Omaha daily bee., 1902-03-31
REFORM FORCES I&BEATH
Allied Party Holds Cow,
TOgeth NJ . tne NesurrsO-
ion o. Christ,
WIN" len CAN EASILY HAVE FAITH
paanity Turns Naturally TO Religion
md UnBeiievers Find Only the
Restraints 1rksOme, Though
Opposing the Mysteries.


Easter, the queen Of festivals Of the
Christian church, was celebrated In the
Catholic churches Of Omaha with all Of
! the ceremony which accompanies the OBJ
servance Of days OF high festival In that
church. The principal mass Of the day was
at S o'clock at st. Philomena's cathedral,
where Bishop scannell oficiated at solemn
high mass, assisted by a number Of priests.
The bishop preached the sermon, in which
he said:
The mystery which we commemorate
this morning. namely, the resurrection OF
our Lord from the dead, Is the tonnaauon
which are based the proofs. OF all the other
mysteries Of religion. Of Shaist oe h43 S
vain" But Christ rose from the dead as
He. had f%oretold: and therefore lie was
God, And through the all-wise. providence
of God this fundamental fact OF the resut-
most complete and the most convincing.
And yet our gertrude OF the truth OF tne
resurrection OF Christ from the 6ea1 noes Noes
feet as that testimony may be, but from
faith. We believe this mystery because 4
teaches It our belief in It is unquestioning
and secure. Nor does this belief do. any
ture, but on the contrary It meets with the
approval. of both. 1t satisfies the demands
of our reason and II falls In with the long
ings of our hearts,
what Faith Requires.
An act Of faith requires the assent of the
understanding and the consent of the Will.
To Know requires only an act OF the unaerc
the understanding and an act, of the Will;
And this is true of human faith, as well, Of
we accept the testimony of men or the
testimony of God. Without an honest and
he will not Believe. III / speak Ii" truth
TO you why do you not believe me2' said
Sn n the 1uestion: .;Ie that is of God
heareth the words of God: wherefore you
hear them not because you are not OF
1t is popularity supposed that men find
some intrinsic difficulty In accepting re-
ligious doctrines-that the acceptance of
mysteries of religion is Incompatible with
freedom of reason and of conscience. But
nothing could be further from the truth.
On the contrary man is disposed by his
very nature to believe In the mysterious
and the supernatural. He is by nature re-
supernatural. He will embrace even super
~stltIous or grotesque beliefs. rather than be
OF the so-called educated classes as It is of
the simple and unlettered. Man in the ag-
and that religion will necessarily partake
of the supernatural. Men may boast of
their mental independence and of the fact
that they always judge for themselves and
never assent to any doctrine without hav-
ing first submitted Il to the test of reason.
the kind; they only think they do. Such
mSn no more reason out the grounds OF
their belief than does the simplest peasant.
IIIOgic of UnbeIief.
When a man says that he believes in the
or in the incarnation but not In the Real
Presence, or IN the Real Presence but not
in the Infallibility of the Church he is but
repeating a lesson which he learned from
others-from parents or teachers He is IL
Logical without ia adv cItna to it; for the doc loo
You'd his reason and his experience as those
he rejects. And yet, illogical as It Is. this
becoming the fashion of the day with GER
tain classes, and is bringing about tho
most momentous changes In the religious
world. All around us men are breaking
away from the old beliefs and the old tra-
0iuonS annmsa are frdm whic ing 81 aor themselves
is entirely eliminated. In countless publi-
cations-in books, periodicals and news
plained away. and naturalism, or nature. Is
held up to us as the only subject worthy
so habituated to this spirit that it no
longer shocks us. To the wise and the OBJ
can be viewed only" with grave forebowdine
1t is a spectacle that menaces the welfare
of human society and the. best interests of
mankind; for human society cannot exist
without religion.
IrreIiEiOus Are immoral.
Nov, II man be disposed by his nature to
be religious and TO believe in the super
natural, why is II that so many persons
this spiritual habit of mind and 10 nepl
suade others TO do so likewise? The answer
that must be given to this question is the
that is of God heareth the words of God;
wherefore you hear them not because you
are not of. God" 1t is either the nonob-
servance of the moral law or the dificulty
that is experienced in observing II that is
at the bottom of all the infdelity OF the
world. The ten commandments are In
some way, directly or indirectly, the rea-
son why men refuse to accept the teach
other. men,, having once accepted those
teachings, afterward, ceased to hold them,
or at least to regulate their conduct by
them. II the church were to abolish the
ten, commandments tomorrow-assuming
such a thing to be possible-few would OBJ
not for a moment imply that each in
d%ividual who attacks supernatural religion
is morally bad. What / mean is that the
observance OF the moral law is today. as II
has been In the past, mans chief difficulty
aud that Il Is to the moral law. and not TO
artieSnsN of belief. that he in reality, con.
seiously or unconsciously, objects.
Mysteries Easy to Moral.
Now. every one admits, the believer and
serve the moral law. No decent, inteIi-
gent man holds the contrary. But he who
S SoSSrxsS Ses moral fsith 1aT; who Rfn keeps gSo the he
dincglty In accepting all the mysteries of
the Christian religions, and should he fail
In anything he win fail through a want OF
accurate knowledge rather than through
any inherent difficulty in the mysteries
themselves. And when the necessary
knowledge is attained such a man will.
With the srece OF God, believe readily and
and In. this belief he will hnd wisdom
strength And consolation. on the other
hand he who Is unwilling to observe the
supernatural doctrines OF revelation. for
his Will, which Is turned away from God
viii not consent to his doing so; and N he
has already received the faith he will
sHiivs 70 ignore Il In favor of naturalism,
wAich VIII seem to him so plausibIe and 80
agreeable. individuals here and there msv
claim 70 hnve q higher motive In their dis
rekaIo OF or alsoeliet in, the mysteries OF
and the movement itself which carries
them along had their beginning In, and de.
moral restraint. VI
Today we rejoice and are glad because
OF inc resurrection OF Christ from the dead