Page:Meditations For Every Day In The Year.djvu/30

 sings of  him)  he  might  stain  his  life  with  a  slight  fault of  the  tongue."  St.  Paul,  though  he  was  confirmed  in grace  and  rapt  to  the  third  heaven,  notwithstanding said  of  himself,  "  I  so  fight,  not  as  one  beating  the  air. But  I  chastise  my  body  and  bring  it  into  subjection." (1  Cor.  ix.  26.)  Consider  nothing  then  too  difficult  in order  to  avoid  sin.

III. We must  not  only  avoid  the  actual  commission  of sin,  but  also  shun  every  consent  of  the  mind  to  it. "Beware thou consent  not  to  sin  at  any  time." (Job iv.  6.) Resist every  suggestion  to  sin,  and  all  taking  of  pleasure in it;  for  as  St.  Gregory  remarks,  "  In  suggestion  is  the  seed  of  sin,  in  delectation  the  nourishment,  in  consent the  perfection  or  consummation." Examine what  caution you  employ,  and  what  guard  you  place  over  your thoughts, words,  and  actions;  how  you  avoid  the  occasions  of  danger  and  resist  the  suggestions  of  the  devil, the world,  and  the  flesh. Assume, with  the  saints  of God,  your  spiritual  arms;  they  are  prayer  and  mortification. With these  you  will  be  enabled  to  achieve  a glorious  victory,  and  merit  an  immortal  crown.

I. The  second  branch  of  the  Christian's  duty  is  to labor  in  the  exercise  of  good  works,  in  order  to  please his Creator. Wherefore, heaven  is  sometimes  spoken  of in  Holy  Writ  as  "a  valuable  pearl;"  at  other  times  as  a "  treasure  hidden  in  a  field  "  (Matt.  xiii.  44),  which  we  are to discover  with  pains  and  labor,  and  to  sell  all  that  we have,  to  purchase;  sometimes,  again,  as  a  prize,  which we are  to  gain  by  running  the  race  of  virtue  and  perfection (1  Cor.  ix.  24),  and  everywhere  as  the  crown  and reward of  meritorious  actions. It is  your  duty  to  per-