The Sermon.

New Zealand Tablet, Volume XXXI, Issue 18, 30 April 1903, Page 3

The Sermon.

The occasional sermon (for the report of which wo are indebted to the ' Mail ') was preached by his Grace Archbishop Redwood, the text being from St. John i., 14 : ' And the Word was made Flesh and dwelt amongst iis (and we saw His glory, the glory as it were of the Only-begotten of the .Father) lull of grace and truth ' Here, said his Grace, they were made acquainted with two great and fundamental truths— first, the great central truth of Christianity. the divinity of Jesus Christ • second, the great gifts that He had bestowed upon the world— the divine truth and the divine grace. In Christ was made incarnate the eternal Truth ; He was the Way and the Light. He had come into the world to bear witness to the truth— to make complete the circle of truth and rectify the errors begotten of man. By pouring grace into the souls of men he had banished darkness. Man had been called to a supernatural destiny and it was the divine gift of grace which prepared them to see God. Christ was still amongst them in the Church which He had founded, when He had selected a certain number of His followers and made them His apostles and disciples and filled them with the divine truth, preparing them for a mission which had the same source and the same authority as His own Mission Christ had promised His Apostles to be with them for all time, and had conferred upon His ministers the right to proclaim the truth. He still dwelt In the world. He dwelt in His Church, the oracle of His truth and the vehicle of His grace. Man must not only recognise the truth, but must be lifted up by grace and placed upon a higher and nobler plane. That grace could be bestowed through the holy Sacraments, which were adjusted to every stage of life. The seven Sacraments provided for all the spiritual requirements of man. Through them they were filled with the divine truth and the divine grace, and enabled to live lives that were pure and prepared for reception into the abode of God Himself What, it was asked, was to be the Church of the future? The Church which had been founded by Christ, which had been the means through which they had received all their manifold blessings, would remain unshaken by the teaching of science, for it was built as solid as the hills themselves, and rested upon the sure foundation of divme truth. Its base was not scientific truth. Their end, their destiny, was a supernatural one, and with the supernatural science and its teachings had no connection. If \ they knew evefty Mw of nature their knowledge would be only of the world, and would not help them to the divine truth and their supernatural destiny. Science was capable of promoting the material welfare and comfort of mankind, but it could not minister to theix spiritual welfare. There was no reason why science and the Church should not exist side by side, for there need not be any conflict between them. So long as each adhered to its own sphere and pursued its own functions they would no more come into collision than would two stars each moving in its own orbit. There- was only one God and only one truth— the divine truth, which could not change ; and there was only one true religion — the religion which rested upon that truth. In their Church they had that truth, and what a blessing it was that the Church was ever open to the faithful to afford hope and consolation. It was pleasing, therefore, to see the temple of God and the sanctuary of the faithful made beautiful. They had just made beautiful the exterior of that building, and he congratulated them upon their achievement, for it was through their liberality that it had been achieved. The work had been conceived by one mind and carried through by one man, their pastor, but it was through their liberality that it had been made possible of accomplishment. He congratulated his Lordship the Bishop of Dunedin upon numbering such a liberal community within his flock. How often they had been called upon, and how liberally they had responded, their basilica, their convent, their, presbytery, and their school testify. He had no doubt that they would still continue to contribute liberally, so that they might witness the completion of their beautiful building, which was an ornament of their city. He commended their work and trusted that they might enjoy the blessing of the grace of God. There was a crowded congregation, and a special collection was made for the purpose of completing the flight of steps leading up to the basilica and doing other

work in the front of the building, and it was announced by Mgr. Mackay that the total reached nearly £90 which was expected to be made' £100 at the evening service*