Wheeling register. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1878-1935, 1896-03-09

OOu anu man lutl nave SlOOh eAAAAAOSN
aghast at the commands of Joseph CIV
ing orders to his creator and his God.
He, the Lord of Lords, the King or
Kings, the Maker and Supreme Ruler,
| not alone of this little speck Of creation,
but OF all the universe Of men, OF angels,
| archangels, cherubim and seraphim,
thrones, nominations and powers, obey
ed the behests of poor carpenter and
his creature mother They set bounds
TO the little feet, placed barrier at the
| lOwly door lest he should wander forth,
hushed him to sleep and kissed away
his tears. But for Marys virginia.
breast and Joseph's providing he would
have starved. But here, in the cOntin-
uatiOn of his adorable incarnation, he
/ strikes lower deep of helplessness and
humiliation We keep him as a pris-
oner under lock and key. For most of
the day and night he has not, aside
from the invisible hosts Of heaven, as
much sOlace and company as his mother
I and foster father afforded No basking
in the sweet air of heaven as in the
sweet summer time of the Galilean vii
/ lage. No childish amusement; nothing
of mothers loye-the sweetest thing
on earth. No, he is here deserted, for
I lOrn, without the privilege of a helpless
I intant-a cry TO the helping and strong
| Here his poverty is more touching and
pathetic than the poverty of Bethlehem
of Nazareth; his isolation more moving
and complete. Some, indeed, come to
him in humility and love, but very few;
just as of.old, they pointed to him dis
paragingly as the carpenters SON; so
now in this deeper obscurity and humil-
iatiOn, they ignore him utterly, or adj
verting at all deny, or mayhap, BIAS
pheme.
so then we have tried to see how
we have here a veritable crib, a verit-
able Nazareth with the poverty and
hiddenness of the old life in the noun
tain hamlet accentuated and intensified.
There remains something more Won
derful still.
No man with eyes to behold. and
brain to think, can fail to be struck by
the prodigality and beauty alike Of the
works Of Almighty God He would
seem to create for the mere pleasure Of
creating or TO mirror in some imper-
feet way to us his beauty, his goodness
and his power Thus the little plant in
the untrodden depths Of the forest and
unseen of man, examined infinitely. is a
marvel Of symmetry and grace. The
tiny coral mountains fathOms deep the
pearl in the shell on oceans floor. the
WondrOus mechanism of an insects
wing show forth his glory as clearly as
the planet swinging in its vast orbit.
No human artist can ever approach in
beauty the delicate tracery on a fern
leaf, or the fantastic forms which frost
Weayes on the pane. Place a flake of
snow or one drop of blood under a
microscope. and there stands revealed
a realm of form and beauty hitherto I'M
dreamed of. Go deeper still, and world
upon world of animate matter will open
in never ending vistas before the be-
wildered gaze. But the profusion-the
reckless profusion, if may dare TO say
sO-Of the works of God in the natural
order provoke our establishment still
more.
IF such be the prodigality and love
of God towards us the order of Ma
tuTe, we nay expect at least as liberal
a measure in the order of Grace Our
expectations are more than fulfilled.
You were told this morning that while
one drop of blood from the sacred veins
of Jesus would have sufliced to redeem
ten million. nay ten million times ton
million sinful worlds, yet He poured
the red tide from those veins to the last
drop TO show us how much He loved
us. He forgives us not once, but ten
thousand times if we truly turn TO
Him. SO of Bethlehem and Nazareth
OF old there were one of each, but now
there are myriads! OF old one star
guided three to adore Him; now there
are scarce stars enough in the armament
TO mark the places OF His birth and His
dwelling. OF old a favored few were
allowed to go in and adore; but now all
the tribes of earth worship. OF old Mary
held Him up or Joseph took Him upon
his knee that He might bless the awe
stricken few; now thousands upon thou
sands of unworthy priests hold Him
alOft in Benediction that saint and sin
ner alike may bow down He is indeed
truly and really Emmanuel, God be
with us" in the very midst of our homes
throughout the world. When sickness
lays us low He comes to us and blesses
us and lets us be one with Him more
WOndrously than when Mary hurried
with Him across the hills OF Judea that
He might sanctify John as yet in the
prison of His mothers womb, or than
when Joseph fled with Him to Egypt
to escape the murderous sword.
Gods prodigality in Nature indeed
What is it compared with His adorable
prodigality in the realms of Grace?
Oh, thrice happy priests who are Mary
and Joseph in one to the Sacramento
God, Oh. happy souls in all the world
the innumerable thTOng whom no man
can number privileged to make a NaZ-
areth for Him in their heart of hearts!
Brethren, He even cOndescends to yearn
for that dwelling. With desire He still
desires to eat this Pasch with you, and
oh. how little those understand His
love or His desire to stand aloof. So
consuming is His desire that He even
threatens you if you do not receive.
Unless you eat the flesh of the Son of
Man and drink His blood you shall not
have life in you John VI, 54) With
which cord will you be drawn toHim-
the rigid, unyielding one of fear or the
golden cord of love? Saints there have
been in this poor world of ours, who.
in loving yet hopeless emulation of
their God, have poured out their hearts
and souls and being utterly to Him
without one atom of reserve. How
have we treated this most bountiful
and most gracious God? Have we in
the slightest degree tried to return love
for love? OH let us be ashamed and
mourn our ingratitude. Let us try to
$3.50 .l..r-o.,