A Sermon on Repentance: Arise!

On the Delay of Repentance

"I am the voice of one crying in the wilderness, make strait the way of the Lord"

John, i. 23.

THE paternal solicitude of our Jesus, ever attentive to the interests of his beloved creatures, and desirous of insuring to himself the free and sole possession of our hearts, continues to invite us, by the mouth of the Baptist, during this time of Advent, to make strait his ways, and to remove the impediments which have hitherto obstructed the channel of his graces, and prevented our complete and permanent union with him. These impediments are the crimes which we commit, the passions by which our unthinking hearts are led astray, and the occasions of sin, which have so often proved fatal to our innocence. The means by which alone these impediments can be removed, are a change of heart, and a complete reform of life, accompanied with a true and sincere repentance.

To this gracious invitation he adds threats. He commands his ministers to display before you the miseries which await impenitence, and the dangers of delay, and to declare openly that, "unless you do penance, you shall inevitably perish".

This is not all: he speaks to you in the interior of your souls: "Is it not time", he says, "to arise from that abyss of wickedness, in which you have been so long immersed? Why will you not turn your thoughts to your eternal welfare, and consecrate the short remaining period of your lives to my service, after having devoted so many years to vanity and folly?"

To these importunities of your Creator, what reply do you make? Do you pour forth your soul in acts of thanksgiving for this his paternal, his gratuitous solicitude? Are you resolved to prostrate yourselves at his feet, and declare aloud, that you are ready to embrace the means which he has provided for your deliverance? Alas! this, I fear, is far from being the state of your mind. You are solicitous only to elude his importunities, and to refuse your consent: you say either that you have not sufficient grace to undertake so great a work; or that you are too much engaged in your pursuits to think of a reform of life at the present time. These, in general, are your pretexts.

Sermon Continues. . .