Page:Sermons for all the Sundays in the year.djvu/15



1. IN the first place, the preacher, if he wishes that his preaching shall produce abundant fruit, should propose to himself the proper end - that is, to preach, not with a view to obtain honour, or applause, or any temporal advantage, but solely to gain souls to God ; and hence it is necessary, that when he enters upon his exalted office of divine ambassador, he should pray to God fervently to inflame his heart with his holy love; because it is by this means that his preaching will be productive of much fruit. The venerable Father John D Avila being once asked, what was most conducive towards preaching well, replied in those short but expressive words" To love Jesus Christ well" It has been therefore found by experience, that preachers who love Jesus Christ have often effected more by a single discourse, than others by several. 2. St. Thomas of Villanova said, that the words of a sermon should be like so many darts of fire, which would wound and inflame the hearers with divine love. " But how," he subjoined, " can the heart be set on fire by those sermons which, though long and elaborate, issue, notwithstanding, from a frozen heart ? " St. Francis de Sales observes, that the tongue speaks to the ear, but the heart speaks to the heart. He proceeds to say, that when the sentiments do not spring from the heart of the preacher, it is with difficulty they draw the