The Catholic bulletin. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1911-1995, 1917-07-07

What are the obligations of the
Third Order of ST. Francis, and how
can one become member?
Write to REV. Father Superior o.
M. Cap, Sacred Heart CHURCH, Shon-
nard Place, Yonkers, N. W The
Capuchin Fathers and the franciscan
Fathers receive members for the Third
Order.
Does not the Catholic Church insist
rather on an outward conformity with
her teachings than on fidelity to con-
science?
On the contrary, the Catholic
Church has always maintained the in
volatility of the individual con-
science. The only reason of her eX-
istence is to teach men their indi-
yidual responsibility to the truths
taught by Christ, that, following out
a rightly instructed conscience, they
might enjoy Gods presence for ever.
She teaches that conscience is ever
the interpreter of the moral law to
the individuals; it must needs be
obeyed, for its power to command
rises from its being the voice of God.
Pope Innocent III taught plainly:
Whatever is done contrary to con-
science leads to hell. And st.
Thomas: Therefore it must be paid,
that every sincere conscience.
whether it be right or incuipably er-
roneous, whether it regards things in
themselves evil or Indifferent, is
obligatory, so that he who acts against
conscience SINS
The Church does not put herself in
the place of conscience; neither does
the priesthood The infallible teach
Ing authority Of the Church, declaring
with certainty the morality of Chrlst's
gospel, gives firmness and strength to
the moral judgment of the individual,
who without it would be left to build
on the shifting sands of private judg-
ment The Catholic priest does not
shoulder the individual conscience,
and weaken character by enforcing a
stupid obedience; but rather strives in
every way to educate the conscience
Of the people according to the teach
ing of Christ, so that they may better
know the truth and do the right.
Catholics, indeed obey the laws of
their Church, because they know she
has a divine right to cmmand. Does
obedience to the laws of the state
initiate against individual conscience?
Why, then, should obedience to Chris
tian law?
Did not the Reformation do away
for ever with morality based on an
obedience to a priesthood, and substi-
tute one founded on the sacred char
acter of the Individual conscience?
The Reformation produced indeed
an exaggerated individualism, which
by declaring every man equally COM
petent to find out the doctrines of the
Saviour from his own private reading
of the Scriptures, has led millions to
the utter denial of Christ and H.3
doctrines of faith and morality.
If venial sin does not keep one from
going to Communion, is there any par
ticuIar necessity to keep from COM
hitting it?
We should avoid all venial sins be-
cause we are warned that it is posi-
BILE to fall little by little; that is,
venial sins lead to mortal ones. Venial
sins lessen the fervor of love of God in
our hearts, make us less worthy of
His help, and weaken our powers of
resistance. They offend God, hurt the
soul, and incur temporal punishment.
A person who dies in the state of
venial sin cannot enter heaven, but
must be cleansed first in purgatory.
What do you mean by the indefecti-
hility of the Church?
We mean that the Church, as Christ
time. To apply the term indefectible
to the Church, means that it is not
subject to defect or decay. Christ
promised, of His Church, THE gates
of hell shall not prevail against it,
In what way do we become acces-
sorry to another's sins? have heard
there are nine ways. Which are
they2
Our own sins are those which we
ourselves commit. But we can also
cooperate in the sins of others and
become guilty, although the acts are
performed by others. We become ac-
cessory to another's sin by command,
by counsel, by consent, by praise, by
assistance, by defense, by provoca.
ton, by silence, or by neglecting to
punish evil, although we might and
ought to have prevented it. In
illustration, we see Herod command
ing the massacre of the Holy limo
cents, the Jewish high priests coun-
selling the death of Christ, Aaron
consenting to the making of the
golden calf, the Jews praising Herod
for putting the Apostle James to
death, which induced him to arrest
Peter also, Saul assisting the men
who stoned st. Stephen, Eve inducing
Adam to sin, He'll not rebuking his
sons-all examples taken from the
Scriptures.
A certain Catholic young lady is
going with a Catholic young IMAM who
was divorced from his Protestant