Courage or Crucifixion


THE CATHOLIC HOUR

COURAGE OR CRUCIFIXION
BY

REV. MSCR. T. JAMES McNAMARA
Superintendent of Schools in the Diocese of

Savannah-Atlanta

. HOV 1 9 1341

The first in a series of four addresses, delivered in the Catholic Hour,
broadcast by the National Broadcasting Company in cooperation with
the National Council of Catholic Men on November 3, 1946, by Rev.
Msgr. T. James McNamara, Superintendent of Schools in the diocese of
Savannah-Atlanta. After the series has been concluded on the radio, it
will be made available in one pamphlet.

National Council of Catholic Men
Washington, D. C.



COURAGE OR CRUCIFtXION
Dear Fellow Americans : It

was in the first year of the min-

istry of Jesus Christ. The Mas-

ter had already declared Him-

self, when in driving the huck-

sters from the Temple, He had
dramatized His utter contempt

of those who would use religion

to achieve illicit and unjust

gains. The Sanhedrin, the Su-

preme Council of the Jews, had

on a former occasion sent an

embassy to John the Baptist

which had enabled the Precursor

to declare himself and at the

same time to bring into bold re-

lief the greatness of Jesus. ^‘He

it is who is to come after me,
who has been set above me, the

strap of whose sandal I am not
worthy to loose’’ {John 1: 27).

Now there comes to Him one
from the Sanhedrin, Nicodemus,

a rich man who was influential
in Jerusalem not only by reason

of his wealth of worldly posses-

sions but also because of his

high order of intelligence and

his distinction of noble rank.

Witness to the wonderous

deeds done in Jerusalem by

Jesus, Nicodemus had decided

his belief in Christ. Deep, deep

down in his heart there was the

conviction, but yet as the his-

torian narrates, 'This man came
to Jesus by night, and said to

Him: Rabbi, we know that thou

art come a teacher from God;

for no man can do these signs
which thou dost, unless God be

with him” {John 3: 2).

As Nicodemus was taking his

leave of Jesus the dawn was

lighting up the Eastern sky.

Through the night position and

conviction had struggled for su-

premacy in this man’s soul.

Jesus made one last exhortation

to strengthen this vacillating

man. "Thou art a teacher in

Israel and dost not know these

things? Amen, amen, I say to

thee we speak of what we know
and we bear witness to what we

have seen; and our witness you

do not receive. If I have spoken

of earthly things to you, and you

do not believe, how will you be-

lieve if I speak to you of heaven-

ly things?” {John 3: 10-12).

And behold, the Saviour con-
cluded, the cause of judgment!

"The light has come into the

world, yet men have loved the.
darkness rather than the light,

for their works were evil. For

everyone who does evil hates the
light, and does not come to the

light that his deeds may not be
exposed. But he who does the
truth comes to the light that his

deeds may be made manifest, for
they have been performed in



God^^ {John 3: 19-21). Nico-

demus stole away not only from

the presence of Jesus but tried

likewise to steal away from the

insistent promptings within his

mind and heart.

It would seem that something

in the nature of a parallel could

be observed between the history

of Nicodemus and the history of

our Country in which values

that were so clearly stated at its

founding have been progressive-

ly lost sight of with the passing

of the' years. Let our prayer be

that we will not have to suffer

crucifixion in order to * declare

our conviction as a Nation. As

our Country seeks to bind up the

wounds of a stricken world and

seeks likewise to establish this

wounded world on the secure

props of true democracy, it be-

comes increasingly evident that

she suffers from not having

formulated her basic premises

into a philosophy of government.

When our representatives sit
in conference with delegates of

foreign powers and work with

them to establish a new world
order out of which will come the

promise of a peace nostalgically

longed for by men everyivhere,
they are at a disadvantage.

Foreign representatives possess

a political philosophy different

from our own and they know

well the ends they seek, the

means to achieve those ends and

more important the ''why'’ of

these ends and means. Theirs is

a philosophy in action.

It is true that we can speak
emotionally in terms of Demo-

cracy, Liberty and Freedom but

we find these terms flung back

at us with entirely different

connotations. I do not doubt the

sincerity of tho«e who use these
terms differencly. In their

scheme of living words have

taken on a new meaning and old

values, rooted in absolute truth,

have become obscure because

the substance that gives them

meaning and vitality has been

watered down until they remain

but emotional catch-phrases
emptied of the persuasive force

of truth.

"We hold these truths to be
self-evident,” so believed and so

stated the founding Fathers of

our country, self-evident, ad-

mitting of no contradiction,

carrying within themselves the

force of persuasiveness. Tliose

with whom our country must
build if there is to be One World

and peace in that world, even

though they use our terminology

by way of comment on this most
fundamental declaration of our

country’s profession, in effect

say "so what,”^ to use a collo-

quialism. It is tragic but it is



true that their casual and sear-

ing retort finds a re-echoing re-

response in many quarters

throughout our land.

Thank God this re-echoing re-

sponse does not come from the

minds and the hearts of the

school children of America.

These minds and these hearts,

untouched by the pragmatism of

a callous world, still cling at

least emotionally to the princi-

ples which have made our coun-

try the highest exemplar of

human liberty among the na-

tions of the world. When I say

the school children of America

I do not speak simply of those of

tender years but I refer as well

to those young people who are

fast approaching the end of

their formal academic training

but whose maturing years have

not blighted the vision of youth.

I recall, if I may speak per-

sonally, a meeting which I at-

tended on the campus of a

Teachers’ College in our South-

land. The meeting was called by

a religious organization which

enjoyed the prestige of faculty

recognition, and in attendance by

invitation were faculty and stu-

dent representatives interested

in the spiritual welfare of the

student body. Likewise in at-

tendance were the ministers of

the city in which the college was

located and the speaker, a Cath-

olic priest. The student body
numbering some sixteen hun-

dred represented a good cross-

section of the state and the col-

lege itself was state supported.

The .students for the most part

were members of the major non-
Catholic denominations.

In addressing the meeting the

speaker remarked that the

youngster of today is not unlike

the youngster of the generations

which have gone before him, for

he too wants to believe. His

heart likewise reaches out in its

quest for an explanation of

things. • He differs from those
who have gone before in that he
does not accept on the testimony

of his elders but wants to know
the why and the wherefore of
Faith. Emotionally he still

clings to the values which give

meaning to his way of life but
he lacks the training to estab-

lish these values intellectually.

By way of illustration it was
pointed out that the youngster

of today wants to come to real-

ize that Christ Jesus is not only

a powerful emotional factor but

is, indeed, an historical reality

concerning Whom history bears
clearer and more irrefutable

testimony than it does of any

other whose name adorns its
pages. As the speaker continued

to describe students and youths

generally, as he had come to



know them from close obser-

vation and intimate conver-

sation, he was interrupted by a

student who exclaimed enthusi-
astically: ‘‘That* is what we

want, just as Father has de-

scribed. Too many people come
out of homes where emotional-

ism serves as the basis of Faith.

We want reasons for believing.''

And reasons there are, so
solidly grounded in common

sense and so firmly established

in correct thinking that the

Founding Fathers of America

could say of those which were to

constitute the fundamentals of

the nation’s political structure

that they are self-evident truths,

admitting of no contradiction,

convincing by their very nature.

Now these reasons, these
truths are challenged, challenged

as never before in the history of

Christian civilization, challenged

by a philosophy of negation in

action, a philosophy which by its

very denials is a complete con-

tradiction to all that is implied

in the phrase, the American

Way, but which uses our termin-

ology to confuse us and to ac-

hieve its ends.

Why does this philosophy suc-
ceed in confusing us even as it

uses our own terminology? Be-

cause we, as a nation, have con-

tented ourselves with an emo-

tional acceptance of these truths.

religious truths mind you, which

are the bases of the American

Way of Life. We, as a nation,
have not been confronted until

now with the necessity of ration-
alizing these truths.

Catholic schools teach the re-

ligious principles which inspired

our form of government and

upon which its survival depends.

The graduates of Catholic

schools view in the perspective

of religion the duties and privi-

leges of American citizenship.

Their understanding of citi-

zenship is by no means alien to
the American tradition in edu-

cation; even a casual reference

to the history of American edu-

cation will reveal that the Amer-
ican schools which our founding

fathers attended laid great

stress upon religious instruction

as an indispensable element of

training for citizenship. Were
it not for the hysterical bigotry

of the Civil War period, re-
ligious instruction would never

have been banned from the
public schools. Indeed, the uttei

secularization of contemporary

public education has far outrun

the intention of the sincere men
who tried to quell sectarian con-
tentions by eliminating religion

from the public school. Many
clergymen and educators are
now agreed that the whole ques-
tion of the relationship of re-



ligion to public education needs

to be reexamined in the light of

present-day conditions. We can-
not trust the future of America

to religious illiterates.

Despite their fundamental

differences, the public schools

and private schools conducted

by religious denominations are

not competing institutions. The

private schools are not needless

duplications of the public edu-

cational facilities, nor are they

a divisive force in the commun-
ity. On the contrary, the two
systems of education, public

and private, are partners in

American education. The two

are related by a common public
purpose, the training of the

American citizen and by mutual

helpful contact which frequently

draws together representatives

of the two systems in projects

for the social betterment of the

community.

In fact, democracy in Amer-

ican education is safeguarded by

the continued existence of two

systems of education—both ap-

proved by the State, both aware

of their important public obli-

gations, both enjoying full free-

dom from control of one by the
other. Eliminate the private re-

ligious schools, and the result in

American education is uniform-

ity. In that event, education

would become the potential tool

of the destructive influence of

totalitarian rule, wherein one

party, the Government's Party,

alone^has the right of suffrage;

wherein the citizen conforms or

suffers liquidation.

The observance of American

Education Week should prompt
the thoughtful citizen, and God
knows each citizen should be

thoughtful, to evaluate anew in
the light of threatened changes

in our world's political thinking,

the Educational System of to-

day. This is imperative because

out of this system will come the

guardians of tomorrow's liber-

ties and tomorrow's freedoms.

Either we of today stand guard
now or tomorrow we may stand
atop another Calvary at the foot

of another cross.

Crucifixion is a threatening

and discouraging term but no

more threatening and discour-

aging than current newspaper

headlines. Perhaps crucifixion

will prove the crucible out of

which will be distilled with

greater clarity our Country's

basic political philosophy. Cruci-

fixion must inevitably follow un-

less the genesis of our Country's

ideals and standards is ration-

ally understood by the rank and

file of our citizens.

Let us ask ourselves again if

there can be a parallel between

the history of Nicodemus and



the history of our own country

as she seeks to hold fast to her

political convictions. Until now

those political convictions have

not been formulated into a dis-

tinctive philosophy of govern-

ment. Because of hostile groups

among her citizenry our Coun-

try has been fearful of making

a forthright declaration of the

truths which give meaning to

her aspirations. Must we, per-

force, as a people, stand at the

foot of a cross before we will
openly declare our convictions?

God spare us crucifixion!



3^37fi6

THE CATHOLIC HOUR
1930—Seventeenth Year—1946

The nationwide Catholic Hour was inaugurated on
March 2, 1930, by the National Council of Catholic Men
in cooperation with the National Broadcasting Company
and its associated stations. Radio facilities are provided
by NBC and the stations associated with it; the pro-
gram is arranged and produced by NCCM.

The Catholic Hour was begun on a network of 22
stations, and now carries its message of Catholic truth
on each Sunday of the year through a number of sta-
tions varying from 90 to 110, situated in 40 states, the
District of Columbia, and Hawaii. Consisting usually
of an address, mainly expository, by one or another of
America's leading Catholic preachers—^though some-
times of talks by laymen, sometimes of dramatizations
—and of sacred music provided by a volunteer choir,
the Catholic Hour has distinguished itself as one of the
most popular and extensive religious broadcasts in the
world. An average of 100,000 audience letters a year,
about twenty per cent of which come from listeners of
other faiths, gives some indication of its popularity and
influence.

Our Sunday Visitor Press
Huntington, Indiana