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Show BATTLE FOR TRUTH. To relinquish the truth, the Catholic faith, tho belief of the ages and .that of countless millions, because something goes wrong on the human side of the church, is base and cowardly. Catholic faith does not rest on human agencies, but on truth, and only that ca-H make man free. Nor shoiild the indifference in-difference of others, nor any earthly motive weaken the faith, nor retard its progress in the souls of those who know the truth and want to avail themselves them-selves of its many spiritual advantages. Xo one can save your soul without your own co-operation. The priest may stimulate one's spiritual sluggishness sluggish-ness when contrite and resolved to do better in the future pardon sins in confession by the power Christ conferred on him, but he cannot any more than God could, bring you to eternal life in spite of yourself. Do not be an habitual grumbler. There are hundreds of professing Christians who would do any sort of dirty work for the political leader of the ward in which they reside, and yet are constantly con-stantly assailing the Christian church of God to the delectation of infidels and scoffers of all forms of belief. ' There is a certain kind of grumbling that is harmless, and which can be used during those periodical per-iodical hours when one has the blues after 'getting out ofbed on the wrong side, or trying to eat everything on the table. One may say his neighbor gets in a bad temper or that he does not fast as he should do. but he must not forget that he himself never fasts. One should not become lukewarm because he reads in the press of a few grave scandals in Mexico Mex-ico or Italy. Distance lends enchantment to the view, and what appears in the press is not always true. But true or false, there are tares and wheat, bad and good fish in the strong net of Peter the Fisher of men. Christ said: "All ye shall be scandalized in me this night." The apostles were excusable in the infancy of Christianity. Today there is no excuse, ex-cuse, because we have the ages and their truths testifying tes-tifying what Christianity has done for humanity to support our claims. Those, who hate, for-exam-ple. the- oldest form of Christianity, the imperishable imperish-able church of God. and wish to see her dead, have nothing to offer in her place but their own vapor-ings vapor-ings which would be quickly dissipated by every novel and modern desire for a change. Courage to avow and open profession of the truth Christ exacted ex-acted of his followers. "They who are ashamed of me before men I will be ashamed of them before be-fore my Father in heaven." Again, "They who deny me before men I will deny them before my Father in heaven." Be not ashamed of the Catholic Cath-olic church, the bride of the Savior, which he came to establish and sanctify with the shedding of his blood. It is well to remember that the Catholic church whose first chief Simon Bar-Jona reigned in Rome, bears in its persecutions earmarks of its- divine di-vine origin. It has been spat upon. It has been called a devil. It has been crowned with a piercing pierc-ing crown of thftrns. It has been unjustly judged. Its arms have been fastened at times with the manacles of unjust laws. Its children have been crucified by iniquity and falsehood and their hearthstones drenched with their blood. All these things they did to the Son of God, but let not us do as those stormed-tossed clouds without water carried about by every wind of doctrine did. They who possess and inherit the truth are the children of the promise. They will not be of that terrible multitude whose earthly wisdom the fearful and sublime King of the Jews will confound forever and whom he will eternally laugh at from his awful throne of omnipotence. We are as little innocent children brimming over with innocent laughter. Foolish are we then if we let the seed of sin, uncharitableness, hate and hypocrisy enter into our hearts making us hideous-, ly detestable to the Babe of Bethlehem. And if Lucifer, the prince oJ degeneracy, rage, deceitful-ness, deceitful-ness, repulsive jests, and tigerish malice, whom God in times past made a serpent and a roaring wild beast with all his offspring, should momentarily overcome us, let us manfully, going forth as to a righteous crusade, rise again, and striking him across his double tongued mouth, by new deeds of virtue, forgiveness and generosity, say, take them thou bestial image of thy creator in retaliation for the buffets thou didst urge men to strike the Rock of Ages, when he was unjustly nudged by thy servile ser-vile minions; we are not spiritual cowards in the battle for the. hero of Calvary; we will charitably burl back the serried ranks of infidelity and indifferentism. in-differentism. And if we die on the battlefield of moral and Godly warfare, others braver than ourselves our-selves will spring into the breach, for the Christian Chris-tian martial struggle must go on. R. S. K. |