THE WATER FRONT AT TIBERIAS ON THE SEA OF GALILEE.

blade, then the ear, afterwards the full grain in the
ear. And when the fruit is brought forth, immedi-
ately he putteth in the sickle, because the harvest is
come." Experience proves that no man works so
quickly for God and so efficaciously as one whose
main endeavor is to suppress self-will. And if
some will make this doctrine an excuse for spiritual
sloth, it none the less remains true; it is at once the
wheels and the brake of the chariot
of the true Christian. Ending this
parable of the Sower and the Seed,
the Lord admonished His Apostles to
spread the light which beamed from
these bright lessons.

He

"And He said to them: Doth a candle come in to be put under a bushel or under a bed? and not to be set on a candlestick? For there is nothing hid which shall not be made manifest, neither was it made secret, but that it may come abroad. If any man hath ears to hear, let him hear." enforced this urgent appeal to their zeal by reminding them that all truth and virtue is common property in God's family; it is bestowed only to be given forth again; and this is a condition of its further possession by every recipient. "And He said to them: Take heed what you hear. In what measure you shall mete, it shall be measured to you again, and more shall be given to you. For he that hath, to him shall be given, and he that hath not, that also which he thinketh he hath, shall be taken from him."

THE GRAIN OF MUstard-seed.

The action of God's truth upon the public life of humanity, the influence of the Church over nations, her gradual growth into the dominating institution of the world, the contrast between her feeble beginnings and her final universal triumph-all this Jesus teaches in the prophetic parable of the mustard-seed.

The maiden of Nazareth bore in her arms a little Infant whose shoulders grew into the prop of the whole world. A group of humble fishermen scattered themselves over the proud empire of Rome and mastered it completely. Apply the lesson to personal conduct a little word spoken lightly in conversation by a Catholic friend sinks into a bigoted soul, and in a few years it has grown up into the true religion of Christ.

IT BECOMETH A TREE.

The Kingdom of Heaven is like to a grain of mustard-seed which a man took and sowed in his field. Which is the least indeed of all seeds: but when it is grown up, it is greater than all herbs, and becometh a tree, and shooteth out great branches, so that the birds of the air come and dwell in the shadow and under the branches thereof.

THE LEAaven.

In another place our Saviour warns His disciples to "beware of the leaven of the Pharisees," meaning their false doctrine. But if evil breeds evil, so does good breed good. If a good man is placed with nonChristians by the will of God-that is to say, by his state of life-by the inspirations of holy zeal, by providential circumstances of family, fellow-citizenship, social intercourse, or business connection, he becomes a powerful centre for good. He is to his surroundings what the Church is to the world. All this is taught by our Lord's parable: "The Kingdom of Heaven is like to leaven which a woman took and hid in three measures of meal until the whole was leavened." How surely were those words meant for us, and for these days of error and vice; we Catholics

are the leaven of the great modern world. Our nonCatholic people, having many natural virtues, are like good flour, making sweet and wholesome bread if only leavened with the true religion.

THE COCKLE AND THE WHEAT.

An interesting phase of the mystery of evil is the presence of the bad among the good in the Kingdom of Christ on earth. If the good Catholic be good leaven to the non-Catholic, a bad Catholic is poison to his non-Catholic neighbors. He associates the name of Catholic with drunkenness and with debauchery, the sacraments and the Holy Sacrifice with blaspheming and adultery, the true faith with bribery and political corruption. For a while he can play the hypocrite and is a wolf in sheep's clothing. But he is often detected, and then he clothes the Bride of the Lamb in his wolf's skin. What shall be done with him? Expel him from the Church? Brand him as a spiritual outlaw? Do that, and his innocent family suffers more than he does, his private vice becomes matter for scandalous public discussion, and perhaps he is thrown into despair. Our Saviour's way is the best. Admonitions and reproofs have their uses and may frequently be applied with good results, but when all this is done the scandal must yet be borne and the remedy left to God. May we not merge our indignation against scandalous sinners into terror at God's final judgment upon them? God can afford to wait-cannot we do so? But Jesus knew how sorely good souls

WAIT TILL THE HARVEST.

The Kingdom of Heaven is like to a man that sowed good seed in his field. But while men were asleep, his enemy came and oversowed cockle among the wheat, and went his way. And when the blade was sprung up, and had brought forth fruit, then appeared also the cockle. And

the servants of the good man of the house coming, said to him: Sir, didst thou not sow good seed in thy field? Whence then hath it cockle? And he said to them, An enemy hath done this. And the servants said to him, Wilt thou that we go and gather it up? And he said, No, lest perhaps gathering up the cockle, you root up the wheat also together with it. Suffer both to grow until the harvest, and in the time of the harvest I will say to the reapers, Gather up first the cockle and bind it into bundles to burn, but the wheat gather ye into my barn,