Page:SermonsFromTheLatins.djvu/97

 and progressed  from  childhood  to  youth  and  from youth to  manhood  by  the  same  stages  of  bodily development as  you  or  I.  But  we  cannot  suppose, without grave  irreverence  to  His  sacred  personality, that He  was  less  rich  in  wisdom  and  grace  while  in the  womb  of  His  Mother  or  the  crib  at  Bethlehem, than when  disputing  in  the  Temple  with  the  Doctors, or enunciating  sublime  truth  in  His  Sermon  on  the Mount. Much less  can  we  suppose  Him  to  have  ever suffered the  indignity  of  having  a  mere  mortal  for His teacher. The mind  and  soul  of  the  merely  mortal, newly-born, is  a  virgin  page — an  unblown  flower  that opens slowly  under  the  light  and  heat  of  the  Sun  of justice  and  truth. But even  after  the  burden  of  the day and  the  heat,  the  most  profound  philosopher  or zealous  worker  in  the  Lord's  vineyard  has  succeeded, at best,  in  acquiring  only  a  measure  of  wisdom  and sanctity. But not  so  Our  Lord;  Abraham  and  Isaac and John  the  Baptist  testified  that,  to  Christ,  wisdom and grace  were  given  not  according  to  measure,  but that, being  heir  by  Nature,  He  had  a  clear  title  from the beginning  to  the  fulness  of  His  divine  inheritance. We, on  the  contrary,  are  heirs  only  by  adoption and  receive  our  talents,  five,  two,  or  one,  at  Our Master's option  and  each  according  to  his  proper ability. Christ was  the  head  wherein  are  focused  all the senses;  we  are  but  the  members  of  His  mystical body, endowed  with  one  or  other  sense,  and  that  imperfectly. From the  first  moment  of  its  creation, Christ's human  mind  was  in  the  actual  possession  and exercise of  every  branch  of  human  knowledge,  and