The Washington times. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1902-1939, 1927-06-08

not the catastrophe awaken the
dormant conscience and dead soul
at last to a sense of responsibility,
to the duty of acknowledgement. to
the toll of destiny. Gods opportu-
nifty is mans necessity. 1t is the
poor who need help, the contrite of
heart who need forgiveness, the
sorrowful who need comfort.
And So he came to me with his
message to men, all kinds of men,
good men and bad. And the first
word is about destiny-whence do
we come and whittier are we going.
The answer is both light for the
road and strength against the jour-
ney. God who made US by His
power alone, a Creator more than
a Maker, whom we must know and
love and serve in order to be happy
with Him forever, Is a Spirit, a
triune Spirit, three Persons, really
distinct yet equal-Father, Son, and
Holy Ghost. A great mystery, that.
Yet the quoted Huxley, memo
rized it:
There are more mysteries I'm
nature than in revelation, But IL
we cannot solve the mysteries of
nature but live upon them ChOw the
food we eat grows, what Is that
force Of electricity by which we
read and work? IL we know only
names and not things for the most
part, why reject the mysteries of
religion, which, IL we accept them,
help us to live so much better::'
Created Man and Woman
In the beginning God created the
world; then, in an especially beautiful
portion Of 1t, he created the first
man and woman. 1t is important to
note that He created them innocent
and holy, that He placed them in a
natural world but on a supernatural
plane. They were not as we are
now. They became what we are
now because they fell into tempta.
ton. The fall WAS a fall-a fall
from a plane, the supernatural; a
fall from path where they walked
with God. AS a result OF that fall
Gods presence was withdrawn from
their lives, their minds became
harmed, their wills weakened, their
nature corrupt.
For their sin they had to pay by
labor, by sickness, and the great pen.
atty, death. That is the original sin.
We are all heirs to it, save one
the Blessed Virgin Mary, the Mother
OF Jesus. the Goldman, the Savior.
Man Had Offended God
Man, then, was at a disadvantage.
He had offended God by a sin that,
not of itself. but by reason of the
One offended, had given infinite Of
tense and needed infinite reparation.
No man ever lived nor any number
of them good enough to atone for
human sin. Only Christ could do
that. And He could do it because
He had Gods nature and mans ma
ture at once in one person. AS man
he could suffer for our sins, and as
God he could offer that suffering to
His Father for all of us, His breth.
rem. And his satisfaction for sin was
adequate and sufficient because in.
finite as being the act of an infinite
PERSONAL---VERY. less than hte Second
Person Of the Blessed Trinity, Gods
Son, Jesus Christ.
Hopes Sins win Be Forgiven
Christ's atonement wrought on
Calvary is not left there in the
Catholic view. It is not bridged by
book. 1t is not a relic. Those
wounds are running yet-down
through the channels Of Gods grace
that We call the sacraments. These
are seven signs signs instituted by
Christ to bring His redeeming grace
into our soul-Baptism, by which
original sin is washed from our
souls at the baptismal font, by
which we are made Christians, chill.
dren Of God and heirs of Heaven;
Confirmation, by which we receive
the Holy Ghost to strengthen and
perfect us; Penance, by which the
sins committed after baptism are
forgiven through the telling Of our
sins in confession and the absolving
power of the priest.
On Easter Sunday night Christ
communicated His own divine power
of forgiveness to His Apostles and
their successors when He said:
Whose sins you shall forgive,
they are forgiven them.'
- John 2O23)
May mine be forgiven me!
In my next chapter shall try to
tell how and why 1 hope for this
divine mercy and forgiveness.