CHRIST, A PRIEST.

"Go show thyself to the priest." (Matt. 8:4)

I.

Christ in the Gospel of today told the ten lepers: "Go show yourselves to the priests; and it came to pass, as they went, they were cleansed." (Luke 17:14) As there are several kinds of leprosies in regard to the body - for some are but light and affect only the skin, whilst others affect the body and are mortal - so are there several kinds of spiritual leprosies, or sins. We are all, in some degree at least, affected with spiritual leprosy. Imagine, therefore, that your soul is deeply affected with this disorder, and with "Naaman the Syrian" (4 Kings 5) earnestly seek for some prophet to purify you.

II.

The ancient Law of God commanded, that, "if the stroke of the leprosy be in a man he shall be brought to a priest" (Lev. 13:9), to be pronounced unclean, and separated from the others; but in the New Law he is brought to the priest to be purified. Our high priest is Christ our Lord, according to the Psalmist: "Thou art a priest forever according to the order of Melchisedech." (Ps. 109:4) How ardently, therefore, ought you to desire to be introduced in the Eucharist, to this priest who will not employ water as Eliseus did, but with His own precious blood, "will cleanse our conscience from dead works." (Heb. 9:14)

III.

In order that you may be perfectly purified, you must imitate the lepers in the gospel. 1. You must go forth to meet Christ. 2. You must stand afar off, that, is, you must humbly acknowledge your own unworthiness. 3. You must lift up your voice, by fervent and persevering prayer. 4. You must pray for mercy as they did: "Jesus, Master, have mercy on us." 5. Lastly, you must follow the injunctions and counsels of your spiritual guides and physicians, "and do whatsoever the priests of the Levitical race shall teach thee." (Deut. 24:8)

THE TRANSFIGURATION. I.

I.

Christ vouchsafed to manifest His glory to His Apostles in His transfiguration, in order to confirm them in the faith, to encourage them to carry their cross, to which He had lately exhorted them, and to give them beforehand a taste and glimpse of heavenly joys which are prepared for the virtuous. He led them to the top of a high mountain, in a sequestered place, to teach us that we must retire from the cares of the world and ascend the mountain of perfection, if we wish to contemplate the face and glory of God.

II.

Christ would have but few witnesses of His glory, viz., only three of his Disciples, but all kinds of persons were witnesses of His ignominies and His sufferings. Therefore, on the cross He said by the mouth of His Prophet: "O all ye, who pass by the way, attend and see." (Lam. 1:12) By these three Disciples are prefigured the three virtues that accompany contemplation and prayer, and concur to the soul's transfiguration: in Peter, faith; in James, hope; and in John, charity. Examine what progress you make in these necessary virtues.

III.

"And whilst He prayed, the appearance of His countenance was altered." (Luke 9:29) Our Lord was transfigured whilst He was praying in order to teach us that prayer transfigures and beautifies the soul of man, so as sometimes to have a visible effect on the body. Thus the "face of Moses was horned from the conversation of the Lord." (Exod. 34:29) Beseech our Lord to alter and change you into another man, that is, to make you holy, in order that having divested yourself of all bad habits, you may become conformable to His divine image and likeness. Frequently entertain yourself in prayer, and "come ye to the Lord, and be enlightened, and your faces shall not be confounded." (Ps. 33:6)

THE TRANSFIGURATION. II.

I.

"His face did shine as the sun, and His garments became white as snow." (Matt. 17:2) The Evangelist has no other more exalted terms of natural comparison, but it is certain that these terms were far inferior to the brightness of His face and the whiteness of His garments. Congratulate your Lord and His sacred humanity for this array of glory which was always, indeed, His due, but of which He divested Himself for your salvation. Rejoice that your beloved is "white, and ruddy, chosen out of thousands." (Cant. 5:11)

II.

There appeared with Him "Moses and Elias," two chief lights of ancient Law, to show mankind, that both Moses and the Prophets gave testimony of Christ. Conceive what was their joy at beholding their Redeemer, the long-wished for of all nations, and the desire of the eternal hills, whose coming they themselves had so often foretold. Recollect that they, like Christ, had observed a fast of forty days, and were therefore made companions with Him in glory.

III.

"They spoke of His decease, which He was to accomplish in Jerusalem." (Luke 9:31) Christ, in the height of His glory, conversed on His ignominious and bitter passion. This fact teaches you what importance He attached to His sufferings, and with what affection He meditated on them. His example was closely followed by His Apostle, who wrote: "God forbid that I should glory but in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ." (Gal. 6:14) In the zenith of prosperity, never suffer your mind to be so elated as to exclude the thoughts of dying.

THE TRANSFIGURATION. III.

I.

The Apostles were overjoyed at so glorious a scene. "Lord," immediately exclaimed St. Peter, "it is good for us to be here." (Matt. 17:4) He wished to fix his dwelling place on that mount, and to make three tents, one for Christ, and another for each of his companions. Conceive what heaven must be, if only one drop of heavenly joy could so far inebriate the minds of the Apostles as to make them wish to remain there forever, forgetful of everything else in the world. What an ocean of joy must heaven be! "They shall be inebriated with the plenty of Thy house, and Thou shalt make them drink of the torrent of Thy pleasure." (Ps. 35:9)

II.

The voice of the Divinity was immediately heard: "This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased, hear ye Him." (Matt. 17:5) Ponder each word of this emphatic sentence, and reflect how Christ is the only begotten Son of the eternal Father, con-substantial and co-eternal with Him, and equally immense and omnipotent, as He is. Examine whether you be accustomed to hear Him, when He excites you to higher perfection, to a contempt of the world and to self-abnegation. Say, at least from this time, with young Samuel: "Speak, Lord, for Thy servant heareth." (1 Kings 3:10)

III.

When the vision had ceased, our Lord forbade His Disciples to divulge it to any one. "Tell the vision to no man," He said, "till the Son of man be risen from the dead." (Matt. 17:5) By this command, He wishes to inculcate the necessity of humility, and to teach us that extraordinary favors of God ought to be kept secret and not divulged, unless some great necessity or spiritual good requires it, and even then, that we ought to acknowledge them to be the gratuitous gifts of heaven, and not merited by ourselves.

PETITION OF THE SONS OF ZEBEDEE. I.

I.

"Then came to Him the mother of the sons of Zebedee." (Matt. 20:20) The mother presents herself to offer a petition for her sons, to obtain an honor to which they aspired, and they made use of her intercession as a cloak to their ambitious views. Thus mankind often attempt to gain some object of inclination or passion under false pretext, and often make use of the interposition of others to accomplish their own designs. Observe how this mother comes in a humble and suppliant manner and presents her petition in the act of adoring Christ. "Ambition," says St. Ambrose, "is first servile, in order that it may afterward domineer; it stoops to mean offices, in order that it may be afterward served with honor."

II.

The petition of this misguided mother was: "Say that these, my two sons, may sit, the one on Thy right hand and the other on Thy left, in Thy kingdom." It is, unfortunately, natural for everyone to be ambitious for the first place. This principle hurled the Angels from heaven. "I will ascend into heaven," said the apostate Lucifer, "I will exalt my throne above the stars of God." (Isa. 14:13) The same ambition lost Paradise for our first parents. "You shall be as gods" (Gen. 3:5), said the tempter to Eve. This same passion attacks the Apostles. Examine if it have any influence on your conduct How much safer is it to follow the example of Christ, and to be content with the lowest places!

III.

Consider the answer of Christ: "You know not what you ask." Those who desire the vanities and the honors of this world certainly do not know what they ask. He continues: "Can you drink of the chalice that I shall drink" (Matt. 20:22), that is, can you join me in my bitter passion? Christ insinuates by this question that our future glory will be proportionate to our sufferings in this life. Our seats in heaven will approach to that of Christ in the same proportion as our sufferings approach to His afflictions. Encourage yourself to drink deep of this chalice of sufferings, for "as you are partakers of the sufferings, so shall you be also of the consolations." (2 Cor. 1:7)

PETITION OF THE SONS OF ZEBEDEE. II.

I.

These two Apostles seemed ready to drink the chalice which was proposed to them. "They say to Him, we can." (Matt. 20:22) This spirit of alacrity may proceed from different motives; it may proceed first from ambition, which prompts a man to refuse no labor that may gain an honorable object. It may be, secondly, the consequence of a rash fervor, which does not know the difficulties that it undertakes to surmount. It may be, in the third place, the effect of divine grace, according to the declaration of St. Paul: "I can do all things in Him who strengthens me." (Phil. 4:13) Be ashamed of your negligence in laboring for the kingdom of heaven, because you will not exert yourself as much to obtain that happiness and glory as worldly men do to gain some empty object of ambition or folly. You often say, "I cannot do it," when nothing is wanting but resolution and good will.

II.

Christ, observing this readiness in them, remarked: "Of My chalice, indeed, you shall drink, but to sit on My right or left hand is not mine to give you, but to them for whom it is prepared by My Father." He did not dissuade them from using their endeavors to merit the highest seats of glory, but He gave them to understand that those seats were not distributed from motives of favor or temporal relationship. The glory of heaven, which each one enjoys, is proportionate to his merits, for "God is no respecter of persons" (Acts 10:35), and "He will render to every man according to his works." (Matt. 16:27)

III.

A difference exists between worldly precedence and that which is peculiar to the school of Christ. "The princes of the Gentiles," He says, "lord it over them; it shall not be so among you, but whosoever will be the greater among you, let him be your minister." He confirms this by His own example, for He continues: "Even as the Son of man came not to be ministered unto, but to minister." (Matt. 20:25, 28) Let it therefore be your ambition to seek the lowest places on all occasions if you desire to be a Disciple of Jesus Christ.

WHO IS THE GREATEST IN HEAVEN?

I.

"At that hour, the Disciples came to Jesus saying, who thinkest Thou is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven?" (Matt. 18:1) A little before this, there had been a contention among them, "which of them should be the greatest" (Mark 9:34), and now each of them wishes to be the greatest in the kingdom of heaven. Thus ambition insinuates itself even into spiritual things and persons, and hence, they ask the question, who is to be the greatest in the kingdom of heaven. Perhaps some may erroneously think that the rich and powerful in this world ought to obtain that honor. But Jesus Christ will undeceive them.

II.

"Jesus, calling unto Him a little child, set him in the midst of them, and said, Amen, I say to you, unless ye become as little children you shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven; whosoever, therefore, shall humble himself, as this little child, he is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven." (Matt. 18:3) Consider what is to be inferred from becoming as a little child. "Brethren," writes St. Paul, "do not become children in sense, but in malice be children, and in sense be perfect." (1. Cor. 14:20) A child prefers himself to no one, arrogates nothing to himself, is affectionate to all, loves his parents and suffers himself to be governed by them. Act, therefore, in this manner if you desire to enter into the kingdom of heaven. "Narrow is the gate, and strait is the way, which leadeth to life." (Matt. 7:14) Humble yourself, therefore, and become little in your own eyes, and you will be able to enter.

III.

How grievous the offence they commit who scandalize the little ones of Christ! "It were better," says Christ, "that a millstone were hanging about his neck, and that he were drowned in the depth of the sea." (Matt. 18:6) Beware, therefore, of inducing any one to sin by your example, for the offended majesty of God "will require his blood at thy hand." (Ezech. 3:18)