Text.
Ecce nunc tempus acceptabile; ecce nunc dies salutis.—II. Cor. vi. 2.
“Behold, now is the acceptable time; behold, now is the day of salvation.”
Introduction.
On last Sunday we meditated on the everlasting fire of hell. I do not doubt that many of you were filled with an unusual dread, and made most earnest resolutions to do everything to escape that fire. And to those I say in the words of St. Paul, “Behold, now is the acceptable time; behold, now is the day of salvation.” Now, if we wish, we can save ourselves from eternal flames. Have we sinned? Behold, now is the time to do penance and to serve God with zeal; for that is the only means of escaping hell. But if we allow this time of grace to pass by, and go into eternity without having done penance, then all is up with us! Never for all eternity shall we be able to entertain the slightest hope of escaping the torments of hell. Ah, how is it with you now? What are your thoughts on this mutter? If I were to address that question to some reprobate sinner, after he has been sentenced to hell by divine justice and has made his first entry into that place of torments, I could easily guess what his answer would be. Alas! he would say, I am lost, and lost forever; but what tortures me most is the fact that I fiave allowed the acceptable time of salvation to pass by unprofited of. I could have escaped hell; I could have gained the happiness of heaven; but I did not wish it. Now I should willingly escape out of hell, and be in heaven; but it is impossible, and will be eternally impossible. These, my dear brethren, are the two thoughts which, to my mind, cause the reprobate the greatest torture, and if we keep them constantly before our minds, we shall not easily run the risk of being sentenced to hell. To that end I now select them as the subject of this meditation.
Plan of Discourse.
I could have been happy, and did not wish it: a thought full of remorse and bitterness; such shall be the subject of the first and longer part. Now I should willingly be happy, but shall not be able to gain happiness for all eternity: a thought full of despair;
