I

THE CATHOLIC HOUR

THE CHURCH AND THE SERVICE MEN
BY

REV. LAWRENCE F. SCHOTT
Diocesan Military Deputy of the Diocese of Harrisburg.

The last in a series of nine addresses on THE CHURCH IN ACTION,
delivered in the Catholic Hour, broadcast by the National Broadcasting Com-

pany, in cooperation with the National Council of Catholic Men, on October

31
,
1943 .

National Coundl of Catholic Men

Washington, D. C.



THE CHURCH AND THE SERVICE MEN

The towering shadow of Jesus

Christ falls across the centuries

dominating all men of all time. At

the instance of His Heavenly Fath-

er, the Son of God comes to earth

to redeem the sinful souls of hu-

manity; the merits of His death

on the Cross overflow the demands

of God's justice and the cleansing

flood rushes back to purify those

who preceded Christ in time,

touches those who associated with

Him during His brief visit to earth,

and surges forth to cleanse the

countless generations who will fol-

low Him. Salvation is for all men

and the normal channel by which

God’s grace flows to souls is through

the Church which Christ established

for that purpose. The Son of God’s

direct ministrations to souls on

earth was of short duration
;
Christ

usually works in natural ways

;

accordingly He founded an organ-

ization which should carry on His

mission—Christ established His
Church which would be present eve-

ry day of every year and would

service with God’s grace all souls

who came to it.

Christ’s Church remains the same

in every age; her foundation is the

rock—Peter. The means of sanc-
tification she is to administer were

definitely established by her Divine

Founder. There can be no change

in the Church, the only adjustment

that can be made to bring more

grace to men’s souls is to arrange

more methods by which more men

can come more often to the faucets

which lavishly pour their saving

flood upon all souls within range

of God’s beneficence. The Church

will use every avenue possible to

bring God’s grace to souls—^that is
her only purpose of existence. Eve-

rything not evil must be pressed

into service so that no soul may

perish from thirst in the desert of

ordinary living. Those who are

charged with the guidance of the

Church have only one criterion for

all their planning—will it bring
more souls in contact with God’s

grace? Every adjustment of the

Church must be examined by this

gauge and not be found wanting.

In times of war, because the souls

of so many young men go hurriedly

and untimely before the Eternal

Judge, it is critically important that

no moment be lost in ushering souls

into the Divine intimacy which is

the state of grace. In times of

peace we might tarry and experi-

ment and delay; but promptness,

even rapidity, is vital in an emer-

gency. When the dark clouds that

presaged war began to gather on

the horizon, the Bishops of the

United States, blessed with the spir-

itual vision with which God endows

their positions, designated as the

organization which would serve as

the Church’s special ^medium of



charity to servicemen—^the Nation-
al Catholic Community Service.

In the first World War many dif-

ferent agencies of the Church were

active in bringing aid to the Ser-

vicemen. Prominent among these

groups were the National Catholic

War Council, and the Knights of

Columbus which merited the high

praise of our men for their kind-

ness and great generosity. In the

present emergency, an inclusive or-

ganization, comprising and coordi-

nating all the facilities of the

Church, was to be the instrument

of the Church in marshalling all

the abilities of every Catholic to

the war effort.

When the country needed help

to enlist community resources so

that the displacements of war might

not work havoc in men's souls and

in their- lives, the United Service

Organization was founded and the

National Catholic Community Ser-

vice was the Member Agency of the

Catholic people to participate in this

aspect of war work. The U.S.O.

is known now familiarly and affec-

tionately around the world as the

friend of those in the service of

their country. It is a typically

American organization for it rec-

ognizes differences
;
the six agencies

which are united in this effort were

not intended to lose their identity

and all to be forced to conform to

one set pattern (Our enemies use

such tactics). America has room for

diversified opinions—men respect
the thoughts of others although they

do not understand them. The

N.C.C.S. is as Catholic as any Cath-

olic American home—any American
would feel at home in its clubs and

expect to have his ordinary needs

cared for, and a Catholic would find

there those additional ministrations

which satisfy his unique religious

requirements.

The N.C.C.S. serves soldiers,

sailors, marines and air corps men

—men and women war-workers in
overburdened Communities—^women
in the Service—and the wives and
sweethearts of the servicemen.

We can hardly imagine an Amer-

ican home anywhere in this land

which would not welcome those

Americans who have been displaced

by war-service or by war-work,

and yet service 'men and women

and war-workers would be reluctant

to stop in and make demands on

the ordinary home. Where the war

impact has caused abnormal condi-

tions, the U.S.O. is set up as the

community home where all may

have an opportunity to shield and

shelter the strangers within our

gates. This is the American way

of bringing a home to all those who

are forced by circumstances to be

absent from their homes; this is

the American way of reaching arms

of mercy across the continent and

enfolding all our loved ones in their

charitable embrace.



The number of Catholic young

men and women in the Service of

their country and on the assembly

lines of our war industries is ex-

ceedingly large in these United

States. This is not too difficult to

understand when we remember that

Catholic families are comparatively

large—it was revealed recently that
from Brooklyn, N. Y., 10 Catholic

families had each given 6 sons to

their country's service
;
the tragedy

of the loss of the five Sullivan broth-

ers is still fresh in all our minds.

The Chaplains have already report-

ed to you on the Catholic Hour and

in other ways the response of these

young people to their religion, when

a priest is able to be with them;

the National Catholic Community

Service assists these Chaplains and

helps to satisfy the religious needs

of this constantly growing army.

Because their needs are not only

material but spiritual a priest is

assigned as moderator for each of

the centers. The Catholic has been

trained to share his most intimate

confidences with the priest and to

follow his mature and experienced

judgment in religious matters. Spir-

itual difficulties and sin-laden souls

may be righted through the use of

the Sacrament of Penance. What

peace of mind comes to the Cath-

olic parents who receive a letter

from their son or daughter telling

them that they have righted things

with God! Even the tone of a Gov-

ernment telegram announcing the

death of a beloved son is softened

when the memory of this prepara-

tion assures them of his eternal

safety with God. Instruction and

Counsel in religious matters can be

given over a cup of hot coffee or

in the midst of a boxing show or

a basketball game
;
much helpful

advice can be preferred (and with-

out repugnance to the listeners) as

a priest sits through a movie with

them or observes the gyrations of

the latest jitterbug artists. Neglec-

ted Confirmation can be remedied,

marriages properly prepared and

witnessed, frequency at the Sacra-

ments encouraged and arranged,

and the whole stream of religious

knowledge and practice widened

and deepened. The priest usually

finds himself a most welcome visitor

to their group, he understands

them, he respects their confidences,

he is empowered with the spiritual

means to renew and increase grace

in their souls—^the priest i^ a
friendly bond with their homes, he

is the familiar chain which ties

them to God—he is loved—^he is
used—and that is reason enough
for his fatherly interest in these-

clubs.

Do others feel displaced as such

attention is meted out to the Cath-

olic visitors? No, each receives ex-

actly what he chooses. The wide

and mature experience of the priest

is available—they need but to ask



for it, as they soon learn. They

are encouraged to give religion first

place in their lives according to

the light of their own consciences.

In addition to the religious aids

which are available in these clubs,

there is a constant program of

wholesome recreation which drives

away homesickness and brings for-

getfulness of military routine and

gives an outlet for the normal zest-

ful activity of young people. Our

hostesses, knowing the weakness of

every man, young and old, have pre-

pared and served oceans of coffee

and mountains of food like mother

used to make.

In our work religion is under-

stood to be an intelligent design for

living and riot a matter of an hour’s

endurance on a Sunday morning.

The young men and women, whom

we serve, are doing a great deal of

serious thinking and they must

come to some reasonable solutions

or they become bitter and frus-

trated. God, and souls, and re-

ligion must fit into the pattern of

life or we are existing in a mad-

house. The war and fighting and

death must have some deep spir-

itual significance or everything is

hopeless. In the charity-in-action

of this work a new stress is placed

upon the second of God’s two in-

clusive commandments—the love of
neighbor—and a new understanding
is achieved of the reason for this

human love in our love of God.

Building upon these firm founda-

tions, tolerance and cooperation re-

ceive a new interpretation and

meaning. That the service men and

women understand and appreciate

these clubs is evidenced by their

own words.

From England comes this com-

ment : '‘Six weeks ago I visited your

club, it was the first time in my

life that I was personally intro-

duced to charity, ate charity, slept

charity, lived charity—this sort of
thing gives us, who are now fight-

ing, new hope that there’s going to

be a lot of charity around in the

world we are trying to build for

our tomorrows. God bless you all

and keep you helping us boys.”

From Africa a very frequent visitor

of old writes : “Your U.S.O. brought

home to me the real meaning of

equality and fraternity. There we

had an organization operated by

the National Catholic Community

Service, that represented only one

of the many religions of the world.

It must be said that to your organ-

ization, there was only one thing

important, the comfort and peace

of mind of a soldier. Be he Cath-

olic, Protestant, Jew, Atheist,

Heathen, or what
;

be he black,

white, brown, red or even yellow,

it made no difference, we were all

the same and in the same boat.

Equality, fraternity, these two

words never fitted any other organ-

ization more than they do your



U.S.O. Prom you I learned their

true meaning, and a lesson never

to be forgotten/'

Never a day goes by that some-

one who has been benefited by

the U.S.O. does not write back to

these clubs to give emphatic ex-

pression of gratitude. They will

always remember the kindness that

greeted them in the strange land

of being away from home; the

U.S.O. was their other-home, their

travelling-home, their
* home near

the camp. The virtues that we ex-

pect in homes of Americans must

always be prominent in these sub-

stitute homes—^we want these fu-
ture fathers and mothers to under-

stand what their country values,

what they are fighting for, and

what must be present in their post-

war homes. The National Catholic

Community Service is endeavoring

in its own way to impress upon

everyone who comes into contact

with it that religious living—pay-
ing to God and to every man what

is their just due—is the only stable
foundation for our beloved country.

America must show the way; we

must not only feed and clothe the

bodies of a war-shattered world but

we must understand and direct and

service the souls of a bewildered

populace. The Spiritual works of

Mercy are more important than the

corporal works of mercy—the soul
is of infinitely more value than the

body. It is a deposit in soul-divi-

dends that National Catholic Com-

munity Service is making now, it

is an investment in soul-bonds

which is being made by devoted

staffs and faithful volunteers and

generous contributors. The fighting

fronts of the world are manned by

boys who carry happy memories

of the home-fronts where it touched

and sustained and supported them

—their U.S.O. Clubs. May the vir-
tues that must be practiced in order

to carry out this assignment effec-

tively, sparkle and impress and

attract so that they are woven pat-

terns of future living. The Nat-

ional Catholic Community Service

is alleviating suffering, dispensing

charity, nurturing patriotism, deep-

ening spirituality, in short doing

God's work among men. And He,

the Omniscient and Omnipotent

God, for Whom all this is being

done, will be His own reward to

those whose hearts and hands bleed

with charity towards those who

need it.



V

f

I'



THE CATHOLIC HOUR
1930—Fourteenth Year—1943

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

The Catholic Hour was begun on a network of
22 stations, and now carries its message of Catho-
lic truth on each Sunday of the year (and Good
Friday ) through a number of stations varying from
90 to 107, situated in 40 states, the District of Colum-
bia, and Hawaii. Consisting of an address mainly
expository, by one or another of America’s leading
Catholic preachers, and of sacred music provided
usually by a unit of the Paulist Choir, the Catholic
Hour has distinguished itself as one of the most pop-
ular and extensive religious broadcasts in the world.
A current average of 41,000 audience letters a month,
about twenty per cent of which come from listeners
of other faiths, gives some indication of its popular-
ity and influence.

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