St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1888-04-23
THE CURSE OF SIN.
Rev. Father Gibbons Discourse at
the Cathedral Yesterday.

Rev. Father Gibbons Discourse at
the Cathedral Yesterday.
Father Gibbons preached the sermon
at the cathedral yesterday. He took
his text from the book of Ecclesiastes.
xxi, 1-3: Flee from sin as from the
face of serpent" The reverend
father said: 1.-The only evil in this
world to be dreaded is sin. Other af-
f1ictiOns may Cypress us for awhile, but
SIN for eternity. Misfortune, calamity,
even death itself may not be an evil;
sin always is. 1t is the evil thing. 1t
aims destruction not only at the body,
but at the immortal soul, and we can
no more understand the malice OF NOR
tai sin than we can the attributes OF
God himself, to whom it gives offense.
Wherever we turn our eyes this terror
cOnfrOnts us. In heaven we see the re-
bellious Lucifer and his miniOns hurled
into the abyss of flames; in hell we see
poor souls writhing in agony; on earth
we see the woe and misery it has
brought about. 1t was sin that
DESTROYED the cities of Sodom and
Gomorrah; that scOurged the land OF
Egypt; that engulfed the world in an
awful deluge. Countries have been laid
desolate: kingdoms and empires have
fallen; families have been wiped from
the earth because of this demon of sin.
1t is the evil of all evils. 1t saps the
very fountains of life, it undermines the
greatest superstructures. But the place
where sin works its deadliest ruin is IN
the soul of man. The soul, in the purity
of innocence, is rich beyond measure.
The Zephyrs of heaven
FAN ITS FACE,
and God loves it as the apple OF His eye..
1t is the divine light impressed i'll US.
No sooner. however, is the soul con-
scious of sin than it is conscious OF Its
great fall. Before the commission OF
sin the Individual could say, depart
from me, Satan;" but now it is too late.i
Before this, the angels were there, but
the soul doubted, and, like Eve, took
the poisoned apple, and it fell from
happiness into misery, from JOY
to sorrow, from life to death.
On the commission of sin the sinner
finds himself in a strange land and ex-
perienceS a sense of loneliness. Others
may extol him, but he feels keenly the
sense of his guilt. His conscience an--
noys him, and the grace of God comes
to his aid. He says, like the prodigal
son, Il will arise and go to my Father ~
He repents, returns to God and is con-
yerted. The light has illuminated his
soul again and renders it an object
beautiful to behold. But the evil does
not rest here. Sin still turks around
and begins an attack on the soul. AT
first it resists strongly, but the evil one
goes back, as the Scriptures tell US, and
gets seven more spirits, worse than
himself. and renews the attack. The
soul is now less strong to resist, and sin
once more dominates. After sin has
taken possession, the whole life is one
of relapse. We rise for a short time
only to fall again. The intellect is be-
coming dim, the will less strong, and the
grace of God is given to the sinner less
frequently, until vice gains the ascend
ency. Then begins course OF seryl-
tude, for to be
A SLAVE OF SIN
is to be a slave of Servitude. 1t
crouches like tiger, always ready to
destroy its victim. Sin is now his mas
ter, and not only does he not detest it,
butIike the.proaigal son, he longs for it.
Every sin etfaces from the soul the i'm
age of God. 1t stiles the fainteSt glim-
mer of faith, hope and charity. 1t re-
auires miracle to convert the sinner.
It requires special prayer and great
deal of repentance to have the grace of
God set in motion. But there is still
hope. With the grace Of God. we can
do all things. If we have strong faith
and firm confidence the grace of God
will not be wanting. If we are firmly
resolved to put in practice certain prin-
ciples, we can extirpate these evil prac-
tees, but this is done by means of the
sacraments and an earnest cooperation
on the part of the sinner. Those who
are good and innocent, who have never
lost sanctifying grace, possess joy the
angels might envy. Their lot is blessed
ness; there is no misery, no boding, no
misgiving. But those who have given
themselves to sin, their lot is sad. 1t is
hell upon earth, and the demons alone
know the anguish of their mind and
spirit.