Mirror of Sinners on the contempt of the world.

"See then that you walk carefully, not as unwise, but as wise, redeeming the time, for the days are evil. Therefore do not become foolish, but understand what the will of God is" Ephesians 5:15-17.. The Apostle Paul, mindful of the children of God, knowing that the delights of the heavenly fatherland are infinite—which the eye has not seen, nor ear heard, nor have they entered into the heart of man, neither in number nor in magnitude—frequently invites us to them through the Gospel and elsewhere through the Holy Scriptures. He knows that the evil spirits, to hinder us on this narrow and difficult path that leads to eternal life, are all the more solicitous as the delights to which we are called are more noble and joyful. Therefore, I exhort you to be circumspect on all sides, and to watch carefully over the steps of our journey. "See then how carefully," etc., lest, turning away from the royal road that leads to heavenly joys, we fall into the hands of the enemy. He aptly adds "redeeming the time," etc. For if we duly and properly consider, as is fitting, the woeful, miserable, and damnable course or state of the world and of the present time, then surely we know that our days are evil. For we see with the eye of faith that the whole world is in error. And according to Saint John in his Epistle, "It is set in wickedness" 1 John 5:19.. And, alas, it must be said with sorrow, this is true in heads and in members, in the clergy and in the laity, in the old and in the young, in the masculine and in the feminine gender alike; and thus, alas, the way of the desires of the flesh is corrupted. Saint Bernard touches on this well, saying: "There is nothing but base love in this age, and no faith is secure, because all things are contaminated by pride, or avarice, or luxury," and so on. And Bernard adds: "For the law has departed from the priests, justice from the princes, counsel from the elders, religion from the clerics, love from parents, obedience from children, faith from the people, reverence from subjects, chastity from virgins, modesty from the married," and so on. "And what is it that does not come to Christ? For now He is ignored by all, and treated as a stranger by travelers, for He has the status of a stranger." Thus speaks Bernard. It is therefore fitting that the healthy doctrine of the teacher be set forth.