Now they find that the merit of each action done, each suffering borne for Him, has been carefully stored up.

"_Enter thou into the joy of thy Lord._" It is His joy, His interest, His glory that the faithful servant has studied on earth, now he shall share them for ever.

"_He that had received the one talent came and said: Lord, I know that Thou art a hard man_" expecting the impossible, "_and being afraid I went and hid Thy talent in the earth; behold here Thou hast that which is Thine._" He could have traded and made _cent per cent_ as the others had done and earned the "_Euge_" ("Well done!") He not only did not do this, but he put all the blame on his Master Who with such care had given him just the talent that was suited to his ability. He was _afraid_, he said, afraid of what? Of his Master because He was hard and unjust? No, this was only an excuse, he knew his Master and he knew it was not true. What he was afraid of was hard work, effort, ceaseless watching against temptation. It was far less irksome to bury the talent and live a life of ease, letting things just take their course, and hoping all would come out right in the end; but at the end things were not right, for he had nothing to give to his Master, the one talent _was_ the Master's, he knew that quite well: "Behold here Thou hast that which is Thine."

"_Wicked and slothful servant_"--wicked, because he had robbed G.o.d of His rights; slothful, because he would not raise a finger to serve his Master.

"_Take ye away therefore the talent from him and give it him that hath ten._" It is a solemn thought that a grace refused by one may be handed on to another who is more faithful.

"_To everyone that hath shall be given_" is a principle of the Kingdom.

He ever giveth "grace for grace" (St. John I. 16). For every grace used He gives "more grace"--"he shall abound."

"_From him that hath not, that also which he seemeth to have shall be taken away._" There is such a thing as a last grace, a last opportunity.

G.o.d has nowhere pledged Himself to give the grace of repentance; grace is ever a free gift and He is not unjust if He withholds it. I can never say: I will sin and repent after! To sin is in my power, but to repent is not. Our Lord speaks of sinners filling up the measure of their iniquity (St. Matt. XXIII. 32). Had Herod reached the limit, filled up the measure? Is that why Our Lord refused to speak to him? We do not know, but we do know that it is possible for a sinner to sin to such an extent--not necessarily by gross sin, but by steadily refusing G.o.d's grace and the opportunities offered to him--that what he has, that is, his opportunities, will be taken from him.

"_The unprofitable servant cast ye out into the exterior darkness._" He ever shunned the light and now it will _never_ be his. He was _unprofitable_, that was his sin, he did nothing for his Master. All sins, however terrible, will be forgiven if the sinner turns to G.o.d and repents, because his repentance shows that he is "trading," though he may often fail in his business; but the unprofitable servant carries on no trade with G.o.d at all, he leaves Him out altogether. There is nothing for G.o.d to do but to leave him out in the "exterior darkness" which he has deliberately chosen.

_Colloquy_ with the Master, Who though He is a "long time" coming, is never far from those who are trading for Him.

_Resolution._ Never to leave the Master out of anything I do.

_Spiritual Bouquet._ "Well done good and faithful servant!"

STIR UP!

"I think it meet ... to stir you up by putting you in remembrance."

(2 Pet. I. 13).

_1st. Prelude._ Paul writing to Timothy: "Stir up the grace of G.o.d which is in thee" (2 Tim. I. 6).

_2nd. Prelude._ Grace to stir myself up this Advent.

On the Sunday before Advent and nine times during the Advent Ma.s.ses, the Church puts on the lips of her children this prayer: _Stir up, O Lord_.

Let us try in this Meditation to catch her spirit which runs all through the Advent season and see what it is that she wants G.o.d to stir up.

POINT I. HIS OWN MIGHT.

We ask Him during Advent to stir up His might for four different reasons.

(1) _To protect and deliver us._ "Stir up Thy might, we beseech Thee O Lord and come: that by Thy protection we may deserve to be delivered from the threatening dangers of our sins and by Thy deliverance be saved." (The "Collect" for Advent Sunday.)

We ask Him to show His might by _protecting_ us from dangers and by _delivering_ us from sin. We want to spend a good Advent, we want to prepare well for His Coming, then there rise up before us the "threatening dangers of our sins"--those old temptations that are sure to come back again as soon as we begin to put forth fresh effort. Are we to be discouraged, to dread them, to say we are sure to fall again, and thus give the enemy a hold over us? No, but to believe that our G.o.d Who is coming will protect us in the day of battle, that though to humiliate and to strengthen us, He may still permit the temptations, yet He will Himself be our shield and buckler, and will deliver us if we trust in His strength and not in our own--"Stir up Thy might, O Lord, and come to protect and deliver."

(2) _To free us from adversity._ "Stir up Thy power, we beseech Thee O Lord and come, that they who confide in Thy mercy may be more speedily freed from all adversity" (The "Collect" for Friday in Ember week).

The adversity from which the Church prays to be freed here is probably the same as she continually teaches us to pray for deliverance from in her Litanies: war, pestilence, famine, floods, earthquakes--all things which damage the peace of nations and the produce of the earth, great national disasters. From all such the world will never be free till the Advent of her Lord, till G.o.d stirs up His power and comes to save it.

Meanwhile for our consolation we can remember that it is when G.o.d's judgments are in the earth that the nations learn justice (Isaias XXVI.

9). Adversity is a great teacher and trainer for Heaven, and as we advance in the spiritual life we see more and more that many things which are adversity to the body are prosperity to the soul. We should naturally like to be freed from the adversity of sickness, poverty, failure, loss of friends, of health and strength, but all these adversities have their work to do. "These are they who came out of great tribulation," and it is probable that but for the tribulation many would never "have washed their robes and have made them white in the blood of the Lamb" (Apoc. VII. 14). Let us strive to be amongst those who _trust_ Him, who _confide_ in His mercy, who believe that He knows what is best for them, and who gladly let Him arrange all for them. He _will_ stir up His power and speedily free them one day, but it will not be till the flail of adversity has done its work and the corn is ready to be garnered in the heavenly barns.

(3) _To save us._ "Stir up Thy might O Lord and come to save us."

In the Ma.s.ses for the third week, that is Ember week, the prayer occurs five times, twice in the Ma.s.s for the third Sunday and three times in that for Ember Sat.u.r.day. The time of the birth of the Saviour is drawing nearer, and the Church is beginning to be importunate. Stir up Thy _might_; for though He is coming as a little helpless infant, He is G.o.d "mighty to save."

(4) _To accelerate His Coming._ "Stir up Thy might, we beseech Thee O Lord and come; and succour us with great power, that by the help of Thy grace, the indulgence of Thy mercy may accelerate what our sins impede."

(The "Collect" for the 4th. Sunday of Advent).

We ask Him to stir up His might in _coming_. His Advents show His Omnipotence. Only a _G.o.d_ could come to this world to save it, only a _G.o.d_ could come to a soul and raise it to the supernatural state. These are miracles and we ask Him to stir up His might to come and work them.

It is our sins that hold Him back and hinder His work both in our own souls and in the world. We want them to do so no more and so we ask for His succour and indulgence.

POINT II. OUR WILLS.

"Stir up the wills of Thy faithful, O Lord, we beseech Thee; that earnestly seeking after the fruit of good works, they may receive more abundant helps from Thy mercy." (The "Collect" for the Sunday before Advent).

Here we pray for something which it is far more difficult to "stir up"--our own wills. We are not sufficiently in earnest; the might and the mercy of G.o.d are there waiting to help us, but we have not the energy nor the desire to receive them. We weaken our wills by yielding to temptation, by deliberately going into occasions of sin, by allowing ourselves to be careless about rules and resolutions, by letting things drift and contenting ourselves with a low standard. Advent is a time to rectify all this, to pull ourselves up and make a fresh start, and if we are in earnest, we shall gladly join in the prayer: "Stir up the wills of Thy faithful, O Lord," stir up _my_ will. It is not a prayer to be said lightly for it means much--a will stirred up to "seek after the fruit of good works" means constant and continued effort; it means mortification, suffering, death to self; it means a determination to do or suffer _anything_ rather than run the _least_ risk of committing the _least_ sin; it means constant unremitting attention to little things--to the smallest duties, the least p.r.i.c.kings of conscience; it means hard work. _Dare_ I say this prayer? If I am _really_ anxious for "the fruit of good works," I shall dare anything. Fruit is impossible without hard work either in the natural or the spiritual world.

"Who is sufficient for these things?" Certainly I am not, but the consolation is that the work is _co-operative_. As soon as I pray: Stir up my will, O G.o.d, because I want to bring forth fruit to Thy glory; He will be there giving me "_more abundant helps_" from His mercy. G.o.d does not expect me to work alone, nor to suffer alone, nor to make efforts alone. What He wants is a good will. He is coming "to men of good will,"

and nothing can prove that I am one of them, better than a fervent prayer that my will may be stirred up, cost what it may. The "abundant helps" will immediately be at my service; and when it seems sometimes as if, in spite of all my efforts, the day is going to be lost, I will hold on still, remembering that the help is "_more_ abundant" when the need is greater. The stores of His mercy are infinite and He ever gives _more_ to the generous soul.

POINT III. OUR HEARTS.

"Stir up our hearts, O Lord, to prepare the ways of Thy only-begotten Son: that by His Coming we may be worthy to serve Thee with purified minds." (The "Collect" for the 2nd Sunday of Advent).

Here lies the secret; if our _hearts_ are stirred up there will be little difficulty about our _wills_. If I _love_, I shall gladly make efforts, no trouble will be too much, no work too exacting, no sacrifice too great, no mortification too hard. "_If you love Me, keep My commandments._" My will is to be stirred up to _seek_, but my heart is to be stirred up to _prepare_. It is my King Who is coming, He Who has a right to my heart, and He is quite sure to pa.s.s by my way, for to win my heart and make it all His own is one of the special reasons of His Coming. No pains, no cost shall be spared in my preparation; my heart shall be decorated with the flowers that I know He loves and hung with banners which shall speak of my grat.i.tude for all He has done. This is the preparation of the heart--the preparation of _love_; and it will not stop at my own heart, for if I really love my King I shall take an interest in all the work that He is coming to do; I shall try to prepare His way for Him in the hearts of others; I shall let them know that JESUS of Nazareth is going to pa.s.s by. Perhaps I shall have no opportunity of speaking about His visit, but the careful preparations I am making will not go unnoticed--each thing that I do out of love to Him will in some way or another spread His Kingdom in the hearts of men.

_Colloquy._ With my King Who is coming.

_Resolution._ To do something _to-day_ in preparation.

_Spiritual Bouquet._ "Stir up!"

ST. JOHN THE BAPTIST. (1)

HIS PREPARATION.

"This is he of whom it is written: Behold I send my Angel before Thy face, who shall prepare Thy way before Thee."

(St. Matt. XI. 10).