The Catholic bulletin. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1911-1995, 1922-05-13

Sermons on Catholic Worship.

hast made all things in wisdom: the
earth is filed with Thy richest" Cps.
,111:24.) Creation affords a clear in,
sight to the wisdom of God We
grasp its import in considering plant
life and animal life, brute and ia
tional &szs US - 01
.,.s,=zz Mature and Divine LAM
= In creation, We admire the variety
and usefulness elephants. Vet they
all spring from the one source, the
earth. Flowers rest the eye by their.
multiple and pleasing colors. Some.
emit the richest perfumes, others
give food, to creatures. Herbs have
medicinal properties, giving health
and strength to man. All are gov
erned by the, wise laws of God.
The brute animal is no less, use
full. Even in these days of perfect
ed mechanical devices, nothing will
replace the labor, the security, and
the efficiency of particular animals.
And see how the wisdom of God has
society, with means of defense prop
er to their species. And with what
Variety! Consider the birds of the
air, the animals on earth, and the
fishes beneath the waters. Again, all
follow the laws of the wisdom of God.
What shall we say Of man, the
king of creation, composed of an
immortal soul and a hallowed body?
How does man evidence the wisdom
of God? Listen to Gallenus, pagan
physician: 80 Thou, who hast formed
us! 1 believe that when l describe
the body in all it's parts, I utter a
hymn of praise to Thy glory. honor
Thee more when proclaim the beau
I ty of Thy works, than if l burned
precious incense in the temples"
In Human Society.
Finally, God manifests His wis
| dom in the government of society.
| Just as in plant and brute animal
life, various species are found, with
corresponding different values to
| man, just so, in the human race,
there are found men with different
| abilities. Some are called to rule,
| others to obey; some to teach, other
| to learn; some are rich, others are
poor. The many classes are designed
| by divine wisdom to help one anoth-
| er, as members of a family, Of which
God is the common Father. Now if
all were to rule, all to- teach, if all
enjoyed equal wealth and the same
social status, how could society work
! tremendously? By whom would the
multiple duties of community life be
| fulfilled? Chaos would certainly en-
| sue. Hence it is that God in His
supreme wisdom has appointed
place for us all, each one to procure
the security of his individual inter-
ests, all to bend their energies to-
ward the common good. Our selfish
| ness and perversity may blind us to
the. beauty and excellence of this doc
trine, but who is man to question the
wisdom of God? Remember the words
of the Lord ''As the Heavens are
higher than the earth, so My ways
are higher than your ways, and My
thoughts are above your thoughts
| These few points, my dear breth-
rem, are prone to invite meditation,
Who among you would dare risk
public censure by committing crime
openly? And yet, how :. many sin,
| while God always looks on. 3 Or,fsWho
can allow himself to give way to dis,
/ couragement because of physical pain
or mental anguish, when he recalls
that God sees, understands, appre-
ciates, and remembers: This is the
God who will judge us.
Man a Free Agent.
Do not let any foolish objection
blind your faith in this consoling
doctrine. There are those who say
that because God foresees evil, man
is thereby constrained to do evil.
God sees the deed because man. does
1t, but man does not do it because
God sees it. The physician foresees
the death of his patient, but his
knowledge has not caused that death.
The erudite Franciscan, Duns Scotus,
overhead a farmer cursing and re-
Wiling God, and he begged him not to
damn his soul SO thoughtless1y. The
farmer answered.: God knows every
thing. He knows whether I shall GO
to heaven or to hell. If he knows |
am to go to heaven, to heaven I shall
| go; if he knows am to go to hell,
to helltI shall go. What, then does
it matter what 1 shall do or say?
The gentle priest answered: "If He
knows you will have a good harvest
! you will have one, whethefs you till
the soil or not If He knows you
will not have good harvest, no mat
ter how much you pillow, you will not
have good crop. Why waste time
in useless work." The farmer readily
understood that our temporal and
eternal happiness or misery depend
not upon the omniscience of God, but
on the free acts Of man.
i Should Heed Solemn Warning.
/ The plant and the brute animal
follow out the laws of divine wisdom
of necessity. Shall man, endowed
1 with a rational and Immortal soul
fall below the estate of the brute
No! Made to the image and likeness
Eof God, man shall try to. resemble
more and more his divine. exemplar
True, he enjoys free will, but let him
be. careful, let him heed the solemn
n warning of the great apostle, st
/ Paul: See, therefore, brethren, how
. you walk circumspectly, not as un
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