The Catholic bulletin. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1911-1995, 1913-09-13


apply. Lukewarm or bad Catholics
are the ones who leave the Church,
but our converts are good, earnest
Protestants who are seeking truth and
their eternal salvation.
Again, "By their fruits you shall
know them" Look back through the
pages of history and count, If you can,
the mighty names upon the roll of the
Catholic Church-just to mention a
few-St Vincent de Paul, st. Francis
Xavier, st. Ignatius Loyola, Thomas
Attempts, Fenelon, Michelangelo, Ra-
phael. Dante, Dryden, Newman, Man
ming, Spaulding. Is it not privilege
to be brothers in the Faith to such as
these! Is it possible for such men to
have been wrong in their method of
serving God?
Protestants sometimes say: Il can
not understand how Catholics believe
this or that" OF course they can not:
otherwise, if in earnest, they would be-
come Catholic Right here we come
to the main point: Faith is not I'M
derstanding, but believing what we
can not understand.
Help Thou our unbelief,
And give us grace to say
Like the repentant thief,
Have mercy, Lord, to-day"
Yea, help us to believe
And hope-to love Thee, too;
Lest we at last ourselves deceive,
Our falling faith renew.
We do not ask to see,
Enough that we may know
The path that leads to Thee,
The way that we should go.
Enough that Thou hast said:
Believe, believe in Me,
And We shall even raise the dead.
Cast mountains in the sea-
AS rule, non-Catholics do not seem
to realize that if one acknowledges
Church of God through which He still
speaks and teaches, that whatever His
Church teaches is divine truth and,
even if certain doctrines can not be
entirely understood by mems finite
minds, they must accept them, and
Faith says 81 believe" On the other
hand, however, many of the devotions
and practices of the Catholic Church
help to strengthen our belief in her
divine institution. have always
found that, even from human stand
point, the more we study and investi-
gate the Church the more we see how
logical are her teachings. What is
more natural and beautiful than to be-
lieve that the Mother of God was the
ever Virgin Mary? The mind revolts
at the non-Catholic attitude toward
the Blessed Virgin. Again, how can
Christians dislike the Crucifix emblem
of Christ's death for sinners? What
consolation to mankind is the Sign of
the Cross, the pledge of our salvation.
Or take the Sacramento, viewed
merely as temporal benefits Like a
loving mother the Church takes us in
infancy, and from the day the waters
of baptism are poured over us she
never relaxes her watchful care. She
leads us gently along the path of life,
ever ready with a shield in each emer-
gency, and a balm for every pain.
Are we wounded? She offers us the
Sacrament of Penance, in which we
may be healed. Then She strengthens
us with Confirmation and the Holy
Eucharist. When we are grown and
choose our state in life, there, await
ing our coming, are Holy Orders or
the Sacrament of Matrimony And at
the end, when the light begins to fade,
when the weary spirit falters and we
long at last for rest; then, when Death
approaches and the demon of discour-
ment strives to claim us for his own,
does our Mother forsake us then?
Nay, she stands by our side, gives us
the bread of life, anoints us with holy
oil, and as she has led us from the
cradle to manhood, and from youth to
old age, she now leads us to the gates
of that heavenly city which she has
taught US to seek. Believing, there
fore, that Our Divine Lord established
a Church which exists today, must
either believe in and accept her teach
ings, or doubt the truth of Christ's
own words.
So IL you ask me why am Cath
ole, answer: Because / must be
either a Catholic or an atheist"