Readings from Fr. John Furniss

[Shin]

THE PRICE OF THE SOUL

1. What is meant by the price or cost of any thing? A little girl wanted to buy some thread. She went to a shop where thread was sold, and said, "Please, I want to buy some thread." The people of the shop showed her some thread. She took as much as she wanted. Then she said, "What is the price of this thread -- what does it cost?" The people looked at the thread and said, "The thread costs a penny." So a penny was the price of the thread.

My dear child, your soul was bought by Almighty God as much as the thread was bought by this girl. "You are bought with a great price." 1 Cor. vi. So now we must try to find out what was the price which God paid for your soul, for every soul, for the soul of a little baby, for the soul of an idiot who has not his senses.

Did God, then, buy your soul with gold and silver, as you buy a house or a field? No. All the gold and silver in the mines of Australia and California -- all the gold and silver on the earth, and under the earth -- all the rich and beautiful things in all the shops in the world; the rick silks, and velvets, and diamonds, and pearls, and precious stones -- all the riches of the world ptu together in one vast heap, could not buy the soul of one baby which has no sense. "You were not redeemed with corruptible things, as gold and silver." 1 Pet. i. Did God buy your soul with the bright sun and sparkling stars? No. Neither the sun, nor the stars, nor the world, nor ten millions of suns, and stars, and worlds, could buy one soul. There is nothing in this world equal to the soul.

Let us then lift up our thoughts to Heaven. There are in Heaven riches very different from the riches of the Earth. Such riches as are in Heaven "the eye hath not seen, nor hath it entered into the heart of man to know them." 1 Cor. ii. Did God, then, buy your soul with the riches of Heaven? No. All the riches of Heaven, even the Throne of Glory itself, the seat of the Most Blessed Trinity, -- "that Throne which is for ever and ever," Heb. i. -- could not buy the soul of one poor idiot who was no sense.

What then was the price which God paid for a soul? Oh! the price of a soul! "Man knoweth not the price thereof." Job. What tongue can tell it? What then was the price which God paid for your soul? Listen! -- Jesus Christ is the Son of God, the second Person of the Blessed Trinity. His going out is from the ways of Eternity, and He lives for ever and ever. By Him the world was made, and at his word Heaven and Earth will pass.

Now lift up your eyes and look -- at the Cross! One that cross hangs Jesus the Son of God! He has taken a body and soul like ours, and He is nailed to the cross! From His hands and His feet four streams of blood go down upon the earth, and all the earth round the cross on Calvary is red with the Divine blood. There -- the Son of God hangs between Heaven and Earth, on four great hooks, bleeding! Look again at Jesus, his head is bowed down, it has sunk on his breast -- his soul is gone away! Jesus Christ the Son of God hangs dead on the cross!

The people who lived in those days saw the God who created them nailed to the wooden cross on Calvary -- they saw him bleeding in cruel pain -- they heard his sorrowful sighs -- they saw him breath out his last breath and die. Then the sun became dark, and the earth was torn with earthquakes, and the graves opened and the dead arose! Now let a little child come and kneel before the cross and pray, because Jesus is glad when the little children speak to him. "My sweet Jesus," the little child says, "I see you bleeding and dying on the cross. Oh the wonderful sight. Tell me, my Jesus, how can it be? why is it that you -- God, the Creator, should hang dead on a cross? Why did you let your creatures, to whom you gave life, take away your own life?" The child has spoken. It is silent.

Jesus answers: "My dear child, your soul is very beautiful and precious. I wanted to have it -- to buy it. I looked through all my works in Heaven and on Earth to see if there was any thing I could buy it with, and there was nothing. Then I knew that I could not buy your soul except with my blood and my own life! I thought what a terrible thing it would be for me, the Creator, to die; but I remembered that if I died I should have your soul, and then I was content to bleed and to die."

Now, my child, I can tell you the price of a soul. The price of a soul is -- the Blood and Life of Jesus Christ, the Son of God! I get a pair of scales. I put as it were into one scale the precious Blood and the Life of the Son of God. I put into the other scale a soul. Oh, wonderful the balance stands equal -- the soul is equal to the Blood and Life of the Son of God! Surely when you meet any creature which has a soul, you would look and bow down with reverence before a soul bought with the precious blood of Jesus Christ.

See that poor orphan child in rags, without shoes, without bread to eat, homeless and friendless. Poor child, as you wander through the streets, you say to yourself, "Nobody cares for me, nobody takes any notice of me." You know not, O orphan child, that the light of Heaven is shining on your soul; you know not that God and his angels have their eyes fixed on you -- that God is speaking to the angels about you and is saying, "Oh, the blessed soul of that little child! I would give Heaven and Earth, I would give the Divine Blood of my Son Jesus to have the soul of that poor little child."

Now turn away your eyes from the cross and look over the four quarters of the earth -- Europe, Asia, Africa, America. What do you see? You see countless millions of souls for which Christ died. They lie scattered about the earth, and neglected like stones and sticks, and the bones of dead beasts; or as old rags or bits of rusty iron; or as an old shoe thrown away, which nobody will pick up. Yet each one of these souls is precious before God, and dear to him as the blood of his only Son Jesus Christ.

And Jesus Christ, seated in Heaven, with a sorrowful heart, looks down on the earth because there are few who help him to save these dear souls which He bought with His own blood.

[Therese]

Good post.  I see how important it is for me to help save souls.

How did you learn about Fr. Furniss, Shin?  I enjoy his work very much.

[Shin]

I first encountered his famous work 'The Sight of Hell'. Then I read up more about who he was, his work as a children's missioner, and found he had written a great deal more than that work. I noticed how good a writer he was, and how good a missioner, how virtuous, and the attacks against him, which I took for a good sign -- so I decided I wished to read more of his work, to see if it was also good, and if so to then make it available.

I found that his works had not been recorded by any e-text archive, and that they were hard to get ahold of. They had gone, it seems, a good deal to Irish, and Irish immigrants coming to this country, and yet not reprinted in a long time, were much lost.

So I prayed and kept my eyes open and looked. There were a few libraries, out of state, that were potential places to photocopy some of his work still preserved. And an expensive copy available through a used book site. The price was high, so I put it off, though sometimes returning to look at it, and in time it disappeared.

It was after this I looked for it in libraries. But after a year or so I found a major used book outlet offering the major compilation of his works that I had been looking for -- it is not all of his work, I have a list of what I know of, but it is a large portion of it. The price was not so high. I thanked God and acquired it.

[Shin]

This is the list of Fr. Furniss's works that I so far know of:

* Almighty God and His Perfections
* God Loves Little Children
* The Great Question
* The Great Evil; or, Mortal sin.
* Stumbling Blocks
* The House of Death
* The Book of the Dying
* The Terrible Judgment and The Bad Child
* The Sight of Hell
* Holy Communion
* Schools in which Children Lose their Holy Faith
* How to Teach at Catechism
* What Every Christian Must Know and Do
* The Book of Young Persons
* Confession
God and His Creatures
Companion to How to Teach at Catechism
How to Teach at Catechism - Hymns
Tracts for Spiritual Reading, Designed for First Communion, Retreats, Missions
The Sunday School or Catechism
Hand-book for Sunday School Teacher [extracted from a larger work 'The Sunday School']

The starred books are in the compilation volume. Some are longer, some are shorter. I don't think I've over looked 'God and His Creatures' in the compilation volume, it doesn't appear to be there, and the book is delicate and shedding paper so I have to be careful sorting through it. The 'Hymns' book might also be included, there are some hymns. Not having the single volumes to examine I can't say if it is the same or not.

I'm should like to find the other works.

[Patricia]

Do we have all these books on Saintsbooks? I looked for them.

[Shin]

Haha! Only three of them.. Since we are now doing 'The Great Question' that one should appear next I am thinking.

It is a good thing I took that typing course in school!

But I know others who are faster than me at typing things up!   

[Therese]

Thanks, Shin, for the info about Fr. Furniss.  I'm glad you post his works on your forums.  I haven't visited Saintsbooks yet.  Peace!

[Shin]

There's so much reading material on Saints' Books! I know you'll enjoy it.

There're also some good riddles that need solving, if you're in the mood for them!

I see how important it is for me to help save souls.

Salvation is what it is all about!

[Shin]

Chapter VI.

THE VOICE OF CREATURES TO THE SOUL.

Look at the bright sun in the heavens, the sparkling stars, the green grass, the flowers, the fruits on the trees, the seas, the rivers, the beasts in the fields, the fishes in the sea, the birds in the air, the day and the night, the storm and the sunshine, the drops of rain, the dew on the grass. These creatures have a tongue, a voice which speaks to your soul. "There are no speeches nor languages where their voices are not heard. Their sound hath gone forth into all the earth, and their words unto the end of the world." Ps. xviii. Oh, creatures of God, what have you to say for us? Speak, for the Creature has bid you to speak to us. What then is that voice? what those words which the Creator has commanded you to say to us?

Hearken, my child, those creatures speak. They say to us: "O immortal souls, created in the image and likeness of God, we are not as you; we have not a soul to understand, neither did our Creator die for us; and yet, we ever do the will of our Creator, and serve Him." Oh, immortal souls, do the will of God who created you; oh, this very day begin to do His will, for you known not if you will live till to-morrow. The day of your life is passing, and the night of death is coming; Job. ix. "Ask the beasts and they shall teach thee, and the birds of the air and they shall tell thee; speak to the earth and it shall answer thee."

[Shin]

I've been reading Fr. Furniss and he's helped me understand more how all Creation was created for the sake of leading man to God.

[Shin]

CHAPTER VII.

THE GREAT QUESTION.

THERE is a great thought -- a great question. It is the greatest of all questions -- the question of questions.

Listen to the great question. This, then is the Great Question: "Almighty God has created you. He has given you a body and an immortal soul, redeemed with the blood of Jesus Christ. You live in the world for a few short years, then you pass away, and nobody sees you any more. Why, then, did God create you? Why did he put you in this world? What are you for? What is the great thing you have to do here? What is your great affair? your great business in this world?" Behold, then, the Great Question: "Why did God create you?"

Very few people ever think about the great question. But those who are wise often ask themselves the great question.

Hear what the monks do. At midday they go into the chapel, and, kneeling down they ask themselves the great question. "Why," they say, "did God create me? have I this morning been doing what God created me for?" The night comes, and again, on their knees in the chapel, they ask themselves the great question: "Why did God create me? did I this afternoon do what God created me for?" Once every month there is one whole day, and all that day they do nothing but ask themselves the great question:  "Why did God create me? have I this month been doing what God created me for?" Once every year there are ten whole days. During those ten days they are silent, they preach not, they hear no confessions, they speak not to any human creature. They spend the whole ten days in asking themselves the great question: "Why did God create me? have I this year been doing what God created me for?" This question, "Why did God create me?" is a question which all wise men put often to themselves. So, if they read, if they eat, if they walk, during the works of the day, during the silence of the night, the great thought comes before them -- "Why did God create me?" Let us, then, my child, try to find the answer to this question -- "Why did God create you?"

[Patricia]

Truly the greatest of questions and if we know the answer we would not want to waste any more time wandering away from God. 

[Patricia]

But I know others who are faster than me at typing things up!  Grin  tiny angel

 

They say to us: "O immortal souls, created in the image and likeness of God, we are not as you; we have not a soul to understand, neither did our Creator die for us; and yet, we ever do the will of our Creator, and serve Him." Oh, immortal souls, do the will of God who created you; oh, this very day begin to do His will, for you known not if you will live till to-morrow. The day of your life is passing, and the night of death is coming; Job. ix. "Ask the beasts and they shall teach thee, and the birds of the air and they shall tell thee; speak to the earth and it shall answer thee."

Let's not waste time doing his Will! 

[Therese]

I like Saints Books, Shin.  You created it didn't you?

[Shin]

I'm a tiny part of the manual labor. 

[Shin]

CHAPTER VIII.

DID GOD CREATE YOU TO BE RICH, TO GET MONEY?

I GO into a great town, Dublin or London. I see many people walking about everywhere. There is something in their faces which shows that they are not idle, that they have some great business, some great affair on their hands. There seems to be something which takes up their thoughts, and fills their whole soul. I stop one of these people and speak to him. "My good man," I say to him, "tell me what is it? what is the great business, the great affair which fills all your thoughts and takes up all your time?" My great affair, he answers, the great thing I have to do, is -- to get money, to be rich. I go on further, I see a little boy running along the street. I say to him, stop a moment, my boy, what is the matter? what are you running for? I am running on an errand, the boy answers. And why do you run on an errand? The boy answers: I want to get money. I pass on, and walk into a shop. I see there a man, very busy from morning till night; his whole time is filled up; he has scarcely a moment to get any thing to eat. I say to him: Why do you work so hard all the days of your life? what is it for? what is to be the end of it? what do you want? He answers; I want to get money, and to be rich. So the will, and the memory, and the understanding, and the thoughts, and the desires of men, are always turning on money, as the earth is always turning on its axis. So it is with all, young and old, rich and poor, everywhere, in every place, from the rising of the sun to the going down thereof. I stop, then, for a moment, and again I ask myself the great question: "Why did God create us? what is the great thing we have to do on this earth?" And when I see all men spending all their time, and breath, and strength, and health, and life, in trying to get money, I say to myself: Perhaps this is what God created us for -- the great thing we have to do -- to get money, to be rich. Is it so? Let us see.

In the city of Jerusalem, where Jesus died on the cross, there once lived a very rich man. He had such an abundance of riches, that he scarcely knew himself all he possessed. He had gold and silver, lands and possessions, without end. He lived in a splendid house. Those who travel now to Jerusalem see the place where his house once stood. The remembrance of that fine house has come down from father to son, and so the people living there still show the traveler where it once was. They say -- here stood the house of the rich man. The grand house stood close to the Sorrowful Way, near the fourth station, where Jesus met his blessed Mother as he went on his sorrowful journey, carrying the cross, from the house of Pilate to Calvary. The rooms of this splendid house were most beautiful. They were filled with the most costly furniture. There were chairs and tables made of the richest woods, of the cedar of Lebanus, and of the palm tree of Gades. There you would see the brightest marbles of every color; carpets from Persia, and curtains of rich velvet; precious stones, and sparkling gems; the whitest ivory, glasses, and pictures so costly that nobody could tell the price of them. When the rich man went abroad, there was a long train of beautiful carriages, drawn by the finest horses in the world. If the rich man walked in the streets of Jerusalem, every eye was fixed upon him, for he was clothed in purple and fine linen, white as the snow. There was great feasting in that grand house. Every day that rich man feasted sumptuously. The most expensive wines, the most delicate and rich meats which money could buy, were on his table. The people called the rich man happy. Often, when they passed his grand house, they looked up at it, and said: How happy that man must be, because he is so rich; I wish I was as rich as he is. "They have called the people happy that hath these things." Ps. cxliii.

One day the rich man was very ill, for sickness comes to the rich man as well as to the poor man. The doctor was sent for in haste to cure him. The doctor comes without loss of time; he enters the room where the rich man was lying sick, and walks up to the bed-side. The doctor looks at him, feels his pulse, examines his tongue. He is silent for a few moments, then he says: "I think, sir, you are very ill, but I will send you a bottle of medicine, and I hope that in a few days you will be well." Then the rich man was happy again, for he thought that he would soon be cured. The bottle of medicine was brought to the house of the rich man. He drank the medicine, and a few days after, this rich man -- died! Then his body lay on a fine bed, pale, breathless, lifeless, cold, even as the dead body of a poor man lies dead in a lowly cabin. But his soul! What became of his soul? The very instant in which the rich man breathed out his last breath, his soul was buried forever in Hell, buried in the fire of Hell. Even as you bury a body in earth, so the rich man's soul was buried in fire. Then there was mourning in that grand house, because the rich man was dead; the great man was gone -- he was no more! If on that day, you had walked into the rich man's house, you would have seen a large, beautiful room. It was a wonderful thing to see that room. There was something strange in it. It was midday, and the sun was shining brightly and beautifully, as it shines in those countries; but into that large room no sun-light came. The white blinds were down, and the shutters of the windows were fast shut. Yet that room was not dark, it was lighted with many hundreds of lights; but the darkness of the walls, covered with black cloth, seemed to draw away the very brightness of the light, leaving only a deathlike mournful light. The persons who were in that roomed moved about slowly and sadly. If they spoke, it was only in a low whisper, which could scarcely be heard, so that you would have thought perhaps the dead man was only asleep, and they were afraid to awaken him. Yes, he had slept his last sleep, from which he will never awaken again. But turn your eyes to the upper end of that large room, where there are many lights. Every eye seems to be looking there. What is it? There is a rich and splendid coffin. That coffin is made of cedar, the richest of all woods. It is covered with folds of black silk velvet. Amidst the rich velvet you can see gold and silver sparkling, and almost blazing in the lights which hang above it and round it. The inside of that coffin is lined with satin, and silk, with a fringe of gold. But what is that coffin for? In that grand coffin is lying -- the dead body of the rich man! But down in Hell the soul of the rich man is lying in a coffin of fire! Around the coffin in that room stood the people of the world, the friends of the rich man. They talked together; they spoke of the coffin -- How beautiful it was , they said, what a fine coffin! But in Hell, the devils were standing round the coffin of fire, and they talked also, and said -- What a hot coffin, what a burning coffin this is! How terrible to be shut up in this coffin of fire for ever and ever, and never to come out of it again! Such was the end of the rich man. He lived in riches, and he died, and he was buried in the fire of Hell. But why did that rich man go to Hell? what was the reason? The reason was, because the rich man did not know the great thing he had to do while he lived. He made a great mistake. He thought the great thing of all was -- to be rich; and he was rich, and he went to Hell.

Perhaps some little boy who reads this book, when he grows up to be a man, may work hard and become rich. Now I ask that boy a question. My dear boy, when you shall come to lie on your death-bed, will you say to yourself, "I have laboured hard in my lifetime, and worked much, and now I am rich? I am going to die, and because I am rich I die contented and happy?" My boy, I will answer the question for you -- "The rich man died, and he was buried in Hell."

What is a needle? A little child answers: "A needle is a thing to sew with, having a little hole at one end called the eye of the needle; and this little hole is so small that you can only just get one single thread through it." Very well, my little child, now tell me what a camel is? "A camel is a great large beast, much larger than a horse; it can bear thirst for a long time, so when travelers go through sandy deserts where there is no water, they go on camels." Very well. I am now going to talk to you about a needle and a camel. Let us go to the camel. Pluck one single hair, only one hair, from the camel's back, and try to put it through the eye of the needle. There, the hair goes through the eye of the needle quite easily. Now, another thing, take up into your hands the great, large, broad foot of the camel, and try to put it through the little eye of the needle. You cannot. Now, something else. Put a rope round the great camel's neck, and lead it up to the needle, and try to make it pass, with all its great body through the little eye of the needle. It is impossible. Jesus Christ says that it is easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle, than for a rich man to go into Heaven; Luke xviii. Therefore, to get money, and to be rich, is not the great thing you have to do in this world. It was not for this that God created you. Did God create man for that which ruins him? Without doubt it is possible for a rich man to be saved. For even among the saints are to be found those who are rich. But they made a good use of their riches; they used it in the service of God; they were kind to the poor, they led good lives. But why is it so difficult for a rich man to go to Heaven? Is there something bad in gold and silver. Were not gold and silver created by God like the stones and the trees? Gold and silver are not bad in themselves, but people generally make a bad use of them, and commit sins because they have riches, or want too much to get them. Therefore, Jesus Christ says: "Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of Heaven;" Matt. v. But it is not only those who have money whom God accounts as rich. At the day of judgment many of the poor will be condemned as rich. But how can a poor man be called rich? He has no money in his pocket, his chest is empty. It is true he has no money; but it is true also that he has in his heart a great strong desire of money. This great desire of money leads people into many sins. For example, there are many poor men whose thoughts are all about money. Then they forget God, and think no more about going to Mass and the Sacraments. A man is out at work, he loses his wages, he becomes impatient, and blasphemes God. Another man takes a false oath in order to get what does not belong to him. Here is a man who loves to drink in the public-house, so he steals and robs, and cheats, that he may have money to spend in the public-house. There are people who were friends; they had a quarrel about money, and now they have a deadly hatred against one another. So it is money, money, money! and then -- blasphemes, false oaths, stealing, cheating, drunkenness, neglect of God and the soul, and then -- Hell! Therefore, St. Paul says, 1 Tim. vi.; "They that will become rich fall into temptation and the snare of the devil, and into many unprofitable and hurtful desires, which drown men into destruction and perdition. For the desire of money is the root of all evil."

God, then, did not create us to get money, to be rich. Therefore, those people are mistaken who live in this world as if the one great thing they have to do is to get money and be rich. Death will come, and then their money will pass away from them like a dream. In one moment they will go down into Hell, and, when they are buried in Hell, they will find out their mistake when it is too late. "What shall it profit a man to gain the whole world, if he lose his own soul?" Matt. xvi.