The fall and the resurrection of many

Behold this child is set for the fall and for the resurrection of many in Israel (Luke ii. 34).

Such was the language of holy Simeon when he had the consolation to hold in his arms the Infant Jesus. Among other things which he then foretold, he declared that this child was set for the fall and for the resurrection of many in Israel. In these words holy Simeon extols the lot of the Saints, who, after this life, shall rise to a life of immortality in the kingdom of bliss, and he deplores the misfortune of sinners, who, for the transitory and miserable pleasures of this world, bring upon themselves eternal ruin and perdition. Yet, notwithstanding the greatness of his own misery, the unhappy sinner, reflecting only on the enjoyment of present gains, calls the Saints fools, because they wish to live in poverty, in humiliation and self-denial. But a day will come when sinners shall see their error and shall say: We fools esteemed their life madness, and their end without honour (Wis. v. 9). We fools! Behold how they shall confess themselves truly fools!

What greater folly can be conceived than to have the power of being the friends of God, and to wish to be His enemies? Their living at enmity with God makes the lives of sinners unhappy in this world, and purchases for them an eternity of misery hereafter. St. Augustine relates that two courtiers entered a monastery of hermits, and that one of them began to read the Life of St. Anthony. "He read," says the Saint, "and his heart was divested of the world." He read, and, in reading, his affections were detached from the earth. Turning to his companion, he exclaimed: "What do we seek? The friendship of the emperor is the most we can hope for. And how many perils does not that friendship bring upon us! Should we even obtain his friendship, how long will it last?" — Friend, said he, fools that we are, what do we seek? Can we expect more in this life, by serving the emperor, than to gain his friendship? And when after many dangers we succeed in making him our friend, we shall expose ourselves to greater danger of eternal perdition. What difficulties must we encounter in order to become the friend of Cesar! — "But, if I wish, I can in a moment become the friend of God." I can acquire His friendship by endeavouring to recover His grace. His divine grace is that infinite treasure which makes us worthy of His friendship. For she is an infinite treasure to men, which they that use become the friends of God (Wis. vii. 14).

The Gentiles believed it impossible for a creature to become the friend of God. But Jesus Christ has declared that if we observe His commands we shall be His friends. You are my friends if you do the things that I command you (Jo. xv. 14).

How great, then, is the folly of sinners, who, though they have it in their power to enjoy the friendship of God, wish to live at enmity with Him! The Lord does not hate any of His creatures: He does not hate the tiger, the viper or the toad. For thou lovest all things that are, and hatest none of the things which thou hast made (Wis. xi. 25). But He necessarily hates sinners. Thou hatest all the workers of iniquity (Ps. v. 7). God cannot but hate sin, which is His enemy and diametrically opposed to His will; and therefore, in hating sin, He necessarily hates the sinner who is united with his sin. But to God the wicked and his wickedness are hateful alike (Wis. xiv. 9).

The present life, as St. Gregory says, is the way by which we must reach Paradise, our true country.

But the misfortune of the greater part of mankind is that, instead of following the Way of salvation, they foolishly walk in the road to perdition. Some have a passion for earthly riches; and, for a vile interest, they lose the immense goods of Paradise. Others have a passion for honours; and for a momentary applause, they lose their right to be kings in Heaven; others have a passion for sensual pleasures; and, for transitory delights, they lose the grace of God, and are condemned to burn for ever in a prison of fire. Miserable souls! if, in punishment of a certain sin, their hand was to be burned with a red-hot iron, or if they were to be shut up for ten years in a dark prison, they certainly would abstain from it. And do they not know that, in chastisement of their sins, they shall be condemned to remain for ever in hell, where their bodies, buried in fire, shall burn for all eternity? Some, says St. John Chrysostom, to save the body, choose to destroy the soul; but do they know not that, in losing their soul, their bodies shall be condemned to eternal torments? If we neglect the soul, we cannot save the body.

Now, instead of seeking to be friends of God, sinners wish to be the slaves of Satan, who is a cruel and merciless tyrant to all who submit to his yoke. And if Satan does promise delights, he does so, as St. Cyprian says, not for our welfare, but that we may be the companions of his torments in hell.

Only the Saints, then, are truly wise. For let us be persuaded that the truly wise are those who know how to love God and to gain Heaven. Happy the man to whom God has given the Science of the Saints! Ah! how sublime the Science which teaches us to know how to love God and to save our souls! Happy is the man, says St. Augustine, who knows God, although ignorant of other things! Oh, how many of the rude and illiterate are saved, because, though unable to read, they know how to love God; and how many of the wise ones of the world are damned! But the wonder is, that though worldlings themselves are fully persuaded of this truth, and constantly extol the merit of those who retire from the world to live only to God, they still act as though they believed it not.

Tell me, to which class do you wish to belong — to the wise of the world, or to the wise of God? Before you make a choice, St. John Chrysostom advises you to go to the graves of the dead! Oh, how eloquently do the sepulchres of the dead teach us the Science of the Saints and the vanity of all earthly goods! "For me," said the Saint, "I see nothing but rottenness, bones, and worms." As if he said: Among these skeletons I cannot distinguish the noble, the rich, or the learned. I see that they have all become dust and rottenness. Thus all their greatness and glory have passed away like a dream.

What, then, must we do? Behold the advice of St. Paul: This, therefore, I say, brethren: the time is short: it remaineth that... they that use this world, as if they used it not; for the fashion of this world passeth away (1 Cor. vii. 29, 31). This world is a scene which shall pass away and end very soon: The time is short. During the days of life that remain, let us endeavour to live like men who are wise, not according to the world, but according to God, by attending to the sanctification of our souls and by adopting the means of salvation. Thus shall we be truly wise, and be happy for time and for eternity.