Page:Sermons by John-Baptist Massillon.djvu/135

 to it  with  delight. When all  is  over,  and  we  no  longer  know  how to fill  up  our  vacant  hours,  we  then  consecrate  to  some  languid practices of  religion  those  outcast  moments  which  weariness  or  a deficiency  of  pleasures  leaves  us:  properly  speaking,  they  are  moments of  recreation  which  we  bestow  upon  ourselves  rather  than upon God;  an  interval  we  place  between  the  world  and  us,  in order  to  return  to  it  with  more  relish,  and  breathe  a  little  from  the fatigue, the  disgust,  and  the  satiety  which  are  the  necessary  consequences of  a  life  devoted  to  the  world  and  pleasures,  which,  prolonged beyond  a  certain  measure,  are  immediately  followed  by weariness  and  lassitude.

Such is  the  use  which  even  persons  who  deck  themselves  out with a  reputation  for  virtue  make  of  their  time. Their whole  life is one  continued  and  criminal  preference  given  to  the  world,  fortune, ceremony,  and  pleasures,  above  the  business  of  their  salvation; all is  filled  up  by  what  they  give  to  their  masters,  friends,  places,  and appetites, and  nothing  remains  for  God  and  for  eternity. It would appear that  time  is  given  to  us,  in  the  first  place,  for  the  world, ambition, and  earthly  cares;  and  should  any  portion  of  it  happen afterward to  remain,  that  we  are  entitled  to  praise  when  we  bestow it on  our  salvation.

Great God! for what  purpose  dost  thou  leave  us  on  the  earth but to  render  ourselves  worthy  of  thine  eternal  possession? Every thing we  do  for  the  world  shall  perish  with  it;  whatsoever  we  do for  thee  shall  be  immortal. All our  cares  and  attentions  here  are in general  for  masters,  ungrateful,  unjust,  difficult  to  please,  weak, and incapable  of  rendering  us  happy. The duties  we  render  to thee  are  given  to  a  Lord  and  Master,  faithful,  just,  compassionate, almighty, and  who  alone  can  recompense  those  who  serve  him. The cares  of  the  earth,  however  brilliant,  are  foreign  to  us;  they are unworthy  of  us;  it  is  not  for  them  we  are  created;  we  ought only to  devote  ourselves  to  them  as  they  pass,  in  order  to  satisfy the transitory  ties  they  exact  from  us,  and  which  connect  us  with mankind: the  cares  of  eternity  alone  are  worthy  of  the  nobility  of our  hopes,  and  fill  all  the  grandeur  and  dignity  of  our  destiny. Without the  cares  of  salvation,  those  of  this  earth  are  profane  and sullied; they  are  no  longer  but  vain,  fruitless,  and  almost  always criminal agitations. The cares  of  salvation  alone  consecrate  and sanctify them,  give  to  them  reality,  elevation,  the  price  and  the merit which  they  wanted. All other  cares  wound,  trouble,  harden, and render  us  miserable,  but  the  duties  we  render  to  thee  leave  us a  real  and  heartfelt  joy:  they  strengthen,  calm,  and  console  us,  and even soften  the  anguish  and  bitterness  of  the  others. In a  word, we owe  ourselves  to  thee,  O  my  God! before masters,  superiors, friends, or  connexions. Thou alone  hast  the  first  right  over  our hearts and  reason,  which  are  the  gifts  of  thy  liberal  hand;  it  is  for thee, therefore,  that  in  the  first  place  we  ought  to  make  use  of  them; and we  are  Christians  before  we  are  princes,  subjects,  public  characters, or  any  thing  else  on  the  earth.

You will  perhaps  tell  us,  my  brethren,  that,  in  fulfilling  the  pain-