ALL FOR ALL. And there went great multitudes with him; and turning, he said to them: If any man come to me, and hate not his father, the Master meant that such a disgraceful end should be His, and that such was also the risk His disciples would run, that He would lead them to it by dying thus Himself? These were their thoughts on hearing this mention of the emblem of sovereign love, the amulet indeed in all ages which puts a happy spell upon whomsoever wears it, the secret and public sign of men and nations who say and continue saying: "With Christ I am nailed to the cross." and mother, and wife, and children, and brethren, and sisters, yea and his own life also, he cannot be my disciple. And whosoever doth not carry his cross and come after me, cannot be my disciple. The frankness of Jesus grows apace. From day to day He reveals more and more of the Glad Tidings. The universal Church, as supplanting the Jewish national Church, is revealed; the only salvation is Jesus leading to the Father by the Holy Spirit; the oneness of the Three Persons and the personal difference of the Three in One; the identity of Jesus with their God Jehovah, though He is man as well as God; the need that He must suffer and die and rise again to life; His appointing leaders in His Church who are set apart as the officials in a thoroughly organized society; the Spirit and the water in baptism; the Body and Blood and the bread and wine in the personal union of God and man in fulness of love; and now the farewell to parents and wife and children and home and country if these stand against Christ. The sign of it all is the Cross. Love of mother and father is holy, but there is something holier; love of wife and child is holy, but there is something holier: it is the love of Jesus Christ. Love of home is strong and love of life is stronger; but the strongest force this world has ever known is the love of Jesus Christ. He warns them to count the cost before casting their lot with Him and enrolling under such a standard. The teaching of Jesus develops a hard religion, and this is frankly stated by Him; there is no hiding of the cross. Hence the admonition to think before accepting. Enthusiasm is good, imagination has great uses, generous impulse is to be cultivated, the panic of sinners fleeing from divine wrath is contagious and is of great worth in religion, as well as the other and happier contagion of loving company among the righteous: all these are good, but the great essential for obtaining joy is the bitter cross. One by one and very calmly the followers of Jesus must intelligently accept beforehand all hardships, even to death itself, if they are to become wholly and finally subject to His will. This is what is meant by such expressions as being made a Christian, being converted, changed in heart, sanctified, enlightened by the Holy Spirit. The cross leads to that new and hitherto uncomprehended joy which is the dominant sentiment of Christians. 'God forbid that I should glory save in the cross of Jesus Christ." of reason painfully but joyfully triumphing over appetite; the victory of the man over the animal. Especially it is the hard struggle, but joyfully won, of the supernatural spirit of Jesus over the natural spirit of the old Adam. It is consoling to know that the easiest way to win souls to our Saviour is honest imitation of His plain statement of this heroic element in His religion. Try to hide. the cross, and you may gain ad It is the glory ENTIRE RENUNCIATION. For which of you having a mind to build a tower, doth not first sit down and reckon the charges that are necessary, whether he have wherewithal to finish it: Lest after he hath laid the foundation, and is not able to finish it, all that see it begin to mock him, saying: This man began to build, and was not able to finish. Or what king about to go to make war against another king, doth not first sit down and think whether he be able with ten thousand to meet him that with twenty thousand cometh against him? Or else whilst the other is yet afar off, sending an embassy, he desireth conditions of peace. So likewise every one of you that doth not renounce all that he possesseth, cannot be my disciple. herents of Christ but not disciples. Tell the whole truth of Christ, and you win the whole heart of man. Thanks be to God for this it is honorable to our fallen humanity. CHAPTER LXXIV. JESUS IS WARNED AGAINST Herod. ONE knew better than the Pharisees the fear- had taught those inspiring maxims of contempt of danger and even of death which are characteristic of His religion. Why, then, did they think to rid themselves of Him by the warning: "Depart and get Thee hence, for Herod hath a mind to kill Thee." It is possible that the particular Pharisees who gave this advice meant Him well, but it is not likely. Our Saviour's answer to the warning was a singular one, and His meaning is involved in mystery. He calls Herod "that fox," and He says that He has but a few more days for driving out demons and healing the sick, and after that Herod and all His other enemies will have their will;—the Saviour will be put to death: "Go and tell that fox: Behold I cast out devils and do cures to-day and to-morrow, and the third day I am consummated." He repeats what He had several times told His Apostles: Jerusalem is speedily to see His end; but meantime He is Master of His own movements: "Nevertheless I must walk to-day, and to-morrow, and the day following, because it cannot be that a prophet die out of Jerusalem." Jesus adds a bitter reproach to the Holy City, one that He will repeat and enlarge upon at the solemn moment of His last entry there. How the name of the City, a talisman to every Jew, must have thrilled all their hearts as the sorrowful longing in the tones of Jesus sank into their ears. How His own soul must have been racked with the conflict of love and disappointment as He addressed the Holy City: "Jerusalem, Jerusalem, that killest the prophets and stonest them that are sent to thee! How often would I have gathered thy children, as the bird doth her brood under her wings, and thou wouldst not! Behold your house shall be left to you desolate. And I say to you that you shall not see Me till the time come, when you shall say: Blessed is He that cometh in the name of the Lord." CHAPTER LXXV. LESSONS OF MERCY.-THE LOST GROAT.-THE PRODIGAL SON. Luke xv. 1-32. FROM these sad topics, and dropping the tone of admonition, Jesus turned again to His favorite theme, the mercy of God to sinners. Nothing the Jews could do was able to prevent His coming back to it. Mercy was His bread and meat; love was the inspiration of Jesus. Here in the Perea He repeated the parable of the iost sheep which He had previously given in Galilee. It was caused by the coming to Him of a group of publicans and other outcasts. The Saviour bent towards them with pity, all the greater because the stricter sect of Jews were offended at His not exclud "REJOICE WITH ME!" Now the publicans and sinners drew near unto him to hear him And the Pharisees and the Scribes murmured, saying: This man receiveth sinners and eateth with them. And he spoke to them this parable, saying: What man of you that hath an hundred sheep, and if he shall lose one of them, doth he not leave the ninety-nine in the desert, and go after that which was lost until he find it; and when he has found it, lay it upon his shoulders rejoicing; and coming home, call together his friends and neighbors, saying to them: Rejoice with me, because I have found my sheep that was lost? I say to you, that even so there shall be joy in Heaven upon one sinner that doth penance, more than upon ninety-nine just who need not penance. ing them. He taught the difference between these self-righteous men and the glorious angels. The angels tolerate sinners, they are not ashamed of them; nay, their joy is greater over the repentance of a sinner than over the stainless virtue of the innocent. In this He teaches the intervention of the angels in human affairs. They too are our Saviour's helpers in saving souls; they know our sinfulness, they counsel us to repent, they rejoice at our salvation. Jesus added the illustration of the Lost Groat. How singular a charity in the Eternal God to search for a loathsome sinner as a poor woman does for a lost coin. God lights a candle in the dark cavern of the sinner's soul and shows him the brink of the deep pit, the lurid flames, the long ages of horror. And then He turns him towards His own loving face. The candle is the true faith the knowledge that God is good; that He has founded His Church for sinners; that He has enriched His sacraments with the precious blood of His only begotten Son. God lights this candle by the word of friendly warning from a devout friend, the tears of a heart-broken mother, the death of a patient wife or a beloved child, the stern rebuke or kindly admonition of a faithful priest; or by the inspiration of the Holy Ghost in the sting of conscience. And when the "Seek diligently until she find it." |