The Catholic bulletin. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1911-1995, 1915-12-25
THOUGHTS ON CHRISTMAS.

The greatest conceivable miracle
had taken place. The Creator of al
things was an infant in poor stable
The birth Of that infant meant the
Of humanity from the
slavery that had been crushing it
The world was sick at heart. Man
had no clear conception of his final
destiny. The greatest intellects OF
the time had tried to solve the riddle
Of existence, but had failed miserably
Without the lamp of faith to illume
their investigation they wandered in
the darkness of paganism. Whilst
the intellectually and socially elect OF
the anti-Christian period were baffled
in their search after truth, the com
mon people who carried on the worlds
work passed their lives in debasing
servitude. They were regarded and
treated as so much cattle between
whom and their masters there were
no ties in common.
The birth of Christ meant the end
of that condition of things. When its
significance was grasped by mankind
the slavery of Pagan times was i'm
possible. The first two words of the
Lords prayer proclaimed species OF
equality never dreamt of when pagan
ism was triumphant. Henceforth, the
worlds wealth-producers might be
robbed of the fruits of their labor
either by brute force or by chicanery.
but their rights as children of GOO
might not be denied. For them the
teachings of Christianity were an
emancipation proclamation announc
ing, not only spiritual freedom, but the
passing of the economic servitude.
traceable to the pagan belief that
those who earned their living by the
sweat of their brows were but little
better than the dumb animals thai
were their co-workers in the fields
Such was the social revolution inaug
urated on that first Christmas at Beth
lehem.
When ga multitude of the Heavenly
Army" raised their voices in praise
of God on that first Christmas, they
announced the essential condition Of
happiness in these words: "Glory tc
God in the highest, and on earth peace
to men Of good will" Nineteen hun
dred years have come and gone since
the watching shepherds heard the
voices of the Angelic host. During
these centuries the experience of man
kind has proved that real peace o.
mind is conditioned on the terms laiC
down by the Angelic host: "Glory tt
God in the highest, and on earth peace
to men of good will" In other words
love of God, and Of our neighbor AMI
the good will born of that love are the
surest guarantees of the peace tina
passetl1 all understanding. Unfortu
nately a standard other than this has
been erected for men to rally round
Benedict XIV in his recent Encyclica
has this to say of the false STANDARD
we have in mind:
For this end the great thing is tt
destroy the secret root of the evil
of all evil, for 'radix omnium malorun
cupiditas'-that is, material well-beins
as the one object Of life. Men,
minds are imbued with the idea tina
happiness is bound up with the enjoy
ment of earthly goods: they seel
these latter with all the strength will
which they seek happiness; they re
bel against anyone who thwarts thei
desires. But our Lord taught tina
man can be, and indeed is, happy ii
tears, in poverty, in persecution. Hap
| piness, then, does not lie in things o
this world but of the next. So faitl
in the supernatural, desire and hop,
for the eternal good, must be restored
With the restoration of this faith viii
vanish the mad desire for the good
of this world
When the Holy Father was pennin;
these words, the cannon of the princi
pal nations of Europe were belchin,
forth destruction. Never before ha
grim war claimed so many victims il
this holy season of the year as at thi
present moment. None but the mos
unsophisticated believe that this wan
ton sacrifice of human lives is due t,
any other cause than the one to which
the Father of Christendom calls on
attention. International greed ha
summoned millions into the field {,
slaughter one another. Indiyidua
greed is likewise evident in our bus
ness relations. Persons processing t,
be Christians shape their lives b.
pagan principles. Instead of seekfnl
that peace promised on the mrs
Christmas to men of good will" the,
are sacrificing all that makes lif
worth living in an insane desire t
accumulate wealth which, when OF
tanned frequently turns out to be Dea,
Sea fruit. For such the cheering
greeting Of Merry Christmas" cal
never have the meaning it has TO
those whose lives are moulded Of
Christian principles.
Let as hope that the time is not "a
distant when the Christmas chime
viii, in the words Of the poet.
Ring out old shapes Of foul diseas