Page 10

his own son in like manner, when, arriving at
a certain place, he exclaimed, "No more stop here, no more thus far did I drag my own father
stop." Baronius mentions a circumstance of a like nature, concerning the daughter of Herodias,
who caused John the Baptist to be beheaded. He tells of her, that one day as she was crossing a
frozen river, the ice broke under her, and she remained with her head only above the aperture. By
dint of her struggles to save herself from death, she had her head severed from her body, and thus
died. Oh, how just is not God, when the time of vengeance arrives! he causes the sinner to be
caught, and strangled in the net which his own hands have made. The Lord shall be known when He
executeth judgments, the sinner hath been caught in the works of his own hands. Ps. 9:17

Let us tremble, my brethren, when we see
others punished, knowing as we do, that we ourselves have deserved the same
punishments. When the tower of Siloe fell upon eighteen persons and killed them, the
Lord said to many who were present: Think you that they also were debtors above all the men that
dwelt in Jerusalem. Luke 13:4. Do you think that these wretches alone were in debt to God's
justice on account of their sins? You are yet debtors to it; and if you do not penance, you shall
be punished as well as they: Except you do penance, you shall all likewise perish. O,
how many unfortunate men damn themselves by false hope in the divine mercy? Yes, God is
merciful, and therefore assists and protects them who hope in his mercy: He is the protector of
all that trust in Him. Ps. 17:31. But he assists and protects those only who hope in him, with
the intention of changing their lives, not those whose hope is accompanied by a perverse intention
of continuing to offend him. The hope of the latter is not acceptable to God, he
abominates and punishes it: Their hope the
abomination of the soul Job 11:20. Poor

sinners, their greatest misery is, that they are
lost, and do not know their state. They jest, and they laugh, and they despise the threats of God,
as if God had assured them that he should not punish them. "Whence," exclaims St. Bernard,
"this accursed security?" Whence, O blind that you are, whence this
accursed security? accursed, because it is this security which brings you to hell. I will come
to them that are at rest, and dwell securely. Ezech. 28:11. The Lord is patient, but when the
hour of chastisement arrives, then Will he justly condemn to hell those wretches who
continue in sin, and live
in peace, as if there were no hell for them.

Let sin be no more for us, my brethren; let us be converted if we wish to escape the scourge which
hangs over us. If we do not cease from sin, God will be obliged to punish us: For evil doers shall
be cut off Ps. 26:9. The obstinate are not only finally shut out from Paradise, but hurried off
the earth, lest their example should draw others into hell. And let us reflect that these temporal
scourges are nothing in comparison with those eternal chastisements, hope of relief from which
there is none Give ear, O sinner! my brother, give ear! For now the axe is laid to the root of the
trees. Luke 3:9. The author of the Imperfect Work, in his comment upon this passage, says: "It
is said that the axe is laid, not to the branches, but to the root, so that it will irreparably
exterminated." He says that when the branches are lopped, the tree continues still to live; but
when the tree is felled from the root, it then dies, and is cast into the fire; The Lord stands
with the scourge in his hand, and you still continue in disgrace with him. The axe is laid
to the root. Tremble lest God should make
you die in your sins, for if you die thus, you
shall be cast into the fire of hell, where your
ruin shall be hopeless for eternity.
But, you will say, I have committed many