Monday after the Fourth Sunday — On loving the Lord our God above all Things

Consider, first, the import of these wmrds — Thou shalt love the Lord thy God; and thou shalt find in them innumerable mo cives to dedicate thyself to divine love. For who is this thou art here commanded to love 7 The LORD 1 that is, the eternal, self-existent, incomprehensible, and infinite Being of beings, who alone properly fs, and who is being itself. For all this is implied in that ineffable name, which is here rendered, The Lord. I ani who am saith he, Exod. iii. 14. And he who is, hath sent me to you. The Lord! that is, the Creator and absolute Master of the whole universe, of all things, visible and invisible: infinitely powerful, infinitely wise, infinitely good, infinitely beautiful; the one true sovereign Good; infinite in all perfections! Goodness, Beauty, Perfection and Truth itself; compared with whom all things else are just imthiiig at all. See, my soul, how many motives thou hast to love this great Iord, who comprises in himself all that is lovely and charming, who is the immense Ocean of all good.

Consider, secondly, the motives of divine love implied in those words, THY GOD; forasmuch as they signify that this Lord of infinite majesty is also pleased to be thine. Yes, he is thy God: he is thy first Beginning, and thy last End: he is thy Maker, who has made thee for himself, and who many ways daily communicates himself to thee: he is thy Father, thy Spouse, thy Pastor, thy Keeper, thy constant Benefactor, thy ever faithful Friend, thy ancient and most disinterested Lover, thy sovereign Good, and the Source of all thy good, for time and eternity. And whereas thou wast fallen fi-om him, and from his love, by sin, he has been pleased to give himself to thee, in a manner still more endearing, by sending his own Son to be thy Saviour and Redeemer. O reflect, my soul, on what the Son of God has done and has suffered for the love of thee. From the first moment of his conception, thou wast always in his heart. His love for thee brought him down from his heavenly throne, to • take flesh and blo in the womb of the Virgin; his love for thee made him offer up his flesh and blood on the altar of the cross, a sacrifice for thy sins; his love for thee made him be queath thee this same flesh and bloody in an admirable Sacra ment, to unite thee to himself for eternity. And shall not all this oblige thee to love him, and to love him with thy whole heart?

Consider, thirdly, that this love which we owe to our God, both as infinitely good in himself, and as infinitely good to U3, iwist be a love of preference; that is, we must love him above al' other things whatsoever. For he that loves his worldly honour, hh interest, his pleasure, his own will, the gratifying his humours and passions, or the pleasing of any person, how near or dear soever, more than his God, is not worthy of God; but is guilty of high treason against him, and of a kind of idolatry, in preferring the creature before the Creator, who is blessed for evermore. And not only he that prefers any creature before God, but he that even offers to put himself, his own life, his dearest affections, or any other thing created, or even the whole creation, in balance with his God, so as to love them as much as God, is iu like manner unworthy of God, and offers him the greatest outrage imaginable; because the whole universe, compared with God, is a mere nothing, and therefore cannot, without an intolerable injury, be put in balance with him. Ah 1 what must I then think of myself, when I have so often preferred empty toys, mere vanities, and lying follies, before the living God 1

Conclude, henceforward at least, to love the Lord thy God above all things, and nothing else with him, but what thou lovest for his sake, and with relation to him. Cry out with St Michael, Quis ut Dens? Who is like to God 7 And who but he deserves our heart 7