Quesnel: Moral Reflections on the Gospels Vol 1

250 ST. MATTHEW.
taken up about the wants of the body, and the source
of most of their vices. As Jesus, among all the
virtues, praises faith most frequently, so he very
often blames the weakness of it ; because a lively
faith draws after it all the rest, and because nothing
can supply the defect of it.
" 9. Do ye not yet understand, neither remember
the five loaves of the five thousand, and how many
baskets ye took up? 10. Neither the seven loaves
of the four thousand, and how many baskets ye took
up ?"
Men easily forget the divine benefits. If they
are so forgetful of such as respect the body, notwith-
standing the quick sense they have of its wants,
how much more apt are they to forget such as respect
the soul ! They who are the ministers of these,
receive great advantage from them, if they discharge
their ministry as they ought. They sanctify them-
selves whilst they sanctify others ; and are fed and
nourished by those truths which they dispense to
them. Jesus, in providing for the present needs of
the people, provides also for the future needs of his
disciples. This condemns those who grudge what
is necessary to pastors and ministers of the word.
"11. How is it that ye do not understand that
I spake it not to you concerning bread, that ye
should beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and of
the Sadducees?"
With how much difficulty do the sons of Adam
apply their minds to heavenly things, and how hardly
do they understand them? God permits this dim-
ness and inadvertency in the first pastors, that they
may not forget that light and attention are his gifts,