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To all the benefits which we have just enumerated we
must add that of election, or predestination, which
belongs to those whom God has chosen from all
eternity to be partakers of His glory. The Apostle,
in his Epistle to the Ephesians (Eph. 1:3-5), thus
gives thanks, in his own name and that of the elect,
for this inestimable benefit: "Blessed be the God and
Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us
with spiritual blessings in heavenly places, in
Christ; as he chose us in him before the foundation
of the world, that we should be holy and unspotted in
his sight, in charity; who hath predestinated us unto
the adoption of children through Jesus Christ unto
himself, according to the purpose of his will." The
Royal Prophet thus extols this same benefit: "Blessed
is he whom thou hast chosen and taken to thee: he
shall dwell in thy courts." (Ps. 64:5). Election,
therefore, may be justly called the grace of graces,
since God, in His boundless liberality, bestows it
upon us before we have merited it; for, while giving
to each one what is necessary for his salvation, He
wills, as absolute Master of His gifts, to bestow
them in greater abundance upon certain souls, without
any injury, however, to others less favored. It is
also the grace of graces not only because it is the
greatest, but because it is the source of all the
others. For in predestining man to glory, God
determines to bestow upon him all the graces
necessary to attain this happiness. This He has
declared by the mouth of His prophet: "I have loved
thee with an everlasting love, therefore have I drawn
thee, taking pity on thee." (Jer. 31:3). This truth
is still more clearly expressed by the Apostle: "For
whom he foreknew, he also predestinated to be made
conformable to the image of his Son; that he might be
the firstborn amongst many brethren. And whom he
predestinated, them he also justified. And whom he
justified, them he also glorified." (Rom. 8:29-30). A
father who destines his son for a special career in
life prepares and educates him from his boyhood with
a view to this career. In like manner, when God has
predestined a soul to eternal happiness, He directs
her in the path of justice, that she may attain the
end for which He has chosen her. All, therefore, who recognize in themselves any mark
of election should bless God for this great and
eternal benefit. Though it is a secret hidden from
human eyes, yet there are certain signs of election,
as there are of justification; and as the first mark
of our justification is the conversion of our lives,
so the surest mark of our predestination is our
perseverance in the good thus begun. He who has lived
for a number of years in the fear of God, carefully
avoiding sin, may hope that God, in the words of the
Apostle, "will confirm him unto the end without
crime, in the day of the coming of our Lord Jesus
Christ." (1Cor. 1:8). No man, however, can be
certain of his perseverance or election. Did not
Solomon, the wisest of kings, after having lived
virtuously for many years, fall into iniquity in his
old age? Yet his example is one of the exceptions to
the rule, which he himself teaches in these words:
"It is a proverb: A young man according to his way,
even when he is old he will not depart from it" (Prov.
22:6); so that if his youth has been virtuous, his
old age will likewise be honorable. From these and
similar indications to be found in the lives of the
saints a man may humbly hope that God has numbered
him among the elect, that his name is written in the
Book of Life. How great, then, should be our
gratitude for such a benefit! God Himself tells His
Apostles, "Rejoice not in this, that spirits are
subject unto you; but rejoice in this, that your
names are written in heaven." (Lk. 10:20). What, in
fact, can be a greater happiness than to have been
from all eternity the object of God's love and
choice; to have had a privileged place in His Heart
throughout the eternal years; to have been chosen as
the child of His adoption before the birth of His Son
according to nature; and to have been always present
to His Divine Mind, clothed in the splendor of the
saints! Weigh all the circumstances of this
election, and you will find that each of them is an
extraordinary favor, a new motive to love and serve
God. Consider first the greatness of Him who has
chosen you. It is God Himself, who, being infinitely
rich and infinitely happy, had no need of you or any
other creature. Next represent to yourself the
profound unworthiness of the object of this election
� a miserable creature exposed to all the infirmities
of this life, and deserving by his sins the eternal
torments of the future. Reflect, too, how glorious is
this election, by which you are raised to the dignity
of a child of God and heir to His kingdom. Consider,
further, how generously and gratuitously this favor
is bestowed. It preceded all merit on our part, and
sprang solely from the good pleasure and mercy of
God, and according to the Apostle, turns "unto the
praise of the glory of his grace." (Eph. 1:6). Now,
the more gratuitous a favor is, the greater the
obligation it imposes. The origin and the
antiquity of this election also merit special
consideration. It did not begin with this world; it
preceded the existence of the universe; it was coeval
with the very existence of God. From all eternity He
loved His elect. They were ever present to Him, and
His will to render them eternally happy was as fixed
at His own Being. Observe, finally, what a
singular benefit this is. Among the many nations
plunged in the darkness of paganism, among the many
souls condemned to perdition, you have been selected
to share the happy lot of the elect. Out of the mass
of perdition He has raised you, and the leaven of
corruption and death He has changed into the bread of
angels and the wheat of the elect. The value of this
benefit is still further increased when we reflect
how small is the number of the elect and how great is
the number of the lost. Solomon says that "the number
of fools" � that is, the reprobate � is infinite."
(Eccles. 1:15).
But if none of these considerations moves you, be
touched at least by the sight of all that it has cost
God to confer this immortal benefit on you. He
purchased it for you with the Life and Blood of His
only Son; for He resolved from all eternity to send
Him into this world to execute His loving and
merciful decree. Who, then, would be so base as to
wait until the end of his life to love God, who has
loved him from eternity? "Forsake not an old friend,"
we are told in Scripture (Ecclus. 9:14), "for the new
will not be like to him." Who, then, will forsake
this Friend whose love for us had no beginning, and
whose claim to our love is likewise from eternity?
Who will not give up all the goods of this world; who
will not bear all the evils of this world, to share
in this blessed friendship? How great would be our
respect for the poorest beggar were we assured by
divine revelation that he was predestined to share
God's glory! Would we not kiss the ground upon which
he trod? "O happy soul!" we would cry. "O enviable
lot! Is it possible that thou art surely to behold
God in all the splendor of His majesty? Art thou to
rejoice with the angels forever? Will thy ears be
ravished with sweet music for all eternity? Art thou
to gaze upon the radiant beauty of Christ and His
Blessed Mother? Oh! Happy day when thou wast born!
But happier still the day of thy death, which will
introduce thee to eternal life. Happy the bread thou
eatest and the ground upon which thou dost tread!
Happier still the pains and insults thou endurest,
for they open to thee the way to eternal rest! For
what clouds, what tribulations, can overcome the
power and joy of such a hope as thine?" We would
doubtless break out into such transports as these did
we behold and recognize a predestined soul. For if
people run out to see a prince, the heir to a great
kingdom, as he passes through the street, marveling
at his good fortune, as the world esteems it, how
much more reason have we to marvel at the happy lot
of one who, without any previous merit on his part,
has been elected from his birth, not to a temporal
kingdom, but to reign eternally in Heaven! You may
thus understand, dear Christian, the gratitude the
elect owe to God. And yet there is no one, provided
he do what is necessary for salvation, who may not
consider himself of this happy number. "Labor,
therefore, the more," as St. Peter tells you, "that
by good works you may make sure your calling and
election." (2Pet. 1:10). We should never lose sight,
therefore, of our end, for God's grace is never
wanting to us, and we can do all things in Him who
strengthens us.
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