Chapter 5. The Parable of the Supper.

THE fifth parable, which is found in St. Luke, makes the happiness of the saints like to a great supper : and truly, not with out reason. For in a nuptial or royal sup per, every thing is found that can delight the human sense, and exhibit the power, riches, and ^ glory of this world. Where fore , when king Assuerus ruled over a hundred and twenty-seven provinces, and

wished to display the riches of the glory of his kingdom, and the greatness of his power, he found nothing more adapted for his purpose, than to prepare a most magni ficent banquet. First, in a great banquet the eyes are delighted with the costly orna ments of the palace, with the numerous ser vants clad in beautiful and precious^ robes, with the gold and silver vases in which the viands are carried ; the ears are delighted with various musical instruments, and the songs of many voices ; the sense of smell is delighted with the odour of flowers, precious ointment, and scented water, &c. ; the sense of taste with viands of every description, and precious wines from every land ; in fine ; the sense of touch is charmed by the softest and most elegant couches. Wherefore, as in a royal or nuptial ban quet, nearly every corporal good is found that can be procured on earth, not without reason did pur Lord, wishing to represent that "happiness" which in itself includes all good things, compare it to a great sup per: of this we read in the Apocalypse: "Blessed are they who are called to the nuptial supper of the Lamb." We may learn how great the supper of the Lord will be, from this circumstance, that the beauty of all the glorified bodies will be, the table on which the last service is placed. But so great is the sweetness of the ' last course,' that when St. Peter once saw the body^of the Lord resplendent as the sun, he said,

"It is good for us to be here." 'And if these things be such, what will the supper itself be, which consists in the enjoyment of the divinity !

In fine, all the good things of this world are nothing else than the rind and shell as it were, of the fruits of paradise. And if these * parings' be such, that men are en chanted with a love and desire for them, what will the fruit itself of paradise be ! And if the fruit be such, what will the more solid and excellent food be ! Truly it will be such, as always to be eaten without satiety, always to be desired. But we must not suppose, that the supper in heaven will be such as great princes give here on earth at their espousals ; in heaven we shall be as the angels of God ; "we shall neither marry, nor be married/' nor shall we stand in need of food to support life. The supper therefore will consist of spiritual ricnes, and delights, and glory, and ornament, suitable to the state of the blessed. Riches and delights are mentioned in this life, because we see not things more excellent. But from these we may learn, that the spiritual ' supper ' will be so superior to our most splendid banquets, as heaven is to earth, and as God who will prepare it, is above all mortals in power and majesty.

But some one will say, Why is the happiness of the saints compared to a supper, rather than to a dinner? The reason is this ; because dinner is taken at mid-day

and after it business is attended to till evening: but supper is taken towards evening, when all business is finished, and afterwards come rest and sleep. Where fore in another parable which is found in St. Matthew, respecting the Incarnation of our Lord, dinner is introduced on account of the marriage which the king made for his son. The reason is, because our Lord's Incarnation, and the marriage with His spouse the Church, were commenced at mid-day, that is, a long while before the end of the world. After dinner, the re demption of the world, and the reconcilia tion of man with God, were celebrated. But when the bride shall be conducted to the palace of the bridegroom, and to the nuptial supper, all business will cease, and the sweetest sleep shall follow, that is, there will be eternal rest. This therefore is the reason, why the perfect glory of the blessed is compared to a supper, rather than to a dinner.

But it will be useful to consider what we must do, in order to be admitted to the supper. This our Lord plainly teaches us in the parable, for He saith : " A certain man made a great supper and invited

many And they began all at once to make excuse. The first said to him: I have bought a farm, and I must needs go out and see it : I pray thee, hold me ex cused. And another said : I have bought five yoke of oxen, and I go to try them : I

pray thee hold me excused. And another said : I have married a wife, and therefore I cannot come/' (St. Luke xiv.) How wonderful ! Men are invited by God to the nuptial supper, and they refuse ! What would they do if they were called to mili tary service, or to undertake a long and dangerous journey ? Such is the blindness of men, that they can scarcely be induced to believe what they do not see. But what is that which mortals prefer before the nuptial supper, that is, before their greatest, eternal good ? Our Lord mentions three impediments to salvation, which of their own nature are not evil ; but yet, too great an affection for them hinders our eternal salvation. To buy a farm, to try oxen, to marry a wife, are not sinful : but to prefer them before the kingdom of heaven, is an incredible blindness. And yet, there are many Christians who pursue temporal goods with such ardour ; and honours, dignity, and power, signified in the purchase of the farm ; and riches, signified by the oxen ; and pleasure, by t?he marriage ; that they spend days and nights in seeking and enjoying them, entirely forgetting those eternal rewards which God hath promised to them that love Him. And many are not content with purchasing farms, trying yokes of oxen, and marrying ; but in order as it were, more completely to neglect their salvation, they seize the farms of other men steal their oxen, and support concu-

bines: nor do they ever consider what a misfortune it will be, for such husks of swine to be deprived of the supper of the Lord. Truly, if our Lord had promised to us ^ worms of the earth, not a supper of infinite sweetness, but crumbs falling from that table ; even then it would be ad vantageous for us to despise all temporal goods, that so we might possess those crumbs. ^What madness therefore is it, to prefer insignificant and fleeting pleasures, before this divine supper, which abounds with every eternal delight, and in which we shall sit down with the holy angels, and even with the King of Angels in heaven !

After our Lord hath shown us what are the impediments to our being present at the great supper, He also added the means by which they may be removed : He con tinues in the parable: " Then the master of the house being angry, said to his ser vant : Go out quickly into the streets and lanes of the city, and bring in hither the poor and the feeble, and the blind and the lame." Because the rich were occupied in buying farms, and oxen, and marrying, they refused to attend the supper of their great Master. He therefore calls the poor, who have neither money to purchase farms and oxen, nor are able to support their wives, if they can find any. He calls the feeble, who cannot visit farms, nor buy oxen, nor marry wives : He calls the blind, who cannot see farms, nor manage oxen

nor easily find a wife: He calls the lame, who cannot without the greatest difficulty, walk to a farm, manage oxen, or dance at a marriage. These therefore being free from every impediment by which the others are bound, and being admitted to the supper,( ought justly to rejoice that God made them feeble, and blind, and lame. Many in this life complain, that they were born poor, or that they are often infirm, or blind, or lame, and they appear to be most un happy thereat. But they know not what good things God hath prepared for them hereafter, on account of that very affliction which men call "misfortune:" but if they did know, they would certainly be glad and rejoice. No one ought to complain of the providence of God, but in all things give thanks to God the best of Fathers, who taketh care of us : to His will we should always resign ourselves.

But although we must thus act, yet in this place those are properly considered poor, who are poor in spirit, not in riches ; who are infirm, not in strength, but in confidence in themselves ; who are blind, not in sight, but to craftiness ; who are lame, not in their feet, but in their affections. I will explain my meaning more plainly. The poor who are admitted to the supper of the Lord, are those who hearing the words of the Apostle, do not wish to become rich: and if they possess money, do not hoard it up, nor spend it in vanity, but in doing

what the Holy Spirit speaks by the mouth of David : " He hath distributed, he hath given to the poor; his justice remaineth for ever and ever." The infirm are those who confide not in their virtue, nor glory in their strength. The blind are they who truly believe what they do not see, especially as regards the rewards of the just, and the torments of the wicked. For he who is truly persuaded, that the rewards of the blessed are indeed most glorious and eternal, and the torments of the wicked most dreadful and everlasting, will not certainly be attached to the earth nor to its goods, ^ but will fix his heart there, where alone is true joy. In fine, the lame are those — and they can justly aspire to the supper of the Lord— whose right foot is much longer than the left ; that is, whose love of God and affection for eternal goods, are greater than the love of themselves and of temporal things, signified by the left foot.

But let us consider the sentence of our great Master, against those who blindly and most foolishly despised His Supper: " But I say unto you, that none of those men that were invited shall taste of my supper." Our Lord knew well, that they who had been invited, and who through love for present goods despised the future ones as useless, would hunger after that supper with an incredible ardour when the senses of the flesh were extinct in death,

and all earthly things had been removed: for the prophet David saith : " They shall return at evening, and shall suffer hunger like dogs ; and shall go round about the city/' (Psalm Iviii.) At evening, when the day of this present life is finished, they will return and repent, but their sorrow will be useless, and they will be hungry like mad dogs, and go round about the City of God, seeking to obtain, if they can, a few crumbs from that supper. But the sen tence of the Lord is fixed — " None of them shall taste of my supper/'

0 ! if thou didst know, my soul, the meaning of these words, "None of them shall taste of my supper;" if thou couldst comprehend how great will be the hunger of those miserable men, and of what sweet food they will for ever be deprived ! And what would they then give, if they could but taste of that for which they so ardently long ? But nought will they obtain, even if the whole world were at their disposal, and they were willing to renounce it. Since then this is the case, let us be converted whilst we have time, whilst it is our day, whilst penance is profitable. Let us now hunger after that most delicious supper, not as mad and unclean dogs, who think of nothing but of their food, but as men endowed with reason ; let us hunger after the food of eternal life, and the bread of angels, even that hidden manna " which no one knoweth but he that receiveth/' and

which God Himself enjoveth from eternity unto eternity. And letAis so live in this our exile, as not to be in love with it, but to sigh after our true country. When we shall have arrived there, we shall not be obliged to " go round about" the city, but we shall enter the open gate ; and being admitted to the supper of the Lord, we shall be filled with the bread of life and the water of wisdom, a most sweet and pleasant food.