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 of the  alchemist. The true  Christian  also  "has his  temptations;  he  has  to  fight  with  his  own concupiscence,  with  the  world,  with  the  devil. But  he  is  not  careless  and  thoughtless;  on  the contrary,  he  is  watchful  and  serious;  in  prayer he  meditates  upon  religious  truths  and  by  the grace  of  God  his  faith  becomes  fervent  and lively,  so  that  he  does  not  fall  into  grievous  sin, out  makes  steady  progress  in  the  way  of  perfection. The  bad  and  thoughtless  Christian,  on the  other  hand,  boasts  that  he  believes  like  any good  Christian,  but  he  does  not  live  up  to  his profession.  For,  this  reason  one  of  the  saints used  to  say :  "  In  my  opinion,  these  bad  Christians ought  to  be  confined  in  an  asylum  for  idiots; (or how  can  a  sensible,  reasonable  man  believe m  heaven  and  hell,  and  yet  go  on  sinning?  "

St. Alphonsus  Liguori  says  in  his  "Devout Reflections"  :

"We are  not  created  for  this  earth.  The  end for  which  God  has  placed  us  in  the  world  is  this, that  by  our  good  works  we  may  merit  eternal life.  'The  end  is  life  everlasting'  (Rom.  vi.  22). And  therefore  St.  Eucherius  used  to  say  that the  only  affair  that  we  should  attend  to  in  this life  is  eternity;  that  is,  to  gain  for  ourselves  a happy  eternity,  and  escape  a  miserable  one. 'The  business  for  which  we  work  is  eternity.' If  we  make  sure  of  success  in  this  business,  we shall  be  happy  forever;  if  we  fail  in  it,  we  shall be  forever  miserable.

"Happy he  who  lives  with  eternity  always  in view,  with  a  lively  faith  that  he  must  shortly die,  and  enter  into  eternity.  The  just  man