Friedrich Justus Knecht

“ Joseph’s temptation was a severe one, and yet he stood firm. Have you not let yourself be led into sin by far lesser temptations? Joseph paid no heed to the threats of this wicked woman, but feared God more than her. He preferred to suffer anything, even death, rather than offend God. Repent of your sins, and say often to God: “I will die rather than offend Thee.” Do you love purity as dearly as Joseph loved it? Would you preserve your innocence at any cost? Your innocence should be dearer to you than anything in the world, for it is the most priceless treasure you possess. ”

“ David’s love for his thankless son never changed. “O, that I had died for thee!” he cried. Parents often love their children much more than they deserve, therefore it is all the more heartless and ungrateful of children to offend their parents.
Gentleness and patience under suffering. It grieved David deeply that his own son should come out against him as a mortal enemy. His heart bled, and he shed bitter tears when he thought of the ingratitude and impiety of his child, the faithlessness of his people, and the misery which this civil war kindled by Absalom would bring on his country. ”

“ Let everything you look at impel you to say thus to yourself: “I praise Thee, O great God, and worship Thy power and wisdom. As many stars as there are in the heavens, as many flowers as grow in the field, as many leaves as there are on the trees, as many drops as there are in the ocean, so many times may God be praised and magnified!” God made the earth to be the dwelling-place of man, and has adorned it for him with divine prodigality. He has given us much more than is necessary for our existence. Are the numberless flowers which grow, necessary for life? ”

“ Susanna endured a severe fight, more severe than that of Joseph. He, a man, contended with one woman; but Susanna, a weak woman, had to contend with two men, and was a spectacle to men and to angels. The slander against her fidelity to her marriage-vow, the fear of death, her condemnation by all the people, the abhorrence of her husband and relations, the tears of her servants, the grief of all her household, she foresaw all this, and yet nothing could shake her fortitude.”
The way to preserve chastity. Susanna’s example shows us how we ought to act when tempted to sin against holy purity. ”

“ Circumcision impressed an indelible mark on the body; Baptism does the same to the soul. The difference lies in this, that circumcision could not, like Baptism, cleanse man from sin, and make him pure and holy of heart.
Heaven. God gives Himself to the blessed as their reward exceeding great. They gaze for ever on His infinite majesty, and are eternally united to Him in love and happiness. Oh, what joy to possess God Himself, who is infinite goodness, beauty and holiness. Could God give us more than Himself? ”

“ Will you not for the future try to love Him more, and serve Him better?
Think what grief of soul your sins caused your Divine Saviour! And yet you pay so little heed to your sins, and have so very little sorrow for them. Reflect on the number and grievousness of your sins, confess your ingratitude and indifference, and ask our dear Lord — for the sake of His bitter agony — to instil into your heart a great hatred of sin. ”

“ But the angel awaits thine answer, for it is time for him to return to God who sent him. We too, O Mary, our Queen, we who are weighed down by the divine sentence, we wait for thy speech, thy words of mercy. For behold, the price of our redemption is offered to thee; and as soon as thou dost accept it, we shall be saved. We were all created by the eternal word of God, and yet, behold, we die! But if thou wilt speak one little word, we shall live! ”

“ In the Most Holy Sacrament of the altar our Lord and Saviour is present under the appearances of bread and wine. You ought therefore to worship Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament with living faith and the deepest adoration. Have you done so? Have you always genuflected, as you ought, on entering a church? Do you always kneel down during the Elevation? Have you, finally, a devotion to Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament? Never forget when you are in church that you are in the presence of your Divine Saviour, who will one day come back to this earth in great power and majesty to be your Judge! ”

“ The terrible darkness that covered the whole earth was but a weak picture of the more terrible darkness and absence of all comfort which reigned in the Heart of Jesus. As His bodily sufferings increased, so did His Soul become more and more oppressed by the burden of sin which He had taken on Himself, and by the ingratitude of His people. His divine nature left it to His human nature to endure all this pain of soul and body, until, deprived of all help and consolation, His Soul sank into the feeling of being abandoned by God — the greatest of all sufferings for any soul which loves God. ”

“ Will you choose God, the most gracious, the most holy God, the source of true joy and of all noble happiness, His grace, His friendship, and His heaven so full of inconceivable bliss; or will you choose the prince of darkness, the liar and the murderer from the beginning, and the sinful pleasures which are all that he holds out to you? ”

“ Faith must be living. We must shape our lives according to the will and teaching of God. Now faith teaches us that God has revealed His will to us by His commandments, so that what we have to do, if we wish to enter the kingdom of heaven, is to keep the commandments. Not every one who says: ‘Lord, Lord’, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven. Not faith alone, nor a confession of faith by words only, can obtain an entrance there without a faithful observance of God’s commandments. The just man must practise good works, and show thereby that the grace, fear and love of God are in him. ”

“ His evil passions quite blinded him. He did not think of the grief which his act would cause his parents, nor did he remember the threats of Almighty God. He enticed his brother into the field, and turning on him struck him dead. What must Adam and Eve have felt when they saw their dear Abel lying dead in his blood, slain by his own brother’s hand? Perhaps, blinded by bitter tears, they exclaimed: “Alas, that we must survive this, our son's crime! Woe to us that we ever sinned! Cain has got his bad passions from us: this terrible deed is the consequence of our sin!” ”

“ Is it not loathsome and irritating to see a wretched man dare to extol himself before God in such a manner! Is not pride like this stupid and despicable! Of what good could his fasts be if he did not practise them with a conviction of his guilt before God, and in a spirit of penance? He had no longing for the Redeemer. He asked not for pardon, because he imagined himself to be a perfect servant of God, without sin, and therefore without need of pardon! This shows us how completely pride can blind a man. ”

“ Esther, adorned in splendid garments, went before the king, prayed for her people, and was heard: Mary, the Queen of Heaven, radiant with virtues and merits, goes before the throne of God to intercede for her people.
Concealing sin. Was it right of Mardochai to reveal the conspiracy against the king’s life which he had discovered? He was doubly bound to do so, both as a servant of God and as a servant of the king. To conceal the sin of others, when you can prevent it by revealing it, is one of the nine ways of sharing in the guilt of others. ”

“ The wonderful miracle of the loaves ought to remind us how every year God gives increase to the seed which we sow. For example, ten grains of wheat sown in the ground produce three or four hundred grains: one small potato produces from ten to twenty potatoes, and so forth with everything. Now, who has given to the seed its power of germinating in the ground, of growing up, and of bearing fruit? Who sends the sunshine, dew and rain, without which no seed can thrive? It is God. The annual increase of food is the work of God’s Omnipotence. ”

“ Do not look down on poor children. Do you not give preference among your friends to the children of rich parents? A man’s worth does not consist in what he has, but in what he is. Virtues such as faith, charity, diligence, modesty, truth and humility are the greatest of riches: everything perishes except virtue. God looks to the heart, not to the outward appearance or wealth. He who is without faith is the poorest of men, never mind how much money he may possess. Are these your sentiments? Do you like associating with good children ?
Are you diligent from morning till night, as Ruth was? ”

“ Whom would you wish to be like, Lazarus or the rich glutton? Would you prefer to spend your short time on earth in eating and drinking, and then suffer the everlasting torments of hell? Or would you rather be poor and humble on earth, and suffer patiently whatever God sends you, and then rejoice for ever in heaven? You must choose: it is a case of heaven or hell! Fear the just God and keep His commandments. ”

“ True friendship. David and Jonathan were knit together by a real, true, noble friendship. Jonathan loved David for his good qualities, his piety, courage, modesty &c. He loved him “as his own soul”, though he knew that David, and not he, was destined to succeed Saul as king. He remained true to his friend in his adversity, and did everything that he could to help him. David responded with all his heart to the love of the king’s son. When Jonathan died, David tore his clothes for grief, wept bitterly and expressed his sorrow in the most moving words. A true and noble friend is a great treasure ”

“ The Ten Commandments are a benefit to mankind. God gave them to us out of love and for our good, or, in other words, for our temporal welfare and our eternal salvation. How would the world fare, if murder, rapine, robbery and defamation of character were not forbidden! Nobody would be sure of either life or property. There would be an end to all order and obedience in family life; evil and lawlessness would reign triumphantly; men would live like wild beasts in accordance with their savage lusts, and hunt down and devour each other. ”

“ Patience in suffering is the work of faith. The trial of holy Job was, indeed, a severe one. Almost at one blow he was made poor, childless, and a leper! Forsaken by all, tortured with pain, taunted and tempted by his wife, who ought to have consoled him, he sat on a dung-heap, a very man of sorrows, with nothing to look forward to but a painful death. Even the arrival of his faithful friends did not lighten his burden, for they heaped on him reproaches for having brought these sufferings on himself by some secret sin. ”

“ Oh, how much better and more beautiful would the world be, if all men would obey the perfect Law which Jesus Christ laid down in the Sermon on the Mount. There would, in that case, be no embittering of one another’s lives, no hatred nor enmity, no lies and deceit, no avarice nor hardness of heart, no bad nor uncharitable words. Everywhere we should find peace and happiness. Men would edify one another by their piety and good works, and all would strive together after goodness and salvation. ”

“ Moses, therefore, spoke to all the people: “Thus saith the Lord: ‘At midnight I will enter into Egypt; and every first-born in the land of Egypt shall die, from the first born of Pharao, who sitteth on his throne, even to the first-born of the hand-maid that is at the mill, and all the first-born of the beasts; and there shall be a great cry in all the land of Egypt, such as neither hath been before, nor shall be hereafter. But with all the children of Israel there shall be no death, nor mourning, that you may know how wonderful a difference the Lord maketh between the Egyptians and Israel. ”

“ Because Jesus is God and has loved us even unto death, we, on our side, must love Him above all things — more than father or mother, more than our own lives. He who loves this life more than God, and who, if the choice is given to him, forsakes God rather than lose his life, is sure to lose his life in eternity. But he who esteems this life as little compared with eternal life and will give it for Christ’s sake, will certainly gain everlasting life. ”

“ Jesus Christ was born in poverty and humility, lived a life of toil and hardship, poverty and persecution for thirty-three years, and at the end of it died a painful and disgraceful death. Those Eyes which beamed with gentleness and kindness are shut; that Mouth which spoke comfort to the afflicted and peace to all men is closed; those Hands which bestowed benefits all around are powerless; those Feet which left traces of blessings wherever they went are stiff; that Heart which beat with love for all men is cold and dead! The Good Shepherd has given His life for His sheep ”

“ If you pay attention to yourself, you will find that in the course of the day you are assailed by many temptations. Do you know to what you are most often tempted? Yet temptation is not sin; it only becomes sin when you take pleasure in it and consent to it. As often as you resist and overcome it, you gain in virtue, and merit a reward from God. When you are tempted, turn to God; pray to Jesus and Mary for help, and remember the word of God which warns you against the very sin to which you are tempted. ”

“ Sin is the greatest of all evils, and the source of all other evils. You are afraid of lesser evils, such as sickness, danger, or death; why are you so little afraid of the greatest of all evils? Guard against sin, for it leads to sorrow and misery. If you do right, you will have a joyful spirit, a good conscience, and peace and happiness in your innocent heart. But if you do wrong, your heart will be unhappy and uneasy, and the pains of remorse and fear will pursue you, as they pursued Adam and Eve after the fall. Therefore, set enmity between yourself and sin ”