this knowledge it sees its shame, its baseness; this shame produces the grief for having offended God, and this sorrow brings forth the resolution of a change of life.
What is the reason of this wonder, if it be not the Word of God?
The force and energy of the Word of God is such that one could say that it was all-powerful: Vox Domini in virtute in magnificentia. It is found in the nothingness of the ears who have listened to its voice. " It calls those which are not, as well as those which are."
It has subdued the world, overturned idolatry, converted whole nations. It has brought kings, wise men, ministers of state, under the subjection of the Gospel. It has done more than this: throughout the universe the most barbarous and savage of people have been civilised. In short, we owe to this Divine Word the conversion of the whole world and the extirpation of idolatry.
However enlightened and clever we may be, we must not, on account of that, neglect the assistance of holy instructions; however bright may be our intellect, we can easily go astray; however learned and scientific, we can always learn something from hearing the Word of God. If your understanding learns of nothing new, your heart will, at least, feel that you know nothing, if you do not know Jesus and Him crucified. If you are sinners, what more capable of bringing you to a sense of your own unworthiness than by listening to the voice of the missionary sent by God? If you are good, what sweeter consolation than hearing truths explained, truths you love and practise, and which become more beneficial the oftener you hear them?
