examination of the heart 424 Oh! You would be called by the name of sinner if your evil deeds, which are revealed only to God alone, would now stand open to the whole world! Therefore, ask Jesus that, looking at you with the eyes of His goodness, He cleanse you of your secret sins. 2. “[H]e said to him, ‘Follow [M]e’” (Mt 9:9). Consider that the evidence of a true conversion is the true imitation of Christ the Lord. Judas Iscariot was not converted, because although he followed Jesus, he was following Him deceitfully; he followed Him with a false disposition, thinking of his moneybags. Saint Matthew, on the contrary, was a true follower of Christ because, getting up, he followed Him. From where did he get up? From sin. To where did he follow Christ? To the virtues. Behold, a simple rule of following Christ is given to you: get up and follow Him. If you have not gotten up, you will not follow Him, even if it would seem that you are keeping at His heels. If you have the moneybags of your own will, of self-love, and similar things, you do not follow, you do not truly go in the footsteps of Christ, although you wear a religious habit, although you boast that you have taken the vows of obedience, chastity, and poverty. Get up, therefore, and follow Him; because you will by no means follow Him, unless you get up. 3. “many tax collectors and sinners came and sat down with Jesus” (Mt 9:10). Consider that not a few tax collectors and sinners still come to Jesus, namely when they come to the Sacrament of Penance. But after the same men recline at table with Jesus and participate in the heavenly banquet, they become just, ceasing to be tax collectors and sinners. Why would you wonder at people’s evil deeds and rebuke them with excessive zeal? Some of today’s sinners will be, perhaps, tomorrow’s saints; right now they are worse than demons, but soon they will be more just than angels. They do not need to take great pains for this: if only they will come to Jesus, they will recline at the table with Jesus, and already they will be cleansed
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