The Catholic bulletin. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1911-1995, 1912-11-09
WHO Is A GOOD MAN?

Au0 question is asked, VINO is the
good man? The question has been
asked often before; in one form or
another it is as old as the instinct of
morality in the human soul. 1t was
put to the Supreme Teacher of moral
ity. The answer given by Him I
make my own. None wiser, none
more practical, will ever be spoken.
And Jesus answered: The first COM
mandment of all is: Hear, o Israel:
the Lord thy God is one God; and thou
shalt love the Lord thy God with thy
whole heart, and with thy whole soul,
and with thy whole mind, and with
thy whole strength-this is the first
commandment. The second is like
unto it: Thou shalt love thy neigh
Dor as myself" To the scribe, who
confessed that the observance of these
two commandments is "a greater
thing than holocausts and sacrifices"
Jesus said: "Thou art not far from
the kingdom of heaven"
The essence and the motives of
moral goodness do not change with
time. They are today what they were
of yore. Hence, today, l repeat the
words of the Savior and to him who
accepts them as the norma of his con-
uuCL L SdS uOu d1I AOI Ae1A AAOAA
the kingdom of heaven"
The first and chief condition of
moral goodness is to love the Al
sermon: l am talking plain, every
day moral philosophy. But moral
philosophy, no less than religion, in
it's higher principles rests upon the
Almighty God as it's very basis and
foundation. This great truth I cannot
too strongly emphasize. The lesson
above all others needed today, when
the question of righteous conduct is
forced so imperiously to the front, is
that of mans duty to the Almighty
God. God is forgotten, or at least is
treated as being with whom we have
little concern.
Thou shalt love the Lord thy God"
The love due to God is, of course, that
effective, earnest love which tran
sends mere sentiment and emotion
and so penetrates the whole soul as to
bend into service all it's faculties, and
to exact from it the full complement
of worship and filial obedience. Do
what he may, man cannot tear him.
self from God. Man is by nature
dependent being, the creature of God,
having from God whatever he is, what
ever he possesses.
Duty Toward Almighty God.
The simplest dictates of justice and
of gratitude bid him turn toward God,
in profession of his dependency, in
worship of the divine supremacy, in
praise of the divine power and good
ness, in thanksgiving for all favors
received from the divine hand. God
forgotten, no one should call himself
good and just.
The fulfillment of duty toward the
Almighty God is all the more import
ant since duty to God is and must ever
be the paramount motive of loyalty
to duty along other lines of human
conduct. Leave God aside-what
power remains to compel the soul to
righteousness? Separated from the
idea of the Supreme Legislator, the
moral law is a theory, an abstraction.
Logically, and in time, practically it's
meaning and purpose become pleasure
and personal ACKNOWLEDGEMENT. Intel
lectual concepts of morality, unsup-
ported by a living authority from
which there is no escape, do not build
up the strong soul, able to beat down
the rising pillows of temptation and
to impose silence upon the wild clam
orings of passion.
Human interests, in the last an
alysis,. reveal themselves as selfish
interests: The service of society or
of humanity at large, so freely in
voked by q school of modern philoso-
ply, is misty dream, from which the
sin-burnt heart turns in derision.
The good man will be devout wor-
shipper of the Almighty; he will be a
religious man. He will kneel often in
alteration and prayer; he will seek out
i'm earnest study the law Of the Su-
preme' Master, and will Loyalty con-
form to it in his private and social
life. ..- q.
The good man has his duties to him
self. Chief among these is the utter
cleanliness of heart, the righteousness
of the inner soul. Mere exterior
morality is a sham and a pretense.
It does not last; it withstands no
severe trial. At best it is hypocrisy,
lie acted out by the man himself,
an effort to deceive his fellow men.
Clean of Heart, Clean of Mouth.
Clean of heart, the good man will
be clean of mouth. Vulgar and OBJ
scene language, oaths and blasphemies
will never pollute his speech. He will
be clean of act, respecting his body as
the very handiwork of God. He will
be clean of hand, never reaching out
to the things that are not his by
strictest rules of social justice. The
good man will not be the lazy and
indolent servant; he will improve his
mind by thoughtful study; he will i'm
prove, as circumstances permit, his
condition in life, bringing into active
exercise the latent talents given to
him by the Creator, that they be de-
veloped and put to profit. He will be
brave in effort, resigned in failure,
calm and self-possessed in success.
''Thou shalt love thy neighbor as
myself" Man is necessarily social
being; he has absolute need of others.
Altruism, the love of the neighbor, is
imposed upon him by his very nature,
and by the author of that nature, the
Almighty God, The neighbor means