PRAYER OF THE CHURCH. Guard Thy family with Thy eternal mercy, we beseech Thee, O Lord, that, as it sets its hope on Thy heavenly grace alone, it may always find security in Thy protection. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, &c.

EPISTLE. (Col. iii. 12 - 17.) Brethren: Put ye on, therefore, as the elect of God, holy, and beloved, the bowels of mercy, benignity, humility, modesty, patience: bearing with one another, and forgiving one another, if any have a complaint against another. Even as the Lord hath forgiven you, so you also. But above all these things have charity, which is the bond of perfection: and let the peace of Christ rejoice in your hearts, wherein also you are called in one body: and be ye thankful. Let the word of Christ dwell in you abundantly, in all wisdom: teaching and admonishing one another in psalms, hymns, and spiritual canticlas, singing in grace in your hearts to God. All whatsoever you do in word or in work, all things do ye in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, giving thanks to God and the Father by Him.


Why does St. Paul call charity the bond of perfection?

Because charity comprises in itself, and links together all the virtues in which perfection consists. For whoever truly loves God and his neighbor, is also good, merciful, humble, modest, patiently bears the weakness of his neighbor, willingly forgives offences, in a word, practises all virtues for the sake of charity, without which there is no true virtue.

When we have learned to conquer our evil inclinations, passions, and desires, and have replaced them in our hearts by order and quiet. This peace then, like a queen, keeps all the wishes of the soul in harmony, and causes us to enjoy constant peace with our neighbor, and thus serve Christ in concord, as the members of one body serve the head. The best means of preserving this peace, are an earnest attention to the word of God, and mutual imparting of pious exhortations and admonitions, and singing of hymns, psalms, and spiritual canticles.


Why should we do all in the name of Jesus?

Because only then can our works have real worth in the sight of God, and be pleasing to Him, when they are performed for love of Jesus, in His honor, in accordance with His spirit and will. Therefore the apostle admonishes us that we should do all, eat, drink, sleep, work, &c, in the name of Jesus, and so honor God, the Heavenly Father, and show our gratitude to Him. Oh, how grieved on their deathbed will they be who have neglected to offer God their daily work by a good intention, when they will see, too late, how devoid they are of meritorious deeds, and, on the contrary, how will they rejoice whose consciences testify, that in all their actions they had in view only the will and the honor of God! Would that this might be taken to heart especially by those who have to earn their bread with difficulty and in distress, that they might always unite their hardships and trials with the sufferings and merits of Jesus, offering them to the Heavenly Father, and thus imitating Christ, who had no other motive than the will and the glory of His Heavenly Father.

ASPIRATION. O God of love, of patience, and of mercy, turn our hearts to the sincere love of our neighbor, and grant, that whatever we do in thoughts, words, and actions, we may do in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, and through Him render thanks to Thee.


ON THE CHOIR OR CHURCH SINGING.

Admonish one another in psalms, hymns, and spiritual canticles, singing in grace in your hearts to God.(Col. iii. 16.)

The custom of singing in the Church-choir* has its foundation as far back as the Old Testament, when, by the arrangement of David, Solomon, and Ezechias, the psalms and other sacred canticles were sung by the priests and levites. This custom the Catholic Church has preserved, after the precepts of the apostles (i. Cor. xiv. 26.; Eph. v. 19.), and the example of Jesus who, after they had eaten the pasch, intoned a hymn of praise with His apostles (Matt. xxvi. 30.), that Christians on earth, like the angels and saints in heaven (Apoc. v. 8. 9., xiv. 3.), who unceasingly sing His praises, might at certain hours of the day, at least, give praise and thanks to God. In the earliest times of the Church, the Christians sang hymns of praise and thanksgiving, during the holy Sacrifice and other devotional services, often continuing them throughout the whole night; in which case the choir-singers probably sang in certain order, and according to a settled agreement this singing, in time, ceased to be general, became confined to the choir, which was accompanied, later, by instruments, as incited by David who calls to the praise of the Lord with trumpets, with timbrels, with pleasant psaltery and harps. (Ps. cl. 3. 4., lxxx. 3. 4.) In many Churches, however, the praiseworthy habit of all the faithful singing together during the service, is retained, and if this is done with pure, godpleasing hearts, and true devotion, it is, as St. Basil says, "a heavenly occupation, a spiritual burnt offering; it enlightens the spirit, raises towards heaven, leads man to communion with God, makes the soul rejoice, ends idle talk, puts away laughter, reminds us of the judgment, reconciles enemies.. Where the singing of songs resounds from the contrite heart, there God with the angels is present."

* The choir is usually a gallery in the Church in which the singers are stationed; the place in which the clergy sing or recite their office, is also called the choir.

GOSPEL. (Matt. xiii. 24 - 30.) At That Time: Jesus proposed another parable to them, saying: The kingdom of heaven is likened to a man, who 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 had brought forth fruit, then appeared also the cockle, and the servants of the good man of the house coming, said to him: Sir, didst thou not sow good seed in thy field? 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 perhaps gathering up the cockle, you root up the wheat also together with it. Suffer both to 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 the wheat gather ye into my barn.


What is understood by the kingdom of heaven?

The Church of God, or the collection of all orthodox Christians on earth, destined for heaven.


What is meant by the good seed, and by the cockle?

The good seed, as Christ Himself says (Matt. xiii. 38.), signifies the children of the kingdom, that is, the true Christians, the living members of the Church, also the word of God, which makes us children of God. The cockle means the children of iniquity, of the devil (John iii. 8.), that is, those who do evil; also every wrong, false doctrine which leads men to evil.


Who sows the good seed?

The good seed is sown by Jesus, the Son of Man, not only directly, but also through His apostles, and the priests, their successors; the evil seed is sown by the devil, or by wicked men whom he uses as his tools.


Who are the men who were asleep?

Those superiors in the Church, those bishops and pastors, who take no care of their flock, and do not warn them against seduction, when the devil comes and by wicked men sows the cockle of erroneous doctrine and of crime; and those men who are careless and neglect to hear the word of God and holy Mass, to practise prayer, and avail themselves of the holy Sacraments, so, in whose souls the devil sows the seeds of bad thoughts, evil imaginings and desires, from which spring, later, the cockle of pride, impurity, anger, envy, avarice, &c.


Why does God not allow the cockle, that is, the wicked people, to be rooted out and destroyed?

Because of His patience and long suffering towards the sinner to whom He gives time for repentance, and because of His love for the just from whom He would not, by weeding out the unjust, take away the occasion of practising virtue and gathering up merits for themselves; for because of the unjust, the just have numerous opportunities to exercise patience, humility, &c.


When is the time of the harvest?

The day of the last judgment when the reapers, that is, the angels, will go out and separate the wicked from the just, and throw the wicked into the furnace of fire, while the just will be taken into everlasting joy. (Matt. xiii. 49.)


PRAYER: O faithful Jesus, Thou greatest lover of our souls, who hast sown the good seed of Thy divine word in our hearts, that it may bear rich fruit for eternal life, grant that this seed may live and be productive in us; protect us from our evil enemy, that he may not oversow his erroneous and false doctrine in our hearts, and corrupt the good; keep us from the sleep of sin, and from indolence in the good, that we may remain always vigilant and armed against the temptations of the world, the flesh, and the devil, overcome them manfully, and die a happy death. Amen.

It is the sad consequence of original sin, that is, of that sin, which our first parents, by their disobedience, committed in paradise, and which we have inherited as their descendants. This inclination to evil remains even in those who have been baptized, although original sin with its guilt and eternal punishment, is taken away in baptism, but it is no sin as long as man does not voluntarily yield to it. (Cat. Rom. Part. ii. c. 2., 43.)

To humble us, to make us see our weakness, our great misery, that we may turn to God as our best and mightiest Father, as did St. Paul when he was much annoyed by the devil of the flesh (ii. Cor. xii. 7.8.); that the glory of God and the power of Christ should be manifested in us, which except for our weakness could not be; that we might have occasion to fight and to conquer, and not become idle. A soldier cannot battle without opposition, nor win victory and the crown without a contest. Nor can we win the heavenly crown, if no occasion is given us, by temptations, for fight and for victory. "That which tires the combatant," says St. Bernard, "crowns the conqueror." Finally, the inclination remains, that we may learn to endure, in all meekness, the faults and infirmities of others and to watch ourselves, lest we fall into the same temptations.