The Catholic bulletin. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1911-1995, 1915-01-02


out pangs over lost opportllni.
| ties, over profitable deals and in.
vestments missed at times when a
competitor was more wide-awake
than they, and so on; and then
comes the determination to allow
nothing like that to happen in
1915.
/ In the spiritual order there must
| be stock-taking, also. This is a
business that concerns everybody.
| It's profits are incaIculable, it's
risks are manifold, for war never
ceases and there is no neutral
zone, and it's losses are the only
real calamities Of human exist
cnce. "What doth it profit a man
to gain the whole world and suffer
the loss of his soul? ?" Sensible
men and women will not allow
this season Of spiritual stock
taking to pass by without making
a serious effort to find out exactly
how they stand in that spiritual
mart wherein we are all placed
| by Him Who entrusted to each of
us certain portion of His goods,
with the command, "Trade with
it till [ come"
| We, too, must sit back for a
while and allow the year 1914 to
pass in reverie before our mental
gaze. Most Of us will find that
we have been guilty of neglect
and Of waste-neglect Of grace
and waste of time.
The Saints tell us that we live
in an atmosphere of the grace Of
God. In condition Of spiritual
health and vigor, we should be
drawing into our souls at every
moment an increase Of strength
and vitality. But this demands
that we be Wide-awake and OH the
watch, so that no portion of the
good gift Of God passes lis by. 1t
requires conscious and deliberate
effort; for God Who made us with
out our own cooperation, will not
save or sanctify us except on con-
ditiOn that we do our share. How
often have we heard that saints
become saints by doing their Ordi-
nary actions, fulfilling their ordi-
nary duties, in the best possible
way and for the best possible
motive; that is, for the love of
God? And the secret of this, too,
has been disclosed to us by our
Divine Lord Himself, when He
said that we ought always to pray.
Here then is the first thing we
all notice in our survey Of the past
year. We have not prayed, or we
have not prayed well. Let us set
that right for the coming year.
| By fervent morning offering we
shall place ourselves in the pres
ence of God each day and shall
remind ourselves when the clock
strikes, when the Angelus bell
rings, when temptations and trout
Ebles assail us, that there is One
at our side Who can help and Who
loves us and wills that we succeed
and be happy. We will not for
get our act Of charity, our short
aspirations Of love and of trust in
Him from Whom alone all bless
ings come.
Then there is the item Of waste
to be provided against. We have
been wasting in the most reckless
fashion the most precious Of earth
| ly possessions-Time. On our bed
Of death what would we not give
for one hour of the precious time
which we allow to hang so heavily
on our hands, which we sometimes
want to kill" as we rightly call
it.! In He'll what would not the
lost souls give for one hour, for
one day! We must say with the
poet:
The lost days Of my life until to-
day,
What were they, could I see them
at my feet
Lie as they fall? Would they be
| ears of wheat
| Sown once for food, but trodden
into clay?
Or golden coins squandered and
still to pay?
Or such split waters as in dreams
must cheat
The undying throats of hell,
athirst Away?
The time is fast coming when
the view of our past will have
ceased to be profitable in the way
of stimulus and inspiration for
the future. One moment of time
rightly used may win eternity. 1t
could advance us and place us far
ahead on the road of spiritual
progress. And there are moments
Of crisis, psychological moments,
on which ones whole future de-
ponds, in which is to be decided
| whether we are to be generous and
successful workers for God OF
! worthless failures. God alone
knows when cuch TOnmaOtS conna