The Irish standard. [volume] (Minneapolis, Minn. ;) 1886-1920, 1914-10-03


paying it a visit, in order to go out,
never to return, to the great I'M
taught realms of India and consume
his life in the quest of souls. What
was it that gave him that ardent
charity? 1t was the image of the
Trinity that he saw shining in every
soul beneath the darkened skin of
those people. o beata Trinitas! Oh,
blessed Trinity. Such was the con-
slant exclamation of Francis Xavier.
Such was the love of st. Vincent
de Paul. Was it Nature that made
him attend to and nurse and become
a slave to the poor leper in his House
of st. Lazare in Paris? No! 1t was
the supernatural love of that soul.
Such was the love of Father Da-
mien, that he should go to the Is
lands of the Pacific and become
leper with the lepers. And now comes
back to me a memory of years gone
by, with all the aroma of the spring
tide, and all the beauty of the morn
ing the memory of the venerable
Peter Donders. When I was child
and read the lives of the Saints I
never dreamed it should come to my
lot to live with a Saint. I see the
old man yet! l lived with him; l
slept in his room. And now the
cause of his canonization has been
introduced, and his title is veper-
able. Thirty years he spent among
the lepers, far from the land in which
he was born, that he never hoped to
see again, giving himself, and giving
his all for those people.
Such was the supernatural love of
the Saints. Such should be your SUI
pernatural love. Love men, not be-
cause they attract you, not because
you expect to get anything out of
them, not because their qualities are
lovable; but love them, because they
are the image of God, because when
the Almighty looks down from on
high, He sees His own divine perfec-
tions mirrored in those souls. Love
them because they are Gods photo
graphs, Gods portraits, Gods i'm
ages. Love them, because Jesus
Christ loved them and died for them.
Love them, because you are sailing
in the same ship with them, going
on to the waters of Eeternity.
1t is the supernatural love that
God expecst from you. Supernatural
love and a supernatural motive, my
dear friends of this Conference,
should color all your efforts.
Do not work for the poor, do not
work for the children, do not work
for the aged, do not work for the i'm
migrants; do not embrace all these
within your charity, because they
are according to your inclination, be-
cause you expect men to praise you,
because you like to see your names
in the newspapers, or because you ex-
pect earthly rewards. Love men, and
embrace them all, because all man
kind is the Child of God. and every
child of man is destined to that place
to which we are all travelling. At no
time and at no place should this SUI
pernatural charity manifest itself
more than in this time of war.
Entering into the spirit of the
President of the United States, let
us be neutral, not with the don't
care kind of neutrality, not with an
Indifferent neutrality. but with the
neutrality of love. Unfortunate, mis-
guided people are fighting, but that
is no reason why we should draw the
sword on one side or the other. They
are our Brethren, whether they do
right or do wrong. They may be
misguided but the great mantle of
charity should fall upon them, and
should embrace them all, and we
should do whatever we can, from an
Intellectual. physical and moral
standpoint, in order to help them
and raise them up by our charity.
If your charity is thus supernatur-
al. it will become practical. 1t will
not be the charity merely of thought
or word. 1t will be the charity of
deed, as the charity Of Christ was.
When the Omnipotent looked down
from the Heavens and saw how man
kind was running on to perdition,
did He content Himself with merely
plying their situation and wishing
that it might be, helped? No. He
opened the door of His mercy. He
unlocked the treasures of His grace,
He came Himself. He did not send
us an angel to do the work; He came
Himself, the good Samaritan, and He
descended down into the mire to
raise man up. That is what Jesus
Christ did, and that is what every
Christ-loving soul will try to do.
All, dear friends, when Christian
ity arose above this darkened world,
and charity entered into the hearts