The Catholic times. [volume] (Columbus, Ohio) 1951-current, 1952-01-11

office which He Himself had exer-
cised while visihly with them.
Voice In Wilderness
II the question which Our Lord
first asked of His Apostles were
asked again today, the variety of
answers would be overwhelming.
AS with this central question, so
it is with every other truth re-
vealed by God. The reason for the
great variety of contradictory ans
wers lies in the fact that great
numbers of men refuse to listen TO
the voice of Peter. Confusion
abounds and every wild notion is
given hospitality, but the voice of
truth alone will not be heard.
The anguish of nations and the
crisis of souls which we are wit
Messing today is the ripening of a
noxiouS seed. That seed was plant
ed when men began to substitute
private judgments in matters of
religion for the divinely guided
voice of the Church of Christ.
Many sheep wandered from the
safe fold of Peter and sought what
they considered greener pasture
lands. They abandoned the shep-
herd provided by Christ, chose the
fellowship of wolves and grazed
amid arid wastes instead. In his
SUNNI Pontificatus, Pope Plus XII
pointed to the evils of the world
today and noted: "The denial of
the fundamentals of morality had
ITS origin, in Europe, in the aband-
onment of that Christian teaching
OF which the Chair of Peter is the
depository and exponent"
How long will ii take men to
learn that Christ is King? All
power in heaven and on earth has
been given to Him. II they would
have peace and freedom and hap
pineSS, they must have it on His
terms alone; there is no other way.
Many, indeed, would profess to
acknowledge Him, but choose TO
ignore His instructions or submit
them to their own approval or
private sentiments.
The disintegration of mankind
arises from essential divergences
OF common aims and principles; to
re-lntegrate mankind the universal
observance of common aims and
principles must be restored. Now
these are not drawn from purely
human wisdom, but from the teach.
ings OF Christ. The present crisis
came about from the substitution
OF faliibIe human judgments for
the infallible word of Christ. There
is no way out but to return to
Gods order of things.
Thy Will Be Done
The change in the world picture
will depend for speed and effect.
lveness and permanence on the
number of individual persons who
return to God and comply with His
viii. Any fabric has only the
quality of its component parts: so
the fabric of human society will
depend upon the kind OF members
1t has. If all the members of So
ciety are in harmony with the will
OF Christ, then the divine order
will be realized to the extent that
THIS harmony is attained A per.
son may say, Il am but an insig.
nlflcant figure on a sheet of sta.
tlstics; II | change or stay the way
] am, II will make little difference
IN the final tally" This is a grave
mistake. Grains of sand may pass
through an hour-glasS one at a
time, but each makes a difference
IN the end when the top part is
empty and the lower part full.
We have stated the problem in
terms of world peace and true
freedom, because these are more
evident TO our senses and exper-
fence. But world peace is not our
direct object, II is simply by
product of something more funda-
mental. Our object is more ambi-
tious: we look for the salvation of
souls. Seek We first the kingdom
of God and His justice, and all
these things will be added unto
you" Where is the kingdom of
God? Where is the road to saliva
ton? We must look for Peter, the
confirmer of the brethren. For
10 him were committed the teach.
ings OF Christ and the keys TO the
kingdom of heaven are in his
hands.
st. Augustine said "No man
will get to heaven unless he has
Christ for His head; but how can
he have Christ for his Head, if he
is not a member of His Body,
which is the church," That is our
mission, then, to get mankind unit.
ed to the Chair of Peter against
which the very gates OF He'll shall
never prevail. II we accomplish
this, we are on our way to true
and lasting peace,
We gravely deceive ourselves il
we think that this great design can
be achieved without prayer. To
hasten its realization, more and
more people should observe the
Chair of Unity Octave from Janu-
ary l8 10 IS.