The Introit of the Mass consoles and incites us to confidence in God who is so benevolent towards us and will not let us pine away in tribulation. The Lord saith: I entertain thoughts of peace, not of affliction: you shall call on me, and I will hear you: and bring back your captive people from all places. Jer. xxix. 11.) Thou, O Lord, hast blessed Thy land: Thou hast brought back the captive children of Jacob. (Ps. lxxxiv.) Glory, &c.

PRAYER OF THE CHURCH.Stir up, we beseech Thee, O Lord, the hearts of Thy faithful: that, becoming more zealous in the performance of good works, they may receive from Thy goodness more effectual remedies for their disorders. Through our Lord &c.

EPISTLE, (Col. i. 9 - 14.) We cease not to pray for you, and to beg that you may be filled with the knowledge of his will, in all wisdom, and spiritual understanding: that you may walk worthy of God, in all things pleasing: being fruitful in every good work, and increasing in the knowledge of God: strengthened with all might, according to the power of his glory, in all patience and long-suffering with joy. Giving thanks to God the Father, who hath made us worthy to be partakers of the lot of the saints in light: who hath delivered us from the power of darkness, and hath translated us into the kingdom of the Son of His love. In whom we have redemption through His blood, the remission of sins.

EXPLANATION

IIn this epistle St. Paul teaches us, that we should continually pray for our neighbor, according to his example, and thank God especially for the light of the true, only saving faith. Let us endeavor to imitate St. Paul in his love and zeal for the salvation of the soul, then we shall also one day partake of his glorious reward in heaven.

GOSPEL. (Matt. xxiv. 15 - 35.) At That Time: Jesus said to his disciples: When you shall see the abomination of desolation, which was spoken of by Daniel the prophet, standing in the holy place: he that readeth, let him understand. Then they that are in Judea, let them flee to the mountains; and he that is on the house-top, let him not come down to take any thing out of his house: and he that is in the field, let him not go back to take his coat. And wo to them that are with child, and give suck in those days. But pray that your flight be not in the winter, or on the Sabbath. For there shall be then great tribulation, such as hath not been from the beginning of the world until now, neither shall be. And unless those days had been shortened, no flesh could be saved: but for the sake of the elect, those days shall be shortened. Then if any man shall say to you: Lo, here is Christ, or there: do not believe him: For there shall arise false Christs, and false prophets, and shall shew great signs and wonders, insomuch as to deceive (if possible) even the elect. Behold, I have told it you, before hand, if therefore they shall say to you: Behold, he is in the desert; go ye not out: Behold, he is in the closets, believe it not. For as lightning cometh out of the east, and appeareth even into the west; so shall also the coming of the Son of Man be. Wheresoever the body shall be, there shall the eagles also be gathered together.

And immediately after the tribulation of those days, the sun shall be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light, and the stars shall fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens shall be moved: and there shall appear the sign of the Son of Man in heaven: and then shall all tribes of the earth mourn: and they shall see the Son of Man, coming in the clouds of heaven with much power and majesty. And he shall send his angels with a trumpet, and a great voice: and they shall gather together his elect from the four winds, from the farthest parts of the heavens to the utmost bounds of them. And from the fig-tree learn a parable: when the branch thereof is now tender, and the leaves come forth, you know that summer is nigh. So you also, when you shall see all these things, know ye that it is nigh even at the doors. Amen, I say to you, that this generation shall not pass, till these things be done; Heaven and earth shall pass, but my words shall not pass.

EXPLANATION:

When you shall see the abomination of desol ation. The abomination of desolation, of which Daniel (ix. 27.) and Christ here speak, is the desecration of the temple and the city of Jerusalem, which was accomplished by the rebellious Jews by perpetrating the most abominable vices, injustices, and robberies, &c., but principally by the heathenish Romans by their putting up of their idols. This destruction which was accomplished about forty years after Christ's death in the most awful manner, is here foretold, according to the testimony of St. Luke lxxi.20.), by Christ. But at the same time He speaks of the end of the world and of His coming to judgment, of which the desolation of Jerusalem was a figure.

Pray, that your flight be not in the winter or on the Sabbath. Because as St. Jerome says, the severe coldness which reigns in the deserts and mountains, would prevent the people from going thither and put themselves into security, and because it was forbidden by the law for the Jews to travel on the Sabbath.

There shall rise false Christs and false prophets. According to the testimony of the Jewish historian Josephus who was an eye-witness of the destruction of Jerusalem, Eleazar, John, Simon, &c, were such, who under the pretence of helping the Jews, threw them into still greater misfortunes; but before the end of the world, it will be Antichrist with his followers, whom St. Paul on account of his diabolical malice and cruelty, calls the man of sin and the son of perdition (ii. Thess. ii. 3.), who through devilish malice against all that is called God and is revered as divine, will rise up, proclaim himself God, sit in the temple, and kill all who will not recognize him as such. Even the holy and just will be in danger of being seduced, but for their sake God will shorten the time of the persecution of this tyrant.

Wheresoever the body shall be, there shall the eagles also be gathered together. St. Jerome sees in this a picture of Christ, for he says, that just as the eagles hasten from all sides to a body which they chance to see, so will the just hasten towards the Redeemer, who will appear like lightning, and will gather around Him. We may also understand by the eagles, wicked demons who will rush upon the damned like eagles.

This generation shall not pass, till all these things be done. With these words Christ determines the time of the destruction of Jerusalem, and says, that many of His listeners would live to see it, which also happened. But when the end of the world will come, He says, not even the angels in heaven know. (Matt. xxiv. 36.) Let us endeavor to be always ready for the coming of the divine Judge by leading a holy life.


PRAYER: Grant, O Lord! that we may consider all as the abomination of desolation of the holy places, which is calculated to rob us of Thy love. Grant, that we may avoid and shun this loss as the death and certain destruction of our souls. Break the bonds with which we are tied to the world, that we may not be lost with it. Give us the wings of eagles, that we may soar above all worldly things by the contemplation of Thy sufferings, Thy life and death, that we may hasten towards Thee now, and gather about Thee, that we may not become a prey to the rapacious enemy on the day of judgment. Amen.



INSTRUCTION CONCERNING PERJURY.
Amen, I say to you. (Matt. xxiv. 34.)

The Son of God here and elsewhere in the gospel, confirms His words by an oath, as it were, in as much as He calls upon His divine truthfulness as witness of them; for swearing is nothing else than to call upon God, His divine truthfulness, justice, or upon His creatures in the name of God, as witness of the truth of our words. --It may now be asked, when is it allowed to swear? Answer: When justice, necessity or an important advantage require it, and the cause is true and equitable. (Jerem. iv. 2.) Those sin grievously, therefore, who swear on account of a cause, which is false and unjust, because they call upon God as witness of falsehood and injustice, by which His eternal truthfulness and justice is desecrated; those sin who swear on account of a truthful cause, but without necessity and sufficient reason, because it is disrespectful to call upon God as witness for every little thing; those sin grievously and are in a state of continual sin, who are so accustomed to swearing, that they without knowing or considering, whether the thing is true or not, whether they wish to keep their promise or not, or whether they will be able to keep it, immediately break out into oaths, for they expose themselves to swear falsely: "there is no one," says St. Chrysostom, "who swears often and does not sometimes swear falsely, just as he who speaks much, sometimes says unbecoming and false things." Therefore, according to the explanation of St. Augustine, Christ tells Christians, who seek after perfection, not to swear at all (Matt. v. 34.), that they may not come from swearing to a habit of swearing, and from this to perjury. He who has the habit of swearing, should, therefore, take the greatest pains to lay aside the bad habit, and to do so it will be very useful to reflect, that we shall have to render a strict account for every unnecessary, useless and false oath, since every idle word even will be severely judged one day (Matt. xii. 36.), and that those who so easily swear, will be believed less than others; also that God's blessing is taken from him who commits perjury, that God's curse accompanies him in all his ways, as proved by daily experience, that, he who commits perjury in court, robs himself of the merits of Christ's death and will be consumed in the fire of hell, which is represented by the crucifix and burning tapers, in presence of which the oath (in some places) is taken. And if you have had the misfortune to perjure yourself, you should at once be truly sorry and should weep for this terrible sin which you have committed, should frankly confess it, repair the injury you may have caused by it, and by rigorous penance chastise yourself for it.