06-07-2026, 04:55 AM
Mgr. Louis de Ségur: Short Answers to Common Objections Against Religion - 1908
FORTY-EIGHTH OBJECTION. I HAVE NO TIME.
Answer. Have you time to eat and drink? No doubt.
And why do you eat and drink?
What a question! To keep myself alive. Nourishment is the life of our bodies.
Which is of the greater value, your soul or your body?
What strange questions! My soul, of course.
In that case, then, take at least as much care of your soul as you do of your body! You find, you take time enough to insure the welfare of your body, and you do not devote any to that of your soul.
I should like to see your employer undertake to deprive you of the time for your meals! You would certainly quit him, him and his shop, without much ceremony, and say, before every thing else, one must live.
Well, I say to you, and much more urgently, too, before every thing else, before securing the welfare of your body, before every thing, do not let your soul perish, which is the principal part of you; your soul, which makes you a man; for by our bodies we are but animals; it is the soul which makes us men, and distinguishes us from the brutes.
Religion gives you the life of the soul in uniting it with God, and you say, I have no time to practice religion? Very well, then take it, this necessary time. Take it, at all costs, no matter how, or at whose expense.
No one in the world has the right to deprive you of it, neither your employers, your teachers, your father or mother; to this there is no exception!
The eternal salvation of your soul cannot be taken from you by any creature living, and if any one were to attempt to deprive you of this most sacred of all your rights, it would then be the moment to put into practice this great rule of the apostles: It is better to obey God than man.
"But my trade," you say, "prevents my laboring for my salvation."
Is that true? If so, it is most extraordinary; for we find among the Saints men of every condition; kings and shoemakers, laborers and doctors, mechanics, soldiers and priests.
Our Lord thinks differently; for He says: "What doth it profit a man, if he gain the whole world, and suffer the loss of his own soul?" (Matt. xvi. 26.)
Life passes quickly, indeed; but eternity remains. What advantage would it be to you, to gain the whole world, if you were to lose your soul?
But let us be honest. Is it really true that you cannot be saved, that you cannot live in a Christian way, in the condition of life you are in?
Is it this trade of yours which prevents you from offering up a short prayer morning and evening?
Is it that which prevents you from lifting up your heart toward God from time to time during the day, from offering up to Him your prayers, your labor, your privations?
It is not your trade which makes you swear and blaspheme the name of God, frequent theatres of bad repute, and dancing saloons, taverns, and haunts of vice and debauchery. The time which you thus spend would be a hundred times more than enough to make you a good Christian, were you to employ it in securing your salvation.
No more, then, is it your trade which hinders you, on the approach of the Church's festivals, from seeking in the evening, after your day's work is done, a confessor, so as to receive, together with the assurance of forgiveness for your sins, advice and encouragement to enable you to live better for the future.
In a matter of conscience, remember we have always time to do what we wish to do. But we must wish it earnestly, energetically, with perseverance.
Never say again, therefore, "I have no time to live as a Christian should do," for you would be deceiving yourself.
Say, if you will, "I have not as much time, as many facilities, as I should wish." Granted, but after all it is the heart and the will that God asks from us; and it does not demand much time to be able to love God, to avoid sin, and repent of one's faults; it is not absolutely necessary to spend a great deal of time every day in saying one's prayers; it does not demand much time to hear a low Mass said on Sunday, barely half an hour, in fact, and to go to confession four or five times a year.
Others do all this, and more besides. I know some who never pass a month without approaching the sacraments; and they are not the worse workmen for doing that. How do they find themselves able to do this? Imitate the good-will which they show, and like them you will live as a Christian; and like them, you will go to heaven instead of hell at your death.
To him who will not give his time to God, God will refuse his eternity.
FORTY-EIGHTH OBJECTION. I HAVE NO TIME.
Answer. Have you time to eat and drink? No doubt.
And why do you eat and drink?
What a question! To keep myself alive. Nourishment is the life of our bodies.
Which is of the greater value, your soul or your body?
What strange questions! My soul, of course.
In that case, then, take at least as much care of your soul as you do of your body! You find, you take time enough to insure the welfare of your body, and you do not devote any to that of your soul.
I should like to see your employer undertake to deprive you of the time for your meals! You would certainly quit him, him and his shop, without much ceremony, and say, before every thing else, one must live.
Well, I say to you, and much more urgently, too, before every thing else, before securing the welfare of your body, before every thing, do not let your soul perish, which is the principal part of you; your soul, which makes you a man; for by our bodies we are but animals; it is the soul which makes us men, and distinguishes us from the brutes.
Religion gives you the life of the soul in uniting it with God, and you say, I have no time to practice religion? Very well, then take it, this necessary time. Take it, at all costs, no matter how, or at whose expense.
No one in the world has the right to deprive you of it, neither your employers, your teachers, your father or mother; to this there is no exception!
The eternal salvation of your soul cannot be taken from you by any creature living, and if any one were to attempt to deprive you of this most sacred of all your rights, it would then be the moment to put into practice this great rule of the apostles: It is better to obey God than man.
"But my trade," you say, "prevents my laboring for my salvation."
Is that true? If so, it is most extraordinary; for we find among the Saints men of every condition; kings and shoemakers, laborers and doctors, mechanics, soldiers and priests.
Our Lord thinks differently; for He says: "What doth it profit a man, if he gain the whole world, and suffer the loss of his own soul?" (Matt. xvi. 26.)
Life passes quickly, indeed; but eternity remains. What advantage would it be to you, to gain the whole world, if you were to lose your soul?
But let us be honest. Is it really true that you cannot be saved, that you cannot live in a Christian way, in the condition of life you are in?
Is it this trade of yours which prevents you from offering up a short prayer morning and evening?
Is it that which prevents you from lifting up your heart toward God from time to time during the day, from offering up to Him your prayers, your labor, your privations?
It is not your trade which makes you swear and blaspheme the name of God, frequent theatres of bad repute, and dancing saloons, taverns, and haunts of vice and debauchery. The time which you thus spend would be a hundred times more than enough to make you a good Christian, were you to employ it in securing your salvation.
No more, then, is it your trade which hinders you, on the approach of the Church's festivals, from seeking in the evening, after your day's work is done, a confessor, so as to receive, together with the assurance of forgiveness for your sins, advice and encouragement to enable you to live better for the future.
In a matter of conscience, remember we have always time to do what we wish to do. But we must wish it earnestly, energetically, with perseverance.
Never say again, therefore, "I have no time to live as a Christian should do," for you would be deceiving yourself.
Say, if you will, "I have not as much time, as many facilities, as I should wish." Granted, but after all it is the heart and the will that God asks from us; and it does not demand much time to be able to love God, to avoid sin, and repent of one's faults; it is not absolutely necessary to spend a great deal of time every day in saying one's prayers; it does not demand much time to hear a low Mass said on Sunday, barely half an hour, in fact, and to go to confession four or five times a year.
Others do all this, and more besides. I know some who never pass a month without approaching the sacraments; and they are not the worse workmen for doing that. How do they find themselves able to do this? Imitate the good-will which they show, and like them you will live as a Christian; and like them, you will go to heaven instead of hell at your death.
To him who will not give his time to God, God will refuse his eternity.
"So let us be confident, let us not be unprepared, let us not be outflanked, let us be wise, vigilant, fighting against those who are trying to tear the faith out of our souls and morality out of our hearts, so that we may remain Catholics, remain united to the Blessed Virgin Mary, remain united to the Roman Catholic Church, remain faithful children of the Church."- Abp. Lefebvre