The Saint Paul globe., 1899-03-20

ueVlng tno same doctrine or fa1th, the
same truth that has been revealed Tt
consists of all the members of the church
in all ages believing the same set of
truths. so that he who Is a true member
of the church of Christ today must be-
lieve what the true members of the
church of Christ believed in the fifteenth
and sixteenth centuries in the tenth, the
eighth. fifth and first, which they be-
lieved in the days when our blessed Lord
worked here upon earth This unity of
faith implies necessarily some central
power in the church which maintains the
same course Of doctrine, among the people
OF one age and among the people Of ages
past. Such is our speculative tendency
that without such a center of unity, such
central authority, unity would soon dis
appear from the land. So that the first
characteristic mark of the Christian
church, wherever 1t Is found, is oneness in
faith. the same set Of doctrines believed in
all ages and by all children of the church,
and kept free from intermingling of err
ror. Oneness In faith is certainly one Of
the shining marks of the church Of
Christ.
CHURCH MUST BE HOLY.
1.-The second mark of the true church
Of Christ arises also from even a casual
examination Of the mission Of the church,
and that is sanctity, holiness. The church
must be holy because of the holiness Of
her founder. 1t Is the work of God Him
self. The object Of the existence of the
church is to make the souls of men holy.
| 1t Is not the mission of the church to
teach any of the sciences. The mission
| of the church of Christ Is to bring man
| to God, to love God and to serve Him,
/ that he may be happy with Him forever
| after. Sanctity, necessarily must be found
| in the true church of CriSt, wherever 1t
| is. She must have within herself the
means of forgiving the sins of men, If un-
| fortunately they have fallen into evil
She must have within her fold many a
man who practices the lessons that are
taught to them by the holy church; show
the sanctity of the church in the sanctity
or their own lives. This note of holiness
|. think you will agree. is essential to the
| true church Of Christ wherever it is
| found
| But this note Of holiness means some
| thing further. 1t does not imply that ev-i
| cry individual member in the church of
our Blessed Lord should be a canonized
saint 1t does not by any means mean
that such thing as a sinner Is unheard
OF IN the true church of our Blessed
Savior. Vie object of Christ's mission
was to bring sinners to repentance He
came not to save the just, but to save
the sinners. He spoke to the poor woman
| and consoled her when the Jews would
put her to death. He spoke to poor Mag
dalen and sanctified her. He spoke to
Peter. after Peter himself had proved
traitor, and forgave him.
ESSENTIALS OF SANCTITY.
'HThe sanctity which is a note Of the
church consists essentially in the teach
1ngs of the church. The doctrine of the
true church of the living God must be
pre-eminently holy.
''The third note is that 1t should be
universal. Christ did not come to save
only the Jews, but he called the Gentiles
as well. He loved the poor. Preach the
gospel to every creature. Go, teach all
nations, and so the church of God, the
true church of God. must be a universal
church, embracing all tne nations of the
world and all the nations of all the times
And the teaching Of the true church of
God must embrace all the teachings con-
tafned in the revelation made to us by
the founder of that church. Not por-
ton of those teachings, but all of them
Teaching them to observe all things
whatsoever I have commanded
''Universality is the third distinguish
Ing mark of the true church. The church
was founded by Christ upon the apostles.
The twelve. And 1t was the twelve that
he gave the commission to go and preach
the gospel to all. These. are the four
| marks that come to us naturally from
the consideration that Christ had in view
himself: Unity. sanctity, universality
| as to time and as to doctrine, apostolicity
WHY HE'S A CATHOLIC.
| Now, brethren, why am I Catholic? :?
l am a Catholic. not because my father
| and mother were Catholics, not because
find nice language in the translation of
| the Bible not because lots of rich people
belong to the Catholic church and it. is
nice to get into nice society; am a Cath
Ollie because In that church which is
known the Catholic church I find the
| unmistakable characteristics Of the
church of Jesus Christ. I find a unity
of faith, sanctity of doctrine. 1 am a
| Catholic because In the Catholic church
| I find the fourth great mark Of religious
| truth, apostolicity. I can go back, back
| back through the years of time until
| come to Simon, to whom Jesus Christ
| said: Thou art Peter, and upon this rock
I shall build my church, and the gates
| of hell shall not prevail against It,
THE four marks, essential marks, of
| genuine Christianity Of the true church
| of Jesus Christ are found in the Catholic
| church. No one dare question, no one
| can successfully contradict the state
ment that she is one in her doctrine. All
| through the centuries the Catholic
church, the church presided over by the
| bishop of Rome, has made it her proud
| boast to be always the same in her doc
| trine; the catechism that is taught today
| in your church Is substantially in every
| church in the world, in every language
| In the world. The Catholic, wherever he
| may go, receives the same sacraments
| the same baptism, the same penance, the
| same sacrament of confirmation, the
| amounting of the dying, the sacrament Of
matrimony, and the sacrament of holy
| orders. The Catholic world is held in
| unity of faith by central power. Rome
| speaks. The pontiff Of Rome speaks. No
matter what his nationality may be.
| what his age may be, Rome speaks
| through her pontfff, and Catholic worlds
| say Rome has spoken. Where Peter is,
| there is the church. Unity of faith and
| CENTRAL AUTHORITY
| by which unity is preserved in the church
| Is recognized as it exists in the church
| Catholic. We defy the world to show
one doctrine in the Catholic church which
is unholy doctrine. 1t is upon the doc
| trines of the church that the sanctity of
| the church is to be determined
1.-THE laity knows Catholic origin as
| well as the clergy We challenge the
| whole world to point to one single doc
| trfne of the Catholic teaching that is op-
posed to sanctity, or that which In its
remotest deductions can lead to immoral
dofngs That Is a broad challenge to
make but it Is made deliberately.
"It is not an argument against the
sanctity. of the Catholic church to say
that in the long line of 250 or more Ro-
man pontiffs here and there. in age
of depravity. and even where the Ro-
man pontiff was made the tool of an age
of wire pulling. some few men were
found exalted to that high position whose
| 1jxraq yUa all that COIlld he desired