The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1900-03-05

preparing during the thirty-three years OF
HIS lie Tor the scourging at the pillar,
me GROWING with thorns, the carrying OF
the cross, the dying upon the cross The
explanation is: He came to triumph over
sim oyer the sin in man, and hence His
SUFFERING, hence His death on the cross
But though Christ suffered for our SINS
he did not thereby exempt us from suf-
fering for these sins He offered TO the
that we could not offer; but we must
90, IN union with Him, what
we can. Hence, If we are
contrite for our sins, If we desire that
God pardon US, we aust be ready to pun
Ism our Dodles, to wreak vengeance upon
those passions which reduced us from
angels to beasts. Hence, self-denial is
vital condition for the reconciliation
/ Of the sinner with Almighty God. Hence,
the Prophet Joel, speaking to the sinful
people OF Israel, says: "Who knoweth
the trumpet in Zion, sanctify a fast
The Lords ministers weep and shall say,
spare, Lord, spare Thy people: And
when the Prophet Joel announced to Min
even that. because of its SINS 1t would
De destroyed within forty days, the royal
mandate went forth that all should fast.
obtained from the Almighty. Let US not
expect that we may give ourselves up to
passion and reVel in iniquity, and then
SIMPLY by the words Il am sorry bring
Gown GOD IS mercy upon US. We must
De IN earnest in our hatred of sin, and
consequently in earnest in our hatred of
lne causes OF sin our own passions.
Wnch we must subdue and punish We
must 90 penance by the practice of self
oenlal, II We would obtain the forgiveness
OF our sins.
the lower element within us inclines us
towards sin. The body is powerful, my
o. preunren; The soul speaks, but the body
Is rebell1ous, and aims at the subsection
Of the soul. The pagan poet ovid said:
l know what is right, do what is
wrong N,itn St Paul, the apostle of Christ
Ine hesh lusteth against the spirit
aIio the spirit against the flesh, for these
tnlnss are contrary, one to another, so
tdr mat you do not that which you would. -
fforplds us to go. In presence of this
1act' what are we to do? We must drill
our our senses, acustom oua. passions to sub
go on 1ndulging my appetites so long as
there Is no positive sin before me; but
i Mt1eh come to the point where further
lnoulsehce would be sinful, there / will
stop; mis- is binding ourselves, my
brethren, to simple truth. Do not mag
ne that you can walk to the very brink
t El CANCER thag{ ana there stop. Do not mag
me that you can allow passions full sway
up 10 the moment of sin, and then sud
denly command them. Passions are wild
aIll1nalS. In order that at a given time
Sney opey you, tame them beforehand
Sold1ers DO not wait until they are upon
the battle field to learn how they must
d n?P! themselves into instantaneous ODE
They drill themselves again and again
De1ore the day of war. Speaking of those
P Pa1, engaged agid IN the olympian plays St
Tor the mastery refraineth himself from
all things" Whatever IN any way would
Iend TO retard him from victory, he re-
trains from long before he enters the
Alas the world around us in given to
sense; 1t IS world of passion, world of
appetites, the world of sin. Men look
ne fnea Ia
upon 1t, and they say, we live only for
TINS earth, and whether it be well or not
10r the soul, We shall enjoy ourselves.
The flood Of iniquity passes over the
earth. Alas! It is a sensual age. What
commands is passion? The mission of
the CHRISTIAN religion is to war against
TINS sensual world. We must make our
choice between this world and Christ, be-
tween the body and the soul, between
time and eternity. Are you with Christ,
4eny yourselves; take up your cross and
follow Him. If we are Christians we shall
| De known by our acts of self-denial, by
| our practice of refraining from things
| llcit in themselves, but which, if con-
stantiy INDUCED, would give to our lower
appettes such habit of dominat ton that
| when IN the presence of the peril of sin
| We could not control them
| You see, brethren, that the. great Chris
! tlan law of self-denial is based on the
| very constitutional human nature, and
| that Christ, in His proclamations of self
| denial, only adds divine sanction to the
n.
of old stole philosophy was endure and
refrain--endure, punish yourself; refrain,
know how to check your appetites
What are We to do in order to follow
| out the law of self-denial? There are
! many methods of self-denial. A simple
| one is that We so dominate our passions
and our inclinations that we bear always
| with patience the troubles, the trials the
! suffertngs that come upon us without
our own will How many things dis
| agreeable to sense occur every day from
Whlch we cannot subtract ourselves.
| There is our daily labor, often tiresome,
OFTEN harsh to nature. There are our re-
| 1ations with our fellow men often prompt
ing US to feelings of anger and of vim
| Qlct1VeneSS. There. are our duties to the
| members of our family which demand
! from us patience and forbearance What
does the Christian do in such circum-
stances? He IS. always patient He goes
to his work because 1t is Gods will. If
1t is hard to bear, If it is one day too
cold another day too warm, he says to
| himself, but L am a sinner and l will
| take what comes as punishment for my
| SINS and by my calm submission l shall
| accustom my lower being to self-control.
He meets with his neighbors, a harsh
| word is spoken, what the world would
! call an insult, is offered: the Christian
! is patient he says I'm his heart Christ
died on the cross for me. He was pa
| tient for my sins, l will be patient for
my sins. He returns to his home in the
evening; things are not as he would
wish; he takes things for Gods sake, he
! appears ana is happy; me strives to make
! others happy. Those who do not know
what is passing within the Christian's
! soul wonder that he is so kind and pa
| tient. He does wonder, he is doing all
for Christ. ~
Another method of self-denial and
| modification is not only to take patient
| ~ the hardships that come unsought but
| from time to time TO seek out some prac-
| tees which would impose self-denial upon
US, voluntary freely chosen practices.
| Every day there are a hundred oppor-
/ tunities. To take a common one-the ap-
! petite within you says, you ought to go
| into the saloon and take a glass of
| will not go, will compel that appetite
| need not go to excess, just take drink in
moderation. All, vile appetite, If 1 listen
to thee today even in moderation, to-
morrow thou wilt demand of me that /
| go beyond due moderat ton, If obey thee
I today, shall have to obey thee tomor-
! row. From time to time. say short
| prayer, visit the church., recite evening
| prayers at homer There is 40 strict OBJ
legation to do so, but it will be an act of
| penance for you. There is a neighbor
who Quarreled with you. To do him a
| kind act would punish the spirit of vim
dictiveness within you; do him the kind
| act.
You are taking your meals; there is
| some food that you do not like as well
| as another; the pagan always calls for
! the very best; the good Christian says,
| II give food TO the body because am
hungry, but 1 will not seek food to tickle
! the palate" You can tell at the table