The St. Louis Republic. [volume] (St. Louis, Mo.) 1888-1919, 1903-01-26
GREAT SINNERS MAY
BECOME GREAT SAINTS.
ers Have Been Prohisates, Says
the Rev. J. h. Brennan.

Saul's conversion was the subject Of the
sesmon preached yesterday morning at st;
J. K. Brennan. The text was from Acts tx,
4; Saul. Saul. why p~ersecutest thou me?'
MT: Brennan. after telling of saul's con-
"The first thought that suggests itself is
that We need not try to minimize or ra-
fionalize this mighty experience Of st.
monplace themselves imagine ali the world
commonplace. Scientists who spend all their
lives tracing out natures laws in the do
main Of matter imagine all life is explained
by rigid. unvarying. everyday laws.
They do not realize that man Is q Great
ture akin to God as well as matter. and can
rise above matter. Great r%eligiops men in
voice OF God speaking to their souls. Savo-
narola. the great reformer of Florence. saw
visions and heard voices. so did Martin
Jonathan Edwards: all had remarkable re-
igtous phenomena follow their preaching.
Instead Of trying to reduce all religious
experience to the commonplace. let US SO live
that God shall speak to US and we shall
see the Christ in his beauty.
The next thought that arises is that
great saints. Christ takes Matthew from
strengthening. turns the Magdalen to holi-
ness, pardons the thief on the cross. turns
great leader and thinker in the church,
changes Francis Of Assist from q frivolous
young man about town to the heroic and
Of poverty, takes John Cough. the drunk
ard. from the gutter and makes him the
greatest apostle Of temperance the world
has ever seen.
Hope and newness Of life for those who
have made mistakes. that ia what We
gather from st. Paul's conversion! Let no
man say. Because I have misused my past
there is no hope for me? He has but to
grid up the loins Of his will. throw of the
chains of bad habit. turn his face TO the
right and walk resolutely in it and God
n We vnobo hlro Tho rhnSon Vyocuo1 - hfo
mercy and Of salvation to Others. Lift up
your heads. o we men grovelng in the
dust: wallowing in the mire. and the King
Of Glory shall come into your souls and
show you the wonders OF his mercy and
"our next observation is that St. Paurs
conversion was due In part to his OBJ
servation of Christian lives. While he was
haling these people to prison. exposing
f heip noticing e9 i c fnset how Suh beantifuily a they s0 bore moi IN.
Justice and pain! Especially he remembered
the light. not. Of earth. on st. stephens
claimed: Behold. / see the heavens opened
and the son of man standing on the right
hand of Godr He remembered his prayer as
eeivse my spirit. There a in his ears
his last words: Lord, lay not this sin to
their charge!'
him to death could not but impress a mind
like Paurs. We may well believe that Paul
was revolving these things in his mind as
Ic ioue " DnIudSSus. Ou, SuE1S'ldu ITItuuS.
are YOU so living that the Christ life shines
out in you for all to see? Be sure eyes
are on you in hostile criticism or wonder
ing approval. You may be helping to CON
vert some doubling. troubled heart: or. sad
thought! you may, he helping to convince
some wanderer by your indifference or
your backsliding that Christianity IL only
an iridescent, dream. much protested but
little followed.
I'VE may notice the method by which
Christ converted Paul. He asked: why
p%ersecutest thou me" This one question
though he thought he had been doing Gods
service he was really injuring his cause.
All. when will men learn that persecution
never advances the kingdom Of God! The
base passions Of hatred and torture are not
paths for the holy one to pass over to his
purposes; All, how many people are perse-
cutting Christ without knowing It! All the.
people who are pursuing their own little
lives in neglect Of God. all the people who
having pledged themselves to God have for
gotten that solemn dedication, all the pro-
Tossing Christians who are Indifferent and.
careless and cold and intermittent in their
duties and their worship, all these are add
Ing to the sorrows Of the Christ, all these