The Irish standard., 1901-05-18
THE CHAMELEON CATHOLIC.

THE CHAMELEON CATHOLIC.
Every schoolboy has heard of the
tropical reptile which is said to possess
the faculty of changing color accord
ing to the objects in its neighborhood.
All that is popularity believed about it
is not true. But it does, as matter Of
fact, often take on the same tints as
its environment, doubtless as a mea
sure Of protection against it's enemies
Wherefore, let the chameleon serve as
a parable, says the Providence Visitor
1t is a type of certain class of
Catholics-those who accommodate
themselves to their spiritual environ
ment through human respect, or the
hope Of secular neutrality-suspicious.
lives are one long series of concessions
to the world, the flesh and the devil
those who are Catholics in Catholic
company-and Protestants with Prot
estants. 1t is true that st. Paul speaks
of making himself all things to all
men; but this, like many other say
ings Of the Apostle, needs explanation.
He was the last man in the world to
sacrifice conviction to expediency,
where there was question Of fixed
principles of Christian belief or of
Christian practice. What st. Paul
meant to impress upon his readers is
the duty of showing brotherly kind
ness to all men, whether of the house
hold of the faith or not, and of thus
displaying to the world the spirit of
the Gospel. For him there was but
one God, one Faith, one Baptism. For
him there was but one Gospel, one
hard-and-fast rule of Christian living
from which no Christian might deviate
under pain of being ranked with the
heather and the publican.
The chameleon is reptile; so is the
Catholic who resorts to the chame-
Icons methods. The faith we profess
needs no excuses. 1t is the most beau
tiful, beneficent, sweetly reasonable,
and only consistent form of Christian
lty. 1t compels the respect Of all men
whose opinions concerning it are
worth considering For the love of
it our fathers suffered persecution
such as the world has not seen since
the days of the Caesars, that they
might hand it down to us as they re-
ccved it. And we, the children Of
the martyrs, how do we prize our
heritage? DO we live up to it like
men. proud of our spiritual ancestry,
or do we bow down before false gods
in the house of Rimmon, rs it were.
yielding this point, questioning that,
denying another that we may bask in
the smile of some shallow bigot who
condescendS to patr0nize us? To do
this is cowardly and shameful-it is
to act the reptiles part. 1t is to sacri-
flee our birthright for mess of pot
tage.
Not seldom does one see brethren
who, that they may enjoy reputation
for liberality and broadness and all
that sort of thing. are forever mini
MIXING and qualifying the faith they
ought to prize and who publicly COM
nit that sin against the law of their
church which by more obedicnt gem
Grafton was regarded as an act OF
apostasy. There is no use in mincing
matters. What we greatly need is a
body of Catholic men of the stamp of
one who was lately taken from us,
men who stand four square to all the
winds that blow, men whose lives will
be a noble showing forth of the reli-
gion in which they We're baptized and
who will he an inspiration to all be-
holders.
Nothing is gained in the long run by
concessions to anti
Catholic notions by deprecatory haws
and hens, or by ignominious silence
when speech is in order. We need
hardly observe that, while we con- !
denim molluscan backbone-lessncss. |
where there is a question of the profess !
sion Of the faith, we are not therefore
to- be understood as advocating bgot-
ry After the example of st. Paul,
one can be all things to ali men with
out prejudice to Christian consistency.
Our separated brethren may not have
strong religious convictions them
selves, but they appreciate them in
others. They rate the chameleon Cath |
Ollie at his proper value. and they have
small confidence in the uprightness Of !
n man who plays fast and loose with !
his obligations as member of the
church.
BOERS HAVE A SECOND DE WET,
In spite Of Kitcheners censorship
the scraps Of news from South Africa
are not calculated to afford INV great |