DEPOSITORY OF THE CHRISTIAN LAW
I. A code of laws duly promulgated and active involves two things. 1. There must be an authority to guard its integrity, administer it, explain it, enforce its observance; else it is a dead letter. 2. The wide prevalence of one code of laws tends to produce uniformity of action and unity of organization. Christianity proposes to us one God, one destination for all men, one set of truths, one law of conduct; naturally these objects should be sought for on one system. Further there are "diversities of ministries," good works to be done, sins and miseries to be grappled with, by a widely scattered multitude. Some centralization is necessary lest efforts clash, energies be frittered away, and disunion lead to the defeat of the cause of good. Multiplicity must be welded into unity. If God had not provided the machinery for this, men would certainly have tried to bring it about by themselves, led by the dictates of ordinary intelligence. But because God has provided for it, the Spirit of Evil in men has induced them very largely to ignore in religion the natural impulse to combination which guides them in every other social action. How blessed you are in being able to see this truth, and in belonging to that great union which is the accredited guardian of the Christian Law!
II. The spiritual order has many analogies with the natural order. In nature God does not carry out every operation by a direct intervention of Almighty power. He created the materials of the universe in one or a few most simple forms, endowed them with most concentrated and fertile energies, and left them to evolve themselves by the regular action of natural agencies. So too did Jesus Christ form the first elements of His kingdom on earth, infuse His Spirit into them, and then withdraw His corporal presence and action from the earth. He indeed hearkens to the voice of individuals in prayer, He communicates directly with them by inspirations and grace; but the social organization of men in relation to God and the administration of His law have been entrusted by Him to the hands of human agents. God carries on His great work of the salvation of souls, but He invites the co-operation of willing instruments; and success depends to a very great extent on their zeal and prudence. You are a living portion of the Church. You are in some measure the depository of the Christian law and of the Spirit of life. See that you do your full share of work as the instrument of God s operations.
III. Such an authorised depository and guardian is the natural and fitting means of maintaining the Christian Law. To leave it to be dealt with according to the whims and passions of an untrained and irresponsible multitude would be flinging it as a prey to a horde of hungry wolves. The impulse of individualism whether in the realm of doctrine or morals is disintegrating. The feverish activity of many minds, the continual striving after novelty, the mania for self-assertion and notoriety, the variety, the instability, the perversity of opinion which mark even those whose intentions are good, speculation and doubt, interpreting and explaining away, all this must of necessity be fatal to all uniformity and all certainty in the practical application of the law. What else can counteract these tendencies but a clearly established authority, accessible to all, existing every where, endowed with faculties for judging, with the right of commanding obedience, and with immunity from error? The Christian Law needs to be enshrined in a universal, undying society, which shall be a standard to the nations, a bond of unity, a fountain of strength. Nationality, language, customs, government, can secure no more than local unity. The Church Catholic is the one social force which can bind the discordant elements into one, and produce a world-wide harmony. Thank God for instituting a Church so great, so powerful, so satisfying to the soul.
