The Intermountain Catholic. (Salt Lake City [Utah] ;) 1899-1920, 1904-07-16

priesthood. make up the miniature pl
ography of a students life. Al lds
he is ordained and he goes 1ortn ~
the world to fight the battles OF IN
Lord. He voluntarily leaves ms Id
theirs home and bursts asunder all hu
man ties to labor for the eterllal wei
| fare of his fellow-man. IenderIy II
has been raised; his education mas peer
The hest that the universities can give
but. like his Divine Master, he mus
henceforth be a man of sorrows. Ia.
after day the tales of troublous con
sciences are whispered into his ears
When misery. and misfortune oVertak'
his ueople they wend their way TO thell
pastor and ask him to snare the Dur
dens of their souls, but when prosper
ity is their portion they keep well away
from him They ask him to drlnF
deep of their sorrows, but their joys
they will not allow him even to sip.
Another great sorrow of priest
life arises from the sins of his bad PEG
pie. In this again he is like his Mas
! Ter. whose lifelong mental sorrow came
from His daily contact with the sins ol
idhe world. What the priest is building
up wicked people are constantly tear
! ing down; and the priest goes about
/ the busy street apparently happy ana
! cheerful. but within his soul there may
! be a burning sorrow which he cannot
confide to anyone. II is the sorrow OF
the Good Shepherd for his strayine
/ sheep while he is powerless to restrain
| them.
Yes, dear friends, priests soul is
so overwhelmed with sorrows at times
that they would almost cause his death
| if he had not within him the conscious
ness that he is endeavoring to do his
best. Moreover, he has an antidote in
the many consultations of which the
world knows nothing. For hours and
hours he sits in the confessional, UNI
tying the knots which bind so many
souls to Satan, and bidding these souls
go forth with their hearts bounding
with JOY that they are now freed from
the slavery of hell. In the burning
summers sun, in the cold winters
night, in sleet and snow and storm, the
priest of God can be seen hurrying
along the busy street, or mayhap pick
ing his steps through the Businesses of
the mountains, fastening to take part
in the death scene of one of his flock,
No place presents an obstacle to his
determination to get that soul and
transmit it to the bosom of its God.
He can be seen blythe bed on which
lays dying a man consumed by cancer,
smallpox, or any of the other malig-
nant diseases, but they possess no ter
rors for him, for he values the soul of
his fellow-man at a higher price than
his own life.
The faithful, jealous priest is par
excellence the friend of humanity. The
unconscious babe he clothes in the robe
of purest innocence in baptism. His
childhood's days he guards with jeal-
Gus eye. He leads him along the path
way of virtue and truth up to man
hoods threshold. He teaches him to
know and serve his God and to be a
man in every sense of the word. He
introduces him to his Master in his
First Communion; and time and time
again he encourages him to resist and
conquer his three arch-enemies-the
world, the devil and the flesh. He lis
tens to him pledge his life in holy
matrimony, or perhaps he holds his
hands over him while the bishop calls
down the Holy Ghost upon him in holy
orders. Many and many time in the
silent hours of night his gliding form
may be seen by the aid of the dim
light of the sanctuary lamp approach
ing the altar to bear to some departing
soul the bread of life's last journey.
Oh. you say. the life of a priest is
harder than we thought it was. Yes.
bed, where all the horrors of wretch
edness, disease and death are conferred,
to hang over the couch of infection, in
haling its contagion at. every pore, to
administer comfort and strength to a
mind racked with anguish and to a
frame convulsed by the throes Of
death. 1t is hard, yes. it is hard, to
flesh and blood, but to the jealous,
true, Christ-like priest this is a scene
of consolation and of triumph. With
his life landmarked of such heart
thrilling episodes, he will not fear the
hour when the Great Master will de-
mand an account of his stewardship.
AT that last hour the many sinners he
has saved, the unbelievers he has in
structed, the just whom he has pre-
vented from leaving the path of recti-
tude-all these will rush between his
soul and the bar of divine justice. And
then, accompanied by the prayers of
the poor, the tears of the orphan and
the blessings of the widow. he will en-
ter into the joy of the Lord
Dear Reverend Father, to you l now
address myself. You are young in
years. The holy oils are scarcely yet
dry on your hands. /, too, am not much
ahead Of you, but I feel that at this
moment you look to your fellow priests
for a word Of comfort and encourage
ment. OF the gold Of wisdom and the
silver Of experience I have not much
to give, but what l have [ gladly give
unto you. Whatever you do, do it for
God. Labor zealously for the salvation
of your people, but look not for an
earthly return. When you are dead
and gone, notwithstanding that you
have spent and respent your life in
the service of VOuT flock he assured
that in a very short time you will be
forgotten except by handful of
friends, who will have a few Masses
said for your soul
Proceed now, dear Reverend Father;
~roceed with the solemn sacrifice which
l hope [ have not too long interrupted,
and in this propitious moment of grace.
when you offer up on this altar the
first fruits of a life of zeal, forget not
before God those who have made this
day possible for you. Forget not this
diocese in which you are called to la
Dor, and those who are your fellow
workbench in y,1i1,ictY-y-