The Catholic bulletin. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1911-1995, 1913-03-29
THE IDEALLSM OF THE SUPERNATURAL
OUR CATHOLIC SISTERHOODS

SISTERHOODS
est? So it is that the Gospel of
Jesus makes provision for extraor-
binary participation in the divine life,
for extraordinary sacrifice in obedi-
ence to the impulses of it's graces.
"And behold one came and said to
Jesus: Good Master, what shall
do to have life everlasting? Who
saith to Him But il thou
wilt enter into life, keep the COM
mandments." This the ordinary path
way of the supernatural, the sufficient
measure of discipleship that the goal
be reached, and, in some degree, the
glory encircling it be won for eter-
nifty. But hearken to the further col
loquy: The young man saith to Him:
All those have l kept from my
youth; what is wanting to me?
Jesus saith to him: Go sell what
thou hast and give it to the poor, and
thou shalt have treasure in Heaven,
and come and follow me-" In other
words-more wouldst thou do than
keep the commandments, more than
what is required from ali? Then be
closer to me in sacrifice and renuncia-
ton: and special treasure awaits thee
in Heaven. 1t was the vocation to
the counsels of the supernatural life
the vocation to the more than ordi-
nary exaltation in the realm of divine
idealism.
The Evangelical CounseIs.
am telling the full significance of
this mornings ceremonial: the full sig
nifcance of our Catholic Sisterhoods.
must be exact in doctrine. The
practice of evangelical counsels is not
restricted to sanctuaries or converts.
It finds home across all pathways
of Christian life: it blooms amid every
class of Christian discipleship. Nor
are the counsels only those particu-
larly implied in this mornings cere-
monial. The Christian counsels are
many in number: they come into prac-
tice as special devotion ignites the
heart and special ideal makes room
for sacrifice. This much, however,
is true: the pages Of the Gospel re?
cord special Communications on behalf
of virginity, of poverty, and of that
remuneration of self, which the
Church of Christ has seen fit to EN-.
body in obedience to the will of duly.
commissioned superiors. Those three
counsels take rank as the highest in
upward fight, as the most arduous OF
observance, and, further, draw into
their scope of action the other evan
gelical counsels. And so it is that
the Church sets it's solemn seal upon
the counsels of virginity, of poverty,
and of obedience, and pours its
richest benedictions upon the chosen
disciple who not only puts those into
practice, but goes still further in
enthusiasm of devotion and speaks
the VOW that until death they shall be
loved and loyalty observed.
The counseIs, the Test of Divine Life
in the Church.
From the beginning the Catholic
Church held in high honor the prac.
tice of the evangelical counsels. The
Church is to-day, as it was in the
past, as it will be tomorrow, the
guardian, the advocate of the. highest
forms of idealism in the regioh of the
supernatural. In every age, over
every land, the sanctuaries of its
priesthood, the monasteries and con.
vents Of it's vow-bound sons and
daughters give testimony to its
fidelity to the high mark of sacrifice
and devotion set by it's Founder, to
it's unceasing fecundity in heroes
capable of reaching upward to the
submits of supernatural idealism
Magma mater virum-the potent
mother of heroes" the Catholic Church
has ever been, and ever will be. Else
it were not the Church of the Gospe,
of Christ. No words of Christ fell
lifeless to the ground. He made the
appeal for spiritual heroism. Where
He lives and reigns the appeal is
heard and answered. A church with
out the evangelical counsels is not
the Church of Christ. Were it with.
out the counsels, 1t had shorn itself OF
the celestial title of the spouse OF
Christ, and confessed itself a mere
human institution producing only what
human nature produces, void OF
progeny animated from the skies. The
objection to the idealism of the evan.
gelical counsels is that they demand
too much from human nature. The
objection holds, if nature is alone
in the attempt. But grace comes to
the rescue. To the disciples per-
turbed of mind by the invitation to
abiding virginity, the Master said:
"All men take not this word; but they
to whom it is given" Grace from
above quickens human nature that it
rise high above the pathways of the
multitude. The fact that within the
bosom of the Catholic Church loyal
Iadherents Of the counsels are the
legions, is the proof that it is, indeed,
the enclosed garden" of the King,
where "the living waters" OF Paradise
bedew the soil, and lily and rose bloom
radiant of the effulgence Of the skies.
Service to Fellow-creatures 5egotten