Great Falls daily tribune., 1919-04-21


my hands. and put your hand into Ny
side; and be not incredulous. but faith
full Thomas answered: INV Lord, and
my Cod Jesus said to him: sBeeause
thou hast seen Me, Thomas. thou hast
believed: blessed are they that have not
seen and have believed" John 20l.
ST. Luke tells us in the Acts of the
Apostles 1-3), that: Jesus showed
Himself alive to His apostles after His
passion. by many proofs for 40 days,
appearing to them and speaking of the
kingdom Of God, and eating together with
them. The scriptures tell US OF L diff
ferent occasions that Christ appeared
after lis resurrection and once 10 st.
iaul, after His ascension into heaven.
Ascension and Pentecost.
Finally Jesus took His apostles to
Mount 0livet and after He spoke to them
and commissioned them to preach the
kingdom of God and TO testify to His re-
snrrection aud in the sight Of them all
He was raised and cloud received Him
from their vision (Acts III.
All Of the Apostles. from the beginning
of their public ministry, made the mys-
tery Of the resurrection the basis Of
Christianity, on which was based the
faith Of the numerous converts. They all
suffered martyrdom for profession and
teaching this new doctrine
On Penteeost Sunday. 30 days after the
Resurrection, st. Peter, filled with the
Holy Ghost, insisted that This Jesus
whom they had crucified, "God raised
again. whereof all we are witnesses So
convincing was this argument to prove
that Jesus was truly the Messiah. that
three thousand were converted and a
few days after he converted 5000. Thir-
ty years after these events st. Paul writ
ing TO the Corinthians professad that
Christ died for onr sins, according 70
the scriptures. That He was seen by
the Il and by more than 800 brethren at
once. For the first quarter Of a cen
turv. We see. that this doctrine Of
Cbrists resurrection from the dead, was
the universal belief Of the church
4 fact once is fact forever. The
faith Of our forefathers which Is the
faith Of the early Christians. IS anr firm
faith. because the passage of time does
not alter truth. II the apostles and dis
cinies of Christ could appear on earth
today. they would WitEess the Catholics
turnout the universe. processing the same
faith which they believed and for which
they suffered persecution and died.
Lessons of the Resurrection.
This great mystery OF the resurrec-
tion OF Christ from the dead furnishes
us with three important lessons namely:
i. il is the foundation OF our beilef IN
the divinity of Christ and His church;
>. it is the model of our spiritual life,
and >, it Is the triumph of our hope.
| shall not dwell at any length on these
three important effects of the resur-
rection. but | shall ask you tn recall
them often and TO mediate on them fire.
quently during the temptations and
trials during life.
First. this unquestionable fact of the
resurrection Of our Lord proves His
church which He promised St. Peter
would last till the end of time. Thou
art Peter and upon this rock ] shall
build my church and the gates of hell
shall not prevail against il. Every
Catholic must repeat every dag. Il be-
heYe in all the sacred truths which the
Catholic church believes and teaches be
cause Thou. the Infallible Truth. hast
revealed them who canst neither deceive
nor be deceived st. Paul says If
Christ be not risen again, then is our
preaching vain, and your faith IS also
vain. II Cor. 15.l We should often
repeat with st. Peter. Il believe. O Lord,
but help Thou my unbelief
Secondly The resurrection OF Christ
is the model of our spiritual life. Christ
died to eradicate sin. but He died only
once Being risen. He lieves with God
for all eternity So should It be with all
Christians We are all hurled together
with Him by baptism unto death; that
as Christ is risen from the dead, SO We
also may walk in the newness Of life, "
Rom. &. II Sc be risen with Christ.
seek The things that are above. not the
things that are on the earth. fCol. 3. J
Thirdly the resurrection Of Christ is
the triumph of our hope. Christ said to