The Catholic bulletin. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1911-1995, 1917-04-21
THE TWO CODES.
The Missionary.

Did you ever read something that
woke you up to yourself? That sud
denly made you see Yourself as you
are, uneXcuscd, before God? If you
never have, we believe that if you are
an average person and il you read
these paragraphs from the PaullSt
Five-Minuto sermon of the Southern
Messenger, that You Will now. Try
it:
"There are those who have no faith
in an after life They think that this
is the only existence that they will
ever know, and that therefore the
most important business for them is
to be happy here. Who can blame
them for living accordingly, who can
accuse them Of inconsistency ii they
form their lives upon the maxim,
Let us cat, drink. and be merry, for
tomorrow we die?
But we claim to believe in another
life. We profess TO think that when
we died we shall begin to live forever,
and that the character of that eternal
life, whether it be happy or unhappy,
depends upon the way in which we
live now. To be happy hereafter, we
think, we must now live wholly for
eternity, we must follow the straight
and narrow path marked out for us
by Gods commandments. This life
at best can last only few years and
any pain or pleasure in it is lnslg-
nificant compared with pain or
pleasure for eternity.
This is our profession as Catholics.
Do we live up to it? Are we consist
ent? I am going to ask you to apply
two tests to yourselves now to dis
cover whether or not you are really
placing the next world before this
one.
and the first test is this: Which
do you worry more about, breach OF
the code of Sinai or breach OF the
code of society? When you commit
sin do YOU forget about it, if it brings
with it no social disgrace? Is your
sorrow for sin largely a matter OF
worldly considerations, what others
will think of you, whether you Will
lose your reputation, whether 1t Will
bring social ostracism? If you break
one of the Ten commandments which
happens also to be a commandment OF
society, will YOU commit another sin
in order to hide it from the world!
If you do, then you are thinking
more Of society than OF God.
'.Why is there double standard in
the world, why are men allowed to do
what women would be condemned
for? It is because society at least
winks at this course. Are you con-
doning it, too? Are you following the
standard of God or of society? You
Catholic men, are you doing what you
would ostracise woman for, simply
because society tolerates it in you?
If SO, then YOU are governing your
lives by the code OF society rather
than the code of Sinai.
The second test is this: In asso-
ciating with other people, do you pre-
fer those who are keeping the Ten
Commandments or those who are
keeping the commandments OF So
ciety2 1t is a good thing to- keep
both, to be polite and refined and
cultured as we'll as morally good.
That is granted. But which is the
more important in your eyes? Will
you, Catholic women, receive atten-
lions from a man you know to be i'm
moral; will you, for instance, go to a
dance with him, if he be well dressed,
polished, of .good' family and social
position? Will you associate with a
man you know to be perfectly
straight morally, but uneducated,
without polish, with no social stand
Ing?
Answer this question honestly.
and by its answer you can measure