Faith & Worldliness

The rain on Wednesday evening n Dexter accounted for a great raany 'stay-at-homes," it being the occaion of Father Dowling's lecture on 'Faith and Worldliness," the second of the C. M. B. A. series. Still here was a good-sized audience resent to listen to the learned and olished Jesuit, who was formerly resident of Creighton College, in Omaha, but now president of Deroit College, in Detroit. Previous o the lecture some excellent vocal music was rendered by St. Thomas' choir of Ann Arbor, selections being aken from Weber, Millard and Giorza. The following is a synopsis of rather Dowling's lecture: If ever there was a time when man hould cling to faith, it is in these ays of infidelity, when arrogance nd mental imbecility stand ready o cast a pall upon a well-nigh deunct Christianity. Surely in a soalled age of reason, of light and ruth, it is shameful to contémplate, s we must contémplate, the adance of infidelity among the masses nd the gradual retreat of the outosts of the Christian camp. We re to ask ourselves the question, what are the external signs of faith? Do we possess a faith that is living, onsistent with trufh, active, ag;ressive? In this country, which joasts of its Christian associations, ts churches, its temples, its Chrisïan constitution, what are the facts which glare out through the gloom? ..ook round about you. Do we not eem to be dealing almost exclusively n matter? What wonderful developments have been made lately in lectricity! Hardly a business man a the country can get along now vithout a telephone. Electricity is no longer a theoretic affair, but a )ractical domestic necessity. What levelopments have likewise been made in medicine and surgery! How grand are the triumphs of those sciences! Surgery can give us false eyes, false teeth, false hands, etc. 3ut what of the false hearts which men and women carry about with hem? These are acquired without :he aid of science and in opposition to faith. No fault is found with the modern evolutions in sciences, but where are the promoters of faith and truth? Look at our business men investing in stocks, in real estáte, investing in everything, we might say, except in faith, living short lives, trampling to the ground their fellow-men, and imagine, if you can, such to be prepared to meet their Creator. They leave their ricbes, go down to their graves, unprepared for that eternal life which God has prepared for them. How many there are who salute the world with a sigh and leave it with a groan! Did God créate man to serve matter or for some higher object? Have we not just reason to argue, from facts plainly thrust before us, that there is a want of faith and an almost universal worship of worldliness? A great many denominations of the country are joined together under a certain mystic comprehensiveness of the Bible, some of which teach the absolute necessity unto salvation of one doctrine, others partly admitting such doctrine or denying it altogether. In this respect they are held up to ridicule by infidels or are pinioned by the worldly-minded. What shall be the religión of the future as the result of this vagueness of doctrine, this rampant and aggressive infidelity? Christian religions must be united and present a solid, unbreakable phalanx to the onward march of infidelity. We are the dyke raised up against the flood of infidelity, and if we go down Christianity must perish with us. What are the causes of infidelity ? Losening of the bonds of authority and neglect especially of the authority established by God upon earth are at the base of infidelity. Infidelity is the hydra-headed monster which we must fight. To do this we raust train the young. We must deliver to them the heirloom of faith which we received from our forefathers. They must take our places twenty-five years from now, but unless they are prepared while their minds are waxen and impressionable, they will not stand in defense of a cause which does not find a response in their hearts. Religious phenomena are hard to understand and are no safe guide or criterion. The Catholic church is keeping progress with our immense population, erecting churches and educational institutions, upholding the doctrines of Christ against "all infidels, unswerving in her devotion to dogma, and is the protector of the sanctity of marriage, thus giving all the external signs of a living, active and aggressive faith.