Page:Sermons by John-Baptist Massillon.djvu/321

 tion of  the  days  which  you  have  employed  in  offending  him;  they will be  as  though  they  had  never  been:  from  the  moment  that  you shall begin  to  serve  him,  you  will  begin  to  increase  before  him; a thousand  years  are  only  a  day  in  his  eyes,  from  the  moment  that your crimes  are  terminated  by  a  sincere  change:  he  is  the  God of sinners,  the  Benefactor  of  the  ungrateful,  the  Father  of  prodigal children, the  Shepherd  of  strayed  sheep,  the  friend  of  Samaritans;  in  a  word,  all  the  consolations  of  faith  seem  to  be  for  the  repentant sinner.

But if  you  continue  to  promise  yourself,  that,  at  last,  the  time will come,  when  you  shall  seriously  think  upon  your  salvation without doing  it  still;  ah! remember, my  dear  hearer,  that  it  is  in that  very  way  that  almost  all  sinners  have  perished,  and  that  it  is the  high-road  to  death  in  sin. Remember, that  the  sinner  who often vainly  desires  is  never  converted. Even the  more  you  feel within you  these  unproductive  impulses  of  salvation,  depend  upon it that  the  more  is  your  measure  filled,  and  that  every  rejected grace draws  you  a  degree  nearer  to  hardness  of  heart:  comfort yourself not  upon  desires  which  hasten  your  ruin,  and  which,  in all  times,  have  been  the  lot  of  the  reprobate;  and  say  often  to  the Lord, with  the  prophet,  How  long,  O  my  God! shall I  amuse  the secret anxieties  of  my  soul  with  vain  projects  of  penitence? How long shall  I  see  my  days  flowing  rapidly  on  in  promising  to  my heart,  in  order  to  quiet  it  in  its  disorders,  a  sorrow  and  a  repentance which  are  more  and  more  distant  from  me? How long  shall the enemy,  taking  advantage  of  my  weakness,  employ  so  gross  an error  to  seduce  me? Ah! dissipate this  illusion  which  leads  me astray;  regard  these  feeble  desires  of  salvation  as  the  cries  of  a conscience  which  cannot  be  happy  without  thee;  accept  these  timid beginnings of  penitence;  favourably  attend  to  them  now,  O  my God! when to  me  it  seems  that  thy  grace  renders  them  more  lively and more  sincere;  and  complete,  by  thy  inward  operation,  what  is yet  wanting  to  the  fulness  and  to  the  sincerity  of  this  offer;  and perfect, in  receiving,  my  desires,  in  order  that  they  be  worthy  of the  reward  which  thou  promisest  to  those  who  hunger  and  thirst after righteousness.

Hear, said  the  Lord  in  his  prophet,  to  the  unfaithful  soul,  you who live  in  ease  and  in  pleasures,  and  who  nevertheless  hope  in me,  sterility  and  widowhood  shall  at  once  burst  upon  your  heads; sterility, that  is  to  say,  that  you  shall  no  longer  be  fit  to  bear  the fruits of  penitence;  cultivation  and  watering  shall  be  in  vain;  the power of  my  word,  the  virtue  of  my  sacraments,  the  grace  of  my mysteries,  all  care  shall  be  unavailing,  and  you  shall  no  longer  be but  a  withered  tree  alloted  to  the  fire:  widowhood,  that  is  to  say, I will  for  ever  forsake  you;  I  will  leave  you  single;  I  will  deliver you up  to  your  inclinations,  and  to  the  false  peace  of  your  passions; I will  no  longer  be  your  God,  your  protector,  your  spouse;  I  will for ever  forsake  you.

But may  I  here  finish  my  ministry,  my  brethren,  with  the  words formerly made  use  of  by  Jesus  Christ,  in  finishing  his  mission  to