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There may be a number of small typographical errors in this transcription.
The transcription has been created by a text-recognition scanning process
and, although fairly accurate, some errors will inevitably remain.
The Voice from Worcester
No. 3
The Cart of Abinadab
1.- the Cart of Abinadab
2 Samuel. vi., 3, 4 :--"They set the Ark of God on a new cart,
and brought it out of the house of Abinadab.
Among Catholics, Our Lady is known as the Ark of the
Covenant, because she is the Mother in whose womb God
our Saviour dwelt. The Ark is God's Mercy Seat, Mary is
the Ark of the Covenant.
The Ark was God's place. Wherever the Ark went, God
went. Wherever Mary goes, Jesus goes.
The Israelites were bound to treat the Ark with great
reverence, and not to put it into any danger of desecration.
Like the Church of England to the Blessed Sacrament,
they had not been true to their charge. They took ito into
battle and lost it to the Philistines, in whose heathen temple
God was made prisoner.
And so has Jesus been in prison among the Reformers
who are the Philistines in England.
We use the figure of the Ark to help us to grasp things
which are true, in themselves. The symbol of the Ark will
bring the truth home more vividly to our minds.
The object in view is threefold.
First: To show that the Blessed Sacrament is not in its
proper place in the Church of England, and it must be
restored to its place on the High Altar and in the hearts of
the people.
Second: Abinadab's Cart is the vehicle for the transportation of Jesus to His Right Place.
Third: Everyone of us has a part and lot in the good
work of placng our Lord on the Altar as the One Central
Object of worship.
We are all given an honourable part in the work of
restoring Jesus to the place of honour in the Church of
England .. We have received our religion from God; at the
hands of God's ministers. As others handed it to you, so
you must hand it on to others.
It is by Abinadab's Cart that Jesus is to be brought home
to His right place on the High Altar in Mass and in the
Tabernacle in the Church of England. In Churches in
which Mass is the chief service it is difficult for the people
in those parishes to realise how Jesus in the Blessed
Sacrament is shut out of worship in most of the other
Churches in England.
In some places the whole Morning Service consists of
Psalms and Lessons and Hymns in a Service called Mattins,
a jumble of the Breviary Offices of Mattins and Lauds.
There is no Mass, and Mass in many parishes is just for a
few people who come early in the morning or stay after
Mattins.
The people's service is not the Worship of Jesus in Mass
but it is the Reformer's Mattins. Perhaps it would be more
correct to say that Mattins does not now attract anyone,
so that it is no longer the popular service as was intended.
That is how the Reformers shut Jesus out of Church
worship.
Further, many Bishops will not allow Jesus to be put in
the Tabernacle on the High Altar for the adoration of His
people. They shut Jesus out.
The result is that Mary and Jesus are kept in Kirjath-Jearirn among the Philistines and unbelievers: because the
authorities will not have Him in the Tabernacle among the
Faithful.
Mary is the Ark of the Covenant on which Jesus sits as
on the Mercy Seat. Mary holds up Jesus for the worship
of His people. She stands with Jesus in her arms: or she
sits with Him in her lap. Whatever her posture, she is a
Monstrance by which Jesus is lifted up and from which He
blesses His children.
In the Church of England Mary is not spoken of as
Mother of God: because so few people realize that although
Jesus had two Natures He had only One Person, and that
the Person of the Son of God.
In ordinary speech a woman, although she is not the
mother of any person, is nevertheless called mother of John
or Thomas, when really she is the mother of his body only.
Nevertheless she is the mother of the boy john who is a
person. So Mary is the Mother of Jesus Who is none other
Person but God.
We want Mary restored to her place in the Church of
England. With Mary we bring back her Son. Especially
must we restore Him in His Sacramental Power. We want
Him back for Sacrifice, for Communion, and for Benediction.
This is where you and I come in. We must bring Him
back in Abinadab's Cart.
When I describe this cart to you I must leave you to
find the place allotted to you in this great work of carrying
the Ark to ]erusalem: of making Jesus the Centre of
Worship in the Church of England in the arms of Mary, in
the Mass, and in the Monstrance at Benediction.
II.-Abinadab's Cart.
This Cart had-
Two shafts,
Two oxen,
Two sides,
Four wheels,
and a Driver.
The two shafts are the Catholic men and women, who
support the Church.
The two oxen are the Clergy-Secular and Regular.
They are well placed between the two shafts. Shafts are to
relieve the weight on the oxen, and they connect the pull of
the oxen with the cart. Without the men and women the
cart 'would not be moved. The clergy need the shafts which
are lay people, men and women.
In the advancement of the Catholic cause in England
the lay folk have taken the most honourable place, next to the
great confessors among the clergy. Lord Halifax is the
outstanding case of a layman: a Confessor neither Bishop
nor Priest. What we need now is a strong lay demand that
Jesus shall be treated with more respect by the Bishops and
by the ordinary Clergy. Mattins must go. Mass -must be
established in every Church in England.
The Cart has two sides. The two sides are the boys
and girls of the Catholic Congregation. Every boy and girl
who loves Jesus takes a place beside Him. They are the
sides of the Cart which carries the Ark of the Covenant to
Jerusalem. They are like the acolytes holding up the torches
in honour of Jesus at Mass and Benediction. The children of
Mary and all, boys and girls who love Jesus and Mary form
part of Abinadab's Cart.
The Cart has Four Wheels.
The Four Wheels are the Four Evangelists. You
will see the connection in a moment. Wheels are
meant to make the Cart travel sweetly, so as not to jolt
those who travel in it and so as to ease the pull on the oxen.
Without the Gospel of Good News the clergy cannot
further the Cause of Jesus Christ.
The clergy need people who will be evangelists in their
own circles.
Catholics should all be evangelists, to make the Cart run
sweetly, and to get more help for Jesus. Urge your friends
to come to Mass and Benediction. Be helpers of -the Blessed
Sacrament. For the Mass is the Gospel of Good News
to-day.
Wheels should run smoothly. They should be well oiled
with the unction of the Holy Ghost. Speak out boldly for
Jesus and Mary.
I hope you will all accept the place allotted you in
Abinadab's Cart, so that we may have Mary returned to the
affection of the English, and that Jesus be set up in every
Church in Mass and Benediction for the Worship of the
Church of England. Observe that this Cart is a living Cart.
There is not a dead part in it. Shafts, sides, wheels, and
the oxen and driver are all living souls.
111.- Three Things Needed by All.
Prayer.
"Not by might nor by power but by My Spirit saith the
Lord" will Jesus be set up in every Church for Worship.
The extent of the Work demands Prayer. President Wilson
said that the Great War was fought in order to make the
World safe for Democracy. The only way to make the World
safe for the souls bought by the Precious Blood is to make
it safe for the adoration of Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament.
We want to make the Church of England safe for the
worship of the Blessed Sacrament: the World safe for the
Worship of Jesus: and He will make us safe for Eternity.
Prayer should be incessantly offered by all Catholics
that England may welcome Jesus back to her Altars.
Pray that all opposition to our Lord may be overcome.
Pray that all opponents of the Blessed Sacrament be
silenced; that all people of good will may help us to make
the World comfortable for Jesus to reign. For all of us there
must first be Prayer.
Reverence.
We all need Reverence: and we must show it.
Uzzah was killed for his irreverence. It looked as
though he had a good intention in putting his hand forth to
steady the Ark. The oxen had stumbled: the Cart was
shaken: Uzzah put out his hand to steady the Ark and he was
killed. It says, "The Lord smote him for his error; and
there he died by the Ark of God."
The punishment of Uzzah is a warning that no intention,
however good, can justify a bad act.
Irreverence is bad. God can do without that hasty act
which comes on the heels of suggestion; and does not stop
to consider the Reverence due to God. You are not fit to
help Jesus unless you have learned the lesson of reverence
and awe before Him in the Blessed Sacrament. The
irreverence which has been, and is being shown to Jesus in
the Blessed Sacrament by high dignitaries in the Church of
England must bring down on them the Divine Wrath,
However well-meaning a man may be who opposes the
uplifting of the Lamb of God upon the Altars of the Church,
his candlestick deserves to be removed by that Sacramental
Lord Whom he has insulted. For it is an awful thing for any
man to do such wicked' things and yet to mean well. It is a
sign of an evil wiII deluding the man. May our Lord save
us from such well-meaning evil-doers.
With Prayer and Reverence there must go
Team-work.
We must co-operate with God. We are blame-worthy if we
leave the Blessed Sacrament in the hands of the Philistines :
or in the hands of pious people who have no reverence for
the Sacrament; and who think they do God service in
suppressing the Worship of the Host.' We are not content
to let It be regulated out of our Chuches; and thrust away
to Baale of Judah, otherwise called Kirjath Jearim : the place
to which the Ark was relegated by the careless Jews. The
place of the Blessed Sacrament is on the Throne of the
Catholic Church in Mount Zion : that is, on every High Altar
for Reservation and Worship, as well as for Communion.
Clergy and Laity must unite to bring our Lord Home
with Mary. Men, women, boys and girls must help.
Secular clergy and religious of both sexes must pull; a long
pull and a strong pull, and a pull all together, ,will restore
Jesus and Mary to us.
It is high time that everybody in the Church of England
gave up quarrelling among themselves. Let us all turn to
Jesus in the Sacrifice of the Mass and pray for Jesus to be
enthroned on Mary's knee, the Seat of Wisdom. We should
join in worship instead of joining in controversy. At least;
let all lovers of Jesus unite to exalt Him. We know that the
Blessed Sacrament is set for the fall and rising again of
many in Israel and for a sign that will be spoken against.
Why should we be the objectors? Why should we fall out
with Him and rise up against Him? Why should He be a
Sign for us to speak against and not rather the Sign to rally
us to the Blessed Trinity?
The fact that the Truth provokes some to violence and
raises up for mischief the spirit of the persecutor, affords no
reason for us to hide the Truth. Our Lord came to witness
to the Truth as the King of Truth. If we truly believe His
Word we are His disciples indeed, -and we shall know the
Truth, and the Truth shall make us free. Once we know
that our Lord founded a Church to be Pillar and Ground of
Truth we are in the way to know all the truth needed for
Salvation.
It is when defending the Catholic Faith in its entirety
that you provoke persecution. And it is by holding with
Christ that you get His Blessing. For He says: "Blessed
are you when men shall revile you and persecute you and
shall say all manner of evil against you falsely for My sake."
The Catholics in the Church of England must not flinch
at persecution. It is becoming more intense. It is subtle and
very full of evil will. There are powers in high place more
determined than ever to destroy us. The Georgian perse-
cution is unlike the Victorian persecution. It is intended to
succeed in the long run by starving Catholic parishes of
priestly help and discouraging all young priests from helping
where the Blessed Sacrament is honoured. "Be thou.
faithful unto .death and I will give thee the crown of life."
IV.- The Driver of the Cart.
It is essential that we get the right driver. A bad
driver is an evil 'driver. Even an unskilful driver might
wreck the Cart and bring disaster on the Blessed Sacrament.
There are certain drivers who have shown themselves
incompetent and dangerous. Self-appointed drivers must
fail. Henry VIII. made himself head of the Church in the
stead of the Pope. We all now agree that it is a sin to regard
the King as Head of the Church. It is a sin for a layman to
pose as Head of Christ's Church.
Remember that the law of England was bound up with
Canon law, and when the Pope was disowned, it became
necessary to find someone to fill his place. King Henry put
himself as Head: and he murdered anyone who would not
acknowledge him as Head. No one has been found to fill
the Pope's place. No one ever will be found to fill his place.
The result of putting him out of the driver's seat is that
nearly everybody else has tried to drive the Ecclesiastical
Waggon. Parliament has taken the reins. It is more sinful
to make Parliament the Head of the Church than to make the
King the Head. Because the Parliament is many-headed.
You can only have one driver. Parliament is a hydra, a
serpent of many heads, You .might as well make the devil
and his myrmidons the driver. His driving would be like
that of Jehu, the son of Nimshi, he driveth furiously to hell.
The serpent, the reptile, is to be crushed beneath the Ark.
He is not to be put in the Driver's Seat. No layman can
have rule over the clergy; and none but a bishop can have
the rule over all other bishops.
The Driver of Abinadab's Cart must be One Person who
has the Rule over all the men, women, boys, girls; clergy,
bishops and priests, and all religious in the whole Catholic
Church.
No vehicle is safe in the hands of many drivers, but only
in the hands of one. In the case of the Church the One
Person must represent the One Christ in His sole and
sovereign rule over the whole Catholic Church. And the One
Person who represents the One Christ must be Driver of the
Cart by the appointment of our Lord Jesus Himself.
To only one Apostle did our Lord give the Keys of the
Kingdom of Heaven. The Driver of the Cart and the holder
of the Keys is one and the same person.
The Keys represent the Superior Authority of universal
jurisdiction and of infallibility in faith and morals when
teaching the whole Church from Peter's chair. The Pope,
and no one but tile Pope, can represent Jesus as Head of
the Church. For he is our Lord's appointed Chief Shepherd.
In order to bring Jesus back to England ill the Blessed
Sacrament all must do their part. We want the Sacrifice of
the Mass to be made to appear what it must ever in itself be :
the Chief Service on Sunday in all Catholic Churches. We
want Mary restored to' her place as Mother of God: always
holding Jesus up for love and adoration. We want
Benediction in which Jesus is held up to bless us in the
evening as He is held up at the Elevation in Mass in the
morning. Meanwhile, we must exercise prayer and great
reverence, and great patience in persecution. And we must
labour for Unity in Liturgy, in Faith, in Discipline and in
Rule under the One. We must overcome and utterly destroy
out of our hearts and minds inherited prejudice against the
Blessed Sacrament, the Catholic Church, and the Holy
Father. It may be, after many trials, that Jesus will be
enthroned in England. He must reign! It was after many
vicissitudes that the Ark arrived at its destination. When it
left the land of the Philistines in Abinadab's Cart there
seemed little hope of ever getting to the Tabernacle at
Jerusalem. But the time came, though long was the way
and dreary, when "They brought in the Ark of the Lord,
and set It ln His place in the midst of the Tabernacle."
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