The Irish standard., 1909-06-26

all who are worthy OF holding them IN
the hand. Give me today the right
man, the right citizen. and, whatever
This religious creed, I will guarantee
that nothing comes in his way to in
| f1uence and preferment; give me, how
ever, the wrong man, the wrong citi-
zen, and whatever his religious creed,
be that my own, I will demand that
power and preferment be always taken
from his grasp.
In the past Catholics in America
were not, in sufficient numbers, as 1
should have wished them to have been
with the strength and the graces Of a
liberal education. cast no blame
upon them their temporal conditions
held them back But their conditions
have been altered and if in the future
they are not all that I wish them to
be, let the blame and opprobrium be
heaped upon their heads.
1t is of course we'll understood that
no education, high or low, Is worthy
of the name, or meets the require
ments called for In the personal
growth of the student, or in the pur-.
pose Of life which intellectual train
ing is expected to subserve, unless
that education is deeply and through
out permeated with religion. Learn
ing, estimable and useful as it may be,
is insufficient in the building up OF
the man and Of the citizen, unless
righteousness go hand in hand with
it, opening up to it the full vista of
it's. duties and guiding it steadfastly
into the pathways. of those duties. In.
tellectual training is the means to
power and Influence: but how the
means shall be made use of in order
to attain the end, the righteous will,
the conscience, must" declare; and the
righteous will. the firm and enlight-
ened"eenscience. is that which wisdom
from above, love and fear of the ex-
ternal legislator alone form and ma
ture.
| And. shall here lay down the law
of duty to Catholics. whom the Lord
has more Or less enriched with earth
ly possessions? Then let me say to
them that the greatest good they can
do with money, the most precious
tribute they can pay to religion and
to patriotism. is to aid in building up
and endowing the Catholic college or
the Catholic university, so that fullest
opportunity be given to the sons of
their co-religionists to win to them
selves highest academic price while at
the same time growing stronger in
their faith, and made reader to be its
champions and defenders.
A second fact, illustrated in the de-
velopments OF. st. Joseph's college
indicative OF the promises of the flu
tYre welfare of the, Church, in the
Archdiocese /. >sof pubnSauerFis Hhat
henceforth. yocations to the. priesthood
will not be wanting among the: Catho-
lies of Iowa. Each year St. Joseph's
college sends to the theological semi
nary a large number OF its graduates
This is most hopeful token of what
the Church is today in Iowa, of what
1t will be there tomorrow.
Something is wrong in a Catholic
community. where. vacations to the
priesthood do not terminate and
bloom. Either there is in that COM
munity lack OF the true Christian
piety which rises. at least now and
them into the heights Of self-sacrifice
and of divine love where the priest
hood is born; or there is lack Of
that sacred knowledge which leads
and enables pastors and people to
understand those. sublime soarings Of
the soul and to aid them in theft up-
ward flight. The diocese the parish.
void of priestly vocations. has never
been lit up with the divine fire. which
Christ brought from Heaven, and with
which He willed that SOULS burn; it
Is earthly in its inner life. ir. its am
billions. in it's aspirations. 1t is the
common unferti'ized garden. where
the common. the ordinar: plant, or
shrub may thrive. where the rraslart
rose bush. or the white petaled lily,
h''dS 10 genial sol, or cniiven;ng at
r,t ST here.
III its early 2l,, things iii America
thu Church n-cessaril> drc;x fro1,
at:;er lands vs. priests ana its
apostles; and fhs debt it owes to
those lands for trcir generous giving
must never be focgot..,. When Iowa
was the wilderness. nohlest men hcr-
ri:' hither fro.r the semi, aries IF
Fear ce to raise nvnr its pra;ries the
cross of salvarion. and speak the Cos
pei to its pastorless pioneers. Later,
when immigrations poured forward its
r's,:'s tides, 1re'a.,A was prompt to the
| and saw t.