Page:SermonsFromTheLatins.djvu/373

 this shall  all  men  know  you  for  My  disciples,  that  you love one  another."  This  same  gospel  of  love,  His disciples  after  Him  taught.  St.  John  the  Evangelist, when  too  old  and  feeble  to  preach,  was  wont to  sit  before  the  people  and  repeat  over  and  over: "  Little  children,  love  one  another."  When  asked why  he  always  said  the  same  words,  he  replied:  "  Because this  is  the  commandment  of  the  Lord,  which, if fulfilled,  will  suffice."  St.  Paul's  first  address  to the  Corinthians  goes  still  deeper  into  the  matter. What,  he  asks,  is  the  most  eloquent  orator  with a  heart  devoid  of  love?  A  sounding  brass  and  a tinkling  cymbal.  A  monstrosity,  deaf  and  yet  not mute,  a  milestone  ever  pointing  heavenward  but never  going  there,  a  round  of  blank  cartridge  making much  noise  but  doing  little  execution  among  the enemy.  And  if,  he  adds,  my  mind  were  possessed  of all  knowledge  and  of  faith  that  could  move  mountains, yet  were  I  nothing  without  a  loving  heart. Yea,  he  continues,  were  I  to  distribute  millions among  the  poor  and  die  a  martyr's  death,  yet  would I  be  nothing  without  love.  Therefore,  he  concludes, so  persuaded  am  I  that  the  heart  is  the  prime  factor in  religion  that  no  created  power,  not  even  death itself, shall  ever  move  me  from  the  love  of  God.

Brethren, as  time  goes  on  the  Christian  world  is coming  round  more  and  more  to  Paul's  way  of  thinking. In the  past,  when  the  Church  was  struggling for existence,  a  docile  mind  was  the  Christian's  first requisite, but  since  then  religion  has  penetrated deeper into  men  and  centred  in  their  hearts. The