Pine Bluff daily graphic., 1905-08-28
At St. Joseph's.

| lac sermon at st. JoSeph'S church
| Sunday was given by Mnsg. Lucey,
it being his Sunday to preach The
! text was taken from Mark Wiz 31-31 ),
and referred to the miraculous cure
| of the deaf and dumb man. 1t is un-
| derstood that not all the miracles
| OF Christ are recorded in the Bible.
but only those which are types of a
, class, as the leper. the paralytic, the
| blind man and nov jhe deaf and dumb
If this manner Christ displayed his
universal sympathy for all the ills of
mankind and his power to cure them
, whenever his aid is properly sought.
The physical blindness or deafness
of the body cured by the Savior is
given for our instruction as figure
of the spiritual blindness and deaf
ness Of what pertains to the soul. All
the former kind of bodily imperfec-
ton will cease with this life but the
latter, affecting our immortal soul,
llust live forever and ever This is
why Christ wept so bitterly over Je-
| rusalem.
In all congregations there are many
rominal Christians who are spiritual
~ blind and deaf They will not see
the truth nor hear the word of life
Their conscience has become so con.
fused and scared in wrongful ways
that it is no longer beacon light of
salvation. They do net realize their
SINFUL state and go on until they
reach the awful pit of eternal punish
ment.
In mercy, God sometimes makes a
Visitation to recall his straying chill
dren. That the present yellow fever
epidemic is of this character has been
| adduced by some very eminent di-
/ vines. Such was the opinion of Arch
bishop Chapelle. who fell a victim in
scourge. On his return to New Or
leans from confirmation tour when
ne confiremd 5000 persons. and stand
ing in the presence of advancing
death. he sent to his clergy and people
the following letter. the very last
that he wrote:
Venerable Fathers and Beloved
Brethren: A solemn duty is incum-
bent on me to address you a few
words of salutary advice in reference
to the fever which now afflicts New
Orleans and threatens to invade fur
ther localities.
There can be no doubt but that di-
vine providence permits the invasion
of this dreadful scourge to bring us
a clearer sense of our duties towards
God and towards one another. The
sooner this end is obtained the great
er will be our hope for an early deliv.
and the stronger our motives for lay
ing aside all disastrous and useless
fear.
We must confess that as individuals
and citizens we have grievously erred
and sinned. Instead of ever walking
, in Gods presence we have too often
forgotten to raise our hearts to him:
we have allowed worldly vanities to
make us forget him. and material
prosperity to so absorb our energy as
if this world were our abiding city, an
earthly paradise and the end of all our
endeavors. In as far as we have in
any manner contributed to corruption
in civic life, we have also seriously
helped to bring about the fever which
threatens the lives of our citizens, is
destroying the good name of our city.
crippling our commerce and reducing
many to dire poverty.
We must acknowledge that we have
been guilty of inexcusable negligence
in not needing the warnings of past
experience and those of science con-
cerning the taking of proper hygenic
precautions. It is bitter thing for
| us to acknowledge sincerely our
blindness and delinquencies, but this
| is the first condition which God re-
quires that he may deliver us from
our sins and enlighten us as to our
duty in these trying times. God of cid
commanded his prophets to confess
publicly the sins of the people when