Vol. 2

—CHAPTER IV. 45sire of the former, and at the expense of the patrimonyof the poor ! Grant us, Lord, many pastors,ministers, and missionaries,who may be able to sayin thy Spirit, " Who is my mother, or my brethren ?"" 34. And he looked round about on them whichsat about him, and said, Behold my mother and mybrethren ! 35. For whosoever shall do the will ofGod, the same is my brother, and my sister, andmother ?"Nothing joins us more closely to Christ than theperforming the will of God. He who does it to theend, contracts an eternal alliance with God as hisFather, with Christ as hisallBrother, with angels andthe blessed spirits as his brethren and sisters, andwith the heavenly Jerusalem as his mother.Whoeverhears the word of God, with no other intent butto obey it, has already done the will of God in hisheart.A beneficed person, who feeds the poor accordingto his duty, and is himself fed of their substance,in looking upon them ought tosay, with joyon one account, and with gratitude on another, " Beholdmy mother and my brethren."CHAPTER IV.Sect. I.The Parable of the Sower." 1. And he began again to teach by the seaside: and there was gathered unto him a great multitude,so that he entered into a ship, and sat in thesea ; and the whole multitude was by the sea on theland."There are few besides the common sort of people