Page:SermonsFromTheLatins.djvu/500

 pel tells  us,  was  taken  up  into  Abraham's  bosom,  but Dives was  buried  in  hell. Then the  rich  man's  soul cried from  hell:  "Father  Abraham,  send  Lazarus  to give  me  one  drop  of  water  to  quench  my  burning thirst." But God  answered  him:  "  No,  for  between you  and  him  there  lies  an  infinite  abyss  separating you  forever." O Dives,  lost  soul,  you  who  enjoyed all the  favors  the  world  could  give,  do  they  profit thee nothing  now? Nothing. All thy  riches,  honors, and  pleasures,  do  they  profit  thee  nothing  now? Nothing. O Lazarus,  blest  soul,  whence  comes  thy present happiness? Because I  held  the  world  at  its true value — because  I  knew  that  the  one  thing  I  had to gain  in  heaven  was  my  God,  and  the  most  precious thing I  had  on  earth  was  my  own  soul.

But let  me  turn  my  eyes  from  earthly  things  to my  own  soul  and  ask,  what  is  its  value? Were my father  a  great  man  in  the  eyes  of  the  world  I  would participate in  his  greatness,  for  he  gave  me  being  and I bear  his  likeness. Now, God  is  a  being  of  infinite greatness and  you,  my  soul,  are  His  son,  made  to His  image  and  likeness. You are,  therefore,  in  a way,  infinitely  precious. Each person  of  the  Trinity has vied  with  the  other  in  showering  on  my  soul His choicest  gifts. The Father  gave  it  an  independent existence;  the  Son,  an  intellect  to  know  the loftiest truth;  and  the  Holy  Ghost,  a  will  to  love  and desire an  infinite  good. David, speaking  of  the  soul's creation,  cries  out:  "A  little  less,  O  Lord,  a  little less  than  the  angels  hast  Thou  made  her." The soul, like the  angels,  is  a  pure  spirit,  and  one  particle  of  a