The love of God THE LOVE OF GOD A series of Sunday morning talks given during June, 1948, on “The Hour of Faith,” a coast-to-coast religious broadcast produced by the National Council of Catholic Men in cooperation with the American Broadcasting Company. BY REV. THOMAS A. HANSBERRY Asst. Pastor St. Joseph's Cathedral and Diocesan Director of the Confraternity of Christian Doctrine, Manchester, New Hampshire National Council oi Catholic Men 1312 Massachusetts Avenue, N. W. Washington 5, D. C. Printed and distributed by Our Sunday Visitor Huntington, Indiana , I THE LOVE OF COD THE CREATOR Talk given on June 6, 1948 A number of years ago, a young salesman was assigned to a territory which included the White Mountain area of New Hampshire. On his first trip into his new locale, as he drove his car through the Franconia Notch in the mountains, he sud- denly came to a spot from which he could obtain a clear view of the Great Stone Face. There on his left, high on the mountain- side, carved by natural forces from the granite ledge, the head of the Old Man of the Mountain stood out clearly against the morning sky. Struck by the majesty of the sight, the young man parked his car and, taking with him his bat- tered camera, proceeded to snap several pictures of the Stone Face from various angles. When the snapshots wrere developed, however, he found that he had succeeded in getting fine views of the little lake, the surrounding trees, and the lower mountain- side but had not obtained his objective of a clear picture of the Old Man of the Mountain. On several other occasions he tried again with the same result. Finally, realizing the deficiences of his camera and his own lack of qualifications as a photographer, he settled the problem by pur- chasing a set of photographs for his album at the nearby souvenir shop. His own snapshots, the top portion of which appeared blank, he discarded as worthless. This settled the problem as far as he was concerned, but each time he passed the scene after that, he would gaze up at the majestic head on the mountainside with a wry smile and solemnly tip his hat. Those of you who are well- versed in the mysteries of pho- tography could probably give a number of reasons why his ef- forts to achieve a picture of the distant granite head were in vain. Experts in the field would probably go into detail about lighting, distance, lenses and oth- er items. The average layman, unacquainted with the various problems of photography, would probably say simply, “His camera was out of focus,” and let it go at that. Those of us who are not experts in a certain field are usually hesitant about making 6 THE LOVE OF GOD lengthy explanations concerning problems in that field, lest we be considered ignorant because of our mistakes. When it is a question of some- thing concerning God, many people are like the young sales- man with his camera. It some- times happens in their lives that they suddenly come to the real- ization of the majesty, the beau- ty, the wonder of God, and it startles them. Some try of themselves to obtain an accurate picture of Him, to develop in their own minds the details of His nature, to work out alone the meaning of His relationship with themselves ; but far too oft- en these fail, as the amateur photographer failed, because of their lack of training and equip- ment in this field. Others are satisfied with a set of pictures prepared by someone else which they accept and file away in the albums of their minds to be taken out and looked at occasion- ally and then forgotten again for a time. With regard to God, however, we cannot afford to be so casual. He is so intermingled with ev- erything we think or say or do that we cannot afford to be con- tent with a mediocre knowledge of Him. Hence, we must act as connoisseurs in the field seeking out the best possible portrayal of the God of majesty in order that we may hang it in the gal- lery of our memories where it will ever be before our eyes as an inspiration. When we seek this picture of God for ourselves, however, we must l^ave the field of photog- raphy. God cannot be seen by bodily eyes upon this earth. He is beyond the scope of the cam- era’s lens. We cannot make a snapshot of Him for ourselves. No, we must step into another field in order to have painted for us this picture of the Supreme Being who made us and pre- serves us in existence. In order to do this, we must find the means of learning more and more about Him. We must gather together the details about Him which are available to us, and what better means could we find than the consideration of His love for mankind? In the contemplation of the many ex- pressions of God’s love for us we shall find the details for our portrayal of Him. An amateur philosopher, start- ing out without previous knowl- edge of the subject, would find it difficult to fashion an adequate picture of God. The great pagan THE LOVE OF GOD THE CREATOR 7 philosophers of ancient times en- countered many problems in making their deductions. But God has come to our assistance with His revelation, as contained in the Sacred Scriptures. He has drawn aside the veil from Himself, so to speak, and made known to us details about Him- self. The Church, founded by Christ, is the artist who, with divinely inspired skill, will put together these details for our portrait of God. In seeking out the evidence of God’s love for mankind, it seems well to turn first of all to the origin of the world, to go back in thought to the beginning of all life outside of God Himself, to consider carefully in our own minds the question: “Where did the world originate?” “Whence came mankind?” In other words, “Who or what was responsible for this world of ours and the existence of human beings upon the face of the earth?” If we turn to the Sacred Scrip- tures, we find there the answers to these questions. The very first words of the Bible tell us, “In the beginning God created heaven, and earth“ ( Genesis 1 : 1 ). It is not our object at this time to give a detailed proof of the fact of creation but, rather, to consider what was the cause of creation. From a consider- ation of the divine nature, we know that God was always in- finitely happy; He possessed all perfections in Himself; He did not need anything outside Him- self to increase His happiness. Hence, the question in our minds of “Why?” “Why should He create the universe and all things in it, including human beings?” The answer to this question is to be found in the infinite goodness of God. As the saints have told us time and again, God is goodness itself, God is love itself. St. John tells us that “He that loveth not, knoweth not God; for God is charity” (I John 4:8). It was this perfect, in- finite goodness and love of God which impelled Him, as it were, to create other beings in order first of all, to sing the glories of their Creator, and then in order that these things, especially men, might share some of His good- ness and divine life; in order that He might make them happy. Yes, creation was an act of pur- est love, having its wellspring in the goodness of the infinitely loving and lovable God. If we turn from the consider- ation of creation in general to 8 THE LOVE OF GOD that of the creation of man, we find in even clearer detail the ex- pression of the infinite love of God. Here in this unit made up of a body and soul the almighty Creator saw fit to reflect the very image of Himself, particularly in man's spiritual soul with its magnificent powers of intellect and free will, for we read in the Book of Genesis: “God created man to his own image; to the image of God he created him" ( Genesis 1:27). Not content with the natural gifts of body and soul which He had given to man, the all-loving God lavished upon him special gifts over and above those re- quired by his human nature. Thus God made man free from suffering and death, free from disorderly bodily temptations and desires ; added to these were the gifts of special happiness in the Garden of Eden and special infused knowledge of the things he needed to know. Then, as a crowning gift, a “super" gift, a gift above all the others, God infused into the soul of man sanctifying grace to add to the life of that soul a second and higher kind of life, a super- natural life, a life similar to that of God Himself. Thus, man was elevated from the role of mere creature and servant of the Creator and made a child of God and heir of the Kingdom of Heaven. Time does not permit us to go into greater detail concerning the wonderful gifts God gave to men. Suffice it to say that, in His divine love for human be- ings, He made the first man and woman to His own image and likeness, gave them dominion over His other creatures, en- dowed them with wonderful, un- merited gifts and placed them in the Garden of Eden to enjoy the happiness He wished them to have. Considering all of these things, we can truly obtain some idea of the infinite love of God; we can find sketched out for us the first details of our portrait of Him. In succeeding talks, we shall try to fill in other portions of our painting, as we consider Almighty God in the roles of Provider, Redeemer and Sancti- fier of the human race. In each of these we find the manifesta- tions of His infinite love, the love which inspired Him to create the universe, the love which is be- yond our poor human under- standing because it is the love of Almighty God. THE LOVE OF COD THE PROVIDER Talk given on June 13, 1948 Dear Friends : In our talk last Sunday, we sought to gather the preliminary details for a portrait of Al- mighty God. Realizing our in- ability to do this in a strictly material manner because we are unable to see Him with our bod- ily eyes, we began the considera- tion of Him as we know Him through the expressions of His divine love. The first step in this process was to scan the list of those expressions as found in the Creation of the universe and of human beings in particular. In other words, we looked upon God as the all-good, all-loving Creator and found the first outlines for our painting of Him. Today, we go a step farther and consider God from another point of view, namely, in His role of Provider in which, with divine love, foreseeing the needs of ev- ery creature, He gives to each the necessary means to attain its goal. To many of us, the words, “Divine Providence,” are merely a vague expression with little meaning. Far too often, people are so preoccupied with solving their personal problems them- selves that such unfamiliar words are pushed aside and for- gotten without any effort being made to learn their significance. If we but take the time to analyze these words, however, we obtain a clear picture of the love of God as expressed in His care for His creatures. In the Old Testament we find mention of the fact that God sustains and cares for all things. In the Book of Wisdom we read, “He made the little and the great, and he hath equally care of all’ ( Wisdom 6:8). In the New Testament the words of Christ make this even more clear. “Behold the birds of the air,” He says, “for they nei- ther sow, nor do they reap, nor gather into barns : and your heavenly Father feedeth them. Are not you of much more value than they? And which of you by taking thought, can add to his stature one cubit? And for rai- ment why are you solicitous ? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow: they labour not, neither do they spin. But I say to you, that not even Solomon in all his glory was arrayed as one of these. And if the grass of 10 THE LOVE OF GOD the field, which is today, and to- morrow is cast into the oven, God doth so clothe: how much more you, 0 ye of little faith ?” (Mat- thew 6:26-30). Yes, Christ is most emphatic in bringing to our minds the realization of the almighty love of God with which He cares for even the least of His creatures. With regard to man, God has been most bountiful. His provi- dent care extends to all men without distinction of race, na- tionality, class or occupation. He provides us with the food we eat, the clothes we wear, the homes we live in. To God all men, as such, are equal. Some, however, are given the power to love and serve Him more than others. To these He extends an even greater measure of His love and care because of their good- ness. To all of us He offers the promise of eternal happiness with Him in heaven if we but make proper use of the gifts He tenders us. To all of us He beckons as a loving Father, call- ing us to the reward which “eye hath not seen nor ear heard” (1 Corinthians 2:9); (Isaias 64:4). Truly the care which God lav- ishes upon His creatures is an excellent testimony of His love for them. It often happens, how- ever, that He sends trials upon us as He did upon holy Job. Yes, at times He permits us to be tempted so that He may discover whether our love for Him is real or only apparent. Often these trials seem so great in our own minds that we permit them to overwhelm us, forgetting that the grace of God is strong enough to assist us over any dif- ficulty. Those who persist in their confidence in God will be amply rewarded for their forti- tude either in this life or in the next. To illustrate this point, there comes to mind the story of a young married couple who pur- chased a small farm in the coun- try some years ago. Early in the spring, they moved to their new home with three small children. Bad fortune seemed to haunt them, for their home burned to the ground and they barely es- caped with their lives. The neighbors assisted them in fix- ing up a few rooms in an unused barn. Things went along well for a time in their new quarters until a hurricane blew down the barn while the little family, aug- mented by a new arrival, was be- ing sheltered in the more sub- stantial home of a friend. Undaunted by the latest ca- THE LOVE OF GOD THE PROVIDER 11 tastrophe, the young people re- modeled another small building and took up residence there while they worked at collecting used lumber and other materials with which to rebuild their lost home. Many people in similar circum- stances would have become dis- couraged and given up hope in God’s Providence. In fact, a friend said to the young mother one day: “I don’t see how you manage to stay so cheerful with all your problems.” The other re- plied: “Well, God has been good to me in many other ways. All my children are healthy and well- behaved ; we have enough to eat ; and besides, look at all the friends we’ve made because of our trouble. People I never ex- pected to meet are continually dropping in to see if they can be of assistance. Yes, God has blessed us in other ways while permitting us to be tried so se- verely.” How many of us would be able to look upon such trials in this philosophical and truly Christian manner? How many, rather, would show doubt of the power of God and His willingness to assist us? How many would de- spair completely of His divine love, giving up hope in Him and relying completely on them- selves? Sad to say, far, far too many lose confidence in God the Provider, and begin to murmur against Him as soon as trouble comes into their lives. But what do the Scriptures say of such people? In the Book of Ecclesiastes we read: “Give not thy mouth to cause thy flesh to sin; and say not before the angel: There is no providence; lest God be angry at thy words, and destroy all the works of thy hands” (Ecclesiastes 5:5). Yes, God is offended when we give way to discouragement, because we thus show doubt of His love and willingness to help us. On the other hand, if we but realize the providential love of God, if we but pause for a few moments each day to consider the wonderful things He does for us, what courage and confidence we would acquire in the face of trials, failures and sorrows ! What a different outlook on life would be ours! Then, truly, we would say with the Psalmist : “0 Lord, thy mercy is in heaven, and thy truth reacheth even to the clouds” (Psalms 35-6), for it is also written : “I have been young, and now I am old; and I have not seen the just forsaken, nor his seed seeking bread” {Psalm 36:25). Yes, on page after page of the 12 THE LOVE OF GOD Sacred Scriptures the Providence of Almighty God, the continual expression of His divine love, ap- pears to us in many ways. This wonderful love of God is mani- fested, not only to people of ages past whose thoughts and deeds are recorded for us by the sacred writers, but also to each of us in our daily life* It is the divine chain which binds us to the Almighty, the chain whose bond is weakened at our end only by our failure to love in return. In the care which God lavishes upon us, in His provision for our daily needs of body and soul, in every moment of our lives, His love for us is manifested. If we consider all other creatures, apart from man, we find in their existence also the evidence of God’s love for all the works of His hands. Yes, the continuance, the preservation, the develop- ment of the created universe speak to us of a provident God —a God who did not stop at creating other beings but con- tinually provides for their wel- fare. In the case of man, the knowl- edge of the Providence of God should certainly be a source of courage. We have considered it only in our daily lives, but even at the time of death—a fearsome moment for any one—God offers us His consolation, the knowl- edge that we are capable of at- taining supreme happiness in heaven. Indeed, our God is a God of love—love expressed in creating, love expressed in providing for His creatures. From this evi- dence of His love, we can ar- range upon the canvas of our minds still more details of our portrait of Him. To these will be added the full richness of color and form brought to per- fection in God’s revelation of Himself as Redeemer and Sanc- tifier of the human race—for He has loved us with unlimited love, an ardent love, the love of God. THE LOVE OF COD THE REDEEMER Talk given on June 20, 1948 If you were to travel by plane some night, one of the things which would attract your atten- tion would be the beacon lights of radio towers shining below in the evening darkness. From these towers by day and night messages are flashed to the city and the surrounding country- side . . . broadcasts of informa- tion, music and drama. To many people, perhaps the most important of these are the ones that contain news of the city, the nation, and the world. When they hear these broad- casts, many of which are im- portant, people listen to them with anxious hearts; but as the hours, the days, the weeks and the months go by, how much do they remember of them? How important do they remain in their judgment of things? When we consider this, we find that people have very short memor- ies. Most of the programs are quickly forgotten. How many of us, for example, can recall clearly the so-important broad- casts of the late war? Very few indeed, if the truth is told. Many centuries ago, however, two broadcasts were made that have not been forgotten. They were not sent forth over any nation-wide network ; they did not reach millions of people in a matter of seconds, but they have lived and will continue to live in the memory of man. Why? Because they were com- munications of hope which has been fulfilled in the coming of the Son of God. They were messages which told the world of the infinite love of Almighty God. Hundreds of years before the Christian era, the prophet Isaias opened his mouth and said: “Get thee up upon a high mountain, thou that bringest good tidings to Sion . . . Be- hold the Lord God shall come with strength ... He shall feed his flock like a shepherd: he shall gather together the lambs with his arm, and shall take them up in his bosom” (Isaias 40 : 9-11 ). What were these glad tidings? What was this news of which he spoke? It was the greatest news the world would ever know. The stage had been set for it. Adam 14 THE LOVE OF GOD and Eve had fallen from grace, had lost the special gifts be- stowed on them by God, had heard the decree that heaven was closed to them and their de- scendants. Yes, the first man and woman had lost their su- pernatural endowments, the essential means to the heaven for which they had been created. They had sinned grievously and had been punished for their sin ; and all human beings descended from them were sharing in their state of sin as well as in their punishment, as they would have shared in their grace, had they remained faithful to God. The only ray of hope in the midst of the gloom cast by the original sin of man was the al- mighty love of God. Yes, God's love for man was so great that He had refused to abandon him as He had abandoned the fallen angels. Instead, He had prom- ised to give man another chance, had given him hope of a return to grace, had left him the consoling thought that some day a redeemer would come to atone for sin and make human beings once more capable of en- tering heaven. In the promise of the Re- deemer, the love of God shone forth as a beacon of hope to all ages; but in the fulfillment of that promise, the limitless scope of that love was made known to the astounded world. God so loved mankind that He not only promised to redeem, but sent His own Son down upon earth to make up for sin. For centuries, preparations were made for His coming. Many prophets, including Isaias whom we have mentioned, brought divinely-inspired pre- views of the Savior to the ex- pectant world, but those who heard them looked for a merely human redeemer, and could not conceive of God's coming per- sonally to save them. They did not comprehend the greatness of the love of God for man. Many, many years went by and the Chosen People, remem- bering the prophecies, waited in vain for their fulfillment. Fre- quently, they were oppressed and downtrodden and said to themselves: “Surely, now is the time for His coming." But He did not come. Then, at a time when their burdens were very heavy, when they were ruled by foreigners, when their hope was dim, a voice was heard coming out of the desert, broadcasting a mes- sage which struck a familiar chord in their hearts. Many of THE LOVE OF GOD THE REDEEMER 15 the common people lifted up their heads to listen. They went out into the desert to see this man, John the Baptist, who spoke. They stayed to be bap- tized by him, in token of sorrow for their sins. They wondered about him, little realizing that this was the messenger men- tioned by Isaias; this was he who brought glad tidings to Sion. The Jewish priests and Levites, who knew the Scriptures so well, saw the large crowds going out to John in the desert, and they wondered about him. “Could it be,” they said, “that this is the Christ, or Elias, or the ‘Prophet’?” They were very much puzzled, so they sent a delegation out to ask him who he was. Then John, using the words of Isaias, who had foretold his coming, said: “I am the voice of one crying in the wilderness, make straight the way of the Lord” {John 1:23). These were familiar words to the priests and they knew them well; but to make things even clearer, John added that he was merely the representative of One, the latchet of Whose shoe he was not worthy to loose. In other words, his one purpose was to prepare the people to acknowl- edge the Messias. Then, when the appointed time had arrived, the anointed One, the Son of God Himself, born of a virgin mother in Bethlehem, called out of Egypt where He had found refuge as an infant with His mother and foster father, brought up in Nazareth, fulfilling the many prophecies made about Him, then, and only then, did Jesus Christ begin His public minis- try which reached its climax with His execution on Mount Calvary and His resurrection three days later. It hardly seems necessary to go into great detail about the life of Christ or the miracles by which He healed the sick, the lame, the blind, the deaf, and even brought the dead back to life. We are acquainted with those events as well as with the details of His torture, condem- nation, and death on the cross. No, the story of those things, as well as of His consequent res- urrection from the dead and as- cension into heaven, are im- printed upon the memory of Christians everywhere. What concerns us in this ser- ies of talks is the consideration of the all-merciful love of God which prompted Him to go to such an extreme for the salva- 16 THE LOVE OF GOD tion of mankind. We who are bound by earthly desires, self- love and the fear of suffering of any kind are astounded at the sight of this generosity by which the Son of God, become man, submitted Himself to un- merciful torment of mind and body and the supreme sacrifice of life itself to redeem us, His creatures. We cannot comprehend the immeasurable love which prompted Almighty God to send His Son to take on a human nature and suffer a disgraceful death upon a cross. Such things would be beyond our wildest imaginings were we forecasting the redemption; but, as we con- sider them in the light of his- torical fact, we can only stand in awe at the affection God has shown for His creatures. By His sufferings and death, which were a sacrificial offering and therefore the highest act of His religious soul, Jesus Christ, true God and true man, restored to human beings the privilege of the supernatural gift of grace, restored to them the hope of seeing God face to face, re- opened to them the gates of heaven closed by sin. Yes, the love of the God who created us, who provides for our daily needs, is so great that it knew no bounds, but went to the extent of the greatest sacrifice the world has ever known, in order that we might be able to come to Him in heaven for all eter- nity. Truly, our God is a God of love who says to us : ‘Tear not, for I am with thee: turn not aside, for I am thy God. I have strengthened thee, and the right hand of my just one hath upheld thee” (Isaias 41:10). For God, our Redeemer “. . . was wounded for our iniquities : he was bruised for our sins. The chas- tisement of our peace was upon him: and by his bruises we are healed” ( Isaias 53:5). “For God so loved the world as to give his only begotten son . . .” CJohn 3:16) ; and that Son gave His life for our salvation. THE LOVE OF COD THE SANCTIFIER Talk given on June 27, 1948 In these days, as the world struggles to recover from the ef- fects of war, we hear much talk of the power of the atom bomb and other recently developed tools of destruction. At a time when our thoughts should be of binding up the wounds of the world and of concentrating on the restoration of peace, we are still vividly reminded of the pos- sibility of worse things to come. In the midst of the consequent worry which fills the hearts of men, people everywhere turn from one suggestion to another for the solution of the ills of the world. We are all acquainted with the material proposals for the future peace. We have heard the numerous economic plans for the relief of suffering and the restoration of order. Many of these have their good points and are inspired by the desire for a stable contract for peace among nations. On the spiritual side of the ledger also, attempts are being made to teach men and women everywhere the ideals upon which must be based any hope for a permanent security. We are reminded frequently of the need of a return to God and the ob- servance of His law by nations as well as by individuals. We are given the principles for our fu- ture conduct in order that we may know the line of action we must take in our relations with God and with one another. In this series of talks during the month of June, we have con- sidered the unlimited love of God with a view to picturing the Su- preme Being who has been so good to man. We examined this love in the light of Creation by which the Almighty brought the universe and all things in it into existence. We next contemplated His love in providing for all His creatures. Lastly, we considered the unbounded expression of that love in the suffering and death of the Son of God for the re- demption of mankind. If we need- ed a motive for a return of the world to the proper service of God, certainly these outpourings of His love would furnish it to even the most skeptical mind. Today, as a finishing brush stroke to the canvas, we turn to a fourth aspect of the love of 18 THE LOVE OF GOD God and consider the ultimate expression of His love, the sanc- tification of man by the indwell- ing of the Almighty. To the ma- jority of people, these are vague words. Most of those who ac- knowledge the existence of God admit His presence in all of His creatures, but many never think that He would enter in a special manner into the soul of man. Hence, we take this occasion to consider God's very special pres- ence in the souls of the just. In other words, we contemplate God entering into the soul which is free from serious sin to make it even more like Himself, to fill it with the glory of His presence, to remain there as long as the individual permits Him to stay. We know that human nature is the servant of God, for if the Creator made us for Himself, we are bound to serve Him. But above and beyond this, God made man His friend and adopted him as a son. By the original sin, however, our first parents broke that superb relationship of friendship with God; they lost for themselves and all their de- scendants that divine life which had energized their souls. From the high estate as children of God they sank to the depths of ruin and complete helplessness. No earthly power could restore mankind to the position it had once held, but the infinitely mer- ciful Creator sent His only Son to give back to man the rank and dignity from which he had fal- len. Then, as a finishing touch to the plan of our salvation, the third Person of the Blessed Trin- ity came to reside in the souls of the just in a very special manner. It is not our aim at this time to go into detail about the Bles- sed Trinity, but it seems well to mention that, just as we spoke of God the Father as Creator and God the Son as Redeemer, so now we consider God the Holy Ghost as sanctifier of the souls of men. There is always danger in speak- ing of the Three Persons in God that we may fail to distinguish one from the other or make the mistake of forgetting that They all have the same Nature; but, by appropriation, we attribute certain acts to one Person which are really common to all three. Thus we speak of the action of God in the individual souls as though it were the work of the Holy Spirit, alone. We know from the Sacred Scriptures that the Holy Ghost resided by grace in those of the just who lived before Christ. For example, He was present in the prophets, in John the Bap- THE LOVE OF GOD THE SANCTIFIER 19 tist, and in others. So it was that, on Pentecost Sunday when He came to the apostles under the appearances of tongues of fire, He did not communicate Himself to them for the first time but rather gave Himself to them more abundantly. The action of the Holy Spirit in the individual soul is, indeed, difficult to grasp because it is in- visible. He begins His regenera- tion of the soul in Baptism and gives Himself even more gener- ously at the time of Confirma- tion. He resides in the soul as in a temple, drawing it into a most intimate friendship with Himself in a union which differs only in degree or state from that of our union with Him in heaven. It is difficult for us to imagine the full effects of the presence of God in a soul which is free from serious sin. We might evolve all kinds of ideas of our own in seeking to determine for ourselves this wonder of won- ders. Christ Himself compares the outpouring of the Spirit to rivers of living water. What in- spirations come from this divine guest! What warnings of spirit- ual dangers to the welfare of the soul ! What gifts are proffered to strengthen it against assault ! Ah! if the just man would but profit by these gifts, he could at- tain to the highest degree of sanctity, enjoying the fruits of his wonderful union with Al- mighty God. If we take time to think out carefully for ourselves the signi- ficance of the presence of God in the souls of the just, what an in- sight we obtain into the love of the Almighty for His creatures. Here we are upon earth, descen- dants of Adam who cast aside our heritage by sin, forced to earn our daily bread, trembling at the thought of death with the fear of the unknown in our hearts. Yes, here we are bound to the earth to which our bodies will return to decay. Here, here are the creatures endowed with immortal souls who of their own free will are capable of friend- ship or enmity with the God who made them. If we mean so much to the Al- mighty that He willed our exist- ence, if we are of such value that He provides for our needs, if we are so precious in His sight that He endured the tortures of scourging and crucifixion for our sins, if we are such that He is willing to dwell within our souls in a most intimate manner as friend with friend, what manner of creature must we be ! What is 20 THE LOVE OF GOD this thing called man that walks the face of the earth? How can he be so engrossed in his ma- terial problems that he forgets he is a little less than the angels ? Questions such as these should lead us to pause and take stock of our lives, to total the value of our spiritual possessions, to bal- ance the books of our lives and discover how much we are in debt to the goodness of God. This is the day of the superficial ; peo- ple refuse to think too deeply on things of the spirit ; they fear to look into their own souls; but there is a day of reckoning when all must answer to the God who has been so good to them. In- deed, we could well spend some time in contrasting the love lav- ished upon us by the Almighty with the selfishness we have shown toward Him. Yes, well might we say with Daniel : “0 Lord, to us belongeth confusion of face, to our princes and to our fathers that have sin- ned. But to thee, the Lord our God, mercy and forgiveness, for we have departed from thee. And we have not hearkened to the voice of the Lord our God, to walk in his law. . . .” (Daniel 9:8-10). If there is one thing we all resent, it is ingratitude. Yet, how ungrateful have human beings been to the God who loves them so much. In these four talks during the month of June, we have consider- ed the love of the Almighty for His creatures as expressed in His giving them existence, His pro- viding for their needs, His re- deeming fallen man, and, finally, His sanctifying, by His special presence, the souls of the just. If we have need of motives for a return of the world to the knowl- edge and love of God, certainly we can find them in these ex- pressions of the love of God for the world. In these times of unrest, of sorrow, and of fear, in these days when the hearts of men are troubled with many things, the love of God should be our conso- lation and our strength, for He says to us : “Come to me, all you who labor and are burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am meek, and humble of heart: and you will find rest for your souls” (Matthew 11:28- 29.) God, our Creator, our Provid- er, our Redeemer, and our Sanc- tifier, is a God of infinite love. May we all learn to love Him in return. 59 STATIONS CARRYING THE HOUR OF FAITH In 27 States, the District of Columbia, Canada and Hawaii Alabama .Mobile Arizona Phoenix Arkansas El Doredo California Los Angeles San Francisco Colorado Denver Pueblo Connecticut Hartford Dist. of Columbia Washington Florida Pensacola Georgia Augusta ’ Illinois Chicago Springfield Indiana -«-Fort Wayne Iowa .Burlington Davenport Dubuque Sioux City Kansas ..Coffeyville Wichita Kentucky ..Lexington Louisville - Louisiana New Orleans Massachusetts Boston Hyannis i : ^ Wi ? Worchester Michigan Battle Creek Detroit Minnesota Minneapolis-St. Paul Mississippi Gulfport Vicksburg Missouri .....Columbia Kansas City St. Louis Springfield Nevada . Las Vegas New York ^^..Massena „ New York Plattsburg Poughkeepsie Rochester Troy (5th Sun. only). North Carolina ....Wilmington C Ohio Canton Cincinnati Cleveland Columbus Oklahoma Ardmore Shawnee Tulsa Pennsylvania _Harrisburg Pittsburgh Scranton Texas ^.Brownsville San Antonio - Washington ~ Seattle Spokane West Virginia Huntington Canada Montreal „ Hawaii Honolulu : ...WMOB .... 1230 kc ...KPHO .... 1230 kc ....KELD 1400 kc ...KECA .... ...KGO 790 kc 810 kc ...KVOD .... ...KGHF .... 630 kc 1350 kc ...WHTD .... 1410 kc ...WMAL .... 630 kc WBSR 1450 kc WGAC 580 kc ....WLS ... WCBS .... 890 kc 1450 kc ...WOWO .... 1190 kc ...KBUR .... 1490 kc ...woe ...WKBB .... ...KSCJ 1420 kc 1490 kc 1 860 kr ...KGGF .... ....KFBI 1450 kc 1070 kc ....WLAP .... ....WINN .... 1450 kc 1240 kc ....vVDSLI* .... 1280 kc -..vVCOP .... ...WOCB .... ....WORC .... 1150 kc 1240 kc 1310 kc ...WELL .... ...WXYZ .... 1400 kc 1270 kc ...WTCN .... :.1280 kc ....WGCM .... 1940 kr ....WQBC .... 1390 kc ....KFRU .... KCMO 1400 kc 1480 kr ....KXOK .... ....KWTO .... 630 kc 560 kc ....KENO .... 1400 kc ....WNSA .... ....WJZ ....WMFF .... WARE 1340 kc 770 kc 1340 kc 950 kc ... WKIP .... ...WTRY .... 1450 kc 980 kc ...WMFD .... 1400 kc WHBC 1480 kr ...WSAI ....WJW WCOL 1360 kc 850 kc 1230 kc ...KVSO .... .... KGFF KOME .... 1240 kc 1450 kc 1340 kc ....WHGB .... ...WCEA .... ....WARM .... 1400 kc 1250 kc 1400 kc .... KEEW .... ....KABC .... 1490 kc 1450 kc KJR 950 kr ...KGA 1510 kc WSAZ 930 kc CFCF 600 kr KULA 690 kc * Delayed Broadcast (Revised as of August, 1947) HOUR OF FAITH RADIO ADDRESSES IN PAMPHLET FORM OUR SUNDAY VISITOR is the authorized publisher oi all Hour of Faith addresses in pamphlet form. The addresses published to date, all of which are available, are listed below. Others will be published as they are delivered. Quantity Prices Do Not Include Carriage Charge. “The Faith is Simple/* by the Rev. J. J. McLamey, O.P. 56 pages and cover. Single copy, 25c postpaid ; 5 or more, 20c each. 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