DIOCESE OF AUCKLAND

New Zealand Tablet, Volume XXXIV, Issue 15, 12 April 1906, Page 4

DIOCESE OF AUCKLAND

The tollowing Pastoral Letter has been issued by the Right Rev. Dr. Lenihan, Bishop of Auckland. After the customary salutation his Lordship proceeds •— As every day is for the just, man a feast day so to the same everyplace is a temple. Certain heretics misunderstanding this truth maintained that the world was the only temple fitting the Majesty of ah Almighty God, and that to mark out for His} abode certain fixed temples was restricting the immensity of the Supreme Being, and that His goodness was called in 'question when it was asserted that he was pleased to shower His graces in one spot more than another. If we are to believe Josephus, the first King of Israel had in ages past taken refuge in this faulty reasoning to strengthen his budding :i n fact fearing that the people mis;ht return to the allegiance of the prince whom he had dethroned if they went as usual to Jerusalem to ofter sacrifice, he maintained that God heard our prayers just as well in one part of the we rid as another. We must admit that God being Immense and Spiritual cannot'be limited to certain places as creatures are. That was to some extent the idea the pagans had of their divinities, whose power they restricted to the temples in which their images ,were erected. But Christians have no such limited idea of their God when they erect temples to His honor. We do not pretend to exclAide the rest of the world, or enslave His Almighty power, or close the ears cf His goodness, no matter where we call upon Him. I£ God selects certain places where we present our homage and offer our prayers, it is out of condescension for us, not from any necessity on His part. As the body has different places for different functions, a place to work in, another to sleep in and so on, so God has chosen certain places set apart in which we can more conveniently transact whatever redounds to His glory and our needs. Did not our Saviour condemn the Jews for turning His house intc a den of thieves when He drove the" buyers and sellers from the Temple ? As a matter 'of fact the Church gives all that God can expect from man and man from God. What docs God expect from man unless it be His greater glory. What can man expect from God unless it be favors and blessings • and where can this double object be obtained better than in a Christian temple. But the devil steps in here and subverts all. The very temples where the Most High shculd receive most honor and glory are often by our profanation and indifference the very places where he is insulted and dishonored. Hence these churches often become for m a n a cause of sin and malediction If we consider churches either from the point ofl view of construction, the ceremonies of their dedication and consecration, or the sanctity of divine worship everything in them tells of the glory of God Of course no matter how gorgeous the building may be it is quite out of proportion with the maiesty of Him we adore. When David had exhausted Els treasures preparing for the Temple be was not himself destined to rViild, he admitted that all this preparation did not in any way come up to the ideal he was proposing: And when Solomon had built the famous. Temple which elicited the praise of generations, the wise' monarch wonders if God will consent to dwell in so lonely a place ai. Baralipon 6,18}. And, They were right no .nalatial structure can in any way equal the Majesty of the' King we serve. Nevertheless, seeing

that our weakness can go no further, the pomp and solemnity > o q our churches, and the Divine Service sHow m their way what we thin* of Him we adore and publish Hisi power a>id gliory. - Moreover, tihe ceremonies of the dedication or consecration of a church to distinguish it from other buildings are additional proofs of the same truth. Note the prayers anointings, invocations on the occasion, all of which prove that extraordinary preparations are necessary to fib these places to Divine Worship for which they are intended. His Holiness must be marvellous, His Majesty immense, since we employ such pomp and attention even to the preparations of the temple in which we purpose to adore Him. Again see what passes inside our Church, and we must admit that the creat/ure can go no further to glorify the Creator. Here God enthroned on our altars sees all that is great and grand in this world prostrate at His feet to oiler Him in public their homage with all the pomp and ceremony that pious imagination can conceive. Prayer and Sacrifice form man's greatest tribute to Crod s Glory. Itn many passages of the Holy Book God again and again affirms that He is honored by man's homage. Since by our prayers^we recognise the power and goodness of the God we invoke, we solemnly acknowledge our trust in Him and Him alone. Sacrifice is the grandest of religious functions, since Wy sacrifice man publishes the sovereignty of the Supreme Being and the nothingness of everything else. Sacrifice is the crown of God's glory, man can-do no more. And it is in our churches that sacrifice is offered, and it is to prepare for this sacrifice that the church is built— truly our temples are the al/ode of the Glory of God. Daily prayers -ascend from, our churches to the throne of the Most High ;. daily, as so much incense, ascends the tribute of homage, daily the same precious Victim is offered to His Heavenly Father, that Victim, a single drop of whose blood is more beneficial to him for whom it is offered than the sacrifice of all created beings, even did they form one gigantic holocaust. Consequently, if our churches are chosen by God for the manifestation of His Glory and the >blessing o'/ His Holy Name, what should be our respect and veneration for God's temple. But where is this respect ? How dio w<j show our vc/neration-? Kijtg David cried out to the prophet Nathan, ' Is it just that I should dwell in a mansion of cedar, whilst the God I serve has none, or one made of the skins of vile animals ' (ii. Reg. 7 : i. Paral. i. pp. 17). People employ every art to build, beautify, and adorn their homes whilst the House of God is often left in poverty and neglect. Hours of valuable time are given to making useless it ornamental finery in our houses, whilst the altar linen and sacred vestments are left uncared for in our churches. The women of the Old Testament who were lavish in their gifts to the Tabernacle would put to shame many Catholics of our -time. We are to adore God in Spirit and in Truth, but this exterior pomp is not to be made little of. St. Jerome, speaking of an illustrious man, makes mention of his zeal for the decoration of churches and his scrupulous attention even to details with regard to the care of the sanctuary Indifference in these matters cannot fail to be culpable it is a slight to the Almighty. If on the other hand our churches sine; the praises and glory of the Lord on the other, they may, by our fault, become places where He is dishonored and insulted. Are not our pride and vanity an insult to the poverty and humility of the hidden God we come to adore ? Do we ever seriously reflect on the subject ? Do we believe that there is a God ? ' Daemones credunt et contremiscunt ' (James 2). If we believe, why do we not- tremble ? Let us not forget that the Church is the house of prayer Let us love to go there to lay our wants at the feet of the God of Mercy and Compassion, and let us to the full extent of our means show our reverence and zeay for the House of God by helping to adorn ib, and doing our share to render it less unworthy the abode of Him whose majesty causes the very angels to hide their faces and prostrate themselves in lowly reverence. For these reasons wo highly commend our clergy for the interest they take in the befitting adornment of the churches committed to their charge, and it is for these reasons that we think the time opportune to carry out ! the completion of St Patricks Cathedral, the mother 'church of -the diocese for it has remained in its parent incomplete state for twenty-one years, and all who see it recosmise the absolute need of much improvement. We shall eratefullv acknowledge any donation pi^en for this work, which is to be put in hand immediately. (To be concluded next week.)