The Church and the service men I THE CATHOLIC HOUR THE CHURCH AND THE SERVICE MEN BY REV. LAWRENCE F. SCHOTT Diocesan Military Deputy of the Diocese of Harrisburg. The last 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 31 , 1943 . National Coundl of Catholic Men Washington, D. C. THE CHURCH AND THE SERVICE MEN The towering shadow of Jesus Christ falls across the centuries dominating all men of all time. At the instance of His Heavenly Fath- er, the Son of God comes to earth to redeem the sinful souls of hu- manity; the merits of His death on the Cross overflow the demands of God's justice and the cleansing flood rushes back to purify those who preceded Christ in time, touches those who associated with Him during His brief visit to earth, and surges forth to cleanse the countless generations who will fol- low Him. Salvation is for all men and the normal channel by which God’s grace flows to souls is through the Church which Christ established for that purpose. The Son of God’s direct ministrations to souls on earth was of short duration ; Christ usually works in natural ways ; accordingly He founded an organ- ization which should carry on His mission—Christ established His Church which would be present eve- ry day of every year and would service with God’s grace all souls who came to it. Christ’s Church remains the same in every age; her foundation is the rock—Peter. The means of sanc- tification she is to administer were definitely established by her Divine Founder. There can be no change in the Church, the only adjustment that can be made to bring more grace to men’s souls is to arrange more methods by which more men can come more often to the faucets which lavishly pour their saving flood upon all souls within range of God’s beneficence. The Church will use every avenue possible to bring God’s grace to souls—^that is her only purpose of existence. Eve- rything not evil must be pressed into service so that no soul may perish from thirst in the desert of ordinary living. Those who are charged with the guidance of the Church have only one criterion for all their planning—will it bring more souls in contact with God’s grace? Every adjustment of the Church must be examined by this gauge and not be found wanting. In times of war, because the souls of so many young men go hurriedly and untimely before the Eternal Judge, it is critically important that no moment be lost in ushering souls into the Divine intimacy which is the state of grace. In times of peace we might tarry and experi- ment and delay; but promptness, even rapidity, is vital in an emer- gency. When the dark clouds that presaged war began to gather on the horizon, the Bishops of the United States, blessed with the spir- itual vision with which God endows their positions, designated as the organization which would serve as the Church’s special ^medium of charity to servicemen—^the Nation- al Catholic Community Service. In the first World War many dif- ferent agencies of the Church were active in bringing aid to the Ser- vicemen. Prominent among these groups were the National Catholic War Council, and the Knights of Columbus which merited the high praise of our men for their kind- ness and great generosity. In the present emergency, an inclusive or- ganization, comprising and coordi- nating all the facilities of the Church, was to be the instrument of the Church in marshalling all the abilities of every Catholic to the war effort. When the country needed help to enlist community resources so that the displacements of war might not work havoc in men's souls and in their- lives, the United Service Organization was founded and the National Catholic Community Ser- vice was the Member Agency of the Catholic people to participate in this aspect of war work. The U.S.O. is known now familiarly and affec- tionately around the world as the friend of those in the service of their country. It is a typically American organization for it rec- ognizes differences ; the six agencies which are united in this effort were not intended to lose their identity and all to be forced to conform to one set pattern (Our enemies use such tactics). America has room for diversified opinions—men respect the thoughts of others although they do not understand them. The N.C.C.S. is as Catholic as any Cath- olic American home—any American would feel at home in its clubs and expect to have his ordinary needs cared for, and a Catholic would find there those additional ministrations which satisfy his unique religious requirements. The N.C.C.S. serves soldiers, sailors, marines and air corps men —men and women war-workers in overburdened Communities—^women in the Service—and the wives and sweethearts of the servicemen. We can hardly imagine an Amer- ican home anywhere in this land which would not welcome those Americans who have been displaced by war-service or by war-work, and yet service 'men and women and war-workers would be reluctant to stop in and make demands on the ordinary home. Where the war impact has caused abnormal condi- tions, the U.S.O. is set up as the community home where all may have an opportunity to shield and shelter the strangers within our gates. This is the American way of bringing a home to all those who are forced by circumstances to be absent from their homes; this is the American way of reaching arms of mercy across the continent and enfolding all our loved ones in their charitable embrace. The number of Catholic young men and women in the Service of their country and on the assembly lines of our war industries is ex- ceedingly large in these United States. This is not too difficult to understand when we remember that Catholic families are comparatively large—it was revealed recently that from Brooklyn, N. Y., 10 Catholic families had each given 6 sons to their country's service ; the tragedy of the loss of the five Sullivan broth- ers is still fresh in all our minds. The Chaplains have already report- ed to you on the Catholic Hour and in other ways the response of these young people to their religion, when a priest is able to be with them; the National Catholic Community Service assists these Chaplains and helps to satisfy the religious needs of this constantly growing army. Because their needs are not only material but spiritual a priest is assigned as moderator for each of the centers. The Catholic has been trained to share his most intimate confidences with the priest and to follow his mature and experienced judgment in religious matters. Spir- itual difficulties and sin-laden souls may be righted through the use of the Sacrament of Penance. What peace of mind comes to the Cath- olic parents who receive a letter from their son or daughter telling them that they have righted things with God! Even the tone of a Gov- ernment telegram announcing the death of a beloved son is softened when the memory of this prepara- tion assures them of his eternal safety with God. Instruction and Counsel in religious matters can be given over a cup of hot coffee or in the midst of a boxing show or a basketball game ; much helpful advice can be preferred (and with- out repugnance to the listeners) as a priest sits through a movie with them or observes the gyrations of the latest jitterbug artists. Neglec- ted Confirmation can be remedied, marriages properly prepared and witnessed, frequency at the Sacra- ments encouraged and arranged, and the whole stream of religious knowledge and practice widened and deepened. The priest usually finds himself a most welcome visitor to their group, he understands them, he respects their confidences, he is empowered with the spiritual means to renew and increase grace in their souls—^the priest i^ a friendly bond with their homes, he is the familiar chain which ties them to God—he is loved—^he is used—and that is reason enough for his fatherly interest in these- clubs. Do others feel displaced as such attention is meted out to the Cath- olic visitors? No, each receives ex- actly what he chooses. The wide and mature experience of the priest is available—they need but to ask for it, as they soon learn. They are encouraged to give religion first place in their lives according to the light of their own consciences. In addition to the religious aids which are available in these clubs, there is a constant program of wholesome recreation which drives away homesickness and brings for- getfulness of military routine and gives an outlet for the normal zest- ful activity of young people. Our hostesses, knowing the weakness of every man, young and old, have pre- pared and served oceans of coffee and mountains of food like mother used to make. In our work religion is under- stood to be an intelligent design for living and riot a matter of an hour’s endurance on a Sunday morning. The young men and women, whom we serve, are doing a great deal of serious thinking and they must come to some reasonable solutions or they become bitter and frus- trated. God, and souls, and re- ligion must fit into the pattern of life or we are existing in a mad- house. The war and fighting and death must have some deep spir- itual significance or everything is hopeless. In the charity-in-action of this work a new stress is placed upon the second of God’s two in- clusive commandments—the love of neighbor—and a new understanding is achieved of the reason for this human love in our love of God. Building upon these firm founda- tions, tolerance and cooperation re- ceive a new interpretation and meaning. That the service men and women understand and appreciate these clubs is evidenced by their own words. From England comes this com- ment : '‘Six weeks ago I visited your club, it was the first time in my life that I was personally intro- duced to charity, ate charity, slept charity, lived charity—this sort of thing gives us, who are now fight- ing, new hope that there’s going to be a lot of charity around in the world we are trying to build for our tomorrows. God bless you all and keep you helping us boys.” From Africa a very frequent visitor of old writes : “Your U.S.O. brought home to me the real meaning of equality and fraternity. There we had an organization operated by the National Catholic Community Service, that represented only one of the many religions of the world. It must be said that to your organ- ization, there was only one thing important, the comfort and peace of mind of a soldier. Be he Cath- olic, Protestant, Jew, Atheist, Heathen, or what ; be he black, white, brown, red or even yellow, it made no difference, we were all the same and in the same boat. Equality, fraternity, these two words never fitted any other organ- ization more than they do your U.S.O. Prom you I learned their true meaning, and a lesson never to be forgotten/' Never a day goes by that some- one who has been benefited by the U.S.O. does not write back to these clubs to give emphatic ex- pression of gratitude. They will always remember the kindness that greeted them in the strange land of being away from home; the U.S.O. was their other-home, their travelling-home, their * home near the camp. The virtues that we ex- pect in homes of Americans must always be prominent in these sub- stitute homes—^we want these fu- ture fathers and mothers to under- stand what their country values, what they are fighting for, and what must be present in their post- war homes. The National Catholic Community Service is endeavoring in its own way to impress upon everyone who comes into contact with it that religious living—pay- ing to God and to every man what is their just due—is the only stable foundation for our beloved country. America must show the way; we must not only feed and clothe the bodies of a war-shattered world but we must understand and direct and service the souls of a bewildered populace. The Spiritual works of Mercy are more important than the corporal works of mercy—the soul is of infinitely more value than the body. It is a deposit in soul-divi- dends that National Catholic Com- munity Service is making now, it is an investment in soul-bonds which is being made by devoted staffs and faithful volunteers and generous contributors. The fighting fronts of the world are manned by boys who carry happy memories of the home-fronts where it touched and sustained and supported them —their U.S.O. Clubs. May the vir- tues that must be practiced in order to carry out this assignment effec- tively, sparkle and impress and attract so that they are woven pat- terns of future living. The Nat- ional Catholic Community Service is alleviating suffering, dispensing charity, nurturing patriotism, deep- ening spirituality, in short doing God's work among men. And He, the Omniscient and Omnipotent God, for Whom all this is being done, will be His own reward to those whose hearts and hands bleed with charity towards those who need it. V f I' THE CATHOLIC HOUR 1930—Fourteenth Year—1943 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. The Catholic Hour was begun on a network of 22 stations, and now carries its message of Catho- lic truth on each Sunday of the year (and Good Friday) through a number 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 of other faiths, gives some indication of its popular- ity and influence. Our Sunday Visitor Press Huntington, Indiana