The Unbelieving Father at his Son’s Deathbed.
The religious man is better off than the ungodly. A good boy, his father’s darling, was very ill and given over by the doctors. His father, who had often told the boy that there was nothing after death, came to his bedside as he lay dying. The boy said to him: “ Tell me, father, am I to believe what you taught me, or am I to believe what mother taught me?” On hearing his son say this, the father’s eyes filled with tears. ‘‘My dear boy,” he replied, “believe what your mother taught you. What I said is not as certain as that which she told you.” The loyal child of the Church, who believes all that the Church proposes to him to be believed, enjoys far more security than the man who does not care about religion and has no beliefs.
The Atheist and the Christian
An unbeliever said once to a good and faithful Catholic; “ O unhappy Christian! How terribly you will find you have been deceived, if heaven is only a fable!” The Catholic answered: “ O unhappy atheist! How terribly you will find you have been deceived, when you discover that hell is no fictitious place.”
Q. Where shall we find the chief truths which the Church teaches?
A. We shall find the chief truths which the Church teaches in the Apostles' Creed.
