desire to get possession of it. That is a statement that requires no proof. O goods and joys of the Lord! you that the faithful servant of God has to expect, how great will you be? Ye angels of heaven, I do not ask you to answer me this! Nor do I require one of you, O saints, to be sent down to us to tell us what is to be found in that land of joys! Nor will I ask you, holy St. Paul, to make known to us what you saw in the third heaven! nor you, St. John, to explain what God revealed to you of the heavenly Jerusalem in the Apocalypse. Sinners! children of the world, who live here in abundance and delight! it is from you that I wish to learn this; tell me, what and how great is the reward that awaits the just man, whom you now hardly deign to look upon? But to no purpose should I expect an answer from you, for like brute beasts you are sunk in vice, and are blind to heavenly things. I take the matter then into my own hands, and look on for a time at your prosperity; I represent to my imagination the magnificent houses, the rooms hung with damask, in which you live; the gardens in which you spend your time in idleness during the pleasant spring weather; the down beds in which you repose so comfortably at night; the costly array in which you appear in public; the crowd of lackeys and servants that await your least nod; the number of people who honor you on account of your prosperity, and almost pay you a sort of adoration; the costly viands on which you regale every day; the gold and silver from which you eat and drink; the musical voices and instruments that delight your ears; the theatres, dancing, and gaming houses in which you enjoy yourselves; the pleasant company you revel in; the round of pleasures that follow each other from morning till night, in which there is always something new to tickle your fancy. (I do not even wish to allude to the impure delights of the flesh in which you place your heaven.)
From which we may understand how richly God will reward the just in the next life.
When I have considered all this with wonder and without the least envy, I reason thus: if the just God is so liberal, so generous, nay, so prodigal, so to speak, with His goods as to reward a few natural good works, stained as they are with sin and imperfection, in such a magnificent manner, what must the goods be, the joy, the glory that the same God will bestow in return for perfect supernatural good works, performed in the state of grace, that is, in union with the merits and blood of Jesus Christ? If He is so generous to His sworn enemies who daily ill-treat and insult Him, what sort of a crown will He prepare for those who