Page:Meditations For Every Day In The Year.djvu/375

 " Laughter  I  counted  error,  and  to  mirth  I  said,  why  art thou  vainly  deceived?" (Eccles. ii.  2.)  Reflect  how,  on the  contrary,  you  are  continually  seeking  your  own  satisfaction and  enjoyment,  and  how  to  these  you  frequently sacrifice your  content.

II. Consider the  example  of  Jesus  Christ  on  this  subject. St. Chrysostom  writes:  "  You  will  often  find  Christ weeping,  but  never  laughing." And Solomon  remarks: "The heart  of  the  wise  is  where  there  is  mourning,  and the  heart  of  fools  where  there  is  mirth." (Eccles. vii.  5.) Reflect what  reasons  you  have  to  imitate  the  example  of so  great  a  master,  and  rank  yourself  with  the  wise,  rather than the  foolish.

III. Consider the  reward  attached  to  mourning. " They shall  be  comforted,"  in  this  life  with  Divine  enlightenment and  the  testimony  of  a  good  conscience,  and  in  the next, "  they  shall  be  inebriated,"  O  God,  "  with  the plenty  of  Thy  house;  and  Thou  shalt  make  them  drink of  the  torrent  of  Thy  pleasure." (Ps. xxxv.  9.)  Lament, therefore, your  own  and  your  neighbors'  sins,  for  they, who sow  in  tears,  shall  reap  in  joy. On the  contrary, "Wo to  you  that  laugh  now,  for  you  shall  mourn  and weep,"  (Luke,  vi.  25.)  as  it  is  written  in  the  Apocalypse, " As  much  as  she  hath  glorified  herself,  and  hath  been in  delicacies,  so  much  torment  and  sorrow  give  unto her." (Apoc. xviii.  7.)

I. "Blessed  are  they,  that  hunger  and  thirst  after  justice." These pious  souls  desire  everything,  without  exception, to  be  fulfilled,  which  justice  and  our  obligations