Free Barlaam and Josaphat: A Christian Tale of the Buddha by Gui de Cambrai, Peggy McCracken

begins and ends in him.”
    â€œMaster,” said the king’s son, “I believe what you say, with all my heart. Before you came here I hated my father’s gods, and now I know that there is nothing but deceit in them. Now I hate them more than ever, and I know that nothing will ever persuade me to love them again.
    â€œI will say more, good master: I will be the servant of our Lord God, my Father and Creator. I am ready to be baptized and serve God with all my power. But I wish to know if I need more than belief and baptism to be saved. Master, if you know of something else I need, do not hide it from me!”
    â€œI am pleased to instruct you,” said the hermit. “After baptism, you must strive not to sin. Act according to your faith and you will do well, for faith is nothing without works. Ensure that your life is pure and protect your faith so it is not lost through your actions. Do you know what could destroy you and wound your soul? Adultery, along with fornication and lust, impiety, anger, discord, hopelessness, homicide, avarice, evil intentions, pleasure, and dissent. All these things destroy the soul. Here are the fruits of the soul, according to what I know: peace, patience, love, joy, faith and humility, goodness, charity, repentance, wisdom, gentleness, pity, and knowledge. These are the fruits that bring the soul to glory.
    â€œWhoever gives his heart to God and does good works will surely be saved. Be generous and kind. Be ready to do all good things. Devote your soul and your body to God. God is merciful and asks only that your whole heart be devoted to him. This life is fleeting—do not think about tomorrow, but put everything into good belief in God and his providence. If he provides for you, you will not be discouraged. Love God and serve him. Believe in him and love your neighbor as you love yourself. These are the two commandments that the prophets preach and that faith requires. If you follow these two laws, you will come to God.”
    â€œNow I understand,” Josaphat responded, “but tell me again about one thing. If my unworthiness causes me to err and I sin, must I lose all hope? Can I lose the good because of a bad act?”
    â€œFriend, because of our weakness the Savior of the world took human form in the Virgin and suffered and died for us. We are weak creatures joined to a base flesh. Everything fails, everything falls, and everything declines. But God gave us a remedy to counter our base nature, for repentance cleanses all the sins of the world. No one can ever do so much evil that he cannot come to God, for God is full of mercy. Never will anyone so corrupt his body that God, who is merciful, will not immediately pardon him if he prays sincerely for forgiveness. No one should ever fall into despair because of a sin. Despair itself is a sin that God does not love, and he laments when we do not trust in his pity and believe that he will forgive our sins.
    â€œThe Gospels do not lie, and they give us a brief but clear parable to demonstrate this. A shepherd had taken one hundred sheep to graze in the wilderness, and one became lost from the others. The shepherd left the rest of the sheep and went to seek the lost one. He searched until he found it and carried it back on his shoulders to put it with the others. The Gospels tell us that he rejoiced in the recovery of the lost sheep and he sent for his neighbors and his friends to celebrate its return.
    â€œThe shepherd is God, who descended to earth to seek us. The sheep is the sinner who comes to God through repentance. When he is found, God will carry him to dwell among the righteous. The story of Saint Peter also teaches us this lesson, and I will recount it to you. He renounced our Lord Jesus Christ on the night of his passion, but through confession and tears of contrition, Saint Peter’s sin was washed away, and God pardoned him at the very hour he cried and repented of his sin. This is