Quesnel: Moral Reflections on the Gospels Vol 1

CHAPTER XVII. S65
fal in the cure of souls, both through a just judg-
ment on the latter, and that he may teach the former
to expect all from Christ, and to refer their
good success to him^ that he may purify their hearts
by shame and humiliation, and oblige them to pray
more frequently, to know, and to distrust themselves.
" ]7. Then Jesus answered and said, O faithless
and perverse generation, how long shall I be with
you? how long shall I suiFer you? Bring him hither
to me."
Nothing raises more indignation in Christ, than
a distrust of his goodness and power in healing our
diseases. Alas ! how many are there, who present
themselves before the ministers of the church, and
€ven at the sacrament, without receiving the cure of
their souls, through th« bad disposition of their
heart, which keeps Christ at a distance, because
they come thither without faith, and with an irregu-
lar intention. Let us be sure not to imagine, that
these words of Christ betray any impatience in him,
but, on the contrary, let us adore therein his long
and unwearied patience towards sinners. Harshness
is only in his words, gentleness is in his heart.
'* 18. And Jesus rebuked the devil; and he de-
parted out of him :
very hour."
and the child was cured from that
Jesus Christ is the only person whom the devil
cannot resist. There are some souls whose cure
God reserves to himself alone, and to whom all the
application of his ministers appears to be utterly in-
effectual. He sometimes does all without them, to
the end that they may know that they never do
any thing without him. It is a matter of the great-
VoL. I. M 57