=Poverty and Humility.=—­The ancients thought that riches ennobled a man and they regarded pride as a worthy sentiment.  “Blessed are the poor,” said Christ, “for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.”  He that would not renounce all that he had could not be his disciple.  He himself went from city to city, possessing nothing, and when his disciples were preoccupied with the future, he said, “Be not anxious for what ye shall eat, nor for what ye shall put on.  Behold the birds of the heaven, they sow not neither do they reap, yet your heavenly Father feedeth them.”

The Christian was to disdain riches, and more yet, worldly honors.  One day when his disciples were disputing who should have the highest rank in heaven, he said, “He that is greatest among you shall be your servant.”  “Whosoever exalteth himself shall be abased, and he that humbleth himself shall be exalted.”  Till our day the successor of Saint Peter calls himself “Servant of the servants of God.”  Christ drew to himself by preference the poor, the sick, women, children,—­in a word, the weak and the helpless.  He took all his disciples from among the populace and bade them be “meek and lowly of heart.”

=The Kingdom of God.=—­Christ said that he had come to the earth to found the kingdom of God.  His enemies believed that he wished to be a king, and when he was crucified, they placed this inscription on his cross, “Jesus of Nazareth, king of the Jews.”  This was a gross mistake.  Christ himself had declared, “My kingdom is not of this world.”  He did not come to overturn governments nor to reform society.  To him who asked if he should pay the Roman tax, he replied, “Render unto Caesar the things that are Caesar’s, and to God the things that are God’s.”  And so the Christian accepted what he found established and himself worked to perfect it, not to remodel society.  To make himself pleasing to God and worthy of his kingdom it was not necessary to offer him sacrifices or to observe minute formulas as the pagans did:  “True worshippers shall worship the Father in spirit and truth.”  Their moral law is contained in this word of Christ:  “Be ye therefore perfect even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect.”

THE FIRST CENTURIES OF THE CHURCH

=Disciples and Apostles.=—­The twelve disciples who associated with Christ received from him the mission to preach his doctrine to all peoples.  From that time they were called Apostles.  The majority of them lived in Jerusalem and preached in Judaea; the first Christians were still Jews.  It was Saul, a new convert, who carried Christianity to the other peoples of the Orient.  Paul (for he took this name) spent his life visiting the Greek cities of Asia, Greece, and Macedonia, inviting to the new religion not only the Jews, but also and especially the Gentiles:  “You were once without Christ,” said he to them, “strangers to the covenant and to the promises; but you have been brought nigh by the blood of Christ, for it is he who of two peoples hath made both one.”  From this time it was no longer necessary to be a Jew if one would become a Christian.  The other nations, disregarded by the law of Moses, are brought near by the law of Christ.  This fusion was the work of St. Paul, also called the Apostle to the Gentiles.