The Irish standard., 1899-10-21
Objections Against Embracing
the True Faith.
The HIGHEST DEGREE OF FREEDOM
The Learned Prelate Refers to
Dewey and Schley.

Cardinal Gibbons spoke recently at
the Baltimore cathedral on the Loss
and Gain" which one experiences in
embracing the Catholic faith. "As in
the days to which the parable OF the
marriage feast REFERS" he said, many
accepted the invitation to the banquet
while many others absented themselves
for various preteNts. So, now while
many embrace the religion OF Christ,
there are others who keep outside its
pale When a man is about to embark
in any business enterprise he puts to
himself this question: Will it pay; what
loss and what gain?' Let us first con-
slider the objections brought against
embracing religion.
"Onc man will say to me: III I em-
brace the Catholic religion my freedom
OF thought will be curtailcd, my intellect
will be cramped, my judgment will be
clouded and l will be restrained in the
pursuit OF scientific investigation. I will
be in constant danger OF falling foul OF
some ecclesiastical ukase warming me
OF the forbidden ground, as truant boys
are ordered against trespassing on their
neighbors' orchard, or my path is La
bic to be intercepted by Popc's bull
that, mctaphoricaly speaking, will gore
me to death
81 can say without fear OF contradc-
ton that they who harbor such scnt-
ments labor under a groundlcss apprc
hension. | shall cndcavor to show that
the Catholic religion, far from blockad-
ing the way OF science, tenders the most
scrviccablc aid in the pursuit OF scicn-
tific investigation. The Catholic church
teaches nothing but what has been re-
vealcd by God or is plainly dcducblc
from revelations. All truth comes from
God, as all light proceeds from the sun.
He is the author of natural as well as OF
revealed truth. One truth can never
contradict another. No truth OF rcvca-
ton can ever be opposed to any trutl,
OF science. Natural and revealed truths
always are and always must be in per-
feet harmony and shed light upon one
another, just as one star throws light
upon another and expands our view OF
the armament above us.
Crest assured, then, that Christian
faith will never stunt your intellect or
warp your judgment or check your
progress in the investigation OF natural
truth. On the contrary, faith will be as
the sun, illumining your path. 1t will
be as a handiwork guiding you onward
in the region OF science; it will be a
beacon light cautioning you to shun
the shoals OF quicksands, against which
false science has often been ship
wrecked, and just because the church
fosters true science she sets her face
against false science. She is the divine
'y appointed guardian OF revealed re-
ligion, and when she sees man ad-
vancing some crude theory at variance
with a fact OF rcvclaton-thc existence
OF God. for example, or His sanctity,
or Providence, or the origin and unity
OF the human species, or the spirituality
and Immortality OF the SOUL which is
the foundation OF mans dignity and re-
sponsibility-shc knows that his theory
must be false, because she knows that
Gods revelation must be true. When
she secs this man laying proianc hands
on the temple OF faith she cries out,
Thus far shalt thou go and no farther
and is she not right? For if Gods rev.
clation is at the mercy OF every sciolst,
what becomes OF the principles under
lying Our Christian society? Are they
not like shifting sands?
Crest assured that the wild theories
periodically advanced against Christian
ity may float for while on the surface
OF the human mind, like iccbcrgs on
the ocean, but in the end they arc sure
to melt away before the efulgent rays Of
reason and revelation. How, then, can
we be asked to abandon the living ioun-
tain at which our forciathcrs stayed
their thirst for centuries and run after
the mirage which prctcntious men have
conjured up before our imagination?
another will say: IF l embrace the
Catholic religion l shall have to SUR
render my moral freedom; shall no
longer be guided in the path of duty
by my own conscience, by my own
sense OF right, but by the capricious