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.
4. All these are the progresses of our soul, and exercised therebyshe 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 Phil. ii. 8. 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.
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 1 Kings x. 22. ships of Tarshish, mystical ships I mean, which traverse the sea, and bring pious offerings for thebuilding 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.
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, S. John xi. 54. He is led to Ephraim, that is, to the “fecundity of good fruits.” Hence Ib. xii. 1. 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.
8. Afterwards are taught in the garden the words of eternal life; in that place where the Lord permitted Himself to be taken, Ib. xviii. 8. 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, S. Luke xxiii. 43. Verily I say unto thee, To-day shalt thou be with Me in Paradise. The thief had said, Ib. 42. 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.
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, S. Matt. xvi. 19. 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.
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 1 Cor. xv. 22. 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.