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Show BAPTIST TRIBUTE TO CATHOLICS. Rev. Dr. Madison C Peters of Im-manuel Im-manuel Baptist tabernacle, North avenue ave-nue and St. Paul street, Baltimore, speaking Jan. is on "What Protestants Should Learn from Catholics," said in substance: "Catholics teach us the lesson of regular reg-ular and constant attendance upon public worship. Protestants go when 1 the weather is just to their liking. It is high time that an umbrella was invented that would protect Protestants from the rain on Sunday. Who has not heard early on Sunday mornings the tramp, tramp, tramp of persons, with a hard week's work behind them, and often a hard day's work before them, while we are yet asleep, hasten ing to the Catholic church. with prayer book in hand ? Have we clearer ap-rehensions ap-rehensions of the ruth? What benefit to us if we are unfaithful, but how fearful the responsibility. Would to God Protestants were as faithful to their church as Catholics are! If we were we could take America for Christ. The Catholic puts his church first. Seek to employ a Catholic, his first inquiry is whether there is a church handy. There may be Protestants with whom that is the first question, but they are not numerous enough to count, for ihuch. "Catholics go to church to worship, Protestants to hear an eloquent-preacher. eloquent-preacher. At the appointed hour for service the congregation, instead of being be-ing in the seats to join in the devotional devo-tional part of the service begins to gather, and by sermon time the supposed sup-posed worshipers are in their pews. The devotional element in too many of our churches is lost sight of. The Sermon is everything. If that is not ('great, eloquent, ' magnificent, the pews are empty. The Protestant pulpit has become largely a lecture platform. The irreverence in the average Protestant church is simply shocking. It is often the gathering place of giggling nonentities. nonenti-ties. ,,!'-;;- ' . "Catholics seldom ever in their prosperity pros-perity . turn against their church. Would to God our rich Protestants were as faithful! The rich Catholic hesitates not to kneel by the side of the' poorest. The only real democracy in the world is a Catholic church in prayer before God. Protestants have too keen a sense of smell. When the doors of our Protestant churches are j not only open, but the world outside i feels that the rich and poor can meet together without invidious -compari- j sons, the great masses now outside of the Church will pour in like the tides of the sea. God never calls an intelligent intel-ligent man to associate with ignorance, ignor-ance, or a gentleman to associate with boorishness, or a virtuous man to associate as-sociate with vice, but if there is one place this side of heaven where men I ought to meet on a common level it ought to be in the house of God in common brotherhood prostrated in prayed before a common Father. "Protestants ' should learn from Catholics how to give. Catholics are generally poor. But behold their churches! Behold the earnings they lay upon the altar of the church! Too j many Protestants never give anything unless they are squeezed so hard that they cannot help themselves. When Lard times come they begin retrenchment retrench-ment at the Lord's end of their in-come. in-come. Any church finance committee will tell you that most of our church members are protestants sure enough 1 when it comes . to supporting the j church. . "Every Catholic is identified with some parish. , There are thousands of Protestants in this city whose church membership is in their trunk or in the place where they used to live. When they go to church they go around. They remind me of those matches that strike only on their boxes; box-es; when you have the match you haven't the box, and when you have the box vou haven't the match. These Protestants who live within the bounds of one church and insist on holding their membership elsewhere, where they can rarely or never attend, at-tend, .and. consequently, avaid supporting support-ing any chuch what shall we say of them? One church has the box, the other the match, and therefore they won't strike. "Iri 'caring for their children Catholics Cath-olics teach us a lesson. Statistics show that Protestants do not hold their own children to the church. There are 14,-000. 14,-000. . ."communicants in the Baptist churches of Maryland and only 9.0C0 children in the Sunday schools. The Protestant laity need to be awakened to a deep sense of the magnitude of their duty toward the children. Here is the source of strength in the Cath olic church. The seed of divine truth is planted in he hearts of the children, and if this is faithfully done we have the divine promise that the seed shall grow up into a goodly tree whose branches shall cover the earth and its boughs shelter the fallen race. "The Catholic church has been charged with putting too much stress upon good works and not enough upon faith. Protestantism has swung to the other extreme and not put enough stress upon good works. Good works won't save, but faith without works Is dead. ! have no ; patience with those higher-life Christians7 who have not time to do practical good. Our religion re-ligion Is' too inuch talk. . We have too many . women's meetings and not enough Sisters of Charity. Kindly, generous, loving acts people believe in that kind of religion. The Catholic charities, covering every conceivable case of need and suffering, put Protestants to shame." |