Obsequies

“ Give yourself occasion to celebrate the Gift with feasting, not with mourning; let the talent be cultivated, not buried in the ground; let some time intervene between the grace and death, that not only may the account of sins be wiped out, but something better may be written in its place; that you may have not only the Gift, but also the Reward; that you may not only escape the fire, but may also inherit the glory, which is bestowed by cultivation of the Gift. ”

“ I know that this offering which I present to Thee is sufficient to pay Thee for the gifts Thou hast bestowed upon me. This gift of infinite value is of itself worth all the gifts which I have ever received, or ever shall receive, from Thee. Ye holy Angels, and all ye blessed Saints of heaven, help me to thank my God, and offer to Him, in thanksgiving for His blessings to me, not only this, but all the Masses which are at this moment being celebrated throughout the whole world ”

“ We thank Thee, O Holy Ghost, Who art at once the gift and the giver of all gifts, and we most earnestly beseech Thee to give us Thyself. No other gift but Thine own self can satisfy our souls, and having Thee alone we shall have all things. But what can we give Thee in exchange for so great benefits? O blessed Spirit, vouchsafe of Thy mercy to accept for all eternity all our thoughts, all our affections, and all ourselves. ”

“ Do with them as to the world, as thou thinks fit—only, convey grace down to their posterity; let them be pleaders for thee, as I have pleaded for them at the throne of grace: this is all my desire, and would be my comfort to see. O Lord, come this day and smile upon my poor gift, and accept of them. I solemnly stand to all my former engagements, and make a solemn resignation of myself unto thee, and desire to close with thee on thine own terms. ”

“ As if he had openly said, Though I have not outward gifts to offer unto thee, yet will I find in myself that which I may lay on the altar of thy praise; for thou livest not by our gift, but thou art more gladdened by the offering of our hearts. ”

“ I conjure thee, O my God, by the perfect oblation of my divine Saviour on the altar of the cross, to pardon my past ingratitude, and to grant me the inestimable grace of preservation from all mortal sin. But, O my sovereign Benefactor, how shall I thank thee for the precious gift of thy body and blood, which thus enables me to satisfy my obligation V This gift, which the homage of angels and men would be insufficient to acknowledge, can only be repaid by itself. ”

“ How abundant, incomparably valuable, are Thy gifts and blessings! With grateful hearts we render thanks unto Thee for all the gifts of mercy, all the largesses of love, all the boons of wisdom, all the blessings of grace vouchsafed in the year that has passed. Humbly, gratefully reverently, worshipfully we render our thanks unto Thee, we place our living hearts at Thy sacred feet, and we dedicate our adoring souls to Thy Holy Spirit! ”

“ Dear Redeemer, I am, it is true, not worthy that I should come under Thy roof, but Thy grace, which is all-sufficient, make me worthy and amply qualify me, that the precious food and drink of Thy true body and blood may quicken my soul in this heavenly feast of joy and love. Clothe me with the garment of salvation and with the robe of Thy righteousness by a true faith, that I may not be found among the pretending guests and would-be-Christians, but may be a worthy partaker at Thy table and receive all Thy gracious treasures which Thou hast acquired for me. ”

“ That the giver be moved for no other cause to give, but to shew and exercise his bounty and liberality: the more perfectly and purely these conditions are found in any gift, the more perfect and pure is the gift. Now all these do most exactly agree to those gifts of God, which pertaine unto life and godlinesse. ”

“ As every gift my brothers give is mine, so every gift I give belongs to me. Each one allows a past mistake to go, and leave no shadow on the holy mind my Father loves. His grace is given me in every gift a brother has received throughout all time, and past all time as well. My treasure house is full, and angels watch its open doors that not one gift is lost, and only more are added. ”

“ It is His birthday and we have come together to bring Him our gifts. We have brought "white gifts" because they are the expression of our pure, unselfish love.
The Wise Men brought gold, and we have brought our gifts of substance—money and food and clothing and things that will help to make others comfortable and happy.
The Wise Men brought frankincense, and we bring gifts of service; for each one of us desires to do some one thing all during the year that will make for good and make us worthy followers of Him.
The Wise Men brought myrrh, and we bring devotion; for we bring the gift of self. ”

“ I have learned of Thee, my God, to distinguish betwixt a gift, and fruit. A gift, is the thing itself which he gives, that imparts these necessaries unto us; as money, meat, drink, clothing, shelter, help: but the fruit, is the good and right will of the giver. ”

“ That one gift is, as the Apostle puts it in one of his eloquent epithets, 'the manifold grace of God,' which word in the original is even more rich and picturesque, because it means the 'many-variegated' grace—like some rich piece of embroidery glowing with all manner of dyes and gold. So the one gift comes to us manifold, rich in its adaptation to, and its exquisite fitness for, the needs of the moment. ”

“ For they that give gifts do not of their own head give them to the widows, but barely bring them in, calling them free-will offerings, that so thou that knowest those that are in affliction mayest as a good steward give them their portion of the gift. ”

“ And here I would ask my friend and reader, the often-much-perplexed-giver-and-receiver of gifts, whether, quite apart even from those dreadful smothered tragedies of one's childhood, there are, among the trifling false positions of life, many false positions more painful than that of choosing a gift which one knows is not wanted, unless it be the more painful position still of receiving a gift which one would tip any one to take away? ”

“ I hope God will reward you with the choicest gifts of his kingdom, and when the final summons is made and you stand in the open doorway of his love, bathed in the purity of the sparkling dew in the evening time of life, may the sweetness of your character come wafting gently in the fulness of its beauty and dwell amidst all that is holy, sweet and sacred. ”

“ Send down, then, upon me, O my Lord, out of the heaven of Thy bounty what will draw me nearer unto the chalice of Thy gifts, and make me able to quaff the choice sealed Wine, Whose seal hath been loosed in Thy name, and from Which the sweet savors of Thy days have been shed abroad. Thou, in truth, art the All-Bountiful, Whose grace is infinite.
The whole universe testifieth to Thy generosity. Have mercy, then, upon me by Thy graciousness, and deal bountifully with me through the power of Thy sovereignty, and suffer me to enjoy near access to Thee by Thy manifold favors. ”

“ God sends His Son, and in that one gift, like a box 'wherein sweets compacted lie,' are all the gifts that even His hand can bestow, or our desires require. So be sure that you have what you have, and that you suck out of the Rose of Sharon all the honey that lies deep in its calyx. Expand your desires to the width of Christ's great mercies; for the measure of our wishes is the limit of our possession. ”

“ God's Delight in Love Gifts Is it not in order to reveal the heart of God? To show His delight in the loving offerings of His servants? The record is not tedious to Him; and it becomes marvelously interesting to us, when we get the key, and are brought into sympathy with the heart of Him who finds infinite satisfaction in each gift, of each one of His children, which is the outcome of gratitude and love. ”

“ Yet this the need of woman, this her curse:
To range her little gifts, and give, and give,
Because the throb of giving’s sweet to bear.
To you, who never begged me vows or verse,
My gift shall be my absence, while I live ”

“ Oh! that we but knew the gifts of God, the Holy Ghost, the Comforter. Friends bestow their gifts and depart, but the Almighty Friend abideth with His gifts for ever in the faithful soul. {116} The gifts of men wear out and tarnish, and the rust and moth corrupt them; but the gifts of God are as incorruptible and as unchangeable and as eternally bright and beautiful as His own divine, unchangeable life. ”

“ If we must make any presents from a sense of duty, let it be on birthdays, on wedding-days, on other anniversaries,—never on the anniversary of the Great Gift to the World. If the spirit of good will to man does not prompt the giving, that giving is in vain. ”

“ That careless gift to the beggar in the street, or to someone who asks us for a gift—is it not constantly, not really to help that person, but to ease our own minds and consciences? It is really given to ourselves. ”

“ Every gift has its return of praise. It awakens an unceasing daily converse with our Father,—He speaking to us by the descent of blessings, we to Him by the ascent of thanksgiving. And all our whole life is thereby drawn under the light of His countenance, and is filled with a gladness, serenity, and peace which only thankful hearts can know. ”

“ For it is right for the man who would shew mercy to make his gift gladly and with a good eye.”
And they also spoke the following: “There is a difference between the gifts which exist in various souls. ”

“ It is contrary to first principles: if we saw a man pretending to make an offering to us, in which he had economized in every possible manner, should we be disposed to receive his gift with the same feelings as for another who poured out his offering in a heartfelt and abundant manner? ”

“ Father says, in this book, what joy has a man in bestowing a gift upon a person, when the receiver of the gift has no joy in the giver? The joy should be in the giver as well as in the gift. Take the gift and use it for the purpose for which it was designed, and do not worship it, but worship the giver and the proper authority. ”

“ SANCTIFY, O Lord, we beseech thee, these gifts which we offer thee in this solemnity of thy holy servant, and so strengthen us by thy grace, that both in prosperity and adversity our ways may be ever directed to thy honour: through our Lord Jesus Christ. ”

“ We can take our good gifts and our perfect gifts and hand them up! We can anticipate their being taken from us by giving them. We can give them as men who know whence they have been received, and where they will be held in trust for us—not grudgingly nor of necessity, as the Bible tells us, for God loveth a cheerful giver. ”

“ Of course it is difficult to distinguish between the actions which come from the radiant outpouring of every species of good gift in mere wealth of joyful human love springing from vivid sense of Divine love, which we see in earnest preachers of all ages, from the gift which is meant to be, and felt to be, a bribe. In many cases, probably, the gifts comprise a mixture of love and a purpose to attract, which it would be impossible to separate. ”

“ In truth each animal had its special signification; as may sufficiently appear from the fact that one was never offered in the place of another; and that those were expressly named which should be offered in the daily burnt-offerings and sacrifices, in those of the Sabbaths and feasts, in the freewill offerings, in the offerings of vows and of thanksgivings, in the trespass and sin offerings, and which were to be used in offerings for purification. ”

“ The Heart of Jesus has done all these good offices for me, and the time has come to make payment. I owe gratitude, I owe thanksgiving, I owe sorrow, I owe reparation — I owe an act of love and thanksgiving for each of those times that the Sacred Heart made those acts for me. ”

“ The rule is that whatever gift, ordinary or extraordinary, whatever power, ability, or capacity of doing good is given to us, we should minister, or do service, with the same one to another, accounting ourselves not masters, but only stewards of the manifold grace, or the various gifts, of God. Learn, [1.] Whatever ability we have of doing good we must own it to be the gift of God and ascribe it to his grace. [2.] Whatever gifts we have received, we ought to look upon them as received for the use one of another. ”

“ We are, therefore, able to be pleasing to Him by the good-will and the affection of our soul. For by consecrating ourselves to Him we not only declare our open and free acknowledgment and acceptance of His authority over us, but we also testify that if what we offer as a gift were really our own, we would still offer it with our whole heart. ”

“ Note, Many are brought to gross lying, by reigning pride, and affectation of the applause of men; particularly in works of charity to the poor. That therefore we may not be found boasting of a false gift given to us, or given by us, (Prov. 25, 14.) we must not boast even of a true gift; which is the meaning of our Saviours caution in works of charity, Let not thy left hand know what thy right hand doeth. ”

“ If we need a gift and a blessing, he knows when to bestow it upon us. This ought to comfort us; it ought to cause us to rejoice and be glad, and our hearts to be filled with thanksgiving continually before the Lord our God for his abundant mercy and kindness unto us his children. ”

“ And though the recipients of this unstinted devotion rarely appear to appreciate the gift so lavishly bestowed, it must be recorded, for the honour of human nature, that instances of the contrary do occur. ”

“ If the Giver is not all that and more to you, never will His gifts be in your eyes as precious and as dear as they should be, and not long will you remember them. It is the question of the Psalmist, "Who is wise, and will keep these things in mind, and will understand the mercies of the Lord?" ”

“ At other times you will reflect upon the many and singular graces which they have received from their Sovereign Creator, kindling in yourself lively affections of love and joy for those precious gifts with which they are enriched, rejoicing as if all those gifts had been bestowed upon yourself. ”