The Catholic times. [volume] (Columbus, Ohio) 1951-current, 1953-03-13
Just Among Ourselves
Passing Comment Considered or lneonsiderste

The one Being that can save this troubled world
OF ours IS the Savior of the World. He alone can
bring us peace for only He is the Prince Of Peace
He and no other can heal our injuries and sci all
Alright, for He is the God who has made us in His
own image and only the Maker knows exactly how
to make necessary repairs
Ever since first parents decided TO get along
without God, man has been making the same vain
effort. BY any mortal sin, person tells God that
the Divine Law shall not prevail but that the sin
ner own will shall be the law. Every serious sin, of
men and nations, IS rejection OF God and of the
rule Of God And that explains why men and nations
are nearly all and almost always, in trouble.
Our Lord is the Prince OF Peace But He is God
who knows what is in man" He knew when He
come that mankind in general would not hear or
heed Him. Therefore He said His coming would not
have its proper effect of bringing peace He said
that He came mot in purpose but in effect not TO
bring peace but the sword
lie who the way to salvation was sign
of contradiction" and stumbling block He came TO
win men to heaven and men refused TO take adj
vantage of what He brought them. None the less
He brought II; He brought to every child of Adam
the opportunity OF grace the chance Of conforming
his will with Gods will, and of reaching eternal
heaven at last. But He did not bring lot of free
tickets for an excursion to some Beautiful Isle OF
Somewhere.
We have to accept Christ" in no mere senti-
mental way We have to understand who and what
lie ls We have 10 obey Him. Thus only can we take
advantage of the great opportunity which His com
ing holds constantly out TO us.
We have TO acknowledge that Our Lord is God
This He taught; for this teaching He was crucfied
And His passion and dcath-the fury oil human re
lection of His true csim,-ony served to prove
the claim The first thing the world do if it is
ever TO enjoy peace. is TO accept the fundamental
truth of the Divinity of Christ
People may use their intelligence and free will
to accept Christ on His own terms They may re.
fuse TO consider the evidence for His claim and ut
terly reject Him, What they cannot doat least.
with any show of sany--is TO rearrange His claim
to suit their own ideas and thus accept Christ, not
His terms but on their own. And It is this silly
thing that most Of mankind has always been trying
to do
Tryng-but never with success For you can
not water down the hard saying Of the Gospel You
cannot make half-acceptance of Christ by turn
ing Him into kind OF superior sociologis VIII Sp-
peared on earth far anead of His time You cannot
make of Him mere man, matter how far you
willing to go in acknowledging Him IS the per
feet man. You cannot turn Him into mere teacher
even il you are willing to say that lie taught as
"'''i "'"" '""@h' pNi"t't
II would you were hot or cold SAYS our Lord
HE that is not with is against me - he added
No ukewarm hali-acceptance will do "He that is
lukeWarm and neither hot nor cold him will begin
to yomit out of my mouth i" And yet il is the luke
warm halfassent 10 the claims and teachings of
Christ that cheraeterzes much of what is known as
Christianity IN the world to-day.
Notice how the hallassent turns into an uncon
scious rejection The halfasscnters who sec Christ
as a super social worker will not follow His social
philosophy The people who call Him the greatest
teacher of all time reject His essential teaching as
hes How leader be admirable If He is not
worth following? How teacher be great if He
docs not teach ruth9
The world apart from rampant antiChristians
and apart from The ono Church tries to patron
ize Christ II comes 10 Him with the attitude of
the man who called him Good Master, with no
intention al all of accepting His mastershlp, Our
Lord sad to that man. why do you call m egood?
One is GOOD God" The man toe obtuSe to
take the lesson lie was many to-day, too
peperse of mind TO that the Words of Christ
were plain statement Of His divinity IF | am
good, il is because | am Cod Human perversity
is slow to let God have His own place men want
that place for themselves The old old sin of Eden
the old old sin of binding pride
Christ is God lie is Godmade Man He came
10 die for mankind and lie did what He came to
do BY His death and resurrection He atoned for
the primal SIN won us grace. opened TO us the
opportunity of getting 10 heaven. lie rehabilitated
mankind If mankind would but take advantage
Of the rehabilitation lie founded ono Church for
all men. lie gave that Church his voice and
authority saying "Ilc that heareth you heareth
nc Tic guaranteed the Church promising to re
main with II to the end of the world.
Men must hear Christ speaking through His
Church II they refuse to hear, there is no way left
them OF finding true direction for peace and ulti
mate salvation Our Lord says that the man who
viii not hear His voice is not of God And il is to
His Church that He has given His voice.
II IS sometimes foolishly said that Christianity
has failed Christianity cannot fail Christians may
prove fathess and then il is they that fail Ches
terton answered the charge that the world has tried
Christianity and found IL insufficient BY pointing
nut the true state of affairs the world has found
Christianity hard, and has failed to try it.