Life of St John Vianney.pdf - the Catholic Kingdom!

"""As"The"The286 THE CTTxri OF AR9.always belonged to Thee Oh, how blessed ! it Is, ho\vgreat a thing it is, to give one s youth to God ! What asource of happiness and joy !Next come those who give themselves to God in thestrength of their manhood. These also may be sincerelyconverted, and become good and faithful labourers in thevineyard of the Lord. But those poor hardened sinnerswho have spent their life far from God, who come andlabour in His vineyard when they can no longer do anything else, who wait to forsake sin till sin has forsakenthem, oh, they are much to be pitied. When they havewallowed for years on years in the mire of sin, it needs amiracle to rouse them from it.My brethren, let us askthis miracle for them."On theGospel of the first Sunday in Lent.Our Divine Saviour, having been our pattern in allthings, was pleased to be our pattern also in temptation.For this end He suffered Himself to be led into thewilderness.a good soldier fears not the battle, so a goodChristian ought not to fear temptation. All soldiers aregood in garrison ; it is on the field of battle that thebrave man is distinguished from the coward.worst of temptationsis to be without temptation. We may almost say that we are happy to haveit is temptations the season of the ; spiritual harvest, inwhich we are garnering up stores for Heaven. It islike the harvest-time, when men rise early, and labourhard, but make no complaint because they gather much.devil tempts those souls only which are in astate of grace,or are trying to emerge from sin. Theothers are his own ; he has no need to tempt them, A