Keeping back sins in confession. The unfortunate man who was made dumb by the devil is a type of those sinners whose lips are closed by Satan, so that they do not make a full and sincere confession.
Application. You see by the case of the Pharisees how detestable and malicious it is to refuse to see the good in other persons, to attribute bad motives to them, and even utter calumnies against them. Have you ever done this?
Do you pray every day for the conversion of sinners? To pray for them is even more necessary than to pray for the holy souls, for these last are certain of heaven, whereas the former are in danger of everlasting damnation.
Chapter XXVIII.
JESUS PREACHING ON THE LAKE OF GENESARETH. PARABLES.
[Mat. 13, 1—53. Mark 4, 1—34. Luke 8, 1— 13.]
ONE day when Jesus was near the lake of Genesareth, great crowds came to hear Him; and, sitting down on the shore, He began to teach. But the multitude still increasing, He went into a boat, and thence spoke to the people. And He taught and spoke to them in parables[1].
I. The Parable of the Seed.
“The 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
- ↑ Parables. A parable is the narrative of some event in nature or human life, either true or possible, under the form of which some moral or religious truth is taught. Most of our Lord’s parables begin by the words: “The kingdom of heaven is like unto" such and such a thing. Therefore, to understand His parables rightly, we must first know what He meant by “the kingdom of heaven". The meaning was threefold. Firstly, He meant His external and visible kingdom, or, in other words, His Church; secondly, His interior and invisible kingdom, or His reign in the souls of men by His grace and truth; and thirdly, He sometimes meant the eternal happiness of heaven, to which His kingdom upon earth is intended to lead us.
