OCR Text |
Show J 1 III SUPERNATURAL VISIBLE I TO THE EYES Of FAITH I faith Analyzed Its Component Parts Found- I cd Gn Reason, Confirmed By Habit En- I lightened By Inspiration. I (Written for The liitcnnountaiu Catholic.') I '1'.. reflecting minds at every step in life, with I various realities and fusibilities which arc at- I , .-hod to man's existence, the natural and the &u- I ni.-miral are inseparably and man finds himself I wn.'Uiidfd on all sides in a vast ocean of mystery, I n-iitly without shores, and whose, depths seem I .,-iimimIi-ss. Sailing on ihe h,,som of this ocean, I ! ri-alizc that within its abyss, they may bo en- I iilii d at any moment. I "1V l'o imporiant facts present ihcmsol ves. f 1 ' 1 'The ignorance of the nationalist has to meet I rii reality, and (2) the faith of the believer f i- quickened by a love for truth and the craving of I. -'"I fr infinite happiness. The former takes r ''j-k f giving up all power of reflection and i i "Bering himself to the standard of a mere rational, j l.afural animal life, whilst The hitter feels the i i,.-cc.-sit.v of solving the problem. They see in the I "''"I "i" mystery some fragments of truth, which I indicate the noble origin and sublime destination j "! 'lie human race, and ask these important ques- I ti-'us; "On this ocean of life is there a vessel that I v'iil carry us securely to a safe haven, to that, fa- liierland of happiness which the soul fancies in its J dreams; Docs this life preserver, this saving as- I si-tanee. exist for man; Can man. a rational being, j 4 struggling with a limited existence, ascertain what j ' fall- awaits him in the great unknown, or what I M-enes lake place l)ehind the cold, icy screen of I dc-nii? Man is mortal: then can mortal man obtain f a partial insight into that awful game which he is forced to play with death and eternity t To these questions, which might be multiplied indefinitely , I man wrapped up in his own thoughts, and directed solely by the light of reason, can only realize the short duration of life, an insignificantly short space ) pressed in hetwoen two eternities, before and after. lL.es the silence of these two infinite spaces suggest sug-gest the necessity of farther . inquiry, namely, man's origin and destiny? Unexplored, reason di-l di-l ri'cted by nature or its laws, can only say that j death either means annihilation or the appearance of the soul before a just and inexorable Judge. I "nn the unbeliever say which of the two awaits i him? Certainly not. Then the soul, with its as-i as-i rations for happiness gives warning to invest i- gate ihe ultimate reason of this vital problem. Does s ih" Christian religion solve the problem? lis founder tells us he "is the resurrection and t ihe life."' In theory, at least, it has been admitted ; for twenty centuries. But its truth, to become prac- lie-id. must be subjective, which means ' faith, and j i.iiih is the solution of the great problem of life, j It is ihe beacon on the ocean of life, the ark in the I ii luge, tlx manna in the desert, the compass in-: in-: f.diibly pointed heavenward. Faith, then, as man's ! subjective form of religion is, was, and ever will 1 be a most important and instructive question when I analyzed. , j To embrace faith it is not at all necessary thai iis object should he wholly comprehended. All j V ibat is needed is that in the portion of its object I which i subjectively comprehended or understood, there may appear the necessity of believing what is ii"f nnder-tood. In this case a man finds a reason i -r believing what In; understands, and derives liter--i ' believing what he does not understand. The 'iiibinal ion of both these circumstances constitute j ! rational faith i. ., there is both merit and reason 1 , itlier side. There is merit in the act of under-f under-f -'a i ling, comprehending, since the act at times rc- ( ;,., p-r,..,t effort and study, and there is rational I ; i-i'ad ion derived from the pure act of faith it-. - if. lu-ison teaches that religion is far above I . i iiev-md 1 Ik- comprehensive faculties of the I '-Hi. Whatever is divine is infnite, and cannot be ! i raeod by finite vision. More or less of the ob- j !' religion, namely, (od. may be embraced ac- "-iing to man's exertions, and the disjiositions oi I - -nil and intellect. There exists as great variety j :lie moral vision as in the physical, and this ex- ' :u- why. religion assumes so many different "a:- in ihe mind of man. although its object, I iy ;lie suik rnalural, is externally immovable i i nitrhanjreahle. 'Vi,;,i. then, must man do in order to have i iif This importiMit question is answered by a 1 ' ' -nnd ("liritian philosopher, who said: "There -i.ree ways of reaching faith Reason, Habit ' 1 n-j.iratioii. The Christian religion does not ! ni.e ;is her true children those who pretend I :ievc without the assistance of Inspiration; 1 ,:ai -he rejirovcs the interference of reason f habit: on the contrary, reason must break moofs to the mind, and habit must confirm j : but in order 1o-possess the genuine treasure j .'..hit. it is necessary that one offer oneself hum- I :h. light of inspiration, so that the cross of I may bear it fruit." These few word- of ex- 1! i -e and wisdom embrace all the analysis of !; . -on mines first, because the process of be- f I - mut be rational. It would be absurd lo i a man 10 commence the process of believing by n of Mind faith. Reason would rebel against ! i -i. an iniosition, and man's moral independence - ' ; i I reject the encroachment on his rational na- ".r.-. Wiihout reason U pave the way for faith as I wei! adopt the absurd admission of pagan idolatry j -mbraee Christian dogma. In every act of faith I 1 '''-on mu.-t lead. But from what has been said ' f 'he supernatural, or of the infinite object of j ffiih. reason must be checked in its soarings. In I i;- ov 1- interest reason must know how to respect i imiitations assigned by its own nature. It is I ;,u-, f prudence and wisdom on the part of j ' --, to entrust the fruit of its investigations to j li- -afeds-eeping of a faculty or agent less ex- j I".! I,, illusions. This agent is habit or custom, V . 1 - 'he xterior )ractice of truth which will not ; ' "!ily j. n-serve, but develop, increase and confirm the i 'e,,veries of reason. , . j Lut the unbeliever, toVate conscience and jus- tifyliis attitude in rejecting faith, demands proof, forgetting that some of the strongest convictions cannot be demonstrated. Demonstration addresses itself to the spirit only, and the number of truths actually demonstrated is very small. Demonstration Demonstra-tion simply means reflection. It does not originate any truth, because it is never primary. It means re-thinking, which presupposes a truth already existing ex-isting in the mind. Hence the object of demonstration demon-stration is to remove obstacles to clear up difficulties difficul-ties in order to verify what the mind 'apprehends. Conviction based on demonstration alone is not always solid, unless it be developed and sustained by the actual practice of the truth demonstrated, and that especially where nature and -passion inclines in-clines man to believe the contrary of what the spirit perceives to be true. This is always true of faith. The words of Christ apply here, "lie that is not with me is against inc." Man is necessarily subject to the influence of habit, or practice, in life. If that habit is not in favor of religious convictions, convic-tions, it must bo fatally against it. Hence if man fail in his habits to respect his religious convictions, convic-tions, faith is hound to grow weak and finally vanish. van-ish. Why this should be so may be readily under-, under-, stood from the very nature of faith. Convictions, in regard to religion, consist of , two elements, namely. (1) some reasons "which persuade man to adhere to the supernatural, and (2) a'closer penetration pen-etration into the mystery, which reveals it as altogether alto-gether consistent with reason. IJut the active operation op-eration of the mind, which produces those two 'elements, 'ele-ments, will not last always! It will soon cease, and then man is left to his habits, or routine life his vanities and passions, llis daily mode of living not being shaped to harmonize with the convictions acquired ac-quired by reason, what will be the result ( Experience Experi-ence answers: Faith becomes weaker in proportion as man fails to live up to its teachings. For it is next to impossible to combine, for any length of time two different lives, one in theory and the other in practice. Fatally and inevitably man's habits will uproot his convictions. Man's habits and natural nat-ural propensities will prevail upon the spirit to discover some flaws in the nature and texture of the supernatural, and the mysteries which it proclaims will be set aside as contrary to reason. But if, on the contrary, man clothes the suggestions of truth into immediate practice, and lives up to the truth as soon as he perceives it. religion will soon become be-come familiar to him, and its mysteries will be a second nature. n Admitting the influences of habit on man's life, be it in conformity with his natural prejudices and passions, or in harmony with Christian teaching, it may be asked which of these two courses of life, is the more logical and the safer i It is always considered con-sidered more prudent to practice what the mind discovered and found once, to be true. Tor" free oneself from the galling yoke of the passions, man places himself in the best condition against error, folly and reckless deeds. AH carry within themselves them-selves two great sources of error, namely, ignorance and excess of passion. Ignorance is dispelled by study. Through reason the vision of truth is reached; but if the passions are not subdued, this 'visum of truth will soon fade away like a drearn; whilst on the contrary this same perception of truth will grow more distinct, and become more substantial, if all evil tendencies and inordinate passions are kept in restraint. The shortest and surest way, then, to develop divine truth and conform con-form to the supernatural order, is to keep the passions pas-sions in perfect control. The question of faith, which is co-eval'aud co-cxtcusive with the history L,.i, ... .....XIM Tlll I II .1 hiii of the human race, and implanted in the heart off I humanity, present two undeniable facts; (1) it is impossible for any man to impart it because "it is a gift of (Jod,r and (2) it is impossible to acquire it whilst one lives in contradiction' with Cliristan teachngs. Its absence or loss is, in most instances, caused by some dear favorite passion, which is rooted in the heart like a cancer, and which rules over the life of its victim. On the contrary, faith founded on reason and confirmed by habit, or its practice, sees harmony between the natural and the supernatural and brings to the soul glimpses of its infinite aspirations. The lvsson to be learned is, that, in the question of faith, reason and habit are so intimately connected that in eliciting an act of faith the exercise of' both is requisite. .The third means, namely. Inspiration shall U- the subject of future study. . . Y. D. |