withstanding his present weakness. You may fall into the same faults or perhaps into a worse fault. But supposing you remain upright, to whom are you indebted for it, if not to the pure mercy of God?" — Readings with the Saints.
One day St. Peter said to our Saviour, as we read in the Gospel of St. Matthew (xviii. 21): "Lord, how often shall my brother offend against me, and I forgive him? till seven times?" Jesus replied: "I say not to thee, till seven times; but till seventy times seven times;" — i.e., not only frequently, but innumerable times, in fact always.
The apostle St. Paul admonishes us: "Be ye kind one to another, merciful, forgiving one another, even as God hath forgiven you in Christ" (Eph. iv. 32).
"How patiently Christ, the king of heaven, bore with the apostles, enduring at their hands many incivilities, for they were but poor, rough, and illiterate fishermen. How much more ought we to bear with our neighbor, if he treats us with unkindness." — St. Philip.
14.— Kindness
" Let us be kind if we would promote the interest of the Sacred Heart, of which kindness was the special characteristic. Let it not be in isolated acts — 'few and far between'; no, it must be like prayer — an habitual disposition of heart, which is ready to manifest itself without any effort, at all seasons and in all circumstances, and thus it will be with hearts which are united to that Heart of love. Kindness will flow from them, as it were, naturally, just as the flowers give forth their perfume, the birds their song, and as the sun shines down alike on good and bad as it goes on its daily cir-
