Los Angeles herald., 1907-01-07
DAY RECALLS MANIFESTATION
TO GENTILES
Bishop conaty breaches a Sermon on
Faith Of the Wise Men, Which
Was Marked Characteristic
Of Epiphany


manifestation of Christ to the gen
tiles I'm the presence of the wise men.
on Christmas day Christ had mani
tested himself to the Judean shepherds.
representatives of the chosen people OF
God; on Epiphany he manifested him
self to the world outside of Judea and
thus made known to the entire world
the blessings of redemption. We ad-
mire in the wise men, as in the shep-
herds, the simplicity and dignity of
their faith They were called to Christ
and they responded promptly and gem
erously The gift of God in divine
faith came to them and they accepted
it and believed
"The faith of the wise men stands
as a marked characteristic of the
Epiphany. They had seen his star in
the east and had come to adore him.
The Epiphany Is to us the birthday of
our faith in Christ, for we are of the
gentle nations represented by the wise
men and across the ages have come to
us the traditions of faith and the grace
of the feast in strength in the faith.
Faith a Strong Word
Faith is one of the strongest words
in any language. 1t Is foundation
principle. No word characterizes more
strongly the motive that has actuated
mems belief and prompted mems sac
rifices. Men have controlled self, made
sacrifices for principle and risen to
heights of noble character by reason
of their faith. Society is built largely
upon faith in one another. Religion
springs from faith in God, and no
motive has inspired greater sacrifices
nor produced more martyrs. We love
to refer to the ages Of faith and to
honor men of faith. We recognize that
faith is necessary to our life and es-
sential to our salvation. We believe
in God because we have faith in him
and our life is determined by the be-
lief that without faith 1t is impossible
to please God. Jesus Christ Is our Re-
deemer and we ground our hope in re-
demption in belief in Christ and In the
practice of his commandments, realiz-
ing that those who believe become the
children of God.
terms and there is no way by which
we can reach him except by the way
which he points out. The just man
liveth by faith which, according to
Gods will, is the way of redemption.
1t is we'll for us to strive and under
stand what Is meant by faith, es-
pecially that faith which is necessary
to salvation. Faith in general means
the word, of another, it is trust in 9TH
ers. Our knowledge, our social rela-
tions, our business enterprises, in fact
our life, is largely based upon faith IN
others. We trust in experts and accep,
their testimony as the basis of our ac-
ton whether it be in business or in
travel We do not go to the forest ol
the foundry for wood and iron with
which to build our own conveyance,
trust our life to it. We accept the
facts of history on the report made to
us the historian or the annalist The
final proofs are found in documents
which are preserved, handed down,
and vouched for by others.
Motive Is Revealing
'Divine faith bases itself upon the
word of God.
1.-The motive of divine faith is in God
revealing. Divine faith means GER
tainty in the knowledge revealed be-
cause God is true. 1t excludes doubt
and opinion so that what one believes
by reason of faith is itself the truth
and is believed because God has re-
vealed it.
"The facts Of history and the state
ments of men are believed not because
of any personal experience with them,
but because of the authority of those
who relate them. Such faith is human
and forms the basis of nearly all the
things that we know in the world about
us. Faith which builds itself upon the
authority of God is divine faith and
this is the foundation Of our religious
belief.
THE mistake is often made in think
ing that faith in God is conviction,
that is, knowledge which comes to us
by the conclusion of argument, that
it is in itself knowledge only. Divine
faith brings knowledge, but it also
brings the grace of accepting knoWl-
edge and practically living the life
that is demanded by such knowledge.
st. Paul says: The gentiles knew Cod
but did not obey him and therefore
their faith did not avail Divine faith
is not something which can be pur-
chased by effort, nor can it be ac-
quired by habit. Money cannot buy
it. Study, research, may lead one to
the intellectual acceptance of the
authority of God over human life, to
the necessity of religion as the means
of attaining to ones destiny, but such
conclusions are only expressions of
natural faith. The supernatural gift
of faith necessary to mans true en-
lightenment and salvation is a pure
gift of God which comes as a result
of prayer rather than of research and
knowledge Divine faith is a theo-
logical virtue; that is to say, it has God
for it's direct author and the word of
God as its reason for belief. God is
the author of faith, which is his gift,
and which is infused into our souls by
baptism.
Different Motives of Belief
Human reason, investigating the
things of the mind and their relation
to the word about us, studying out the
expressed thoughts of mankind, leads
one to different motives of belief
which precede faith, But the virtue
OF faith springs from the grace of God.
who guides tho soul to the acceptance
OF faith upon Gods authority.
1.-The apostles preached the faith Of
Christ and by miracles proved the di-
vine character Of their mission. Those
who heard the message did not under
stand 1t, but they accepted 1t because
they believed the apostles to be the
messengers of God and they received
the faith and became Christians. Faith