Basil, “who is now our co-operator in sin shall be hereafter our accuser.”[1] What shall he say? How shall he give testimony against us? Hear what St. Augustine says: “The devil will recite before the tribunal of Christ the words of our profession, and the oath by which we bound ourselves in baptism.”[2] Come here, wicked Christian! he will say; at your first entry into the holy Church of God you were kept waiting a little at the door, and were asked whither you wished to go and what you desired. You answered by your godfather and godmother that you wished to be baptized and enrolled amongst the soldiers and followers of Christ. Then you were asked whether you renounced the world, the flesh,, and the devil, and you answered: I renounce them; I give them up forever.
And show that he did not keep those promises. Now tell me how you have kept this promise during your life! Show me some sign that you have acted up to the holy profession you made that you were a soldier and follower of Christ? You, who the whole time of your life observed the customs of the vain world, looked on its maxims as the laws to guide you, conformed to its usages in all your external behavior, brought up your children to live according to its fashions, and ruled your household by its prudence! What was good and holy in itself was unbecoming in your eyes if it ran counter to the custom of the world. What was in itself vicious and unlawful was honorable, lawful, and good in your eyes if it was only in conformity with the customs of the world. How often have you not been ashamed to show devotion and due respect and reverence to God in public, simply because such was not the custom of the world! How often have you not followed the example of others even against your conscience because the world would have it so, in spite of the warning of St. Paul and the oft-repeated, emphatic exhortation of Christ! “Love not the world, nor the things which are in the world. If any man love the world, the charity of the Father is not in him.”[3] “Be not conformed to this world.”[4] Is that the way to renounce the world? If you had vowed in holy baptism to observe perpetual fidelity and obedience to the world and its luxury, could you have fulfilled that vow better and more exactly than by your past conduct?
