24. The disciple is not above his master, nor the servant above his lord.

25. It is enough for the disciple that he be as his master, and the servant as his lord. If they have called the master of the house 'Beelzebub, how much more them of his household ?

26. Therefore fear them not: for there is nothing hid that shall not be revealed; nor secret that shall not be known.

27. That which I tell you in the dark, speak ye in the light: and that which you hear in the ear, preach ye upon the housetops.

The public may persecute through a sense of outraged spite, but the unfortunate victim generally finds sympathy at home. In the Gospel, we have seen that it is quite the contrary. Domestic persecution has been the most difficult thing in the whole dispensation of the New Law. It existed in the beginning, it exists now. How many poor converts are reduced, in our own days, from affluence to beggary, from home to exile-their hearts overflowing with affection the while-because they choose the truth rather than error!

Our Lord consoles those who suffer for His sake, by His own example. He was persecuted by His own; He was called foul names; and He died in disgrace, shame, and torture. Yet see how His name and emblem shine on the top of nations now.

'There are thousands of instances of this domestic persecution in the Church. Some think Our Lord did not deliver this prophecy until later on, Luke xxi. 16, but most think He spoke it more than once.

2Hated by all.-As Christians, we are hated by all who are not; and good Christians are hated by negligent ones. We must persevere or bear up against all this.

3You shall not finish.-Flee from one city to another-not to a desert where you do nothing-and do not fear that you shall get through them all until the Son of man come-for this mission in His Resurrection, for the other one in His Last Judgment.

4Beelzebub means the god of flies, and Beelzeboul, the Greek form, the god of dung. Flies collect on that, and hence the relation. He was the idol of the Accaronites.

"This was a proverb, Calmet says, taken from the Jewish rabbis. The rabbi said a thing in a low voice, and a boy shouted out to the school, as a captain of a steamship gives his orders to the engineer. The house-top means in public. People took their recreation and saw their friends on the house-tops in Judea.

It is painful to be hated when:

Ist. You are doing your best for the haters.

2nd. When they misunderstand everything you do.

3rd. Persecute you for it, and rejoice thereat.

28. "Et nolite timere eos qui occidunt corpus, animam autem non possunt occidere; sed potiùs timete eum qui potest et animam et corpus perdere in gehennam.

29. "Nonne duo passeres asse veneunt? Et unus ex illis non cadet super terram sine Patre

vestro.

30. "Vestri autem capilli capitis omnes numerati sunt.

31. "Nolite ergò timere: multis passeribus meliores estis

Vos.

32. "Omnis ergò qui confitebitur me coram hominibus, confitebor et ego eum coràm Patre meo qui in cœlis est;

33. "Qui autem negaverit me coràm hominibus, negabo et ego eam coràm Patre meo qui in cœlis est.

The reward is great, when on the last day, or even before: Ist. Your innocence becomes revealed.

2nd. Those who persecuted, honour your memory.

3rd. Your example consoles. others in the same plight.

28. And fear not those that 'kill the body, and cannot kill the soul: but rather fear him that can destroy both soul and body in hell.

29. Are not two sparrows sold for a farthing? and not one of them shall fall on the ground without your Father.

30. But the very hairs of your head are all numbered.

31. Fear not, therefore: you are of more value than many sparrows.

32. Whosoever, therefore, shall 'confess me before men, I will also confess him before my Father, who is in heaven.

33. But whosoever shall deny me before men, I will also deny him before my Father who is

in heaven.

In these verses the courage of the Martyrs is extolled, and reasons given for its encouragement. Sinners think they are brave in defying the Almighty and being afraid of public opinion -like duellists, statesmen, dishonest tradesmen, or followers of indecent fashions-Our Lord lays down to them a contrary doctrine. Throughout these instructions, as is natural, the heavenly reward is the only inducement held out. Our Lord never offered any earthly happiness-as was offered to the Jews by Moses and the Prophets to His followers; but contrariwise, earthly troubles as the road to heavenly joys. His kingdom was not of this world.

'Kill the body. It is remarkable that in the contrast He does not carry out the parallelism by saying kill the soul. The soul cannot be killed, but it can be tormented or punished for ever and ever.

Two sparrows.- Sparrows is put according to some, as a generic term for small worthless birds. According to others, these little pests of farmers, who are being continually chaced, is meant. Two sparrows are sold for about a farthing even yet in Palestine, and parts of Italy.

The very hairs of your head.-There is no difficulty to be apprehended from taking this even literally.

Confess me.-The Greek could be better translated by profess his belief in me; but the manner in which confess is understood here answers the purpose. Lingard translates the confitebitur, own; and the negaverit, disown. Scarcely strong enough. Only one commentator lays great stress upon verse 33. Here Our Lord asserts a doctrine always held and acted upon in the Church. That if a man denies his faith publicly, although believing it in his heart, he is an apostate.

Providence wonderful. Ist. Cares for the most minute things.

2nd. Nothing happens without God's will and permission.

3rd. Does He not think something of a soul for which Hel died?

Martyrdom prized as highest kind of sanctity.

the

Ist. By Our Lord Himself. 2nd. By the actual Martyrs. 3rd. By nearly all Saints longed for.

Faith is so precious that we must never deny it, even at the loss:

Ist. Of position or place. 2nd. Reputation or honour. 3rd. Price of death or disgrace.

Our Lord passes from the severity of material martyrdom or death to that of a more poignant nature. To bow one's head to the stroke of an axe, and know that the short pain brings an eternity of joy, does not seem such a terrible matter. Converts in pagan or heretical families have to undergo severe trials, and the more affectionate and excellent they are the more painful are their sufferings. Yet even this must be sacrificed. The Faith is above every tie, even those created by nature and sanctioned by heaven. Marriage ties, family ties, earthly ties, give way to the faith, so, also must they give way to a divine vocation. Our Lord is speaking for both in these words.

1Peace. As mentioned before (page 117) peace, in its Hebrew accepta tion, meant earthly happiness or comfort, in Gospel phraseology it is quite different. The opposition here is twofold. Peace in Greek pnun is to unite, this contrasts with separate, which a sword does. Positus est hic in ruinam et resurrectionem multorum in Israel.

2At variance. He is come to cause this variance, on no other grounds except that of His faith and its profession. The whole question here concerns the issue of the doctrines about to be preached in this immediate mission. The whole cause of contention is faith or unbelief, and the latter more especially.

3A man's enemies.-In two ways is this true. Ist. Family ties seem to worldlings paramount and they cannot understand their being broken

except by other similar ties. 2nd. No one is a prophet in his own country or a hero to his own valet.

He that loveth. This sentence of Our Divine Lord and the examples given by His apostles have been the keystone of all the great sacrifices made by His followers throughout every period of the Church's history.

2nd. Keeping in the state of necessity. grace.

3rd. Trusting to Him in moments of trial.