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"Good Friday Morning: Jesus in Prison "
-- byJames Tissot |
This
day was formerly for the Jewish people a day of preparation for
Easter, and was called by them the Parasceve; for us Christians it is
the anniversary of the death and burial of our Lord who on this day,
being Himself both High-Priest and Victim, offered Himself upon the
cross for the salvation of the world.
Why
do Catholics hold this day in such veneration?
Because
it is one of the greatest days from the beginning of the world to its
end. On this day the designs which God had from all eternity were
perfected, as Jesus Himself expressed when He said, All il
consummated; for on this day He was given up toy the Gentiles by the
Jews, was scourged, crowned with thorns, loaded with the cross,
dragged to Calvary amid taunts and sneers, there nailed to the cross
between two thieves, and by His painful death finished the great work
of redemption.
Why
did Christ suffer so much to, redeem, us?
To
show us what an immense evil sin is, on account of which He underwent
such cruel sufferings that He might satisfy divine justice. His love
for us was so great that He gave the last drop of His blood to save
us. He rendered satisfaction for all men without exception, that none
might be lost, that every one might possess eternal life. Look up
today, and every day of thy life, to Christ on the cross, and see how
God punishes sin, since He did not even spare His only-begotten Son,
who took upon Himself our sins, and for them died this cruel death.
What death is due to thee, if thou dost not despise and flee from
sin?
Why
does the Church celebrate the commemoration of the passion of Christ
in such solemn quietness?
That
we may be induced to thank the Saviour for our redemption, and to
move us to sincere love for Him by serious meditation on His passion.
For this reason St. Paul ordered the observance of this day, and the
Christians even in his time sanctified it by deep mourning, and
rigorous fasting.
Why
do we not observe Good Friday with such festivities as do the
Protestants? [in Europe.]
Because
our grief for our Saviour's death is too great to permit us to
celebrate it joyously, even nature mourned His death; the sun was
darkened, the earth trembled and the rocks were rent. Although the
Christian rejoices on this day in the grace of redemption through
Christ, he is aware that his joy cannot be pleasing to God unless he
endeavors to participate in the merits of the passion and death of
Christ by sorrow for his sins, by amendment and penance; and this is
the very reason why the Church solemnizes this day in a sad and
touching manner.
Why
are there no candles lighted at the beginning of the service?
To
signify that on this day Christ, the Light of the world, became, as
it were, extinguished.
Why
does the priest prostrate himself before the altar at the beginning
of the service?
That
with him we should consider in deepest sorrow and humility how the
Saviour died on the cross for our sins, and how unworthy we are on
account of them to lift up our faces.
Why
does the service commence with the reading of two lessons?
Because
Christ died for Jews and Gentiles. The first lesson is from the
Prophet Osee, (Osee VI, 1-6.) and the other from Exodus, (Exod. XII.
1-11.) from them we infer that by the bloody death of the immaculate
Lamb Jesus we are healed of our sins, and redeemed from death.
After
the first lesson the Priest says the following:
COLLECT
O God! from whom Judas received the punishment of his sin, and the
thief the reward of his confession: grant us the effects of Thy
mercy; that as our Lord Jesus Christ at the time of His passion
bestowed on each a different recompense of his merits, so having
destroyed the old man in us, He may give us the grace of His
Resurrection. Who liveth, & c.
REMARK
After the Passion the priest prays in behalf of the one, only true
Church, that she may increase, and that peace and unity may always
remain with her; for the pope, that his government may be blessed;
for the bishops, priests, the clergy, and the people, that they may
serve God in justice; for those converted to the faith, that they may
continue to grow an knowledge and an zeal for the holy religion; for
rulers as defenders of the Church, that they may govern with wisdom
and justice, and that those under them may be loyal to them with
fidelity and obedience; for the unfortunate, that God may have mercy
on them; for heretics and apostates, that they may be brought back
from error to the truth of the Catholic faith; for the Jews, that
they may be enlightened; for the heathens, that they may be
converted. Before each gayer the priest says Oremus, (Let us pray
Flectamus genua, (Let us kneel; when kneeling, we say Amen, and at
the call Levate (Rise up) we rise: except at the prayer for the Jews,
when the genuflection is omitted, because the Jews bent the knee in
mockery before our Lord. As Christ on this day prayed for all men,
the Church desires, that we do the same; say, therefore, the
following:
PRAYER
O Lord Jesus! who on the cross, while enduring the most excruciating
pain, didst pray with a loud voice for all men, we humbly pray Thee
for Thy vicar, Pope N., for our bishop N., for all the priests and
clergy, for our civil government, for the neophytes, for the
unfortunate and oppressed, for all Catholics, that Thou mayst
preserve them in the true faith, and strengthen them, that they may
serve Thee according to their different vocations. We pray Thee also
for all unbelievers, and those separated from the true fold, for the
Jews, and for the heathens, that Thou mayst unite all in Thy holy
Church, and bring them to eternal salvation. Amen.
What
is done by the priest after these prayers?
The
priest then goes down from the epistle side of the altar, takes the
veiled crucifix, and extending it towards the people, uncovers it so
much that the head is seen, and sings in a low voice: Ecce lignum.
crucis, &c.: Behold the wood of the cross on which the
Salvation of the world was hanged! The choir answers: Venite,
adoremus: Come, let us adore! at which all kneel, adoring Christ who
died on the cross for us. The priest then advances to the corner of
the altar, uncovers the right arm of the Crucifix, and sings in a
higher tone: Ecce lignum crucis, &c.; to which the choir
responds as before. Then at the middle of the altar he uncovers the
entire Crucifix, and elevating it, sings in a still higher tone than
before: Ecce lignum, &c. The choir responds again: Venite
adoremus. The image of the crucified Redeemer, which has been hidden
from our view since Passion Sunday should make a deep impression upon
us; it teaches us at the same time how the Saviour became gradually
known to the world. Jesus is adored three times, because He was
mocked three times: in the court-yard of the high-priest, in Pilate's
house, and on mount Calvary. When the crucifix is unveiled the priest
carries it to the place prepared for it, and kneeling he places it on
the cushion covered with a white veil to represent the laying of
Christ in the sepulchre; he then retires to the gospel side of the
Altar where he puts off his shoes, like Moses, when he was about to
approach Almighty God; he then kneels and meditates on the passion of
Christ; goes a few steps forward, again kneels, and still a third
time, this time directly in front of the crucifix. He adores Jesus
with humility, considers His infinite love, which brought Him to the
cross and laid Him in the sepulchre for our Redemption; and then
kisses with reverence the image of the crucified Saviour. During this
veneration of the cross the choir chants alternately the versicles
called the Reproaches, and between each part of the canticle the
following words in Greek and Latin: "Holy God! Holy and strong
God! Holy and immortal God! have mercy on us!" In these
versicles Christ tenderly and lovingly reproaches the people who
crucified Him, which we may also take to ourselves, who have so often
crucified Jesus anew by sin. They are therefore called reproaches,
words of complaint, and continue during the veneration of the cross
by the priest. Afterwards a hymn of praise composed by St. Fortunatus
is sung in honor of the victory gained on the cross by our Saviour,
which calls upon us also to render praise and thanks to Jesus
crucified.
Adore
also in deepest humility the Saviour who died on the cross, and is
now victoriously enthroned; ask with sincere contrition the
forgiveness of your sins, and by a threefold advance, kiss with
sincere love His sacred wounds, promising to love all men, even your
enemies, and to have pity on all in distress, according to His
example.
What
follows the veneration of the cross?
The
sacred Host consecrated on Holy Thursday, and kept in the chalice, is
brought by the priest in procession, from the repository to the high
altar, incensed in sign of adoration, and after a few short prayers
the priest elevates It with the right hand, breaks It, puts one part
in the chalice and communicates, and soon after leaves the altar.
Is
there, then, no Mass said on this day?
No;
for on this day there is no bread and wine consecrated, which is the
essential part of the Sacrifice of the Mass.
Why
is no Mass said on this day?
Because
Jesus Christ having this day sacrificed Himself on the altar of the
cross in a bloody offering, it is not meet that His death sacrifice
should be today repeated even in an unbloody manner. Besides this,
Mass is a joyous and comforting sacrifice, and is therefore omitted
because of our mourning.
What
devotions may be practised to-day?
Besides
adoring Jesus in the holy sepulchre, the stations may be said,
meditations made on the sufferings of our Lord. Let the words of St.
Augustine touch your heart, when he places the crucified Redeemer
before our mind in the following words: "Behold the wounds of
Jesus who is hanging on the cross, the blood of the dying, the price
of our redemption! His head is bowed to give the kiss of peace; His
side is open to love; His arms are extended to embrace us; His whole
body sacrificed for our redemption. Let these words be the subject of
your meditation that He may be wholly in your heart who is nailed to
the cross for you."
MANNER
OF CONTEMPLATING CHRIST'S BITTER PASSION
Christ
also suffered for us: leaving you an example that you should follow
his steps. (I Peter II. 21.)
Whence
does it come," writes St. Alphonsus Ligouri, "that so many
of the faithful look with so much indifference at Christ on the
cross? They generally assist during Holy Week at the commemoration of
His death without any feeling of gratitude or compassion, as if it
were a fable or an event in which they had no interest. Know they
not, or believe they not what the gospel relates of Christ's passion?
Indeed they know it, and believe it, but do not think of it. It is
impossible that he who believes and meditates, should fail, to become
burning with love for God who suffers and dies for love of him."
But why, we may ask here, are there so many who draw so little
benefit even from the contemplation of the passion and death of
Jesus? Because they fail to consider and imitate the example which
Christ gives in His sufferings.
"The
cross of Christ," says St. Augustine, "is not only a bed of
death, but a pulpit of instruction." It is not only a bed upon
which Christ dies, but the pulpit from which He teaches us what we
must do. It should now be our special aim to meditate upon the
passion of Christ, and to imitate those virtues which shone forth so
preeminently in His passion and death. But many neglect to do this:
They usually content themselves with compassion when they see Christ
enduring such great pains, but they see not with what love, humility,
and meekness He bears them; and so do not endeavor to imitate His
example. That you, O Christian soul, may avoid this mistake, and that
you may draw the greatest possible benefit for your soul, from the
contemplation of the passion, and death of Christ, attend to that
which is said of it by that pious servant of Gods Alphonse Rodriguez:
We
must endeavor to derive from the meditation on the mysteries of the
passion and death of Christ this effect, that we may imitate His
virtues, and this by slowly and attentively considering each virtue
by itself, exercising ourselves in forming a very great desire for it
in our hearts, making a firm resolution to practice it in words and
works, and also to conceive a holy aversion and horror of the
opposite vice; for instance, when contemplating Christ's condemnation
to the death of the cross by Pilate, consider the humility of Jesus
Christ, who being God, as humble as He was innocent, voluntarily
submitted and silently accepted the unjust sentence and the
ignominious death. Here you see from the example given by Jesus, how
you should despise yourself, patiently bear all evil, unjust
judgment; and detraction, and even seek them with joy as giving you
occasion to resemble Him. To produce these necessary effects and
resolutions, you should at each mystery contemplate the following
particulars:
First,
Who is it that suffers? The most innocent, the holiest, the most
loving; the only-begotten Son of the Almighty Father, the Lord of
heaven and earth. Secondly; What pains and torments, exterior and
interior, does He suffer? Thirdly, In what manner does He suffer,
with what patience, humility, meekness and love, does He bear all
ignominy and outrage? Fourthly, For whom does He suffer? For all men,
for His enemies and His executioners. Fifthly, By whom does He
suffer? By Jews and heathens, by soldiers and tyrants, by the devil
and all impious children of the world to the end of time, and all who
were then united in spirit with His enemies. Sixthly, Why does He
suffer? To make reparation for all the sins of the whole world, to
satisfy the justice of God, to reconcile the Heavenly Father, to open
heaven, to give us His infinite 'merits that we may from them have
strength to follow the way to heaven. At the consideration of each of
these points, and indeed at each mystery of the passion of Christ,
the imitation of the example of His virtues is the main object,
because the true life of the Christian consists in the imitation of
Jesus. In considering each stage of the passion of Christ place
vividly before your mind the virtue which He practiced therein;
contemplate it and ask yourself whether you possess this virtue, or
whether you still cherish the opposite vice. If you find the latter
to be the case make an act of contrition, with the firm resolution to
extirpate this vice, and excite in yourself a sincere desire for the
opposite virtue. In this way you will draw the greatest advantage
from the contemplation of Christ's passion, and will resemble Christ,
and, as the pious Louis of Granada says, there can be no greater
honor and adornment for a Christian than to resemble his divine
Master, not in the way that Lucifer desired, but in that which He
pointed out, when He said: "I have given you an example, that as
I have done to you, so do you also."
THE
PASSION OF OUR LORD JESUS CHRIST
ACCORDING
TO ST. JOHN. (CHAPS. XVIII., XIX.)
At
that time, Jesus went forth with his disciples, over the brook of
Cedron, where there was a garden into which he and his disciples
entered. Now Judas also, who betrayed him, knew the place: because
Jesus had often resorted thither together with his disciples. Judas
therefore having received a band of men and servants from the chief
priests and the Pharisees, cometh thither with lanterns and torches
and weapons. Jesus, therefore, knowing all things that should come
upon him, went forth and said to them: Whom seek ye? They answered
him: Jesus of Nazareth. Jesus saith to them: I am he. And Judas also,
who betrayed him, stood with them. As soon then as he had said to
them: I am he; they, went backward, and fell to the ground.
Again
therefore he asked them: Whom seek ye? And they said: Jesus of
Nazareth. Jesus answered: I have told you, that I am he. If therefore
you seek me, let these go away. That the word might be fulfilled
which he had said: Of them whom thou bast given me, I have not lost
any one. Then Simon Peter having a sword, drew it, and struck the
servant of the high-priest, and cut off his right ear. And the name
of the servant was Malchus. Then Jesus said to Peter: Put up thy
sword into the scabbard. The cup which my Father hath given me, shall
not I drink it?
Then
the band, and the tribune, and the servants of the Jews took Jesus,
and bound him: and they led him away to Annas first: for he was
father-in-law to Caiphas, who was the high-priest of that year. Now
Caiphas was he who had given the council to the Jews, that it was
expedient that one man should die for the people.
And
Simon Peter followed Jesus, and so did another disciple. And that
disciple was known to the high-priest, and went in with Jesus into
the palace of the high-priest. But Peter stood at the door without.
Then the other disciple who was known to the high-priest, went out,
and spoke to her that kept the door: and brought in Peter. And the
maid that waited at the door, saith to Peter: Art not thou also one
of this man's disciples? He saith : I am not.
Now
the servants and officers stood at a fire of coals, because it was
cold, and warmed themselves: and with them was Peter also standing,
and warming himself.
The
high-priest then asked Jesus of his disciples, and of his doctrine.
Jesus answered him: I have spoken openly to the world: I have always
taught in the synagogue, and in the temple, whither all the Jews
resort: and in secret I have spoken nothing. Why askest thou me? ask
them who have heard what I have spoken to them: behold they know what
things I have said. And when he had said these things, one of the
officers standing by, gave Jesus a blow, saying: Answerest thou the
high-priest so? Jesus answered him: If I have spoken, evil, give
testimony of the evil: but if well, why strikest thou me?
And
Annas sent him bound to Caiphas the high-priest.
And
Simon Peter was standing and warming himself. They said therefore to
him: Art not thou also one of his disciples? He denied it and said: I
am not. One of the servants of the high-priest, a kinsman to him
whose ear Peter, cut off, saith to him: Did not I see thee in the
garden with him? Then Peter: again denied, and immediately the cock
crowed. Then they led Jesus from Caiphas to the governor hall. And it
was morning: and they went not into the hall, that they might not be
defiled, but that they might eat the passover.
Pilate
therefore went out to there, and said: What accusation bring you
against this man? They answered and said to him: If he were not a
malefactor, we would not have delivered him up to thee. Pilate then
said to them: Take him you, and judge him according to your law. The
Jews therefore said to him: It is not lawful for us to put any man to
death. That the word of Jesus might be fulfilled which he said,
signifying what death he should die. Pilate therefore went into the
hall again, and called Jesus, and said to him: Art thou the king of
the Jews? Jesus answered: Sayest thou this thing of thyself, or have
others told it thee of me. Pilate answered: Am I a Jew? Thy own
nation, and the chief priests, have delivered thee up to me. What
hast thou done? Jesus answered: My kingdom is not of this world. If
my kingdom were of this world, my servants would certainly strive
that I should not be, delivered to the Jews: but now my kingdom is
not from hence. Pilate therefore said to him: Art thou a king then?
Jesus answered: Thou sayest that I am a king. For this was I born,
and for this came I into the world, that I should give testimony to
the truth: every one that is of the truth, heareth my voice.
Pilate
saith to him: What is truth?
And
when he had said this, he went out again to the Jews, and saith to
them: I find no cause in him. But you have a custom that I should
release one unto you at the passover: will you therefore that I
release unto you the king of the Jews? Then cried they all again,
saying: Not this man, but Barabbas. Now Barabbas was a robber.
Then,
therefore, Pilate took Jesus, and scourged him. And the soldiers
platting a crown of thorns, put it upon his head: and they put on him
a purple garment, and they came to him, and said: Hail, King of the
Jews! And they gave him blows. Pilate, therefore, went forth again,
and saith to them: Behold I bring him forth to you that you may know
that I find no cause in him. So Jesus came forth bearing the down of
thorns, and the purple garment. And he saith to them: Behold the man.
When the chief priests, therefore, and the officers had seen him,
they cried out, saying: Crucify him, crucify him. Pilate saith to
them: Take him you, and crucify him; for I find no cause in him. The
Jews answered him: We have a law; and according to the law he ought
to die, because he made himself the Son of God. When Pilate therefore
had heard this saying, he feared the more. And he entered into the
hall again, and he said to Jesus: Whence art thou? But Jesus gave him
no answer. Pilate therefore said to him: Speakest thou not to me?
knowest thou not that I have power to crucify thee, and I have power
to release thee? Jesus answered: Thou shouldst not have any power
against me, unless it were given thee from above. Therefore he that
hath delivered me to thee, hath the greater sin. And from thenceforth
Pilate sought to release him. But the Jews cried out, saying: If thou
release this man, thou art not Caesar's friend. For whosoever maketh
himself a king, speaketh against Caesar.
Now
when Pilate had heard these words, he brought Jesus forth: and sat
down in the judgment-seat, in the place that is called the Pavement,
and in Hebrew, Gabbatha. And it was the parasceve of the passover,
about the sixth hour, and he saith to the Jews: Behold your king. But
they cried out: Away with him, away with him, crucify him. Pilate
saith to them: Shall I crucify your king? The chief priests answered:
We have no king but Ceasar. Then therefore, he delivered him to them
to be crucified. And they took Jesus, and led him forth. And bearing
his own cross he went forth to that place which is called Calvary,
but in Hebrew, Golgotha, where they crucified him, and with him two
others, one on each side, and Jesus in the midst. And Pilate wrote a
title also, and he put it upon the cross. And the writing was: Jesus
of Nazareth, the king of the Jews.
The
title, therefore, many of the Jews did read, because the place where
Jesus was crucified was nigh to the city: and it was written in
Hebrew, in Greek, and in Latin. Then the chief-priest of the Jews
said to Pilate: Write not, the king of the Jews: but that he said: I
am the king of the Jews. Pilate answered: What I have written, I have
written. Then the soldiers, when they had crucified him, took his
garments (and they made four parts, to, every soldier a part) and
also his coat. Now the coat was without seam, woven from the top
throughout.
They
said then one to another: Let us not cut it, but let us cast lots for
it, whose it shall be: that the Scripture might be fulfilled which
saith: They have parted my garments among, them, and upon my vesture
they have cast lots. And the soldiers did indeed these things. Now
there stood by the cross of Jesus, his mother, and his mother's
sister, Mary of Cleophas, and Mary Magdalene.
When
Jesus therefore saw his mother, and the disciple standing, whom he
loved, he saith to his mother: Woman! behold thy son. After that, he
saith to the disciple: Behold thy mother. And from that hour the
disciple took her to his own. Afterwards, Jesus knowing that all
things were now accomplished, that the Scripture might be fulfilled,
said: I thirst. Now there was a vessel set there full of vinegar. And
they put a sponge full of vinegar, about hyssop, and put it to his
mouth. When Jesus, therefore, had taken the vinegar, he said: It is
consummated. And bowing his head, he gave up the ghost.
Then
the Jews (because it was the parasceve) that the bodies might not
remain upon the cross on the Sabbath-day(for that was a great
Sabbath-day), besought Pilate that their legs might be broken, and
that they might be taken away. The soldiers, therefore, came: and
they broke the legs of the first, and of the other that was crucified
with him.
But
after they were come to Jesus, when they saw that he was already
dead, they did not break his legs. But one of the soldiers opened his
side with a spear, and immediately there came out blood and water.
And he that saw it gave testimony, and his testimony is true. And he
knoweth that he saith true, that you also may believe.
For
these things were done that the Scripture might be fulfilled: You
shall not break a bone of him. And again another Scripture saith:
They shall look on him whom they pierced.
And
after these things, Joseph of Arimathea (because he was a disciple of
Jesus, but secretly for fear of the Jews), besought Pilate that he
might take away the body of Jesus. And Pilate gave him leave. He came
therefore and took away the body of Jesus. And Nicodemus also came,
he who at the first came to Jesus by night, bringing a mixture of
myrrh and aloes; about a hundred pound weight.
They
took therefore the body of Jesus, and wrapped it in linen cloths with
the spices, as the manner of the Jews is, to bury. Now there was a
garden in the place where he was crucified; and in the garden a new
sepulchre, wherein no man yet had been laid. Therefore, because of
the parasceve of the Jews, they laid Jesus there; for the sepulchre
was nigh at hand.
THE
PEOPLE AT THE CROSS, AND THE PEOPLE OF TODAY
At
Golgotha, in sight of the temple and city of Jerusalem, in the
presence of two or three millions of Jews, who had come to the city
from all lands, Jesus, the Son of God, hung upon the cross, an ,
expiatory sacrifice for mankind burdened with all manner of sin. Near
cross of her dying Son stood Mary, His mother, filled with grief; by
her side John, the beloved disciple, and kneeling at the foot of the
cross almost insensible from sorrow and anguish, convulsively winding
her arms around the wood of the cross, was Mary Magdalen, the
penitent. On a cross at the right hand hung a penitent thief turned
towards the Saviour; at the left hand on another cross groaned
another criminal of impenitent heart, blaspheming the Holy One of
Israel. Around the agonizing Saviour stood the Scribes and Pharisees,
that hypocritical class of practiced miscreants, who hated and
persecuted the innocent Lamb Jesus, even in death, who blink to all
the predictions of the prophets whose books they had read, blind to
the actual miracles which Jesus had wrought before their eyes to
prove His divinity and His mission, filled with envy and hatred,
reviled the dying Redeemer. At a distance stood a crowd of curious,
indifferent people, who had come to Jerusalem to attend the feast of
the Passover, and having heard of Jesus were present at His
crucifixion. Not far from them the rough soldiers and executioners
lay around, dividing among themselves the Saviour's clothes and
casting lots for His seamless garment.
This
was the society that surrounded the Son of God and Redeemer of the
world bleeding on the cross, and in their different phases they are
types of the men of today.
Only
few were there who clung to the Saviour in unwavering faith and true
love, ready to die with Him, and for Him. There were few who suffered
all taunts and sneers all revilings and blasphemies, .and departed
not from the cross. Of these three were especially faithful, viz.
Mary, John, and Magdalen. Those who like Mary and John are pure and
innocent, or like Magdalen are weeping for their sins, who confess
Jesus with their heart and lips, cling faithfully to Him, and permit
neither persecution nor death to separate them from Him, are like the
faithful three at the cross. As then by the cross, so today, the
number of the faithful is small, and great is the number of those
who, like the careless spectators of the crucifixion, are not decided
enemies of Jesus crucified, nor yet His firm friends. They have
indeed been baptized in the name of Jesus, they remain externally
with the Catholic Church, which Christ founded, but they are sunk in
lukewarmness, have no living faith, and are wavering to and fro like
a reed between the world and Jesus. They fear the sneers of the
so-called learned and enlightened, many of whom are well represented
by the Scribes and Pharisees, who, having no faith in Christ
themselves, bear in - their hearts only hatred and contempt for His
Church; they shun the cross, because it is too heavy for their
sensuality; they do not, it is true, commit public crimes, they prize
highly a good name, occasionally observe the law of the Church, but
are accessible to every error; their ears incline to every blasphemy
against the religion of Jesus and His ministers, the priests. Instead
of standing fearlessly and boldly for Christ, for the holy faith He
has taught, and which the Church teaches, they turn away, are silent,
even go with the Church's enemies that they may not be sneered at.
The are neither hot, nor cold, so that the words of the Scriptures
are verifled in them: Because thou art lukewarm, and neither cold,
nor hot, I will begin to vomit thee out of my mouth. (Apoc. III. 16.)
The Lord casts away from Him these lukewarm, indifferent Christians,
as nauseous saliva, and leaves them to their destruction. The true
Pharisees of our day are those who purposely close their eyes to the
light of truth, who have put aside faith in Jesus, and are no longer
disposed to receive instruction. Their pride, their egotism has
blinded them, with their poor reason they wish to understand the
mysteries of ,the Almighty, with their weak intellect to fathom His
ways, even seek to be equal to God; they deny every revealed truth,
they deny the existence of heaven and hell, they propose to live like
the animals, without God, — but their end is, ruin! Few of them,
having seen their error, as the thief on the cross at the right hand
of Jesus, turn repentingly to the Redeemer; obdurate as the robber
and murderer at His left, the Pharisees of our day cease not to
blaspheme the Crucified, and to revile His holy Church. These are
assisted by the apostates and unbelievers, who, like the soldiers and
executioners, divide among themselves His clothes, and cast lots for
His seamless garment. Those clothes which the soldiers divided among
themselves, are the truths which the apostates and heretics yet
retain after their apostacy from the Church. They have divided these
truths, for they have separated themselves into thousands of sects,
and possess only portions of the one truth, which Jesus has laid down
in. His Church, whole and complete. "Upon my vesture they have
cast lots."
This
seamless vesture of Christ is His holy Church that cannot be
separated or divided, she is one, and must remain one to the end of
time. Concerning this one true Church, the sects all quarrel, all
want to be the true Church without considering that, as but one
soldier, by the lots, received Christ's seamless garment, so only one
association of men can be the true Church, and that is the
association which Christ has chosen.
Thus
we find at the cross on Golgotha the different classes of people of
our day represented, namely, the pure and innocent; the repenting
sinners, firm adherents of Jesus and His teachings; as also the
lukewarm, wavering, nominal Christians; obdurate heretics, professed
infidels and apostates. So today mankind is divided into like
parties.
To
which party do you belong, O Christian soul? To which do you wish to
belong? Choose! The time of the division is near. The Lord already
holds in His hand the winnowing shovel to clear His floor. If you are
not a firm adherent of Jesus and His Church, in the storm that is
gathering you will be blown like chaff. If you remain with the small
group at the cross, in persevering courage, you will stand firm, and
on the day when the cross shall appear in the clouds of heaven, you,
with Mary, the mother of the (faithful, with John and with Magdalen,
will triumph forever, as a victorious knight of the cross. Decide!
– Goffine's
Devout Instructions
