The Catholic bulletin. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1911-1995, 1911-09-30
I H { { j c H 4 R ST
THE COMPLEMENT AND THE
SAFEGUARD OF THE
INCARNATION.
SERMON PREACHED Blythe MOST
REVEREND ARCHBISHOP IRE
LAND AT THE OPENING OF
THE EUcHARlSTlc CON-
GRESS AT CINCINNATI,
O., SEPTEMBER %, 1911.

|
O., SEPTEMBER %, 1911.
In the beginning was the Word, and
the Word was with God, and the Word
was God = = And the Word was
/ made flesh and dwelt among us. John
!.
The vital principle in the dogmatic
and the moral economy of the Chris
tian religion is the Incarnation of the
Eternal Word The Incarnation is the
pivotal dogma: all truths taught by
Jesus, believed by the disciples of
Jesus, revolve around it: nought else
are they than it's prerequisites or it's
developments. The Incarnation is the
primal fount, whence spring the
graces, the mystic promises of super
nal life of which the religion of Jesus
is the pledge and the bearer: thence
their supernal virtue, thence their su-
pernal copiousness.
The religion of Jesus was the theme
to which the eagle-eyed John was at
tuning his pen. Ahead of all detail, he
would gather up into a sublime sum-
mary the full meaning of the gospel of
Jesus, the full stature of it's grandeur,
the full splendor of it's mightiness:
and so in language, no less magnif-
cent in meaning than in precision and
clearness, he announced the Incarna-
Word, and the Word was with God,
and the Word was God All
things were made by Him: and with
out Him was made nothing that was
made. In Him was life, and the life
was the light of men And
the Word was made flesh, and dwelt
among us, and we saw His glory as it
were of the only-begotten of the Fa-
ther full of grace and truth
The Meaning of the Incarnation.
sAnd the Word was made flesh
the Word was the Incarnate. From
eternity God was, one and triune
one in plentitude of being and
perfection, threefold in personality
one God in three divine persons,
Father, Son and Holy Spirit. And
now in time the Son-the Word, the
expression, infinite and adequate, of
the Father, was made man. Always
the eternal God in being and in per-
sonality, He took to Himself human
nature, soul and body, communicating
to this human nature his divine per-
sonality, uniting it so indissolubly to
His divine personality, that He, the
i - h. nI@ Trnspo
ity, is, truly and really, God and man
-reigning from eternity in infinite
power and glory, and, in time born
of Mary in the rude cabin of Bethle-
hem, and later dying on the blood
stained cross of Calvary. The eternal
Word, God, made man Because of us
and because of our salvation" And
the Word was made flesh and dwelt
among us" | tell you a mystery:
mysteries l must tell you, whenever
God in His being or in His operations
is spoken of: the creature must not
strive to comprehend the Creator:
"He that is a searcher of mystery
shall be overwhelmed with glory"
religion without it's mysteries is not
divine revelation: the religion of
Jesus were not of God, were it with
out it's mysteries.
The vital principle in the dogmatic
and the moral economy of the Chris
tian religion, is the Incarnation of the
Eternal Word Therefore, the closer
or the more remote the connection of
it's other parts with the Incarnation
gives the measure of their intrinsic
excellence, and of their relative impor-
tance in the religious life of the Chris
tian Church Allow me to rehearse
what the Eucharist is with regard to
the great dogma of the Incarnation
The Institution Of the Eucharist.
"And the Word was made flesh and
dWelt among us-Et verbum caro-
factum est ct habitavit in nobis."
And now I say: The Word was made
flesh and dwells among us-Et habitat
in nobis. What! the Incarnate still
upon earth, in the midst of men, this
very day, SO that we today may draw
nigh to Him, speak to Him lip to lip,
hold Him i'm loving embrace! Yes,
Brethren, all that and more yet: ours
to receive Him, flesh and blood, soul
and divinity, as very food, SO that YER
lily in very truth each one may say:
He is my life: He lives in me: live
in Him. Mystery upon mystery, mar
vel upon marvel Yes, the Eucharist
is mystery; but every act of the In
finite is mystery to mans small
mind. And the Eucharist is mar
vel: but marvels, high above mans
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