The Bridgeport evening farmer. [volume] (Bridgeport, Conn.) 1866-1917, 1909-05-01
BRILLIANT EFFORT BY
FATHER WALSH AT
ST. MARY'S
''The Mercy of God" His
Theme and Its Treatment
Was Masterful.

Was Masterful.
Story of the Prodigal anC
the Magdalen Recited
Hope for Salvation of Sin
ners Based Upon God :
Life and Promises.
Again last night ST. Mary's church
was crowded with men who are at
tending the Paulist mission. 18th,
Mercy of God" was the topic which
| Father William T. Walsh took for hi
text. His treatment of the theme wa:
| most profound. He said in part:
During the past week, my dear
brethren, we have endeavored to make
you realize more fully the claims OF
God upon your souls, and your solemn
duty to respect those claims. Duty
always noble is, nevertheless, a stern
matter. But tonight we come to a
subject that is quite foreign to stern
ness. 1t is a subject dear to the hearts
of all, to the people and missionaries
alike, for it gives us the best view of
our religion and our God, and in so
doing it elevates duty by consecrating
it to love.
If we wished to say in a few words
what God is, we could do no better
than to repeat the words of ST. John:
God is love, and he that abideth in
love, abideth in God and God in him. -
God is love, my dear men. AS God of
love, He has manifested Himself to us;
as God of love, He desires to reign in
His kingdom, which is your hearts; as
God of love He desires to be known
to the whole world. And our mission
to you would be a failure, and we
should be unworthy disciples of Christ,
false teachers of His doctrine. unless
at our departure we leave this thought
first and foremost in your minds,
namely, that God is a God of love and
mercy and pardon.
The Sacred Scriptures, my dear
brethren, abound with passages where
in God tries to make us realize the
heights and the depths of His infinite
love. Can a woman" He says, "for-
get her infant, and cease to have pity
on her own child? but even though
she should forget, yet will not for
get thee"
Now what is greater than true
mothers love? What is so consoling,
so enduring, so encouraging, SO forgiv-
ing?
What is greater? What is more pow
erful to win our love in return? Yet
God tells us His love is far greater. 1t
is possible that the ingratitude Of the
child to the parent becomes so great
and SO long continued. as actually to
fountains of love and fill their place
with bitterness.
Not so with God whose love is infin-
lite. Sinful though you be, He is ever
mindful that you are His children; and
His arms are outstretched in mercy, to
receive you when you return;~to par
don all your offences; and make you
again a child of your Heavenly Father.
God so loved the world, my dear
brethren, that He lie His only be-
gotten Son to die for it, and it Is in
the life and death of that Divine Son
that we see Gods love best revealed
Jesus left His heavenly home to come
to earth and be q man, for love of you
and me. and He lived our life with all
its trials and hardships and sorrows
As a young man, He learned His
fathers trade, and became carpen-
ter; His hands were hardened by the
mallet and chise1; His noble counten-
ance was burned and tanned by expo
sure to the Eastern sun and storm. In
the sweat of His brow, He earned His
daily bread. Thus He supported His
for us tore Him from her, and He went
forth to win the hearts of men by
showing them the greatness of His
love.
Who will tell the heart-aches of that
parting? Oh, how eager was Mary to
follow Him. and show her love for
Him in those days to come. when it
seemed the whole world had turned
against Him. But this happiness and
were denied them both.
by the work of her hands, or perhaps
on the charity of her friends. and des-
citation came and abode in her bosom.
At times, she heard reports of her
Boy; how pale and thin He looked;
how worn out by trials and long fast
ings, and whole nights spent in pray
ar. And she yearned to behold Him; to
minister to His wants; to soothe His
fevered brow; to rest His head on that
same mothers breast, where it has
so often nestled as she lulled Him into
peaceful sleep. But they
never met again. Once she beheld
crowd; once again she saw, Him, rails
ed on high, nailed to a cross.
And she knelt to receive Him, with
arms, at the foot of the
cross that kept Him from her fond en-
brace. And when at last they took
Him down, and gave Him to His moth
er, she clasped Him to her virgin |
breast, and there He lay, cold and 81
ent and still. Her throbbing heart
could not arouse Him, and the warmth
Of all her passionate kisses could not
Danish the icy hand of death that
pressed upon His brow.
This would be Mary's answer, if we
could ask her to tell us Of Jesus love
'or sinners. 1t was greater than the |
owe of the Virgin Mother for her only |
SON; greater than the dove of the only |
Son for His Virgin Mother.
Having told the story of the Prodi- |
gal Son, Father Walsh said: 81 love |
% think, my dear brethren, that Mary |
Magdalen was one of those who stood |
IN the outskirts of little crowd and |
heard Jesus tell the story Of the Prodi- |
raj Son 1t must have seemed to her |
hat Jesus was telling the story of her |
,wn soul; the story of her sins; of her
'traying away from God; of her
vretchedness and remorse, almost des-
pair. She yearned to give up her i'm
lure life and come back to God, and
he mercy of Jesus showed her the /
way, and made her courageous. AS if /
W magic, a change came over her. AS
he prodigal son sought his father, SO
Iary sought Jesus. She found Him at
banquet surrounded by His enemies.
lie looked at her, one look of merciful
,ardoning love- Then publicly, she
AIRED not if the whole world knew, she
ell before her Jesus; kissed His sa-
red feet; washed them with her tears;
ried them with her hair. Then she
o,-d the words r,ardOn SD0len nv |