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 faith becomes  fervent  and  lively,  so  that he does  not  fall  into  grievous  sin. but 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  contained  in  an  asylum  for idiots;  for  how  can  a  sensible,  reasonable  man believe  in  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