Los Angeles herald., 1905-04-02
The Christian Spirit
BY Francis Murphy

It is of the greatest Importance that
we have the spirit of Christ. Without
his spirit we cannot do much that is
noble and true. His spirit is one of
great beauty, gentleness, mercifulness
and peacefulness. When we have that
spirit we are acceptable to our neigh
bors. Such spirit is called light and
Christ said: Let your light shine that
men may see your good works and
glorify God,' SO that people can see
your good life, beautiful life
Even when there is great cause for
anger and for reproof, silence is pre-
ferred by those who are the disciples
Of Jesus Christ. They have the spirit
of Christ. They believe in his teach
iugs. They have sincerely accepted all
his teachings and they desire more
than anything else to be like Christ
and to have a life hid with Christ in
love. They are forgiving. They for
give their enemies. They pray for
them. They do good for them. They
will not do any evil thing to them. be-
cause Christ said: Eye are to love
your enemies.''
Oh. this is very difficult part of the
teaching of our blessed Lord! But he
did it. He knew how to overcome evil.
1t was by doing good. He would not
permit evil to overcome him. He does
not want any of his disciples to allow
evil to have the mastery over them,
and so he taught us in his beautiful
prayer to say to our Father in heaven:
Forgive us our trespasses, as we for
give them who trespass against u.s."
We must not forget this prayer. We
must not be false in the life that we
live or in the professions that we make
Of love to our blessed Lord and Mas
ter. We should be true and honest and
faithful.
We must learn how to cruelty our
own righteousness, to deny ourselves
every form of selfishness, of hatred, of
envy and jealousy. This is what Christ
came to teach us, and he said: BLESSED
are the merciful, for they shall obtain
mercy" We should be merciful to our
selves. If any of us have an enemy,
or know of a person that we believe Is
very angry with us, we should be mer-
ciful toward that person, and in pro-
portion as we are merciful and kind
and patient with people who are not
our friends, the more peace will we
have in our hearts and in our own
lives. He has said: BLESSED are We
when men shall revile you. persecute
you and shall say all maner of evil
against you falsely" Do not forget
that word "falseIy"-"falsely for my
sake"
He says: "Rejoice and be exceeding
glad for great is your reward in
heaven; for so prosecuted they the
prophets which were before you" Do
not allow the tongue of slander to
anger. to irritate. or to destroy your
peace.
So long as it is false, pay no atten-
tion to it, but devoutly thank God in
your heart that you, an innocent per-
son, are able and willing to endure
Misrepresentation for Christ's sake and
for his cause. People who are brave,
noble and heroic enough to endure
statements that are erroneous are
called the salt of the earth and the
light of the world.
They are the men and the women
who live such gentle and beautiful
lives that all who know them fall in
love with them and their Master whom
they glorify in blessed and holy SER
vice. Blessed are the peacemakers
for they shall be called the children
Of God. Oh. may we all seek to be
worthy of being called his children,
This is the greatest inheritance that
God can give us. May he abide with
you.
M a/