Page:Sermons by John-Baptist Massillon.djvu/545

 Shall he  fly,  as  a  resource,  to  voluptuousness,  and  to  other  infamous pleasures? But, in  changing  the  passion,  the  heart  only  changes the punishment. Shall he  seek,  in  indolence  and  inactivity,  a happiness  he  has  never  been  able  to  find  in  all  the  fervency  of  hopes and pretensions? A criminal  conscience  may  become  indifferent, but it  is  not  thereby  more  tranquil. One may  cease  to  feel  misfortune and  digrace,  but  infidelities  and  crimes  must  always  be  felt. No, my  brethren,  the  unhappy  sinner  is  so  without  resource. Every comfort is  for  ever  fled  from  the  worldly  soul  from  the  moment  that he is  deserted  by  the  world.

But the  righteous  man  learns  to  despise  the  world  even  in  the contempt which  the  world  has  for  him. The injustice  of  men,  with respect to  him,  only  puts  him  in  mind  that  he  serves  a  more  equitable Master,  who  can  neither  be  influenced  nor  prejudiced;  who sees nothing  in  us  but  what,  in  reality,  there  is;  who  determines our destinies  upon  our  hearts  alone,  and  with  whom  we  have  nothing but  our  own  conscience  to  dread:  consequently,  that  they  are happy who  serve  him;  that  his  ingratitude  is  not  to  be  feared;  that every thing  done  for  him  is  faithfully  recorded;  that,  far  from  concealing or  neglecting  our  sufferings  and  our  services,  he  gives  us credit  even  for  our  good  wishes;  and  that  nothing  is  lost  with  him but what  is  not  done  solely  for  him.

Now, in  these  lights  of  faith,  what  a  fresh  fund  of  consolation  for a believing  soul! How little  is  the  world,  in  this  point  of  view, with all  its  scorns  and  ill  usage,  capable  of  affecting  him! Then it is  that,  throwing  himself  into  the  bosom  of  God,  and  viewing,  with Christian eyes,  the  nothingness  and  vanity  of  all  human  things,  he feels  in  a  moment  all  his  inquietudes,  inseparable  from  nature, changed into  the  sweetest  peace;  a  ray  of  light  shines  in  his  soul, and re-establishes  serenity;  a  trait  of  consolation  penetrates  his heart, and  every  sorrow  is  alleviated. Ah! my brethren,  how  sweet to serve  him,  who  alone  can  render  happy  those  who  serve  him! Why, O  blessed  condition  of  virtue,  art  thou  not  better  known  to men! And wherefore  art  thou  held  out  as  a  disagreeable  and  sorrowful lot,  thou  who  alone  canst  console  the  miseries  and  alleviate all the  sufferings  of  his  banishment?

Lastly, the  judgments  of  the  world,  source  of  so  many  chagrins for the  worldly,  complete  still  more  the  consolation  of  the  believing soul. For the  torture  of  the  lovers  of  the  world  is  that  of being  continually  exposed  to  the  judgments,  that  is  to  say,  to  the censures, to  the  derisions,  to  the  malignity  of  each  other. In vain do we  despise  the  men:  we  wish  to  be  esteemed  even  by  those  we despise. In vain  are  we  exalted  above  others:  the  more  we  are exalted, we  are  only  the  more  exposed  to  the  criticisms  and  to  the observations of  the  multitude,  and  we  much  more  poignantly  feel the censures  of  those  from  whom  homages  alone  were  to  have  been expected. In vain  may  the  suffrage  of  the  public  be  in  our  favour; contempt is  so  much  the  more  stinging  as  it  is  unusual  and  rare. In vain  may  we  retaliate  with  censures  yet  mo^e  biting  and  keen; resentment and  revenge  always  suppose  a  sense  of  guilt;  and,  be