In the Sermon on the Mount, Our Lord called His apostles the salt of the earth, the light of the world.
Matt. 5:3.
We are the salt of the earth in proportion as we are saints. But if the salt has lost its savor, what use has it? “What shall be cleaned by the unclean?”
Ab immundo quid mundabitur? (Eccl. 34:4).
It is only good to be cast out and trampled under foot.
But on the other hand, a genuinely holy apostle, the true salt of the earth, will be a real agent of preservation in that sea of corruption which is human society. As a beacon shining in the night, “the light of the world,” the brightness of his example, even more than the light of his words, will dispel the darkness piled up by the spirit of the world, and will cause to shine forth in splendor the ideal of true happiness which Jesus set forth in the eight beatitudes.
The one thing most likely to induce the faithful to lead a really Christian life is precisely the virtue of the one charged with teaching it. On the other hand, his imperfections are almost infallible in turning people away from God. “For the Name of God, through you, is blasphemed among the gentiles.”
Nomen Dei per vos blasphematur inter gentes (Rom. 2:24).
That is why the apostle ought more often to have the torch of good example in his hands than fine words upon his lips, and should be the first to excel in the practice of the virtues he preaches. A man whose mission it is to preach great things, says St. Gregory, is, by that very fact, bound to perform them.
Qui enim sui loci necessitate exigitur summa dicere, hac eadem necessitate compellitur summa monstrare (St. Gregory the Great: Pastor., ii. c. 3).
It has been pointed out, and with truth, that a physician of the body can heal the sick without being well himself. But to heal souls, a man must himself have a healthy soul, because in order to heal them he has to give them something of himself. Men have every right to be exacting and to ask much of those who offer to teach how to lead a new life. And they are quick to discern if their works measure up to their words, or if the moral theories which they so willingly display are nothing more than a lying front. It is on the basis of their observations in this matter that they will give him their confidence or refuse it.
What power the priest will have, in talking about prayer, if his people see him often in intimate converse with Him who dwells in the Tabernacle, so often forgotten by so many! They will not fail to listen to him, when he preaches penance and hard work, if he is, himself, a hard worker and a man of mortification. When he exhorts them to love one another, he will find them ready to listen to him if he is himself careful to spread throughout his flock the good odor of Christ, and if the gentleness and humility of the divine Exemplar are reflected in his own conduct. “A pattern of the flock from the heart.”
Forma gregis ex animo (1 Ptr. 5:3).
The professor who has no interior life imagines he has done all that is required of him if he keeps within the limits of the program of his examination. But if he is a man of prayer some word will now and again slip out, not only from his lips but from his heart: some sentiment or other will show itself in his expression, some significant gesture will escape him, yes, the mere way he makes the Sign of the Cross, or says a prayer before or after class—even a class in mathematics!—may have a more profound influence on his students than a whole sermon.
A sister in a hospital or an orphanage has the power and the effective means to sow in souls a deep love of our Lord and His teachings, even while remaining prudently within the limits of her duties. But if she has no interior life, she will not even suspect the presence of such a power, or it will not occur to her to do anything more than encourage acts of exterior piety.
Long and frequent discussions did far less to spread Christianity than the sight of Christian conduct, so opposed to the egotism, injustice, and corruption of the pagans. Cardinal Wiseman, in his masterpiece, Fabiola, brings out what a powerful effect the example of the early Christians had upon the souls even of those pagans who were most prejudiced against the new religion. The story shows us the progressive and almost irresistible advance of a soul towards the light. The noble sentiments, the virtues, whether modest or heroic, which the daughter of Fabius found in various persons of all classes and conditions, excited her admiration. But what a change took place in her, what a revelation it was for her soul, when she found out, one by one, that all those whose charity, devotion, modesty, gentleness, moderation, love of justice and chastity she admired, all belonged to that sect which had always been represented to her as worthy of execration. From that time forth she was a Christian.
Is there anyone who can keep himself from exclaiming, on finishing this book: “Oh! If only present-day Catholics, or at least their active workers, had something of this splendid Christian life which the great Cardinal here portrays and which, nevertheless, is nothing but the Gospel put into practice! How irresistible would then be their apostolate among the modern pagans, who are too frequently prejudiced against Catholicism by the calumnies of heretical sects, or repelled by the bitterness of our own answers to our opponents, and by a certain way we sometimes have of asserting our rights in a tone that suggests wounded pride far more than the desire to maintain the interests of Christ!”
What tremendous power there is in the influence radiated by a soul united to God! It was the way Fr. Passerat celebrated Mass that convinced the young Desurmont that he should enter the Congregation of the Most Holy Redeemer—in which he himself was later to achieve such holiness and importance.
The public has a sort of intuition that cannot be fooled. When a real man of God preaches, people come in crowds to hear him. But as soon as the conduct of an apostle ceases to measure up to what is expected of him, no matter how ably his enterprise is run, it will be much harmed, and perhaps ruined beyond recovery.
“Let them see your good works, and glorify your Father who is in heaven.”
Videant opera vestra bona et glorificent Patrem vestrum qui in coelis est (Matt. 5:16).
said Our Lord. Good example is something St. Paul stressed over and over again in writing to his two disciples, Titus and Timothy. “In all things show thyself an example of good works.”
In omnibus teipsum praebe exemplum bonorum operum (Titus 2:7).
“Be thou an example of the faithful in word, in conversion, in charity, in faith, in chastity.”
Exemplum esto fidelium in verbo, in conversatione, in caritate, in fide, in castitate (1 Tim. 4:12).
He himself says: “The thing which you have seen in me, these do you.”
Quae vidistis in me haec agite (Phil. 4:9).
“Be ye followers of me, as I also am of Christ.”
Imitatores mei estote sicut et ego Christi (1 Cor. 11:1).
And these words full of truth sprang from a confidence and a zeal that far from excluded humility, and were of the same kind as those which prompted Our Lord’s own challenge:
“Which of you shall convince me of sin?”
Quis ex vobis arguet me de peccato? (Joan. 8:46).
Under these conditions the apostle, following in the footsteps of Him of whom it is written: “He began to do and to teach”
Coepit facere et docere (Acts 1:1).
will soon become operarium inconfusibilem—“a workman that need not to be ashamed.”
Tim. 2:15.
“Above all, my dear sons,” said Leo XIII, “remember that the indispensable condition of true zeal, and the surest pledge of success is purity and holiness of life.”
Encyclical of H. H. Leo XIII, September 8, 1899.
“A holy, perfect and virtuous man,” said St. Theresa, “actually does far more good to souls than a great many others who are merely better educated or more talented.”
Pius X declared that: “If our own spirit does not submit to the control of a truly Christian and holy way of life, it will be difficult to make others lead a good life.” And he adds, “All those called to a life of Catholic Works ought to be men of a life so spotless that they may give everybody else an effective example.”
Encyclical of H. H. Pius X to the Bishops of Italy, June 11, 1905.
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