The Catholic bulletin. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1911-1995, 1922-04-01
PROFESSION OF FAITH.

Rev. NJ. j. 6ourke OF EUREKA, Wo"S
PROFESSION OF FAITH.
Last Sunday. my dear brethren, we
considered the divine virtue of faith
and saw its nature and necessity. We
shah next take up the truths which
are the object of our faith. Those
truths for the most part We find in
The Apostles Creed, which is COM
posed of IL articles. The first of
these articles is: Il believe in God, the
Father Almighty, creator of heaven
and earth" We shall today cCslfine
ourselves to the explanation of the
words, Il believe in God"
By these words, we profess our faith
in q truth which is the first and most
necessary of all truths. We do not
say, Il believe in God,' or Il believe
Cod" To believe in God is simply
to believe that there is God, which
the devils do and tremble. To believe
God is to believe in His words and
submit to Him our intellect. But to
believe IN God is to believe that God
exists and in all that He has revealed
and teaches, and to give Him our
whole hearts,
God in Whom we believe is pure
spirit. We can see God no more than
we can see our own souls which are
also spiritual. But this want of Gods
visible presence does not hinder us
from arriving at a knowledge of His
existence. Although we cannot see
God, nor have a full and clear con-
cept of His nature and attributes, it
is at the same time a fact that We
can attain to knowledge OF Him
y which though imperfect and obscure
is nevertheless real and true.
The fact that all nations, civilized
and barbarian alike, have believed in
the existence of a Supreme Being adj
mits of the explanation only that man
by his own natural powers of reason
can prove that God does exist. The
psalmist and ST. Paul do not hesitate
TO call those who deny that truth in
excusable and foolish. And the Cath
Ollie Church voices their teaching in
the Vatican council when it declares
that God. the beginning and the end
of all things, may be known with
certainty by the natural light OF hui
man reason by means of created
things. " .E
Visible Evidence. At.
All created things around us that
fill the world presuppose an absolute
uncreated being from which they come
and upon which they depend. That
they are today and tomorrow are not
or might not have been at all proves
that they depend for existence on
:, something outside themselves They
y seem at first glance to depend On their
immediate neighbor only, e. g., the
acorn on the oak. On closer observa.
ton and study we see that one thing
produces another, that other a third
and that these had their ancestors in
a long line of being and causation.
Reason tells us that this chain Of
causation must have had a, begin
ming: that this long line of being will
at last lead to a first cause which
: depends on nothing. This first cause
this absolute eternal being, we cal
God. ..* ..->',
From the beauty, order and har
mony of the universe, the existence
of God as an intelligent creator ma.
also be inferred. 'The heavens SHOW
forth the glory of God and the firma
ment declareth the work of Hi
hands," says the psalmist.
Lifting our eyes heavenward, W
see countless stars. All revolve abou
near central body, and with thi
body all revolve about more distan
central body. Almost every one
these stars, astronomers tell us, j
greater than the earth. Every sta
steadily pursues it's own course Will
out the slightest interference on
with the other All is law, order an
harmony. Who made all these stat
and caused them to illuminate tn
night? The stars could no more haV
begun to exist of themselves than
town could begin to exist of itsel
To say that the stars OF heaven d
rect their own course is as foolish a
TO claim that a ship can sail frol
New York to foreign port withot
a pilot to guide it. The great Cicer
many years ago said: when we col
template the heavens, we arrive at tn
conviction that they are guided by
being of surprising skill" Newto
the distinguished astronomer. used a
ways to uncover and bow his hea
when the name of God was mentio
ed. Truly indeed has the psalms
said: 1.-THE heavens show forth tt
glory of God and the armament d
clareth the work of His hands,
! Beauty, Order and Harmony.
!: Then looking upon the earth, VIII;
beauty. order and harmony meet tt
4 eyes in all directions! We see tt
earth which revolves on it's axis an
thereby produces day and night
regular order and succession. "
witness the orderly and regular r
currence of the seasons which i
Gcludes many interesting phenomer
connected wtihsthe preservation OF a.
inal and vegetable life. We stand Q
1.-The seashore and cast our eyes OF
tupon the vast expanse of sea with il
swelling waves and its incoming an
outgoing tides. Does all this M
speak to us eloquently of an omnip
tent though invisible Being? Wis
any Of the famous national parf
here in the west, and what wondel