Pi OM <31 <3^ MISSION A MESSAGE TO THE CATHOLICS OF THE UNITED STATES by BISHOP FULTON J. SHEEN A MAGAZINE EDITED BY THE WORLDMISSION AID SOCIETY FOR THE PROPAGATION OF THE FAITH EDITOR BISHOP FULTON J. SHEEN 366 Fifth Ave., New York 1, N. Y. Your sacrifices for the Holy Father's mis- sions can always be sent to your own Diocesan Director. If you do not know his name , send your sacrifice directly to the national office. Your diocese will be credited in either case . POSTMASTER: Send form 3579 to MISSION 366 Fifth Avenue, New York 1, N. Y. MISSION, March-April, 1963. Vol. XL, No. 2 • Published bi-monthly. Publication Office, 10 Ferry Street, Concord, N. H. Business and General Offices at 366 Fifth Avenue, New York 1, N. Y. Second-class postage paid at Concord, New Hampshire. Subscription $1.00 per year. Published and copyright 1963 by the Society for the Propagation of the Faith. CHAPTER I WHAT WILL HAPPEN AFTER THE COUNCIL? The Church is never the same after a Council as before. Neither will the Church in the United States be the same in the years ahead. In the Council two words were constantly used: “Oecu- menical” and “Pastoral,” both of which were taken from the Holy Father’s Letters. “Oecu- menical” means to make men one in the Father- hood of God and the Brotherhood of Christ. “Pastoral” means giving the primacy of thinking and action to souls. We combine the two ideas under the one word “Missionary.” Hence, “A Missionary Message to the Catholics of the United States.” DeacUMecS 1 RESTLESSNESS TO DO GOOD The Council has created a “restlessness” in the world— not the restlessness of discontent, but that of which St. Augustine spoke: “Our hearts are restless, O Lord, until they rest in Thee.” Souls are stirring to do more for Christ and His Church, for humanity and for the world. Bishops, priests, religious, laity, all share in this enlarging apostolate. Here are twelve expressions of this deeper love of Christ: PERSONAL AND SOCIAL I. The Catholic layman sees that the world about him places less stress on the personal and more on the community, less on himself and more on what he contributes to society, less on what is local and more on humanity. Thanks to the Council, the laity now see that they do not lead their spiritual lives in isolation, nor by the mere fulfillment of religious duties, but by making their Faith operative in the world. Now as never before, they are searching for Christian commitments, responsibilities and things to do in the world that they may satisfy their feeling of living in our times. “IN THE WORLD, NOT OF IT” II. Since the Council, priests and laity alike have felt more keenly the seeming opposition between the “other worldliness” to which grace calls them and the “problems of the world” to which the ills of humanity trumpet 2 them. Thanks to the example of the Holy Father, they reconcile the double summons of Our Lord: on the one hand, “I have taken you out of the world”; on the other, “Go ye into the world.” In between the two was the Cross. The Cross united our service to the world and our unworldiness. NEED OF NEW PARISH ACTIVITIES III. Priests who have had experience with many parish organizations of both men and women have little heart for them, knowing them to be out of touch with modern living, particu- larly youth. (The one notable exception is the Legion of Mary.) But while conscious of their defects because of particularism and detach- ment from human responsibilities, the clergy see that after the Council the laity will have to be a part of the apostolate for Christ. You can sanctify your dinner table by inviting the 'Unseen Guest” to it at least once a week, foregoing dessert in His honor, then sending the proceeds to The Society for the Propagation of the Faith, 366 Fifth Avenue, New York 1, New York. “DRIVES” FOR SOULS IV. The laity are looking for a new kind of drive. There is hardly a parish or a diocese 3 that does not utilize fund-raising organizations. To each of these “sweet compulsions,” the laity respond by oversubscriptions. Since the Coun- cil, the laity have asked: “If door bells can be rung to get dollars, why cannot they be rung to get souls?” Why do we not have “drives” to make converts, to get back “fallen-aways,” to validate bad marriages? Does not the “searching for lost sheep” require at least the same “drive” as “reaching the financial quota”? NEW CONSCIOUSNESS FOR PASTORS V. Pastors who have thrust upon them the burden of building a new school, convent or rectory are wondering more and more if they 4 should not curtail expenditures for the sake of the poor of the world. As one pastor put it: “lam going to ask the bishop to let me change the plans and substitute cement for marble in the bathrooms and send the difference to build a hut-chapel somewhere in Africa.” DIOCESES RELATED TO SUFFERING WORLD VI. Bishops who attended the Council and sat near other bishops who were impoverished or “brainwashed,” who had been tortured or spent years in prison, or, as one, had gasoline poured over him and was then set afire, are now seeing that their dioceses are not “little islands” but organs of an impoverished, hungry, persecuted Church to which they were called by Christ. CATHOLIC DOCTRINE NOT ENOUGH VII. Catholic teachers, while seeing the growing need of the “Confraternity of Christian Doc- trine,” now demand that it be implemented by Catholic Action. Modern youth does not want merely to know the rules or commandments or ideology of an organization, but in some way be given an opportunity to put Faith into practice for the sake of the society in which they live. The Word must become Flesh. The heart 5 of Action must accompany the Light of Doc- trine They know Christ was sent on a Mission, and for them to be without a Mission is to cool their love for Christ. The temple priests and scribes knew their doctrine, for they told Herod where Christ was to be born — but they did not act upon that knowledge. PRIESTLY SPIRITUALITY ONE WITH APOSTOLATE VIII Priests say that they have less and less inclination to do meditation — not becaus< they are less spiritual than ever, but because the meditation books they use are not suffi- ciently related to their apostolate, not only in the parish, but in the world. More than ever they want to live out the words of Our Lord • *or their sakes, do I sanctify Myself” (John JL i •it/ THE PRIMACY OF HONOR BELONGS TO THE CARE OF SOULS , ( IX. Zealous priests know that the search for status is part of fallen human nature, but they wonder why some of their brethren regard a diocesan post as “higher” than the care of souls in a parish. They are anxious to see the pastoral emphasis of the Council pass down to the diocesan and parochial level. 6 THE LAITY CRAVE A MISSION FOR THE CHURCH X. The laity love to be sheep under a shep- herd, but when there are too many “money sermons” they have a feeling of uneasiness about being “sheared” so often. They would also like to be given work where they might be “lambs of God” who help take away the sins of the world, or “sheep, bearing a thousand-fold, thronging the pasture in their tens of thou- sands” (Psalm 143:13). PRIESTLY AND LAY SPIRITUALITY GO HAND IN HAND XI. The priest today finds it very difficult to practice “sanctuary spirituality” alone. To him, it is inseparable from his apostolate and mission to his people and to the world. To gaze upon the image of Christ Crucified is not enough for the modern priest; a summons to find Christ, and Him Crucified in some poor mortal, alone can satisfy. His spirituality and that of the people must go hand in hand. He knows that the Church is in danger when the spirituality of the laity exceeds the spiritual- ity of priests, and that the laity are in danger when the priest does not sanctify himself by sanctifying them. 7 BISHOPS ARE FIRST SHEPHERDS, THEN ADMINISTRATORS XII. The bishops who sat with their chief Shepherd in Council and with their persecuted brother bishops are now formulating a universal conclusion: In days of prosperity, the Church administrates; in days of adversity, the Church shepherds. The pen in the hand of the adminis- trator is now recognized as a less important instrument for good than the pastoral staff in the fingers of the bishop. The post-Council Church will be different, taking more seriously the words of the High Priest: “Feed My Lambs; Feed My Sheep.” 8 V GOD LOVE YOU to A.T.L. and "Weight- Watchers Anonymous” for $3.25 “lam an industrial nurse, and many employees stop m my office to weigh themselves. One day I decided to post a note asking everyone ‘to con- tribute a nickel or more for each pound of excess weight for the children starving in the Missions ’ 1 his is the first month’s receipts.” y GOD LOVE YOU to E.W. for $250 Use this to educate a seminarian for a year.” We think the world of you, our benefactors. But do you think of the world ... of the thou- sands of Godless souls around the globe who are your brothers and need your prayers? By praying the multicolored WORLDMISSION ROSARY you will be thinking of the world: Africa, represented by green beads, the color of its forests; America represented by a red decade, the color of its first settlers; Europe, whose white beads befit Rome and the Holy Father; Oceania, represented by blue beads, the color of its ocean; and Asia, whose yellow beads symbolize the morning light of the East. Send your request and an offering of $2 to The Society for the Propagation of the Faith, Order Department, 366 Fifth Avenue, New York 1, New York, and you will receive this rosary blessed by Bishop Sheen. 7 9 CHAPTER II WHAT ARE THE CATHOLICS IN THE UNITED STATES LOOKING FOR? A SENSE OF MISSION! They want to put their Faith to work. They want to do something more for the Church than attend Mass, receive the Sacraments and con- tribute to the support of their pastors. They want to save their souls by helping save the world. They want a Mission, not just of making themselves holy, but in the language of Pius XII, of “making the world holy.” They want to help in the consecration of the temporal order: its politics, its economics, its theatres, its press— this they envisage as their Mission. They want to spend the same amount ol energy in Christianizing their neighborhood, their town, their country, their business, as they spend making money. 10 To be a missionary” is less a noun than an adverb— it is making Faith active in a secular- ized society; it is seeing every un-redeemed soul in the world as a man overboard and then run- ning to save him, crying: “He is my brother ” CATHOLIC RICH: Give to the poor. The rich ° ^ a ?£.£ ave enou9h - Our Blessed Lord has f® 1 . .^en y°u 9've a dinner, include not the rich but the poor.” Let that be the rule of your giving. YOU AS A CATHOLIC , Y, ou do ^ot belong to yourself; you belong to the world, and the world is Christ’s Christ has given you Baptism to be a brother o all the souls on earth. “Mind your own business. Mankind is your business! it all your novena prayers are petitions for yourself, you are not Catholic! If you have a Catholic heart, you love the persecuted in China, the converts in Kenya and the lepers m Uganda! * If you do not worry about the welfare of the impoverished two-thirds of the world vou are not worried about your own salvation! I he Church in other parts of the world is an emptiness for you to fill! • ever Pray^ the world and the poor in it. Do you ever think of a victim of Com- munism who fled from North to South Vietnam 11 and consider him, for the moment, as a friend in the family of God? When you receive Communion, do you realize that you have oneness with every other Catholic in the world— that Communion is missionary? Whether you like it or not, you are welded into the heart of Christ with the poor in your city and the sick in your neighborhood, because you eat the same Bread. What are saints but redeemed sinners? The Church is a society of redeemed sinners. Does it not worry you that some people do not hear of the Cross? But they would, if you helped a little. Must Christ bleed yet more because some sinners have never heard of the forgiveness of sins? Lord, forgive us for what we leave undone! “I will help you again tomorrow” — that is Mission. 12 When you see a drunkard, a face behind barbed wire, a famished child, a family clothed in gunnysacks, a leprous foot— realize that you had a hand in it! The world is the way it is because we are the way we are! You cannot say the “Our Father” and use the word “my.” There is no such thing as “my” daily bread, “my” trespasses. No one prays to the Father without asking for bread for every mouth in the world and forgiveness for every sin in the world. The “Our Father” too is missionary. Did you ever try to validate the marriage of that couple who lives two doors from you? Did you organize with the other families to protest and boycott the newstand in your neighborhood which sells foul literature? Did you ever make a convert? Did you ever bring someone back to the Church? A FALLEN-AWAY Catholic came to the editor of Mission and admitted spending $32,510 for four years of psychiatric treatment. Her Faith might have come back if she had only spent $3 a month for sulfone for lepers. LACK OF MISSION How many business men regard their mem- bership in the Church as any more affecting their week-day lives than membership in the 13 country club? Do they try to win souls for Christ any more often than they try to win new members for a golf club? Has their Faith im- pressed them with a sense of Mission in the area of their daily work, as the Communist leaders impress their members? A Catholic lawyer visited his non-Catholic partner of twenty years who was dying in a hospital. “Now that you are dying, don’t you think you should embrace the Faith?” The non- Catholic answered: “If your Faith meant so little to you in life as never to speak about it during twenty years, then it can mean little at my death.” Why are some youths delinquent? Because they have more energy than direction or guidance on how to spend it. A juvenile delinquent was sent to me last year rebelling against family, blaspheming God and repudiating all morality; he came back a year later, a blazing apostle of the Church. What made the difference? He went to Mexico for the summer with other Catholic youths to help build a school for the poor, teach cate- chism and collect medicines for a dispensary. The difference was that he found a sense of Mission! HOW TO BE MISSIONARY 1) All your natural endowments (voice, beauty, cooking skill, humor, talent), every moment of your environment presents an op- 14 portunity to do missionary work for the Church. 2) In IV Kings, a housemaid brought salva- tion to a Syrian general. The home circle has prior claim on our witnessing to Christ. 3) The apostolate of beauty: when beauty is associated with virtue, as the “inner beauty of the soul,” it is always apostolic. 4) The apostolate of resignation: policemen, firemen, youths, friends visit a young polio victim because of the cheer she radiates through resignation to the Will of God. 5) The apos- tolate of vir- ginity: nuns sent to do busi- ness among the most worldly make them see how much sac- rifice Christ inspires — and how much happiness He unites with that sacrifice. 6) The apos- tolate of class: a soldier is the best witness to Christ among soldiers, a doctor among doctors, a lawyer among lawyers, an acrobat among acrobats. 15 Each class is redeemed and saved through someone in that class. 7) The apostolate of prayer: priests can take “problem” people in before the Blessed Sacra- ment and ask them to pray with them. 8) The apostolate of travel: a well-known woman on a train was approached by a stranger who was looking “for a companion.” The woman learned he was a mortician. She asked him if he believed in a soul. He did not, though he said he was a Catholic. The next morning she led him to the confessional box for what he described as “the happiest day of my life.” Why do so many Catholics settle for anti- Communism? Because, lacking a positive Mission for Christ — the sanctifying of the world in which they live — their energy gets funnelled out into something negative. Instead of being nourished by love of the Savior of mankind, it becomes fed by hate for those who crucify— and all this despite the Biblical injunction: “Overcome evil by good.” Laity! Recognize your dignity! You are “a chosen race, a royal priesthood ... a people God means to have for Himself” (I Peter 2:9) with a beautiful canonical Mission to spiritualize the secular order under the direc- tion, the mandate and the sanctification of those in the Church who have a Divine Mission. This is what it means to be “missionary.” 16 *7 bet now you wish you had given to his Society for the Propagation of the Faith.” Do you ever think to make a thanksgiving offering for the blessings you have received? How better could you show God your grati- tude than by directing your sacrifice towards his poor? V GOD LOVE YOU to LA. for $1 “Since making an agreement with God to donate 10 per cent of my income to the poor, I have been very happy. I believe I will now have a steady job at the post office.” CHAPTER III WHAT ARE THE TWO GOV- ERNING PRINCIPLES OF THE MISSION-SPIRIT OF CATHOLICS? I. The Church is the Body of Christ. II. Sympathetic Suffering. I. THE BODY OF CHRIST While on earth in His Physical Body, Our Lord prepared a new Body, not another physical body, nor a moral body, but a social body, or better, a Mystical Body. This Body, taken from the womb of humanity and overshadowed by the Holy Spirit on Pentecost and made up of the raw material of the Apostles, was the Church. It had a visible Head, Peter and his successors, but its invisible Head is Christ Himself glori- ously reigning in heaven. The Mystical Body is the Church. The Church possesses visibility as did the Physical Body of Christ. Christ has not 18 left the earth— except in His Physical Body. He is living visibly on earth in His Mystical Body. THOSE WITH MONEY IN THE BANK: We will bank it for you, give you annuity payments and then, at your death, send it to the Holy Father. Write for information on annuities to The Society for the Propagation of the Faith, 366 Fifth Avenue, New York 1, New York, and include the date of your birth. The difference between seeing the Historical Christ in Palestine and the Contemporary Chnst in our atomic age is this: then they saw Him Who is the Head of the Body; now we see His Body, the Church. It took Faith to see the Divinity in the hu- manity then; it takes Faith to see the Divinity in the human, visible organism of the Church now. Just as my body is made up of millions of cells, so the Mystical Body is made up of all who are born in Christ. One member of this Body lives in Greenland, another in India; one has the black skin of an African, another the red skin of the American Indian, another the yellow skin of the Chinese, another the tawny skm of Malaya or the white skin of the Cau- casian, but all are members of the Body of Christ. The Church is not an organization: it is an organism . 19 II. SYMPATHETIC SUFFERING Since we are all members of the same Body, it follows: “ If one part is suffering , all the rest suffer with it; if one part is treated with honor, all the rest find pleasure in it.” (I Cor. 12:26) If you have gout in your foot, your whole body hurts. If your tongue tastes something sweet, your whole body rejoices. If a cinder gets in your eye, the hand comes to its relief. Hunger in India is felt in the heart of the diocese of Chicago. Destitution in the favellas of Brazil causes a sympathetic want among the Catholics in Hollywood. Sin, slums, persecuted priests in any member of the Body, grieve the Church throughout the world. “Nothing in the world is single. All things by a law Divine In another’s being mingle.” Each parish is a microcosm of the whole Church. If your lungs are enfeebled, does the rest of your body turn against it? Does your mouth refuse to breathe? If your eyes see a symphonic orchestra in a beautiful setting, do you plug up your ears? Can we go on spending more and more money for “building up a great plant,” as we sometimes call a parish unit, and neglect to give one per cent or 1/10 of one per cent of it to help a missionary in Kenya have a 20 different kind of a school than a fence to keep out the lions? (One missionary lost two children the first day that way.) Say not: “Oh! does that mean that we are not to build a million dollar high school in our diocese?” No! But it does mean that you could cut out $500 of the trapeze equipment in the gymnasium and send it to the Holy Father to help the Church in Africa, where the faithful attend Mass in hut-chapels, such as the above. Does this Mission-sense mean that the diocese is not to have a “drive” for $25 million for the needs of the diocese? No! But it does mean the diocese could give 10 per cent in thanksgiving, or one per cent or 1/10 of one per cent to the Holy Father to help an archdiocese in Africa where the priests have no other source of income than Mass stipends. 21 No member of the Church is superfluous. Even the sick have a Mission— to offer their sufferings in union with the Passion of Christ for the redemption of souls. Nothing is too small to use. The widow’s mite was commended by Him Who watched the coins dropping into the temple treasury. Solomon built a temple; Joseph pro- vided a tomb; an unknown giver responded to the plea, “The Lord hath need of it,” and gave his ass; the woman at the well gave a drink of cold water; Lydia offered hospitality to Paul and Barnabas. TEACHERS: It costs only $20 a month to sup- port and maintain teachers for the Missions. The Lord might improve your teaching if you help support a catechist. YOUR MISSION — HELP ONE ANOTHER EVERYWHERE IN THE WORLD. The hand and the foot would be of little use unless directed by the eye and the head; and the eye and the head would be of little avail unless they were connected with the hand and the foot. That new parish under a thatch roof in Vietnam is as much a part of the Church to which you belong as your own parish. We are knitted together by spiritualities. The interests of the various churches through- out the world and the various peoples are so 22 interwoven that it can only be through willful ignorance that we believe ourselves independent of them. No one may say, “Am I my brother’s keeper?” A Catholic who is not doing good to the Church in the world is doing harm. Your parish is the world! The particular one you attend is merely your means of communicat- ing with the rest of the world, spiritually, finan- cially and prayerfully. Your Mission is to be the Eyes, Hands, Ears and Feet of Our Lord in His Mystical Body. You are the Eyes of Christ with which you see unbelievers in your neighborhood and bridge club scattered about as “sheep without a shepherd ” You are the Feet of Christ doing what He did. He went “about all their cities and villages, teaching in their synagogues, preaching the Gospel of the Kingdom, and curing every kind of disease and infirmity” (Matt. 9:35). You are the Hands of Christ reaching out to touch the lepers, to lift up sinking Peters and to lay blessings on the foreheads of little children You are the Heart of Christ to which the spiritual souls, like John, the weak and the fallen gravitate as they ask the piercing ques- tion: “Lovest thou Me?” Your Mission is to be Christ in the world — not just on Sundays fulfilling a duty, not just selling raffle tickets, but in sanctifying and redeeming your role as mother, father, secretary, factory worker, insurance salesman, nurse' truck driver, fisherman, doctor or student. 23 CHAPTER 4 WHAT IS HAPPENING TO YOU IN THE WORLD AS A MEMBER OF THE MYSTICAL BODY OF CHRIST? 1. BOLIVIA: Ignorance: 50 per cent of the children do not attend school. All political parties in Chile — except the Communists— aid the Church’s cam- paign for literacy. Infant Mortality: one out of every ten babies dies soon after birth. 2. CHILE: Avarice: 4 per cent of the Chileans own 77 per cent of the arable land. Homelessness: One-third of the popu- lation do not have a proper dwelling. There is a shortage of 500,000 houses in a population of 8 million. Ignorance: One out of every three children leaves school after the first year. 24 3. BRAZIL: Scarcity of Priests: A bishop in one diocese rules over a territory as large as Holland, Belgium and North Rhineland put together. He has 310,- 000 Catholics, but only 12 priests. There are many villages which see a priest only once a year. 4. CHINA: Starvation: A letter from a priest in China, who succeeded in smuggling it out, reads: “I have been fasting for six years, constant fast without let- up. And with that I am yoked for work worthy of the pharaohs. We must work ourselves out for the ‘great paradise.’” 5. BRAZIL: Destitution: The following letter from a slum-dweller tells the story: “ I w,°ke upset. I wanted to stay at home but didn t have anything to eat. “ I’m not going to eat because there is very little bread. I wonder if I am the only one who leads this kind of life. What can I hope for the future. I wonder if the poor of other countries suffer like the poor of Brazil. Sometimes families move into the slums with children. In the beginning they are educated and fnendly. Days later they use foul language are mean and quarrelsome. They are diamonds turned to lead. They are transformed from ob- jects that were in the living room to objects banished to the garbage dump. 25 “How horrible it is to see a child eat and ask: ‘Is there more?’ The word more keeps ringing in the mother’s head as she looks into the pot and doesn’t have any more. “Today I looked in the mirror. I was horri- fied. My face is almost like my departed moth- er’s. A tooth is missing. Skinny! Rotten! The fear of dying of hunger. “ I went back to my filthy shack. I looked at the aging hovel, the black and rotten slats. I thought, it’s just like my life.” 6. CUBA: Persecution: Only 125 priests and members of religious orders left. 7. VIETNAM: A vicar apostolic under Com- munism lived nine months on snakes and three months on dogs. The Bishop on a Confirmation tour is given dog to 26 eat— not our “hot dog” — but dog. In the United States we “diet” be- cause of over-indulgence, while four- fifths of the world, according to the FAO, is suffering from malnutrition. Many of our diseases come from over- eating, the rest of the world’s from undereating. “Am I my brother’s keeper? ” THE WORLD: Two million new babies every week — and each with an immortal soul. OPTICIANS AND DENTISTS: Send all your "old gold” to The Society for the Propagation of the Faith where it will be resold and its value sent to the Holy Father for distribution to the poor of the world. The Communist Persecution RUSSIA: At the time of the Revolution there were 630 Catholic churches in Russia and 1000 priests. Today there are only three Catholic churches in the whole of Russia: one in Leningrad, one in Moscow and one in Odessa. UKRAINE: Ten bishops arrested; 2,749 priests killed or deported; 1,060 nuns driven from their convents; one bishop killed. 27 LITHUANIA: 743 bishops and priests liqui- dated; 300,000 Catholics deported to Siberia. ALBANIA: 5 bishops killed; 10 priests died in jail. NORTH KOREA: 3 bishops killed; 2 pre- fects apostolic killed; 84 priests, 27 lay brothers, 34 nuns killed. POLAND: Cardinal Wyszynski spent several yearfe in prison. Nine bishops were jailed; 91 priests killed; 260 dis- appeared without trace; 550 de- ported; 870 jailed; 1,200 exiled; 1,500 Catholics deported and 2,133 churches closed. HUNGARY :Cardinal Mindszenty imprisoned for a long time, now a refugee in the American legation. Of the country’s 11 bishops, only 8 are now in their Sees and are assisted by so-called “peace priests” who have collabo- rated with the Communists. Eight bishops have been deported. CZECHOSLOVAKIA: Archbishop Beran is still a prisoner in an unknown place. Eleven bishops have been impris- oned, 20 priests killed and 500 jailed. 29 POLAND ! Two priests sent to prison for three years for translating the books of the U. S. National Director of The Society for the Propagation of the Faith into their own language. STOREKEEPERS: Every year we receive $200 from a butcher. This represents the return on the boxes in which his meat is delivered. (Such an idea can of course be applied to the returns on soda bottles.) "IT’S TOO LATE NOW" 29 r GOD LOVE YOU to Mrs. H.D.B. for $2 “Even though I am a non-Catholic, it distresses me that the average per capita contribution of United States Catholics for the Missions is only 27 cents a year. I am sending you money that I earned baby sitting. Please use it for God’s poor.” CHAPTER 5 WHAT HAS THE MISSION OF EVERY CATHOLIC TO DO WITH THE PROPAGATION OF THE FAITH? Thus far, we have said that every Catholic has a sense of Mission — the nurse in her hos- pital, the high school student at his dance, etc. The word “missionary” is used in the broad sense and means making everyone say of us, as Caiphas and others said of the Apostles, “they have been with Christ.” 30 ARE YOU SMOKING too much lately and en- joying it less? Then you know what to do! THE ONLY PERSON that St. Peter ever raised from the dead was a woman who "abounded in acts of charity and in almsdeeds” (Acts 9 :36 ). Being missionary does not necessarily mean going to some "foreign mission.” It can mean sending money to the Holy Father’s Society for the Propagation of the Faith. The first is the highest expression in the way of personal dedication, as Abraham was praised for having left his land to found under God the "people of God.” The second is the highest expression in the way of almsgiving, for the Holy Father said that he is to be "first and principally aided.” Why? I. Because the Holy Father is responsible for sending missionaries to all parts of the earth, and for aiding them. Though each society cares only for its own, the Holy Father has to care for all. That is why he has his own Society for the Propagation of the Faith. As the Father of all, he therefore has the right to ask that he be first and principally aided.” He can equalize aid, and he knows mission needs better than any of us. II. Because being Pontifical and world-wide Puts y°u in contact with all humanity — and the Church throughout the world. 31 THE NATIONAL DIRECTOR OF THE SOCIETY FOR THE PROPAGATION OF THE FAITH, return- ing from a dinner with a number of lay friends, said: "They sleep well.” But by it he meant that they were not worried about the poor of the world. y GOD LOVE YOU to K.S. and Friends for $2.50 “ I am eleven years old. Three of my friends and I put on a show for some of our neighbors. We also sold popcorn. We are sending you the money that we collected so you can send it to children who don’t know what a show is.” y GOD LOVE YOU to I.H. for $6 “A picture which I saw in MISSION has haunted me. I was just about to go out and buy some Scotch, but looking at that little face prompted me to send it to The Society for the Propagation of the Faith. None of us can afford to be ‘Scotch’ with the Lord.” y GOD LOVE YOU to D.K. for $200 “I am sending this from my father, D.K., who is now 85 years old and has saved this dili- gently and with a great deal of love. He has been retired for the past six years in order to take care of my mother, who is completely helpless.” 32 'Tour uncle’s will continues: . . and so, to my be- loved nephew and only surviving relative / I leave the same amount (whatever it may be) that he has given during his lifetime to the Society for the Propagation of the Faith, to whom I bequeathe the remainder of my estate.’ ” YOUNG GIRLS: Find out what kind of a hus- band your young man would make by asking him to make a sacrifice for the Missions. 33 v GOD LOVE YOU to B.A.B. for $1 “I received this for good marks on my report card. I hope that it will help someone who has never gone to school or help some sick child be well again” CHAPTEB 6 WHAT CAN YOU DO FOR THE CHURCH AS A WHOLE? HIGH SCHOOL STUDENTS: You are not taught Christian doctrine that you may only know your Faith, but that you may live it. You are to be “witnesses” to Christ in the community in which you live ; missionaries of purity among the impure; catechists among unbelievers; apostles among apostates; visitors of sick youth in hospitals; Christians on dance floors; Catholics within speed-limits; not just answerers-to-questions of atheists, but sharers in the destitution of the world. 34 DENTAL ASSISTANTS: Imitate the young woman in a dentist’s office in Boston who averages 30 converts a year. DID YOU KNOW ... that the average Cath- olic American spends 127 times as much on cigarettes each year as he gives to the Holy Father annually to help in the conversion of 2 billion pagans? THE BEREAVED: Have Masses offered for the repose of your dead. But do not give money to anyone just to be “remembered” in Masses. Every Catholic in the world is remembered in every Mass. Would you not rather have a private audience with the Holy Father than a general audience? Then have a personal Mass for each personal intention. If you send a little extra to defray mailing ex- penses, we will have the Holy Sacrifice offered for you by a missionary— and not just a “remembrance.” ONE HOUR FOR THE MISSIONS . . . The mem- bers of the Association of Catholic Teachers in Holland donate the equivalent of their earnings for one hour of teaching to the Missions each month. This yields around $30,000. 35 DIOCESAN DIRECTORS OF THE HOLY FATHER’S SOCIETY FOR THE PROPAGATION OF THE FAITH: The Catholics in your diocese need only be told of their role in the Mystical Body to re- spond. Since the Council particularly, they real- ize that Mission Sunday alone is not enough. Africa is hungry not only on Mission Sunday! Asia does not need leper treatment only on Mission Sunday! Thousands clinging to the hill- sides of Rio de Janeiro do not need clothes just one Sunday a year! Hunger is not once every 52 weeks; the Cross is not borne by millions in the world only one day in the year! Every day is Mission day! Every day Christ needs an altar, a catechist, a convent, a seminary, a tabernacle in some part of this earth. We are the out-stretched hand of the Holy Father in our diocese and in our nation! What a burden is on us ! Others have to worry about a parish, a club, a diocese, an organization. We have the world on our back! But what a joy! The Holy Father, John XXIII, said: “St. Margaret Mary used to say, ‘Blessed are they who die after a lifetime of devotion to the Sacred Heart’; but I say, ‘Twice blessed are they who die after a lifetime of devotion to The Society for the Propagation of the Faith.’ ” 36 We take any checks but "rubber” checks! PROMINENT CATHOLICS: Become unprominent! Hide your charities! You are "generous” to those who "have,” e.g., you add another building to 25 already existing. But do you give to those who “have not”? Would it not be a good idea to send $50,000 a year to the Holy Father. Oh yes! It is tax de- ductible if you send it through his Society for the Propagation of the Faith. Then you will not be a prominent Catholic but a prominent Catholic, because you serve the Church throughout the world through the Father of all. VOCATION DIRECTORS: Too few vocations? May it not be (a) because you are seeking vocations only for your diocese and not for the Mystical Body of Christ, and (b) because you feel that vocations given to mission- ary societies are "lost” to diocesan needs? God gives vocations to the Church, not to the diocese. Begin sending priests on the Missions and vocations will pour in. One archdiocese in Europe had an average of six vocations a year. A new archbishop was named its shepherd. On the day of his installation, he asked the priests in the diocese to volunteer for the foreign Missions. Despite his grave need, he supplied the greater need of the Mystical Body. The next year he had 60 vocations! 37 STOCK AND BOND HOLDERS: You need the interest to live? Certainly! But at your death, who gets the capital? Why not, at your death, give the capital to the Holy Father for the poor of the world? His Society for the Propagation of the Faith will pay you returns on your investment while you live! God gave you wealth? Would it not be a good idea to return it to Him and His Church on the Day of Judgment? “What you did to the least of these My brethren, you did unto Me.” PRIESTS: (a) Send your Mass stipends to The Society for the Propagation of the Faith. The National Office of the Society for the Propagation of the Faith distributes them to the bishops on the Missions and through them to the priests. Some have no other source of livelihood than those offerings. MOTHERS: Do you ever train your children to make tiny little sacrifices for the Missions — even if it is only a penny a week or a piece of candy? A WAITRESS in Philadelphia gives every cent she receives in tips to The Society for the Propagation of the Faith. She has done so for twelve years. 38 A CATECHIST in Kenya, with his legs eaten off to the knees through leprosy, makes FORTY CONVERTS A DAY!!!! How many do you make a year? (b) Sacrifice $250 a year to the Pontifical Society of St. Peter the Apostle, 366 Fifth Ave- nue, New York 1, New York, to educate a na- tive priest in India, Ghana or anywhere else in the world. Thus will your priesthood be pro- longed into another generation. SECRETARIES: Collect dimes each week in your office for the sick and lepers among the depressed two-thirds of the world. At the end of the month, send the total to the Holy Father through his Society for the Propagation of the Faith. The address: your diocesan director or Most Rev. Fulton J. Sheen, National Director, 366 Fifth Avenue, New York 1, New York. 39 COLLEGE STUDENTS: Pay your way during the summer to any mission land. Teach catechism, build a small school, collect medicines for a dispensary. Write to any bishop in any part of the world offering him your services. SMOKERS: Give the Holy Father and his Society for the Propagation of the Faith as much each year as you spend on cigarettes. Send the amount to your diocesan director or Most Rev. Fulton J. Sheen, 366 Fifth Avenue, New York 1, New York. DRINKERS: To aid the starving of the world give the Holy Father as much as you spend on alcohol each year. Send it to the National Director, Most Rev. Fulton J. Sheen, 366 Fifth Avenue, New York 1, New York, or your own diocesan director. If the Church in the United States does not become the "Church of the Poor” through greater sacrifices/ we shall become the "Poor Church.” TRAVELLER’S CHECKS ACCEPTED! 40 MOTHERS: While you are expecting a child, are you mindful of the poor and the aged, as Mary was of Elizabeth? FAST: Do not “diet” — “fast.” The first is for the body alone, the second is for body and soul. Fasting is that which detaches us from the world as praying is that which attaches us to God. England now has organized fasting on a year- round basis for the relief of the urgent needs of the world. Each tiny little act of self-denial is converted into cash. For example, if you take no dessert while eating out, put a dime in your “Propagation of the Faith Bowl” and later send it to the Holy Father through his Society for the Propagation of the Faith. TITHE: A widow writes: “I cannot remember when Malachias 3:10 became precious to me, but it must have been when I was a little girl. The verse reads: ‘Do but carry your tithe into the tithe-barn, for My temple’s needs, and see if I do not open the windows of heaven for you, rain down blessings to your hearts’ content.’ “ Our family was large and we were very poor. I determined when I began earning money that the first thing I would do would be to give the Lord His part. I began teaching and when I drew my first check of $55, I gave $5.50 to the 41 Missions. Through all these years I am still teaching school, and my tithe is more than the first check for teaching the entire month. I can truly say with my heart, it is more blessed to give than to receive.” The following letter is from a couple in Mon- tana: “Four months ago we were heavily in debt, owing $800 plus payments on three items, amounting to $65 per month. My husband was out of a job. Babes in Christ, we were afraid to trust God. “ Then we read of an appeal to help the Holy Father and his missionaries, and we took a pledge to give $10 a month to The Society for the Propagation of the Faith. We did not know where the money would come from. “Within a week my husband had a job he had been trying to get for three years. Today we have paid off our debts, saved a little, are edu- cating four children and help our Church. God is faithful. We shall never doubt again.” This is what one office did: they sacrificed $65.35 as the COFFEE BREAK FRIENDS OF THE SOCIETY FOR THE PROPAGATION OF THE FAITH. BE COMPASSIONATE: It is almost impossible to preach to people in poverty. Our Lord first fed the multitudes, then told them of the Eucharist. Does not this 42 woman living in dire need express an attitude that must give us pause? “Brother Luiz talked to us about humility. I thought, if Brother Luiz were married, had children and earned the mini- mum wage, I would like to see if he would be so humble. He said that God blesses only those who suffer with resignation. If the Brother saw his children eating rotten food, already at- tacked by vultures and rats, he would stop talk- ing about resignation and rebel, because re- bellion comes from bitterness.” Poverty in Ecuador, des- titution in Bra- zil and leprosy in India cannot be understood by photographs or sermons. They make up a different world than ours. Only those who fast understand hunger; only those who are persecuted and forgive understand rebellion; only those who do without something have the faintest idea of those who do without everything. And it has to be a daily sacrifice, because the hunger of others is daily, even hourly. Oh! Did we but realize that we are part of the 43 world, that if every Catholic in the United States made a sacrifice of five cents a day, every day of the year, we could wipe out poverty in a thousand areas of this earth! IF YOUR MARRIAGE is childless, perhaps God will bless it if you regularly help the children on the Missions. PILOTS AND STEWARDESSES: Did you ever think to make a sacrifice for the poor of the world in gratitude for protection during a flight? SPIRITUAL WORKS: Be missionary: by prayer, sacrifice and alms. The number of non-Catholics each year in- creases by 30 million, while the number of con- versions each year is only 800,000. The Church, from the point of view of relative quantity, is becoming smaller and smaller every year. Each of the 500 million Catholics in the world has an obligation to do something about this. “Noth- ing is more marvelous than to propagate the Gospel throughout the world” (Pius XI). “It is from their hearts that the apostolic flame brought by Jesus to the earth must be conveyed to the hearts of all our sons, and enkindle in them new ardor for the missionary action of the Church throughout the world” (Pius XII). 44 CATHOLIC HOSPITALS: Have you ever sent the Holy Father an offering to help build a dispensary in Africa? BISHOPS: “Even though each bishop is the pastor of that portion of the Lord’s flock entrusted to him nevertheless, as lawful successor of the Apostles’ by God’s institution and commandment, he is also responsible, together with all the other bishops for the apostolic tasks of the Church” (Pius XIl’ Fidei Donum). ’ HAVE YOU EVER . . . asked your child to sell one of his ten toys, even for 10 cents, in order to help the poor of the world? OUR READERS: Face the facts. (a) There are 300,000 missionaries— priests, Brothers, Sisters and laity working outside their own country to bring Redemption to men. (b) If each missionary were given $1 a day to buy food, clothes; build churches, hospitals, dispensaries, orphanages, leper colonies; hire catechists; supply nourishment for the hungry and medicine for the sick (which is a ridiculous allowance), it would require an outlay of $300 - 000 a day. 45 How much for a year? $109,500,000! (c) How much does the richest country in the world, with a per capita income of $2,600 a year, give to the Holy Father who asked that he be “first and principally aided.”? 27 cents per Catholic per year, or about 7/100 of a cent each a day. LAZARUS IS AT OUR DOOR— the door of our nation, the door of our diocese, the door of our parish and the door of our house. What do we do on the inside of the house? Pray? The Gospel says that the rich man prayed. We go to Mass, we obey the Com- mandments, we go to Communion once a week — but what of the Lazarus at our door: the poor nations, the persecuted Christ in China and Northern Korea, the Christ in New Guinea Who has nowhere to lay his head, the ten million lepers in the world? . . Only it is to be a free offering, not a grudging tribute. I would remind you of this: he who sows sparingly will reap sparingly.” II Cor. 9:5, 6 We are generous, but we are sometimes thoughtless. We think of the rest of the world as many a Jew in pre-Christian times thought of the Gentiles, as outside our boundaries or parish and, therefore, alien to us. What we have to realize is that we belong to 46 the Church as the Body of Christ— not a 'parish or diocese alone. Wherever the Church is, even though it be a hut, there is Christ. We are related to the poor in that hut just as much as a cell in my right arm is related to a cell in my fingertip. The same Blood flows through our veins. When I see the Church in Latin America or Korea suffering, that is my suffering, as much as the suffering of the eye is the suffering of my body. This is the Church— the Mystical Body of Christ— walking on the waters of the Congo as His physical body walked the Lake of Genes- ereth. Missions are not a pius extra, something to be thought about on Mission Sunday or a place where we adopt “black babies” or about which we say, “I got a letter from India” or “I have a cousin in the Congo.” The Missions are the prolongation of Christ Who was sent by the Father on the work of Re- demption. Thirty-three times in the Gospel of St. John, Our Lord said that He was sent; in Latin, sent is “Mission” — the Missions are the place where Christ is sent. In this country, when a priest is given an assignment, he may describe it as a “good parish ” — sometimes by this he means a rich parish, a comfortable parish, a parish without financial problems. In the Mission world, every parish is a good parish — and by “good” is meant Christ is living there in poverty: “I was naked and you clothed me.” 47 A CATECHIST in Peru sold his shoes to buy a book to help him better instruct his people. The cost of a pair of shoes would be a good sacrifice to help this work. THE WORLD When you think of the Church, think of it in the world. The Church is the Body of Christ growing to its historical fulfillment in the world. Just suppose you wanted to help the Church where you felt it was making the most converts — that is always a good sign of both the zeal of its priests and the responsiveness to God’s grace among the people. Well, here is the answer: The United States has less than 3 converts per priest per year. South Korea has 91 converts per priest per year. Formosa has 51 converts per priest per year. Indonesia has 27 converts per priest per year. Hong Kong has 56 converts per priest per year. Nigeria has 93 converts per priest per year. Ruanda-Urundi has 110 converts per priest per year. Kenya-Zanzibar has 110 converts per priest per year. Suppose you were putting out $10,000 for an investment. Would you not place it where it would secure the greatest return? When you want to give money to the Church, where can 48 you find a greater spiritual investment than in the Missions? On Judgment Day would you rather go to God, saying: “I built a field house and gymnasium for such and such a university,” or “I made it possible to bring a thousand souls to the baptismal font and the embrace of Christ in the Church,” as these African catechists will be able to do. REMEMBER . . . every cent you give to The Society for the Propagation of the Faith goes to the Holy Father. V GOD LOVE YOU to a Friend for $7 “I earned some money working in a department store during the holidays. Here is the Dear Lord’s share for His Missions.” 49 «And pray tell, how much did you deduct for sacrifices to the Society for the Propagation of the Faith?” y GOD LOVE YOU to Mr. and Mrs. J.K. for $25 “Imagine our joy when we were finally able to adopt a beautiful little girl! To thank God, we want to help all the homeless infants throughout the Missions.” 50 V GOD LOVE YOU to D.T. for $15 “If I can be careless enough to get a parking ticket, I can be careful enough to send the equiva- to the Missions. Use it as the Holy Father sees jn. CHAPTER 7 MONEY AND THE MISSIONS: What are you doing now for the Missions? We hate to always beg, but the Lord has appointed us to be a beggar through his Vicar on earth. If you notice, we ask for sacrifices in- directly— maybe that is why we get so little. We try to inspire you to greater sanctity and love of Our Lord. Then you will give. We do not first say: “Give, and prove that you love the Savior but “Love the Savior and His Church, and then you will sacrifice.” 51 Not one cent that you send to the Holy Father’s Society for the Propagation of the Faith is ever distributed by us, or by a diocesan director or by a bishop of a diocese. It enters immediately into the Holy Father s Mission Fund and is distributed, as He put it, by a committee appointed by us.” DID YOU KNOW . . . that the Catholics of America spend 207 times as much per year on alcohol as they give to the Holy Father for all the Missions of the world during that time . We know all the appeals you receive. Most of them are worthy. Help all you can but obey the Holy Father to give to him through his Society for the Propagation of the Faith first and principally.” He helps all. Did you ever read what the Bible says about a “collection”? The only collection mentioned in the New Testament is for the Missions, i his was the rule. “Each of you should put aside, on the first day of the week, what he can afford to spare, and save it up. (I Cor. 16:2) Note “each of you,” and not just the head of the family, but every child, everybody. It is to be put aside on Sunday, which presupposes a religious state of mind. No specific amount is mentioned, but “accordingly as God has 52 prospered you,” or “what he can afford to spare.” Among the Jews, each head of the fam- ily was bound to give one-tenth to the support of the priesthood, one-tenth for the great festi- vals of the nation and one-tenth for the poor. Besides these there were free-will offerings, tres- pass offerings and costly pilgrimages to the temples. The Christian rule is based not on law, but on love, and asks that there be a relation between our blessings and our benefactions. If only we could get over to our readers their bond to the poor of the world, we would never have to beg. Just suppose you were in a room with about fifty people having an audience with the Holy Father. Suppose the Holy Father said to you: Will you help me feed hungry souls and bodies throughout the mission world — aid all mission- ary societies in a big way?” Would any of you hand him 27 cents? You would consider it an insult, would you not? Well, how do you think we feel each May, as we give the Holy Father your proof that you love your Faith and the Church and the poor of the world— and give him your 27 cents? We know you would give more to the Holy Father lofe ^ sked y°u-.You would probably give him $270 if you had it, or $2,700. YOUR ZEAL for fh© Missions of the world is the thermometer which measures your love for Our Lord. 53 Pray for Bishop Sheen that the Lord does not hold him to account for the little he does for the Holy Father in the richest country in the world. With our high national per capita income, with all our good homes, our cars, our television sets, our three meals a day, our bed sheets, it should really be $27 each per year. To everyone who makes a sacrifice, we say “God Love You,” and we read Mass for you every Sunday. (This is different from being “remembered” in a Mass.) A RECENT SURVEY reveals that 59 per cent of the Protestants try to interest others in their faith; only 28 per cent of the Catholics do the same. Make a sacrifice to make up for this failure. LOVE May the Lord increase your love! Love those whom you do not know, for Christ loved you before you knew Him. Love the poor, for you will have to love them m Heaven. Love holiness, not that others may find you lovely, but that you may be loving to others. Love the lepers because you were cured of the leprosy of sin in Confession. Love the hungry, for think how hungry for the Eucharist you would be if you were living outside the Church in a bad marriage. 54 Love those who cannot love you back— then the Lord will have to reward you. Love self-denial, for each act chisels away the ego and makes Christ appear in you. Love your neighbor. You can never be sure you love God as you ought, but there is never a doubt as to whether you love your neighbor or not. Love the Church in the world, love it everywhere. Love all missionaries, all countries, all peoples. Love them daily with a sacrifice. Love them in Christ, love them in his Vicar, love them in his Society for the Propagation of the Faith. There is no cleavage between the spiritual and the temporal. You cannot save your soul without caring for someone else’s body— par- ticularly when it is starving. We do not want your “alms,” your “helping hand,” your “gifts.” We want your love. St. Catherine of Siena said that the nails of the Cross would not have sufficed to hold the God- Man, if the force of charity had not held Him. 55 NOW! HOW MUCH DO YOU LOVE? Tell us by writing to Most Rev. Fulton J. Sheen, 366 Fifth Avenue, New York 1, New York. y GOD LOVE YOU to Anonymous for $4 “Pennies always seemed a nuisance— until 1 started saving them for the Missions!” y GOD LOVE YOU to T.J.M. for $400 “I have made a new resolution this year, to send the same amount that I owe on income tax to The Society for the Propagation of the Faith. ‘ Render to Ceasar the things that are Ceasar’s and to God the things that are God’s.’ ” 56 Dear Bishop Sheen , Enclosed is my offering of which I wish you would give to the Holy Father , on the occasion of your visit in May, for his Society for the Propaga- tion of the Faith throughout the world . There were moments when I thought I would send the money to a place of my choosing, but on second thought I realized that the Vicar of Christ, who cares for all missionary societies and all mission areas of the world, knows far better than I how it can best be used . Though I am not blessed with much of the world's goods, I am making this sacrifice because I am a member of the Mystical Body of Christ and rich in comparison with three-fourths of the world. I thank you for your promise to read Mass every Sunday for all of us who sacrifice under the in- spiration of Our Lord on Calvary. Begging your prayers, I am Very truly yours , ¥¥¥¥¥¥¥¥¥¥¥¥¥¥¥¥¥¥¥¥¥¥¥¥¥¥¥ Won’t you tear off this page, sign your name to it and attach an offering for the poor of the world? Send it to your Diocesan Director or to Most Rev. Fulton J. Sheen, 366 Fifth Avenue, New York 1, New York. revebehd sector ST JOSEPH’S CH 322 EAST AVE WAUKESHA WISC 30 ST. FRANCIS DE SALES purchased by an alms each hour which he thought he had lost or misused.