And if I tempted am to sin,
And outward things are strong,
Do Thou, O Lord, keep watch within,
And save my soul from wrong.

Still let me ever watch and pray,
And feel that I am frail;

That if the tempter cross my way,

Yet he may not prevail. Amen.

O God, be Thou my Stronghold, whereunto I may always resort: Thou hast promised to help me. O hear me for Thy Son's sake, and keep me safe. Amen.

All-loving Father, I beseech Thee, grant that these words may sink into my heart, through Jesus Christ our Lord.

Amen.

A new commandment I give unto you, That ye love one another; as I have loved you, that ye also love one another.

By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another.

I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them that despitefully use you, and persecute you; That ye may be the children of your Father which is in heaven; for he maketh his sun to shine on the just and on the unjust.

Whosoever doeth not righteousness is not of God, neither he that loveth not his brother.

We know that we have passed from death unto life, because we love the brethren. He that loveth not his brother, abideth in death.

Hereby perceive we the love of God, because he laid

down his life for us: and we ought to lay down our lives for the brethren.

My little children, let us not love in word, neither in tongue; but in deed and in truth.

He that loveth not, knoweth not God; for God is love. If a man say, I love God, and hateth his brother, he is a liar; for he that loveth not his brother whom he hath seen, how can he love God, whom he hath not seen?

And this commandment have we from him, That he who loveth God, love his brother also.

HOPE that you have read this day's
verses through very carefully.
If you

have not, I must ask you to read them again, and to give your attention to them. Do you wonder why I should be so anxious for you to do so? I will tell you. Now that you have read them slowly and attentively, you have seen that St. John says that he who does not love his brother abideth in death. When St. John makes use of the word brother, he does not mean, as you know, the son of our earthly parents, but the child of our Heavenly Father. And as our Father is the Maker of every creature, so we must be in charity with all men, unless we would abide in death. You may perhaps think to yourself that you do not really hate any one, or at least if you do, that it is no more than is to be expected of you, because the person whom you hate is to be blamed, and not you.

He may have done you an injury, said unkind things, accused you falsely, and done all he could to hurt or harm you. Or again, what is still harder to bear, he may have done an injury to some one whom you love.

Well-and what then?

Because he has sinned, are

you going to abide in death? What does Christ say? "Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them that despitefully use you and persecute you." Ah!-you may think that is all very well, but it is not in human power to do all that. No-very true, it is not in human power. And Christ knew that better than you did, when He said those words. Of course you cannot do any of these things of yourself, but with God all things are possible. He will help you if you will ask Him; but remember, you must ask Him.

Do you recollect being told when you were a child, that those who don't want don't ask? That is a very true saying, particularly if you take it in a high sense. If you had even a little faith, you would soon find yourself turning to your Father, your All-Mighty Father, in every want, in every doubt and difficulty. And as I am sure, when you really come to think of it, you will not want to abide in death, that is, cut off from all hope of salvation, you must try all you can to obey Christ's new commandment, and "have love one to another,

as He has loved you." If there is any one whom you have a grudge against, and whom you dislike very much, you must try all you can to feel kindly to him and to forgive him. Of course you cannot change your feelings all at once, and indeed you cannot change them at all without Divine help. I will tell you how I think you are most likely to succeed.

First, you must tell God just how you feel, and ask Him to help you to obey His Son's commandment. Do not ask for help once only, but every day, because you will want fresh help daily. When you have asked your Heavenly Father for a forgiving, charitable heart, go on to pray for him who is your brother, although he may have sinned against you. If he really has done you an injury, pray that he may be forgiven-but do not rest there ask God to bless him. It may be difficult at first, but God will help you, and you will find by degrees that you cannot hate one for whose soul you are praying. You may even find that you are able, by God's mercy, to follow the example of our Divine Master, and obey His commandment by loving your enemies, as He did. He does not merely say that we are to love one another, but that we are to do so as He did. And how was that?

You have often and often, I trust, read and heard the account of the Life and Death of our Saviour. He gave up all the happiness of His Father's home,