pon him at once, upon his election, the
power and the penalty of the Apostolate. No dreams of earthly
prosperity could flit around that throne, which was reared over the
grave of one who had been tried and had fallen, and under the immediate
shadow of the cross of Him whom he had betrayed.

Well, then, does St. Matthias repeat to us on this day our Lord's
words, "Take My yoke upon you, and learn of Me," for he had taken it on
him from the first. His Pastoral Staff had ever been a crosier. He
had had no youth. He had borne the yoke in his youth. He entered at
once upon his long Lent, and he rejoiced in it.

The exhortation, then, which our Saviour gives in today's Gospel, and
of which St. Matthiases history reminds us, is at the present season
most suitable. Our Saviour says, "Come unto Me," and then He adds,
"Take My yoke upon you, and learn of Me." Thus He first calls us to
Him, and next shows us the way. "Come unto Me," He says, "and I will
give you rest," and then adds, "Take My yoke upon you, and ye shall
find rest for your souls." He told the Apostles that they must come to
Him, but did not at once tell them the way; He told them they must bear
a yoke, but did not at once tell them what it was. St. Peter, in
consequence, inquired about it on one occasion, and was bid to wait
awhile, and he should know of it more plainly. Our Lord had said,
"Whither I go, thou canst not follow Me now, but thou shalt follow Me
afterwards." "Ye shall seek Me," He said, "and whither I go ye cannot
come[2]." He spoke of His yoke, the way of His cross, as St. Peter
found when at length, after His resurrection, he was told plainly what
should befall him. "When thou wast young," said our Lord to him, by
the lake of Tiberias, when thou wast a child in the faith, and hadst
thine own way, "thou girdedst thyself, and walkedst whither thou
wouldest," as just before St. Peter had girt his fisher's coat unto
him, and cast himself into the sea; "but when thou shalt be old, thou
shalt stretch forth thy hands, and another shall gird thee, and carry
thee whither thou wouldest not[3]." And then He added, "Follow Me."
St. Peter, indeed, was called upon literally to take Christ's yoke upon
him, to learn of Him and walk in His ways; but what he underwent in
fulness, all Christ's disciples must share in their measure, in some
way or other. Again, in another place, our Lord speaks more expressly;
"If any man will come after Me, let him deny