The Catholic bulletin. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1911-1995, 1915-05-01

Holy Communion on Easter Sunday
or within the allotted time after Eas-
ter Sunday?
Easter time" as it is called begins
in this country on the first Sunday of
Lent and continues until Trinity Sun
day, comprising in all about fourteen
weeks, six weeks before and eight
weeks after Easter Sunday. Any one
in this country who receives the Holy
Eucharist worthily within this time
fulfils his Easter duty.
In the Bible does the word "day,"
as used in the first part where God
made the world, mean the same as at
present, or tWenty-four hours; or, is
it used figuratiVeIy, meaning an epoch
or other division of time?
Thus far the Church has not told
us what is meant by the word day
as used in the first chapters of the
Book of Genesis. Until she does so,
we are free to understand it in what
ever sense we please. Learned Cath
olics will be found in favor of each
1hlCl DISldlIOlls III IllC DdllC SOIlICAJ
it is said: "On the seventh day God
rested from all His work which He had
made This seventh day" has con
tinued since the creation of all things;
for since then God has added nothing
to the material things that He made
lin the beginning" In a similar way,
we may understand the other six
days" to mean indefinite periods of
time. On the contrary, it is not
against faith to believe that God com
pleted the whole work Of creation in a
single instant. The words of Genesis
would then explain to us the order of
development in creation according to
the laws with which God had endowed
the things He had made. The truth
of faith contained in this portion of
Holy Scripture is that God is the
creator and that He made all things
Is the nebuIar hypothesis of the
origin of the world ever accepted by
Catholics, of course, with God govern
ing it?
This theory maintains that our solar
system and the heavenly bodies once
existed as a cloudlike or gaseous sub
stance by the motions of which the
different stars were formed. This in
turn threw off fragments which now
exist as the planets and other heav-
emily bodies, including our earth.
Laplace, one of the greatest mathe-
maticians of his century, and a deep
student of Cosmogony, a Catholic, fol-
lowed this theory. 1t was he, indeed,
who gave to this theory some laws of
uniformity. The condition specified in
the question is the only one required
namely, that God be recognized as the
creator and governor of the world.
Afl~theories for explaining the present
condition of the world are given over
to the discussions of men.
Around here there are some Catho-
lies who claim that the Bible says
that the year 1900 shall come but that
the year 1000 shall never come, mean
ing by this that the world will come
to an end before the year 1000. They
also claim that all who do not believe
this are not true Christians. How
about it?
Some Catholics claim very queer
things. Fortunately, there is only one
guide whom we have to follow. Thus
far the Church has said nothing re-
garding the duration of the world. A
practical answer to your authoritative
neighbors would be to ask them for
the reference in Scripture which con
tains this information which they
wish to impress upon you. If they
find it stated in the Bible that the
world will not be in existence by the
year 1000, they will have discovered
something heretofore unknown to stu
dents of Holy Scripture. If your
neighbors have this knowledge they
should not hide their light under a
bushel.
Is 1t right or wrong for young peo-
pie to make up small parties in Lenten
time and to go to house and keep
them and play what you call "drty
games" just as we'll as on week days
or Sunday evenings?
If the games are as described there
is no time in the week or in the year
that it would be right for young or old
to take part in them. The penitential
seasons, such as Advent and Lent,
are to be spent in works of penance,
not in idle amusements. For this rea-
son even games and social gatherings
that are perfectly innocent in them
selves should be set aside at these
times, not because they are wrong
but because during these seasons we
should do penance by denying our
selves things that are perfectly licit.
My confessor gave me absoIution so
rapidly that could not say the whole
of the act of contrition. Was ! right
In receiving Holy Communion?
Yes, you were quite right. The
words of the Act of Contrition are not
part of the Sacrament of Penance.
The most essential element on our part
in receiving the Sacrament of Pen
ance is contrition. Before we go into
the confessional we excite in our
hearts this spirit of sincere sorrow
for our sins because they have of
Tended God. 1t is this disposition of
the heart that is essential in order
that our sins may be forgiven This
contrition continues, even though orr