Of a Third Means of Doing Good to Our Neighbor, Which Is Zeal for Souls

THE zeal of tny house hath eaten me up, and the reproaches of them that reproach thee have fallen upon me (Psalm Ixviii. 10). The zeal of Thy house, O Lord, and of Thy honor and glory consumes and sets on fire my innermost heart, says the Royal Prophet, David; and the injuries and offenses done to Thee all fall upon me, and I take them as my own. This is another and quite a main means to help our neighbor; and our Father puts it among the other means that are to help to the preservation and increase of the Society and the attainment of the spiritual end for which it was instituted, which is the salvation of souls. These are his words: “A sincere zeal for souls, to the glory of Him Who has created and redeemed them, overriding the consideration of any other gain’—quovis alio emolumento posthabito. And the blessed St. Augustine, in his “Exhortation to a Certain Count,” says: “O my brother, is our flesh of iron that it does not tremble, is our heart of adamant that it is not softened, or at least awakened, at those words which Christ our Redeemer will say to the wicked at the day of judgment: Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire! Why do we not say with the Prophet Jeremy: Who will give water to my head, and a fountain of tears to my eyes, to weep day and night over the slain of my people! (Jerem. ix. 1)” Their eyes are worn out with weeping who consider the deaths, not of the bodies, but of the souls, of their brethren. What lamentation is better bestowed than theirs who feel and bewail with the Apostle St. Paul the loss of souls: Who is weak and I am not weak? (II Cor. xi. 29). Let us learn from the Apostle, says the glorious Augustine, to have this great zeal and desire for the salvation of souls, since God Himself has loved them so far as to spare not his own Son, but give him up to death for us all (Rom. viii. 32). He gave him up for us all. For all, he says, that we may not make light of the salvation of anyone, since everyone has cost God His lifeblood.

This zeal for souls, or to say better, for the honor and glory of God, is a fire of love for God; it is an ardent and inflamed desire for all men greatly to love, honor, and serve God; and he who has it would fain make this desire and this fire be enkindled and seize upon all men, and does all in his power to bring that about. And when he sees God offended and injured and is unable to stop it, he groans and laments; and this fire eats him up and wastes away and consumes his flesh. Such was the zeal that those great saints and friends of God had, as the Prophet Jeremy, who says (xx. 9): “There in my heart and in my bones there raged a fire, which burned and consumed me, seeing the offenses committed against the majesty of God, and I could not endure it.” And again Elias: Zeal for the Lord God of hosts set me on fire, because the children of Israel have forsaken the covenant (III Kings xix. 14). And the Royal Prophet, David, was full of it: Faintness seized me on account of sinners who forsake thy law. Zeal for thy honor hath wasted me away, because mine enemies have despised thy words (Psalm exviii. 53, 139). So great was the pain and affliction that those saints felt at seeing sinners so recklessly breaking the law of God, that for grief of soul their body was wasted away, and their blood curdled and was poisoned, and their whole outer man gave signs of it. J saw the transgressors and I wasted away, for that they kept not thy commandments (Psalm cxviii. 158). So severely was the Prophet David burned and consumed by this fire that he was moved and melted away to tears. My eyes were as fountains of tears, because they kept not thy law (Psalm ecxviii. 1386). That is, by reason of them that kept not thy law, as another translation has it. As when they light an alembick or still, so did he melt into tears, seeing the offenses committed against the majesty of God. We should have this zeal for the honor of God, and this should be the greatest of our solicitudes, to see the honor of God prospered and promoted, His name hallowed and glorified, His most holy will done on earth as it is done in heaven; and the greatest of our griefs should be to see that it is not so done, but quite the contrary. This, says the glorious St. Augustine, is to have zeal for the honor of God. He is on fire and consumed with zeal for the honor of God who desires and tries to remedy all the evils that he sees; and when he cannot remedy them, groans and weeps, aS Samuel did for Saul: And Samuel mourned for Saul, because God had repented of having made him King of Israel (I Kings xv. 35).

This zeal for the honor and glory of God and the salvation of souls is one of the things that are most pleasing to God of all that we can do in His service, or even the most of all. So says St. Gregory: “There is no sacrifice so pleasing to God as zeal for the salvation of souls.” St. Chrysostom says the same, and so do many saints. The reason of it is that nothing pleases God more than charity, which is the greatest of virtues, as St. Paul says (I Cor. Xlii. 13) ; in that consists perfection, and so he calls it the bond of perfection (Col. iii. 14); the tie and crossbeam of perfection, because it is that which joins and unites us to God. Now this zeal is a great and excellent love of God, for, not content with itself loving and serving God all it can, it desires that all men should be taken up with His love and serve Him, and that His holy name be known, reverenced, glorified, and exalted by all, and the kingdom of God extended and amplified. This is all its joy and satisfaction, and the offenses and sins committed against God pierce it to the quick. And as a good son who greatly loves his father greatly desires his honor and advancement, and all his joy is to see his father honored and exalted, and the injuries and offenses done him he feels as his own, and more than his own, so is he who has this zeal for the honor of God. So great is the love that he bears to his Lord, and so fervent his desire that His Divine Majesty be praised and honored by all, that this is all his delight and joy; and his greatest pain and grief is to see the great forgetfulness that there is of God on earth, and the offenses and injuries done Him. And so this is a great and excellent act of the love of God.

It is also a very great and very excellent act of love of our neighbor; because, as love of God is shown in our rejoicing in His greater honor and glory and resenting the offenses committed against Him, so also true love of our neighbor is shown in our rejoicing at his good, and being afflicted at his true evils, which are his sins, and seeking to hinder them to the best of our power. And so the saints say: Whoever wishes to examine whether he bears love to his neighbor, let him see whether he bewails his faults and rejoices in his graces and spiritual improvement. This is the proof of true love of your brother, that you rejoice at his good as at your own and feel his affliction and misfortune as if it were yours. This is loving your neighbor as yourself, as St. Paul did when he said: Who is weak and I am not weak? Who is made to stumble and I am not on fire? (II Cor. xi. 29). The gloss there says: “Who falls into any sin, and it does not go to my heart? Who suffers any annoyance, and I am not full of compassion for him as though it were my own?”

This is so pleasing to God that St. Chrysostom says that, though you were to do great penances, fast all your life and sleep on the ground, and give all your substance to the poor, that bears no comparison with this zeal for the conversion of souls. As much as the soul is better and more precious than the body, so much more do they whose occupation it is to help and heal souls by confession, preaching, advising, and other spiritual works of mercy, than others who busy themselves remedying bodily needs or giving great alms out of their possessions. How satisfied would you feel if you had given many a thousand guineas in alms! But it is more and goes for more to busy yourself in helping the salvation of souls. St. Chrysostom adds that zeal for souls is worth more before God than working miracles; since Moses worked many wonderful miracles in leading the people of Israel out of Egypt, but for all that he did nothing equal to the zeal and fervent charity with which he interceded with God, saying: Lord, either pardon this people their sin, or blot me out of thy book (Exod. xxxii. 31- 32). St. Chrysostom says this was the greatest feat that Moses ever did, though he had done so many wonderful things.