palpable, and his power may be felt in the overthrow of years of labour. In every flock there will be the enemies of God, open and declared, clandestine and concealed. Of all such S. Paul says: "Of whom I have told you often, and now tell you weeping, that they are enemies of the Cross of Christ, whose end is destruction, whose god is their belly, whose glory is in their shame, who mind earthly things."[1]
3. But besides the sins of bad men, a priest has to suffer by the lukewarmness of good men. That people should be so good, and yet not better; that they should be so full of light, and yet fall so short of it; that they should do so many good acts, and yet not do more; that they should have so few faults, but so few excellences; that they should be so blameless, but deserve so little praise; so full of good feeling, but so spare in good works; so ready to give, but so narrow in their gifts; so regular in devotions, yet so little devout; so pious, yet so worldly; so ready to praise the good works of others, and yet so hard to move to do the like; so full of censures of the inertness and inconsistency, omissions, faults, and lukewarmness of other men, and yet so unhelpful and soft and unenergetic and lukewarm themselves—all these are spiritual para-
- ↑ Philip, iii 18, 19.
