The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1900-01-08

manity's Mind and Heart Ever
lasting.
Archbishop ireland explained the sig
nif1cance of Epiphany in an eloquent SER
He said in part:
The word epiphany signifies manifesto
ton The festival Of the Epiphany is the
festival of the manifestation OF the ga a.
large. This festival has always been dear
to the church of Christ; for 1t is the les
tival of her catholicity, commemorating
the calling of the nations of the earth 10
adore Christ, and to declare themselves
His disciples The nations were repre-
scented in the persons of the wise men OF
the East The first to be invited to adore
the new born babe was the people OF
Israel in the persons of the shepherds or
Bethlehem. After Israel the Gentlies
were brought, They were called as INC
armament of an extraordinary star. IL
we go back some centuries we read IN the
Pentateuch that prophet of oiden times,
rise out OF Jacob. and a scepter Woula
spring up from Israel" The literal mean
ing of the prophecy was that out OF Is
rael would come the light which was to
iliumine the world, the Messiah, the sa-
vior of nations. It would appear that thls
prophecy was spread out. not only among
the people of Israel. but amidst the sur
rounding nations, and that the NATIONS
interpreted the prophecy also in anothef
meaning, that when the time for the APP
partition of the Greet Preacher was TO
come His birth would be announced by
a visible, material light, an extraordinary
apparition Of a new star. SO when those
wise men of the East who, as we Know;
were especially yersed in the science Z, OF
the heavens. beheld the. new star. they
remembered the prophecy and they SAID.
''Ehe new light of the world has come;
let US seek Him." 1t is not to be sup
posed that the miraculous star Whlch APP
peared to the wise men of Persia was as
one of the distant luminaries of the tlrm-
ament commonly called stars. we READ
in the gCSnel that the star seen by the
wise men appeared and disappeared. Weat
forward and finally rested over the hum
BILE place where lay the child Jesus 1t Is
more natural to suppose that II was
by the providence of Almighty God NOV
ing in the skies not far from earth. SO
that the eyes Of men could follow &c. us
movements. So the wise men said: Let
us seek out the Messiah and they Jour-
neyed on towards Jerusalem. carrying
with them offerings for the new porn
king Arriving in Jerusalem they mqulr-
ed from the ruler of the city Herod:
where the new king was born. Eierod, OF
course, was not ignorant of the pr0phee
cies made by Jehovah to the people OF
Israel; he called together the priests and
scribes and asked where Is the King TO De
born, and they. recalling the prophecies.
answered, I'm Bethlehem" therefore,
said Herod to the wise men. go to Beth
lehera and when you have found him
come back and narrate to me about MN,
the intention of Herod being, as we are
to put the new born child to death lest
Herod's kingdom should be imperiled by
that of Christ: Onward the wise men
went, and. finding the child Jesus. they
adored him and made to him their offer
ings An angel then warned them not to
return to Herod, and by another road they
journeyed back to their own country,
The wise men represented the nations
of the earth. From the first dawn of the
history of the human race, from the day
of the fall of our first parents, God had
orator who would save men from sin and
restore to them the original innocence
and happiness that had belonged to their
first parents before the fan In ant1cipa-
liar people was selected. who through q
miraculous intervention of providence
would preserve in it's purity the ;knowl-
edge of the true God. among whom
prophets from age to age would rise tell
ing of. the, expected redemption. and as
the time drew nearer giving more minute
would appear and would preach to the
nations. His divine mission would be
recognized not only by the works which
He Himself would do, but by the mani
of previous ages. While Jehovah guard
ed the people of Israel. and preserved
among them the purity of monotheism.
the knowledge of the one true God. the
religion of Israel was not universally
preached. 1t was the religion of the peo-
pie of Israel, and for Israel alone. 1t IS
not to be supposed, however. that God
had abandoned to perdition the nations
OF the earth outside of the small area of
Palestine st. Paul gives clearly to I'M
derstand that the Gentiles had salvation
cording to the best lights they had. by
following their. own consctences: While
outside Of Israel there was. indeed, in the
language of the prophet. mist spread
over the earth. 1t is not to be supposed
that salvation was not within the reach
of all those who lived as best they knew,
through their. own reason. their own con-
science, and the primitive revelation made
in earliest days of humanity.
But the time eo,f game u, e. when GODS love
universally. The time came when "the
star was indeed to rise out of Jacob,
and the scepter to spring UP from Israel,
when the Messiah was to appear and to
reign" And the mission of the Messiah
was not for the house of Israel alone
but for all nations. The prophets of Is
of the reign and of the love of the Mes
siah. ''Arise. Jerusalem had said
Isaias for thy light has come: be en-
e6 NEON and bee glory aGd Of the Lord is
shall walk in thy light and kings in the
brightness of thy rising"
No sooner, then, was the Messiah born
than by calling representatives of the
Gentiles to His cradle He proclaimed that
He was indeed the Savior of all nations,
the lover of all men,.
king. and to reign through ages. He
made clear His purpose when speaking
to His apostles their commission Going
We, teach all nations and behold
l am with you all days, even unto the
end of the world" Daniel had, centuries
before. foretold, His reign and the lura-
ton thereof: I'm the days of those king
doms, the God. of heaven will set up a
kingdom that shall never be destroyed,
and His kingdom. shall not be delivered
up t to another people and itself
terday and today eXclaims st. Paul,
'and the same forever"
Christ did indeed say that His kingdom
was not of this world. He did not say
that His Kingdom was not in this world.
1t was not to be of this world as the
kingdom of those who reign over ma
tterial interests. and who. command over
the material life of men. A kingdom of
that kind was unworthy of incarnate
God. He came to reign over the noblest
part of man. over mans mind and mans
the palaces of Caesar? He made clear
that He despised such things when He
was born, in such poverty that it is not
written that another child of man was
born amid similar surroundings The
true grandeur of man is his intellect, his
power to know and his power to love-
Goo mas created man free and by virtue
of his freedom man may, if he choose.
refuse the assent of his mind and the
love of his heart Nor did Jesus come
to conquer the mind and heart of man by
physical force. That were unworthy of
God and unworthy of man. There were
no divine triumph in such conquest So
far as such conquest Is possible, swords
and chains of tyrants may accomplish it.
Christ came to conquer the mind and the
heart of mankind by the effulgence of the
truth of His teaching. and by the heav-
enly warmth of His own hearts love.
since Christ sent from Palestine His apos-
ties to conquer for Him the world AS
they went forth the nations rose up in
! = l. IL -