Page:Meditations For Every Day In The Year.djvu/479

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first is ignorance, which pervades the understanding and disturbs the order which it originally had in relation to truth. The second wound is perverseness, by which the will is disorganized in its pursuit of good. The third is infirmity, by which the energies of the soul are weakened in overcoming difficulties. The fourth wound is passion, by which the wishing power of the soul is disordered in the pursuit of happiness and pleasure. Observe how you are injured in the faculties of your soul, and have recourse to the pious Samaritan for a remedy. Say with the Prophet, " Heal me, O Lord, and I shall be healed, save me, and I shall be saved." (Jer. xvii. 14.)

III. Neither the priests, nor the Levites of the ancient law, could afford any assistance to " this man, who was wounded." The good Samaritan alone, Christ Himself under the appearance of a sinner, " went up to him," by his Incarnation, " bound up his wounds," and from the precious vessels of His sacraments poured into his wounds " oil and wine." When Christ left this world and went to His Father, He recommended this man to the care of His successors, promising to reward them " at His return " to the earth, for the care and diligence which they might display towards him. What return will you make to the pious Samaritan for His affectionate conduct and solicitude for you?

SATURDAY.

The Man that Fell among Thieves.— II.

I. Contemplate in this parable your own fall and that of every other sinner. Those who go from Jerusalem to Jericho, that is, who turn their thoughts and affections