'STAND FAST IN THE FAITH'

New Zealand Tablet, 10 June 1915, Page 13

'STAND FAST IN THE FAITH'

(A. Weekly Instruction specially written for the ;" N.Z. Tablet by Ghimel.) ' THE CHURCH • AND STATE. One of the great difficulties that secular newspapers and outsiders generally have in understanding the Pope's firm attitude of neutrality in the present - war arises from their complete failure to grasp the independent and international character of the Church. They are so used to their own special brand of Christianity identified with one nation and one nation only that they fail even to understand the Catholic Church when she carries out the very mission of genuine Christianity by breaking down the barriers that separate ' Greek and barbarian, Jew and Gentile, Roman and Scythian.' It is true of course that these national prejudices correspond to strong sentiments of the human heart. ' There is nothing,' Cardinal Newman reminds us, 'men more pride themselves in than birth, for this : very reason that it is irrevocable: it can neither be - given to.those who have it not, nor taken away from those who have.' But Christianity has a nobler ideal to set before men: Our Saviour is our elder brother, and we arc all brothers in Him. The tone of thought in Europe and elsewhere for many years past has not favored than fundamental truth, and recent happenings have not improved matters, but all the same the'truth must be kept well in mind, though we mean to win, and all Christians should be grateful to the one Sovereign Power, who.is showing in a concrete way that he has ties with all nations and considers them all as his children. The Catholic Church does not for a moment ignore the claims of nationality. She has always recognised that the actual distinction of nations is due to the providential arrangement of God, Who wishes to use the special character of each for His glory. The Church, too, knows how to deal with each. ' All alike must be addressed, but each addressed in its own peculiar way, nor any rigid uniformity preserved of outward expression. For, indeed, the fashions of speech and action vary so much with race and nation, that what would imply evil in the one, say falsehood or irreverence, implies no evil in the other not that the principles of morals vary geographically, but the significance of externals : and thus each man feels, and feels rightly, that a foreigner is no judge of his conduct, and lacks the subtle appreciation needed for a fair estimate.' But this is "exactly where a Church that claims to be, and really is, Catholic, comes in: ' The Church, precisely because in one sense she is a foreigner to all, is aforeigner to none; and brings with her not only the general graces needed for all, but also the particular grace needed to correct the particular form of human corruption prominent in the natural character of each nation; ministering as a common source of grace to each varied necessity. Unity is her mark ; unification her work by nature the members of the Church are not one and would not become one; yet in the essentials of their faith, their devotions, and their moral ideas, she makes them one ' (Devas: Key to the World's Progress, xxxviii.). If then the Catholic Church tells us in no uncertain terms that we are in duty bound to love and cherish our native land, to sacrifice even our lives for her (God is the author of this natural love), it also reminds men of all nations that they are dearer to God when in union with one another by faith and prayer. We ought to be grateful then to the man who strives to keep men in mind, amidst these horrible cruelties, of their common origin, common salvation, and common destiny.