OME unto Me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest,"1 saith the Lord. "The bread that I will give is My flesh, which I will give for the life of the world."2 "Take and eat, this is My body, which is broken for : this do in remembrance of Me."3 you: "He that eateth My flesh, and drinketh My blood, dwelleth in Me, and I in Him." "The words that I speak unto you, they are the Spirit, and they are Life." 2. These are Thy words, O Christ, Eternal Truth, 1 S. Matth. xi. 28. 2 S. John vi. 51. 1 Cor. xi. 24; S. Matth. xxvii. 26; S. Luke xxii. 19. 4 S. John vi. 56. although not all spoken at one time, nor written in one place. And since they are Thy words, and true, they are all to be received by me gratefully and with faith. Thine they are, and Thou hast spoken them, but they are mine also, for Thou hast delivered them for my salvation. Willingly do I receive them from Thy mouth, that they may inseparably be grafted in my heart." Words of such holiness, sweetness, and support, uphold me; but mine own sins affright me, and mine unclean conscience drags me back from partaking so great a mystery. The sweetness of Thy words invites me, but the multitude of my sins overweighs me. 3. Thou orderest me to come to Thee with confidence, if I would have part with Thee; and to receive the food of immortality,1 if I desire to obtain life and glory everlasting. 66 Come," Thou sayest, "unto Me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.”2 Oh, sweet and friendly saying to the ear of a sinner, that Thou, O Lord my God, shouldest call the poor and the needy to the communion of Thy body! But who am I, O Lord, that I shoud dare to come unto Thee? For, behold, "the heaven and heaven of heavens cannot contain Thee," and yet Thou sayest, "Come ye all unto Me."2 1 Orig,, "Et ut accipiam immortalitatis alimoniam." nourriture de l'immortalité." 2 S. Matth. xi. 28. 1 Kings viii. 27. "La 4. What means this most loving condescension, this so friendly invitation ?1 How shall I dare to come to Thee, who am myself conscious of no good upon which I can presume? How shall I lead Thee into my home, who have often offended Thy most benign countenance ?? Angels and archangels stand with a reverential awethe holy and the just ones are afraid; and yet Thou sayest, "Come ye all unto Me!" Unless Thou hadst said this, who could believe it true? Unless Thou didst command it, who would dare to draw near? 5. For behold! Noah, a just man,3 laboured a hundred years upon the ark that he might with some few be saved, and how shall I be able, in the space of one hour, to prepare myself to receive with reverence the Maker of the world? 4 Moses, Thy great servant, and Thy special friend, made an ark of incorruptible wood, which he also covered with incorruptible gold, that he might place therein the Tables of the Law; and shall I, a corrupt creature, dare so easily to receive Thee, the Maker of that Law, and the Giver of Life ?5 1 Orig., "Quid sibi vult piissima dignatio, et jam amicabilis invitatio?" The French translation renders it, " Pourquoi une condescendance si charitable, une si tendre invitation?" 2 Canticles iii. 4. 3 Gen. vi. 9. "Noah was a just man and perfect in his generations, and Noah walked with God." Orig., "Arcam ex lignis imputribilibus fecit." 5 Joshua i. 13. "The Lord your God hath given you rest, and hath given you this land." |