Page:MyPrayerBookHappinessInGoodness.djvu/75

 withstanding his  present  weakness. You may  fall  into the same  faults  or  perhaps  into  a  worse  fault. But supposing you  remain  upright,  to  whom  are  you  indebted for  it,  if  not  to  the  pure  mercy  of  God?" — Readings  with  the  Saints.

One day  St.  Peter  said  to  our  Saviour,  as  we  read  in the  Gospel  of  St. Matthew (xviii.  21):  "Lord,  how often  shall  my  brother  offend  against  me,  and  I  forgive him?  till  seven  times?" Jesus replied:  "I  say not  to  thee,  till  seven  times;  but  till  seventy  times  seven times;"  —  i.e.,  not  only  frequently,  but  innumerable times, in  fact  always.

The apostle  St.  Paul  admonishes  us:  "Be  ye  kind one  to  another,  merciful,  forgiving  one  another,  even as  God  hath  forgiven  you  in Christ"  (Eph.  iv.  32).

"How patiently  Christ,  the  king  of  heaven,  bore  with the  apostles,  enduring  at  their  hands  many  incivilities, for  they  were  but  poor,  rough,  and  illiterate  fishermen. How  much  more  ought  we  to  bear  with  our  neighbor, if  he  treats  us  with  unkindness." — St. Philip.

et us  be  kind  if  we  would  promote  the  interest of the  Sacred  Heart,  of  which  kindness  was  the special characteristic. Let it  not  be  in  isolated  acts  — 'few and  far  between';  no,  it  must  be  like  prayer  — an habitual  disposition  of  heart,  which  is  ready  to  manifest itself  without  any  effort,  at  all  seasons  and  in  all circumstances, and  thus  it  will  be  with  hearts  which  are united to  that  Heart  of  love. Kindness will  flow  from them, as  it  were,  naturally,  just  as  the  flowers  give  forth their perfume,  the  birds  their  song,  and  as  the  sun  shines down alike  on  good  and  bad  as  it  goes  on  its  daily  cir-