Page:TheYoungMansGuide.djvu/134

 tal life  is  ended,  in  the  words  of  the  young man in  the  Gospel:  "All  these  (the  commandments) have  I  kept  from  my  youth" (Matt. xix.  20).

Wherefore never  agree  with  the  fools  who say: "The  time  of  our  life  is  short.  Come, therefore,  and  let  us  enjoy  the  good  things that  are  present,  and  let  us  speedily  use  the creatures  as  in  youth.  Let  us  crown  ourselves with  roses  before  they  be  withered."

No, never  say:  "When  I  am  old  I  will think  of  God,  work  for  Him,  and  serve  Him. The  time  to  do  this  has  not  yet  come!" That would  be  a  very  presumptuous,  foolhardy way  of  speaking,  and  one  which  might cause you  bitter  repentance  at  a  later  period.

5. Hear  what  St.  John  Chrysostom,  an illustrious  Doctor  of  the  Church,  said  upon this subject  to  his  audience  in  a  sermon  delivered with  wonderful  eloquence:  "Since no  one  likes  to  have  a  decrepit  old  servant, how  much  more  does  God  desire  and  look for  the  service  of  the  young,  in  order  that He  may  receive  the  first-fruits  of  life.  Is  it right  that  any  one  should  spend  his  youth  in the  service  of  sin,  and  keep  his  feeble  old  age, and  the  dregs  of  his  life  for  God?  To  act thus  is  to  offer  the  pure  gold  to  Satan,  and  the dross  to  God;  to  give  the  costly  pearls  to Satan,  and  to  leave  the  empty  shells  for  God; to  bestow  the  pure  wheaten  flour  upon  Satan, and  to  give  the  chaff  to  God;  to  offer  the earliest  roses  of  spring  to  Satan,  and  to  make