Hunolt Sermons/Volume 12/Sermon 45

by Franz Hunolt

FORTY-FIFTH SERMON

ON THE HOLY APOSTLE ST. JAMES.

Subject.

The holy apostle James was an unwearied worker for the glory of God and the salvation of souls; a labor for which he was richly rewarded. Preached on the feast of St. James.

Text.

"For the laborer is worthy of his hire." (Luke 10:7)

Introduction.

Here Christ calls His apostles and disciples laborers, whom He has sent out to preach the gospel and convert souls. And this labor was indeed a grievous and troublesome task, which they all undertook with the utmost zeal; so that they deserved the reward promised them by the Lord: Be glad and rejoice, for your reward is very great in heaven." My dear brethren, if the reward is to be measured according to the greatness of the labor, what are we to think of the recompense merited by the holy apostle St. James, of whom I need not fear to say that he was one of the most zealous laborers, nay, that he was the most indefatigable of all? And this is the praise I now wish to give this holy apostle.

Plan of Discourse.

The holy apostle James was an unwearied worker for the honor of Christ and the salvation of souls; a labor for which he was richly rewarded. Such is the whole subject of this panegyric. The moral lesson shall form the conclusion.

To understand it aright, give us Thy grace and light, good God! This we beg of Thee through the intercession of Mary, of our holy guardian angels, and of Thy holy laborer James.

There are many diligent laborers in the world, who do not, however, merit the name of being indefatigable; some work, but not so as to interfere with their comfort; they engage in occupation; they can attend to with little trouble and without any difficulty; others are busied the whole day in hard and difficult labor, whereat t.hey sweat and toil until they go home in the evening, quite worn out; but they are compelled to work by want and necessity of earning their daily bread, or they are forced to it by the rich, who drive them to work by blows and stripes; and hence labor of that kind is not undertaken voluntarily, but against their will, and with many murmurs and complaints, and sometimes oaths and curses. Others work willingly as long as they succeed in their intent; but if things go wrong with them they give up to disgust. Of none of these can we say that he is an indefatigable worker. To undertake great and difficult tasks readily and willing, despising all difficulties, and to persevere in them with cheerfulness and content, and, what is the chief point, to keep at then constantly, although they help little or nothing to the proposed end that is a mark of a really indefatigable worker, who is determined to do his duty.

Such was the holy apostle St. James. To travel unceasingly barefoot through vast and unknown countries, to have to deal constantly with strange, uncultured, and obstinate people, to be hunted by them from one town to another to have no nourishment but bread and water, to suffer hunger and thirst, often for whole days, and meanwhile to preach until he became hoarse; after those wearisome occupations to spend the night in watching and prayer, or to sleep in the open field, or sometimes in a barn, on the bare earth, for a few hours, and then to rise and begin the same tiresome work, and to keep at it year after year - what think you, my dear brethren? Is not that great, severe, and harassing labor? See what a life St. James voluntarily em braced when he began his apostolic preaching, and went to announce the gospel of Christ to heathens and Jews, and to gain many souls for heaven. In this toilsome work he consumed his strength until death.

But, you will say, the other apostles did the same; for each of them had his share of trouble, difficulty, discomfort, and suffering when preaching Christ in the part of the globe allotted to him. It is true, and I readily grant that in this respect what James had and did was common to him with the others. But in this difficult task I find something special in our apostle, as far as the zeal, the eagerness, the joy are concerned, with which he undertook to work for Christ. For, mark this well, he is the only apostle who,, before all the others, and before they had divided the world among them, went forth to preach the gospel. St. Vincent Ferrer, in his sermon on this feast, is of the opinion that James, as soon as he heard the words of Christ, " go ye into the whole world, and preach the gospel to every creature, " fulfilled the command at once, and without any delay, or, as is probable, at least after having received the Holy Ghost, went and announced Christ to the heathens. " Who," asks St. Vincent, " first went on this embassy, going into the whole world? Not Peter, nor Andrew, nor John, but this James. The tradition of the churches of that province tells us that he went at once into Spain, and there converted some to the faith." That such is the case is attested by Cardinal Baronius in his annotations on the Martyrology; for, he says, since St. James suffered death in Jerusalem, before the world was divided among the apostles, and they had separated in order to go to the different provinces appointed for each one, it must necessarily be true that he, as the most zealous of all, went into Spain immediately after the death of St. Stephen. So great was his eagerness, his longing to labor for Christ and for the salvation of souls, that he could not wait for the division of the world, but had to go forth at once to find some outlet for his fervor. Nay, he did not even wait till he arrived in Spain. Immediately after the Ascension of Christ he began to give public proofs of his zeal, and to preach Christ, as we read in the Breviary in the lesson of to-day: " After the ascension of Christ into heaven he preached His divinity in Judea and Samaria, and converted souls. Presently he went into Spain," although no part of the world had as yet been appointed for him.

And what were the fruits of his labor there? Here we have the chief proof of my proposition; for as far as being indefatigable is concerned, St. James had none to equal him among all the apostles in undergoing labors, sufferings, and persecutions for Christ. How so? In the whole time during which he was in Spain he only converted a few to the faith, as tradition says. What was the exact number of the few? We know not. St. Vincent Ferrer says he only converted nine. Others are of the opinion that he gained only seven souls to Christ during his stay in Spain. Is that all? Yes, that is all he gained there by his labor. Afterwards, when he returned to Jerusalem, shortly before his death, he converted two sorcerers, Hermogenes and Phigellus, and brought them to the light of the true faith; but they relapsed soon after, and went back to their former errors, as is clearly stated in the Second Epistle of St. Paul to his disciple Timothy: "Thou knowest this, that all they who are in Asia are turned away from me, of whom are Phigellus and Hermogenes. And again: "And their speech spreadeth like a canker; of whom are Hymeneus and Philetus, who have erred from the truth." So that if the opinion of those writers quoted above is true, only seven altogether remain of all whom James converted during his whole apostolate outside of Judea. But, you may well ask me, what do you mean by this? You undertook to describe to us the great exploits of this apostle as something worthy of our admiration. We were expecting to hear wonderful things of him; how he converted millions of Jews and heathens; and now you tell us that the number of his converts was so wretchedly small! Is there, then, an extraordinary meed of praise due to him for having converted so few? Yes, my dear brethren, from this very fact appears most clearly how admirable and praiseworthy is this apostle in his really unwearied efforts to procure the glory of Christ and the salvation of souls.

For, think and consider well what a grievous disappointment it is to work hard and effect nothing or little. How disappointing for the hunter to roam about in the forest all day, and not find a single head of game. How annoying for the fisherman to drag his nets all day, and catch nothing but a few worthless fishes. What were the feelings of the disciples when they had la bored all the night and caught nothing? They had already given up work and were washing their nets when Our Lord came up to them. "Launch out into the deep," said He to Peter, "and let down your nets for a draught." But the latter replied, " Master, we have labored all the night, and have taken nothing; " we are tired of fishing. And so it is. Never is the man of business more chagrined than when he returns from the market after a long, difficult journey, and has made but little profit on his wares; if I had known how things were to go, he thinks to himself, I should have stayed at home. Never is the husbandman more acutely disappointed than when he has nothing to bring into his barns after having well tilled and sown his lands; what did I give myself so much trouble for, he says; I might have taken things easier. Never is the owner of a vine yard more annoyed than when, in spite of all his labor, he hardly brings home a few bunches of grapes at vintage time. And if these people were thus unsuccessful three, four, or five consecutive years they would begin to despair, and the one would give up his traffic, the other his tillage, the third his vine yard. In a word, experience teaches us how true it is that labor in vain is the most disagreeable kind of labor, and that which tires us quickest.

On the other hand, to labor, and to labor long and hard, where there is a prospect of gaining the desired end and making a great profit oh, that is an easy and a consoling task. If the husbandman has to work hard from morning till night in the field, gathering his crops, heaping them on wagons, and storing them in his barns in rich abundance, who would say that he is an indefatigable workman? Who would wonder at the diligence of the merchant, who, barely taking time enough for his meals, is hard at work every day in his shop, receiving money, and heaping it up in his coffers? Who would say: What an indefatigable man! he is certainly not tired of working? Eh! why should he be? In such circumstances that is no labor or trouble for those people; it is rather a pleasure and delight for them; and their satisfaction is so great that they can hardly sleep at night thinking of their gains. But have they not labored and toiled the whole day? Yes; but what immense gains they have made by their work! Therefore they have not found the least difficulty in it, but rather joy and pleasure. Useful and lucrative labor, I repeat, is easy, sweet, and full of consolation. And again experience teaches us the truth of this.

This is especially the case with those apostolic men, who, impelled by the Spirit of God, labor for His glory and the salvation of souls, and by their labor convert many and bring them to Christ in heaven. Oh, what joy! what an indescribable heavenly consolation such success causes in the hearts of zealous servants of God! It can be fully understood only by those who have had experience of it. If one could have seen into the heart of the holy apostle Peter, when he converted, with his first sermon, three thousand, and on another occasion, over five thousand, to the true faith, what joy would he not have found therein! With what exultation the disciples came forward, after they had driven out demons by their labor: "And the seventy-two returned with joy, saying: Lord, the devils also are subject to us in Thy name," as St. Luke tells us. Ask the many zealous lovers of souls what their feelings were in their arduous missions, in countless labors, in journeys hither and thither, in dangers by sea and land, in the want of the necessaries of life, and they will tell you that they were always filled with heavenly joy and consolation, which they often felt at the conversion and absolution of even one sinner. St. Francis Xavier, the apostle of the Indies, St. Bernardine of Siena, St. Vincent Ferrer could not refrain from shedding tears of consolation while hearing confessions; they called the confessional their paradise, on account of the great joy and almost sensible pleasure caused them by the repentance and conversion of the worst sinners. St. Ignatius, the founder of our Society, commanded all his subjects, in whatever part of the world they might be sent to spread the glory of God, to write to him once a year and tell him how many sinners were convert ed each month, how many received the sacraments, how many heretics and infidels were brought to the true Church. These letters he used to read with tears in his eyes, and with such interior joy that he could often not sleep at night on account of it. For my own part, I must acknowledge that sometimes when God granted me the happiness of absolving a great sinner I could not help shedding tears of consolation. From this I can conclude how great must be the joy of apostolic men who have received the grace by their preaching and instructions to win hundreds and thousands of souls to Christ. Therefore we must confess that the labor that brings in the desired fruit must necessarily be much lessened and sweetened by the consolation and joy it causes. In a word: to labor and convert many souls is, I do not hesitate to say, as far as men are concerned, no trouble or difficulty, but rather a pleasure and delight.

But in spite of that labor to effect little or nothing, to run hither and thither, to call and shout at the top of one's voice, to exhaust all one's strength, and yet to hardly move to good one or two souls, alas, that is a troublesome and grievous thing for one who means well to God and to souls! Imagine, my dear brethren, a general to whom his sovereign has entrusted an army to be led against the enemy; he brings into requisition all his experience in military matters; he is busy day and night scheming how he can best circumvent the foe; and yet all his plans are of no avail; he cannot gain the least advantage, although at different times he hears news of great victories being gained elsewhere by other generals of his king. What disappointment and chagrin must he not feel! Imagine one who is very much in love, and who puts forth his best efforts to make money, so as to have something worth while to offer the beloved one; but he is always unsuccessful, while he has at the same time the mortification of seeing his rival prospering. Here you have a kind of sketch of the displeasure and inward disappointment of the zealous servant of God, who, with all his labor, troublesome as it is, can make no progress towards the desired end, while others with the same or less labor gain rich harvests of souls. For what makes them work is the burning love of God, the earnest longing to do something for His honor and glory, and to rescue souls from the evil one. Hence the greater this love and desire, the greater must necessarily be the secret sorrow and regret that they naturally find in seeing their efforts fruitless. Therefore you must not wonder at the conduct of a certain preacher in this very cathedral, one whom the most of you knew well; at first, as very few came to listen to him, he used to go, after the sermon, and kneel down at the altar of the Blessed Virgin, and there, weeping bitterly, complain that in spite of the trouble he had taken to prepare his sermon during the whole week so few came to hear him, and so little good was done.

Now I leave it to yourselves to see whether St. James does not deserve, more than the others, the name of an indefatigable la borer for the honor of Christ; for in spite of the fact that they reaped such rich fruit by their preaching, while he gained little or nothing, yet, without being in the least disgusted with his profitless labor, he continued at it constantly, persistently, as if he had converted half the world. Reason enough had he to think to himself: What! seven souls, after so much hard work! Is it really worth the while? Why do I plague myself so long? Should I not rather give up the work that I find so unprofitable? But our great apostle did not look at matters in that light; to further the glory of Christ and announce His gospel he did not cease to put forth his best efforts as long as life lasted; and if it had been granted him to live longer, he would have continued his thankless task with just as much energy and vigor.

But the envy of his enemies did not grant him that; they plot ted against his life in all parts. Already in Granada in Spain, during his apostolate there, how many persecutions and sufferings had he not to endure at the hands of the Jews, who publicly denounced him as a traitor, a seducer of the people, a sorcerer and wizard? Often they bound him with chains and ropes, with the intention of putting him to death; and they would have done so had he not been miraculously helped and delivered out of their hands. As soon as he returned to Jerusalem, and there began, with his wonted zeal, to preach Jesus Christ, the high- priests and all the Jews regarded him with special hatred and determined to get rid of him by a violent death. The execution of this plan was entrusted to Abiathar, the high-priest, and his subordinate, Josias, who with the help of the Roman soldiers seized James as he was preaching, and crying out that he was a disturber of the peace, and a preacher of a false religion that was contrary to the laws of Rome, they tied a rope around his neck and brought him before King Herod, at whose command the executioner at once struck off his head. St. Luke, in the Acts of the Apostles, says that all the Jews were exceedingly exultant at the death of this apostle; so that Herod was inclined to put to death Peter, as well. " And he killed James, the brother of John, with the sword. And seeing that it pleased the Jews he proceeded to take up Peter also." From this it appears that James must have been especially zealous, since the Jews were so exceedingly anxious to have him put out of the way before the other apostles. i( It is evident," says Theophylactus, " that he was inflamed with an ardent zeal from the very fact that Herod put him to death to please the Jews." a And in fact St. James was the first of the apostles whom the Jews seized and put to death for the faith. See, now, my dear brethren; contradictions, sufferings, persecutions, chains, and imprisonments, and finally a martyr's death such were the rewards this apostle received during his life for his hard and wearisome labor.

During his life, I say, for the pleasure the Almighty had in his indefatigable zeal was shown after his death, when he was rewarded with a harvest of souls such as no other apostle gained during life. The Holy Scripture says of Samson that he threw down the house in which a thousand Philistines were. " He killed many more at his death than he had killed before in his life." The contrary may be said of St. James: he gave life to many more after his death than he had given life to when living. For, according to the saying, what you do by another is done by yourself. Now the seven disciples whom James had gained for Christ in Spain were afterwards consecrated bishops by St. Peter, and sent to Spain; and throughout that vast kingdom and its mighty provinces, and among its many different nationalities, they converted crowds of Jews as well as heathens to the Catholic faith, doubtless not without the special assistance and influence of St. James; for he had by his preaching sown the good seed that was afterwards to produce such abundant fruit, to be gathered by his disciples into the granary of the true Church; or, rather, James himself was that grain of wheat of which Our Lord says in the gospel of St. John: "Unless the grain of wheat, falling into the ground, die, itself remaineth alone; but if it die, it bringeth forth much fruit." a By a wise arrangement of Providence it was decreed that our apostle should effect little during life with all his labor; he had first to die and shed his blood for the faith, and then gather in rich fruits, just as was the case with his divine Master. How Our Lord toiled and labored during the last three years of His life, going from place to place! He preached everywhere, and worked wonderful miracles; and yet there were very few whom even with His divine eloquence He could induce to believe in Him fully as the Son of God; not one of the high-priests, hardly any of the Pharisees and scribes, whom He spoke to most frequently. Many of the people regarded Him as a seducer, a seditious man, a drunkard, a wizard; and all who at one time followed Him, and believed in Him to some extent, abandoned Him, and many of them even cried out: Crucify Him! crucify Him! That, my dear brethren, as we see, was just the fate of the apostle St. James while he still lived. But see what happened after the death of each. Christ said of Himself: " And I, if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw all things to Myself." And that is indeed what happened after His death; for He sent His apostles to preach the gospel throughout the world, and thus subjected it to His Church. The same, due proportion being observed, may be said of St. James. I, he might have said, being free from this earth, will by my disciples draw many in those countries to me. And such was really the case after his death. So says St. Vincent Ferrer, who attributes to the apostle nine converts in Spain. Just as our Saviour, he says, converted twelve apostles, as so many grains of corn, who were afterwards to spread the seed of the gospel throughout the world, "so it was with the blessed James; for his nine disciples were nine fruitful grains, who converted all Spain." And how they converted it! From that time forward the light of faith has so shone in that country that it has never been extinguished to the present moment. Al though the other apostles have planted the Catholic faith in other lands, yet we know by experience that in many places it has died out in time; while Spain,, once converted, has never lost the faith, but still remains a Catholic kingdom in which to the present day no heretic is allowed; and therefore the ruling sovereign retains the title of Catholic King. Oh, what a glorious fruit and reward for the labor of our apostle! " What is most to be admired and praised in James, according to my opinion," writes a learned bishop, "is the fact that he first went to Spain, first wandered about and preached therein, and that kingdom has never lost the faith it once received." So that in him especially, before the other apostles, is fulfilled the prophecy of Christ: " I have appointed you that you should go, and should bring forth fruit; and your fruit should remain." Mark, my dear brethren, the words, " your fruit should remain; " the fruit brought forth by the other apostles in many other provinces and kingdoms gradually dried up and was lost, while the fruit planted by the labor of James and his disciples remained, and is there to this day.

Yes, even to this day our Saint continues to bring forth new fruit of souls; and that is the other reward of his indefatigable zeal. Denis the Carthusian applies to St. James the words of Ecclesiasticus about the Prophet Eliseus: " After death his body prophesied. In his life he did great wonders, and in death he wrought miracles;" for a dead body placed in the grave of the Prophet was restored to life. "How much more," continues Denis, "may not those words be said of the most holy apostle James, who after his death wrought many great and surprising miracles, such as are possible to omnipotence alone; for he raised several dead people to life. But after he was slain in Judea his body was carried thither (to Spain) by an angel, and there it shone with so many wonderful miracles that crowds were converted." That sacred body has hitherto served as a bulwark to Spain against the attacks of the infidel; for St. James often showed himself in the air, and put to flight whole armies of enemies to the Christian name. It would be necessary to write whole volumes to describe the prodigies and miracles, as well as the numerous conversions of heathens and hardened sinners, which have for the last seventeen hundred years taken place in the sight of the world at his glorious tomb at Compostella. There fore it is not to be wondered at that pilgrims from all parts of the world, many crowned heads being among them, go in procession to prostrate themselves before his sepulchre; so that we may apply to James, with good reason, the words uttered by the Prophet Isaias of Christ, the apostle's blood relation: "The root of Jesse, who standeth for an ensign of the people; Him the Gentiles shall beseech, and His sepulchre shall be glorious." St. Antoninus gives as a reason why Our Lord inspired the faithful of all nations with such great veneration and esteem for the relics of this apostle, and why the vow to visit his grave at Compostella cannot be dispensed with except by the Pope (as is also the case with the vow to visit the sepulchre of Christ at Jerusalem, and the tomb of the holy apostles Peter and Paul at Rome), that, namely, " as less honor and glory were given to him during life than to the other apostles by the faithful, on account of the shortness of his life, the divine munificence should make a return to him after his death, by causing his relics to be honored more than those of the other apostles. Moreover, generally speaking, God is wont to exalt His servants after their death in those very places in which during life they were despised and looked down upon for His sake; and therefore we have reason to believe that since St. James was so disgracefully treated and banished by the Jews and heathens in Spain, so that he converted very few of them, God rewarded His faithful servant for the humiliation and scorn he suffered in that country by the great glory and honor He conferred on him afterwards in the sight of the whole world. And what must be the recompense reserved for him in heaven among the elect if his dead bones are held in such honor by men on earth? So great is the pleasure God has in the indefatigable zeal of His servant, although his labor seemed to be to no purpose.

This is a comforting thought for you, zealous preachers and Lesson pastors of the flock of Jesus Christ, who, according to the obligations of your office, diligently endeavor, by frequent sermons, instructions, and exhortations, to abolish vice, to bring sinners to true repentance, to urge all to do good, and so to gain many souls for Christ and heaven. It often happens either that few hear your preaching or that few receive it, so that the only result of your efforts is to bring down scorn and ridicule on your selves, while little or no good rewards your trouble. Oh, do not get wearied of your work; do not be downhearted or despondent, and much less should you think of giving up preaching altogether; for your reward from God will not be a whit the less be cause the present results are so small. Hear the beautiful words in which St. Augustine addresses you: "As the evil counsellor, who tries to lead others into sin, justly incurs the penalty of his deceit, although his efforts have not been successful, so the faithful preacher of justice,, although he is ridiculed by all, will by no means be deprived of his reward from God for the faithful fulfilment of his duty." How does the town-crier act when the magistrate orders him to publish a certain command or prohibition on public market days? He goes and does as he is told; whether few or many of the people are there to listen to him, whether they observe the law or not, is no affair of his. If any are afterwards subjected to punishment on account of having transgressed the law they may thank themselves for it. So you should say to yourselves: it is my duty to spare neither diligence nor study for the glory of God, to tell the truth and announce the will of God, without allowing myself to be influenced by human respect; that, with the help of God, I have hitherto done; that I will do in future. It is not in my power to make others profit by what I say, and derive fruit from it; nor has God obliged me to do so. The so-called author of the Imperfect Work, speaking of the words in which Christ called Peter and Andrew, "come ye after Me, and I will make you to be fishers of men," gives great comfort to those who, in spite of all their labor, can not gain the desired fruit of souls. He says that it is not the duty of the fisherman always to catch a great quantity of fishes, for that is not in his power; his duty consists in this, that he diligently furnishes his hook with the proper bait, and casts it in to the water, that he spreads his nets in a proper way, and does all he can to catch fish, and then waits patiently for whatever God will send him. In the same manner it is not the duty of the fisher of men always to catch a number of souls; that is not in his power, but in the power of God and His grace, as Our Lord Himself says: " No man can come to Me except the Father, who hath sent Me, draw him." The duty of the pastor is to use every effort he is capable of, with the help of God's grace, to do good to souls. The author quoted above says: " As in the fisherman all that is required is the labor of fishing and drawing the nets, while God sends the fish, so it is with the pastor of souls; for it is not a man who can make the people amend their lives, but God." Meanwhile, although the labor undergone is without fruit as far as the conversion of souls is concerned, yet it will not lose its reward with God, but rather have all the more merit in His sight; for, as we have seen, the merit is greater the more difficult and fruitless the work.

The same consolation is for you, Christian parents, fathers and mothers, if sometimes your children, without any fault of yours, turn out undutiful and thus cause you much trouble! I know that it is a sad thing for parents, when they have done their best to bring up their children to virtue and the service of God, by teaching, paternal correction, and good example, and thus to bring them to heaven it is a sad thing to see them turn out disobedient, obstinate, and dissolute, given to lying, deceit, cursing, drinking, impurity, and other vices, and thus hurrying to the everlasting flames of hell. Could a well-meaning father or a pious mother have a greater cross than this to bear? Mean while, although you have compassion on the souls of your children, who are wantonly rushing to destruction, do not lose heart; your grief should and must be lessened by the knowledge that you have done your duty, and not been wanting in any part of a father's or mother's obligation; and more than that God will not require from you. If your trouble and care have little or no effect on your undutiful children, your own future reward will be no less, but will be all the greater and more abundant on account of the trouble and difficulties you had to contend with.

Pious and oppressed Christians! you sometimes complain and sigh forth: Ah, how is it that the good and merciful God, who grants so much happiness even to the most wicked, has so completely forgotten me? I do my best not to commit any sin; my first and greatest care is to serve Him diligently every day, and to do His holy will in all things. And yet He treats me so harshly; He leaves me unassisted in my secret poverty and great want; one misfortune comes upon me after the other! What does He mean to do with me, since He thus turns His heart and thoughts away from me? Hush, Christians! God has not turned His fatherly heart away from you; He is most certainly thinking of you, although He seems to have forgotten you. Think of the generous reward He bestowed on the holy apostle St. James! But when and where did He bestow it? During the Saint's life He sent him nothing but sufferings and persecutions, but after death He made him glorious and illustrious in heaven and on earth. Oh, what a splendid reward awaits your zealous service of God and your patience in bearing crosses! And if God does not give it you in this life, it is a sure sign that he is keeping it for you till eternity. Tell me: is there any one of you who would wish to have his reward in this life, and to forfeit it in the next, and thus, like the wicked, to be content with an apparent happiness? I cannot think that any sensible Christian would be guilty of such folly. And is there any one who would like to give up a part of his heavenly reward, so as to be freed from his crosses in this life and enjoy a little earthly happiness? Neither do I think that any one would agree to that when he remembers how short and momentary is the sorrow that is to be rewarded with an eternal, heavenly joy. Therefore do not complain; be satisfied with what the well-meaning Lord appoints for you now; and rather rejoice and say with me: I thank Thee, dear Lord! for that which hitherto has been to me the occasion of inordinate sorrow, because I did not understand things aright. Now I resign my self willingly to the cross which Thou hast laid on me; I do not want any reward in this life, but with an assured hope I await it in eternal life with Thee. Amen.