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Show Che Tact Oat Caster Symbols. Bishop Scanlan in Salt Lake Tribune. Jesus Christ w-as a God-man. On i Good Friday we see man, and on to- : day, God. On Friday we see man with all his mortality and infirmities; on today we behold God in all the omnipotence omnipo-tence and splendor of his divinity. Calvary and the tomb, with all their attendant sufferings, sorrows and anxieties, anx-ieties, are symbolical of human life, While Easter, with all its strength, splendor and glery, represents the gler- ious after-life, divine and eternal. The short-lived gloom and agony of Calvary Cal-vary teach how quickly the trials, crosses and temptations of this life, shall pass away, and, if borne with the spirit of Christ, shall be succeeded by the ineffable splendor and glory of our eternal resurrection. In the Christ of Calvary the human eye can discern nothing but utter human weakness and impotency; and the thief dying at his side, Who saw in that dense mass of infirmities. Omnipotence, must have received a shaft of light from the very throne of the eternal. The resurrection of Christ is, evidently, evi-dently, the most important fact ever presented to mankind. It logically proves the divinity of Christ; for on the supposition that he was not God, the Deity or Godhead, by the exercise and manifestation of his omnipotence, con firmed a falsehoodand thereby purposely purpose-ly deceived the civilized world ever since and will continue to do so until the end of time. If the self-resurrected Christ is not God, as he constantly claimed, even to his dying breath on the cross, then the conclusion is inevitable, in-evitable, namely, that there is no God, or, at least, no God who regards us as his creatures or children; no God but one who glories in tormenting and deceiving de-ceiving us! The resurrection being, therefore, a proof of Christ's divinity, irives ii tho nnturc nnil vsmpHv ,-f God as a most solid and rational basis for our faith and practice, as Christians. Chris-tians. For, if Christ is God, then his word is the law of human life, his teaching unchangeable and infallible, and all his commandments are to be obeyed by all who would live a rational life. The resurrection is also an assurance assur-ance of our immortality and a pledge that we also, after the short, sorrowful Good Friday of our lives, if modeled upon that of Christ, will rise like him, glorious and immortal on the Easter of our eternal life. The resurrection, besides, be-sides, seems as a key to unlock the inner life of Christ, and thus, to reveal and explain the mysterious character of his outer life, which has so confounded con-founded and puzzled the world. If all the philosophers, moralists and wise men of the world were to come together to-gether for the purpose of determining on a plan for the renegeration and salvation sal-vation of the human race and to secure its peace and happiness, the very last plan they would have even thought of would be that adopted by Jesus Christ. The very thought of Calvary's tragedy as being the best suited to their purpose pur-pose would have shocked and dispersed them to their respective homes and .vuukiica, AIJU, llliatrcu, UlELk itriliuic tragedy, with all its refined cruelties and horrifying circumstances, would have ever remained secret in the breast of Christ, and Vould have ever appeared to the world, not only a profound pro-found mystery, but a profound nonsense non-sense a folly, a stumbling block and a scandal if Christ had not revealed its meaning and purpose in the dazzling light of the resurrection. Without the resurrection, who could believe that in order to live the real life we must first die; that true love of self means hatred of self; that real joy and happiness ! come to us only through sorrow and suffering; that self-humiliation means exaltation, poverty true riches, weak- TieiSC rni 1 .tramrll, nA .1 V. 1 1 victory. What a series of enigmas! What a seemingly paradoxical life that of the true Christian and follower of Jesus Christ! And yet, how fully and beautifully are all unraveled and made intelligible through the poverty, self-immolation, self-immolation, weakness, sorrow and gloom of Good Friday, so closely and surely followed by the riches, strength, exaltation, joy and splendor of Easter morning. How little and insignificant, after all, is Calvary's short night, black though it was, before the eternal sunshine of the resurrection! ' L. SCANLAN. |