[Footnote 148: Gal. vi., 8.] --------------- {330} Sermon XX. Self-denial. "We came into the land to which thou sentest us, which in very deed floweth with milk and honey, as may be known by these fruits." --Num. xiii., 28. [Transcriber's note: The USCCB reference is Num. xiii., 27.] (A Sermon for the first Sunday in Lent.) When the ancient people of Israel, after traversing the desert of Arabia, drew nigh to the promised land of Canaan, Moses, their prophet and leader, sent out one of every tribe to view the country, that they might be able to bring back an accurate account of it--of its productiveness, the number and strength of its population, and its means of defence. These spies, upon their return, were all agreed in regard to the wonderful fertility of the country, but in other respects their account was very discordant. {331} One of their number, Caleb the son of Jephone, was full of enthusiasm, and said to the people: "_Let us go up and possess the land, for we shall be able to take it!_" But the others that had been with him spoke ill of the country, representing it as unhealthy, and impossible to be conquered. "_The land which we have viewed devoureth its inhabitants; the people that we beheld are of a tall stature. There we saw monsters of the sons of Enac, of the giant kind, in comparison of whom we seemed like locusts_." Why did these last give such a different account from the first? It was because they were cowardly, and afraid of the inhabitants of Canaan, and this blinded them to the fertility of its soil, its fine fruits and great beauty. Their fears caused them to exaggerate difficulties, and to overlook blessings which were within their reach. This party of pusillanimous Israelites represent a portion of the Christian world in our day, who, taking counsel of their fears, and consulting their ease, speak of the practice of self-denial, and the virtue of penance, as something to be dreaded, unnecessary, and even criminal. "_It is a land which devoureth its inhabitants!_" {332} They imagine insurmountable obstacles in the way. "_We saw there monsters of the sons of Enac, of the giant kind_." If their souls were of a more robust make, if their hearts were a little larger, their error would be dispelled, and they would see that a life of Christian mortification, instead of devouring them, would introduce them to the enjoyment of spiritual advantages and pleasures such as they never yet conceived of. They would find it a land "_which in very deed floweth with milk and honey, as may be known by these fruits_."