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478 CITY OF GOD
faithfully and fervently correspond with the Lord, only
worldly ignorance will wonder, that He should show
Himself so liberal in exerting his power to overwhelm
them with favors and blessings beyond all human con
ception. Whoever places such wonders of his beneficence
in doubt, will only hinder the glory God seeks in his
works. Such unbelievers attempt to measure them by
the restricted and curtailed capacity of the human mind,
which in them is usually depraved and obscured by their
own sins.
553. And if the chosen souls themselves are so gross
as to doubt his benefits, or do not dispose themselves to
receive and use them prudently, or with the esteem and
of God
appreciation due to the :
operations then, no doubt,
they offend his Majesty much more than others, to whom
no such blessings or talents are vouchsafed. The Lord
does not wish the bread of the children to be cast to the
dogs (Matth. 15, 26) nor his
;
pearls to those who tread
them under foot or despise them (Matth. 7, 7) for these
;
blessings of special grace are the reserves of his highest
Providence, and the capital of the price of the Redemp
tion. Reflect then, my dearest, that such faults are com
mitted by those souls, who are diffident in arduous or
adverse events, or who shrink from the Lord, or hinder
Him, when they are singled out as the instruments of
his power for his service. Their sin is still more repre
hensible, when they refuse to confess Christ in all such
works for fear of the difficulties connected with them and
of the gossip of the world concerning such new under
takings when they act in such a manner, that they serve
;
God and do his will only when it coincides with their
own
;
or if
they practice virtue only when it is accom
panied by such and such conveniences or love ; only when
it does not disturb their tranquillity; or if they believe or
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