Kind Words From

Your Pastor

V

By

RT. REV. JOHN F. NOLL, D. D., LL. D.

HUNTINGTON, INDIANA

TWENTY-FOURTH EDITION

mwmmmmmmmmmrmmmmmmrmmmm*



NIHIL OBSTAT

RT. REV, MON. J. H„ OECHTERING, V. G.,

Censor Librorum

IMPRIMATUR

^ HERMAN J. ALERDING, D. D,
Bishop of Fort Wayne

Copyright, 1903, by J. F. NoiL

OUR SUNDAY VISITOR
Huntington, Indiana



-rSvnu

TABLE OF CONTENTS.

Introduction 4

Our Calling 5

What Your Church Is 8

Who Is the Loser ................ ........ 10

Church Support 12

Unity and Peace Necessary in the Parish 15

The Parochial School 17

Mixed Marriages . . 23

The Catholic Marriage 27

To the Non-Catholic in a Mixed Marriage ....... .30

To the Fallen Away Catholic 37

Sunday Observance 40

Apothegms . . . , .46



INTRODUCTION.

Every pastor realizes how difficult it is to make

his people truly spiritual. Not only is the spirit of

the world, in which they live, at enmity with God,

but so much of their time and attention must be de-

voted to material things. Then the bad example and

other evil influences surrounding them act power-

fully toward obliterating the principles on which a

good Catholic life must be based.

But no matter what care and labor it may entail,

interest in God and His Church must be kept up
;
the

eternal truths must guide people’s lives; Catholic

principles must be upheld.

So when a pastor finds many of his flock grow-

ing tepid, he has resort to missions or retreats as

means of reawakening their faith and reviving in

them a thorough Catholic spirit.

But there should be in every home a printed re-

minder of the same lessons and principles that are

preached at missions, in order that the members of

the family may be frequently referred to promises

made and resolutions taken.

Such is the purpose of this brochure. It is in-

tended to be a “missionary in the family,” containing

an appeal both to practical and careless Catholics,

and also to the non-Catholic who may be connected

in some manner with Catholic families.

Covering so wide and important a field as it

does, this booklet is in great demand by pastors for

distribution among the members of their flocks.

John F. Noll,

New Haven, Ind.

(Now of Huntington, Ind.)

4



OUR CALLING.

I

“Brethren, labor the more
,
that by good works

you may make sure your calling and election —
II Peter i, 10.

These words of St. Peter afford great consola-

tion, but at the same time contain a warning. He
tells us that we can make sure our election to the
heavenly honors and treasures for which we are
candidates—but he reminds us that it requires hard
work

—
“labor the more.”

You have often observed how the candidate for
a political office works for his election. He loses no
time, spares no labor, in order to better his prospects.

He studies how to gain influence here, how to remove
obstacles there

;
he consults with his friends

;
his first

thoughts in the morning and his last thoughts at

night are about “his chances.” Yet after all his

arduous work, after time carefully employed, and

perhaps money profusely spent, he may not attain
his heart’s desire.

Such is a sample of the daily struggle which

worldly men wage for worldly honors and world-
ly goods—and from it we should learn an important
and wholesome lesson. If men can be so attracted
by the uncertain, empty, passing honors and goods of

this world; if they can set their whole hearts and

souls on the attainment of such shadows, how irresis-
tibly should we be impelled to “labor the more” for
the high honors and priceless eternal treasures that

“God hath prepared for those who love Him.” A
superficial glance at the conduct of the generality of

people makes it plain that very few are working half

as hard to become chosen ones for Heaven as men
work for an office here on earth; and therefore the
truth of Christ’s words uttered on two occasions, be-

comes evident—namely, that of all called “only few
are chosen ;” and the truth of St. Paul’s words, which

tell us that all who enter the race by no means win
the heavenly prize.

5



6 OUR CALLING.

From the enthusiasm he displays and from the
earnestness of his efforts to be elected we say that
the political candidate runs for an office. St. Paul

uses the same figure of speech to express how deeply
interested we should be in the great affair of our sal-
vation

;
he says we must run, and run hard, for the

heavenly prize
;
“so run that you may obtain.” Then,

in order that no one might be too confident of suc-

cess, this great apostle, though called a “vessel of

election” tells us how he himself runs lest even he
might not win. “I run,” he says, “not as at an un-

certainty
;
I chastise my body and keep it under sub-

jection.” Do you do as much ? If all people kept their
bodies under subjection, their chances for Heaven

would be good. “The spirit is willing, but the flesh

is weak.” You resolve to pray, your body protests;

you conclude to fast, your body objects. It is your

body that wants sinful pleasure, that wants more

liquor than it should have. Yet do most people chas-

tise their bodies ? Do they not rather pander to their
bodies ? Such will not win.

No
;
considering that Heaven is the greatest gift

in the power of God, Who can give all things, it is
worth our greatest efforts. If every moment of our
lives, if our every act, our every word were devoted

to its attainment, we would be getting Heaven very
cheaply. Now since daily experience proves that
most people are not doing much to make sure their
election, isn’t it plain that “few should be chosen”?

I!

Here is the case then: I am a candidate for
Heaven. I can become one of the chosen ones, but

unless I take more interest in the work, unless I do

more for God and for my soul than the generality of
people, I shall not win.

Seeing such bad example on all sides, even we
Catholics lose sight of a great truth, which should

always be uppermost in our minds. It is this: the

years we live here are given us for no other purpose
than to prepare for ourselves a happy life with God
after death.



OUR CALLING. 7

This being true, let us make a few reflections.

How many years have you lived ? If your chances to
become a chosen one were to depend on the years you

have lived, do you think you would win? Have you

not lost and misused much precious time, many

golden opportunities, put many obstacles in your own

way ? And how many years will still be given you to
make certain your election? This may be your last.
During the past year the time expired for over

31,000,000 of those called to heavenly honors. How
many of them became “chosen ones”? Ah, be wise
in time. Enter the race in earnest today; “so run

that you may obtain,” “labor the more that by good
works, you may make sure your calling and election.”
To win, you must be on the “narrow way”

;
you must

run perseveringly
;
you must win by good works, by

sound faith, only after many tribulations, by chas-
tising your body.

Who are sure not to win? St. Paul mentions
some. He says Heaven is not for the adulterer, not
for the fornicator, not for the unjust, not for the

curser, not for the drunkard. It is just as surely not

for the Sunday Mass-misser, not for the Friday

meat-eater, in general, not for any one who refuses
to comply with God’s requirements.

Ill

It is true that “God wills all men to be saved.”
Bethlehem, Gethsemane, the Cross, Calvary make
this truth plain. God has done His part; He has
mapped out the way whereby people may “make sure
their election.” He offers all the help they need, but
he has made the attainment of Heaven to depend
largely on their own will. If they lose, it is because
they are unwilling to comply with His will. His will
might be expressed thus : “Keep My commandments
and be a faithful member of My Church.”

We hear many say, “I believe that if one does
what is right, he will be saved.” This is true, but the
trouble is, a person is not doing what is right, unless
he does what God wants him to do, and God wants
him to be a member of His Church and live up to it.



WHAT YOUR CHURCH IS.

I

If your only purpose on earth be to save your
soul, if that be the one thing necessary, then the

dearest object to you on earth should be that which
helps you to save your soul

;
and that is the Church.

God arranged it so. Did you properly realize this,
the privilege of belonging to the Church would be
your greatest boast; you would not exchange this
boon for the wealth of our millionaires, for the
honors of the world's rulers. The Catholic knows
the sure way to make certain his election and, in the
Church, has so many God-given helps to make easy
the winning

!

Would that Catholics realized what their Church
is to them ! Would that they realized that as the true
faith is the greatest gift God has bestowed upon
them, so the loss of the true faith would be the great-

est punishment which God could send them ! If this
were realized, there would be no such person as the

fallen away Catholic. But how common are such
apostates ! People relinquish the Church on the least

pretext. They have trouble with the priest; they
dislike some action of the priest and quit the Church.

How foolish! Did not Christ foretell that scandals
would arise in His Church, yet warn the people to be
steadfast in spite of scandal? At any rate, it is not

proper to mistake the Church for the scandal-giver

and blame God's Church for the scandal. No priest
or bishop is the Catholic Church.

The Catholic Church is God's own institution to
continue Christ’s work on earth, to apply to you the

fruits of your costly redemption, to take away your

sins, to instruct you in God’s truth, to assist you on

the way to Heaven
;
and in so far the Church is fault-

less, without a spot or wrinkle ; as such she is Christ's

holy spouse, whom He loved so tenderly that He died
for her. As such the Church should be viewed, and

when you quit the Church for any reason, you part

company with your truest benefactor; you take a

step that will bring disaster upon your soul.

8



WHAT YOUR CHURCH IS. 9

In her members, whether rulers or subjects, the m
Church is human, very human, sinful; in fact her

great work is to deal with the sinner. Her clergy are

for the most part devoted, faithful, pious, God-fear-

ing, leaning on God as the only object worthy of their

love, but, being human, they may occasionally make

mistakes. Didn’t Christ prepare you sufficiently for

this view of things when He allowed two of His first

clergy, who had been prepared for the priesthood by

Himself, to make serious mistakes ?

Read what Count Isidore von Loeben, a Protes-

tant, has to say about your religion

:

“The Catholic churches, with their ever-opened

portals, their ever-burning lamps, the ever resound-

ing voices of their thanksgiving, with their masses,

their ever-recurring festivals and days of com-

memoration, declare with touching truth, that here

the arms of a mother are ever open, ready to refresh

every one who is troubled and heavy laden; that
here the sweet repast of love is prepared for all, and

a refuge by day and by night. When we consider
this constant occupation of priests, this carrying in

and out of the Holy of Holies, the fulness of emblems,

the ornaments, varying every day, like the changing

leaves of the flower, the Catholic Church will appear

like a deep, copious well in the midst of a city, which

collects around it all the inhabitants, and whose

waters, perpetually cool, refresh, bless, and pervade

all around.”

4



WHO IS THE LOSER?

I

No, my friend, do not try to excuse yourself for
not practising your religion, for you yourself, and

only you are the loser. When you quit the Church for
any reason, you are hurting yourself immensely and

hurting others by your bad example, but are not

hurting the Church. If you mean it as revenge, you
are taking revenge not on the priest, bishop or peo-

ple, but on God Himself; for it is He Who requires
you to live up to the Church

;
“He that despiseth you

(the Church) despiseth Me,” are the words of God

Himself.

Let everyone assure himself that though his

parish, if small, might miss him a little financially,

the Catholic Church can do without him and a few

millions of others and be the grandest institution on

earth still. She has done it. When Henry VIII of
England threatened to leave the Church and take

millions with him, should the Pope not grant him a

divorce, the Pope answered : “For your own sake I
hope you will not leave the Church

;
but if you do, the

Church will live on without you.”

Remember that the Church cannot dispense with
any of God’s own laws or requirements; if people
will not comply with them, they must stand the con-

sequences. As God does not need you in Heaven,

neither does the Church on earth. But since you do

need Heaven, if you consult your best interests, so do

you need the Church—as she is the way to Heaven.
Satisfy yourself that you cannot get along without

the Church.

II

Did you ever consider the responsibility one

incurs who leaves the Church? The faith has prob-

ably existed among your ancestors for centuries.

Would you let it stop with you? Would you deprive

your descendants of it? If you live a good Catholic

and raise your children good Catholics, in a few cen-

turies there may be thousands belonging to God’s

10



WHO IS THE LOSER? 11

Church because you were a good member. But leave

the Church, and in a few centuries there will be

thousands of unbelievers who might have been Cath-
olics, had you remained faithful to the Church. Do
you see the responsibility ? I repeat again : no reason

in the world is sufficient to justify one in relinquish-

ing the true Church.

Think of 10,000,000 men, women, and promis-

ing youths submitting to cruel martyrdom in the
early centuries rather than relinquish their faith.

Think of what your own ancestors endured to
preserve their faith for themselves and for you.

Think of the thousands of missionaries who
have given up everything to go among the heathen
in the hope of saving souls. They would be willing

to lose their lives for the sake of one soul like your

own.

Your soul is your most valuable possession, and
you have only one. Lose it, and unending misery

awaits you. Reflect, and do not commit spiritual-

suicide to spite anyone.



CHURCH SUPPORT.

I

Though the Church is all and more to you than

described in the preceding chapter, yet in her exter-

nal constitution, she is an organization, a society,

composed of rulers and subjects just as the State is.

As the State should work, the Church does work for
the common good of the people, and hence, like the
State, she must be supported by the people. The

Church is as much more deserving of support than
the State, as the Church is higher than the State, as

the good she does is greater than that done by the

State. Yet, Oh, inconsistency! (surely the devil is to

blame for it)
,
people find no fault whatever when the

State asks for some of their earnings, but let the

Church do so, and what faultfinding! The State

levies taxes according to the amount of one's posses-

sions—so much on $100.00, and the people pay it. If
they do not pay it, the authorities sell them out. But

in many congregations each person would like to be
legislator and determine what should be the amount

of tax or pew rent.
In most countries, the tax for the Church is

levied like the tax for the State, and the people pay

heavily toward the support of the Church, though

you may imagine they pay nothing. It is true that
the government pays for the support of the Church,

but are not the people taxed heavier by the govern-

ment on that account ?

Some people imagine that because the Church is

not of earth, because her work is of the spiritual,

charitable order, she ought to get along without

money. Would that she could ! She is not of earth,

but she is on earth, and who or what can get along

on earth without money? God Himself realized

this for

II

He gave the first law regarding taxation for the

Church, and He levied a heavy tax—one-tenth of all
one’s earnings. Listen to God’s own words

:

12



CHURCH SUPPORT. 13

1. “I have given to the sons of Levi (priests)

all the tithes (one-tenth) of Israel for a possession,

for the ministry wherewith they serve Me in the
tabernacle.”—Numb, xviii, 21, and again:

2. “All things, which you shall offer of the

tithes and shall separate for the gifts of the Lord,

shall be the best and choicest things.”—Numb,
xviii, 29.

3. “Everyone shall offer according to what he

hath.”—Deut. xvi, 17.
4. “No one shall appear with his hands empty

before the Lord.”—Deut. xvi, 16.
5. “Give unto the Most-High, according to

what He hath given to thee.”—Eccus. xxxv, 12.
6. “Honor the Lord with thy substance, and

give Him of the first of all thy fruits.”—Prov. iii, 9.
Look over these texts again and note how gen-

eral their application is. “All the tithes,” “every one

shall offer,” “no one shall refuse.” People who would

be insulted if others paid their grocery or butcher

bill, are perfectly willing to let others pay for their

place in church. The “Literary Digest” of January

17, 1903, quotes statistics showing that Catholics,

considering their large number, contribute less than

Protestants toward church support. Hence com-

plaint from Catholics is unreasonable, when we re-
flect how much more they get from their Church than
Protestant churches can give.

Ill

Besides being commanded by God to give one-
tenth of all their earnings, we read in Exod. xxxv,
29 : “All the children of Israel dedicated voluntary

offerings to the Lord.” And again in I Paral. xxix,
9 : “And the people rejoiced when they promised
their offerings willingly, because they offered them

to the Lord with all their heart.” “God loveth a
cheerful giver,” says St. Paul.

Religion demands sacrifice, and people who are
not willing to do much for the Church certainly do
not prize very highly the benefits they derive from

the Church. To do good is all that we are allowed to



14 CHURCH SUPPORT.

live for, and surely one can do no greater good or

enjoy greater honor than by helping build and main-

tain temples wherein alone God is properly honored.

Do away with Catholic churches, and I think God
would hurriedly do away with the world.

But to sift things down to a finer point, how

much do you really give to your church—you who
think church dues are too high ? Thirty to forty dol-

lars a year ? That appears to be a big amount, but it

is about ten cents a day. Do you smoke ? The price
of one good cigar laid aside every day, would pay

your church dues. Do you drink? The price of one
bottle of beer put aside every day would pay your

church dues. Do you go to the theatre occasionally,
to other amusements? What you give thus for
pleasure, for a pastime, would pay your church dues.

The butter you put on your bread would easily pay

them, and yet you grumble over the amount
;
though

we have seen that nothing on earth is so useful and
necessary to us as the Church is.

My dear friend, by your little outlay you make
it possible for the truth of God to be preached in your

locality, for Christ to dwell in your midst as truly as

He dwells in Heaven
;
you draw upon yourself God’s

blessings, receive His graces, which are worth more

than all the world. You are assisted on your way to
Heaven. Do you get your $40.00 worth? You could
never give as much to the Church as you receive from
her. God assures us that He will not allow Himself
to be outdone in generosity

;
but remember, “He who

soweth sparingly, will also reap sparingly.”



UNITY AND PEACE NECESSARY
IN THE PARISH.

I

If God be so interested in His Church as He
assures us He is, then there is nothing grander on
earth, in His eyes, than a congregation whose mem-
bers work in unity and harmony for His greater

honor and glory, and surely nothing can be more dis-

pleasing to Him than opposition between priest and
people or any other want of harmony. St. Paul tells

us that “God is not the God of dissension, but of

peace” and gives this warning : “Be careful to keep

the unity of spirit in the bond of peace.” Christ pro-

nounces a blessing on the peace-maker and conse-

quently a curse on the peace-breaker: “Blessed are

the peace-makers, for they shall be called the chil-

dren of God.” Yet in almost every congregation, we
find discontented parishioners—some who are
chronic fault-finders. This should not be. There

will always be -diversity of opinion among parish-
ioners about important measures; but as each can-

not have his own way, let all abide by the judgment
of the pastor or that of the majority.

You must consider God’s Providence. He often
permits things to occur in a parish which are not

pleasant, but He wants to try the people’s faith and
their love of Him. We show our love for God when
we are willing to bear hard and disagreeable things
for His sake. There are two sides to every question.

You may have much fault to find with the priest or
with other people in the parish, but don’t “take it

out on God,” for He certainly has more reason to
complain of your behavior towards Him. Remember,

above all, that no priest is the Catholic Church, and

you go to church not for the priest’s sake, but to give

worship to God and to do good to your own souls.

II

The Catholic Church today is the same in char-
acter as it was du-ring the days of the Apostles

;
so

15



16 UNION AND PEACE NECESSARY.

the words addressed by St. Paul to the congregations

he organized will apply most fittingly to the people

of every parish and show at the same time how much
he prized unity and harmony among the parish-
ioners:

1. “Now I beseech you, brethren, by the name
of our Lord, Jesus Christ, that you all speak the same

thing and that there be no schisms among you/'

—

I Cor. i, 10.

2. “Fulfill ye My joy, that you be of one mind,
having the same charity, being of one accord, agree-

ing in sentiment.”-—Philip, ii, 2.
3. “Be ye of one mind in the Lord.”—Philip.

iv, 2.

4. “Stand fast in one spirit, with one mind

laboring together, for the faith of the gospel.”

—

Philip, i, 27.

And his prayer for the parish was

:

5. “Now the God of patience and of comfort
grant you to be of one mind, one towards another ac-

cording to Jesus Christ, that with one mind and one

mouth, you may glorify God.”—Rom. xv, 5.
How well does this sound ?

:

6. “All the multitude of believers had but one

heart and one soul.”—Acts iv, 32; but how terrible
this from St. Paul

:

7. “Now I beseech you, brethren, to mark them
who make dissensions and avoid them.”—Rom. xvi,
17.

In all his utterances St. Paul was inspired by

God
;
so his words show how God Himself must love

and bless a peaceable congregation, but how He must

abhor and keep His blessings from a disunited

parish.



THE PAROCHIAL SCHOOL.

It would take up too much space to enlarge on all

the reasons why Catholics are asked to make such
sacrifices for the education of their children. I shall

make only a few reflections, but to the man or woman
who is able and willing to think, these reflections will

be irrefragable arguments. I shall first state what

education is; then ascertain whether the public

schools really educate; whereupon it will be proper

to decide whether the parochial school does. What
is education ?

I

All Christians will admit that every child is born

to live two lives : a short one in society here, and an

eternal one with God hereafter. They will admit,

moreover, that the child comes into the world under

the greatest disadvantages as to both. Therefore it

must be fitted for both
;
it must be so reared that it

will become a good useful citizen on earth and a saint

in Heaven. This is the child’s destiny. Fitting it for

this is Education. The child must be instructed in

secular knowledge that he may not be at a disad-
vantage here below, and he must be taught about

God, about his duties toward God, about the eternal

truths before he can comply with his heavenly call-

ing. Is not this plain ?

But even now, the child is only partly educated.

Instruct the child in every branch of secular know-

ledge, and you have no grounds for believing that he

will make a good citizen; and instruct him fully
about God and all the truths of faith and you have nc
assurance that he will attain Heaven.

What is wanting ? The moral side of the child's
nature needs education also. Secular and religious

knowledge instruct the mind; but that the child

might become a good, honest citizen in society, and
that he might love and serve the God Whom he has
been taught about, that he might “live by faith,” he
must have his heart and conscience educated. Brief-
ly then, Education consists in developing all the

17



18 THE PAROCHIAL SCHOOL.

powers of the child's being—the heart, the mind, the
conscience.

II

Now do the public schools do all this? You
know better. They leave the moral side of the child
entirely untouched, and do not fit the child even for ,

this life. Their failure in this respect is becoming so

plain, that even prejudiced eyes are noticing it.

Public school champions are today reluctantly mak-

ing the humiliating concession that their method is a

failure, that something must be done. Protestant

ministers who have been wont to accuse the Catholic
Church of being opposed to education are “taking it

back" and saying “you have the right way."

Reading, writing, spelling, arithmetic and the

rest, without religion, are making sharp men, clever

men, men who know how to get the better of you,
such men as fill our penitentiaries. But reading,
spelling, arithmetic, etc., etc., are not going to make

men honest, pure, law-respecting and God-fearing;
they will not make a man a faithful husband, nor a
woman a good wife

;
in other words, will not fit a per-

son even for this life.

It is plain then, that the public schools neglect

entirely one side of the child’s nature, and that the

principal side, since unless a child’s conscience and

heart be educated, it were better that he should not

be educated at all. Let a man’s mind be educated

ever so well, if he be irreligious, society has a rascal

and a scamp to deal with, whom it would be much
better off without. But educate the heart and con-

sciences of our infidels, atheists, anarchists, so-

cialists, even of our criminals, and you will make of
them ideal Christian men.

The world, I admit, stands in need of intellectual

men, but far more in need of honest men, pure men,

faithful men, and the public schools do not even pre-

tend to turn out such. One thing is therefore plain,

namely, that the public schools do not impart all that

education implies
;
that they only educate one faculty

of the soul—the mind.



THE PAROCHIAL SCHOOL. 19

We are still granting them too much, for they
do not even educate the child’s mind in what is most

important, or rather* in what is absolutely necessary

for the child to know. Truth is the object of the

mind. The truths of faith are the highest truths, the

most important truths, but the child is not taught

them. Not one word is taught concerning God,

though He is the beginning and end of all knowledge.
Not a word is taught the child about his origin, his

duties here, his destiny. A knowledge of God’s laws,
of the child’s duties to God, is a necessary condition

for their observance, and their observance is a neces-

sary condition for salvation, but the child learns

nothing of them in the public schools.

Patrons of the Public School will answer us in

this manner : We turn the child over to the Sunday
School for a knowledge of God, of the truths of faith,

of his duties as a Christian, etc., and we also leave the
whole moral side to the Church. Let me reply that
they thus acknowledge what we are proving, that the
public schools do not educate fully. But now let us
see whether the Sunday School can make up the de-
ficiency.

First of all, as stated above, experience testifies

too plainly that in spite of all the churches and Sun-

day schools in the land, the majority of our citizens

know and care little about God, about law, about
honesty, about purity, about morality in general.

Secondly, the parents of two-thirds of the chil-

dren in the United States are not active members of
any church. Will they take a deep interest in seeing

that their children get the proper moral training?

That so many parents are not church members, is
due to the fact that they were not properly educated

when young.

Thirdly, even if all children attended Sunday

school, would it be just to give sixty times as much
attention to the mind as to the moral side of the
child? To spend thirty (30) hours a week imparting
secular knowledge and to set aside only one-half hour

a week for religious knowledge? This would prove

that public school patrons do not set a high value on



20 THE PAROCHIAL SCHOOL.

the child’s moral training, which is, in reality, im-

measurably more important than secular knowledge.

Ill

It is now in order to determine whether the
Parochial School educates fully and properly. Listen

a moment and decide for yourself. Education, in its
full sense, as we have seen, means to fit the child for
this life and for the life hereafter. The public

schools make no pretention to do more than to fit the
child for the business part of this life. This is not

enough for one who understands the relative im-
portance of things

;
so we Catholics turn to the public

schools and say : “That child is not half educated

even for this life and you have taken no account

whatever of the next life for which it must also be

fitted
;
don’t you know that the welfare of society de-

pends much more on that child’s character than on
its intellectual training?” The public school an-

swers: We know ic, but we can only give the one
side of education. Then the Catholic Church turns

to her own and says : Parents ! it is important that
your child become an intelligent citizen, but it is

more important that he become a good citizen, a pure,

an honest citizen, and it is absolutely necessary that

he be taught about His Maker, his duties to Him, for

only thus can he be fitted for eternity
;
and because

the public school does not teach him the eternal

truths and does not even aim to make him a good
citizen, “suffer your little children to come unto Me,”

I will educate their minds fully, and will also edu-

cate their hearts and consciences. I will instruct

them in the things of this life, and in the things of

the life to come. I will impart all the secular know-

ledge that they can get elsewhere, and I will besides

teach them their duties to God, their duties to you

and their duties to their fellow men. I shall also

train their hearts to love God, to love and respect you

and all others. I shall impress them with a sense of

right and wrong, train their consciences to fear God,

to respect the rights of others and pursue good. 1

shall place over them as teachers men or women,



THE PAROCHIAL SCHOOL. 21

whose very dress will remind them that there are

higher things to live for than the things of this

world
;
men or women, inspired by holy motives, who

at the altar of God have dedicated their lives to '‘in-

struct others unto justice.” Even with the child’s

secular studies I shall intermingle an element of

devotion and religion. And after I have had your
child under such salutary influence, if he does not be-

come a good citizen of society and a faithful member
of God’s Church, it is either because he has a bad

example at home, or because he is acted upon by evil

influences of the world or because he abuses God’s

graces.

Does not the Catholic way of educating appeal
to you as immeasurably better and more complete

than any other way ? Dealing with every side of th
child’s nature, the parochial school educates properl,

and fully. I don’t mean to hint that every produc
of the public school will turn out badly, but I do con

tend that men and women who attend the publii
school and who are now esteemed members of society
owe their good character not to the public schools
but to good home training, or to other salutary in-
fluences.

I might have gone further and shown that the
Catholic Church alone has the right to educate. St.

Paul says so: “How can one teach unless he be
sent?” And Christ sent only the Church. The Cath-
olic Church alone has the full truth of God, and hence

she alone can teach it correctly. Moreover the

Church must teach, for God has entrusted to her the
eternal interests of man; she must teach, because
Christ gave her that commission: “Teach all na-

tions and I shall be with you.”

* IV

Many Catholics have a wrong notion of the real
purpose of the parochial school. They suppose that
we build and maintain our own schools merely that
we may teach the children catechism every day. No,
their purpose is rather to lay a solid religious founda-

tion for the faith of our future fathers and mothers



22 THE PAROCHIAL SCHOOL.

The principles of faith must be impressed on the

minds and hearts of the children; their early daily

actions must be regulated by the eternal truths, that

later, they may “live by faith.”

To live rightly, people must not only know but
realize the truths of religion, and this is only ren-

dered possible when the children are deeply im-

pressed with them. When the early years of the
child are spent in the very shadow of the church,

with teachers whose example and exhortations spur

them on to good, he can hardly fail to get wholesome

impressions which will last. Moreover, he learns to

be reverent in church, how to assist at Mass, how to
pray devoutly, his faults are corrected, and he re-

ceives a better preparation for his first Holy Com-

munion.

Years ago the parochial school was not so much
of a necessity. There were not so many attractions
and evil influences for the child, and parents were

for the most part more strict with their children.

Today, with the cheap novels, newspapers, and free

libraries, people read more and read so much against

God and the Church that our children must needs

have a clear knowledge of and be deeply impressed

by the truths of faith, or they will be led astray. If

we expect the fathers and mothers of tomorrow to

be good Catholics we must plant solid faith in the
boys and girls of today.

“This is eternal life, that they may know Thee
and whom Thou hast sent, Jesus Christ.” The know-
ledge of God, says Christ, is eternal life, yet this true

knowledge cannot be obtained in any but the

parochial school. And listen to what the Holy Ghost
says : “Cursing, lying, infidelity, and adultery

«

abound, because there is no knowledge of God in the

land.” Isn’t it then the plain duty of God’s Church

to put knowledge of God in the land?

Yes, the parochial school aims to fit children for

this life and for the next life, and in doing so it

educates in the fullest sense of the word.



MIXED MARRIAGES.

It is not my purpose to scold those Catholics
who have already cast their lot with a Protestant or

an infidel, for except in very few instances, they

secretly concede that it was the mistake of their lives.

Many Catholics, who before marriage could see no
wrong in the step in their case, have told me that
they would never do it over.

And as to the unmarried, I shall not write them
a sermon, for they have a real horror for sermons on

mixed-marriages, and on account of this horror, they

seldom give an attentive ear to the reasons for the

Church’s strict position regarding such marriages.

My purpose then, will be merely to enumerate some
of these reasons in a manner plain and convincing to

everyone who will use his “thinking powers” a little.
1. First of all, let me say that it is God Himself

who will not tolerate mixed-marriages, and the
Church merely explains and enforces His will. Even

in the Old Testament, mention of God’s prohibition

of mixed-marriages is so frequent that it would oc-

cupy too much space to quote all passages. I shall
mention only a few

:

“Thou shalt not take of their daughter’s (un-

believers) a wife for thy son.—Exod. xxxiv, 16.
“If you will embrace the errors of those nations

and make marriages with them, know you for a
certainty, that they shall be a pit and a snare in your

way.”—Josue xxiii, 12.
“You have transgressed, (done something for-

bidden), and taken strange wives to add to the sin

of Israel.”—I Esdras x, 10.
“We have sinned against our God and have

taken strange wives.”—I Esdras x, 2.
Read the whole chapter x, of the First Book

of Esdras to see how mixed marriages were viewed
by faithful Jews.

2. If God Himself forbade such mixed-alliances
in the Old Law, when marriage was only a natural
contract, how much more reason is there for such
prohibition now, that Christ has raised this contract

23



24 MIXED MARRIAGES.

to the rank of things most holy. For Christians

marriage is now a sacrament, representing and ef-
fecting a holy union and intended to sanctify those

who enter it. It can be such a holy union only where
faith marries faith, where both parties are under the

dominion of God’s Church.

3. No law is more reasonable and charitable
than the law forbidding mixed-marriages. We are
on earth to work for Heaven

;
that is certain. And

most people must do that work as husbands and

wives, as fathers and mothers, in other words, in the

marriage state. Wherefore their marriage should

put no obstacle in the way; it should rather help

them. But when a Catholic marries a ’Protestant,

he does put an obstacle in the way. If I want God’s

blessing on my married life, I must not break His
law whilst entering it; I should rather endeavor to

have God present at the marriage ceremony. He is
not present at a mixed-marriage, for He forbids such.
God cannot be inconsistent.

4. In marriage, husband and wife become one

moral person. They must endeavor to sanctify each

other. This cannot be done in a mixed-marriage, for

how can there be harmonious co-operation towards
salvation? They cannot even speak and think alike

about their duties to God. A mixed-marriage makes
a “house divided against itself.” In marriage man
must have a “help like unto himself” especially in

religion, since thereby he strives to bring about the

“one thing necessary.”

5. When a man and woman enter marriage,
they must be ready to become father and mother.

Then on the Catholic devolves the very strict duty of

bringing up the children faithful members of the

Catholic Church. Need I tell you that this is rarely

accomplished where one party is a Protestant. I say

rarely, for I admit that some few instances might be

referred to.

Statistics will show better than any argument

what good Catholics the off-spring of mixed-mar-

riages become. The “Literary Digest” a few years

ago, quoted statistics gleaned from a house to house



MIXED MARRIAGES. 25

canvass, as follows : Where both father and mother

were Catholic, ninety-two per cent of the grown-up

children are Catholics, but in mixed-marriages only

thirty-four per cent of the children go to church at

all. That means that two thirds of the children of

mixed-marriages are lost to God’s Church, and I

might say, lost to Heaven.

Can you believe, that God will bless such unions

when they tend to pull down rather than build up

His Kingdom? “Thy Kingdom come,” (increase) is

what we pray for. God’s Kingdom would diminish

fast, as statistics show, did the Church permit mixed-

marriages.

6. Where husband and wife differ in religion,

the child must generally be trained in doubt, not in

faith. The child can hardly bring itself to believe

that membership in the Catholic Church is so neces-

sary, if one of its parents be not a member.

7. What if the Catholic party should die whilst
the children are still young? The Protestant party

must now see that the children be instructed in the
Catholic faith, that they attend to their religious

duties, etc. Even if the Protestant party do this, the

children will take 1: itle interest when the surviving
parent does not prjctice what he or she preaches

and inculcates.

8. The non-Catholic party in a mixed-marriage

either is opposed to the Catholic religion, or he is in-

different about all religion, or he is disposed toward

the Catholic religion. Now, if he be opposed to the
true religion, he is surely not pleasing to God

;
if he

be indifferent about all religion he is not pleasing to

God
;
if he be disposed toward the Catholic religion,

as long as he defers entering the Church, he is not

pleasing to God. So where is there any mixed-mar-

riage that pleases God ?

9. The plainest reason for God’s, and conse-

quently the Church’s, prohibition of mixed-mar-

riages is that God wants marriage entered into from
holy, pure, supernatural motives. You are not actu-
ated by such motives when you marry one not of the
faith. Your reason for marrying a Protestant is, let



26 MIXED MARRIAGES.

us say, his good looks, his means, or even his pleas-

ing, kind disposition
;
it may be he is “just according

to your taste.” What does God care for all this, if
his soul is not right, if his mind will not accept the

truth and his will be not disposed to keep God’s

laws?

God wants faith to marry faith, grace to marry

grace. Grace is everything with God. If the beauty

of God’s image, by grace, be not on the soul, all the

other good habits, fine qualities of that person taken

together will not satisfy God. Now in mixed-mar-
riages grace seldom marries grace; for if the non-

Catholic be not baptized he is not in a state of grace

;

even if he be baptized he is most probably not in a

state of grace.

10. Of course, many Catholics who are keeping
company with non-Catholics believe that in their case

things will go all right after marriage. I speak for

their best interests when I say : be careful
;
do not

deceive yourselves. Others have thought the same

thing but have become sadly disappointed. Remem-
ber that our lives will be happy or unhappy precisely

as God wants them to be; and remember, too, that

the devil is also very much interested in your mar-
riage. You may later have to confess : “The serpent
deceived me.”

But do not converts often result from mixed-

marriages? Not half as frequently as apostates.

The non-Catholic should become a convert before

marriage and take plenty of time, too, to acquaint

himself with the teachings and practices of the

Church he enters.



THE CATHOLIC MARRIAGE.

I

It has always been the teaching of theologians

that when God calls a person to any state of life, He

is ready so to dispose and arrange things that they

will work together for that person’s good unless the

person himself by want of caution make himself un-

worthy of such a favor.

Now matrimony is such a state of life
;
hence if

God has called you thereto, He will lead the way to
a happy marriage for you providing you will let

Him have more to do with it He will direct the
choice and see that you secure the right partner, if

you pray to Him for this and by a careful life dis-
pose yourself for this favor from God. The serious-

ness of the step from which one cannot recede and

the hundreds of thousands of unhappy homes in our

country should make the young more careful when

choosing a partner for life. But many young people
are so blinded by inclination and passion that they do

not see danger ahead. They forget that just as the

call to the marriage state comes from God so upon

Him must they rely for all that will make their mar-
riage happy, which includes, of course, the sending

of the right partner.

By reckless company-keeping, etc., these youths
turn against God

;
then the devil has his way. He is

shrewd, and having experimented with the young

for centuries, knows by what bait they are best

drawn into an unhappy marriage. Such is the teach-
ing of the Holy Ghost Himself, as we read in the
book of Tobias (vi, 17) : “For they who in such
manner receive matrimony as to shut out God from
their mind, over them the devil has power.”

In advising young Catholics, then, who feel
themselves called to the marriage state, I would call

their attention to another utterance of an inspired

writer : “we are the children of saints, and we must
not be joined together like heathens who know not
God” (Tob. viii, 5). I would remind them that “a

27



28 THE CATHOLIC MARRIAGE.

good wife shall be given in the portion of them that
fear God to a man for his good works” (Ecelus. xxvi,
3) ; and that “a prudent wife is properly from the
Lord” (Prov. xix, 14). To make sure that your
partner will be “from the Lord,” I would ask you to

pray and consult your pastor (and parents) just as

you would do in case you felt a call to the religious

. life; then do not choose one who is evidently not
“from the Lord,” but from the devil, such as an

enemy of your religion, a person of bad habits, etc.
“Above all things pray to the Most High, that He
may direct thy way in truth” (Ecclus. xxxvii, 19).
“My son do nothing without counsel, and thou shalt
not repent when thou hast done” (Ecclus. xxxii, 24).

II

Just as the ceremony at a mixed marriage is the

simplest and the coldest at which the priest ever of-

ficiates, so the ceremony by which two good Cath-

olics are united for life is one of the most solemn in

the Church’s ritual. The Catholic marriage, in the
words of St. Paul, is “a great sacrament,” and hence

the ceremony is performed in the church. Moreover,

as the marriage state is one of the three states of life

to which the parties are called by God, and in which

they are to serve God together till death—like the
reception into the religious life, marriage is entered

into before the very altar.

Instead of being “joined together as the heathen

who know not God,” (Tob. viii, 5), before two good
Catholics speak the word which makes them one,

they, by a good confession, remove from their souls

everything that might prevent God’s presence at the

ceremony, and by putting themselves in the state of

grace they dispose themselves for God’s blessing on

their wedded life. Now God looks down upon them
with the same loving eye as when the cleansing
waters of Baptism made them His adopted children.
He sees the light of faith and the beauty of His own
image resplendent in their souls. As their hearts

become one, so does grace marry grace and faith

marry faith.



THE CATHOLIC MARRIAGE. 29

No sooner are they united in marriage, than the
holy sacrifice of the Mass is offered for them with

special prayers for God’s blessing and protection on

their lives and for His powerful help to enable them

to perform their new duties well. The Church even
allows an interruption at this Mass, which is not

permitted to the priest at any other time. During

the principal part of the sacrifice, whilst Christ is

personally present on the altar, the priest leaves off

the Mass, invites the newly-married couple to ap-

proach the altar, and then turning to Christ, the

priest asks Him again to grant them a long life, a
happy life, a life so blessed and replete with good

works that it will be a sure way to the Heavenly
Banquet. A few moments later the Son of God be-
comes their first food that morning and thus unites

Himself more closely to them than they are united

to each other.

Could God’s blessing be withheld from a mar-

riage thus prepared for and thus entered into ? Isn’t

there an unspeakable difference between the cold,

sad, mixed-marriage and the solemn joyful Catholic

marriage ?

Are you now surprised that the Church inveighs
so strongly against mixed alliances ?

After such reflections, will any who read this
enter into marriage without prayer, without a fit

preparation? Will they allow themselves to be led

into an unhappy marriage by an enemy of their re-
ligion, by a person of bad habits? How could they
do so, with these terrible words uttered by the Holy

Ghost ringing in their ears? “They who in such
manner receive marriage, as to shut out God from
their mind, over them the devil has power” (Tob.
vi, 17).



TO THE NON-CATHOLIC IN A
MIXED-MARRIAGE.

I

What has been said in the chapter on Mixed-
Marriages is said with all respect to you. My purpose
was not to offend, but to give to the Catholic plain

reasons for God’s disapproval of mixed-marriages.

If you will kindly reflect but a moment, you will ad-

mit that God cares more for your soul than for your

body; and hence in marriage, He is more concerned
about the union of your souls than the union of your

bodies. You and your partner are working together
for the things of this life

;
God wants you to work to-

gether for the things of Heaven
;
but can you work

together thus when you do not believe alike ?
I do not blame you for not having accepted your

partner’s faith, if you never believed that he or she

had the truth; but will you kindly listen to a few

facts from which you might ascertain whether one of

you has the true faith and which? Most surely you

are willing to listen to argument, for every reason-

able person is. No one on this earth is so deserving
of respect as the man or woman who is sincere, and
earnest, who wants to know and to do what is right.

II

What is your belief? Your partner is a Cath-
olic. If you differ from him or her, then both of you

cannot be right
;
one of you surely has not the truth.

Do you profess any religion? If not, I am going to
ask you a question

:

Do you believe in the Divinity of Christ? That
is, do you believe that Christ was really God ? That

the Christ, whom we revere as God, lived on earth
1900 years ago can be proved more plainly than any

other fact of history, for not only one, but many his-
torians of His own time speak of Him. But was He

God ? His enemies try to prove that He was not, but
the harder their attempt, the more deary do they

convince the people that He was God.

30



TO THE NON-CATHOLIC. 31

They grant that He was everything short of
God

;
that He was a model of perfection ; the holiest

person that ever lived. Let us take them at their own

word. Would He have been a model of perfection
if His whole public life had been spent in deceiving

the people? Would he have been the holiest person

that ever lived, if he was guilty of blasphemy, and

the blackest falsehood ? But if He was not God, then
He was a deceiver, a blasphemer, a false teacher ; for

His every act and most of His teaching were directed

to impress on the world the belief that He was God.
Now his worst enemies have too much respect for
Christ, to charge Him with deception, blasphemy,
falsehood. If He was not such a wicked person, then
He was what He so emphatically professed to be—
God. But His many miracles, and especially His
Resurrection, in support of which there could not

be stronger evidence asked
;
His whole teaching, and

the effects of His teaching, all prove most conclusive-

ly that Christ was the very “Son of the living God.”

Ill

But what was God doing on earth in human
form ? One great purpose was to enlighten the world

in matters of tremendous importance. During the

4,000 years previous to His appearance on earth, only

one people knew anything about what is of the
greatest importance for man to know. People knew
nothing certain of their origin, their purpose on

earth, nor of their destiny. They paid God no true
worship, or rather, they worshipped things that

were not God at all. Christ taught the world much
about God

;
that God made us for Himself

;
that our

purpose on earth is to honor, love and serve this God
according to His requirements; and that as a re-

ward, we should be made eternally happy in Heaven.
In order to have uniformity of belief and wor-

ship, Christ instituted a Church of which he strictly
requires all to become members as a condition for
attaining Heaven.

If Christ was God and requires this, then we are
not free to join this Church or not to join it. Heaven



32 TO THE NON-CATHOLIC.

belongs to God, and if He wants you in His Church
as a condition for attaining Heaven, then you cannot

expect Heaven without complying with this condi-
tion. You cannot vote unless you are a citizen of the
United States; you cannot be elected to the Presi-

dency, no matter how well qualified you may be, un-
less you were born in this country. If such are the

requirements laid down by the constitution, they
must be complied with. In like manner, if God
makes Heaven dependent on membership in His
Church, then His demands must be complied with.

IV

Listen to the conversation I would hold with you,

if you were already a member of some church, but
not of the Catholic Church.

If you told me you were a member of a Protes-
tant church, I would naturally ask: of which one?

for there are four or five hundred of them.

If you answered, of the Methodist Church, I

would again ask : of which branch ? for it has seven-

teen branches.

If you answered : “I am a Lutheran,” I would
again ask : Do you belong to the Missouri synod, or
to the Reformed Lutheran, or to the Evangelical

Lutheran, or to one of the other nineteen bodies, and

to which?

If you told me that you were an Episcopalian, I
would be compelled to ask the same question: Do
you belong to the High or Low or Broad Church ?

If you replied that you were a Presbyterian, I

would again want to know to which of the twelve
branches you belong.

As each of these denominations consists of many
branches, one differing from the other, it would be

pretty hard to decide whether you or a member of
one of the other branches, professed the exact teach-

ing of the founder of the sect in question.

After learning what church you belong to, I

would ask : Could you prove to me that that church
is the Church which Christ established ? For Christ

pertainly did not establish all of the hundreds of con-



TO THE NON-CATHOLIC. 33

tradictory sects. He founded A Church and wants
everybody to belong to It, not to some other. He

calls His Church My Church, The Church. If you
don’t happen to belong to that one, then you belong

to somebody’s else Church besides God’s.

V

Now, can the one true Church be distinguished

from the rest ? Here are some incontrovertible facts

which will greatly assist us in discovering the true

Church of Christ

:

Four hundred years ago there was only one

Church and that Church dates back 1500 years

farther,—to Christ’s time, and that Church is today
stronger in membership than all the other 400 or 500

sects together; that Church is spread all over the

world, yet not split up into branches, but wonder-

fully united in belief and practice. That Church

happens to be the Catholic Church. Are these not

strong points in favor of the Catholic Church being

the Church of Christ ?

Here are some more undeniable facts : No Pro-
testant denomination is over 400 years old, whereas

Christ’s Church must be 1900 years old. This fact

alone excludes all the Protestant sects. Moreover

history mentions the names of the men who started
the Protestant denominations.

Protestants knowing this, answer us: We are
aware that the Catholic Church is the oldest Church

;

we know too that she was once the true Church, but
she fell into gross errors a few centuries ago

;
there-

fore today she is not the true Church.

Now, my friend, I hope you are sincere, so re-
flect a moment

;
you have been imposed upon. If the

Catholic Church has no longer the truth, then 499 out

of the 500 Protestant sects have not the truth either,

for they all differ, and truth is one
;
the probability

then would be that you don’t belong to the right

Protestant sect either.

But now, could the true Church fall into error?

Remember that Christ, who was God, established the
Catholic Church

;
history admits this. Would a wise



34 TO THE NON-CATHOLIC.

and omnipotent God allow the Church, which He es-
tablished for all times, to fall into error when He
could prevent it? St. Paul asks husbands to love

their wives as Christ loved His Church and died for

her. But would Christ have entertained deep love

for His Church if He permitted her to leave Him, or
if He left her?

No, my friend, once the true Church, always the
true Church. Christ even promised that this would

be so
;
that He would remain with His Church till the

end of time
;
that He would send the Holy Ghost, the

Spirit of truth, to keep her in truth
;
that hell would

not gain a victory over her. St. Paul vouches for

the Church’s stability in truth when he calls her the
pillar and ground of Truth.

I must be more brief
;
so here are a few points

to reflect upon

:

In the Apostles’ Creed, the oldest of all creeds,

we read : I believe in the holy Catholic Church.
The 10,000,000 martyrs of the first three cen-

turies died cruel deaths rather than abandon the

truth of the Catholic Church.

Do you know of an earnest, well instructed con-
vert to the Catholic faith, who ever regretted that he
became a Catholic?

Did you ever hear of a Catholic becoming a

Protestant on his death bed for safety sake?

Every day Protestants become Catholics on their

death beds for safety sake.

Instead of the Catholic Church it is the Protes-

tant denominations that are changing. Presbyter-

ians have discussed changing their creed for the last

two years. Imagine the Baptists dropping baptism,

but they have considered that. No Protestant de-
nomination is the same as when founded; the dif-

ferent branches show that. Wesley, for example,

did not found seventeen branches of the Methodist

church.

Other churches are adopting Catholic practices

more and more.

If the Catholic Church is not the true Church,

then none is, for all others are based on the Bible,



TO THE NON-CATHOLIC. 35

which the Catholic Church gave them and which she

tically admit the Catholic Church’s infallibility, that

is, they admit that she could not teach error; then

she never did; then she is the true Church today;

then Protestantism has no excuse for its existence;

then the so-called Reformation was rather a Defor-

mation, if it changed the creed of God’s Church.

When Protestants charge the Catholic Church
with having invented new doctrines, or with having

discarded old ones, how is it that they can never say
‘'when

0
? New definitions by Councils are not new

doctrines.

Objections

:

Why are so many Catholics bad if their Church
be the Church?

Ans.—Because they do not live up to their
Church.

Why do so many Catholics leave the Church if
to belong to it be such a privilege ?

Ans.—Because, on account of not living in ac-
cordance with the requirements of the Church, God
allows them to lose their faith as a punishment, and

a severe punishment it is.

Why is the Church persecuted even in Catholic
countries?

Ans.—Because where God has a strong hold on
the people, the devils fight hardest. Why, my friend,
the very best proof of the Catholic Church being
declared inspired. If the Catholic Church had not
been God’s infallible Church at that time, then no
Protestant denomination knows whether the Bible
contains God’s word at all or not.

By accepting the Bible as inspired, they prac-
God’s Church is that she is persecuted. Christ says
so : “They have persecuted Me

;
they will persecute

you too.”

But it is a hard step for many Protestants to be-
come Catholics.

Ans.—Undoubtedly, but Heaven is surely worth
it. Remember that “the Kingdom of Heaven suffers
violence.” Be careful, you are looking more for your
comfort than to please God.



36 TO THE NON-CATHOLIC.

But one hates to leave the Church in which he

was reared.

Ans.—Now, don’t be guided by feeling, but by
conscience and reason.

But I don’t believe in confession.

Ans.—Your partner does; 300,000,000 others
do; the priest himself goes to confession. It is not

half as hard as you imagine
;
you will feel a hundred

per cent better after your first confession
;
you will

then believe in it, and like other converts you will

want to go often.

I am not explaining Catholic doctrine in this
little book

;
but examine the different truths in some

Catholic book that does explain them and you will

believe them all, if you are in earnest and pray for a

little light.

Would that people cared more for the religion

that pleases God than for one that pleases them-
selves. We cannot expect Heaven through the latter
kind.

Now, my friend, when I tell you that it is neces-
sary to join the Church of God, I am not making a
law

;
I am simply in all kindness reminding you of a

duty that Christ Himself imposes upon all. Read

over again this chapter carefully and earnestly, and

see if it is not pretty plain that your partner, whether

good or bad, has the true faith. The fact that there

are bad Catholics will not excuse you from becoming

a Catholic as soon as you are convinced that God re-

quires it.

Really would it not be better also if you and your

spouse were members of the same Church, rearing

the children in strong faith, and working together

for the “one thing necessary?” Convince yourself

that a moral life alone will not lead to Heaven; we
must “live by faith.” Even your good works are

worth nothing to God, if you refuse to do His will in

His greatest demand—join His Church. “Without
faith (the true faith of course) it is impossible to

please God.”

Pray with St. Paul: “Lord, what wilt Thou

have me to do?”



TO THE FALLEN-AWAY CATHOLIC.

1. My good friend, I would ask you to be
serious, just for a few moments, and to listen to one

who has your best interests at heart. Tell me why
you have left off going to church.

You certainly have not ceased to believe in the

existence of God
;
for that would mean you have be-

gun to believe the greatest absurdity, namely, that

the sun, moon and stars, the earth, the seas and the

first living creatures made themselves. If these

things did not make themselves, then an Almighty

Being made them. We call that Being, God. Isn’t
it rather that you wish there were no God, so that

there would be no hell and no judgment? But this

wish will not change the state of things any more

than the murderer’s wish that there were no peni-

tentiary, will do away with such a place of punish-

ment.

2. Or have you begun to doubt the Divinity of

Christ? Read the preceding chapter over and con-

vince yourself that Christ was truly God and that
living up to the Church He established is the only way
to Heaven for you.

3. Or have you put yourself out of the Church

by an unlawful or invalid marriage? In so doing

you made a tremendous blunder, but that mistake
can be corrected. And I beg you not to defer its cor-
rection long; go to see your parish priest at once.

4. Have you put yourself out of the Church by
joining SOCIETIES FORBIDDEN BY THE
CHURCH ? Then again, I would say that if you can-
not belong to both the society and the Church, good

sense will dictate that you give up the society. For

even if you see no reason for that society’s condem-

nation, you must at least grant that it cannot lead

you to Heaven
;
that it is a human organization.

To choose a human organization in preference
to the divine one instituted by Christ, is an awful in-

sult to God. Moreover, you can take for granted that

the Church’s condemnation is based on solid reasons,

though you might not clearly comprehend these rea-

37



38 TO THE FALLEN-AWAY CATHOLIC.

sons. The chaplain and Bible, which all secret so-

cieties have, show that religion enters into them, and

the fact that that Bible is not the one approved by the

Church, and that chaplain is not commissioned by

God, makes the religion of these societies heretical.

Hence the Church can no more permit you to belong

to such societies (with a religion different from her

own) than she can allow you to join a Protestant

church.

If these societies merely had a tendency to make
people take less interest in their Church, that reason

would be enough for prohibiting Catholics from join-

ing them. And that this tendency exists, I know.
Even Protestant ministers, who often become mem-
bers of secret societies for policy sake, concede that

persons who join them often give up active at-
tendance at church, giving as a reason, that they get

religion enough in their lodge.

Catholics who belong to these societies often
refer to the religious features as reasons why the
Church should approve of them rather than condemn

them. If such were the case, then the Church should

approve of all other religions, for the preachers of

such religions do not teach the people evil. Christ

established one religion; that one and no other

pleases God. “He who is not with Me is against Me,”
are Christ’s own words.

5. Or have you just remained away from

Church through carelessness,—neglected Mass and
your Easter duty? I beg of you for your own soul’s
sake to begin again at once to live up to your Church

;

you have deprived your soul of much good and have
positively sinned

;
you are walking away from

Heaven.

6. Or have you been addicted to some sin which

you were unwilling to give up and therefore felt that

it would do you no good to go to church ? If so, my
friend, come to your senses this day. The sin may
be hard to give up, but it will be harder to go to hell

;

you are on the sure way thereto. If you care more
to please your passions than to please God, you can

not expect Heaven. About the past do not despair,



TO THE FALLEN-AWAY CATHOLIC. 39

for are not these words cheering : “On whatever day

the sinner is converted (repents), his iniquities I

shall not remember.” But do not postpone this re-

pentance, for God may refuse you the grace later.

7. Or have you forsaken Church because affairs

of the congregation were not run rightly
;
because of

trouble you had with the priest; because of some

scandal that arose in the church? All these are no

reasons why you should take revenge on your own
soul, nor why you should refuse to give to God the
service He is so justly entitled to from you.

8. No, my friend, if all were to follow your
example, if all were to refuse God what He so rea-
sonably asks and what He is so willing to repay

;
if

all were to refuse to pay homage to God, especially

on His day, (Sunday), I am sure, that God, receiving
no honor and glory from His creatures, would put an

end to things here below.

Do not relinquish your Church, for that would
be denying Christ, and listen to what Christ says He
will do to those who deny Him : “He that will deny
Me before men, him I shall deny before My Father
Who is in Heaven.” One who does not keep his
promise is not very honorable. Remember what you
promised through your sponsors in Baptism, what

you promised yourself in First Holy Communion and
Confirmation. You promised solemnly, in church,
that you would ever be a faithful member of the
Church,—even a soldier of Christ.

I certainly have the interests of God and your
own best interests at heart, when I implore you to
begin at once to live up to your Church again. En-

deavor to get some good out of the remainder of your

life. No matter how long it has been since your last
good confession, go this very month

;
the priest will

assist you and I assure you that you will feel happy

to be again on friendly terms with God.

All the reasons which you might adduce to justi-

fy yourself in staying away from church will not
suffice

;
for as Heaven is the one thing we cannot af-

ford to lose, so is the way to Heaven (the Church)
the one thing we cannot dispense with.



SUNDAY OBSERVANCE.

I

“Thou art worthy, 0 Lord, our God, to receive
glory and honor; because Thou hast created all
things.”— (Apoc. iv, 11).

“Come, let us adore and fall down before the
Lord that made us

;
for He is the Lord our God

;
we

are the people of His pasture and the sheep of His

hand.”— (Ps. xciv, 6, 7).
It is with a feeling of sadness that I must

reprimand many Catholics for refusing to comply
with a law which they should obey so cheerfully.

It is indeed sad to think that man can become so
forgetful of his real purpose on earth as not to see

the reasonableness of giving himself up entirely at

least on one day of each week to the service of God.

Considering that we are on earth only to serve
God, and considering the eternal reward promised

us in return for this service, we must admit that God
asks very little of our time for His exclusive wor-

ship. Because He does ask so little, it seems that He
designedly calls especial attention to His third com-

mandment by prefacing it with the word “remem-
ber”

;
as much as to say : “I am requesting but one

day out of seven for Myself but this day I want,

—

remember, that thou keep it holy.”

I shall not enter into the reasons why the first
instead of the seventh day of the week is dedicated

to God in the New Law, for substantially the com-
mandment remains the same,—requiring man to rest
from his work and to worship God publicly on one

day of each week.

II

After establishing the fact that we are strictly
commanded to keep the Sunday holy, the next thing

to make clear is the precise manner in which God
must be worshipped on this day. And it will be plain
to any thinking mind that God must be honored dif-

ferently from others. The honor we pay Him must
,

*'mtain an acknowledgment of our entire dependence

40



SUNDAY OBSERVANCE,. 41

on Him. We call such honor sacrifice. And because
we do not owe everything to any one else but God,
we are not permitted to offer sacrifice to any one but
to Him.

The honor we pay to God, then, must be greater
both in quality and in quantity than the honor shown

to any other person.

As to quality, it must be sacrifice; and as to
quantity, it must be the highest possible.

Even here on earth the dignity and character of

the person are considered when there is question of
rendering homage. We show no marks of recogni-
tion whatever to a non-acquaintance; we greet an
acquaintance; we shake hands with a friend; we
meet the President with committees, decorate public

buildings in his honor and escort him through the
streets amid music and cheers.

If honors should increase in quantity according

to the dignity of the person, how is man to honor
God adequately, before whom kings are nothing, to
whom he owes his very life and countless other bless-
ings ? Sacrifice must be the quality of worship

;
the

quantity must be infinite,—because we owe an in-
finite debt to God. But how can man pay an infinite
debt? He must first have a gift of infinite value.
And this, thanks to God's goodness and love, the
Catholic Church has.

In the Mass we have a sacrifice of infinite value
—one that honors God adequately. I shall make this
more plain.

Ill

You understand well, that when Christ sacri-
ficed His life on Calvary for the world’s sins nineteen

hundred years ago, God received an infinite worship
from an infinite Person. It was the first time in the
world’s history that due honor was paid to the Al-
mighty; but since that day God has not been satis-
fied with any inferior sacrifice. His wisdom devised
a means whereby His only Son, our beloved Savior,
would be a “priest forever.” “But how?” you may
ask; “Christ died once, and so cruelly that once was



42 SUNDAY OBSERVANCE.

surely enough; moreover, He went to Heaven with
the body which was immolated in Calvary's sacri-

fice." This is very true, yet I repeat that God's wis-

dom, prompted by boundless love, made it possible
for Christ to offer every day until the end of time,

the sacrifice of Calvary,—only not in the same man-
ner. The manner does not count so much. The ob-

ject offered and the Person offering are what count,

and they were always to be the same.

Here is what God's wisdom and love devised:

At the last supper, the night before Calvary's

bloody sacrifice, Christ began His priesthood “ac-

cording to the order of Melchisedech,"—the kind of
priesthood He was to exercise forever. By creative
words He produced His living Person under another
form

;
under the form of bread and wine. Then for

God’s perpetual honor and for the world's perpetual

good He empowered His Apostles and their succes-
sors for all time to do the same thing. That is, He
empowered them to produce His living Person on the

altar of sacrifice, whenever they as His representa-

tives and as ministers of the people should say over

bread and wine the self-same words He used : “This
is My body; this is My blood." This is what takes
place in the Mass.

Now it will be plain to everyone that if the living
Christ in Heaven is rendered present on earth when-

ever Mass is offered,—no matter under what form,

—

He can repeatedly sacrifice Himself to the Father to
atone for the world's sins and to implore blessings

upon immortal souls.

Is it not plain now that Christ can be a “priest
fore’ver"? Is it not plain now that the Mass is a
form of worship of the same value as the sacrifice of

the cross,—since the same body and blood of Christ
are immolated? And considering that it, and it
alone, honors God adequately, are you surprised that

the Catholic Church imposes on her people an obli-

gation to be present at Mass at least once a week, on

Sunday, the day which we must keep holy?

V
No obligation imposed by God or man should



SUNDAY OBSERVANCE. 43

be so cheerfully complied with as the obligation to

hear Mass on Sunday. In fact it should not be con-

sidered a duty, but a privilege to be present, and

hence Catholics, instead of looking for excuses justi-

fying their absence, ought rather to surmount great

difficulties in order to offer to God this infinite gift

to pay their infinite debt to Him.

Even if there were no law requiring people to

attend Mass on Sunday, they should be eager to do

this much in recognition of favors received during

the week previous, and to implore blessings for the

coming week.

Last week hundreds of thousands of people died,

met with various accidents, and were visited with

manifold afflictions; you were not included in the

number. Is not this worth your recognition? Next

week as many more will be visited similarly by God

;

could you better dispose God to exempt you again

than by going to Mass and offering Him His beloved
Son for mercy ?

It is really surprising what excuses many Cath-
olics offer in justification for Mass-missing. Some
will say: “I am not very well.” This is often an
imaginary excuse

;
let a physician first declare

whether it will hurt you to take a little walk. Whom
do you rely upon for improvement in your health?

If you had faith, you would imitate those who ran
to Christ and said : “Lord, if Thou wilt, Thou canst
cure me and where can you find Christ better dis-
posed to help you than in the Mass ?

“I am old now and not very strong.”
Answer: You should be eager to get some

good out of your few remaining days. You will not
be able to assist at many more Masses

;
so do not miss

any more than you absolutely must.
“I live so far from church.”

Answer: You would drive ten miles for ten
dollars.

“There are always some of our family at Mass.”
Answer: All ought to be there, if possible.

Each member of the family owes adoration to God;
each stands in need of help.



44 SUNDAY OBSERVANCE.

“I am tired after a week’s work.”
Answer : At Mass Christ offers a great sacri-

fice for you
;
you must offer a little troublesome one

for Him; the harder the work performed for God,
the greater the reward. You would not be too tired
for an excursion or a fishing trip.

“I had company.”

Answer: God comes first; take your company

to church with you
;
should they be unwilling to go,

that would be no excuse, for you have a standing in-

vitation to be God’s company.

“I must work on Sunday morning.”

Answer : I have asked the employer of several
Catholics who offered this excuse and was told by
him that he did not know the man cared to go to
church, otherwise he would not have prevented him,.

Moreover you must try to find different employment,

if it interferes regularly with the duties you owe to

God.

“Why go to Mass ? I can pray at home.”

Answer: God wants more than prayer from

you on Sunday; He wants you to worship Him in
public and in the manner that He or His Church pre-
scribes.

YI

Even if one should be prevented from attending

Mass, he is not on that account excused from keeping

the day holy. He must not do unnecessary servile
work, must keep away from persons who spend the
Sunday entertaining the devil; from places where

there is no room for God.

He should, even after fulfilling the morning ob-
ligation, spend the remainder of the day in recollec-

tion and quiet, if possible, in reading a Catholic paper

or good book.

What we want to impress on our minds is this

:

That we have no right to excuse ourselves from ob-
serving a law. The legislator alone can excuse us.

Imagine a man trying to excuse himself from paying
his taxes. The Sunday belongs to God; we belong
to Him; we must give to Him the things that are



SUNDAY OBSERVANCE. 45

His. He alone can excuse us from a law that He
makes. So the Church alone can excuse us from com-

plying with a law which she makes. She does excuse

us from attending Mass for several weighty reasons,

but not for half of the reasons to which people resort.

I shall not dwell on the self-evident fact that we
must assist at Mass with a view to profiting by it,

—

that is with earnest attention and devotion; nor on

that other most important point, that where several

Masses are said regularly in a parish church, you

should arrange to attend as often as possible that

Mass, at which the word of God is preached.

VII

I believe the world is much more wicked and
corrupt today than it was at the time of the deluge,

when Almighty God “destroyed all flesh” to put an
end to sin.

And if the Almighty withholds a worse chastise-
ment from the world now, it is because He receives
honor enough to offset the wickedness,—but only
through the Mass.

In the Old Law the sacrifices could not appease
God sufficiently; in the New Law, His only Son is
with the world to beg pardon for its wickedness.

Christ is praying : “Father, forgive them.”

I have dwelt on this subject longer than I really

intended, but it is because God’s honor and the wel-

fare of so many readers require it. Have before your
mind the purpose of your existence, and the Sunday
obligation becomes most plain.

Refuse to “give to God the things that are
God’s,” and He will refuse to give to you in eternity
the things prepared for His faithful servants.

God is certainly “worthy to receive glory and
honor, because He has created all things.”— (Apoc.
iv, 11).

“Remember, thou keep holy the Sabbath Day.”



APOTHEGMS.

Only Eternal things are worthy the aspiration

of an immortal being.
* * *

All that your dead hand will hold will be what

you have given away,
* * *

It is strange that an inheritance, Klondike, or

other attraction of earth should be more alluring to

people than the prospect of Heaven.
* * *

There is no moral training in the development

of the intellect. The world is beginning to realize

that the majority of criminals inflicting humanity

are educated.
* * *

When a man learned and religious steps into
public life, society receives a jewel. To turn out men
learned and religious is the aim of the Catholic

school.
* * *

The would-be atheist is inclined to believe in a

God when the thunders roar, when the lightning
strikes, or when the earth quakes.

* *

A person who does not benefit the world by his
life, usually benefits it by his death; for one who
lives to no purpose lives to a bad purpose.

* * *

Take hold of the present opportunities
;
use the

present graces. Many people spend half their time
anticipating tomorrow, and the other half in regret-

ting yesterday.
* * *

Looking back on the years that have passed, how
consoling it would be, at the close of your life, to feel

that you had lived not for passion, appetite and the

empty pleasures of the world, but for your soul, for

God, for the happiness of Heaven, which would soon

be yours to enjoy with angels in that “Paradise of

Delights.”

46





APOTHEGMS.

Only Eternal things are worthy the aspiration

of an immortal being.
* * *

All that your dead hand will hold will be what

you have given away.
* * *

It is strange that an inheritance, Klondike, or

other attraction of earth should be more alluring to

people than the prospect of Heaven.
* * *

There is no moral training in the development

of the intellect. The world is beginning to realize

that the majority of criminals inflicting humanity

are educated.
* * *

When a man learned and religious steps into
public life, society receives a jewel. To turn out men
learned and religious is the aim of the Catholic

school.
* * *

The would-be atheist is inclined to believe in a

God when the thunders roar, when the lightning
strikes, or when the earth quakes.

* * *

A person who does not benefit the world by his
life, usually benefits it by his death; for one who
lives to no purpose lives to a bad purpose.

* * *

Take hold of the present opportunities
;
use the

present graces. Many people spend half their time
anticipating tomorrow, and the other half in regret-

ting yesterday.
* * *

Looking back on the years that have passed, how
consoling it would be, at the close of your life, to feel

that you had lived not for passion, appetite and the

empty pleasures of the world, but for your soul, for

God, for the happiness of Heaven, which would soon

be yours to enjoy with angels in that “Paradise of

Delights.'

”

46



ANOTHER "FIRST" FOR SYRACUSE
CHARLES KEENAN

“SYRACUSE FIRST” is their slogan, and the Syra-

cusans are living up to it. That does not mean that

they put the interests of Syracuse before every-

thing else, but that Syracuse is giving the lead for

others to follow.

Fortune for January 1944 carried an article on

the Syracusans’ wideawakeness and farsighted

planning for the postwar in their city. The plan,

said Fortune, is being carried right dowfi to the

man and woman in the street:
There has been from the outset in Syracuse a very

acute understanding of the necessity for consulting

the public about the planning. One of the first steps

was to ascertain whether people were willing to

give time and attention, during wartime, to the fu-

ture of the community.

The answer was an enthusiastic “Yes!” Syracu-

sans understand well that the time to plan the

future is the present, and that time and attention

given now pay dividends later on.

Religious leaders in Syracuse realized what their

fellow citizens could do; and they planned to in-

terest them in a much bigger thing than the future

of Syracuse; yet a thing which vitally involves the

future of Syracuse—the peace and the postwar
world. They met together and planned a “Civic

Gathering” at which the nature and importance

of proper planning for international peace would

be made clear to the people of Syracuse.
Once the first step had been taken, the actual

organizing proved surprisingly easy—a tribute to
the initiative and willingness to cooperate of the

Syracusans. A three-man committee was formed,
representing Catholics, Jews and Protestants

—

Rev. R. E. Dillon, Vice-Chancellor of the Catholic

Diocese of Syracuse; Rabbi Friedman, of the Jew-

ish Welfare Federation; Rev. C. M. Thompson, of

the Syracuse Council of Churches. Each religious

group undertook to find its own speakers, and it

was a simple matter to divide the program among

them.

The Seven-point Declaration on a Just Peace, is-

sued last October by Catholic, Jewish and Prot-

estant leaders was the natural basis of the Civic

Gathering. The Declaration embodies the funda-

mental principles of natural law upon which any

peace must rest if it is to be just and stable. This

document is without parallel in American history,

carrying, as it does, the authority of the outstand-

ing religious leaders in the three greatest Ameri-

can religious bodies. It may be questioned whether
Americans, since the Constitutional Convention

of 1787, have met together to produce a document

upon whose ratification and implementing by the

American people so much has depended for our-

selves and the world.

The men of Syracuse who met to discuss and
organize their Civic Gathering, and all those who
helped and encouraged them, knew that documents
do not implement themselves, and that even the ac-

cord and approval of leaders does not—at least in

a democracy—mean that intentions will be carried
into action. Action, of the kind that will be im-

portant in the making of the peace, must come
from the people—from the people making it clear
to their representatives just what sort of peace
they want.

The planning committee allowed itself two

months for adequate preparation and publicity, and

set the meeting for February 15. Interest and co-

operation on the part of the citizens of Syracuse

was genuine and enthusiastic. On the Sunday pre-
ceding the meeting, the Post-Standard and the

Herald-Journal, leading city papers, carried a full-

page advertisement “sponsored by Syracuse busi-

ness men of many faiths in acknowledgment of
their sincere interest in this common cause.” Be-
sides the information about the time, place and

personnel of the meeting, the advertisement pre-

sented the Seven Points, and insisted that the com-

ing peace must be built upon God’s law and that

it was “up to the people of this nation.” Both news-

papers gave the meeting full coverage, with edito-

rials, news stories and pictures.

On Tuesday morning the Post-Standard devoted

the center of the front page to a picture of destruc-

tion from the Marshall Islands, with the caption

“Does Man Live for This?” Underneath was an
editorial asking Syracusans to realize that “unless

the people of the world change their thinking and

their devil-take-the-hindmost philosophy, the next

war is as inevitable as tomorrow morning’s sun-

rise.”

“Syracuse,” continued the editorial,

is taking the lead tonight in seeking to change

the thinking of the little people all over the globe.

They are not the ones who make wars, but they are
the ones who fight them—and they are the ones
who elect men who determine national policy.

Tuesday night, in spite of inclement weather,

saw thirty-five hundred people in the Lincoln audi-

torium. (The statistically-minded can tell you that

a proportionate crowd in New York would be well
over eighty thousand.) Chief speakers of the meet-

ing were: Rev. Calvin M. Thompson, of the Syra-

cuse Council of Churches, with “A Statement of
the Meeting”; Rev. William B. Pugh, of the Pres-

byterian Church General Assembly, on “The Sov-

ereignty of God”; Rabbi Samuel Wolk, of the Cen-

tral Conference of American Rabbis, on “Minori-

ties”; Very Rev. Robert I. Gannon, of Fordham

University, on “The Kingdom of God is within

You.” The opening invocation was given by Bishop

Foery, of the Catholic Diocese of Syracuse; and

the final benediction by Rev. Alfred L. Taylor,

President of the Syracuse Council of Churches.

Once again it is “Syracuse First”—in the con-
viction that, as one of the speakers said, peace

“will not come from a conference table at Geneva

. . . but from such a place as your own Syracuse

and from such a gathering as this.”

Reprinted from

America, A Catholic Review of the Week

70 E. 45th St., New York 17, N. Y.

Issue of March 25, 1944





APOTHEGMS. 47

People owe everything to God, yet usually pay

their church-dues the very last of all their debts. Is

this proper recognition of God’s Providence ? When
God made church-laws, as He did for the Jews, He
required the first fruits of a man’s labor.

* * *

A will in which the Lord is not made one of the
heirs is a bad will.”—Cardinal Manning.

* * *

The atmosphere of the home cannot be kept

Catholic without Catholic literature; yet how many
families do not even subscribe for a Catholic paper

or periodical, much less own a small Catholic library ?
* *

We don’t realize how little we are needed in this
world until we hear of the demise of great men, and
see how well the world gets along without them,.

* * *

The religion of some people has been compared

to a woodenleg. There is neither warmth nor life in
it; although it helps them to hobble along, it never

becomes a part of them, but has to be strapped on

every morning.

THE END.