Page:Anecdotescatechi00spiruoft.djvu/38

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Q. Why did God make you?

A. God made me to know Him, to love Him, and to serve Him in thin worlds and to be happy with Him forever in the next.

The Fish out of Water

Without the knowledge of God the heart has no true peace. A certain fisherman one day caught a great number of fish. As he was a good sort of man, he picked out the largest fish to take as a present to his parish priest. The fish was still alive when he brought it to the presbytery and laid it on the ground. All at once it began to flap with its tail, to flounder and twist itself about incessantly. The priest made use of the occasion to draw a lesson for the bystanders. “ See,” he said, “ how that unfortunate creature wriggles and flounders about; it wants to return to its element, which is water. It cannot be happy unless it is in the water. So it is with us men. We are made for God, and as soon as we depart from God we are unhappy and ill at ease.” St. Augustine says truly: “ Our heart cannot rest until it rests in Thee, O God.”

The Blasphemer and the Monk

No one can be saved without exertion on his part. Some foolish people assert that no man can influence his destiny. A Franciscan monk. Duns Scotus by name, was one day walking alongside a field where a laborer was at work, cursing and swearing all the time. The monk begged him to desist, telling him if he used such bad language he would surely go to