Foreword
If man knew his religion…
“Neither wealth, nor honors, nor vanity can make a man happy during his life on
earth, but only attachment to the service of God, when we are fortunate enough to
realize that and to carry it out properly. The woman who is held in contempt by her
husband is not unhappy in her state because she is held in contempt but because
she does not know her religion or because she does not practise what her religion
tells her she should do. Teach her her religion, and from the moment that you see
her practice it, she will cease to complain and to consider herself unhappy. Oh!
How happy man would be, even on this earth, if he knew his religion!…
What power that person who is near to God possesses when he loves Him and
serves Him faithfully! Alas, my dear brethren, anyone who is despised by worldly
people, who appears to be unimportant and humble, look at him when he masters
the very will and power of God Himself. Look at Moses, who compels the Lord to
grant pardon to three hundred thousand men who were indeed guilty. Look at
Josue, who commanded the sun to stand still and the sun became immobile, a thing
which never happened before and which perhaps will never happen again. Look at
the Apostles: simply because they loved God, the devils fled before them, the lame
walked, the blind saw, the dead arose to life. Look at St. Benedict, who commanded
the rocks to stop in their course and they remained hanging in mid-air. Look at him
who multiplied bread, who made water come out of the rocks, and who disposed of
the stones and the forest as easily as if they were wisps of straw. Look at St.
Francis of Paula who commands the fish to come to hear the word of God and they
respond to his call with such loyalty that they applaud his words. Look at St. John
who commands the birds to keep silent and they obey him. Look at many others
who walk the seas without any human aid. Very well! Now take a look at all those
impious people and all those famous ones of the world with all their wit and all
their knowledge for achieving everything. Alas! Of what are they really capable?
Nothing at all. And why not? Unless it is because they are not attached to the
service of God. But how powerful and how happy at the same time is the person
who knows his religion and who practises what it commands…”
Sermons of St. John Vianney,
for the Fourteenth Sunday after Pentecost.
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