The Catholic bulletin. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1911-1995, 1918-03-09

oPA1AI' 1Ou OuLWuiuly appear W IleAl
just said Christ, "but inwardly you
are full of hypocricy and iniqnity.'
Fill We up then the measure of your
fathers" (Mt. XIII, 20, 32). In the
spirit of faith the prophets had herald
ed living God Who demanded not
external worship alone but the inner
worship of the soul. Hence they de-
manded the fulfillment of the Deca-
logue in letter and in spirit But the
Scribes substituted their own COM
mandments for those of God and gave
free rein to passion provided the ex-
served. Private judgment took the
place of prophecy. Private judgment
in the event crucified Christ.
The Catholic Faith, the Entire Word.
With Christ the word OF God was
enlarged and completed. All that the
Israelite taught concerning a living
God was eternally true and therefore
retained. There was added the truth
of the Son of God incarnate. This is
eternal life" said our Saviour, that
they may know Thee the only true
God and Jesus Christ Whom Thou
has sent" Ono. XVII, 81. The knowl-
edge spoken of is the light of faith
which, as it saw the living God pres
ent always in holiness and power, so
it now sees the Son of God Christ
always present in His words and
works. 1t seizes on Christ not merely
as He was an historical character
centuries ago but as He is now ever
living in His promises, in His mem
bers, in His institutions, in His spirit
of truth, which He from on high sent
to remain in His Church. This word
of God was injured on the hearts of
the Apostles with Pentecostal fire; it
was communicated to believers; it
spread from land to land as vegetation
spreads. Thus what it was in princi-
pie from the start it became in fact
a Catholic faith, or as ST. Paul says
equivalently "a preached to every
creature under heaven Gospel (Col.
/, 23). This Catholic word of God
" SIo A4OI 4A4CA I11C W11IICh dlUS1I
inspired, but the written word and
the unwritten, the understanding
explanations, institutions by which
with the cooperation of the Holy
Ghost the full light of faith was be-
gotten and nourished. It was the
rounded out, thoroughly presented
and imbued Christian information of
which st. Paul speaks when we trans
late his word information" by the
word "fulness;" Our Gospel hath
not been to you in word only but in
power also and in the Holy Ghost
and in much fulness" (Thess. l, -.
The New ServiIity to the Letter
Now, in course of time there has
come into vogue a system by which
is considered the word
only and the written word, at that;
the power and the Holy Ghost and
the much fulness" of Apostolic
preaching are omitted This sys-
tenn is called the Religion of the
Bible and of the Bible only. The
Church, to which Christ
promised to be ever present and which
therefore carries in her bosom a full
rich and living knowledge of the writ
ten word, is set aside and the private
judgment of the individual unguar-
anteed by the Spirit of God but in
f1uenced by the spirit of the age, is
m 10 tho inflammation This Sc Dbo,
isaism returned to life The results
likewise are the same One by one
the corollaries of Christ's divine pres
ence have been shorn from Christian
doctrine by the new scribes. The
honor to Mary and the saints, friends
of Christ, was repudiated; the sacri-
flee ceased; the sacraments lost their
value; finally Christ Himself is being
set aside. The light of Christian faith
has grown gradually DINNER and dim
mer; in millions it has gone out alto
gether. New dogmas, the teachings
of men, are put forth as the flower of
Christianity while the old truths for
which Christ died are lost. We have
no quarrel with the new dogmas
whether they be kindness to brutes,
temperance, social service, or any
other sign of advanced civilization.
We simply say with Christ, you
should do one and not omit the other
The neglect of the ten commandments
and of the full faith of Jesus Christ
shows that the world today lies under
the same condemnation under which
pharisaism lay long go. 1t is with
out Judgment and mercy and faith"
(Mt. XIII, 23). With the loss of faith
the once ''illumined eyes of the mind
have become blind, the hold on God
has been relaxed, the sanction of His
laws rejected, and the written word
has become as powerless as those es-
says on the beauty of virtue which
vicious pagans used to send to one
another. Men have become beasts,
and since righteousness has vanished
the Junker is lamentab1y logical; 1.-THE
strongest beast has no legitimate bar
rier to prevent him from ruling the
whole animal kingdom. Thus by re-
Gods word and retiring
God from the universe men have Gre
ated the instrument of their own punt
ishment and destruction. AS Christ
wept over Jerusalem the Father of
the Faithful weeps over the world for
a like cause rushing to a like ruin.
0 Word of God once more illumine