Text.
Porro homines mirati sunt, dicentes: Qualis est hic?—Matt. viii. 27.
“But the men wondered, saying: What manner of man is this?”
Introduction.
The same question shall one day be put to us: What manner of man is this? Where does he belong to? To heaven or to hell? Wo to us, my dear brethren, if the answer we give is not a favorable one for our salvation! The examination of man in the judgment is the subject of to-day’s meditation, which shall consist of two points.
Plan of Discourse.
Each one of us shall be examined in the judgment; oh, what answer shall many be able to make? The first point. The question and answer shall be given before the whole world; oh, how shall the sinner be able to bear the confusion and shame of that? The second point. Sinners, repent of and confess your sins! Just Christians, be always on your guard against sin!
Such shall be the conclusion, and the end and aim of the whole meditation; help us thereto, Mother of mercy, and you, holy guardian angels!
The answer is difficult when the question regards many intricate and forgotten matters.
Difficult is the answer when the question deals with intricate matters, many in number, different in their nature, extending over a considerable time, and easily forgotten. A rich merchant who traffics in all kinds of goods by sea and land, who keeps a number of men employed, partly at home from morning till night in receiving and sending off his wares, and partly in other towns in buying and selling, if he were asked to give an account of his business for one year, and to state what, where, how much, at what price, on what day and hour, with what profit or loss he has sold; what, how much, where, from whom he has bought; how much money he has put by every day; how much he has expended; how much he has to pay; how much is owing to him: what answer could he make? Oh, he would exclaim, do not ask me such a question! How could I remember all those things? If I look over my books, comparing one with another, and count all my