The Catholic bulletin. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1911-1995, 1916-06-10
Continued from page IL
BACCALAUREATE SERMON

pher. The legend has not lost it's
color, nor the philosophers road it's
value. We still place on the crest of
the humanities the study of philoso-
ply
Not harsh and grabbed as dull fools
suppose,
But musical as in Apollos Lutte
And perpetual feast of nectared
sweets
Where no crude surfeit reigns.
Philosophy at the top of the ladder,
with the hunanities as ascending
rungs-these are the things which
must be cultivated with success !:
litteris humanioribus feliciter excultis.
With success, not for success.
There's the rub. A successful study
nowadays is one that leads to success
in life, financial success; one that
proves it's immediate connection with
life, i. e., getting on in some bust
ness. Education is estimated not by
its liberalising influence, but by its
immediate usefulness. Why, for ex-
ample, are the classics being dis
used? Not because they are ancient,
or because they are foreign, or be-
cause they are not practical, but be-
cause they are not Immediately practi-
cal. They are only one battalion in
the brigade of liberal culture which
is being aSsailed by the forces of the
mediocre and the practical. The con-
flict is not between the ancient and
the modern, between literary and
scientific culture, but between ideal
ism and utilitarianism. How can the
rising generation in school and col
lege be blamed if they are not ideal
lists? From the professor in the
graduate school to the teacher in the
grades, all are preaching, either by
precept or example, the gospel of
getting on in life, of sacrificing the
ideal (Which is the true though re-
mote practically to the Immediately
practical which is some mean and
easily achieved ideal On the other
hand, to cultivate any study with
land not for) success means to cult
vate 1t for it's own intrinsic sake; and
such cultivation will lead in the long
run to even material rewards, much
on the same principle as is contained
in these words of our Lord: Seek
We first the Kingdom of God and His
righteousness and all these things
(meaning material comforts) will be
Eadded unto you"
A suitable refection-as we'll as
| illustration-With which to cap what
have been endeavoring to say. What
ever be the conflicting views of edu-
cational methods, we must return to
the central point of all striving, to
wish to achieve our best culture and
attain our supreme end.
AS / have not INDUCED in any
voluntaries about character, neither
shall Iarhapsodize on religious atti-
tude. But there are three simple
statements which | would ask you
to digest and assimilate.
The first is CarIy1e's. Pondering
over the various religious systems and
conflicts, he was forced to eXclaim:
After all, it is the Mass which mat
ters" The second statement or
reflection is: "Sanctifying grace is
the best thing about me, whoever |
am" The third statement is st.
Francis of Assists: AS each one is
in Gods eyes, so much he is and no
more If you weave these three
reflections into your daily thoughts,
you will not fail to be Mass-going,
God-fearing, seIf-knoWing; but always
remember that the true education of
life is never attained until the awful,
eternal, difference between right and
wrong is fully, finally, practically,
personally, irrevocably formed.
For the rest, next Sunday viii see
this chapel untenanted by the student
body Midsummer will pass, and we
shall rcasacmble. but the congregation