The Intermountain Catholic. (Salt Lake City [Utah] ;) 1899-1920, 1902-01-04
Tributes to Late Bishop Lehman

The obsequies over the late Bishop
Lenihan at Dubuque were of the most
imposing character.
At the conclusion of the Mass Arch
bishop Keane assembled the pulpit and
spoke in substance as follows:
In the name of the Father. Son and
Holy Ghost. Beloved Brethren-This is
a day of mourning. What thousands
of hearts there are who bewau the
death of him who lies before US. In
this city of his childhood how many
hundreds bewail him as friend COM
rade or relative. To them who were
connected by ties of blood our hearts
go out in affectionate sympathy In
Fort Dodge how many thousands are
sorrowing for him. as a good pioneer
priest, as a kind father who gave them
their first communion, married them
and made their homes happy! And
how many other tens of thousands of
citizens mourn him as a good citizen
energetic, tireless and always seeking
public good. In distant Wyoming other
tens of thousands mourn him as the
good bishop, as the devoted leader of
that little band of priests, as the in
lcdutI no ever BOililTu hbs
aiding by word and example and push
ing on in that herOism which he had
learned from the sanity Loras and
Creton. All supposed that he would
still be with us for many years to
GENE. All looked for his word of COM
fort and his good example for many
years. All felt sure that the brightest
OF his brilliant career was yet to come.
But the great Captain called halt.
And the soldier lay down his weapon.
His life's hopes fell. And. we bow
down at the feet of the altar and say,
Not our will, but Thine, be done,
God" All! yes, let us follow him as his
guardian angel leads him to God. Let
us stand there with him. We loved to
watch him in life; let us stand there
with him before his Judge. He was
always a priest and an instructor. To-
day he gives us a most eloquent lesson.
The archbishop then spoke of the
parable of the talents and dilated on
the talents of the dead prelate. Con-
corning the latter he said:
The first talents he received were
the gifts of nature. The Lord gave
him gifts of intellect, gifts of pru-
dence, gifts of tact and energy, gifts
of fortitude, gifts of perseverance that
enable him to reach to heights inacceS-
sible of men. And every one of these
gifts he kept-nOt one was thrown to
waste All he laid at the Savior's feet
And TO these gifts of nature God gave
gifts of grace and to whomsOever God
gives gifts of nature, He always gives
gifts of grace. Bishop Lehman always
heard the voice of God in his soul, call
ing him to higher things. calling him
to noble deeds. And in his home ne saw
examples of virtue that helped him to
listen to that voice. and, above all, he
had the blessing of a good Christian
education Thus after receiving the
gifts of nature and grace he was led to
the great crossroad of life, the place
where everyone must choose a vOca-
tiCn. Many voices he heard-vOices of
temptation, voices telling him of al
lurements of the world, and of the
pleasures of life. He heard them all,
but he hearkened only to that one
Voice speaking louder than all others,
speaking with greater force and telling
him to strive upwards and onward.
Often as he served Mass on the altar of
this sanctuary ne wondered if he ever
would be standing in the place of the
priest offering the divine sacrifice. And
when he reached the crossroads the
voice of the sweet Savior said to him,
Follow me-" and thus it was that on
this very sanctuary he fell PROSTATE
before the feet of Jesus at its full sig
nificance. When James and John asked
Jesus to be joined in the apostolic
urion He said to them, Can you drink
the cup that have drunk" And they
answered, Yes
These were the five talents that God
gave Bishop Lehman. How he laid
them at the feet of the Savior. What
is the fruit of these talents? Some
times the Lord chooses men to do His
work and they do it well, but are not
granted the blessing of seeing the fruit
of their labor. Thus it was with Christ.
He worked on earth a short while, did
his work. but although he sowed good
seed, he had not the happiness, while
on earth, to see it grow and spread.
All he had was few poor, weak dis
ciples, who ran away and left him.
All the apostles were not men like st.
Paul. "Oh!" said our Blessed Savior,
"some SOW, others reap" What a
glorious thing it is to toll for the Lord
and not gather in the sheaves! Bishop
Lenihan could say truthfully to the
sweet Jesus: L didn't gather sheaves,
O Lord. but lost my life in thy serv-
ice" Oh, brethren, what a lesson that
is. Is it not eloquent? AS his friends
we Shall take that lesson and keep 1t
forever. We shall hear from him what
il is to labor for the Lord. And now