may bring glory to God, His holiness and justice being made manifest in them.
Holiness of the Church. When we say that God suffers evil in His Church, we do not mean in His Teaching Church, but in that part of it which is called 'the learning Church'. The members of the Church, instead of following her teaching, are at times led away by the false maxims of the world. Therefore what is evil in the members of the Church comes from the devil and his allies, not from the Church herself. The Church sows only good seed by her teaching, her commandments and her means of grace; therefore she is holy, and leads to holiness those who obey her voice.
The General Judgment. The Son of Man, Jesus Christ, will come at the end of the world to judge the wicked and the just. (Seventh article of the Creed.)
Hell is the furnace into which the cockle will be cast, and where there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth.
Heaven. The just will come to the kingdom of their Father, i. e. to heaven, and will be glorified in body and soul, shining like the sun.
3. The Parables of the Grain of Mustard-seed; of the Leaven; of the Treasure hidden in the field; of the Pearl of great price; and of the Net full of fish.
Another parable He proposed unto them, saying: “The kingdom of heaven is like to a grain of mustard-seed[1], which a man took and sowed in his field. Which is the least, indeed, of all seeds; but, when it is grown up, it is greater than all herbs, and becometh a tree, so that the birds of the air come and dwell in the branches thereof.”
Another parable He spoke to them: “The kingdom of heaven is like to leaven [2] which a woman took and hid in three measures of meal, until the whole was leavened.”
“The kingdom of heaven is like to a treasure[3] hidden in the field, which a man having found, hideth, and, for joy thereof, goeth, and selleth all that he hath and buyeth[4] that field.”
- ↑ Mustard-seed. This was the smallest seed sown in Palestine. From this seed, however, there sprang a shrub which reached the height of ten feet, and which put forth a great many branches with large leaves.
- ↑ Leaven. Leaven is mixed with dough, to make bread light and palatable.
- ↑ A treasure. By the word “treasure” a large sum of money, or a collection of valuables may be understood.
- ↑ Buyeth. Because he knew the treasure to be buried there. By Jewish law everything found buried in the earth belonged to the owner of the ground.
