The Worcester spy., 1898-12-19

forever. But the priest has not only
to defend the members of his flock
against the corruptionS of the heart,
but also against those dOctrinal errors
which are today so prevalent that they
seem to infect the very air we breathe,
and preached as they are by false
teachers who bring to their support
every plausible argument couched in
the most attractive language, to refute
which what consummate skill and
knowledge is required. But this So
licitude is not confined to the members
Of his own flock only-it must go far
ther and embrace those who are not
yet members of the church. Catholic
indeed as well as in name, his solici-
tude and Catholic heart must embrace
all. Other sheep 1 have" says the
Good Shepherd, these also must l
bring that there may be one shepherd
and one fold" To thus cooperate
with Jesus Christ in the salvation of
souls, is truly the most divine of all
divine works, and so meritorious in the
sight of God that st. Paul looked on
the gaining of souls as his "crown and
his Joy" And, finally, there are those
among his flock who cannot come about
him day by day likethe others. They are
the sick and the dying. And it is for
him who has prepared and sustained
fare of life, from childhood on through
youth and age, to put the crowning
act on his lifelong labors by preparing
them for the last great combat at the
hour of death. For it IL then that the
full consciousness Of sin, of evil done
and good left undone, bursts upon the
mind, and memory goes back through
the dark vistas of the long years of a
life, maybe misspent or worse still, ev-
eI-Xr NP faIo IN
offending a good and merciful God. 1t
is in this dread hour too that the devil
and all his powers of evil will make
their last awful onslaught on the cita-
del of the poor, huttsring soul; it is
then that temptations against faith,
temptations to despair will crowd thick
and fast upon the dying man, when
he is no longer able to resist, no longer
able to repent, or even to moan with
Jesus in his agony, My God, why hast
thou forsaken me?' 1t is in this dread
hour, I say, that the priest must crown
4 his labors by thinking for the dying,
/ by calling their thoughts into activity
and awakening in their souls a sin
! cere sorrow for the past and conf
| dent hope for the future in the mer-
| cies Of him who is mercy itself. 1t is
/ for him, 1 say, who is a fountain of
water whose water shall not fall then
! to refresh the soul that is dry through
suffering and parched through mental
anxiety. The whispered name of Jesus
as he holds the crucifix before the eyes
that will soon close forever to the light
of the world, and the acts of faith
hope, charity, and contrition breathed
into the ears that will soon hear nc
more is the end of the priestly mission
he has done his Guty,-he leaves the
soul in the hands Of Il merciful God.
Actuated, then, my friends, with a
pure and disinterested zeal, can the
priest ever lose sight of his sublime
and holy mission; which principally
consists as we have seen, in laboring
for his own sancti;ication and for the
sanctification and salvation of those
around him,-in breaking the bread OF
life to the little ones,-in directing their
| footsteps in the path of virtue, truth
and justice,-in instructing the ignor-
| ant,-in comforting the afflicted -ir
visiting with tenderness and assiduity
the sick, in reclaiming after the exam
pie Of the divine Master, with temper
with gentleness, and with meekness the
wandering and erring members of his
| hOck.-in a word, directing and con-
Quoting all to salvation md to God.
Such, then, is the mission of the
priest, in the church Grant O Lord
that thy priests may be ever sensible
of the sublime duties of their mission
and fill thy people with q correspond
ing respect, love and obedience. Inspire
them with an active zeal to fulfil then
faithfully to thy greater honor anG
glory, to the edification of their re-
| spective flocks, and The salvation Of
their own immortal souls. Amen.
When FIR. McCaugnan concluded, {
pin could have been heard to fall il
one had fallen anywhere in the church
Rev FIR Grady is a Clinton boy He
was born here Nov. Q, 1874. He gradua-
ted from the Clinton public schools
next attending Holy Cross College
Worcester, from which he graduated
with honors. and the degree of A. B
He next took the course al Brighton
seminary. He was one OF the mos
popular young men in Clinton.