The Irish standard., 1905-04-29
Easter Sermon by Paulist Father.

Easter Sermon by Paulist Father.
This is the day of our Lords victory
over death and hell. Many of you
have received Him in Holy Commun-
ion either this morning or during the
preceding week. To such He has found
way to communicate something of
the vast ocean of love and joy which
mandates His own soul. A good Com
munion, following humble confes.
sion of sin, is indeed the nearest way
to that tomb, riven and empty, and
streaming with the light of heavenly
joy, about which the church gathers
her children this morning. How we'll
chosen is Easter time for the annual
Communion of all good Christians. 81
have seen the tomb of Christ, who has
risen from the dead" may we we'll say
with Mary Magdalen. God grant that
not one of you all may pass beyond
Trinity Sunday without attending to
what is so appropriately called the
Easter duty.
1t seems to me that this feast is a
great day for sinners-meaning, of
course, repentant sinners. For look
at the facts? Who is the saint of the
Resurrection by excellence? Certainly
dear Mary Magdalen, the type of all
the penitent. She stood beneath the
Cross when Jesus died, comforting
Him, and His Mother in that dreadful
hour of His doom and of that Mothers
woe. And when the dead corpse was
lowered down, Mary Magdalen pressed
His limbs and feet and hands to her
bosom while our sorrowful Mother
clasped His heart to her own and
kissed His pallid face a thousand
times. Mary Magdalen helped to lay
Him in His grave. She watched then;
when driven away by the soldiers she
bought spices and came again to en-
balm Him. And whose words are
those repeated today all round the
world as the dawn greets the watching
glances of the faithful.
"They have taken away my Lord! I
know not where they have laid Him."
and again the amazed and ecstatic ex-
clamation when she saw Him in the
garden: "Rabboni! Master"
What great store of love, says st.
Gregory the Great, was in that wom-
ans heart, who, when even His dis.
ciples were gone away, could not tear
herself from the grave of the Lord!
See, then, my brethren, the reward
of the love which is in true sorrow for
sin; it is given a singular kind of pre-.
eminence; 1t is selected above that of
innocence and placed on guard at the
post of honor to receive the first. pub
lie greeting from the Immortal King
of Glory, triumphant over sin forever.
l say public greeting, for doubtless
Jesus visited and greeted His Mother
in private first of all; but this is not
written down for our edification, and
Mary Magdalen's privilege is. Sinners
need encouragement, and certainly
they get 1t today in the honor paid to
their glorious patron, to the woman
who had many sins forgiven her be-
cause she loved much.
say again that sinners need en-
couragement. In truth, there is no
shame so deadly as that which con-
scious guilt brings to the human soul.
There is no degradation like vice-in
fact, there is none other but vice.
Hence many sinners are met with who
do not turn to God and who hold back
from confession and communion be-
cause they are ashamed and afraid. It
is not SO much love of sin as want of
confidence that now hinders them.
They have felt the force of passion as
the slave feels the whip of the slave
driver; or they have repented before
and fallen again, and this fills them
with distrust in themselves; or their
surroundings are constant source of
temptation; or they have been so long
away that the very process of recon-
ciliation to God, the very practice of
the simplest acts of religion have
grown strange to them. These, and
other reasons, varying from mere tim
idity to utter despair, show the need
of strong word of encouragement to
sinners. This is the day for giving
sinners courage to repent.
Oh! let every man and woman par
take of Christ's courage today. All
who are sinners, let them loath and
detest their sins, and let them feel
that If our Lord is with them they can
conquer any passion, resist any temp.
tation, and preserve to the end.
1t is a singular thing that not only
the first. recorded words of our Lord
after His resurrection were addressed
to His favorite child, the great peni-
tent woman of the Gospel, but that the
first interview He had with His dis.
ciples was begun by the institution of
the Sacrament of Penance, the open
door of that city of refuge-our Lords
Sacred Heart. Now is the time, there
fore, most appropriate for the return
to God of all sinners among us. May
our risen Savior give you that Joy If
you have it not, and If you have 1t,