"You have heard that it hath been said, Thou shalt love thy neighbor, and hate thy enemy. But I say to you, Love your enemies, do good to them that hate you and pray for them that persecute and calumniate you: that you may be the children of your Father who is in heaven, who maketh his sun to rise upon the good, and bad, and raineth upon the just and the unjust." Matth. 5:43-45.

HE WILL REBUKE HIS ENEMIES.-"The Lord shall go forth as a mighty man, as a man of war shall he stir up zeal: he shall shout and cry: he shall prevail against his enemies. I have always held my peace, I have kept silence, I have been patient, I will speak now as a woman in labor: I will destroy and swallow up at once." Is. 42:13, 14.

Though Jesus is meek and humble of heart and patient with repentant sinners, He used the most vehement language in showing His scathing contempt for hypocrites. Thus He rebuked them face to face: "Woe to you scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites; because you shut the kingdom of heaven against men, for you yourselves do not enter in; and those that are going in, you suffer not to enter. Woe to you scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites: because you devour the houses of widows, praying long prayers. For this you shall receive the greater judgment. Woe to you scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites; because you go round about the sea and the land to make one proselyte; and when he is made, you make him the child of hell twofold more than

yourselves. Woe to you blind guides, that say, Whosoever shall swear by the temple, it is nothing; but he that shall swear by the gold of the temple, is a debtor. Ye foolish and blind; for whether is greater, the gold, or the temple that sanctifieth the gold? And whosoever shall swear by the altar, it is nothing; but whosoever shall swear by the gift that is upon it, is a debtor. Ye blind: for whether is greater, the gift, or the altar that sanctifieth the gift? He therefore that sweareth by the altar, sweareth by it, and by all things that are upon it and whosoever shall swear by the temple, sweareth by it, and by him that dwelleth in it: and he that sweareth by heaven, sweareth by the throne of God, and by him that sitteth thereon. Woe to you scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites; because you tithe mint, and anise, and cummin, and have left the weightier things of the law, judgment, and mercy, and faith. These things you ought to have done, and not to leave those undone. Blind guides, who strain out a gnat, and swallow a camel. Woe to you scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites: because you make clean the outside of the cup and of the dish, but within you are full of rapine and uncleanness. Thou blind Pharisee, first make clean the inside of the cup and of the dish, that the outside may become clean. Woe to you scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites; because you are like to whited sepulchres, which outwardly appear to men beautiful, but within are full of dead men's bones,

and of all filthiness. So you also outwardly indeed appear to men just; but inwardly you are full of hypocrisy and iniquity." St. Matth. 23:13-28.

I

Jesus the Good Shepherd.

N the Orient the shepherd is frequently the

owner of the flock he herds. We read in Holy

Scripture, "Abel was a shepherd;" "Abel also offered of the firstlings of his flock." Gen. 4:2, 4. Even in our own days many in the Orient measure their wealth by the number of sheep and cattle. Since they are his main possession, the owner personally takes care of them. The 'shepherd leads his flock to the pasture, watches over the sheep, takes care of them, protects them against beasts of prey, looks after the sick, and tries to keep his flock together. Vigilance, care, and kindness are some of the most necessary characteristics of a good shepherd.

In an allegorical sense, the term shepherd, or pastor, which is the Latin word for shepherd, is applied to a person who has the care of human souls, who leads souls on the way of salvation into the pastures of God's grace, watches over them, warns and directs them, refreshes the languishing souls with the heavenly balm of sacrifice, prayer, and other means at his disposal, and tries his utmost to find and return to the fold such as have gone astray into the forbidden fields of sin. In

this sense Jesus Christ is called a good shepherd. "HE shall feed his flock like a shepherd: he shall gather together the lambs with his arm, and shall take them up in his bosom, and he himself shall carry them that are with young." Is. 40:11.

"For thus saith the Lord God: Behold I myself will seek my sheep, and will visit them. As the shepherd visiteth his flock in the day when he shall be in the midst of his sheep that were scattered, so will I visit my sheep, and will deliver them out of all the places where they have been scattered in the cloudy and dark day. And I will bring them out from the peoples, and will gather them out of the countries, and will bring them to their own land: and I will feed them in the mountains of Israel, by the rivers, and in all the habitations of the land. I will feed them in the most fruitful pastures and their pastures shall be in the high mountains of Israel: there shall they rest on the green grass, and be fed in fat pastures upon the mountains of Israel. I will feed my sheep and I will cause them to lie down, saith the Lord God. I will seek that which was lost: and that which was driven away, I will bring again: and I will bind up that which was broken, and I will strengthen that which was weak, and that which was fat and strong I will preserve: and I will feed them in judgment. And as for you, O my flocks, thus saith the Lord God: Behold I judge between cattle and cattle, of rams and of he goats. Was it not enough for you to feed upon good pastures?

but you must also tread down with you feet the residue of your pastures: and when you drank the clearest water, you troubled the rest with your feet. And my sheep were fed with that which you had trodden with your feet: and they drank what your feet had troubled. Therefore thus saith the Lord God to you: Behold I myself will judge between the fat cattle and the lean. Because you thrusted with sides and shoulders, and struck all the weak cattle with your horns, till they were scattered abroad: I will save my flock, and it shall be no more a spoil, and I will judge between cattle and cattle. AND I WILL SET UP ONE SHEPHERD OVER THEM, and he shall feed them, even my servant David: he shall feed them, and he shall be their shepherd." Ez. 34:11-23. "They shall have one shepherd: they shall walk in my judgments, and shall keep my commandments, and shall do them." Ezech. 37:24.

Jesus Christ said of himself: "I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd giveth his life for his sheep. But the hireling, and he that is not the shepherd, whose own the sheep are not, seeth the wolf coming, and leaveth the sheep, and flieth: and the wolf catcheth, and scattereth the sheep: And the hireling flieth, because he is a hireling: and he hath no care for the sheep. I am the good shepherd; and I know mine, and mine know me. As the Father knoweth me, and I know the Father: and I lay down my life for my sheep. And other sheep I have, that are not of this fold: them also I must