157 part i: sunday meditations for the entire year was there to do for [M]y vineyard, that I have not done in it?” (Is 5:4) I tended to it carefully and it yielded thorn bushes; I planted the best seed, and unfruitful, it brought out the monstrosities of ugly weeds; I cleaned its surface, irrigated it, put it in order and behold! How many nettles (wicked actions) it yielded, how many unclean thoughts! They are like these very thorny bushes that continue to sting Me so greatly; that is to say, they torture Me! The earth has stung My head with thorns, but I ordered them to sprout forth; I told you to abound in virtues that refresh Me like fragrant flowers, yet you teem with countless vices and evil deeds, which torture, sting, and wound Me more than thorns. Apply yourself, my soul, and make every effort to annihilate this harvest of bad fruits and sprouts; and beg your heavenly Spouse and Farmer, that He would not reject and abandon you who abound in both useless and even poisonous weeds, as an angry farmer usually abandons his barren field and farms it no longer. [f.22r] 2. “but while men were sleeping, his enemy came and sowed weeds [among the wheat]” (Mt 13:25). You should thoroughly examine two points made by these words: 1) That spiritual drowsiness, be it sloth or despondency, is the cause of many imperfections and faults. If the fields of an industrious farmer are always green, sprouting, and crop-bearing, they are contrary to the fields of a negligent farmer, which lie fallow and produce copious amounts of useless weeds. Likewise, the soul of a spiritual man, who loves advancing in all kinds of virtues, is vigorous; his mind flourishes, and abundant fruits spring forth. On the other hand, not only does nothing good come to be and remain in the mind and heart of sluggish or halfhearted persons, but many imperfections and even the filth of terrible sins stain them both. So, if you value the progress of your soul and wish to see the fruits of Holy Communion and of the Lord’s banquet, you should drive out the drowsiness of apathy, shake off the yoke of idleness, and be continually vigilant.
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