Gospel
The Gospel according to St. Matthew, xiii. 31-35.
“And Jesus proposed this parable unto them, saying: The kingdom of heaven is like to a grain of mustard-seed which a man took and sowed in his field, which is the least indeed of all seeds; but when it is grown up it is greater than all 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 multitudes: and without parables He did not speak to them, that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophet, saying: I will open my mouth in parables, and I will utter things hidden from the foundation of the world.”
Summary of the Morrow’s Meditation
We will meditate to-morrow upon the Gospel for the day, which shows us a grain of mustard-seed changed into a great tree, and a little leaven fermenting the whole three measures. 1st, we shall admire, by means of this parable, the mercy of God, which, abasing itself down to our littleness, works by it great things, when it so pleases Him; 2d, we shall learn from the example given us by God to become ourselves merciful men, who do not disdain any kind of misery nor any kind of littleness. We will then make the resolution: 1st, to banish from our hearts thoughts of discouragement and sadness, as being an offence against the Divine Majesty; 2d, to bear the faults of our neighbor in a spirit of patience and charity. Our spiritual nosegay shall be the words of Our Lord: “Be ye therefore merciful, as your Father is also merciful” (Luke vi. 36).
Meditation for the Morning
Let us adore the heart so tender and so compassionate, so merciful and so kind, of Our Lord. In presence of His infinite majesty we are less than a grain of mustard-seed, which is in itself only a grain of dust, less than a little leaven mixed with the dough, and yet, however little we may be, His mercy lowers itself down to our baseness, to raise us up as high as the skies, as high as His angels and saints, in the midst of whom He has prepared a throne for us. Can we ever sufficiently admire, sufficiently praise, and sufficiently love so much mercy?
First Point
Amongst all the Attributes of God, we ought Specially to Honor His Mercy.
Doubtless all the perfections of God are excellent, seeing that they are infinite; but mercy possesses this special characteristic: 1st, that it is better known to us, it shows itself in all its works; it is that which has done everything (Ps. xxxii. 5); 2d, that it possesses a very special charm for our hearts; we admire greatness, we fear justice; but we can do nothing except love mercy and delight in it: it is so suitable to our misery! 3d, that it brings God near to us and unites us to Him. The other perfections of God seem to remove Him to an infinite distance from us; but His mercy, precisely because it is infinite, descends to us and places its throne on the very abyss of our wretchedness. It is there that the Holy Spirit teaches us to honor Him (Ps. cii. 8). Let us praise the Lord, He says, because He is good, because His mercy is everlasting (Ps. cv. 1). Jesus Christ also presents God to us in the form of a father full of tenderness, or of a good shepherd who hastens after a wandering sheep, and the apostles show Him to us principally as the Father of mercies and the God of all consolation (II. Cor. i. 3). In fact, we owe everything to the mercy of God, whether it be in the order of nature or in the order of grace, the being we enjoy, the air which enables us to live, the sun which lights us, the nourishment which sustains us, our redemption, the Church and the sacraments, and the blessing of a Christian education. Mercy precedes us and loves us even when we do not love it; it seeks for us when we fly from it (Ps. lviii. 11), it accompanies us when we desire to do good (Ps. cii. 4), and it crowns us after we have done it. It is a mother which accompanies us everywhere, sustains and raises us when we fall, feeds us sometimes with the milk of consolation, sometimes with the solid bread of tribulation. Oh, what good reason the Prophet King had to sing the divine mercies continually in his psalms, and finding the time of his life too short to satisfy his heart with so beautiful a subject he promises himself to compensate for it throughout eternity (Ps. lxxxviii. 2). Let us imitate him and let us have a special devotion to the mercies of God. Let us throw ourselves wholly, and with our eyes closed, into this abyss of mercy, with unlimited confidence. It is there that the heart is dilated, that courage is renewed, and that hope with its peace and sweet joys inundates the heart (Ps. xxxi. 10; Ibid. v. 8).
Second Point
We ought ourselves to be Merciful Men.
1st. The first object of our mercy ought to be our own soul. Let us have pity for it, and do not let us lose it by our negligence in working out its salvation. Let us have pity on its miseries, and do not let us aggravate them and render them incurable through spiteful self-love, which cannot bear to see how miserable it is. Do not let us be astonished that we have fallen, being as miserable as we are; let us rather be astonished that we have not fallen still more, let us thank God for it, whose grace has restrained us, and let us set ourselves once more to do well with the calmness of confidence, and a great desire to repair the past by the present. We ought, 2d, to be merciful men in regard to our neighbor; the poor, the sick, the afflicted, the widow, and the orphan, ought always to find in us bowels of mercy, a voice to console them, a hand to solace them (Coloss. iii. 12). The wrongs done to us, and the faults of others ought still more to find in us mercy which not only bears them with meekness, with patience, and with compassion for human weakness (Gal. vi. 2), but which also endeavors to bring them back to what is good, by treating them with gentleness and prudence. Oh, how greatly are these poor sinners to be pitied, what compassion we ought to have for their blindness, for their evil nature, for their prejudices and their passions! Merciful men are blessed by God and men (Ps. xxii. 9). Let us examine our conscience: are we really merciful men?
Resolutions and spiritual nosegay as above.