Faith of Our Fathers

New Zealand Tablet, Volume L, Issue 42, 25 October 1923, Page 41

Faith of Our Fathers

FA Wmely Insteuotion bob Young and Odd.] l OF OUR HAPPINESS IN THIS LIFE, IF WE KEEP v THE COMMANDMENTS. 3. True Happiness Only to be Found in God. ' vQ. 6. But if we must live in a continual self-denial, and the daily mortification of our own evil inclinations, where is the happiness to be found in .the service of God A. True happiness, as we have 'seen above, is only to be found in solid , peace and content of mind, which the world with all its enjoyments cannot give, is the gift of God; and He has expressly promised to bestow it, as their portion, on His faithful servants, who sincerely love Him and keep His holy commandments. “Peace I leave you,” says Our Blessed Saviour to all such, “My peace I give you; not as the world giveth, do I give you; let not your heart be troubled, nor let it be afraid” (John xiv. 27). Here you see He distinguishes His Divine peace from the false ■ delusive peace which the world giveth, and shows it to be of a very superior nature indeed; a peace which calms all trouble of mind, dispels all fears, and which is so far above any sensual enjoyment, that St. Paul assures us- “it surpasses all understanding” . (Phil. iv. 7). And Our Blessed Saviour Himself , declares that the joy which He bestows on His servants is a joy which rejoices the heart, and of which no creature can deprive them: “I will see you again,” says He, “and your -heart shall rejoice, and your joy no man shall take from you” (John xvi, 22). This peace of God, then, is the portion of the just— is the inheritance of the servants of God even in this life; this is the hundredfold of all they leave for God of their worldly enjoyments, which makes them immensely more happy and content in their own minds than all the possessions of this world can possibly do. If, therefore, Jesus Christ require of all His followers to take off their affections from the things of this worldif He lays it down as the first step in His service, “to deny ourselves, and take up our cross and follow Him”—if He declares to His disciples that they shall be hated by the worldthat they shall be persecutedthat in the world they shall have sorrow and pressure; all this is the effect of His sincere love of us, and His earnest desire of our real happiness; He well knows that no worldly enjoyments can make us happy;.He knows, on the contrary, that if we set our hearts on worldly objects, they will effectually make us most unhappy; He knows that the sacred peace of mind in which alone true happiness consists, and which is His gift, cannot possibly have place in the soul if she be enslaved to the love of the world He knows, in fine, that it is impossible for us to be His disciples, and faithfully obey His commandments, if we seek for our happiness in the enjoyments of the world; and therefore He tells us plainly that we must renounce ourselves and all earthly things, and break off all our irregular attachments to the world, in order to be truly His disciples; but then in place of all the .vain pleasures of the world, He promises us in the most solemn manner, that internal peace and content of mind which alone can make us truly happy even in this life, and which is a prelude pf that eternal peace and celestial joy which shall be our happy portion for ever in the life to come. Q. 7. But is not s.ome degree of the goods of this life necessary for our subsistence whilst we are in this world? And must we not have some concern about that? A. Most undoubtedly and our blessed Master is so far from imagining that His faithful servants should be deprived of corporal necessaries, that He even assures us, He Himself will take care that nothing of this kind shall be wanting to them! He indeed forbids His followers to be solicitous, or to disturb their mind with a vain anxiety about what they shall eat, or what they shall drink, or wherewithal they shall be clothed, because He knows such solicitude would only destroy their internal happiness, and be an impediment to the good of their soul; but He exhorts us to rely on the providence of our heavently Father, who knows that we have need of such things, and then passes His sacred promise that if we seek first the kingdom of God and His justice, all these things, shall be added to us (Matt. iv. ult.). Hence we see that God Almighty is engaged to provide the necessaries of this life for His faithful servants, by blessing the lawful works of their hands, and giving them the fruits of their labors, not

indeed in such abundance as He foresees would flatter their passions, and endanger their hearts to be carried away after these things, so as to forget their God, but in such abundance as is most expedient for the good of their souls, and for securing their eternal salvation. And this is all which any Christian, who wishes to save his soul, should ever desire to have of earthly, goods, as St. Paul beautifully expresses in these words, “Godliness with contentment is great gain; for we brought nothing into this world, and certainly we can carry nothing out; but having food, and wherewith to be covered, with these we are content” (1 Tim. vi. 6). And even in the old law, the holy servants of God were so sensible of the danger of having more of the goods of this world than was necessary for their subsistence, that they earnestly prayed to God to deliver them not only from too great abundance, but even from the very desire of having it. Thus the wise man says to God: “Two things I have asked of thee, deny them not to me before I die. Remove far from me vanity and lying words. Give me neither beggary nor riches: give me only the necessaries of life; lest perhaps being filled, I should bo tempted to deny and say, Who is the Lord? or being compelled by poverty I should steal, and foreswear the name of my God” (Prov. xxx. 7). And in another place, “0 Lord, Father, and God of my life, give me not haughtiness of my eyes, anditurn away from me all coveting: take away from me the greediness of the belly; and let not the lusts of the flesh take hold of me, and give me not over to a shameless and foolish mind” (Ecclus. xxiii. 4). So also David thus begs of God, “Incline my heart unto Thy testimonies and not to covetousness: turn away my eyes that they may not behold vanity” (Ps. cxviii. 36). Q. 8. Does the Scripture give us any particular description of the happiness of the just in this life? A. Most beautiful are the descriptions which the scripture gives us of their happiness, as to their having all sufficiency of the' necessaries of this life, their being supported under all their sufferings, and the internal peace of mind Which they enjoy; and most engaging are the promises made in these Divine writings for this purpose. “Blessed is the man whom God correcteth . . In famine He shall deliver thee from death, and in battle from the hand of the sword. Thou shalt be hid from, the scourges of the tongue, and thou shalt not fear calamity when it cometh. In destruction and famine thou shalt laugh, and shalt not be afraid of the beasts of the earth . . . and thou shalt know that thy tabernacle is in peace, and visiting thy beauty thou shalt not sin” (Job v.). “If thou wilt put away from thee the iniquity that is in thy hand, arid let not injustice remain ,in thy tabernacle ... thou shalt have confidence, hope being set before thee, and being buried thou shalt sleep secure; thou shalt take rest, and there shall be none to make thee afraid; and many shall entreat thy face” (Job xi. 14—18). “0 taste and see that the Lord is sweet: blessed is the man that hopeth in Him. * Site of First House of Benedictines in London Discoveries of great interest to Catholic archaeologists have been recently made during the excavations carried out on the site of St. Augustine’s Abbey at Canterbury. For the site marks the spot where the® first Benedictine monastery in England was built. When St. Augustine and his monks, sent from Rome by Pope St. Gregory the Great, set up their little monastery on the land presented to them by King Ethelbert, they did not introduce the monastic life in Britain. Monasteries had already been in existence for considerably more than a - century, peopled by the Celtic monks, and in Wales and the West of England in very close intimacy with the Celtic monks of Ireland. Indeed, the lives of the old Saints show that many an Irish monk settled in the western part of Britain as a religious solitary. / . But the recent descoveries, though highly interesting, do not go further back than the early part of the Norman period. Thus they do not uncover any very ancient remains as at famous Glastonbury. But a few remains have been found that go back to Saxon times, and according to the outline of some of the foundations, the experts believe that the plans of'this early monastic church were derived from the historic monastery built by St. Benedict himself at Monte Oassino. ' .