The Intermountain Catholic. (Salt Lake City [Utah] ;) 1899-1920, 1903-10-31

| to open the door TO the errors OF I'd
tfonalism and semi-rationalism. against
which the apostle warned Timothy to
be on his guard, when he wrote: Keep
that which is committed to thy trust,
avoiding the profane novelties of words,
and opposition of knowledge falsely SO
called which some promising have
erred in the faith O-Q, Tim. vi, POD
Priests Must Be Apostles First and
Scholars Afterwards.
This does not prevent us from es-
| teeming worthy of praise those young
priests who dedicate themselves to use
| full studies in every branch of learning
! the better to prepare themselves TO
defend the truth and to refute the
! calumnies of the enemies of the faith.
! Yet we cannot conceal-nay, we pro-
/ claim in the most open manner pos
Sible, that our preference is and ever
shall be for those who, while cultiVat-
ing ecclesiastical and literary erudition
dedicate themselves more closely to the
welfare of souls through the exercise
! of those ministries proper to priest
! jealous of the divine glory. 1T is
great grief and continual sorrow Tor
our heart" C2)-(2, Rom, tx, y to find
Jeremiah's lamentation applicable to
our times: THE little ones asked for
bread, and there was none to break II
to them" Go, Lam. w., ~. For
there are not lacking among the clergy
those who adapt themselves according
to their bent to works of more appar-
ent than real solidity-but not so nu-
merous, perhaps, are those who, after
the example of Christ, take to them
selves the words of the prophet: The
spirit Of the Lord hath anointed me.
hath sent me to evangelize the poor, 10
l.,,- fn hA
sight to the blind" (4)-(4, Luke w.,
IS 49,. Yet who can fail TO see, ven
cradle brothers, that while men are led
by reason and liberty, the principa!
way to restore the empire Of God in
their souls is religious instruction?
How many there are who mimic Christ
and abhor the church and the gospel
more through ignorance than through
badness of mind, of whom it may well
be said: They blaspheme all that
they do not know" (5)-(5. Jud. H., 100.
This is found to be the case not only
among the people at large and among
the lowest classes. who are thus easily
led astray, but even among the more
cultivated and among those endowed,
moreover, with education beyond the
common The result IS for q great
many the loss of the faith. For it Is
not true that the progress of knowl-
edge extinguishes the faith-rather it
is ignorance, and the more ignorance
prevails the greater is the havoc
wrought by incredulity. And this is
why Christ commanded the apostles:
Go teach all nations" Go, Matt.
xviii. 49,.
But in order that the desired fruit
may be derived from this apostolate
and this zeal for teaching, and that
Christ may be formed in all, remem-
Der. venerable brothers, that no means
is more efficacious than charity. For
the Lord is not found in connection
CO, III. Kings xix, 11)-it is vain
to hope to attract souls to God by a
bitter zeal. On the contrary, harm is
done more often than good by taunt
ing men harshly with their faults and
reproving their vices with asperfty.
True, the Apostle eXhorted Timothy:
Accuse, beseech, rebuke." but he took
care to add: with all patience g.
Is. II. Tim. w., % Jesus has certainly
left us examples of this. Come to me-
we find him saying come to me all We
that labor and are burthened and 1 will
refresh YOU (9)-(9 Matth. XII. 2S).
And by those that labor and are bur-
thened he meant only those who are
slaves of sin and error. What gen.
tleness was that shown by the Divine
Master! What tenderness, what COM
passion toward all kinds of misery
Isaias has marvelously described his
heart in the words: Il will set my
spirit upon him; he shall not contend
nor cry out: the bruised reed he will
not break. he will not eXtinguish the
smoking fax" (10)-q0, Is. xii, foll.).
This charity, patient and kind" DID,
III, Cor xii, A. will extend itself also
70 xx-Ion or To md
secute us. I'VE are reviled," thus did
St Paul protest, land we bless; we are
prosecuted and we suffer it; we are
and we entreat' Q2)-Q2, l.
Cor. w., p. They, perhaps, seem to be
worse than they really are. Their as
sociations with others prejudice the
counsel, advice and example of others
and finally an ill-advised scheme has
dragged them to the side of the i'm
pious: but their wills are not so de-
PRAYED as they themselves would seek
to make people believe. Who will pre-
vent US from hoping that the flame of
Christian charity may not dispel the
darkness from their minds and bring
to them the light and peace of God?
1t may be that the fruit of our labors
may be slow in coming, but charity
wearies not with waiting, knowing that
God prepares his rewards not for the
results Of toll but for the good will
shown in it.
The Cooperation of the Laity.
1t is true, venerable brothers. that
in this arduous task of the restora-
ton of the human race in Christ, that
neither you nor the clergy should ex-
clude all assistance. We know that
God had commanded every one to have
a care for his neighbor as. Feel. xvii. |
12). For it is not priests alone but all
the faithful, without exception, who |
must concern themselves with the in
terests of God and souls-not, of course. !
according to their own views, but al
ways under the direction and orders
of the Bishops; for to no one in the
Church except you is it given to pre-
side over, to teach, to govern 1.-The |
Church of God which the Holy Ghost (
has placed you to rule 0D-(Acts w, /
2S) Our predecessors have long since /
approved and blessed those Catholics !
who have banded together in societies /
Of various kinds, but always religious !
in their aim. We. too. have no hest I
tation in awarding our praise to this /
great idea, and we earnestly desire TO /
see it propagated and flourish in town
and country But we wish that all 4
such associations aim firstly and chiefly
at the constant maintenance of Chris
tan life among those who belong to
them. For truly it is of little avail to
discuss questions with nice subtlety, or
to discourse eloquently of rights, and
1uties, when all this is unconnected
with practice. The times we live in
demand action-but action consisting
entirely in observing with fidelity and
zeal the divine laws and the precepts
IF the Church, in the frank and open
profession of religion. in the exercise of
al kinds of charitable works, and. in
Of self-interest or worldly
advantage. Such luminous examples
given by the great army of soldiers of
Christ will be of much greater force in
moving and drawing men than words
IND sublime dissertations: and it will
sasily come about that when human