And this is the case with most people. All parents say: I wish to go to heaven; but how many of them are careless, unchristian, reckless in the training of their children? How little they think of instructing their children in virtue? how carefully they train them to vanity? And yet this is one of the chief things that hinders them from saving their souls. I will go to heaven, say the children; but where is their obedience, and the reverence and love they owe their parents? I will go to heaven, say masters and mistresses; but what care do they take of the souls of their servants and others under their authority? I will go to heaven, say servants; but where is the fidelity aud honesty they owe their masters? I will go to heaven, say superiors and persons in authority; but where are their justice, their Christian charity, their endeavors to further the glory of God? I will go to heaven, say merchants and shop-keepers; but where is their honesty in business, the care they should take of their spiritual welfare? I will go to heaven, say the rich; but where is their Christian humility, their charity and generosity towards the poor and needy? I will go to heaven, say the afflicted and oppressed; but where is their patience under adversity, their perfect resignation to the will of God? I will go to heaven, say the aged; but where is the edifying life they should lead conformably to their state? I will go to heaven, say the young; but where is their modesty, reserve, careful avoidance of sin and the occasions of sin, purity of heart and soul, and the constant mortification of the senses? Of these latter things little is thought, and still less are they put into practice. Thus we wish to enter into the beautiful city of heaven, but do not wish to tread the narrow way that leads there; we wish to receive the crown of glory, but not to take up the arms with which we should fight for it; we sigh for the promised land, and still remain among the onions and garlic of Egypt. These are the tepid Christians of whom the Holy Ghost says: “The sluggard willeth, and willeth not.”[1] He wishes the end, but will not use the means of gaining it; he desires the salvation of his soul, but will not do anything to secure it.
They wish for heaven and do not wish for it, at the same time. “Good master,” said the young man to Our Lord, as we read in the Gospel of St. Matthew, “what good shall I do that I may have life everlasting?” I know well and see that the world is not for me, and that I am not for the world; for sooner or later I must leave it and go hence; what does it cost to win heaven?
- ↑ Vult et non vult piger.—Prov. xiii. 4.
