The Catholic bulletin. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1911-1995, 1911-04-15

months, that excited conjunction in
the hearts of the Jews, and converted
thousands to the Church In those early
Pentecostal days. Surely IL 1t were
possible to contradict and disprove
the doctrine Of the Resurrection, then
was the time. there was the place, and
the enemies, who would willingly do
so, were abundant. Yet they were un-
able to gainsay the truth Of the state
ment, they were impotent to stop the
progress Of the Church, because the
faith of it's members was built upon an
undeniable fact-the Resurrection of
Jesus Christ. Truly wise are ration
alists and believers not to assail the
basis of Christian Faith for centuries
after the event, as it is so much easier
to deny or disprove fact, the farther
removed you are from it in time and
space!
Belief in Christ's resurrection ex-
listed from the foundation of the
Church on that first Pentecost Sun
day at Jerusalem, yea rather 1t pre-
existed that date, for was not the Res
direction itself the foundation of the
Church? II further evidence were re-
quired, we need but adduce the testi-
mony Of st. Paul, whose own CONVEX
sion about year after Christ's death,
was due to the vision he miraculously
received of the risen Jesus (Acts Ky.
In his first Epistle to the Corinthians
he informs them that among the most
important truths which he and the
other Apostles had preached from the
beginning were the death and resur-
rection of Christ. His words deserve
to be quoted at some length, because
nobody doubts that they are the genu-
inc testimony of the great Apostle of
the Gentiles; and because thew demon
strate to us that belief in the Resur-
rection must have existed at all events,
from the time of Paul's conversion,
that is, when the Church was scarcely
a year old; but further because Paul's
Gospel, though specially revealed to
him from Heaven, when compared
with the Gospel of the pillar" Apos-
tles-Peter, James and John-who had
companied with Jesus, was found to
be in exact agreement CO.. Gal. ID !;
and, writing to the Romans who were
not converts of his making and some
of whom he knew to be Christians be-
fore himself, he speaks of the Resur-
rection with equal certainty, confident
1y assuming a common universal be-
lief in the resurrection of Christ
throughout the whole Church and
from the very outset. Hence st.
Paul's words, written within thirty
years of Christ's death, speak for the
faith of the whole church of the first
quarter of a century. To the Corinth-
ians he writes: For I delivered
unto you first of all, which [ also re-
ceived: How that Christ died for our
sins according to the Scriptures: and
that He was seen by Caiphas; and
after that by the eleven. Then was
He seen by more than five hundred
brethren at once: of whom many re-
main until this present, and some are
fallen asleep. After that He was seen
by James, then by all the Apostles.
And last of all He was seen also by
me, as by one born out of due time
. For whether I or they (other
Apostles) SO we preach and so you
have believed" Il Cor. XIV.
Belief then in the Resurrection
sprang up with the Church, or rather
gave birth to the Church. The belief
originated in the fact that Christ re-
turned to life on the third day after
His dead body had been laid in the
tomb. OF the reality of the risen
Christ the Apostles and disciples were
as sure as we are of the reality of the
risen sun when it leaps forth into the
morning air after it's nocturnal course
around the earth. The sun shines in
the heavens, it declines and sets, we
await its return and behold it appear
in all the brilliancy of a summers
morning. Who can doubt it's setting,
who hesitated to affirm that it has
risen again. So it is with the Resur-
rection Of Christ. He, the Light of
the Apostolic band, had sunk in death.
The night had come and they know
not where to move. He rose, and the
brightness of His visible presence
again brought light and warmth into
their lives. That they were in error
in regard to the Risen Christ they
could with as much difficulty be per.
suaded as that they were deceived in
the risen sun when their eyes beheld
in the armament the radiant orb of
day. But their knowledge is our knowl.
edgs, their faith is our faith, because
truth does not become less true be-
cause of the passage of time. A fact
once, is fact for ever And on the
fact of the Resurrection rests the
Christian Faith for all time. Truly
our Faith is not vain, for we'll did
the Angel say: "He is risen as He
said"
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