and also that of the dreadful death of the men upon whom a tower had fallen near the city, is seen in the following: "And there were present at that very time some that told him of the Galileans, whose blood Pilate had mingled with their sacrifices. And he answering said to them: Think you that these Galileans were sinners above all the men of Galilee, because they suffered such things? No, I say to you: but unless you shall do penance, you shall all likewise perish. Or those eighteen upon whom the tower fell in Siloe, and slew them: think you that they also were debtors above all the men that dwelt in Jerusalem ? No, I say to you: but except you do penance, you shall all likewise perish." Our Saviour touches us all with these words as a surgeon does his patient: passing his hand over the ulcer, where his touch hurts us most his knife will sink deepest. Penance is the knife of God for our salvation. Spiritual ointments and lotions are good for venial faults, which are like skin diseases, whereas mortal sin must be totally cut away. Again, it is a trait of fallen man to apply such judgments as sudden death to other sinners rather than to themselves. Our Saviour taught otherwise. The pale faces and the breathless words of the terrified messengers telling the Galilean disciples of the bloody fate of their neighbors and friends, was to the Master a good opportunity, though a very sad one, to lift His gentle voice and warn them to take the lesson home to their own hearts. CHAPTER LXXII. 66 'WHY CUMBERETH IT THE GROUND." Luke xiii. 6-9. FURTHER enforcement of the duty of immediate repentance, and the danger of delay, the Master gave, as was His custom, by a pictured lesson. What men know by abstract precepts they know as the doctor's remedy written in the prescription; what they know ONE YEAR MORE. He spoke also this parable: A certain man had a fig-tree planted in his vineyard, and he came seeking fruit on it, and found none. And he said to the dresser of the vineyard: Behold for these three years I come seeking fruit on this fig-tree, and I find none. Cut it down therefore; why cumbereth it the ground? But he answering said to him: Lord, let it alone this year also, until I dig about it, and dung it. And if happily it bear fruit: but if not, then after that thou shalt cut it down. through parables is like the very taste and strength of the medicine itself. What sinner is there wholly destitute of a friend to pray for him? How many of us must thank for our salvation a loving mother whose prayer has been as constant as the rising sun, and as sure of success as the sun of giving the morning dawn. Then there are the Saints in Heaven, these same Apostles of Jesus, the Mother of Jesus, who was for so long His only Apostle, our patron saints, our guardian angels. These and all other saints plead for sinners, and not in vain; for it is the Redeemer's will to save men by the preaching and ministering and praying of other men, aided by the angels. Jesus is the one Advocate between God and man as far as the mediation of merit is concerned. But the mediatorship of prayer, instruction, correction, and example is universal. CHAPTER LXXIII. "THIS MAN BEGAN TO BUILD AND WAS NOT ABLE TO FINISH." Luke xiv. 25-35. WE know that the inhabitants of the Perea, purposely chosen by John the Baptist as his usual auditory, were, like the Galileans, good and true Israelites, being little tainted by the leaven of the Pharisees. But in its entirety the claim of Jesus. Christ upon men put to the test all and more than all that they could offer of devotedness. God exacts all and gives all-such is the agreement; a simple bargain, but effecting a perfect exchange. Let the reader place himself amid the throng; let him make his own the deep Jewish affection for home and kindred; let him fancy the beaming face, the uplifted arms, the penetrating voice of the Master, and so realize the force of this teaching: "If any man come to Me, and hate not his father and mother, and wife and children, and brethren and sisters, yea, and his own life also, he cannot be My disciple." They could understand the word "hate," as applied to the treatment of those who, though nearest of kin, yet would hold a man back from the love of Jesus the Son of God. But what did He mean by the words that followed? "And whosoever doth not carry his cross and come after Me, cannot be My disciple?" The Cross? What is that? Is it some emblem, or amulet, or secret sign of fellowship? The Romans put men to death on a cross-could it be possible that "Let it alone this year also, until I dig about it." |