The Catholic bulletin. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1911-1995, 1916-11-18

heart to feel that the thing is worth
WHILE" This is a blunt way Of say
ing that unless the prospective con-
vert is fully cognizant of the impor-
tance-the absolute necessity-of re-
ligion in his daily life. future develop
ment can not be counted on--the case
is hopeless,
In face of this situation the Catho-
lie Church occupies a place most try
ing to elucidate to the stranger. The
other day a man explained, as his rea-
son for coming to see me, that he had
arrived at the determination that he
ought for decency's sake to belong to
some church, and might just as well
be a Catholic as anything else" OF
course, we could not proceed into the
workings of the Church until this
ground had been cleared away.
Suppose, however, that the inquirer
has decided Ton account of motives
which we have not space to examine
here) that absolutely nothing-bus-
mess cares, family connections, health
or anything else-shall stand in the
way of full and complete settle
ment of this paramount question of
his soul, if he has one. The next step
will embody the proof of the existence
of a personal God and spiritual soul
which must render an account to this
self-same God.
God Wills 1t.
II then God exists and shares the
sentiments which we know are the
highest of our complex nature e.,
love and regard for the welfare OF
our fallen creatures,-this God must
be interested in us, at least to some
! degree. Here is a vital step. If He
has ever been and is now interested
in me, John Smith, living in the city
! of Smithville in the year 1916, has
He ever manifested that interest in
anyway? Well, probably notify any
private revelation. Few of us have
been so favored. Few of us have
been st. lPauls, sent with explicit in
structions to Damascus.
IT not personally then, has He ever
sent message to me written on the
page of history? l scan these pages
Yes, [ find that, in the ages of the
world, there have been many who
have claimed to come from God with
a message to humanity-from Moses
and the prophets down through Budd
ha, Confucius, Simon, and countless
others too numerous to mention
even to Mrs. Baker Eddy of the pres
ent generation. But pre-eminently
and above all others stands out his
torical parsonage demanding our i'm
mediate attention-the One known as
Jesus Christ.
Of course, if we wish we may pro
foundry sound the credentials of each
and every one of these in turn, but
usually this is unnecessary. We fi2
our attention on Him, Who by the
results He has accomplished chal
lenges our attention.
How to Find the Lord.
Who was He? BY His actual works
which we can study from pure his
torical sources independently of faith
we find that God was with Him. Il
He were with Him in His works He
was with Him in His words. What
then had this man to say of Himself!
He said that He was not only sent
from God but was Divine Himself
and died to prove it. If divine, what
He says goes. There can be no Quib
bling. His words are law. Upon
Him, therefore, rests my all.
| But He lived many years ago, and
died. He is not with us today.
cannot go to Him personally. (Ot
course, the Blessed Sacrament is not
even mentioned as YETI Is there any
body of men, any society, any church
which can tell me what He said and
the rules He has laid down for me?
| look around me and-yes, there
are many such societies offering to
teach me His words--in fact, over a
hundred of them here in. America
alone. l pass down the street and
meet building after building on
whose corner-stones in some form
Vi OCAcI ID 1ASCIlDSu ztuS IllIG Ol
| Christian"
1 / go within and find, to my aston
ishment and bewilderment, that they
are not saying the same thing. In
fact, one says yes and another mo
to identically the same proposition
One tells me that He said very EN-
phatically that there should be nc
such thing as divorce, another that
He said there could be- l cannot, my
intellect will not allow me, to accept
both. 1t must be one or the other
Which?
Before, therefore, / listen to any
of the teaching, before / accept or re
ject any religious practises purely
upon my own likes or dislikes in the
matter, / must examine their ere
dentialS. Just because these teach
ings suit my own individual fame,
is no reason that they are His. He
might have laid down some things
which l do not like, things which