The morning star and Catholic messenger. [volume] (New Orleans [La.]) 1868-1881, 1873-08-17

not lose it's beauty or its value aud there
fore the Sacred Heat was. at all times,
happy in its possession. Follow 1T from
Bethlehem to Egypt; from Egypt to Cali.
lee through the cities and villages of
Palestine, through all its history of hidden
and of public life (; you will find it ever
clinging to its poverty, ever happy In the
enjoyment of this new treasure. 1t was
because His Heart loved poverty, that He
chose the work shop of Joseph for His
abode, that He labored with His hands for
His support. The same love drew Him to-
wards the poor followers whom lie chose as
His companions it sent Him, clad In the
garment OF poverty, without stall or scrip
or money, on His mission TO the poor and
one of His greatest proofs of His divine
authority and His heavenly origin, always
was, that He preached the gospel to the
poor. For, as lie loved poverty, SO lie
loved the poor. To them His Heart ex-
banded for them were His miracles null
tiplied on them was His love poured
out.
And as for Himself, SO for His church af
ter him, the poor are warrant of truth
and she alone, who loves the poor as He
loved them, bears the mark Of His spouse
and continues his mission on earth. She
alone, who loved poverty as He loved it,
and who ranks it among the highest and
best gifts, who holds it out as the token of
heavens special prediction, and an earn
est of the most abundant reward she
alone, who like Him, continually repeats
the words: Blessed are the poor; go
sell all and give to the poor, and come and
follow Me they who have left all to fol-
low Me, father, mother, brother, sister,
house, lands and all that they possessed,
shall receive q hundred fold =, and shall have
life everlasting " she alone, in whom pow
erty is sanctiied and perpetuated as the
surest and happiest means to gain the only
wealth that is worth desiring; she alone is
Al 80 ~. otI e1,, tIa
true spouse of Christ; in her alone is all
our faith safe against error, and all our
hope secure. The same spirit is in Der;
the same Heart beats in her bosom. She
elings to the cross as He chung to it. Its
poverty is her glory, as it vas His. It Is
ton of all virtue, and the triumph over all
the powers arIayed against her and against
her God.
The poverty of the cross! Can there be
greater poverty than that3 Is there any
thing there of which He can be despoiled 2
Yes! there is something which can be taken
from Him; but he alone who has learned
from the Heart of Jesus to love poverty,
will be tempted to covet it or to take it to
himself. For, all that we can take from
Him there is the crown of thorns, the nails
which pierce His hands and feet, the cross
itself on which He is suspended These
we can take to ourselves; and if our hearts
could learn from His what value these pos
sess, how highly they are priced in heaven,
we should eagerly go and crown our own
head with the thorns of His poverty and
fasten our own hands and feet to His
cross, to be poor with Him and to suffer
the contempt of the world in our poverty
for Him. Blessed are the poor who are
crucifed with Him; whom the world hates
as it hated Him whom it strips of their
possessions; whose very garments it di-
vides among its votaries, and whom it
sends to die like Him whom they love, in
poverty and ignominy for His sake!
Come now once more to this wonderful
Heart; come to it, you whose hearts pant
for the possession of happiness, but seek it
where it is not to be found. Surely the
Heart that loved us 80 much would have
pointed to worldly wealth as worthy
prize, if it had the power to render us hap
by. You cannot doubt either the wisdom
or tho power or the love of Heart which
for your sake is what you here behold. 1t
knows what is worthy of your DESIRES
what is real good. 1t could not have been
made poor as you sec it, had it willed not
to be so. 1t is what you see it to be, sim
ply and solely for your good. Then. how
can your heart yearn after the tritlcs of
the world How can it love what the
world calls wealth 2 How can it waste its
life away in the struggle to acquire what is
so utterly worthless 7 Here you can have
no doubt that other treasures then those
which men esteem, are alone capable of I'll
ling the void within you; that the longing
for bliss implanted in your soul by its
Creator, must look elsewhere for its con-
tentment. Here is Teacher whose wis
dom is divine, whose love cannot lead you
astray. If He is true, then the world must
be false. If He does not deceive you, then
you have been deceiving yourself OK the
world has betrayed you. And if you wish
to be wise, you will fear and hate tie
riches which the Sacred Heart of Jesus tells
you are a snare for the destruction of your
soul.
clay not up treasuresin this world" it
cries out to you; "take heed of all cevet-
BUSINESS. How hard it is for rich man to
enter the kingdom of heaven :! You cannot
serve God and mammom. Tho deceitful-
ness of riches chokes tho good seed in the
heart aud leaves it without fruit" These
are His lessons, ofG repeated and His own
life is filled with their spirit; His example,
from His birth to His death, is full of the
same doctrine. 1t breaches the wealth of
poverty, the glory of poverty, the power of
poverty, the eternal triumph of poverty.
nd HOY loo hn