Plan of Discourse.
In the kingdom of heaven alone shall all joys be eternal; the first part. In the kingdom of heaven alone shall the elect be certain and assured that their joys shall last forever; the second part. Therefore in heaven alone is the true and perfect happiness that we should make the sole object of our efforts.
Let that be the conclusion with Thy grace, Jesus Christ. King of glory, through the intercession of Mary and of all Thy angels and saints.
Everything on earth is changeable and transitory. Everything that ends with time, no matter how delightful and agreeable it may be, cannot fully content or satisfy the human soul which is created immortal by God and capable of possessing an infinite Good. Hence when things go well with men we hear that wish and longing desire so often repeated: Oh, would that it might be so always! would that I might be always as well as I am now! that I might always have such pleasant company! always enjoy this pleasure, this comfort! always live in repose, content, and consolation! But in vain is this wish on earth. All that is in us, all that is outside of us is changeable, inconstant, and very transitory. “The days of man are short,” sighs out holy Job, speaking of our misery; “who cometh forth like a flower and is destroyed, and fleeth as a shadow, and never continueth in the same state.”[1] We experience the truth of this daily and almost hourly; at one moment we are joyful, at another sad; we laugh and weep by turns; to-day we are of good heart and courage, tomorrow downcast and miserable; repose is followed by care and sorrow; health by weakness and sickness, and finally by death. “For what is your life? " asks the apostle St. James with reason. “It is a vapor which appeareth for a little while, and afterwards shall vanish away.”[2]
Pleasures, especially, last a very short time. So it is with the other goods of this world, which are exterior to us, and are founded on the short span of human life. If you find pleasure in eating and drinking, how long does it last? As long as the appetite is not satiated; when that point is reached, the choicest viands cause disgust. You hear or see something pleasing; how long does your pleasure last? Not longer than the soothing sound resounds in the ears, the pleasing object
