Evening journal., 1898-02-24
REV. FATHER MICKLE
Closes Succeesful Lecture
Course at st. Peters.
CATHOLICS AND NoN-CATHOLICs

lAlN1Ao VI ltiE IA lOSiO
CHURCH.
Venerable st. Peters Cathedral.
Sixth and West, has been we'll filled by
attentive audiences since Sunday night
to hear Rev. Father Mickle in a Sc
ries Of three lectures. Prefacing the
reverend fathers text, "Christ Our
Model" was the answering of ques-
tions obtained from boxes placed at
the vestibu,e doors.
Two significant questions were
deposited and commented upon /
from the altar The first was in refer
ence to the confessional being an easy
method to get rid of sin, especially
upon the payment of a sum of money.
| The writer in conclusion said that he /
| did not make this a specific charge, but /
merely wanted information, as he |
| knew many Catholics who were good, |
honest men.
| Father Mickle said he was glad OF |
the admission to start with, that the |
Catholic church was capable of infiu- |
encing men TO be good and honest. AS |
| regards the payment of money FOR the
forgiveness Of sins committed nothing
could be farther from the truth. In no
case, and at no time, and under no cir
cumstances, does a Catholic OFFER, or is
expected to offer, money in the confes-
sional for the remission of sins, or the
4 license to commit sin. The surprise of
the priest would more than counterbal-
ance the presumption of the penitent
in attempting such a thing. However,
| there are times when, under the whip
lash of a remorseful conscience, when
the bitter wrong done to the widow,
the orphan, or the trusting employer,
flows through the confessional to its
proper owner and the recipient and
the world never knows from whom it
, came. The self abnegatiOn of the con-
fessional is the most certain check to
, dishonest beginnings that the world
has yet seen, or ever will see. Then
: sorrow and a firm resolution to avoid
these confessed sins constitute the
spirit of the sacrament.
, While the priest has the remitting or
j. absolving power transmitted from the
very beginning of the church from the
apostolic age to the present. the real
and only pardon comes from God, and
: quoting from st. John, twentieth chap
ter, the reverend father gave the all-
= thority for the sacrament in its human
y shade when the Lord, appearing among
e His disciples after His resurrection,
b | said: Peace be to you. Receive ye
- the Holy Chest, whose sins you shall
Q forgive. they are forgiven them; and
= | whose sins you RETAIN they are re-
s. tanned" Not the mere telling, not the
t lofty power implied in these words
10 mitigate in one iOta the other fact, alb
s. solute contrition and the effort TO avoid
a. sin on the part Of the penitent.
Id The second question was: IF all peo-
Tossing Christians outside of the Catho
Il 14r.I Islrf
Most assuredly they are said this
- reverend father, If they purposely, per
- sistently refuse to heed the teaching
= Of a church founded by the Divine Sa
viour, refuse to believe with all tha
light of inward faith steadily iEumin'
m ing the way the Master trOd, and ye
OF expect to be saved. How odherwis'
h can this question be answered.
TX But to the conscientious Protestant
ct who. in all sincerity. believes and act'
upon the religion of his choice witt
= the light Of faith-his faith guiding
him as best he knows-his salvatiCl
- through an upright light is just as saf'
~ as the devout Catholic, and infinitel,
more 50 than the Catholic who, pre-
- suming upon the broad charity of hi
religion, commits sins that in disgrac
= inghimself insult Observation-Disclosures an
TIl bring reprcach when upright manlines
would avoid it. The woods are full O
tn such Catholics.
After inviting more questions fo
ior Monday evening Father Mickle took u
ly. the text of his discourse, Christ Ou
ast Model" and in eloquent terms depicte
= in all it's beauty the splendor of tw
eh chosen states-the poverty and humi
, ity Of the Divine Saviour.
- GO with me-" said he. "in spir
tonight to the city of the great Kin
Jerusalem. Turn back the pages {
ws time and let il be the day of excel
re- ton. of crucifxion. Mingle with tn
aae hurrying thrOngs; hear the light Tang
the and rfbald Jest. Heed not the awfl
as look of nature, the crash of earth, II
,,9l vivid flash of lightning dividing Il
vi heavens in twain, and revealing an ~
I'M lifted cross upon whose outstreacht
pap arms in all the gloom of intense darl
ness hangs, think of it, the secor
S. person Of the blessed Trinity. Ay
. there in immolation, the blood stream
ny ing from hands that always were lift'
ese 81 in kindness or gentle reproach. III
70 | poor head with the crown of thor
A pressed deep into temples that thro
~ bed in the garden of Gethsemane f
- sins not His own now streaming WI
blocd. You ask, now why do Cath
lies venerate the cross, why It su
ey- mounts their churches, why it finds
lid place on their affairs, why it is the sii
. manual upon entering a church? lIo'
s.r for an answer to the hill of Calvary
r. Then passing to the humility OF I
Divine Saviour, the reverend faith
ell closed his powerful discourse with
wer merous quotations from Scriptui
by showing that the sublime self abeg
he- ton of humility constituted the brig
jewel in the Lords checkered life a.
eet as a practice worthy Of all emu-atic
=. In conclusion everyone was invited
be present again and bring a trieI
The services closed with benedicti
of the blessed sacrament.
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