what a happy state, to live in all imaginable delights, to live in all imaginable delights forever, and for every moment of eternity to taste and enjoy all imaginable delights at one and the same time!
Conclusion to serve God here in order to gain eternal reward. My dear brethren, take this well to heart; we know and daily experience that everything that seems good on this earth is but a transitory thing that must soon pass away; we are, at the same time, assured by our faith that in the future life the joys that await us as a reward shall last for all eternity; and yet those transitory, uncertain, momentary goods and pleasures often make us forget the eternal ones and actually barter them away. Can we imagine anything more senseless and stupid? What is become of us? Where is our reason if we give up heaven for a forbidden pleasure or some temporal gain? We know and experience that our lives on earth are confined within very narrow limits, so that we cannot promise ourselves even one hour of life, and at the same time we are assured by our faith that the next life shall last forever, either in the pains of hell or in the joys of heaven. And yet what trouble, and labor, and expense we go to! what care we take when we are ill to prolong for a little while this uncertain life of ours, and to stave off for a time the death we dread! What trouble and labor then should we not justly undergo to avoid the eternal death of hell, and to gain an eternal, joyful life in heaven? And would not this latter be worth the trouble and labor? We know and experience that the good works that we perform with a supernatural intention, the crosses and trials that we bear patiently and resignedly for God’s sake, last only a very short time; oh, how short it is! And we know surely and certainly too by our faith that the reward promised us for these things in heaven shall not come to an end for all eternity; oh, how much it is! Come, then! let us perform these works with all possible diligence, bear adversity with contentment, and say to ourselves: this good work that I now give to my God is soon done; the pain, the torment, the sickness, the cross that I am suffering will soon be over; the heavenly joys that are to come shall never end. Therefore I will cheerfully invest the temporal capital that is to bring me in an eternal interest.
And cheerfully to face all difficulties
If we now and then find a difficulty in keeping the commandments of God and the Gospel laws of Jesus Christ, such as, for instance, forgiving our enemies from our hearts, and doing good