Sidenote: Rom. xi. 25.
1. IN my last letter I spoke of the soul that has made in its progress
certain devious circuits, wavering, as Israel according to the flesh
did of old, to and fro. For Israel herself also, when _the fulness of
the Gentiles shall be come in_, shall be delivered by the grace of our
Lord Jesus Christ: the Gentile soul meanwhile, whose transgression has
been lighter, having by her conversion worked her own recovery. In my
present letter I will treat of the daughter of the Church; and consider
how the Lord Jesus first took her under His care, taught her, and, in
His Gospel, led her on to perfection.
2. Now it was as she lay in misery and confusion that He first took her
under His care,――for how else but miserably can that soul live, which
is exiled from Paradise?――and brought her to Bethlehem. The progress
then, of this soul is at once signified in that it goes up to the
“house of bread[283],” where it can know no death or barrenness of
faith. Observe, I am now speaking of souls in general, those souls by
which we live and move, not of any soul in particular; for it is not
of the individual or species, but of souls in general that I purpose
to discourse.
3. Christ went down into Egypt, as Protector and Guide of our soul,
from thence He returned into Judæa. He was in the wilderness, in
Capernaum; near the borders of Zabulon; by the sea coast; He passed
through the corn fields; He was in Bethphage; in Ephraim; in Bethany;
then He passed over into the garden, where He gave Himself up; on
Calvary, where He suffered.
Sidenote: Phil. ii. 8.
4. All these are the progresses of our soul, and exercised thereby
she receives the graces of a holy life[284]. For the human race,
when excluded from Paradise in Adam and Eve, and banished to the
village[285], began to roam up and down and to wander about with
careless steps: but in His own good time the Lord Jesus _emptied
Himself_ that He might receive this exile into himself, and re-form
her again to her previous state of grace. And thus, when found, she
retraced, as the Gospel lesson teaches us, her devious course of error,
and was recalled to Paradise.
Sidenote: 1 Kings x. 22.
5. He led her through the cornfields that He might satisfy her hunger,
first in the desert, then to Capernaum, making her abode to be not
in the city but in the field: next He brought her to the borders of
Zabulon, near unto the floods of night, that is, the darker riddles
of the prophets; that she might learn thereby to reach to the borders
of the Gentiles, that common centre, and not to fear the storms and
billows of this world. Why should she, seeing that Christ has ships
of Tarshish, mystical ships I mean, which traverse the sea, and bring
pious offerings for the building of the Temple? In such ships as these
Christ sails, and like a good pilot rests in the stern while the sea
is calm; when it is disturbed He awakes, and rebukes the winds, that He
may anew shew peace on His disciples. Furthermore, by passing over to
the Gentiles, He delivers the soul which was bound by the chains of the
Law, that she may not pass over and keep company with the heathen.
Sidenote: S. John xi. 54.
Sidenote: Ib. xii. 1.
6. He came to Bethany to the “place of obedience;” therefore was the
dead there raised; for when the flesh is subdued to the spirit, human
nature no longer lies as if dead in the tomb, but is raised again
by the grace of Christ; there also she professes to offer herself to
‘suffering’[286] for the Name of God. From the place of obedience, as
John tells us, He is led to Ephraim, that is, to the “fecundity of good
fruits.” Hence He returns to Bethany, that is, to “obedience;” for she
who has once tasted the fruit of holy obedience is for the most part
ready to preserve it and to be proved thereby.
7. And now, having been proved, she comes to Jerusalem, being made
worthy to become the temple of God wherein Christ may dwell. Here it is
that the Lord Jesus, sitting upon the foal of an ass, is received with
the joy and congratulation of the age of innocence.
Sidenote: Ib. xviii. 8.
Sidenote: S. Luke xxiii. 43.
Sidenote: Ib. 42.
8. Afterwards are taught in the garden the words of eternal life; in
that place where the Lord permitted Himself to be taken, as John the
Evangelist writes, signifying that our soul, or rather human nature,
released from the bonds of error, is restored by Christ to that abode
from whence in Adam she was cast. Wherefore to the thief who confessed
Him it is said, _Verily I say unto thee, To-day shalt thou be with Me
in Paradise_. The thief had said, _Lord, remember me when Thou comest
into Thy kingdom_. Christ answered not concerning His kingdom, but yet
to the purpose, _To-day thou shalt be with Me in Paradise_, that is,
What has been lost must first be restored, then the increase bestowed;
that thus the progress may be through Paradise to the kingdom, not
through the kingdom to Paradise.
Sidenote: S. Matt. xvi. 19.
9. For the disciples it is reserved that they may receive an ample
reward for their labours; and therefore to the thief He promised a
sojourn, but deferred the kingdom. So that to him who is converted
under the stroke of death, and confesses the Lord Jesus, to him let
an abode in Paradise be vouchsafed, but for him who has undergone long
travail, who has fought for Christ, who has won over souls and offered
himself for Christ, for his wages let the kingdom of God be prepared;
and let him rejoice in the fruition of this reward. To Peter it is said,
_I will give unto thee the keys of the kingdom of heaven_; and thus,
while the convert from robbery obtains rest, on him who has been proved
in the Apostolate authority is bestowed.
Sidenote: 1 Cor. xv. 22.
10. This is the Evangelical soul, the soul of the Gentiles, the
daughter of the Church, far better than the soul cast out of Judæa;
raising herself from her earthly course to the Lord Jesus and to higher
things by good counsels and works; received by Christ upon Golgotha.
Upon Golgotha was the sepulchre of Adam; that Christ by His Cross might
raise him from death. Thus where in Adam was the death of all, there in
Christ was the resurrection of all.
Farewell, my son; love me, for I also love you.