Chapter 22. The third fruit to be drawn Srom the ee of the seventh word spoken by Christ upon the Cross

The third fruit to be gathered is this. At the approach of death we must not rely too much on the alms, the fastings, and the prayers of our relations and friends. Many during life forget all about their souls and think of nothing else and do nothing else than heap up money so that their children or pe ataws may abound in riches. When death approaches they begin for the first time to think of their own souls, and as they have left all their wordly substance to their relatives, they also commend to them their souls to be assisted by their alms, their prayers, the Sacrifice of the Mass, and other’ good works. The example of Christ does not teach us to act in this manner. He commended His spirit not to His relations but to His Father. St. Peter does not tell us to act in this manner, but to “commend” our “souls in good deeds to the faithful Creator.’ *

Ido not find fault with those who order or seek or desire that alms should be given and the holy Sacrifice offered for the repose of their souls, but I blame those who place too much confidence in the prayers of their children and relatives, since experience shows us the dead are soon forgotten. JI complain also that in an affair of such moment as eternal salvation Christians should not work for themselves, should not themselves bestow their alms, and secure friends by whom according to the Gospel they may be received “into everlasting dwellings.’ + Lastly I severely reprehend those who do not obey the Prince of the Apostles who orders us to commend our souls to

156 On the Last Four Words our faithful Creator not by our words only but by our good deeds. The deeds which will be of advantage to us in the sight of GOD are those which efficaciously and’ truly render us pious Christians. Let us listen to the voice from heaven which sounded in the ears of St. John: “And © L heard a vouwe from heaven, saying to me: Write, blessed are the dead who die in the Lord. From henceforth now, saith the Spirit, that they may rest from their labours : for their works follow them.’* The good works therefore that are done whilst we-are living, and not those which are done for us after death by our children and relatives, are the good works which will follow us, particularly if they are not only good in themselves, but, as St. Peter not without a hidden meaning expresses it, are well done. Many can enumerate countless good works of their own —many sermons, daily Masses, recitation of the Divine Office for years, the annual fast of Lent, frequent almsgiving ; but when these are weighed in the divine scales, and there is a rigid scrutiny whether they have been well done, with a right intention, with due devotion, at their proper time and place, with a heart full of gratitude to GOD, oh, how many things which appeared meritorious will turn to our detriment ? how many things which to the judgment of men appeared gold and silver and precious stones will be found to be wood and straw and stubble fit only for the fire? This consideration alarms me not a little, and the nearer I approach death, for the Apostle warns me, “ 7hat which decayeth and groweth old is near its end,’ the clearer do I see the necessity of following the advice of St. John Chrysostom. That holy doctor tells us not to think much of our good works, because if they are really good, that is well performed, they are written by GOD in the book of life, and there is no danger of our being defrauded of our just merits, but he encourages us

to think rather of our evil deeds, and endeavour to make atonement for them with a contrite heart and a humble spirit, with many tears and serious penance.* Those who follow this advice may exclaim with great confidence at the moment of death: “/zto Thy hands, O Lord, I commend

my Sprit: Thou hast redeemed me, O Lord, the God of truth.”

Lhe fourth fruit to be drawn from the consideration of the seventh word spoken by Christ upon the Cross.

There follows a fourth fruit to be gathered from the most happy manner in which this prayer of JESUS CHRIST was heard, which should animate us to greater fervour in commending our spirits to Gop. With great truth does the Apostle say that our Lord Jesus Curist “was heard . for Fis reverence.’+ Our Lord prayed to His Father, as we have shown above, for the speedy resurrection of His body. The prayer was granted, for the resurrection was

not prolonged longer than was necessary to establish the fact that the body of our Lord was really separated from His soul. Unless it could be proved that His body had beén really deprived of life, the resurrection and the structure of Christian faith which is built upon. that mystery would fall to the ground, Christ ought to have laid in . the tomb for at least forty hours to accomplish the sign of the Prophet Jonas which He Himself said was a figure of His own death. In order that the resurrection of Christ might be hastened as much as possible, and that it might _ be evident His prayer had been heard, the three days and the three nights which Jonas spent in the whale’s belly, were as regards the resurrection of Christ reduced to one

• Hom. xxxviiil. Ad Popul. Antioch. i Elebavan7:

158 On the Last Four Words full day and parts of two other days. So the time our Lord’s body was in the tomb cannot properly, but by a figure of speech only, be called three days and three nights. Gop the Father not only heard the prayer of Christ by accelerating the time of His resurrection, but by giving to His dead body a life incomparably better than it enjoyed before. Before His death the life of Christ was mortal; the life restored to Him was immortal. Before His death the life of Christ was passible, and subject to hunger and thirst, fatigue and wounds; the life restored 7 to Him was impassible. Before His death the life of Christ was corporeal; the life restored to Him was spiritual, and the body was so subject to the spirit that in the twinkling of an eye it could be borne wherever | the soul wished.

The Apostle gives the reason why the prayer , Christ . was so readily granted by saying that “He was heard for fits reverence.’ The Greek word conveys the idea of reverential fear which was a distinguishing trait of the regard which Christ felt for His Father. Thus Isaias in enumerating the gifts of the Holy Ghost which were to adorn the soul of Christ says: “And the Spirit of the — Lord shall rest upon Hum, the spirit of wisdom and of understanding, the spirit of counsel and of fortitude, the spirit of knowledge and of godliness, and He shall be filled with the spirit of the fear of the Lord.’* In proportion as the soul of Christ was filled with a reverential fear for His Father, the Father was filled with complacency in His Son: “This is My beloved Son, in Whom I am well pleased.” + And as the Son reverenced the Father, so the Father ever heard His prayer and granted what He asked. —

It follows then that if we desire to be heard by our Heavenly Father, and have our prayers granted, we must imitate Christ in approaching our Father Who is in heaven -

with great reverence, and prefer His honour before all things else. It will thus come to pass that our petitions will be heard, and especially the one on which our lot for eternity depends, that at the approach of death Gop should preserve our souls which have been commended to His keeping from the roaring lion which is standing ready to receive its prey. Let no one think, however, that reverence to God is shown merely in genuflections, in uncovering the head, and such external marks of worship and honour. In addition to all this, reverential fear implies a great dread of offending the Divine Majesty, an intimate and continual horror of sin not from the fear of punishment but from the love of God. He was endowed with this reverential fear who dared not even to think of sinning against GoD: “Blessed is the man that feareth the Lord, he shall delight exceedingly in His commandments.’ * Such a man truly fears GoD, and may consequently be called blessed, since he strives to observe all His commandments. The holy widow Judith “was greatly renowned among all because she feared the Lord very much.’ + She was both young and rich but never gave or yielded to any occasion of sin. She remained with her maidens secluded in her chamber, and “wore hair-cloth upon her loins, and fasted every day except on the feasts of the flouse of Israel.’ + Behold with what zeal, even under the Old Law, which allowed greater freedom than the Gospel, a young and rich woman avoided sins of the flesh ‘and for no other reason than “ decause she feared the Lord very much.’ TYhe sacred Scripture mentions the same of holy Job who made a compact with his eyes not to look at a virgin, that is, he would not look at a virgin lest any shadow of an impure thought should cross his mind. Why did holy Job take such precautions? “J made a covenant with my eyes that I would not so much as think upon a Pe Bsalt, oxt..\t. * Judith viii. 8. £ Judith viii. 6.

160 On the Last Four Words virgin. For what part should God from above have in me, and what inheritance the Almighty from on high?”* ~ Which means that if any impure thought should defile him he would no longer be the inheritance of GOD, nor would GOD be his portion. If I wished to mention the ‘examples of the saints of the New Law I should never — finish. This, then, is the reverential fear of the saints. If we were filled with the same fear there would be nothing which we could not easily obtain from our heavenly Father.