Man has a double activity, that of the mind and soul within him, that of the bodily acts proceeding from the inner principle. The conscious, deliberate, internal activity is peculiar to him as man, and distinguishes him from the beasts, and gives his outward deeds their moral quality as good or bad. If by accident the inner principle is inactive, as in infants, or somnambulists, or lunatics, the overt action is not regarded as a human act, or as responsible before divine and civil law. When mind and will are active, they determine the character and the value of the external operation. The true human life is within us: there the battle is chiefly fought out between good and evil; there firstly is the Kingdom of God to be established (Luke xvii. 21). That which is visible is not the constituent of moral goodness, but that which is invisible. Therefore all judgment is reserved to God, and we must never pass sentence on our brethren; "for man seeth those things that appear, but the Lord beholdeth the heart" (1 Kings xvi. 7). Things which to the eye are most admirable may be in reality deeds of ostentation and hypocrisy; on the other hand, that which is lowly and unassuming may be an act of most exalted virtue. So the simplest action of Our Blessed Lord was worth infinitely more than the natural and supernatural virtues of all men and angels, by reason of the divine principle whence it proceeded. So the widow's mite was more than the offerings of the rich. So the humble life of Mary and Joseph in attendance on the Son of God was more than the lives of all Apostles and Martyrs, of all kings and sages and conquerors. So your merit and glory before God are not to be measured by opportunity or visible result, but by the dispositions and desires of your heart. Continue Reading.
