Father Paul Wattson, SA
Fr. Paul Wattson, the founder with Mother Lurana White of the Franciscan Friars and Sisters of the Atonement, gave hundreds of sermons, conducted numerous retreats, delivered many radio addresses, and wrote extensively in four magazines: The Pulpit of the Cross, The Lamp, The Candle, and The Antidote.
From time to time, we will be putting on our website some of his words.
The selections from the words of Father Paul for the month of November 2011 are:
- All Saints Day (Nov. 1)
- All Souls Day (Nov. 2)
- Jesus Christ the King (Nov. 20)
- Columbus Day (Oct. 12)
- Thanksgiving Day (Nov. 24)
- First Sunday of Advent (Nov. 27)
- One & Two Liners of Fr. Paul
So, my dear friends, we see all around us saintly souls, not merely in the priesthood or in the religious life. We meet them in the daily walk of life as we come in contact with pious, holy Christian men and women of prayer, men and women who from their childhood have always been most anxious to do the things that pleased God, to listen to that still, small voice, who never undertook any important thing in life until they first sought wisdom and guidance by prayer or taking counsel with some godly servant of the Most High, and we admire those fellow-Christians, and why should it not be so with all of us? (Fr. Paul Sermon May 16, 1926)
For a printable version of this article click here.
All Souls Day (Nov. 2)
Millions of Catholics practice our holy religion well enough, thank God, to keep themselves out of the clutches of the devil and to escape the horrors of the second death, but why, dear readers, should we practice our religion so poorly as to purchase for ourselves a long stop-over ticket in Purgatory, when by a little more labor and sacrifice during the present life we might secure at Death's Grand Terminal a first-class berth on the midnight limited, and after passing unconsciously through the Valley of the Shadow of Death, wake up at dawn to find ourselves already arrived at the celestial city and the great gates of pearl flung wide open to receive us?
Why suffer even for a time the torments of Purgatory, when by a little more zeal in the service of God, a more frequent recourse to the Sacraments, a purer, holier, more useful life, less money spent on self and more given for the conversion of pagans, we might secure from the lips of Christ immediately after death the glad sentence: "Well done, good and faithful servant, enter at once into the joy of your Lord." [Matt.25:21]
After death, where, then, are you going? Answer, dear Reader, "By the grace of God I am going straight to heaven," and in order to realize so glorious an ambition, make all your life on the earth from this day forward one unceasing effort and preparation for a holy death. (The Lamp Nov. 1915 p.483)
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Jesus Christ the King (Nov. 20)
We are celebrating with great magnificence and rejoicing throughout the world, the feast of Jesus Christ the King, and that means that we are going to put on the Lord Jesus Christ and as his true soldiers battle for the triumph of his cross and the extension of his kingdom until he reigns from pole to pole and from sea to sea.
That is one side, but we must not be blind to the other side. The powers of hell are clearly stirred up. Satan has been lifting himself up in a mass of evil and of immense power to contend and fight against the advance of the realm. (Fr. Paul Sermon Nov. 28, 1926)
For a printable version of this article click here.
Our Lord was the guest on a certain Sabbath day of Simon the Pharisee. [See Matt. 26:6-13]
While they reclined at the table a woman who had been a sinner and out of whom he had cast seven devils, came in and brought a precious alabaster box of ointment, poured it on his head, then anointed his feet and washed them with tears of gratitude streaming from her eyes, and wiped them with the tresses of her head.
There was criticism in the heart of Simon the Pharisee, who was proud, self-centered, and he said,
If this man knew what nature of woman it was making this demonstration, he would order her out of the hall.
And Our Lord, reading his mind, said to him,
Simon, I have a question to ask of you: A certain man had two debtors, the one he forgave a large sum, the other a small sum. Which one of those debtors do you suppose will love him the most?
And he said,
I suppose the one whom he had forgiven the larger amount.
And Jesus said,
You have answered right. This woman has been forgiven much, consequently she loves much. She has not only been a woman of sin, full of the corruption of sin, but seven unclean devils had gone in and taken possession of her, dragging her to the depths of disgrace, with the yawning mouth of hell gaping at her feet.
When Christ crossed her path and delivered her out of the domination of the devils that had possessed her, he shut the gates of hell and opened unto her the gates of life, the joys of Paradise. Her heart was filled with the utmost gratitude, she could not express enough the love and devotion of this Master who was her Redeemer and Saviour. It was not only on this occasion that she came and offered her oblation of love and devotion, but on the eve of his crucifixion she did the same, and our Lord again
commended her, when Judas Iscariot criticized her, saying, "This precious ointment cost a lot of money, she ought not to have wasted it in this way, she ought to have used it for the poor," not that he cared for the poor, but that he carried the bag.
Our Lord rebuked him and said that she had done it for his burial, and that the odor of that ointment would go down and fill the Church through the ages, the odor of her love, of her gratitude, of the unspeakable devotion of her whole being to this Divine Redeemer who had saved her soul, who had cleansed her from the leprosy that there was in the awful corruption of hell, "Where the worm dies not and the fire is not quenched." [Mk.9:43]
From history, Mary Magdalene did not only kneel at the foot of the cross while that life blood was being poured out drop by drop, to redeem the sins of the world, but she went into exile after his death to live in the mountain fastnesses, that all her time might be given to prayer and meditation and communion with the Sacred Heart of Jesus, until being released from the flesh she might enter into the joy of the Beatific Vision and unite with the Seraphs in the adoration and praise and glory of God with immense gratitude throughout eternity. (Fr. Paul Sermon Aug. 23, 1931)
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First Sunday of Advent (Nov. 27)
John the Baptist said, “Prepare the way of the Lord, make straight his paths.” [Matt.3:3]
Dear friends, do not think that this matter of making the way of the King straight is an easy proposition. It is not a matter of a day. It is the matter of a lifetime. To be the faithful servant of God needs watchfulness, needs constant prayer, needs constant recollection, needs attention from the time we get up in the morning until we go to bed at night to that still small voice that interprets to us the will of God. Our nature is very complex. It is not an easy thing to make the way of the King straight. That is the reason why the world does homage to the Saints, to those that were preeminent for their virtues, in their devotion to God in the midst of a wicked and naughty world, because they represented so much penance, so much prayer, so much sacrifice, so much constant devotion, day in and day out, in the service of God. I do not want to discourage anyone, but we ought to consider it the most important thing in life to obey that command of John the Baptist and make straight the way for the coming of the King. Just now we are looking forward to Christmas and just now we should concentrate ourselves upon the matter of a good Communion.
We are looking forward to drawing new to the altar as the shepherds drew near to the manger in Bethlehem on Christmas Eve, and we will draw nearer to the Word made flesh than they did. It is possible, and I do not think it improbable, that the Blessed Virgin told those shepherds to take the infant into their arms and press him to their breast. But in Holy Communion the priest brings us the infant Jesus; he places him upon our lips, which is the entrance into the interior, into our heart, into our soul, into our understanding, and that same Word made flesh enters into the innermost portion of our being in Holy Communion . . . So, don't you see how necessary it is to direct ourselves within to this construction of the King's highway of holiness, that he may come to us by choice, finding his habitation in our hearts and rule over us from the crown of our head to the sole of our feet, in the absolute sway of God, which directs us through conscience. Oh, my dear friends, there is a tremendous amount in all this. (Fr. Paul Sermon Dec. 20, 1925)
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Talents–from where?
If you can sit down at a piano and play like Paderewski, God gave that talent to you; it came from God. (Fr. Paul Sermon Mar. 1, 1925)
Power of kindness in correction:
I would try to exercise great patience in putting up with your boy’s propensity to lying and stealing, which go together---trying to correct them, not by chastisement but by kindness and spiritual appeal. (Fr. Paul to Mrs. M. of Louisville, Ky. Feb. 29, 1936)
Language of love is. . .
The language of love is sacrifice. St. John says, “God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son” [Jn.3:16] and “Greater love has no man than this, that he lay down his life for his fiends.”[Jn.15:13] (Fr. Paul Radio Talk, Sept. 26, 1937)
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