Sullivan republican. [volume] (Laporte, Pa.) 1883-1896, 1895-07-12

valleys and on the hill tops, not
mere synagogues for prayer and
preaching, but vcritnble temples. on
whose alters that divine child would
stand, both as priest and victim, re-
newing daily for the sins OF his peo-
pie the awful sacrifice of the cross
Under His benign influence the
hearts Of his followers shall he con-
verted into temples, sanctified by the
Holy Spirit and followed by self
sacrifice. Unless this Kingdom of
God is built up in the hearts, the
material temple has little significance.
1t stands as the monument Of the
faith and devotion of christian
people. and before it can be deserted
faith and piety must first died out in
their souls. You have done well
brethern, in erecting this church for
the service Of God, but you will do
better if you will always preserve I'M
your hearts the faith which it sym
bolizes; believe in the Triune God.
in the divine mission of Jesus Christ
for the salvation of men, and in the
divine character Of Christ's church,
which he was endowed with all nec-
essary helps for salvation and
through whose infallible teachings
He still continues the great work of
redemption. Certainly we need have
little fear that we will ever he robbed
Of our churches by tyrannical edict,
as was the case with the English
people in the Sixteenth Century
and although secret societies are
springing up in our midst whose
sworn purpose is to wage unrelent-
ing warfare against the Catholic
church, yet relying as we do upon
the uprightness of our cause, on the
sense Of justice in the hearts of our
countrymen, and on the stability of
our laws and constitution, we can
hope that these fanatical efforts of
the church's enemies will prove abor-
tive. Yes, our churches shall remain
crowded with devout worshipers so
long as the faith which served for
this erection remains intact. But
we must remember that this faith
my be destroyed not only by violence
but, also, by Incidence, and one Of
the first and surest signs of the de-
cay Of faith is an unwilliugness to
assist at the public offices of the
church. For the Catholic Of sound
faith, the church is "the pillar. and
ground of truth without the help
of which he cannot expect to he
saved. When Catholic comes to
believe that he can make spiritual
progress, that he can enter into the
sheep fold otherwise than through
the door, that is the church. his
faith has already suffered shipwreck !
and in the measure that such false
notions prevail will our churches be-
come deserted. Surely some such
erroneous idea must have taken pos>
session Of some minds, or they would
not he so Indifferent to the performs
ance of.their religious duties. The
decent is easy; at first they We're
merely indolent. unwilling to make a
little sacr' fee for the service of God;
but in order to stifle the cry of an
accusing conscience, they endeavor-
ed TO persuade themselves that the
church is not necessary for salva-
tion, and having once adopted that
fundamental heresy they quickly $
shake off all those duties and obli- s
cations which distinguish the chill
dren of the church from the offspring
oferror. This change will not be
sudden; like the uprooting Of thels