Page:SermonsFromTheLatins.djvu/571

 had He  granted  a  sign  to  that  perverse  people  would their faith  have  become  perfect? Alas! no. Look  at Capharnaum. Its faith,  founded  on  material  signs and wonders,  was  itself  material  and  unenduring. I see the  Christ,  on  His  last  journey  to  Jerusalem  and death, turn  like  an  avenging  angel  to  Capharnaum and pronounce  a  woe  upon  it. "Woe to  thee, Capharnaum.,,  You  believe,  yes,  but  your  faith  began not  as  true  faith  should,  in  submission  of  will and  mind  and  heart,  to  My  words.  If  in  pagan  Tyre and  Sidon  had  been  wrought  such  mighty  works, they  had  long  since  done  penance  in  sackcloth  and ashes.  But  thou,  Capharnaum,  art  exalted  unto heaven  with  worldly  pride  and  local  vanity.  Your faith  was  born  of  material  signs  and  wonders,  and without  them  it  cannot  endure;  whence  you  shall  be cast  down  again  into  the  hell  of  unbelief.  Ah,  how true  a  prophecy  was  that!  When  Christ  multiplied before  their  eyes  the  loaves  and  fishes  they  would fain  have  taken  Him  by  force  and  made  Him  king; but  when  Christ  ceased  His  miracles,  when  He  had utterly  surrendered  Himself  into  the  hands  of  His enemies,  when  Pilate  brought  Him  forth  scourged and thorn-crowned  and  said:  "  Behold  the  man,  behold your  King,"  many  a  Capharnaum  tongue shouted back:  "Away  with  Him;  we  have  no  king but  Caesar."

Brethren, it  is  a  fearful  thought  for  us  Christians and Catholics  that  from  Jerusalem  to  Capharnaum the only  persons  who  turned  with  perfect  faith  to Christ  were  a  heathen,  outside  the  circle  of  God's