Page:Meditations For Every Day In The Year.djvu/42

 3. They lessen  the  merit  of  good  works  in  the  same  manner as  "dying  flies  spoil  the  sweetness  of  the  ointment." (Eccles. x.  1.)  4. They are  impediments  to  prayer,  and they diminish  our  devotion. 5. They  counteract  the effects of  the  sacraments. 6. They  give  our  arch-enemy a cause  of  triumph,  whilst  they  displease  the  angels  and Saints; and  lastly,  they  force  God  Himself  to  dislike  us; for of  such  souls  He  says,  "T  would  thou  wert  cold  or hot;  but  because  thou  art  lukewarm,  and  neither  cold nor  hot,  I  will  begin  to  vomit  thee  out  of  my  mouth." (Apoc. iii.  15,  t6.)

III. From these  principles  it  is  evident  that  it  is  not lawful, even  to  save  the  whole  world,  to  commit  one venial sin. And yet  how  many  have  you  committed,  and why have  you  committed  them? Although every  Christian is  bound  to  avoid  them;  yet  those  who  have  especially bound  themselves  to  imitate  Jesus  Christ  in  perfection ought  to  shun  them  in  a  peculiar  manner. God enjoins every  one  of  His  Levites  "  to  be  perfect  and  without spot  before  the  Lord  his  God." (Deut. xviii.  13.)  Examine your  life  and  your  actions,  and  for  the  future  attempt to  lead  a  spotless  life,  for  it  is  a  terrible  thing  to offend  the  Lord  your  God.

I. Consider  the  words  of  royal  David:  "Thou  art  just, O  Lord,  and  Thy  judgment  is  righteous." (Ps. cxviii.  137.) This just  Lord,  however,  has  inflicted  the  most  severe punishments on  sins,  which  according  to  the  opinions  of most  divines  were  only  venial. 1. He  struck  Mary  the sister of  Moses  with  a  leprosy  (Num.  xii.  10)  for  only lightly murmuring  against  her  brother,  notwithstanding his earnest  supplication  for  his  sister's  pardon. 2. He