-Jesus was bound to make sure of that. It is a lesson that is hard to flesh and blood. Even religion is tempted to gather wealth and lay store by it as a help towards God. Ever since Christendom was divided in the sixteenth century, those that then went wrong have boasted of worldly prosperity as a mark of divine favor. Under the old law this was a true sign, for then the gifts of time were made marks of eternal favor, because of the weakness of human nature in those days. But Jesus changed all that, and for Christian men and women taken separately, as well as for Christian communities, the true doctrine is placed and stands for ever: "How hardly shall they that have riches enter into the Kingdom of God!"'

Nor was it easy for even the disciples to take in the full meaning of this fundamental law of Religious Economy: "And the disciples were astonished at His words." They were yet school children in the divine teaching. Our Saviour felt this, and so

again answering, He saith to them: Children, how hard it is for them that trust in riches to enter into the Kingdom of God." This shows that if one possesses riches and trusts not in them, but in God who is their first and last owner, he does not fall under the curse. But if he is the ordinary rich man, the one whose character is formed by striving after wealth and by consciousness of its possession, and who trusts to wealth for his joy, then he may be saved only by an impossibility. We appeal to God for a miracle to save such a one. "It is easier," exclaimed the Master, "for a camel to pass th ough the eye of a needle, than for a rich man to enter into the Kingdom of God. [The disciples] wondered the more, saying among themselves: Who then can be saved?

And Jesus looking on them, saith: With men it is impossible, but not with God; for all things are possible with God." Our Lord does not, of course, mean that one may trust in riches to the end and still be saved. But that however certain the injury done to the soul by riches, corrupting it by placing its end and object in this life, substituting the love of money and of power and of luxury and of sensuality in place of the love

of God-in spite of this usual effect of riches upon the soul, God can make exceptions. He can give extraordinary graces, He can send sickness and death and disappointment, terrible and often successful messengers of love. He can make riches themselves a means of grace. But this is the exception; for the rule is that riches corrupt the heart of man and obscure his

mind, hinder his salvation and often make it impossible.

CHAPTER LXXXVI.

THE HUNDRED-FOLD IN THIS LIFE AND LIFE EVERLASTING HEREAFTER.

Matt. xix. 27-29; Mark x. 29-30; Luke xviii. 29-30.

THE failure of one man is the disheartenment of another. But if this is the rule, it is not without exceptions. The more generous nature is but roused to nobler daring by the spectacle of another's cowardice. It was so in the case of the Apostles of Christ, who gazed upon the departing figure of the

rich young man with great contempt for his pusillanimity. As usual, it was Peter who spoke their common feeling "Then Peter answering, said to Him: Behold, we have left all things and have followed Thee; what therefore shall we have?" Doubtless there was some self-conceit in this question, but Jesus knew the good hearts of His chosen band, and immediately told them their great reward: "Amen I say to you, that you who have followed Me, in the regeneration, when the Son of Man shall sit on the seat of His majesty, you also shall sit on twelve seats, you also shall sit on twelve seats, judging judging the twelve tribes of Israel."

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WHAT, THEREFORE, SHALL WE HAVE?" Then Peter answering, said to him: Behold, we have left all things and have followed thee; what therefore shall we have? And Jesus said to them: Amen I say to you, that you who have followed me, in the regeneration, when the Son of Man shall sit on the seat of his majesty,

the twelve tribes of Israel. Amen I say to you, there is no man who hath left house, or brethren, or sisters, or father, or mother, or children, or lands, for my sake, and for the Gospel, who shall not receive an hundred times as much now in this time houses and brethren and sisters and mothers and children and lands, with persecutions; and in the world to come, life everlasting.

These Galileans had not left much,

as rich men would reckon it, but it was their all. A few nets, a humble cottage, a small patch of ground, the company of unlettered kindred -what was this to give up for the great honor of the Apostleship? Everything to those who had nothing more. Furthermore, it is the motive that gauges the merit of a deed. What the Apostles had given up was equal to a monarch's palace and court in the eyes of Jesus, for they had done it out of love for Him. Their tears at parting with home and kindred were precious to Him, because they had chosen Him above father and mother and child.

Their reward was that He should be worth more to them than any fortune, and dearer than any natural kindred. That is what is meant by His saying, as He continued the balance sheet, that the very persecutions they should suffer would be a higher joy to them than the home comforts and the family

and the joys of less heroic spirits a hundredfold more, even in this life. Sadly had Jesus spoken to the timid rich man; joyfully did He hail these brave poor men as His associate judges in the day of the world's reckoning.

CHAPTER LXXXVII.

THE SACRAMENT OF MATRIMONY.

Matt. xix. 1-9; Mark x. 1-12.

UR Saviour's purpose to elevate mankind to a higher order of life is in no way more plainly shown than by His legislation on marriage. He restored the marital relation to its original condition, which is the equality of husband and wife. This necessarily excludes a plurality of wives, and makes divorce from the marriage bond unlawful. All the rights of the man and of the woman are equal, save his prerogative of authority in the household. Good order requires that the woman should obey her husband, but this is not the submission of a lower to a higher grade of being, but the loving conformity due to equal on account of the superior force inherent in the male sex. This, however, is counterbalanced by the allegiance the man pays to certain superior virtues of the woman, such as sympathy, patience, and gentleness. If the husband rules the wife by power, he is in turn subject to her by reason of her winning qualities. And, again, she rules all because she rules the children. This equality of natural prerogatives Jesus determined to safeguard by the holiest sanctions of religion, and therefore He

to an

raised marriage to the dignity of a sacrament of the New Law.

From the highest place in all natural institutions He elevated it to a supernatural condition—the relation of man and wife in the Church of Christ is a divine one, a sacrament among sacraments. In the religion of Jesus Marriage ranks with Baptism which is the door of heaven, with the Eucharist which is the embrace of the Son of God, with the Apostolic sacrament of Holy Order, with the sacrament of Penance which is the cleansing of the soul in the blood of the Lamb. And, furthermore, as Christian Baptism is the new birth of the individual, so has Christian marriage been the new birth of society. The Christian family has been the germ of the Christian state.

The subject of marriage had been treated of previously by the Divine Teacher, but it came up again as Jesus was leaving the borders of Galilee and Samaria and going eastward, passing over the Jordan, making the circuit, already mentioned, which was to end to end in Jerusalem. He healed many sick persons on His journey; the fame of which, as well as His entering land well traversed by caravans, brought Him more into contact with the Pharisees. They had doubtless heard rumors of the strictness of His doctrine on marriage, going as it did far beyond the Jewish rule, and rescinding all the Mosaic reasons for divorce. This was an offence to them, for they shared to the full the Oriental views on woman and her relations to man; they hardly held even to the dispensations of Moses.

The question of divorce, St. Matthew tells us, was one on which they hoped to gain a cause of accusation. "Is it lawful," they asked, "for a man to