The Catholic bulletin. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1911-1995, 1918-01-05

Where is the Valley of Josaphat in
which all the people of the world shall
be judged on the Last Day?
In the Prophet Joel we read: Il will
gather together all nations, l will bring
them down into the Valley of Josa-
phat." The fact that there is valley
between the City of Jerusalem and
Mount Olivet called Josaphat has led
many to believe that the General
Judgment will take place in this
valley. 1t may be that the words of
the Prophet mean that all nations will
be gathered together for judgment in
the Vale of the Judgment of God and
does not refer to any particular place.
DO we actually give alteration to
the Heart of Christ?
We actually and literally adore the
Sacred Heart of Jesus. 1t is a Divine
Heart. In Christ there are two natures
but only one person, the Second Per-
son of the Adorable Trinity. When
Christ assumed human nature the
union of the two natures was to be
forever The Heart of Jesus is the
Heart of the Second Person of the
Blessed Trinity. 1t is truly a Divine
Heart because it is the Heart of Christ
and therefore is worthy of supreme
worship
Is it not absurd to ask God to
chance His mind, when He knows
what is best for US?
ST. Thomas Aquinas thus answers
this difficulty: In proclaiming the
utility of prayer, we are not to be I'M
derstood as putting any restraint on
human acts subject to Divine Provi-
dence, nor are we supposing any
change in the ordinances of God. Di
vine Providence has determined in adj
vance, not only the effects which are
to be produced, but also their order
and the causes which are to produce
them. Among these causes are in
clUded human acts. Man, therefore,
must do something, not indeed to
change by his acts the arrangement of
God, but to concur in producing GER
tain effects in accordance with the
divine dispensation. Just as it is with
regard to physical causes, so it is too,
with regard to prayer. The aim of
prayer is not to alter the designs of
God, but to ask that we may obtain
what God had determined to grant us
by our prayers.
Suppose the Pope told American
Catholics not to take part in this war,
what would be the result?
Suppose the mayor told the people
of st. Paul to jump off the high bridge,
what would be the result? The citi-
zcns would go about their business I'M
disturbed their common sense would
tell them that some thOughtlesS per-
son was attempting a practical joke,
or that some canard was being fabri-
Gated. No sane man in ST. Paul would
credit the report. Such, too, would
be the attitude of American Catholics
in face of the absurdity contained in
your query The report of the Secre-
tary of War makes clear the attitude
of American Catholics in Americas
present crisis: the number of Cath
OlicS in the service of the country is
altogether out of proportion to the
Catholic percentage of the population
sometimes think that worry too
much about the problem CT He'll.
What would you advise me to do?
You should do precisely what
you desire to do, namely, stop worry
ing and thinking SO much about hell
and its dark problems 1t is no part
of the Catholic religion to dwell con.
tinually on this disagreeable problem;
Catholics are urged to think of
Heaven rather than of hell, and to
serve God from the motive of love
Still, hell does exist, and the desire
to look upon the pleasant side of life
and religion, while laudable in itself,
does not destroy the fact of eternal
punishment for those who would not
accept eternal happiness. Ruskin
has the following words which seem
to apply to your state of mind: 81
understand not the most dangerous,
because the most attractive form Of
modern infidelity, which, pretending
to exalt the benefcence of God, de-
grades it into a reckless infinitude of
mercy and blind obliteration of the
work of sin: and which does this
chiefly by dwelling on the manifold
appearances Of Gods kindness on the
face of creation. Such kindness is,
indeed, everywhere and always visi-
bic, but not alone. Wrath and
threatenings are invariably mingled
with love, and in the utmost solitudes
of nature, the existence of He'll seems
to me as legibly declared by thou
sand spiritual utterances as that of
Heaven. 1t is we'll for us to dwell
with thankfulness on the unfolding of
the flower, and the falling of the dew,
and the sleep of the green fields in
the sunshine; but the blasted trunk,
the barren rock, the moaning of the
bleak winds, the roar of the black,
perilous, merciless whirlpools of the
mountain streams, the solemn soil
tude of moors and seas, the continual
fading of all beauty into darkness,
and of all strength into dust-have
those Tn~1ann1lane for 11S2 Tho pood