Summary of the Morrow's Meditation
With a spirit and maxims of so contrary a kind, as has been shown by our preceding meditation, it is evident that Jesus Christ and the world must follow very different paths. We will meditate tomorrow: 1st, in what these two paths differ; 2nd, that the path of Jesus Christ is the only one that every Christian ought to follow. Our resolution shall be: 1st, often to ask ourselves: How would Jesus Christ do this, that we may do it in the same manner; 2nd, often to assure Him that we desire, like Him, to tread ambition under foot, together with the desire to amass riches and to enjoy them, and following His example, to lead a modest, simple, and unpretentious life. Our spiritual nosegay shall be the words Our Saviour said of worldly men: "Let them alone, they are blind" (Matt. xv. 14).
Meditation for the Morning
Let us adore Jesus Christ as the sole way which leads to heaven (John xiv. 6). Let us thank Him for having come on earth to show us this way, by walking in it the first, and inviting us to follow Him (Matt. viii. 22). Let us render Him, with this object in view, all our homage.
FIRST POINT
The Difference between the Path Followed by the World and the Path Followed by Jesus Christ.
The path followed by the world is wide and spacious, men walk in it at their ease, and think of nothing else except of not being annoyed and of indulging in pleasures; it is a miserable path in which men are fed upon illusions and cradled in frivolous hopes, in which they follow, as the whole of their gospel, the torrent of the world and of custom, believing that it suffices not to do worse than others. Dreadful torrent, says St. Augustine, who can resist thy current? Wilt thou never be dried up, and until when wilt thou drag the children of Eve into hell? (Conf., lib. i. c. xvi.) Carried away by this current, men die without having obtained what they were pursuing, or, if they obtain it, they enjoy it for a short time only; and even during this short lapse of time, the fear of losing it or the desire for something more takes from it all the charm they had hoped to find in it. And what is still more to be deplored, where men are so unhappy who have chosen this path, they walk with eyes shut to what will happen later on, that they may only dwell upon the enjoyments of the moment, looking upon time as everything and upon eternity as nothing; and what is the height of the evil, they will not hear it spoken of; the least word capable of arousing their attention in regard to the eternal future which follows the present life irritates them and excites repulsion. Oh, how much better is the way of Jesus Christ! It is true that it is narrow and demands restraint, that in it we cannot do what pleases us, and we must often do what we dislike; but, on the other hand, how contented is the heart; the conscience renders testimony that we are doing what is right; we find ourselves therein in the society of all that is virtuous and holy; the angels assist and guide us; Jesus Christ walks at our head, and God shows us His paradise as the certain goal of our journey; the way is safe and clearly traced; it leads to happiness through trial, to victory by combat, to the eternal home by the rapid passage of exile. That many ill-instructed men do not enter this path may be easily conceived, but that Christians who know that Jesus Christ is their God, that His religion is the sole true religion, do not walk openly in it, that they are ashamed to show themselves in it, because they are afraid of some arrow of mockery which would fall and be spent at their feet without doing them any harm, that is what is astonishing and which confounds every mind which reflects, every heart which loves. And yet do we follow the way of Jesus Christ? Let us examine our conscience thereupon.
SECOND POINT
Every Christian is Obliged to Follow the Way of Jesus Christ.
It is necessary to make a decision; we cannot belong at one and the same time to God and the world. It is impossible to reconcile together the two paths: Jesus Christ with the world, nature with grace, worldliness with devotion, the service of God with self-love and its susceptibilities, with temper and its impetuosities, with self-will and its caprices. Jesus Christ will have nothing to do with such a mixture, nor will the world; and it gives up to ridicule the hearts which are shared between the two, which are not vicious enough to please it nor virtuous enough to command its esteem. Even our own heart will have nothing to do with it, for in this middle state it has none of the consolations of piety; it does not enjoy either the pleasure of belonging to the world or the pleasure of belonging to God. We must, therefore, whether we will it or not, choose between these two paths. Now, can we for a moment hesitate in our choice? The saints preach to us by their example, call upon us to follow them, and urge us to do so. Why should human respect, which had no power over them, make us pause? There are more true pleasures and more real honor in the service of Christ than in the service of the world; even the cross of Jesus Christ weighs less than that of the world; it is accompanied by a heavenly unction which renders it sweet and amiable.
Resolutions and spiritual nosegay as above.