Listen to what God says to Jerusalem: _I said all these things after her adultery, Turn to Me, and she did not turn_. As often as we return to the burning charity of God, He no longer remembers our former sins. God is not as man: He does not reproach those who come to Him, or say, if we be really changed, ‘Why hast thou wasted so much time?’ but He loves us whenever we go to Him. Let us only go to Him in the right way. Let us cling fast to Him, and nail our hearts to His fear. These things have taken place not only recently, but they happened also of old. What was worse than Manasses? Yet he was able to appease God. Who was more blessed than Solomon? But torpor made him fall. Indeed, I can show the two things happening in one man; in Solomon’s father, for he himself was just and became wicked. Who was more blessed than Judas? Yet Judas became a traitor. What could be more miserable than Matthew? But he became an evangelist. What was worse than Paul? Still, Paul became an apostle. Who was more zealous than Simon? And yet Simon himself became the most wretched of all. How many more of the same vicissitudes would you contemplate—those both of the past and those which are taking place every day? So I say, neither let the man who is on the stage despair, nor let the man who is in the Church make too bold. To the latter it was said: _He who seems to stand, let him be careful lest he fall_, and to the former: _Does the fallen man not rise up again?_ and, _Restore languid hands and disabled knees_. Again, to the just it was said: _Watch_, but to sinners: _Arise, thou who sleepest, and rise from the dead_. The former have need to watch over what they possess, and the latter to become that which they are not as yet: the just to preserve their health, sinners to put off their sickness. For they _are_ sick, but many of the sick are sound, and some of the sound, by their carelessness, become sick. For it was to these that Our Lord said, _Go, thou art sound: sin no more, lest something worse should befal thee_; but to sinners, _Wilt thou be made sound? Take up thy bed and walk, and go into thy house._ Sin is indeed a dire paralysis, or, rather, it is not only a paralysis, but something more fearful. For a paralysed man is not only lacking good things, but is also a prey to bad ones. Still, if you are even in this state, and are willing to make a small effort to rise, all sins are remitted. Even if your sickness has lasted thirty-eight years, yet you strive to become sound: there is no one to prevent you. Christ is at hand now as then, and He says, _Take up thy bed_. Only be willing to rise; do not lose heart. Have you no man? You have God. Have you no one to put you into the pool? But you have One Who will not allow you to require the pool in vain. Have you no one to hold you in it? You have One Who commands you to take up your bed. You have not to say, _When I come, another gets down before me_. For if you wish