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THE PARABLE OF THE WEDDING GARMENT.

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merchandize, while others even insulted the king's servants, and put them to death. Enraged at their conduct, the king ordered a body of troops to march against the murderers, whom he totally destroyed, and burned their city to the ground.

Then he bade his servants go forth into the highway, and bring to the marriage-feast everyone that they should meet, so that the places of the unworthy might be filled up. The servants speedily obeyed their master's orders: they brought back with them all that they found, and the banquetting hall was crowded with a numerous assembly. When all were seated at table, the king went in to see them, and perceiving one amongst them not clothed with a wedding garment, asked how he had come without a suitable dress. The man made no reply; upon which the king told the attendants to bind him hand and foot, and to cast him forth into outer darkness, where there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth.

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The purport of this parable is to show that the Jews had been first invited to believe in Jesus Christ, and upon their refusal the Gentiles were called in to take their place. The king is Almighty God; his son is Jesus Christ, who by His Incarnation espoused the Church; the feast is the plenteous store of graces which He offers to His faithful followers in this life, and the unfailing glory with which He will reward them in the next. His servants are the ministers of His holy word. To make ourselves worthy of the graces which God invites us to receive, we must, by our own endeavours, cor

respond with His generous invitation, and when we approach these mysterious nuptials, at the table of our Lord, we should at least appear in a robe suitable to the sanctity and majesty of Him who invites us. This nuptial robe, according to the holy Fathers, is the robe of sanctifying grace, without which we have nothing to expect, but to be turned out of the assembly of God's elect, and cast into the dark abyss. For, the fate of the unhappy man in the parable indicates, according to St. Augustine, the misfortune of those who neglect to adorn their souls with virtues, and who enter into eternity without the white garment, which at their baptism they were charged to carry unspotted before the tribunal of Christ.

The Tribute to Cæsar; Parables of the Virgins, and of the Talents.-Matt. xxv.

Either on that day, or on the next, the Priests and Pharisees endeavoured to draw from our Lord some expression which might furnish grounds of accusation against Him. For this purpose they sent their disciples to propose to Him a question which it would be dangerous for Him to answer either way. The question was, whether it was lawful to pay tribute to Cæsar. Should He say that it was, they were ready to cry Him down as an enemy to the liberty of his country; and should He say that it was not, then king Herod's men were at hand to accuse Him of treason against the Roman emperor. Our Lord, to whom the thoughts of men were as fully known as their most public actions, replied: Why do you tempt me, ye hypocrites? Show me the coin of the tribute;" and they showed Him a Roman penny. He asked them whose image it was that was stamped upon it. They told Him it was Cæsar's; "give then to Cæsar," said He, "what belongs to Cæsar, and to God what belongs to God." The Pharisees were filled with vexation to find themselves thus baffled; but the answer confounded them, and they left Him in peace.

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During one of His visits to the Temple in this last week of His mission, our blessed Lord deemed it necessary to fore

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warn the world of the rigours of His justice. In the parable, then, of the five wise and five foolish virgins, He informs us that however holy our state of life may be, we must still be diligent and watchful in every duty; that though our actions may shine as bright as lamps to the eyes of men, we shall not be admitted into Heaven unless our charity, like oil, nourishes the flame, and gives life to our faith.

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Again, by the parable of the Talents, He leads us to the knowledge of many important truths. "A certain man, said our Lord, "setting out upon a long journey, called his servants to him, and distributed his goods among them. To one he gave five talents, to another two, and to the third one, giving to each according to his natural capacity. The two first employed themselves in such a manner, that each of them, by his industry, doubled the talents which he had received. The third tied his talent in a cloth, and hid it in the ground. After some time, the master returned and called upon the three to account for the use they had made of what they had received. The servant who had received five talents, brought them back with an addition of five more, which he had gained by his diligence. Well done, thou good and faithful servant,' said the master, because thou hast been faithful over a few things, I will place thee over many; enter into the joy of thy Lord.' Next came the servant who had received two talents, and he, as he had made an equally good use of his time, was rewarded equally with the first. The third then presented himself before his master, and said, 'Sir, I knew you to be a stern man, expecting to reap where you have not sown. Under that apprehension, I therefore went and hid your talent in the ground; behold, here it is.' Whereupon the master said to him, ‘Ó wicked and slothful servant, I judge thee by thy own words; for if thou knewest that I would reap where I had not sown, why didst thou not place my money in the banker's hands, that at my return I might have received it with interest?' The idle man had nothing to allege in excuse for his negligence; upon which the master, having first ordered the talent to be taken from him and given to the other who had ten, condemned him, as an unprofitable servant, to be cast into utter darkness, where far from

the light of Heaven, he was doomed to weep and to gnash his teeth.

The talents mentioned in this parable signify, as the holy Fathers understand it, the gifts of grace and nature, which Almighty God bestows upon His servants in such proportion as He thinks fit. To some He gives more, to some less; but to all He grants His gifts with a view that whatever they receive, they may faithfully employ it, to His honour, and for their own improvement in virtue. It is for the use we make of God's gifts, that we shall be called upon to account at the end of life. It will profit us nothing to have made no bad use of our talents or not to have lost them: nothing is more fatal than to stifle the graces of God, and to bury His gifts; we are strictly bound to turn them to good account. Of him, to whom much has been given, much will be required.

The Last Judgment.-Matt. xxv.

Our blessed Saviour ended His discourse to the people by announcing to them the terrors of the last judgment. The great and bitter day will come, when the mysterious ways of Providence shall be disclosed to the view of men and Angels, and to each one shall then be assigned the everlasting lot that his works deserve. The day will be ushered in with the most direful signs of calamity, which shall make men wither away with fear, at the expectation of the evils which shall then come upon the world. For there shall be signs in the sun, moon, and stars; the earth shall tremble, and the powers of Heaven shall be shaken. An Angel will sound the dreadful trumpet, which shall be heard from the highest heavens down to the lowest abyss; and a voice will cry: Arise, ye dead, and come to judgment. In the twinkling of an eye, the dead will rise from their graves, and will stand before the tribunal of Christ, who will judge every one according to his works.

Surrounded by myriads of Angels, the Son of Man will then appear coming in a cloud with great power and majesty. In a moment He will separate the good from

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the bad, as the shepherd separates his sheep from the goats: the good He will place on His right hand, and the wicked on His left. To the first He will say: "Come, ye blessed of My Father, and possess the kingdom which has been prepared for you from the beginning of the world: for I was hungry, and you gave Me to eat; I was thirsty, and you gave Me to drink; I was a stranger, and you took Me in; I was naked, and you clothed Me; I was sick, and you comforted Me; in prison, and you visited Me: for whatever of these things you have done to any of My little ones, you have done it unto Me." Then He shall turn to those on His left hand and say: "Depart from Me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, which was prepared for the devil and his angels:

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for you gave Me neither to eat nor to drink; nor have you relieved Me in any other distress in which you saw Me." And when they shall say, "At what time, Lord, have we seen Thee in distress, and have not succoured Thee ?" He will answer: "As long as you did it not to one of the least of My little ones, you did it not to Me." The just shall then be admitted to everlasting life, and the wicked banished to their place of everlasting punishment.

Such shall be the end of that awful day. How awestricken will the reprobate then be! and how different will be their thoughts from what they are at present! The wicked are, by a merciful Redeemer, sentenced to endless torments for having neglected the duties of fraternal charity; whence it is plain that to be saved, we must not only abstain

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