Newark evening star and Newark advertiser., 1915-04-05

| WIN the WnOle-neaTCeQ love ana de-
votion He deserves, we do not wor-
ship Him and obey Him with that
supreme conservation of ourselves to
His service to which He is entitled as
the Incarnate God.
Truth Must Be Impressed.
"It is this great truth of the divin-
ity OF Christ that needs to be i'm
pressed on the minds of all men.
Christ Is indeed the greatest Of
teachers. the wisest and most pro-
found of legislators, the exemplar OF
all that is most ennobling and elevat-
ing in human nature, the model of
human conduct most worthy of imita-
ton by all who would lead a God-like
| life. But He is infinitely more than
this and He is entitled to our homage
and obedience by a right which i'm
measurably transcends the highest
human claims to our admiration and
respect. Christ is truly God; Identical
in His divine nature with God the
Father, one with Him in the divine
authority to which we are bound by
the duty of absolute submission and
obedience.
"This doctrine of Christ's divinity,
which the feast of His resurrection is
intended to emphasize, entails conse-
quences Of the highest Importance
Since Christ Is God, to know, love and
serve God, which is the chief end and
aim OF our existence In this world, is
to know, love and serve Jesus Christ.
The doctrines which Christ taught
are the teachings OF God Himself.
established and the precepts which
He enjoined are ordinances of God.
To ignore or neglect them is to be
guilty OF rebellion against God and to
violate the essential relations which
exist between the Creator and the
creature. If we truly believe in God,
we cannot refuse to believe in Christ.
In a word, since Christ is God, we
are bound to accept His teachings and
obey His precepts with the absolute
submission Of mind and will due to
the infinite wisdom, veracity and
authority of God This Is the chief
lesson inculcated by this Joyous feast
of Easter, the feast of Christ's resur-
rection.
From this doctrine Of Christ's
! divinity we desume the claims Of His
church to our submission and obedi-
ence In the domain of religious truth
| and duty. Recognizing Him as the
| Son of God because of the miracle
performed and the prophecy fulfilled
| in his triumphant resurrection, we
realize the force of His words when
He said to His Apostles: All power
| is given to Me in heaven and on
earth: going, therefore, teach ye all
, nations. And behold, I am
with you all days even to the con-
summation of the world He who
pronounced these words had by His
resurrection from the dead estab-
lished His right to be acknowledged
as possessing divine power and
divine authority. This same Christ
| Who rose from the dead said to
Simon Bar-Jona, the chief Of the
| Apostles: Who do you say that l
! ann And Simon answered.: Thou
art Christ, the Son OF the Living
| Cod And Christ said to him:
| Blessed art thou. Simon Bar-Jona,
because flesh and blood hath not re-
vealed It to thee, but My Father Who
! is In heaven. will give to
thee the keys of the kingdom of
heaven; whatsoever thou shalt bind
upon earth, shall be bound also in
heaven; and whatsoever thou shalt
| loose upon earth, shall be loosed also
! In heaven
The Same Christ.
"It was the same Christ Who said
TO His Church, Whose sins you shall
forgive they are forgiven them, and
| WAOoO Od ShdiA ICbnih SAASJ 80
retained 1t was the same Christ
Who instituted the holy sacrifice of
| the mass and Who promised to be
present with US all days in the holy
| and adorable sacrament of the altar
and to unite Himself with US in Holy
| Communion for the spiritual nourish-
ment and refreshment of our souls.
''It is in the light of the glorious
| Resurrection of Christ that the full
| significance Of His words Is brought
home to our intelligence. The Resur-
rection Is the proof that His words
! and promises cannot fail to be true,
and that therefore the church which
| He instituted truly possesses the
powers and attributes conferred by
Him. The celebration of the feast OF
! Easter therefore Is an occasion Of re-
| newal of our faith and love towards
/ the church of Christ no less than
| towards Christ Himself as the Eter-
nal Son of God.
"Just as we cannot truly reverence
/ and adore God, the Father, without
acknowledging and obeying Christ.
Who Is God the Son, co-equal with
God the Father, so in like manner we
cannot be truly loyal to Christ with
out acknowledging and obeying the
church which Christ established and
which He endowed in the most ex-
| plicit terms with the attributes OF
authority. infallibility and inefecti-
| bility to continue His mission in oil
ages and among all nations even to
the end of the world. In vain do
men profess their belief in Christ's
divinity unless they accept His clear
and unmistakable teaching regarding
the office and authority of the church
which He commissioned to teach,
| sanctify and save mankind in His
name and by His authority
! Lessons and Duty Taught.
The bishop at some length dwelt
upon the lessons and duty which this
sequence Of ideas teaches, and con-
| tinued:
I'VE celebrate the feast of tho
resurrection in spirit of joy and
| thanksgiving to God as we recall the
glorious triumph of our Divine Lord
over sin and death. We renew our
faith in His divinity and pledge to
Him anew the undying love and 10y
| atty due to Him as the Son Of God
| Who for love of us descended from
heaven, suffered and died on the
cross and rose again from the dead
| We rejoice in His resurrection for
His sake and for our own. He is
our prophet, priest and king He Is
the way, the truth and the life for
| all mankind. We adore Him as our
Lord and our God.
! But let us not forget that in the
exercise of His divine authority, He
! has established His church and has
declared, He that heareth you,
| heareth Me- and again, If any one
will not obey the church let him be
to you as the heather and the publ