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Show THE INTERMOUNTAIN CATHOLIC 20 before the erection of the temple of Jerusalem. He wished to build it, but the honor was reserved for his son, the man of peace, not him who was a man of war. But the very thought of the privilege of building a temple to the most high God thrilled his very heart with joy, and, as he looked into the future, the glory of the dedication day made him utter these words which I have quoted: I rejoiced at the things that were said to me. We shall go into the house of the Lord. And a joy, brethren, akin to this is ours today. To us is given the privilege of placing a cornerstone of a great building which, when completed,; will be the house of God, the temple of prayer, the communicants shrine beneath whose roofjwill repose the eternal Son of God, which will be to all you people of Salt Lake what the universal Church of Christ is in the entire world, the instrument of teaching Gods truth and of pouring into the souls of men His divine grace. To you who have lived here for many years I can very well imagine the joy of today. When you go back only a few years ago and think of the little flock of only a few people gathered about the altar of an humble Church, and then today begin a building which will rank with the great cathedrals of the country, I can well imagine that your joy must be that of the royal prophet, and you look forward with desire to that still more glorious day when you will enter into the house of the Lord, completed and ornamented and fitted in all its details for the great mission which is given to a Cathedral Church. And you may ask' me, those especially who are not of my faith, What does this Church stand for? What are its uses? For what purpose was it built? What end will it serve? What does it mean for this city and the people of it? When a building is erected, we know the purpose for which it is intended. When men put up a hall of medicine, we know precisely what the purpose of it is. When a hall of legal science is erected, we are not in doubt as to the things that will be done therein. When a mart of commerce raises its front before the people, we know the object of the building, and you have a right to ask me: What does the Church stand for? What does it mean? Why should the people be asked to give their means and make sacrifices for its erection, its ornamentation and its maintenance? First of all, my beloved brethren, for Catholic people the Church stands as the home of God. It is the house of God, the temple of prayer. We believe that the Divine Saviour of the world, when He became man in the mystery of the Incarnation, proposed to remain with the children of men until the consummation of the world. He came not to depart. He came to be with them, in every age and in every clime, as their Father and their Friend. He came as the way, the truth and the life, the nourishment and sustenance of their souls. In the mystery of the Incarnation He was God, He became man, and the Divine Person, God and Man, remains with us. He finds His place in every tabernacle, there to listen to our prayers, there to be the food and consolation of our souls. And for this reason, above all others, to the Catholic heart the Church is dear. We can say with the prophet: We love the glory of the house of God and the place of His habitation. Around it the most sacred associations of our life are grouped. There at its font we are born again of water and the Holy Spirit. We become children of God and take our place as members of the great family of Christ. There in after years we receive the grace and souls to the good physician and strength of Confirmation. There we bring our obtain pardon, steeped in tears of contrition and sorrow. There we receive the g food of the body and blood of Christ. There before its altars we are brought when life has departed to receive for the last time the blessings of the great historic Church of Christ, and over, our remains the last prayers are said. . Therefore, for the Catholic people the Church is the dearest place on earth, for around it, as I said, are grouped the most tender memories and associations of our lives. Therefore, there are motives why Catholic) people should be generous in sustaining them. But the Church stands for more than this. The Church of Christ stands for all the people, not merely Catholics but those outside the pale of the Catholic Church. It stands as a complete exponent of the whole revelation of Christ. There is no other Christian, denomination in the world that pretends today to teach the original teachings of Christ in all their fullness. The theory of today is that, as the times change, religious truths must change with them; that religious truth, is not above the speculations of the human intellect; that things must be added to and things must be dropped from the original revelation to suit the requirements of the changed condition of things. The Catholic Church says that in all its essential elements, in everything that constitutes the essence of the Christian religion, the Church must be like her Founder, Who is the same forever. In its essential elements there can be no change, for this reason, that Christ placed His Church not among the mutable things of life, but lifted it above the speculations of human intellects, because it is to be a guide, unerring and unchanging, in the things that belong to the soul; and the most important thing in life, after all, is the salvation of the soul, and the sign must be so clear, sin-stain- ed life-givin- so-call- J . ) ed, |