CHRIST, THE STRENGTH OF YOUR SOUL.

"I will love Thee, O Lord, my strength; the Lord is my firmament, my refuge and my deliverer." (Ps. 17:2)

I.

It is read in the Gospel of today that Christ cured a man that was afflicted with a palsy. (Matt. 9:1) Spiritual palsy is an enervation of the soul and an utter decay of its strength, caused by sloth and pusillanimity. Reflect how prone you are to this complaint, how weak you are in bearing adversity, how faint-hearted in undertaking anything for God, and, lastly, inconstant in keeping your good resolutions. How remiss you are in your prayers and indevout in your spiritual exercises. You may truly say with the Prophet: "My strength is dried up like a potsherd and my tongue has cleaved to my jaws." (Ps. 21:16)

II.

Christ is properly the fortitude and strength of your soul. "O Lord," says the Prophet, "my might and my strength" (Jer. 16:19), and another Prophet exclaims: "The Lord, my strength and my praise." (Isa. 12:2) This effect He chiefly produces in the Holy Eucharist, for in that Sacrament, when worthily received, He gives the soul strength to overcome every fear and difficulty, and to undertake and succeed in every enterprise, however great, when it has for its object the glory of God. Hence, the Eucharist is called by the Holy Fathers, "the bread of the strong, the food of the great, the bread that confirms and strengthens the heart of man." The loaf of bread which was given to Elias, and which enabled him to walk forty days and forty nights, to the mountain of God, was a figure of the Eucharistic Bread. Wish, therefore, for the happy moment in which you are to receive this divine and heavenly food.

III.

In order that you may be well disposed to obtain the cure of your spiritual palsy, you must imitate the faith of the sick man. Approach, therefore, with confidence; throw yourself into the arms of the Saints, especially of the Blessed Virgin, in order that they may conduct and present you to our Lord. Say with the Psalmist: "In Thee, O Lord, have I hoped; Thou hast made my arms like a brazen bow, because Thou art my strength and my refuge." (Ps. 30:3, and Ps. 17:35)

CURE OF THE MAN BORN BLIND. I.

I.

"Jesus, passing by, saw a man that was blind from his birth." (John 9:1) He beheld him with the eyes of mercy, and immediately began to think of a remedy. Entreat Him to look on you with the same affection. "See my abjection and my labor, and forgive me all my sins." (Ps. 24:18) We are all born blind, for we are all born in sin, and involved in the darkness of ignorance, in consequence of the transgression of our first parents. Those characters are, in a special manner, blind from their birth who boast of their noble birth and their parentage; "virtue," writes a profane poet, "is the only true nobility." Examine your conscience on this subject.

II.

"His disciples asked Him, Rabbi, who hath sinned, this man or his parents, that he should be born blind? Jesus answered; neither has this man sinned, nor his parents, but that the works of God be made manifest in him." (John 9:2) Learn from this that sicknesses and calamities are not always sent as punishments of sin, but to give us opportunities of increasing the glory of God, by our virtuous submission. Such was the case with holy Job, Tobias and others, in which cases, "I must work the works of Him that sent me," observes Jesus Christ, "whilst it is day," that is, whilst the day of this mortal life lasts. With much more reason ought you to perform the same works whilst you live, before "you go, and return no more, to a land that is dark and covered with the mist of death." (Job 10:21)

III.

"Christ spat on the ground, and made clay of the spittle and spread the clay upon his eyes." He applied a remedy suited by its nature rather to injure than to cure, in order to show His power. If you wish to be relieved from the spiritual blindness of your soul, frequently think of the base materials of which you are formed. Remember, man, that "dust thou art, and into dust thou shalt return." (Gen. 3:19)

CURE OF THE MAN BORN BLIND. II.

I.

This poor man was grateful for the favor which he had received from Christ. He published loudly to the world: "That man, who is called Jesus, made clay and anointed my eyes." (John 9:11) He resolutely and constantly professed Christ to be a prophet, even before the Pharisees, without fearing the dangerous consequences of their anger. He patiently bore all the insults and contumelious language of these hypocrites. "Thou art wholly born in sins," they say, "and dost thou teach us?" Such are the resolution and patience of a soul which is enlightened by the grace of God. Examine how you may imitate this man.

II.

That man was immediately driven out of the synagogue for speaking so well of Christ. Learn to suffer willingly in a good cause, for "all who will live piously in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution." (2 Tim. 3:12) Christ did not abandon this man, whom the Pharisees had rejected, but went to see him and revealed His divinity to him, "and the man, falling down, adored Him." (John 9:38) Often excite yourself to similar acts of faith, and adore your God in a humble posture.

III.

Christ reproved the pride of the Pharisees, who were nevertheless wise and quick-sighted in their own opinions. "For judgment," He says, "I am come into this world, that they who see not may see, and they who see may become blind." (John 9:39) The poor and simple are to become acquainted with the truth, but the proud and the wise ones of this world will be struck blind at the greatness of Christ's splendor. Hence, the author of the Proverbs advises us: "Be not wise in thine own conceits" (Prov. 3:7), lest, becoming blind, thou run headlong into perdition.

THE BLIND MAN OF JERICHO.

I.

"It came to pass that, when Jesus drew nigh to Jericho, a certain blind man sat by the way-side begging." (Luke 18:35) This blind man is a perfect type of every sinner. For in the first place, a sinner sits in darkness and finds rest and satisfaction in his sins, for he is habituated to them. He does not sit in the way, but by the way, in which the virtuous cheerfully run, and aim at perfection. "I have run," says the royal Psalmist, "the way of Thy Commandments." (Ps. 113:32) The sinner sits begging some trifling and idle comfort from those who pass by; that is, he seeks for that comfort from creatures which is only to be derived from the Creator. How unfortunately blind are those people who cannot discover subjects of interest when you place before them the torments of hell or the joys of heaven! "They walk," as St. Augustine says, "from darkness into darkness."

II.

Consider the fervor of this blind man when he heard that it was Christ who was passing by. Actuated by a strong faith, he acknowledged His power and implored His mercy, "Jesus, son of David," he said, "have mercy on me." Though others endeavor to prevent him, he still perseveres in imploring Christ's mercy. The more they opposed him, the more his fervor increased: "But he cried out much more." Learn hence that you ought to be constant and fervent in the service of God, and feel convinced that nothing ought ever to make your thoughts wander whilst you are praying for the "one thing necessary." Neither your employments, nor your corporal necessities, nor anything else ought to attract your mind when you are treating with God concerning your salvation.

III.

Christ stood and asked the blind man: "What wilt thou that I do to thee?" In general, He does not give us His grace unless we ourselves cooperate with it. The blind man answered: "Lord, that I may see." Present a similar petition to your Lord: say to Him: "Lord grant that I may see; grant that I may see You, and see myself; 'Enlighten my eyes, that I never sleep in death; O my God, enlighten my darkness.'" (Ps. 12:4, and 17:29)

THE BLIND MAN OF BETHSAIDA.

I.

"And they came to Bethsaida, and they brought to Him a blind man, and they besought Him to touch him. And, taking the blind man by the hand, He led him out of the town." (Mark 8:22) "That man is blind who does not see what he was, what he is, and what he is to be." Examine whether or not you be spiritually blind, and believe that whosoever wishes to be cured of this disease must suffer himself to be led by Christ "out of the town;" that is, out of the bustle and noise of the world, and then he will be enlightened.

II.

Christ did not immediately and by a single word cure this man, as He did so many others, but "spitting upon his eyes, and laying His hands on him, He asked him if he saw anything." Thus Christ pursues different means in enlightening the minds of men: into some, He introduces the effect in a moment; into others, by degrees. In this last manner, the blind man recovered his sight; in the first stage of his cure, "I see," he said, "men as trees walking." To men who are not thoroughly enlightened by divine grace all worldly things must appear much greater than they really are. In another sense, wicked men may be called trees, for unless they bear fruit, "they will be cut down and cast into the fire."

III.

His sight was at last perfectly restored to this blind man, "so that he saw all things clearly." Entreat your Lord that you may see all things clearly, and be enabled to distinguish between true and false, solid and counterfeit good. "Many things are represented in false colors, which stand in need of being cleared, O Lord, by Your divine light." Christ, lastly, said to the man: "Go into thy house." Our house and our home is heaven, for, as St. Paul says: "You are fellow-citizens with the Saints, and the domestics of God." (Eph. 2:19) Act, therefore, as a domestic of God and a son of light, for fear "the Lord strike thee with madness and blindness and fury of mind, and make thee grope at midday, as the blind is wont to grope in the dark, and not make straight thy ways." (Deut. 28:28)

CURE OF THE LUNATIC CHILD. I.

I.

Consider the great tyranny which the Devil exercises on the bodies of those whom God permits him to possess. In the case of the lunatic child, he dashed him against the ground, made him foam at the mouth, often cast him into the fire, and often into the water. If he be so tormenting in this life, what must he be in the next? In this world, his hands are tied, but in the next, he has complete possession of the poor sinner. Of this horrid empire in hell, the Prophet says: "The streams thereof shall be turned into pitch, and the ground thereof into brimstone, and the land thereof shall become burning pitch." (Isa. 34:9)

II.

The Devil exercises a similar power in this world over sinners, who are subject to him. He makes them lunatic; that is, inconstant, like the moon, in their resolutions of reform. He renders them deaf to the inspirations of God and dumb in His praises. He "casts them on the ground," by making them fix their affection on earthly things. He makes them foam at the mouth, and gnash their teeth, by inducing them to make use of foul and unworthy language. He often throws them into the fires of concupiscence, and extinguishes every kindling spark of virtue by throwing them into the watery gulfs of worldly pleasures. Follow the advice of the Apostle, and be one of those who "recover themselves from the snares of the Devil, by whom they are held captives at his will." (2 Tim. 2:26)

III.

This lunatic child was first presented to the Apostles, who could not cure him. So ought we to have recourse to every human means before we expect a miracle from God. The Disciples were not permitted to cure this youth, probably to increase and preserve their humility. Cherish this virtue, and say with the pious David: "It is good for me that Thou hast humbled me, that I may learn Thy justifications." (Ps. 118:71)

CURE OF THE LUNATIC CHILD. II.

I.

When Christ was requested to cure this youth, He reprehended the incredulity of His Disciples. "O, incredulous generation, how long shall I suffer you!" (Mark 9:18) Learn from this how odious in the sight of God are incredulity and obstinacy of unbelief. When the possessed lunatic was brought before Him, "immediately the spirit troubled him, and being thrown down upon the ground he rolled about foaming." How bold and insolent is this infernal spirit, even in the presence of Christ. Do not, therefore, wonder if he assail you, during your most sacred devotions, when you approach the Sacrament of the Altar.

II.

The command of Christ dispossessed the Devil, although he had possessed this young man from his infancy. "Thou deaf and dumb spirit, I command thee, go out of him and enter no more into him." (Mark 9:24) O Lord, speak with the same efficacy to my soul. Observe how the Devil, crying out and greatly tearing him, went out of him. Whilst he possessed this young man, he behaved more mildly to him; but when he was forced to depart, he began "to tear him." The Devil is always most malicious when we abandon his service.

III.

His disease was difficult of cure, because it was inveterate and had grown with him from his infancy. It is difficult to abandon vices to which you have been long accustomed. "A long sickness is troublesome to the physician." (Ecclus. 10:11) Christ observed of this evil spirit: "This kind can go out by nothing but by prayer and fasting." Learn to appreciate the value of these spiritual weapons, and to use them successfully against your arch-enemy.