There is a sentiment which should sustain us, and infuse life into all that has been above set forth; into our studies, our composition, and into the Divine word: namely, Zeal. Zeal is power, joy, happiness, expectation, reward and salvation, to the priest and to humanity generally.
We need not stop to prove the necessity of zeal. … It is enjoined on all men:—Unicuique mandavit Dominus de proximo suo. … Is a priest who is without zeal a priest at all? Is not such an one rather a mere man? He is placed here solely to keep up the sacred fire which the Lord Jesus brought down to earth; and what must a cold and insensible priest be nowadays in the midst of those who are perishing through the vices which fret and consume them? He is an almost inconceivable contradiction. …
One of the glories of Christianity is its zeal in ministering to the wants of the body: a charitable service, wherein the priest takes a conspicuous part. But of what avail is it to succor the body, if the soul is neglected? Of what use is it to go forth proclaiming charity! charity! if the soul, the most sensitive and suffering part of mankind, is abandoned to endless misery? Who can fail to be touched with compassion at the sight of so many poor creatures who drudge and wear themselves out, who go and come, who endure and curse, unconsoled and hopeless?
The greater part of them, notwithstanding, are not vicious. Some are ignorant, others are led astray; … many waver between the good and the bad, only waiting for a kindly word to be addressed to them; for an outstretched hand; for some great stream of good to pass by them, and carry them away in its current. How gladly would they follow it! Well, be it ours to create such currents of truth and virtue; be it ours to confront human errors and passions, and to arrest their onward progress.
I fancy that we stick too closely to our own snug corners, and to our own ideas. Yes, we stand apart! … and, regarding the world's progress from thence, we naturally find that it goes on most unsatisfactorily. Very likely: … we suffer it to be led by evil passions; … whereas we should take our stand in the breach as Moses did; confront the invading vices and lusts, come to a hand-to-hand struggle with them, and cry out to them with the mighty voice of God:—"Stop! stop! you shall not carry away these souls, for they are not yours, but Christ's; He has bought them, and redeemed them with his blood!" … If such courage, such resolution, such vigor as this was more common amongst us, the aspect of the world would speedily be changed. But, alas! our good qualities are feeble; we have lost the power to will; we allow ourselves to be carried away in the stream. What is wanted nowadays to direct the world is not knowledge so much as it is will. … Where, indeed, are we to look for men with a will? …
If we needed any additional consideration to stimulate our zeal, we might say to ourselves:—"Let us observe the world; let us see how the wicked act." The wicked, indeed, afford us Christians some most humiliating and painful lessons, enough to make us hide our faces from very shame; so much so, that we can wish nothing better than that the best amongst us might possess that zeal for what is good which the wicked evince for what is evil.
We censure the wicked, and are right in doing so; but let us at any rate do them this justice, that they are adepts in their profession: … they profess their opinions boldly; … they are zealous and active; … they are energetic, and ready to sacrifice every thing, repose, money, liberty, even life itself. … Then, how adroit they are! how expert in making themselves great with the great, and little with the little! A pernicious book appears … forthwith it is put into an attractive shape and embellished with fine engravings … There it is, to suit the rich and the drawing-room. …
Next, an ordinary edition at a moderate cost is prepared for the middle classes, for reading-rooms, and for the counter; and then a popular edition—copies to be had at four sous each—for the workshop and the cottage. A man recently converted, avowed that he had contributed in three years no less a sum than 30,000 francs in the dissemination of such books. And we! … we Christians, who know the worth of men's souls, whose duty it is to save them, rest satisfied with a few slender efforts, directed often by mere routine! Shall we continue any longer inactive at the sight of the torrents of vice and error which are hurrying our brothers on to the abyss? Would that be to have faith? Would that be to have charity? Would that be to love God and our neighbor? …