It is a great undertaking which one commits one's self to in coming to reconcile himself with God after a sinful life. The task is not merely to examine his conscience, to tell his sins plainly and without concealment, and to feel heartily sorry for them; that is a great part of it, but by no means all. There is a great deal left, and that is to leave them for good; to quit company with them for ever. And this is not such an easy matter. When, one has lived so that his whole pleasure has been in sin, in drunkenness and debauchery, in filthy conversation, in bad actions and bad thoughts, it will perhaps seem almost like giving up life itself to part with them. The penitent sinner has not all at once become an angel; his whole nature has been warped and twisted out of place by sin, and, though the guilt of the sin has gone, the effects are there; his soul, like a limb out of joint, has much to suffer before it can get set right again.
A man must make up his mind, when he comes to serve God after serving the devil, that he has got an uphill road to travel; if he does not, he will not persevere. Labor and suffering, self-denial and mortification, he has to face these manfully. His consolation, his happiness, as well as his strength, have got to come from God. If one understands this he will seek that happiness and that strength again where he first found it—in confession and Communion. But if he does not, if he thinks that all will go right now without any more trouble, his old nature and habits will claim their dues, and he will soon be back in his sins again.
Yes, we must cut right down to the root of sin if we wish to bring forth the fruits of penance, and must make up our minds to suffer the pain that this cutting will bring. Occasions of sin must be avoided, appetites must be denied, contempt and ridicule must be faced; we must pray, we must struggle, we must resist even to blood; we must put our former life to death, that Christ may live in us. For, as St. Paul tells us: "If we be dead with him, we shall live also with him; if we suffer, we shall also reign with him." There is no other way.
Let us not shrink from this pain and this conflict; that would be the greatest mistake of all. But let us understand it, that when the trial comes, as it surely will, it may not find us unprepared.
Sermon XI.
Preparation For Christmas.
Prepare ye the way of the Lord.
—Matthew iii. 3
We are such unprofitable servants that we have much to do to prepare the way of the Lord in our hearts. If we have done all that is required of us we are, nevertheless, unprofitable servants, and unless we believe this we are spiritually blind.
The better the opinion which we have of ourselves the worse is our spiritual condition. The good opinion, than which nothing can be more false, which we have of ourselves prepares the way for a fall into sin.