Page:Meditations For Every Day In The Year.djvu/292

 there is  hope  that  the  rest  of  the  body  will  follow." Give  God  thanks,  for  having  vouchsafed  to  call  you  to His  holy  service,  and  contemplate  the  happiness  that will  accompany  the  reward  of  your  fidelity  to  that  service.

II. " Heavenly  happiness,"  as  divines  observe,  from Boetius, "  is  a  state  made  perfect  by  the  concurrence  of every  good." In heaven  no  evil  can  assail  you,  and there will  be  nothing  wanting  for  which  you  can  possibly wish. " There"  (writes  St.  Gregory),  "  there  will  be  light without  eclipse,  joy  without  sighs,  desire  without  pain, love  without  sorrow,  satiety without  cloying,  safety  without danger,  life  without  death,  health  without  impairment, and  so  of  every  other  kind  of  happiness,  without the  mixture  of  any  evil,  from  which  nothing  in  this  life is  free."

III. All this  excess  of  happiness  will  be  eternal  and cannot be  lost. After uncounted  millions  of  ages,  these joys will  be  equally  intense  and  equally  new. " Your joys,"  says  Christ,  "no  man  shall  take  from  you." (John xvi. 22.)  Reflect  how  different  are  the  enjoyments  of this  life;  how  full  of  fear,  how  mixed  with  sorrow,  how surrounded with  anxiety  and  danger,  and  finally,  how brief. Of earthly  joys  St.  Bernard  writes,  "While  they are  possessed,  they  burthen;  while  they  are  loved,  they defile;  and  when  they  are  passed,  they  torment." Examine your past  life  and  see  if  this  be  not  an  accurate description of  all  your  unlawful  enjoyments. If it  be, then prefer  the  joys  of  heaven  to  all  that  this  wretched earth can  give.