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YOU
Eighteen addresses delivered in the nationwide Catholic Hour, produced by

the National Council of Catholic Men, in cooperation with the National
Broadcasting Company, from December 3, 1944 through April 1, 1945.

BY

RT. REV. MSGR. FULTON J. SHEEN
of the

Catholic University of America

OUR SUNDAY LiDSARY

HUNTINGTON, INDIANA

Third Edition April 1, 1947

NATIONAL COUNCIL OF CATHOLIC MEN
1312 Massachusetts Avenue, N. W.

Washington 5, D. C.

Printed and diatribnted fey Onr Snndny Viaitor
Pnntinffton, Indiana



Nihii Obstat;

REV. T. E DILLON
Censor Librorum

imDrimatur;
4- JOHN FRANCIS NOLL,

Bishop of Fort Wayne



TABLE OF CONTENTS
Page

Are You Happy? 7

What Is God Like? 12

What Are You Like? 17
How You Got That Way 21
Who Can Re-make You? 26
Is Religion Purely Individual? 31

How You Are Re-made 86
Faith 41

Hope 1 46

Charity 51

The Hell There Is 66

The Value Of Ignorance 61

The Secret of Sanctity 66

The Fellowship of Religion 72

Confidence In Victory !. 76

Religion Is A Quest 81
The Purpose Of Life 86

Easter 91





ARE YOU HAPPY?
Address Delivered On December 3, 1944

Are you perfectly happy? Or

are you still looking for happi-

ness ? There can be no doubt that

at one time or another in your

life you attained that which

you believed would make you

happy. When you got what you
wanted, were you happy?

Do you remember when you

were a child, how ardently you

looked forward to Christmas?

How happy you thought you
would be, with your fill of cakes,

your hands glutted with toys,

and your eyes dancing with the

lights on the tree!

Christmas came, and after you

bad eaten your fill, blown out the

last Christmas light, and play-

ed till your toys no longer

amused, you climbed into your

bed and said, in your own little

heart of hearts, that somehow or

other it did not quite come up

to your expectations. And have
you not lived that experience

over a thousand times since?

You looked forward to the joys
of travel, but when your weary
feet carried you home you ad-
mitted that the two happiest

days were the day you left home

and the day you got back.

Perhaps it was marriage you

thought which would bring you

perfect happiness. Even though

it did bring a measure of hap-

piness, you admit that you now

take your companion’s love for

granted. One is never thirsty at

the border of the well.

Perhaps it was wealth you

wanted. You got it, and now

you are afraid of losing it. “A

golden bit does not make the

better horse.” Maybe it was a

desire to be well-known that you

craved. You did become well-

known only to find that reputa-

tion is like a ball; as soon as it

starts rolling, men begin to kick

it around.

The fact is: you want to be

perfectly happy, but you are not.

Your life has been a series of

disappointments, shocks, and

disillusionments. How have you
reacted to your disappointments?

Either you became cynical or else

you became religious. If you be-

came cynical, you blamed things,

rather than yourself. If you

were married you said: “If I

had another husband, or another

wife, I would be happy.” Or

you said: “If I had another

job . . . ”; or, “If I visited an-

other night-club . . . ”; or, “If



8 YOU

I were in another city, I would

be happy.” In every instance,

you made happiness extrinsic to
yourself. No wonder you are
never happy. You are chasing
mirages until death overtakes

you.

But cynicism did not work,

because in seeking pleasures

you missed the joys of life.

Pleasure is of the body; joy is

of the mind and heart. Lobster

Newburg gives pleasure to cer-
tain people, but not even the

most avid lobster fans would ever

say that it made them joyful.

You can quickly become tired of

pleasures, but you never tire of

joys. A pleasure can be increas-
ed to a point where it ceases to be

a pleasure; it may even begin
to be a pain if carried beyond

a certain point
;

for example,

tickling or drinking. But the

joy of a good conscience, or the

joy of a First Communion, or

the discovery of a truth, never

turns to pain.

Furthermore, have you noticed

that as your desire for pleasure

increased, the satisfaction from

the pleasure decreased? Do you

think a philosophy of life is

right that is based on the law

of diminishing returns?

You think you are having a

good time
;
but time really is the

greatest obstacle in the world

to happiness, not only because

it makes you take pleasures suc-

cessively, but also because you

are never really happy until you

are unconscious of the passing

of time! The more you look at
the clock, the less happy you are

!

The more you enjoy yourself, the

less conscious you are of the

passing of time. You say, “Time
passed like everything.” Maybe,

therefore, your happiness has

something to do with the eternal

!

The other reaction to disap-

pointment is much more rea-
sonable. It begins by asking:

“Why am I disappointed”; and
then, “How can I avoid it?”
Why are you disappointed? Be-

cause of the tremendous dispro-

portion between your desires and

your realizations. Your soul has

a certain infinity about it, be-

cause it is spiritual. But your

body, like the world about you,

is material, limited, “cabined,

cribbed, confined.” You can
imagine a mountain of gold, but

you will never see one. In like

manner, you look forward to

some earthly pleasure, or posi-

tion, or state of life, and once you

attain it you begin to feel the

tremendous disproportion be-

tween the ideal you imagined and

the reality you possess. Dis-

appointment follows. Every

earthly ideal is lost by being



ARE YOU HAPPY? 9

possessed. The more material

your ideal, the greater the dis-

appointment; the more spiritual

it is, the less the disillusionment.

Having discovered why you
are disappointed, you take the

next step of trying to avoid dis-

appointments entirely. You ask

yourself : “What do I desire

above all things?” You want

perfect life, and perfect truth,

and perfect love. Nothing short

of the Infinite satisfies you, and

to ask you to be satisfied with

less would be to destroy your

nature. You want life, not for

two more years, but always ; you

want to know all truths, not the

truths of economics alone, to the

exclusion of history. You also
want love without end. All the

poetry of love is a cry, a moan,

and a weeping. The more pure

it is, the more it pleads; the

miore it is lifted above the

earth, the more it laments.

With your feet on earth, you

dream of heaven
;

creature of

time, you despise it; flower of a

day, you seek to eternalize your-

self. Why do you want Life,
Truth, Love, unless you were

made for them? How could you
enjoy the fractions unless there

were a whole? Whence come
they? Where is the source of
light in the city street at noon?

Not under autos, buses, nor the

feet of trampling throngs, be-

cause their light is mingled with

darkness. If you are to find the

source of light you must go out

to something that has no ad-

mixture of darkness or shadow,

namely, to pure light, which is

the sun. In like manner, if

3^u are to find the source of

Life, Truth, and Love, you must

go out to a life that is not

mingled with its shadow, death;

to a Truth not mingled with its

shadow, error; and to a Love

not mingled with its shadow,

hate. You go out to something
that is Pure Life, Pure Truth,

Pure Love, and that is the defi-

nition of God. And the reason
you have been disappointed is be-

cause you have not yet found

Him!

It is God you are looking for.
Your unhappiness is not due to

your want of a fortune, or high

position, or fame, or sufficient

vitamins
; it is due not to a

want of something outside you,

but to a want of something in-

side you. You cannot satisfy a
soul with husks I If the sun could

speak, it would say that it was
happy when shining; if a pencil
could speak it would say that

it was happy when writing—^for
these were the purposes for

which they were made. You were
made for perfect happiness. That



10 YOU

is your purpose. No wonder
everything short of God disap-

points you.

But have you noticed that

when you realize you were made

for Perfect Happiness, how much
less disappointing the pleasures

of earth become? You cease ex-
pecting to get silk purses out of

sows’ ears. Once you realize that

God is your end, you are not

disappointed, for you put no

more hope in things than they

can bear. You cease looking for

first^ate joys where there are

only tenth-rate pleasures.

You begin to see that friend-
ship, the joys of marriage, the

thrill of possession, the sunset

and the evening star, master-

pieces of art and music, the gold

and silver of earth, the industries

and the comforts of life, are all

gifts of God. He dropped them
on the roadway of life, to re-

mind you that if these are so

beautiful, then what must be

Beauty ! He intended them to
be bridges to cross over to Him.

After enjoying the good things

of life you were to say: If the

spark of human love is so bright
then what must be the Flame

!

Unfortunately, many become
so enamored of the gifts the

great Giver of Life has dropped

on the roadway of life that they

build their cities around the

gift, and forget the Giver; and

when the gifts, out of loyalty
to their Maker, fail to give them

perfect happiness, they rebel

against God and become cynical

and disillusioned.

Change your entire point of

view! Life is not a mockery.

Disappointments are merely

markers on the road of life,

saying: “Perfect happiness is

not here.” Though your pas-
sions may have been satisfied,
you were never satisfied, be-

cause while your passions can

find satisfaction in this world,

you cannot. Start with your

own insufficiency and begin a
search for perfection. Begin

with your own emptiness and
seek Him who can fill it.
Look at your heart! It tells

the story of why you were made.
It is not perfect in shape and

contour, like a Valentine Heart.

There seems to be a small piece

missing out of the side of every

human heart. That may be to
symbolize a piece that was torn

out of the Heart of Christ which

embraced all humanity on the

Cross. But I think the real

meaning is that when God made

your human heart. He found it
so good and so lovable that He
kept a small sample of it in

heaven. He sent the rest of it
into this world to enjoy His gifts.



ARE YOU HAPPY? 11

and to use them as stepping

stones back to Him, but to be

ever mindful that you can never

love anything in this world with

your whole heart because you

have not a whole heart with

which to Love. In order to love

anyone with your whole heart,

in order to be really peaceful, in

order to be really whole-heart-

ed, you must go back again to

God to recover the piece He has
been keeping for you from all

eternity

!



WHAT IS GOD LIKE?
Address Delivered On December 10, 1944

How do you think of God?
Do you think of God as Some-

one on a throne who sulks and
pouts and becomes angry if you

do not worship and glorify Him
and who is happy and grateful

to you when you go to Church

and pray to Him?
Or do you think of God as a

benevolent grandfather v/ho is

indifferent to what you do so

'mg as you enjoy yourselves?
If you hold either of these

two views of God, you cannot

understand either why you
should worship God, or how God
can be good if He does not let
you do as you please.

Let us start with the first dif-

ficulty: Why worship God?
The word “worship” is a con-

traction of “worth-ship.” It is

a manifestation of the worth in

which we hold another person.

When you applaud an actor on
the stage, or a returning hero,

you are “worshipping” him.

Every time a man takes off his
hat to a lady, he is “worship-

ping” her. Now to worship God
means to acknowledge in some

way His Worth, His Power, His
Goodness, and His Truth.

If you do not worship God,

you worship something, and

nine times out of ten it will be

yourself. If there is no God

then you are a god; and if you

are a god and your own law and
your own creator, then I am an
atheist. The basic reason there

is so little worship of God today

is because man denies he is a
creature. But we have not yet
answered the question : “Why
should you worship God?” You
have a duty to worship God, not

because He will be imperfect
and unhappy if you do not, but

because you will be imperfect

and unhappy.

If you are a father, do you

not like to receive a tiny little

gift, such as a penny chocolate

cigar, from your boy? Why do
you value it more than a box

of Corona Coronas from your

insurance agent? If you are a

!mother, does not your heart

find a greater joy in a hand-

ful of yellow dandelions from

your little daughter, than in a

bouquet of roses from a dinner

guest? Do these trivialities
make you richer? Do you need

them? Would you be imperfect



WHAT IS GOD LIKE? 13

without them? They are ab-

solutely of no utility to you!

And yet you love them. And

why? Because by these gifts

your children are “worshipping”

you; they are acknowledging

your love, your goodness, and

by doing so they are perfecting

themselves, that is, developing

along the lines of love rather

than hate, thankfulness rather

than ingratitude, and therefore

becoming more perfect children

and more happy children.

As you do not need dande-

lions and chocolate cigars, nei-

ther does God need your worship.

But if their giving is a sign of

your worth in your children’s

eyes, then is not prayer, adora-

tion, and worship a sign of God’s

worth in our eyes? And if you
do not need your children’s wor-

ship, why do you think God needs
yours? But if the worship of

your children is for their perfec-

tion, not yours, then may not
your worship of God be not for

His perfection, but yours? Wor-

ship is your opportunity to ex-

press devotion, dependence, and

love, and in doing that you make

yourself happy. A lover does
not give gifts to the beloved

because she is poor; he gives

gifts because she is already in

his eyes possessed of all gifts.

The more he loves, the poorer

he thinks his gifts are. If he

gave her a million, he would

still think he had fallen short.

If he gave everything, even that

would not be enough. One of the

reasons he takes price tags off

his gifts is not because he is

ashamed, but because he does

not wish to establish a propor-

tion between his gift and his

love. His gifts do not make

her more precious, but they

make him less inadequate. By
giving, he is no longer nothing.

The gift is his perfection, not

hers. Worship in like manner is

our perfection, not God’s.

God would still be perfectly

happy if you never existed. God

has no need of your love, for

there is nothing in you, of and

by yourself, which makes you

lovable to God. Most of us are

fortunate to have even a spark

of affection from our fellow

creatures. God does not love us

for the same reason that we love
others. We love others because
of need and incompleteness. But

God does not love us because He
needs us. He loves us because
He put some of His love in us.
God does not love us because we
are valuable; we are valuable
because He loves us.
God thirsts for your love, not



14 YOU

because you are His waters of

everlasting life, but because you

are the thirst, He the waters.
He needs you only because you
need Him. Without Him you
are imperfect; but without you,

He is still Perfect. It is the
echo that needs the Voice, and

not the Voice that needs the

echo.

Now we come to that other
misunderstanding concerning

God which interprets His Good-

ness as indifference to justice,

and regards Him less as a lov-
ing father than as a doting

grandfather who likes to see His
children amuse themselves even

when they are breaking things,

including His commandments.

Too many assume that God is
good only when He gives us what
we want. We are like children
who think our parents do not
love us because they do not give

us revolvers, or because they

make us go to school. In order

to understand goodness, we must
make a distinction between get-
ting what we want and getting
what we need. Is God good only
when He gives us what we want,
or is He good when He gives
us what we need even though
we do not want it? When the
prodigal son left the Father's

house he said, “Give me.” He

judged his father's goodness by

the way the father satisfied his
wants. But when he returned
a much wiser young man, he
merely asked for what he needed :

a restoration of a father’s love;

and hence he said: “Make me.”
The thief on the left judged

the goodness of Our Lord by His
power to take him down from
his cross; that is what he want-

ed. The thief on the right judg-
ed the goodness of Our Lord by
His power to take him into Par-

adise; that is what he needed.

The Goodness of God means
that God gives us what we need
for our perfection, not what we
want for our pleasure and some-

times for. our destruction. As

a sculptor, He sometimes applies
the chisel to the marble of our

imperfect selves and knocks off

huge chunks of selfishness that

His image may better stand re-
vealed. Like a musician, when-

ever He finds the strings too
loose on the violin of our per-

sonality, He tightens them even
though it hurts, that we may
better reveal our hidden harmon-

ies. As the Supreme Lover of our
soul He does care how we act
and think and speak. What fa-
ther does not want to be proud

of his son? If the father speaks

with authority now and then to



WHAT IS OOD LIKE? 15

hi« son, it is not because he is

a dictator, but because he wants

him to be a worthy son. So long

as there is love, there is neces-

sarily a desire for the perfect-

ing of the beloved.

And that is precisely the way
God’s goodness manifests itself

to us. God really loves us, and

because He loves us He is not
disinterested. He no more wants
you to be unhappy than your

own parents want you to be un-

happy. God made you not for

His happiness, but for yours, and

to ask God to be satisfied with

most of us as we really are is
to ask that God cease to love.

Think of the thousands you

have met whom you could never
love. You may even wonder how
their mothers could love them.

But God loves them! He even
loves them more than He loves
us who look down on them with
disdain and scorn.

If you want to know about
God, there is only one way to
do it: get down on your knees.

You can make His acquaintance
by investigation, but you can

win His love only by loving.

Arguments will tell you God ex-
ists, for God’s existence can be

proved by reason; but only by

surrender will you come to know
Him intimately.

That is one of the reasons

why so many professors in sec-
ular institutions have no relig-

ion. They know about God, but

they do not know God. And be-
cause they do not love what they

already know, because they do

not act on their belief, even the

little they have is taken away.

They rattle the milk cans of

theology but they never drink

the milk. Atheism is born from

the womb of a bad conscience.
Disbelief comes from sin, not

from reason.

This is not a broadcast about

God, it is a plea to love God.

Worship Him because He is
your perfection, more than

knowledge is the perfection of

the mind. Love Him because
you cannot be happy without

Love. Love Him quite apart
from all you are, for you have

the right to love Him in your
heart, even though you do not

always succeed in loving Him in
your acts. Think a little less

about whether you deserve to be

loved by Him; He loves you
even though you are not deserv-

ing—it is His love alone that
will make you deserving. It is
love that confers value. “No-

body loves me” is the equivalent
of being valueless. Hence the

more important the person who



16 YOU

loves you, the more precious is

your value. You are infinitely

precious because you are loved

by God. Most of you are un-

happy because you never give

God a chance to love you. You

are in love only with yourself.

In the magnificent lines of

Thompson, God may well ask
you

:

“
‘

. . . Wherefore should any set
thee love apart?

Seeing none but I makes much of
naught' (He said).

‘And human love needs human
meriting:
How has thou m.erited

—

Of all man’s clotted clay the din-
giest clot?

Alack, thou knowest not
How little worthy of any love

thou art!
Whom wilt thou find to love ig-

noble thee.
Save Me, save only Me?’ ”

Say to yourself over and over

again regardless of what hap-

pens : “God loves me I” And then
add : “And I will try to love

Him!”



WHAT ARE YOU LIKE?
Address Delivered On December 17, 1944

Thus far we have answered
two questions : Why were you
made, and what is God like? Now
we ask: What are you like?
Take your heart into your

hand as a kind of crucible and

distill out of it its inmost nature.

What do you find it to be? Are
you not really a bundle of con-

tradictions? Is there not a dis-

parity between what you ought

to do, and what you actually do?

Do you not sometimes feel like

a radio tuned in to two distinct

stations, heaven and hell, getting

neither, but only static and con-

fusion worse confounded. The

old Latin poet Ovid probably ex-

pressed your sentiments perfect-

ly when he said: “I see and ap-
prove the better things of life,

the worse things of life I fol-

low.” St. Paul too very likely

expressed your inmost moods

when he cried out: “For the good
which I will, I do not; but the

evil which I will not, that I do”

(Romans 7:19). You feel dual,
divided against yourself, be-

cause you more often choose

what you like, rather than what

is best for you. And when you
do, you always feel the worse for

it. Somehow within you there

is a “kink”; your human na-
ture is disorganized. You feel
frustrated; your realizations are

anti-climaxes; they turn out to

be the opposite of what you ex-

pected. You are a problem to
yourself, not because of your

more obvious faults, but because

the better part of you so often

goes wrong.

Your soul is the battlefield of

a great civil war. The law of

your members is fighting against

the law of your mind. Your

name is “legion”— you have no
unifying purpose in life; there

is only a succession of choices,

but there is no one over-all goal

to which everything is subordi-

nated. You are split into many
worlds: eyes, ears, heart, body,

and soul.

How explain this basic con-
tradiction within you? There are

four false explanations: psycho-

logical, biological, intellectual,

economic. The psychological ex-

planation attributes this tension

within you to something peculiar

to you as an individual, your

erotic impulses: As a child you

were probably frightened by a

mouse in a dark closet during



18 YOU

a thunderstorm while reading

a book on sex.

This hardly fits the facts be-

cause you are not the only one

who is “that way”; everyone is.

There is nothing queer about

you. But there is something

queer about human nature. Do

you think that basically you are

any different from anyone else

in the world, or that you have a

monopoly on temptations, or that

you alone find it hard to be good,

or that you alone suffer remorse

when you do evil. It is human na-

ture that is queer, not you.

The second false explanation

is biological: that is, the kink

in your nature is due to a fall

in evolution.

No ! Evil is not due to the ani-
mal in you. Your human nature

is very different from the ani-

mal’s. There is a great disconti-

nuity between a beast and a hu-

man. As Chesterton says: “You

never have to dig very deep to

find the record of a man drawing
a picture of a monkey, but no

one has yet dug deep enough to

find the record of a monkey

drawing the picture of a man.”

An animal cannot sin, because
it cannot rebel against its nature.

He must Mlow it. But we can
sin, because we merely ought to

follow our nature. When you
see a monkey acting crazily in a

zoo, throwing banana peels at
spectators, you never say: “Don’t

be a nut.” But when you see a
man acting unreasonably, you
say: “Don’t be a monkey.” Man
alone can be sub-human; he can

sink to the level of a beast. The
peculiar thing about a man is
that though he may cease to act
like a man, he never loses the

imprint of human dignity. The
divine image with which he was
stamped is never destroyed; it is

merely defaced. Such is the es-

sence of man’s tragedy. We did
not evolve from the beast; we
devolved to the beast. We did
not rise from the animal; we fall
to the animal. That is why un-
less the soul is saved, nothing is

saved. Evil in us presupposes

what it defaces. As we never,
never can be godless without

God, so we could never be in-
human without being human.
The third false explanation at-

tributes the evil in you to want

of education; you are perverse

because you are ignorant. Once

you are educated, you will be

good.

No! You do not have this in-
ner contradiction because you

lack knowledge, for the educated

are not all saints and the igno-

rant are not all devils. Enlight-

enment does not necessarily

make you better. Never before



WHAT ARE YOU LIKE? 19

in the history of the world was

there so much education, and

never before was there so little

coming to the knowledge of the

truth. Much of modern educa-
tion is merely a rationalization

of evil. It makes clever devils

instead of stupid devils. The

world is not in a muddle because

of stupidity of the intellect, but

because of perversity of the will.

We know enough: It is our
choices that are wrong.

Finally, the socialist explana-

tion of this tension does not ex-

plain the facts; namely, people

are wicked because they are poor.

Never before were living

standards so high. All the poor

are not wicked, and all the rich

are not virtuous. If you had all

the money in the world, you

would still have that bias to-

ward evil. If poverty were the

cause of evil, why is it that ju-
venile delinquency increases in

periods of prosperity and why
does religion prosper in the vow
of poverty? If poverty were the

cause of evil, then riches should

be the source of virtue? If that

is so, why are not the wealthy
the paragons of virtue? The
world has not just made a few
mistakes in bookkeeping which

any expert accountant or eco-

nomic adviser can correct; rath-

er, the world has swindled the

treasury of faith and morality.

It is not the world’s arithmetic

that is incorrect ; it is our morals

that are bad.

Since this perversion of hu-

man nature is universal, that is,
since it affects human nature
(not just your personality ex-

clusively or mine) it must be

due to something that happened

to human nature itself at its
very origin; secondly, since it is

not animal in its origin, but

has all the earmarks of being de-

liberate and the result of a free

choice, it must not be a part of

God’s original work, but must

have come into being through

some subsequent fault; thirdly,

since evil is not merely a by-

product of bad environment but

is endemic in the heart of man,

it cannot be explained except on

the basis of a universal fracture

of some great moral law to which

we are all bound. Some acts of
disobedience can be remedied. If

I throw a stone through a win-

dow, I can put in a new one.
But there are other kinds of
disobedience that are irremedi-

able, for example, drinking

poison. Since evil is so universal

in the world, it must be due to a
disobedience of the second kind,

which has affected us in our in-
most nature.

An unequivocal voice in your



20 YOU

moral consciousness tells you

that your acts of wrong-doing

are abnormal facts in your na-

ture. They ought not to be.

There is something wrong in-

side of us. God made us one

way; in virtue of our freedom,

we made ourselves another way.

He wrote the drama ; we changed
the plot. You are not an ani-

mal that failed to evolve into a

human
;
you are a human who re-

belled against the Divine. If

we are a riddle to ourselves, the

blame is not to be put on God,

but on us.

This being so, before you can

be happy, you must throw over-

board these three false notions

which the nineteenth century

put into your mind

:

The first is the idea that you

are naturally good and progres-

sive, and—thanks to evolution,
science, and inevitable progress

—you are destined to become bet-
ter and better until you become

a kind of god. Two world wars
in twenty-one years and the pros-

pect of a third world war very

soon knocks that false optimism

into a cocked hat.

Discard also the idea that in

order to come to God and re-

ligion, you must be good.

Finally, do not believe that

religion consists only in moral

platitudes and pious exhortations

which cheer you up on the road-

way of life regardless of the
road you take.

In their place, start rebuilding

your life with these three truths

which alone do justice to your

human nature.
Though you are not indefinite-

ly progressive, neither are you a

depraved criminal. You are not
a saint, neither are you a devil.

The tendency toward evil in you

is not an irremediable flaw, but

an accident that can be repaired.

It is due to a bad choice and can

be remedied by a right choice.

To come to religion, you need

not be good. Rather you come

to God because you are not good.

If you were perfectly good, you

would not need God. As our

Lord said: “They that are well

have no need of a physician . .

{Mark 2:17).

You are right in not wanting

a religion of moral platitudes.

What you want is a religion of
deliverance and redemption. Be-

cause of sin you feel like a fish

on top of the Empire State Build-

ing; somehow or other you are

outside of your environment.



HOW YOU GOT THAT WAY
Address Delivered On December 24, 1944

Anyone who gives freedom to

another assumes great risks,

whethe;r it be a parent to a child

or a Creator to a creature. In

a certain sense, even God took

a great risk when He made man
free, for the very freedom to be-

come a child of God implied the

possibility of becoming a rebel.

Since God made us free to

choose what is right, we are also
free to choose the wrong. We
too often interpret freedom as

the right to break God’s com-

mandments. When at the close
of this war, you buy an auto-

mobile, the manufacturer will

give you a set of instructions.

He will tell you the pressure to
which you ought to inflate your

tires, the kind of oil you ought

to use in the crankcase, and the

proper fuel to put in the gas

tank. Really, he has nothing

against you because he gives you

these instructions, as God had

nothing against you in giving

you commandments. The manu-

facturer wants to be helpful: he

is anxious that you get the max-

imum utility out of the car. And
God is more anxious that you get

the maximum happiness out of

life. That is why He gives you
commandments.

But of course you are free.

You can do as you please. You
ought to use gasoline in the tank,

but you can put in Chanel No.

5. Now there is no doubt that
it is nicer for your nostrils if

you fill the tank with perfume

rather than with gasoline. But

the car simply will not run on

Smell No. 5. In like manner we
were made to run on the fuel of
God’s love and commandments,

and we simply will not run on
anything else. We just bog down.
And that is what happened to
human nature in the Fall.

God did not give man the
frightening responsibilities of

freedom without at the same

time offering him incentives to
choose right rather than wrong.

God would not force His hap-
piness on anyone. In almost so

many words, God said to Adam
and Eve at the very beginning

of history: As an inducement to
choose what is best, I shall give

you certain gifts. If you use

your freedom in the direction of

what is best for you, that is, for
your perfection, I shall give you



22 YOU

permanently the supernatural

g’ift of sharing in my Divine
Nature, that is, of being a child

of God and an heir of heaven.

To this I add permanently some

lesser gifts: You will never die,
your passions will never rebel

against your reason, and your

mind will be free from error.

But to preserve these gifts for

themselves and posterity, one

condition was imposed on Adam
and Eve by God, and it was very

easy. They merely had to love

God who is their perfection. We
must not think that this condi-

tion was equivalent to saying to

a child: “If you eat a woolly

worm, I will give 5^u a dollar,”

because a woolly worm is not the
perfection of a child. Rather,

it was like saying to the child:

“If you drink milk and oat food

you will be healthy.” As oibeying
the laws of health is the perfec-

tion of the child, so too obey-

ing the will of God is our perfec-

tion.

We said that the one condi-
tion imposed was that they love

God. But how could man prove
his love of God? How do you
know anyone loves you? Because
he tells you ? Most certainly not

!

Love is proved only one way : by
an act of choice, by choosing the

one we love to something or
somebody else. Love is not love

unless it is free; it is only be-

cause of the possibility of saying

“No” that there is so much
charm in the “Yes.”

Hence the choice presented to

our first parents was between a
fruit and a garden, the part and

the whole. God said they could
eat of all the fruits in the garden

of Paradise, save the tree of

knowledge of good and evil.

Was there anything unreason-
able about the trial? Is not life

filled with abundant instances of

receiving rewards on the condi-

tion of love? Imagine a wealthy

man going away for the summer
and telling the chauffeur and his

wife that they may live in his
house, eat his food, drink his

wine, use his cars, and ride his

horses, but on one condition

:

That they must not eat the ar-

tificial apple he has on the dining

room table. The owner well

knows the artificial apple will

give them indigestion. He does
not tell them that. They ought

to trust him in the light of ail

he has done for them. Now if
the wife persuades her husband

to eat the apple, she would not

be a lady; and if he eats it, he

would not be a gentleman. By
doing the one thing forbidden

they would lose all the good

things provided and have indi-

gestion besides—and they even



HOW YOU GOT THAT WAY 23

lose the opportunity of passing

these things on to their chih

dren.

To make light of the fruit in

the story of the Fall is to miss

the point that it was the test of

love. Not to shake hands with

a passerby on the street is of no

importance, but not to shake

hands as a sign of contempt is

very serious. Eating of the for-

bidden fruit was a sign of con-

tempt; the symbol of rebellion.

Like Pandora, man opened the
forbidden box and lost all his

treasures.

But you ask: Well! Granted

that Adam sinned! What have
I to do with Adam? Why should
I be punished because of him?

When President Roosevelt de-
clared war on December 8, 1941,

you declared war without any
explicit declaration on your part.

What the Chief of the Nation
did, we did. Now Adam is the
head of the human race. What
he did, we did. “Through one
man, sin entered the world”

(Romans 5:12).
But you say: “It was very

unjust of God to deprive me of
friendship with Him, and these

other gifts, simply because Adam
sinned.” There would have been

injustice if God deprived you
of your due. But you are no

more entitled to be a child of

God than a razor has a right

to bloom, or a rose has the right

to bark, or a dog has the right to

quote Dante. What Adam lost
was gifts, not a right.

On Christmas Day when you
distribute gifts to your friends,

would I have a right to say to

you: “Why do you not give me
a gift?” You would answer: “I
am not doing you an injustice,
because I owe you nothing. I am
not even obliged to give these

gifts to my friends. And if I
had not given them gifts, I would
not have deprived them of any-

thing I owed them.” So neither

did God owe us anything beyond
our nature as a creature of His

handiwork.

But the loss of the supernat-

ural gift of being a child of God
weakened our will and darkened

our intellect without corrupting

our nature. The Fall disorgan-

ized our normal human faculties,
making us just as we are now,
with a bias toward evil, with a

will reluctant to do good, with a

tendency to rationalize evil. But

each of us is still human—not a
depraved human, totally corrupt,

as those who ridicule the doc-
trine of the Fall say, but still a

person capable of becoming what
each once was. The disorder in
us is like getting dirt in our eye

:

wc still have the eye as an organ



24 YOU

of sight, but it sees through

tears.

It is right here that Chris-

tianity begins. In aH other re-

ligions you have to be good to

come to God. In Christianity

you do not. Because there is

evil in the world, we need God.
Christianity begins with the rec-

ognition that there is something

in your life aind in the world that

ought not to be, that need not be,

and that could be otherwise were

it not for evil choices. If you

are ever to be good, you must

first believe you are bad.

If you know that you could be
beitter than you are; if you feel

like the master painting of a

great artist that has become

somewhat defaced and stained;

if you know that though you
are too good for the rubbish

heap, you are nevertheless too

spoiled to hang in the Metro-
politan Gallery

;
if you know that

you cannot restore yourself to

your pristine beauty; if you

know that no one could restore
you better than the Divine Ar-

tist who made you—then you
have already taken the first step

toward peace. The Divine Artist
did come to restore the original

and He came on Christmas Day.

Such is the meaning of Christ-

mas. The Son of God became

man that man might become the
adopted son of God.

This is Christmas Eve. Kind

of sad, isn’t it?

Fathers! Are not your sons

away because there is something
wrong with the world? Then
maybe God is out of His Heaven
because there is something

wrong with man. That star
blazing in Bethlehem’s sky is the

Heavenly Father’s service flag.

His Son too has gone to war.

Mothers I You shrink in terror
and fear from what might hap-

pen to your boy amidst whistling

steel and whining shell. Then

understand how another Mother
drew a Babe to her breast in

fear of the thundering hoofs and

drawn swords of those who would
take away His life before He
had scarcely begun to live.

Sons and daughters in the

service! To conquer, you must

first make a landing in enemy

territory. That was Bethlehem

—God’s beachhead in a land of
sin. And how we must fight
to keep it!

Ye dead on the far-thrown bat-
tlefields of the war! Ye died
that others might live. You were
the human expendables. This
Babe is the Divine Expendable

who came not to live but to die,
that we might die to sin and live
to love

!



HOiW YOU GOT THAT WAY 25

But you ask: how find Christ-
mas peace in a world at war?

You cannot find peace on the

outside but you can find peace

on the inside, by letting God do

to your soul what Mary let Him
do to her body, namely, let Christ

be formed in you. As she cooked

the meals in her Nazarene home,

as she nursed her aged cousin,

as she drew water at the well, as

she prepared the meals of the

village carpenter, as she knitted

the seamless garment, as she

kneaded the dough and swept the

floor, she was conscious that

Christ was in her; that she was

a living ciborium, a monstrance

of the Divine Eucharist, a Gate

of Heaven through which a Cre-

ator would peer upon creation,

a Tower of Ivory up whose

chaste body He was to climb “to
kiss upon her lips a mystic rose.”

As He was physically formed
in her, so He wills to be spiritual-
ly formed in you. If you knew
He was seeing through your
eyes, you would see in every fel-

lowman a child of God. If you
knew that He worked through
your hands, they would bless all

the day through. If you knew

He spoke through your lips, then
your speech, like Peter’s, would

betray that you had been with

the Galilean. If you knew that

He wants to use your mind,
your will, your fingers, and your

heart, how different you would
be. If half the world did this

there would be no war!

Why not resolve this year to
spend an hour a day in His pres-

ence? Do not stay away because
you are wicked. Remember that
Babe did not come to earth be-

cause you are good, but because

you are not. He did not come be-
cause there was Peace, but be-

cause there was none.

Children are so unsuspecting.

Taking candy away from a baby

is easy—^but not as easy as tak-
ing happiness from that Child!

Let not your unworthiness

keep you back. Remember, love

is blind, and no love is as blind

as this Child’s; otherwise, how
could He love you and me? He
does love us and that is enough

to make us very happy.

That is what I mean when
from a devoted heart I say,

“Merry Christmas, Friends.”



WHO CAN RE MAKE YOU?
Address Delivered On December 31, 1944

A good way to start the new
year is to ask how you can be dif-
ferent than you are now. Re-

member we said that we were
like a clock whose mainspring

was broken. We have the
“works” but we do not “go.” In

order to put the clock in order,

two conditions must be ful-

filled: 1) The mainspring must

be supplied from the outside, and

2) it must be placed inside the

clock. Man cannot redeem him-
self any more than the clock

can fix itself. If man is ever to
be redeemed, redemption must:

1) Gome from without human
nature, and 2) be done from

within.

Why must your salvation come
from without ? For the same rea-

son that you cannot lift yourself

by your own bootstraps. Human
nature has contracted a bigger

debt than it can pay. In sinning

against God we piled up an in-
finite debt, and we have not
enough balance of merits in our

finite bank to meet the burden.

Furthermore, while you can

destroy life you cannot create

it
; you can blind your vision but

you cannot restore it; you can

destroy your communion with

God by sin but you cannot
, revive it. Evil is tod deep-

seated in the world to be

righted by a little kindness or

reason or tolerance. You might
just as well tell a man suffering
from gout that all he needed
was to play six sets of tennis.
Man has radically failed. He
cannot save himself.

But though salvation must

come from without, it neverthe-
-less must be done from within
humanity. It would do no good

to the clock to put the main-

spring inside a radio. If salva-

tion were not done inside hu-

manity, it would have no relation

to humanity. If I were arrested

for speeding, you could not go

into the courtroom and say : “Try

me instead of Father Sheen.”
The judge would say: “What
have you to do with the case?”

There is no substitution in the

eyes of the law. Furthermore,

any man who is conscious of his
guilt does not want to be “let

off.” In our relations with our

fellowman we often say: “I
want to make up for it.” There is

no reason why, in our relation to

God, we should act any different-
ly. Hence human nature in some



WHO CAN RE-MAKE YOU? 27

way must be involved in its own
redemption.

To re-create fallen man in
justice and mercy, Redemption

must come from without and be

accomplished within. Put both

conditions together and the Re-

deemer was both God and man.

If he were only man, He too
would need Redemption; if He
were only God He would have no
relation to fallen man who need-
ed redemption. But if He were
both God and man, then, as man
He could act in our name; then,
as God His redemption would

have an infinite value. This is

what happened when God ap-

peared in Bethlehem and took

upon Himself our manhood as

Jesus Christ. From that mo-
ment on, every word, every sigh,

every breath, every tear, every

heartache, and every pain of His

human nature was the breath,
the tear, the heartache, and the

pain of the Person of God and

therefore had infinite value.

If you want religion, keep in

mind these three fundamental

truths

:

First, Jesus Christ is not just

a good man. A good man never
lies, but if Christ is not what

He claimed to be—the Son of
God—then He is the greatest
liar of all times. A good man
never deceives, but if Christ can-

not give what He promised—^that
is, peace and pardon to our

hungry tired souls—then He is
the arch-deceiver of history.

Either Christ is the Son of God

or He is anti-Christ—^but He is
not just a good man. Jesus Christ

is both God and man. He was
God before He was man. He
is a God who became man, not a

man who became God. He did
not begin to be a Person at Beth-

lehem. From all eternity He is
the Person of God. “In the be-

ginning was the Word and the
Word was with God, and the
Word was God . . . And the Word
was made flesh and dwelt

amongst us” {John 1:14).

Second, Christ is the new
Adam. The human race has two
heads: Adam and Christ. Be-
neath all races, classes, and na-

tions there are two humanities:

the old, unregenerate humanity

of Adam, comprised of all who
are born of the flesh; and the

new regenerated humanity of the
new Adam, Christ, comprised of
all who are born of the baptis-
mal waters of the Holy Spirit.

The old human nature des-
cended from Adam, was infected
by original sin. God would not
take that upon Himself, because

He would not put a patch of
holiness on an old garment. The



YOU

problem was how to be a man
like us, without being contami-

nated as we were by sin! He
could be a man like us, by being
bom of woman. He could be a
sinless man, or the new Adam,
by being born of a Virgin. By
dispensing with an act of gen-

eration by which original sin was

propagated. He escaped its in-
fection. That is why He was
born of a Virgin. The Virgin
Birth broke the heritage of sin,

as now for the first time since
Adam there walked on earth a
human nature as God meant it
to be. Thus the three instru-
ments which cooperated in the

fall were reversed in redemption.

For the disobedient Adam, there
is the new obedient Adam,
Christ. For the proud woman
Eve, there is the humble Virgin

Mary. And for the tree of Eden,
there is the new tree of the
Cross on Calvary.

Third, Our Lord is not pri-
marily a teacher of humanitarian

ethics but essentially and pri-

marily a Redeemer and a Savior.

Everyone else came into this
world to live ; He came into it to
die. Death was a stumbling block
to Socrates : to Christ it was
the goal of His life, the very

gold He was seeking. Death in a
certain sense was inevitable to
Him, for once Love and Inno-

cence confront brute force and

sin, a crucifixion follows. Suffer-

ing is always the form that love
takes in an evil situation. Every

mother who had an erring son,
and every wife who ever had a
drunken husband, knows that.

How else could Divine Love meet
sin, except by a cross? Evil

breaks some human hearts. Sin
broke the heart of God.

How did this Redemption take
place? By the sinless Christ
being made sin. As doctors who
are free from disease will some-

times permit themselves to be

innoculated with a disease that

they may find a cure, so He,
though sinless, freely accepted

the cumulative weight of human
transgression that He might
atone for the very punishment

which our sins deserved. That

is why His life is inseparable
from the Cross. There are those

who say the only reason Christ
went to the Cross was to show

us that He loved us, but not be-
cause we needed His Redemp-
tion. If you were sitting safely

on a pier fishing and a good

neighbor came up behind you,

threw himself into the river, and

as he went down for the third

time said, “This shows how
much I love you,” the whole
ceremony would be ridiculous if

it were not so tragic. But if you



WHO CAN RE-MAKE YOU? 29

had actually fallen into the river,

and the good neighbor lost his

life saving you, then you could

say of him truly: “Greater love

than this no man hath, that a
man lay down his life for his
friends” {John 15:13); It is

through the Cross that Christ

reconciles the world to God and

restores to us those gifts which

Adam lost in the fall.
It is something like this.

Imagine a golden chalice which

has been consecrated for divine

worship and used on the altar at

Mass. Suppose this chalice is

stolen, mingled with alloys, and

beaten down to a cigarette case.

Later on it is recovered. Before

the gold of that chalice can be

restored to the altar, it must

first of all be subjected to purg-

ing fires to burn away the dross.
Finally it must be remoulded by

repeated blows of a hammer,

then only may it be readied for
reconsecration and restored to

its dignity and honor.

Our human nature was like
that battered and desecrated

chalice, no longer serving the

high purpose for which it was

made. The chalice could not re-

make itself. Neither could man
redeem himself. So Christ took

upon Himself our human nature
and plunged it into the flaming

furnace of Calvary’s fires that

the dross of sin iriignt oe burned

away. Then on Easter Sunday,

by rising from the dead. He re-
versed the Fall and appeared as

the New Man, remoulded and
glorified, fit for God’s service

and restored to God’s friendship.

But the Cross does not save us

without our cooperation.

Christ has achieved the re-

creation of man in His own per-
son. Christianity consists in

letting God do to your human
nature something like unto that

which He did to the human na-
ture taken from His Mother. He
is the beginning of a new coin-
age to take the place of the

counterfeit. He is the original,
the new die; millions and mil-
lions of worthy coins can be

stamped from that die. Whether
we do it and thus become regen-
erated depends on our will.

Those of us who do it cease to
be mere creatures; we begin to
be, in the awful literalness of

the phrase, an adopted son of

God!

I beg you then to clean from
your mind the contemporary
rubbish that you came from the
beast. You did not come from
the dogs, but you can go to the

dogs. You are less a risen mon-
key than you are a fallen angel.

You were once not lower thar



30 YOU

you are now, but you were once

higher. You are more of a dis-
inheriited king than you are an

enthroned beast.

'The tragedy of life is not

what people suffer, but how
much they miss. They are liv-
ing like animals when they ought
to be living like children of God.

If you are willing to commit

your life to Christ, this practical

problem arises : How do you
enter into relation with Him?
What has He, who lived almost
twenty centuries ago, to do with

you? And what have you to do
with Him? You probably often
have seen painted on the rocks

on the highways, signs reading;

“Jesus Saves.” Certainly He
saves, but how? That question

I shall answer in the next talk.



IS RELIGION PURELY INDIVIDUAL?
Address Delivered On January 7, 1945

Have you ever heard anyone

say: “I do not want a Church

standing between me and God”?
This is like saying: ‘T do not

want the United States Govern-

ment standing between me and
America.” To say I want no

one between God and me is anti-
Christian because it implies that

your brother is a barrier to

God's grace and not a means to

it. Did not our Lord make love
of God inseparable from love of

neighbor? And did He not
teach us to pray in the context of

“Our Father,” not “My Father”

;

“our daily bread” not “my daily
bread”? And if God is a Fa-
ther, then the others united to

Him are brothers, and there-
fore our religion must be social.

You are not allowed an indi-
vidual interpretation of the

Constitution of the United

States. A Supreme Court does
that for you. Why, then, should
you insist on an individual in-

terpretation of religion and be-

gin all religious discussions

with: “7 feel this way about
God.” “I feel.” Never were
the sublime and beautiful real-

ities put so much at the mercy of
a stomach. Do you have your

own individual astronomy and
individual mathematics ? Why,
then, do you want your own in-
dividual religion?

You cannot practice religion
alone any more than you can

love alone. What would happen
to your patriotism if you said,

“Patriotism is an individual af-

fair”? If you were the only

person in a town, could you be

charitable? If, then, you can-

not be kind alone, or sacrificing

alone, or generous alone, how in
the name of God do you expect
to be religious alone? As gen-
erosity implies a neighbor, as

patriotism implies fellow citi-

zens, so religion Implies fellow-

men in relation to God. That
brings us, then, to this impor-

tant question we asked last week

:

How do you contact Christ the
Redeemer? How do you come
to know His Truth and His
Will? Do you contact Him as
an individual by reading about

Him, by singing hymns to Him,
or do you contact Him in fellow-
ship and in community, the way
that God Himself has ordained?
The way to answer that ques-

tion is to inquire how mankind
contacted God before the com-



32 YOU

ing of ChriSfC. was religion a
purely individual affair or was

it corporate? Did God deal with

individuals directly, or indirect-

ly, that is, through a race, a

society, or a community?

Search your Scriptures. And

you will find that God always

dealt with mankind through hu-

man corporations or races or
moral bodies, presided over by a

divinely appointed head. The

Book of Genesis reveals that the

history of mankind would be a

warfare not between individuals,

but between two seeds, two races,

two corporate wholes: the pow-

er of darkness and the power of

light.

Each corporation had a head.

The head of the evil corporation

was Satan; the invisible head of

the corporation of good was God
—^but God always chose a visible
head of that community to act

in His name. First it was Noah

through whom salvation would
come to humanity. Very likely,

at the time of the flood, every

individual might have liked to

have had his own personal row

boat, but God saved them in an

ark in His own way and under
His own divinely appointed cap-

tain. Later there came new

heads of this new spiritual cor-

poration, such as Abraham,

Isaac, Jacob, Moses, and others.

Whenever God willed to give a

new or special privilege to this
community. He changed the
name of its head. That He did
in the case of Abraham, and in

the case of Jacob.

And so it came to pass that
the most important word in the

Old Testament was the word for

this corporation, or body, or con-

gregation, or society. And that
word in Hebrew was kahal. Now
about 200 years before Christ,

the Jews translated their Scrip-

tures into Greek. That was be-

cause so many Jews were living
away from Israel in a Grecian

civilization. When the trans-
lators came to the Jewish word

kahal, they translated it by the

Greek work, ecclesia — which
means, “that which is called out,”

signifying that its members had

been called out by God from the

secular nations.

When finally God came to this
earth in the person of Our Lord,

it was only natural to expect

that He would continue to
deal with mankind in the same

way that He had dealt with it
before, namely, through a cor-

poration presided over by a head

whom He Himself would choose.
And, as once before He had

named Abraham, Moses, and

David as its head, so now He
would name someone else as its



IS RELIGION PURELY INDIVII>UAL? 33

head. And because new powers

and privileges were tp be given

to the individual whom He would
appoint as its visible head, as He
changed Abram’s name to Abra-

ham, Jacob’s name to Israel, so

now He changed the name of
the individual who is to be the

new head of His ecclesia from

Simon to Rock. In English, his

name is Peter. Buit we lose the

flavor of it in English because

Peter and Rock are different

words, but they are not differ-

ent words in the language Our

Lord spoke, nor are they differ-

ent words, in the original Greek

of the Gospel. And Our Lord
said to this man : “Thy name is
Simon: Henceforth thou shalt

be called the Rock.” And on that
day at Caeserea-Philippi, when
the Rock confessed that Christ

was the Son of the Living God,

the Divine Master said to him:

“Thou art the Rock and upon

this Rock, I will build my ec-
clesia, and the gates of hell shall

not prevail against it.” From
now on God’s ecclesia would be
built upon the Rock and it would

be to the whole world God’s

chosen community for the com-

nunication of His Divine Life, as

Israel before had been the com-

munity for the giving of that

promise. And through his new
ecclesia or body Christ still

teaches as He once taught
through His own individual

human nature. Therefore,

the ecclesia must be infal-

lible or free from error. It can-

not be otherwise, for Christ is

still teaching through His body:

“He that heareth you,” He said,
“heareth me.”

Through this ecclesia or body,

Christ still governs. Therefore

disobedience to His ecclesia

would be a disobedience to Him,

just as an insult to your body is

an insult to your person.

Through this ecclesia He still
forgives sins. Therefore the

publicans and the woman taken
in sin have no advantage over

you and me who live in this very
hour.

And though this Truth and
Power and Holiness are com-
municated through poor weak
human natures in His ecclesia,
that Truth and Power and Holi-
ness cannot be spoiled any more
than sunshine is polluted when it
shines through a dirty window.

Human nature in the ecclesia is
only the instrument of the for-

giveness and the truth. It is not

the cause.

Are you surprised to hear that
Christ acts through His Body or
ecclesia today? Then recall the
story of St. Paul who persecuted
the ecclesia in the City of Dam-



34 YOU

ascus. Remember the heavens
were opened, the glorified Christ

now at the right hand of the
Father roused that persecutor

with the question: “Saul, Saul,

why persecutest thou me’' (Acts
22:7). Christ and the ecc^esm

—

are they the same'? Precisely.

If someone steps on your foot,

your head < complains. Well,

Paul was striking the Body of

Christ : therefore the invisible

head complained from Heaven.

And would it not be terrible
if Christ could not prolong Him-

self through space and time? If

He could not, how would He dif-
fer from Lincoln or Napoleon or

Caesar? Do you think that God

intended that the only ones who

would know His Truth would be
those who lived in His time?
Was that Truth caught up by a
Galilean breeze and wafted away,

never to be known again? Shall

we who live in the confusion of
this twentieth century be with-

out that Divine Light? Is for-

giveness limited to Magdalens

and to penitent thieves? Do you
want His forgiveness now? I tell

you that if Christianity is only

the memory of someone who lived
1900 years ago, and who cannot
communicate His Truth to you

in this warring world of 1945,

and who cannot absolve your
sins this very night—if it can-

not do these things, then Chris-

tianity is not worth preserving.

Let us do away with it. If
Christ is not the Eternal Con-

temporary, then He is not God.

You did not wait until you
were twenty-one and then read

the Constitution and the Declara-

tion of Independence and decide

to become an American. You
were born out of the womb of
America. And as you were born
out of the womb of political so-
ciety

,
so as a Christian you were

born out of the womb of Christ’s
society. You lived by it, before
you knew it. It creates you spir-
itually by birth of the spirit, as

your country created you by the

birth of the flesh. The ecclesia
is prior, both logically and chron-

ologically, to its individual mem-
bers. Though very few ever ad-
vert to it, this ecclesia was
spread throughout the entire Ro-

man Empire before a single book
of the New Testament was writ-
ten. It was the Bible that grew
out of the ecclesia, not the ec-

clesia that grew out of the Bible.

Oh, I wish that I could tell

you some of the joy of knowing

that Christ lives and teaches and

pardons and sanctifies in His

ecclesia today; that just as He
once taught and governed and

sanctified through a human na-



IS RELIGION PURELY INDIVIDUAL? 35

ture taken from Mary, over-

shadowed by the Holy Spirit, so

now He teaches, governs, and
sanctifies through human na-

tures in His ecclesia, overshad-

owed by the Pentecostal Spirit.

When I kneel therefore before a
priest in confession, I see

Christ’s absolving hand and hear

the Voice that bid the sinner go

and sin no more. When I see
the Host and the chalice lifted up

in Mass, I believe that Christ’s

commandment is fulfilled: “Do

this for a commemoration of

me” {Luke 22:19), and I see

Calvary projected through space

and time to the very altar at

which I kneel. When I see the
ecclesia persecuted and mocked,

I see Christ once more pelted

with mud and spurned and spat
upon and ridiculed, as I remem-

ber His words: “If the world

hate you, know ye that it hath
hated me before you” {John 15:
18). And as I hear that ec-
clesia articulate for me in an
uncharted world the teachings

of Christ, I am consoled, for
what I want is a truth that is

right not when the world is

right, but a truth that is right

when the world is wrong.

If ever you have an opportun-

ity, when this war is over, to go
to Rome, I want you to visit the

tomb of that Rock, the fisher-

man. And when you have said
your prayers there, lift up your

eyes to that great dome—^the
greatest dome that was ever
thrown against the vault of

heaven’s blue—and you will see
inscribed upon it, in letters of

gold, these words: “Tu es

Petrus et supra hanc petram,

aedificabo ecclesiam meam” —
“Thou art the Rock and upon

this Rock I will build my ec-
clesia.”

Ecclesia!—the very word the
inspired Old Testament used to

describe Israel as God’s com-

munity; the very word the Son

of God Himself used at Caesarea-
Philippi. And that ecclesia was
built on Peter. Peter the Rock,

who has lived through these 1900
years and in 252 distinct per-

sonages, and the name of that
Rock today is the gloriously

reigning Holy Father, Pius XII,

the greatest moral authority in

the world. I’m sorry. I should

have told you long before this

the meaning of the Greek word
ecclesia. It means “the Church.”



HOW YOU ARE RE-MADE
Address Delivered On January 14, 1945

Have you ever thought that
possibly there might be a higher

life than the natural life you live

now? I do not mean in the next
world, but in this. Did you ever

wish that you could know truths

beyond your reason, that you

could have reserves of power

for crises, temptations, and sor-

row over and above those you

now possess, and that your soul
could enjoy peace even in a

world at war ?

You have no right to say

there is no higher life than the

physical life you now live, any

more than the rose has a right

to say there is no life above it.

You must remember that above

the natural life which you live

as a creature . of God, there is

such a thing as a supernatural

life, which God gives to make

you His adopted son. You have

no strict right to this Divine

Life. Just as it would be “su-

per naturak’ or above the na-

ture and powers of a rainbow

to write poetry, or of a cow to

quote Shakespeare, so in the

strict sense it would be super-

natural for you who are merely

a creature of God’s handiwork to

be made a partaker of the Divine

Nature and an heir of the King-

dom of God. Because that high-
er life is a free gift of God, it

is called grace. Now in His
goodness God has freely willed
to restore to you the gifts and

privileges of that life which were

lost to you by the Fall, and this

He does through the merits of
Our Lord and Savior Jesus

Christ.

If you thought about religion

at all, you probably asked: But

how can I contact that Divine
Life of Christ who died over
1900 years ago?

The answer is: Christ would

have to infuse His life into your

soul. But how would it be done?
Look at nature to see how a
lower life is elevated to a high-

er life. How, for example, do

the moisture, the carbons, and

the phosphates in the earth ever

live in the plant? First, the

plant life must descend to them,

take them up into its roots and

branches, while the chemicals

themselves must abandon the

crude lifeless state they have in

nature. If the plant could

speak, it would say to the chem-

icals: “Unless you die to your-

selves, you cannot live in my



HOW YOU AJS.E RE-MADE 37

kingdom/' Actually, the sun-

shine, chemicals, and moisture

now begin to thrill with life and

vitality in the plant. They have

been, in the broad sense of the

term, “super naturalized."

If the animal could speak, it

would say to the plants: “Un-

less you die to your lower life

of mere vegetation and submit

yourselves momentarily to the

jaws of death, you cannot live in

my kingdom. But once you live
in me, you will share a life that

not merely vegetates, but feels

and moves and tastes and sees."

Man in bis turn, going down
to that which is lower, says to

the animals: “Unless you die to

yourselves by submitting to sac-

rificial death, you cannot live in

my kingdom. But if you die to
yourselves, you will share a life

that is not merely sensible, but

one that thinks and loves, has

ideals, laughs and is artistic."

This is precisely what Christ

says to you: “Unless you die to

yourself, you cannot live in My
kingdom"—^but with this dif-
ference: Since we are persons,
which chemicals, plants and ani-

mals are not, the sacrifice en-

joined on us is not physical, but

spiritual. We do not have our
personality destroyed, as a

plant’s nature is destroyed when

taken into the beast. But oth-

erwise the law holds good. The

higher must come down to the

lower; the Divine must descend

into the human. Such was the

Incarnation: God came down to

man. But on the other hand,

man must die to his sinful na-
ture, his old Adam, his heritage

of the Fall, and this he can do

only by sacrifice, by taking up

“his cross daily" and following

Him. This is what Our Lord

meant when He said : “Unless the
grain of wheat falling into the

ground die, itself remaineth

alone. But if it die, it bringeth

forth much fruit" {John 12:24).
The law of transformation holds

sway: chemicals are lifted into

plants, plants into animals, ani-

mals into man, and since man
is free, he can will, through the

Graciousness of God, to be lift-

ed up into Christ, so that He
can say: ‘L live, now not I; but
Christ liveth in me" {Galatians
2:20). God came down to the
level of man that He might in
some way lift man to the level
of God.

Now let us consider the normal
ways in which that Life is com-

municated to us. Remember we
said last week that the individ-

ual derives His life from the ec-
clesia or the Church; but the



38 YOU

Church does not derive its life

from the individual, as is the

case with a club, a school, or a

corporation. As no cell can live

normally apart from your body,

though your body can live with-

out any individual cell, so you

as a Christian cannot live a nor-

mal spiritual life apart from

Christ’s Body of the Church, but

the Church can live without you.

Hence it is from the Church

or Christ’s Body that Christ’s

life pours out into your soul. And
in order that the outpouring

from that great Reservoir of

merits on Calvary should not be

haphazard. Our Lord instituted

seven channels or Sacraments to

convey that Life into your souls.

Knowing that you have a body as

well as a soul. He chose not to
communicate His Divine Life to

you invisibly. But since men are
physical as well as spiritual. He
willed normally to give you His

supernatural life or grace un-

der the symbol of some material

sign. Thus by seeing water you

would know something was being

washed away, and by seeing

bread you would know something

was being nourished. Further-

more, by using these sensible

signs for communicating His

Spiritual Life, God restores the

materials of a chaotic world

back again into the divine order.

How many Sacraments are
there? There are seven and it is

becoming that there should be

seven for there are seven con-

ditions jf life, physical and spir-

itual. Five of these refer to the

individual life of man, and two

refer to his social life.

1) As you cannot live a natural

life unless you are born, so

neither can you live the Christ-

life unless you are born to it.

That is why the Sacrament of
Baptism is necessary for salva-

tion.

2) As your natural life must

grow to maturity and assume

responsibilities, so you cannot

lead a perfect supernatural life

unless you mature in the Spirit

and grow into the full respon-

sibilities of being a Christian

soldier. This is the Sacrament

of Confirmation.

3) As you cannot live a nat-

ural life unless you nourish your-

self, so you cannot lead a super-

natural life unless you nourish

the Divine Life which is already

within you. This is the Holy

Eucharist.

4) When you wound your nat-
ural life you must be healed;

when you wound your supernat-

ural life by sin you must be ab-



HOW YOU ARE RE-MADE 39

solved, and that is the Sacra-

ment of Penance, or Confession.

5) If your natural life suifers

from a disease, the traces of that

disease must be banished. Since

no disease ever leaves traces

comparable to the disease of

sin, it follovrs that before meet-

ing your God the remains of sin

must be blotted out. That is

the Sacrament of Extreme Unc-

tion.

But you are not mere indi-

viduals in religion. You are
members of the Body of Christ,

In order that this spiritual cor-

poration may perfect itself, and
grow, two more conditions must

be fulfilled.

6) As the natural life is pre-

served by propagation of the

human species, so the supernat-
ural life of the Kingdom of God

is perfected by raising children

of God. That is the Sacrament

of Matrimony.

7) Finally, as your natural life

must be lived under law and

government, so your supernat-

ural life must be lived under

spiritual government, and this

is the Sacrament of Holy Orders

by which Christ’s priesthood is

prolonged to apply the fruits of

law and order to all the members

of His Mystical Body.

Christianity is not a system

of ethics; it is a life. It is not

good advice, it is Divine adop-

tion. Being a Christian does

not consist in being kind to the

poor, generous to relief agencies,

just to employees, gentle to crip-

ples, though it includes all of

these. It is first and foremost a

love relationship, and as you can

never become a member of a
family by doing generous deeds

but only by being bom into it
out of love, so you can never

become a Christian by doing

good things but only by being

born to it through Divine Love.

Doing good things to a man does
not make you his son, but being

a son does make you do good
things. Christianity begins with

being, not with doing, with life

and not with action. If you

have the life of a plant, you will
bloom like a plant; if you have

the life of a monkey, you will act

like a monkey; if you have the

life of a man, you will do the

things a man does; but if you
have the Life of Christ in you,

you will act like a Christian. You
are like your parents because you

partake of their nature; you are

like God if you partake of His

Nature. What a man does is the
exteraalization of what he is.

Let me show you the differ-
ence : Most people have their



4t) YOU

tions governed by their back-

ground; for example, you think

a certain way in order to defend

your class or your wealt-h or

your want of it; you do certain

things because they are profit-

able or pleasant to you
;
you hate

certain people because they are

a reproach to your conscience or

because they, challenge your ego-

tism. Your psychonphysical

make-up is the center of your

life and therefore of your ac-

tions. You are, in a word, self*

determined. Now to be a Chris-
tian means to discard self as the

supreme determinant of actions;

it means to put on the mind of

Christ so as to be governed by

Christ’s Truths, to surrender

your will to His Will, and to do

all things that are pleasing to

Him, not to you. In other words,

your life instead of being self-

determined is Christ-determined.

How often we hear non-Chris-
tian men say: “Oh, you can do
nothing with him. You can’t

make a silk purse out of a sow’s

ear.” But the Christian answers

:

*'You can! If God’s grace ever

gets into that man’s soul, he

will become a new creature.”

You then who are Christians,
who know that the Divine Life
is in your soul, be conscious that

your every word, thought, and

deed is enacted before a Divine

Audience. Let the Christ be the

Unseen Guest at your every

meal
;
your Divine Host in every

visit
;
your Captain in every war

;

your Fellow-Worker in every

task; your Father in every

home
;
your Giver of Every Gift

;

the Listener in your conversa-

tion; your Companion in every

walk; your Visitor at every

knock; your Neighbor in every

street
;

your Owner of every

treasure
;

and your Lover in

every love.

Do not fear God with a servile

fear, for perfect love casteth

out such fear. Be bold enough

then to believe that God is on

your side, even when you forget

to be on His. Live your life not

by law, but by love. As St. Au-

gustine put it: “Love God and

then do whatever you please.”

For if you love God, 3^u will

never do anything to hurt Him
or break off relationship with

Him—^and then you will always
be happy.



FAITH
Address Delivered On January 21, 1946

Have you ever noticed the tre-

mendous disparity of points of

view between those who possess

Divine Faith and those who have

it not? Have you ever observed

when discussing important sub-

jects, such as pain, sorrow, sin,

death, marriage, children, educa-

tion, that the point of view of

faith is now poles apart from

what is called the modem view?
It was not so many years ago
that those who rejected many
Christian truths were considered

off the reservation; for example,

the divorced who remarried, the

atheists, the enemies of the fam-

ily, and so forth. But today it

is those with faith who are con-
sidered off the reservation. It is

the others who are on it.

Why this difference in point
of view between those who have
the faith, and those who have
it not? It is due to the fact that

a soul in the state of grace has

its intellect illumined, which en-

ables it to perceive new truths
beyond reason.

You have exactly the same eyes
at night as you have in the day,

but you cannot see at night, be-

cause you lack the additional

light of the sun. So too, let two

minds with identically the same

education and the same mental

capacities look on a Host en-

throned on an altar. The one

sees bread, the other sees Christ

—not, of course, with the eyes
of the flesh, but with the eyes

of faith. Let them both look
on death: one sees the end of a

biological entity, the other an

immortal creature being judged

by God on how it used its free-
dom. The reason for the differ-

ence is: One has a light which

the other lacks, namely, the light

of faith.

What then is Faith? Faith is
not believing that something will

happen, nor is it the acceptance

of what is contrary to reason,

nor is it an intellectual recogni-

tion which a man might give to
something he does not under-

stand or which his reason cannot

prove, for example, relativity.

Rather, Faith is the acceptance

of a truth on the authority of

God revealing. Assisted by the
grace of God, we believe as true
those things which He revealed,
not because the truth of these

things is clearly evident from



42 YOU

reason alone, but because of the

authority of God, who cannot de-
ceive nor be deceived.

You believe not because of
the arguments; they were only

a necessary preliminary. You be-
lieve because God said it. The

torch now burns by its own bril-
liance.

Would you like to know four
things which faith will do for

you?

1. It vnll perfect your reason.

Faith is to your reason What a

telescope is to your eye. It opens

vaster fields of vision and new

worlds, which before were hid-

den and unknown. As reason is

the perfection of the senses, so

faith is the perfection of reason.

(Incidentally, reason alone will

not get us out of the mess we
are in today, because reason un-

aided cannot function well

enough to handle the problems

created by sin, by loss of faith,

and by misuse of reason.)

Faith is not a dam which pre-
vents the flow of the river of

thought; it is a levee which pre-

vents unreason from overflowing

the countryside of sanity. Faith

will enlarge your knowledge, be-

cause there are so many truths
beyond the power of reason. You

can tell something of the skill,

the power, the technique of an

artist by looking at his paint-

ing, but you could never know

his inmost thoughts unless he

revealed them to you. In like

manner, you can know something

of the Power and Wisdom of God
by looking at His universe, but

you could never know His

Thoughts unless He told you.
And the telling of the inner life
is Revelation, which we know

by faith. Without faith many
minds are like flattened Japanese

lanterns, a riot of color without

pattern or purpose, a conglom-

eration of bits of information,

but with no unifying philosophy

of life. What a candle on the
inside of the lantern will do to

its pattern, that faith will do for

your reason, that is, converge all

your different pieces of knowl-

edge into one absorbing philos-

ophy of life which leads to God.

That incidentally is why faith
does not necessarily require an

education. Faith is an education.

God is our Teacher. That is

why a little child in the first
grade who knows God made him

and that he is made for God is

far wiser than a university pro-

fessor who can explain an atom,

but does not know why he is here
or where he is going.

Unless you know why you are



FAITH 43

living, there is not much purpose

in living.

2. Faith will perfect your free-

dom. Our Divine Lord said : .

the truth shall make you free”

{John 8:32). If you know the

truth about an airplane, you are

free to fly it; if you know the

truth about a triangle, that it

has three sides, you are free to

draw it. Try to be “broadmind-

ed” and give a square five sides

instead of four, as they did in

the Dark Ages, and see where

you end. Turning the words of

Our Lord around, they mean
that if you dq not know the

truth you will be endaved. That

is why, as the world denies Ab-

solute Truth and Righteousness,

it becomes enslaved. Socialism,

for example, is nothing but the

compulsory organlization of a

chaos created by the repudiation

of Truth and Morality. Never,

therefore, believe that you lose

your freedom by accepting the

Faith.
j

A few years ago, I received a
letter from a radio listener who
said: “I imagine that you from

your earliest youth were sur-

rounded by priests and nuns who
never permitted you to think for

yourself. Why not throw off the
yoke of Rome and begin to be
free.”

I answered him thus: “In the

center of a sea was an island on

which children played and danced

and sang. Around that island

were great high walls w*hich had

stood for centuries. One day

some strange men came to the
island in individual row boats,

and said to the children: ‘Who

put up those walls? Can you not

see that they are destroying your

freedom? Tear them down!’ The

children tore them down! Now
if you go there, you will find all

the children huddled together in

the center of the island, afraid

to play, afraid to sing, afraid to

dance—afraid of falling into the
sea.”

Oh! how right was Our Lord.
It is the truth that makes us

free.

3. Faith assures equality to

all men as children of God. Have
you not noticed, if you have

worked for or with a person of

deep faith in Ohrdst, that you

have always been treated with

gentleness, equality, and charity?

fou can not point to a single

person who truly loves God who
is mean to his fellowman. A
man who does not believe in God
will soon cease to believe in man.

In vain will the world seek for

equality until it has seen men
through the eyes of faith. Faith



YOU

teaches that all men, however

poor, or ignorant, or crippled,

however maimed, ugly, or

degraded they may be, all bear
within themselves the image of

God, and have been bought by

the precious blood of Jesus

Christ. As this truth is for-

gotten, men are valued only be-
cause of what they can do, not

because of whlat they are. And
since men cannot do things equal-
ly well—^for example, play vio-
lins, fly planes, teach phiiosophy,

or stoke an engine—they are
and must remain forever un-

equal. From the Christian point
of view, ail may not have the
same right to do certain jobs,

because they lack the capacity

—

for example, Toscanini has not

a right to pitch for the New
York Yankees—'but all men hav»
the right to a decent, purposeful,

and comfortable life in the struc-

ture of the community for which

God has fitted them, and first and

foremost of all, because of what

they are: persons made to the
image and likeness of God.

The false idea of the superi-

ority of certain races and classes

is due to the forgetfulness of the

spiritual foundations of equal-

ity. We of the Western world
have been rightly proud of the

fact that we have a civilization

superior to others. But we have

given the wrong reason for that

superiority. We assume that we
are superior because we are
white. We are not. We are
superior because we are Chris-
tian. The moment we cease to
be Christian we will revert to the

barbarism from which we came.

In like manner, if the black and

brown and yellow races of the

world become converted to

Christ, they will produce a civi-

lization and culture which will

surpass ours if we forget Him
who truly made us great. It is
conceivable, if we could project
ourselves a thousand years in

the future, and then look back

in retrospect over those thou-

sand years, that we might see in
China the record of a Christian

civilization which would make

us forget Notre Dame and Char-
tres.

4. Finally, faith will give you

peace of soul. In the multitu-

dinous duties pf modern life you

will do nothing which you cannot

offer to God as i prayer; your

sense of values will change; you

will think less of what you cai.

store away, and more about what

you can take with you when you

die; your rebellious moods will

give way to resignation; your

tendency to discouragement.



FAITH 45

which is due to pride, -will be-

come an additional reason for

throwing yourself, like a wound-

ed child, into the Father's lov-

ing arms
;
you will think of God's

love as an unalterable dedica-

tion to goodness, to which you

submit even when it hurts.

If you are sick you v/ill see

Christ's pierced hand laid upon

you, and offer your ^sickness for

your own sins and the sins of

the world.

If your heart has been broken

by infidelity, you will unite your

loneliness with the Master who

was deserted by His disciples

who walked with Him no more.
If you are the victim of an-

other's sin, then like the young

woman who wrote me, the trag-
edy will be suffered through life

for the redemption of the one

who caused her ruin.
If j^ur son is away in service,

you will follow him, not by let-

ter alone, but by prayer, as you

both find a common center in

God.

If you lost your boy in war,

then you who spared not a son
to save a world from tyranny,

will be solaced by the Heavenly

Father who spared not Hiis Son

to redeem a world from sin.

What a joy it was to one moth-
er last week, who, receiving the

personal effects of her boy who
was killed in battle, discovered

that in his pocket was a copy of

The Shield of Faith, which we
gave away last year on the air

;

and in that book there was un-

derlined by the boy just one

sentence which seemed so pro-

phetic, “I am still in the eyes
of God a person with an im-

mortal destiny."

Faith will not explain why
these tragedies happen, for if it

did where would be room for the

merit of faith? But it does give

you the insight and strength to

bear them. Anything in life

can be borne if there is some-

one you love. The reason we

are at war is because there are

not enough people in love—with
God.



HOPE
Address Delivered On January 28, 1945

It is not so much what hap-
pens in your life that matters;

it is rather how you react to it.
You can always tell the character

of a person by the size of the

things that make him mad. A
man can work joyfoilly at a pic-
ture puzzle, so long as he believes

the puzzle can be put together

into a composite whole. But

if the puzzle is a hoax, or if it

was not made by a rational

mind, then one would go mad
trying to work it out. It is this

absence of purpose in life, along

with its consequent fear and

frustration, which has some-

times produced the neuroses and

psychoses of the modern mind.

How do you react to the vicis-
situdes of life? Do you rebel be-

cause God does not answer your

prayers to become rich? Do you

deny God because He called away

your husband, your wife, your

child? In the midst of a war do

you summon God to judgment as

the criminal who started it all

and ask, “Why does He not stop
it?”

May I olfer you three consider-
ations to help you build a firm

hope in God?

1) Remember that everything
that happens has been foreseen

and known by God from all eter
nity, and is either willed by Him,

or at least permitted.

God’s knowledge does not grow

as ours does, from ignorance to

wisdom. The Fall did not catch

God napping. God is science, but

He is not a scientist : God knows
all, but He learns nothing from
experience. He does not look on
you from heaven as you look

down on an ant-hill, seeing you
going in and out of your house,

walking to work, and then tell-

ing an angel-secretary to note

down the unkind word you said

to the grocery-boy. Why is it
we always think of God as
watching the bad things we do
and never the good deeds? God

does not keep a record of your

deeds. You do your own book-
keeping. Your conscience takes

your own dictation. God knows

all things not by looking at you,

but by looking into Himself as

the Cause of all things. He never
reads over your shoulder. An
architect can tell you how many
rooms will be in your house, and

the exact size of each, before the



HOPE 47

house is built, because he is the

cause of the becoming of that

house. God is the cause of the

being of all things. He knows
all before they happen. As a mo-

tion picture reel contains the

whole story before it is thrown

upon the screen, so God knows

all before it is acted on the

stage of history.

But do not think that because

God knows all, therefore He has
predetermined you to heaven or

heH independently of your merits

and irrespective of your free-

dom.

His knowledge that you shall

act in a particular manner is

not the immediate cause of your

acting, any more than your

knowledge that you are sitting

down caused you to sit down or

prevents you from getting up if

you willed to do it. Our Blessed

Mother could have refused the

dignity of becoming the Mother

of God, as Judas could have re-

sisted the temptation to betray.

The fact that God knew what
each would do did not make them
act the way they did.

Because there is no future in

God, fore-knowing is not fore-

causing. You may know the
stock market very well and, in

virtue of your superior wisdom.

foretell that such and such a

stock will sell for 50 points in

three months. In three months

it does reach 50 points. Did you

cause it to reach 50 points, or

did you merely foreknow it?

You may be in a tower where
you can see a man advancing in
the distance who has never been
over that terrain before. You

know that before he reaches the
tower he must cross that ditch,

wade that pond, tramp those

bushes, and climb that hill. You
foresee all the possibilities, but

you do not cause him to cross
those obstacles.

The following story illustrates

the fallacy of predestination

without freedom. In the colonial

days of our country there was a
wife who believed in a peculiar
kind of predestination, which

left no room for human freedom.
Her husband, who did not share
her eccentricities, one day left

for the market. He came back
after a few minutes sa3dng he
forgot his gun. She said: “You
are either predestined to be shot

by an Indian, or you are not pre-

destined to be shot. If you are

predestined to be shot, the gun

will do you no good. If 5^u are
not predestined to be shot, you

will not need it. Therefore do

not take your gun.” But h#



48 YOU

answered: “Suppose I am pre-
destined to be shc^ by an Indian

on condition I do no-t have my
gun?’' And that was sound
religion. It allows for human

freedom. We are our own crea-
tors. To those who ask: “If

God knew I would lose my soul,
why did He make me?” the an-
swer is : “God did not make you

as a lost soul: You make your-

self.” The universe is moral and

therefore conditional : “Behold

I stand at the door and knock.”

God knocks! He breaks down
no doors. The latch is on our

side—not God’s.
2) God allows or permits evil

but always for the reason of a

greater good related to His love

and the salvation of our souls.

God does permit evil. Our

Lord told Judas: “This is your

hour” {Luke 22:53). Evil does

have its hour. All that it can

do within that hour is to put out

the lights of the world. But

God has His day. The evil of

the world is inseparable from

human freedom, and hence the

cost of destroying the world’s

evil or stopping this war would

be the destruction of human

freedom. Certainly none of us

wants to pay that high a price,

particularly since God would

never permit evil unless He could
draw some good from it.

God can draw good out of evil

because while the power of doing

evil is ours, the effects of our

evil deeds are outside of our con-

trol and therefore in the hands

of God. The brethren of Joseph

were free to toss him into a well,

but from that point on Joseph

was in God’s hands. Rightly did

he say to his brethren: “You

thought evil against me : but
God turned it into good ...”
{Genesis 50:20).

The evil which God permits

must not be judged by its im-

mediate effects, but rather by its

ultimate effects. When you go
to a theatre you do not walk out

because you see a good man suf-
fering in the first act. You give

the dramatist credit for a plot.

Why can you not do that much
with God? The mouse in the

piano cannot understand why
anyone should disturb his gnaw-

ing at the keys by making weird

sounds. Much less can our puny
minds grasp the plan of God.

The slaughter of the Innocents

probably saved many boys from
growing up into men who on
Good Friday would have shouted,

“Crucify.” The physician would

not permit an operation if he

could not draw health from it,



HOPE 49

and God would not permit evil

unless He could draw good from

it.

3) We must do everything
within our yower to fulfill God's

will as it is made known to us hy

His Mystical Body, the com-

mandments, and our lawfully

constituted superiors, and we

must also fulfill our duties flow-

ing from our state of life. But

everything that is outside our

power, we must abandon and sur-

render to His Holy will.

Notice the distinction between

within our power, and outside

our power. There is to be no

fiataliem. Some things are under

our control. We are not to be
like the man who perilously
walked the railing of a ship in

a storm at sea saying: “I am a
fatalist ! I believe that when
your time comes, there is noth-

ing you can do about it.” What
is wrong in fatalism is its failure

to recognize that, within certain

limits, our will can affect the

events of life. It would be wrong
for us, then, not to do our very

best to make that course one
which does good to our neigh-

bor and renders glory to God.

It is God’s will that men should
have a free will which they can

use in subordination to His and

thereby be happy. There was

much wisdom in the colored

preacher who said: “You run

up against a brick wall every

now and then during life. If

God wants you to go through

that wall, it is up to God to make

the hole.”

But we are here concerned

with those things outside your

poiver, for example, sickness,

accidents, bumps on buses,

trampled toes in subways, the

barbed word of a fellow-worker,

rain on picnic days, the death of

Aunt Ellen on your wedding day,

colds on vacation, the loiss of

your purse, and moth holes in

your suit. God could have pre-

vented any of these things. He
could have stopped your head-

ache, prevented a bullet from

hitting your boy, forestalled

cramps during a swim, and killed

the germ that laid you low. But
if He did not, it was for a su-
perior reason. Therefore say:

“God’s will be done.”

If you tell an Irishman it is a

bad day, nine times out of ten

he will answer: “It’s a good

day to save your soul.”

It is one of the paradoxes of

creation that you gain control by

submission.

Does not the scientist gain

control over nature by humbly

sitting down before the facts of



60 you

nature and being docile to its

teachings? In like manner, sur-

render yourself to God, and all

is yours. Even the irritations

of life can be made stepping

stones to salvation. An oyster
develops a pearl because a grain

of sand irritates it. Cease com-

plaining about your pains and

aches. When anyone asks, ‘‘How
are you?” remember it is not a

question, it is a greeting. An
act of thanksgiving when things

go against our will means more

than a thousand acts of thanks-

giving when things go according

to our will.

Every person in the world is

possessed : some are possessed

by the devil, some are possessed

by self, others are possessed by

God.

This broadcast is an appeal to

give your heart to God as if it

were yours no longer, for your

will is yours only to make it His.

Pray not to change God’s will;

pray rather to change your own.

Measure not God’s Goodness by

His readiness to do your will.

Shall we call Him “Father” and
still not believe He wills what is
best for His children? Think

not that you could do more good

for souls if you were well, or if

you had another position. What
matters in life is not where we
are but whether we are doing
God’s will.

Trust not in God because you

are good, but because He is good
and you are not. Often during

the day say: “God loves me,

and He is on my side, by my
side.”

In wartime, do not ask: “If

the Japanese and the English,

the Germans and the Americans,

pray to God; on whose side is

God?” For the answer to this

question is: “If we all prayed

as we ought, we would all be on

the same side : ‘Thy will be done

on earth as it is in heaven/
”

Neither ask : “Why do na-
tions which love God fight one

another?” The answer is: “They

don’t.” You see how important

is the love of God.



CHARITY
Address Delivered On February 4, 1945

America’s greatest enemy is

not from without, but from with-

in, and that enemy is hate

:

hatred of races, peoples, classes,

and religions. If America ever

dies, it will not be through con-

quest, but suicide.

Tolerance pleas will not reme-

dy this hate, for why should
any creature on God’s earth be

merely tolerated ? There is more

tragedy than we suspect in the

fact that we have become most

united as a nation at a moment

when we have developed a hate

against certain foreign countries.

Hate can be eradicated only by

creating a new focus, and that is

possible only by charity. By

charity we do not mean kindness,

philanthropy, generosity, or

big-heartedness, but a superna-

tural gift of God by which we

are enabled to love Him above
all things for His own sake

alone, and in that love, to love all

that He loves.
The first quality of charity to

be noted is that it resides in the

will, not in the emotions or pas-

sions or senses. In other words,

charity does not mean to like,

but to love. Liking is in the

feelings or emotions; loving is

in the will. A little boy cannot
help disliking spinach, as per-

haps you cannot help disliking

sauerkraut, and I cannot help

disliking chicken. The same is

true of your reactions to certain

people. You cannot help feeling
an emotional reaction against

the egotistical, the sophisticated,

and the loud, or those who run
for first seats, or those who
snore in their sleep.

But though you cannot like

everyone because you have no

control over your physiological

reactions, you can love everyone

in the divine sense, for love,

being in the will, can be com-

manded. As Our Lord said: “A
new commandment I give unto
you : That you love one another,

as I have loved you” {John 13:

34).

Outwardly, your neighbor may
be very unlikeable

;
but inwardly

he is one in whom the image of
God can be recreated by the kiss
of charity. You can like only
those who like you, but you can
love those who dislike you. You
can go through life liking those

who like you without the love of



52 YOU

God. Humanism is sufficient for
those of our set, or for those

who like to go slumming from

ivory towers, but it is not enough

to make us love those who ap-
parently are not worth loving.

To will to be kind when the

emotion is unkind, requires a

stronger dynamic than “love of

humanity.” To love them, we

must recall that we who are not

worth loving are loved by Love.

“For if you love them that love

you, what reward shall you

have ? Do not even the publicans

this? And if you salute your

brethren only, what do you

more? Do not also the heathens

this? Be therefore perfect

as also your heavenly Father is

perfect” {Matthew 5:46-48).

A second feature of charity is
that it is a habit, not a single

act. There is a tremendous

amount of sentimental romanti-

cism associated with much hu-

man kindness. Remember the

great glow you got from giving

your overcoat to the beggar on

the street, for assisting a blind

man up the stairs, for escorting

an old woman through traffic, or

for contributing a ten dollar bill

to relieve an indigent widow.

The warmth of self-approval

surged through your body, and

though you never said it aloud.

you did inwardly say: “Gee!

I’m swell.” These good deeds

are not to be reproved but com-

mended. But what we wish to
emphasize is that nothing has

done so much harm to healthy
friendliness as the belief that we
ought to do one good act a day.

Why one good act? What about
all the other acts? Charity is a

habit, not an isolated act. A
husband and wife are out driv-

ing. They see a young blonde

along the roadside changing a

tire. The husband gets out to

help her. Would he have done

it if the blonde were fifty? He
changes the tire, dirties his

clothes, cuts his finger, but is all

politeness, overflowing sweet-

ness, exuding charm. When
he gets back into his own car,

his heart aglow with the good

deed, his wife says : “I wish you

would talk that nice to me. Yes-

terday when I asked you to

bring in the milk you said: ‘Are

you a cripple?’
”

See the difference between one

act and a habit? Charity is a

habit, not a gush, or a senti-

ment
;

it is a virtue, not an

ephemeral thing of moods and

impulses; it is a quality of the

soul, rather than an individual

good deed.

How do you judge a good



CHAIRITY 63

piano player? By an occasional
right note or by the habit or

virtue of striking right notes?

An habitually evil man every
now and then may do a good
deed. Gangsters endowed soup

kitchens and the movies glori-

fied them. But in Christian eyes,

this did not prove they were

good. Occasionally, an habitu-

ally good man may fall, but evil
is the exception in his life, while

it is the rule in the life of the

gangster. Whether we know it

or not, the actions of our daily

life are fixing our character for

good or for evil. The things

you do, the thoughts you think,

the words you say, are turning

you either into a saint or a

devil, to be placed at either the

right or the left side of the Di-

vine Judge. If love of God and

neighbor becomes a habit of

your soul you are developing

heaven within you. But if hatred

and evil become the habit of

your soul, then you are develop-

ing hell within you. Heaven is a

place where charity is eternal-

ized. In heaven there will be no

faith, for then we will see God;
in heaven there will be no hope,

for then we will possess God;
but in heaven there will be char-

ity, for “love endureth forever.”

Finally, love is universal.

Translating charity’s command-

ment into the concrete, it means

that you must love your enemy

as you love yourself. Does that

mean that you must love Hitler

as you love yourself, or Koiso, or

the thief who stole your tires,
or the woman who said you had
so many wrinkles that you had to
screw on your hat? It means

just that. But how can you love
that kind of an enemy as you

love yourself?

Well, how do you love your-
self? Do you like the way you
look? If you did, you would not

try to improve it out of a box.

Did you ever wish to be anyone

else ? Why do you lie about your
age and say you just turned

thirty when you mean you re-
turned thirty? Do you like
yourself when you develop a

sense of rumor, or when you

spread gossip and run down
’

your neighbor’s reputation, or

when you are irritable and
moody?

You do not like yourself in
these moments. But at the same

time, you do love yourself, and

you know you do! When you
come into a room you invariably

pick out the softest chair; you

buy yourself good clothes, treat

yourself to nice presents; when

anyone says you are intelligent



54 YOU

or beautiful, you always feel

that such a person is of very

sound judgment. But when

anyone says you are “catty” or

selfish, you feel they have not

understood your good nature, or

maybe they are “Fascists.”

Thus you love yourself, and

yet you do not love yourself.

What you love ^bout yourself is
the person that God made; what

you hate about yourself is that

God-made person whom you
spoiled. You like the sinner,

but you hate the sin. That is

why, when you do wrong, you

ask to be given another chance,

or you promise to do better, or

you find excuses, or you say “It

was not my true self.” But you
never deny there is hope.

That is just the way Our

Lord intended that you should

love your enemies: love them as

you love yourself, hating their

sin, loving them as sinners; dis-

liking that which blurs the di-

vine image, loving the divine

image beneath the blur; never

arrogating to yourself a greater

right to God’s love than they,

since deep in your own heart you

know that no one could be less

deserving of His love than you.

And when you see them receiv-

ing the just due of their crimes,

you do not gloat over them, but

say: “There I go, except for

the grace of God.” In this spirit,

we are to understand the words
of Our Lord: “Love your

enemies, do good to them that

hate you. Bless them that curse

jmu, and pray for them that

calumniate you. And to him
that striketh thee on the one

cheek offer also the other. And
him that taketh away from thee

thy cloak) forbid not to take thy

coat also” (Luke 6:27-29). It is

Christian to hate the evil of

anti-Christians, but not without

praying for these enemies that

they might be saved—for God
loved us when as yet we were
sinners.

If, then, you bear a hatred

toward anyone, overcome it by

doing that person a favor. You

can begin to like classical music

only by listening to it, and you

can make friends out of your

enemies only by practicing char-

ity. The reason you love some-

one else is because that person

supplies your lack or fills up your

void. You find in the other

something you do not have

:

kindliness, beauty, wealth, vir-

tue, etc.

But God does not love you be-

cause you supply His lack. He

finds you lovable not because, of

and by yourself, you are lovable.



CHARFTY 55

but because He puts some of His
love in you. As a mother loves

her child because her nature is

in the child, as the artist loves

the canvas because his idea and

his colored pattern is in it, sc

God loves you because His

Power or His Nature or His

Love is in some way in you.
If, then, God’s love for you

makes you lovable, why not put
some of your love in other peo-

ple and make them lovable.

Where you do not find love, put
it there. Love therefore all

things, and all persons in God.

So long as there are poor, I
am poor:

So long as there are prisons,
I am a prisoner:

So long as there are sick,
I am weak:

So long as there is igno-
rance, I must learn:

So long as there is hate, I
must love.



THE HELL THERE IS
Address Delivered On February 11, 1945

This is going to be a very

unpopular broadcast. It is about

a subject the modern mind does

not want to hear, namely, hell.

Why do our modern minds deny
hell? Very simply because they

deny sin. If you deny human
guilt, then you must deny the

right of a state to judge a crim-

inal, or to sentence him to prison.

Once you deny the sovereignty

of God, you must deny hell. The

existence of hell is God’s eternal

guarantee of the inviolability of

human freedom. You can dis-
believe in hell, but you must also

disbelieve in freedom; you can

disbelieve in Sing Sing, but you

must also disbelieve in respon-

sibility. You can no more make

a free nation without judges and

prisons than you can make a free

world without Judgment and

Hell. No State constitution could
exist for six months on the basis

of a Liberal Christianity which

denies that Christ meant what

He said: “Depart from me, you
cursed, into everlasting fire

which was prepared for the devil

and his angels” (Matthew 25:

41).

What is the nature of the pun-

ishment of hell? It is two-fold

because it corresponds to the

double character of sin. Every

mortal sin consists in a) a turn-

ing away from God and b) a
turning to creatures. Because

we turn away from God, we feel
the absence of His Love, His

Beauty, His Truth—and this is
called the Pain of Loss. Because

we turned to creatures and per-
verted them to our sinful pur-

pose, we are punished in some
way by the very creatures which
we abused. This is called the
Pain of Sense, one of its aspects

being the fire of hell.

The Pain of Sense is based on

the principle that the punish-

ment should fit the crime. If you

disobey one of nature’s laws, you

suffer a corresponding retribu-

tion. If you become intoxicated

some night and put yourself in

a state of amiable incandescence,

you do not necessarily wake up

the next morning with an over-

drawn bank account. But you

do feel the effects of abusing the

God-given thirst by something

vaguely described as a “hang-

over.” In almost so many words,
the alcohol says to you: “I was



MlHiK IHiBi'Iilj TIHiEiiRS XS 67

made by God to be used by you

as a reasonable creature. You

perverted me from the purpose
God intended. Now since I am
on God’s side, not yours, I shall

abuse you, because you abused

me.” In hell, in like manner, we

shall suffer from the very crea-

tures we perverted. Hence there

will be different kinds of punish-

ment in hell. The fiercer the grip

sinful pleasures had on a soul in

this life, the more fiercely will

the fires torment it in eternity.

As the Scriptures tell us: “By

what things a man sinneth, by
the same also he is tormented”

(Wisdom 11:17). And do not try
to escape this logic or blind your-

self to Divine Authority by argu-

ing that hell could not be as you

have heard some preachers pic-

ture it. I am only saying, do not
reject the truth of the book be-

cause the pictures are bad.

Now, what is the Pain of
Loss? That is best understood as

the loss of Divine Love, and from

three distinct points of view, we
shall describe it.

Hell is the hatred of the things

you love. A sailor lost on a raft
at sea loves water. He was made
for it, and water was made for
him. He knows that he ought
not drink the water from the

sea, but he violates the dictates

of his reason. The result is, he

is now more thirsty than before,

even thirsty when he is the most

filled. He hates water as poison

;

at the same time he is mad with

the thirst for it. In like manner,

the soul was made to live on the

love of God, but if it perverts

that love by salting it with sin,

then as the sailor hates the very

water he drinks, so the soul hates

the very thing it desires, name-

ly, the love of God. As the insane

hate most the very persons whom
in their saner moments they

really love the most, so the

damned in hell hate God whom
they were really meant to love

above all things.

The wicked do not want hell

because they enjoy its torments;

they want hell because they do

not want God. They need God,

but they do not want Him. Hell

is eternal suicide for hating love.

Hell is the hatred of the God you

love.

Hell is the mind eternally mad
at itself for wounding Love. How
often during life you have said:

“I hate myself.” No one who ever
condemned you could add to the

consciousness of your guilt. You

knew it a thousand times better

than they. When did you hate
yourself most? Certainly not

when you failed to act on a tip



58 YOU

on the stock market. You hated
yourself most when you hurt

someone you loved. You even
said: “I can never forgive my-

self for doing that.” The souls

in hell hate themselves most for

wounding Perfect Love. They

can never forgive themselves.

Hence their hell is eternal: eter-

nal self-imposed unforgiveness.

It is not that God would not for-

give them. It is rather that they

will not forgive themselves.

How often in this ^orld the
sight of moral goodness arouses

indignation. The evil person in-

cessantly wants a recasting of

all values. Put one good boy in

a gang of boys which spends its

time in petty thievery or break-

ing school windows, and the

chances are the gang will turn

against that good boy, ridicule

his moral principles, tell him he

is a coward or old-fashioned. Ex-

actly that same mentality is pres-

ent in adult life. Whenever a

professor attacks morality and

makes fun of religion before his

pupils, you can be sure nine times

out of ten that his life is rotten.

Goodness is a reproach to such

professors: they want everyone

CO be like themselves, so no one

can reproach their conscience.

This revolt against goodness and

truth :* the basic cause of the

persecution and mockery of re-

ligion today. Now if such things
are possible to corrupt souls on

earth, why should they not be
possible in eternity? These

wicked souls will still hate Love

because hate is the essence of

their souls. They reject the one

remedy that could have helped

them, the love of Someone be-

sides themselves, and for that

reason hell is the house of in-

curables who hate themselves for
hating Love.

Hell is submission to Love un-

der Justice. We are free in this
world

;
we can no more be forced

to love God than we can be forced

to love classical music, antiques,

swing bands, olives, or Bach.

Force and love are contraries.

Love and freedom are correla-

tives.

When you came into this world,
God said: ‘T ask jou to love me
freely, that you may be perfect.”
Suppose we freely say: “I re-

fuse to love Truth and Justice

and Beauty or my neighbor. I
shall love error, and graft, and

ugliness.” Later on you die in

that state. But you do not escape

that Divine Love which you

abused, any more than the trait-

or escapes the country whose love

he despised. Either you possess

love, or love possesses you. In



THE HECLiL THERE IS 59

marriage a man and woman were
meant to possess love. But that

love can be perverted so that in

the end, love possesses them.

How often a husband, for ex-
ample, tied to a woman by mar-
riage, is possessed by her, by

her wants, her selfishness, and

her jealousies. Often, too, many
a wife is tied to a drunkard or

worthless husband until death

do them part. They do not free-

ly love one another; they are

forced in virtue of the justice of

their contracts to love one an-

other until death do them part.

And to be forced to love anyone
is hell.

The lost souls could have loved

God freely. But they chose to

rebel against that love and in

doing so came under Divine Jus-

tice, as the criminal falls from

the love of a country to its jus-

tice. The souls in hell do not

possess love, love possesses them.

Justice forces them to love God,

that is, to submit to the Divine

Order, but to be forced to love

is the very negation of love. It is

hdl!

Think not that hell ever ends,

or that some day souls in hell

will go to heaven. If a soul in

hell went to heaven, heaven to

it would be a hell. Suppose you

hated higher mathematics; sup-

pose your morning paper had

nothing in it but logarithms,

everyone you met talked to you

about Space-Time differentials,

every broadcast you heard was

on the theory of relativity, every

book you read was on the subject

of pointer-readings. After a

while mathematics would drive

you mad. Now the souls in hell
hate Perfect Life, Perfect Truth

and Perfect Love—^which is God
—and if they had to live with
that which they hated more than

you hate mathematics, then God

would be their great punishment

as mathematics would be yours.

Heaven would be hell.

Hell must be eternal. What is
the one thing that life can never

forgive? Death, because death

is the negation of life. What is
the one thing that truth can

never forgive? Error, for error

is its contradiction. What is the
one thing that love can never for-

give? It is the refusal to love;

that is why Hell is Eternal.
Everything does not come out

right in the end, for we cannot at
one moment believe that we are
saved by doing God’s will, and

the next moment believe that it
has no significance. Hell means

that the consequences of your

good and bad acts are not in-

4iffeiC^ut. It makes a tremen^



60 YOU

dous amount of difference to

your body if you drink tea or
TNT, and it makes a greater dif-
ference if your soul drinks vir-

tue or vice. Where the tree falls,
there it lies.

You ask: “How can a good
God be so wrathful as to sentence

souls to hell?” Remember that
God does not sentence us to hell,

as much as we sentence our-
selves. When the cage is opened
the bird flies out to the air which

it loved; when our body dies, the

good soul flies out to its eternity

of love of God. But a soul in the

state of sin at the moment of
death casts itself into hell just

as naturally as a stone released

from my hand falls to the
ground.

God has not a different mood

for those who go to hell, and for
those who go to heaven. The dif-
ference is in us, not in Him. The

sun which shines on wax softens
it; the sun which shines on mud

hardens it. There is no dif-

ference in the sun, but only in

that upon which it shines. So

there is no difference in the God

of love when He judges the wick-
ed and the just; the difference

is in those whom He judges.
Hell is at the foot of the hill of

Calvary, and no one of us can

go down to hell without first

passing over the hill where there

is a God-man enthroned with

arms outstretched to embrace,

head bent to kiss, and heart open

to love. I do not find it hard

to understand God preparing a

hell for those who want to hate

themselves eternally for having

hated Him. But I do find it hard

to understand why that same
God should die upon a Cross to

save unworthy me from a hell
which my sins so rightly deserve.
Hell is a place where there is no

love. That there may be no hell
in our final destinies, one final

word : God love you

!



THE VALUE OF IGNORANCE
Address Delivered On February 18, 1945

One thousand years before Our

Blessed Lord was born, there

lived one of the greatest of all

poets : the glorious Homer of the
Greeks. Two great epics are
ascribed to him: one the Iliad,

the other the Odyssey. The hero

of the Ilaid was not Achilles, but

Hector, the leader of the enemy

Trojans whom Achilles defeated
an^ killed. The poem ends not
with a tribute to Achilles, but

with a glorification of the de-

feated Hector. The other poem,

the Odyssey, had as its hero, not

Odysseus, but Penelope, his wife,

who was faithful to him during
the years of his travels. As the

suitors pressed for her affections,

she told them that when she fin-

ished weaving the garment they

saw before them, she would listen

to their courtship. But each

night she unraveled what she

had woven in the day, and thus

remained faithful until her hus-

band returned. “Of all women,”

she said, “I am the most sorrow-
ful.” Well might be applied to

her the words of Shakespeare:

“Sorrow sits in my soul as on a
throne. Bid kings come and bow
lown to it.”

For a thousand years before

the birth of Our Blessed Lord,

pagan antiquity resounded with

these two stories of the poet who

threw into the teeth of history

the mysterious challenge of glori-

fying a defeated man and hailing
a sorrowful woman. The subse-

quent centuries asked, how could
anyone be victorious in defeat

and glorious in sorrow? And the
answer was never given until

that day when there came One

who was glorious in defeat: the
Christ on His Cross; and one

who was magnificent in sorrow:
His Blessed Mother beneath the

Cross.

It is interesting that Our Lord

spoke seven times on Calvary and

that His Mother is recorded as

having spoken seven times in

Sacred Scripture. Her last re

corded word was at the Marriage

Feast of Cana, when her Divine

Son began His Public life. No^

that the sun was out, there was

no longer need of the moon to
shine. Now that the Word had
spoken, there was no longer need

of words.

One wonders, as Our Blessed

Lord spoke each of His Seven



62 YOU

Words, if Our Blessed Mother at
the foot of the Cross did not

think of each of her correspond-

ing Words? Such will be the

subject of our Lenten medita-

tions: Our Lord’s Seven Words

on the Cross and the Seven

Words of Mary’s life.

Generally, when innocent

men suffer at the hands of im-
pious judges, their last words

are either, “I am innocent” or
“The courts are rotten.” But

here for the first time in the

hearing of the world is one who
asked neither for the forgiveness

of His own sins, for He is God,
nor proclaimed His own inno-

cence, for men are not judges of
God. Rather does He plead for
those who kill Him: “Father,

forgive them, for they know not

what they do” {Luke 23:34).

Mary, beneath the Cross, heard

Her Divine Son speak that First

Word. I wonder, when she

heard Him say “know not,” if she
did not recall her own First

Word. It too, contained those

words, “know not.” The occasion

was the annunciation, the first

good news to reach the earth in

centuries. The angel announced

to her that she was to become the

Mother of God: “Behold thou

shalt conceive in thy womb, and

shalt bring forth a son ; and thou

shalt call his name Jesus . . .
And Mary said to the Angel:
How shall this be done, because I
know not man?” {Luke 1 :31-34).

These words of Jesus and

Mary seem to suggest that there
is sometimes wisdom in not

knowing. Ignorance is here rep-

resented not as a curse, but as a

blessing. This rather shocks our

modern sensibilities concerning

education—^but that is because
we fail to distinguish between
true wisdom and false wisdom.

St. Paul called the wisdom of

the world “foolishness with

God,” and Our Blessed Lord

thanked His Heavenly Father

that He had not revealed Heaven-
ly Wisdom to the worldly wise.

The ignorance which is here

extolled is not ignorance of the

truth, but ignorance of evil.

Notice it first of all in the word

of Our Savior to His execution-

ers : He implied that they could
be forgiven only because they

were ignorant of their terrible

crime. It was not their wisdom

that would save them, but their

ignorance. In like manner if we

knew what we were doing when
we smote the Hands of Everlast-
ing Mercy, dug the Feet of the

Good Shepherd, crowned the

Head of Wisdom Incarnate, and



THE VALUE OF IGNORANCE 63

still went on doing it, we would

never be saved. We would be
damned ! It is only our ignorance

which brings us within the pale

of redemption and forgiveness.

As St. Peter told them on Pente-

cost: “I know that you did it

through ignorance, as did also

your rulers” (Acts 3:17).

The First Word our Blessed

Mother spoke at the Annuncia-

tion revealed the same lesson.

She said: “I know not man.”

Why was there a value in not
knowing man? Because she had
consecrated her virginity to God.

At a moment when every woman
sought the privilege of being the

Mother of the Messias, Mary

gave up the hope—and received
the privilege. She refuses to

discuss with an angel any kind

of compromise with her high re-

solve. If the condition of be-

coming the Mother of God was

the surrender of her vow, she

would not make that surrender,

knowing man would have been
evil for her—though it would not
have been evil in other circum-

stances. Not knowing man is a
kind of ignorance, but here it

proves to be such a blessing that

in an instant the Holy Spirit

overshadows her, making her a

living ciborium privileged to

bear within herself for nine

months the Guest who is the

Host of the world.

You live in a world in which
the worldly wise say: “You do

not know life; you have never

lived.” They assume that you

can know nothing except by

experience—experience not only
of good but of evil.

Examine your own life. If

you know evil by experience, are

you wiser because of it? Do

you not now despise that very
evil, and are you not the more

tragic for having experienced it?

You may even have become mas-
tered by the evil you experienced.

How often the disillusioned say:
“I wish I had never tasted

liquor,” or “I regret the day I

stole my first dollar,” or “I wish
I had never known that person.”

How much wiser you would have
been had you been ignorant!

Think not, then, that in order

to “know life” you must “experi-

ence evil.” Is a doctor wiser be-

cause he is prostrate with dis-

ease? Do we know cleanliness by
living in sewers? Do you be-
come a better pianist by striking

the wrong keys?

Do not excuse yourself by say-
ing “temptations are too strong,”

or “good people do not know

what temptation is.” The good

know more about the strength of



64 YOU

temptations than those who fall.

How do you know how strong the
enemy is in battle? By being cap-
tured or by conquering? How
can you know the strength of a

temptation unless you overcome

it? Our Blessed Lord really

understands the power of temp-

tation better than anyone, be-

cause He overcame the tempta-
tions of Satan.

There is so much evil in the

world today, so many lies propa-
gated, so many ideas known that
are untrue, that it would be a

great blessing if some generous

soul would endow a University

for unlearning. Its purpose,

would be to do with error and

evil exactly what doctors do with

disease! Well, such an institu-

tion does exist and here are two

practical courses it offers for un-

learning evil.

1) If you are a Catholic, go to

confession and have your sins

blotted out, for here is an act as

great as creation. In making

the world, God made something

out of nothing; in forgiving,

God put something into nothing,

namely your sins. Would you

not like to be right now just as

you were when you came from

the hands of God at the baptis-

mal font, with no false wisdom

yet gathered to your mind so

that, like an empty chalice, you

might spend your life filling it

with the wisdom of His Love?

Honestly, if you had the choice

now either of learning more

about the world or of unlearning

the evil you know, would you

not rather unlearn than learn?

Well, that is what absolution

does
;

it makes you wise by igno-

rance. You will not be given a

sheepskin when you walk out of

the Confessional Box, that great

University of Unlearning, but

you will feel like a lamb, for

Christ will be your Shepherd.

2) A second way to unlearn
evil is to spend a Holy Hour a

day in meditation. This can be

done by everyone, whether you

be Jew, Protestant, or Catholic.

If you are a Catholic, spend that

hour in the presence of Our

Lord in the Blessed Sacrament,

making your morning Mass the

first half of that hour. Be

ignorant of propaganda, politics,

economics, and gossip for an

hour a day and become truly wise

being instructed by the Spirit of

God. You need to get away from

the world now and then to know

what you ought to be. God

writes better on a blank page

than on one covered with your

scribblings.

People living in dirt hardly



THE VALUE OF IGNORANCE 65

ever realize how dirty dirt is.

Those who live in sin hardly

understand the horror of sin.

The one peculiar and terrifying

thing about sin is, the more ex-

perience you have with it, the

less you know about it. You be-

come so identified with it that

you know neither the depths to

which you have sunk, nor the

heights from which you have

fallen. You never know you

were asleep until you wake up;

and you never know the horror

of sin until you get out of sin.

Hence, only the sinless really

know what sin is. One hour a

day spent with God in meditation

will help you unlearn your sin.

Since there on the Cross and in

its shadow there is Innocence at

its highest, it follows that there

was also the greatest sorrow.

Since there was no sin, there was

the greatest understanding of its

evil. It was their innocence

which made the agonies of Cal-

vary so tragic.

St. Thomas Aquinas tells us

that the least love of God is

worth more than the knowledge

of all created things, because by

knowing the world we identify
ourselves with the corruptible,

but by loving God we become
assimilated to Eternal Perfec-

tion.

We all know enough to be bet-
ter than we are

;
our unhappiness

comes from our want of love.



THE SECRET OF SANCTITY
Address Delivered On February 25, 1945

There is one thing in the

world that is definitely and abso-

lutely your own, and that is your

will. Health, power, life, and

honor can all be snatched from

you, but your will is irrevocably

your own, even in hell. Hence,

nothing really matters in life, ex-

cept what you do with your will.

It is the drama of will which

makes the story of the two

thieves crucified on either side

of our Lord one of the absorbing

incidents of history.

Both thieves at first blasphem-

ed. There was no such thing as

the good thief at the beginning

of the Crucifixion. But when the

thief on the right heard that Man
on the Central Cross forgive His

executioners, he had a change of

soul. He began to accept his
sorrows. He took up his cross as
a yoke rather than as a gibbet,

abandoned himself to God’s will,

and turning to the rebellious

thief on the left said: “Neither

dost thou fear God, seeing thou

art under the same condemna-

tion? And we indeed justly, for
we receive the due reward of our

deeds: but this man hath done
no evil.” Then frpm his heart al-

ready so full of surrender to His

Savior, there came this plea,

“Remember me when thou shalt
come into thy kingdom.” Im-

mediately there came the answer

of the Lord, “Amen I say to thee,
this day thou shalt be with me in
Paradise” {Luke 23:40-43).

“Thou.” We are all individu-
als in the sight of God. He call-
eth His sheep by name. This

Word was the foundation of
Christian democracy. Every
soul is precious in God’s sight,

even those whom the State casts
out and kills.

At the foot of the Cross, Mary

witnessed the conversion of the

good thief, and her soul rejoiced

that he bad accepted the will of

God. Her Divine Son’s Second

Word promising Paradise as a
reward for that surrender, re-

minded her of her own Second

Word some thirty years before,
when the angel had appeared to

her and told her that she was to

be the Mother of Him who was
now dying on the Cross. In her

First Word she asked how this

would be accomplished since she

knew not man. But when the

angel said she would conceive of



TOffiE SECRET OF SANOTITY 67

the Holy Spirit, Mary immedi-

ately answered: “Be it done to

me according to thy word.” Fiat
mihi secundum verhum tuum.

{Luke 1:38).

This was one of the great

Fiats of the world. The first was

at Creation when God said: Fiat

lux: “Let there be light.” An-

other was in Gethsemane when

the Savior, pressing the chalice

of redemption to His lips, cried:

Fiat voluntas tua: “Thy will be

done” (Matthew 26:42). The

third was Mary’s, pronounced in

a Nazarene cottage, which prov-

ed to be a declaration of war

against the empire of evil: Fiat

mihi secundum verhum tuum,

“Be it done to me according to
thy word” (Luke 1:38).

The Second Word of Jesus on
Golgotha and the Second Word
of Mary in Nazareth teach the
same lesson : Everyone in the

world has a cross, hut the cross

is riot the same for any two of
us. The cross of the thief was

not the cross of Mary. The dif-

ference was due to God’s will

toward each. The thief was to

give his life; Mary to accept
life. The thief was to hang on

his cross; Mary to remain be-
hind. The thief received a dis-

missal
;
Mary received a mission.

The thief was to be received into

Paradise ; but Paradise was to be

received into Mary.

Each of us, too, has a cross.

Our Lord said : “If any man will
follow me, let him deny himself,

and take up his cross, and fol-

low me” {Mark 8:34). He did
not say: “Take up My Cross.”
His cross is not the same as

yours, and yours is not the same

as mine. Every cross in the

world is' tailor made, custom

built, patterned to fit its bearer

and no one else.

That is why we say : “My cross
is hard.” We assume that other
people’s crosses are lighter, for-

getful that the only reason our

cross is hard is simply because it

is our own. Our Lord did not

make His cross ; it was made for

Him. So yours is made by the

circumstances of your life, and

by your routine duties. That is

why it fits so tight. Crosses are

not made by machines.

Our Lord deals separately with

each of your souls. The crown

of gold you want may have
underneath it the crown of

thorns, but the heroes who choose

the crown of thorns often find

that underneath it is the crown

of gold. Even those that seem to

be without a cross actually have

one. No one would have suspect-
ed that when Mary resigned her-



YOU

self to God’s will by accepting

the honor of becoming the

Mother of God she would ever

have to bear a cross. It would

seem too, that one who was pre-
served free from original sin

should be dispensed from the

penalties of that sin, such as

pain. And yet this honor brought
to her seven crosses and ended

by making her the Queen of

Martyrs.

There are, therefore, as many
kinds of crosses as there are per-

sons: crosses of grief and sor-

row, crosses of want, crosses of

abuse, crosses of wounded love,

and crosses of defeat!

There is the cross of widows.

How often Our Lord spoke of
them; for example, in the parable

of the judge and the widow

{Luke 18:1-8)
; when He rebuked

the Pharisees who “devoured
widows’ houses” {Mark 12:40);

when He spoke to the widow of
Naim {Luke 7 :12) ; and when
He praised the widow who threw
two mites into the temple treas-

ury {Mark 12:42). Widowhood

may have been particularly dear
to Him because His own mother
was a widow, for Joseph His

foster-father was presumably al-

ready dead.

There is the cross of death

when God takes someone from

you, as He may be doing in this
war. It is always for a good

reason. When the sheep have
grazed and thinned the grass in

the lower regions, the shepherd

arms, carry it up the mountain

will take a little lamb in his

where the grass is green, lay it

down, and soon the other sheep

will follow. Every now and then
Our Blessed Lord, too, takes a

lamb from the parched pasture of

a family up to those Heavenly

Green Pastures, that the rest of

the family may keep their eyes
on their true home and follow

through.

Then there is the cross of sick-

ness, which always has a divine

purpose. Our Blessed Lord said

of a particular illness : “This

sickness is not unto death, but

for the glory of God” (John

11:4). Resignation to this par-

ticular kind of cross is one of

the very highest forms of prayer.

Unfortunately, the sick generally

want to be doing something else

than being sick which God has

willed at least permissively. The

tragedy of this world is not so

much the pain in it; the tragedy

is that so much of pain is wasted.

It is only when a log is thrown

into the fire that it begins to

sing. It was only when the thief

was thrown into the fire of a



THE .SECRET OR SuAH^CTITY 69

cross that he found God. It is

only in pain that some discover

Love.

Because our crosses differ,

soul will differ from soul in

glory. We think too often that
in Heaven there is going to be

somewhat the same inequality in

social positions that we have

here ; that servants on earth will

be servants in heaven; that the

important people on earth will be

the important people in heaven.

This is not true. God will take

into account our crosses. He

seemed to suggest that in the

parable of Dives and Lazarus:

“Son, remember that thou didst

receive good things in thy life-

time, and likewise Lazarus evil

things: But now he is comfort-

ed; and thou art tormented”

{Luke 16:25). There will be a

bright jewel of merit for those

who suffer in this world. Be-

cause we live in a world where

position is determined economi-

cally, we forget that in God’s

world the royalty are those who

do His will. Heaven will be a

complete reversal of the values of

earth. The first shall be last and

the last first, for God is no re-

specter of persons. A wealthy
and socially important woman
wgnt to heaven. St. Peter point-

ed to a beautiful mansion and

said, “This is your chauflE^ur’s

home.” “Well,” said she, “if that

is his home, think what mine

will be like.” Pointing to a tiny

cottage, Peter said, “There is

yours.” “I can’t live in that,”

she answered. And Peter said,
“I’m sorry, that is the best I

could do with the material you

sent me.” Those who suffer as
the good thief did, have sent

ahead some fine material.

It makes no difference, then,

what you do here on earth
;
what

matters is the love with which

you do it. The street cleaner

who accepts in God’s name a

cross arising from his state in

life, such as the scorn of his

fellowmen; the mother who pro-
nounces her Fiat to the Divine

Will as she raises a family for

the Kingdom of God; the afflict-

ed in hospitals who say Fiat to
their cross of suffering, are the

uncanonized saints; for what is

sanctity but fixation in goodness

by abandonment to God’s Holy

Will?

It is typically American to

feel that we are not doing any-
thing unless we are doing some-
thing big. But from the Chris-

tian point of viev/, there is no

one thing that is bigger than any

other thing. The bigness comes

from the way our wills utilize



70 YOU

things. Hence mopping an office

for the love of God is “higger”

-than running the office for the

love of money.

Each of us is to praise and

love God in his own way. The

bird praises God by singing, the

flower by blooming, the clouds

with their rain, the sun with its

light, the moon with its reflec-
tion, and each of us by our pa-

tient resignation to the trials of

our state in life.

If the gold in the bowels of

the earth did not say Fiat to the

miner and the goldsmith, it

would never become the chalice

of the altar; if the pencil did

not say Fiat to the hand of the

writer, we would never have the

poem; if Our Lady did not say

Fiat to the angel, she would

never have become the House of

God; if Our Lord did not say

Fiat to the Father’s will in

Gethsemane, we would never

have been redeemed; if the thief

did not say Fiat in his heart, he

never would have been the escort

. for the Master into Paradise.

The reason most of us are

what we are, mediocre Chris-
tians, ‘"up” one day. “down” the

next, is simply because we refuse

to let God work on us. As crude

marble, we rebel against the
hand of the sculptor; as unvar-

nished canvas, we shrink from
the oils and tints of the Heavenly

Artist. We are so “fearful lest
having Him we may have naught
else beside,” forgetful that if

we have the fire of Love, why
worry about the sparks, and if

we have the perfect round, why
trouble ourselves with the arc.

We always make the fatal mis-
take of thinking that it is what

we do that matters, when really

what matters is what we let God
do to us. God sent the angel to

Mary, not to ask her to do some-

thing, but to let something be

done.

Since God is a better artisan

than you, the more you abandon

yourself to Him, the happier He
can make you. It is well to be

a self-made man, but it is better

to be a God-made man. Try it

—

I mean you, whether you be Jew,

Protestant, or Catholic — by
spending a Holy Hour a day in

prayer and meditation. Catho-

lics should include morning

Mass in their Hour, thus taking

advantage of Calvary’s sacrifice

in a world of lesser Calvaries.

God will love you, of course,

even though you do not love

Him; but remember, if you

give Him only half your heart.
He can make you only 50% hap-

py.



THE SEiCRET OF SANCTITY 71

You have freedom only to give you will have no freedom of
it away. To whom do you give choice, because once you possess
yours? You give it either to the the Perfect, there is nothing left

moods, the hour, to your egotism, to choose ; and still you will be

to creatures, or to God. perfectly free, because you will

Do you know that, if you give be one with Him whose heart is
your freedom to God, in heaven Freedom and Love.



THE FELLOWSHIP OF RELIGION
Address Delivered On March 4, 1945

This war has proved that hu-

man beings are morally closer
to one another in a bomb shelter

or shell-hole than they are in a

brokerage office or at a bridge

table. Sorrow draws hearts to-

gether. Given therefore the trag-

edy of Calvary, one should ex-

pect to find Our Lord and His

Blessed Mother and all humanity

in the deepest fellowship of re-

ligion.

St. John prefaces the Word
Our Lord spoke to His Mother

from the Cross by the mention

of the Lord’s seamless garment

for which the soldiers were now

shaking dice.

Why, out of all the details of

the Passion, should he suddenly

begin thinking about a robe? Be-

cause it was woven by Mary’s

hands. It was such a beautiful

robe that these hardened crim-

inals refused to tear it apart.

Custom gave them the right to

the perquisites of those whom
they crucified. But here the

criminals refused to divide the

spoils. They shook dice for it,

so that the winner could have

the whole robe.

After having yielded up His

garment to those who gambled

for it. He on the Cross now
yields up her who wove it. Our

Blessed Lord looks down to the

two most beloved creatures He
has on earth: Mary and John.

He speaks first to His Blessed
Mother. He does not call her
“Mother,” but “Woman.” As St.

Bernard so lovingly suggests, if

He had called her “Mother,” she
would have been just His Mother

and no one else’s. In order to

indicate that she is now becom-
ing the Mother of all men whom
He redeems. He endows her with
the title of universal mother-

hood: “Woman.” Then indicat-

ing with a gesture of His head

the presence of His beloved dis-

ciple, He added : “Behold thy
Son.” He does not call him John,
for if He did, John would have
been only the son of Zebedee;

He left him unnamed that he
might stand for all humanity.

Our Lord was equivalently

saying to His Mother: “You al-

ready have one Son, and I am He.
You cannot have another. All

the other sons will be in Me as
the branches are in the vine.



THE PELLOWSHTP OP RELIGION

Hence I say not; ‘Behold another

son !’ but ‘Behold thy son/
”

As she was the custodian of

the Vine so now she would be

custodian of the branches

through time and eternity. In

Bethlehem she had given birth to

the King; now on Calvary she

was begetting the Kingdom. At

the crib Mary was the Madonna

of the Son of God. At the cross

Mary became our Madonna.

When Mary heard Our Bless-
ed Lord speak His Third Word
establishing this new relation-

ship, she remembered so well

when it began. Her Third Word,

as His, was about relationship.

It was a long time ago. After

the angel announced to her that

she was to be the Mother of God,

which alone would have bound

her to all humanity, the angel

added that her elderly cousin,

Elizabeth, was now six months
with child. “And Mary rising
up in those days, went into the

hill country with haste into a

city of Juda. And she entered
into the house of Zachary, and

saluted Elizabeth” {Luke 1:39-

40).

It is rightly assumed that no

one may more justly claim im-
munity from service to others

than a woman bearing a child.
If one adds to this, noblesse ob-

m

lige, the fact that this Wom-
an bears within herself the

very Lord of the Universe, then

of all creatures Mary might

rightfully claim dispensation

from social bonds and duties to

neighbor. Women in that con-
dition are not to minister but to

be ministered unto. But here

we have the spectacle of the

greatest of all women becoming
the servant of others. Not stand-

ing on her dignity saying, “I

am the Mother of God,” but
recognizing the need of her aged

cousin, the pregnant Queen, in-

stead of awaiting her hour in

isolation like other women,

mounts a donkey, makes a five

day journey over hill country^

and with such a consciousness of

spiritual fellowship that she does

it, in the language of Sacred

Scripture, “with haste.”

Before the Savior is born,

Mary recognizes that her mis-
sion is to bring the Savior to

humanity
;
and with such a holy

impatience is she filled, that she

begins it before her Son has

seen the light of day. I love

to think of her on this journey

as the first Christian Nurse

whose service to neighbor is in-

separable from bringing Christ

into the life of her patient.

There is no record of the ex-



74 YOU

act words that Mary spoke. The

Evangelist merely tells us that

she saluted Elizabeth. But no-

tice that just as soon as she sa-

luted her cousin, new relation-
ships were immediately estab-

lished. Elizabeth no longer ad-

dressed her as cousin. She calls

her: “The mother of my Lord’’
{Luke 1:43). - But that was not

the end of the relationship.

Elizabeth’s own child who was

to be called later by Our Lord,

“The greatest man ever born of
woman,” now stirs in his moth-

er’s womb. As Elizabeth said:

“For behold as soon as the voice

of thy salutation sounded in my
ears, the infant in my womb
leaped for joy” {Luke 1:44).

We might almost say John the
Baptist danced to his birth in

salutation to the King of Kings

!

Two unborn children establish a
relationship before either had

swung open the portals of flesh.

Every record we have of our

Blessed Lady is one of bringing

Christ into humanity. First of

all, it was through her as a Gate

of Heaven that He walked into
this earth. It was in her as a

Mirror of Justice that He first

saw with human eyes the re-

flection of the world He had
made. It is in her as a kind of

living ciborium that He is car-

ried to the First Communion

rail of her cousin’s home, where

an unborn babe salutes Him as
the Host who is to be the Guest

of the world. It is through her

intercession at Cana that He
brings His Divine Power to sup-

ply a human need. And it is
finally at the Cross that she who
gave Christ to the world, now

receives Him back again in us
who have the high and undeserv-

ed honor to call ourselves Christ-

ians.

Because of this Divinely es-

tablished intimacy I wonder if it

is not true that as the world

loses veneration for Christ’s

mother, it loses also its ador-

ation of Christ. Is it not

true in earthly relationships

that, as a so-called friend ig-

nores your mother when he

comes to your home, sooner or

later he will ignore you? Con-

versely, as the world begins

knocking at Mary’s door, it will

find that Our Lord Himself will

answer.

How shall we escape this con-
clusion? If Christ Himself will-

ed to be physically formed in

her for nine months and then

be spiritually formed by her for

thirty years, is it not to her

that we must go to learn how
to have Christ formed in us?



THE FELLOWSHIP OF RELIGION 76

Only she who raised Christ can

raise a Christian.

That is why every single

broadcast I give is dedicated to

Our Lady, in the hope that as

the sponsor of each broadcast

she may bring her Divine Son

into your souls as she brought

Him to Elizabeth, John, and to
the young married couple at

Cana.

So firmly convinced am I that
it is through Mary that the

world will find Our Lord again,

that I am going to ask every
one of you of good will to say

the Rosary daily for this inten-

tion.

What favors may you expect
from a daily recitation of the

Rosary?

1. You will never lose your

soul if you say it daily and co-

operate with God’s grace.

2. Your family will be blessed

in peace and war if you say the

Rosary every night in the family

circle.

3. If you desire to bring a soul

to the fullness of God’s faith and

charity, teach that person to say

the Rosary. He will either

stop saying the Rosary or will

receive the gift of Faith.

Finally, the purpose of the

Rosary is to bring you to God.

Mary is treacherous in the sense

that she will betray you into the

hands of her Divine Son.

As Francis Thompson bade

her:

The celestiai Temptress play,
And all mankind to bliss betray;
With sacrosanct cajoleries
And starry treachery of your

eyes.

Tempt us back to Paradise!

Since Our Lord gave His

Mother to us on the Cross, then

we are her children, and as such

we say to her in the language of

Mary Dixon Thayer:

Lovely Lady dressed in blue
Teach me how to Pray I
God was just your little Boy,
Tell me what to say!
Did you lift Him up, sometimes,
Gently, on your knee?
Did you sing to Him the way
Mother does to me?
Did you hold his hand at night?
Did you ever try
Telling stories of the world
0! And did He cry?
Do you really think He cares
If I tell Him things

—

Little things that happen? And
Do the Angels’ wings
Make a noise? And can He hear
Me if I speak low?
Tell me—^for you know.
Lovely Lady dressed in blue
Teach me how to pray!
God was just your little Boy
And you know the way.*

The poem To Our Lady by Mary
Dixon Thayer quoted with the per-
mission of the Macmillan Com-
pany.



CONFIDENCE IN VICTORY
Address Delivered On March 11, 1945

Perhaps at no time in modern

history was there ever such a

flight from life as at the present

day.

Also, there is the flight from

consciousness
,

through alcohol-

ism, or the flight from decision

through religious indifference, or

the flight from freedom by the

denial of responsibility. All these

are symptoms of despair. Many

people as a result are cracking

up, emotionally, mentally, and

morally. But our problem is not

to diagnose the malady, but to

heal it.

Is there another way out, even

in these dark days ? For an

answer one must go back to the

darkest day the world ever saw,

the day when the sun hid its

face at noon, as if ashamed to

shed its light on the crime men

committed at Calvary. As dark-

ness spread over the earth three

crosses became silhouetted
against a black horizon. We see
nothing; there is only an awful

silence, a thick gloom, relieved

by one cry, sent up from a brok-

en heart of self-abasement: “My

God, why hast thou forsaken

pae?” (Mark 15:34).

These words were the first

words of prophetic Psalm 21,

written about a thousand years

before this black day. Though

the Psalm begins with this cry

of sadness, if Our Lord had fin-

ished reciting it He would have
ended with words of joy, victory,

and the promise to feed the hun-

gry and to establish spiritual

sovereignty over the earth.

Mary, standing at the foot of

the Cross, knew her scriptures

well. When she heard Our Lord
begin Psalm 21 it reminded her

of a song that she once sang.

It was her Fourth Word which
she chanted in the home of Eliza-

beth, the greatest song ever writ-

ten—The Magnificat: “My
soul doth magnify the Lord.^’

The end of her song contains

very much the same sentiments
as the end of Psalm 21, namely,

that her Divine Son would feed

the poor, exalt her among na-
tions, and that His victory would

endure forever.

There is something common to
both these songs: both were

spoken before there was any as-
surance of victory. In His

Fourth Word from the Cross,



CONFIDENCE IN VICTORY 77

the suffering figure looks for-

ward through the darkness to

the triumph of the Resurrection

and His spiritual dominion over

the earth. In her Fourth Word
the woman, nine months before

her child is born, looks down

the long procession of the com-

ing ages, and proclaims that

when the world’s great women
like Livia, Julia, and Octavia

shall have been forgotten, the

ordinary law of human oblivion
will be suspended in her favor,

because she is the Mother of

Him whose Name is Holy, and
who would make her remembered

from generation unto genera-

tion because His Cross is the re-

demption of men.

Both were really words of tri-

umph, one of victory before the

battle was over, one of Overlord-

ship before the Lord was born.
To both Jesus and Mary, there
were treasures in darkness,

whether the darkness be on a

black hill or in a dark womb.
Are you in the valley of des-

pair? Then learn that the Gos-
pel of Christ can be heard as

Good News even by those whose
life has been shattered by Bad
News, for only those who walk
in darkness ever see the stars.

The reason therefore why
some souls emerge purified from

catastrophe, while other souls

come out worse, is because the

first had One in whom they could
trust and the second had none

but themselves. The atheist,

therefore, is properly defined as

the person who has no invisible

means of support.

Have you ever noticed, as you

talked to your fellow-men, the

different reactions of those who
have faith in God and His pur-

poses, and those who have not?
The man without faith was gen-
erally greatly surprised at the

dark turn of events with two

world wars in 21 years, with the

resurgence of barbarism, and

the abandonment of moral prin-

ciples. But the man with faith
in God was not so surprised. The

sum came out just as he had
expected

; chaos was in the cards,

though they had not yet been

dealt, for he knew that “Unless
the Lord bufid the -house, they

labor in vain that build it”

{Psalm 126:1).

H. G. Wells, for example,

whose optimism once hoped that

“man with his feet on earth,
would one day have hands reach-

ing among the stars,” became
pessimistic as darkness fell over

the earth in these last few years.

Now he says that “the universe
is bored with man, is turning a



78 YOU

hard face to him, and I see him

being carried more and more rap-

idly . . . along the stream of fate

to degradation, suffering and

death.”

Now hear St. Paul, a man of
faith who lived in dark days too.
He had been persecuted and he
knew that the tyrant who held

the sword would one day draw

it across his neck, yet in full

trust he says: “Who then shall
separate us from the love of

Christ? Shall tribulation? or

distress? or famine? or naked-

ness, or danger? or persecu-

tion? or the sword? . . . For

I am sure that neither death,
nor life, nor angels, nor princi-

palities, nor powers, nor things

present, nor things to come, nor

might, nor height, nor depth,

nor any other creature shall be

able to separate us from the love

of God, which is in Christ Jesus

Our Lord” {Romans 8 :35, 38-39)

.

You see the difference? Now
choose! Will you slip down into

abysmal despair, or will you, like

Christ in a blackness at high

noon, and like Mary ere her Tree
of Life had seen the earth, trust

in God, His mercy, and His vic-

tory?

If you are unhappy, or sad, or

despondent, it is basically for

only one reason
:
you have refus-

ed to respond to Love's plea:

“Come to me, all you that labor,

and are burdened, and I will re-

fresh you” {Matthew 11:29).

Everywhere else but in Him, the

liberation promised is either

armed or forced, and that can

mean slavery. Only nailed love

is free. Unnailed and crucified

love can compel. But hands pin-

ioned to a wooden beam cannot

force, nor can a lifted Host and

an elevated Chalice constrain

—

but they can beckon and solicit.

That kind of love gives you

these three suggestions for liv-

ing in troubled times

:

1) Never forget that there are

only two philosophies to rule

your life: The one of the Cross

which starts with the fast and

ends with the feast; the other

of Satan, which starts with the

feast and ends with the head-

ache. Unless there is the Cross,

there will never be the empty

tomb; unless there is faith, in

darkness, there will never be

vision in light; unless there is a

Good Friday there will never be

an Easter Sunday.

2) When bereavement comes,
when the “slings and arrows of

outrageous fortune” strike, when

like Simon of Gyrene a cross is

laid on your reluctant shoulders.



CONFEDENOE IN VICTORY 79

then I say to you who are Cath-

olics, take that cross to daily

Mass, as part of your daily Holy

Hour and say to our Lord at the

moment of consecration : “As

Thou my Savior in love for me
dost say: ‘This is My Body!
This is My Blood!’ so I say to
Thee : ‘This is my body ! Take it.
This is my blood! Take it. They
are yours. I care not if the ac-

cidents or “species” of my life
remain, such as my daily work,
my routine duties, but all that
I am substantially, take, conse-
crate, ennoble, spiritualize so

that I am no longer mine, but
Thine, 0 Lord Divine.’ ”

3) In your daily Holy Hour of

prayers and meditation, wheth-

er you be Jew, Protestant or

Catholic, think not of Almighty

God as a kind of absentee land-

lord with whom you hardly dare
to be familiar. Do not fear Him
with a servile fear, for God is

more patient with you than you

are with yourself. Would you,

for example, be as patient with

the wicked world today as He is?
Would you even be as patient

with anyone else who had the
same faults as you? Rather ap-

proach Him in full confidence
and even with the boldness of a

loving child who has a right to
ask a Father for favors.

Though He may not grant all
you desire, be sure that in a

certain sense there is no un-

answered prayer. A child asks
his father for something that

may not be good for him—for
example, a gun. The father,

while refusing, will pick up the

child in his arms to console him,

giving the response of love, even

in the denial of a request. As
the child forgets in that embrace

that he ever asked a favor, so

in praying you forget what you

wanted when you receive what

you really need : communion with

Divine Love. Do not forget ei-
ther, that there are not two kinds

of answers to prayer, but three:

One is “Yes.” Another is “No.”

The third is “Wait.”

You will find that, as you pray,
the nature of your requests will

change. You will ask less and
less things for yourself, and

more and more for His love. Is
it not true in human relation-
ships that the more you love

someone, the more you seek to
give and the less you desire to

receive. The deepest love never
says, “Give me,” but it does say,

“Take.” You probably think
that if Our Lord came into your

room some night as you were

praying, you would ask Him fa-
vors, or present your difficulties.



^0 YOU

or say: “When will the war

end?” or “Should I buy General

Motors stock?” or “Give me a
million.”

No! You would throw your-

self on your knees and kiss the

hem of His garment. And the
moment He laid His hands on
your head you would feel such

a peace and ti;ust and confidence

—even in darkness—^that you
would not even remember you

had questions to ask, or favors

to beg. You would consider

them a kind of desecration. You

would want only to look into His

face, and you would be in a

world which only lovers know.

That would be the Heaven you

wanted 1



RELIGtON IS A QUEST
Address Delivered On March 18, 1945

Every human heart in the

world without exception is on the

quest of God. Not everyone may
be conscious of it, but it is as

natural for the soul to want God

as for the body to want food or

drink. It was natural for the

prodigal son to be hungry; it

was unnatural to live on husks.

It is natural to want God; it is

unnatural to satisfy that want

with false gods.

Not only is the soul on the

quest of God, but God is on the

quest of the soul, not because

He needs us, but because we need
Him.

This double quest of the Cre-

ator for the creature and the

creature for the Creator is re-

vealed in the Fifth Word of our
Lord from the Cross, and the

Fifth Word of our Lady, pro-
nounced when her son was only

twelve years of age.

One day Our Blessed Lord said

to the multitude: “If any man
thirst, let him come to me and
drink” (John 7:37). But on the

Cross, He from whose finger tips
toppled planets and worlds. He
who filled the valleys with the

song of a thousand fountains,

now cries not to God but to man

:

“I thirst” (John 19:28). And yet

that thirst could not have been

only physical, for the Gospel tells

us that He spoke in order that

the Scriptures might be ful-

filled. It therefore was spiritual

as well as physical. God was or

the quest of souls, trusting that

one of the trivial ministrations

of life, the offering of a cup in

His name, might bring the of-

ferer within the sweet radiance

of His grace.

Mary, standing in the shadow

of her Son’s hard death-bed,

heard His Word and was remind-
ed of the time she thirsted, too.

It was when her little Son, who

had reached the age of twelve,

was lost during the pilgrimage

she and Joseph made to the Holy

City. If the trumpets of doom

had sounded, their hearts would

have been less heavy. For three

days they flushed the hills and

caravans, and on the third day

they found Him. We know not
where He was during those three
days. We can only guess. Per-
haps He was visiting Gethsemane
where His blood twenty-one

years later would crimson the



YOUS2

olive roots; perhaps He stood on
Calvary’s hill and looked for-

ward to this sad hour. In any

case, on the third day they found

Him in the temple, teaching the
doctors of the law. Mary said:

“Son, why hast thou done so to

us ? Behold thy father and I have

sought thee sorrowing” {Luke

2:48). In a land where women

were reticent, where men were

masters, it was not Joseph who

spoke; it was Mary. Mary was

the virgin mother, Joseph was

the foster father.

Here was a creature on the

quest of God. As our Blessed

Lord’s thirst on the Cross re-

vealed the Creator in search of

man, Mary’s words revealed its

complementary truth, that the

creature is in search of God.

If each is seeking for the oth-

er, why do they not find? God
does not always find man be-
cause man is free, and like Adam
he can hide from God. Like a

child who hides from his mother

when he does something wrong,

so does man turn from God when
he sins. God then always seems

“so far away”; but the truth is,

it is man who is “far away.”
Sin creates a distance. Respect-

ing human freedom, God calls
but He does not force. “I thirst”
is the language of liberty. Man

in his turn does not always find

God because he gives up his

search too quickly. God is found

on the third day, for in the

language of our Lord, that is the

day of perfection.

God is closer to us than we

know:

“The angels keep their an-
cient places

;

Turn but a stone, and start a
wing!

’Tis ye, ’tis your estranged
faces,

That miss the many-splen-
doured thing.”*

If, then, you are interested in

saving souls, always start with

the assumption that everyone

wants God, and God loves every-

one.

How about bigots? Do they
want Our Lord and His Church?

Certainly! Sometimes their hat-

red is a vain attempt to ignore.

Never be too hard on bigots.

They do not really hate the

Church. They hate only what

they mistakenly believe to be

the Church. If I had heard the

same lies about the Church they

have heard, and if I had been

taught the same historical per-

versions, with my own peculiar
character and temperment I

would hate the Church ten times

*From Kingdom of God, by Fran-
cis Thompson.



RELIGION IS A QUEST 83

more than they do. At least they

have some zeal and some fire.

It may be misdirected, but with
God’s grace it can be channeled

into love. These souls who peddle

anti-religious tracts or anti-Cath-

olic publications are to be re-

garded in exactly the same light

as St. Paul before his conver-

sion. And as he preached and
lectured against the Church, aft-

er assisting at the killing of the

most brilliant of the early

churchmen, St. Stephen, there

were many believers who de-
spaired. Prayers were multiplied

to God: “Send someone to refute

Paul.” And God heard their
prayers. God sent Paul to an-

swer Paul. A bigot made the
best Apostle.

In my radio audience a few
years ago was a young woman
who used to sit before the radio
and ridicule and scoff at every

word. She is now enjoying the
fullness of Faith and the Sac-

raments. In another town was

a man who used to make records
of these broadcasts, then take

them to a nearby convent, and.

play them for the sisters who
had no radio. But he mitigated

this act of kindness by making

a running commentary of ridi-

cule while the record played. He
recently built the new Sisters’

School in that city. Everyone is

on the quest of God, and if the

soul gives God a chance, God will

win.

How about those who lost the
faith? Here I refer in particular

to the fallen-away Catholic. His

fall is serious because of the

height from which he fell. Is

God thirsting for him? Obvious-

ly, for the Good Shepherd never

gives up seeking His lost sheep.

On the other hand, the fallen-
away, too, thirsts for reunion

with Our Lord and His Body, the

Church, but in an oblique sort of

way. Having tasted the best,

he is miserable without it; hav-

ing eaten the Bread of Life all

else makes hungry where most it

satisfies. Because wandering

sheep are broken-hearted with-

out the Shepherd, make it a rule

never to argue with a fallen-

away Catholic. If, for example,

any such tells you that he no

longer believes in confession, do

not believe it. Like the woman
at the well, who had five hus-
bands, he wants to keep religion

in the realm of the speculative.

What he needs is to have it
brought down to the realm of

the moral, as Our Blessed Lord

did for that woman. He wants
an argument to salve his con-



84 TOU

science, but he needs absolution

to heal it.

If there be any such soul in

my audience, please go to con-
fession during Holy Week and
recover the peace 'which only God

can give. If there is anything

I can do to help your return,

please call on me, for I assure

you the greatest joy of a priest’s

heart comes from lifting sheep

from the thorns and brambles

into the embrace of the Shepherd

of Life.

Do sinners want God too ? Con-

scious sinners do. That is why
one need hardly ever tell such a

sinner how wicked he is. He
knows it a thousand times bet-

ter than you. His conscience

has pointed an accusing finger

at him in his sleep; his fears

have emblazoned his sins on his

mind
;

his neuroses, anxieties,

and unhappiness have been like

trumpets of his inner death. The

Divine Savior wants sinners par-

ticularly, for He said that He
came to save not the just but the

sinners.

His pardoning grace will save

you, if you do not lock it out. In

that case you would be like the

cobbler mentioned by Charles

Dickens. For years he had been

a prisoner in the Bastille, where

he cobbled shoes. He became so

enamored of the walls, the dark-

ness, and the monotony of his

task, that when he was liberated

he built a cell at the center of

his English home, and on days

when skies were clear and birds

were singing, the taps of the

cobbler in the dark could still be

heard. So men by habitual resi-
dence in imprisoning moods ren-

der themselves incapable of liv-

ing in the wider horizons of

God’s grace.

Do I hear you object: “But I

am a sinner. God will not hear
me.” If God will not hear a sin-

ner, why did He praise the pub-
lican in the rear of the temple,

who struck his breast saying:
“0 God, be merciful to me a sin-
ner” {Luke 18:13). There were

two sinners on Calvary on either

side of our Lord. One was saved

because he asked to be saved.

Did not our Divine Savior say:

“Come to me, all you that labor

and are burdened”? (Matthew

12:28). And who is more heavily
burdened than a sinner?

Do not stunt your spiritual life

by looking always for your

faults. Think of God’s love.

Never despair! Not until God

ceases to be infinitely good and

you begin to be infinitely wicked

have you a right to be hope-

less.



RELIGION IS A QUEST 86

If you still insist that you listen to you now, my answer is

:

never before prayed in your life Pray anyway. A strange voice
and therefore God would not is one most quickly heard.



THE PURPOSE OF LIFE
Address Delivered On March 25, 1945

There is no word more often

used in our modern world and

more often misunderstood than

the word freedom. Almost every-

one thinks of it as freedom from

something, but rarely as freedom

for something. Some think they

are free only because they have

no ball and chain on their feet,

without ever adverting to why

they want to be free, and what

is the purpose of life.

The root of all our trouble is

that freedom for God and in

God has been interpreted as free-

dom from God. Before we ask

what you do with your freedom,

let us turn to the life of Our

Lord and Our Lady, for the su-

preme example of how freedom

is to be used.

The First Word Our Lord is
recorded as speaking in the

Scripture is at the age of twelve

:

“I must be about my Father’s
business” {Luke 2:49). During

His public life. He re-affirmed
this dedication to His Father’s

will : “I do always the things that

please him” {John 8:29). Now
on the Cross, when He goes oul
to meet death by freely surren-

dering His Life, His last words

are: “Father, into thy hands I

commend my spirit” {Luke
23:46).

Father—Note the word of
Eternal Parenthood. He did not
say Our Father as we do, for

the Father was not His and ours

in the same way. He is the Nat-
ural Son of the Father; we are

only the adopted sons.

Into thy hands—These were
the hands the prophet called

“good”; the hands that guided

Israel to its historical fulfillment

of God’s Providence; the hands

that provided good things even

for the birds of the air and the

grass of the field.

/ commend my spirit—Surren-
der! Consecration! Life is a

cycle. We come from God and we
go back again to God. Hence the

purpose of living is to do God’s

will.

When Our Blessed Mother saw
Him bow His head and deliver
His Spirit, she remembered the

last Word that she is recorded to
have spoken in Scripture. It was

to the wine steward at the mar-

riage feast of Cana; that day

when, in the language of Cra-

shaw, “the unconscious waters



THE PURPOSE OF LI^^E 8^

saw their God and blushed.”

“Whatsoever he shall say to you,

do ye” {John 2:5).

What a beautiful valedictory!
They are the most magnificent

words that ever came from the

lips of a woman. At the Trans-

figuration the Father spoke from

the Heavens and said: “This is

my Beloved Son . . . hear ye
him” {Matthew 17:5). Now our
Blessed Mother speaks and says,

“Do His will.” The sweet rela-

tionship of three decades in Naz-

areth now draws to a close, as
Mary is about to give Emmanuel

to us all. She does it by point-

ing out to us the one and only

way of salvation: complete con-
secration to her Divine Son. No-

where in the Scripture is it ever

said that Mary loved her Son.
Words do not prove love. True

love is surrender of the will, and

such is her final injunction to

us: “Whatsoever he shall say to

you, do ye” {John 2:5).

Both the last recorded words

of Jesus and those of Mary were
words about freedom : a freedom

for something. For Jesus it was
the will of the Father, for Mary
the will of the Son. This is the

law of the universe: Nature is

for man, man is for Christ, and
Christ is God’s.

What do you do with your

freedom? You can do one of

three things with it:

1) Keep it for your selfish de-

sires.

2) Break it up into tiny little

areas of trivial allegiance or

passing fancy.

3) Surrender it to God.

If you keep freedom only for

yourself, then, because it is ar-

bitrary and without standards,

you will find it deteriorating, in-

to a defiant self-affirmation. Once

all things become allowable, sim-

ply because you desire them, you

will become the slave of your

choices. If your self-will decides

to drink as much as you please,
you soon find not only that you

are no longer free not to drink,

but that you belong to drink; it

is your master, you are its slave.

Boundless liberty is boundless

tyranny. The abuse of freedom

ends in the destruction of free-

dom. This is what Our Lord

meant when He said: “Whoso-
ever committeth sin, is the ser-

vant of sin” {John 8:34).

The second way to use free-
dom is to become like a humming
bird, hovering first over this

flower, then over that, but liv-

ing for none and dying without

any. In that case, you desire

nothing with your whole heart.



88 YOU

because your heart is broken into

a thousand pieces. You thus be-

come divided against yourself;

a civil war rages within you;

you are striking out in con-

tradictory directions. You change
your likes and desires when
dissatisfied, but you never

change yourself. You become
very much like the man who
complained to the cook at break-

fast that the egg was not fresh

and asked for another. She

brought in an egg a minute later,

but when he got to the bottom of

it, he found it was the same old

egg turned upside down. So it

is with human nature
;
what

has changed is the desire, not

the soul.

As a result, your interest in
others is not real. In your more

honest moments you discover

that you deal with them on

the basis of self-interest; you

let them speak when they agree
with you, but you silence them

when they disagree. Your mo-
ments of love, if you look into

your soul, are nothing but a bar-

ren exchange of egotism—you
talk about yourself five minutes,

and your neighbor talks about

himself five minutes, but if he

takes longer you call him a

“bore.”

No wonder such people often

say: “I must pull myself togeth-

er.” Thus do they confess that

they are like broken mirrors,

each reflecting a different image.

In essence this is debauchery,

or the inability to choose one

among many attractions
;

the

soul is diffused, multiple, or

“legion,” as Satan called him-

self. And this is the sad state
of millions in the world; they

are free from something, but

free for nothing, because they

have no purpose in life.

Finally, you can use your free-

dom as Our Lord did on the

Cross, by surrendering His

Spirit to the Father, and as Mary

bade us at Cana, by doing His

will in all things. This is per-

fect freedom: the displacement

of self as the center of motiva-

tion and the fixation of our

choices, decisions, and actions

in the words of Our Lord: “Thy

will be done on earth as it is in

heaven.” We are all like limpets
that can live only when they

cling to a rock. Our freedom

forces us to adhere to something.

Freedom is ours to surrender;

we are free to choose our servi-

tudes. To give that freedom to

anything less than the perfect

never brings ultimate peace. But

to surrender to Perfect Love is

to surrender to happiness and



THE PURPOSE OP LIFE 89

thereby be perfectly free. Thus

to “serve God is to reign.”

But we are afraid to give

away our will. Like St. Augus-

tine in his early life we say:

“I want to love you dear Lord,

a little later on, but not now.”

Fearful of One who comes to

us purple-robed and cypress-

crowned, we ask : “Must Thy

harvest fields be dunged with

rotten death?” Must gold be

purified by fire? Must hands that

beckon bear the red livid marks

of nails? Must I give up my can-
dle, if I have the sun? Must I

give up knocking if the door of

love is opened? Do we not act
toward God as a child who re-
sents the affectionate embrace of

his parents, because it is not our

mood to love? Francis Thompson

so reflected when he heard these
words from the mouth of a child

:

‘Why do you so clasp me.
And draw me to your knee?

Forsooth, you do but chafe me,
I pray you let me be:

I will be loved but now and then
When it liketh me!'

So I heard a young child,
A thwart child, a young child

Rebellious against love’s arms.
Make its peevish cry.

To the tender God I turn;

—

‘Pardon, Love most High!
For I think those arms were

even Thine,
And that child even I.’
There is hope for you if you

are dissatisfied with your pres-

ent choices, and you want the

Perfect: the very void you thus

create makes it possible for God

to fill it. I would rather hear

you say, “I am a sinner,” than
to hear you say, “I have no need

of religion.” If you admit you

are a sinner, you acknowledge

the need of a Redeemer; but if

you have no need of religion,

then you are your own god, and
if you are God, I am an atheist.
If you are empty, God can pour
in His waters of Life; if you

are filled with self, there is no

room for anything else.

No man who has ever shed a
sincere tear before God for the
way he abused his freedom was
ever lost. Even in an earthly

way, have you ever noticed how
much more beautiful the hills
look when there are tears in
your eyes. You may even see
rainbows of hope. Our Lord
took St. Augustine to Himself

even though Augustine lament-

ed: “Too late, 0 ancient Beauty,
have I loved Thee.”

So He will take your freedom
to choose between good and evil

and make it a freedom in per-
fection and goodness if you but

surrender to that “love we fall
short of in all love” and to that



90 YOU

“Beauty that leaves all other

beauty pain.”

This is the week Divine Love

died for you. He makes His
final appeal as Love crucified.

When dictators want the wills
of men, they nail them to a

cross.

When God wants our wills, He
permits Himself to be nailed,

that He may never force and
that we may be uncaught cap-
tives in the hands of Love.

Do you know anyone else who
loves you enough to die for you?

You know your own mind, yes;

but do you know your own
heart? Your tears may be dried;
but your heart filled? Never!

Only God can fill that. May
you then give Him an hour a
day in prayer and meditation al-

ways remembering that it does

not require much time to make

you a saint; it requires only

much love.



EASTER
Address Delivered On April 1, 1945

If this second World War had
not broken out, I would have

found it hard to believe in God.

I do not mean the World War
with its peculiar accidents of

time and place and nations, but

in the larger moral aspect of

judgment and retribution. If

nature, for example, were indif-

erent to infractions of its laws,

if health did not decline with the

refusal to eat, if blindness did

not follow the plucking out of

an eye, if one gathered figs of

thistles, and water ran up hill,

it would be difficult to believe

that Supreme Intelligence had

imposed order and law on the

visible universe in which we live.
In like manner, if the moral

order were indifferent to our in-

fractions, if the breakdown of

the nations did not follow the col-

lapse of family life, if the af-

firmation that man is an animal
did not make men act like ani-
mals, if the denial that God is
the Author of Law did not pro-
duce a lawless and therefore a

warring world, then it would be

difficult to believe that God made
a moral universe in which men
reaped where they sowed, and
where the wages of sin are deatJbk

At no time in modern history

has it been easier to believe in

God than now. It used to be that

evil was considered a stumbling

block to a belief in the Goodness

of God, but today men are com-
ing to a belief in the Goodness

of God because of evil. They ad-

mit that evil today has taken on

such proportions that it can be

explained only by the infraction

of a universal moral law that

must have come from God. In a

word, the modern man is com-
ing to God by way of the devil.
And such is the lesson of this

Resurrection day: We come to
the glory of Easter Sunday

through the evil of a Good Fri-

day; to a halo of dazzling light

through the ignominy of a crown

of thorns; to the dawn of a new
day through the darkness of a

high noon.

Calvary is only a momentary
scandal. Goodness in the face

of evil must suffer, for when love
meets sin it will be crucified. A
God who bears His Sacred Heart
upon His sleeve as Our Lord did
in the Incarnation,

,
must be pre-

pared to have daws peck at it.
But at the same time. Goodness
can use that suffering as the con-



D-J Y

dition of overcoming evil! It

can take anger and wrath and

hate and say “Forgive.” It can

take life and offer it for another.

Evil may have its hour, but God
will have His day.

When therefore at one mo-
ment I see a naked criminal on

the gallows, forsaken by follow-

ers, rejected by the dominant

spiritual forces of His time, con-

demned by the State whose name

stands in all history as the

synonym for human law;
when three days later I hear an

angel say to a woman in search
of a grave, “Why seek you the
living with the dead?” {Luke 24:

5) ; when I hear Him as the
Divine Stranger on a roadway

Easter afternoon say to His

companions: “Ought not Christ

to have suffered these things,

and so to enter into his glory?”

{Luke 24:26); when I see Him
who had been nailed, walking in
the newness of life in the clouds

of the morning—then I begin to
understand that since evil could

never do anything worse than

crucify Goodness, it could never

be truly victorious again. Con-

quered in its full armor and in

the moment of its monumental
momentum, evil might in the

future win some battles, but it

would always lose the war. Evil

is more powerful than goodness

when the battlefield is the physi-
cal, as a Niagara Falls can sweep

a good man to his destruction;
nevertheless, goodness is more

powerful than evil when the
issue is spiritual, for as the mind

of a man can harness the de-
structive forces of a Niagara, so

the Goodness of God can let evil

do its mightiest, which is to cru-

cify Divine Life and still con-

quer it by rising not with

wounds, but with glorious scars

on hands and feet and side.

From that day on, all the dark-
ness in the world cannot put out

the light of a single candle. All

the swords of earth cannot kill

the life of a single immortal soul.

All the evil in the universe can-

not black out the fixed flash of

that instant and intolerant en-

lightenment — the Lightning
made eternal as the Light. No
one therefore shall take away our
hope for any person or nation

regardless of the passing forces

of evil.

Would you point to Russia
then on this Easter day? I tell

you, that this land and this peo-

ple (here I speak not of its ideo-

logy nor its present hours nor

the immediate future) shall one

day, not because of any present

human tendencies in that direc-
tion but because of the Christ-

likeness of its great souls, hidden



BASTBR 98

away from the eye of man, come

to the glory of the Risen Christ.

Other lands have loved Christ

the Teacher, others Christ the

Captain, others Christ the Truth,

but here is a land whose dedica-

tion is to Christ on the Cross;

the emptied Christ, the humiliat-

ed Christ, the suffering Christ.

Their long traditional concept

of charity is not like ours of the

Western world. We look upon
salvation and redemption verti-

cally. We live on the second
floor: down in the basement

there is poverty, evil and pain.

We go down to the basement,
bind up wounds, educate, sweep

the floor and feed the hungry,

and when we have done all we
can, we go back again into the
comforts of our second floor ex-

istence.

The Russians for centuries, on
the contrary, have looked at re-

demption horizontally. On one
side there is goodness, abun-

dance, life; on the other side is

evil, sorrow, pain. Once their

great souls cross that line, the

sunny side of the gap, they never

go back. They go to wretched-
ness and evil, not to alleviate but
to share, not to ease burdens but

to take them on, not to do all
one can and then leave, not to

alleviate but to partake and to

commune.

This love of participation in

the sufferings of others has

peopled Russia in the past and

even now with the greatest spir-
itual underground in the world,

an underground dedicated not to

the destruction but the salvation

of a nation, namely the ‘yuro-

divy,’ or the “born fools.” He
is nobody’s son, nobody’s father,

but everybody’s brother. A true
fool of Christ, he becomes a

spectacle to men and angels, in
the stark madness of absorbing

the shocks of evil, by forgiving,

blessing, and praying, because

the love of his fellowmen is

stronger than his love of life.

A Russian woman who lived
in close contact with these suf-

fering unknown souls tells us
the heroic Legend that the yuro-

divy’s whisper in Russia, even

this very minute. It is a varia-

tion of the old legend of St.

George and the Dragon. It seems

that one day St. George was
about to slay the dragon, and as

he drew his sword, Christ step-

ped in between the two, not to

protect St. George, but the

dragon, bidding St. George to

put up his sword.

There is some suggestion here

of Gethsemane, where Christ so

participated in the sins of the

world, that He waited until the
cup of iniquity was full. Not



YOU»4

until the chalice of the world’s

sin had been drained of its last

drop of evil, could it be smashed

and shattered without fear of

spilling the dregs either on man
or mother earth. So the yuro-

divy awaits the hour until he

has filled up in his body the suf-

ferings that are wanting to the

passion of Christ, and then shall

be fulfilled the vocation of Rus-

sia to bring the treasures of

Christ to all the nations.

May we too learn that the bur-
den of the world’s sin is on us

too, that we are responsible to
some extent for the sins of all

men. While earth wears wounds,

we must say in Christ’s name:

“My Pain ! My Grief ! My Woe

!

My Tears! My Sin!” •
But why should we share the

burden of others? Because we
love others with the love with

which Christ loved us. Love

everyone. Love man in sin, for
to love man in sin is the only
way to crush sin in man and save
him. Love the lilies, for they

tell us of the Father’s care. Love

the birds, for their song is

Nature’s Vespers. Love the lit-

tle children, for their angels see

the Face of the Father. Love

families, for they are magnified

trinities—Lover, the Beloved,
and Love.

Love the weak, for God has
chosen them to confound the

strong. Love the wounded, for

they bear the vestigial scars of

Calvary. Love the sick, for in

them God’s glory can be revealed.

Love the ignorant, for if they

know God they are the wisest of

men. Love Thyself, knowing

that love’s greatest victory is

laying siege to selfishness.

Each night as the sun goes

down in the “flaming monstrance

of the west,” think of it as the

bleeding Heart of the world, cry-

ing to you to love, for there will

never be peace in the world so

long as we understand VE-Day
to mean Victory over Europe,
but only if it means Victory over

Evil through the grace and

peace of our Risen Lord and

Savior Jesus Christ.



THE PURPOSE OF THE CATHOLIC HOUR
(Extract from the address of the late Patrick Cardinal Hayes at the in-
augural program of the Catholic Hour in the studio of the National
Broadcasting Company, New York City, March 2, 1930.)

Our congratulations and our gratitude are extended to the National
Council of Catholic Men and its officials, and to all who, by their financial
support, have made it possible to use this offer of the National Broad-
casting Company. The heavy expense of managing and financing a
weekly program, its musical numbers, its speakers, the subsequent an-

swering of inquiries, must be met. . . .

This radio hour is for all the people of the United States. To our
fellow-citizens, in this word of dedication, we wish to express a cordial
greeting and, indeed, congratulations. For this radio hour is one of
service to America, which certainly will listen in interestedly, and even
sympathetically, I am sure, to the voice of the ancient Church with its
historic background of all the centuries of the Christian era, and with
its own notable contribution to the discovery, exploration, foundation
and growth of our glorious country. . . .

Thus to voice before a vast public the Catholic Church is no light
task. Our prayers will be with those who have that task in hand. We
feel certain that it will have both the good will and the good wishes of

the great majority of our countrymen. Surely, there is no true lover

of our Country who does not eagerly hope for a less worldly, a less
material, and a more spiritual standard among our people.

With good will, with kindness and with Christ-like sympathy for
all. this work is inaugurated. So may it continue. So may it be ful-
filled. This word of dedication voices, therefore, the hope that this radio
hour may servp to make known, to explain with the charity of Christ,
our faith, which we love even as we love Christ Himself. May it serve
to make better understood that faith as it really is—a light revealing
the pathway to heaven: a strength, and a power divine through Christ;
pardoning our sins, elevating, consecrating our common every-day duties
and joys, bringing not only justice but gladness and peace to our search-
ing and questioning hearts.



120 CATHOLIC HOUR STATIONS
In 42

AInhnmn

States, the District of Columbio, and Hawaii

WRRC* 960 kc

Arizona

WAI A 1410 kc
WSFA* 1440 kc

....KAWT 1 450 kc
ninhP ....KWJR 1240 kc

kTAR 620 kc
kYCA 1490 kc

<;nffnrH KGLU 1450 kc
KVHA 1290 kc
k-YIlM 1240 kc

. KERO 1230 kc
KMI 580 kc
RFI 640 kc
RrRA* 1340 kc
i^pn 680 kc

..KIST 1340 kc

KOA 850 kc
WTir* 1090 kc
WRr 980 kc
WIAY 930 kc
Winn 610 kc
WnR7 740 kc
wrnA 1370 kc

...WFLA .. - ...970-620 kc

. WSR 750 kc
WTNT 1230 kc
vysAv 1340 kc

IHnhn Roisf? ...KIDO* — - 1380 kc
lllinni.<; rhirngn WMAn 670 kc

Peoria ...WEEK' 1350 kc

Inrlinnn Flkhnrt WTRr 1340 kc
Fort Wayne wni 1450 kc
InHinnnpnlis WIRF* 1430 kc

WROW 1230 kc
Dnvfinpnrt ,.woc* 1420 kc

Kansas Hutchinson k’WRW 1450 kc
Wirhitn KAN|S 1240 kc

Kentucky Louisville WAVF* 970 kc
1 niikinnn Alpvnndrin KYSI 1400 kc

Baton Rouge -..WJBO 1150 kc
Lafayette Kvni 1340 kc
Lake Charles -...KPLC 1490 kc
Monroe KNOF 1230 kc
Nfiw Orlftnns WSMR 1350 kc
Shreveport . KTRS* 1480 kc

Mninfi Augusta WRnn 1400 kc
MnrylnnH .Rnltimnrf! WRAI 1090 kc

Cumberland WTRO lAsn kr

Massachusetts Rn<;tnn WR7 1030 kc
•springfiplH WR7A 1030 kc

Mirhignn Detroit .. .WWJ 950 kc
Flint WTCR 600 kc
Saginaw WSAM* 1400 kc

Minnesota Dull ith-'?ijpprinr WFRC 1320 kc
Hihhing WMFn 1300 kc
Mnnkntn RYSM 1230 kc
Minneapolis-St. Paul KSTP 1500 kc
Rnrhpstpr KROr 1340 kc
St. Cloud.. ....KFAM 1450 kc
Virginia WHLB



120 CATHOLIC HOUR STATIONS
In 42 States, the District of Columbia, and Hawaii

Mississippi-

Missouri

Montana.

Nebraska

Nevada

New Hampshire.

New Mexico

New York

North Carolina-

North Dakota.

Ohio

Oklahoma

Oregon

Pennsylvania...

Rhode Island

South Carolina.

South Dakota...

Tennessee

Texas

Utah .....

Virginia.

..Jackson

-Kansas City
Springfield
Saint Louis

.Billings
Bozeman
Butte
Great Falls
Helena

.North Platte
Omaha

Reno

.Manchester

-Albuquerque

-Buffalo
New York
Schenectady

.Asheville
Charlotte
Raleigh
Winston-Salem .

.Bismark
Fargo

.Cleveland
Lima
Toledo

Oklahoma City.
Tulsa

Medford
Portland

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Providence

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Memphis
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Amarillo
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Weslaco

-Salt Lake City...

. Harrisonburg **
Martinsville
Norfolk
Richmond

...WJDX*

...WDAF
-KGBX

..KSD*

- KGHL
....KRBM
...KGIR
...KXLK
..KPFA
...KODY
. .WOW
.. .KOH

..1300 kc

.. 610 kc

..1260 kc

.. 550 kc

.. 790 kc

..1450 kc

..1370 kc

..1400 kc

..1240 kc

.1240 kc
- 590 kc

.. 630 kc

...WBEN
. WNBC
...WGY

..WISE
...WSOC
...WPTF
..WSJS

.. 930 kc

.. 660 kc

.. 810 kc

.1230 kc
-.1240 kc
-. 680 kc
.. 600 kc

..WTAM 1100 kc

..WLOK 1240 kc

..WSPD* 1340 kc

...WSAN

...WFBG

..WERC
. .WJAC
...WMRF
. .KYW
. .KDKA
.WRAW

. .WBRE

..WRAK

-.WJAR

.. .WTMA

...WIS*

...WFBC*

..1470 kc
-1340 kc
..1230 kc
..1400 kc
.1490 kc
..1060 kc
. 1020 kc
-.1340 kc
. 1340 kc
-.1400 kc

-- 920 kc

-1250 kc
- 560 kc
-1330 kc

...KSOO-KELO -1140-1230 kc

...WKPT

...WMC*

...WSM*

. .KGNC*
. -KTSM
.WPAB*
-KPRC*
..WOAI
..KRGV*

...KYDL*

-.1400 kc
.. 790 kc
.. 650 kc

820 kc
950 kc
1200 kc

—-1 290 kc

...WMVA 1450 kc
. .WTAR>1= 790 kc
-WMBG 1380 kc



120 CATHOLIC HOUR STATIONS
In 42 States, the District of Columbia, and Hawaii

Washington Seattle .KOMO 950 kc
Spokane KHQ 590 kc

Wisconsin Eau Claire WEAU 790 kc
Lacrosse WKBH 1410 kc
Marinette WMAM* 570 kc

Hawaii Honolulu .KGU 760 kc

* Delayed Broadcast

** AM and FM
(Revised as of April 1, 1948)



CATHOLIC HOUR RADIO ADDRESSES IN
PAMPHLET FORM

Prices Subject to change without notice.

OUR SUNDAY VISITOR is the authorized publisher of all CATHOLIC HOUR ad-
dresses in pamphlet form. The addresses published to date, all of which are available,
are listed below. Others \yill be published as they are delivered.

Quantity Prices Do Not Include Carriage Charge

“The Divine Romance,” by Rt. Rev. Msgr. Fulton J. Sheen, 80 pages and cover.
Single copy, 25c postpaid ; 5 or more, 20c each. In quantities, $10.75 per 100.

“A Trilogy on Prayer,” by Rev. Thomas F. Burke, C.S.P., 32 pages and cover.
Single copy, 20c postpaid ; 5 or more, 15c each. In quantities, $7.50 per 100.

“Christ and His Church,” by Rt. Rev. Msgr. Joseph M. Corrigan, 88 pages and cover.
Single copy, 25c postpaid ; 5 or more, 20c each. In quantities, $13.00 per 100.

“The Marks of the Church,” by Rev. Dr. John K. Cartwright, 48 pages and cover.
Single copy, 20c postpaid ; 5 or more, 15c each. In quantities, $8.00 per 100.

“The Organization and Government of the Church,” by Rev. Dr, Francis J. Connell,
C.SS.R., 48 pages and cover. Single copy, 20c postpaid ; 5 or more, 15c each. In
quantities, $8.00 per 100.

“Moral Factors in Economic Life,” by Rt. Rev. Msgr. Francis J. Haas and Rt. Rev.
Msgr. John A. Ryan, 32 pages and cover. Single copy, 20c postpaid ; 5 or more, 15c
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“Divine Helps for Man,” by Rev. Dr. Edward J. Walsh, C.M., 104 pages and cover.
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“The Parables,” by Rev. John A. McClorey, S.J., 128 pages and cover. Single copy,
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“Christianity’s Contribution to Civilization,” by Rev. James M. Gillis, C.S.P., 96
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“The Way of the Cross,” by Rt. Rev. Msgr. Fulton J. Sheen, 32 pages and cover,
(prayer book size). Single copy, 10c postpaid ; 5 or more, 6c each. In quantities, $4.00 per 100.

“Christ Today,” by Very Rev. Dr. Ignatius Smith, O.P., 48 pages and cover. Single
copy, 20c postpaid ; 5 or more, 15c each. In quantities, $8.50 per 100.

“Rural Catholic Action,” by Rev. Dr. Edgar Schmiedeler, O.S.B., 24 pages and cover.
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“Religion and Human Nature,” by Rev. Dr. Joseph A. Daly, 40 pages and cover.
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“The Church and Some Outstanding Problems of the Day,” by Rev. Jones I. Cor-
rigan, S.J., 72 pages and cover. Single copy, 25c postpaid ; 5 or more, 20c each. In quan-
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“Conflicting Standards,” by Rev. James M. Gillis, C.S.P., 80 pages and cover. Single
copy, 25c postpaid; 5 or more, 20c each. In quantities, $10.75 per 100.

“The Seven Last Words,” by Rt. Rev. Msgr. Fulton J. Sheen, (prayer book size) 32
pages and cover. Single copy, 10c postpaid ; 5 or more, 6c each. In quantities, $4.00 per 100.

“The Church and the Child,” by Rev. Dr. Paul H. Furfey, 48 pages and cover.
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“Love’s Veiled Victory and Love’s Laws,” by Rev. Dr. George F. Strohaver, S.J.
48 pages and cover. Single copy, 20c postpaid ; 5 or more, 15c each. In quantities $8.00 per 100.

“Religion and Liturgy,” by Rev. Dr. Francis A. Walsh, O.S.B., 32 pages and cover.
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“The Lord’s Prayer Today,” by Very Rev. Dr. Ignatius Smith, O.P., 64 pages and
cover. Single copy, 20c postpaid ; 5 or more, 15c each. In quantities, $9.00 per 100.

“God, Man and Redemption,” by Rev. Dr. Ignatius W. Cox, S.J., 64 pages and
cover. Single copy, 20c postpaid ; 5 or more, 15c each. In quantities, $9.00 per 100.

“This Mysterious Human Nature,” by Rev. James M. Gillis, C.S.P., 48 pages and cover.
Single copy, 20c postpaid ; 5 or more, 15c each. In quantities, $8.00 per 100.

“The Eternal Galilean,” by Rt. Rev. Msgr. Fulton J. Sheen, 160 pages and cover.
Single copy, 40c postpaid ; 5 or more, 30c each. In quantities, $19.50 per 100.

“The Queen of Seven Swords,” by Rt. Rev. Msgr. Fulton J. Sheen (prayer book size)
32 pages and cover. Single copy, 10c postpaid ; 5 or more, 6c each. In quantities $4.00 per 100.

“The Catholic Teaching on Our Industrial System,” by Rt. Rev. Msgr. John A. Ryan,
32 pages and cover. Single copy, 20c postpaid ; 5 or more, 15c each. In quantities, $7.50
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“The Salvation of Human Society,” by Rev. Peter J. Bergen, C.S.P., 48 pages and cover.
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“The Church and Her Missions,” by Rt. Rev. Msgr. William Quinn, 32 pages and cover.
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“The Church and the Depression,” by Rev. James M. Gillis, C.S.P., 80 pages and
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“The Church and Modern Thought,” by Rev. James M. Gillis, C.S.P., 80 pages and
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“Misunderstood Truths,” by Most Rev. Duane Hunt, 48 pages and cover. Single
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“The Judgment of God and The Sense of Duty,” by Rt. Rev. Msgr. William J. Kerby,



16 pages and cover. Single copy, 15c postpaid ; 6 or more, 10c each. In quantities, $7.00
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“Christian Education,” by Rev. Dr. James A. Reeves, 32 pages and cover. Single
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“What Civilization Owes to the Church,” by Rt. Rev. Msgr. William Quinn, 64 pages
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“If Not Christianity: What?” by Rev. James M. Gillis, C.S.P., 96 pages and cover.
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“The Coin of Our Tribute,” by Very Rev. Thomas F. Conlon, O.P., 40 pages and cover.
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“The Prodigal World,” by Rt. Rev. Msgr. Futon J. Sheen, 140 pages and cover.
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“Pope Pius XI,” by His Eminence Patrick Cardinal Hayes. An address in honor of
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“Misunderstanding the Church,” by Most Rev. Duane G. Hunt, 48 pages and cover.
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“The Poetry of Duty,” by Rev. Alfred Duffy, C.P., 48 pages and cover. Single copy,
20c postpaid ; 5 or more, 15c each. In quantities, $8.00 per 100.

“Characteristic Christian Ideals,” by Rev. Bonaventure McIntyre, O.F.M., 32 pages
and cover. Single copy, 15c postpaid ; 5 or more, 10c each. In quantities, $7.50 per 100.

“The Catholic Church and Youth,” by Rev. John F. O’Hara, C.S.C., 48 pages and cover.
Single copy, 20c postpaid ; 5 or more, 15c each. In quantities, $8.00 per 100.

“The Spirit of the Missions,” by Rt. Rev. Msgr. Thomas J. McDonnell, 32 pages and
cover. Single copy, 15c postpaid ; 5 or more, 10c each. In quantities, $7.50 per 100.

“The Life of the Soul,” by Rev. James M. Gillis, C.S.P., 96 pages and cover. Single
copy, 30c postpaid ; 5 or more, 25c each. In quantities, $13.75 per 100.

“Society and the Social Encyclials—America’s Road Out,” by Rev. R. A. McGowan, 32
pages and cover. Single copy, 15c postpaid ; 5 or more, 10c each. In quantities, $7.50 per 100.

“Pius XI, Father and Teacher of the Nations,” (On His Eightieth Birthday) by His
Excellency, Most Rev. Amleto Giovanni Cicognani, 16 pages and cover. Single copy, 15c
postpaid : 5 or more, 10c each. In quantities, $6.00 per 100.

“The Eastern Catholic Church,” by Rev. John Kallok, 48 pages and cover.
Single copy, 20c postpaid ; 5 or more, 15c each. In quantities, $8.00 per 100.

“The ‘Lost’ Radiance of the Religion of Jesus,” by Rev. Thomas A. Carney, 40 pages
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“God and Governments,” by Rev. Wilfrid Parsons, S.J., 48 pages and cover.
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“Saints vs. Kings,” by Rev. James M. Gillis, C.S.P., 96 pages and cover. Single
copy, 30c postpaid ; 5 or more, 25c each. In quantities, $13.75 per 100.

“The Appeal To Reason,” by Most Rev. Duane G. Hunt, D.D., LL.D., 72 pages and
cover. Single copy, 20c postpaid ; 5 or more, 15c each. In quantities, $10.50 per 100.

“The Mission of Youth in Contemporary Society,” by Rev. Dr. George Johnson, 40
pages and cover. Single copy, 20c postpaid ; 5 or more, 15c each. In quantities, $9.00 per 100.

“The Holy Eucharist,” by Most Rev. Joseph F. Rummel, S.T.D., LL.D., 32 pages and
cover. Single copy,' 20c postpaid ; 5 or more, 15c each. In quantities, $8.00 per 100.

“The Rosary and the Rights of Man,” by Very Rev. J. J. McLarney, O.P., 56 pages
and cover. Single copy, 15c postpaid ; 5 or more, 10c each. In quantities, $7.50 per 100.

“Human Life,” by Rev. James M. Gillis, C.S.P., 96 pages and cover. Single copy,
30c postpaid; 5 or more, 25c each. In quantities, $13.75 per 100.

“Freedom,” by Rt. Rev. Msgr. Fulton J. Sheen.

Part II—“Personal Freedom,” 96 pages and cover. Single copy, 30c postpaid

;

5 or more, 25c each. In quantities, $13.75 per 100.
“Toward the Reconstruction of a Christian Social Order,” by Rev. Dr. John P.

Monoghan, 48 pages and cover. Single copy, 20c postpaid ; 5 or more, 15c each. In
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“Marian Vignettes,” by Rev. J. R. Keane, O.S.M., 32 pages and cover. Single copy
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“The Peace of Christ,” by Very Rev. Martin J. O’Malley, C.M., 32 pages and cover.
Single copy, 15c postpaid ; 5 or more 10c each. In quantities, $7.50 per 100.

“God’s World of Tomorrow,” by Rev. Dr. John J. Russell, 40 pages and cover.
Single copy, 20c postpaid ; 5 or more, 15c each. In quantities, $8.00 per 100.

What Catholics Do At Mass,” by Rev. Dr. William H. Russell, 72 pages and cover,
including study club questions and suggestions, and brief bibliography. Single copy, 25c
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“The Catholic Tradition in Literature,” by Brother Leo, F.S.C., 40 pages and cover.
Single copy, 20c postpaid ; 5 or more, 15c each. In quantities, $8.75 per 100.

“Prophets and Kings: Great Scenes, Great Lines,” by Rev. James M. Gillis, C.S.P. 96
pages and cover. Single copy, 30c postpaid ; 5 or mor6, 25c each. In quantities, $13.75 per 100.

“Peace, the Fruit of Justice,” by Rt. Rev. Msgr. Fulton J. Sheen, 64 pages and cover.
Single copy, 20c postpaid ; 5 or more, 15c each. In quantities, $9.00 per 100.

“1930—Memories—1940,” the addresses delivered in the Tenth Anniversary Broadcast of
the Catholic Hour on March 3, 1940, together with congratulatory messages and editorials,
80 pages and cover. Single copy; 30c postpaid ; 5 or more, 25c each. In quantities,
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“What Kind of a World Do You Want,” by Rev. Wilfrid Parsons, S.J., 40 pages and
cover. Single copy, 20c postpaid ; 5 or more, 15c each. In quantities, $8.00 per 100.



"The Life and Personality of Christ," by Kev. Herbert F. Gallagher, O.h'.M., 48 pages
and cover. Single copy, 20c postpaid: 5 or more, 15c each. In quantities, $8.00 per 100.

“Law," by Rev. Dr. Howard W. Smith, 40 pages and cover. Single copy, 20c
postpaid : 5 or more. 15c each. In quantities, $8.00 per 100.

“In the Beginning," by Rev. Arthur J. Sawkins, 40 pages and cover. Single coi>y,
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“America and the Catholic Church," by Rev. John J. Walde, 48 page.s and cover.
Single copy, 20c postpaid ; 5 or more, 15c each. In quantities, $8.00 per 100.

“The Social Crisis and Christian Patriotism,” by Rev. Dr. John F. Cronin, S.S., 40
pages and cover. Single copy, 20c postpaid : 5 or more, 15c each. In quantities, $8.00 per 100.

“Missionary Responsibility," by the Most Rev. Richard J. Cushing, D.D., LL.D., $2 page.s
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“Crucial Questions,” by Rev. James M. Gillis, C.S.P., 04 pages and cover. Single
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“War and Guilt,” by Rt. Rev. Msgr. Fulton J. Sheen of the Catholic University of Ameri-
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“The Purposes of Our Eucharistic Sacrifice," by Rev. Gerald T. Baskfield, S.T.D., o i
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“The Case for Conscience,” by Rev. Thomas Smith Sullivan, O.M.I., S.T.D., 32 pages
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“The Catholic Notion of Faith,” by Rev. Thomas N. O’Kane, 40 pages and cover.
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“Freedom Defended,” by Rev. John F. Cronin, S.S., Ph.D., 32 pages and cover.
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“The Rights of the Oppressed,” by Rt. Rev. Msgr. Martin J. O’Connor, 40 pages and
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“The Practical Aspects of Patriotism,” by Rev. George Johnson, Ph.D., 40 pages and
cover. Single copy, 20c postpaid ; 5 or more, 15c each. In quantities, $8.00 per 100.

“What Is Wrong and How to Set It Right,” by Rev. James M. Gillis, C.S.P., 80 pages
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“Peace,” by Rt. Rev. Msgr. Fulton J. Sheen, 160 pages and cover. Single copy 40c
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“Christian Heroism,” by Rev. Robert J. Slavin, O.P., 64 pages and cover. Single
copy, 25c postpaid; 5 or more, 20c each. In quantities, $9.00 per 100.

“A Report to Mothers and Fathers,” by Rev. William A. Maguire, Chaplain, U. S.
Army, and Rev. Christopher E. O’Hara, Chaplain, U. S. Navy, 24 pages and cover.
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“The Liturgy and the Laity,” by Rev. William J. Lallou, 32 pages and cover.
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“The Catholic Interpretation of Culture,” by Rev. Vincent Lloyd-Russell, 40 pages
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“Conquering With Christ,” by Rev. John J. Walde, 48 pages and cover. Single
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“The Victory of the Just,” by Rev. John F. Cronin, S.S., 40 pages and cover. Single
copy, 20c postpaid ; 5 or more, 15e each. In quantities, $9.00 per 100.

“Thoughts for a Troubled Time,” by Rev. John Carter Smyth, C.S.P., 32 pages and
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“We Are the Children of God,” by Rev. Leonard Feeney, S.J., 32 pages and cover.
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“Justice,” by Rev. Ignatius Smith, O.P., 32 pages and cover. Single copy 20c
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“The Crisis in Christendom,” by Rt. Rev. Msgr. Fulton J. Sheen. 112 pages and
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“The Christian Family,” by Rev. Dr. Edgar Schmiedeler, O.S.B., 32 pages and cover.
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“Social Regeneration,” by Rev. Wilfrid Parsons, S.J., 24 pages and cover. Single
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“Second Report to the Mothers and Fathers,” by Catholic Chaplains of the Army
and Navy. 48 pages and cover. Single copy, 25c postpaid ; 5 or more, 20c each. In
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“Sainthood, the Universal Vocation,” by Rt. Rev. Msgr. Ambrose J. Burke, 24 pages
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“The Path of Duty,” by Rev. John F. Cronin, S.S., 40 pages and cover Single copy,
20c postpaid ; 5 or more, 15c each. In quantities, $9.00 per 100.

“The Church in Action,” by Rev. Alphonse Schwitalla, S.J., Rev. Paul Tanner, Rev.
William A. O’Connor, Rt. Rev. James T. O’Dowd, Very Rev. John J. McClafferty, Rev.
Dr. Charles A. Hart, Very Rev. George J. Collins, C.S.Sp., Rev. John La Farge, S.J.,
and Rev. L. F. Schott ; 64 pages and cover. Single copy, 25c postpaid ; 5 or more, 20c
each. In quantities, $10.00 per 100.

“The Foundation of Peace,” by Rev. T. L. Bouscaren, S.J., 32 pages and cover.
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“Human Plans are Not Enough,” by Rev. John Carter Smyth, C.S.P., 32 pages and
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“One Lord: One World,” by Rt. Rev. Msgr. Fulton J. Sheen, 100 pages and cover.
Single copy, 30c postpaid ; 5 or moi'e, 25c each. In quantities, $15.00 per 100.

“The Catholic Layman and Modern Problems,” by O’Neill, Woodlock, Shuster, Mat-



“The Catholic Layman and Modern Problems,” by O’Neill, Woodlock, Shuster, Mat-
thews. Manion and Agar, 68 pages and cover. Single copy 25c postpaid ; 5 or more, 20c
each. In quantities, S10.60 per 100.

“God,” by Rev. Richard Ginder, 36 pages and cover. Single copy, 20c postpaid ; 5
or more 15c each. In quantities, $8.75 per 100.

“The Moral Law,” by Re\\ T. L. Bouscaren, S.J., 32 pages and cover. Single copy,
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“The Sacramental System,” by Rt. Rev. Msgr. Ambrose J. Burke, 40 pages and cover.
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“Concerning Prayer,” by Rev. John Carter Smyth, C.S.P., 36 pages and cover.
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“You,” by Rt. Rev. Msgr. Fulton J. Sheen, 104 pages and cover. Single copy 30c
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Problems of the Postwar World,” by George N. Shuster, Richard Pattee, Frank Sheed,
Fulton Oursler, G. Howland Shaw, William Hard, Rev. Timothy J. Mulvey, O.M.I., 128 pages
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“Saints For The Times,” by Rev. Thomas J. McCarthy, 48 pages and cover. Single
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“Do We Need Christ?” by Rev. Robert I. Gannon, S.J., 40 pages and cover. Single
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“Happiness and Order,” by Rev. Robert Slavin, O.P., 48 pages and cover-. Single
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“Love On Pilgrimage,” by Rt. Rev. Msgr. Fulton J. Sheen, 96 pages and cover,
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“Hail, Holy Queen,” by Rev. J. Hugh O’Donnell, C.S.C., 48 pages and cover. Single
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“The Road Ahead,” by Fulton Oursler, G. Howland Shaw, Neil MacNeil, Dr.
George F. Donovan and Thomas H, Mahony, 112 pages and cover. Single copy, 35c
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“Christ The King And The Social Encylicals,” by Rev. Benjamin L. Masse, S.J., 32
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“The Catholic School In American Life,” by Rt. Rev. Msgr. T. James McNamara, 40
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“Advent: Souvenir or Promise,” by Rev. John -J. Dougherty, 48 pages and cover.
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“The Ea.stern Rites,” by Rev. Alexander Beaton, S.A., and Rev. Canisius Kiniry, S.A. 24
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“America, Morality, And The United Nations,” by Rev. John McCarthy, 32 pages
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“Light Your Lamps,” by Rt. Rev. Msgr. Fulton J. Sheen, 128 pages and cover.
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“The Family In Focus,” by Rev. Joseph Manton, C.S3.R., 32 pages and cover.
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“Our Faith and Our Public Problems,” by: Mr. Jerome Kerwin, 48 pages and cover.
Single copy, 25c postpaid ; 5 or more, 20c each. In quantities $9.'75 per 100.

“The American Way,” by Mr. Justice Matthew F. McGuire, 24 pages and cover.
Single copy, 20c postpaid ; 5 or more, 15c each. In quantities, $8.00 per 100.

“The Road Back,” by Hon. John A. Matthews, LL.D., K.M., 24 pages and covei-.
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“The Church and Labor,” by Louis F. Buden»,' 48 pages and cover. Single copy, 25e
postpaid ; 5 or more 20c each. In quantities, $10.€0 per 100.

“The Missions,” by Rev. Joseph P. McGlinchey, Rt. Rev. Leo M. Byrnes, Archbishop
M'tty and Bishop McDonnell. 24 pages and cover. Single copy 20c postapid ; 5 or more
15c each. In quantities, $8.00 per 100.

“The Church in Rural Life,” by Rt. Rev. Msgr. Leo J. Steck, 32 pages and cover.
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Marriage and the Home,” by the Rev. Edmond D. Benard, 32 pages and cover.
Single copy, 20c postpaid ; 5 or moi-e, 15c each. In quantities, $8.00 per 100.

“The Defenses of Peace,” by Rev. W^ilfrid J. Parsons, S.J., 32 pages and cover.
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“The Stable And The Star,” by the Rev. Joseph Manton, C.SS.R., 32 pages and cover.
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“The Modern Soul in Search of God,” by the Rt. Rev. Msgr. Fulton J. Sheen, 104
pages and cover. Single copy, 35c postpaid ; 5 or more, 30c each. In quantities, $17.50 per 100.

“Religion And Economic Life,” by the Rev. Benjamin L. Masse, S.J., 40 pages and
cov-er. Single copy, 20c postpaid ; 5 or more, 15c each. In quantities, $9.50 per 100.

“The Church And Her Story Of Charity,” by Rev. James D. O’Shea, 32 pages and
cover. Single copy, 20c postpaid ; 5 or more, 15c each. In quantities, $8.00 per 100.

“Justice and Charity,” by the Rt. Rev. Msgr. Fhlton J. Sheen, Ph.D., LL.D., 104 pages
and cover. Single copy, 30c postpaid ; 5 or more^ 26c each. In quantities, $15.00 per 100.

(Complete list of 134 pamphlets to one address In U. S , $22.25 postpaid. Price to

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