The Catholic bulletin. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1911-1995, 1916-01-01

u
There is yet another chasm be-
tween man and the rest of creation.
Man, unlike the animal, is not bound
to instinct; he can act as he Wills
no power can compel him. Whereas.
all other creatures are governed by a.
uniform plan and are rnconsciously
led to their final destiny, man alone.
governs himself according to his own
ideas and consciously strives to attain
the end of his existence. Were it.
otherwise, there would be no dis
tinction between virtue and vice, and
courts of Justice would be a mockery;
every reward bestowed and punish!
ment inflicted would be an outrage
against nature. The source of this
freedom of action cannot be found in
the body Of man, for his body is mat
ter and cannot act freely: it has no
choice. This freedom requires an
element essentially different from.
the body, an element endowed with.
intelligence and freedom, and that
is mans immortal soul.
That man has a soul, really dis
tinct from his body, is quite evident
from what science teaches concern
ing the body. 1t tells that con-
tinuous change takes place in mans
body, so that within the space Of
about seven years our bodily sub
stance is totally renewed. If, then,
we had no soul, we would be entirely
different individuals from those we
were seven years ago, no longer sons
and daughters of the parents who
cared for us so tenderly in our child
hood days. Again, il we had no souls
we could not remember past events,
If more than seven years had elapsed
since they occurred, because the very
substance upon which said events
made an impression would have dis
appeared from the human constitu-
ton. And still our memories go
back to earliest days, even though
we have reached an advanced age.
Hence we certainly have a soul which
ever preserves its identity, although
the body be subject to constant
change
The handspring of mans every
act is the irresistible desire for per-
feet happiness. We find this desire
in the heart of the child, and as the
child advances irr years, this craving
for perfect happiness keeps even pace
with its age That the craving
after perfect happiness is a character
istic trait of mans nature can be
seen from this that it is universal.
The man has not vet been born into
this world who has not during his
whole life desired to be perfectly
happy. The history of the world is
practically a ceaseless struggle for
happiness. For this end the manu-
facturer devises his plans, this is the
object the capitalist has in view
when making his investments; this
is the mainstay of the laborer who
earns his daily bread in the sweat of
his brow. Indeed, as there any one
who can truthfully say: Il would
not wish to be happy. perfectly
happY Ne, man at al times and
in all places aspires to perfect hap
piness, and no one would assert: Il
would be satisfied with a moderate
amount of happiness; feel no desire
to be perfectly happy AS this desire
| is evidently a natural disposition of
man, it must be possible to satisfy it,
either in this world, or, should this be
impossible, in another life. Whence
does this thirst for perfect bliss
originate? Not from man himself, for
if he could iInplant it into his nature,
he could likewise rid himself of it, at
least in some instances. But since he
cannot do this, we must say that it
comes from the Creator Himself.
Now it would be a blot on the wisdom
and justice and holiness of the
Creator to have Implanted into the
heart of man a longing without hope;
we must, therefore, conclude that this
llanguishing thirst for happiness must
be some day satisfied, and that fully.
History and experience tell us that
this blessed day will never dawn in
this Iife.. The goods of the earth are
too unequally distributed:. but since
all have the same desire for .happi-
ness, all should be equally able to en-
Joy life's goods. Moreover, we know
only too we'll how vain and empty
are the things of earth; there is no
proportion between them anda the
sublime nature of the human soul,
they cannot, therefore, satisfy its
longings. Vanity of vanities, and all
| is vanity" Even granting that earthly
goods are not too empty for the human
soul, their duration is too short; man
could not find time to be happy. The
human soul wants lasting, abiding
eternal happiness. For even could the
goods of earth fill the immense gulf
of human desires, the terrible thought
that the time must come when we
shall lose them all would haunt and
destroy our happiness. There must
for this reason be in the future an
other world much grander, more
magnifcent-a world. that drives
away the shadow of a futile desire;
a world, where greater joys and more
abundant riches than Croesus ever
dreamt of await us, a world without
end.
There is, too, implanted into mans
innermost nature the desire to live,
to live eternaIIy. The thought OF
death is distasteful to us, we try to
put it aside, we carefully shun what.