At Holy Mass, whether it be a festival, fast, or funeral, these sublime words are sung by the sacrificing priest at the altar, "__Sursum corda__"--"Lift up your hearts," and the faithful answer, "__Habemus ad Dominum__"--"We have lifted them up to the Lord." Now, these words are kept before our minds, on a festival, to remind us of the eternal joys of heaven; on a funeral, to call our attention to that home above where there is no death, no parting, and where all tears are wiped away from the eyes. Then let "__Sursum corda__" when it is sung this morning, revive this thought of heaven in your hearts--you who are sad, who are sick and poor, you who are in the midst of severe temptations; and carry these words with you through the week, and, whenever you are tempted to murmur against your lot, "Lift up your hearts." Think of Paradise. We were made for Paradise, and we ought always to remember how joyful the thought of Paradise is to the Christian's heart. "O most happy mansion of the city above! O most happy and bright day, that knows no night, but is always enlightened by the Sovereign Truth! The citizens of heaven know how joyful that day is; but the banished children of Eve lament that this our day is bitter and tedious. Oh! that this day would dawn upon us, and all temporal things would come to an end!" {243} Then, at this time, let us all look up, and be more vigilant in the service of God while on earth. Let us so live here that our lives may be a foretaste of heaven. Let the Church on earth be the vestibule of heaven in which we wait patiently for the time of our admission therein. Let us be faithful to the laws of God and the Church: "Laying aside every weight and the sin that doth so easily beset us, by patience let us run the race set before us; looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith, who, having the joy proposed to Him, underwent the cross, despising the shame, and now sitteth down at the right hand of the throne of God," [Footnote 93] to whom let us lift up our hearts, and offer that beautiful prayer which the Holy Church is chanting throughout the world on this Fourth Sunday after Easter: "O Almighty God, who alone canst make the faithful to be of one mind: grant that they may love those things which Thou dost command and desire, those things which Thou dost promise, that so among all the changes of this world their hearts may surely there be fixed where true joys are to be found, through Jesus Christ our Lord Amen." [Footnote 93: Heb xii. i.] ------------- {244} Sermon XVI. The Clergy The Teachers Of The People, (For The Seventh Sunday After Pentecost.) St. Matt. vii. 15. "__Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves.__"