THE CATHOLIC HOUR SEP ^

AS A MAN OF GOD
BY

DR. GEORGE F. DONOVAN

President of Webster College

The twelfth in a series of addresses by prominent Catholic laymen
entitled ‘‘THE ROAD AHEAD,” delivered in the Catholic Hour, broad-
cast by the National Broadcasting Company in cooperation with the
National Council of Catholic Men, on August 25, 1946 by Dr. George F.
Donovan, President of Webster College, Webster Groves, Missouri. After
the series has been concluded on the radio, it will be made available in
one pamphlet.

National Council of Catholic Men

Washington, D. C.



AS A MAN OF COD
No observer needs to remind

us that man is a gregarious ani-

mal living in the world, and hav-

ing close relations with other

men. From the beginning of

time man has been interested in

the affairs of his local commun-

ity, in the problems of his na-

tion, and in world issues, and,

whether he himself, doubts or

denies it, in a Supreme Being,

the creator of all these relation-

ships and agencies of God and

of life.

It is only natural for man to

look toward a Supreme Being

for, during all of his life, he

has seen and recognized author-

ity in many ways including the

father of a family, the mayor of

a city, the governor of a state,

the president of the United

States, and the chief executive

of a proposed world organization.

Over and above these domina-

tions there is a higher jurisdic-

tion which man desires.

As man has definite responsi-

bilities toward government in the

political order so, too, does he

have obligations to God. Some

of the more important relation-

ships are helpful and easy to un-

derstand.

The degree and the extent of

participation in this relationship

between man and God are many

and varied. Some men deny

God. Some men openly and vio-

lently attack God. Some doubt

His existence. Some pay trib-

ute to God once or twice a year,

at Christmas time and at Easter.

Some show their devotion on

Sundays. Some give daily alleg-

iance. A few men and women
retire from the world and de-

vote their entire lives to God

through some well-prepared and

organized program in religion,

education, social welfare, or

some other special field.

In the last analysis man is a

creature made to the image and

likeness of God and created by

Him. It is not difficult to under-

stand that anything done to

harm man is displeasing to God,

the Creator of man. Modern in-

dustrial dangers, such as the as-

sembly line speed-up, the ab-

sence of proper medical and hos-

pital care leading to prolonged

suffering, long periods of unem-

ployment, bad working condi-

tions, lack of suitable housing

and care for the aged, opposition

to the right to organize, the ab-

sence of a minimum wage law,

the practice of some corporations

in fixing prices without regard

for, and consultation with, the

public, the ruthless control of

man’s economic life by a few or

the domination of his entire life

by the state either under the



form of Communism or Fascism

or any other dictatorship, all

such threats to the life and the

dignity of man are naturally, of

grave concern not only to man,

himself, but, also, to God.

It is only reasonable to as-

sume, therefore, that a man who

believes in God and in the dig-

nity of man will use every effort

to conquer and throw away these

shackles placed on modern man.

Man then, through his own ef-

forts, yes-, but largely through

cooperation with other men, par-

ticularly in associations of em-

ployers, labor unions, local eco-

nomic councils with representa-

tion for all groups concerned,

and even through government ac-

tion if necessary, will seek to

acquire and protect those rights

with which God has' endowed

him. Such rights as freedom of

worship, of education, of voting,

of assembly, of petition, of

speech, the right to own one’s

home, to have a family, must be

a part of man’s life and man and

God want these rights to be a

part of the equipment of the dig-

nity of man.

Man also has a relationship

with other men through his

membership in the family of hu-

man beings created by God. At

the head of that human family,

which at one time embraced a

small unit and today takes in

the whole world, is God Himself.

If the head of a family dies or

is otherwise removed from the

position of authority, it is only

natural for the rest of the fam-

ily to suffer from the loss. So,

too, in the great human family of

today if God is denied or re-

moved from the deliberations of

man then the human family as

such will suffer. The dignity of

men will be lowered. On the

other hand, the presence of God

encourages and directs men to

practice friendly and just re-

lationships with other men, es-

pecially in the establishment of

tolerance in religion, abolition

of discrimination towards races

and creeds, and the construction

of proper housing facilities for

the family.

In this respect, an American

man in the sight of God will look

forward more and more to those

policies which will give equal

and just treatment to the Jew,

the Negro, the Mexican, the Jap-

anese, the Chinese, and other

minority groups in the United

States. In addition, that same

American citizen m also raise
his hand against those powers

that dominate racial and national

groups in Europe, Africa, and

Asia, not only because he must

be consistent in his attitude but

because he is just and fair. To

be called a crusader or a reform-

er in the expression of this pol-

icy makes no difference. It is



the principle of justice that

counts.

The results of this two-fold ac-

knowledgment on the part of man

—one toward the existence of
God and the other, which nat-

urally follows, an understanding

of the dignity of his fellowman

—are very obvious and encourag-
ing. The dignity of man will be

strengthened and widened. Man

on the political scene will place

able and understanding candi-

dates in public office, will endorse

legislation for the benefit of man-

kind, and will invoke the law in

the defense of human rights.

Man will renounce legislation

aimed toward the protection of

the few and oppose leaders who

do not have the vision and the

interest of the people at heart.

The dignity of man will stress

economic rights such as the own-

ership of private property, the

dignity of the worker in the fac-

tory, the mine, and on the farm,

and the right of organization

both for employees and employ-

ers. The emphasis on economic

obligations will include a fair

distribution of property, a firm

and reasonable control of prices,

a living wage, especially for the

unorganized and unprotected

workers, and the extension of so-

cial security.

Educational dignity will be

seen in the full recognition of the

right of a parent, according to

his conscience, to select a prop-

per school for the education of

his children, and in the educa-

tion that will give a student a

complete program, intellectual,

physical, moral, and spiritual. If

necessary, government should be

called upon to assist the parent

in the complete education of the

children, especially, in those

areas where the financial ability

of the population and the wealth

of natural resources are not suf-

ficient to give an adequate edu-

cation to the children. No Amer-

ican should be denied the oppor-

tunity of a full and equal educa-

tion no matter what his color, re-

ligion, race, or location may be.

The dignity of man, too, will also

perpetuate a stable and happy

family life. Man, himself, will

become better acquainted with

the problems of the day and the

solutions but, what is more im-

portant, he will be a better man.

There will come through this

relationship, and the determina-

tion to go ahead, justice to all

races and nations and permanent

peace throughout the world, and

a sense of happiness to the indi-

vidual man, and for all these ac-

complishments there is no substi-

tute. As a true gentleman of

the community, as an American,

and as a world citizen, he will

also be a man of dignity and a

man of God.

History is filled with the ac-



counts of great men who were

men of dignity and men of God.

Saint Augustine of Hippo, Saint

Louis of France, and Sir Thom-

as More of England, were all men

of God and left behind them lives

that proved that divinely in-

spired dignity more than words

will ever be able to describe.

Here in our own country there

are men of dignity and men of

God. A cotton picker in Missis-

sippi, a Colorado beet .worker,

a garbage collector in New York

City, a school teacher in Pennsyl-

vania, a doctor in Illinois, a

priest in Oklahoma, a longshore-

man in Washington, a mission-

ary in New Mexico, are men of

dignity and men of God. Such

men work for God but they also

work for their fellowmen. They

aid their fellow-citizens in fol-

lowing their consciences in en-

dorsing and supporting pro-

grams which will improve the

condition of their fellow-work-

ers.

The individual man then will

see God without any interference

and will see man without any

handicap because he has become

unselfish and interested in oth-

ers. Such a man will be the

answer to the dangers of Com-

munism and other menaces to

our form of government and will,

also, be the answer to world dis-

union and disaster.

In the road ahead the dignity

of the individual man in the fam-

ily, in the nation, in the world,

and in the sight of God, will do

more than any other power to

bring about that peace and jus-

tice that our American youth

has lived for, fought for, and

died for.. May God give us the

strength and the wisdom to per-

severe so that that great day will

be near at hand.

When man rises to great

heights, good luck, in the esti-

mation of some people, smiles

upon him. It is more correct and

truthful to say that God, Him-

self, smiles upon him. When a

nation is elevated to an exalted

position, it is only natural to ex-

pect similar good fortune and the

special guiding hand of an Eter-

nal Father. Surely a nation like

these United States of America,

whose life began on July 4, 1776

with the declaration, ‘'We hold

these truths to be self-evident,

that all men are created equal,

that they are endowed by their

Creator with certain inalienable

rights, that among these are life,

liberty, and the pursuit of hap-

piness,’’ and whose daily public

life ever since has been char-

acterized by appeals to God for

assistance and counsel, will be

blessed with the prosperity, the

success and the happiness that

ultimately and inherently sur-

round the dignity of man and the

dignity of a nation.



On May 30th of this year, it

was my privilege to attend Me-

morial Day exercises here in my

native community of Webster

Groves where the ceremonies be-

gan with a petition to Almighty

God and ended with a prayer of

Thanksgiving. I recall so well

the sentiment of the citizens

present at that time. They sin-

cerely believed that our boys

gave their lives not only in the

war just completed but in all the

wars of our country not for the

United States alone but for God.

They offered up the supreme sac-

rifice not for what the United

States has been, or is, or will be,

but for what it ought to be.

This spirit maintained through

the dignity of man, here at home

and abroad by the chosen repre-

sentatives of our country, will

more and more lead to the estab-

lishment of a lasting and just

peace not only for Americans

but for the entire world. Such

an understanding and purpose

are bound to secure the blessings

of Almighty God.

Finally, in this talk, the last

of four discourses over the Cath-

olic Hour, I acknowledge with

genuine gratitude the honor, but

I also realize the responsibility

of addressing my remarks to the

American people. It is my con-

viction that this message has had

a definite purpose, namely, to

give hope and recognition to the

average man, to point out to him

the way of happiness, of en-

couragement away from the mo-

notony and routine of daily life,

and to indicate the obligations of

this age. There is probably no

greater joy or happiness for man

than that which is found in the

effort he makes in understanding

and coordinating the "various re-

lationships between him and the

life about him. He assists in

solving undesirable conditions in

his local town. He helps in form-

ulating the pc'jcies of the na-

tion. He makes known his opin-

ion on world questions. He asks

God for guidance and inspira-

tion.

It is then that the American,

in the spirit of justice and of

democracy, may sit back in his

chair and regard himself not as

a satisfied and selfish individual,

but as a man of
.
dignity because

he is a gentleman of the com-

munity, an American, a citizen

of the world, and a man of God.



'



THE CATHOLIC HOUR
1930—Seventeenth Year—1946

The nationwide Catholic Hour was inaugurated on

March 2, 1930, by the National Council of Catholic Men

in cooperation with the National Broadcasting Company

and its associated stations. Radio facilities are provided

by NBC and the stations associated with it; the pro-
gram is arranged and produced by NCCM.

The Catholic Hour was begun on a network of 22

stations, and now carries its message of Catholic truth

on each Sunday of the year through a number of sta-

tions varying from 90 to 110, situated in 40 states, the

District of Columbia, and Hawaii. Consisting usually

of an address, mainly expository, by one or another of

America's leading Catholic preachers—though some-
times of talks by laymen, sometimes of dramatizations

—^and of sacred music provided by a volunteer choir,
the Catholic Hour has distinguished itself as one of the

most i)opular and extensive religious broadcasts in the

world. An average of 100,000 audience letters a year,
about twenty per cent of which come from listeners of

other faiths, gives some indication of its pk)pularity and

influence.

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