Page:Sermons by John-Baptist Massillon.djvu/34

 obligations only  as  hateful  debts,  which  we  always  discharge  with a bad  grace,  and  never  till  we  see  ourselves  forced  to  it.

But, in  the  first  place,  my  brethren,  you  are  unjust  in  attributing to  virtue  what  springs  from  your  own  corruption;  it  is  not piety which  is  disagreeable,  it  is  your  heart  which  is  disordered; it is  not  the  cup  of  the  Lord  which  is  to  be  accused  of  bitterness, says a  holy  father,  it  is  your  own  taste  which  is  vitiated. Every thing  is  bitter  to  a  diseased  palate:  correct  your  dispositions, and  the  yoke  will  appear  light  to  you;  restore  to  your heart that  taste  of  which  sin  has  deprived  it,  and  you  will  experience how  pleasing  the  Lord  is:  hate  the  world,  and  you  will  comprehend how  much  virtue  is  amiable. In a  word,  Jesus  Christ once become  the  object  of  your  love,  you  will  then  feel  the  truth of every  thing  I  say.

Do the  upright  experience  those  disgusts  for  pious  works  which you feel? Interrogate them:  demand  if  they  consider  your  condition as  the  happiest. They will  answer,  that,  in  their  opinion, you appear  worthy  of  compassion;  that  they  are  feelingly  touched for your  errors;  to  see  you  suffering  every  thing  for  a  world  which either despises  you,  wearies  you,  or  cannot  render  you  happy;  to see  you  frequently  running  after  pleasures  more  insipid  to  you  than even the  virtue  from  which  you  fly:  they  will  tell  you,  that  they would not  change  their  pretended  melancholy  for  all  the  felicities of the  earth. Prayer consoles  them;  retirement  supports  them; holy reading  animates  them;  works  of  piety  shed  a  holy  unction through their  soul;  and  their  happiest  days  are  those  which  they pass with  the  Lord. It is  the  heart  which  decides  our  pleasures. While you  continue  to  love  the  world,  you  will  find  virtue  insupportable.

In the  second  place,  if  you  wish  to  know  why  the  yoke  of  Jesus Christ is  so  hard,  and  so  burdensome  to  you,  it  is  because  you carry it  too  seldom:  you  give  only  a  few  rapid  moments  to  the  care of your  salvation;  certain  days  which  you  consecrate  to  piety; certain religious  works  of  which  you  sometimes  acquit  yourselves; and, in  accomplishing  their  immediate  discharge,  you  experience only the  disgusts  attending  the  first  efforts;  you  do  not  leave  to grace  the  time  necessary  to  lighten  the  weight;  and  you  anticipate the comforts  and  the  consolations  which  it  never  fails  to  shed upon the  sequel. Those mysterious  animals  which  the  Philistines made choice  of  to  carry  the  ark  of  the  Lord  beyond  their  frontiers, emblematic of  unbelieving  souls  little  accustomed  to  bear  the  yoke of Jesus  Christ,  bellowed,  says  the  Scripture,  and  seemed  to  groan under the  grandeur  of  that  sacred  weight:  in  place  of  which,  the children of  Levi,  a  natural  image  of  the  upright,  accustomed  to that  holy  ministry,  made  the  air  resound  with  songs  of  mirth  and thanksgivings, while  carrying  it  with  majesty,  even  over  the  burning sands  of  the  desert. The law  is  not  a  burden  to  the  upright soul, accustomed  to  observe  it. It is  the  worldly  soul  alone,  little familiarized to  the  holy  rules,  who  groans  under  a  weight  so  pleas-