Principles and Practices - January 10

Failure of the Natural Man

In order to steer our course clear of moral shipwreck, we must keep in more or less constant and conscious touch with the super­natural world. Our Lord must be permitted to occupy the supreme place in our lives to which He is justly entitled as our Creator. If He is given only a back seat something is bound to go wrong sooner or later.

A purely naturalistic basis of conduct will not stand the wear and tear of everyday life. Thinkers outside the Catholic Church admit what thev describe as the ethical failure of the natural man.

Unless a man sanctifies his instincts and impulses by seeking the transforming and elevating power of Divine Grace, he will not be able to live up to his higher and better natural aspirations, but in his behaviour and conduct will fall below the level of the brute creation.

-Father Degen.
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From Principles and Practices
Compiled by Rev. J. Hogan of The Catholic Missionary Society
Published by Burns Oates & Washbourne Ltd., Publishers To The Holy See
Nihil Obstat; Eduardus J. Mahoney, S.T.D. Censor deputatus.
Imprimatur; Edm. Can. Surmont, Vicarius generalis.
First printed in 1930