Consider first, that on this day we enter upon a time of devotion and penance in the way of preparation for the solemn fast of Lent, and therefore we are called upon by the church, both in the Epistle and in the Gospel of this Sunday, to begin, now at least, to be quite in earnest in the great concerns of our soul. In the Epistle, we are put in mind by St. Paul (1 Cor. ix. and x.) that we are all here running in a race, in which we must push forward, with all our power, or we shall lose the prize; that we are engaged in a conflict, for an incorruptible crown, which is not to be obtained without much labour and self-denial. That if we are not in earnest, notwithstanding all the distinguished favours we have received and daily receive from God, we shall be in great danger of being excluded, like the Israelites, from the true land of promise. In the parable of the Gospel we are put in mind that we have but one business in this world, which is here represented under the figure of labouring in the vineyard of our Lord; that in this labour we are to spend the short day of our mortal life, and by persevering till night in this labour, we are to secure to our souls the wages of a happy eternity. O let us attend well, that we may learn these great lessons!

Consider 2ndly, in the parable of this day's Gospel, the infinite goodness of God, manifested to us in that perpetual attention of His, in every age, since the beginning of the world, and in every part of the life of man, by which we are invited by His divine graces and calls, to go out and to hire and to send labourers into His vineyard. And after all, what need has he of our labour, or of what service can we be to Him? or what can we give Him, which He does not first give to us? Why then does He press us to labour in His vineyard? O! 'tis His pure goodness and love, that He may make us for ever happy by our serving Him here, and enjoying Him hereafter. But what then is the meaning of this vineyard of our Lord? and what is this labour that He calls for at our hands? 'The vineyard of the Lord of Hosts,' said the prophet Isaias, (v. 7) 'is the house of Israel,' that is, the people of God. Yes, our own souls are the vineyard we are commanded to cultivate--no one can be excused from his share in this labour; every one must at least take care of one. To labour here to the purpose, we must in the first place root out the poisonous weed of sinful habits, and cut up all the thorns and briars of our vices and passions, and then we must plant in their stead the good plant of Christian virtues, and bring them on, by proper care, till they are capable of bringing forth fruit that may answer the expectation of the great Lord and Master of the vineyard, and be agreeable to Him. O how happy shall we be, if by our labours, and His blessing, we so cultivate this little part of the Lord's vineyard that falls to our share, as to engage Him to come to us and recreate Himself there with us!

Consider 3rdly, Christian souls, how early in the morning your good God invited you to work in His vineyard, by the early knowledge he gave you of Himself, and of the end for which He brought you into the world, and how frequently He has pressed you ever since, by His repeated graces and calls, in every part of your life, to oblige you to set about this work in good earnest. But can you say you have yet begun? May He not justly reproach you, as He did those whom He found standing in the market-place, at the eleventh hour: 'why stand you here all the day idle?' Alas! are you not idle, when you are doing nothing to the purpose? And has not your whole life hitherto been spent in doing nothing to your purpose? Nothing to answer the great end, the only business, for which you were made? Have you not then been truly idle all the day, that is all the time of your life? O begin now at least to labour--perhaps this is your last hour, your day is far spent, the night is coming on 'when no man can work.' John ix. 4. Work therefore now, whilst you have time, lest being surprised by the night, you may have no more time to work in, and so starve for eternity.

Conclude to make good use of this fresh summons, by which you are called upon this day, by God and His Church, to go and labour in the vineyard of your souls; lest otherwise, by not corresponding with the call, and receiving the grace of God in vain, you verify in yourselves that sentence with which our Lord concludes the parable of this Sunday, 'Many are called, but few are chosen.'

Consider first, what our Lord here tells us: that 'there was a certain householder, who planted a vineyard, and made a hedge round about it; and dug in it a wine-press, and built a tower, and let it out to husbandmen, and went into a strange country.' This householder represents to us God Himself; and this vineyard which He has planted is His universal church. But see my soul, what care He has bestowed upon this vineyard; fencing it in with His excellent laws, and His perpetual protection, as with a hedge; digging in it a wine-press, by the institution of His divine sacraments, the sources of His heavenly grace, pressed out for us from the sacred wounds of our crucified Saviour; and building in its favour a tower, in which He might watch over it by His extraordinary province, as well to keep evils away from it as to provide it with all good. This vineyard he lets out to husbandmen; that is to all men, inasmuch a He has given to all men a part, or share, in which each one is to labour; to wit, his own soul at least, and the souls of as many others as he has committed to his charge. And having done this, He withdraws Himself, as it were, into a strange country, by keeping Himself out of our sight, during the time of our mortal life, and patiently waiting for the fruit of this His vineyard, which we are to furnish in due season. O what lessons have we here, as well with regard to the goodness of our God on the one hand, in all that He has done for His vineyard, and for every part of it, and consequently for every Christian soul, as with regard to our indispensable duty, on the other hand, of corresponding with this His goodness by our labours, in producing and furnishing the fruit He expected.

Consider 2ndly, with regard to thyself, what this great Lord has done for the vineyard of thy soul in particular, by innumerable favours and graces of every kind which He has bestowed upon thee all thy life long, till this very hour; and by many happy opportunities of doing good, which He has afforded thee, (which if duly embraced by thee, might have made thee a saint,) beyond what He has granted to thousands of others. Then see if He may not say of thee, what He said heretofore of this vineyard of Jerusalem, Isaias v. 4, 'What is there that I ought to do more for my vineyard, that I have not done to it?' But after all this care on His part, what fruit hast thou hitherto produced for Him? alas! may He not justly complain of thee, as he did of that Jewish vineyard, that instead of the good grapes, which he looked for from thee, thou hast only brought forth wild grapes? O dread then what He threatens, in the same place, in consequence of his being thus disappointed, in the words that immediately follow--'I will show you,' said He, 'what I will do to my vineyard. I will take away the hedge thereof, and it shall be wasted; I will break down the wall thereof, and it shall not be pruned, and it shall not be digged; but briars and thorn shall come up! and I will command the clouds to rain no rain upon it.' Can anything be more terrible than these threats of the soul's being thus abandoned and given up to a reprobate sense, in punishment of her still bringing forth no good fruit, after so many repeated favours and graces?

Consider 3rdly, in this parable, how the Lord of the vineyard sent, at different times, His servants to the husbandmen, to receive the fruits of it; but they persecuted them to death; till at length He sent His only son, whom they used in like manner. In punishment of which He brought these evil men to an evil end, and let out His vineyard to other husbandmen, that should render Him the fruit in due season. This was literally verified in the Jews, to whom the parable was addressed by our Lord a few days before His passion. God sent to them, at divers times, His servants, the prophets, to call for the fruits of His vineyard; but they returned Him no fruits; they even persecuted His messengers, and put several of them to death. At length, He sent them His only Son; and Him they cast off, condemned to death, and crucified. And therefore, as our Lord here foretells, the kingdom of God (that is the vineyard of His church) has been long ago taken away from them, to be given to a nation (that is to the Gentiles) that should bring forth the fruits thereof. But all this is applicable, more or less, to the particular vineyard of the soul of each Christian. Wherefore, as to thy own part, O my soul, reflect how far thou hast imitated those unhappy husbandmen, in refusing to render to the Lord of the vineyard, in due season, the fruits which He has so often called for at thy hands by His messengers; that is, by His preachers, by His word, by His inspirations, by reproaches of conscience, &c.; and in persecuting those who he sent to thee, by wilfully resisting his graces, stifling His inspirations, and setting at nought all them who sought to bring thee to good. Alas! hast thou not, by thy obstinacy in sin, as much as lay in thee, even crucified again the Son of God? O take heed, lest if thou go on in this perversity, thou fall under the like sentence as the Jews did, of being brought to an evil end, and the kingdom of God be taken away from thee and given to another.

Conclude to look well to the vineyard of thy soul, that it may, by due correspondence with divine grace, bring forth its fruit in due season: even such good grapes as may be acceptable to the great Lord, who has let out His vineyard to thee, and who ceases not to furnish thee with all proper helps to make it fruitful.

PRAYER: O most benignant God, who, out of pure grace, without any merit of ours, hast called us, Thy unworthy servants, to the true faith, into the vineyard of the holy Catholic Church, and dost require us to work in it for the sanctification of our souls, grant, we beseech Thee, that we may never be idle, but be found always faithful workmen, and that that which in past, years we have failed to do, we may make up for in future by greater zeal and persevering industry, and, the work being done, may receive the promised reward in heaven, through Jesus Christ, Thy Son, our Lord, &c.