MISSION AT ST MARY'S

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume XLVIII, Issue XLVIII, 10 March 1914, Page 5

MISSION AT ST MARY'S

The mission -was again very well attended. The church, was full as usual. Father Tuohey spoke on the text: "Unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man. and drink His blood, you shall not have i ? * VOU -" (John VI -» M )- He 6aid that he -wished to impress upon his Catholic hearers the necessity of attending seriously to the care of their souls by taking the means the church placed at their disposal. People nowadays were too indifferent to their spiritual health. Medical congresses, distmguished doctors and leading statesmen were ever urging the people in the various countries of the world to purify their cities, their homes, their surroundings, so that sickness and disease may be lessened. This was indeed excellent -advice, an advice that should be always acted upon. Yet at the same time one must realise that besides the perishable body, he possesses an immortal soul, destined for a high and glorious future. It stands to reason that anyone possessing the Christian faith, and anyone believing in the life after death, must admit that the soul is to be looked cared for and protected with greater care than the perishable body. Man was created for Heaven. To be rich_, wise, free from pain etc., were means, not the real end.- The end of man's creation, was holiness here, and gloryhereafter. He proved and developed at length from a Christain point of view this point. He brought in very effectually various texts bearing on the subject. The Catholic was urged to feed his soul -with frequent prayer and the frequent reception of the sacrament. The least prayer from the heart reached the throne of God. Prayer was the means of communication between the soul and j God. From scripture he showed that prayer moved God to heal the sick and. .even Taise the dead to life. Prayer was the primary food of the soul. True prayer from the heart disposed the soul to avoid sin and live in the presence of God :—"ln him we live, move, and have our being.' •Cinfession and that frequently, naturally produced two results: A hatred for sin, and a love of virtue. No man believing in the divine institution of confession, who humbly, and •with sorrow, confessed his sins, who made true resolutions of amendment, no man, he said, who did that, could remain bad or remain the slave of sin. The Teal food and strength of the soul was the sacrament of Christ's body and blood. It is not the dead body of Christ, not merely material eating, and drinking,' but Christ as He was and is, with His body and blood, soul and divinity:—"lt is the spirit that quickeneth, the flesh profiteth nothing." Thus Christ said "He that eateth Me, the same also shall live by Me." The reception of Holy Communion is a- Divine command. No Christian is free to neglect it. In the earlv davs of the Church, Holy Communion -was a daily food. There is _no reason-why it should not still be so. The present successor of St. Peter urges the faithful to daily Communion, because; each reception of that sacrament spiritualises man and makes him in very truth a child of Goo". • St. John in the fifth century, said that when two pieces of. wax, being melted, formed but one mass, so the soul and Jesus Christ in Holv Communion are-most • intimately connected. He reiterated the necessity of frequent Communion, usin<T the words of Christ as his authority. The conclofc sion took the form of a -fervent appeal «? his hearers, to care-for the soul and the things of the soul, for in accordance y£h the care bestowed on the soul, the future of the soul will be for all eternity. The sermon was a very practical one from a Catholic standpoint. This evening Father Creagh deliver his great Mission sermon on ine lilt. Judlnent." On Wednesday eveuj ing Father Creaeh will speak on the j subject of "Marriage."

Dr Watters, formerly rector cf St. Patrick's College, Wellington has received the de-ree of Doctor of Laws from the National University of Ire-, land. He is now head of the Catholic University schools in Dublin.