or strength, or contrition, or confidence. And yet such a priest may be good in heart, exemplary in life; bat he is as a well that is dry, or, as S. Jude says, nubes sine aqua—a cloud without water. There is no refreshment in him for the weary or for the thirsty, or for those who seek in him the waters of life and consolation and find none.
8. Another danger of a priest is that he has too much to do. Let no one think that a busy life may not be a holy life. The busiest life may be full of piety. Holiness consists not in doing uncommon things, but in doing all common things with an uncommon fervour. No life was ever more full of work and of its interruptions than the life of our Lord and His Apostles. They were surrounded by the multitude, and "there were many coming and going, and they had not so much as time to eat."[1] Nevertheless, a busy life needs a punctual and sustained habit of prayer. It is neither piety nor charity for a priest to shorten his preparation before Mass or his thanksgiving after it because people are waiting for him. He must first wait upon God, and then he may serve his neighbour. The hour and a half of a priest's Mass is both his own and not his own. It is the first-fruits of his day. They belong
- ↑ S. Mark vi. 81.
G
