Have you ever seriously reflected what those words mean, a God to be made Man, and to die for thee?
A certain man, while one day attending Mass without devotion, as too many do, at these concluding words of the last Gospel, And the Word was made flesh, [John 1:14] made no external act of reverence; at the same instant a devil struck him a severe blow, saying, "Thankless wretch! thou hearest that a God was made Man for thee, and dost thou not even deign to bend the knee? Oh, if God had done the like for me, I should be eternally occupied in thanking Him!"
Tell me, O Christian! what more could Jesus Christ have done to win thy love? If the Son of God had engaged to rescue from death His Own Father, what lower humiliation could He stoop to than to assume human flesh, and lay down His life in sacrifice for His salvation! Nay, I say more; had Jesus Christ been a mere man, instead of one of the Divine Persons, and had wished to gain by some token of affection the love of His God, what more could He have done than He has done for thee? If a servant of thine had given for thy love his very life-blood, would he not have riveted thy heart to him, and obliged thee to love him in mere gratitude? And how comes it, then, that Jesus Christ, though He has laid down His life for thee, has still failed to win thy love?
Alas! men hold in contempt the Divine love, because they do not, or, rather let us say, because they will not understand what a treasure it is to enjoy Divine grace, which, according to the Wise Man, is an infinite treasure: An infinite treasure to men, which they that use become the friends of God. [Wisd. 7:14] Men appreciate the good graces of a
