and desire of earthly goods, sensual pleasures, and the pride of independence; and 2. Because by them man sacrifices to the Lord his God all that he has and is: his exterior goods, by the vow of poverty; his body, by the vow of chastity; and his mind or will, by the vow of obedience.
Of these Evangelical Counsels our Divine Redeemer meant to speak when He said: 'All men take not this word, but they to whom it is given' (Matt, xix, 11).
34. Who are obliged to observe the Evangelical Counsels?
All Religious, and all those who have bound themselves by vow to keep them.
The Secular Clergy also, when they receive the Greater Orders, bind themselves to perpetual chastity, in order to be able to devote themselves entirely, and with an undivided heart, to the service of God and of their neighbor. ' He that is without a wife is solicitous for the things that belong to the Lord, how he may please God. But he that is with a wife is solicitous for the things of the world, how he may please his wife; and he is divided' (1 Cor. vii. 32, 33).
35. Can people in the world also lead a perfect life?
Yes, if they do not live according to the spirit of the world, but according to the spirit of Jesus Christ.
'If any man love the world, the charity of the Father is not in him; for all that is in the world is the concupiscence of the flesh, and the concupiscence of the eyes, and the pride of life' (1 John ii. 15, 16). 'Whosoever will be a friend of this world becometh an enemy of God' (James iv. 4). 'If any man have not the spirit of Christ, he is none of His' (Rom. viii. 9).
36. Is, then, the spirit of the world at variance with the spirit of Christ?
Most certainly it is, as we distinctly see from those sentences of our Saviour which are called the ' Eight Beatitudes.'
37. Which are the Eight Beatitudes?
1. 'Blessed are the poor in spirit; for theirs is the kingdom of Heaven.
