THE FOLLOWING OF CHRIST

BY THOMAS A KEMPIS
Nihil Obstat and Imprimatur, 1941

CHAPTER 35: THAT THERE IS NO BEING SECURE FROM TEMPTATION IN THIS LIFE

SON, thou art never secure in this life; but as long as thou livest spiritual weapons are always necessary for thee.

Thou art in the midst of enemies, and art assaulted on the right hand and on the left.

If, therefore, thou dost not make use of the buckler of patience on every occasion, thou wilt not be long without a wound.

Moreover, if thou dost not set thy heart fixedly on Me, with a sincere will of suffering all things for My sake, thou canst neither sustain the heat of this warfare, nor attain to the palm of the blessed.

It behooveth thee, therefore, to go through all manfully, and to use a strong hand against whatsoever withstandeth thee.

For to him that overcometh is given manna, and to the sluggard is left much misery.

2. If, in this life, thou seekest rest, how then wilt thou come to the eternal rest?

Set not thyself for much rest, but for great patience.

Seek true peace not upon earth, but in Heaven; not in men nor in other creatures, but in God alone.

Thou must be willing, for the love of God, to suffer all things-----namely, labors and sorrows, temptations, vexations, anxieties, necessities, infirmities, injuries, detractions, reprehensions, humiliations, confusions, corrections, and contempts.

These help to virtue, these prove the novice of Christ, these things weave a celestial crown.

I will give thee back for this short labor a reward eternal, and for transitory confusion glory that is infinite.

3. Dost thou think always to have spiritual consolations when thou pleasest?

My Saints had not so; but they met with many troubles, and various temptations, and great desolations.

But they patiently supported themselves in all contingencies, and confided more in God than in themselves; knowing that the sufferings of this life are not worthy to merit the glory that is to come.

Wouldst thou have that immediately which others, after many tears and great labors, have hardly obtained?

Expect the Lord, do manfully and be of good heart; do not despond, do not fall off, but offer with constancy both soul and body for the glory of God.

I will reward thee most abundantly; I will be with thee in all thy tribulations.

PRACTICAL REFLECTIONS.

"PREPARE thy soul for temptation," says the Wise Man-----that is, first, let not thy happiness consist in being free from sufferings, but in bearing them patiently; secondly, expose not thyself voluntarily to temptation, nor to the occasions of sin, but if thou shouldst be attacked by the one or engaged in the other, resist, fight, fly, and have recourse to God with all confidence; thirdly, watch, pray, humble thyself before God, and be penetrated with a reverential fear in His presence, a holy diffidence In thyself, and a firm confidence in Him Who will support thee against all the attacks of thy spiritual enemies.

A truly Christian soul should dwell upon Calvary, in the wounds of Jesus, and there suffer with patience, fortitude, and fidelity, whatever He is pleased to appoint. For to be true Christians, and to fulfill the duties of our state, we must be ever resolved to suffer and to die for God; since, as St. Cyprian remarks, Christians are the heirs of a crucified Jesus.

PRAYER.

THOU knowest, O God, that nothing is so contrary to our natural inclinations as to suffer and to die: but, to accomplish this, Thou canst and wilt assist us. Give us, therefore, courage to conquer our unwillingness to suffer ills and contradictions, and our repugnance to the discharge of our duties; and grant that neither the delight of pleasure, nor the fear of pain, may ever induce us to become wanting in fidelity or submission to Thee. Amen.

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