able to declare himself free from so many vices, such as theft, injustice, adultery, to thank God in fervent prayer for benefits received, to fast and chastise his flesh often during the week, to give a tenth part of all his goods to the poor, are not those praiseworthy holy works and occupations which show a man to be a pious, just servant of God? On the other hand, what is more scandalous than to see a man wallowing in all sorts of wickedness, so that he is publicly called a sinner? Yet how different was the judgment pronounced by Our Lord on the two men! “I say to you this man went down into his house justified rather than the other.” Who would look on such a judgment as just if he did not know it came from the infallible Truth? My dear brethren, many things of the kind happen in the world, and if we were to dare to condemn them, we should make a grievous mistake; still worse should we err by presuming to murmur against and find fault with the hidden decrees and dispensations of Divine Providence; yet that is an error into which many fall, who seem to themselves learned and clever. These over-curious people I must again address in the words of St. Paul: “O man, who art thou that repliest against God?”[1] Who art thou who in a spirit of curiosity darest to investigate the wonderful work ings of Divine Providence in the government of the world, nay, to criticise them, murmur against them, find fault with them, and ask why this or that is done in such a manner? Who art thou? A blind, ignorant mortal, who dost not understand, canst not, and what is more, shouldst not understand the reasons of the divine dispensations, which God has determined not to make public till the last day of general judgment. Therefore thy conduct is foolish in scrutinizing or judging those decrees, and presumptuous in condemning them. Wait till the work of the great Master is completed; then there will be full opportunity of seeing it all. There you have, my dear brethren, the whole subject of my sermon on last Sunday. Yet another point remains: may we not, then, express any opinion on the decrees and dispensations of God’s providence in this life? Of course we may, and that is not only allowed, but it is even our duty to do so, as we shall now see.
Plan of Discourse.
Our judgment of them should be that everything is good, right, and just in the highest degree that Divine Providence does with
- ↑ O homo, tu quis es, qui respondeas Deo?—Rom, ix. 20.
