The Catholic bulletin. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1911-1995, 1919-02-15
TOUCHING AND ELOQUENT TRIB-
UTE TO LATE PROFESSOR BY
VERY REV. HUMPHREY MoYNI-
HAN, D. D.

The following sermon was preached
by Very Rev. Humphrey Moynihan, D.
D., at the funeral service of Father
Etzel, who died last week.
The priest is a man called and con.
secrated to do the work of God in the
souls of his fellowmen. He is, in
the words of the Apostle, "a man
taken from among men and ordained
for men in the things that pertain
to God" The things that pertain to
God! Are they not the supreme and
enduring concern of humanity? The
mind of man never grows weary think
ing of God, it cannot think nationally
without thinking of God What mean
ing has the world for us if it be not
the work of the Creators hands-if
the mountains be not Gods affairs and
the stars in the armament the lamps
of His Sanctuary? What meaning has
all the beauty with which the uni.
verse buds and blossoms at every
point if it be not the smile of God S
presence on sea and land and sky?
What meaning has human life if man
be not the creature of God, made in
His image and likeness, rejecting the
splendor of his Maker, and destined to
share His life and happiness through
the endless stretches of eternity? If
man be the highest being in the uni
verse, having no one to look up to,
ignoble indeed is his origin, ignoble
his destiny. Of no more account is
his life than the life of an insect of
a summers day. Apart from God
nothing has significance. To the
reverent mind all nature is full of An
gelus bells calling mems thoughts
heavenward. And every heart, too, is
full of instincts calling to God in ac
cents to which no lips are strangers
the accents of prayer.
God mas not left Himself without
witnesses in the world He has made
And yet, without a further disclosure
of the Divine, how shadowy and un
substantial would religion be! What
questions would remain unanswered
what mysteries unsolyed, what yearn
ings unsatisfied! In the fulness oil
time another disclosure was made
the glory of God was revealed in the
face of His Son, Jesus" 1t was a
revelation made in terms of flesh and
blood which the lowliest of mortals
could understand. He, who brought
Gods last message to men, proclaimed
Himself to be the light of the world
1t could not be otherwise, and the
ages as they pass tell that His teach
ing is the one sure way Of light that
has fallen upon the mysteries amid
which the human soul sojourns. He
claimed to be the Way and the Truth
and the Life of men, and they who
follow Film know that they walk not
in darkness. He declared that He was
the Resurrection and the Life, anG
His tomb has become the pivota
point in the long history of humanity
He claimed to have come forth from
the Father-"I and the Father are
one," "He that seeth Me, seeth the
Father"-and in His life and words
and works the world made the su
preme discovery that there is One
above, who cares for every human
soul with a fathers love and solicit
tude. With the Incarnation there
came the philosophy, of life which
alone, wins it's way to the human
heart by it's own credentials; thu
power which, alone, can save mer
from themselves; the religion which
alone, can make the earth a home fol
the soul of man.
The Saviour did not leave to Others
to decide what should become of the
blessings of the Incarnation. The
Kingdom of God He did not commi
to the changes and chances of time
He did what no teacher of earth eve
did-He chose one by one little com
pany of men ito be with Him. to bt
moulded in His Spirit, to be trained
in the mysteries of the Kingdom, tt
be invested with His authority, ant
to be sent with a commission which
only the Son of God could give tt
mortal men. A handful of men, take1
from their boats and nets, were com
manded to go into the whole worlt
and preach the Gospel to every crea
ture. GO teach all nations, ,'-I1eve
was such task laid upon mems shoul
ders. And into the whole world, untt
all nations they went. Trackles
oceans and untrodden wilds had NJ
terrors for the men who were hurried
on by their passion to win the worlt
to Christ. They were the first to stant
upon the banks of rivers most remot'
from the cities of men. What lant
is there that is not full of their labors
what shore is there that is not be
dewed with their blood? Whereve
cathedrals rose to be the statel
homes of Him Who, when He walke
amongst men, had not where to la,
His head, there the priests of Chris
passed by. Wherever monasterie
sprang up, sanctuaries of culture an
religion, in days when all lamps wer
being extinguished, there priest