of the water John saw a wonderful sight--he described it himself: "I saw the Spirit coming down as a dove from Heaven and He remained upon Him; and I knew Him not, but He Who sent me to baptize with water said to me: He upon Whom thou shalt see the Spirit descending and remaining upon Him, He it is That baptizeth with the Holy Ghost. And I saw; and I gave testimony, that this is the Son of God." (St. John I. 32-34). He knew Him now--there was no longer any doubt, no more time of waiting and preparation, He Who should come had come. God Himself pointed Him out to the faithful Precursor--a voice from Heaven said: "This is My beloved Son in Whom I am well pleased" (St. Matt. III. 17). What a reward for John after his life of solitude and penance and mortification--to be in close contact with the Son of God, to see the Holy Spirit in the form of a dove, and to hear the Voice of God the Father, and thus have the seal set to his mission! "And I saw; and I gave testimony."

And what have the waters of Jordan to say? That He, over Whose Sacred Head they closed, has, by the contact of His precious Body, sanctified them and all other waters and given them power, when they are in contact with His mystical Body to wash away sin. JESUS went down to John in the Jordan not to _receive_ a gift, but to _impart_ one. From henceforth the waters will bring forth abundantly and God will say of His new creation, as He did in the beginning, that it is good. All three Persons of the Blessed Trinity were present at this new creation, the Holy Spirit brooded over the face of the waters for this new baptism was the Baptism of the Holy Ghost, the Voice of the Lord was upon the waters (Ps. XXVIII. 3), the Voice, that is, of the Father proclaiming that He was well pleased, not only with His "Beloved Son" but with this first act of His public ministry; for in Him He saw a countless multitude coming out of the sanctified water, and of each one He will say: "_This_ is My beloved son, in whom I am well pleased."

"O Almighty Eternal God, preside over the mysteries of Thy great mercy, preside over Thy sacraments and send forth the Spirit of adoption to regenerate the new people, whom the font of Baptism brings forth to Thee" (Prayer for the Blessing of the Font on Holy Saturday).

_Colloquy._ "Grant we beseech Thee, Almighty God, that Thy servants may walk in the way of salvation; and by following the exhortation of Blessed John the Precursor may securely attain the possession of Him Whom He foretold, Our Lord JESUS Christ." (Collect for the Vigil of St. John the Baptist).

_Resolution._ To "prepare His ways" to-day.

_Spiritual Bouquet._ "Blessed John the Baptist ... pray to the Lord our God for us."

ST. JOHN THE BAPTIST. (3)

HIS TESTIMONY.

"This man came for a witness to give witness of the Light,
that all men might believe through Him."

(St. John I. 7).

_1st. Prelude._ "John stood and two of his disciples and beholding JESUS walking, he saith: Behold the Lamb of God." (verses 35, 36).

_2nd. Prelude._ Grace so to hear his testimony that we follow JESUS.

POINT I. "THAT HE MAY BE MADE MANIFEST THEREFORE AM I COME" (verse 31).

This was all John wanted, all he cared about, it was his vocation, it was the point of his long years of mortification, the reason for his preaching and baptism; he was a man of one idea--the Christ is coming, I must manifest Him to the people. This man came for a witness to give testimony of the Light (verse 7). When the people wondering asked him: Art thou the Christ? Art thou Elias? Art thou the prophet? his answer was: No, I am only a voice proclaiming His coming. I, He? Oh, no, I am not worthy to be His slave. He is the Light, the Light of the whole world. "I saw the Spirit coming down as a dove from Heaven and He remained upon Him.... And I saw; and I gave testimony that this is the _Son of God_" (verses 32-34).

Let me look at my preparation for His coming this Advent and see whether I am in any way following in the footsteps of the great Precursor. Can I be said to be a person of one idea--that of manifesting my Lord to others? When people want to make much of me and my work and ask who I am, is my one thought to turn their eyes from me to Him Who is coming? Am I really persuaded that I am only here to make Him manifest? _Is_ He being made manifest to others through me? Do those with whom I come in contact leave me, with a greater knowledge of Him, with a greater desire for His coming, with more anxiety about the salvation of their souls and with more zeal for that of others? Do my words and deeds, does my very manner, speak to them of Him and make them think of Him? "Art thou the Christ?" In one sense, yes, for I am or ought to be another Christ (_alter Christus_), living His life, doing His work and representing Him in the world.

POINT II. "BEHOLD THE LAMB OF GOD."

This is He, behold Him! He is the Lamb of God. He it is to whom all the lambs that have been sacrificed point; their blood could not wash away sin, but "behold Him who taketh away the sin of the world." You are sorry for your sins, you have confessed them and I have baptized you as a sign that they are forgiven, now there is One among you who takes them away. Behold the Lamb of God! This was what John said when he saw JESUS the day after His baptism; he said the same thing the next day when he saw Him walking by the Jordan; two of his disciples were with him, Andrew and John (probably), and when they saw their master pointing to JESUS and saying: "Behold the Lamb of God!" they did what John meant them to do, they left their master and followed _Him_. How well had the faithful Precursor prepared the way in their hearts! How thoroughly he had done his work! How absolutely he had effaced himself! There was no doubt, no hesitation in the minds of his disciples, no wondering whether John would mind; "_they followed_ JESUS," and John had the joy of seeing JESUS turn and speak to them: "What seek you?" And then the joy of hearing them call _Him_ Master. "Master, where dwellest Thou?" "Come and see." Then the Friend of the Bridegroom saw the three going away together, and he knew that his mission had not been in vain, the Bride was beginning to join the Bridegroom.

POINT III. "HE THAT HATH THE BRIDE IS THE BRIDEGROOM."

It was not for nothing that Andrew and John spent that day with JESUS. They told others what they had found: "We have found the Messias, which is being interpreted the Christ," and they brought their companions one by one to JESUS, with the result that very soon the Baptism of the Holy Ghost was taking place in the Jordan as well as the Baptism of Penance, and the people instructed by John left the less for the greater.

There were "busybodies," as St. Paul calls them (1 Tim. V. 13), even in those days, people who could not let others alone, who could not understand the situation or pretended that they could not; they "came to John and said to him: Rabbi, He that was with thee beyond the Jordan, to Whom thou gavest testimony, behold He baptizeth and all men come to _Him_" (St. John III. 26). They were words calculated to stir up jealousy and ill-feeling; but John was too humble and too great to be disturbed by them, his answer was characteristic: "You yourselves do bear me witness, that I said that I am not Christ, but that I am sent before Him. He that hath the Bride is the Bridegroom." There is the proof that all I have been telling you is true. He has the Bride, the people all go to Him, you see for yourselves that He _must_ be the Bridegroom; "but the Friend of the Bridegroom, who standeth and heareth Him, rejoiceth with joy because of the Bridegroom's voice. This my joy therefore is fulfilled." It was enough for "the Friend of the Bridegroom" to hear His Master's voice. The necessity for him and his preaching was fast passing away and he knew it. He had been for a time the great man, the popular preacher, the one every one talked about, whose advice everyone sought, now he must stand aside and see his disciples gather round another master, himself not in the group at all. It is a position most workers in God's vineyard find themselves in sooner or later, they have to give place to others, to watch others reaping the fruit of their labours, to see those whom they have taught going to other teachers, those who have sought their advice seeking it elsewhere. How do they bear this difficult situation? How am I going to bear it when my turn comes? Am I going to pose as a martyr, craving for and expecting every one's sympathy? Am I going to put difficulties in the way of those who succeed me, and make it hard for those to whom it has been my privilege to minister? Some are even jealous and show their displeasure by criticizing those who succeed them! What was John's attitude? All he wanted was his Master and His Will. He was the "Friend of the Bridegroom." He was satisfied to stand on one side, and his cup of joy was full when he heard his Master's Voice. "He must increase" in the minds of the people "and I must decrease." Let me learn a lesson from John the Baptist and make my sacrifice beforehand, remembering that nothing matters so long as I am the friend of the Bridegroom, can hear His Voice and see the souls I have tried to help following Him. These are joys, real joys, and they are perhaps never fully realized till the cool shade of the background is reached.

POINT IV. JOHN'S TESTIMONY OF HIMSELF.

1. I am sent before Him (St. John III. 28).

2. I am the voice (chap. I. 23).

3. I baptize with water (verses 26, 31).

4. I am not worthy (verse 27).

5. I am come that He may be made manifest (verse 31).

6. I ought to be baptized by Thee (St. Matt. III. 14).

7. I knew him not. (St. John I. 31).

8. I saw the Spirit coming down ... and He remained upon Him
(verse 32).

9. I saw (verse 34); (that is, I understood).

10. I gave testimony that this is the Son of God. (ibid.)

11. I am not the Christ (verse 20).

12. I must decrease (chap. III. 30).

_Colloquy_ with St. John the Baptist.

_Resolution._ To bear my testimony.

_Spiritual Bouquet._ "Behold the Lamb of God!"

ST. JOHN THE BAPTIST. (4)

HIS MARTYRDOM.

"Herod the Tetrarch, when he was reproved by him for
Herodias, his brother's wife, and for all the evils which
Herod had done, he added this also above all, and shut up
John in prison."

(St. Luke III. 19, 20).

_1st. Prelude._ John the Baptist in Prison.

_2nd. Prelude._ Grace to be faithful unto death.

POINT I. JOHN IN PRISON.

John knew no fear where right was concerned. His duty was to make the paths straight for Him who was coming and it mattered little to him whether he rebuked the Pharisees and Sadducees at the Jordan or Herod in his palace. Herod, however, could not brook such plain speaking and he had (at first) a mind to put him to death (but) "he feared the people, because they esteemed him as a prophet" (St. Matt. XIV. 5). Herodias also had "laid snares for him and was desirous to put him to death and could not" because of Herod who knowing that John was "a just and holy man" (afterwards) protected his life (St. Mark VI. 19, 20). So John was shut up in prison; Josephus tells us that it was at a place called Machaerus on the east of the Dead Sea where Herod had a castle.

Let us go and visit John in that lonely prison, where he was cast quite at the beginning of Christ's ministry. His long years of preparation in the desert, his fearless, outspoken preaching, his generosity and humility in giving place to his Master, his important office of Forerunner of the Messias, his vision of the Blessed Trinity--are they all to end thus? Is this how God treats His friends? Is this the reward for fidelity and loyalty? Yes, St. John would be the first to answer, these are ever God's ways, "He must increase, I must decrease." John had indeed been specially favoured and he was specially favoured in prison too. It is not everybody whom God can trust with a trial such as this. John was still preparing the ways of the Lord, no longer by an active life, but by a life of suffering, solitude and privation. His patience and his perfect submission to God's Will no doubt prepared the ways of Christ in the hearts of many.

If He is to increase, I _must_ decrease, it is only natural. Yes, it is natural for the saints to reason like this, but what about me? I want to be a saint. I often perhaps ask God to make me one, perhaps I even tell Him to use any means He likes, not to spare me. Does not this solve many a problem? God is only taking me at my word; the beginning, the middle and the end of the process of saint-making is _humility_. "I must decrease," and if I ask to be a saint, He will give me the humiliations and the sufferings which alone can teach me humility and unite me to Himself. What then does it matter, if I have to suffer physically or morally, if a career of usefulness in His service is suddenly cut short, if I have to stand on one side and see the work I love and for which my whole life has been a preparation, being done by another, if those I have taught do not seem to understand, if my life is full of little things I dislike and which seem made to annoy me--all these and everything else that can possibly happen to me are the direct result of my God-given wish to be a saint. Let me ask St. John the Baptist for courage to continue my prayer this Advent and to accept joyfully for Him Who is coming all that it entails, saying, to myself when something seems to happen on purpose to annoy me: "This is to help to make me a saint," and then seeing to it that it does.

POINT II. THE END.

Vengeance still rankled in the breast of Herodias for John had said to Herod: "It is not lawful for thee to have thy brother's wife." She laid her plans and awaited her opportunity; it came on Herod's birthday; he gave a supper for the princes and tribunes and chief men of Galilee, and she made her daughter come in and dance till they were all so pleased that Herod swore to the girl: "Whatsoever thou shalt ask I will give thee, though it be the half of my kingdom." Herodias knew Herod and expecting that this would happen had told her daughter to do nothing without consulting her. "What shall I ask?" she said to her mother, who replied without any hesitation: "The head of John the Baptist." Herodias was evidently afraid that the king would change his mind and that her wicked plans would after all fail, for she impressed upon her daughter the necessity of haste. The girl went back _immediately, with haste_ to Herod, and said: "I will that _forthwith_ thou give me in a dish the head of John the Baptist." Herod was very sorry, for he was interested in his prisoner, also he knew him to be "a just and holy man" (St. Mark VI. 20) and he hesitated before such a crime; but he had taken an oath and to break it before his guests would be inconsistent with his dignity, besides "he would not displease" the girl, so he acted at once as Herodias had bidden him: "he sent and beheaded John in the prison, and his head was brought in a dish, and it was given to the damsel, and she brought it to her mother."

"Faithful unto death."--"O Lord, Thou hast set on his head a crown of precious stones" ("Communion" for the feast of the Beheading of St. John the Baptist, August 29th).

"And his disciples came and took the body and buried it, and came and told JESUS," told the Bridegroom that His "friend" was dead. "Which when JESUS had heard, He retired from thence by a boat, into a desert place apart."

"Faithful unto death," I must be too, if my preparation this Advent is to be anything like that of St. John the Baptist. He died to self long before his cruel death in the prison; his whole life from the day he went into the desert as a little child was a living death: "As dying and behold we live" (2 Cor. VI. 9). This is how St. Paul describes the state of all those who "_will_ live godly in Christ JESUS" (2 Tim. III. 12). It is the death of "the old man," the death of self; the "I" must ever be decreasing, ever receiving the blows which will one day, probably not before the soul's last day on earth, cause its death. Such is the prospect I have before me, if I would copy John the Baptist and be faithful unto death. What is my consolation and strength? That JESUS knows and sympathizes. Not one of the blows which cost me so much, not one of the sufferings, not one hour of desolation or loneliness or temptation or misunderstanding or unkindness, or any of the many things which are conspiring together for the death of "the old man," are lost upon Him. He knows, He cares, He sympathizes and He is glad, for in proportion as the "I" is decreasing, _He_ is increasing in my soul.

_Colloquy_

(1) With John in the prison.
(2) With JESUS in "a desert place apart."

_Resolution._ To be "faithful unto death" to-day.

_Spiritual Bouquet._ "I spoke of Thy testimonies before kings and I was not ashamed" ("Introit" for the Feast of the Beheading of St. John the Baptist).

ST. JOHN THE BAPTIST. (5)

HIS CHARACTER.

"What went you out into the desert to see? A reed shaken with
the wind? But what went you out to see? A man clothed in soft
garments? Behold they that are in costly apparel and live
delicately, are in the houses of kings. But what went you out
to see? A prophet? Yea, I say to you, and more than a
prophet, for ... among those that are born of women, there is
not a greater prophet than John the Baptist. But he that is
the lesser in the Kingdom of God, is greater than he."

(St. Luke VII. 24-28).

_1st. Prelude._ JESUS talking to His disciples about John.

_2nd. Prelude._ Grace to stand by and listen and learn.

POINT I. HIS HUMILITY.

One day when John was in prison his disciples came and told him that they had heard that JESUS was working a great many miracles and that His fame was spreading all through the country. At Capharnaum He had healed a centurion's servant, and at Naim He had raised a widow's son to life; and the people were all glorifying God and saying: "A great prophet is risen up among us, and God hath visited His people" (St. Luke VII). This news sounded like music in John's ears; it was just what he wanted; it was a proof that his life's work had not been in vain: "He _must_ increase." The disciples however who brought the news did not take at all the same view of the case. They were not pleased that another should take the place of their master while he languished in prison. John knew that had they been quite sure that JESUS was the Messias, such thoughts could have had no place in their minds, and so to strengthen their faith he sent two of them to JESUS with the question: "Art thou He that art to come or look we for another?" hoping no doubt that they might see some miracles for themselves, or at any rate that personal contact with JESUS would clear away their doubts.

See the beautiful humility of John's character, there is no thought for himself; he is only anxious still to point out the Lamb of God and to remove all obstacles from His path in the hearts of all; he is still the voice crying with no uncertain sound. It happened (not by chance) that just when the two disciples arrived many miracles were being worked by JESUS, and in answer to their question, which they were probably now rather ashamed to put, He said: "Go and relate to John what you have heard and seen;" and He added: "Blessed is he whosoever shall not be scandalized in Me." Surely after that the disciples could never again stumble in their faith, and it must have been with joy in their hearts that they told their master of all they had seen and heard.

POINT II. CHRIST'S TESTIMONY OF JOHN.