helpless, and the destitute turn to him as their last hope. What Job in his profound humility said no priest will dare to say; yet every true priest would desire to be said of him when he is dead: "The ear that heard me blessed me, and the eye that saw me gave witness to me. Because I had delivered the poor man that cried out, and the fatherless that had no helper, the blessing of him that was ready to perish came upon me, and I comforted the heart of the widow. I was an eye to the blind and a foot to the lame; I was the father of the poor, and the cause which I knew not I searched out diligently."[1] The poorest man ought to have no fear of coming to a priest, for a priest is not his own—he belongs to his flock, and every one has a right to him and to his service in the charity of Jesus Christ. To be loved by the poor is the surest sign a priest can have that he is not unlike his Master. For the people heard Him gladly. Their love is a great reward. When the world is dark and hostile, a priest takes sanctuary among his poor. Almost all the great in Church or State were against S. Thomas of Canterbury, but the poor priests and the poor people were always with him.
Lastly, there is a company who cannot come
- ↑ Job xxix. 11-16.
