St. Paul daily globe., 1894-08-02
AN IMPRESSIVE MASS
Continued From First Page.

the dawning century, and cover with
benediction and grace multitudes Tor
whom you. like the Master. have had
compassion. This convention Will give
to US and TO the world COM
forting and magnificent retrospect.
yet our rejoicing in 1t bears
not the character OF that mar
row Joy that wastes itself in rhap-
sodizing over "reminiscences OF work,
however valiant aud holy. This Is not
a convention of Disqualification. We
rejoice in the harvest that is ours, but
with the Joy that awakens ambition to
do yet more, the joy that enk.ndleS the
flame of more ardent and hopeful zeal
for the rescuing of the millions of
drink-depraved, no less than OF the
greater millions who suffer through
their crimes. And now, II ever, Is In
telligent apostolic work needed. Con-
ditions have ripened in our day for the
alarming Industrial crisis now vexing
the brains and hearts of rich and poor
alike.
Sordid. selfish greed. greed that ig-
pored, every tie of brotherhood; lust for
luxury in all its emaSculating variety;
pride and gluttony. woeful sins from
which few of any class retreated, have
paved the broad road TO ruin upon
which multitudes are rushing to death.
Habits of reckless extravaganza and sin
have poisoned for this generation the
very springs of life, and in the mad
tev er induced by their waters we are
SulA
stance in selfish. if not riOtous. living
in revelry, vanity. drunkenness and
lust. Is it wonder that we
are perilously near companionship
with starvation, despair and ruin?
This condition is of So widespread and
threatening a character that the world.
aghaSt, calls halt. Capital and labor,
riches and poverty, beg an hour for
sober thought, that new lines for bet
Ter living may be wrought out and
new start be taken on them. " hat shall
these lines be? More fatal than any in
the past. the suffering will cry, unless
they shall be inspired of the sublime
lesson of the Christian gospel. Outside
the lines Of that only gospel OF true
liberty, OF that divine instrument of
mans emancipation from the dread
slavery of the passions, no safe guild
auce has been found 10 the land of
brotherhood. of plenty and ofpeace.
From this gospel we learn that men
live for zach others betterment only
when they live first for their Father
above. Our blessed Lord says: "Be
not solicitous, saying, What shall we
eat, or what shall we drink, or where
with shall we be clothed? For after all
these things do the heathenS seek. For
your Heavenly Father knoweth that
you have need of these Things. Seek We
therefore first the kingdom of God and
His justice, and all these things shall
be added unto you" ST. Matthew, vi.
9l-S3. On this line alone have ali the
changes beneficial to mankind been
effected, and these reforms. have been
wrought by the earnest, selt-denying
children of men who have received
Christ our Lord in the stranger, given
him drink in the thirsty, fed him in the
hungry, clothed him in the naked,
nurSrd him in the sick. and visited and
mlhlSlered 10 him in the prisoner.
1t may not be doubted that the foun-
dation and safeguard of all righttul
liberty and successful. cOntented, happy
living are found i'll the principles of
the Gospel, when developed and applied
i'll our everyday life. Whether past
ages begut conditions more threatening
than those which loom i'll the darkening
skies is of small Importance. For US the
veXing problems that disturb the day
and the hour are of Instant and Supreme
consequence. To their solution we
must call i'll the wisdom of the ages; to
their practical and happy adjustment
we must bend every energy, even to the
complete spending of self. c,-@'~-'-''- ~-~ -
m hric i'm aiNN1n ,r,hf
more than ever should be proclaimed
from every housetop, and PIT into prac-
tice by every lover Of God and man,
assures us that we secure the good
things of life. not by seeking them or
living for them, but by turning our
back on them and living for God and
heaven. He that will save his life
shall lose il. ana he that will lose his
life for Christs sake shall find it. A
hundred-fold here and hereafter to
those who give up all things for Christ's
sake" Obedience 10 this principle for
bids effectually the squandering of the
earnings of industry in the vile lusts
that precipitate destruction on The in
dividual and the people. Obedience to
this principle ensures holy living.
Selt-denial, then. of which our Eldest
Brother" was the divine exponent on
able principle of sound political as of
sound domestic economy.
1t is precisely in the daily application
of this principle that our Catholic Total
Abstinence associations have been eu-
aDled TO work reforms. And to such a
marvellous degree that since their in-
auguration the world has recognized
and proclaimed that this holy cause
means paradise regained" to countless
souls. The good tree is known and
priced by the world because of its
fruits.
Let the work of this convention lead
to the blessed multiplication OF these
evangeliZing, soul-saving societies. The
methods thus far used for their organ
ization have been many and varied. But
the history of our movement will bear
ME out in the assertion that the apostle.
ship OF preaching the word ''in season
and out of season." by earnest, God.
loving men. lovers of their kind, men
consumed by the desire of recovering
their wayward and wandering brethren
tC their Fathers house, has been of all
methods unQueslionably the most fruit
full. Nay, so far surprising other
methods that our failure to keep up all
apostolate of preaching seems almost
criminal omission of manifest duty.
Time was when we excused this neg.
lect by pleading the dearth of literature
necessary to the prosecution of this
sublime and holy work. Such excuse
avails no longer. Floods of robust, con.
yincing literature pour today from the
doors OF overcrowded asylums, aims
houses and prisons; from the busy
printing presses of governments and
philanthropic societies, horrifying the
thoughtfui with blOod-curdlIng recitals
of crimes that daily send thousands tc
die III squalid wretchedness, or to perish
i'll toulest dens of nameless shame
crimes that rob innocence and virtue
and even life Of protection, and clviliz.
alton itself of every defense save the
gibbet. The press in its daily chrou-
icles of SIN echoes awful cries to HEAVIER
for vengeance on the drunken wrong
doers who deyastate the flockof Christ
and voices the piteous appeals of the
innocent victims Of sin for relief anc
reform. The sword of Gods vengeance
is not given US to WELD. but the power
wRiUhtV with rnen0ncihiIitv IN dim nj q r