Reflection #27
On the Business of
Eternal Salvation
The business of our eternal salvation is for us that affair which is not only the most important, but the only one which ought to trouble us, because if this goes wrong, all is lost. One thought upon eternity, well weighed, is enough to make a saint. The great servant of God, Fr. Vincent Carafa, was accustomed to say that, if all men thought with a lively faith upon the eternity of the next life, the world would become a desert, for no one would attend any more to the affairs of this life.
Oh, that all had ever before their eyes the great maxim taught by Jesus Christ: "What doth it profit a man, if he gain the whole world, and suffer the loss of his own soul?" (Matthew 16:26). This maxim has induced so many men to leave the world, so many noble virgins, even of royal blood, to shut themselves up in a cloister, so many anchorites [hermits] to live in deserts, and so many martyrs to give their lives for the Faith, because they considered that, if they lost their souls, all the goods of the world would profit them nothing in eternity.
Therefore the Apostle wrote to his disciples: "We entreat you, brethren, . . . that you do your own business." (I Thessalonians 4:11). And of what business did St. Paul speak? He spoke of that business which, if it fail, implies that we lose the eternal kingdom of Paradise and are cast into an abyss of torments which never end. "It is an affair of eternal punishments and the loss of the heavenly kingdom," says St. John Chrysostom.
St. Philip Neri, therefore, had good reason for calling all those persons mad who in this life take pains to gain riches and honors and give little heed to the salvation of their souls. "All such," the venerable John Avila used to say, "deserve to be shut up in an asylum for lunatics." How so? This great servant of God meant to say: "You believe that their is an eternity of joys for those who love God and an eternity of pain for those who offend Him, and do you offend Him?"
Every loss of goods, of reputation, of relations, of health in this life can be repaired, at least by a good death and by the acquisition of eternal life, as it has happened to the holy martyrs; but for what goods of the world, for what fortune, even the greatest, can be given in exchange the loss of the soul? "What exchange shall a man give for his soul?" (Matthew 16:26).
He who dies in the enmity of God and loses his soul, loses with it forever all hope of repairing his ruin. "When the wicked man is dead, there shall be no hope any more." (Proverbs 11:7). O God, if the doctrine of eternal life were but simply a doubtful opinion of divines, we ought surely to give all our care to gain a happy eternity and avoid a miserable one. But no, it is not a doubtful thing; it is certain, it is of faith that one or the other must be our lot!
But what do we see? Everyone who has faith, and thinks upon this truth says: "So it is: we must attend to the salvation of our soul," but few are they who do attend to it in earnest. All are intent on gaining some lawsuit or obtaining some situation, but lay aside the care of their eternal salvation. "Truly, it is the greatest of errors to neglect the business of eternal salvation," says St. Eucherius. It is an error which exceeds all others, for to lose the soul is an error without remedy. "Oh, that they would be wise and would understand and would provide for their last end!" Miserable are those learned men who know many things and know not how to have any forethought for their souls, that they may obtain a favorable sentence in the Day of Judgment!
O my Redeemer, Thou hast shed Thy Blood to purchase my soul, and I have so often lost it, and lost it again! I give Thee thanks that Thou hast given me time to recover it by recovering Thy grace. O my God, would that I had died before I had ever offended Thee! It comforts me to know that Thou knowest not how to despise a heart which humbles itself, and repents of its sins.
O Mary, Refuge of Sinners, succor a sinner who recommends himself to thee and trusts in thee.
[Excepted from 'Devout Reflections and Meditations' by St. Alphonsus Liguori] (Public domain)
Oh, that all had ever before their eyes the great maxim taught by Jesus Christ: "What doth it profit a man, if he gain the whole world, and suffer the loss of his own soul?" (Matthew 16:26). This maxim has induced so many men to leave the world, so many noble virgins, even of royal blood, to shut themselves up in a cloister, so many anchorites [hermits] to live in deserts, and so many martyrs to give their lives for the Faith, because they considered that, if they lost their souls, all the goods of the world would profit them nothing in eternity.
Therefore the Apostle wrote to his disciples: "We entreat you, brethren, . . . that you do your own business." (I Thessalonians 4:11). And of what business did St. Paul speak? He spoke of that business which, if it fail, implies that we lose the eternal kingdom of Paradise and are cast into an abyss of torments which never end. "It is an affair of eternal punishments and the loss of the heavenly kingdom," says St. John Chrysostom.
St. Philip Neri, therefore, had good reason for calling all those persons mad who in this life take pains to gain riches and honors and give little heed to the salvation of their souls. "All such," the venerable John Avila used to say, "deserve to be shut up in an asylum for lunatics." How so? This great servant of God meant to say: "You believe that their is an eternity of joys for those who love God and an eternity of pain for those who offend Him, and do you offend Him?"
Every loss of goods, of reputation, of relations, of health in this life can be repaired, at least by a good death and by the acquisition of eternal life, as it has happened to the holy martyrs; but for what goods of the world, for what fortune, even the greatest, can be given in exchange the loss of the soul? "What exchange shall a man give for his soul?" (Matthew 16:26).
He who dies in the enmity of God and loses his soul, loses with it forever all hope of repairing his ruin. "When the wicked man is dead, there shall be no hope any more." (Proverbs 11:7). O God, if the doctrine of eternal life were but simply a doubtful opinion of divines, we ought surely to give all our care to gain a happy eternity and avoid a miserable one. But no, it is not a doubtful thing; it is certain, it is of faith that one or the other must be our lot!
But what do we see? Everyone who has faith, and thinks upon this truth says: "So it is: we must attend to the salvation of our soul," but few are they who do attend to it in earnest. All are intent on gaining some lawsuit or obtaining some situation, but lay aside the care of their eternal salvation. "Truly, it is the greatest of errors to neglect the business of eternal salvation," says St. Eucherius. It is an error which exceeds all others, for to lose the soul is an error without remedy. "Oh, that they would be wise and would understand and would provide for their last end!" Miserable are those learned men who know many things and know not how to have any forethought for their souls, that they may obtain a favorable sentence in the Day of Judgment!
O my Redeemer, Thou hast shed Thy Blood to purchase my soul, and I have so often lost it, and lost it again! I give Thee thanks that Thou hast given me time to recover it by recovering Thy grace. O my God, would that I had died before I had ever offended Thee! It comforts me to know that Thou knowest not how to despise a heart which humbles itself, and repents of its sins.
O Mary, Refuge of Sinners, succor a sinner who recommends himself to thee and trusts in thee.
[Excepted from 'Devout Reflections and Meditations' by St. Alphonsus Liguori] (Public domain)
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