The Bridgeport times and evening farmer., 1920-12-15


 the masterly tribute paid by the ven- erable Father Chidwick to the late Father T. B. Smith, at the solemn requiem services for the latter in the quests have been received for pub 7 s1ication of tn sermon in full, both from parishioners who heard 1t and wished to preserve the words as a permanent memento of their hate pastor, and from many who were unable to gain admittance to the church. a~t
 In addition to the extracts printed yesterday. Father Chadwick said:
 '@who would have thought some three years ago. when this little church was opened to the devotion resounded with beautiful hymns to God, and on this altar clad in the robes of his priesthood stood the be- loved leader and pastor about whom you gathered and unto whom & you who would have thought that SC soon these walls would re-echo with ;he solemn chant of his requiem that this church would be draped ID mourning symbolic of the loss, and that the good Bishop, who had sent him here SO hopeful and so confident would come to chant the mass that would accompany his departure from as forever?
 -- t.'In looking upon the going of our oeloed, untimvely and broken as II seems to us in our limited vision with the light of faith, we see hte not ended but begun, work not un- finished but rewarded, time giving va yto eternity, labor giving way .o .eward. God has accepted his ire york God has given him greater -eward for his intention. instead o1 waiting for the execu ton. Goo mas called him unto Himself that the re- ward that is to come to nm may nay not be of this life but of the ire .s His Reward Eternal
 ..As we look back and see his rears of sacrifice, hardship ana toll' ind see the rest and comfort Wnicn ripht have been his, we cannot but ,eel that there has not been d Jol Tor a tittle of that recompense Whicn ne deserved but which God mas re Ierved for him in his reward 5n II ternity. Oh, happy ana .Pa Piessra fr,,it of he days when we reap the IruaI o,, Tl ,ur labor on earth, hut how much happier must. be that eternlty - II T which God gives to us a. tnousanau . U F,old the reward for the sacrll'es we lave madei IA S
 Lived for Christ
 "As we stand here sorrowing at tne oss we have suffered, it is not TOT me who had laid down forever tne t ,tjects of his life, who has nVed I n0a
  rather around one who has the true nirit of the priest of God Aim1snty, rno lived for Christ that his peoPle night be with him here about the ne litar and there about te thr9ne Of Sod Almighty.
 while our Holy Church shrouds his edifice in mourning expressive if her sense of loss, and whlie our ,oly faith permits us to give e1-pFes- ion to the pain that is in our souls' loss lis but ours He is not dead out ives in the glory of His Master, pray ng and touching our lives with q loiier and higher influence ana :reater power than when ne was Iere.
 Ours Is not the inconsolable sor- Dw. not the tearse taht connt De wiped away. We fe1 the human n ouch taht we have lost, the wound n our hearts but at the same ulie' vith the light of Heaven streaming .ipon him, giving him sweetness ana .alm joy, we cannot but be conhdent hat he has gone unto an exceeoliiS neat reward.
 How can there be any other bought in the soul of a priest than giving to Christ of all he had ana lying to gain the reward TOT all ne ias sacrificed2 That, We know, was he overruling spirit of our beloved 3e lived disinterestedly for Jesus Christ. The love of the things oi Christ was the only love in his heart ,'ace his life. from the very 5peShl- ling and you find absolute deVo In p the ideals of the priesthood to the md The priests dignity is great lis responsibility is great. The re ponsibility of the priest for every pul committed to his charge, for the roper discharge of those sacred mces which are committed to hN ore. the sacred manner in which the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass should b, ffered, that care with which pent- ents kneeling at his feet should De reated, that affection with VT Wnlci aI II times greet and speak to his peo lie. how often poo" human nature priest as well as layman. VII ruse us to waver from the higt isndard that these. sacred ohilte' rouire and render him unaccounta' Ie for human weakness before the brone. of God Almighty. We ough p- pray for him. as we pray for every ~n.,Ire, who has gone through llle Jc has entered into his eternal re sra it is our confident hope, bu tovertheless if there be a time O ntrgntion, through which he mus tpss before he can drink in the pre- cnce of God Almighty. may we b! ar prayers and our charity shorter hat time.
 His Last Sermon.
 He would net have us speak euio astically of his life, but rather thu nrscn of his death. He spoke tt ou many times from the altar. warn ng you, pleading with you, tt lcarken to the voice of God, know ng not the hour in which God migh six the return for. the gift of Tiff. nd opportunity which he has glvei II of us: Now, he speaks to you hi ist sad lesson, he pleads with yol his last prayer. There, dead be orc YOU. untimely dead in the servic f God for you, if you will, he bring ome to you more powerfully thal yer the lesson every good life speaks Nc lesson that Gods call might com any of us like thief in the nigh nd all our hopes and ambitions, how Ger worthy they might seem, wou' e scattered and broken. Are ther ny here 10 whom he has spokel nd who have not been heedful of hi rarning? Are there any here Wh ave hardened their hearts to tha pice of a good pastor, who spoke t sem Sunday after Sunday to war .n,, tho things of God Oh,