Choose a topic from Part 2B:
1. St. Paul (Rom. 13:13) gives the precept that we are notto engage "in rioting and drunkenness." Drunkenness is aspecies of the vice of gluttony. It is a manifest evil.
2. Drunkenness is a mortal sin in the person who willinglyand knowingly deprives himself of the use of reason by excessivedrinking. Reason is man's guide and control for the exercise ofvirtue and the avoiding of sin. Foolishly and unwarrantedly todeprive oneself of reason is therefore a serious fault.
3. Drunkenness is not the worst of sins, for it is acarnal sin, and hence is not so evil in itself as spiritualsins.
4. If a man becomes intoxicated without his fault, eitherbecause he does not know that what he drinks is intoxicating, orbecause he underestimates its strength, or because he is affectedby the drink in a manner unusual and unexpected, he is not guiltyof sin, and he is excused from the responsibility for anyregrettable conduct which results from his intoxication. If,however, a person becomes intoxicated by his own fault, he is atleast partially responsible for any evils that result from hisexcessive drinking, just as he is responsible for the intoxicationitself.
"Shun too great a desire for knowledge, for in it there is much fretting and delusion. Intellectuals like to appear learned and to be called wise. Yet there are many things the knowledge of which does little or no good to the soul, and he who concerns himself about other things than those which lead to salvation is very unwise.
"
Thomas á Kempis
* * *
"The greatest glory we can give to God is to do his will in everything."
St Alphonsus de Liguori
* * *
"It is well to choose some one good devotion, and to stick to it, and never to abandon it."
St Philip Neri
* * *