Chapter XXIV

Holy Mass does not Hinder Our Work, but Helps Us with It

The principal excuse which Christians allege for not hearing Mass is their work. All the time that they are not at work they consider lost time, and more especially the time they spend in assisting at Mass, or some other divine service. In this they are mistaken, and sorely deceived by the devil, as I will now proceed to explain. If, on his way to work, a man meets a friend who has got a great deal to tell him, he might easily waste half an hour listening to the news, forgetting all about his work. But if any one proposed to that man to hear a Mass, he would answer that he must be off and away to his business. So if a man had a drink offered him when on the way to his work, he would surely stop and spend half an hour in the tavern, and not think himself the loser by it, whereas if he had had to go to an early Mass before starting, he would have regretted the loss of 90 much time.

Thus does Satan shamefully strive to blind us, and by all manner of means to deter us from the salutary practice of hearing Mass. Wherefore I intend to demonstrate in this chapter that, far from being a loss of time for persons who have to work for their living, it brings them no small profit, and instead of hindering helps them in their daily toil.

In support of this assertion the highest of all authority can be quoted, the divine Saviour Himself, Who, when blaming excessive solicitude in providing for our temporal needs, said in conclusion: “Seek ye therefore first the kingdom of God and His justice, and all these things shall be added unto you.” (Matthew 6:33) Commentators explain this passage as alluding to hearing Mass; as if Our Lord had said: “Be not over-solicitous about your bodily sustenance, but in the first place pay God homage by hearing Mass before beginning the day’s labors, and He will requite this service by providing what is necessary for the body.” Supposing any one were to render a great and most acceptable service to some man of high rank, noted for his kindness, dost thou imagine that he would leave that service unrewarded? Certainly not; he would recompense it liberally. Now when thou nearest Mass devoutly, and offerest it to thy God, thou dost render Him an infinite service, infinite honor, infinite satisfaction; thou dost present to Him a gift so costly that all the treasures of heaven cannot outweigh it. Can it be supposed that God will let Himself be outdone in gratitude by man, that He will allow this good service, this precious gift, to be unrewarded, or, what is more, that He will permit thee to be a loser by it? By no means. We know God to be a rewarder of all that is good, and therefore He cannot fail to reward that highest of all services, or else thou couldst reproach Him with it before angels and men at the judgment-day, and that is a thing He would never permit. I will now give an instance of the manner in which God sometimes visibly rewards devout attendance at Mass.

In the life of St. John the Almoner we read a story of two shoemakers who lived in Alexandria. One of these men had a wife and a large family to support, yet he went to Mass every day; and God so blessed his industry that although he was very poor at first he soon had a flourishing business. The other was married, but had no children; he worked early and late, never going to Mass except on Sundays, and yet he could scarcely earn a living. Unable to understand how it was that his neighbor got on so much better than he did, he one day went to him and asked how it was that he, who had a wife and a number of children, was so well off, whilst he himself, who worked more hours a day, and had no family, found it more and more difficult to keep the wolf from the door. The other man replied: “I have discovered a hidden treasure, and every day I go to draw something from it. That is why I get richer day by day.” “My good fellow,” his neighbor rejoined, “do show me where the treasure is, and let me, too, fill my pockets from it.” “Very well,” the pious cobbler said,u come to me early to-morrow morning and I will show you the place where lies hid so great a treasure that it is enough to enrich the whole town.“The next morning the poor man made his appearance betimes, delighted at the idea of having the secret disclosed to him. But his neighbor only took him to Mass with him; the following day he did the same, and also the day after. At last the poor man lost his temper, and said:”I know the way to church without your guidance, and I have been to Mass ever since I was a child; if you do not intend to show me the treasure you spoke of, at any rate you need not make a fool of me.“The other answered gently:” Do not be angry with me, neighbor; I have not been making a fool of you, for I have really shown you the place where I find my riches. It is none other than the church, and the treasure itself is holy Mass; hence come my gains, this is why we never know what it is to want bread. Do as I do, and doubtless God will do the same for you. Remember the words of our divine Lord: 1 Seek ye first the kingdom of God and His justice, and all these things shall be added unto you.’ From the time of my marriage I have sought the kingdom of God by hearing Mass daily; and I can truly say that all these things, that is, the supply of my temporal needs, have been given to me by God. You, on the contrary, have neglected Our Lord’s salutary counsel, and have preferred your work to the service of God; consequently your temporal wants have not been supplied, and you have been left in poverty.“These words had the desired effect; the other shoemaker saw that he had been negligent in serving God; from that day forth he made it his habit to go to Mass, and found that the divine blessing was no longer withheld from him.

The pious cobbler was right in calling holy Mass a treasure; it is indeed a treasure, one of which it may be said: “It is an infinite treasure to men, which they that use become the friends of God.” (Wisdom 7:14) It is a mine of gold out of which riches may be dug for time and for eternity. For he who hears Mass in a state of grace will share in the merits of Christ, and these are truly nuggets of celestial gold. He also receives the blessing of his heavenly Father, a far better one than the blessing Isaac gave to his son Jacob when he said: “God give thee of the dew of heaven, and of the fatness of the earth, abundance of corn and wine.” (Genesis 27:28) For this benediction was confined to earthly things alone, whereas the benediction we receive in the Mass relates to supernatural things as well; for after the consecration the priest prays that “as many of us as, by participation at this altar, shall receive the most sacred body and blood of Thy Son may be filled with all heavenly benediction and grace.” In virtue of this fervent petition, and by the operation of the holy sacrifice, thou shalt experience the blessing of God in body and soul, in thy work and occupations, in matters temporal and spiritual. The benediction of ancient times shall find its fulfilment in thee: “Blessed shalt thou be coming in and going out. Blessed shalt thou be in the city and in the field. The Lord will send forth a blessing upon all the works of thy hands.” (Deuteronomy 28:6,3,8)

Those who work with their hands, whether in the workshop or in the fields, will experience the truth of the saying: “Without God’s aid no progress is made.” For let them toil as they may, unless the divine blessing rests upon their labors they will meet with no success. Now there is no better means of obtaining an abundant blessing from God than holy Mass. For in the Mass Christ Himself gives us His divine benediction; in fact St. Bridget was privileged to behold Him, at the moment of the elevation of the sacred host, raising His august right hand to make the sign of the cross upon the prostrate worshippers, while He said: “My blessing be upon all you who believe in Me.” Our Lord bestows this benediction upon all who go to Mass, He blesses their work and all they do. If thou dost absent thyself from Mass because of thy work, thou dost lose the blessing of God, and thy work will not profit thee for time or for eternity, as it would if thou soughtest God’s blessing to begin and to accomplish it.

Those who neglect Mass ought not, if they are in want, to wonder what is the cause of their impoverished circumstances, for if we give grudgingly to God He w& give grudgingly to us. If merely from indifference and carelessness thou dost withhold from Him the worship that is His due, the satisfaction which thou couldst render to Him by hearing Mass, He will withhold from thee thy daily bread, and His blessing will not be upon thy work.

Beware of saying: What use is it to hear Mass? I am none the richer, none the happier, for it; it mates no difference to me whether I have or have not heard Mass. This is the way in which foolish and ungodly persons speak, who have no just idea of what holy Mass really is. Any one who has read this book will have learnt enough of the virtue and excellence of the Mass to make him rejoice in it. Hearing Mass is not only useful for the soul, but for the body as well; the benefit we derive from it is material as well as spiritual. As Foments says: “The very food thou dost eat on the day thou hast been to Mass nourishes thee better; thy work succeeds better; any troubles that weigh on thee appear less heavy.” Again another pious writer says: “He who begins the day by going to Mass will be attended by better fortune in his work, in his business, in whatever his hand finds to do, or wherever his feet carry him. And when thou hast heard Mass in the morning, if, later in the day, thou shouldst be suddenly overtaken by death, be assured that Christ will be present with thee in thy last moments, as thou wert present with Him at holy Mass*” Let words such as these, setting forth the great utility of the holy sacrifice, incite us to assist at it as frequently as possible.

We may go farther, and say, not only does holy Mass not hinder our work: it does more, it furthers it, as experience has often proved. It is related of St. Isidore, a Spanish saint of comparatively humble birth, that he was engaged by a wealthy nobleman of Madrid to cultivate his lands for a fixed annual salary. He fulfilled his duty with exemplary industry, but without discontinuing any of his religious exercises; every morning he heard Mass in more than one church, and spent some hours in prayer. His piety was so pleasing to God that an angel was sent to help him in his work on the farm lest anything should suffer through his absence. However, the owners of the adjoining land, actuated by jealousy, accused him to his employer of neglecting the field-work to hear Mass, to the injury of the crops. The nobleman, greatly enraged at hearing this, went to the farm at once, and rebuked his steward in no measured terms for his dishonest conduct. The saint replied quietly: “I know, sir, that I am your servant, but I have another master, the King of kings, to Whom I also owe obedience. If, however, you think that your interests suffer through my coming late to work, when harvest time comes, you can deduct whatever you think proper from my share of the produce.” Pacified by this answer, the proprietor said no more, and left the pious farmer to go to Mass as he pleased. Meanwhile he was desirous to know really how much time was taken from agriculture, so one morning he went very early to his fields, and concealed himself behind a rock. Finding that Isidore did certainly begin to plough at a very late hour, he went towards hin», intending to take him severely to task. What was his astonishment when he descried two strangers, with a team of white oxen, ploughing one on each side of his steward. For a while he stood riveted to the spot, contemplating this extraordinary apparition. Then he advanced nearer, stepping over the newly-made furrows, but when he was almost close up to them they vanished out of sight, the unknown husbandmen, the snow-white oxen, and the plough they were driving. Overwhelmed with astonishment, he called out to Isidore: “My good man, for God’s sake tell me who those men are who are ploughing this field with you.” The saint looked up with a smile, but answered nothing, for indeed he did not know what to say. His master continued: “I am positive that I saw two men at work with you, but as soon as I came near they both disappeared.” “I declare before God,” Isidore replied,“that I have not seen any one helping me; I have not even asked assistance from any one, except God, Whom I implore every day to come to my aid.” Then the proprietor of the estate knew that the laborers he had seen were angels, and congratulated himself on having so saintly a man in his service.

This story forcibly illustrates what has been said above, that hearing Mass is a help, not a hindrance, to our work, for God ordains that, for the service we render Him, we should do our work more easily and succeed better in it. The time we take from our daily avocations to spend in the service of God is not wasted; on the contrary, it is very well employed, and earns for us from God a temporal and an eternal reward. Has He not told us, with His own divine lips: “Seek ye first the kingdom of God and His justice, and all these things shall be added unto you?” (Matthew 6:33) This is tantamount to saying: Hear Mass in the morning, and thou shalt have an abundant blessing on all thou doest in the day.

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