THE C A T H O L I C H O U R 7 7 2 3 ^ THE CHURCH AND THE MISSIONS BY VERY REV. GEORGE J. COLLINS, C. S. Sp. Provincial of the Holy Ghost F a t h e r s , Washington, D. C. The seventh in a series of nine addresses on THE CHURCH IN ACTION delivered in the Catholic Hour, broadcast by the National Broadcasting Com'-pany, in cooperation ' with the National Council of Catholic Men, on October 17, 1943. National Council of Catholic Men Washington, D. C. THE C H U R C H A! In these days probably more than a t any other period of his- tory there is a universal apprecia- tion of the blessings of peace. For modern war, much more than its ancient counterpart, inflicts its hardships as much on those who cling to hearth and home, as on those who gird on their armor and march f o r t h to battle. The storied glamor of war makes no appeal to those who must live amid the squalor and havoc it has created. Especially at this time of the year, when the shortening days portend the advent of g r e a t e r horrors de- scending f r o m the midnight skies, the tortured h e a r t of humanity in the war torn lands must cry out ever louder in its a n g u i s h : "How long, 0 L o r d ? " (Isaias 6:11). The starving peoples of Europe, living in the ruins of what once were t h e i r homes, and in the bleak fields t h a t once were teeming with an abundance of the good things of life, herald the approach of autumn, no longer now as "the season of mists and mellow f r u i t - fulness, close bosom-friend of the m a t u r i n g sun," but r a t h e r as the f a t e f u l harbinger of the dark, cold days of another dreary winter. The glorious pageant of every changing color t h a t once stirred their hearts to songs of exultant thanksgiving, now arouses in them MD THE MISSIONS instead the dire forebodings of impending privation and misery. Is the Lord in heaven f o r g e t f u l of the miseries of these his chil- dren, languishing on the bosom of the once f r u i t f u l e a r t h ? Does He no longer feel compassion on the multitude, as He did on t h a t oc- casion when He fed the f o u r thou- sand with the seven loaves and the few little fishes? No, He does not f o r g e t ; He is not indifferent to the sufferings of His fellowmen, but He sees these sufferings in their proper perspective. "Not in bread alone doth man live"; said He, "but in every word t h a t proceedeth f r o m the mouth of God" (Matt. 4 : 4 ) . He Himself is the Word of God, and as such He is also the Bread of Life. As He had compassion on the multitude, therefore, because they had "nothing to eat," so like- wise "he had compassion on them, because they were as sheep not having a shepherd, and he began to teach them many t h i n g s " (Mark 6:34). "The Spirit of the Lord is upon me," He said, "wherefore he hath anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor, he hath sent me to heal the contrite of h e a r t " ( L u k e 4 : 1 8 ) . That was His p r i m a r y objective. He did not come on earth merely to feed the h u n g r y or to heal the sick. He did not come merely to DeacWWW improve any or all of the condi- tions of man's material existence." He said specifically: "My kingdom is not of this world" ( J o h n 18:36). His chief concern was not with the n a t u r a l relations of man to man or nation to nation, but with the supernatural relation of all men and of all nations to one another and to God. His mission was to reestablish all men in the supernat- ural relationship of beloved chil- dren of His heavenly F a t h e r . The mission of the Church, too, is primarily supernatural. While ever anxious to improve the lot of her children in every possible way, and ever solicitous f o r the main- tenance of friendly relations be- tween the nations, she does not dissipate her energies in pursuing the chimera of a man-made U.topia. Her objective is r a t h e r t h a t "all men . . . comè to the knowledge of the t r u t h " (I Timothy 2 : 4 ) , t h a t they "may believe t h a t Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God: and t h a t believing, (they) may have life in his name" ( J o h n 20:31). "No man cometh to the F a t h e r , but by me," said Christ {John 14:- 6). He is "the way, and the t r u t h , and the l i f e " ( J o h n 14:6). He is the Word who "was in the begin- n i n g with God," in whom "was life, a n d the life was the light of men" .(John 1:2, 4). Only to those who receive Him as such does He gives "Power to be made the sons of God, to them t h a t believe in his n a m e " ( J o h n 1:12). This is the good tidings—the Gospel—which Christ commanded to be brought to the knowledge of every creature, to be f o r them a source of con- solation and a guide of action. F o r the Church is commissioned, not only to enlighten t h e mind, but also to instruct the will: "Going therefore, teach ye all nations: bap- tizing them in the name of the F a t h e r , and of the Son, and of t h e Holy Ghost. Teaching them to ob- serve all things whatsoever I have commanded you" (Matt. 28:19-20). There is the command of Christ. How has it beSn carried out? The Apostles took t h a t command liter- ally, and made t h e i r plans to c a r r y the Gospel to every known land. In the Acts of the Apostles we have a written account of the missionary journeys of St. Paul. The labors of the other Apostles in spreading the Kingdom of Christ are known mostly by tradition. Their suc- cessors carried on still f u r t h e r the work of extending the domain of the Church. It was particularly, however, the successors of St. Peter, the Prince of the Apostles, •who, as they undertook St. P e t e r ' s task of governing the Church, also undertook the principal obligation of spreading the Gospel. The peo- ples of Europe owe the Christian civilization and culture, f o r t h e preservation of which they are now fighting, chiefly to the zeal of the Bishops of Rome in spread- i n g , the Gospel of Christ. Thus we see Pope Celestine sending St. P a t - rick to preach the f a i t h in Ireland and Pope Gregory the Great send- ing St. Augustine-to labor f o r t h e conversion of England, and Pope Zachary strengthening the hand of St. Boniface in his labors among the F r a n k s , by investing him with the authority of Papal Delegate. Later we find the Popes St. Nich- olas I, Hadrian II, and John V I I I laying t h e foundations of Chris- t i a n i t y among the Slavic peoples by their approval and encouragement of the apostolic labors of SS. Cyril and Methodius. The people of t h e Scandinavian countries are indebt- ed to Pope Gregory IV who sent St. Anschar to b r i n g the knowledge of Christ to their ancestors. Final- ly, a permanent organization, the Congregation f o r the Propagation of the F a i t h , was established by Pope Gregory XV in 1622, f o r the express purpose of carrying on the missionary work of the Church in countries t h a t had not yet accepted Christianity. The last 150 years have wit- nessed a remarkable spreading of the Church throughout the entire world, and a constant increase in missionary spirit amongst clergy and people alike. Numerous congre- gations of men and women have sprung up, especially devoted to work in the Missions, thus provid- ing additional laborers to assist the members of the.older religious or- ders who have borne "the burden of the day and the heats," in gath- ering the harvest of the Lord. The people have assisted by providing f o r these soldiers of Christ the ma- terial sinews f o r the spiritual con- flict of wresting souls f r o m t h e grasp of Satan, and by praying t h e Lord to shed His grace in abun- dance both on His missionaries and on those f o r whom they labor. Grouped together in societies such as the Society f o r the Propaga- tion of the F a i t h , the Association of the Holy Childhood, and others too numerous to mention, t h e i r p r a y e r s and their alms have up- held the arms of the missionaries outstretched like Moses' to im- plore God's blessing on his people. The history of the missions in these later years shows how God has responded to these u n r e m i t t i n g efforts and these u n t i r i n g prayers, as little by little the Church ad- vances in her work of pushing Satan f r o m his last strongholds on earth, and establishing in his place, the Christ, t h e Son of God. That this work has advanced beyond mere infiltration into the enemy's lines, is evidenced by the spectacle of Chinese and Japanese, Indian and African, Malayan and Poly- nesian, offering up now, f o r their own people in their own lands, the self-same Sacrifice t h a t Christ Him- self offered in time gone by f o r all mankind on the a l t a r of the Cross. Scattered through these missionary lands are 7,000 native priests and 45 native bishops, with 12,500 na- tive seminarians offering abundant promise f o r t h e f u t u r e . As t h e Popes have frequently pointed out, the presence of native priests and bishops in a land is an evidence t h a t the Church has been estab- lished t h e r e on a solid foundation. The day when these pagan coun- t r i e s will be completely conquered f o r Christ is not here yet, but its sun is slowly beginning to appear above t h e horizon. It would be a mistake, however, to look only a t t h e b r i g h t side of t h e picture. The Church is on the offensive, it is true, but the road to final victory is long and tedious. Only a mere h a n d f u l of souls in these missionary countries have accepted the doctrines of Christ. Millions and millions of others have still never heard of His gracious Personality, and of His- yoke t h a t is sweet and His burden t h a t is light. They also must hear His voice and follow Him so t h a t there may be one Fold and one Shepherd. There are thou- sands of priests, brothers, and nuns laboring in many lands to en- lighten these children of God who have gone a s t r a y concerning t h e i r noble destiny, and to b r i n g them all to the "Shepherd and Bishop of their souls" (I Peter 2 : 2 5 ) . But other thousands are needed. There are thousands of f a i t h f u l souls at home leagued together to assist these missionaries by their prayers and contributions. Other thousands are needed to c a r r y on t h e work and keep it ever growing. This is the essential work of the Church, to make Christ's Person- ality known and His precepts obey- ed f r o m one end of the world to the other. Whatever else may have to be accorded attention because of the exigencies of time and place, t h e extension of Christ's Kingdom on earth must always receive full priority both in the allocation of the human agents who are to be God's instruments in t h i s regard, and in supplying these agents with all the material assistance they re- quire. The Church is animated with t h e sentiments of t h e g r e a t Apostle St. Paul, who wrote to the Corinthians: "If I preach the gospel, it is no glory to me, f o r a necessity lieth upon m e : f o r woe is unto me if I preach not the gospel" (I Cor. 9:16). Like him she considers herself a "debtor" to preach the Gospel "to the Greeks and to the barbarians, to the wise and the unwise" {Rom. 1:14). Those souls have caught the t r u e spirit of Christianity who a r e animated with a similar zeal to make Christ known and loved by all men. "How beautiful upon the moun- t a i n s , " says the prophet Isaias, "are the feet of him t h a t bringeth good tidings, and t h a t preacheth peace: of him t h a t sheweth f o r t h good, t h a t preacheth salvation, t h a t saith to Sion: Thy God shall r e i g n ! " (Is. 52:7). That is t h e work of the missionary as it was the work of Christ, to b r i n g to all men the good tidings of salvation. If t h a t supernatural message is accepted, in its entirety, by the nations as by individuals, the bless- ings of the natural order will fol- low perforce, and in much g r e a t e r measure than if they were made the p r i m a r y object of pursuit. It is only when the supremacy of the supernatural is recognized t h a t the natural can come to its full de- velopment. It is only when men give glory to God in the Highest t h a t they will have peace on the earth. In the philosophy of the Chris- tian mind, the improvement of the domestic, political, and internation- al relations of mankind is to be sought, not as an end in itself, but only as the by-product of man's betterment in the supernatural or- der. "Seek ye t h e r e f o r e first the kingdom of God, and his justice, and all these t h i n g s shall be added unto you," is the divine guarantee of the t r u t h of t h a t philosophy. The nations, however, have pre- f e r r e d to be guided by the p r u - dence of man f a t h e r t h a n by the wisdom of God. They have per- sisted in t h e i r r e f u s a l to accept the philosophy of Christ in this regard, and in t h e i r reluctance to carry out the course of action t h a t He advocates. They have rejected the supernatural bond of unity among men, and have placed their reliance instead on the material, on the existence of common inter- ests and common f e a r s . As the Lord said of old to the prophet J e r e m i a s : "My people have done two evils. They have forsaken me, the fountain of living water, and have digged to themselves cisterns, broken cisterns, t h a t can hold no w a t e r " (Jer. 2:13). In these days, therefore, when all men of good will are praying f o r the coming of peace, they should pray also f o r the coming of the Kingdom of Christ, both in the h e a r t s of those who have not yet heard of Him, and in the h e a r t s of those who have already accepted Christianity in theory, but shrink f r o m putting t h a t theory into prac- tice. The only peace worth having is the peace of Christ secured by the reign of Christ. Man's dream of everlasting peace among the nations of t h e world will remain only a dream until the individual nations and their lead- era recognize t h a t their power on earth is subject to a greater Power in Heaven; and un^il they ac- knowledge t h a t in making t h e i r decisions concerning the division and the regulation of the dominions of the earth, they must ever respect the rights, and obey the laws, of the supernatural Kingdom of Heaven. THE CATHOLIC HOUR 1 9 3 0 — F o u r t e e n t h Y e a r — 1 9 4 3 The nationwide Catholic Hour was inaugurated on March 2, 1930, by the National Council of Cath-olic Men in cooperation with the National Broad-casting Company and its associated stations. Radio facilities are provided gratuitously by NBC and the stations associated with it; the program is arranged and produced by NCCM. 00 i1"!1® C a t h o l i c H o u r was begun on a network of ¿1 stations, and now carries its message of Catho-hc truth on each Sunday of the year (and Good n n i f i n a n u m b e r of stations varying from 90 to 107, situated in 40 states, the District of Colum-bia, and Hawaii. Consisting of an address mainly expository, by one or another of America's leading Catholic preachers, and of sacred music provided usually by a unit of the Paulist Choir, the Catholic Hour has distinguished itself as one of the most pop-ular and extensive religious broadcasts in the world A current average of 41,000 audience letters a month' about twenty per cent of which come from listeners 01 other faiths, gives some indication of its DODular-lty and influence. Our Sunday Visitor Press Huntington, Indiana