soever shall do the will of My Father who is in heaven, he is My brother, and sister, and mother.

And when great multitudes stood about Him, so that they trod one upon another, He began to say to His disciples: Beware ye of the leaven of the Pharisees, which is hypocrisy. For there is nothing covered that shall not be revealed: nor hidden, that shall not be known. For whatsoever things you have spoken in darkness, shall be published in the light: and that which you have spoken in the ear in the chambers, shall be proclaimed on the house-tops. And I say to you, my friends: Be not afraid of them that kill the body, and after that have no more that they can do. But I will shew you whom ye shall fear: fear ye Him who after He hath killed hath power to cast into hell. Yea, I say to you, fear Him. Are not five sparrows sold for two farthings, and not one of them is forgotten before God? But even the very hairs of your head are all numbered. Fear not, therefore you are of more value than many sparrows. And I say to you: Whosoever shall confess Me before men, him shall the Son of man also confess before the angels of God. But he that shall deny Me before men, shall be denied before the angels of God.

And He said to them: Take heed and beware of all covetousness: for a man's life doth not consist in the abundance of things which he possesseth. And He spoke a similitude to them, saying: The land of a certain rich man brought forth plenty of fruits: and he thought within himself, saying: What shall I do, because I have not where to lay up together my fruits? And he said: This will I do: I will pull down my barns, and will build greater: and into them will I gather all things that are grown to me, and my goods. And I will say to my soul: Soul, thou hast much goods laid up for many years; take thy rest, eat, drink, make good cheer. But God said to him: Thou fool, this night do they require thy soul of thee: and whose shall those things be, which thou hast provided? So is he that layeth up treasure for himself, and is not rich towards God. And He said to His disciples: There

fore I say to you: Be not solicitous for your life, what you shall eat; nor for your body, what you shall put on. The life is more than the food, and the body is more than the raiment. Consider the ravens, for they do not sow, nor do they reap, neither have they storehouse, nor barn, and God feedeth them. How much are you more valuable than they! And which of you by thinking can add to his stature one cubit? If, then, you are not able to do even the least thing, why are you solicitous for the rest? Consider the lilies, how they grow they labour not, neither do they spin. But I say to you: Not even Solomon in all his glory was clothed like one of these. Now if God clothe in this manner the grass that is to-day in the field, and to-morrow is cast into the oven: how much more you, O ye of little faith! And seek not you what you shall eat, or what you shall drink and be not lifted up on high for all these things do the nations of the earth seek after. But your Father knoweth that you have need of these things. But seek ye first the kingdom of God and His justice: and all these things shall be added unto you. Fear not, little flock, for it hath pleased your Father to give you a kingdom. Sell what you possess, and give alms. Make to yourselves bags which grow not old, a treasure in heaven which faileth not where the thief approacheth not, nor the moth corrupteth. For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also. Let your loins be girded, and lamps burning in your hands, and you yourselves like to men who wait for their lord, when he shall return from the wedding: that when he cometh, and knocketh, they may open to him immediately. Blessed are those servants whom the lord, when he cometh, shall find watching. Amen I say to you, that he will gird Himself, and make them sit down to meat, and passing will minister to them. And if he shall come in the second watch, or if he shall come in the third watch, and find them so, blessed are those servants. But this know ye, that if the master of the family knew at what hour the thief would come, he would surely watch, and

would not suffer his house to be broke open. Be you also ready for at what hour you think not, the Son of man will come.

CHAP. XVII. The parables of the Sower, of the Wheat and Cockle, of the Hidden Treasure, the Pearl, and the Net.

AND when a very great multitude was gathered together, and hastened out of the cities to Him, He spoke by a similitude: A sower went out to sow his seed: and as he sowed, some fell by the wayside, and it was trodden down, and the fowls of the air devoured it: and some fell upon a rock, and, as soon as it was sprung up, it withered away, because it had no moisture: and some fell among thorns, and the thorns, growing up with it, choked it: and some fell upon good ground, and sprung up, and yielded fruit a hundredfold. Saying these things he cried out: He that hath ears to hear, let him hear.

And His disciples asked Him what the parable meant. And He said, that to them was given to understand the mysterious things which belonged to the kingdom of God; but that those who would not follow Him must hear His parables only, without being taught their signification. For it is the will of God, that those who employ well what God bestows upon them receive fresh gifts and instruction, while they who remain away from Christ are rather hardened by the mysterious words He utters to them.

And this was the interpretation He gave to His disciples of the parable of the sower. The seed is the word of God. And they by the wayside are they that hear then the devil cometh, and taketh the word out of their heart, lest, believing, they should be saved. Now, they upon the rock are they who, when they hear, receive the word with joy: and these have no roots; who believe for a while, and in time of temptation fall away. And that which fell among thorns are they who have heard, and, going their way, are choked with the

cares and riches and pleasures of this life, and yield no fruit. But that on the good ground are they who in a good and perfect heart, hearing the word, keep it, and bring forth fruit in patience.

And He spoke another parable, saying: The kingdom of heaven is likened to a man that sowed good seed in his field. But while men were asleep, his enemy came, and oversowed cockle among the wheat; and went his way. And when the blade was sprung up, and brought forth fruit, then appeared also the cockle. Then the servants of the master of the house came, and said to him: Master, didst thou not sow good seed in thy field? from whence, then, hath it cockle? And he said to them: An enemy hath done this. And the servants said to him: Wilt thou that we go and gather it up? And he said: No; lest, while ye gather up the cockle, you root up the wheat also together with it. Let both grow until the harvest: and in the time of the harvest, I will say to the reapers: Gather up first the cockle, and bind it into bundles to burn; but gather the wheat into my barn.

Another parable He proposed to them, saying: The kingdom of heaven is like to a grain of mustard-seed, which a man took and sowed in his field: which, indeed, is the least of all seeds: but when it is grown up, it is greater than any herbs, and becometh a tree; so that the birds of the air come and dwell in the branches thereof. Another parable He spoke to them: The kingdom of heaven is like to leaven, which a woman took and hid in three measures of meal, until the whole was leavened.

All these things Jesus spoke in parables to the multitude: and without parables He did not speak to them. That the word might be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophet, saying: I will open my mouth in parables: I will utter things hidden from the foundation of the world. Then, having sent away the multitudes, He came into the house; and His disciples came to Him, saying: Explain to us the parable of the cockle of the field. He made answer, and said to them: He that

soweth the good seed is the Son of man. And the field is the world. And the good seed are the children of the kingdom, and the cockle are the children of the wicked one. And the enemy that sowed them is the devil. But the harvest is the end of the world. And the reapers are the angels. Even as cockle, therefore, is gathered up, and burnt with fire, so shall it be at the end of the world. The Son of man shall send his angels and they shall gather out of His kingdom all scandals, and them that work iniquity; and shall cast them into the furnace of fire: there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth. Then shall the just shine as the sun, in the kingdom of their Father. He that hath ears to hear, let him hear.

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By the parables of the mustard seed and the leaven Jesus shewed how wonderfully His Church should hereafter grow from the smallest beginning, till it overshadowed the world, and changed all things among men. He also likened the blessings of His Church to a hidden treasure, and to a costly pearl, which was to be purchased at the price of all earthly possessions; and to a net cast by fishermen into the sea, which gathered together fish of all kinds, bad and good, to be separated when drawn ashore, as the evil and the good will be separated by the angels at the last day.

CHAP. XVIII. Jesus in Matthew's house. He sends forth the twelve Apostles.

AND Matthew made a feast for Jesus in his house, and many publicans and others sat down with them. And the Pharisees seeing it, said to His disciples: Why doth your Master eat with publicans and sinners? But Jesus hearing it, said: They that are in health need not a physician, but they that are sick.

Then came to Him the disciples of John, saying: Why do we and the Pharisees fast often, but Thy disciples do not fast? And He answered them, that His followers were to observe a due season in their fastings