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Show GOOD SHEPHERD The Gospel Parables. Full of Mercy, Lovo M and Care of Christ. The Good Shepherd ; - : Most Beautiful of All. God's Care of Hi.i ; Sheep. The Sary Sheep. How the World ; i ; Acts With the Outcast. How Christ Acts j ;; With Him. The Penitent Thief. I v; The 11 o'clock mass.in St. Mary's Cathedral f ' j was celebrated by Rev. D. Slattery. At the Gospel, r j . Rev. T. Brennan preached on the Good Shepherd j ' ; taking as his text: St. John X. Xii. j ; We, dearly beloved brethren, belong to the ' I Christ. We mourn in His sorrow, we rejoice in His victory, and we shelter ourselves from the storms of ' . ; sin, temptation and death in His words. His mercy : I and His love. Human beings as we are, we want ; j someone beyond the human to go to in our day of trial, sin and sorrow, and that someone we find in ! . j the Good Shepherd, who is the Christ. : j How beautiful are the Parables of our Divine , ! Lord. Each of them breathe the simplicity, the. love, the mercy of the infinitely loving and merciful '. Lord who spoke them, and if there is one parable j more than the rest which inspires us with confi- donee and hope and joy it is the one unfolded in : this day's gospel for our consideration. I ! - On the mountains that overlook the cities, on . the plains that stretch out far away from tho ! j haunts of men, the shepherd watches near his . j ' sheep, He knows their number and their peculiar- ! ities. When the sun springs out from the gates f i of the east, his first thoughts are of those sheep :'" i - that rest so peacefully under his watchful eye. The ' sun stands high in the heavens and the shepherd , j - leads his sheep to the pastures and the fresh brook, ! : and when the sun steals down to the west, the i: ' shepherd gathers his sheep into a cosy crany 'neath ! v ' the mountain or into a dip in the vast stretch of j plain and seated on a boulder nearby he watches : , with vigilant eye over the white recumbent forms 1 ' that strew the grass as the shadows of night length- ' en and darken and the horned moon peeps over the ! hoary summit of the mountain. There he sit3 and ' the sheep are at rest, for they feel that their shep- : ! ' herd is faithful and guards their rest. The howl ' ! of the wolf disturbs the silence of the night, and the sheep are not disturbed, for the silent form on I : the boulder watches and guards. The mournful j f whine of the prairie dog issues from the stunted I j brush or the mountain pines, and the sheep start !'!;"' not, for the shepherd guards and watches. Yes. j ' 1 through the silence of the night and the hum of : : the day the shepherd's care is for his sheep, and ' i if one of them strays away from the flock, strays I into the dangerous ways, into the thorny thickets, , j or out on the rocks that frown above the yawning j . abyss," the shepherd seeks that stray sheep at once . ' -and brings it back to safety and security. ! It is so with the good human shepherd, and if ; he acts so with those animals whose years are few i " "' and whose end is the butcher's knife, if the good human shepherd acts, so. how much more care and ' ! i love and watchfulness does that Divine Shepherd exert over his sheep in whom beats an immortal" i ' soul, whose years are not few, but eternal, whose j V.'j " i end is not earth, but heaven. I am the Good Shepherd, cries out our Divine i J Lord, and I know my. sheep. Do you ponder sufR- i - I ciently, dearly beloved brethren, over the beauty ; of these words? Ah, if you do. you will see at once , i . the nobility of your life, the glory, the sublimity of ! ' ' your end. You are Gods sheep, and He knows ! . you. j' ; , The heavens and the earth, says the Pslamist, i. J show forth the beauty, the power, the care of God. . I ; From the primrose that strewn the valleys to those : ! f wonderful orbs that roll through space, there U !''' ! the hand of arl all wise Providence guiding their ", birth, their life and their end. The All Powerful " ' God watches over every portion of His creation, ' ' sustaining it, guiding it and directing it. The spar- i ' ' rows that chatter through the day long on the eaves i not one of them falls to the ground without the I ' ' Great Father knowing ic, and all these go on their I i destined way unto the end, which is oblivion and . destruction. For no sun or moon, for no towering ' ! .; mountain strong in its age, and its outlines, for no I -. I v flower young in its growth, and frail in its exquisite ' j beauty, for naught in the heavens above or on the earth beneath is there promise of immortality. No, ; no, for man alone and for the angeh is that city lighted up forever with the glory of God. Yes, yes, ; ' ? for God's sheep is the pastures, lor God's sheep is U : : the stream which take their life and their eternal richness and purity from the heart of God. We ! I are God's sheep, and He knows us with a care, a ' ' ! love and a mercy which are infinite. ' ' .;. The great painters of ancient and modern times ! ' i . have given us many beautiful pictures of our Di- t ; i vine Lord. Some of these paintings represent ; j . Christ in Hi3 agony and humiliation, some more ' ; represent Him in the exercise of His mercy and j love, and others represent Him in His power, glory 11' and A'ictory, but. ah, where is there one of them j ! I ' so touching as that which portrays the Christ car- '! rying home the lost sheep upon His shoulders ? To j 1 '; the superficial observer there is nothing but a hu- I man figure and a sheep excellently finished in every !' ! ; detail, but to the observer to him who life is bright- ! ; ened up by faith and hope and charity, that picture ' ! ' represents something more, that picture breathe ' ; of Divine love and care and solicitude. We are I ; Christ's sheep. He. has gathered us in from the ; t arid deserts, the dangerous rocks and the briary 1 ways of sin, from the paths and passes of death, j ! gathered us into His rich pastures. His safe sheep- j . : . fold, and there He tends us with His own loving ' hands, there He feeds us with His own flesh and blood, there we hear His voice from the morning's ' i ; watch even until night, and hearing it and obeyinsz . ' i it, we are secure from the wolves of sin and death I that howl outside ready to devour us. "I am the ' ' , Good Shepherd, and I know my sheep and my sheep know me." The good human shepherd knows. . : ' each of his sheep in particular, and calls it by ' name. He knows the weakest, the indifferent, and j the poorest. He knows, too, the defective, the fruit- ) 1 ful and the strong, and if one of them stray avav from its own pastures enticed by the seeming rich j r s Continued on Page 5. - ; GOOD SHEPHERD Continued from Page 1. tufts of verdure that grow amidst the rough ways, the thorns or on the frowning rock, he goes at once in search of it and carries it home to safety. The weak and sick he provides for and gives to them the healing medicines that restore again life and vigor. And Christ, the Divine Shepherd, watches over His sheep as they pass over the plains of this world. Many of them stray out from the flock, attracted by the seeming good things that grow upon the frowning rocks and the yawning chasms. Some of Christ's sheep, forgetful of His presence, forgetful of His warning ovice, climb up the dangerous mountain of pride and honors and distinctions, and standing there, are "unmindful of their peril, see not how tottering is the position on which they stand. Others again descend into the chasms, the dark ways of sin and death, where the sour and the rotten weeds grow and the sun of virtue never shines, and the herb, the grain of eternal life, never springs up. And Christ the Good Shepherd follows fol-lows these, and in a voice of unutterable love calls out to them to come back to Him. He warns the proud, the seekers of honors and distinction of the yawning gulf beneath. Loud his strong, sweet voice calls to those in the darksome abyss to come forth to the sun, the light of day, and to the pastures pas-tures that give health and strength and security. Many of the sheep heed not the voice of love, the voice of entreaty, the voice of warning. They stay in the dangerous, the dark ways, and their end is everlasting death, everlasting destruction. Others of the stray sheep hear the voice of the Shepherd, and they leave the dangerous ways and come to Him. He opens out His arms to receive them,- there is no look of reproach in His eyes, His tongue utters not words of harshness, but only infinite in-finite love. Yes, yes, there is infinite mercy in His touch, infinite tenderness and joy in His voice, as He takes the weary, bruised stray sheep upon His shoulders and brings it back to safety and salvation. salva-tion. Aye, and He not only rejoices Himself, but the glad burst of joy rings out from His flock in heaven, His flock on earth, because the lost sheep was found. "Amen, I say unto you, there shall be more joy in heaven upon one sinner doing penance ! than upon ninety-nine just who need not penance." The love, the mercy, the care of the Divine Shepherd for His sheep, the tongue of angel cannot can-not speak it, the pen of angel cannot write it. Look upon Calvary's Hill, behold there the three crosses. The center one bears the form of the Christ. He is dying for His sheep. A stray sheep is dying beside Him. What stray sheep in the world's history, what sinner the blackest and the worst since the dawn of creation to now can ponder on that scene and not feel hope ? Out there in the world two young boys went to school together. They studied upon the same bench, the same rosy hope of a brilliant future was in their hearts, they shared one another's joys and sorrows, they left the school, they left tho neighborhood of old friends and loved associations. Out into the world they went. They separated with the golden sun of promise shining upon them. The years passed and they met again. One was prosperous, pros-perous, a man of justice, integrity and truth, the other was a stray sheep, a failure in this world, and the rags of his wretchedness hung about him and the scars of his sins were upon him. Their hands met, their eyes filled with tears, there was no words spoken, only these, and they sprang from the lips of the failure, the stray sheep: "By my folly I have made myself what I am, sin and gay companions, the gambling dens and the homes of vice have dragged me down. Don't look at. me. Your ways now and mine are different," and the stray sheep turns away from his pure, unsullied friend of the boyhood days,. and we catch the last spoken words of the lost sheep as he goes out again into the night: "Remember me if you can, for the sake of our boyhood days, for the sake of the old home and all its tender associations." Out there in the world that scene is enacted every day. Turn from that sad picture, turn to another world, the world of the Good Shepherd, the world of Christ. Behold, I say, these three crosses, and the robber, the 6tray sheep upon one of these crosses speaks, and his words have rang down the ages of time, his words have carried hope, and carrying hope have carried joy and peace to many more of the stray sheep. "Lord, remember me when Thou comest to Thy Kingdom." Twenty centuries have passed since then, twenty centuries of revolution and change, twenty centuries of birth and death, twenty centuries of rosy hopes and darksome disappointments, dis-appointments, but the love of the Good Shepherd remains, the words of the robber, "Remember me," remain, and the thoughts of the robber, though he expressed them not in words, still we today can write them. Lord, I suffer justly, sin and bloodshed and robbery rob-bery was my life, the ignominious gibbet is my fitting fit-ting end. Lord, you suffer unjustly. You are loving, lov-ing, pure and good. My place is not beside Thee, my home is not with Thee. I am a robber, but, Lord, sometimes remember when Thou comest to the glory, the peace of Thy Kingdom, the malefactor malefac-tor who died beside Thee. The eyes of the dying Christ are fixed upon the robber. The mind of the dying Christ thinks not upon the robber's past life, his past sins; no, no, the mind of the dying Christ sees only the robber's, rob-ber's, the stray sheep's penance and humility expressed ex-pressed in these three words, "Lord, remember me," and the lips of the dying Christ murmur this infinitely in-finitely sweet sentence ; "Amen,-1 6ay unto you this day thou shall be with me in my kingdom." The Good Shepherd, the dying Christ, has taken the robber, the lost sheep, to His Heart and to His fold lighted up forever with the glory of God. . What stray sheep beholding that scene, no matter mat-ter how long may be the years of his straying, no matter how black may be his trangressions, will refuse to come home to his Christ, the Good Shepherd, Shep-herd, "and there shall be more joy in heaven upon one sinner doing penance than upon ninety-nine just who need not penance." |