The Catholic bulletin. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1911-1995, 1915-06-12
THE EUCHARIST.

OE/AOpo LII III LHG WOIlu 10 COlH6
THE EUCHARIST.
The Consolation of the Lonely Mis-
sonary.
We see the whole world around us
in a mad rush for pleasure, writes
Rev. T. M. Neate, S. j., in EN-
manuel" The ruler imagines he will
find it in his acquisition of power; the
student in knowledge; the scientist in
the discoveries of his scientific inves-
LEGATIONS, and the voluptuary in the in
diligence of his natural inclinatiOns,
in the qualification of his sensual ap-
petite. We all seek after happiness,
it is true; it is the Unborn craving of
the human breast; but true happiness
can only be found in the pursuit of
virtue and in the acquisition of vir-
tues reward. True happiness can only
be found in God. In God, Whose in
finite projections alone can satisfy the
craving of mans heart; for our heart
yearns after unalloyed, infinite, eternal
happiness. To those who preserve in
the practice of virtue and in preparing
their soul to reach its eternal destiny,
God gives a foretaste of the happi-
ness He has reserved for the elect in
the kingdom of heaven. To those who
have sacrificed the honors and riches
and pleasures of earth, to follow more
closely in the footsteps of the Divine
Saviour, and to labor in spreading the
Kingdom of God on earth, He imparts
a hundredfold, for what they have for
sal1en and fills them with a delight,
which they would not exchange for
all the attractions of earth.
| The Religious who has turned his
back on the world, abandoned kindred
and earthly prospects, finds in the
peace of the convent and in the cul-
tured sanity society of his religious
brethren a compensation for what he
has left in the world: viz; social joys,
spiritual comforts, and intellectual re-
freshments, which find a genial soil
in the earthly Paradise of the relig
|
cut off from the Community life of
his religious brethren, finds himself
segregated from those sources whence
others derive their consolation and en-
couragement. He finds himself prac-
tically alone in this world; for even
those among whom he labors are Of
ten strange, uneouth and unsympathe
tiess-A strangers ina strange land he
finds himself among a people whose
manners and customs are often repel-
liant to him and whose very language
is harsh and often hard to compre-
bend, and who themselves take no in
terest in his noble endeavors nor ap-
| their behalf And yet God has not
left him without source of comfort
and consolation. Within his reach
there is a spring of happiness, a cause
of Joy and of refreshment Whether
he labors among savage tribe OF
American Indians or among the sod
den denizens of the African jungles,
or among the fanatical hordes of the
South Sea Islands, whether his jour-
neys lead him over the arid plains
of Texas, or amid the ice fields of
Alaska, or in the wilds of distant
Ethiopia, he has ever at hand the
source of all consolation, Jesus in the
Holy Eucharist, in the August Sacra-
ment of the Altar.
AS the mama in the desert had for
the Israelites a satisfying flavor of all
foods, tasteful, nutritious, so the Holy
Eucharist supplies the lonely mission
airy with that peace, JOY, encourage,
ment and refreshment which would
accrue to him from those surround
ings he has generously abandoned,
What a boon for the priest on the
mission. How otherwise bear the
solitude, how otherwise support the
strain, the long journeys, the lonely
vigils, the tedious routine, the long
fasts, the unwelcome visits, the inhos-
pitable receptions, the unrequited love,
the rebuffs and disappointments, dis
couragements from a people who have
not yet learned to walk in the com
mandments of God and to profit by
the opportunities of Divine Providence,
and to appreciate the unselfish zeal
for the messengers of peace. But
like the Prophet, who could journey
forty days when fed by the angel with
the bread of the strong, he reckons not
the cost, he feels not the strain, he
knows not the loss; burdens become
light, hardships easy, bereavements
! sweet; for behold in the midst he
carries the God of all consolation; he
is nourished with the bread of angels
and has at his side a companion
teacher and guide, one moment OF
whose presence is worth thousand
years spent in the courts of kings. He
comes home from his journey, to find
friend waiting for him in the taber.
nacle. He goes at the call of the
sick, but not alone, on his bosom he
carries the author of life and death
bringing peace to the weary and solace
to the afflicted. Day and night he
i had a constant Companion to Whom
he may have recourse in moments OF
perplexity, lonesomeness and sorrow
and who will sympathize with him
and bid the clouds of gloom to scat
u ter and the sunshine of happiness to
beam on his path. Christ dwells with
him in the Holy Eucharist: Behold!
am with you all days. even to the
| ,-,,,c,,y,, n, a finy, cf tho world -