Page:SermonsFromTheLatins.djvu/499

 a boy  at  school  was  filled  with  a  longing  for  worldly honors. One day  he  met  St.  Philip  Neri  and  the venerable old  man  asked  him:  "Francis,  what  do you  intend  to  be?  "  "  I  will  be  the  genius  of  the school  and  bear  off  all  the  honors." " And  then?" "I will  be  a  priest." "And then?" "I will  be  a bishop." "And then?" "I will  be  a  cardinal." " And  then?  "  "  Pope." " And  then?  "  "  I  shall  die, I  suppose." "And then?" Ah, what  then,  what then? On the  answer  to  that  last  then  depends  an eternity  of  happiness  or  an  eternity  of  misery. But worldly pleasures— could  I  exchange  my  soul  for  a life  of  pleasure? Oh, no,  for  the  highest  carnal  pleasure is  as  pain  compared  to  the  joys  of  heaven. God tells me  that  "  eye  hath  not  seen,  nor  ear  heard,  nor hath  it  entered  into  the  heart  of  man  to  conceive what  joys  He  has  prepared  for  those  who  love  Him." And shall  I  forfeit  all  that  for  a  low,  sensual  gratification which  I  indulge  in  one  moment  only  to  repent of it  the  next? Time is  but  a  moment  compared  to eternity,  and  so  I  am  the  most  foolish  of  fools  if  for a momentary  gratification  I  sacrifice  an  eternity  of joy  and  incur  an  eternity  of  misery. Think of Lazarus  and  Dives. Dives was  a  rich  man  who feasted sumptuously  every  day  and  gave  not  a thought  to  God  or  the  value  of  his  own  soul,  and Lazarus was  a  beggar  dying  of  starvation  on  the rich man's  doorstep,  with  never  a  friend  in  all  the world but  an  old  dog  that  licked  his  sores. They both died — Lazarus  on  the  doorstep  and  Dives  at  his table. What was  the  lot  of  each? Lazarus, the  Gos-