The Catholic bulletin. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1911-1995, 1913-12-06
SER MON SUBJECTS
FOR DECE NJ B { R
SERIES OF INSTRUCTIONS PRE-
ScRTBED FOR THREE SUNDAYS
OF THE MONTH.

The following series of sermons
has been prescribed by the Most Rev.
erend Archbishop for three Sundays
of the month of December in the
churches of the Archdiocese of St.
Paul.
|. The Mystery of the Incarnation.
(a) The meaning of the word, In
carnation. The meaning of the
mystery of the Incarnation-the Sec
ond Person of the Blessed Trinity
taking unto himself our human ma
ture, being thus at the same time
God and man, uniting the two natures
through the one divine personality.
(b) The several errors condemned
by the Church, at different periods of
history with regard to the Incarnation.
That of the HISTORIANS, asserting that
in Christ there is only a moral union
between the human and the divine,
there being consequently in Christ
two personalities. the divine and the
human. The error of the Eutychians,
asserting that in Christ there is but
one nature, the human nature being
SO absorbed in the divine, as to lose
it's own identity, Christ being the true
man, the true son of Adam, as He is
the true Son of God. The error of
the Monothelites, asserting that in
Christ, as result of the union of the
two natures in the one personality,
&c
of activity.
(c) An act of faith in the full Cath
Ollie doctrine of the Incarnation-One
person, that of the Second Person of
the Blessed Trinity, and two natures,
the divine and the human: "And the
Word was made flesh, and dwelt
amongst u.s."
II. The Divine Motives of the In
carnation.
(a) The Son of God was made man,
so as to suffer and die and make
satisfaction for our sins-the divine
nature incapable of suffering, the hui
man nature incapable of merit to
satisfy for sin, and two together united
in the one divine personality was a
necessity if full and adequate satisfac-
ton were to be offered to divine
justice.
OBJ The Son of God was made man
in proof of the divine love for man:
God SO loved the world as to give
to it His onIy-begotten Son."
(c) The Son of God was made man
to lead men to salvation both by word
and by example. Living as man,
God is enabled to say: 81 have given
you an example, that as have done,
so you do also"
III. Duties Imposed by the Mystery
of the Incarnation.
(a) 1t is our duty to know Jesus
Christ, as He is made known to us
in the Gospels. How little do many
of us know of Jesus Christ, beyond
His name and few chief facts in
His life: We should know Him in
His daily acts during His life on
earth, in His daily teachings, in His
several miracles, as in His more hui
man walkings. We should read and
study the Gospels.
Eb) Knowing the life Of the Incar-
nate God, we should incorporate, so
to speak, His life into ours, by copy
ing into ours, so far as human frailty
admits, the virtues so conspicuous in
His life by making Him the Model,
the Exemplar, upon which we form
our thoughts and acts
(c) And this, our great duty in
presence of the Incarnation, to fol-
low out in all things, as the great,
the sole purpose of our existence on
earth, the salvation of our souls in
eternity. This was the purpose of
the Incarnation, that we be saved
from sin in this life and from the
loss of Heaven in the next: to respond
to the purpose of God in the Incar-
nation must be our constant and earn
est aim. Our souls not saved, the
work of God in the Incarnation, SO
far as we are concerned, becomes
vain and fruitless.