Finally, give good heed to the Scripture which says: "Obey your prelates, and be subject to them, for they watch as being to give an account of your souls, that they may do this with joy, and not with grief." {254} Obey the Vicar of Jesus Christ, the Pope, the Head of the Church and Father of the faithful. When he solemnly pronounces his judgment as to the lawfulness or unlawfulness of anything, obey as you would if you heard it from the lips of Christ Himself. It is a fearful thing for any one to put himself in opposition to Christ's Vicar and the Successor of St. Peter, to whom our Lord gave the charge to feed both His sheep and His lambs. Obey your Archbishop, who is more immediately placed over you. It is his place to judge what is for the good of religion, and to foresee the evils likely to arise at any time among ourselves. Let those who disregard his admonition look well to it, lest they implicate themselves in grievous sin, and in inflicting great injury upon the religion of Christ. Such men are a scandal and cause of ruin to the faithful, and our Lord has denounced the anger of God upon those who are guilty of it. Obey your priests, who will have to give an account of your souls. Give no cause of offence or scandal in your parish, but rather co-operate with your fellow-parishioners in the extension of Christ's kingdom upon earth. It is by this spirit of docility and obedience you will break through all the snares of Satan, and be delivered from error. Thus, walking in the clear light of truth, you will finally be united to the Eternal Truth, God, the fountain of all joy, forever. ------------------ {255} Sermon XVII. Humility In Prayer. (For The Tenth Sunday After Pentecost.) St. Luke xviii. 13. "__God, be merciful to me, a sinner.__" One of the chief lessons our blessed Lord intended to teach us by the parable told in to-day's Gospel is the necessity and power of humble prayer. Let us see this, and try to draw some useful thoughts from it.