Los Angeles herald., 1908-03-30
is EXPLAINED AWAY
WHEN WORD CLASHES
REV. p. j. McGRATH SPEAKS ON
BLESSED SACRAMENT
Assistant Pastor of ST. Patricks
Church Expounds the Transub-
sanitation Doctrine of the
Catholic Church

I'm the whole history of revelation
zles believers and so scandalizes unbe-
levers as the teaching of the Catholic
church on the blessed sacrament" said
Rev. P. J. McGrath yesterday morning.
"By believers 1 do not mean the chill
dren of the true church, but rather
those who believe in revelation and
take the Scriptures for their guide.
They profess before the world their
great respect and reverence for the
sacred word, but when that word
clashes with their peculiar views they
manage to explain it away or pro-
nounce it unreasonable, just as the old
stiff -necked Jews in similar circum-
stances declared, This is hard saying:
who can hear it?' There are many
questions in revelation which, though
they are above reason, are neverthe-
less not against reason"
In his able sermon Rev. p. ] Me-
Grath spoke at length on the doctrine
of the Catholic church in regard to
ransubstantiation. 1t was the solemn
opening of the forty hours alteration
at St. Patricx's church, which was OBJ
served with solemn high mass and
a procession.
Father McGrath said:
To-day, brethren, we are about to
take part in a beautiful devotion by
which we shall be enabled to discharge
a two-fold obligation. The ceremonies
incident to the forty hours give us an
opportunity of making open profession
of our firm, steadfast faith in the doc
trine of the real presence, while the
exposition of the blessed sacrament in
an open and prominent place on our
altar gives us opportunity of doing
20. 7 o,,1 1n5 a q iC
under the sacramental veil.
Demand on the Intellect
"The late Cardinal Newman, address,
ing himself to those who claim the
Bible as their rule of faith, and who
discover an insurmountable barrier in
the Catholic doctrine on the blessed
sacrament, asks them how they can
believe in the incarnation. The mys-
terry of the incarnation makes as eX-
orbitant a demand on the intellect as
that of transubstantiation. Once we
limit the one great mystery, there is
no valid reason why we deny the other;
once we admit that God, without de-
parting from eternal fitness of things,
did not spurn the virgin and did be-
come man, the bone of our bone, flesh
of our flesh; once we admit the possi-
bility of this miracle, this supernatural
fact, what is there to cause us to hesi-
tate in admitting another? No more
remarkable in itself and at least as
fully contained within the limits of the
divine possibilities?
"The one great question to be first
decided is, Did God deign to leave him.
self to us under the appearance of
bread and wine In the blessed eucharist?
I suppose every one, who believes in
God will admit that God, did he so will,
could do so. We believe and teach
that the Goldman, the Redeemer of
the world, did propose to his followers
our doctrine of the real presence in the
blessed eucharist, and did leave him
self to us to be our spiritual food, our
bread of life in the blessed sacrament
of the altar.
"We hold there is no article of our
holy faith more clearly annunciated,
more precisely defined, more authorita-
lively insisted upon than our belief that
our Lord did change bread and wine
into his body and blood and did leave
the power of doing the same thing to
his apostles and their successors. Our
doctrine and belief are the explanation
of today's rite and of our attitude dur
ing the forty hours alteration.
Claim Entire Revelation
"Without fear of contradiction we
claim in the whole domain of revela-
tion there is not an article of faith
more clearly demonstrated, nor one on
which there is less excuse for misap-
prehension. 1t was night, the Saviour's
last on earth, and together with his
chosen few he was celebrating the an
niversary of an important epoch in the
history of his chosen people. Your
fathers did eat mama in the desert, but
they are dead. He that eateth this
bread shall live forever 1t was to be
a food more excellent than the mama,
as far above it as the heavens are
above the earth. And the bread which
will give you is my flesh, for the
life OF the world There were in that
audience minds as self f-sufficient, as
perverse as any modern skeptic or he
retic; men who were determined they
would not believe what they could not
understand. They understood thor
oughly the proposition laid down by
our Lord, but they deigned not to ask
for explanation. They had measured
the divine. the infinite by their own