Justus

“ And certain believing men took his body, and prepared it for burial, and they buried it by the sanctuary. Salutation to James the Apostle and martyr of Christ.
And on this day also Saint Justus became a martyr. This saint was the son of Nomarius (Numerianus) , the Emperor of Rome. And having gone to the war, and having married the sister of Diocletian, the infidel, his wife made him king; and when Justus returned from the war, and found that Diocletian had denied Christ, he sorrowed with a very great sorrow because of it. ”

“ Yet if ever a man merited good treatment of the Gods it was the Reverend Justus, one time of Heidelberg, who, on the faith of a call, went into the wilderness and took the blonde, blue-eyed Lotta with him. ”

“ Justus had been opposed to my coming to New York. Even now he feared for my safety; I was in danger of being kidnapped and taken to Buffalo, he thought, and he strongly urged a body-guard for me. It was good to see him so concerned, and I sought to humor him. His old friends, among them Ed and Claus, often gathered in his place to cheer him. We all knew that Death was daily creeping nearer and that before long he would claim his toll.
Early one morning Ed called to tell me that the end had come. I was asked to be one of the speakers at the funeral of Justus, but I felt compelled to refuse. ”

“ And when the time came for him to depart from this transient world to the world of the Living, [he called to him] his other sons, that is to say, Justus, and Judah, and Josa, and Jacob, and his three daughters, and he gave them commandments and embraced them, and stretched out his hands and delivered up his soul into the hand of God, and inherited everlasting life. ”

“ How startling to come across that name, borne by this obscure Christian! How it helps us to feel the humble manhood of Christ, by showing us that many another Jewish boy bore [390] the same name; common and undistinguished then, though too holy to be given to any since. His surname Justus may, perhaps, like the same name given to James, the first bishop of the Church in Jerusalem, hint his rigorous adherence to Judaism, and so may indicate that, like Paul himself, he came from the straitest sect of their religion into the large liberty in which he now rejoiced. ”

“ Augustine made Mellitus and Justus bishops; and of his death. [604 a.d.] Chap. IV. How Laurentius and his bishops admonished the Scots to observe the unity of the Holy Church, particularly in keeping of Easter; and how Mellitus went to Rome. Chap. V. How, after the death of the kings Ethelbert and Sabert, their successors restored idolatry; for which reason, both Mellitus and Justus departed out of Britain. [616 a.d.] Chap. VI. How Laurentius, being reproved by the Apostle Peter, converted King Eadbald to Christ; and how the king soon recalled Mellitus and Justus to preach the Word. ”

“ Aristarchus my fellow-prisoner saluteth you, and Mark, the cousin of Barnabas (touching whom ye received commandments; if he come unto you, receive him) , and Jesus, which is called Justus, who are of the circumcision: these only are my fellow-workers unto the kingdom of God, men that have been a comfort unto me. Epaphras, who is one of you, a servant of Christ Jesus, saluteth you, always striving for you in his prayers, that ye may stand perfect and fully assured in all the will of God. ”

“ Such wholesome truths as these and many more did Juvenal press home upon his generation. And he speaks no less to all humanity; for the problems of human life and conduct are not peculiar to any age, but are always and everywhere the same.
We have now reviewed two centuries of Roman preachers, and it may naturally be asked, "What was their influence upon the Roman world?" No direct results are traceable to their efforts. Society went on its accustomed course ”

“ It is not for us, who have received so great a favour at his hands, to criticise his scholarship, as some have done,—as does one writer who says, speaking of one of his mental tendencies, "The other, derived from his Jesuit training, showed itself in his merely rhetorical or verbal view of classical literature, of which the one interest lay in its style," Neither need we concern ourselves with his tendency to change his religious point of view,—now Jesuit, now Lutheran, now Calvinist, now Romanist. ”

“ Perhaps the appeal of Juvenal that comes most powerfully to the present generation, and contains the most solemn lesson for us, is his warning to fathers and mothers that all unconsciously to them their sons and daughters are following in their footsteps, bound to copy them, and reproduce their faults in later life. The presence of a child is as sacred as a temple shrine, and should be as carefully guarded from every profaning influence. ”

“ Somewhat earlier than this, though within the same generation, Paul the apostle to the Gentiles, the preacher of that dark age, had written a letter to the infant Christian church at Rome in which he had drawn a terrible picture of what human society can become when it has thrown off all checks and abandoned itself to profligacy. ”

“ Circumcision impressed an indelible mark on the body; Baptism does the same to the soul. The difference lies in this, that circumcision could not, like Baptism, cleanse man from sin, and make him pure and holy of heart.
Heaven. God gives Himself to the blessed as their reward exceeding great. They gaze for ever on His infinite majesty, and are eternally united to Him in love and happiness. Oh, what joy to possess God Himself, who is infinite goodness, beauty and holiness. Could God give us more than Himself? ”

“ The Lord did not leave His miserable people without comfort, but gave them through Jeremias the assurance that He had not finally rejected them, but would restore them to His favour, and institute a new and higher covenant with them. ”

“ Jesus is the Messias and Lawgiver of the New Testament. The apparition of Moses and Elias proved Jesus to be the Messias to whom the law and the prophets pointed. They paid homage to Him as their Lord, Who had fulfilled the law and the prophets, and Who by His impending death would release the holy men of the Old Covenant from Limbo, and admit them into heaven. The Voice of the heavenly Father proclaimed Jesus to be the Founder and Lawgiver of the New Covenant, the teaching of which all men are bound to believe, and the commandments of which they are bound to obey. ”

“ Will you choose God, the most gracious, the most holy God, the source of true joy and of all noble happiness, His grace, His friendship, and His heaven so full of inconceivable bliss; or will you choose the prince of darkness, the liar and the murderer from the beginning, and the sinful pleasures which are all that he holds out to you? ”

“ Who can contemplate the Sufferings of Jesus without being moved to contrition and hatred of sin? Who does not feel constrained to love God, when he remembers that the Father gave His Son, and the Son gave His Life for our sakes? This brings us to the consideration of the second reason why the chalice was not removed. Our Blessed Lord drank its bitterness to the very dregs, to kindle the fire of divine love in the hearts of men. There is no one sufficiently degraded not to appreciate, and in a measure to feel grateful for, any sacrifice made for his sake. ”

“ If you do not love Him with every power that you possess, you do not love Him enough. And how do you show your love for God? Have you a horror and hatred of sin? Would you rather die than commit a mortal sin? ”

“ The more we deny ourselves and resist our natural desires, the more holy and strong will be our wills, and the less shall we shrink from any burden or danger which could advance God’s glory and the good of our neighbour. The High Priest was right when he said to Judith: “Thou hast done manfully, because thou hast loved chastity” (Judith 15, 11) .
d) Love of her country. Judith knew that the Temple and her country were in extreme danger, and it was to save them that she went unprotected into the enemy’s camp, and placed herself in what was, apparently, imminent danger of death. ”

“ I mean thus, that as in a Man the whole Body suffers, when possibly only the hand, or groin, or belly has offended: So is it in great Societies. All many times do account for the faults of a few: Especially if those that have sinned are (as it were) the more principal members; as Kings, Princes, and Magistrates. Hesiod spake truly, and from the most inward recess of Wisdom it self. ”

“ Thou hast the words of eternal life, words of eternal truth which lead men to eternal life. And even if we cannot understand the mysterious words which Thou hast spoken, still we do not doubt them, but believe them, because we have believed and, through faith, have known that Thou art Christ the Son of God. ”

“ Next to Joseph, Juda was the best of Jacob’s sons. He saved Joseph from death, saying: “It is better he be sold than that our hands be defiled, for he is our brother.” He made himself surety for Benjamin, and when Joseph wished to keep the latter as a slave, he said: “I will stay, instead of the boy; for, if he is not with us, we shall bring our father’s grey hairs with sorrow to the grave.” Juda was rewarded for this generous conduct; for his tribe was the dominant one, and of it was born the Saviour. “Honour thy father in work and word and all patience. ”

“ We learn by this vow of Jacob that, even in quite ancient days, God-fearing men used to make vows to God, and that He was well pleased with such holy vows; for He gave Jacob everything for which he prayed, when he made that vow.
Diligence. Jacob served his uncle diligently and faithfully. All who love and fear God try to fulfil faithfully the duties of their state of life. Diligence is a virtue, if we are working, each one in his state, for the glory of God. Sloth is a sin, and one of the seven capital sins.
The efficacy of penance. ”

“ Now, after God had become Man, would He have removed Himself further from us than He was from the Israelites? Are we to have no dwelling-place of God in our midst? Is nothing to be left to us Christians but the bare memory of God made Man? No! It would be inconceivable that God, after His Incarnation, should be less approachable than He was before it! Jesus Christ would not leave us orphans ”

“ What a terrible misfortune if you found yourself on the left hand, cursed and rejected by your Lord, separated from those dear to you, and cast into everlasting fire with the devils! To be rejected and cursed by Jesus, and separated for ever from God, who is the source of all happiness, would be such a terrible disaster, that we cannot even picture it to ourselves! ”

“ See how zealous the apostles were for God’s glory! Do you rather seek God’s glory than your own? Are you not full of vanity about your capabilities? Suppress every movement of vanity; say nothing in praise of yourself, and often renew this intention in all your actions: “O Jesus, I will do everything for Thee!” ”

“ Ought not the three young men to have obeyed the king’s command? Ought they not to have said to themselves: “It would not be right to offend the king, who has been so good to us, and who has entrusted us with important posts. We will, therefore, outwardly conform to his wishes, and prostrate ourselves; but in our hearts we will despise the idol, and worship the true God?” ”

“ What do you gain by the display of a Corvinus in your big family roll, or by your affinity with smoke-begrimed Masters of the Horse, if you live a life of shame in the very face of the Lepidi?... No, though time-honored waxen likenesses adorn the length and breadth of your hall, still virtue is the sole and only nobility. Be a Paulus, a Cossus, or a Drusus in character. Rank that above the statues of your ancestors. The first thing you are bound to show me is a good heart. If by word and deed you deserve the character of a blameless man, one who cleaves to the right—good: I recognize the noble ”

“ There are two Persons, indeed, I and the Father; but only One Being, One God. The same truth of the unity of nature of the Father and the Son is further expressed by the words: “The Father is in Me, and I in the Father.” ”

“ By God’s will the running waters of the Jordan rose up like rocks; at His bidding the strong walls of Jericho fell down; and by His command the light of day was prolonged. Nothing can resist God’s omnipotence, nothing can hinder the workings of divine Providence. ”

“ If Stephen and other Saints could obtain so much from God by their prayers even while they were on earth, how much more efficacious must their prayers be now that they are in heaven and united by love to God? ”

“ What is this holiest sacrifice, most pleasing to God? It is Jesus Christ Himself, who once sacrificed Himself on the Cross in a bloody manner, and who continually offers Himself for us in the holy Mass in an unbloody manner. ”

“ But while we contemplate this sorrowful picture, let us not forget that sin alone is responsible for the torments of Jesus, and the sorrow of His Mother. Let us awaken within us a deep sense of contrition, and a heartfelt horror of our own sins; and let us make a firm resolution never again to commit a wilful sin! ”

“ ENTRANCE OF THE ISRAELITES INTO THE PROMISED LAND.
[Jos. 1—24.]
AFTER the death of Moses, the Lord spoke to Josue: “My servant Moses is dead; arise and pass over this Jordan [1] , thou and the people with thee. I will deliver to thee every place which the sole of your foot shall tread upon. No man shall be able to resist thee all the days of thy life.” Encouraged by these promises the people advanced towards the Jordan. When they reached its banks [2] , Josue ordered the priests to take the Ark of the Lord, and go before the people. ”