"Many begin well, but few end well." (Contra Jovin.) Of this we have a great example in the Israelites. Holy Scripture observes, that there went out of Egypt about six hundred thousand men, besides women and children; and that nevertheless, of all that great number, there were but two that entered into the Land of Promise. " It is then," adds the saint, " no great matter to begin, but the chief thing is to perfect what we have begun; for it is in that alone that perfection consists." (Aug. Serm. ad frat. in Erem.) St. Ephrem makes use of a very just comparison on this subject, saying, "That as when you build a house, the greatest difficulty is not only in laying the foundation, but in raising the building to its perfect height; and that the higher the building is raised, the more the labour and expenses increase: so in the spiritual building, the hardest task is not to lay the foundation, but to carry your work on to perfection ." (Exhort, ad Piet.) It will avail us nothing to have begun well, unless we also end well. "In Christians," says St. Jerom, "we consider not how they begin, but how they end. St. Paul began ill, but ended well; Judas began well and ended ill." (Ad Furiam vid.) What did it avail him to have been an apostle of Jesus Christ, and to have wrought miracles? Wherefore what will your good beginnings avail, if a miserable end contradicts and gives them the lie? It is to perseverance only, that the crown is promised: "He who shall persevere to the end," says the Son of God, "shall be saved." (Mat. xxiv. 13.) Jacob saw Almighty God, not at the foot, nor in the middle, but at the top of the ladder; to let us know, says St. Jerom, that "It is not enough to begin well, nor yet to continue to do well only for a time, unless we hold on and persevere to the end." (Ep. ad Ab. Gaurin.) " What does it avail," says St. Bernard, " to follow Jesus Christ, unless we overtake him at last?" Wherefore St. Paul bids us " Run so, as that at last we may gain the prize." ( 1 Cor. ix. 24.) Let thy race, O Christian! and thy progress in virtue have no other bounds, than what Jesus Christ prescribed to himself: " He rendered himself obedient even to death." It is in vain for you to run, unless you continue your race to the last moment of your life. Without this you will never get the prize.
The Son of God gives us a special warning of this, when he assures us, that " Whoever puts his hand to the plough, and looks back, is not fit for the kingdom of heaven." (Luke, ix. 62.) As also when, at another time, he bids us " Remember Lot's
