Omaha daily bee., 1896-04-05
REV. II. +. MCCARTHY.
Catholic.

| The practical lesson of Easter is the neces-
sty of freeing ourselves from sin. Other
wise we shall never be able to share in the
| glory of our Lords resurrection. Sin is the
cause of all the evils and misfortunes that
| flesh is heir to. The first man was not
| created in the state of pure nature but was
raised to the supernatural state. One of the
| privileges of the first man was Immortality.
This Immortality was conditioned on man 8
obedience to the law of God. God told the
| first man if he should disobey, death would
| be the penalty. "But of the tree of knowl-
| edge of good and evil thou shalt not eat for
| on what day soever thou shalt eat of it, thou
| shalt die the DEATH" Gen. 2, XviD. where
| fore, as by one man sin entered into this
| world, and by sin death, and so death passed
| upon all men in whom all have sinned."
| (Rom s. xiii. All the other temporal evils
| besides death to which we are subject are
| also the result of gin. But the temporal
results of sin are not to be compared with
the spiritual effects The logical and final
outcome of sin is everlasting death, or separ-
alton from God. Therefore q very practical
lesson to be drawn from the commemoraton
of our Lords resurrection, as ST. Paul the
apostle, suggests, is the freeing of ourselves
from sin, or our spiritual resurrection.
The church teaches this lesson most en-
phatcally at this season. "For are buried
together with Him by baptism into death
tndl as CHTlSt is risen from the QeaQ Dy the
glory of the Father, so we also may walk In
the newness of life" (Rom 6, iv). There
fore If you be risen with Christ; seek the
things that are above, where Christ is
sitting at the right hand Of God. (Colos-
slams 3, d.
Our Lord came upon earth especially to
assist us in escaping eternal death. The
redemption which He wrought for us does not
exempt us from temporal death. This pen
atty remains in order to impress us with the
idea of the enormtty of sin and to exact
from us satisfaction for our misdeeds. This
temporal death is the most terrible punish
ment which God can iniict upon sin in this
world. Our Divine Lord, however, has shown
us all how to die He has enabled us to defy
death and to mock at 1t. When death had
done its worst upon himself, He suddenly
burst its bonds asunder and arose from It's
embrace glorious, triumphant and immortal
AS st. Paul expresses it, HE is the first
fruits of them that sleep" With and by His
power we can eXclaim in the words which He
Himself used, II have power to lay down my
life and power to take 1t up again" Though
we are compelled, because such is the VIII
of God, to drain the cLaice of sorrow and
death to the dregs, we can. IL we belong to
Christ, exclaim exultingly, ooh, death, where
is thy victory; oh, death, where is thy sting"
The great festival which the church cele-
brates today recalls to our mind this hope
of glorious Immortality Easter is the
greatest of the Christian festivals because
on the event which 1t commentaries depend
our hopes for eternity. On this event hinge
and depend the truth and the value of our
| religion. And If Christ be not risen again
your faith is vain, for you are yet in your
SIM" Il Cor. Is, XVIII.
p. r. MCCARTHY,
St. James ORDINANCE