The slothful in the service of God. “Put Me in remembrance and let us plead together.” Tepid, slothful Christian! thou hast disregarded many beautiful examples that might have helped thee to do good and save thy soul, and neglected them through sheer sloth; thou hast wasted many hours, weeks, and years, in which thou mightest have gained heaven at any moment; thou hast missed many Masses and sermons in which I could have brought thee to the knowledge of thy vices, to amend thy life to greater zeal in My service, and that thou hast done simply to indulge in sloth and love of sleep; thou hast consumed thy precious time in eating, drinking, and gaming; thou hast performed thy daily tasks without a good intention, without offering them up to Me. Couldst thou not have been more diligent and zealous? Hast thou not often heard that “the kingdom of heaven suffereth violence, and the violent bear it away”?[1] Look at Me, a Man like thyself, and see how I have labored for heaven, as if I stood in the greatest danger of losing it, although it belonged to Me by right and I could have had it without the least trouble on My part. I have been as diligent in working for thy salvation as if I could not be happy without thee; for thy sake I have gone many a long journey, and have often fatigued Myself running after thee; all the thoughts, words, and actions of My whole life were offered to the eternal Father for thee and thy salvation. But thou hast been unable to do any work, to take any trouble except for the world and perishable things! O wicked man! “Tell if thou hast anything to justify thyself.” What excuse canst thou offer? If thou hast any, let Me hear it; but “put Me in remembrance and let us plead together!” Think of what I, a Man like thyself, have done, and that will be enough to reduce thee to silence.
The mere sight of the Judge shall be intolerable to the sinner. Shown by an example from Scripture. Cry out again, O Malachy, the words: “Who shall be able to think of the day of His coming, and who shall stand to see Him?”[2] I will not ask who shall be able to hear such a convincing Judge. Sedecias, the king of Israel who was taken prisoner by Nabuchodonosor, gives us a slight idea of the sad spectacle the sinner shall present when he appears before his insulted Judge to be put to shame. You may read all about it, my dear brethren, in the twenty-fifth chapter of the Fourth Book of Kings. The city of Jerusalem was besieged and taken by the Assyrians; all the people
