The Catholic bulletin. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1911-1995, 1915-10-02

- Z
: :.
Him with the non-fulflment of His
promises
| All the while the reasons Of His re-
fusal or delay in answering us is not
far to seek 1t is that we ask the wrong
things and in the wrong way, or at
least in the wrong order. st. Angus
tine puts it perfectly: I'VE being evil,
TASK evil things, and ask them evilly."
Meantime the Spirit of God is seeking
to wean us from these evil things, and
is waiting for us to ask the better
gifts, which will be found, in point of
fact and as a rule, to bring the lesser
benefits in their train: Seek first
the Kingdom of God and His justice,
land all these things shall be added
unto you." The saints astonish us by
the ease with which they obtain
temporal favours, precisely because
they begin with the higher ones, and
let the lesser ones take care of them
selves. We inYert the order, and are
often distressed to find we get neither.
1t is not that the Spirit of God is
deaf to our petitions; it is that He is
saddened by our blindness, and the
current of His favours arrested by
our perversity.
Indeed devotion to the Holy Ghost
is of it's nature such that we naturally
think exclusively of spiritual bless
ings, and it is these on which the
Church focuses our attention in all
the prayers and hymns the
most beautiful in all the rich treasury
of her liturgy which are addressed
to the Third Divine Person. Come,
Holy Ghost, send down from heaven a
ray of Thy light" Fill with supernal
grace the hearts Thou hast created"
Light for the intellect, grace for the
heart: behold here the primary gifts
we are to seek and may certainly ex-
4 pect from the Holy Spirit. And how
we need them! Darkness, spiritual
darkness, lies at the root of SO much
of our misery. If we saw more clear
ly, more systematically, our lives
would be freer from disorder and
freer from sadness. For lack of this
light the events of life are trial to
our faith, our patience, or our hope.
The mystery and the burden of all
this unimaginable world press upon
us with crushing weight, because we
do not see, with sufficient vividness,
the loving Spirit of God "brooding
over the abyss" and moulding the
destinies of men. Very particularly
in these present days, when mankind
is living through nightmare of hor-
ror, do we need more and and more
of this light.
But vision is not enough, and if only
illumination of the intellect were
granted we should still find ourselves
helpless for good. We need that i'm.
! pulse to the will which is the second
element in that complex thing called
] grace.
y Many see very clearly what is right
, and what is wrong, but feel unequal
/. to the task of consistently choosing
I, the right. Longfellow, in one of his
5 poems, makes humble priest ex.
claim
81 see, but cannot reach, the
height,
Which lies forever in the light
ssq ,vAAd yet, forever, and forever. !.
When seeming just within my
grasp,
l feel my feeble hands unclasp
And sink discouraged into night
! This sense of weakness is very
: frequent and very painful. 1t is one
of the sad consequences of the Fall
! A feeling as of spiritual. paralysis
;, causes numb helplessness in the
face of difficult duties or severe
affections. God alone can cure this
! for He alone can Immediately touch
!, the free will of man and brace it W
: for continued action.
Other gifts, of course, He gives; but
!, all those that the Church encourages
tus to seek are closely akin to these
I Tor follow from them. Refreshment
: rest in labour, GOODNESS in heat, solace
in sorrow may be had from this Bes
: of Considers, this Heavenly Guest
without Whose divine influence there
is nothing in man that is not baneful
: He will cleanse what is Soiled, Watel
9 what is parched, heal what is wound
t ed, bend what is obstinate, warn
$ what is cold, guide what is hayward
o To the faithful who trust in Hin
t He will grant His sevenfold gifts
: the reward of virtue, the death of the
!. predestined, and eternal joy. In al
y this we are lifted into the purer
q ampler air of faith. We are brough
q closer to the divine nature while VIZ
t pray thus, and we are raised above
= the too much solicitude about passing
$ things which Christ had to rebuke il
|, His disciples. 1t is only through some
t such uplifting that we can face the
$ terrible days and years that now seen
to lie before the world.
VALUE OF THE MASS.