way. And again he went out about the sixth and the ninth hour; and did in like manner. But about the eleventh hour he went out, and found others standing; and he saith to them: Why stand you here all the day idle? They say to him: Because no man hath hired us. He saith to them: Go you also into my vineyard. And when evening was come, the lord of the vineyard saith to his steward: Call the labourers, and pay them their hire, beginning from the last even to the first. When, therefore, they came, who had come about the eleventh hour, they received every man a penny. But when the first also came, they thought that they should have received more and they likewise received every man a penny. And when they received it, they murmured against the master of the house, saying: These last have worked but one hour: and thou hast made them equal to us, that have borne the burden of the day and the heats. But he, answering one of them, said, Friend, I do thee no wrong: didst thou not agree with me for a penny? Take what is thine, and go thy way: I will also give to this last even as to thee. Or is it not lawful for me to do what I will? Is thy eye evil, because I am good? So shall the last be first, and the first last. For many are called, but few chosen.

Thus it is that God rewards with the fulness of His blessings those who obey His call, wheresoever He calls them. Whether like the Jews, who were called at the first hour; or like the Gentiles, later in the day; or like the last heathen nations who shall be converted before the end of the world; or whether they are called in childhood, in youth, in manhood, or in old age, the highest rewards are within their reach, if they obey the call, whensoever it comes to them. It is not for us to dictate to Almighty God when or how He will call this person or that, or to complain that He requires of us a long and laborious service, while others are taken to their reward almost before they have known what trial is. It is for God to do what He wills with His own; and for us to rejoice that we ourselves are called at all, and to make our calling and election sure.

CHAP. XXXIII. The Prayer of James and John. Zacheus. The Parable of the Pounds.

JESUS now going up to Jerusalem, took the twelve disciples apart, and said to them: Behold, we go up to Jerusalem and the Son of man shall be betrayed to the chief priests and to the Scribes: and they shall condemn Him to death; and shall deliver Him to the Gentiles to be mocked, and to be scourged, and to be crucified: and the third day, He shall rise again.

And James and John, the sons of Zebedee, came to Him with their mother, and entreated Him to give them the highest place in that kingdom which they supposed He was about to establish upon earth. For, like the rest of the Jews, they imagined that the kingdom of the Messias was to be an earthly monarchy, in which Jesus would reign, surrounded with all the pomp and power of this world. And Jesus said to them, You know not what you ask. They did not understand that they who were first in Christ's kingdom of spiritual glory must be first in suffering, and drink deep of that cup of sorrow which their Master was about to drain to the dregs, and be baptised with that baptism of fire and torment which He would undergo in atoning for the sins of man. And He asked them if they were able to drink of this cup, and be baptised with this baptism. And they scarcely knowing what they promised, said, We are able. And Jesus answered, that they should indeed share these things with Him, but that the highest places in His kingdom could not be given away in return for any person's petition, but were to be disposed of according to the eternal purposes of the Father.

And when they went out from Jericho, a great multitude followed Him. And, behold, two blind men, sitting by the wayside, heard that Jesus passed by: and they cried out, saying: O Lord, Son of David, have mercy on us. And the multitude rebuked them that they should hold their peace. But they cried out the more, saying: O Lord, Son of David, have mercy on us.

And Jesus stood still, and called them; and said: What will ye that I should do to you? They say to Him : Lord, that our eyes may be opened. And Jesus, having compassion on them, touched their eyes. And immediately they received sight, and followed Him.

And there was a certain man, by name Zacheus : and this was the chief of the publicans: and he was rich. And he sought to see Jesus, who He was: and he could not for the crowd; because he was little of stature. And he ran before, and climbed up into a sycamore-tree, that he might see Him: for He was to pass that way. And when Jesus came to the place, He looked up, and saw him, and said to him: Zacheus, make haste and come down: for to-day I must abide in thy house. And he made haste and came down, and received Him with joy. And when they all saw it, they murmured, saying: that He was gone to be guest with a man that is a sinner. But Zacheus stood, and said to the Lord: Behold, Lord, the half of my goods I give to the poor and if I have wronged any man of any thing, I restore him four-fold. Jesus said to him: This day is salvation come to this house: because he also is a son of Abraham. For the Son of man is come to seek and to save that which was lost.

And as there were many who supposed that the kingdom of Christ in all its glory was about speedily to appear, Jesus spake another parable, to teach them that He Himself was about to depart from this world; that many years or ages must pass before He returned; and that, in the mean time, His servants were to labour in His service, until He should come and take account with all at the great day of reckoning. He represented Himself as a nobleman who went into a far country to take possession of a kingdom, and who gave to each of his servants a sum of money to trade with during his absence. On his return, he called them all before him, and to one, who had gained ten pounds by his diligence and care, he gave a proportionate reward: to another who had gained five pounds, he gave a reward equal to his merits; and a third, who had laid up his pound in a

napkin, and tried to excuse his idleness by pretending that he feared his lord's severity, he condemned to the punishment he had deserved.

And when Jesus had thus spoken, He went up towards Jerusalem.

CHAP. XXXIV. Jesus enters in Jerusalem.

THE time was now at hand when Jesus was to deliver Himself into the hands of His enemies; and as it was fixed in the eternal counsels of God, that He should die at the time of the Passover; that feast which had been instituted as a figure of His death; He came to Bethania, a village close to Jerusalem, on the Sabbath-day which came immediately before the week in which the Passover was celebrated. As soon as He had reached Mount Olivet, which is close to Bethphage and Bethania, He prepared to enter Jerusalem in triumph: not, indeed, with all the pomp of an earthly monarch, but in such a way as to shew forth both His humility and His sovereignty over man. He sent forward two of His disciples, saying to them: Go ye into the village that is over against you and immediately you shall find an ass tied, and a colt with her: loose them, and bring them to Me. And if any man shall say any thing to you, say ye, that the Lord hath need of them; and forthwith he will let them go. Now all this was done that the word might be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophet, saying: Tell ye the daughter of Sion: Behold, thy King cometh to thee, meek, and sitting upon an ass, and a colt the foal of her that is used to the yoke. And the disciples going, did as Jesus commanded them.

And they brought the ass and the colt; and laid their garments upon them, and made Him sit thereon. And a very great multitude spread their garments in way: and others cut down boughs from the trees, and strewed them in the way. And the multitudes that went before, and that followed, cried, saying: Hosanna to the Son of David: Blessed is He that

the

cometh in the name of the Lord. Hosanna in the highest.

And some of the Pharisees, from amongst the multitude, said to Him: Master, rebuke Thy disciples. And He said to them: I tell you, that if these should hold their peace the stones will cry out. And when He drew near, seeing the city, He wept over it, saying: If thou also hadst known, and that in this thy day, the things that are for thy peace: but now they are hidden from thy eyes. For the days shall come upon thee: and thy enemies shall cast a trench about thee, and compass thee round, and straiten thee on every side, and beat thee flat to the ground, and thy children who are in thee: and they shall not leave in thee a stone upon a stone because thou hast not known the time of thy visitation.

And He was teaching daily in the temple; and there came to Him the blind and the lame: and He healed them. And when the chief priests and the Scribes saw the wonderful things that He did, and the children crying in the temple, and saying: Hosanna to the Son of David: they were moved with indignation: and said to Him: Hearest Thou what these say? And Jesus said to them: Yea; have you never read: Out of the mouth of infants and of sucklings thou hast perfected praise? And leaving them, He went out of the city into Bethania, and remained there.

CHAP. XXXV. Jesus purifies the Temple. The Parable of the Wicked Husbandmen.

AND the next morning (being the second day of the week) returning into the city, He was hungry. And seeing a fig-tree by the way-side, He came to it; and found nothing on it but leaves only and He said to it May no fruit grow on thee henceforward for ever. And immediately the fig-tree withered away.

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In those days a great abuse was practised in the temple at Jerusalem. Money-changers set up their