Third Sermon for the Sixth Sunday After Pentecost: On the Fragments of the Seven Mystical Loaves

“ Gather up the fragments that vemain lest they be lost.” —John vi. 12.

“ Know you what I have done to you ” (John xiii. 12), brethren, in proposing for your consideration this morning the seven mercies of God? * Ihave divided amongst you the seven loaves of the Gospel (Matt. xv. 36). For if “my tears have been my bread day and night” (Ps. xli. 4), how much more the mercies of the Lord, which are far sweeter to the taste, which afford better nourishment, and more fully “ strengthen the heart of man” (Ps. cüi. 15)? But, if I mistake not, many morsels of these loaves fell from our hands to-day. For I myself whilst hastily dividing the bread was conscious of numerous fragments escaping from my hold and slipping through my fingers. Whether or not you gathered up for yourselves any of these fragments, you best can tell. As for me, I will ungrudgingly share with you—if you are not already too weary—the few crumbs which I have been able to collect, lest otherwise I should incur the malediction pronounced against him “that hideth up corn among the people” (Prov. xi. 26). Well, then, the first of the seven loaves, if I remember aright, was the guardianship of grace, which, in spite of all my unworthiness, preserved me from a multitude of sins whilst I still lived in the world. Of this loaf I have gathered up three fragments, very pleasing to the spiritual palate and very nourishing to the life of the soul. For in three ways, as I can recall, I was preserved from sin: by the removal of occasions, by the communication of the strength to resist, and by the extinction of evil desires. I should, no doubt, have easily fallen into many sins if only the occasion had offered. But by the mercy of God the opportunity did not present itself. Many times, too, I should have fallen under stress of violent temptation had not the Lord and King of virtues (Ps. xxiii. 10) given me the virtue to resist (Ps. xxiii. 10), so that my “lust might be under me” (Gen. iv. 7), and that I might not consent to the emotions which I could not help feeling. From some kinds of sin, also, Thy mercy, O Lord, kept me at so great a distance that the mere thought of them inspired me with horror, and no temptation to commit them ever troubled my heart.

The second loaf was the divine long-suffering by which the Lord delayed to take vengeance because Hə was thinking thoughts of pardon (Jer. xxix. 11). Of this loaf likewise let me offer you three fragments: the thought of the patience which He showed, of the election of His predestination which He desired should be fulfilled, and of “ His exceeding charity wherewith He loved us” (Ephes. ii. 4). Here, my brethren, you - have the reason why the Lord “with expectation awaited me and was attentive to me” (Ps. xxxix. 2), but “turned away His face from my sins” (Ps. 1. 2), as if He were unwilling to see how great a transgressor I was. Here, I say, you have the reason why He overlooked my offences: because He wished to commend

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His patience, to accomplish His election, and to give proof of His love.

I now come to the third loaf, the mercy, that is, through which I was converted to penance. And of this also I have three fragments, or rather three crumbs, to set be:ore you. For at that time the Lord struck my heart and aroused it, so that it might become conscious of the wounds inflicted upon it by sin and might feel the pain of these wounds. At the same time He filled me with wholesome terror, bringing me down to the gates of hell (Is. xxxviii. 10) and showing me the torments prepared for the impious. And then, in order to wean me away entirely from the love of guilty pleasure, He replenished my soul with a sweeter consolation by inspiring me with the hope of pardon. It was to these three graces I owed my conversion; and what I say of myself, I think I can also say of each of you.

With regard to the fourth loaf, or the grace of forgiveness, I beseech you, dearest brethren, to carefully “ gather up the fragments lest they be lost’ (John vi. 12). For they are very wholesome “‘ and sweeter than honey and the honey-comb ” (Ps. xviii. 11). So completely did the Lord pardon my transgressions, so generously did He condone all the injuries I had done Him that He now neither punishes me from vengeance, nor confounds me with reproaches; nay, not even does He so far impute to ine my past offences as to love me the less on account of them. Amongst men you will find some who so far pardon such as injure them that they do not seek to avenge their wrongs, yet they often upbraid their enemies. There are others who, although they do not speak of the injuries they have suffered, nevertheless are far from forgetting them:

23 they brood over them in the depths of their soul and foster resentment in their hearts. In neither of these cases is there full forgiveness. Very different from the hardness of men is the loving-kind nature of God. He acts with generosity and pardons without reserve in such a manner that—for the consolation of repentant sinners—‘‘ where sin abounded grace is accustomed to abound the more” (Rom. v. 20). We have proof of this in the example of St. Paul himself, the Doctor of nations, who, with the help of divine grace, persecutor though he had been, “laboured more abundantly’’ than all the other apostles (r Cor. xv. 10). Witness also St. Matthew, who was called to the apostolate from “the receipt of the custom” (Mark ii. 14), and who was privileged to be the writer of the first Gospel. Witness St. Peter, to whom, after his triple denial of his Lord, the pastoral care of the universal Church was committed. And witness finally that notorious sinner, who at the very beginning of her conversion was filled with so great a fire of charity and afterwards honoured with so great a grace of holy familiarity with her Lord. Against whose accusations was Magdalen ever obliged to defend herself? If the Pharisee murmurs (Luke vii. 39), if Martha complains (Luke x. 40), if the apostles are scandalised (Matt. xxvi. 8), Mary holds her peace and Jesus Himself justifies and even applauds her. And then how precious a prerogative it was for her and how great a gloy that she was accounted worthy to be the first to see Him after His resurrection from the dead !

But let us now pass on to the fragments of the other loaves. “It is good for us to be here ” (Matt. xvii. 4), no doubt, where so much confidence is given to sinners ;

FRAGMENTS OF THE MYSTICAL LOAVES 339 but there are other matters remaining whereof it is necessary to speak. The fifth of our loaves, therefore, is the grace of abstinence from sin. Of this loaf, likewise, I have collected three fragments, by reason of which I can truly say, “ He that is mighty hath done great things to me ” (Luke i. 49). Perhaps you, my brethren, look upon your preservation from sin as a grace of little importance? But not so do I esteem it. For I know what enemies it has to encounter and how much strength it must possess in order to resist them successfully. The first enemy of our abstinence or continence is the flesh, which “‘lusteth against the spirit ” (Gal. v. 17). See how domestic an enemy we have here! how perilous a combat! how intestine a war! A most cruel antagonist is the flesh, O my soul, which we can neither flee nor put to flight : we have to bear it about with us everywhere, because it is firmly bound to us. And what adds to the danger and the misery, we are ourselves obliged to support and forbidden to destroy our enemy. See, then, brethren, how watchfully we must guard ourselves against a foe that dwells in our very bosom. But the flesh is not my only adversary: I have another—an adversary that encompasses and assails me on every side. If you know not what I mean, let me inform you that I am alluding to “this present wicked world ”’ (Gal.i. 4). This enemy “hath shut up my ways” (Lam. iii. 9), and through the five gates of the soul, that is, through the five bodily senses, he wounds me with his arrows, and death enters in by my windows (Jer. ix. 21). These two adversaries would certainly be enough for me, yet behold I perceive a strong wind coming from the north (Ezech. 1.) whence proceeds all manner of evil (Is. xiv.

13). Alas! alas! what resource remains to me now but to cry out like the apostles, “Lord, save us: we perish ” (Matt. viii. 25)? For behold “the hammer of the whole earth ” (Jer. 1.)! Behold “ the serpent, more subtle than any of the beasts of the earth” (Gen. iii. 1)! Behold the enemy whom I cannot even see, much less guard against! For the wrestling of those who desire to keep themselves continent—continent, I mean, not alone from carnal pleasures, but also, as is meet, from all other sins and vices—their “ wrestling is not against flesh and blood, but against principalities and powers, against the rulers of the world of this darkness, against the spirits of wickedness in the high places” (Ephes. vi. 12). Oh, who shall be able to “extinguish all the fiery darts of these most wicked ones”’ (ibid. 16) who “have prepared their arrows in the quiver to shoot in the dark the upright of heart ” (Ps. x. 3), yea, and “have talked of hiding snares and have said: Who shall see them?” (Ps. lxiii. 6)! At one time they persecute and attack us with open violence, at another with secret treachery, but always with malice and cruelty. And which of us is strong enough to sustain, not to speak of beating back, such multiplied assaults? I think you now understand in some degree the difficulty of abstinence from sin, so that, according to the Apostle’s counsel, you may know the things that are given you from God” (x Cor. ii. 12). For beyond a doubt it is only ‘ through God we can do mightily ’—with regard to this virtue in particular— “and it is He Who bringeth to naught them that afflict us” (Ps. lix. 14); He it is Who enables us to trample under our feet not alone the flesh with its concupiscences, but “this present wicked world” also, with

FRAGMENTS OF THE MYSTICAL LOAVES 341 its vanity and curiosity, yea, and even Satan himself with his temptations and wiles. Was I not, therefore, well warranted in affirming that we shall find in such abstinence good reason to exclaim, “‘ He that is mighty hath done great things to me” ?

Let me now offer you, my brethren, the fragments of the sixth loaf. This loaf, if you remember, is the grace of acquiring merits, of accumulating the riches of eternal life. Now it seems to me that such grace consists in three things especially, viz., the hatred of past sins, the contempt of the goods of the present life, and the longing after those of the future. The seventh loaf and the last is the hope of attaining to these future and everlasting goods, and of this also I possess three fragments the taste whereof is wonderfully “‘ sweet to my palate ~ (Cant. ii. 3). There are three things, I say, which so fortify and strengthen my heart that no poverty of merit, no consideration of my own worthlessness, no estimate of the bliss of heaven, can cast it down from the height of hope whereon it is firmly established. Do you wish me to set these fragments before you now or would you prefer that I should keep them for another occasion, according to what is written, “Thou hast found honey: eat what is sufficient for thee ” (Prov. xxv. 16)? You would rather have them now? Well, well. Thus is accomplished day by day what Wisdom foretold of herself, “‘They that eat me shall yet hunger and they that drink me shall yet thirst ” (Ecclus. xxiv. 29) : and that is what I now see fulfilled in you. Therefore I will not further exercise your patience, neither will I any longer defraud your appetite, which I perceive to be as eager now as if you had not as yet tasted anything. There are, then, three things upon which all my hope is founded. These are: the charity whereby God has made me His adoptive son, the truth of His promises, and His power to fulfil them. Let my foolish reason murmur as much as it likes, saying, “ Who art thou that aspirest to glory so great? And by what merits dost thou hope to obtain it ? ” I answer with confidence, ‘“‘I know Whom I have believed, and I am certain ” (2 Tim. i. 12) that He has adopted me out of excessive charity, that He is faithful to fulfil what He has promised, and that He possesses the power required for this fulfilment. For it is lawful for Him to do what He wills (Matt. xx. 15). This, my brethren, is ‘a threefold cord that is not easily broken ” (Eccles. iv. 12), let down to us in this prison, out of heaven, our native land. Let us, I beseech you, take firm hold of it, so that it may lift us up and draw us on high even to “the sight of the glory of the Most High God ” (Tob. iii. 24), Who is blessed for evermore. Amen.