Personality for leadership : a discussion outline


St. Louis 8, Mo,3742 West Pine Boulevard

A DISCUSSION OUTLINE

Richard L . Rooney 5.J.



Imprimi potest

:

Peter Brooks, S. J.

Praep. Prov. Missourianae

Nihil obstat:

Edward G. Murray

Censor Librorum

Imprimatur

:

William Cardinal O'Connell

Archiepiscopus Bostoniensis

Bostoniensis, die 9 Julii 1943

First printing, November 1943

Any financial profit made by
the Central Office of the Sodality

will be used for the advancement

of the Sodality Movement and the

cause of Catholic Action .

Copyright 1943

THE QUEEN'S WORK, Inc.

Dmcmed



By Way of an Introduction
The war into which the United States has been plunged has

brought to light the need not merely for arms and men both on
the firing line and in the factories but for leaders, for men who
can go before others and bring them to victory. Even now as
we look ahead, we can see the still greater need that there will
be for other leaders to guide us on from victory to a peace

which will be just and lasting.

When the final gun has been fired and the last warplane
grounded, the last bomb dropped and the last corpse buried,
the work of rebuilding the world will begin. That reconstruc-
tion is going to fall into the hands of one of two major groups:
Perhaps the world will be rebuilt by men like those who
attempted it after World War I, men who had forgotten the
words of Christ, '‘Without me you can do nothing” (the present
conflict is but a result of their former flimsy reconstruction ) , On
the other hand the world can and should be rebuilt by Christians
who can rear the new order on the rock that is Christ, on His
person and His example and His teaching.

If Christians are to do the work that Christ is giving them
to do during the war and after the war, they must be leaders.
If they are to be leaders, then they must have the personalities
of leaders. It is the object of the present discussion outline to

put in the hands of Christians pointers to such natural and
supernatural aids as will enable them to develop truly Christian,
that is, Christlike personalities. It is only when we are at one
in every way with the divine carpenter of the universe that we
can hope to build a world fully dedicated to God and Christ.
It is only when the world is so dedicated that we can hope, not
for the sword, but for peace.

Two Extremes to Avoid

As of Catholicism itself, so of the Catholic leader: An out-
standing characteristic must be balance, the walking of the
middle course, the avoidance of extremes.

— 3 —



in Catholic lay leadership there are two faults that must be
shunned* The first of these is the overrating of the value of
natural effort. The work that we do is a supernatural work.
Hence it calls for supernatural means. It requires a completely
supernaturalized cast of mind and heart. It demands that we
be habitually in the state of grace, that we use to the best of our
abilities such means as the Mass and Holy Communion, prayer,
penance, mortification, study, reading, discussion— all to make
ourselves as Christlike as possible and hence truly Christ-usable.
Mere natural activity, no matter how varied or how strenuous,
will never enable us to bring others closer to Christ— the aim of
all Catholic leadership.

The second danger that must be skirted is that of over-
exaggerated supernaturalism. Great harm has been done to the
cause of Christ because men and women have forgotten that
though man has been lifted to a supernatural plane of activity
and destiny he is still equipped with human nature. It is good
to pray for someone's conversion; it is better still to join to that

prayer such words and works as will urge the other on to an
about-face toward conversion. But even this is of little worth
if the man is hungry, if he is worried about his bills, if he can-
not see a gain for himself in the immediate now as well as in
the ultimate then.

With these things in mind we have divided this outline in
such a way that six of the discussions are given over to such
natural helps toward personality and leadership as will give a
good foundation for the supernatural grace-helps, which take

up the second half of the booklet.

Your Equipment

The instruments needed for a profitable use of the present
outline are simple enough. All that you require are . . .

A group of people interested in improving their personali-
ties for leadership.

A set time during which to get together to discuss these
means of improvement.

The laboratory of one's own heart and the lives of others
with whom you come in contact.

— 4 —



A copy of the New Testament*
A notebook divided in such a way that you can jot down

in one part observations that you find pertinent to the life
that is going on within you and in the other part findings on
others' reactions.

“Blood and sweat and tears/' through which you set about
to translate the ideas that you receive here into terms of
everyday living.

Organization: a discussion leader, and a secretary who
will take notes of the ideas expressed during the discussions

and digest them in such a way that they will be at the
disposal of anyone in the group at any time.

5 -





DISCUSSION I

WE PICTURE A LEADER

At the opening of the first meeting it will be well for
you to realize that if the discussion is to profit everyone
it is essential that everyone there give his or her ideas.

Nothing else is more dismal than a discussion group
which refuses to discuss.

Ready, leader? Ready, secretary? Alert, everybody?
All right; let's go!

As a starter discuss the following questions:

1. What do you mean by a leader? by leadership?

2. What do you mean by personality?

3. What traits should a leader possess if he is to draw
others to follow him?

Now compare your ideas with the following. Where
do you agree? Where do you disagree? Who is right?
why?

L The Leader

Someone has said that a leader is one who knows where he
wants to go and how to get there, who goes that way himself,
and who knows and goes so well that he shows that way to
others who follow after him.

He is then a person possessed of such character, conduct,
and achievement that he stands out from the mob, from the
common run, obliging others to recognize his superiority and
drawing at least one person to follow after him in character,
conduct, and achievement. There are really many types of
leaders: the vibrant, dominant type; the man who is quiet,
persevering; the charming type; the dignified almost aloof per-
son. Each of them, you find, leads others successfully.

A study of such men however shows that they all possess in
common certain traits, certain characteristics.

— 7 —



2* His Qualities

1. Mental . . *

He has good intelligence, a definite knowledge of his aim,
a clear certainty about the means to get to it, a deft use
of those means, a sincere and unselfish knowledge of and
interest in others,

2. Volitional (character) . .

Convictions: certain truths which have been seen, known,
grasped; certain values which have been realized; cer-
tain truths and values which have gripped him and by
which he will live and die.

Consecration: an utter, whole-souled devotion to his cause;
a willingness to give of time, attention, energies, his

very lifeblood to the pursuit of that cause.

Courage: absolute fidelity to his trust despite any and all
obstacles; the kind of fearlessness which, though perhaps
afraid to go forward, will go nevertheless.

Constancy: an imperishable patience and perseverance
that not only will not quit until the work is done but will
not be diverted for long—not by failure, mistakes, set-
backs, or personal gain — from the high purpose set
before him.

3. Emotional . . .

He has a tireless enthusiasm for the success of his cause;
a deep confidence in that cause, in himself, and in his
abilities; a sure faith in the fundamental soundness of

human nature; a flaming loyalty to that cause and a
deep love of his followers.

4. Corporal . . .

Good health is the ordinary foundation of energy, anima-
tion, vitality, aliveness, enthusiasm, straight thinking, the

ability to work long and hard.

3. Summary

Somewhere in one of his books Father Raoul Plus, S. J., has

summed up this matter of qualifications by saying, “At the
present day . . . unless a man can fulfill an office with tact,

— 8 —



delicacy, kindness, disinterestedness, calm resolution tempered
with imperturbable good humor, a clear understanding of men
and their needs and difficulties, of their extraordinary sensitive-
ness, it is better that he forego the honor [of leadership] and
remain in obscurity,

”

Discussion

1. Does the above pictured outline of a leader dis-
courage you?

2. Let each one in the group go through that outline
again. Let him rate himself as follows on each of
the points mentioned there: possession to a high

degree, 90 to 100; a goodly amount, 80 to 90; fair,

70 to 80; passable, 60 to 70, If you come below
that, you flunk! Divide the total score for each sec-
tion by the number of items rated. Then divide
the combined scores of the main sections by four.
This will give you the percentage of leadership that
is yours at present. In judging yourselt, look more
to possibilities than to actual achievements ar thib

point. Put these scores aside in your notebook and
compare them with those that you give yourselves
at the end of the discussion, when you will make
this test again.

3. If the group isn't too large, each member might rate
each other member there. If there is the fear of
family ructions as a result of this procedure, names
need not be signed to the ratings.

Note: The advantage of such ratings lies in this:
First the aim at which you are shooting, r.e., leadership,
is clearly laid before you; second you see how far you
have to go to achieve it; third your strong and your
weak points are brought out in bold—and perhaps
chilling— relief. You know now what you must work
on in yourself in a special way.

— 9 —



DISCUSSION II

THE MAN CHRIST JESUS, MODEL OF
OUR LEADERSHIP

L Something to Remember

It is a fact of sound psychology backed by experience in liv-
ing that a breathing, flesh-and-blood ideal is a better and an
easier model to follow than is an abstract principle. It is one
thing to talk about justice, purity, humility in the speculative,

theoretical order; they have their attractiveness there, but they
do not move us profoundly. It is quite a different thing to meet
a just or humble woman or a pure man, to see these same virtues
in a person. Translated into terms of human life and living,
such people attract and draw us. The orator has his part to
play in the world of men; he can affect us. But it is the saint
who really stirs us. On the other hand the sinner, the grafting
politician, the bedizened, lustful woman, the proud man, the
miser gloating over his gold—these all repel us more than would
the discussed sins in a hundred sermons.

Discussion

L Is it true, what has just been said here?

2. Why do men more than principles draw us?
3. Let each in the group give at least one example of

how another person more than some principle of
action has influenced him for good or evil.

2 Our Unique Ideal

Because God made us, He knows our frame. He knows that
abstract truths often leave us cold and inert while an attractive,

inspiring person can rouse us to take heaven by violence. It is

for this reason that the Father sent His divine Son to be our

unique ideal.

And He is unique because He alone is the way to the Father.
Nobody goes to Him except through “the Man Christ Jesus.

”

He is unique because He alone is the one completely perfect
human being that the world has ever seen.

— 10



He is unique as our model because it is He alone whom we
must follow. All others are but second-rate.

He is unique because unlike all other models He not only
offers Himself as our exemplar, but He also gives us the grace
to follow and imitate Him. It is as though the man who
modeled for Phidias came down from his stand and also guided
the sculptor's hand and hammer and chisel and eye. Or again
a child learns how to walk by watching his mother. But the
mother also has to hold him up at first and guide his wobbling
footsteps.

Finally Christ is unique because, though He used the highest
of supernatural gifts to redeem men, He balanced this use
perfectly by employing also the best of human means—even
though some of these means went contrary to human nature:
for example poverty, humility, apparent failure, a cruel cross.

Our leadership is not that of the businessman selling his
goods, nor of the demagogue using people for his own selfish
ends, nor of the Army or Navy officer issuing commands. Ours
is rather the leadership of the apostle who would draw others
to Christ, to His ideas and ideals and way of life. There is but
one way for us to achieve this kind of leadership: It is to develop
within ourselves such qualities of personality as Christ Himself

possessed. When we are like Him, then we can draw others
to Him. If we are to run to the fight proposed to us, we must
do it while we are looking on the man Jesus Christ.

3* As It So You

Looking on Jesus then as might a nonbelieving psychologist,
we can draw in the following lines which mark Him out as a
great leader, as the leader of leaders.

Christ Our Lord had . . .

1. Great bodily health and energy.

For years He was a carpenter, which means that He
had to become inured to hard labor. This apprentice-
ship of work had made Him hardy in body so that He
was able to go for a long time without food; to sleep in
the open; to journey extensively (on one occasion He
walked uphill from Jericho to Jerusalem, a distance of
fifteen miles and a climb of three thousand feet, in about

— 11 —



six hours); to deal with the pushing, shoving mobs; to
bear the dangers and the tensions of conflict with His
enemies. Nothing else requires more physical stamina
than do mental and emotional clashes. He knew the
weariness and fatigue and discouragement of long hours
of trying to teach others the way to heaven, hours of
ingratitude and stupidity and desertion.

2. Absolute clarity of mind and sure knowledge of His aims.

From the very first, when He had been lost for three
days and His parents found Him in the Temple, Christ
knew the end and aim of His life. “Did you not know
that I must be about my Father's business?" His meat.
His aim. His one great passion in life was to do the
Father's will.

In Christ there is a thrilling lack of fogginess or

obscurity of ideas, of hesitation, of indecision. He saw
His goal and marched straight toward it without being
turned to right or to left.

3. Certainty about the rightness of His methods.

Just one example among many: He promised that He
would give His disciples His flesh to eat and His blood
to drink. Some of them found it a hard saying to swal-
low. Did he therefore change His statement? Did He
compromise? Not a bit of it. He let His statement stand.

Never once did Christ reverse a decision.

Never once did He say He had made a mistake. Even
though Peter would have turned Him from it as from
folly. He strode on to the cross and His crucifixion,
knowing that it was only when He had been lifted up
that He would draw all men to Himself.

4. Complete poise: an unruffled finality of will, an unbending

fixity of purpose.

Christ saw, knew, accepted without wavering the

Father’s will even though it meant His own cruel death.
Opposition from His friends, who called Him a madman,
and denial by Peter, betrayal by Judas, desertion by the

other Apostles save John did not deter Him. The hatred
of His enemies, which finally tracked Him down and put

— 12 —



Him to death, could not bend Him from the achieving
of His goal.

5. A calm strength giving Him an air of command which
others accepted willingly.

See Him before the cowed buyers, sellers, and priests
in the Temple, which He has just cleansed. See Him
calling the Apostles one by one with a simple 'Come,
follow me/ Watch Him in the presence of the great.
Hear Him ordering the devils about or quietly stating,
"But I say to you . . .”

6. A tremendously strong manly appeal and attractiveness
drawing others by reason of what He is as much as by
reason of what He does and says.

Just one example of this is seen in the way the
Apostles followed after Him. Another in the way the
crowds thronged about Him, going without food in order
to be near Him.

7. A deep understanding of human beings and a strong sym-
pathy with them.

Instances of this are too numerous to mention. These
qualities shine out in the Sermon on the Mount, His
dealings with the Apostles, His blasting of the Pharisees,
His treatment of Magdalen, His frequent appeals to
Judas, His gentleness with the Apostles asleep in the
Garden of Gethsemani, His breakfast for the tired fisher-
men on the lakeshore.

8. An effective approach to men, fitting His words and His
teaching to the capacity of His listeners.

Christ was completely in touch with all reality. He
belonged to every man and to the whole man ... to man's
poverty and blindness, to his sorrows and joys and hopes
and aspirations and littlenesses. He touched everything
in life, from birth to play to work to marriage to death.

He was accused of consorting with sinners, with whom
He could talk with ease. Yet He talked with equal ease
with the rich and learned Nicodemus.

He pointed His sublimest doctrines with homely
familiar things such as fig trees and lilies and mustard

— 13 —



seeds and vines, old clothes and wine bottles, sunshine
and houses and moats and beams, great suppers and
lost groats, sparrows and falling hair and a daily wage.

9.

An unquenchable patience which precluded any over-
anxiety for quick results.

10. Tremendous enthusiasm for His cause and love of His
followers which prevented Him from ever forcing them or
being soured by them.

All this shines out in His tireless labors, His putting
up with everyone and everything, His impartiality.

11. A spirit of tireless labor and undying perseverance.

4 Conclusion

The better I know Christ, the closer I come to Him, the more
I absorb His teaching, the more perfectly I approach Him in
likeness— especially in the great leader-qualities outlined above

—the more effective will be my own leadership with and in and
for and to Him.

Discussion

1. Why begin a course like this with a study of
Christ's leadership?

2. Is it true that because Christ was divine we cannot
hope to follow Him in His leading of others to the
Father?

3. State clearly Christ’s uniqueness as a model. Give

other parallels, real or imaginary, to illustrate this

uniqueness.

4. Can we imitate Him in this uniqueness?
5. Where can you find Christ your model?
6. Either correct or add to the above-mentioned quali-

ties which you think are essential to leadership.
7. Add five other qualities not mentioned which you

consider nonessential but great assets for the

leader.

8. Let the leader of the discussion group divide the

members into four small sections and assign to
each section one of the four Gospels. The section

— 14 —



members are to read the assigned Gospel with an
eye to concrete instances—other than those given

—of leader-qualities found in Our Lord.

9. These findings should be used as discussion mate-
rial until all four Gospels have been covered thor-

oughly, If this is not feasible, each of the following

discussions can be begun with a report from one of
the sections until all are completed.

DISCUSSION III

KNOW THYSELF!
L Report

. . . By one of the subcommittees on some phase of Christ's
leadership qualities that are found in His life as it is given in

the New Testament.

2 Self-knowledge Needed for Leadership

Before a man can make use of an instrument of any kind,
a hairbrush, a stove, a hand grenade, a needle, he must know
what it is for and how it works. Otherwise he is liable to try
to shave ice with a razor or wave hair with a waffle iron.

Before a man can make use of himself and of his own per-
sonality to lead others to Christ, he must know himself. He
must know his strong points and his weak points, his assets
and liabilities of attractiveness and influence. He cannot take
any steps toward leadership, nor can he hope for any personality
improvement, without a personal knowledge of himself.

3* The Value of This Self-knowledge

Since we are only human, we are always perfectible; we can
always advance, go forward, improve our personalities. Given
the knowledge of ourselves that we need and the knowledge
of how to better ourselves, we shall go striding ahead where
once either we were motionless or we only crept along.

Further: Since we are all amazingly alike beneath our indi-
vidual differences, time and energy spent in coming to know
and change ourselves will aid us greatly in coming to know and

— 15 —



deal with others. Fundamentally what draws or repels us draws
or repels others too.

Project

The preceding discussions have given you some
notions of yourself. They have widened your horizons
of knowledge of that same self—subconsciously at
least. Just for the sake of getting an idea of how much
or how little you know yourself however, ask yourself,
each one individually: “How well do I talk?” Give
yourself a percentage rating on your answer. Then
check yourself honestly with the following test.

My Voice.
. . t

in the matter of pitch is:

too high too low

... in the matter of inflection is:
monontonous overdone

... in the matter of volume is:
too great too little

unvaried

inappropriately varied (I whisper an an-

nouncement; I shout a secret.

)

... in the matter of quality is:

breathy harsh muffled

nasal thin flat rich

... in the matter of tempo is:

too rapid (machine-gun fireish)

too slow (I d-r-a-g t-h-i-n-g-s!

)

not adapted to changes in meaning (I speak

at the same rate of speed for something fast and
exciting as for something slow and solemn.)

clipped (as in Boston) drawled (as in

Alabama

)

marked with pauses which are too long
too short too frequent misplaced

My Articulation
... in the matter of enunciation is:

indistinct

overprecise

— 16



. . . in the matter of pronunciation is:

poor

average

always right

The results of this test will probably make you
voice-conscious- They will show you that in one field
at least you have been taking yourself for granted - . .
when there should have been some changes made, (As
a help toward the latter, we suggest the following
books: “Your Voice Personality,” by Loraine Osborn

($2-00), and “20,000 Words Often Mispronounced,”
by W- Phyfe ($2-50), both published by G- P- Put-
nam’s Sons, New York-)

4* Meet Yourself

Strangely enough most people have to be introduced not only
to others but to themselves- They have to meet themselves.
Not only that: They must be shown how they can come to
know themselves- They have to learn what they are and how
and why they act as they do, first as human beings and then
as these particular persons.

One of the best ways to come to this knowledge of oneself
and to sweep away all self-delusion and to bring oneself starkly
face to face with oneself is to make for as many days as pos-
sible the Spiritual Exercises of St. Ignatius- (The members of
the group might take a vote right here as to the possibilities of
their making a retreat.) The full force of those same Exercises
is felt only when they are made for the allotted thirty days
envisaged by the saint- Since such a retreat is an obvious
impossibility for most people, some of the methods used in the
Exercises can be adapted for use in a discussion group like the
one here assembled. These amount to the following.

1. Knowing oneself as a human being.

2. Knowing oneself as this unique person you call you, by:

a. contact with other and greater personalities . . .

b. self-examination . . .

c. testing . . .

d. suggestions from others.

— 17 —



Courage, humility enough to face himself sincerely and
honestly, a willingness to make changes where changes are
needed are all indispensible requisites of a person who would
come to know and then improve his personality for better
leadership.

Note: It is taken for granted here that certain
fundamental truths about human beings are known;
namely the difference between living and nonliving
things, man’s being composed of body and soul, the
faculties and activities peculiar to human beings pre-
cisely because they are human, the objects of the intel-
lect and the will, the immortality of the souk If these
things are not known or understood by the group using
the present outline, a person who can give them a
grasp of these basic ideas might be called in to cover
these points clearly and briefly. The outline itself how-
ever can be used without such a person’s being called
upon,

5* Meet Yourself as a Human Being

Let each of the group members look back over the day that
is passed. Let him list ten things that he has done during that
day, A sample list might be: getting up in the morning, eating,
going to work, chatting with another person, making a visit to
church, buying something, reading a book, going to a movie,

daydreaming, etc. Let these lists be compared. Out of that
comparison some common denominators may be found which
each has on his list. Two ideas will be gained from this. First:
Each person is a different and separate little world within
himself, but he is also a sharer with all others in the wider world
of a common human nature. Hence though each is unique, he
is also at one with others. Second: Since this is so, then each
person has within himself a little laboratory where he can find
out much not only about himself but about others as well. What
we learn about ourselves helps us in our dealings with others.
What we learn about them helps us with our own selves too.

Going back now to your common list, ask the question: “Why
did all of these people act in these common ways?” After the
answers have been recorded, it will be found that all acted, as
men always act, because they wanted to satisfy some desire.

— 18 —



some want, some craving within them. They wanted something.
They didn’t have it. They swung into action to possess it.

It is a fundamental law of human nature and one essential
for the leader to know that all of man’s voluntary actions spring
from his desire for certain things, tangible ( like food, money, a
warm bed) and intangible (like trust, love, loyalty, beauty),
the possession of which will, he believes, bring him happiness.

The leader then must realize that before a man will act for
a certain thing he must:

1. want that thing;

2. believe that what the leader suggests will help him to
satisfy his want.

Now see if it is possible for you to classify under
various heads the varied desires that men have and act
on. When this part of the discussion is finished, com-
pare your results with the listing that follows. There
are various other classifications which might be given,
but this one is as handy and as rememberable as any.
All of men’s desires can be reduced to five which are
fundamental:

L For Response
companionship
understanding

sympathy
affection from

parents

friends

love

to be needed
to be remembered

2* For Notice
admiration

praise

commendation
applause

approval

to be attractive

well-dressed

good-looking

to be asked advice
to see one’s name in print
distinction

success

achievement

3> For Adventure
conquest

travel

competition

change
freedom from monotony
new and exhilarating

experiences

drink

excitement

— 19 —



play

experiment

comfort

in state of mind
health

physical strength

a good job
success

sense of possession

for family

4* For Security
of one's self-respect . . .

faith

in position

safety

5* Repetition of the Familiar

“Do it again, Daddy!"
following familiar paths of

thought, action, emotion.

Project

1 . Ask the members of the group in general which of
these wants or desires is being satisfied by their
being at this meeting or being in this discussion
group*

2, Go back over the day that is just finishing and
together:

a, list the common activities of that day;
b. link them with one or more of the five basic

desires given above.

Suppose now that you ask each other why you want these
fundamental desires fulfilled. The first answer that may be given
is that thus the various urges and drives that we have deep-
buried within us are satisfied. That is a true answer but not
yet the adequate one. If you keep digging with that little intel-
lectual probe, the questing word Why, you will finally arrive
at the ultimate answer. By each and all of these things we seek
to do what we like or what is pleasant to us, and we seek to
avoid what we dislike or what is unpleasant. In other words
what we are seeking in all of our activities and desires and the
satisfactions of those desires is happiness, “In what does hap-
piness consist?" can easily be the next question for discussion.

Then go on to ask: “Can perfect happiness ever be found here
in this life? If not, why not? Then where will it be found?"
And the answer to this one takes us back to the beginning and
the end of all created things, to God Himself,

— 20 —



The leader who can
best satisfy

the greatest number of these desires

Will be the one who:

1. can assure the greatest happiness for the greatest num-
ber;

2. has the largest crowd of followers.

That is why the Catholic leader ought to be the best of
leaders, for he can satisfy more of men's wants in a fuller and
more complete way than can any other.

He alone can give his followers God fully, completely,
lastingly.

Discussion

1. Why is the process that we have gone through
necessary for anyone who wants to develop a lead-
er's personality?

( Isn't it because if we do not want to have such a
personality or be such a leader then we'lj never act

to achieve it?)

2. Why is such knowledge important for one who
hopes, one day to lead others?

(Again isn't it because he must know what others
want before he can lead them to it? Isn't it because
it is only when he knows this or when he makes
them want what he has to offer them that they will
follow him?

)

3. Why is the knowledge that ultimately all men want
happiness and God especially consoling and en-
couraging for the Catholic leader?

4. With the following * questions review what you
have learned above:

a. Is it true that fundamentally all men are alike?

b. Can I look upon myself not merely as me but as
a human being? If so, what is the advantage of
such a study for a leader?

— 21



c. What in general is the wellspring of action in
anyone?

d. What is the one thing that all men are ulti-
mately seeking?

e. Do men know this? Do they know where they
can find it?

f. Can you name five people or five organizations
that have failed because of the fact that they
didn't take into consideration some of the facts
you have learned here?

g. Point out which of the five fundamental desires
mentioned above are offended by such things as:

selfishness

sarcasm

superiority

doing the same old thing in the same old way
very new and radical ideas
the leader's doing all the work and getting all the

credit

failure

ridicule

anxiety

misunderstanding

tactlessness

DISCUSSION IV

KNOW THYSELF!
(Part II)

Know Yourself as You

Though your equipment for leadership is human nature

—

those general traits, emotions, drives, appetites, desires, ways
of acting that all men have in common— it is not merely as a
human being that you lead. It is rather precisely as this human
being, with your individual nature. It is as this definite, distinct,

concrete person, it is you as you who are to be a leader. For
although you have much in common with others, you also differ
from them in temperament, education, environment, background,
character ( the sum total of those habits which result from educa-
tion, environment, background, and personal effort).

— 22 —



Discussion: Look up, learn, and discuss the defini-
tions of temperament, education, environment, hered-

ity, character.

Hence the next step—often painful but one most necessary
in the developing of a personality which makes for leadership—
is to know yourself as you . It is a matter of frankly facing
yourself, your assets, your liabilities; adding up those factors;
accepting the final total, even though it may put you in the
red . . and then doing something with your good qualities and
something about your bad ones.

Ways to This Knowledge

L Contact With Others

It will help you greatly to get a clear picture of yourself if
you watch others in order to see how they act, listen to their
voices, to their talk. Study them. See what you like about them
and what grates on you. (Ordinarily others will like or dislike
the same things in you.

)
Compare yourself with them, and

learn about yourself from this comparison.

This contact with others is one of the surest, easiest, and most
effective ways by which to meet up with yourself.

Most people have had the experience of meeting either in
life or in the pages of biography or fiction a personality that

suddenly throws a brilliant shaft of light into their own make-up.
You didn’t know just how much you did not know until you
started to teach catechism on that Sunday. You found that
you’ve gone a long way since your own Sunday school days.
You felt pretty cheap at your own grousing about your little
troubles when you stood beside those parents whose child had
been killed in an automobile accident; you learned what real
Christian fortitude and resignation are.

Obviously the better, the stronger, the nobler, the more attrac-
tive the person whom you observe, study, and compare your-
self with, the more light he throws on yourself. You may think
you talk well. Compare yourself with Monsignor Fulton Sheen.
Are you, you think, quite a dancer? Are you as good as Rita
Hayworth or Fred Astaire? Do you think you have a very
charming personality? How does it compare with Our Lady’s?
Do you think you possess the kind of personality that a real

— 23 —



leader needs? Flip back to the results of your comparison with

Christ Our Lord,

It is on the basis of the effectiveness of this contact with
others that the whole second part of the present booklet is built.
There we shall take up certain characteristics which any leader
must possess. We shall see these same characteristics in Our
Lord, and we shall then learn how they may be made to pass
from Him into us.

Project

1

.

It might be interesting however to list here briefly
some of the qualities of Christ the leader. Then in
a parallel column list those qualities you have in
common with Him.

Christ's Qualities My Qualities in Com-
mon With His

Further Qualities Which I Do not Find
He Has in Myself

2. If there is enough humility in the group, the same
might be done by each member for another member
in the group.

3. Take some person that you know either from his-
tory or fiction and analyze . . .

a. the leader qualities they had or have;

b. The obstacles they have had to overcome.

4. Write a brief report describing how these qualities
were developed and how the obstacles were over-
come.

— 24 —



5, Discuss with the group how such obstacles can be
overcome in general,

2 Do Some Self-seeking

This practice consists in your putting yourself on the witness
stand and quizzing yourself mercilessly. The whole value of it
lies of cgurse in the honesty with which you reply to you , . .
no matter how painful the answers may be. Here you find the
words of Our Lord so true:

‘

‘Whosoever shall lose his life for
my sake . , , shall save it,”

Your time . . ,

How much of it can you give to this work?
Your health , , ,

Is it good, mediocre, or poor?

If poor, can you improve it?
If not, in what field of leadership can you put even poor

health to work?

Your appearance , ,

Posture?

Clothes . , .

Well-pressed and mended?
Shoes polished?
Heels straight?

Cleanliness , . .

Hair?

Face?

Nails?

Teeth?

Looks , , ,

Need improving?
How can it be done?

Voice , ,

Too loud? not loud enough?
Distinct?

Warm? flat? cold? lifeless?
Slang addict?

— 25



How would you rate yourself with regard to . . .
Mental equipment? vision? understanding?

Imagination?

Decisiveness?

Adaptability?

Perseverance?

Charm?
Manners?

Do you have any special abilities?

Do you have any particularly bad faults?

3* Testing

Often we strange human beings are quite blind to many of
the good and bad qualities which we possess. A perfect example
of this blindness is seen in the Apostles at the Last Supper.

You remember Christ said that one of them was to betray Him.
Only one of these men entertained the thought of betraying
Christ. Yet knowing themselves but little, each of the eleven
asked, '‘Is it I, Lord?”

As a matter of fact most of us are unknown quantities to
ourselves in almost any line until we are tested or tempted in
the particular case. You cannot be sure that you have the virtue
of justice unless you are tempted to steal and then overcome
the temptation. No one possesses purity for certain (unless he
has received some very special grace from God) until he has
crushed down the rising rebellion of the flesh. You do not
know whether or not you are really humble until you are sub-
jected to humiliations and see how you accept them. You say
for example that you can give up smoking at any time you want
to do so. Yes? Just try it. If you can go without a smoke for
a day or a week or a month, then what you say of yourself is
true. If you cannot do it, then all the talking in the world will

not prove that you are controlled in this department.

We don't really know what manner of men we are until we
have been tried in the testing tube of actual experience.

I may think that I am even-tempered. Then along comes
something to annoy me: a man whistling tunelessly, a cat
yowling in the back alley, a younger brother or sister pestering

26 —



me, a friend contradicting me. My reaction will tell me whether
or not I am what I think I am. If I accept these things without
becoming ruffled, I am even-tempered. If I am calm when no
one bothers me and testy when I am bothered, then my temper
needs controlling.

We never really know whether we have a virtue or a good
quality until we have been tried by a temptation opposed to
that virtue.

Testing then—either watching your reactions to various
stimuli or questioning yourself seriously—actually going out on

your own in search of a test, is another very effective way to
arrive at a true knowledge of yourself as you.

There follows a test of certain lines of behavior which are
harmful possessions for the leader. For those of you who are
making this test there may be the repetition of the experience of
others who were surprised to find that they possessed certain
traits they never suspected or were lacking in traits of which
they felt themselves sure.

4* Your Chance of Being Liked

Some time ago a prominent psychologist on the west coast
analyzed a group of unpopular men and women. He made a
list of traits that they possessed. This list included everything

from mendacity (a habit of forgetting how to tell the truth) to
nose twitching. Then he narrowed these traits down to forty-
five which most unpopular people have in common. He studied
the effects of these forty-five traits. If a person had one or
more of these, his chances of being disliked were 740 to 1.
Then out of the forty-five he chose nine and determined that if
a person had one or more of these his chances of being disliked
were 1,000,000 to 1. The obvious warning that this analysis
gives you then is to be sure that none of these nine are present
in your own personality if you want others to follow you. Few
if any people will swing in behind a person whom they dislike.
You yourself have had the experience of wanting to do some-
thing (let's say, go to a movie) and of being asked to do just
that by someone you dislike. The result? You would not do
it then on any account.

There follows the list of the nine undesirable qualities. See
how many—if any—of them you have.

— 27 —



1. Lack of dependability . . . in word and deed.

2. Exaggeration . . . We may laugh at one who exaggerates;
we do not trust him.

3. Being a show-off . . . men or women who are overdressed.

4. Sarcasm . . . the weapon of the cowardly .

5. Sense of inferiority . . . '‘Kick me, please. ... I ain't no
good .... Never was and never will be.”

6. Being bossy . . . like a ‘‘top kick” with more kick than top.

7. Criticizing . . . fault-finding . . . whining . . . pouting . . .

8. Making fun of people behind their backs . . . We may
laugh at what you say, but we are always afraid that
you will be laughing at us when we are not around.

9. Desire to domineer others . . . Mr. and Miss Hitler in
miniature.

Project

1. Run through the above traits again or go back to
your personal listing on page 24. In actual living

conditions try yourself out on some of the qualities
you are doubtful about your possessing or even
those you think you have, and test yourself on
them.

2. Let the group think up situations wherein the vari-
ious undesirable traits mentioned above would be
tried. Then let these situations be proposed to the
others for an honest answer as to what each would
do in the circumstances.

3. Let a committee be appointed to work out for the
group members actual tests in real life to which the
members will be detailed and on which they will
report their reactions; v.g., going to visit some
parishioner who has been away from the sacra-
ments; sending someone to the families on a certain
street in order to get them to subscribe to the
diocesan paper; inveigling a shy member to take
part in a skit; etc.

— 28 —



5* What Others Say

A final way of finding out about yourself is the reactions
of others to you and to what you do and say. If you know some
person who is clear-sighted and courageous enough to tell you
just what he or she thinks of you, you are indeed fortunate.
Few such people can be found. You must however honestly
want their opinion. All too often we ask others to tell us what
they think . . . and we become angry as hornets when they
actually do tell us.

Very often what friends say about you either directly or
indirectly is a good indication of certain good qualities which
you possess. For finding out your faults however, there is noth-
ing like getting a good healthy, hateful enemy to tell you off.
You can discount some of what he says . . . but ordinarily he
sees with extreme clarity some of the worst chinks in your
personality armor.

Although too much weight is not to be given to what others
say, it is well for a person to think carefully about any criticism
which angers him. We like least the shafts that really pierce
home.

Project

Although the above-given projects under 2 and 3
have done much to take care of this avenue of knowl-
edge of self, it might be profitable for the group to
have an honesty party wherein each one would tell
each of the others certain faults or virtues that he has

noticed in them.

Human nature being what it is, it will probably be
better if these comments—about the faults anyway^
are typed out and given to the members individually.

DISCUSSION V
HERE'S WHERE YOU CHANGE

All that has preceded the present discussion has been by
way of being something more than mere theory. The knowl-
edge of self gained there is intended to be an eminently prac-
tical thing. It should have brought into clear outline in the

— 29



mind of each one in the group his or her particular strengths
and weaknesses. The former are to be developed yet further;
the latter are to be eliminated or improved. In other words
the theme song for the group is that of yesteryear: ‘‘There'll

Be Some Changes Made."

Steps in the Process

L Discontent

There should be within each one in the group a sort of
divine discontent with himself or herself. That is, each ought
to be dissatisfied with himself as he is. He sees his defects;
he sees his lacks and needs and inadequacies. There are two
things he can do about them.

First: Nothing.

Second: He can change for the better.

Discussion

1. Does each one here feel this divine discontent?
Which of the two attitudes do you find is trying
to get an upper hand with you?

2. Discuss the following quotation. Do you think it
true? How can you avoid being like the people
described here? “A writer in the Acolyte expresses
himself boldly, but truthfully, when he says: ‘Man
will change money, horses, houses, and even
wives with a readiness which is sometimes sur-
prising, not to say alarming; but attempt to change
his mind, and the perversity of the proverbial
mule loses its force beside him.' We are all like
that. To admit having entertained an erroneous
opinion—if it is on an important matter—is to
admit a deficiency of judgment which shows us up
in a poor light to our neighbors. So we close our
ears to the other side of the argument, as if by
so doing we should therefore be right. We simply
do not allow ourselves to question the ideas which
our environment has given us. Thus is our
egotism fed."

— 30 —



3 . Test yourselves as to whether or not you are
inclined to be guilty of any of the following rea-
sons for keeping your mind in moth balls, i.e.,
a refusal to change due to self-defensiveness, lazi-
ness, habit fixation, fear of unknown conditions
ahead, shrinking from the unaccustomed, easy

pleasant living giving the illusion of unchange-

ableness.

Such is the attitude of the lazy, the self-
satisfied, the defeatist.

2 Desire It

Merely realizing to the full just how bad the situation is
and being discontented with it are not enough. To this must
be added a definite desire to do something about the matter,
to change, to improve, to make your dreams of a real leader
personality come true. Let each one here test himself as to
the reality of this desire. The true indicator of this reality will
be his willingness to suffer and labor in the process.

3* Faith

Although others may cajole, suggest, advise, threaten, ulti-
mately this changing process, this about-facing of yourself, is

up to you—aided by God’s grace. And the first step toward
personal action on your part at this point is a sincere belief
and faith in your ability to change. Because it is true, you can
change. You can take the qualities within you which are lying
there latent and bring them to life. You can eliminate those
other qualities that hinder you in your advance toward the
goal of bringing others closer to Christ. That such a change
is possible is the basis of all education, human training, reform
movements, religion. Practice a little sound Coueism, saying
daily: “I can, I must, I will change!”

4 Have a Model

Recall what we said earlier about men’s following a man
rather than abstract principles. Recall too what was said about
Christ as the model of our own leadership. It is for us to put

— 31



Him before ourselves and follow Him as long as He teaches
us what we want to know and to become—and in His case "as
long” is from now until we die. With Him as our hero there
must always be in our hearts that hero worship that is one of
the reasons for faster improvement in children and in adoles-
cents than in grownups. This process will be taken up more
in detail in the second half of this outline.

5 Define Your Goal

See clearly and definitely just what you are shooting at.
You want to be a leader .in Catholic Action; you want to draw
souls to Christ. What qualities must be yours can be seen by
looking back again at the list given in Discussions II and III.

6. Planning

Plot clearly the best ways at hand for your getting yourself
faced about, for your getting a new and fresher and better
start in

mental . .

emotional . . .

moral . . .

will ... 1- attitude
spiritual . . .

social . . .

behavior . . .

Discussion

1. Working together, discover in what departments
of life people are inclined to slide down into a rut
and stay there, v.g., physical, mental, social, work,
and home habits.

2. Now plot ways and means of jolting oneself from
such ruts, v.g,, change your daily schedule of ris-
ing, eating, playing, etc., for a week. Go to a
lecture for a change, one where you’ll be exposed
to new ideas. Ask an acquaintance to your home.
Take a reading course. Bring a treat home to the
family or take the family out to some new and
different place.

— 32 —



7 About Face

Once you have clearly determined the goal you are to

achieve and have planned the road you are going to follow

to change yourself so that you can arrive at that goal then

face about sharply and head in that direction (usually that

direction is found to be quite opposite to the one you have

been following). Do this at once and irrevocably. Begin at

once to try your new wings. Do not let a single opportunity

slip by without your exercising the new qualities you are

attempting to acquire. Go where there are people, and force

yourself to meet and charm them. Build yourself up in these

new habits slowly and surely, being satisfied for a time with

penny triumphs until your confidence is built up enough for

you to go on to bigger things. Let each one in the group deter-

mine here and now to do these things. How these things are

to be effected can be discussed at this point.

8* Divide, Conquer, Persevere

It is best not to try to accomplish your new program fully

in all its phases all at once. Rather take one item of your pro-

gram, one fault that you must overcome, one good quality that*

you must acquire, and pursue that until it has become second

nature with you. Usually the positive method is best: Do not

say,
4T will not be so critical of others.” Rather say, I shall

look for and find something good in everyone I come in contact

with, starting with my family, my fellow workers, my friends,

the people I meet for the first time.”

Set the teeth of your will into the task, and hang on, work-

ing laboriously, persistently, tenaciously. No matter how many

upsets you may suffer on the way, never quit. Push on until

at last your goal is reached. The kingdom of heaven, which

you are trying to set up within yourself, is founded on those

two ideas given by Christ: The kingdom of heaven suffereth

violence, and the violent bear it away,” and ‘He that shall

persevere unto the end, he shall be saved.

— 33 —



DISCUSSION VI

PUTTING YOURSELF OVER TO OTHERS

A breaking down of the whole matter of leadership will
show that it contains four elements. There is the leader him-
self, the led, the goal to which he is leading his followers, and
a program or the way that he points for them to follow.

So far in these discussions we have looked chiefly at the
leader. We have found out what equipment is his as a human
being and as this human being. We have looked at the per-
sonality traits which must be possessed by a leader in general
and as our ideal the leader of leaders in particular. Changes
that may be needed by each in the group have been discovered
and ways of effecting them pointed out. For the present dis-
cussion we turn to look at the leader's relationships with
others. What we learn here holds to put oneself over to others,
either to crowds or to individuals.

L Getting Others to Act

Project

Before going any further, let the members of the
group discuss the various ways that they can think
of to get others to do things. In the following situa-
tion, which is the better approach to another? why?
Mr. A wants to build a house. So he goes to Mr. B
and says, “I want you to help me build a house so
that I can have a roof over my head." Or he says,
"I want you to aid me to build this house so that you
can have a roof over your head."
There are three ways in which you can get people to
do something for you:

1 . You can order them to do it and enforce your order.
This is the method used by Hitler, Mussolini, the
rationing boards, etc. It is also the way used by
officers in an army, by small-minded bosses in
business and industry.

— 34 —



Again some parents use this approach with their
children, as do some older children with the
younger ones in the family.

It might be interesting for the group members to
bring up from their own experience examples of
such tactics.

You can pester them until they do it.
That was the method exposed by Our Lord in the
Gospel stories of the man who of a night went
asking for bread and of the unjust judge who gave
in at last to the importunate widow just to be rid
of her.

Does the group know of any such instances in
real life?

By leading them.
That is the method of drawing them to yourself,
your cause, your program. Such is the way used
by Christ Himself. It was always an invitation
with Him: “Come, follow me .... Come and see.
... I will draw all . . , to myself/’ Such is the way
of the Catholic leader.

2 Drawing Others

We are not to be leaders who use the methods of Hitlers,
top sergeants, pests. We are “bther Christs,” and hence our
appeal must be to win the hearts and minds of those whom we
would have follow us, win them to ourselves, to Christ, to
His cause.

But you will never get people to follow you, never get them
to do what you want even in a Christlike way unless they like
you. The Apostles liked—nay they loved—Christ and hence
lived and labored and died for Him. The Pharisees and scribes
hated Christ; and far from following Him despite His best
appeals, they put Him to death. People will not do something
they would like to do simply because they dislike the person
who asks them to do it. On the other hand they will often do
something they do not want to do because they like the person
who makes the request.

— 35 —

f



(From your own lives or the lives of people you
know about, discuss instances which prove the truth
or falsity of those last two statements: life at home,
at work, where church and recreational life are
concerned.)

Putting yourself over to others then comes down largely to
a matter of having them like you.

Yet is it not true that ordinarily you do not like people who
dislike you?

(Make this little test: Think of three people whom
you do not like. Why do you dislike them? Isn't it
largely because you are quite sure that they do not
like you?)

Finally the matter of leading or drawing others comes down
to a question of liking and loving these others. As someone
has said: “The final secret of leadership is interest in and love
of your fellow man/' which for the Catholic means love of
fellow Mystical Body members, actual and potential.

Discussion

Do you think it is possible to love everyone? Give
sound reasons for your answers. Do you think it is
possible to like everyone? If not, why not? How
would you go about trying to come to like everyone?

3 Liking Others

As Catholics we have supernatural reasons given us by
Christ Himself to love others. To these reasons we should
like to add here such natural helps as will make easier the
following out of Christ’s command that we love all men, that
we love one another as He loved us.

The way to come to like others naturally is the way to come
to know them. There are few if any people who do not pos-
sess likable traits if you will but take the trouble to discover
those traits. The bully is often just a scared child at heart,
even though he may be forty years old. The person in your
parish whom you call Miss High-Hat is not high-hat at all.
She is terribly lonesome at heart. The boor is boorish, not

— 36 —



through any lack of good will, but simply through ignorance.
And so on down the list. When you come to know people,
you will understand them; and when you understand them,
you will be forced to love and like them even though they are
wrong in their conduct. Remember that love begets love. You
will find that these same people will begin to like and to
love you.

Discussion

Why should we as Catholics love everyone? How is
that love to be shown for the Jew? the person of
another race or creed or color? Think of some person
whom you dislike. Ask yourself honestly how much
time and effort you have spent to come to know that
person. Recall some other person whom you once
disliked and whom you now regard as a friend. What
brought about the change? How does the knowledge
which you have so far gained of yourself help you
to know and understand others better?

4* Appealing Traits

At this point in the discussion let each person in the group
think for a few minutes and then jot down a list of those quali-
ties which are possessed by the various people that each
one likes. When that has been done, then make a composite
picture of contributions from the whole group. If these traits
appeal to you in others, they will also attract others to you
if you yourselves possess them. Remember that human nature
is at bottom very much the same in all of us. For example
when you meet a stranger, you find it hard at first to talk with
him. You become nervous. You wonder why he is so reticent.
You make a wrong judgment and think him a snob. But you
will not do that if you know human nature. With this knowl-
edge you will realize that ninety per cent of the people whom
you meet have the same difficulty that you yourself have in
the matter of talking to strangers.

It may be interesting for you to compare your own list with
the one which follows. The rest of the discussion might be
taken up with an analysis of this list, deciding what is meant

37 —



by each of the traits mentioned and why they are all attractive
and appealing to you and to others.

5 The List

1. Good appearance, which is a composite of posture, looks,
clothes, and the man

2. Pleasing voice

3. Easy well-bred manners

4. Such expressions, words, and actions as show those
attitudes of mind and heart which are marked by vitality

5. Unselfishness

6. Thoughtfulness

7. Positiveness

8. Understanding

9. Friendliness

10. Cheerfulness

1 1 . Enthusiasm

12. Sympathy

13. Honesty

14. Sincerity

15. Dependability and trustworthiness

16. Courage „ '

1 7. Loyalty

18. Perseverance

6 Conclusion

Putting yourself over to others is not an accidental thing.

Granted that some may have more of the above gifts by nature
than have others, few if any are born with those personality
qualities which make a man a real leader. Acquiring such a
personality is really the result of a long stretch of hard, grueling

labor and self-discipline. Unless we have these characteristics,
people will not like us. Not liking us, they will not follow us
or do what we want them to do.

— 38 —



7 Prospect

In the next part of this outline we shall work together to
take up some of these qualities, see how they are found in
Christ our leader, and learn how they may be put into our own
personalities so that we too may draw others to Him as He
drew people to Himself.

DISCUSSION VII

ALIVENESS

Although it was not mentioned as such in the list given in
the last discussion, the total impression of all of those qualities

is one of definite vitality, of great aliveness. Try to think of
some leader whom you know, be he small or great, who lives
up to the definition given on page 7, who does not give one
the feeling that he is very much alive. The dull, inert, lazy,
dead person is not the attractive person. He lacks such qualities
of body, mind, and heart as attract, interest, influence, and
serve others.

L «I Am the Life"
From a reading of the New Testament one finds that Our

Lord certainly had this quality of aliveness. Even when He
was an unborn Babe, His mere presence quickened John to
sanctity in his mother's womb. As a child He was so vital
mentally that the wise doctors in the Temple were glad to
converse with Him. As He grew older, He lived the strenuous
life of a carpenter. His journeyings up and down Palestine,
His contacts with crowds all called for great bodily health and
vigor. He goes to the Jordan, and John and Andrew are drawn
to Him. So striking is the first impression that Christ makes on
John that years later he remembers the very hour that he met
Him. He walks by the lakeside, and hardheaded fishermen
leave their nets to join Him in the work of fishing for men.
He speaks so dynamically that one group can say of Him,
‘'Never did man speak like this man”; and another group follows
Him into the desert, willing to go without food for the body in
order that their souls may be vitalized anew. A hand touch,
a spoken word, and the dead come to life. He suffers a killing
soul-crucifixion one night and allows His body and soul to part

— 39 —



in death on the next day—only to pick up that life again on
the third day. Such was the vitality of Jesus Christ that as God
He is, with the Father and the Holy Spirit, the fountain source
of all life in this world. As man He is the cause of God-life in
men. So alive is Jesus Christ that He can cry to the world, "I
am the . . life!”

Project

Divide the four Gospels for reading among the mem-
bers of the group, and at the beginning of the next
meeting let each section report on other instances of
aliveness and vitality in Christ's life.

2* “You the Branches”

The unity of life that Christ wanted between Himself and us
He expressed in the analogy of the vine and the branches,
which He gave to the Apostles during His farewell address to
them. He would share His very life with us by grace and
by imitation.

Project

Go back to the test on page 25 and ask yourselves
if you can imagine Christ's violating any of the prin-
ciples of appearance implied in those questions. With-
out moving, make a checkup of the group's postures at
the moment. Then go on.

3* By Imitation

Aliveness is first seen in a man's posture, in the way he
carries himself. Can you believe you imitate Christ’s posture
if you slouch, stoop, or are careless about the way that you sit
or stand? A straight spine usually indicates a straight person-
ality. It indicates ordinary courage, perseverance, honesty, de-

pendability. Cultivated—and this is surely one obvious and
hence often-forgotten way in which to imitate Our Lord—it has
a definite effect. It aids physical well-being. It will stiffen

your soul too against weariness, discouragement, temptation.

— 40 —



Project

L Work out other ways to imitate Christ's aliveness
in life's daily simplicities: the way that you talk,
your actions, your dress. What justification, if
any, can you give for the statement that “Catholics

ought to be the most smartly (note: not the most

richly or the most stylishly ) dressed people in the

world''?

2 . Here are two people. Which is the more Christlike
and why?

A
slightly stooped

dull-eyed

cloudy of skin

listless, careless

talker

carelessly dressed

bored- or discon-

tented-looking

B
erect

bright-eyed

clear of skin

crisp and sure of
speech

neat and cleanly in
dress

looks calm, serene,

alert

Back up your answers by sound arguments based on
what you know of Our Lord and His dealing with men.

4. By Grace

Although it is necessary that we appear and be alive in the
sense of imitating this quality in Our Lord, we have to remem-
ber that in Him life flowed from the deep wellsprings of His
divinity. So it must be with us also. Our total vitality must
take its most important impetus, not from the natural, but from
the share we have in Christ's own vitality through His grace.
We must muster as much bodily and spiritual vitality as we can.
But above all as leaders-back-to-Him ours must be a super-
natural or grace-full aliveness.

Project

1. Work out together the steps needed to:
a. Get this grace-life into a person.
b. Maintain it there.

t— 41 —

•



c. Get it back once it is lost*
d* Increase it*

2* At this point limn a word picture of the personality
possessions of a leader who is really alive in Christ*

DISCUSSION VIII

BALANCE

L Report

* * * On example of Our Lord's vitality and liveness as found
in the New Testament*

How often people say, “So-and-so is a good enough person,
zealous and hard-working* Of course he'll never reach the top*
He lacks balance, you know*" All too few people in the world
have this quality, which so many admire so much. The quality
of balance is essential to the leader, for without it others will

never have that much-needed feeling of confidence and security
that they seek in the man they follow*

The flighty person may amuse us for a time* The extremist
may stimulate and excite us* The genius who can think with
lightning speed but cannot pack a suitcase may amaze us*
When we are in difficulty however, when the way ahead is
puzzling, when our world is crashing down about our ears, we
look instinctively for help from a man who is emotionally con-
trolled, whose judgment is sound and clear and unprejudiced.
We seek out a person whose life and living show that he has
learned to manage wisely the values, opportunities, limitations,
longings, cravings, and expectations which have filled his life*
To him we turn as to one who can lead us back to the middle
course, who can put balance again into our own lives, which
have flown off-center*

Discussion

1* What is meant by balance in nature ( v.g*, between
the planets)? in mechanical things ( v.g*, a watch, a

motor)? in human beings especially?

— 42 —



2. Show how unbalance can bring about pain and
ruin.

(
V.g., what happens if someone jumps off a

teeter or a seesaw while you are on the up end
thereof? Or what happens if one of the ropes on
your swing parts?

)

3. Show how envy, scrupulosity, self-pity, self-con-
sciousness, excessive fears are all:

a. examples of unbalance;

b. how such unbalances can ruin a leader’s effec-
tiveness with others.

4. The following is a list of rather common unbal-
ances. Test yourselves to see how many of them
you have experienced at some time or other:

disturbances in or of sleep

suicidal impulses

feelings of guilt

disillusionments in people or things

desires to inflict pain on yourself or on others

bizarre thought sequences

laziness

memory lapses

irritability

religious perplexities

feelings of impending insanity

superstitions

How many do you find you have to your credit?
What? You haven’t been bothered by at least six of
these? Tsk! tsk! Then you’re not normal.

2* Balance in Christ

Although there was more than one occasion when Our Lord
was looked on as a madman (and still is), the fact remains that
He is the most balanced person that the world has ever seen.
Some of the things He did may have been folly from a purely
human standpoint, but they were really wise with the wisdom
of God.

— 43 —



Project

See how many things you can think of right now
that our Lord did that would seem to you to have been
foolish from a purely human standpoint; v.g., His
trying to win a world with poverty, chastity, obedi-
ence; His bringing life to men by dying for them; etc.

In His very being Our Lord united and harmonized
beautifully those utter extremes, the divine and the
human, God and man, nature and grace, flesh and
spirit are all wonderfully poised, integrated, balanced

in Him,

Project

Between now and the next meeting let the subgroups
go through the Gospels again and find examples of
balance in Our Lord’s life, such adjustments as were
required by the following:

1, His lower and His higher natures.
V.g., His temptation in the desert.

2. His personal and His social life.
V.g., His teaching the woman at the well in
Samaria despite His weariness,

3, The natural and the supernatural,
V.g., the use of such natural and material things
as water, oil, bread and wine, the spoken word as

'

vehicles to carry sacramental grace.

4. Himself ... to the world.
V.g., His pointing His sublime doctrine with such

homely objects as lilies, farming, grain, old wine
bottles, groats, clothes, business affairs, etc.

... to His missions.
V.g., His remaining in the Temple to do His
Father’s will even though it hurt His mother.

Remembering the words of Isaias, “For as the
heavens are exalted above the earth, so are my ways
exalted above your ways,’’ read carefully through the
Beatitudes and discuss how they are the perfect sum-
mation of real, that is, Christian balance.

—44 —



3* Balance and You

The more your balance is like Our Lord's, the greater will

be the chance for effective leadership on your part.
Christ has

said, "As I . . . so you." He not only asks you to imitate Him,

but He aids you as well not only by modeling for you but by

helping the transforming process in you by His grace.

Look first at what must be balanced in your life:

1. Nature and supernature; reason and faith; the human and

the divine.

V.g., doing things which from reason may seem stupid

but in the light of faith are wise.

2. Your own life with that of your fellow men.

V.g., at home—being neither door mat nor tyrant;
at school—'knowing that teachers and other students have
rights too;

at work—thinking of the other fellow as well as of your-
self;

at social affairs— giving as well as taking.

3. Within yourself.

V.g., taking proper care of body as well as of soul;

subordinating emotion and passion to reason and will.

4* In Focus

A flywheel in one of our great defense plants does its work
well as long as it is fastened to the shaft on which it turns.

Let that shaft break, or let the pin which holds the wheel in

place become loosened . . and the wheel flies off-center and

causes harm and confusion everywhere.

There is one focal point for the Catholic leader s personality,

one pin that will keep him in balance. It is the centering of His

life on the great ideal of giving Christlike service to the Father

and to men for Him—that life all the while being energized and
directed by the Holy Spirit. Such an ideal centers all the

disparate elements mentioned above which have a tendency to

live their individual lives separately. This ideal fuses, harmon-

izes, focuses these elements and gives to the leader's whole

being a balance which is but a sharing in Christ s own balance.

— 45 —



Discussion

1 . Recall what was said above about the departments
of your lives which must be balanced. Taking each

one of them in turn, work out together occasions,
situations, decisions wherein this balance must be

maintained; v.g., show why you must do what you
do not merely because you like it but in order to

please God; show how a drunkard is off balance in
more ways than one; point out how the leader must
give up certain forms of amusement in order to get
enough sleep and thus be strong of body and keen
of mind; etc.

2. Let each one look into his own life. Where does he
find the greatest unbalance? What can he do about
putting himself on an even keel? How will the
imitation of Christ solve His difficulty for him? Be
concrete and specific in difficulty and solution.

DISCUSSION IX

COURAGE

1- What Is It?

One of the characteristic traits that men associate with a
leader is that of courage. The timid, fear-filled person can
hardly hope to inspire people with confidence. Others have the
feeling that the timorous person is not sure of himself, that he

lacks the courage of his own convictions. Hence they can hardly
be expected to stride after one who shys from his own shadow.

Discussion

1. What courage is.
2. Its various kinds*— i.e., physical, moral, intellectual.

3. How it manifests itself.
4. What is behind it.
5. Some courageless persons known to various mem-

bers of the group. Why are persons of this sort
not leaders?

— 46 —



Courage in a person does not mean that that person is not
afraid. Rather it means that he has so mastered his fear that
he neither runs from it, nor strikes out blindly against it, nor is

paralyzed by it. The truly courageous person may be afraid,
terribly afraid; but because of his love of a person or a cause

he masters his fear and carries on. Ordinary life ( viz., a mother
running into a burning building to save her child) and extraor-
dinary life

(
viz ., a man going into battle) are full of examples

of such courage. As some one has said: “The greatest heroes
that I know are those who are afraid to go but go nonetheless.”
And another: “Courage is fear which has said its prayers.”

Discussion

1. What is fear?
2. What are three ordinary reactions to fearsome

things?

3. Let each in the group give one instance from per-
sonal experience which caused fright, flight, or
paralyzing inaction.

4. What will drive out fear?
5. What is the best basis of courage?
6. What is the greatest ally of courage?

2 The Hero of Heroes

We have seen Our Lord pictured so often as the gentle,
loving, kindly Savior that we are apt to forget the sterner,
stronger, more steely side of His character. The painters have
often depicted Him in such a way that He looks positively
effeminate. If there is one thing Christ is not -—it is effeminate.
He is completely manly, every inch of Him. It is true He was
the Good Shepherd. But He was courageous enough to lay
down His life for His sheep. He was meek and humble of
heart. But Christian meekness and humility are not cloaks of
lethargy or camouflages of cowardice. Rather are they the

possessions of the strong, dynamic, greatheartedly brave person

who holds himself in restraint until God's interests are at stake
and then flashes out in all his vigor and power—Being angry,
yet sinning not. Our Lord is not only the Man of Sorrows; He
is the hero of heroes as well.

— 47 —



Project

1. Discuss here and now such instances of Christ's
courageousness as come to mind; viz,. His facing
of loneliness, poverty, labor, denial, betrayal; such

incidents as the cleansing of the Temple, brushings

with the Pharisees, etc,

2. Work out together the real concept of humility and
meekness. Using as examples people you know,
cite instances of false humility and meekness. Cite
other instances of these virtues as seen truly in

Our Lord's life.

3. Arrange to have the members of the group read the
New Testament between now and the next meeting
so that all the occasions on which Our Lord mani-
fested courage may be known to them. Start the
following meeting with a report on these readings.

3 Courage in a Garden and on a Cross

The supreme test of courage is seen in a person's ability to
meet suffering and to go through it for one's cause. All
leaders, true and false, are courageous enough when no danger
threatens. But the hireling, the slacker, the pseudo leader cut
and run from pain, loss, anguish of body or soul.

Christ Our Lord proved the stuff of His leadership when He
lay crushed to the ground under sorrow and fear and agony
beneath the moon-silvered olive trees in Gethsemani. Such was
His soul-crucifixion that he prayed, “My Father, if it be pos-
sible, let this chalice pass from me.'' Such was his courage that
He could add, “But yet not my will, but thine be done."

Many a man can bear inner suffering, yet he quails if the
lash is applied to his body. Our Lord would teach us physical
courage too. So He mounts a bitter cross and hangs thereon for
three mortal hours of pain. And during all this time he has but
one word for Himself, “I thirst.''

He was given a job to do. He shrank from accomplishing it
—but He strode on through agony of soul and body to fulfill
it. “In the head of the book it is written that I should do thy
will, O my God.'' And He would do it.

— 48 —



Discussion

1. Is it true that only true courage can stand the sear-

ing test of suffering?

2. Can a real leader expect to be free of sufferings
of soul and body?

3. Name some great leader who never suffered*
4. Recall incidents from ordinary life wherein a man

or a woman passed or flunked this test of real
courage*

4 Christ's Courage and Yours

In the mad world about us the Catholic leader must be
possessed with no mere ordinary courage* He must fight sneers,
ridicule, opposition, persecution from God’s human enemies.
Unfortunately he often gets denial and betrayal from Catho-
lics, even from his close followers* He battles against devils
too, against powers, thrones, and dominations* No ordinary
heroism must be his. Only such as his leader had will suffice*
From Christ alone will he get it.

Discussion

1. Take the following test of courage:

a* Are you afraid of life in general?

b* Are you without real reason afraid of the
future?

c* Do you dare to tell the truth always?
d* Do you dare to follow your own conscience?
e* Do you dare to form and express your- own

opinions?

f. Are you afraid to speak out at meetings?

g* Do you dare to say that you haven’t read the
latest best seller?

h. Are you uncomfortable when you find that you
belong to a minority even though that minority
is in the right?

i. Are you brave enough to walk out on a movie
or a show which is indecent?

— 49 —



j. Can you refuse a drink when you don't want
one?

k. Do you refuse to keep up with the Joneses?
l. Would you be afraid to travel by air?
m. Does the thought of being bombed frighten you?

n. Do you dare to admit your error when you have
made a mistake?

o. Do you dare to tell someone you don’t love him
or her?

p. Are you courageous enough to give a straight
criticism when it is asked for?

q. Are you afraid of hell, damnation, and the devil?

r. Are you uncomfortable in the presence of
higher-ups?

s. Does the thought of poverty frighten you?

t. When you have done something wrong, do you
face the music and take your punishment?

Score: 5 for each correct answer. All should be

answered with “yes” save a, b, f, h, 1, r, s.
Rating: 90-100—you’re one of the Captains Coura-

geous.

70-90—you’ll probably never have a nervous
breakdown.

50-70—buck up, old man. . . . Eat a lot of
sand.

30-50—you must be miserable most of the
time.

0-30—you’d better find your ma!
2. Discuss ways and means to bring the courage of

Christ into your own hearts.
a. By prayer, i.e., asking for it.

b. By mental prayer . .

( 1 ) seeing Christ face danger.

(2) getting like convictions into your own mind
and heart.

(3) going to Him in the garden when you are
fearful, discouraged, sad, afraid, and put-
ting your heart close to His.

— 50 —



c. By Holy Communion — eating His flesh and
drinking His blood so that your timorous souls

may become as brave as His.

d. Any other ways that the group can devise.

3. Work out together various situations in which you
are going to need this courage; viz., at certain

parties and dances, at work, in conversation, with
regard to styles, etc.

DISCUSSION X

DEPENDABILITY

L Report

. . . From the subgroups on Christ’s courage.

“Now you take Jones. There’s a man for you. You can
depend on him every time.’’ There is scarcely any better compli-
ment that you can pay a man than the one given Jones. De-
pendability means that a person is someone special. It is a trait
absolutely essential for the leader. The man who tries to get
others to follow him but who is himself a person on whom others
cannot fully rely, who cannot be implicitly trusted, is simply
wasting time and effort. People may rally round him at first,
attracted by other personality traits in him. They may even
follow him for a time. But any permanent good that he might
possibly do is ruined the moment that these others find that he
is unreliable, that he cannot be depended upon. Let him let
them down but once, and his following dwindles and finally
disappears, leaving him alone, a followerless leader.

Project

Let each one think of someone he knows who is com-
pletely dependable. Let each try to analyze what it
is in that person that gives to others this feeling of

trust. When the individuals of the group have thought
this matter out in silence for a few minutes, let them
pool their ideas, which ideas should be taken down,
digested, and read back to them by the secretary for
approval. How do these ideas agree or disagree with
what follows immediately?

51 —



2 The Dependable Man

That man is dependable on whom you can rely. He is a
man of his word. His promises mean what they say and are
always redeemed. If he is given a job to do, no one need worry
about it further, for it will be carried through to completion.
His chief asset as a leader lies of course in the fact that he gives

his followers a feeling of great security. He dispels their
anxieties, fears, worries, doubts. Let the weather blow foul or
fair, they know that, like the house builded on a rock, the de-
pendable leader will always be there to lean on, unshaken and
unshakable.

Analysis will show ‘that a man is trusted and relied upon
because of three main attributes. He has judgment which is
sound. He is truthful. He accomplishes what he sets out to do.

1. He has sound judgment . Judgment is that mental ability
by which a man is able to size up a situation; to compare
facts or ideas; to perceive the interrelationships of these

facts and ideas; to distinguish true from false, real from
counterfeit; to come to a decision. All this he does in
the matter of men, ends and aims, methods and means.

2. He is a true speaker. “An Israelite ... in whom there is
no guile, ” the dependable man’s words mirror his mind
and do not conceal it. There are a transparent honesty
and sincerity about him which shine through, his speech.
His word is his bond. If he makes a promise, he will
keep it.

3. He accomplishes what he sets out to do . Once he has
embarked on a line of action, the reliable man carries it
through to the end as far as this is humanly possible.
Any failures are “acts of God” and not the result of
human stupidity or cupidity. He is thorough, doing what
is to be done without overlooking, underrating, or omitting
essentials. He is resourceful, being able to top or to go
around unexpected hurdles that suddenly appear in the

way. He actually carries out his plan or program and
arrives at his goal with the work done successfully.

— 52 —



Project

Before going on with the outline, pause here and

recall from memory as many instances as you can of
Christ's dependability. Apply to Him the triple test
thereof just given above and the various elements
which show His straightness of judgment, word, and
work. When these ideas have been exhausted, appoint
the subgroups to cover the Gospels again and to seek
therein examples of Christ's perfect meeting of this

test of reliability.

3. Jesus Christ the Dependable

The world has seen men who were dependable, who knew
whereof they spoke, whose words were true, whose actions were
in accord with their speech and ideas and ideals. No man in
all the world's history however could be so completely depended
on as could Jesus Christ. He possessed this all-necessary leader-
quality in a preeminent degree.

1. He had a divine sureness of judgment

.

Because Christ
was divine as well as human then, His judgment was as
unclouded and as unerring as God's own mind. Those
things which cause poor judgment in others had no place
in Him. He had all the facts, knowing even as he wielded
a rough plane the precision machines of today. He con-
sidered each one of them with sun-clear lucidity, never
being clouded by any shadow of ignorance or error. Feel-
ings and emotions never influenced Him unduly, as they
do us so often.

He knew men; v.g., Nicodemus, John the Baptist, the
Sons of Thunder, Magdalen, Judas, Peter, Nathanael,
Paul.

He knew methods; v.g., that if a kingdom is to last it
must be built with the life-giving flame of love and not
with the death-dealing edge of a sword.

He knew means; v.g., that a cross is the best spring-
board to heaven.

Never once did He make a mistake in judgment. Never
once did He appear confused, perplexed, rattled, or jit-
tery. So dependable was the judgment of Jesus Christ

— 53 —



that every man must stake his salvation on it or lose out
in eternal life.

2. He was truthful . Christ was so truthful in fact that He
could say in all limpid honesty and sincerity, “I am the

. truth!' ' Being divine, He could seal His veracity with
miracle and prophecy. Being the perfect human, He could
prove His truthfulness with such a challenge as is found
in the question: "Which of you shall convince me of
sin?" Jesus Christ never told a lie. He never whittled
down the truth. He never deceived anyone. He never
failed to keep a promise.

3. Our Lord accomplished what He set out to do . A man
whose life was ending in apparent failure on a cross would
seem mad to look back over his life and say, "It is finished.
My work is done, done completely, done perfectly." But
Christ's words were far from foolish. They were utterly
and divinely true.

He had set out to bridge the gap between God and
men. He had come to restore divine life. When His head
dropped forward on His chest in death. He had accom-
plished precisely that. Out of the womb of His death life
was born. Conquered by death Himself, He conquered
death for all time in the hearts of all men.

He set out, did Our Lord, to show men how to live
not merely as good humans but as the gods the Father
intended that they should be. He had come to be a way
of life for them. And so successful was He that He is
even today the only way, the only life.

He had come to remain among men to the end of time
the one mediator between God and men, a channel of
grace, a teacher of godlike living. His enemies slew Him.

They sealed His grave with a heavy stone. They wiped
the blood from their hands and then went home and slept

. the sleep of the unjust. Well might their slumbers be
troubled. They vaguely recalled just how dependable this
man had been. He had promised that He would rise
again. And to their amazement and terror, rise He did.

He had said to His disciples, "I will not leave you
orphans." To their joy and ours He kept that promise

— 54 —



too. He remains with men in the Blessed Sacrament and
in that prolongation of Himself which is His body, the
Catholic Church. He promised that that Church, that
body, would last to time’s end. We know from the way
that it has survived throughout the centuries great wound-
ing attacks from without and insidious disease from within
that the dependable Jesus is as reliable here as He ever
was.

4. And You?

The Catholic leader is called on by his leader to show forth
a like dependability. It is a tremendous job for poor, weak,

selfish, wobbly human nature. We might well qftail in dis-
couragement before our task. Of ourselves we could not hope
to succeed. Left to ourselves, we are no better than the next
man. Christ Himself has said, "Without me you can do noth-
in#.” But He has also added graciously, "I am with you all
days.” In Him then is our hope, our strength, our dependability.

Discussion

The rest of the discussion can be taken up with talk
of the ways and means to make Christ’s reliability your
own.

1. Let each one, referring to the triple test given

above, question his own reliability. Where is it
lacking in thought, word, or action?

2. With the simplicity and frankness and humility
that are necessary in a group using the outline, let
each one point out quite frankly where he thinks
each of the others is dependable or unreliable.

3. Show conclusively how an intensive, prayerful
study of the New Testament will give a person
soundness of judgment.

4. Show equally conclusively how the attempt to
relieve Christ will dispel such causes of poor judg-
ment in essentials as: not getting the facts, all of
them; not evaluating the facts correctly; being

swayed by feeling, emotion, or passion, v.g., keep-

— 55 —



ing a perfectly competent person out of a particular
office because you don’t like him.

5. Why is it that Catholics are such sticklers for
purity, let us say, and so often lax about truthful-
ness and justice?

6. Show how when you receive Holy Communion you
should pray to Christ within you for some of His
dependability. Work out ways in which you can
live the Mass by being dependable.

7. What are the reasons behind our failure to execute
the resolutions we have taken or the plans we have
made?

8. What remedies can be applied either to individuals
or to this entire group to ensure more efficient
accomplishment of the job in hand?

9. How many of you turn to the Holy Spirit within
you frequently during the day and ask for help to
judge aright, to speak truly, to carry out the
assignment in hand?

10.

Work out together such situations and occasions
as will come into the lives of those present to
develop greater Christlike dependability.

DISCUSSION XI

ENTHUSIASM

1* Report

. . . From the subgroups on Our Lord’s dependability.

A good and holy priest now gone to God was giving a
retreat to some young religious. In a voice dull and expression-
less as wood he enunciated an undeniable truth. “My brothers,”
he told them, “we must be enthusiastic. Without enthusiasm
we cannot win a world for Christ.” Each young neophyte
agreed with him speculatively, but there was not a single one
of them who felt even a tiny spark of enthusiasm for the idea
beginning to glow in his own soul. The good and holy priest
was not a leader. He knew the way, but he was unable to show
it in action to others.

— 56 —



Discussion

1. Tarry here until you have worked out a definition
of enthusiasm which pleases the group.

2. What is enthusiasm? What is it not? What are
some synonyms for the word? some antonyms?

3. Give examples—if possible from people known to
you or from world figures—of leaders gifted with

enthusiasm.

4. Why is this quality especially necessary for the
Catholic leader? Why is the would-be Catholic
who does not possess this quality doomed to
failure?

5. Recall some instances of men or organizations
blighted by the lack of enthusiasm.

2* A Necessity for the Leader

Enthusiasm is an absolute necessity for any leader. With-
out it the qualities that we have seen so far count but little.
Without it balance may become cold and calculating and dull;
courage may turn into a merely defensive weapon or even
deteriorate into wariness and timidity cloaked under the name
of prudence; a man’s dependability may harden down into mere
routine and stodginess.

The offspring of aliveness, enthusiasm is a complex of various
personality elements. Into it go ardor, warmth, intensity, and
a certain controlled vehemence. These plus faith, courage, and

hopefulness make up that earnest intense feeling and ardent
zeal for a person or a cause which we call enthusiasm. The
leader who possesses it need not be constantly bubbling over
or rushing about busied with busyness. Although he must be

enthusiastic, he is not to be an enthusiast, one marked by a
certain instability of perseverence and extravagance of feeling.
He must rather have a divine flame burning within him, quietly
perhaps but hotly, a fire which communicates itself to others and
sets them aflame too.

57 —



Project

L A little impromptu skit might be put on to illustrate
the difference between an enthusiast and a person
blessed with enthusiasm. The matter in question
might be some project, iKg., a dance for servicemen.
Take the above elements and show how they go
into the preparations for such an event. Bring out
clearly how the enthusiast is flash-in-the-panish
while the real leader energetically carries himself

and others through to success.

2. Have you ever thought of Our Lord as enthusias-
tic? Was He? Prove it here and now from such
examples as you can think of offhand.

3* Christ the Enthusiastic

To speak of Christ in terms of enthusiasm may come as a
bit of a shock to some. They have never thought of him in just
that light. And yet the word enthusiastic is a true and fitting
epithet for Him. Certainly there was never anything cold,
dead, dull, indifferent, lukewarm about Our Savior. When we
apply to Him the synonyms for enthusiasm, the words have a
familiar ring in connection with Christ. Our Lord as man and
leader was marked by ardor, devotion, eagerness, intensity,
passion, warmth, fire, spirit, and zeal— all of which points to
the fact that He was and is enthusiastic.

Project

Pause here and assign portions of the Gospels, as

you have been doing. This time the members are to
seek examples from the words and incidents in Our
Lord s life which manifest the qualities mentioned in

the above sentence.

Our Lord’s naturally ardent heart must have chafed at the
long years in the obscure Nazarene valley when He longed to
be out abroad casting fire on the earth. Never in His own life-
time nor in the long bitterly controversial centuries since His

years on earth has a single enemy ever questioned His devotion
to His cause. There was an eagerness about Him that could
not always be contained but that burst forth now and then in

— 58



such expressions as: '‘I have a baptism wherewith I am to be
baptized; and how am I straitened until it be accomplished?”
And “With desire I have desired to eat this Pasch with you.”
There is about His work a controlled intensity which sent Him
up and down Palestine, tirelessly seeking for souls. There is a
passion about His words which forces others to exclaim, “Never
did man speak like this man.” There is a warmth about Him
which draws little children, hardheaded adults, sinners and
saints alike. There is a fire that flashes out when God's inter-
ests are at stake or men are persecuted. His was a spirit that
confused the high and mighty and brought them low. Even the
Apostles applied to Him the words, “The zeal of thy house
hath eaten me up.”

Where other men have but faith, Christ had vision. Where
they have hope, He had certainty. His courage has already
been studied by you. Everything that He did, even to His last
gasp on the cross, even to His first acts and words after He
had snapped the bonds of death, is marked by a quiet force and
energy that display Him always as possessed of a divine
enthusiasm.

Discussion

1. Do you think that it is possible for a man to possess
enthusiasm for another person or a cause and yet
not communicate that enthusiasm to others?

2. Give instances of such a phenomenon that have
come under your observation.

3. Give further instances of men's being persuaded to

do something, even against their will, because of

another's enthusiasm.

It is no wonder that the fishermen left their nets and followed
Him, that Levi the publican left his counting table to become
Matthew the Apostle, that men and women flocked—without
regard for food—into a desert place apart to hear Him talk,
that Magdalen left sin and fell in love with sinlessness. No
wonder that He was able to fill the hearts of His followers with
such zeal that they could go out of the upper room and bring
to the world the light and warmth that is Christ.

— 59 —



Because of this same quality Christ from His own day to
ours has been able to come to beggar and to broker, to king
and to kitchen wench, to soldier and scullery maid and strike
from human hearts a flame that has leaped up and fused with
the fire in His own Sacred Heart, The enthusiastic Christ has
drawn all men to Himself, He has cast the fire of His love on
the earth.

4* And Your Enthusiasm?

The cause of Christ has suffered, and suffered badly, because
many of those whom He has called to be leaders, cleric and
lay alike, have given but a halfhearted, unenthusiastic response.

They have not gone completely overboard for Him. They have
not allowed themselves to become drunk with the love of Him.
Their sole passion in life has not been the glory of the Father

and the saving of souls. Like Peter they have asked: "Quid
ergo erit nobis?" What are we going to get out of this?”
Unlike Peter they have not plunged into the icy waters of work,
labor, mortification, and self-denial to get to the Lord.

What of yourselves at this stage of the discussions?
Just how enthusiastic are you about Christ and His
cause, individually and as a group? Do not let anyone
speak. Do not rush through what follows. Rather let
each one here look into his own heart and life and
answer the following questionnaire on Christlike en-
thusiasm. His actions, not his tongue, will give the

real reply.

L How much of the mind of Christ have I in me?
2. How much do I think as He thinks (about every-

thing from pans to penance)?

3. How much do I desire God s glory (on a bus as
well as at benediction)?

4. Why do I do all that I do? for myself or to please
God?

5. What part does faith really play in my life?
(
V.g.,

can I see God acting in this person who annoys me
so?)

6. How much and how well do I pray?
— 60 —



7. How much of self-denial do I practice?
8. What are the things that I really value?

9. How much strenuous effort do I put forth to make
Christ grow within me?

10. What am I doing to bring Him more fully into the
lives of others at home, at school, at work, at play,
right here in this group?

(
V.g., How do I react

when others ask about the faith? Apathetically? or
helpfully?

)

1 1 . How well does my enthusiasm keep up in the face
of obstacles, difficulties, failures?

When you have finished the above, instead of
thumping your breasts in penitence, open your mouths
and lips and hearts. Get busy! Discuss ways and
means to improve individuals and groups in this matter
of enthusiasm. Go through those questions again.
Answer them in terms of this group as a group. Take
each item and work out enthusiasm stepper-uppers.
See what you can do to transfer some of the Lord's
world-firing enthusiasm to your own souls and to those
with whom you come in contact. Like the disciples
on the road to Emmaus you ought to feel your hearts
burning within you—for Him and His.

DISCUSSION XII

FRIENDLINESS

1. Report

. . . From the subgroups on Our Lord's enthusiasm,

2. Leadership's Crown

Men have been known to follow leaders who were distant
and aloof, who lacked affection and kindliness and real love.
They have swung in behind these men largely out of self-
interest. These leaders knew the way that their followers
wished to go. They showed it to these others. And so men fol-
lowed them for what they could gain for themselves personally.

— 61 -

—



Such leadership is passable. It is even good as far as it goes.
It lacks however the crown of leadership. It is an incomplete
thing. It has failed to add to all the other qualities necessary
for leadership the quality of friendliness. Since we are speak-
ing of Christian leaders, we do not mean by friendliness a
mere lack of hostility, nor more mild interest in another, nor
even purely human friendship. By friendliness here we mean
the friendliness of the true Catholic. It has been described by
Aelred in his dialogue “Of Spiritual Friendship” as a super-
natural thing having its beginning in Christ, its development

according to His will, its full realization in Him.

How much more can such friendliness do for men when we
see how its merely human counterpart warms their hearts and
sends them shooting to the heights for a leader and a cause.
The factory foreman who is genuinely interested in his men,
the army officer who eats and sleeps and fights alongside his
soldiers, the priest who visits every home in his parish, the
student or worker who inquires for a sick member of his friend’s
family or invites him home to dinner— all of these draw other
men because their hearts are opened in friendship. Napoleon
led men into Russia to die in the snow before Moscow; and
they followed him gladly, for they felt that he was their friend.
Bonnie Prince Charlie had his Highlanders at his heels because
they wanted to return the love he had for them. Charlemagne
gave expression to a nascent spirit of friendship when he ex-
claimed, on hearing of Christ’s crucifixion, “O would that I and
my Franks had been there!” Our Lord Himself set the hearts
of His Apostles swelling when at the Last Supper He said, “I
will not now call you servants. . . . But . . . friends.”

Men will esteem leaders who possess other leadership quali-
ties. They will follow such a leader. It is only however when a
man gifted in all these ways adds that other trait which makes
followers feel that he is their friend and they his that they are
fired with a devotion and love and a sort of holy extravagance
which carries them through every obstacle and danger—even
into death— for him and his cause.

Discussion

1. Recall what was said in Discussion II about peo-
ple’s following you only if they like you.

— 62 —



2. Will they ordinarily like you if you are not warmly
friendly toward them?

3. Consult your own daily experience: Are you not
more likely to do something for a friend than for a
stranger?

4. Recall instances— from life or fiction— of people

who might have been leaders had they been less
aloof, less cold and distant and unfriendly,

5. Why must Catholic leaders always have this qual-
ity of friendliness?*

6 . Why is this quality comparatively easy for the
ordinary Catholic leader to develop?

(
V.g., be-

cause ordinarily he is not dealing with great

crowds,) What basis for such a feeling do we
have in the doctrine of the Mystical Body? in the
end and aim of our leadership?

3 Testing Christ

Often enough we moderns feel that we are ahead of the men
and women who preceded us. Sometimes we feel that they lived
a life quite different from our own. At times the vague suspicion
appears in our minds that perhaps we have outdistanced even
Our Lord, We wonder just how He would fit into our modern
world. But why wonder further? Why not put Him to a test?
Take for example just this matter of being friendly.

One of the most popular books in recent years has been
Dale Carnegie’s “How to Win Friends and Influence People."
(Just as an aside we wish to state that the popularity of that
book manifests two facts: 1. the hunger that there is in men’s
hearts for friends and friendliness; 2. men’s ignorance of Christ,
the best friend and best teacher of friendliness that the world
has ever seen.

)
But to get back to our main idea . . . Immedi-

ately following, we have in question form a summation of the
modern American expert’s advice on how to make friends. Read
these questions over. Then from their knowledge of Our Lord
the members of the group can in discussion answer those ques-
tions in His regard. Finally read on in the outline and see
whether or not any light is added to your own ideas.

— 63 —



Discussion

1, Was Christ genuinely interested in others?
2, Did He smile?
3, Was He a good listener, encouraging others to talk

about themselves?

4, Did He talk in terms of the other man's interests?
5, Did he sincerely make others feel important?
Well what do you think about these things? Back

up your ideas with facts. Now go on,

4 Christ Passes Gloriously

Paralleling the numbers to the questions above, we would
make the following statements,

1, Our Lord was so genuinely interested in others that He
came down from heaven to this dirty moiling world of
ours in order to save men from misery and sin and death
and to lead them back to life and light and happiness.
He spent Himself doing good for others. He swung open
the closed gates of heaven, giving up His own life to do
it. Interested in others? He was more than interested.
He loved men, all men, loved them so much that He lived
and labored and died for them, “Greater love than this
no man hath, that a man lay down his life for his friends,"
Since Christ died for all, then according to His own test
all men are His friends,

2, Although we Tiave no direct written authority for a reply
to this question, it is clear from deduction that the ques-
tion must be answered with a loud and resounding yes.
Can you picture Jesus Christ as the smileless baby, or
boy, or youth, or man? Do you imagine that He always
looked solemn—at Our Lady across the table, at Joseph
across the workbench, at His neighbors and customers
across threshold or fence? Do you think that Our Lord
never smiled at the Apostles and their antics, at Martha
and Mary and Lazarus, at the treed Zacheus, at the
children who came crowding about Him? Nonsense! How
could an incarnate God of joy and happiness have failed
to give human expression in the ordinary human way to

— 64 —



the radiance within Him, by smiling? People thronged
Him throughout His life in public. People do not turn
eagerly to the sour, the cold, the solemn, the melancholy,

the vinegary-visaged, the unsmiling.

3. Was there ever in the world a better listener than Jesus
Christ? Always accessible to anyone, even as He is today
in His tabernacles throughout the world, He opened His
ears and His heart to the prayers, complaints, hopes, and
fears of all who came to Him.

Encouraged others to talk about themselves? Of course.
The day that He spent with Andrew and John was cer-
tainly not one long monologue. Jesus Christ was ever
too much the gentleman to monopolize the conversation.
He drew out everyone who came to Him: Nicodemus, the
woman at the well, the woman taken in adultery, the rich
young man, Martha and Mary, the Syrophoenecian
woman, the man at the pool of Probatica. What delicacy
was His after the Resurrection when He led Peter on
to make the reparation of a triple declaration of love for
his triple denial!

4. No man ever understood human hearts and hopes as did
Our Lord. And knowing them, He talked in terms of
their interests. Always, everywhere, in everything that
He said there was a single two-toned all-important theme
^-the Father's glory and the good and happiness of men.

Always too he talked in a language that they under-
stood. His sublime ideas were couched in terms of things
they knew and saw about them: sheep and shepherds,
sowing and reaping,, kings and potentates and powerful
enemies and armies, buildings and floods, sons and sup-
pers, Pharisees and publicans, the greedy well-fed rich
and the hungry languishing poor, lakes and rivers, water
and wine, flowers and fig trees.

5. Man would be only a little higher than the baboon if the
evolutionists had their way. And who can feel important
if he is forced to say, “Great-grandpop was an ape"? Our
Lord on the other hand gave to all men, to janitor and
Janissary, to president and printer's devil, to stenographer
and scenarist, to teacher and taught, to employer and

— 65 —



employee solid grounds for a feeling of true importance.
At best the philosophers can give men the importance of
being rational animals. When Christ gets through with
them, men realize that they are gods. They are ‘super-
naturalized divine/ adoptive members of the royal family
of God, Christ’s own brothers and sisters, princes and
princesses of heaven’s realm, inheritors of its divine

riches, hosts and hostesses to indwelling divine guests.
The gloomy rationalist “submarines” man’s desire to feel
important by dumping him unceremoniously into the
oblivion of a grave. Christ points him to an eternally
important life behind the ramparts and in the golden
courts of heaven.

Look back for a moment over our modern testing
of Christ’s friendliness. Look back at the way that He
meets that test. From where we sit, it looks as though
He passes it, not one hundred, but one thousand
per cent.

5. As He, So You?

Project

Suppose you yourselves now take that same test
which we put to Our Lord. Answer those questions by
putting your own name in place of His. Answer
honestly, backing up your replies with concrete in-
stances and facts. Score yourself on a basis of twenty
per cent or fraction thereof for each question. What
is the rating of each one of you personally? Now take
all the ratings, add them up, average them. How
friendly is this group as a whole?

The secret of Christ’s friendliness is found of course in His
love. He is everyone’s friend, even yours and mine, because He
loves everyone without exception, loves all human beings with
at least the love of true friendship.

This love is marked in general by three qualities:

1. It is morally helpful to both parties, that is both of them
are closer to God as a result of it.

— 66 —



2. There is a genuine basis of agreement between the parties
involved.

3. Their mutual love is characterized by a spirit of self-
sacrifice.

Project

Pause here and verify these elements—in Christ's
love for men at least— from instances in the Gospels;
v.g.. His love for sinners, the Apostles, the poor.

If you would be Catholic leaders, a like love must gleam in
your lives. Remember again that Christ has said, “As I have
done to you, so you do also.” There is certainly nothing Christ-
like in the person whose dealings with others is marred by
antagonism, hostility, indifference, coldness or unfriendliness.

Rather must there be in the Catholic leader an ever closer
approach to Christ by an ever increasing amount of accessibil-
ity, affection, geniality, kindness, interest, and love in his life,
a love such as flamed in the Sacred Heart, which spends itself
utterly on others without discrimination of color, creed, place,
position, or attractiveness—or any lack thereof.

The real Catholic leader must cap his Christlike aliveness,
balance, courage, dependability, and enthusiasm with a truly
Christlike love of friendship. Only thus can he hope to achieve
what he set out to do in the beginning. In this way alone will
he draw all men to Christ.

Project

1. Look back at the three qualities of love of true
friendship. How much of each of them do you
possess in regard to friends, followers, fellow group

members?

2. What steps can you take to repair failure here?

3. Discuss the group’s ideas as to the greatest and
most frequent obstacles to friendliness.

4. In your estimation what tie-up is there between
friendliness and humility?

— 67 —



5. How would you go about becoming friendly with
someone? What means are at your disposal for
this?

a. Natural: such as coming really to know some-
one.

b. Supernatural: such as praying for a friendly

heart; daily Holy Communion. (How does
the daily reception of Christ make for friend-
making?

)

Afterword

Here at the end of your discussions tie up any ends of ideas
that may be hanging loosely. Then go back to Discussion II
and retake the test which you took at the beginning of these
meetings. Compare your present score with the one you made
then. Any improvement? Grand! Not too great? Even a little
is a good deal. Remember that to develop a Catholic-leader
personality is the work of years. Remember too that you are
not alone in the work. Christ the leader of leaders is with you.

Never become discouraged. Keep before your mind and heart
always the fact that you can do all things if you but work always

THROUGH HIM AND WITH HIM AND IN HIM.