The Twig of Thorns

One day while a shepherd boy was watching his sheep, instead of pulling out a piece of grass to chew on, he pulled out a fresh sprig of thorns. He put the little sprig between his lips and accidentally swallowed it. The sprig took root within his body and soon spread through all of his stomach and intestines. It put forth thorns on all its branches, which pricked him, causing him the greatest pain. Before long, the poor shepherd boy died a miserable death.

After reading this story you must know that it is only a fable. A fable is a little story, which is meant to teach us a lesson. A person, who commits a mortal sin and allows it to grow in his soul, will come to a terrible end.

For instance, if you commit a sin of impurity in your heart and later on another, and then another, in time you will have the vice of impurity and you will not be able to overcome the temptations of impurity very well. Then what will you do? Will you give up going to confession? Will you stop saying your Rosary? Will you give up fighting against the Devil? Will you end up in Hell? This is something you should think about when you sin.

If you have swallowed such a twig of thorns, if you have a fresh sprig of sin in your soul, then only one thing is to be thought of: You must call on Jesus and Mary and pull out this twig of thorns: this sin, by a good confession, before it becomes too deeply rooted and chokes all the life in your soul.

As sin is a choking sprig of thorns, so penance is a delightful and fruit-bearing tree. The root of this tree is the knowledge of your sins, the trunk of this tree is the sorrow for your sins, the branches are your firm will to do better, the leaves are a sincere and complete confession of your sins and the fruits are the satisfaction for your sins and living a good life. Remember always think of your last end; (death), so that you will not sin!

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