Second Sundy of Advent: The Three-Fold Faith
by Bishop Ehrler, 1891


 "When John had heard in prison the works of Christ, sending two of his disciples, he said: Art thou he that art to come, or look we for another? " (Matthew 11 : 2.)


My dearly beloved, why does John send two of his disciples to Christ to ask him: "Art thou he that art to come, or look we for another?" Is his question prompted by a want of knowledge, or does he, perhaps, doubt that Christ is "He that is to be sent, and who is the expectation of nations (Gen. 49 : 10.)?" No, the Baptist did not instruct his disciples to ask this question because he did not know the Messias; for he himself, in the presence of many people, had already pointed him out, saying: "Behold the Lamb of God," "Behold him who taketh away the sins of the world." He, also, had heard with his own ears the testimony of the Eternal Father, when the divine Dove of the Spirit descended on Christ after His Baptism in the Jordan, "This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased." But, as our Saviour once asked where Lazarus was buried, not because he did not know, but in order that those who pointed out the grave, seeing its dead occupant raised to life, might be converted to the true faith--so, St. John sent his followers to Christ that, beholding his wonderful signs and miracles, they might be brought to believe in him. The holy Precursor knew that there is a three-fold faith which, as it were, by steps, leads up the faithful soul to God.



 I. The faith inspired by heavenly signs and miracles;
 II. The faith begotten of the divine Commandments; and
 III. The faith grounded upon the divine promises.




I. Through the faith of miracles, my beloved brethren, we believe in, a God whose almighty power can effect these, and still greater, wonders.

 1. "Without faith, it is impossible to please God, (Hebr. 1 1 : 6)" says the Apostle. He then, who aspires to the divine love and favor, must believe that there is a God, a supreme and all-wise Deity, who will reward the good and punish the wicked. How can we know and believe all this? Through the signs and miracles of the God-Man. "The works themselves which I do, give testimony of Me, that the Father hath sent Me (John 5 : 36)." These divine works are the ground of our faith, for without them, the Christian's belief would be nothing but credulity. Hence, our Saviour himself says: "If I do not the works of my Father, believe me not. But if I do, though you will not believe me, believe the works, that you may know and believe that the Father is in Me, and I in the Father (John 10 : 37, 38)." As though He would declare in other words: In performing all these works and miracles, my dear children, my only motive is to furnish you with a secure foundation for your faith.

 2. The marvels which a man beholds with his own eyes, are a guarantee for other and greater wonders which he does not see. Reason thus convinces him: If God can effect this one great miracle, he can most assuredly do all things. It is not by words that our Saviour, in the Gospel of today, answers the disciples of John, but by pointing to the works he wrought. To the question: "Art thou he that art to come?" He did not answer "I am he," but, "Go and relate to John what you have heard and seen. The blind see, the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead rise again, and the poor have the gospel preached to them." If he had merely answered: "I am he," the followers of John might have echoed in thought, at least, if not in word, the frequent reproach of the Scribes and Pharisees: "Thou givest testimony of thyself (John 8 : 13)." A man's works not only assert what he is, but also prove that their testimony is true. The testimony of Christ's wonderful works, my brethren, is as convincing a proof of His divinity to us now, as it was to the disciples of John. It was on this account, I imagine, that our Saviour commanded those messengers of the Baptist to relate to him what they had heard, as well as what they had seen: "Go, and relate to John what you have heard and seen." Yes! my Lord and my God!--"Faith cometh by hearing," "Thy testimonie are become to me exceedingly credible (Ps. 92 : 5)"; and I believe in Thee just as firmly now, when I only hear and read these things, as I would have believed if present with the Jєωs of old at the actual working of thy miracles!


 II. Faith is begotten of the divine Commandments. To believe in God means:


 1. To hope in Him; and
 2. To love Him.


1. Faith can as little exist without hope, as a building can stand without a foundation. For why, my brethren, do we believe in God, if not because "we look for that life which God will give to those that never change their faith from Him (Tob. 2 : 18)?" The Psalmist was inspired from heaven, when he declared: "It is good for me to adhere to my God, to put my hope in the Lord God (Ps. 72 : 27)." If we adhere to God, we believe in God. And this faith is justly called the faith of the commandments, since we can neither depend upon Him nor fix our hopes upon Him unless we keep His commandments. Divine faith and hope are thus so closely united together, that they are often expressed by the one simple word--faith--as in that text of the Wise Man, which so beautifully and truthfully exhorts the Christian to "believe God, and He will recover thee," immediately adding: " And direct thy way and trust in Him (Eccles. 2 : 6)"--that is: Keep all His. commandments, and then thou shalt have an assured right to hope.

 2. Divine love, my dear brethren, is as inseparable as hope from true Christian faith. This, our Saviour shows clearly enough, when He rebukes the Jєωs, saying: "Why call you me Lord, Lord; and do not the things which I say? (Luke 6 : 46)"; implying by these words: "You have, it is true, the faith founded upon miracles, but you have not yet the faith founded upon the observance of the commandments. My works testify to you that I am the Son of God, and that I am invested with divine power; but you do not yet appear to believe that I have the power to command your obedience. You believe in me, but you do not, as yet, love me; otherwise you would do what I command you; 'If any one love Me, he will keep My word (John 14 : 23).'"


 III. Our faith, in order to be efficacious, must be grounded upon the divine promises. We believe in God: 1. Because He has promised us eternal life, and 2. Because He always performs what He promises.

 1. God commands us nothing without attaching a great reward to our obedience. Now, what greater reward could He promise than the assurance of eternal life to those that believe in Him? How often, my brethren, has He not repeated to us this promise? "For God so loved the world, as to give his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him may not perish, but may have life everlasting (John 3 : 16)." And further: "Amen, amen, I say unto you, he that heareth My word, and believeth Him that sent me, hath everlasting life; and cometh not into judgment, but is passed from death to life (John 5 : 24)." Again: "He that believeth in Me, although he be dead, shall live; and every one that liveth, and believeth in Me shall not die forever (John 11 : 25-26)." Yes, He even goes so far as to say: "This is life everlasting; that they may know Thee, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom Thou hast sent (John 17 : 3)." If we seriously consider these blessed, life-giving promises, my dearly beloved, shall we not dismiss all our invisible, idle, useless cares, and earnestly and zealously establish all our hopes upon these sure and gracious foundations? That in which we are chiefly lacking is a faith grounded upon hope, to which the Wise Man exhorts us when he says: "Believe God, and He will recover thee (Eccles. 2 : 6)."

 2. If we examine more closely these sacred promises which are the foundations of our faith, we shall not find the least cause to doubt their happy fulfilment. "If he had promised to us that which was difficult or impossible of execution," says St. Bernard, "it would be allowable for us to choose another basis for our hopes; but to Him, all things are possible by the power of His word only, and what can be easier than this? "Who shall dare cite a single instance wherein God has been unfaithful to His promise? The Wise Man challenges the whole world to deny the fact, when he cries out to the doubting multitude: "Know ye that no one hath hoped in the Lord, and hath been confounded (Eccles. 2: 11)." "Who is it," says St. Augustine, "of whom one is accustomed to say, that he has been 'confounded'? He who can truly say: 'That which I have hoped for, I have not received.'" But when has this happened? When you have founded your hopes upon yourself, or upon some other creature. Then, you will be confounded; then, your hopes will be disappointed; then, you will incur that terrible malediction of divine wrath: "Cursed be the man who puts his trust in creatures." But, because the groundwork of divine hope is so certain, and the tie so close that unites it to faith, the Apostle says of faith itself: "And whosoever believeth in Him, shall not be confounded (Rom. 9 : 33)." This, again, my brethren, is no other than that faith of which we have already spoken, and which St. Bernard denominates the faith founded upon the promises of God.

Peroration: Dearest Saviour! we no longer ask thee, in union with the disciples of John, "Art Thou he that art to come, or look we for another?" We say rather with Nicodemus: "Rabbi, we know that Thou art come a teacher from God; for no man can do these miracles which thou doest, unless God was with him (John 3 : 2)." We are not only convinced in our hearts of these incontestible truths of faith which thou hast revealed to us, but we will profess them with our mouths and works all the days of our lives. We do not wish to be ranked among those who "confess that they know God, but in their deeds, they deny him (Titus 1 : 16)." Ah! no, my brethren, our works shall, with the help of divine grace, accord with the belief of our hearts; and then our faith will prove no more an empty, unprofitable profession of the lips, but, "supported by hope," will be the true faith "which worketh by charity (Gal. 5 : 6)." Amen.


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The Second Warning of Advent:
Christ is nigh! Let us rise from the Sleep of Sin, and do Penance.


Rom. xiii. 11: "Know that it is now the hour to rise from sleep." Luke iii 4: "A voice of one crying in the wilderness: Prepare ye the way of the Lord, make straight His paths."



On Jordan's banks the Baptist's voice
 Now loudly strikes the ear,
 "Prepare His ways, make straight His paths,
 The Lord Himself is near."

Rise, then, from sleep, and in your hearts
 Let these his words prevail;
 Behold the heavens, the earth and seas,
 Their Maker's coming hail!

Oh! let us then our souls prepare,
 To meet so great a guest,
 For 'tis our God Himself who comes,
 To make us truly blest.

Rise, then, from sleep, and in your hearts
 Let these his words prevail;
 Behold the heavens, the earth and seas,
 Their Maker's coming hail!

Oh! may our souls again revive
 By His refreshing grace;
 Then may He bind our stubborn wills,
 And every stain efface.

Rise, then, from sleep, and in your hearts
 Let these his words prevail;
 Behold the heavens, the earth and seas,
 Their Maker's coming hail!

Jesus, Thou art our only hope,
 Sole comfort in our grief;
 like the parched clay our hearts must be,
 Unless Thou bring'st relief.

Rise, then, from sleep, and in your hearts
 Let these his words prevail;
 Behold the heavens, the earth and seas,
 Their Maker's coming hail!

To Him who came the world to save,
 Eternal glory be!
 The Mighty Father, equal praise,
 And Holy Ghost to Thee!

Rise, then, from sleep, and in your hearts
 Let these his words prevail;
 Behold the heavens, the earth and seas,
 Their Maker's coming hail!





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What Jesus says of Himself: And what He says of John.
by Bishop Ehrler, 1891


 "Art thou he that art to come, or do we look for another?" (Matt. 11: 3)


John the Baptist was cast into prison because he had dared to speak the truth; and you know, truth begets hatred, and hatred, persecution and injustice of every description. He had said to the incestuous Herod: "It is not lawful for thee to have thy brother's wife." It has always been so, and it is so today. Speak the truth, and you will make enemies. Yet, even in prison, John endeavors to promote the glory of Jesus and the salvation of his (John's) disciples, of whom, it seems, many would not believe in Jesus. Although he had pointed out Christ in these words: "Behold the Lamb of God ; behold Him that taketh away the sins of the world," (declaring publicly that Jesus must increase, and he decrease,) and had done every thing to detach his disciples from himself and lead them to Jesus, yet, had recourse to another expedient, sending two of them to Jesus, that they might hear from His own lips, and see by His works, that He was the Messias. They ask Him, as messengers of their master: "Art thou he that art to come, or do we look for another?"

John himself did not doubt the divinity of Christ, or His dignity as the Messias, but some of His disciples had yet to be assured on this point. And it is, therefore, not for his own, but for their sake, that he sent two of his disciples to Jesus, in order that Christ might teach them and strengthen their faith. Let us hear:


 I. What Jesus says of Himself; and
 II. What he says of John.



 I. What does Jesus say of Himself ?
Go, and relate to John what you have heard and seen.

 We might naturally expect that Christ would have answered directly to the question of John's disciples: Yes, I am he that is to come; I am Christ, the Son of God, the promised Redeemer of the world. Those messengers had already heard of the wonderful works of Jesus, and witnessed them with their own eyes, because in their presence He healed all manner of sicknesses and bodily infirmities. To these miracles, He appeals; they must give testimony of His divine mission and dignity.

Jesus did not content himself with saying, "I am he that is to come." Of what avail would it have been to repeat what John himself had publicly confessed? But he appealed at once to His works, as proofs of His being the Messias: "Go, and relate to John what you have heard and seen. The blind see, the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear, and the dead rise again." Jesus refers in these words to the prophecy of Isaias (35: 4): "God Himself will come and save you. Then shall the eyes of the blind be opened, and the ears of the deaf unstopped. Then shall the lame man leap as a hart, and the tongue of the dumb shall be free." This prophecy was one of those known to every Israelite. The argument of Jesus is this: The miracles foretold by Isaias are now performed by me; consequently, God Himself is come to save you.

 2. The disciples of John were kindly received by Jesus. He is desirous, also, of hearing our petitions whenever we present them to him with faith and confidence; He even encourages us to come to Him for relief in all our necessities. "Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and you shall find; knock, and it shall be opened to you (Matt. 7:7)"; and He assures us by a solemn oath that if we ask any thing in His name, we shall obtain the purport of our prayer: "Amen, amen, I say to you: If you ask the Father any thing in my name, He will give it you (John, 16: 23)." "Come to me all you that labor, and are heavy laden, and I will refresh you (Matt, 11: 23)." 3. Jesus describes another characteristic feature by which He is to be recognized as the Messias, in the following words: "The poor have the Gospel preached to them." The Jєωs knew that the Messias would be most revered, and, his preaching most listened to, by the poor and humble. Isaias had foretold: "The Spirit of God is upon me, because the Lord hath anointed me; he hath sent me to preach to the meek, to heal the contrite heart (Is. 16: 1)."

Indeed, with a few exceptions, it was the poor, as regards earthly goods, who followed Jesus, and listened to his good tidings. Those rich persons who seek their consolation in perishable things, are unwilling to hear the Gospel preached to them, because it speaks more of the contempt of the world, and of solicitude for heavenly things, than they are willing to hear. Three hundred years elapsed before an emperor was converted. True, Christ had some adherents among the rich, but those rich men who followed Jesus, such as Zaccheus, Joseph of Arimathea, had their hearts detached from their riches. Thus, there are, today, rich nobles and princes, foremost among zealous Catholics, who do not set their hearts and affections on the goods of this world, but make use of their riches for the glory of God and the salvation of their fellow-men; who make earthly riches give way to the riches of eternity. Whether we be rich or poor in temporal goods, we must be poor in spirit, else the Gospel will be preached to us, not for our salvation, but for our condemnation. "Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven (Matt. 5: 3)."

 4. "Blessed is he that shall not be scandalized in me." He warns them and all men, not to despise Him on account of his poverty, or of His death on the cross. Those who behold in Him only His human nature, are scandalized in Him, and refuse to adore as their God Him who was looked upon as a carpenter's son, and died the ignominious death of the cross. His poverty, humility, sufferings, and death, His doctrine of mortification and self-denial, were foolishness to the Gentiles, and a stumbling block to the Jєωs; hence, they refused to believe in Him. But neither Jєω nor Gentile had any reason for being scandalized. Had they considered the prophecies fulfilled in Him, the innocence of His life, the divine character of His doctrine, and the many miracles wrought by Him, they would then have been no longer scandalized, but confessed him to be both God and man ; and his humiliation and lowliness would have induced them to admire His infinite mercy and goodness, and to love Him the more.

Alas! there are many among us who are scandalized, if not at the person, at the doctrine of Jesus; viz: the proud, the avaricious, the envious, the unchaste, and all who hate self-denial and mortification. To them, the doctrine is too austere and rigorous; therefore, they either reject it altogether, or interpret it in such a way as to make it harmonize with their passions and inclinations. What blindness and infatuation! We shall be judged not by the maxims of the world and the flesh, but by the Gospel of Christ.

 II. When they went their way, Jesus began to say to the multitude, concerning John, that they might not form an unfavorable opinion of him, as though his faith in him were shaken. He therefore reminds the Jєωs of the purpose for which they had thronged into the desert, and of the overwhelming impression which the appearance of John had left on their minds, leaving them to infer the obvious conclusion that a man of John's character would not be likely to waver in his faith.

 1. What went you into the desert to see? A reed shaken by the wind? You did not see in John an unstable man. He was immovable as a rock. He did not lack the courage to remind soldiers and kings of their duty. Although he saw prison and death before him, he said to Herod: "It is not lawful for thee to have thy brother's wife."

We, also, must be strong in avoiding evil and doing good, and in the performance of our duty. We must not be shaken with the wind, but whenever occasion offers, defend the honor of Jesus, and our faith in Him. "Fear not those that kill the body, and cannot kill the soul; but rather fear him that can destroy both soul and body in hell (Matt. 10 : 28)."

 2. "But what went ye out to see? a man clothed in soft garments? Behold they that are clothed in soft garments are in the houses of kings." After having reminded the multitude of the steadiness of character which they had witnessed in John, He reminded them of his mortified life. John was an angel in human flesh, and yet he lived as the most rigorous penitent. His place of habitation from his childhood was the desert; his clothing consisted of coarse material, of camel's hair, with a leathern girdle about his loins; his food was locusts and wild honey; and his sermon was: "Do penance; for the kingdom of God is at hand (Matt. 2:2)." How admirable is this mortification in a man who never committed a mortal sin! And we, who from our childhood's days have so often and so grievously offended God, shun every mortification, deny ourselves nothing, and complain of every, even the least, inconvenience.

Christ and His Apostles detested pride and luxury in any form. In our days, extravagance in dress, (far from being confined to the houses of kings) has spread among all classes of people. We should, however, never forget that, of all the virtues of John, Jesus most extols his mortification.

 3. "But what went ye out to see? a prophet? Yea, I tell you, and more than a prophet. For this is he of whom it is written: Behold I will send my angel before thy face who shall prepare the way before thee." The people knew that John was a prophet, for the miraculous circuмstances of his birth were divulged over all the mountainous country of Judea (Luke 1: 65). Therefore, multitudes went out to him into the desert where he was preaching. Jesus confirms this general belief that John was a prophet, and more than a prophet, because he not only foretold Christ, but pointed directly to Him, immediately prepared the way for Him, and baptized Him.

Jesus calls John an angel, not only because he was His messenger, but also because of his virginity and of his mortification, since he used an invisible rather than a visible meat and drink; he was an angel sent to minister to those who shall receive the inheritance of salvation.

John was sent by God to prepare the way of the Messias. Holy Christmas is at hand, when our Lord will come again into the heart of every one. Let us prepare His way before Him; especially, by a sincere and contrite confession of our sins.





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