The Irish standard. [volume] (Minneapolis, Minn. ;) 1886-1920, 1900-03-10

Catholic church lives and moves the
spirit OF Christ, the incarnate God.
Christ practiced and preached self-de
NAL. He made the plain announcement
that the condition to become his disci-
pie is to deny oneself, to take up ones
cross.
why is it that seli-denial is so nee
cssary? God has imposed upon us this
condition, that we make use OF the
things OF earth in due subsection to the
moral law; that we make use OF the
things OF earth, in accordance with the
nature and dignity OF our being IN
fortunately it happens often that the
flesh docs triumph over the soul, that
the soul, instead OF being master, is
made the slave. Often we make misuse
OF the gifts OF God, and offend God.
"Two unfortunate facts are before us.
! The one is that we are sinners, that we
have offended God; the other is that
| there is within lis at all times a lamenta
| BILE tendency toward the misuse OF the
gifts OF God, towards sin. Hence, the
duty for us OF self-denial. We have
offended God, because we listened to
passion and yielded to Our lower appe
tites. Now in order to obtain from AL
mighty God forgiveness for sin we
| must reinstate the soul in her proper
place; we must bring passion into Sub
lection, we must punish the body for
having dared to triumph over the soul.
This is simple justice; whereby we have
sinned, there must we intict punish
ment.
This doctrine OF punishment for sin
is made clear to us in the incarnation
and the redemption. This law OF eter-
nal justice exacts that adequate salts
faction be given for sin. Man himself
cannot give adequate satisfaction. The
offense against God in sin is infinite in
its nature, while the reparation offered
by man is finite in merit. A Savior
came; he was man in order that infinite
merit might attach to his sufferings.
And so, Christ was born into this
world, suffered and died. But, though
Christ suffered for our sins, he did not
thereby exempt us from suffering for
those sins. He offered to the Eternal
Majesty the infinite satisfaction that we
could not offer; but we must do in
union with him what we can.
"Hence, ii we are contrite for Our
sins; ii we desire that God pardon us,
we must be ready to punish our bodies,
to wreak vengeance upon those pas
sions which reduced us from angels to
beasts Hence, self-denial is vital con-
dition for the reconciliation of the sin
ner with Almighty God. We must be
in earnest in our hatred of sin, and, con-
sequently, in earnest i'll Our hatred OF
the causes of sin, our own passions,
which we must subdue and punish We
must do penance by the practice OF self
denial, if we would obtain the forgive
ness OF our sns.I
"The second fact is that at all times
the lower element within lis inclines us
toward sin. The body is powerful. The
soul speaks, but the body is rebellious,
and aims at the sub ection of the soul.
We must drill Our senses, accustom our
passions to subsection. Nor will it suf-
flee to say, 4 will go on INDUCING my
appetites, so long as there is no positive
sin before me; but when I come to the
point where further indulgence would
be sinful, there I will stop This is
binding ourselves, my brethren to sim
pie truth Do not imagine that you can
walk to the very brink Of danger and
there stop. Do not imagine that you
can allow passions full sway up to the
moment OF sin, and then suddenly COM
mand them. Passions are wild animals.
In order that at given time they may
obey you, tame them beforehand. Ii
we are Christians, we shall be known
by Our acts of self-denial, by Our prac-
tice of retaining from things licit in
themselves, but which, if constantly in
dulged, would give to Our lower appe-
tites such a habit OF domination that
when in the presence Of the peril Of sin,
we could not control tt1e1n.
"You see, brethren, that the great
Christian law OF self-denial is based on
the very constitution Of human nature,
and that Christ, in his proclamations Of
self-denial, only adds divine sanction to
the lesson Of Our own reason. There
are many methods of self-denial. A
simple one, is that we so dominate our
passions and our inclinations that we
hear always with patience the troubles,
the trials, the sufferings that come upon
lis without Our own will How many
things disagreeablc to sense occur ev-
cry day from which we cannot substract
ourselves? There is our daily labor,
often tircsome often harsh to nature.
There are our relations with Our fellow
men. often prompting lis to feelings OF
anger, and OF vindictivencss. There are
our duties to the members OF Our fam
lily, which demand from us patience and
iorbcarancc. What does the Christian
do under such circumstances? He is
:, twavS Doticnt He saws tO himself i