IMITATION OF THE SACRED HEART: THAT HE WHO DESIRES TO FOLLOW THE HEART OF JESUS, MUST ALSO WITHDRAW HIS HEART FROM THE WORLD
1. The voice of Jesus.-----Woe to the world, My Child: woe to the heart that clings to its allurements and its vanities!
It is not enough to cast Satan out of thy heart, thou must also expel the world. If thou inwardly cherish the world, whatever else thou mayst do wholly to amend thyself, shall avail thee little.
For the world will continue to infect thy heart, will doubtless pervert, and finally betray thee into the power of the demon.
2. What is the world, except an inordinate or perverse love of pleasure, riches, honors; whereby its votaries are themselves corrupted and corrupt others?
If thou desirest to know what thou oughtest to think of the world, consider what I Myself have judged of it.
Behold! I passed through life doing good to all; I loved the enemies that persecuted Me; when fastened to the Cross, I prayed for those that crucified me; but for the world I prayed not.
The world is of the devil, is wholly placed in wickedness, and cannot possess My Spirit: even as falsehood cannot be truth, as corruption cannot be purity.
3. The world is itself a proof, not only of the undeniable existence-----but even of the necessity of a Hell.
What can there be in common between the world and My Heart, since the world, either openly or secretly, favors every vice; whilst My Heart breathes naught, except what is holy?
The world in league with Satan, its prince, seeks for souls to destroy them forever; My Heart longs to save them all.
Thou canst, therefore, not serve the world and Me: for, if thou art the friend of the world, thou becomest the enemy of My Heart.
4. If thou art a votary of the world, thou wilt perish with the world: but if thou followest My Heart, thou wilt go into life everlasting.
If thou drivest the world, and the maxims of the world, from thy heart, so as to offer it wholly to Me, the offering will be pleasing and honorable to Me, and full of glory and merit to thyself. The Angels and the Saints will applaud the deed, and the world itself shall be compelled to admire the lofty heroism of thy mind.
Blessed is he, My Child, who withdraws his affections from the things of the world, and consecrates them to Me alone!
5. What findest thou in the world, on account of which thou wouldst love it? Behold! all that is in the world, is the desire of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life. And the end of all these is death and Hell.
If, then, thou lovest the world, or the things which are of the world, thou takest into thy embrace everlasting perdition.
What good has the world done to thee, that thou wouldst devote thy affections to it? It has done, and never will do thee aught but evil. How, then, canst thou give thy heart to it?
Trust not, My Child, to the smiles and blandishments of the world; they show only a covert desire to deceive and destroy thee.
But hearken to the invitings of My Heart, that longs to save thee from the everlasting misfortunes, which the world is preparing for thee.
6. If thou dost not forsake the world, the world will forsake thee, when thou art spent and worn out in its service; yea, it will laugh and mock at thy destruction; and, when thou standest most in need of help, thou shalt be alone and powerless.
Think frequently, which of the two, when thou art about to go into eternity, thou shalt rather wish to have followed, the world or Me.
Do freely, therefore, and meritoriously now, what without merit, thou shalt be forced to do then.
Apply thyself to draw thy heart from the love of earthly things; and, by a complete disengagement from it, to triumph over the world.
Have confidence, My Child, I have overcome the world: if thou art willing. thou also canst vanquish it. So soon as thou shalt have conquered, I will give thee a most delightful place in My Heart.
5. The voice of the Disciple.-----O Lord, how foolishly have I acted! how wickedly have I lived! A willing dupe, I have been misled by the false appearances of pleasure, of riches, of honor; I have forsaken Thee, to make myself a slave of the world, Thy enemy.
I have left the fountain of every good, to go down to the pestilential pool of the world. There made I myself drunk with poisonous draughts; I grew senseless, and, in my madness, I cast aside everything.
I became forgetful of Thee, my God and my all; I gave myself wholly to the world; and in its service, I unhallowed Thy gifts, my external senses, and the inward powers of my soul.
Alas! I became exceedingly guilty: my soul was filled with iniquity: I drew myself nigh to Hell.
Thy wrath came upon me, and Thy terrors troubled me, so that night and day I was wretched.
8. Alas! good Jesus! even after-----seized with a great dread of Thy judgment and fear of Hell-----I had resolved to lead a good life, into what fatal illusion did I fall! how banefully did I go astray!
I divided my heart between Thee and the world: I wished, at one and the same time, to serve Thee and the world.
O! how great an insult did I offer to Thee, when I placed Thee on an equality with the world! I pleased neither the world nor Thee: and, meanwhile, I was most wretched, because, not being satisfied with the world, nor with Thee, I found true happiness in neither.
But now that Thou didst open my eyes, and move my heart, behold! O Lord Jesus, I will serve Thee alone: I give my whole heart to Thee forever.
Take out of my heart, I beseech Thee, all affection for the world: change for me all its apparent sweets into real bitterness.
So fill me with the delight of Thy love, that the world, with all its vanities, become tasteless to me.
