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THE PARABLES
by

Rev. John A. McClorey, S. J.,

of the University of Detroit

Eleven addresses delivered in the Catholic Hour, spon-

sored by the National Council of Catholic Men,

with the cooperation of the National

Broadcasting Company and its
Associated Stations

I. The Parable of the Talents: Activity and

Cheer.

II. The Parable of the Talents: Christianity and

Buddhism.

III. The Parable of the Talents: Edurance and

Pain.

IV. The Woman of the Apocalypse: An Inspira-
tion to Women.

V. The Sower and the Seed: Is Christianity a

Failure?

VI. The Warring King: The Great Adventure.

VII. The Great Supper: The Eucharistic Sacra-
ment.

VIII. Dives and Lazarus : Injustice Among the Rich.

IX. Lazarus and Dives: Injustice Among
W^orkingmen.

X. The House Built On the Rock: This Republic.

XI. The Sheep and the Goats: The Judgment of
the World.





THE PARABLES
by

Rev. John A. McClorey, S. J.,

of the University of Detroit

Eieven addresses delivered in the Catholic Hour, spon-

sored by the National Council of Catholic Men,

with the cooperation of the National

Broadcasting Company and its
Associated Stations

I. The Parable of the Talents: Activity and

Cheer.

II. The Parable of the Talents: Christianity and

Buddhism.

III. The Parable of the Talents: Edurance and

Pain.

IV. The Woman of the Apocalypse: An Inspira-
tion to Women.

V. The Sower and the Seed: Is Christianity a

Failure?

VI. The Warring King: The Great Adventure.

VII. The Great Supper: The Eucharistic Sacra-

ment.

VIII. Dives and Lazarus : Injustice Among the Rich.

IX. Lazarus and Dives: Injustice Among
Workingmen.

X. The House Built On the Rock: This Republic.

XI. The Sheep and the Goats: The Judgment of

the World.

National Council of Catholic Men

1314 Massachusetts Avenue

Washington, D. C.

Printed and distributed by Our Sunday Visitor
Huntington, Indiana



Imprimatur:

JOHN FRANCIS NOLL, D. D.

Bishop of Fort Wayne

Feast of All Saints, November 1, 1931.



AUTHOR’S INTRODUCTION

The eleven addresses published in this pamphlet are ex-

cerpts from my sermon-books published by B. Herder Com-
pany, St. Louis, Mo. The principal sources were “Six

Fundamentals of Religion,’* “The Brazen Serpent,” “The

Great Adventure,” “The Gift of Love,” and “The Republic

and the Church.”

A spoken sermon is like a bird on the wing. It is seen, is
heard and is gone. A printed sermon is like a bird in a cage.
One can listen to it at leisure;—if it is worth the effort.

One’s imagination can hardly expand to the greatness of

the opportunity of preaching on the radio of the National

Broadcasting Company, with its chain of scores of stations,

throughout our country, for the Catholic Hour. Such an

audience! Such a range for the voice! It is almost a miracle.

It seems to be a special Providence for the revitalizing, pre-

servation and increase of the Faith.

In past times Apostles travelled far and wide, on foot or

horseback, by boat, by train, to spread the Word. At pre-

sent, by simply raising their voice they fill the earth with

the good tidings of the Gospel. Now comes the printed text
for those who wish to ponder what they merely heard on the
air in passing.

May the electricity of Heaven leap from these pages into
your soul, enlightening your mind, warming your heart and
quickening your will.



DEDICATION

These addresses were given under the patronage of Saint

Isaac Jogues, S. J., first North American Saint who, we may
be sure, is zealous for the spiritualization of the United

States through the radio.



THE PARABLES 5

THE PARABLE OF THE TALENTS:

ACTIVITY AND CHEER
(Matt, xxv, 14-30)

(Address delivered by the Rev. John A. McCIorey, S. J.
in the Catholic Hour, August 2, 1931.)

“Thou hast conquered, 0 pale Galilean,
And the world has grown gray with Thy breath.”

This beautifully expressed but blasphemous taunt
was flung at Christ by one of the decadent poets of
the nineteenth century.

The meaning of the words is that the classic
world of Rome and Greece was a glad and gorgeous
world; Christ came, abhorred it, abolished it, and
set up in its place His own world of gloom and
passivity. He preached that life is all a thing of
sorrow, that the panoramic loveliness of earth is
evil, that the imaginative and passionate longings
of men for its attractions are wrong, and therefore
men must retire into the chamber of their hearts in
contemplative brooding over a dim, chill, and in-
tangible universe of the spirit.

His Church, as Gibbon says, caused the downfall

of imperial Rome. She withdrew from the sun of
day to live with congregations of ignoble slaves in
the bowels of the earth. She fostered the spirit of
monkish isolation amid desert sands, away from the
healthful habitations of men. She cast her lot with

Gothic barbarians from the gloomy fastnesses of
the North. In the Middle Ages she mothered monks
and nuns who led a life of unnatural self-repression

;

and today her fundamental meditations and teach-
ings are sin, hell, judgment, death, and a life of



6 THE PARABLES

sackcloth and ashes, lamentations and tears. The

Puritans,—long-faced, hard and cheerless,—tried
to make men’s lives as bleak and inhospitable as the

New England rocks they landed on. At the present
time religious pacifists are attempting to change

our American lions of war into sheep of unprepared

peace. The cheery wine of good-fellowship has been

soured into the vinegar of prohibition. Dancing,

singing, and festivity in general are branded as

frivolous at best, sinful at worst. Hence, as a result

of Christianity, there is on the one side the resplen-

dent world with “Forbidden” written all over it
;
on

the other side, drab religion labelled: “You must

accept my austerities or perish !”

This seems to be the idea contained in the words

of the poet. At any rate, it is certain that great

numbers of men take this view of Christ, Christian-

ity, and the Church. Accordingly, they despise them

and cast their lot with the winsome, albeit ruinous,

world.

In direct contradiction to the idea that religion is

an economy of passivity and gloom, I hold and hope

to establish that it is (at least in part) a system of

activity and cheer. Life and, therefore, religion

must embrace the three fundamental elements

—

God, Myself, and the World.

Assuming from the four rational proofs of God’s

existence that God, an all-perfect Being, exists, I

say that if He should choose to create a world, He

would be bound by His infinite lordship over all

things, to make it glorify Him, at least with moral

necessity. For if He were to give permission to one

iota of it to deviate from Him, to drift through space

on its own responsibility, so to speak, without in



THE PARABLES 7

some manner reverting to and centering in Him,
He would thereby cease to be Lord of that iota,’
cease to be the infinite Lord of all things, cease to
be God, just as the center of a circle would stop
being such if it did not require all the radii to con-
verge to it.

Let me say in passing that such a requirement
on the part of God cannot be interpreted as selfish-
ness or self-interest because, being all-perfect, He
can have nothing to gain from the world’s praises
and service. The world is the exclusive gainer by
union with God.

Now, as a matter of fact God created the world.
Hence everything in it must radiate toward Him.
This we call glorifying God.” Rational beings glor-
ify God directly, by knowing, praising, reverencing,
loving, and serving Him. All other beings cannot
glorify God directly because, not having an intellect,
they are incapable of union with Him by intellectual
acts. Therefore their manner of union with Him is
indirect. In other words, they must glorify Him by
helping man to do so

; they are the means man must
employ in going to God.

From this it follows, first, that all the pleasant
things of life are good

;
for products of God’s benefi-

cent hands cannot be bad.* Second, the only use that
may be made of things is in the service of the Crea-
tor of them. Third, pleasure may be taken in them
if they are thus employed. It is clear, then, that ra-
tional religion demands that man should be active
and cheery in life, employing things with joyous
energy in the service of God. Any religion which
teaches that pleasant things are bad in themselves,
and must be declined by man with unqualified disap-



8 THE PARABLES

probation in favor of a gloomy and passive aloofness

of soul, is evidently a false religion.

Is Christianity such? No, it is not. Christ once

said : “The children of this world are wiser in their

generation than the children of light,” seeming to

imply with regret that while the former know very

well the use of worldly things, the latter do not.

“Why,” he seems to say, “should the followers of

Satan have the world to themselves, and the children

of God so little of it? Why should not Christ’s fol-

lowers display as much enthusiasm in employing

it in God’s service, as the wicked do in using it for

sin, Satan and hell ?”

He said another time : “Be ye therefore simple as

doves and wise as serpents,” fixing the gaze of dove-

like simplicity on Heaven, but also the gaze of ser-

pentine shrewdness on the possibilities of earth in

the service of My Father.

He told the parable of the talents which is my text

for this evening : To one man God gave five talents,

to another, two, and to a third He gave one talent.

The first two employed their gifts; the third did not.

God rewarded the active and rebuked the inert.

“Talents” means temporal as well as spiritual gifts.

Therefore, the rule of life must be activity and cheer.

True, in some cases, God wishes some men to refrain

sometimes from using the goods of the world. But

this is an exception, and an exception proves
the

rule.

Christ’s Church after Him has acted on the same

principle. One of the most common charges against

her has been that she is too active and alert
in this

world. Her enemies would like to see her shut
her-



THE PARABLES 9

self up behind monastery walls, and droop in ultra-
spiritual aloofness amid the sombre silences of the
sanctuary, instead of taking her stand in the market
place, shops, offices, battlefields, and other active
open places of earth. If she did that, worldlings

could have things their own way, without hindrance
from her. But she knows her mission. Like her
Master, she stands in the midst of men and the ac-
tivities of life.

The Church of Christ has always come to worldly
and sinful men with a challenge. At her first ap-
pearance on earth, she confronted Judaism, the Ro-

man Empire, and Greek culture, and told them to
their face that they should not any longer use things

as they pleased; that henceforth she herself was
going to employ them to some extent in the service

of Heaven. No wonder they persecuted her! They
would not have done so if she had maintained an at-

titude of passive, detached spirituality.

When Constantine won his victory in the fourth
century, she allied herself to his empire, not only to

benefit it, but also to induce it to glorify God under
her spiritual tutelage. From Pepin, King of the
Franks, she accepted the Papal States, because she

was convinced that temporal power would lend dis-

tinction to the religion of Christ in the eyes of the

world and that without it she would not be free of

state interference in her spiritual dealings with the

human race. And though Temporal Power has had
its inconveniences yet no informed person can

doubt that in a thousand instances this particular

form of earthly influence advanced the cause of

peace, civilization, and morality.

In the Middle Ages the Church harnessed the



10 THE PARABLES

earthly system of philosophy, derived from Aristotle,

to the heavenly car of Christianity, making it minis-

ter to the doctrines of Christ. At the same period, she

allied human learning with supernatural truth in

the universities of Paris, Oxford, Salamanca, and

the universities of Italy. She encouraged Religious

in their retirement to copy the mundane literature

of antiquity so as to help future generations with

earthly means to attain to a heavenly end. With

the same idea in mind, she lent her influence to the

Renaissance. She withstood browbeating emperors

in defense of the natural rights of the people. In

the person of St. Robert Bellarmine in his contro-

versy with James I of England, the royal protagon-

ist of the divine right of kings, she was the first to

set forth in scientific form the principle of the di-

vine right of the people, upon which our Republic

is built.

And as she interested herself in principles of civil

government for God’s sake, so she bade the arts of

painting, sculpture, architecture, music, poetry, ar-

tistic weaving, carving, knitting, and lace-making,

all purely secular activities, to spread out their pro-

fuse offerings at the feet of God. Education is an-

other worldly profession that she has taken in

hand for the salvation of souls, because she believes

that earthly arts and profane sciences minister to

man’s last end.

She stands in the midst of the dust, noise, and

sweaty energy of the industrial and commercial

world, resolving to have her say in regard to the

moral issues involved in questions between Labor and

Capital. Capital resents her interference; so does

Labor. But judgments as to morality belong to her,



THE PARABLES
11

and so she will not exchange the character of active
arbitress for that of passive spectator.

,,

She resents as strongly as the best of democrats
the attempts being made by extremists today to
lessen our Republic to an impotent, mob-ruled
State or to increase it to a despotism. She is more
interested in the family than the mother and father
ot it. International relationships engage her night
and day. And in regard to ecclesiastical ceremonial
she is insistent that silks, satins, velvets, laces and
cloth of gold, marbles, and mosaics, lights, flowers,
a”d

f

5311®10 sha11 not be the exclusive paraphernalia
ot kingly courts and social events, but shall lend
their charm also to the house of God.

Oh, if the Church were passive, gloomy, meekly
inert, the great world would have no quarrel with
her! But the world is jealous of her because she has
always preached and exemplified by her conduct, a
robust and joyous employment of earthly things in
the service of Him who created them for His own
glory and the use of men.

Of course rulers of the Church, being human, may
have gone too far, on occasions, in applying the
principle. Whether they actually did so or not, is
not now to the point. The point at issue is whether
the Church of Christ has practically believed in a
system of inactivity and gloom or in a system of ac-
tivity and cheer in the service of God. And the an-
swer to the question must be evident from these
few instances of her activity in the midst of the
world.

But it may be urged: “Though Christianity in
principle is not a religion of passivity and gloom
has it not been such in practice? For were not the



12 THE PARABLES

splendor of Rome and ‘the glory that was Greece’

quenched by the shadow of the Cross?”

No. For the supposition underlying this ques-

tion, namely, that Rome and Greece were the quin-

tessence of civilization, is not justified. Rome and

Greece look glorious to a poet’s eye now, at this late

date, through the intervening atmosphere of twenty

centuries. But in the plain light of history Rome

and Greece are known to have been the concentra-

tion of corruption and misery. A few men were
cultivated and rich

;
but the bulk of the people were

degraded to the last degree. The shining surface

of the classic world of antiquity, covering and hiding

from poetic eyes the rottenness underneath, is like

the glow upon decayed wood and the phosphores-

cence of dead men’s bones.

Second, aside from the considerations of morality

and the happiness of the masses, in regard even to

artistic excellence, the Christian era has not been

inferior to pagan antiquity. In poetry, painting, j

sculpture, and architecture we are superior, if any-

thing, to the ancients. Compare Shakespeare and

Dante with Homer and Horace ! Raphael with Parr-

hasius ! Michael Angelo, with Phidias ! The builders

of the cathedral of Rheims with the builders of the

temple of Diana! Surely, the Christian artists do

not lose by comparison with the pagan. Of course,

in science and music there is no place for compari- i

son. Neither is there in the material comforts and

conveniences of life. And Democracy, conceived and

developed under the inspiration of Christianity, de-

spite its defects, stands out in glaring contrast to

the autocracy of old.

Third, in the field of religion ! It is a platitude to



THE PARABLES 13

say that, with the sublime and sweet doctrines of

Christianity, in particular with the divine fairy tale

of God becoming Man, there is nothing in the hard,

despairing, God-forsaken days of paganism to com-

pare.

Lastly, the tree of Calvary has not cast a shadow

across the world. The tree of Eden had done that

from the beginning. The bulk of the pagans were

not conscious of the shadow
;
they were blind to the

universal fact of sin. And they suffered from their

ignorance of it. For the knowledge of the existence

of evil must be the first step taken to surmount

evil. Christ taught us to look at the dark tree of

Eden and then to see its shadow turned to bright-

ness by effulgence from the radiant tree of Calvary.

Decadent poets, with an eye for half-truths, who

know Christ’s teaching on sin, but not His lesson of

redemption from sin, naturally think that the con-

quering Galilean is pale with the pallor of pessimism

and that the breath of His doctrine has gloomed

the earth.

There are two obstacles to a religion of activity

and cheer: worldliness and unappreciativeness. The

worldly man is active enough, but he is destitute of

cheer. He uses things with titantic zest; but for

himself, not for God. Observe the whirl of com-

merce, the hum of industry, the rush in offices, and

stores, the pursuit of money, the indulgence in

amusements, the devotion to arts and sciences; and

consider how few of such efforts are directed to

God
;
how many of them center in self. Now world-

liness is wrong. It is a perversion of the right order

of things. God does and must require that man

should use his talents for the divine glory and final



14 THE PARABLES

human beatitude. He cannot give man permission
to employ them for selfish purposes. For this rea-

son, since order is the mother of joy, and disorder

the parent of unhappiness, the worldling, despite his

activity, possessions, pleasures, and spurious glad-

ness, is not a genuinely cheerful man. History is

the story of nations made miserable, and sinking

through sin into ruin, on account of the misuse of

earthly blessings intended by God for the cheer of

men who would employ them aright.

The second obstacle to activity and cheer is un-

appreciativeness. Every man, even the least for-

tunate, is overwhelmed with blessings. But not

every man profits by them because he does not think

of nor esteem them. For instance, who thinks of

thanking God for his being, for the vital energies of

his body and soul, for the five senses of his flesh,

his eyes, ears, nostrils, taste, and touch; for his

health, his home, his parents; for his family; for

the necessities, comforts, and luxuries of life; for

his food, for his roof, for his hearth, for his bed;

for the sun, for light, for air, for rain and snow;

for fields, hills, rivers and seas; for trees, flowers,

and fruits; for the glory of color, the witchery of

music, the delight of fragrance, the soothing of taste?

Who thanks God for his intellect, free will, memory,

imagination, gift of speech, and power of motion;

for his education, books and friendships; for the

truth, goodness, and beauty of the world; for the

arts and sciences; for being under and made a par-

taker of our free . Government ? Who thanks God

for God ;—for the Incarnation; for Christ’s passion
and death, for the Church, for Mary, for Mass, for

the Bible, for the Sacraments; for the Eucharist,



THE PARABLES 15

the gifts of the Holy Ghost, the consolations of God
and the hope of Heaven? Who indeed? Multitudes
of men, because they never think of these blessings,

are gloomy and passive in life. They ought to think
of and esteem them. For these are the better things

of life. Most of us have not the common sense to
see the uncommon beauty of common things. The
great poets were great chiefly because, instead of
going to the ends of the world for the exotic and
unusual, they took their stand in the midst of the

everyday world and saw the extraordinary vision
of ordinary nature and humanity. And in propor-
tion as we follow their example in this respect we
shall become great in the spiritual life, growing in
activity and cheer.



16 THE PARABLES

THE PARABLE OF THE TALENTS:

CHRISTIANITY AND BUDDHISM
(Matthew xxv, 14-30)

(Address delivered by the Rev. John A. McClorey, S. J.,

in the Catholic Hour, September 13, 1931.*)

We shall come to a better understanding of the

life of activity and cheer if we draw a contrast be-

tween Christianity and Buddhism, to which Chris-

tianity has so often been likened.

Moreover, in view of the present visit of Gandhi

to England after his successful passive resistance;

and of the praise of his Buddhistic religion, to the

disadvantage of Christianity, which has come from

quite a number of editorial writers of our country,

we shall draw this contrast to show that we of the

West do not stand in need of Gandhi and his re-

ligion. To a certain extent Christianity has been

botched. Nevertheless it is inherently excellent

and sufficient for all our spiritual needs.

Christianity and Buddhism are alike in this, that

they teach four things: first, life is sorrowful;

second, the sorrows of life are due to attractive

things of earth and to man’s unsatisfied desire for

them; third, therefore the passionate longings of

the heart for worldly gratifications must be down-

ed; fourth, after self-repression, man must enter

into himself and develop the spirit of contempla-

tion.

But despite the surface similarity between them,

* This address, though delivered on the date given above,

belongs in second place in the series.—Author.



THE PARABLES 17

the two systems of religion are as far apart as the

poles. For, while Buddhism teaches that life is

all sorrow, Christianity inculcates the lesson that

it is a commingling of sorrow and joy; and if

Christ speaks more of sorrow than of joy it is be-

cause man needs much urging to submit to sorrow

;

he needs no encouragement to accept joy.

Second, while Buddhism takes the position that

objects of pleasure, wealth, honor, success, power,

comfort, luxury, science and art are bad in them-

selves, Christianity insists only on this, that often-

times things, good in themselves, are bad for us on

account of misuse. Hence we must not repudiate

them utterly. We must only practice moderation
in the use of them.

True, Christ did not say to the rich young man
of the Gospel narrative: “Use moderately.” But,

“Sell what thou hast, and give to the poor, . . .

and come, follow Me.” True, He did not say:
“Blessed are the moderate users of wealth and

power;” but, “Blessed are the poor in spirit.”

True, Christian asceticism imposes vows of worldly

renunciation. But observe : these are only for the

few; the few are not commanded, but only invited

to eschew by vow certain blessings of earth; and
third, they do so (aside from higher motives for

unworldliness) to be freer to use other worldly

things with greater efficacy in the service of God.

For instance, priests sacrifice individual father-

hood that they may be fathers of all. Missionaries
deny themselves the comforts of civilization that

they may carry them along with the Faith, to sav-
ages. Religious give up the personal possession of
money that they may employ money as a com-



18 THE PARABLES

munity power for the advancement of God’s in-

terests.

Moreover, the maintenance of the ascetical ideal

in a world given to indulgence is a healthy re-

minder and deterrent to the indulgent; but it is

not an implied condemnation of all indulgence.

Even paganism had its vestal virgins, embodiments

of the ascetical ideal. The vestal virgins were in-

tended to be a reminder to the indulgent mass of

the pagans to practice moderation; and the white

ribband of their purity stood out in pleasing and

elevating contrast to the scarlet monotone of a

sex-mad world. Also, the espousal of a soul to

Christ and its consequent, necessary detachment

from all other men or women ought to be intel-

ligible to those who believe in monogamy. Men

and women are good; but Christ is better. Prefer-

ence for Christ does not imply hatred of women

and men.

And is it not a fact that the very Church which

encourages virginity has always been, by her pro-

hibition of birth control and divorce, the strongest

defender of the family? That the Church which

mothers religious poverty, is truly recognized by

Socialists today as the bulwark of private owner-

ship ? That the Church which inculcates the sacri-

fice of free will by religious obedience has always

fought for the liberties of the people against

despotic rule? That the Church which says that

the arts, sciences, and philosophy are as nothing

in comparison with Faith, has always been the

most enthusiastic promoter of the arts, sciences,

and philosophy? Yes, these are facts which prove

beyond cavil that the Church, with Christ backing



THE PARABLES 19

her, does not think that earthly things from which

some of her members for high motives choose to

abstain, are bad in themselves; does not deny that

the moderate use of objects of pleasure is a ra-

tional fneans of serving God. I say: “With Christ

backing her.” For the Church’s attitude toward

the use of worldly goods is an exact continuation

of the attitude of Christ.

“But,” an objector may urge, “has Christ sup-

ported the Church in this, her attitude toward the

world? On the contrary, did He not utterly disown

the world?” We must not overstate anything.
Christ possessed and employed many natural

blessings. He enjoyed health. He was the most

beautiful of the sons of men. Undoubtedly He

loved nature. He had a comfortable, if poor, home.

He was enriched by the companionship and protec-

tion of an incomparable Mother. He had friends.

He was blessed with a natural power of speech

which held men spellbound. He was magnetic in

character. He dined with the rich, and was crown-

ed with a veritable triumph on Palm Sunday.

There is one incident in His life which graphically

illustrates His evaluation of the world and its

gifts: Shortly before His death, Mary Magdalen

lavished on Him the precious contents of her ala-
baster box. Judas objected, saying that the oint-

ment should have been sold and the price given to

the poor. Christ rebuked him, evidently meaning

by His rebuke that while nothing was too poor for

the Christ, nothing was too rich for Him.

With reference to the Church’s attitude towards

the world, it must be remembered that absolute

rejection of the world is only a suggestion of



20 THE PARABLES

Christ, not a command. Also, multitudes of Re-

ligious, and men living in the world but not of it,

have accepted His suggestion to the letter. For

instance, the Pope lives in the palatial Vatican, but

he lives there like a poor man. The Vatican, St.

Peter's at Rome, and indeed all forms of ecclesias-

tical sumptuousness are for the glory of God and

the good of souls, not for the personal comfort and

honor of the ecclesiastic. Some ecclesiastics have

thought otherwise, but these we disown. However,

the great majority of them have acted on the prin-

ciple of detachment. And why should not the

august pageantry of the Church be employed by

them, not personally, but officially? For if the

beauty of Nature glorifies God, why should not the

beauty of art, especially architectural art, do the

same? And if the popular mind is raised to

Heaven by the glories of the temple of Nature,

why should it not be elevated in like manner by the

magnificence of the temple of Michael Angelo?

The martyred Archbishop of Canterbury, as a

great modern philosopher says, wore a hairshirt

next his skin for his personal holiness, and over it

the episcopal purple and cloth of gold for the de-

light of his poor flock. And his double method of

sanctification is symbolic of the Church's.

“Still," I hear some one say, “Christ did not ally

in His Church the two things, called personal pov-

erty and ecclesiastical wealth. He was poor in

every way." True, He was. But perhaps that was

because the Church in His day was only in its be-

ginnings, without having the power, as yet, of

acquiring wealth and prestige in the world. Also,

there is no evidence whatever that Christ disap-



THE PARABLES .21

proved of the earthly grandeur of the Temple of

Jerusalem. Besides, Christ worked miracles to

attract men; He did not need the appeal of art.

We do not work miracles; we need the attractive-
ness of art. Hence, there is no reason for doubting

that if Christ were the visible head of the Church

on earth today, He would officiate in St. Peters,

and in general approve of the architectural art and

gorgeous ceremonial of the Church. Is it conceiv-

able that He would wish to disrobe His Church of

the resplendent garments in which the natural arts

have arrayed her? No! No more than it may be

supposed that He would strip the temple of earth

and sky of its loveliness

!

Third, while Buddhism would down the passions

by annihilation, Christianity would down them only

by discipline. Now, the Buddhistic idea is absurd

because it is impossible to eradicate the emotional

powers of the heart. They lie at the foundation

of our being; they are intertwined with the roots

of our life
;
they are a part of human nature itself.

We are born with them, and they will stay with us
till we die;—these attractions and aversions, these
longings for pleasantness, these shrinkings from

the disagreeable. True, some predilections die out

with increasing age. But meanwhile others, which

had been dormant, spring into fierce activity. And

even the old man, “with spectacles on nose, piping

voice and slippered pantaloons, ” a tremulous shred

of humanity, ready for the grave, a burnt-out

volcano, retains to the last the peculiar aversions

and likes of senility.

But even if the annihilation of the passions were

possible, it would not be desirable. For what is a



22 THE PARABLES

man without emotion, but half a man! What is a

brain worth without a heart! Thought, without

feeling! A piercing mind, without a sympathetic
soul ! Intellectual light, without warmth of affec-

tion! Passion lends strength to action which only

passion can give. It enlightens the eyes, inflames

the cheeks, and endues the gesture of our efforts

with a sort of ictus which doubles its value. The

passions are the source of terrible pain; but they

are also the cause of exquisite delight. They send

some men hurtling to hell
;
but they send other men

whirling to Heaven. Without passions a man will

not be very bad, but neither will he be very good;

he will be only a respectable mediocrity. The dif-

ference between a sinner and a saint is not that

the one is passionate while the other is not. Both

of them have passions: the difference lies in their

abuse or use of them. Napoleon and Xavier ! Both

were ambitious. But what a difference between the

two men on account of the different directions their

passion went! We all love those saints most, for
example, Francis de Sales, who kept the affections

of their heart intact while mounting to the summit

of the supernatural. Passion is like steam in an

engine; for it drives man forcefully along the

directing track of rectitude laid by reason and re-

ligion. Without the track there would be no direc-

tion. Without the steam there would be no motion.

The world around us is useful and pleasant, and

it stands to reason that, since God gave us pas-

sions in order that we may employ useful and

pleasant things in His service with greater interest

and enthusiasm, it would be nothing less than

criminal to destroy our passions, even if it were

possible. Now this is the crime of Buddhism.



THE PARABLES 23

But the passions must be controlled. For thej

are spontaneous, volcanic, and blind forces which

are attracted by the pleasantness and repelled by

the repulsiveness of things, without having any

appreciation of the rectitude or wrongness of

things. And since many a pleasant thing is wrong

(not indeed in itself but on account of misuse) and

since many a disagreeable thing is right, the will

must curtail the activities of passion. This is what

Christ taught, and this is the third way in which

Christianity differs from the cult of Buddha.

Fourth, while Buddhism recommends man to

retire into his heart, and there find as his end a

sort of passive contentment in the contemplation

of himself in particular and truth in general, which

is called Nirvana, Christianity teaches that after

the process of retirement from the world into self,

man ought to rise from the contemplation of self to

the consideration of God; and after the consid-

eration of God as his last end, in whom he will

find rapture unspeakable, he should return to the

world and use it for himself and his neighbor in the

service of God. The statue of Buddha, seated, with

crossed legs, folded arms, eyes turned in on self

and general impassive mien, and the statue of any

Christian saint, standing, with arms outstretched

and eyes aflame, outward-looking, up towards God

and down towards the world, are symbolic of the

two religions with regard to the position which

introspection holds in their respective systems of

holiness.

In view of the fourfold contrast just drawn

between Christianity and Buddhism, it must be

evident that Christian asceticism and contempla-



24 THE PARABLES

tion on the one hand, and the oriental Nirvana and

mysticism, on the other, are a universe apart
;
and,

therefore, the poet's taunt

:

“Thou hast conquered, 0 pale Galilean,

And the world has grown gray with Thy breath”

is false.

To one man God gave five talents, to another He

gave two, to another one. The first two used their

talents; the latter did not. God praised the active

and blamed the inert. Brethren, use your talents

whether they be many or few; especially use the

common gifts, which are the better gifts—health,
home, food, friends, books, light and air. Then God

will say to you what He said to the man of the

Gospel: “Well done, good and faithful servant: be-

cause thou hast been faithful over a few things, I

will place thee over many things: enter thou into

the joy of thy lord.”



THE PARABLES 25

THE PARABLE OF THE TALENTS:

ENDURANCE AND PAIN
(Address delivered by the Rev. John A. McClorey, S. J.,

in the Catholic Hour, August 9, 1931.)

Sufferings no less than pleasant gifts, are talents

sent us by God for our sanctification. Hence, the

parable of “The Talents” applies to sufferings as

well as to agreeable blessings. It suggests to us,

therefore, that the life of activity and cheer must

be counterbalanced by a life of endurance and

pain.

“And it was the Parasceve of the Pasch, about the

sixth hour, and Pilate 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 Caesar. 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. . . . And as

they led Him away, they laid hold of one Simon of
Cyrene, coming from the country; and they laid

the cross on him to carry after Jesus. And there

followed Him a great multitude of people, and of
women, who bewailed and lamented Him. But

Jesus turning to them, said: Daughters of Jeru-

salem, weep not over me, but weep for yourselves

and for your children.” According to tradition Jesus

fell three times on His way to Calvary. His Blessed

Mother met Him and tried to console Him, and
Veronica, the brave woman, offered Him a cloth of



26 THE PARABLES

cleansing, upon which He imprinted a crimson

image of His dolorous face.

Here we have in brief the story of the way to Cal-

vary; the story of the saddest path ever trod in the

history of the world. The lesson of that story is

a simple one, but a grand one,—the lesson of the
mystery of suffering in life. The human race has

carried its cross up to the present day from the

time that Adam and Eve carried theirs through the

golden gate of Eden forth into the bleak sterility

of the outer world.

Wherefore the cross? Why Calvary? Why this
valley of tears? Why so much sorrow and suffer-
ing for the children of men? Moments of bliss are

few and brief; lamentation is prolonged. Why is
the heart of man, made for happiness and craving

joy, so seldom thrilled with it? Nature is glad.

Why is man sad? The sky, the earth, oceans and
streams are resplendent. Why is man, the master

of it all, cast down? This question has been asked

from time immemorial. Answers have been given

to it,—some blasphemous, some halting, others
half-answers. Let us try to answer it in the light

of reason, experience, observation, and Chris-

tianity.

As a prelude to the answer I shall give, let me

state one big, consoling fact. Eden has been lost;

but amid the general ruin of the race there is one

thing that has not been lost (with that saved, the

best has been saved), and that is love. The whole

of literature, sacred and profane, asserts loudly,

proudly, triumphantly, even defiantly, the fact and

omnipotence of love. Let a church be as dark as a

tomb, what matters it provided the red, glowing



THE PARABLES 27

sanctuary lamp be still alive! Let the temple of

the world be enveloped in the black night of sad-

ness; what matters it, provided the red-hearted

flame of love still glows in the sanctuary of the

breast of man ! Also may I add that life is not all

sorrow and suffering as we saw last Sunday night?

Nothing will be gained by picturing life darker

than it is.

Again, before giving the explanation of sorrow

in life, let me state what is not the explanation of

it. A malignant God is not the explanation of it.

God does not cause, and then gloat over, the mis-

eries of men. God is not behind the world, leering

and laughing at its travail. He is not the Mani-

chean Evil Genius, to whom the joys of men are

an abomination and their anguish a delight. Num-

bers of men during the late war were tempted to

look at God in that light. God is holy and just but

He is not cruel, nor is He even indifferent to the woes

of humanity. On the contrary, He is most compas-

sionate. One of the tenderest pictures of Holy Writ

is that of our Saviour seated upon a hill overlooking

Jerusalem, weeping over the city of His love. “If

thou hadst known,” He says to her, “if thou hadst

known the things that are unto thy peace
;
but thou

wouldst not.” He sympathized with Jerusalem in

her sorrows; He sympathized with the sorrowing

world; He became a man, the Man of Sorrows, in
order that He might participate in our dolorous

experiences on earth even unto the cross. How
unappealing to our imagination would be a God of

gladness in a stricken world! How irresistible a
God of grief among grieving men ! God knew the

charm of likeness in suffering; and so He became
the sad Saviour that He might win our hearts and



28 THE PARABLES

banish forever from our minds the idea that He is

callous to or jubilant over the pangs of humanity.

The three-fold cause of suffering is, first, to save

men from falling into sin; second, to restore them

to grace if they have sinned; third, after restora-

tion, to confirm them in a virtuous life.

Few men can be rich without luxury, successful

without conceit, learned without pride, good-look-

ing without vanity, honored without ostentation,

comfortable without sloth, pleasure-loving without

impurity; few can use the pleasant world without

misusing it.

Accordingly, God, who wishes to save men from

sin, withholds from the majority of them objects

of pleasure and honor which would occasion their

spiritual ruin. Sickness, poverty, failure, worri-

ment, and other forms of endurance and pain are

the portion of the majority because the majority

would lose their souls if they were placed in a

felicitous environment. The more fortunate

minority can avoid evil only by keeping their

hearts detached in, spirit from blessings which

they may choose to retain in reality.

Christ taught that the poor, the meek, the per-

secuted, and the humble in spirit are blessed. Best

of all, He divorced Himself from the world and

wedded Himself to unworldliness, choosing the

crib and the cross, to show us that generally the

possession of worldly blessings leads to sin whereas

abstention from them, in so far as this is possible,

is the safe way to heaven.

God is not responsible for this excessive pull of

the pleasant world on the senses and the passions

of the heart. The responsibility rests with man ;

—



THE PARABLES 29

the first man, Adam. For, in the beginning God

gave the parents of the human race a special pre-

ternatural gift of appreciating the useful at its

real value and relegating the pleasant to its proper

place. That gift was forfeited by the sin of Adam

and was not restored to us by Christ. It would be

unfair to accuse God of purposely making the

heart prone to evil and life hard. Original Sin is

responsible for that. If Adam had not fallen, the

human heart would not be unduly attracted by the

pleasantness of the world, but life in Eden would

be all activity and cheer. Now, however, to coun-

teract the worldly predilections of the heart, life

must be, in part, a system of endurance and pain.

The second purpose of suffering is to restore

men to grace if they have sinned; this will be

understood if we consider the two ideas of atone-

ment and correction.

If a law has been broken, justice requires that it

should be restored; restored by him who broke it,

either vicariously or in person
;
and restored by the

endurance of pain. Every restoration involves

pain. Throw a joint out of its socket! You must

suffer to have it reset. Also, opposites counteract

each other. Cold destroys heat. Heat destroys

cold. Sinful pleasure and virtuous pain are oppo-

sites. Therefore, the pleasure of breaking God’s

law is counteracted by the pain of atoning for the

infraction. Moreover, in justice there must be an

equalizing of unpleasantness. The unpleasantness

to God is sin
;
the unpleasantness to us is atonement

for sin. God was hurt by our offences; we must

submit to being hurt by His punishments. On the

cross Christ atoned vicariously for humanity; and



30 THE PARABLES

it is not right that we sinful men should allow the

sinless Christ to carry the whole burden of God's

wrath.

Suffering is also a corrective for the sinner. This

purpose of pain and its success is a commonplace

in the spiritual life. God loved the people of Israel.

They went astray over and over again, and over

and over again He made them suffer, and they re-

turned to Him. Possibly we know by personal ex-

perience the sobering influence of misfortune.

Sometimes indeed it hardens a sinner in his ways;

but more frequently it reforms him. When the

world smiles, he is ravished by its blandishments

into a callousness toward God. But when the

world frowns on him, then it is that, benumbed by

the shock of ruin, with his earthly house of honor,

wealth, social standing and success collapsing and

tumbling about his head, he looks up and through

the shattered rafters sees the sweet blue of

heaven. The good Thief had to be held by the cruel

arms of a cross before he submitted to God's em-

brace. The Prodigal had to consort with swine and

feed on husks before he thought of returning to his

father's house, and the woman taken in sin had

actually to be dragged to the feet of her Saviour by

the hard Scribes and Pharisees.

The third purpose of suffering is, (after restora-

tion to grace), to confirm the penitent in a virtuous

life
;
for virtue contains strength, beauty, sympathy

with our fellow men and likeness to Christ cruci-

fied;—four qualities unattainable without suffer-
ing.

St. Paul, speaking of preparation for the game

of salvation, drew his comparison from the austere



THE PARABLES 31

training of the Olympic athletes. We know by

observation to what curtailment of comforts foot-

ball players submit that they may be hard for the

conflict. During the war the physical tests to

which our soldiers were subjected in camps were

so severe that it was a relief for them to go to the

front and face the actualities of war. The same

relationship between hardship and strength exists

in the spiritual life. If a man enjoys himself amid

comforts and luxuries, the muscles of his soul are

sure to sag. But if he is put through trial of soul

or body, his spirit will expand and solidify. God

sends us pain of body and soul because He wishes

us to be athletes and soldiers worthy of the name.

And, tell me, is there anything more beautifying

than suffering? Enjoyment arrays us in a super-

ficial attractiveness; but suffering steeps the soul

in beauty. Indulgence hardens men; distress re-

fines them. Pleasure panders to selfishness; mis-

fortune awakens generosity. If Adam and Eve had

remained in Eden, and we with them, life would be

a gratifying experience. But it would lack the

mysterious charm of a tragedy. And who would

choose a life of unbroken ease at the cost of never

experiencing the bitter-sweet of suffering? The

first Adam and Eve appeal to us more poignantly
weeping outside the gate than smiling within. And

the second Adam and Eve, in the shadow of Cal-
vary, He in the crimson garment of His blood, and

she in the blue mantle of her woes, mean more to

us than they do in the effulgence of Easter morn-

ing. Christ said : .“If I shall be lifted up, .... I

shall draw all things to Me.” He has done so be-

cause the pathetic beauty of His suffering has

magnetized the suffering sons and daughters of



32 THE PARABLES

men. His Church has been more lovely in the days

of her martyrdom than in the days of her success.

Secular history casts a spell on humanity because

at its best it is a gallery of portraits of men and

women glorified by anguish. The heroic women of

history under the burden of irremediable misfor-

tune, but unconquerable; the heroic men of history,

strained by the pressure of heaped-up adversities,

but undaunted, stop even the casual passerby on

the road of life with the pathetic magnificence of

their fire-cleansed souls. The great authors of

tragic literature relied for their compelling power

on the beauty of their heroes and heroines in the

shadow of death. For heroes and heroines are not

made out of the sunshine of joyousness, but out of

the ebon blackness of woe. We ought to encourage
ourselves with the thought that suffering, well

borne, invests us with a grace, a charm, a robust

gentleness of soul which nothing else can confer.

The love of God and the love of man are the per-

fection of the Law. Fraternal love assumes two

forms
;
felicitation for a brother in success : sympa-

thy for him in distress. Since distress is more gen-

eral in life than success, the more common form of

charity is sympathy. Sympathy is a beautiful

thing: but it is bought at a price, and the price of

it is personal pain. For no one that has not sor-

rowed himself can compassionate the sorrowing.

No one that has not felt the bitter sting of dis-

appointment can raise a disappointed brother to

his feet. No one that has enjoyed health all his

life can with fitting sympathy smooth the pillow

of the sick. No one that has not wept can dry the

tears of the grieving. No one that has not drained

the chalice of interior desolation to the dregs can



33THE PARABLES

appreciate the meaning of that prayer rising daily

from Christian souls: “My God, My God, why hast

Thou forsaken me?” and “Father, if it be possible,

let this chalice pass from Me.” Oh, when all goes

well with us, we forget the needy, but when our

own hearts are broken, they open to the tragedy

and pathos of humanity.

Finally, pain makes us like Christ crucified, and

the endurance of it is a test of our love of Him.

One who loves another wishes to be like him.

Standing at the foot of the cross in spirit, you per-

haps have often wished that you had stood there in

reality. Was that true devotion or sentimental

piety ? Answer that question by asking this : How

do you act now? For if now you deliberately de-

cline the pains of life, what assurance can you have

that you would have stayed with Christ on Cal-

vary? But if now you try to be patient in afflic-

tion, you can take the consolation to your heart

that you would have kept company with Christ,

Mary, Magdalen, and John on the hill of austere

sublimity.

But if all these motives are not potent enough

to induce you to accept a life of passivity and

pain, consider that you must accept it, whether you

wish to or not. The cross is a physical necessity;

you simply cannot get away from it. Why not
make a virtue of necessity and carry it with a

grace? Why not “grin and bear it”? Moreover,
the endurance of pain is a necessary condition for

the enjoyment of pleasure. Only one who has suf-

fered from hunger enjoys food. Only one who has

been sick appreciates health. It is a queer but true

law of nature that uninterrupted pleasantness be-



34 THE PARABLES

comes unpleasant, and a life of unbroken ease

grows monotonous and drab. The piquancy of life

lies in the contrasting experiences of hardship and

ease, failure and success, sorrow and joy.

Christ will help you bear your cross. “Behold,”

He says, “I am with you all days, even to the

consummation of the world.” “Come to Me, all

you that labor and are burdened, and I will refresh

you.” “I will help you in all your undertakings

and comfort you in all your sorrows.” “My yoke is

sweet and My burden light.” Be sure not to reject
His proffered aid.

And then take strength from the thought of com-

panions in distress. Gaze across the earth and see

multitudes like yourself. One of the worst features

of our cross is that we think we are carrying it

alone. We are not alone ! Many seem to be happy,
but are not. Others have the goods of earth but

also hidden distresses. Others again, who are in

an earthly Eden now, have had their bad days or

will have them yet. God help the man or woman

who neither has had, nor has, nor will have, a cross

to bear! How can they survive the storms of life

without strength, and how can they have strength

without suffering? The world is in the same boat

with you, so take comfort from your company.

And life is not long. As the crucifixion had its

end for Christ, so it will have for you. Then after

life, heaven, where God Himself will wipe away all

tears from your eyes; where there will be no more

weeping, nor crying.

If you take these truths to heart and practice

them, the mystery of suffering and sorrow in life

will not be altogether insoluble, God will not seem



THE PARABLES 35

to be a cruel Master, and pessimism and despair

will not catch at your heart. On the contrary, you

will become humble, patient, reconciled, strong,

active, and even glad.

But the necessary condition for this happy con-

summation is the old, old battle against self. Let

us wage the battle against self! It is a difficult

battle because it is fought in secret, in the heart,

without spectators, banners, and martial music. It

is difficult because it is directed against our attrac-

tive self, not against a repulsive enemy. It is diffi-

cult because it is not a battle of action, but one of

endurance. It is difficult because the victory and

crown are not for this life, for the conflict ends

only with death. It is difficult because the gener-

ality of men regard it as a quixotic and unnatural

conflict. But it is exhilarating because, as we have

tried to explain, it is possible, with God's grace

easy, it is physically and morally necessary, useful,

noble, elevating, productive of peace; it glorifies

God and leads us to eternal joy.

Let us fight this battle against self! With head

erect, with eyes aflame, with lips tight, with jaws

set, shoulders back, and sinews tense, let us fight

the battle of self-conquest to the end ! Let us rise

superior to crushed feeling! Let us be masters of

our soul! Let us keep our head above the clouds

which envelop all else ! Possibly we have lost

everything: fortune, comfort, health, friends. But

let us hold fast to our manhood, to our womanhood

(the one thing worth holding to) and exult!

Christ goes before you along the royal road of

the cross: follow Him royally! He falls thrice:

be not surprised if you fall under the weight of



36 THE PARABLES

your cross! His Mother comforts Him with her

sympathy: do you console Him by suffering with

Him! The women of Jerusalem follow Him with

lamentations and tears: go you and do likewise!

Veronica gives Him a kerchief upon which He im-

presses a crimson image of His dolorous face: let

Christ’s spirit be imprinted on your soul! Simon

of Cyrene assists Him with His cross: be you an-

other Simon of Cyrene!



THE PARABLES 37

THE WOMAN OF THE APOCALYPSE:

AN INSPIRATION TO WOMEN
(Address delivered by Rev. John A. McClorey, S. J., in the

Catholic Hour, August 16, 1931)

“And a great sign appeared in heaven: A woman clothed
with the sun, and the moon under her feet, and on her head
a crown of twelve stars. . . And behold a red dragon. . .
stood before the woman who was ready to be delivered; that
. . . he might devour her son.” (Apocalypse, xii, 1-4).

This parable or apocalypse, call it what you will,

illustrates the glorification of Mary at the hand of

her Son; and also the power of evil which would

destroy Him and her.

I am taking this text today because only yesterday

we celebrated the Assumption of Mary, i. e., the

taking up of her body into heaven by her Son. Since

this is not a dogmatic lecture but rather a practical

talk I shall not give the evidence for our belief
;
but

satisfy myself with saying that Mary received such

glory from her Son for the simple and profound

reason that she was so glorious
;
her two chief claims

to recognition being her divine Maternity and Im-

maculate Conception.

Protestant poets, like Wordsworth, Shelley, Byron,

Scott, Longfellow, and Poe, from some of whom one

would scarcely look for Marian devotion, have sung

at their tenderest when singing of her.

Such poetic effusions were not mere pieces of sen-

timent, unfounded in fact. Rather they were the

flowering and fragrance of the historical fact and

dogmatic truth of her greatness, beauty and good-

ness. Mother of God and Immaculate Virgin she



38 THE PARABLES

was
;
whose image is calculated to purify, soften and

strengthen men and women.

It was the thought of her with the Child in her

arms, that begot chivalry in the Middle Ages: ar-

raying all other women in her borrowed splendor

and subduing the lust of men. The great Mother, and

mothers in general, came to be fused in the mind of

Christian civilization
;
home was created and woman

became its queen
;
childhood was made the center of

our religion and civilization, and woman was most

intimately associated with the child.

Business, war, diplomacy, government, the arts

and sciences, the professions, wealth, social prestige

and all the other ornaments and utilities of life are

secondary to the child, the mother, the home. If

Christianity had done nothing else for the world, it

could point to the domestic circle and proudly ex-

claim : “This is my work !”

While therefore we pause, this evening, to remem-

ber and glow over the glory of motherhood in Mary

in particular and in all women in general, is it not

pertinent to remember that honor is bought only at

a high price, that privilege is the reward only of

great accomplishment, that deference is due only

to exceeding worth; that no degree of feminine

beauty and charm will succeed in holding men cap-

tive in willing regard, unless true wifehood, mother-

hood, and childhood, the high and hard price of fe-

male exaltation, be kept intact? The so-called

emancipation of women is a boomerang to them,

because it has emancipated men from the old-time

loyalties, chivalric prostrations and unforced defer-

ence. Those women who want the new equality with

men cannot any longer enjoy their old superiority



THE PARABLES 39

to them. They will be treated as equals; roughly,

prosaically, without idealism, without quarter.

Mary was mother not only of the body of Christ,

not only of His soul, not only of His Humanity ; she

was mother of the God Christ, not indeed according

ing to His divine
,
but according to His human na-

ture. St. Paul, speaking of the Incarnation, says that

the Son of God “emptied Himself, taking on Himself

the form of a slave.” Yes, He emptied Himself of

His divinity to assume our humanity, of His eternity

to be born in time, of His immensity to be enclosed

in a woman’s arms, of His wisdom to learn at Mary’s

knee, and of His omnipotence, whereby He holds the

universe like a grain of sand in the palm of His hand,

to become a little child, toddling around the floor of

the cottage of Nazareth and catching at Mary’s

skirt to steady His faltering baby feet. He became

the Son of Man; she was made Mother of God;

and the greatness of His lowering was the measure

of her exaltation.

The Immaculate Conception was Mary’s prepara-

tion for the Divine Motherhood. The Immaculate

Conception is often confused with the Virginal Birth.

The Virginal Birth refers to Christ and means that

He was born of a virgin; that He had no human

Father; that His Father was God. The Immaculate

Conception does not refer directly to Christ at all;

it has reference to Mary and means not only that

she was born immaculate, as very likely were also

John the Baptist and Jeremias the Prophet, but that

she was conceived immaculate; that is, in the very

first moment of her existence in her mother’s womb
she was, by the foreseen merits of Jesus Christ, her

Son, through a special privilege of God, preserved

from the taint of original sin.



40 THE PARABLES

The effect of this immunity was her liberation

from what theologians call the “fomes peccati”
;
the

passionate inclination to sin; and again, the result

of this (along with her own free choice and the

grace of God) was her preservation from all personal

sin. Mary never committed any actual sin whether

mortal or venial, deliberate or semi-deliberate.

Another attribute which is kin to her Immaculate

Conception, and altogether becoming to the Mother

of God, was her virginity. Mary was virginal before,

during, and after the birth of Christ. She had no

other children. The so-called brothers of Christ were

His cousins; for it was customary in those days to

use the word brother for cousin.

Here, then, in her Immaculate Conception, in her

freedom from personal sin and her virginity, we

have Mary’s pure preparation for the Divine Mater-

nity.

One of the effects of her Divine Maternity was

Mary’s motherhood with regard to all men. For since

Christ was our adopting Brother and her Son in the

flesh, it follows that she became our adopting mother.

This maternal relationship to men was at least hint-

ed at by Christ on the cross when, addressing His

Mother, and St. John, the probable vicar of the hu-

man race, He said: “Woman, behold thy son”; “son,

behold thy mother.”

It was altogether fitting that the Mother of the

Man of Sorrows should be the sorrowful Mother;

and such in fact she was. When she presented her

Child in the Temple the priest, Simeon, said : “This

child is set for the fall, and for the resurrection of

many in Israel, and for a sign which shall be contra-

dicted
;
and thy own soul a sword shall pierce.” The



THE PARABLES 41

climax of her sorrows was Calvary, where, accord-

ing to the simple but sublime words of Holy Writ,

“there stood by the cross of Jesus His mother.”

But she also partook of His glories and joys. Per-

haps the most rapturous expression of her earthly

happiness was her Magnificat, that exquisite lyric

which thrilled the Judean hills when she paid her

visit to her cousin, Elizabeth: “My soul doth mag-

nify the Lord. And my spirit hath rejoiced in God

my Saviour. Because He hath regarded the humility

of His handmaid; for behold from henceforth all

generations shall call me blessed. Because He that

is mighty hath done great things to me; and holy

is His name.” The culmination of her earthly

joys was her Assumption and Coronation at the

right side of her Son in heaven.

Let us recall the words of Holy Writ which the

Church puts on the lips of Christ in heaven, welcom-

ing His mother to His celestial abode from the valley

of tears: “Arise, make haste my love, my love, my

beautiful one, and come. For the winter is now past,

the rain is over and gone. The flowers have appear-

ed in our land, the time of pruning is come: tin

voice of the turtledove is heard in our land: Arise,

my love, my dove, my beautiful one, and come.”

But there is one other effect of Mary’s Divine Ma-

ternity of which I should like to speak at greater

length tonight: the elevation of the whole female

sex through her. That all women have been honored

through Mary is obvious. It is equally obvious that

as long as women remain devoted to her and her

Son, to whom they owe their all, so long will they

continue to enjoy their present exceptional social

advantages in the world
;

but if they depart



42 THE PARABLES

from her and from Him, thus undermining the very

foundations of their exaltation, they will fall back

into the pit from which they were lifted by Mary’s

Son nineteen hundred years ago. That this catas-

trophe is likely to happen is evident from the moral

decadence of the present day.

Speaking of this social canker, Dr. Forster, pro-

fessor of Zurich University, says: “In literature, in

the drama, in the comic papers, and in the fashion-

able world the seamy side of life is becoming daily

less shocking and more popular. Moral sin and mor-

al failure serve to provide material for an heroic

pose, while the ten weaknesses of man have become

the ten commandments of the new ethic. Pleasure-

seeking in the sphere of sex is replacing all social

and religious considerations. The artificial restrict-

tion of the family is making a rapid conquest, while

the facilitation of divorce is looked to as a further

means of escape from the great moral problems and

responsibilities of marriage. The old idea of loyal-

ty has become a thing of mockery, and sexual purity

is looked upon as unhealthy.” Tolstoi says, “In

these days life is no longer directed by conscience;

conscience accommodates itself to life.”

George Bernard Shaw treats of the holiest rela-

tionship of man and woman with a flippancy that

divests it of all sacredness. The Swedish authoress,

Ellen Key, says that loyalty should last only as long

as passion lasts and that the free-lover may pass on

to as many sexual unions as may appeal to his or

her erotic emotions, and that a person who feels

strongly enough need not ask himself whether he has

a right to the feeling; for right and wrong in love

affairs are only external forms of slavery. She



THE PARABLES 43

speaks to women of “self-realization,” “enhancement

of life,” “soul-affinities,” of “the great ever-lasting

love,” somewhere ahead of them ; of “living out one’s

own life” and of “the foolishness of loyalty in the

sphere of sex.”

The chief natural indictment against impurity,

that red dragon of ruin, is that it destroys love.

Love is the rose and perfume of life. Impurity

withers the rose and turns the perfume to a

stench. True love and illicit passionate indulgence

cannot stand together. Affection, tenderness, ex-

quisite regard, and fleshly excesses cannot co-

exist. To be a true lover, one must have some-

thing of the angelic about him; he must wear the

badge of spirituality; he must breathe the rarefied

atmosphere of chastity. Seek gratification of the

body, and you smother affection of the heart. Lust,

and you will not love. Pander to carnal appetite,

and you will stop with the flesh. Be an animal, and

you will never experience the cravings of a man.

Refuse to deny the brute in you, and you will not

realize the divine in you. Heap up in your soul the

ashes of unclesmness, and your soul will not shine

and glow and quicken with the heavenly flame.

If a young man grossly seeks himself, he will not

radiantly find his beloved; if his eyes gloat upon

her flesh, they will not see the vision of her spirit

enshrined in her flesh
;
and if he absorbs himself in

outward contact, he will never know the rapture of

embracing her soul.

Impurity destroys love. It destroys also the

beauty of life;—particularly the moral beauty of
womanhood.

Purity is beautiful. It is compared to the lily,



44 TttE PARABLES

whose waxen delicacy and silken whiteness best

represent it. “Oh, how beautiful is the chaste gen-

eration with glory!” says Holy Writ. Even the in-

fidel unconsciously admires it. Even the roue,

steeped in iniquity, grows reverent and weeps at the

sight of it. Even Goethe, whose excesses were

notorious, wrote of marital purity : “He whom I find

attacking the state of marriage has me to reckon

with.” We all love children, because purity endues
them with the charm of a candid transparency. In

particular, without purity the grace of womanhood

is incomplete. The power of womanhood lies in that.

In pagan times, before womanly integrity of life

was considered a virtue, women were shorn of their

chief loveliness. The immaculateness of the Mother

of God has made her the subject of the artist’s

brush
;
and from her time to ours Christian women,

arrayed in her borrowed garment of snow, have lent

an indescribable attractiveness to life. A maid, in
fact as well as in name, commands a willingly pro-

fessed respect. A chaste wife is the ornament of
home; and mother means so much to the child be-

cause, to him, mother is without blemish. Take away

innocence from womanhood, and home is divested

of its beauty
;

chivalry loses its motive for

respect, and one of the chief inspirations of manly

chastity perishes. Oh, if men, and especially if

women, realized what a glory is falling from their

shoulders and from the shoulders of the world when,

in the name of liberty of sex, they throw off their

inborn sense of shame and affect an unhealthy

frankness of sex attitude, they would think twice

before taking the step. The world is sordid enough

without being deprived of its few remnants of moral

idealism. Men have sufficient incentives to sin with-



THE PARABLES 45

out the extra incentive of a relaxed code of

womanly virtue. The silken cord of female modesty

has held back many a man from the brink of turpi-

tude more powerfully than chains of iron. Oh, think

twice, thrice, and a hundred times, you who possess

this subtle, feminine forcefulness, before bartering

it for an accursed emancipation from restraint. If

you do not, he will fall and you will fall deeper than

he.

Let us raise our eyes and hands tonight to Mary,

Queen of Heaven, with her foot upon the crescent

and her head encircled with stars, and borrowing

the words of Holy Writ let us say to her: “Thou art

all beautiful, 0 Mary, and there is no spot of sin in

thee. Thy garments are like snow and thy face like

the sun. Thou art the glory of Jerusalem, thou art

the joy of Israel, thou art the exaltation of our peo-

ple. Thou art the cedar tree of Mount Libanus, the

rose of Sharon, the lily of the valley, the lily among

thorns. Thy eyes are doves’ eyes, thy two lips are

twin pieces of scarlet lace, thy mouth a dripping

honeycomb, and thy words are sweet. 0 thou

Mother of fair love, be a mother unto us and make

our lives wholesome and clean
!”



46 THE PARABLES

THE SOWER AND THE SEED:

IS CHRISTIANITY A FAILURE?
(Matt, xiii, 24-30)

(Address delivered by the Rev. John A. McClorey, S. J.,
in the Catholic Hour, August 23, 1931.)

The sower went out to sow his seed; some of it

fell on the roadside and was eaten by the birds, some

fell upon hard soil, failed to take root and perished

;

some fell among thorns and the thorns choked it;

some fell upon rich soil and brought forth thirty-

fold, fifty-fold, a hundred-fold. Christ supplement-

ed this parable by the story of the tiny mustard

seed growing up into the wide-spreading tree filled

with the birds of heaven.

It is obvious that the sower is Christ and the seed

is His Word. According to Christ’s own explana-

tion, the devouring birds are the demons, the hard

soil are the stony hearts of some men; the thorns

are the pleasures and worries of the world; the

tiny mustard seed, growing into the wide-spreading

tree, is His Church developing through the centur-

ies, and the birds in its branches are the souls of

Christian women and Christian men.

One bright morning in spring, Joseph, Mary and

the child Jesus went up from Nazareth to the Tem-

ple at Jerusalem. The sun shone more brilliantly,

the grass was of a more vivid green, birds sang more

cheerily, and flowers breathed forth their fragrance

more refreshingly than usual for their passing. The

Divine Boy speeds along with the alacrity of youth.

Joseph feels a new vitality in his veins, and Mary’s



THE PARABLES 47

heart sings blithely as she goes up the road to the

Holy City.

One of the purposes of Christ’s visit to the Tem-

ple at the age of twelve was to teach and preach. We
read in Holy Writ that the Ancients of the Temple,

Scribes, hoary with age and dim-eyed with study,

marvelled at the wisdom of that Child of twelve.

You may have seen the picture of Him—His boyish
brow radiant with divine intelligence, His eyes

speaking eloquently, His lips rich with inspiration,

His finger pointing to the holy text; and those old

men enraptured
;
one holding his chin and stroking

his beard thoughtfully, another looking admiringly

at the young Templar before him, and still another

wondering who this new Teacher can be.

This was Christ’s initial effort as a Preacher of

the Word. In later years He was to illumine, inspire,

and set aflame the populace as He was doing now to

this little group; on the Mount of the Beatitudes,

amid verdure, flowers, and singing birds
;
at the side

of a stream beneath a blue sky, drawing His illus-

trations from lilies of the valley and birds of the

air, setting forth eternal principles of His Kingdom

in simple, compelling words, pregnant with signifi-

cance; on the shore of the sea, from a boat enmesh-

ing the crowd in the net of His beautiful speech ; in

synagogues, opening the Holy Book and suffusing

its plain text with the golden aura of His explana-

tion
;
or in the porches of the Temple, with dagger-

thrusts of divine vituperation excoriating the guilty,

or with sweet words of consolation mending broken

hearts and revivifying lost hopes. Afterwards He

would magnetize also small groups and individuals

—the Samaritan woman at the well; St. Andrew



48 THE PARABLES

spending a whole heavenly day in Christ's house, so

rapt at His utterances that when he came out into

the street, alPhe could say was : “We have found the
Messiah;" Mary, the sister of Martha, sitting ab-

sorbed at His feet; Nicodemus with Him at night,

listening spell-bound to the story of His Kingdom;

and the Twelve at the Last Supper, the night before

He died, silent and melted to awe and tenderness by

that superbest of all His sermons, the rhapsody on

love. Of all this many-colored eloquence of His

maturer years Christ gave the world an initial taste

in the Temple at the age of twelve, when “all that

heard Him were astonished at His wisdom and His

answers."

As a Preacher, Christ never condescended to make

a utilitarian appeal. Nor did He elaborate a system

of philosophy, like Plato and Aristotle among the

Greeks. Nor even in the sphere of conduct was He

satisfied with instilling mere natural principles of

ethics, with their insufficiency for fallen nature, as

were the pagan Stoics and Epicureans. But He

drew His lessons from the inspired Book, from sup-

ernatural Revelatidn, with its keener light shed

upon human obligations and its more potent helps

for those who wish to be good. To crown all, rising

above the sphere of mere duty to the higher level of

free service, He inculcated the chief lessons of His

coming: the love of God and man, enforcing them

by a captivating example. And all these lessons

Christ taught and exemplified with a natural sweet-

ness, forcefulness, imaginative coloring, warmth of

emotion, simplicity and majesty that were surpassed

only by the divine power lying behind His human

qualities.



THE PARABLES 49

The chief representative and successor of the

preaching Christ is the Church herself.

The Church is not an original speaker. For, far

from originating anything, she only explains in an

impersonal way objective traditional truths. The

Church is not a novel speaker, for she delves among

doctrines coated with the noble rust of 2,000 years.

The Church is not an imaginative speaker, for her

purpose is to set forth Christ’s teachings with un-

adorned, but unmistakable, clearness and exactness

of expression. The Church is not a speaker with

personality, as they call it; for her utterances gen-

erally are the composite speech of many sedate

bishops. The Church is not an emotional speaker,

for her design is not to excite the feelings and per-

suade to action, but to elucidate texts and convince

the intellect. I am referring, of course, to the

Church teaching ex cathedra, from her seat of in-

fallibility for the whole world. In that capacity

she is not precisely an imitator of the preaching

Christ, much less a substitute for Him; but she is

an interpreter of Him with regard to those parts of

His teaching in which, on account of our restricted

intelligence, interpretation is a necessity. Hence,

her dogmatic statements are pre-eminently clear,

pointed and practical; are characterized by majesty,

reserve, and unimpassioned dignity and are models

of a magisterial and insistent loftiness.

Let us read them and listen to them, not indeed

as if they should supplant the natural unstudied

eloquence of Christ, but in order that, through their

interpretative light, we may come to know what

Christ truly meant
;
so that, safe from the likelihood

and danger of misunderstanding Him, we may sit



50 THE PARABLES

with the multitude enraptured at His feet, or in the

more select company of the Scribes and Priests of

the Temple, may allow our minds to be permeated
by the radiance, our hearts to be steeped in the unc-

tion, our wills to be vitalized by the energy, and our

whole character to be sweetened by the kindness

which proceed from His sacred heart, through His

dear lips, for all those who wish to be enlightened,

softened, sweetened, strengthened and enriched.

But someone may say that the prophecy expressed

in the parable of the sower and the seed is not true.

Christianity has been a failure. The tiny mustard

seed has not developed into the wide-spreading tree,

filled with the birds of heaven. At any rate its

leaves are withered and its branching choir-lofts are

vacant and mute.

I answer: Christianity has been a success; the

tiny mustard seed has developed into the wide-

spreading tree, filled with the birds of heaven; its

leaves are luxuriant and its branches are tumultuous

with music.

When Constantine won his victory at the begin-

ning of the fourth century, Christianity had devel-

oped to such proportions that it became the state

religion of the Roman Empire. And its quality was

proportioned to its quanity and numbers; for dur-

ing the first three centuries of the Christian era, it

developed some ten million martyrs, who heroically

laid down their lives for the Faith. If Christianity

had done nothing more than this, it would be amply

justified before the world. Some time afterwards

the Church sent forth her missionaries to the ends

of the earth : St. Augustine into England, St. Patrick



THE PARABLES 51

into Ireland, St. Columba into Scotland, St. Boniface

into Germany; who brought the northern barbar-

ians into the commonwealth of Christianity. In the

fourth and fifth centuries, she confronted the three

titanic heresies, denying the divinity of Christ

—

Arianism, Nestorianism, and Eutychianism—and by
impact with those false teachings solidified her own

doctrine. People sometimes say it doesn’t matter

what you believe, it is what you do! But if Christ

came down from heaven to enrich us with His wis-

dom surely it was imperative for the Church to ac-

cept it, hug it to her breast, study it, understand it,

and express it in clear-cut, concise and imperisha-

ble creeds for future generations.

When the Roman Empire fell, the Church saved

Europe from chaos. She superintended the found-

ing of the modern states of Europe, she made sub-

jects obey their kings and kings respect their sub-

jects, she reconciled princes, kept order, maintained

peace and insisted on the performance of obliga-

tions. She saved the ancient learning, opened

schools and accustomed people to civil rule. She re-

newed the whole face of the ancient pagan world,

freeing slaves, helping the poor, begging alms for

the needy, opening homes for widows and orphans,

for fractious boys and uncontrollable girls, and hos-

pitals for the sick. She raised womanhood from the

condition of sexual slavery to the plane of honored

maidenhood, wifehood and motherhood, gave a rare

dignity to the child, created the sweet thing called

home, purified worship, mitigated the horrors of

war, and lessened the inhuman distance between

rich and poor. And if these fair fruits of Chris-

tianity are perishing from the earth today, as they



52 THE PARABLES

are, it is because Christ and His religion are being

given up by His followers.

In the Middle Ages, by teaching the faith, by

maintaining a code of Christian morality, by dis-

pensing grace through prayer and sacraments; by

inculcating culture in universities like Oxford and

Paris
;
by teaching philosophy and theology through

Thomas Aquinas, Duns Scotus, Albertus Magnus,

and Bonaventure; by poetry, in Dante and the me-

dieval lyricists; by architecture, as embodied in the

Gothic cathedrals
;
by twenty other fine arts, and by

guilds which she instituted for the protection of

workingmen, the Church of the Middle Ages, I say,

by these and other such means all but realized St.

Augustine’s dream of the City of God, the United

States of Europe.

Moreover, if it be conceded that Christianity has

failed to some extent, the failure is not due to Chris-

tianity itself, but to men who are free and have

chosen to misuse their liberty. Christ gave His

beautiful Church to men, saying : “Take it, make the

most of it.” A most high concession to our dignity

considered as free beings! Some men have used the

Church and profited by it, some have rejected it and

failed
;
and surely it is poor sportsmanship on their

part to blame Christianity for a failure for which

they themselves are responsible.

Again, I have heard it said with truth, that those

people who are loudest in their denunciation of

Christianity as a failure are precisely the ones who

have never tried it. They are like men looking at

the stained-glass windows of a church from the out-

ride, finding them dark and meaningless. They

ought to enter the church and from the inside gaze



THE PARABLES 53

at the windows, glorious with rainbow tints, with

pictured saints and storied heroisms. In other

words, they are critics studying the Church from

the outside through the eyes of reason and some-

times even of prejudice. They ought to study it

from the inside, also with the eyes of faith and ap-

preciation.

Then they say Christianity is a failure because

the number of its members is comparatively small.

But it is quality that counts, not quantity and num-

bers. England has derived more glory from one

Shakespeare than from 10,000 ordinary litterateurs

;

and France from one Napoleon Bonaparte than from

10,000 petty officers. So, too, the Church has been

honored more by a few saints than by multitudes of

ordinary Christians. Even if, therefore, the Church

had not saved and sanctified hundreds of millions of

men and women down through the centuries (a con-

tention, however, which I shall not concede) yet we

could not praise her enough for the saints whom she

has fashioned.

But better than all these arguments from reason

and history in defense of Christianity against its

enemies is the one derived from a good Christian

life in your own person. For Christian morality,

virtue, uprightness, character, are the best possible

advertisement for the religion of Christ. If you

try to be good even your worst enemy will be forced

to exclaim: “Ah, in him or her, Christianity has

been a success.” And if you say to me, “What can

I, one man, one woman, do, off here in some obscure

corner of the world, utterly unknown, against the

serried ranks of the anti-Christian multitude?” I

answer : “Great undertaking^ generally begin at



54 THE PARABLES

the bottom and work upward, from the few men
and few women below. And you, despite your in-
significance, can do wonders if you only have the

grit and the grace of God, which surely will be given

to you, if you ask for it.” The pity of it is, we are
not confident enough, we do not dream magnificently,
we do not aspire grandly, we have almost forgotten
the art of hoping in a godlike way.

Take courage, therefore, from the words of Car-

dinal Newman on the omnipotence of the individual.
“Moses was one, Elias was one, David was one, Leo
was one, Athanasius was one. Grace ever works by
the few

;
it is the keen vision, the intense conviction,

the indomitable resolve of the few. It is the prayer

of the saint, it is the blood of the martyr, it is the

momentary crisis, it is the concentrated energy of a
look, or a word, which is the instrument of heaven.”

And I myself, standing here at the radio tonight,
taking inspiration from the words of the great Car-

dinal, despite my personal insignificance, neverthe-
less feel the elation of high hope, because while the

Apostles of old had to travel far and wide through

many years, in the midst of tears and blood, hunger

and thirst, persecutions and imprisonment, to preach

the doctrine of Christ, to sow the seed of His Word

;

I, on the contrary, by merely raising my voice, am
sending forth winged words which will beat the air

of distant states and perhaps far-off continents, fiery

darts of inspiration which I trust will pierce to the

core of willing hearts, Pentecostal tongues of flame,

or if you will, the Homeric “driving flakes of snow,”

or better still, the tiny mustard seeds which, scat-

tered far and wide, will take root and grow up into

wide-spreading trees, filled with singing birds—the



THE PARABLES 55

souls, namely, of Christian women and Christian

men, chanting the praises of Christ, the first Preach-

er of the Word, the first Sower of the seed, the first

Planter of the tree.



56 THE PARABLES

THE PARABLE OF THE WARRING

KING: THE GREAT ADVENTURE
(Address delivered by Rev. John A. McClorey, S. J., in the

Catholic Hour, August 30, 1931)

This parable speaking of a King contemplating

war says that before engaging in it he ought to

weigh its hardships and ask himself whether he

has the means of surmounting them.

The parable refers to the war of salvation. The

King is every man thinking of leading a good life;

the hardships of the war are the mortifications, self-

denial and unworldliness incident to the practice of

Christian virtue; and the means of success (at least

impliedly contained in the parable) are a strong

will, God’s grace, prayer, sacraments, and most

especially the magnetic leadership of Christ, the

warring King of Kings, in regard to Whom we, the

petty following Kings, must feel the dashing en-

thusiasm of hero-worship. This is clear; for noth-

ing is more evident from Christ’s career than that we

are to win the battle of life by following Him with

personal devotion. “Without Me you can do noth-

ing.” “I am the way, and the truth, and the life.”

“If any man will come after Me, let him deny him-

self, and take up His cross, and follow Me.”

Hence in this address tonight (which I shall call

“The Great Adventure”), my purpose is to place be-

fore you the attractive personality of Christ; in

order that respect, admiration and love for Him may

induce you to do things which mere right and wrong,

mere moral motives, the mere beauty of virtue and

the ugliness of sin would never move you to.



THE PARABLES 57

Away back in the recesses of eternity the Divine

Poet excogitated the Epic of the Incarnation, the

Great Adventure, and being a Hero as well as a

Poet, He acted it out in time.

No artistic creation of the mind of man, whether

poem, painting, sculpture or music, can bear com-

parison with that Work. Especially the gigantic

proportions and warm humanity of the Hero, and

the magnitude and romantic brilliancy of His enter-

prise are unique.

The idea of God becoming a man to captivate men

was beyond the wildest poet’s dream until it was

embodied in a fact. Nothing like the charm of the

stable and the crib had ever been thought of until

it happened. The triumph of the cross appeared

too absurd to be real until it was accomplished. And

the shining empty sepulchre seemed as empty as a

shining dream until men saw that it was true.

I trust that God in His mercy will vitalize this

presentation with His grace, that the Great Adven-

ture will sink into your hearts, and that all of you

will fare forth in knightly fashion with the chivalry

of Christ for the spiritual conquest of the world.

The psychology of compelling personality and en-

thusiastic following is exemplified by the military

heroes of history: Alexander the Great, Hannibal,

Caesar, Joan of Arc, Napoleon Bonaparte. Those

men and that woman simply said : “Follow me and

forthwith soldiers, without reckoning the cost of

the enterprise or anticipating rewards, left home

and all to march under their banners to unknown

issues of life and death, wounds, disgrace, glory

and imprisonment. Those leaders were demi-gods

who wove the web of enchantment around anyone



58 THE PARABLES

who ventured into the charmed circle of their spells.

Roughly analyzing their psychic power, their

potent magic, I would submit that it was composed

of three elements: First, the power of dreaming

dreams. Every great doer must first have been a

great dreamer. True, a dreamer can be and often

is a mere visionary, without issue in practical re-

sults. But it is equally true that nobody whose im-

agination has not first glowed in solitude with the

vision of the heights, will ever afterwards do any-

thing worth while. Secondly, practicality, by which

they embodied their tenuous dreams 'in cold facts;

a sublime egotism and sort of divine conceit which

made them sure of success. Third, a magnanimous

spirit of democracy, whereby they forgot their

kingly privileges and the exclusiveness of their high

estate and placed themselves on a level with their

humblest followers.

Joan of Arc at Domremy had her vision of driv-

ing the English from her native soil and resurrect-

ing France long before she did the thing in fact.

Napoleon, after the frustration of his most cher-

ished design of transferring a .conquering army

across the Channel into England, through the dis-

obedience and defeat of his Admiral by Nelson at

Trafalgar, without being disheartened for a mo-

ment by this reverse, but rather trusting sublimely

in his star, forthwith marched into Austria and

won the battle of Austerlitz, the most glorious of

his career.

When on the thirsting plains of India his lieuten-

ants brought a drink of sparkling water in a helmet

to Alexander, the king raised it to his feverish lips,

but seeing that there was no water for his men, he



THE PARABLES 59

deliberately turned the helmet upside down and
pouring its contents on the ground said: “Let the

sands swallow it; if you will not drink, neither

will I
!”

When the Carthagenians were preparing in Spain
for their expedition against Rome, while the courtly

followers of King Hamilcar kept high festivity, sat
down at nightly banquet boards, and stretched their
limbs luxuriously on couches of down in silken
tents, the young prince Hannibal ate the food of

common soldiers and slept with them in his military
cloak on the hard ground beneath the frosty sky.

It was through their dreams of conquest, their

egotistical certainty of success in practice, and their

severe democracy that those outstanding military

geniuses of history captivated their followers and

led them to fabulous triumphs.

Now Christ was a leader with all the'ir natural
charm, without their weaknesses, who for two thou-
sand years has bewitched men with His conjuring
wand more magically than they, and showed the
way to victories more thrilling than theirs.

And first of all Christ had His visions. During
the thirty years spent in the prosaic environment

of Nazareth, in His public life, while He preached
and prayed to His Father on hilltops at night; in

the midst of all this humble plainness of His out-

ward life, His imagination was ablaze and His feel-

ings aglow with dreams of conquest. Alexander’s

dream was only of a conquered India; Hannibal’s,

only of a Rome dethroned; Caesar’s, only of Gaul,
Germany, and Britain prostrate at his feet; Joan

of Arc’s dream was only of a freed France; and

Napoleon’s only of a Europe subject to his will. But



60 THE PARABLES

Christ dreamed of subduing the whole world, of

sending His marshals to the ends of the earth and

remotest seas, of battering the gates of Hell, cutting

a way to Heaven for Himself and us, building a

religious empire, His Church, which would outlast

the ages; and most especially of enthroning Him-

self in the hearts of men. And all this He would do,

not by fire and sword, but with the potency of love.

And as Christ dreamed, so also He did, with a

certainty of result which transcends the assurance

of the great generals of the world. For, after all,

they did not attain to their hearts’ desire. Alexan-

der, after sweeping across India to the Ganges and

beyond, in ten short years, died of a fever, after a

night of debauchery, while still young. Hannibal,

after crossing the insurmountable Alps, roaring

down into Italy, winning the battle of Cannae, and

all but toppling Rome from her seven hills, was re-

called, and his native city Carthage was destroyed.

Caesar after rushing through middle Europe with

his “I came, I saw, I conquered” rapidity of victory,

was stabbed to death by Brutus and Cassius at the

base of Pompey’s statue. Joan of Arc, after freeing

France in eight brief months, was burned at the

stake in the market-place of Rouen. And Napoleon,

after sitting on the top of the world imperially for

twenty years, died on a barren rock in the middle of

the sea.

But Christ, after His triumph on the hill of Cal-

vary, rose from the dead on Easter morning, mount-

ed to the empyrean on Ascension Day, entered His

Kingdom beneath a triumphal arch, and took His

place on an everlasting throne.

And what was true of this world’s generals, was



THE PARABLES 61

more emphatically true of their followers. For most

of those did not see the brilliant outcome of their

efforts and sufferings. Oh, we behold the mailed

soldiers of Alexander marching out of Macedonia

into the fabulous Orient, with banners flying, to the

sound of martial brass. But how few of them came

back to their native land! And down the Appian

way, century after century, with flushed hopes went

the legionaries of Rome. But most of them left their

bones on fields afar. And our own soldiers in our

own day, how enthusiastically they left us for “over

there,” but how many of them are still lying “over

there!” No, the path of war is a great white way

all paved with the bleached bones of the dead

!

But every soldier who partakes in the adventure

of Christ will arrive at the goal of success as surely

as did the King Himself.

And third, in regard to magnanimous democracy,

surely Christ, if anybody, can say that He will not

ask us to make any march, to suffer any hunger or

thirst, to keep any watch, to fight any battle or

endure any wounds which have not been His por-

tion in a superlative degree before us. Christ could

have directed the campaign of salvation safely from

the ramparts of Heaven. But he came down from

the heights and hurled Himself into the thick of the

battle
;
so that now in direst distress we can look at

the Cross and take courage from His royal fellow-

ship in arms.

Is it any wonder, then, that when this incompar-

able Leader stood up before men and said: “I am

your King, my purpose is to conquer the whole

world, victory is assured, and I will not ask you to

do anything that I have not done Myself”—men



62 THE PARABLES

were enthralled by His Personality, electrified by

the glamour of His enterprise, encouraged by His

sublime certainty of success, touched by His mag-

nanimous sharing in their hardships; and engaged

in His expedition with heroic abandon? The his-

tory of Christianity at its best has been the story

of that epical adventure, that romantic march, that

peerless Leadership, that hero-worship and reckless

following. Martyrs, Apostles, Confessors, Virgins

have been the chivalric bodyguard of the marching

Christ. Nineteen hundred years have witnessed

their exploits; every soil has drunk of their blood;

every nation has given its volunteers; and every

continent and distant isle of the seas has seen their

banners and heard their march.

To the twelve Apostles of Galilee, Christ said : “I

am your King, my purpose is to conquer the whole

world, victory is certain and I will not ask you to

do anything that I have not done Myself.” And

when the Holy Ghost descended on them on the first

Pentecost they rushed forth like streams of water

from a fountainhead to refresh the world; like

flames from a furnace to warm it; like rays from

the sun to enlighten it; like radii from the cen-

ter of a circle, with no circumference to limit

them in their outward rush of apostolic eloquence

except the circumference of the earth itself. Peter

goes to Rome, James to Spain, Thomas to distant

India, John to Antioch, and Paul hurries up and

down the isles of Greece, his eyes ablaze, his nos-

trils distended, his lips burning with the red-hot

coals of the Lord and his whole frame tremulous

with the electricity of heaven. Like living torches

they rush onward, until, consumed with their own

swift energy, they fall in gray ashes to the ground.



THE PARABLES 63

Their light goes out, their flame expires, but mean-

while the world is ablaze!

In the early days of Christianity martyrs innum-

erable heard the word : “I am your King,” and they
followed Him through fire and sword to the king-
dom. The grand old Fathers of the Church heard

:

“I am your King,” and, buckling on the sword of
doctrine and eloquence, they went out to meet all

comers on the field of controversy in defense of

Christianity. The monks of the desert hearkened

to His call and abandoned the cities of men for the
lairs of the wild, where in solitude, fasting, and

prayer, they got in touch with God and stormed

heaven for the salvation of men. Missionaries of

all ages spied His shadowy figure on the horizon of

the world and from the seas’ ends heard His faint

voice calling them; and they went without scrip or

purse, to buy back from Satan with the precious

coinage of their poverty the lost realms of barbar-

ism and savagery. For nearly 2000 years boys and

girls beyond counting, though deeply in love with

the charming things of earth, yet have found

Christ’s spiritual comeliness a greater charm and
sold all to follow Him. And so, monasteries and
convent cells have meant more to them than palatial
homes

;
coarse habits, than silken robes

;
plain fare,

than festive boards; silence, than music; and soli-

tude, than gay company
;
because He has been with

them. Finally, mothers and fathers of families,

young men and women living in the world have
learned the Christian art of denying themselves

sometimes, even in licit things, and of accepting

many an unpleasantness which they could have de-
clined without sin, because their Saviour goes before

them in His poverty
;
and they realize that it is not



64 THE PARABLES

seemly for them, the servants, to live in comfort and

luxury while the Master lives in want.

Now this same Christ stands before you here to-
night, with the same trumpet call to arms. For

Christ is not a myth, but an historical character;

not only a past fact, but a present reality. Christ

still lives, His army still tramps in serried columns,

though unseen and unheard by the generality; and

the shock of battle still sounds to spiritual ears.

Napoleon once enthralled nations; now he is dead,

and nobody would die for a dead Napoleon. But

people daily give up all they have and die for Christ.

And you must either accept or reject His call. You

cannot ignore it. An awful responsibility, you say?

Yes it is, but also a thrilling one. When you were

young, you read adventurous stories and tales of

high romance; and perhaps while you read, regret-

ted that the days of chivalry were dead! But the

days of chivalry are not dead ! The superb Knight,

Jesus Christ, still rides plumed. Adventure is still

in the air. Today the King’s expedition is afoot.

Today, today, His captains are gathering, His ban-

ners are flapping, His trumpets are braying, His

cymbals are clashing, His drums are beating, His

pipes are shrilling;—and turning suddenly upon
you, and looking at you kindly, yes, but also deci-

sively and with a challenge, He asks “Will you follow

Me
?”

Brethren, what will you say? What can you

say but: “Lord, lead Thou the way, and whatever

the cost may be, I will follow Thee
!”



THE PARABLES 65

THE PARABLE OF THE GREAT

SUPPER: THE EUCHARISTIC

SACRAMENT
(Address delivered by Rev. John A. McClorey, S. J., in the

Catholic Hour, September 6, 1931)

The Eucharistic Feast which Christ spread for

His Apostles on the first Holy Thursday night looks

more beautiful to us when we contrast it with a

banquet to which Tiberius, the Roman Emperor, !in

all likelihood, invited his followers the same night.

I see an imperial hall : in the center of it a board

groaning beneath the richest and most varied con-

tributions of sea, river, mountain and field. I hear

strains of voluptuous music and scent dreamy fra-

grances from the Orient. Senators, poets, orators,

generals of armies, matrons and young women are

there in their finery. Their eyes shine, conversation

flows, wit sparkles, merriment is on tip-toe, and

laughter rings.

One would imagine that the Roman sense of dig-

nity would save the feasters from sensuous excesses.

But, it is not so. Hours pass on through the night,

lights grow dim with the heavy breath of an intoxi-

cated room, music swoons into silence, flowers droop,

bright eyes lose their vivacity and brisk tongues

thier fluency, the spirit of revelry is stifled, men

and women are jaded with the narcotic of pleasure,

suffocation becomes general, the last vestiges of

propriety disappear, and when the wan light of

morning peeps in through the windows, its rays

reveal an indiscriminate heap of aristocratic animal-



66 THE PARABLES

ity, saturated with the night’s indulgence and limp

in sodden unconsciousness.

When His time had come Christ bade His disciples
go into the city and prepare for the Pasch in a large

dining room. “Behold, as you go into the city,” He

said, “there shall meet you a man carrying a pitcher
of water. . . And he will show you a large dining-

room, furnished; and there prepare.”

The guest chamber, we may suppose, was long,

clean and plain. In the middle of it was a table

around which were couches. Through the windows

Jerusalem could be seen; through the windows came

the breezes and glow of sunset to cheer and enrich

the interior. On the walls perhaps were pictures

reminiscent of the olden glories of the Jews. At the

board sat fishermen, rough-hewn in feature and

form, and at the head of the table was the Saviour

of the world. The love-light is in His eyes, and in

theirs
;
and the very air is vibrant with the spirit of

love. The lamb is set down; the wine and bread.

And they feast in remembrance of the great night

of yore. At the end of the Paschal Feast, He takes

bread, breaks and gives to them, saying “This is My

body, which is given for you.” Then He takes the

chalice with the words: “This is My blood of the

New Testament, which shall be shed for many unto

remission of sins.” Each takes a morsel, each takes

a sip. John rests his head on his Saviour’s breast.

Peter is ready for death. Andrew and James cross

their hands on their breasts, bowing their heads.

The others are rapt. And when all is done they rise

silently and go out into the night.

Contrast these two scenes: Rome and Jerusalem

—the banquet hall of Tiberius and the Upper Cham-



THE PARABLES 67

ber of the Lord. There, is sensuous luxury; here,

chaste simplicity ! There, the lords and ladies of the

Capital; here, plebeians of a despised Province of

the East. There, glib lewdness of speech; here, few

words. There, indulgence; here, temperate re-

straint. There, guests sodden unto stupidity; here,

guests thrilled with ecstasy. There, after the ca-

rousal, men carried to their homes to doze off their

satiety; here, men, after the Supper, going forth

willing to lay down their lives.

Here we have a contrast indeed between the gross-

ly vulgar and the pure, the inspiring. Here is a

feast in its two opposite possibilities; and here,

therefore, in the baleful light of a pagan orgy we

can better appreciate the contrasting delight of our

Eucharistic Feast.

The Eucharist established by Christ at the Last

Supper is a sacrament and a sacrifice. Tonight we

shall consider it as a sacrament. A sacrament is
“an outward sign of inward grace.” But the Euch-

arist differs from the other sacraments in this, that,

while the other sacraments are signs only of grace,

the Eucharist, in its appearances of bread and wine,

and the words of consecration, is a sign also of

Christ, the Author of grace, in four states : first, as

He was on earth, especially on the cross
;
second, as

He is on our altar today
;
third, as He is in His mys-

tical body, the Church
;
fourth, as He will be at His

Father’s banquet-board in heaven.

“Greater love than this no man hath than that a

man lay down his life for his friend.” But Christ

had such love; for He died for us. Christ died for

us; and wished us to remember His death. Christ

longed not for honor, wealth, distinction, comforts



68 THE PARABLES

and luxury. But He did long for a place in our heart

and memory. Just as a great king, the night be-

fore a victorious battle in which he foresees his

death, might request his faithful followers to keep

a yearly banquet in memory of his death in victory,

and victory in death
;
so Christ, about to pass out of

life, asked His Apostles, and through them, asked

us, to spread a daily Eucharistic Feast in commem-

oration of His conquest of hell, on the morrow, on

the height of Calvary. For when He had given them

His body and blood under the two separate forms of

bread and wine, He said longingly: “Do this for a

commemoration of Me.”

Moses, at the point of death on the threshold of

the Promised Land, recalling all that he had done

for his people, must have wished that they would

keep him in mind. Whether he expressed his wish

or not is uncertain. At any rate the Hebrews kept

the Pasch once a year for centuries to renew the

memory of their deliverance from Egypt under his

leadership.

Let us not be unmindful of Christ, of whom

Moses was only a type. Hence, every time we see

the priest place the Host separately upon the paten

and the wine separately in the cup, let us remind

ourselves devoutly of the wan body of Christ hang-

ing, apart, upon the Cross, drained of its crimson

streams to their very fountainhead; and the blood

of Christ, shed and poured out, apart, upon the

ground, saturating the foot of the Cross.

Many men fail to see the connection between the

Eucharist and the Cross. “Why,” they say, “should

the Sacrament of love, peace and joy be so intimately

joined to the tragedy of pain? Why should we grieve

at a feast?”



THE PARABLES 69

Christ ordained that the Eucharist should be a

symbol of His death. For since the dear Sacrament

was bought at a price, and the price of it was the

death of Christ, it is only right that the snowy bosom

of the Host should be set and adorned with the ruby

jewels of His drops of blood.

In human relationships true love has never been

disassociated from pain. A genuine lover is never
quite satisfied until he has proven his love by suffer-

ing. Love without suffering is a soothing comfort,

an exquisite luxury, if you will : but love with suffer-

ing is a sublimity. That sublimity Christ actualized

in His life and death. And so it is quite natural that

the white Host of loving remembrance should be

pierced, as it were, with the blood-besprinkled nails

and thorns of Calvary.

“Many there are,” says Thomas a Kempis, “who

are pleased to sup with Christ at His board, but few

that are willing to carry His cross.” We ought to

be worthy of Christ, in some poor way at least. So

let us keep two great thoughts in our mind and two

great loves in our heart: the thought and love of

the Sacrament of Love, and of the Sacrifice of Pain

;

and let us keep one strong resolution in our will:

the resolve to shed our blood, at least in spirit, for

our Eucharistic Crucified King.

Second, the Eucharist is a symbol of Christ on the

Altar
;
in other words, It is a symbol of Itself.

For just as we consume the accidents of bread

and wine, so we eat the body and drink the blood of

Christ. But there is this great difference between

material and Eucharistic food and drink, that

whereas we change the former into our own sub-

stance, Eucharistic feasters on the contrary are



70 THE PARABLES

metamorphosed into what they consume. For, as

the drop of water poured by the priest into the

chalice of wine at the Offertory is converted, in a

sense, into wine; so the plebeian nature of man is

elevated by the grace of Communion into the divine

nature of Christ; we are raised to the condition of

God; as St. Peter says, we are transformed and

made partakers of the Godhead.

Also, morally, or in a figurative sense, we are con-

verted into the Humanity of Christ. By receiving

frequently we learn to see with His eyes, speak with

His lips, love with His heart. Our intellect which

before was obscure is changed into the radiant in-

tellect of Christ. Our will, which was like wax in

fire, is converted into the iron Will of Christ. Our

heart, which may have been the receptacle of pas-

sionate emotions, becomes instinct with the loves,

hopes, sorrows and ambitions of His heart. Our

eyes, which may have been avenues for lascivious

sights, are lidded with the modesty of Christ’s eyes.

Our tongue, which was barbed with sarcasms and

ironies, is sweetened with the meek graciousness of

His speech. Our hands coldly closed to the poor open

with the generous beneficence of His hands. Our

feet propped in sloth on cushions of down are en-

dued with the swift energy of His feet. Our whole

body and soul are thrilled through with the living

energy of Christ; so that we may say with St. Paul,

“‘I live, now not I, but Christ liveth in me.” We

come as weaklings to the table of the Lord and we

leave divine ; we enter the church as miserable sons

and daughters of Eve and we go back to our homes,

reincarnated Marys and Christs. As a chrysalis

mounts from its wormy shell, transformed, so we

rise from the casing of our sensuality to spiritual



THE PARABLES 71

heights on the splendid wings of the Eucharistic

grace of Christ.

The Eucharist is a symbol of Christ in His mysti-

cal Body, the Church.

As the Church is one moral entity, compacted of

many members of all nations, climes and times, of

many degrees of culture, grades of wealth and class-

es of society
;
so the Eucharistic appearance of bread

is one morsel, composed of many particles of wheat

gathered from a multitude of golden sheaves; and

the appearance of wine is one draught, made up of

many drops, pressed from grapes gathered perhaps

from a number of hillsides of the land.

Now, as the particles and drops, if they were

endued with intelligence, would think it an unnatu-

ral sin that, though belonging to the one Sacrament

of Love, they should nevertheless be mutually dis-

cordant; so, if we use our minds, we shall see how

unnatural it would be for us, members of one

Church, not to live together in harmony. Christ

once said: “By this all men shall know that you

are my disciples that you have love one for another ;”

and He instituted His Sacrament of Love imme-

diately before giving His Sermon on Love and mak-

ing His Sacrifice of Love to remind us by this coinci-

dence in time of our duty as Eucharistic communi-

cants to live with our neighbor in peace. In the

early days of Christianity the pagans were forced

to exclaim when the Christians appeared: “Behold

how they love one another ;” and the reason was

that the followers of Christ 'issued from the Cata-

combs where they had partaken of the snowy loaf

and the golden cup of love.

How unnatural and how unchristian, therefore,



72 THE PARABLES

it would be for us, who belong to the same Church,

who have sprung from the same ecclesiastical

Mother, with the same spiritual blood in our veins,

educated according to the same ideals, with the same

traditions to look back to, living under the same

church roof and feasting at the same altar-board,

to live together as if we were enemies, with minds

mutually antagonistic, with tongues steeped in bit-

terness or with lips sealed with the silence of un-

charity ?

Also unfriendliness among brethren is scandalous.

As the odor of Christ (which is the perfume of

fraternal charity) draws many to the Faith, so, in-

versely, nothing repels them more forcibly than

what may be called, without exaggeration, the

stench of dissension among members of one Church.

Hence, if you love Christ, if you do not wish to

be accounted degenerate children of the martyrs,

if you desire to be genuine members of the one mul-

tiform Church, if you propose to profit by the

symbolic significance of the Eucharist; learn from

the component unity of the appearance of bread;

from the component unity of the appearance of

wine, to have one spirit with your brethren despite

differences of nationality, clime, education, social

standing, taste and wealth.

The Eucharist is a symbol of Christ glorified at

His Father’s banquet-board in heaven. I say a

“symbol.” For though the Eucharist is a reality,

shadowed forth by many figures of the Old Testa-

ment, yet in comparison with that super-real feast

of heaven, It is only a type. For while now we see,

taste and feel Him beneath the Eucharistic veils

only by Faith ; hereafter we shall feast our eyes up-



THE PARABLES 73

on His risen body, shall feast our mind upon His

beautiful soul and, in the radiance of the beatific

vision, shall feast on His divinity and be submerged

in a rapture of delight. Our dear Lord has given

us the bread and wine of earth to remind us of what

is yet to come. We ought to avail ourselves of this
suggestiveness, because in the valley of shades we

need to be encouraged by the thought of the land of

light. Hence, whenever we receive Holy Commun-

ion, it will be well to recall the words of the hymn

w*hich St. Thomas Aquinas sang to the Eucharist

some seven hundred years ago:

“Oh Jesus, hidden ’neath the veils from me,

I pray Thee, let me taste the ecstasy

Of seeing Thee in heaven face to face

And swooning, at Thy Feast, in Thy embrace.”

Brethren, we are not destined to go down into

blank oblivion after death ; nor to puff out ignomin-

iously like a sky-rocket on the ground, all empty

and black, after its resplendent flight through the

air
;
nor to fade away like gorgeous clouds at even-

tide turning to gray mists. But just as in the Iliad

the action mounts in a climax to the capture of

Troy; just as in the Aeneid, through many tribula-

tions, the hero arrives at the acme of glory in the

founding of Rome; so in the epic of life we are to

fight onward and upward until, surmounting the

parapets of heaven, we capture the citadel of God

and win our place at the everlasting banquet-board

of the Eucharistic King.



74 THE PARABLES

DIVES AND LAZARUS:

INJUSTICE AMONG THE RICH
(Luke XVI, 19-31)

(Address delivered by Rev. John A. McCIorey, S. J., in the

Catholic Hour, September 20, 1931)

“There was a certain rich man, who was clothed

in purple and fine linen; and feasted sumptuously

every day.” Gold, jewels, mansions, theaters, regal

furniture, hangings of velvet and silk, works of art,

flattering companions, yachts, horses, chariots,

music, dancing, banquets, flowers and wines :—these
were the factors of his life.

“And there was a certain beggar, named Lazarus,

who lay at his gate, full of sores, desiring to be filled

with the crumbs that fell from the rich man’s table,

and no one did give him; moreover the dogs came,

and licked his sores.” Hunger and thirst, cold and

heat, poor clothes, empty pockets, sickness and sores,

isolation from companionship, homelessness, ex-

posure to ridicule, contempt and neglect;—these
were the factors of his life.

That contrast between the two was disgrace; an

enormous wrong
;
a sin against nature and religion

;

—a crime crying to heaven for vengeance. It was a
disgrace that one man should live like a god and

that the other should live like a brute; that one

should feast and the other fast; that one should be

clothed in purple and fine linen and the other in

dirty rags; that the one should lie on a couch of

down and the other on the ground at his gates ; that

the one should be blanketed cozily on winter nights

and the other shiver in the cold ; that the one should



THE PARABLES 75

luxuriate in the shade on summer afternoons and

the other swelter in the heat
;
that the one should be

fawned upon by parasites and the other taken liber-

ties with by scavenger dogs. All that was a shame

and a crime. Christ thought it such; and so ought

we think.

It was a crime against nature. For all men are

equal by nature; and surely some evidence of their

natural equality ought to be shown in the world.

Men are unequal in talents, manners, personal ap-

pearance, education, social standing and success;

but they are equal in the possession of fundamental

natural attributes. They all have reason, liberty,

personality, and a human heart with the same loves,

hopes, ambitions; with the same capacity for hap-

piness, with the same sort of bodies and souls. And,

I repeat, contrasts between them, such as that be-

tween Dives and Lazarus; contrasts which would

lead one to believe that they belong to different

species of beings, are outrages against nature, and

must therefore be abolished.

The points of natural equality between man and

man are more important than the points of differ-

ence; and therefore in the material environment of

their lives men ought rather to approach a level of

equality than to be separated by very great differ-

ences. For, human nature, which all share alike, is

the grandest thing in creation, short of the angels

and the grace of God. The great Poet exclaims:

“Oh, what a piece of work is man! How noble in

reason, how infinite in faculty, in motion how ex-

press and admirable, in action how like an angel, in

apprehension how like a god
;
the glory of the world,

the paragon of animals!” And indeed all great



76 THE PARABLES

poets, when writing at their best, write of man; of

the natural, not the artificial man ;—of his intellect,
his deeds, his loves, aspirations, exultations and ti-

tantic griefs. If they sing of mansions or of hovels,

it is because man dwells in them; if of fields, be-

cause man treads them; if of oceans, because man

sails them; if of great enterprises, it is because

these are initiated by man. And man is worthy of

their songs; for what scale can measure the height

of his ambitions? What plummet can sound the

depths of his love? What horizon can enclose the

sweep of his gaze? “The good and the beautiful”

he longs for
;
and even when he sins, he sins because

he has been deceived by sin under the appearance

of “the good” and “the beautiful”
;
and after he has

sinned he lashes himself with remorse and by pen-

ance tries to be a man again.

Behold, then, men and women before you in their

natural elements, and tell me, is not one ounce of

essential manhood and womanhood better than a

thousand pounds of the unessentials of life? Is it

not more important to be a real woman than a mere

lady; to be a genuine man than a mere gentleman?

Is not human nature a better thing than worldly

standing? Are not the fundamental factors in which

all men are alike of greater import than the more

or less superficial factors in which they differ? And

if this is so, is it not an outrage and a crime that

men, equal in nature, equal in mind, heart, liberty

and feeling, should be so horribly unequal in the

material apportionments of life? That Dives should

be clothed in purple and fine linen and feast sumptu-

ously every day and that Lazarus should lie at his

gate, starving, repulsive with sores, boon companion

of stray dogs? That the whole tribe of profiteers



THE PARABLES 77

should live in luxury while thousands of their equals

are living in want? On this point I am with the

Socialists. Artificial industrial life has created an

economic disparity between man and man which

neither God nor nature intended should be. Clever

manipulation of the supplies afforded by mother

nature to all her children has concentrated them in

the possession of the few.

God forbid that I should say that all rich men are

open to blame or that all poor men are blameless!

No, natural ability, industry, opportunity and thrift

have fairly placed some men on top
;
while laziness,

inefficiency, extravagance and hard luck have kept

other men down. I speak not of these. But there

are those, and hundreds of them, to whom my words

apply. And they, the profiteers, are the progenitors

of the brood of Bolsheviki, I. W. W., Socialists and

Anarchists. We see the world now under threat of
fire and sword. Profiteers are responsible; their

selfishness, their greed, their adoration of the golden

calf, their unscrupulous cleverness. And if they are

tumbled from their place they will be getting their

deserts.

But the greatest curse of the situation is that

decent men are liable to share in their downfall. The

storm which they conjured up may overwhelm us

all. Profiteers and Bolsheviki will fight, and the

upright citizen will feel the blows. It does not pay,

therefore, for honest citizens to remain passive in

this predicament; but we ought to exercise every

bit of our indignant and self-interested energy to

make money-grabbers stop their game of wholesale

theft before it is too late. Force Dives to step out

of his mansion and to invite Lazarus to a place of



78 THE PARABLES

decency; force him to eat less so that Lazarus may
eat more

;
to reduce his wardrobe so that nakedness

may be clothed
;
to melt a bit of his silver plate so

that Lazarus may have a bit of silver with which to
fill his plate

;
to requisition his high-priced physician

less for the cure of his gout so that the hungry man’s

feebleness may be ministered to
;
force him to laugh

less that Lazarus may weep less; to sing less that
Lazarus may groan less. We ought to force Dives
to do this because, though Lazarus is poor, ignorant

and suffering, he is a man ; and “a man’s a man for

a’ that;” and though Dives is rich, intelligent, cul-

tivated and in honor, he is no more than a man for

a’ that; and between man and man such terribly

unmanly difference ought not to be.

Finally, if we do not intervene, we have reason to

fear that the modern Lazarus, less patient than the

original of Holy Writ, will intervene himself; will

rise in his wrath, kill, burn and debauch; enter the

mansion of aristocracy; strip Dives of his purple,

strip himself of his rags and make an exchange
;
sit I

at table and elbow the master from his place; eat, I

drink and carouse; stagger to his feet, lord it over

all and then kick the master unceremoniously across
j

his own threshold to a corner at his own gate, to be-

come a new companion for dogs, a new pleader for

crumbs. The new Lazarus will do this to the new

Dives and what is worse, he will do it to us

!

But, you may say : This is an exaggeration ; there

is no such thing as Dives and Lazarus in modern life. .

This is not an exaggeration but a plain fact.

The abundant benefits of Nature were given to

man for his subsistence ; but they do not get to their



THE PARABLES 79

all men, yet many men in tenements and hovels

seldom see it; the air is for all men, yet multitudes

are half-stifled in animal housing; the earth with

its grass, trees, iridescent flowers and birds, with

its rivers and lakes, smiles for all
;
yet the children

of the dust and ashes would think that you were

telling them an impossible fairy-tale if you told them

of the joyous beauty of the earth. Wheat fields cover

the Continent with an overcoat of gold
;
yet tens of

thousands are singing the “Song of the Shirt “Oh

God, that bread should be so dear, and human flesh

so cheap!” Fruit trees are bending and breaking

beneath their weight of luscious crimson and gold;

yet few palates are refreshed with their juicy exub-

erance. Herds of cattle are prolific of hides, flocks

of sheep are prolific of wool, yet men innumerable

go cold. The supplies are there
;
but they do not get

fairly to all of those for whom they were intended

by nature and God. Wholesale criminal destruction

of the fruits of the earth by some capitalists who

wish to keep up the prices of commodities; corner-

ing of supplies, refusal to ship goods to markets,

monopoly price-fixing, hoarding of grain in eleva-

tors, and of money in banks;—these and other ar-
bitrary, artificial regulations of industrial life prin-

cipally account for the fact of Dives and Lazarus

in the modern world.

Up to the present we have been considering only

Dives and Lazarus. But there is another Figure in

this tremendous scene—the Figure of Christ. Let
us turn our eyes toward Him; let us see what sort

of Person He is, what He says and how He deals

with Dives and Lazarus.

Christ was a poor man who could have been rich.



80 THE PARABLES

He could have identified Himself with the aristo-

cracy of Rome, the imperial mistress of the world;

could have been born in a gorgeous mansion on one

of the seven hills; could have consorted with sena-

tors, poets, orators, and the scions of patrician

families
;
could have gone down to the market-place,

mounted the rostrum and poured forth a flood of

eloquence upon the multitude about His Father’s

kingdom
;
or at the head of armies, with the golden

eagles of Rome glittering in the sun above His head,

could have gone forth to Gaul, Germany and Britain,

carrying the good news of salvation to the ends of

the earth. All this Christ could have done. But the

most astounding fact 'in history is that He didn’t!

For He was born in a stable and raised in a cottage

;

in His public life He cast his lot with the plebeians

of a despised province of the East, with men rough-

hewn in feature and form. He preached to them,

fed them, wept with them, wearied Himself for

them; His garments were rough; His food was

plain
;
and many a time at night, after working all

day long, He had to retire to the hill-tops to take His

rest on the hard ground in the open air, with the

sky for the ceiling of His room, with the stars of

heaven as candle-lights to show Him to rest, with a

stream for drink and a bush or vine or tree to

breakfast from. And after this hard life He died

on a cross in a rag and was buried in a tomb that

was not His own. This is what Christ did. And if

Christ were here today (if we can judge at all what

He would do by what He did), He would be among

the poor of the city, not among the rich; living in

a modest home, not in a palace ; eating plain meals,

not feasting at banquet-boards ; working, not luxur-

iating in ease. By choice He would do this, in order



THE PARABLES 81

that He might give comfort, encouragement,

patience and joy to the poor by His example and

companionship. He would rather be Lazarus lying

at the rich man's door craving crumbs than Dives,

seated within amid music, lights, the fragrance of

flowers and aristocratic company; feasting sumptu-

ously, conversing brilliantly and arrayed in fine

linen and silk. This is what Christ taught by ex-

ample in regard to poverty and wealth. And if all

Christians in name were also Christians in deed

they would find inspiration in Him for being poor

with pride, and being rich with fear.

Christ stands between Dives and Lazarus. And

what does He say to Dives? You can guess what He

says. For if you are wrought up at the contrast

between Dives and Lazarus, judge what must have

been the feelings and words of Christ. I see Him

walking indignantly toward the portico of that pala-

tial home. He crosses the threshold and breaks into

the midst of the festive gathering, unannounced.

The guests look up at Him in surprise and constern-

ation; the music stops, and Dives sits in his place,

stricken with fear. And well he may! For before

him flames the wrath of the Son of God. His eyes

are blazing and His lips are hot with eloquence:

“Oh, thou hard-hearted man of wealth! Yonder,

Lazarus lies starving at thy gates
;
and thou sittest

here in luxury ! Wherefore, I say to thee, hereafter

Lazarus will rest in the bosom of Abraham and thou

shalt be buried in hell. A drop of water will not be
given thee and thy sufferings will never end ! Now

thou art clothed in purple and fine linen
;
hereafter

thou shalt be arrayed in flames; now thou laughest,

then thou shalt weep
;
now thy ears are charmed with

sweet sounds, then they shall be assailed with oaths

;



82 THE PARABLES

now thou regalest thy palate with viands, then thy

bread shall be spread with ashes and thy cup shall

be filled with tears.”

Christ is meek but Christ is terrible. Christ is the

Lamb of God but Christ is the Lion of Juda. His

lips sometimes smile but His eyes sometimes flash.

He pities the unfortunate but hates the oppressor.

Dives sits in silent agony. Should he repent, Christ

would take him to His breast. But repentance is far

from his heart
;
and Christ, turning, leaves him and

makes His way to Lazarus at the gate.

But, Brethren, you may say to me: Are you so

credulous as to think the world will listen to your

Christian means of economic reform? Yes, I am

aware of the world’s callousness to the teaching and

example of the Lord. One of the paradoxes of Chris-

tianity is the obliviousness of most so-called Chris-

tians with regard to Christ. Christ stands before

men to show them how to live and few consider Him.

Isaias said of Him: “A Child is given to us, the

Prince of Peace.” But, to judge by appearances, the

majority of men will not be led by the Child nor ac-

cept His peace. They are sufficient unto themselves.

They can play the game of life without His direc-

tion. He will do for pietists but not for practical

men of the world. He is relegated to the Church.

He has little place in the office, the workshop, and

society. He will do for the moment of death but

not for the busy years of life. The thought of Him

'is to be an occasional distraction from business, a

pleasant bit of spiritual sentiment, a casual ethereal

indulgence, a rare luxury, like the reading of poetry

or the contemplation of the stars; like being im-

pressed by the ocean or awed by a mountain or



THE PARABLES 83

charmed by a strain of music or regaled by the fra-

grance of a flower! But tell the generality of men

that the spirit of Christ is to permeate the flesh and

blood, the bone, sinews and nerves of their daily

lives in the world, and they will wonder. Tell them

that Christ is to be with them when they make love

and when they make war; when they dance and

when they fight
;
when they work and when they rest

;

at their feasts as well as at their fasts, and they will

wonder. They forget that Christ went through the

phases of a human life to show them how to live.

O! if Christ were a vivid reality to us how little

hardness toward labor there would be among em-

ployers. How little sullen violence among laborers

!

How little ill-feeling in the home ! How little frivo-

lous indulgence among the rich! How little com-

plaining among the poor ! If Christ’s spirit had been

abroad the European war would not have occurred.

But because men were too earthly and selfish

;

readier to make claims than to make concessions;

fonder of rights than of charity; more willing to

take than to give, therefore, we saw what we saw

and see what we see! Christ is the Teacher and

Leader of men; and if they will not enjoy His peace

they must endure their own wars; if they will not

follow Him to heaven they must choose the alter-

native of hell.



84 THE PARABLES

LAZARUS AND DIVES:

INJUSTICE AMONG WORKINGMEN
(Matthew XXV, 14-30)

(Address delivered by Rev. John A. McClorey, S. J., in the

Catholic Hour, September 27, 1931)

Last Sunday night I spoke of Dives and Lazarus

;

tonight I shall speak of Lazarus and Dives. Last

week the topic was the injustice of some rich men

towards labor; now, it is the injustice of some

workingmen towards capital.

Let me say at once that I shall not propose a

detailed, specialized scheme of industrial reform.

For, in view of the futile attempts, made the past

two years by specialists, to better our industrial

condition, I shall not be so presumptuous as to

propose such a cure-all for our calamity.

Rather I shall suggest religious truths with

which you are all familiar but which some of you

do not practice; truths, as old as the hills; so old

that thy are trite; so true that they are truisms.

And indeed I see in imagination sophisticated mem-

bers of my audience raising their eyebrows super-

ciliously at the thought that I am so naif as to

propose such a cure.

However, I comfort myself with the thought that

old things are not contemptible simply because

they are old; nor new things desirable simply be-

cause they are new. Indeed the chief value of an

idea does not consist in its novel appeal to the in-

tellect, but in its applicability, through the will, to

practical issues. Now my truths, if anything, are
practical. They renewed the face of the earth



THE PARABLES 85

nineteen hundred years ago; they are inoperative

now not because they have lost their savor but be-

cause they are neglected by men; and if they are

practiced again they will restore peace. So with-

out further ado, imitating our Saviour’s attitude

toward Dives and Lazarus, I would address the

rich and poor of today.

To the rich I would say: See to it, men of

wealth, I beseech you, that, if there be any element

of Dives’ character in your heart, you remove it

immediately lest you share his fate. You cannot

afford to trifle with Christ’s poor. The poor are

the apple of His eye. But if you are just and gen-

erous to them be comforted ; for on the last day He

will say to you: “Come, ye blessed of My Father,

possess you the kingdom prepared for you from the

foundation of the world. For I was hungry, and

you gave Me to eat
;
I was thirsty, and you gave Me

to drink; . . . naked, you covered Me; sick, you

visited Me. ... As long as you did it to one of the

least of My brethren, you did it to Me.”

And that you may use your wealth aright,

remember that getting rich is not “the be-all and

end all” of life; that the immoderate love of money

is the root of all evil; that it is harder for a rich

man to enter the kingdom of God than for a camel

to pass through the eye of a needle; that you hold

your wealth not for your own exclusive advantage

but also as God’s almoners for the poor. Remember

that your greater opportunities place greater obli-

gations and responsibilities upon your back; that

the poor are your equals in the Kingdom of God

and ought not to be treated as enemies
;
that gener-

osity rather than bare j ustice ought to characterize



86 THE PARABLES

your dealings with them; that, if you resolve only

to be fair, you will not be fair ; that you must aim

above the bull’s eye, to hit it; that you must be

willing to do more than enough in order that you

may do enough ; finally, that the contentment of a

community is infinitely more important than any

man’s personal enrichment ; that the promotion of

community contentment is an object worthy of the

best ambition of the best of us. Of course it re-

quires a sacrifice, but it is worth the sacrifice.

Moreover, Lazarus has a right to a living wage;

to the necessities, comforts and some of the

luxuries of life. He has a right to an education

because without it he can hardly succeed in life

and because a fair amount of knowledge, con-

sidered even as a luxury, is his due; because he has

a mind. He has a right to amusements ; for he is

not a machine, destined exclusively for work, but a

man with a God-given capacity for enjoyment; be-

sides, work of high quality is impossible without

recreation. He has a right to a home of his own and

to the wage necessary to obtain it; for, life with-

out home is a travesty on life. Lazarus has a right

to this moderate degree of earthly happiness be-

cause a good Providence intends him to have it.

At God’s bidding, Mother Nature, with profuse

generosity, pours from her teeming sides exuberant

supplies for all men. Last, not least, Lazarus, be-

sides being your equal in nature, is your equal in

the commonwealth of Christianity. For the Sav-

iour of the world died for him as well as for you

;

he and you are equal children of Our Father in

heaven; both of you are equally destined for bless-

ings after death ; and it is not right that equals in

this sublime spiritual brotherhood should illustrate



THE PARABLES 87

in their earthly careers the basest kind of in-

equality: that one of you should wear the trap-

pings of excessive wealth and the other should

have stamped upon his free brow the stigma of

economic slavery.

To the poor I would say: “Blessed are the poor

in spirit; for theirs is the kingdom of heaven”

—

hereafter, and also here, in the form of peace, good

conscience, friendship with God and with their

fellowmen in the form of freedom from the sordid

lust of gold and from that vulgar tone of life which

the possession of gold too frequently imparts.

Remember that moderate means are safer and

more productive of happiness than great wealth,

and that, while the poor carry the burden of want,

the rich carry the equally heavy burden of wealth,

—the burden of nerve-racking energy in acquiring
it, of worry in managing it, of fear of losing it and

of the certainty of being parted from it on the last

day of their life. Remember that the laborer's life

is dignified, that work is noble, more refining, more

manly than luxurious ease; that sweat is honor-

able, that calloused hands are things to be proud

of and that the wielding of axe, hammer and pick

for the support of wife and children is as worthy of

a man as the wielding of pen or sword or artist's
brush or judge’s gavel or surgeon's knife or mar-

shal’s staff.

Moreover, you may strive to become wealthy by
every fair means at your disposal. Trade-unionism,

partial governmental regulation of wages, prices

and incomes; profit-sharing; governmental regula-

tion of trusts and publicity in regard to their

methods of operation; a graduated income-tax,



88 THE PARABLES

accident and health-insurance, unemployment in-

surance, mothers’ pensions and old age pensions;

—these and other like means of bettering the con-
ditions of the poor lie within the sphere of recti-

tude, and you may employ them to ameliorate your

lot.

But have nothing to do with unjust methods of

becoming rich. Therefore avoid the brood of

Bolsheviki, I. W. W., and Socialists who are bring-

ing chaos into the world. The profiteer is bad
;
the

radical Socialist is as bad, if not worse. The dis-

ease of poverty in the world is lamentable
;
but the

cure of communism is worse than the disease. And

if every decent man, perforce, grows eloquent

against profiteers he must likewise vent his wrath

upon radical laborers. For radical laborers are

men of perpetual unrest, storm-centers of discon-

tent, avowed believers in the necessity of class-

enmity, denouncers of the right of private prop-

erty, propagandists of the false theory that the

whole exchange value of things in industrial life is

derived from labor; believers in the industrial

equality of all men; promoters of governmental

ownership of all capital and, by implication, de-

stroyers of personal initiative, ambition and

energy. They are men (many of them, at least,

as we see in the case of the Bolsheviki), who are

evidently opposed to all sane government, who

revel in slaughter, who elaborate their plans and

spread their inflammatory doctrine secretly, under-

handedly, and sometimes openly, as they are now

doing in America
;
who do not wish to approximate

the wealthy nor even to equal them but wish to

pauperize them that they may enrich themselves;

who are battening on the carcass of Russia and



THE PARABLES

picking her bones and would like to feast on the

juicy flesh of America. They are men who, like

the I. W. W., tried to block our war, played into

the hands of our enemies and embarrassed the

President;—men of no patriotism and no religion.
They are men who frequently have been abusing

instead of using their right to strike; who enter

unions—which is right,—but prevent decent non-
union men from working—which is wrong; who
oftentimes deliberately limit their output of energy

instead of working industriously, even in cases

where wages are adequate. They are men who are

not reasonable but greedy; not fair but exorbitant;

who want, not all they need and deserve, but all

they can get; who grow in selfishness as the em-

ployer grows in generosity, and, considering each

concession as a sign of weakness, try to brow-beat

and bully him for more and more.

Now all this is wrong. It is wrong to say that
the whole exchange-value of articles in industrial

life is derived from labor and that the only just

title of possession is labor, spent upon things one

possesses. For, such things have a use-value, an

inherent value of their own which evidently in-
fluences their exchange value; for example, the

inherent value of diamonds and gold in the rough.

Also, the scarcity of things, the demand for them,
the novelty of them bear upon their exchange

value. Finally, squatters’ occupancy can give one

a title to land. The squatter obtains a right to the
land he fairly occupies because Nature may be
supposed to give her benefits on the principle

:

“First come, first served.” He has a right to the
capital derived from the land and to rent from the
land and to interest on the capital, even though he



90 THE PARABLES

do no labor; and he has the right of handing on

these possessions to his descendants. Yes, capital

has its rights as well as labor; and we must respect

them as well as the rights of labor.

Another cause of complaint, from the conserva-

tive rich against the radical poor, is directed not,

indeed, against unions and strikes, but against the

abuse of them. The right to organize and strike is

a natural right. Individual workmen are power-

less in the hands of the magnates of industry.

Union is the only natural means which they have

of dealing efficiently with employers. Unions, like

every other human organization, have at times done

wrong; but they are inherently legitimate. Be-

sides, capitalists have deflected from rectitude as

often as union men. Strikes too are just. For in

the same way as an employer may refuse to engage

a man, so the man may decline to work ; and if one

man may withhold his services, so too, under cer-

tain conditions, may a body of men. A well-

organized system of unions will contribute to in-

dustrial peace. Peace is a balance between forces

;

not a state of numb passivity on the one side and

of irresistible power on the other. Balance union-

ized labor over against capital, and peace will

reign. Mutual respect for each other's rights and

strength will keep the two competitors from unjust

aggressiveness. But make capital omnipotent,

strip labor of its rightful power, and tyranny will

reign; and tyrannical rule has always been the

worst provocation to war. Labor cannot browbeat

capital; capital cannot browbeat labor, except at

the cost of banishing peace from the earth. Shortly

before the dawn of the nineteenth century, striking

was made illegal in England. About 1830 it was



THE PARABLES 91

legalized. A tendency to illegalize strikes in this

country is manifest in the drive for company

unions. Let laws be made, if necessary, to prevent

excesses in strikes and great inconvenience to the

community. Let laws be made to anticipate con-

ditions which precipitate strikes, but do not legis-

late unions and strikes out of existence. And if it

be necessary to legislate against workmen for the

common good, let that legislation be accompanied

by a simultaneous and parallel legislation against

their competitors, the capitalists.

But the abuse of unions and strikes is quite an-

other thing. Many conservative rich men think

that the rights of unionism have sometimes been

over-emphasized. Workmen, they say, are always

clamoring for a living wage. Some of them ought

to do a live man's work for the wage. Workmen

harp on their rights; some of them ought to medi-

tate more profoundly on their duties. Unions sup-

press the energy of their abler members to equalize

them with the less fit. They dictate to employers

and handicap them in their efforts to do things

quickly and well. Union men strike, even when

wages are fair, with little regard for the sufferings

caused by strikes to the community. Indeed, some-

times, of set purpose, they make the community

endure privations in order that through the com-

munity they may aim a more effective blow at em-

ployers. They are trying to impose on employers

the tyranny of the walking-delegates whose busi-

ness seems to be to create dissatisfaction among

workingmen. They strike, which in some cases is

right; and then prevent others from taking their

jobs, which is wrong. It is wrong because, just as

workingmen ought to enjoy liberty of action in



92 THE PARABLES

quitting, so their substitutes ought to enjoy liberty

of action in replacing them. They perpetuate class

hatred and civil dissension. They force men in

secrecy and by intimidation to join in a strike.

Sometimes Socialists say : “Christ was a Social-

ist!” Nothing is farther from the truth. Christ

became a poor man; He loved the poor; preached

a doctrine favorable to the poor
;
warned the rich

;

descanted on the excessive danger of wealth; and

invited His followers voluntarily to detach them-

selves from their riches and distribute them among

the poor. But Christ did not oblige them to do

this. He spoke of the blessedness of giving, but

never denied the right of acquiring, possessing and

retaining. Christ was a democrat, but not a So-

cialist. He did not countenance excessive privilege,

but He stood up for personal liberty. In recogniz-

ing the Seventh Commandment, “Thou shalt not

steal,” and that other prohibition of the Old Testa-

ment, “Thou shalt not covet thy neighbor’s wife;

nor his house, nor his field, nor his manservant, nor

his maidservant, nor his ox, nor his ass, nor any-

thing that is his,” He recognized the right to pri-

vate property. The ranting, soap-box oratory of

Socialistic fanatics has not the slightest justifica-

tion in the calm, well-balanced teaching of Our

Saviour on the subject of temporalities.

In regard to the community-possessions of the

early Christians, observe first, the early Christians

were not commanded, but were only counselled to

hold their possessions in common; second, they

were so holy that, without the incentive of obtain-

ing private property by their labor, they worked

energetically to acquire the necessaries of life for



THE PARABLES 93

themselves and their families, purely for the love

of God. Such ideal conditions are not universal

today and men still need the spur of the right to

acquire and possess property, to induce them to

provide properly for themselves and their children

on earth in preparation for Heaven.

Be just, workingmen, be self-possessed, be wise!

Do not let agitators get hold of you. Do not spoil

your excellent claims by mixing them with false

principles. So long as you keep aloof from the red

flag, you will have the public and the Church with

you; and these are powerful allies.

The public are brainy men and women of the

middle class, neither capitalists nor laborers; for

example, lawyers, doctors, surgeons, clerks. They

have been suffering most from the war which you

have been waging with capital. Their living costs

have mounted; their salaries have not increased.

You and capital are their servants
;
for both of you

have undertaken to supply their needs. Do not

make them your servants. Do not assume mastery

over them. Do not make them suffer by your battles

and victories. They are getting disgusted with the

eternal conflict by which they are being oppressed,

but by which they do not gain. It is all-important

to your success to have their sympathy. Do not

change their sympathy into hate.

And the Church! The Church has no civil or

military power. But she has a moral power which

is tremendous. For she represents Christ. She is

above the suspicion of partiality. She is endowed

with the practical wisdom of the ages. She is a

world-power, in touch with workmen all over the

globe and acquainted with their cause. She is, like



94 THE PARABLES

Christ, particularly sympathetic with the poor and

oppressed because the poor need her sympathy

more than the rich, because the poor ought to be

better off than they are, because her members are

mostly poor.

If you keep aloof from the red flag, the public

and the Church will be with you. But if you follow

the red flag, you will alienate the sympathy of the

public and the Church. You cannot afford to bar-

ter their aid for the empty and destructive pro-

mises of demagogues. Now is the time of the test-
ing of spirits. Radical promises may tempt you;

the weariness of the struggle for right may tire

you
;
the indifference of many to your claims may

disgust and discourage you. But do not lose

courage. Carry on with the arms of truth, j ustice,

moderation, and charity under the banner of the

Workman of Nazareth.



95THE PARABLES

THE PARABLE OF THE HOUSE

BUILT ON THE ROCK: THIS

REPUBLIC
(Address delivered by Rev. John A. McClorey, S. J., in the

Catholic Hour, October 11, 1931)

This parable illustrates the firmness of a life

built on faith in the teaching of Christ; and the

insecurity of a life that is not. But besides this

literal significance, the text has an accommodated

meaning, as it is called. An accommodated mean-

ing is one which a text strictly does not possess;

but which nevertheless is applied to it with a degree

of appropriateness on account of some practical

lesson which we wish to draw.

The accommodated sense which I wish to take

tonight is that of civil government, which so long

as it rest on the foundation-stone of a wise consti-

tution and the good will of the people, will be safe

from the tumult of the multitude
;
but which, if it

lacks that foundation, will fall to ruin.

And I think I am justified in taking this meaning

because at the present time our Republic is in dan-

ger, and every man ought to try to help it.

Undoubtedly there are thousands of men in the

country now who would like to see the overthrow

of this Government. Some are rich men who are

trying to control the Government by wealth; and

some are poor men who are looking forward to the

coming of the Bolshevik regime.

But thanks be to God there are other and more

thousands, yes, and millions who, despite all they



96 THE PARABLES

have been suffering the past two years, are con-

vinced that next to Religion, the present Govern-

ment is the best protection of our Nation and are

resolved to stand by it at any cost. It is for their

comfort and strengthening that I speak tonight.

And the first point I would make is that civil

government is from God and is backed by His

authority. Men enter civil society not freely, but

through natural necessity. Look at our cities.

Buyers depend on sellers, sellers on buyers. Em-

ployers depend on workingmen, and these on em-

ployers. Capital depends on labor and labor on

capital. Neighbors depend on one another by a

natural necessity. Now since what is from the law

of nature is from the God of nature, civil society is

from God.

But civil society is impossible without authority.

If only two men live together, there springs up be-

tween them a whole series of relationships. Each

man has a right to live, to be free, and to seek his

happiness. Therefore, every other man is under

the obligation of respecting these rights. But be-

sides these three clear fundamental rights and

obligations, cited by our Constitution, there are

multitudes of other rights and obligations which

cannot be easily defined by even the most judicial

and discerning minds. Moreover, most minds in

society are not judicial and discerning, but ob-

scured by prejudice and personal self-seeking.

Hence there will be as many opinions as minds on

the subject of rights and obligations in the com-

munity, and if each member of the community be

allowed to follow his own opinion, pandemonium

will reign. It is clear, then, that, since God wants



THE PARABLES 97

peace among men in the society which He wishes

to exist, He must also want civil authority along

with the obligation on our part to obey it, so long

as it keeps within the bounds of its rights. On this

account Christ said : “Render to Caesar the things

that are Caesar’s.”

What, therefore, shall we think of demagogues

who preach an unqualified sovereignty of the peo-

ple? In a certain sense the people rule and the

ruler serves. The authority to command comes to

the ruler through the people; they elect him; in

certain circumstances they can depose him; they

» set the ordinary length of his tenure of power ; he

must govern according to the Constitution which

they have accepted; he is in office for the express

purpose of advancing their interests; they have a

right to express their wishes to him, and he must

accord them due attention and respect. In this

sense the people rule; the ruler serves. In this

sense we are a government of the people, by the

people, for the people. But in another sense

the people serve, the ruler rules. For since all

authority comes from God, as soon as they elect a

man, he is clothed in God's authority; and as they

must obey God, so they must obey him, according

to republican requirements. Hence the wickedness

of demagogues who flatter the conceit of the people

with unqualified catch-phrases expressive of a sort

of popular sovereignty which simply does not exist.

The most dangerous element of all are the Bol-

sheviks who would destroy this Republic by force.

A revolution is sometimes permissible. When a
government utterly fails in its office of serving the

people, when all peaceful means to better condi-



98 THE PARABLES

tions have been tried in vain, and there is no

further hope of civil reform, when all the people

spontaneously call for a change in government,

when they are resolved to limit their use of revo-

lutionary violence as much as possible and are

justified in their hope of replacing the old with a

new and better form of rule; then and then only

is a revolution justified. Then it is justified. For

since the only purpose of civil rule is the welfare

of subjects, if it fails entirely in that respect it

has no reason to exist. But only then is a revolu-

tion justifiable. For since peace and prosperity

are very desirable things upon earth and since the

State is the best natural means of maintaining

them, it follows that the most stringent conditions

are required to justify the forceful abolition of a

State.

What, therefore, shall we think of a handful of

agitators who presumptuously imagine that they

are voicing the will of the people in calling for a

violent change in this Republic., which, though very

imperfect, has been serving the people well, which

can be cleansed of its defects by ballots without

bullets, which cannot be attacked by them with any

hope of success nor replaced by any government

half as good. We have such fanatics in our midst;
—men who would, if they could, wreck the ma-
jestic structure of the Republic—a mansion con-
ceived by the brains of statesmen, built with the

sweat of patriots and cemented with the blood of

soldiers. Yet despite this menace there are rich

men among us whose attitude seems to be: “So

long as our coffers are filled let the Government be

hanged !” Fools, do they not realize that they will

be first to be pulled down from their gilded, be-



THE PARABLES 99

jewelled pedestal by inconoclasts if the temple of

Columbia is sacked? There are others who, though

they love their country, are passive because they

imagine that our liberties will take care of them-

selves. They will not! Everything of value must

be preserved at a price, and our liberty, the most

precious thing we possess, must be preserved at

the price of eternal watchfulness. When prosperity

attends us there is not much danger from revolution.

Revolution has its opportunity in times of stress.

Such a time is upon us now. Hence the sinews of

our souls must be tense with watchful energy these

days, lest sacrilegious hands be laid on the altar of

our liberties. I am not an alarmist; but rosy opti-

mism is as bad as pessimism. I am not indulging

in rhetoric, but expressing sentiments of love tinc-

tured with fear. The safety of a republic depends

more on the people than on the ruler,—on their
jealous love of their country. Let us therefore take

our stand against Bolshevism. Let us be obedient,

loyal and reverent to the Government, being con-

vinced that obedience is the best preservative of

liberty, that loyalty is the finest manifestation of

independence, and that reverence has always been

attendant upon true freedom of thought, senti-

ment, and deed. Chiefly with us, the people, rests

the safety of the Republic. Let us rise to a sense

of our responsibility, let us appreciate the dignity

of our office, let us carry the burden of our charge.

From such enemies the civil authority must pre-
serve us; but in order that we may profit by its
protection, we in our turn must submit to the civil
authority. For this reason I can commend nothing
more insistently to my fellow-citizens at the pre-
sent time than respect, love, obedience and loyalty



100 THE PARABLES

to the Constitution—to the Government. By this
Republic we stand or fall. Whatever we have we

owe to it. In it are placed our firmest hopes. Its

liberties were purchased for us by the precious

blood of the Revolutionists and preserved for us in

the late war by the no less precious blood of our

boys. Let not their blood have been shed in vain!

Any man coming to our shores from foreign soil is

taken to the bosom of Columbia; warmed at her

mother's breasts and nurtured by her milk. He is

an ingrate and a matricide of the blackest dye if

he raises his hand against her. A democratic form
of government is emphatically not a communistic

form. Republicanism is not Socialism. Liberty is

not license. Obedience is not slavery. Authority

is not tyranny. Popular rule is not mob rule.

Equality before God and government does not

imply economic equality, equality of individual

ability, equality in material possessions. Under

our Government equal opportunities are given to

all; but at the same time exceptional ability, in-

dustry, and thrift are allowed their just rewards.

Columbia will help the needy, but she will not un-

duly handicap the efficient. She would like to see

among her children less diversity of wealth than

at present exists, but she will not be generous to

the poor by being unjust to the rich. Differences

between man and man always have been, are, and

by the law of nature always will be—differences in
native forcefulness, intelligence, ambition, and

initiative; differences in devotion to duty, in appli-

cation to tasks; differences in thrift and in the

ability to seize opportunities. Columbia recog-

nizes these and she will never submit to the demand

of radicals that she should withhold from merit



THE PARABLES 101

its deserts, penalize genius, and put a premium on

inability and sloth. She will not harness race-

horses with draught-horses nor reduce the speed

of flying chariots to the movement of lumbering

carts. This would be unjust; and men who ambi-

tion such equalization at her hands, prove by their

ambition that they do not understand the elemen-

tary principles of democratic government.

Second, if I may address the generality of Ame-

rican born, I would say that there has been a pre-

valent disposition among many of us of late to

tamper with the Constitution, to forget American

traditions, to think ourselves wiser in our genera-

tion than the founders of the Republic, to ambition

civic innovations and to imagine that every sug-

gested change in our national life is desirable sim-

ply because it is new. We have been witnessing
marvelous changes in the scientific and industrial

world
;
and by an illogical comparison we conclude

that government also, like science and industry,

ought to be changed. Let us not be tamperers; let

us not belong to the ignoble group of meddlers;

let us regard sacred things with reverence. Glad-

stone said that our Constitution is the most won-

derful document ever written at one time in its

entirety. Let us kneel with devotion at its shrine!

People who, even with good intentions, are working

for changes in our system of government, are un-

wittingly playing into the hands of radicals, aiding

the cause of revolution, and feeding fuel to the

spirit of unrest by exemplifying in their own lives

an unhealthy love of novelty.

Now, of all times, when the whole world is in

commotion, we ought to be conservative. Abraham



102 THE PARABLES

Lincoln said : “Never swap horses while crossing a

stream and I say: Do not make changes in the

middle of a swirling current of civic unrest. Wait

till you arrive at the firm bank of normality, before

making a change. For you ought to know that

agitators take advantage of a people's nervous ten-

sion and strain to innovate in the body politic.

When equable and calm, we look before we leap;

generally after looking do not leap. But when we

are disturbed in the midst of chaos, we are open to

the influence of radical reformers, who preach ex-

treme measures for the removal of chaos,—a cure
which is worse than the disease. “Do not make

many new laws, but enforce old laws," is a wise

maxim. And a wiser one, it seems to me, is: Do

not readily modify the Constitution, but study it,

understand it, love it, preserve it, enforce it. A
constitution, after all, is supposed to be the one

permanent thing in a government. Presidents may

come and presidents may go. Old laws may fall

into desuetude and new ones arise. New races
may come to our shores to inoculate the nation

with their foreign blood; the original stock may

perish utterly. But the Constitution, through all

these vicissitudes, like a rock placidly immovable

for a thousand years in the midst of boiling waters,

must remain the same, at least essentially the

same, now and forever.

And since liberty is the base of our national

being, nobody must be allowed to meddle with per-

sonal freedom in favor of State autocracy
;
or with

State freedom in favor of federal assumption of

power. A nice and exquisite balance must be
struck between liberty and authority. Too much

liberty is license; too much authority is tyranny.



THE PARABLES 103

Now, a democracy is the most delicately adjusted

form of government, because the balance of which

I speak is most imperative in democracies; and

therefore most delicate, reverent, and circumspect

must be the man who shall presume to lay his hand

on the machinery of democratic government. Oh,

the scientific care, ethical wisdom, deep political

foresight, and parental love with which the found-

ers of our Republic formulated the various provi-

sions of the Constitution! They did not write it

overnight. They weighed every word of it; they

consulted about each phrase; they prayed, most

likely, over its every paragraph. They knew the

possible excesses into which we, their children,

would be tempted to run, and they provided

against them by the golden moderation of their

immortal instrument.

It seems to me, therefore, that, on an occasion

like this, we ought to take the high resolve to hold
fast to the Constitution, to moor ourselves to the

best traditions of America, to be suspicious of the

spirit of change, to weigh the advisability of new
legislation, new alliances, new foreign entangle-
ments, new constitutional amendments, new
Leagues of Nations, new World Courts, new Navy
Parleys, new political views;—in a word, to fear
a new America built on the ruins of the old; to
fear a counterfeit which would replace the gen-
uine; to fear and reject the gilded brass which

deceivers would have us accept in exchange for our
pure gold.

Finally, rich men must stand by our government.
The reason why the French people broke out in
their bloody Revolution was that the privileged



104 THE PARABLES

few had been making the life of the many intoler-

able. The wealth of the classes and the poverty of

the masses have been at the bottom of well nigh

every revolution in history. For rich men quite

generally in the past have had too much influence

in civil government by virtue of their wealth.

Now this preferential influence is not right. Our

Government is not communistic; but it is also not

aristocratic. The few ought not to try to control

it. Those who by means of wealth, or by any other

such means attempt to do so, do not love their

country; for they are endeavoring to break down

the democratic form of government. They preach

unctuously of the danger of Bolshevism to the

State and forget that they themselves are a danger

to the State. A temporary advantage will be
gained by monopolizing power, but the loss to

democracy will be great. If you love the Constitu-

tion, use your power moderately, men of wealth!

Maintain the spirit of the Republic. Strive that

new legislation may be just, not partial. Convince

the observant public that the general welfare is

not less important to you than your personal ad-

vancement. Do this, and the world will applaud

you as defenders of democracy, as haters of revo-

lution, and therefore, as promoters of economic

peace. Refuse to do this, and the world will justly

charge you with attacking the democratic spirit of

Columbia. All of us want peace. All of us are

fully aware that good government is a most effi-

cient means of procuring peace. Therefore, let us

pray God, work hard, sacrifice ourselves and

emulate each other in the high desire that this

“government of the people, by the people, for the

people, shall not perish from the earth
!”



THE PARABLES 105

THE PARABLE OF THE SHEEP AND

GOATS: THE JUDGMENT OF

THE WORLD
(Address delivered by Rev. John A. McClorey, S. J., in the

Catholic Hour, October 4, 1931)

“Vexilla regis prodeunt

Fulget Crucis mysterium.”

How many times in Holy Week these glorious

words of the Latin hymn have thrilled us in the

shadow of the Cross

!

The coronet of thorns, the armorial bar of the

spear, the heraldic device of the inscription on the

cross, and the royal red of Our Saviour's blood,

—

these form the coat-of-arms of Christ upon the

banner of the cross, flapping for two thousand

years from the hill of victory over the plains of the

world

!

“Christ shakes His banner from the flag-staff of the Cross,

Emblazoned with His sufferings which mend our loss.”

Today in the world the cross is paramount. You

cannot down the cross. It seems to tumble from its

place with the shock of enemies at its foot; but

look up again, and lo, from amid the storm-clouds

rolling away, it stands erect shining in the sky!

At birth we are signed with the cross. In death its

image lies on our breast. It hangs on the wall at

home, it looks down on us from the altar of God,

it is the red sign of the hospital, it is imaged in the

hilt and blade of the sword, it surmounts the



106 THE PARABLES

crowns of kings and queens. And on the last day

of the world the cross will be in the heavens. “And

the kings of the earth will reverence it, the proud

men of the earth will fall down before it, and the

enemies of the cross will lick up the dust.” But

those who love the cross will exult. And the pha-

lanxes of the just with the cross above them,

Apostles, battalions of red-stoled martyrs, com-

panies of virgins in white, and confessors innumer-

able, to the sound of the military music of Heaven,

will march into the City of Eternity, beneath the

triumphal arch of victory, chanting in multitudi-

nous harmony:

“Christ shakes His banner from the flag-staff of the Cross,

Emblazoned with His sufferings which mend our loss.”

Christ Himself describes the day of doom, the

day of His victory contrasting so vividly with the

day of His defeat on Calvary.

In St. Matthew we read: “When Jesus was sit-

ting on Mt. Olivet, the disciples came to Him pri-

vately, saying: Tell us . . . what shall be the

sign of Thy coming, and of the consummation of

the world? And Jesus answering, said to them:

. . . . nation shall rise against nation, and king-

dom against kingdom; and there shall be pesti-

lences, and famines, and earthquakes in places:

Now all these are the beginnings of sorrows. . . .
And immediately after the tribulation of those

days, the sun shall be darkened, and the moon shall

not give her light, and the stars shall fall from

heaven, and the powers of the heaven shall be

moved : And then shall appear the sign of the Son



THE PARABLES 107

of Man in heaven; and then shall all tribes of the

earth mourn; and they shall see the Son of Man

coming in the clouds of heaven with much power

and majesty. And He shall send His angels with

a trumpet, and a great voice; and they shall gather

together His elect from the four winds, from the

farthest parts of the heavens to the utmost bounds

of them. . . . And all nations shall be gathered

together before Him, and He shall separate them

one from another, as the shepherd separateth the

sheep from the goats; and He shall set the sheep

on His right hand, but the goats on His left.”

In order that this panoramic description of the

Last Day may produce in our souls the wholesome

fear of God's Judment which Christ wished to

arouse, let us consider: what precedes the Judg-

ment; the Judgment itself; and what follows it.

According, then, to the testimony of Christ Him-

self, the sun will be darkened, the moon will be-

come like blood, stars will fall from heaven, the

earth will quake, volcanoes will belch forth their

fires, rivers will leave their banks, oceans will flood

the lands, pestilences will scourge the people, wild

animals will hurry from their forest fastnesses in

trepidation for comfort to the habitations of men,

children will lament, wives will cling to their hus-

bands, and husbands will blanch with unearthly

dread of the things that are to come.

Then from the four quarters of heaven a con-

flagration will sweep across the earth, drinking up

seas, rivers and lakes, blackening the green beauty

of hills and fields andiviping out the habitations of

men,—the hovels of the poor and palaces of kings.
And when all living things are destroyed, the



i68 THE PARABLES

heavens open and an Angel of the Lord comes,

trumpeting the dead back to life; and at his call

the earth and sea give up their dead.

Come with me for a moment to the place of

tombs and see two men, a saint and a sinner, rising

from the dead. There they lay, side by side, for

years, alike in the drab desolation of the grave.

But now how changed they are! For the just man

springs like a lily; and the sinner like a rank weed

from the sod

!

Now raise your eyes and see the scene of Judg-

ment Day in its sublime expansiveness. See the

billions and tens of billions of men and women,

just risen from the dead, in their first awed experi-

ence of this new life; the strangest of all strange

hosts, seeming to stretch out to infinity, as still as

death, paralyzed with fear, in the dread silence of

expectancy ! At a sign of command from the

empyrean they begin to move; then hurry on like

ghosts, kings running side by side with slaves, and

queens with serving maids, to the fated valley of

Jehosaphat. Here, when all are shepherded, an

angel with a wand, like a flash, separates the good

from the bad; the good he places on the right

hand
;
the bad, on the left. Then the white throne

is set in readiness for the King.

For a moment before the coming of the King, the

wicked look across the intervening space at the

good and grieve at the contrast between them and

themselves. According to the Book of Wisdom:

“They are troubled with terrible fear and are

amazed at the suddenness of their unexpected sal-

vation; saying within themselves, repenting and

groaning for anguish of spirit: ‘These are they,



THE PARABLES 109

whom we held some time in derision, and for a

parable of reproach. We fools esteemed their life

madness, and their end without honor. Behold how

they are numbered among the children of God, and

their lot is among the Saints. . . . What hath

pride profited us? Or what advantage hath the

boasting of riches brought us? All those things

are passed away like a shadow . . . and we, being

born, forthwith ceased to be and have been able to

show no mark of virtue; but are consumed in our

wickedness/
”

But the time for remorseful reflections is brief.

Suddenly the heavens open, and the Son of Man

comes with His Angels in the clouds of heaven to

pronounce judgment on mankind. Oh, the joy,

touched with fear, of the just! Oh, the dread of

the wicked! “Let the mountains cover us,” they

exclaim. For Christ is marvellously changed! On

the first Christmas night He came in weakness and

poverty; but now His advent is in might. Imperial

Rome and Greece would have nothing to do with

Him. Now, they would grovel and lick His feet.

Through the centuries the great world of war, civil

government, society, science, education, and wealth

looked down superciliously on Him and His old-

fashioned Church. Now, it looks at Him with awe

and dread. For that head that was crowned with

thorns is circled with a nimbus of light; those eyes

that were dimmed with the death sweat, with blood

and with tears, flash lightnings from the sky;

those lips that were dumb in defeat will soon be

eloquent with wrath; those ears that were offended

with insulting oaths are regaled with angelic choir-

ing; those hands and feet and side which were

pierced, shoot forth five flashes of crimson; and



110 THE PARABLES

that body, in which says Isaias : “There was not a

sound spot from the crown of His head to the soles

of His feet,” is bathed in a halo of golden mist!

And His Cross is there, not blood-stained, but efful-

gent! And Seraphim and Cherubim are adoring,

instead of Pharisees and soldiers mocking him!

“0 God,” the sinner cries, “what a change!”

Christ takes His place on the throne, The Book

of Life and Death is opened. In a moment of divine

intuition He reads the records of the world. The

Book is closed;—and the Lord stands to pronounce
the sentence of eternity.

Turning first to those on His right hand, with a

look of infinite benignity, He says, “Come, ye

blessed of My Father, possess you the Kingdom

prepared for you from the foundation of the world.

For I was hungry, and you gave Me to eat: I was

thirsty, and you gave Me to drink : I was a

stranger, and you took Me in: naked, and you cov-

ered Me : sick, and you visited Me : I was in prison,

and you came to Me.” And when they say : “Lord,

when did we see Thee hungry, and fed Thee:

thirsty, and gave Thee to drink? And when did

we see Thee a stranger and took Thee in? Or

naked, and covered Thee? Or when did we see

Thee sick or in prison, and came to Thee?” He

answers: “As long as you did it to these My least

brethren, you did it to Me. Enter into the joy of

your Lord.”

Oh, they have forgotten their little acts of

charity; the food and drink they dispensed, the

clothes they distributed, the comfort they gave, the

consoling words they spoke, the tears they wiped

away, the broken hearts they cheered, the feverish



THE PRRABLES 111

pillows they smoothed. They have forgotten all

these trifles of fraternal charity. But He has not

forgotten. And they look on Him and love Him

for His faithful and tender remembrance.

Turning then with wrath to those on His left, He

says : “Depart from me, you cursed, into everlast-

ing fire which was prepared for the devil and his

angels. For I was hungry, and you gave me not to

eat: I was thirsty, and you gave me not to drink.

I was a stranger, and you took me not in: naked,

and you covered me not: sick and in prison, and

you did not visit me/’ And when they say to Him

:

“Lord, when did we see Thee hungry, or thirsty, or

a stranger, or naked, or sick, or in prison, and did

not minister to Thee?” He answers: “As long as

you did it not to one of these least, neither did you

do it to Me.”

With these words, Christ descends from His

throne and takes His place among the Blessed. The

cursed hear His voice and look at His face; they

know that His words are true
;
they know that from

this decision there is no appeal; and already the

despair of damnation broods over their hearts.

Then to the sound of ravishing music the host of

the Blessed, like a cloud of white immensity, slowly

leaves the ground and (to compare great things

with little) like a lark, mounting as it sings and

singing as it mounts, it rises, flooding the earth

with hosannas, alleluias of joy, paeans of thanks-

giving, and lyrics of love.

It is then that the damned, realizing for the first

time what all this means
;
appreciating for the first

time fully the amiability of Christ and His Saints;

understanding with anguish that all beauty, all



112 THE PARABLES

sweetness, all truth and goodness are passing with

Him away from them forever, raise their eyes and

hands despairingly and cry: “Farewell to Thee,

Thou lovely Christ, farewell!”

Higher and higher mounts the cloud. It becomes

a speck in the blue; the music faints in the still

distance. The heavens open. The cloud is taken

in. The heavens close. And the first part of the

world’s history, the story of virtue and its reward,

comes to an end.

Now turn your gaze back to earth. See this

black mass of damnation, with innumerable de-

mons, fiery-eyed, encircling it like the red edge of

a thunder-cloud. With whips of scorpions they

drive their multitudinous victims toward the pit.

These hold back from their fate. But in vain!

And so they gnaw their tongues and dig their nails

into their palms, in mute dereliction. Like a black

Niagara they rush to the edge of the abyss; pour

over it, and are swallowed in the deep. For hours

they seem to flow and fall. But now the cursed

work is done. The maw of hell is glutted. The
damned are submerged and smothered below. And

the demons hover around the edge of hell, loath to

descend. But the heavens open, and a Seraph of

the Lord wings his flight from the zenith to earth.

They quail at the sight of him. He drives them to

their fate. With the strength of ten thousand

giants he closes the Titan gates of hell, turns the

key of eternity in its lock, withdraws the key, snaps

it into four pieces, and hurls them to the four quar-

ters of the universe. Then, like a streamer of the

northern morn, he flashes back to the empyrean;

the heavens open
;
he is taken in

;
for the last time



THE PARABLES 113

the heavens close; and lo, an eternity of bliss be-

gins above, an eternity of woe begins beneath
;
and

the great round earth, all blackened and seared by

the curse of God, rolls on, with its cargo of damna-

tion, through the silent, rayless stretches of space.

Brethren, this is a halting, clumsy attempt to

describe the end of the world, the day of doom, the

closing chapter in the story of mankind. If we

consider the Last Judgment merely as a vision (not

as a fact), we must admit that there is nothing in

any literature to compare with it in sublimity. The

pageantry of earth, conjured up by the mystic

wand of the greatest poets, is ridiculous by com-

parison. The evolutionist’s dream of the beginning

of the world, of prehistoric fires brooding over

boiling oceans, of a new earth racked with earth-

quakes and belching fires, of mountains shoulder-

ing their way up from the level, of mammoth

beasts infesting the earth and nibbling the topmost

branches of giant trees: this vision of the begin-

ning of the world is paltry at the side of the vision

of the end of the world. Even the Inspired Book

has nothing to equal it in sublimity. Christ at

Bethlehem is tender, melting us to love; Christ in

His public life is pitying, winning our confidence;

Christ on the cross is tragic and pathetic, touching

the chords of our sympathy
;
Christ in His resurrec-

tion and ascension is triumphant and glad, filling

us with joy. But Christ as Judge of the living and

dead is sublime, inspiring us with profound awe.

But the climax of the drama of life is divinely

ironical as well as sublime. How the pride of earth
will be humbled ! How the ostentation of empires
will be made ridiculous! And how the satirical



114 THE PARABLES

demons must laugh now, at the puffed conceit of

the mighty, who hereafter will grovel, longing to

kiss the shining garments of the exalted humble

and poor!

But the Last Judgment is more than a vision. It

is (or rather will be) a fact. If we could sit in an

audience, viewing the pageant of doom, we should

enjoy its dramatic appeal. But we ourselves must

take part in the play. As a matter of fact, you will

rise from the grave; you will look down at yourself

and see either a body of beauty or one of loath-

someness; you will see the human race gathered in

Jehosaphat; you will be either on the right of

Christ or on the left. With those very eyes of

yours, you will see the Judge either beaming or

frowning at you. Those very ears of yours will

hear either: “Come you blessed,” or “Depart from

Me.” You will either ascend with the company of

the Blessed or be left behind for Satan and his

angels. You will either be steeped in ecstasy or

torn to shreds with despair. Think well on it; the

Last Judgment will be a fact for you!

Moreover, it depends on you what your fate will

be. In this lies the whole dignity and terror of

human life ;—that we are free
;
that with us rests

our ultimate destiny. You are not free to succeed

in this life, but you are free to be either on the

right hand of the Judge or on the left. Why, there-

fore, should you stand in awe of the power, im-

mensity, and ancient centuries of Nature? Nature

is a necessary agent; it works precisely and sub-

limely. But there is no inspiration in it, for it has

no choice. But you, an atom, an invisible ant in an

obscure corner of the universe, infinitely inferior



THE PARABLES 115

to the universe in power, are infinitely superior to

it in dignity because you are free to decide the part

you will play in the drama of Judgment Day.

One of the conditions which will decide your final

fate is fraternal charity. Christ will say either:

“When I was in need, you helped Me; for when you

aided the least of my brethren you aided Me;” or
the opposite. Fraternal charity is to be the Open

Sesame to the Kingdom of God. Christ does not

mention contemplation and mortification, much

less, wisdom and culture, as keys to heaven; but

the plain, ordinary works of feeding the hungry,

giving drink to the thirsty, clothing the naked,

visiting the sick; works which we all can do. How-

ever, we must perform these acts in imitation of

Christ and with the faith that we are doing them

for Him. If we wish to hear Christ say to us:

“Come, ye blessed, and possess the Kingdom,” we

can take no surer means to that end than fraternal

charity. Be good to your brethren, and you may

hope for Heaven.

And you who are great in the world, fear God!

You are the observed of all observers now. Men

pay court to you
;
they tickle your nostrils with in-

cense
;
they flatter your ears with praises

;
they bow

down to you, listen to your every word with re-

spect. But God’s ways are not man’s ways, and if

you do not serve Him, the tables will be turned on

you on the Last Day and you will be cursed. And
it is so easy for a prosperous man to forget God,
idolize himself, and despise his fellow men. “It is

easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a

needle, than for a rich man to enter into the king-
dom of heaven.” Beware, 0! great men of this



116 THE PARABLES

world, watch your step, fear God with wholesome

awe.

But for you who are distressed in life there is

hope and joy in the thought of Judgment. One of

the purposes of the Last Judgment is that God

may justify His ways before the world. On earth

His justice is not fully exercised. Often the wicked

prosper, and good men are given the cross; but

hereafter each shall get his deserts. Christ, Who

was distressed from birth till death, immediately

after death was triumphant, and on the Last Day

will reap His glory, judging mankind. So if you

bear your lot patiently, on the day of doom you

will be glorified before the world, proclaimed His

friends, and welcomed into His eternal mansions

of bliss.

There, your mind will be steeped in Infinite

Truth, your will will be saturated with everlasting

love, your heart will be flooded with exquisite joy,

and even your body will be beautified. No tears

will dim your eyes any more; no lamentation will

pass your lips any more, no pains will rack your

limbs any more; no sickness, no poverty, no fears,

no humiliations any more! No death, only life,

LIFE—a life of white-hot activity and cheer in
God, your first beginning and last end.

Brethren, I look out on you in imagination to-

night. Possibly I shall never see you again in this

life, but I shall see you on Judgment Day. I have

preached this sermon in order that on that day you

may be on the right side. And now I promise to

pray for you the rest of this year, the rest of my

life, that you may be saved. In return, if you think

you owe me anything for what I have done for you,



THE PARABLES 117

pray for me also, “lest perhaps,” as St. Paul says,

“when I have preached to others, I myself should

become a castaway.”





Hear and Help the Catholic Hour

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Your Contribution to the Continuance of These

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The following forty-eight Stations in the System of the

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CARDINAL HAYES STATES AIMS OF THE CATHOLIC

RADIO HOUR

(Extract from his address at the inaugural program in the

Studio of the National Broadcasting Company, New York

City, March 2, 1930).

Our congratulations and our gratitude are extended to the

National Council of Catholic Men and its officials, and to all

who, by their financial support, have made it possible to use

this offer of the National Broadcasting Company. The heavy

expense of managing and financing a weekly program, its

musical numbers, its speakers, the subsequent answering of

inquiries, must be met. That responsibility rests upon the

National Council of Catholic Men ....
This radio hour is for all the people of the United States.

To our fellow-citizens, in this word of dedication, we wish to

express a cordial greeting and, indeed, congratulations. For

this radio hour is one of service to America, which certainly

will listen in interestedly, and even sympathetically, I am

sure, to the voice of the ancient Church with its historic

background of all the centuries of the Christian era, and

with its own notable contribution to the discovery, explora-

tion, foundation and growth of our glorious country. . . .

Thus to voice before a vast public the Catholic Church is

no light task. Our prayers will be with those who have that

task in hand. We feel certain that it will have both the
good will and the good wishes of the great majority of our

country-men. Surely, there is no true lover of our Country

who does not eagerly hope for a less worldly, a less material,

and a more spiritual standard among our people.

With good will, with kindness and with Christ-like sympa-

thy for all, this work is inaugurated. So may it continue.

So may it be fulfilled. This work of dedication voices, there-

fore, the hope that this radio hour may serve to make known,

to explain with the charity of Christ, our faith, which we

love even as we love Christ Himself. May it serve to make

better understood that faith as it really is—a light revealing
the pathway to heaven: a strength, and a power divine

through Christ: pardoning our sins, elevating, consecrating

our common every-day duties and joys, bringing not only

justice but gladness and peace to our searching and ques-

tioning hearts.





RADIO ADDRESSES PUBLISHED

OUR SUNDAY VISITOR is the authorized publisher of all
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“The Divine Romance,” the seven lectures delivered by the
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“The Moral Order” and “Mary, the Mother of Jesus,” the six
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“A Triology on Prayer,” the three addresses by the Rev.
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“The Story of the Bible,” the five addresses by the Rev. Dr.
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“Four Religious Founders,” a collection of the five addresses
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Rev. Sigmund Cratz, O. M. Cap., and the Rev. M. J. Ahern, S. J.,
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“The Philosophy of Catholic Education,” the three addresses
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“Christianity and the Modern Mind,” the six addresses by the
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“The Moral Law,” the eight addresses by the Rev. James M.
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“Christ and His Church,” the eight addresses by the Rt. Rev.
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“The Marks of the Church,” four addresses by the Rev. Dr.
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“The Organization and Government of the Church,” four ad-
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“Moral Factors in Economic Life,” a collection of three ad-
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“Divine Helps for Man,” eleven addresses by the Rev. Dr. Ed-
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