| Show C11liISItIASAfCllhll1llS J v fi Some rfres Were of A1ab chaacI 1 i i 5v c TUE LAWE i A OMJ cKJ1w01 A1 rIIE I i l Selemn W JWiifHjiressive BsTcrclses al i St Iaititcks Chwrali tov Ff her JECelleVa Seriiienllt Sorvicaep ati i SttMao 3 thWrit Atthe OtlicrJ t Ckurces I c cone fe gone ffrd is ccaiJnir iTb tetWcraln hejch riches c etoraangj Thiterday eor Hine TOOBt f rJ of a very elaboraecherf aeter Thet attendance irencrially fwaSj verynood V s v j A r Christejay Chimney with 5ata Claus a d JfaErfes ooourreid last night1 at the Fffet CSoagre aitional and was amd The pr 9ewtswar greaitly aippretgaiedi There were JTO serices at this Shnirch iL the mfrAng e St PjairJcl a Catkolic TJie s yices yesterday at St Pat ricks < ShurcaiWere very solermi anlfl ivlslofi wasclact w a < Jmirably1refl domed Llp he solos1 and concerted paris oFBX > llnranshvass the chodrsanfe their jxarts with feeling and religious J inspirationff The Adeste FJdeles with vfotfnMifccpmpanJmenir > w9is thrill ing and sotflSinsptrlng Thesermon < vwas from the text You shall lind the anfanf wrapped Inswaifl dUng clothes and laid in a manger Luke xi 12 JHie sample annoTin ement > was one ithafebuldba made of af thoii I sind such blrliis ihat < ifrcur dailj1 The gospel narrative conceals nothing re marlia3 thatmlghtbaconnected wife his future history The sign toywhich the shepherds wer e < to recognize ifen as given in the ttextr Acud tend to obscure ob-scure 5i5s future greatness Yet the in1 I fant whoite palates was z stible > aJ cnirrg < his cradle and his mothers i arms agplllow has jreceived more sincere 1 sin-cere and universal homage than any hero of ancient or modern times Judging the enterpriSa which fthat infant in-fant afterwards undertook life means I he employed and Ms success but one i concJuston cane drawn I Christ and ChrIstianity are one Chris1 is 1he author Christianity is Christ coming down through the c n tunes Today Christianity appears with a complete theological system and a form of worship unsurpassed inf grandeur Ife cede of morality has j stood the test of nineteen centuries Its i I shrines and altars deck the palaces of kings It is4h key to all the legal and moral institotions of the world But stripped of all this grandeur and bringing bring-ing it back to its original manger instead In-stead of viewing the tress as an ornament orna-ment on the crowns of kings we look upon at as an object of shame destined as a place of punishment for Blares and criminals In this its original state as ccntrasted with the pagan world of the < t3me dn all ils strength and with all its power and wealth a world fiinmersed in an atmosphere of vice where through the affections of ithe3r hearts the prejudices of their minds the aCtrastions of the senses and the fear of the sods they were held captive It Tras as a Made of grass compared to a forest Yet the infant of lowly origin l s the rising Christian Sty He ha a srrission to perform a proposal 4O make to this pagan world one which in the natural course of events would toe impossible It is to introduce a new religion to1 Go away with all pagan rites and worship to destroy those temples and idbls bronzed by the smoke of sacrifice to exchange those ices sanctioned by usage and consecratedi by public worship for virtues vir-tues strict uncompromising and never before heard of such as virginity love of poverty penance forgiveness of injuries in-juries and charity in all its extensive sublimity all the very opposite of vices hitherto universally practiced The conditions of the change are because be-cause a certain person born in obscurity at Bethlehem said so He declared himself to be God not a god but the only eternal God His command must be obeyed Such is the enterprise What are the means Twelve illiterate fishermen from a lake at Galilee are chosen with a leader who is apparently the weakest weak-est among them They set out to conquer con-quer the pagan world Their orders are that they must not be solicitous about the world and its goods The career foreshadowed for them is that instead of regards honors and compliments they would be persecuted Their master mas-ter would leave them but he would send the spirit of truth who would remain re-main always with them The enterprise enter-prise considered in connection with the means it follows that if it were not the work of God it would have been the wildest as well as the silliest undertaking undertak-ing that any mad man could have dreamed of It succeeded beyond measure meas-ure This success is the most decisive miracle in proof of the divinity of Christ The twelve fishermen set out after receiving re-ceiving their commission They went forth bearing the cross hitherto an object of shame and succeeded in a few years in conquering the world to Jesus Christ and planting that cross in the strongholds of paoamsm and ever since paganism fatally wounded has been struggling at the foot of the cross Thilff is historically true How account for such an effect produced by the in fant of Bethlehem with twelve obscure ob-scure fishermen as his army The institution in-stitution of Christianity springing from the manger is the most direct orgu ment in favor of the divinity of its founder It borrows its weapons of de fense from unbelief against unbelief itself To the unbeliever denying its divine origin it must appear as imposing im-posing by reason of its duration its blessing its relations and its glories With it everything grand in art science sci-ence and genius is connected it is the worship of the civilizing world j Still persons born and educated under i its Influence persist in calling themselves them-selves infidels What would they be If these conditions did not exist If trained in pagan ideas and customs they heard for the first time thlat a crucified asked to be adored as the only God in place of all the gods Un der surh cumstances no evidence short of a miracle would convince Be it so What miracles were needed to convert the pagan world and what a stupendous miracle that conversion must have been The nature of an unbeliever differs I Wfe from others SlsinGredulltyxtracea w t sourcftfne may othews must w > v < the Spneid a Judgments and thstincta From hi3 ownfeelings he 3e2i byaaalogy earJwhattKejidea of th s i sn world vfecs 1negarth Ojrt anUy It today itis unabie > t0 command hisbelief it musjrhavle twen idred times more difflcultio oom 31nnd ihfc belief of the pagto wo3Tl h conciurfon 1lG ChVisrtiintty Iseqn1ty lacred4bYe ttkbeholeiwrd ha believed lrilt itwfcirallyU < tfejtfave tee factSthetiths Tpotepa n 6rldhas Embraced ijTgsterefore it is credible eithejr nature ally by Jsel orsupernaiurally bythfe action of God najngjy miracle Miractes The infidel scornsT to Js mit their possibility HOTV ds this TAxk5 St Augiistirie > that in ages of highly cultured intellectuality the nvorld fedmitted without miracles E doctrine which you yourselfv proclaim 1 to7be incrediblerjT ill y u admit that 5lhe Christian doctrine Is by s fv worthy of faith c THen wynetrn hrace it by yourfaith In either case therefore the ihbelieveiv presses the conclusIonialMhe more forclblyagainst himself asheproclaimswith a louder iand louder voice that it is beneath his reason to believe in the divinity the Christian 1iiofl j U I Cnrlsfmas ervt es were held iat St tThe tcathedral at ai a m Solemn high mafesiwaScelebrated by the Key Father O rahoney Milliards ma > s in G bdng sung Tbe excellent tflioirsang Veni Creafor SpirituS 1eforetha sermon ser-mon TO the Kt Rev Bishop Soanian Bishop Scanlans sermon coxered the necessity pf divine aid being called on for the asteistance of human beings iv enabling ilhem to redeem their obiiga7 lions ta ihelr creator In the matter of paying their debts to the a mighty j mankind has found itself to top in a 1 state of insolvency Hence the neces JeityxjlE sacrince which was dictated by the Teason in the minds the mum bers of the race Pagan race had at tempted t to square their debts with the tcreator by offering victims asa sacri flee realizing that all they had received re-ceived from the creator was not suf ficient to pay the Obligation otter the gif bs had been in their possssslon and had been squandered Pagan nation were alone in this condition Christian nationshad attempted for centuries to squarit the obligation through their own efforts but had always found thi their jahilities to pay were insufficient unless divine aid was invoked Hence the necessity of depending on the almighty for such assistance as would enable mankind to balance the account They could give no more than they toad re ceived from their creator but the gifts had been squandered and wasted and unless men supplicated divine power they would pot have the jnsanS of set ling their account with the infinite Other Churches Rev C W Kuhr spoke at St John Lutheran church at 11 a m Last night I a > festival and Christmas tree for the little xines was held at which many were present Gifts galore were dis tributed and everybody went home happy A Sunday school festival was held at the church of the Holy Trinity also at the Norwegian Evangelist and the Swedioh Lutheran |
