There is a very close analogy between the end of the world and the end of each particular man. Terrible phenomena shall announce the proximity of the first, as grievous sickness shall give warning that the second is not far off. But still, God does not wish that we should know the day nor the hour thereof. This ignorance is necessary, in order to preserve a certain physical and political order, which is only sustained by the hope of a long existence. Would the husbandman take the trouble of sowing his field, if it were revealed to him that he should not live until the harvest? Thus the entire world would fall into a universal languor, at least for a century before its end, if we knew exactly when that is to be. But the principal reason for which God leaves men in ignorance of the end of all things, is in order that they, living ever in expectation of it, may be always ready for the moment when it shall arrive. The warning is for all times, and for all men, because all are mortal, and that the end of the divinity of the Son. It might have been said in answer to them, that it was not absolutely impossible that the Son, considering in him human nature alone, might be ignorant of the day of judgment; so that ignorance would be no argument against his divinity. But the Catholic Church does not acknowledge in the Son, even considered as man, ignorance of any matter whatever which has been, which is, or which shall be. In what sense, therefore, could it be said that the day of judgment was unknown to him? It is this which constitutes the difficulty of this text, and gives rise to so many explanations of its meaning. Here are the two which appear to be the most generally received. According to the first, the Son was not cognizant of the day of judgment in such a way that he could reasonably communicate the knowledge thereof; and with reference to his disciples, who sought to learn it from him, it was as though he knew it not. Thus, a confessor, when questioned upon a matter which he only knows under the seal of confession, can answer, without violating truth, that he is not aware of it. The second explanation is more abstruse. The Son, considered even according to his divine nature, attributes to the Father alone, by appropriation, the knowledge of the end of the world, in the same way as creation is attributed to him alone; undoubtedly because the creation of the world and its destruction are regarded as belonging to the same power. They apply in reference to this subject these words of Jesus Christ to his disciples: It is not for you to know the times or moments which the Father hath put in his power (Acts i.). It is also in the same sense that he has said upon another occasion: To sit on my right hand or my left is not mine to give you, but to them for whom it is prepared; which signifies that the right of disposing thereof is appropriated to the Father, although it belongs equally to the three divine persons. Every prophecy which foretells the time of the end of the world is false, and he who makes it is a false prophet. This evidently follows from the passage which we have just ́explained, let it be taken in whatever sense it may. life is, to all those who die, the end of the world. Let each one, therefore, apply to himself what the Saviour seems to address to those only who shall see the latter days, when he continues in these words: (a) "Take heed, watch, and pray (24); for ye know not when the time is. Take heed to yourselves [said he again], lest perhaps your hearts be overcharged with surfeiting and drunkenness, and the cares of this life (25), and that day come upon you suddenly. For as a snare shall it come upon all that sit upon the face of the earth. Watch ye, therefore, praying at all times, that you may be accounted worthy to escape all these things that are to come, and to stand before the Son of man. As the days of Noe, so shall also the coming of the Son of man be. For, as in the days before the flood, they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, even till that day in which Noe entered into the ark, and they knew not till the flood came, and took them all away, so also shall the coming of the Son of man be (26)." For But discrimination shall follow these times of confusion. (b)" then two shall be in the field; one shall be taken, and one shall (a) St. Mark, xiii. 33; St. Luke, xxi. 34-36; St. Matthew, xxiv. 37-39. (24) Watch, as if your salvation depended upon yourself alone; pray, because your salvation depends still more on God. Prayer attracts grace: vigilance causes grace not to be received in vain. To watch without praying would be Pelagian presumption; to pray without watching would be a species of quietism; to unite both together is to have both faith and works. (25) Passions and the business of the world-general causes of man's reprobation. The passions engender sin, and the bustle of business nullifies many projects of conversion. We know that we have need of conversion, we desire it; subdued passions can no longer oppose an obstacle to this conversion, but the matters of business which have succeeded the passions never leave time for it. It will come about, we say; we hope for it, and we are deceived; death has been beforehand with it, and too often occurs before the affair of salvation is even commenced. True it is, that we may have transacted an infinite number of other affairs, all useless then, whilst the one thing needful has been neglected. O ye wise of the world! what think you, then, of your wisdom? Non insensati, Sap. V. The wise of time are the fools of eternity. (26) It is difficult to understand such a security in the midst of the tragic events which Jesus Christ has just described. Saint Jerome thinks that between these events and the arrival of the judge there will be a time of peace, during which men, becoming reassured, will return to their former occupations. be left (27). Two women shall be grinding at the mill: one shall be taken, and one shall be left. Watch ye, therefore; because ye know not what hour your Lord will come. But this know ye, that if the good man of the house knew at what hour the thief would come, he would certainly watch, and would not suffer his house to be broken open. Wherefore be you also ready, because at what hour you know not, the Son of man will come." CHAPTER LVII. SEQUEL. GOOD AND BAD SERVANTS.-WISE AND FOOLISH VIRGINS. TALENTS. JUDGMENT OF JESUS CHRIST. Now the question is, in what does this vigilance consist, and what dispositions should it establish within us? The Saviour is going to give us this information by these familiar comparisons: (a) “Who, thinkest thou, is a faithful and wise servant, whom his lord hath appointed over his family, to give them meat in season? Blessed is the servant whom, when his lord shall come, he shall find so doing! Amen, I say to you, he shall place him over all his goods. But if that evil servant shall say in his heart: My lord is long a coming; and shall begin to strike his fellow-servants, and shall eat and drink (a) St. Matthew, xxiv. 45-51; St. Mark, xiii. 34-37. (27) In all conditions there are elect and reprobate, which shows that we should always entertain both fear and hope. Such a courtier is a saint, such a man who dwells in solitude is a great sinner; therefore neither do the difficulties of salvation amount to impossibilities, nor are the facilities of salvation assurances that we shall obtain it. One single just man in a profession shall suffice to condemn all those who, in the same profession, have not known how to preserve justice. This testimony shall be the more irreproachable, inasmuch as the just man shall be just only, because he has fulfilled all the duties of his profession, and that the better he has fulfilled them, the more perfect shall be his justice. with drunkards (1), the lord of that servant shall come in a day that he hopeth not, and at an hour that he knoweth not; and shall separate him, and appoint his portion with the hypocrites. There shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth. Even as a man who, going into a far country, left his house, and gave authority to his servants over every work, and commanded the porter to watch. Watch ye, therefore; for you know not when the lord of the house cometh, at even, or at midnight, or at the cock's crowing, or at morning; lest, coming on a sudden, he find you sleeping. And what I say to you I say to all: Watch." But those who shall be taken by surprise shall not be taken short on one account alone, viz., for having utterly neglected to prepare for the coming of their master; but also if they have begun their preparation too late. In the same way, the weeping and gnashing of teeth shall not be the lot of the bad servant alone; they shall also be the lot of the useless servant. It is plain that these differences give weight to the preceding examples; and the reader will not regard as merely a repetition what Jesus is going to say. Let no one be astonished at his dwelling longer on this subject than he has upon any other. Since it behooves us to act so as not to be surprised by death, we are bound, therefore, to look to a matter which is to decide our eternal salvation; and on what other subject should the Saviour so earnestly warn us to be careful? (a) “Then shall the kingdom of heaven (2) be like to ten virgins, (a) St. Matthew, xxv. 1–46. (1) Those who say: Let us enjoy life, death is yet afar off, are described here feature by feature. (2) The kingdom of heaven is the Church taken in its full extent-that is to say, as being the society of all the faithful, whether just or sinners. The bridegroom is Jesus Christ; the bride is the predestined and triumphant Church; the ten virgins are the whole body of the faithful; the wise virgins are the just; and the sinners are represented by the foolish virgins. The lamps signify faith; and the oil signifies good works. The sleep whilst awaiting the bridegroom is forgetfulness of death, which arises from the fact of our believing it always distant. We may remark that this species of sleep comes also over the just; but these, when they are surprised, are not deceived, because they expect to be so surprised. The unexpected arrival of the bridegroom is the moment of death and of judgment which immediately follows. Faith, accompanied by works, enters with him into the nuptial hall: faith, without works, is irrevocably excluded therefrom. who, taking their lamps, went out to meet the bridegroom and the bride (3). Five of them were foolish, and five wise. But the five foolish having taken their lamps, did not take oil with them; but the wise took oil in their vessels with the lamps. The bridegroom tarrying, they all slumbered and slept. And at midnight there was a cry made: Behold, the bridegroom cometh; go ye forth to meet him. Then all those virgins arose, and trimmed their lamps. And the foolish said to the wise: Give us of your oil, for our lamps are gone out. The wise answered: Lest perhaps there be not enough for us and for you (4), go ye rather to them that sell, and buy for yourselves (5). Whilst they went to buy, the bridegroom came; and they that were ready went in with him to the marriage, and the door was shut: at last came also the other virgins, saying: Lord, Lord, open to us. But he answering, said: Amen, I say to you, I This truth is, as it were, the moral of the whole parable, and the principal instruction which it is meant to convey. There are other incidental instructions which we may remark as we go along. The return of the foolish virgins, the door which they find closed, their supplicating the bridegroom to open it for them, and the answer which they receive from him, should all be considered as mere accompaniments to the parable, and having no application; for assuredly the reprobate, after their judgment and their condemnation, shall not come to the gate of paradise to beseech the Lord to open it for them. (3) Reprobates, although truly virgins. The reason is because there are proud virgins, there are virgins who hate, virgins who slander-angels from the purity of their bodiesdemons in the malignity of their heart-justly called foolish, according to Saint Chrysostom, because, whilst victorious over a more powerful enemy, they allow themselves to be vanquished by another much more feeble. It is the gnat, the lion's conqueror, perishing in the spider's web. (4) The just shall fear lest their own justice may be found insufficient; and if the just man shall scarcely be saved, where shall the ungodly and sinner appear?—(I. Peter, iv. 18.) (5) In God's judgment the merits of the one shall not supply the deficiency of others. This is the meaning of this answer of the wise virgins, and not as Protestants say, that the intercession of saints is a nullity, and has no effect. This intercession is a satisfaction for the temporal pains due to sin in this world and in the other: it is also efficacious by way of impetration in obtaining graces which may be available for the salvation and sanctification of those to whom they are granted; but as to merit, properly speaking, this intercession procures it directly for no one. Now, there was here no question as to grace, because the time for co-operation therewith was past, nor as to the temporal pains of a life which was then ended, nor yet as to those of the other life, as it is universally agreed that after the last judgment there shall no longer be a purgatory. |