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POINT II. The Order of the last Judgment.

CONSIDERATION. 'Then shall appear the sign of the Son of Man in heaven; . . . and they shall see Him coming in the clouds of heaven with great power and majesty; and He shall send His angels with a trumpet and a great voice; and they shall gather together His elect from the four winds, from the farthest parts of the heavens to the utmost bounds of them. . . . And all nations shall be gathered before Him; and He shall separate them one from another, as the shepherd separateth the sheep from the goats; and He shall set the sheep on His right hand, but the goats on the left. Then shall He say to those that shall be on His right hand, Come, ye blessed of My Father, possess you the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world; and to them also that shall be on His left hand, Depart from Me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, which was prepared for the devil and his angels.'

APPLICATION. Let us try to imagine the joy that will fill the hearts of the blessed at the sight of the sign of the Son of Man in heaven; they who have so generously carried their own cross here will gaze with delight upon the cross of Jesus. Consider the confusion of those faithless or hypocritical religious, whom our Lord will be forced to place on His left hand, their companions the vilest reprobates. How terrible will be this separation between the members of the same community! Where would you stand, were you to die this moment?

AFFECTIONS and RESOLUTIONS.

POINT III. On Preparation for the last Judgment.

CONSIDERATION. When will this last judgment be? Our Lord says, 'Of that day or hour no man knoweth, neither the angels in heaven.' But we all know that death is near at hand to each one of us, and that judgment follows death as certainly as death life.

Take

ye heed, watch and pray, for ye know not when the Lord of the house cometh; and what I say to you I say to all, Watch,' These are the words of Christ Himself.

APPLICATION. Would you hope for and not fear the last judgment? Prepare yourself, then, by a holy life. 'Be ye also ready,' says our Lord; live ever prepared. Do you do so? COLLOQUY.

NOVEMBER 26.

PRINCIPAL EVENTS OF WEDNESDAY IN HOLY WEEK: OUR LORD REBUKES THE PHARISEES.

1st Prel. Imagine our Lord denouncing the Pharisees. 2d Prel. Ask that you may never deserve such reproaches. POINT I. They are reproved because they regard only the outward marks of Piety.

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CONSIDERATION. On this, the evening preceding Holy Thursday, when the princes and doctors of the nation, gathered together in council under Caiphas, had determined to put our Lord to death, and Judas agreed to betray Him into their hands for thirty pieces of silver, our Lord, as usual, taught in the Temple, and took the opportunity of denouncing the Pharisees, who misled the people by an outward semblance of virtue and religion. Woe to you, Scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites, because you tithe mint and anise and cummin, and leave the weightier things of the law; you make clean the outside of the cup and the dish, but within you are full of rapine and uncleanness; blind guides, who strain out a gnat and swallow a camel; you are like to whited sepulchres, which outwardly appear to men beautiful, but within are full of dead men's bones and of all filthiness.'

APPLICATION. Did our Lord address these bitter re

proaches to the Pharisees alone? Did He not have in His mind those Christians, those religious, who are prone to scruples and accuse themselves of trifles, whilst they make no account of grave omissions in the discharge of their duties? Truly these, when they examine their conscience, strain out a gnat and swallow a camel. Are there not others who only care for appearances, who wish to be regular and virtuous in the eyes of men, whilst in the sight of Heaven they are unclean and mere whited sepulchres? Do you belong to either of these two classes?

AFFECTIONS and RESOLUTIONS.

POINT II. Our Lord rebukes the Pharisees because they are severe towards others and indulgent towards thenselves.

CONSIDERATION. We find in general that hypocrites are loud in their censure of others, whilst they allow themselves great liberties. The Pharisees belonged to this class; and therefore our Lord again denounced them, saying, 'Woe to you, Scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites, because you shut the kingdom of heaven against men!' and again telling the people that they bind heavy and insupportable burdens, and lay them on men's shoulders, but with a finger of their own they will not move them.'

APPLICATION. No doubt you condemn the conduct of these hypocritical Pharisees, as did our Lord; but are you not disposed to exact much from others, your subordinates, which you do not think is required from yourself? Do you practise what you preach and advise others to do?

AFFECTIONS and RESOLUTIONS.

POINT III. Our Lord rebukes the Pride and Avarice of the Pharisees.

CONSIDERATION.

Our Lord has another subject of condemnation for the Pharisees-their pride and self

interest. He says all their works they do to be seen of men; for they make their phylacteries broad, and enlarge their fringes, and they love the first places at feasts, and the first chairs in the synagogues; whilst they devour the houses of widows, praying long prayers; 'for this you shall receive the greater judgment.'

APPLICATION. The world often complains that the ministers of religion are proud and self-interested. Let us never give it any grounds for addressing such reproaches to ourselves; let us carefully examine our intentions, words, and behaviour before God, and see if our conscience is clear as regards these points. COLLOQUY with our Divine Lord.

NOVEMBER 27.

EVENTS OF HOLY THURSDAY: THE PASCHAL SUPPER.

1st Prel. Imagine our Lord surrounded by His Apostles in the supper-chamber at Jerusalem.

2d Prel. Ask that you may draw abundant fruit from this Medi

tation.

POINT I. Preparations for the Paschal Supper.

CONSIDERATION. Our Lord left Jerusalem on Wednesday evening, and slept at Bethania, returning to the city towards sunset the next day, the first day of the Azymes, or feast of unleavened bread. Then, as St. Mark relates, the Apostles came to Him, saying, 'Whither wilt Thou that we go and prepare for Thee to eat the Pasch? And He sendeth two of His disciples, and saith to them, Go ye into the city, and there shall meet you a man carrying a pitcher of water; follow him, and whithersoever he shall go in, say to the master of the house, The Master saith, Where is my refectory, where I may eat the Pasch with My disciples? And he will show you a large dining-room furnished, and there prepare ye for us. And His disciples went their

way, and came into the city, and they found as He had told them, and they prepared* the Pasch.'

APPLICATION. This supper-chamber, renowned through the whole world since our Lord honoured it with His presence, is an image of our heart, which our Lord deigns to make His dwelling-place in Holy Communion. To receive Him, it also must be, 1st, Large and spacious in desires and generosity. Never let us resemble those who are satisfied with giving our Lord only what they cannot refuse Him under pain of mortal sin. 2nd, It must be besides well furnished,-adorned with virtues, with true humility, lively confidence, and ardent love.

AFFECTIONS and RESOLUTIONS.

POINT II. Hour of the Paschal Supper.

CONSIDERATION. And when the hour was come, He sat down, and the twelve Apostles with Him; and He said to them, With desire I have desired to eat this Pasch with you before I suffer.'

APPLICATION. Remark our Lord's exactness in fulfilling all the precepts of the law; His calmness at the near approach of His Passion, which must have been forcibly brought before Him at the sight of the Paschal lamb, the type of that Lamb slain from the beginning of the world-that Passion to be that day + consummated on the Cross.

AFFECTIONS and RESOLUTIONS.

POINT. III. Our Lord predicts the Treachery of Judas. CONSIDERATION. Judas, as we know, had on the day

These preparations consisted in procuring a paschal lamb, which was slain in the Temple and then roasted, unleavened bread (azymes), wine, and lettuce or other vegetables.

That day;' that is, according to the Jewish mode of reckoning, from sunset to sunset. Thus the Paschal Supper, the instituting of the Eucharist, the agony in the Garden, and our Lord's death and burial, all took place in one day from Thursday to Friday evening.

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