National Republican., 1883-02-12


The " Gloria in Excesis Dec" rang.
So In my heart still say God is Love"
And so because lie lives forever, evermore.
All souls shall live thrO' ages yet to come
All souls at last may find the heavenly homo.
THE CARE OF THE ORPHAN.
ELOQUENT CHARITY SERMON BY FATHER
MURPHY AT ST. PATRICK's CHURCH.
At st. Patricll's church, on G street, below
Tenth street, Rev. Father Murphy, S. j., of
st. Aloysius' church, yesterday morning
preached charity sermon in tho interest of
the boys of st. Joseph asylum. Tho church
was filled in spite of a driving storm of rain.
Father Murphy read as the gospel of the day
the first ten verses of the fifth chapter of IL
Corinthians, and as the gospel, ,Matthow,iv, l. IL,
For his text he chose Psalm xii, 1, blessed
is the man that UNDERSTANDABLE concerning the
needy and the poor, God will deliver him in
the evil day" The preacher then said {:
These words of tho Holy Spirit impress us
with the idea that the understanding concern
ing the needy and the poor is in itself at
tended with blessing. This is probably be-
cause such an understanding is difficult and
uncommon and the one who overComes the
difficulty is prepared thereby for the per-
formanco of his duty of charity and very
generally does perform his duty.
In the heathen world there was no such
understanding Even "the peerless Aristotle"
and "the divine Plato" gave no clear teaching
on tho duty Of charity. In the culture of
Greece and Rome the poor and the unior-
tunata were objects TO be gotten rid of. They
were in II hurry to remove them out of their
sight. Their care was n subject not considered
important enough TO demand thoughtful at
! tention. Only in the teaching of the divine
| Saviour of men is the care Of the needy and
poor clearly commanded as sacred obliga-
tion.
1t is desirable that the rich and powerful
should understand their duty to the needy
and the poor; and the one branch of that sub
jcct, the care of the orphan" will command
our attention this morning.
The infant of the human race is moro
helpless than the young Of any part of the
whole animal kingdom. Constant careful
attention is essential for years to preserve the
| life at all, and when children are deprived
of parents they are utterly helpless. Natum
wisdom ought to lead the rulers OF states topro
vide for all thus left without parental care
| The future possibilities of support to he re
ceived by the state ought to be Il sufficient rca
son. But not only did all hcathen nations
including even the refined Greeks and Romans
| fail to understand this, but even the
chosen people of God, the Hebrew nation,
failed to clearly comprehend the duty. Only
when the majesty Of Jesus Christ dawncd
upon the world, and brought to the poor the
glad news of salvation did the duty clearly
appear
! To the church the first persecution strilS-
| ing at the children appeals strongly in be-
half of childhood. When the child Jesus
was born the sword was drawn against the
little ones, and by the decree of Herod there
We're slain all that were ut Bethlehem. "Tho
voice of Rachel was heard weeping for her
children" And, as when tho Christ child
was born the devil instigated the wicked
Herod to destroy lin, so to-day the devil di-
rects efforts to destroy the children. There
are many efforts to destroy their souls by the
vitiating Of their minds, Against this danger
it is sacred duty to guard
There is another scene in the Saviour's life
in the period of His active ministry, which is
dear to the heart. On that day ON which He
performed SO many miracles among the null
titudes of people who thrOnged about Him, u
company of mothers approached Him, bearing
in their arms their children, that the Divine
One might place His hands upon them and
bless them. Not even did His disciples under
stand the love in the heart Of Jesus, for
they united with the multitude in
warning the mothers back, saying "trouble
not the Master" But the blessed divine
record tells MS that He was much displeased
at this indifference and GOODNESS of His disci-
pies to the children, and calling them to Him
| he put His hands upon them and blessed them,
and uttering these memorable words, Suffer
the little children, and forbid them not, to
come into He for such is the Kingdom of
Heaven" And that other saying of equal
import, "Whosoever shall not receive tho
kingdom of God as a little child he shall in no
wise enter therein"
| 1t is the prime duty of the parent TO train
i the infant mind, and not only in human
knowledge, but in that other higher knowl-
| edge of the Kingdom of Heaven of which
the Saviour tells us they form part. No
| higher duty can rest upon the church than OF
guarding their tender ones from tho invasion
Of the evil one.
When children arc deprived Of their par
| ents, il is well said they fail upon " the cold
charity of the world.' If we look closely at
the calculations of statesmen Of tho very
smallest pittance upon which it is possible to
support a child of the meagerncss Of the aid
extended, and the little warmth of heart
with which tho support is often given, the
! charity seems cold indeed.
A trade taught in an industrial school is
very well as far rs il goes il is well, IL is eX-
cellent, to train the children TO self support
as to physical and temporal maintenance,
| But is that all2 Is IL not high duty to pro-
! vide while training their bOdics) for the Gul-
! ture of their immortal soulsf They are babes
| in the Kingdom of Heaven rs well as In their
| physical proportion, and while the body grows
| to its full stature shall the soul have no care
| The holy word tells us that when thy
father and mother forsake thee then
the Lord shall take thee up" In the
world tho church is doing the Heavenly
Fathers work in taking caro- of the lonely
| waits who have lost their earthly stay and
| support. In this emergency noble band of
consecrated women, who have the love of the
Lords work and of His kingdom in their
hearts, take up the work which has como to
| them in the order of Providence. They give
their lives to their care, taking the part of
mothers.
Any mother who has watched the growth
of her little one, at the same time carefully
noting the development of its body and mind
and heart, who has listened with delighted
soul to its sweet prattlo and felt the playful,
tender touch Of its soft hand and velvet lips
upon her checks, win understand mothers
solicitude for her child. You pray to God to
give you wisdom TO properly train this child
for Him and look forward with hope for the life
to develop the great opportunities for your
precious one. All at once same providence