The Catholic bulletin. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1911-1995, 1919-05-31
SERMON OF BISHOP OGORMAN

moral to make him know, love, and
serve God and thus lead him to the
happiness of heaven.
Argument for Conversion.
In the light of the truth the speed
lest and most powerful argument for
the conversion of men Catholic and
non-Catholic is to appeal to their sense
of sin and show them how the Church
alone has the balm for their wounds
and can relieve them of their burdens.
1t is thus Christ proceeded and the
Apostles and the great missionaries.
Ye are sinners, cried they, look into
! your own consciences, We are in a YES
ture that poisons We and cannot tear
off. Repent, do penance, come unto
us and we will refresh you, the Church
we represent is for that purpose, to
do away with sin and give you peace
of conscience. To one who has been
brought into the Church. by the beauty
of ceremonial, or the study of doc
trine, by the aesthetic sense, or intel
lectual conviction, hundreds have been
drawn to her because they came to
know that in her alone they could find
remission for the sins that vexed their
consciences. Troubled hearts more
| than puzzled minds did it. The sense
of SIM the need of peace with God
and self is the great appeal,
the strong argument before
which the proud intellect bows, silenc-
ed and humbled. 1t is conscience,
says Newman, that shows God with
out argument and proof to every, even
the most degraded, child of humanity.
1t is conscience that shall show the
Church of God, without further proof,
to the most refined dwellers of high
est civilization. For who can deny
the great, universal, sorrowful fact,
sin? The whole world, the entire race
lies in it's bonds. Who, looking into
his own SOUL is not painfully con-
scious of the seeds of spiritual death
within himself, of the never-ending
warfare of which he is the center and
the battlefield, of the never sleeping
enemies that assail him from within
and without, of the sudden surprise,
| fierce attack and shameful defeats to
which he is a victim?
The True Church.
| Church let us rest, fOrgetful of the
struggles of the Church and the poll
tics of the world, of the display of in
terests and passions amid the human
element of the Church herself. And
| saw the holy city, the New Jerusa-
lem. coming down out of heaven from
God and | heard a great voice from
the throne saying: behold the taber-
nacle of God with man, and he will
dwell with them, and they shall be
his people, and God himself with them
shall be their Cod So let her stand
to my eyes, the home of the supernat-
ural amid nature, the tabernacle of
God with man. Behold the medieval
cathedral prominent in the city! The
dwellings of man creep at its base; it's
pinnacles and towers and spires gilt
ter in the sunset while in the street
below the twilight deepens over the
comings and goings of men. Above
the many stored palaces of modern
comfort, above the lofty temples of
commerce and industry, above the
huge chimneys vomiting their smoke,
the minister looms up, the one object
in the picture that holds the eye and
Imagination. In these human interests
and passions, joys, sorrows, smiles
and tears. In it God dwells, the Mag
dalen weeps, and she is comforted;
the prodigal kneels, and is exalted;
mankind finds reconciliation and
peace, for it is the tabernacle of God
with man.
May this Pallium, dear Archbishop,
emblem of authority and mission of
the Church, sent to you by our chief
Ruler from the tomb of st. Peter, in
spire you with the spirit of that chief
of the Apostles. May it weigh lightly
on your shoulders in life. You have
valuable assets in the prime of man.
hood, in a we'll stored mind, in a SYM
pathetic heart. You have as model in
great deeds your predecessor, than
whom no greater prelate has been
granted to the Church in America;
you have the respect and love of your
| flock, of your clergy, of your suffragan
| Bishops. So, then, prosperous be your
progress and ruling for many years.
AID multos amos.