Page:SermonsFromTheLatins.djvu/134



''"Gather up  the  cockle  and  bind  it  into  bundles  to burn" — Matt. xiii. 30.

Ex.: I.  Love  and  fear. II. Fear a  worthy  motive. III. Parable.

I. Existence :  1. Various opinions. 2. Proofs  from  Scripture. 3. From  reason.

II. Nature: 1. Inconceivable. 2. Buried  alive. 3. Lost soul.

III. Pains: 1. Of sense. 2. Of  loss  of  God. 3. Eternity. Per. : Self-examination  as  to  mortal  sin.

, hope  and  fear  are  the  two  great master-passions of  every  human  soul. We become virtuous either  through  love  of  God  or  fear  of  hell. Hence it  is  that  God  and  the  Church  appeal  now  to our  love  and  again,  and  alas! oftener, to  our  fear, for so  selfish  are  we  that  fear  will  drive  us  where love was  powerless  to  lead. Nor is  fear  an  altogether unworthy motive,  sanctified  as  it  has  been  by  the Saviour Himself. " Fear  not  them,"  He  says,  "  that kill  the  body,  but  rather  fear  him  that  can  destroy both  soul  and  body  unto  hell." If in  the  Old  Law the fear  of  the  Lord  was  held  to  be  the  beginning of wisdom  and  had  power  to  expel  sin,  how  much more so  in  the  New. Say what  you  will,  but  as  long as the  way  to  hell  is  so  broad  and  pleasant,  fear  of God's  threats  will  be  an  essential  element  of  religion. " For,"  says  St.  Augustine, "  fear  precedes  love  as  the