Page:The Great Encyclical Letters of Pope Leo XIII.djvu/175



THE RIGHT ORDERING OF CHRISTIAN LIFE. 169

ness they were recalled from death to life. For Jesus Christ redeemed the human race once by the abundant shedding of His blood; and the efficacy of this great work and gift is for all ages: Neither is there salvation in any other} Hence they who strive by the enforcement of law to extinguish the ever-growing flame of popular passions, strive indeed for what is right and just; but they will labor with little or no result so long as they obstinately reject the power of the Gospel and refuse the assistance of the Church. These evils can be cured only by a change of principles, and by returning in public and private conduct to Jesus Christ and to a Christian rule of fife.

Now the whole essence of a Christian fife is not to take part in the corruption of the world, but to oppose constantly any indulgence in that corruption. This is taught b}' all the words and actions, by all the laws and institutions, by the very life and death of Jesus Christ, the author and finisher of jaith? Hence, however strongly we are drawn back by our evil nature and the profligacy that is around us, it is our duty to run to the jight proposed to us,^ armed and prepared with the same courage and the same weapons as He who, having joy set before Him, endured the cross.* Wherefore men are bound to consider and understand this above all, that it is contrary to the profession and duty of a Christian to follow, as they are wont to do, every kind of pleasure, to shrink from the hardship attending a virtuous life, and to allow oneself all that gratifies and delights the senses. They that are Christ's have crucified their flesh with the vices and concupiscences.^ Hence it follows that they who are not accustomed to suffer, and to disregard ease and pleasure, belong not to Christ. By the infinite goodness of God, man was restored to the hope of an immortal life from which he had been cut off; but he cannot attain to it if he strives not to walk in the very

Â» Acts iv 12. * Heb. xii. 2.

2 Heb. xii. 2. ^ g^L v. 24.


 * Heb. xii. 1.