Page 49 - pastoral-letters-sjm

St. Joseph Marello - 1894

hold it, and subjects peacefully submitting knowing that every
power comes from God and that the one who resists power
resists the divine will. Only this religious doctrine, divinely
revealed, can establish the foundations of true liberty, true and
just equality, giving a correct and unchanging meaning to such
abused words: liberty that does not degenerate into
licentiousness, that does not violate the rights of others, that is
not opposed to the common good; equality that is possible
among men and reconcilable with truth, justice, and with the
necessary harmony of the human family. Revelation is the
vigilant guardian of this true liberty, this holy equality by
reminding everyone of the equality of their origins when it
speaks of God the Creator; the equality of nature and blood
when it points to Adam as the common father of the human
race; equality in the state of guilt when it reveals the mystery of
original sin; equality of redemption when it proposes belief in
the Incarnation, and the Passion and Death of the Son of God;
equality of ends when it tells us that we were created to possess
God; equality in the means that lead to that end, when it assures
us that the only way to go to heaven is virtue, or rather the good
use of our liberty with the help of heavenly grace, and the
halting of our triple egoism which tends to vilify and vitiate:
pride, cupidity and the evil excitement of the senses. In
reminding us of the unity of origin, species, means and ends,
only this heavenly doctrine, by reforming and almost creating
our hearts anew, can make true fraternal love take root in them,
elevating them to that holy and intimate charity that would form
but one heart and one soul of the children of Adam.
You are well convinced of all this, Dearly Beloved, and you
conserve as a most precious treasure in your minds and hearts
this divine knowledge; and since it is indispensable for the
future life, it is also necessary and useful for the present life.
However, you must not keep this inestimable treasure for
yourselves alone. It is your duty to make the new generation

49