MASSILLON
jects not worthy the delight of Christians? It was thus, however, that the first believers rejoiced in the Lord, and, from the sweets of their conversations, formed one of the most holy consolations to their temporal calamities. It is the heart, my brethren, which decides upon our pleasures; a corrupted heart feels no delight but in what recalls to him the image of his vices; innocent delights are only suitable to virtue.
In effect, you excuse the malignity of your censures by the innocency of your intentions. But fathom the secret of your heart: Whence comes it that your sarcasms are always pointed to such an individual, and that you never amuse yourself with more wit, or more agreeably, than in recalling his faults? May it not proceed from a secret jealousy? Do not his talents, fortune, credit, station, or character, hurt you more than his faults? Would you find him so fit a subject for censure, had he fewer of those qualities which exalt him above you? Would you experience such pleasure in exposing his foibles, did not the world find qualities in him both valuable and praiseworthy? Would Saul have so often repeated with such pleasure that David was only the son of Jesse, had he not considered him as a rival, more deserving than himself of the empire? Whence comes it that the faults of all others find you more indulgent? That elsewhere you excuse everything, but here every circumstance comes empoisoned from your mouth? Go to the source, and examine if
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