What he Admired in the Catholic Church

New Zealand Tablet, Volume XXXVI, Issue 21, 28 May 1908, Page 28

What he Admired in the Catholic Church

1 Things I li'^e a-lout the Catholic jChurch ' was the title of an interesting sermon, preached in the First Congregational Church, La Crosse, Wis., by its pastor, Rev. Henry FaiviJle. '.Happily for . our Chris-Unity, ' said the preacher, ' intolerance is no longer considered loyalty to truth tin our land. ' I li c the Catholic Church,' he continued, because of the sanctity it puts upon the marriage tie. In Christian countries the_ home begins with marriage. In most instances, divorce ends the true home. In this nation we need the check which the Catholic Church puts upon divorce. Whether we regard marriage , as a sacrament or only as a civil contract, we should be grateful to an institution which makes of it a binding contract, & contract for life, a contract for letter or wiorso. I'iconsider the position) oE tih'e CatihioMo Church: in this respect one of the bulwarks of society. ' I like its reverenoe for its houses of worship. It carries out tllat refquesto -wtluiuh wtr-maKe upon our greeting, which reads : Whosoever than, art thiat enterest this church, remember jit is the house of God ; be reverent, be silent, be thoughtful, and leave it not without a prayer to God for thyself, Ifor those who minister and those who worship here.' ' Then in its woiship the C&tholic Church maftes no distinctions as -to race, caste or conditions. The rich and the poor meet together. The [color question t.nd the slavery question has not divided the Catholic Church, as it has some iothers. I like this. Tt is the essence of Christandty. It recognises the second of the great truths which Christ has !p,ivcn to the world. The first is God's fatherhood. The- second is the brotherhood of man. All Christian Churches recognise this, it is true, but in its worship the Cathol/ic Church has been able to apply it practically. ' Then I like its chanties. It builds hospitals and orrhan asylums. It has an army of \ nurses in its sisterhocd's. It Commands a great body of men and women who {minister to the suck and the needy and the destitute" and 'the unfortunate, not for wages, but for the sake of Christ and the Church. 1 Then I like the missionary spirit of this Church Tn common with oilier churches, it proposes to make Christianity the religion of the world.