Los Angeles herald. [microfilm reel] (Los Angeles [Calif.]) 1900-1911, 1909-01-04
FUNDS COLLECTED AT
CATHEDRAL SERVICES
CATHOLICS SENDING RELIEF
TO ITALIAN SUFFERERS
Bishop Conaty breaches on New
Years Duties and Lesson to Be
Drawn from History
of Past

Among the first of the churches Of
Los Angeles to respond to the appeals
for assistance on behalf of the Italian
earthquake sufferers was the Cathedral
OF st. Vibiana, where collections were
taken up yesterday at all the masses
Blshop Conaty will issue Instructions
early in the week for similar coIlec-
lions in the various churches, and this
fund will be forwarded to the sufferers
in Italy.
Bishop Conaty preached at the O:3O
O'Clock mass yesterday morning at the
cathedral and made an eloquent appeal
for funds to be sent to the Italian suf-
ferers. He took for the subject of his
! sermon New Years Duties" and said
in part:
The passage Of the years constantly
reminds US of life, with its youth and
age-llfe succeeding life, generation fol-
lowing generation. The history of the
world is story of past events, it deals
entirely with the yesterdays. Over all
that has passed has fallen the pail Of
death. Greece was and Rome was and
1908 was. 1t all seems to have been a
struggle for life.
Many noble ambitions, struggling
for the higher and the better things,
serving God with honest purpose and
! self-sacr1fice, lettering mankind for
having lived~and fulfilling the destiny
of their creation; others with ambitions
which reckoned not the means but
sought only satisfaction, no matter If
others were sacrificed in order that
they might have their holiday A strug-
gle between virtue and vice, with virtue
winning multitudeS of souls, and vice
having to it's credit equally large null
titudes.
THE past bears to us sweet inheri-
lance of goodness done, by which we
are enabled to enjoy the benefits of the
knowledge of God and the blessings of
civilization which has been handed
down to us through the ministrations
Of men. The past bears to us also
warnings Of danger, it has left it's sig
nails by which we may know the values
of human events, for it chronicles not
only the successes but also the defeats
of human endeavors in the ways of
goodness.
Another Year of Life
'The new year opens to US another
year of life, its pages yet await the
marking Of the credits by which we
shall show our gratitude for all that
God has done for us. The new year lies
before us with some uncertainty as to
what shall be demanded of us, or what
shall be chronicled to our credit or dis
credit. The year will have it's obliga-
tons to be fulfilled, its duties to be per-
formed, its rewards and punishments
awaiting human action. There is no
uncertainty in the new year with re-
gard to our duty to God, nor is there
any uncertainty as to the means by
which God will enable us faithfully to
perform that duty.
''The name of Jesus stands at the
head of the new year; in that name Is
salvation, by that name we shall rise
above and ennoble nature. No other
name will bring to us that happiness
for which we pray. Jesus stands at the
head Of the new year and warns US
that if we would have salvation, and
salvation is the key to happiness, we
must set our faces against sin, we must
root out all sin from our lives by sin
cere penance, conquer the sensual APP
petites, shun dangers and occasions of
sin, and do works of penance, love
charity and do deeds of mercy in the
name of him by whose blood we have
| been redeemed.
Plagiarism ruled the world when
Christ was born; the Child of Bethle-
hem redeemed the world from the pa
ganism of false religion and from the
paganism of sin. The Child of Bethle-
| hem is needed in this new year to save
the world redeemed by him, to save it
| from the increasing paganism of false
| hood and immortality. There is ten
dency to drift away from true belief in
Christ as the Son of God; there is a
tendency to rule God out Of the king
! dom of intellect; to dispense altogether
with the supernatural. The authority
of supernatural religion is losing it's
hold upon men and nations because
men and nations are losing sight of the
incarnation by virtue of which the Son
ofC oI Ioo oT6 rp6apn1p6
Material Values Adored
s"The progress Of the world is rather
reckoned by it's material values than
by its spiritual blessings. The gods
! adored by many are the gods Of
pleasure, Of wealth, of success; the
sense of sin is decaying; Immortality,
the soul. the future life, are words al
most meaningless in many quarters.
The domestic loves, hallowed by the
| traditions of religion, are fast ceasiHg
to be the rulers of the home. To satisfy
ones inclinations, to crafty ones am
bilious, to rule, even though it may
mean ruin to others-these are the in
fuences that stand ready to minister
to human life. Happiness is sought
for in disqualification Dishonesty
and untruth, and vice in all its forms
delight the people with the vain hope
| that by them alone are mans interests
| served.
'The new year bids US not forget the
meaning of the immortal soul redeemed
in the blood of Christ; it bids us seek
for the message of salvation which
| Christ delivered to the apostles. by
which we learn not only our duty to
God but also have placed within our
reach the means by which that duty
may be fulfilled. The new year has
Christ for us in all the fullness of his
mercy and love, but we must seek for
MIN and strive to be one with him.
The glory of the year will be in greater
| love for God, in greater love for our
fellowmen, in more. faithful obedience
to the commandments of God, and a
closer union with Christ through his
sacramento graceS."