Sermons Of The Rev. Francis A. Baker, Priest Of The Congregation Of St. Paul - free ebook by Francis A. (Francis Aloysius) Baker

Sermons Of The Rev. Francis A. Baker, Priest Of The Congregation Of St. Paul. With A Memoir Of His Life

Entered according to Act of Congress, In the year 1865 By A. F. Hewit, In the Clerk's Office of the District Court of the United States for the Southern District of New York....

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PREFACE.

In offering the Memoir and Sermons of this volume to the friends of F. Baker, and to the public, propriety requires of me a few words of explanation. The number of those who have been more or less interested in the events touched upon in the sketch of his life and labors is very great, and composed of many different classes of persons in various places, and of more than one religious communion. I cannot suppose that all of them will read these pages, but it is likely that many will; and therefor

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Memoir.

Francis A. Baker was born in Baltimore, March 30, 1820. The name given him in baptism was Francis Asbury, after the Methodist bishop of that name; but when he became a Catholic he changed it to Francis Aloysius, in honor of St. Francis de Sales and St. Aloysius, to both of whom he had a special devotion, and both of whom he resembled in many striking points of character. He was of mixed German and English descent, and combined the characteristics of both races in his temperament of mind and body

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Sermon I. The Necessity Of Salvation. (Mission Sermon.)

"Thou art careful, and art troubled about many things. But one thing is necessary." —St. Luke X. 41, 42. If, my brethren, I should ask each one in this assembly what his business is, I should probably receive a great variety of answers. In so large a congregation as this, drawn as it is from the heart of a rich and important city, there are undoubtedly representatives of all the various avocations that grow out of the requirements of social life; some merchants, some mechanics, some laboring men

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Sermon II. Mortal Sin. (Mission Sermon.)

"Know thou, and see, that it is an evil and a bitter thing for thee, to have left the Lord thy God." —Jer. II. 19. In the book of the prophet Ezechiel it is related that God showed to the prophet in a vision the city of Jerusalem. It was all stretched out before him in its greatness and in its beauty. The magnificent temple was there, with its stones and spires glittering in the sun; its streets were full of people, prosperous and happy; a people who were in possession of the true religion, who

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Sermon III. The Particular Judgment. (Mission Sermon.)

"It is a dreadful thing to fall into the hands of the living God." —Heb. x. 31. There is a moment, my brethren, in the history of each immortal soul, which, of all others that precede or follow it, is the fullest of experience: the moment after death. The moment of death is indeed the decisive moment of our history. Then the question is settled, once for all, whether we are to be happy or miserable for all eternity; but, for the most part, we do not know that decision. Many men die insensible. B

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Sermon IV. Heaven. (Mission Sermon.)

"Rejoice and be exceeding glad, because your reward is very great in heaven." —St: Matt. v. 12. Some of you may remember the joy with which, after a sea voyage, you arrived at home. The voyage had been very long and wearisome. You had suffered, perhaps had been in danger. At last you heard the sailors cry "Land;" and after a while, your less practised eye began to discern the blue hills of your native country. Oh, how that sight revived you! How your sufferings and dangers were all forgotten in

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Sermon V. The Duty Of Growing In Christian Knowledge. (First Sunday in Advent.)

"The first man knew not wisdom perfectly, no more shall the last find her out. For her thoughts are vaster than the sea, and her counsels deeper than the great ocean." —Eccles. XXIV. 38, 39. I think we Catholics, when we lay claim to the possession of the whole truth—the entire revelation imparted to the world from Christ through the apostles—sometimes forget how small a share of that truth each one of us possesses in particular. It is the Church that the Holy Ghost leads into all truth, not ind

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Sermon VI. The Mission Of St. John the Baptist. (Second Sunday In Advent.)

"This is he of whom it is written: Behold I send My messenger before Thy face, who shall prepare Thy way before Thee." —St. Matt. xi. 10. The Scriptures of the Old Testament had foretold that a special messenger should immediately precede the coming of the Messias, whose duty would be to prepare men's hearts for His reception. Now, our Lord in the text tells us that St. John the Baptist was this messenger. It is for this reason that the Gospels read in the Church for the season of Advent are so

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Sermon VII. God's Desire To Be Loved. (Christmas Day.)

"Thou art beautiful above the sons of men: grace is poured abroad in Thy lips; therefore hath God blessed Thee forever. Gird Thy sword upon Thy thigh, O Thou most mighty. With Thy comeliness and Thy beauty, set out, proceed prosperously and reign." —Ps. xliv. 3-5. The Church calls on us to-day to rejoice and be glad for the Incarnation of the Son of God. With a celebration peculiar to this Feast, she breaks the dead silence of the night with her first Mass of joy. She repeats it again as the eas

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Sermon VIII. The Failure And Success Of The Gospel. (Sexagesima.)

"Saying these things he cried out: He that hath ears to hear, let him hear." St. Luke VIII. 8. There is one measure by which, if our Lord's work were tried, it might be pronounced a failure; and that is by the measure of great immediate, visible results. The thought might come into our mind, that it is strange our Lord was not more successful than He was. He was the Son of God, no one ever spake as He did. He conversed with a great number of men—in Jerusalem, in Judea, in Galilee. He was always

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Sermon IX. The Work Of Life. (Septuagesima)

"Why stand ye here all the day idle." —St. Matt. xx. 6. The parable in to-day's Gospel is intended to describe the invitations which God has given, from time to time in the history of the world, to various races and peoples, to enter the true Church and be saved. But it may be applied by analogy to His dealings with each individual soul, and our Lord's question in the text may be understood by each one of us as addressed directly to himself. Taken in this sense, it affords instruction and admoni

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Sermon X. The Church's Admonition To The Individual Soul. (Ash Wednesday.)

"Take heed to thyself." —1 Tim. iv. 16. The services of the Church to-day are very impressive. The matter of her teaching is not different from usual. The shortness of life, the certainty of judgment, the necessity of faith and repentance, are more or less the topics of her teaching at all times of the year. But this teaching is ordinarily given to the assembled congregation, to crowds, to multitudes. But to-day she speaks to us as individuals. She summons us, one by one, young and old, and, as

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Sermon XI. The Negligent Christian. (Third Sunday In Lent.)

"He that is not with Me is against Me; and he that gathereth not with Me, scattereth." —St. Luke XI. 23. There are many seeds planted in the ground that never come up. There is a great deal of fruit on the trees that never comes to ripeness. So among Christians there is a great deal of good that always remains incomplete and inadequate. Who of us has not seen such? Who of us does not know such? They have some faith, some religion, but they bring no fruit to perfection. Now, what is the blight th

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Sermon XII. The Cross, The Measure of Sin. (Passion Sunday)

"For my thoughts are not as your thoughts; nor your ways my ways, saith the Lord. For as the heavens are exalted above the earth, so are my ways exalted above your ways, and my thoughts above your thoughts." —Isa. LV., 8, 9. To-day, my brethren, is the beginning of Passion-tide, the most solemn part of the season of Lent. The two weeks between now and Easter are set apart especially for the remembrance of the sufferings of Christ. Therefore the Church assumes the most sombre apparel, and speaks

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Sermon XIII. Divine Calls And Warnings. (A Sermon For Lent.)

"Seek ye the Lord while He may be found, call upon Him while He is near." —Isai. LV. 6. The Wise Man tells us that " all things have their season, and in their times all things pass under heaven ." [Footnote 81] Certainly, it is so in the natural world. There is a time for the birds to migrate. " The kite in the air knows her time, the turtle and the swallow and the stork observe the time of their coming ." [Footnote 82] [Footnote 81: Eccl. iii. 1.] [Footnote 82: Jer. viii. 7.] There is a time f

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Sermon XIV. The Tomb Of Christ, The School Of Comfort. (Easter Sunday.)

"Jesus saith to her: Woman why weepest thou? Whom seekest thou?" St. John xx. 15. How full of tenderness are these words! They were spoken on the first Easter Day. This weeping woman was Mary Magdalene, she that had been a great sinner, and was converted, and loved our Lord so much. She had been at His Cross: she is now at His Tomb, with her spices and ointments to anoint His body. But our Lord's body was not in the grave. The stone is rolled away. The tomb is open, and He is not there. And yet

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Sermon XV. St. Mary Magdalene at the Sepulchre. (Easter Sunday.)

[Footnote 108] [Footnote 108: The substance of this sermon is from St. Thomas of Villanova.] "But He rising early the first day of the week, appeared first to Mary Magdalene." —St. Mark XVI. 9. St. Mary Magdalene may be called the Saint of the Resurrection. She is intimately associated with that event in the pages of the Scriptures, and in the minds of Christians. Indeed, the Gospel account of the Resurrection embraces an almost continuous record of the actions of this holy woman from the Crucif

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Sermon XVI. The Preacher, The Organ Of The Holy Ghost. (Fourth Sunday After Easter.)

"When He the Spirit of Truth shall come, He will lead you into all truth." St. John XVI. 13. I need hardly say that the words " all truth " in this promise mean all truth relating to our salvation. It is no part of our Lord's plan to teach us the truths of natural science. He leaves us to discover these by our own intelligence. He comes to teach us faith and morals—what we are to believe, and what we are to do, in order to be saved. He did this while He was on earth by His conversations with His

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Sermon XVII. The Two Wills In Man (Fourth Sunday After Easter.)

"The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak." —St. Matt. XXVI. 41. The word "flesh" here does not mean the body, but the lower or sensitive part of the soul in which the fleshly appetites reside. Our Lord is warning St. Peter of the necessity of prayer in order to meet the temptation which was coming upon him, and He tells him not to trust to the willingness of his spirit, that is, his good intentions and resolutions, because he had an inferior nature which might easily be excited to ev

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Sermon XVIII. The Intercession Of The Blessed Virgin The Highest Power Of Prayer. (Sunday Within the Octave of the Ascension.)

"If you remain in me, and my words remain in you, ye shall ask whatever you will, and it shall be done to you." —John xv. 7. There is perhaps no Catholic doctrine which meets with more objection among those outside the Church, than our devotion to the Blessed Virgin. Expressions of love to her, of hope in her intercession, which seem to us perfectly natural, which come from our hearts spontaneously, when they are most under the influence of Christian and holy principles, seem to them altogether

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Sermon XIX. Mysteries In Religion (Trinity Sunday.)

"Oh, the depths of the riches of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How incomprehensible are His judgments, and how unsearchable are His ways!" —Rom. XI. 33. The word revelation means the discovery of something that was not known before, or the making clear something that was obscure. Now, with this idea in our mind, it may excite surprise to find how much the Christian Revelation abounds in mysteries. By mysteries, I understand truths which are imperfectly comprehended. A doctrine which contradic

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Sermon XX. The Worth Of The Soul. (Third Sunday After Pentecost.)

"There shall be joy before the angels of God over one sinner doing penance." St. Luke xv. 10. This is what theologians call an accidental joy. The essential joy of heaven consists in the perfect knowledge and love of God, and is unchangeable and eternal; but the accidental joy of heaven springs from the knowledge of those events in time which display the goodness and greatness of God. The first of these events was the creation itself, when the hand of God spread the carpet of the earth, and stre

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Sermon XXI. The Catholic's Certitude Concerning The Way Of Salvation. (Fifth Sunday After Pentecost.)

"I know whom I have believed, and I am certain that He is able to keep that which I have committed to Him against that day." —II. Tim. I. 12. No one can deny that this sentiment of the Apostle is a very comfortable one. To be confident of salvation is surely an excellent and desirable thing. But the question with many will be, is it possible to attain it? Now, there is one sense in which we cannot have a security of our salvation. We cannot have personally an infallible assurance that we are now

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Sermon XXII. The Presence Of God. (Fifth Sunday After Pentecost.)

"Indeed the Lord is in this place, and I knew it not. How terrible is this place; this is no other than the house of God and the gate of heaven." —Gen XVIII. 16,17. These words were spoken by the Patriarch Jacob when he was journeying to Syria to visit his uncle. He had stopped for the night at a place which was afterward called Bethel, and as he lay on the ground with a stone for his pillow, the Lord appeared to him in a vision, and blessed him, and foretold his future greatness and increase. T

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Sermon XXIII. Keeping The Law Not Impossible. (Ninth Sunday After Pentecost.)

"I can do all things in Him who strengtheneth me." —Phil. VI. 13. If I am not mistaken, a very great number of the sins that men commit, are committed through hopelessness. The pleasures of sin are by no means unmixed. Indeed, sin is a hard master; and all who practise it find it so. I never met a man who said it was a good thing, or that it made him happy. On the contrary, all lament it, and say that it makes them miserable. Why, then, do they commit it? Very often, I am persuaded, because they

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Sermon XXIV. The Spirit Of Sacrifice.. (For The Feast Of St. Laurence, Martyr.)

"I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, pleasing to God, your reasonable service." —Rom. XVII. 1. There is, my brethren, among many men who practise Christian duties to a certain extent, one remarkable want. I will call it the want of the Spirit of Sacrifice. Compare such men with any of the saints, and you will see at once what I mean. One saint may differ a great deal from another, but this is common to them all—a vivid

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Sermon XXV. Mary's Destiny A Type Of Ours. (The Feast Of The Assumption.)

"Mary hath chosen the best part, which shall not be taken away from her." —St. Luke x. 42. To-day is the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary. To-day she entered into the enjoyment of heaven. The trials and troubles of life are over. The time of banishment is ended. She closes her eyes on this world, and opens them to the vision of God. She is exalted to-day above the choirs of angels to the heavenly kingdom, and takes her seat at the right hand of her Son. I do not mean to attempt any descript

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Sermon XXVI. Care For The Dead. (Fifteenth Sunday After Pentecost.)

"And when He came nigh to the gate of the city, behold a dead man was carried out." —St. Luke VII. 12. It is not at the gate of Naim only that such a procession might be met. From every city "dead men are carried out to the grave"—nay, from every house. Death knocks alike at the palace and the cabin. It is only a question of time with him. Sooner or later he comes to all. Yes, my brethren, a day will come to each home in this parish when a piece of black crape at the door will tell the world tha

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Sermon XXVII. Success The Reward Of Merit. (Fifteenth Sunday After Pentecost.)

"What things a man shall sow, them also shall he reap." —Gal. VI. 8. To judge by the complaints which we hear continually around us, we might conclude that the commonest thing in the world is for men to fail in their undertakings. Now, I admit that it is a very common thing indeed for men to fail in obtaining what they desire . There are many men who have some darling object of ambition which they cannot reach. But I do not think it is a very frequent thing for men to fail in attaining an end wh

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Sermon XXVIII. The Mass The Highest Worship. (Twenty-first Sunday After Pentecost.)

"What shall I offer to the Lord that is worthy? Wherewith shall I kneel before the High God?" —Mich. VI.6. Such is the question which mankind have been asking from the creation of the world. God is so high, so great, so good, so beautiful. He made us. He created us by His Word, and we hang upon His Breath. How shall we worship Him? How shall we express the thoughts of Him that fill our souls? Alas! the words of the lips, the postures of the body, are all inadequate. What shall we do? Shall we, l

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Sermon XXIX. The Lessons Of Autumn. (Last Sunday After Pentecost.)

"All flesh is grass, and all the glory thereof as the flower of the field. The grass is withered and the flower is fallen." —Isaias XL. 6, 7. It is but a few weeks since you were told that the natural world has lessons of deep spiritual importance to teach us. Our Lord, as we see in the Gospel, sometimes drew the text of His discourse from the flowers of the field, sometimes from the birds of the air; and it must be evident to any reflecting mind that this was not done as a mere exercise of fanc

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THE END

Various Works By The Paulist Fathers. For Sale By Lawrence Kehoe, Nassau Street, New York Any of the above Books sent by mail, postpaid, on receipt of the price....

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