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confession? no thought
of rescuing yourself from eternal death? Rise, call upon your God.
Up from
that infernal pit into which you have fallen; pray to God to pardon you, beg of
him this at least,
if you are not at once resolved to change your life, that he will give you
light, and make you see
the wretched state in which you stand. Learn how to profit by the warning which
the Lord
vouchsafes you. Jeremias first sees a rod. I see a rod watching;
he next sees a boiling caldron: I
see a boiling caldron.
Jer. 1:11-13. St. Ambrose, in speaking of this passage, explains it
thus: He who is not
corrected by the rod, shall be thrown into the caldron, there to burn. In Ps.
38. He whom the
temporal chastisement fails to convert, shall be sent to burn eternally in
hellfire. Sinful
brother, listen to God, who addresses himself to your heart, by this
chastisement, and calls on you
to do penance. Tell me what answer do you make him?
The prodigal son, after
having left his father, thought no more upon him, whilst he continued
to live amid delights; but when he saw himself reduced to that state of misery
described in the
Gospel, poor, deserted, obliged to tend swine, and not allowed to fill himself
with the food
wherewith the swine were filled, then he came to himself, and said: How
many hired servants
in my father's house abound with bread, and I here perish with hunger. Luke
15:17. I will arise
and go to my father. Luke 15:18,25. And so he did, and was lovingly
received by his father.
Brother, you have to do in like manner. You see the unhappy life you have
hitherto led, by living
away from God; a life full of thorns and bitterness; a life which could not be
other wise, as
being without God, who alone can give content. You see how many servants of God
who love him lead
a happy life, and enjoy continual peace, the peace of God, which, as the Apostle
says, surpasses
all the pleasures of the senses. The peace of God, which surpasseth
all understanding Phil. 4:7. And what are you doing? Do you
not feel that you suffer a
hell in this life? do you not know that you shall suffer one in the next? Take
courage, say with
the prodigal: I will arise and go to my father. I will arise from
this sleep of death this state
of damnation, and return to God. It is true that I have sufficiently outraged
him by leaving him
so much against his desire, but he is still my Father. I will arise and go
to my father. And when
you shall go to that Father, what shall you say to him? Say what the prodigal
said to his father:
Father, I have sinned against heaven and before thee; I am not now worthy
to be called thy son.
Father, I acknowledge my error, I have" done ill to leave Thee, who have
so much loved me; I see
now that I am no longer worthy to be called Thy son; receive me at least as Thy
servant; restore me
at least to Thy grace, and then chastise me as Thou pleasest.
Oh, happy you, if you say and do thus! the
same will happen you which befel the prodigal son. The father, when he saw his
son retracing
his steps, and perceived that he had humbled himself for his fault, not only did
not drive him off
not only received him into his house, but embraced and kissed him as his
son. And running to him,
fell upon his neck and kissed him. He then clothed him with a precious
garment, which represents
the robe of grace: Bring forth quickly the first robe, and put it on him.
And he, moreover, makes
a great feast in the house, to commemorate the recovery of his son, whom he
looked upon as lost and
dead: Let us eat and make merry, because this my son was dead, and is come
to life again; was lost,
and is found.
Let us be joyful, my brethren; it is true that God appears to be in wrath, but
he is still our
Father; let us retrace our steps in penance, and he will be appeased and spare
us. Behold Mary our
Mother praying for us on the one hand, and on the other towards us, saying, In
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