The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1902-06-22
THE VOICE OF THE PULPIT
THREE TEMPLES; THAT OF NATURE,
OF SOLOMON. AND OF THE SOUL.
Short Sermon by His Eminence, James
Cardinal Gibbons, d.. ID. (ROman
C~athoIic), Baltimore, Md.
Eye are the temple Of God."-L. Cor. iii. 1s.

Eye are the temple of God."-L Cor. iii, 16.
There are three temples which have been
sanctifed by the presence Of God our Sa-
viour-the temple Of nature. the temple OF
Solomon and the living temple Of the soul.
Christ our Redeemer sanctifed the temple
Of nature when He descended from the
bosom of His Father and became manifest
to the world which He had created. On
entering into this planet on the night Of
His birth the choir that greeted Him was
that of the angels, who sang, GLORY to
God in the highest and on earth peace,
good will to men" The first temple in
which man ever worshiped his Maker was
the dome of nature, under whose mighty
arcn all mankind are assembled.
1t was only in this God-created temple
that the human family gave praise to their
heavenly Father for 1900 years, from Adam
TO SOlOmon's time. It was under this
majestic vault that Abraham, Isaac and
Jacob offered prayers and sacrifices to the
Lord. 1t was under this roof of heaven
that the royal prophet received his inspira-
ton to compose those immortal psalms
which have been the delight and cOnsoia-
ton Of all succeeding generations. 1t was
while contemplating the works Of the Gre
alton that he uttered those sublime words,
The heavens declare the glory of God and
the armament announces the works Of His
hands. o Lord, our Lord, how admirable
is Thy name throughout the entire world
And If we also contemplate the works
of God. not with the cynical eye of the ag-
nostic or of the undevOut astronomer, but
in the fervent spirit of the Psalmlst, we
could, like him, rise from nature to ma
lures Cod" Thus all of Gods creatures
are a mirror rejecting His omnipotence.
We would find tongues in trees and books
in running brooks, sermons in stones and
good in everything. Nay, we would find
God himself in everything. for, with the
apostles of the gentiles we would be con-
WINGED that the invisible HAND Of God, His
attributes. His power and divinity are
clearly seen, being made manifest by the
things which are created.
LOOK OF DEVOUTNESS.
But, alas! we walk the earth as thought
less as children who walk through parental
halls without recognizing the ancestral
portraits looking down from the walls. We
fail to observe the portrait Of one Father
stamped upon the palace Of nature whic
He created. Did we contemplate the works
of the universe with a devout spirit we
would behold the image of our Father sus-
pended from the dome of heaven and
marked on every star of the armament
and in every leaf Of the forest. For they
all cry out with one voice, "Thou, o Lord,
hast made US and not we ourselves"
The second temple erected to the worship
of God was the temple of Jerusalem. The
gospel tells us that the Savior was brought
into the temple by His parents to be conse-
Grated to the Lord in accordance with the
Mosaic law. At the same moment an aged
man named Simeon, devout and God fear
ing, was admonished by the Holy Spirit
that the promised Messiah was in his tenn
pie. Promptly thus he entered the sanctu-
airy and instantly recognized the infant.
If Simeon had not responded to the in
spiration of heaven he would have died
without ever contemplating the promised
redeemer. By obeying the secret voice of
the Holy Ghost he was rewarded by be-
holding in the flesh the Savior of mankind,
and thus he enjoyed a privilege which was
not vouchsafed to Moses or Abraham or
Isaac or Jacob or to any of the prophets.
Thus 1T is that every grace we receive is a
link in the chain of our immortal destiny.
Let us see tina no link in the chain is
broken or lost through our fault. The
same Holy Ghost that inspired Simeon to
| enter the temple of Solomon moves US in
these days to seek His sanctuary. The
same Lord that greeted Simeon welcomes
| you also. If you receive the hidden Lord
into your breast with as much faith or de-
votion as Simeon had when he received
| Him into his arms you will also have Gods
benediction upon you
SANCTUARY OF THE SOUL.
The third temple in which the Holy Ghost
dweus is the sanctuary of the devout soul.
The noblest material edifce that ever was
erected by the hand of man from Solomon's
Temple down to st. Peters Basilica in
Rome is but a perishable, decaying monu-
ment compared to the temple Of the soul
when it is illumined with the light of faith
and adorned with the Jewels Of virtue.
Even the temple of nature itself is inferior
in grandeur TO the temple of the soul, as
matter is inferior to spirit. or time to eter-
nifty. For when the great dome OF nature
shall be demolished. when the stars shall
grow dim with years, the temple Of the soul
will live and move and have it's being.
OF all material temples in contrast with
the temples of the soul we can truly say, in
the language Of the psaImist. "They shall
perish but Thou shalt endure and all of
them shall grow old as a garment and as a
vesture. Thou shalt change them and they
shalt be changed, but Thou, o Immortal.
art the selT-same, and Thy years shall not
fail" The self-same indeed in immortal