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SERMON LII.

TWENTIETH SUNDAY AFTER PENTECOST.

On the effects of scandal

SERMON LIII.

Page 216

TWENTY-FIRST SUNDAY AFTER PENTECOST

On the means of conforming to our baptismal

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FESTIVAL OF ALL SAINTS.

On imitating the example of the Saints

SERMON LVIII.

284

On the marks of the church of Christ

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SERMON LIX.

On irreverence in the house of God .. Page 315

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Charity Sermon preached for the benefit of the Catholic Schools attached to the Virginiastreet Chapel, in the year 1799

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SERMON XXXIV.

SECOND SUNDAY AFTER PENTECOST.

ON THE FUTILITY OF THE EXCUSES ALLEGED FOR ABSENCE FROM COMMUNION.

A certain man made a great supper, and invited many. (Luke, xiv. 16.)

THE parable, which our blessed Saviour addressed to the Pharisees admits of different explications. By some it is understood as referring to the great mystery of the Word incarnate, who came into this world for the salvation of man. By others it is interpreted, as expressive of that everlasting bliss and ineffable glory, which Jesus Christ has merited for mankind, by the effusion of his precious blood. By the church, who has chosen it for this Sunday, it is here applied to the sacrament of the altar; to that banquet, which our Lord prepares for his servants, giving them his body and blood for the nourishment of their souls; for his flesh is meat indeed, and his blood is drink indeed.

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(John, vi. 56.) Yes, my brethren, it is indeed a great supper, to which we are invited, whether we consider the dignity of him, who makes us his guests, or the excellence of the food which is offered to us in this banquet. A God made man for our sake, calls us to his sacred table, and gives himself for our food and nourishment. Great God! what must be the excess of thy love for us thy creatures-what thy condescension, thus to humble thyself for the love of man?

But what must be the guilt of those, who either spurn at this loving kindness to their God, by rejecting his invitation, or who come to his feast in such manner as to display the utmost contempt of the Lord of Glory! I shall endeavour to rouse the former from their fatal lethargy, by proving to them the futility of every pretext which they employ to justify their neglect, and to awaken in the latter a salutary dread and remorse, by shewing, at least in some degree, the enormity of their conduct, who presume to approach to this holy sacrament without suitable dispositions; who eat and drink unworthily, not discerning the body of the Lord.

Jesus, who on account of his great love for man, is often named in the Holy Scriptures, the Son of Man, has left in the church, which he established on earth, a great sacrament, a pledge

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