Page:PracticalCommentaryOnHolyScripture.djvu/338

 Lawful  obedience.  Was  it  not  wrong  of  Tobias  to  continue  to  bury the dead  after  Sennacherib  had  forbidden  it? No, it  was  rather  Sennacherib who  did  wrong  in  ordering  the  dead  bodies  to  be  left  unburied, for God  had  commanded,  writing  it  on  men’s  hearts,  that  the  bodies of the  dead  should  be  treated  reverently,  and  buried.

Dear children,  none  of  you  would  wish  to suffer  eternally,  to  be  shut  out  for  ever  from  the  presence  of  God, and banished  from  heaven. Lay to  heart,  therefore,  the  teaching and holy  exhortations  which  you  receive,  obey  God’s  grace,  avoid sin, and  do  heartfelt  penance  for  the  sins  you  have  heretofore committed.

Do you  think  any  one  will  ever  be  able  to  say  of  you: “He has from  his  youth  up  observed  the  commandments  of  God,  and avoided the  society  of  the  wicked”?

Do you  possess  any  ill-gotten  goods? Have you  ever  taken anything, even  a trifle  such  as  a picture,  a pen,  or  an  apple,  from any one? Give it  back  at  once,  or  if  you  no  longer  possess  it, make compensation  for  it. Do you  ever  take  things  from  your parents’ stores? What a shame  for  a child  to  steal  from  his  own parents!

Even you  could  practise  many  works  of  mercy. Do you  look after your  sick  companions? Do you  pray  for  the  holy  souls? You could prevent  many  a sin  by  gently  appealing  to  the  consciences of your  comrades,  or  brothers  and  sisters,  showing  them  what they ought  to  do.

OBIAS, seeing  himself  surrounded  by  so  many  miseries,  thought he could  not  live  much  longer. He, therefore,  called  his  son and said : “My  son,  when  God  shall  take  my  soul,  thou  shalt bury my  body;  and  thou  shalt  honour  thy  mother  all  the  days of her  life;  for  thou  must  be  mindful  what  and  how  great  perils she has  suffered for  thee. And when  she  also  shall  have  ended the time  of  her  life,  bury  her  by  me.