GRAINS OF GOLD

New Zealand Tablet, 2 December 1909, Page 1883

GRAINS OF GOLD

THE LAW OF CONTRADICTION. Forgive, O God, my unbelieving heart — Not that weak doubt of Thee has entrance there, For now as erst I see Thee everywhere, And am content to live because Thou art. But -yet, unfaithful soul, I stand apart From Thee, seeking what is good and fair And finding nought more real than empty air — No life that can escape the fatal dart. O Father, look, in mercy .on Thy child, Who yearns for love and yet turns not to Thee; Who longs for rest, and yet is still beguiled By passing shows and foolish vanity; Who would be pure, but is all sin-defiled; Wno would be free, and yet from God doth flee. — Bishop SpaiiDlNg.

Not to enjoy life, but to employ life, ought to be our aim and aspiration. He who overcomes and captures his enemy with love is the greatest of all conquerors. ' A wise man will desire no more than he can^get justly, use soberly, distribute cheerfully, and leave contentedly. Human nature loves a compliment. The greatest are .not above it. When well deserved the enjoyment of it-, carries no wrong. " With -the good-will of our fellow-men •we can sleep more sweetly. - The object of all virtues is to bring us into union ■with God, in which alone is laid up all the happiness that oan be enjoyed in this world. Now, in what does this union properly consist?' In nothing save a perfect, con- ~ formity "and resemblance between our will and the will 1 } of God, so that these two wills are absolutely alike — there is nothing in one repugnant to the other; all that one • wishes and loves, whatever pleases or displeases one, pleases or displeases the other,. — St. John of the Gross. _ Si. John Chrysostom is -justified in saying that just as a city which is not fortified with a strong wall is easily, taken, because it cannot" resist ' the attack of . the enemy, so the ,soul .which is not protected by prayer is easily brought into the power of the evil spirit, who leads it intp'-every kind of vice. The devil does not dare to approach a soul which is protected by prayer, because he fears th» fortitude and firmness which prayer has given to it. Prayer strengthens the soul ; more than fooH the body, and St. Augustine calls prayer the key by which we can unlock the treasury of Heaven. " . i