The record-union. [volume] (Sacramento, Calif.) 1891-1903, 1893-02-11
" LOVE THY LORD AND NEIGHBOR. u
Lenten Pastoral of the Right Rev.
Bishop Manogue.
Directed to the Clergy and the
Laity of the Diocese of
Sacramento.

'Thou shalt love thy Lord thy God and thy
neighbor as thyself."-Matt. xxi, 37-39.
These few words, beloved brethren,
present to US a summary of the law
directing our actions and conduct with
regard to God, with regard to our neigh
Dor, and with regard to ourselves. Hence.
we need no longer demand which is the
greatest commandment. This which has
been puzzle and confusion to the Jews
is plain and self-evident to the Christians.
Our blessed Lord, responding TO the
| designing and hypocritical lawyer, con-
descended to tighten us on this most i'm
portapt subject: "Thou shalt love thy
Lord thy God with thy whole heart, with
thy whole soul. and with thy whole
mind" This is the greatest and first
commandment, and the second is like to
this: Thou shalt love thy neighbor as
myself" But is this great precept OBJ
served? Would that it were! Are we
strangers to strifes, contentious, Jealous
les, envies. hatreds and animosities? In
the midst of our rancorous emulations
and oppositions where is the abode of the
lovely virtue of charity? Undoubtedly
not in our breasts. a certain mark
whereby you may know that you love
God is the constant practice of the COM
mandments. To know God is to love and
| magnify His name with all our faculties.
ST. Augustine having witnessed a daz-
cling display of pomp and grandeur in
Rome, in which the Emperor appeared
in great splendor and brilliancy, eX-
! claimed: "My God! if this manifestation
can be so captivating, who can look upon
Thee; If this splendor and brilliancy be
visible outside, what can we imagine of
the splendors of Thine own glory?''
We admire the SUMS dazzling bril-
liancy, his light, his heat, the enchanting
panorama of his golden train. We adj
mlre the silvery light of the moon, as she
gllds the gloomy shades of night and
cheers the steps of weary mortals. We
admire the number and variety of stars
and planets in the bright blue canopy of
the heavens. We are struck with aston
lshment at the rapidity of the electric
flash, the activity of fire, the force of the
winds and the fierceness of the tempest.
We love to contemplate the variety of
trees and plants, the beauty and delicacy
of flowers, the structure of bodies, the
solitude of the leafy forest, the murmur-
ing brooks and streams, the warbling
SongsterS of the groves, the charming
landscapes, the springs freshness, the
summers verdure, the autumn's rich
ness, and even winters frigid frost and
SHOWS. We are captivated with the
sweet strains of music and the harmony
of many voices, the exquisite colors of
painting by master hand, the delicate
chiseling and exact proportions of the
apparently living marble.
In search of pleasing satisfactions and
delights. we do not confine ourselves to
the beauties OF nature, to the order, the
harmony. and infinite wisdom that reign
and are visible throughout the universe.
We sometimes find ourselves led on by
laudable curiosity, like the Queen of
Saba, to the palace of some Solomon. The
majesty surrounding the throne, the
magnlticence OF the apartments, the eclat
and glitter of gold and silver, the works
of art and taste exhibited, the order and
symmetry everywhere presented be-
wilder us, and in our ecstasies we Xclaim
with The admiring and astonished Queen
that what we had heard was not even half
the reality. Whence arise all this pleas
ure and satisfaction? This wonder, adj
miration and establishment? These are
all created beings, contingent beings. de-
pendent beings, perishable beings. They
are but faint reflections of the PROJECTIONS
of God. What wonder, then, that St.
Augustine should have exclaimed: IF
such splendor and brilliancy be visible
outside Thee, what can we imagine of the
splendors of Thine own glory"
God is the God of truth, the God of wis
dom, of justice, order and harmony; the
God of sanctity and charity, and hence he
cannot favor divisions, discussions and
contradictions. Wherefore let parents
and those in authority conform to the
will of God. Let not children be divided
and scandalized like those of the Patri-
arch, some knocking and criticising Willie
others with sadness and retrogressive
steps hasten to screen with the mantle of
modesty the indicate exposure of an
erring parent.
How long, them" SAYS the prophet
Elias, will you halt between two sides?
If the Lord be God follow him." Do not
offer false victims like Cain, who incurred
the malediction of heaven. DO not place
false fires in the censers of the Lord, like
the sons of Aaron, who were DESTROYED
by fire from heaven. Do not place your
idols above the Ark of the Covenant of
God, as the Philistines did Dagon, and
Dagon was dashed from his pedestal and
shattered to pieces. Do not place in jux-
opposition the objects of your idolatry and
the image of the true God, as the Samari-
tan, who thereby forfeited all claims to
the protection OF heaven. Do not divide
your hearts between your God and your
possessions, as Ananias and Saphira, who
fell dead at the feet Of the Apostle; but
love thy Lord thy God with thy whole
heart. with thy whole soul, and with thy
whole mind.
Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thy
self" Faith shall disappear in vision,
hope in fruition. but charity shall be
eternal, like God. Take away that deli
cate, refined and fraternal charity, and
especially that Christian feeling, that
tender compassion and administration
for the poor, the afflicted and distressed,
and you take away from the earth the
very heart and soul of Christianity.
Nature would abandon US, take her flight
to heaven, leaving US to grope in the
midst of darkness, cruel hard hearted
ness, and surrounded only by Pagan and
barbarous selfshness. Pass through a
deserted place, sterile region, under the
scorching rays of a raging sun. Look
round about. Everything faded, parched
and dried up. Everything dismal and
still. Everything repulsive, barren and
tasteless. All nature exhibiting marks
of pain and distress. The birds painting
from heat and thirst, and seeking cool
shade in the withered leaves; the bleating
sheep searching in vain for refreshing
stream; the sluggish insect with difficulty
crawling along the arid ground; the deli
cate flower hanging hopelessly on the
dropping stem. Everything languishing,
everything dying, everything as if in
fiery furnace.