t i f i e C o £ C t o ^ o u t f t " Ser i e s of R a d i o T a l k s A r r a n g e d f o r L e a d e r s h i p S t u d y In cooperation with The National Broadcasting Company National Council of Catholic Women 1312 Massachusetts Avenue, N. W. Washington, D. C. Imprimatur: •I« JOHN FRANCIS NOLL, D. D. Bishop of Fort Wayne OUR , SUNDAY . VISITOR . PRESS Huntington, Indiana PREFACE Undoubtedly, among the many responsibilities sensed by the Catholic Church in this intensely active modern age, the provision of a constructive program for Catholic Youth occupies a highly important place. This responsibility is traditional with the Church, although modern conditions clearly demand a more general and intensified application than seemed necessary in the days when the home and the school provided more definite and effective guidance. The present age has revealed a multi- plicity of youth movments, not all of them wholesome or beneficial, which constitute a positive challenge to the Church to propose its own plan for the preservation of faith, morality and cultural values. In the present volume the reader will find a series of highly instructive discourses sponsored by the Na- tional Council of Catholic Women, which tend to build up the spiritual, moral and cultural life of the young simul- taneously with clean, healthful and stimulating recrea- tion. These four objectives may be called, in a sense, the very pillars of the structure, which constitutes the basis for carrying youth over the difficult formative years and for preparing the young for stability in adult life. In other words, the Catholic Youth Program thus conceived and carried out is definitely "character building", and thus supplies an indispensable need. May we take this occasion to compliment the Na- tional Council of Catholic Women for sponsoring this series of discourses over the radio and offering them in permanent form to those who seek aid and direction in meeting the problems of youth. May we also express appreciation to those who have participated in the pre- paration and broadcasting of these discourses and ex- press the hope that the readers of this booklet will find them as stimulating as the radio listeners found them in- teresting and enjoyable. In conclusion we commend this booklet especially to leaders of Youth and to Study Clubs, whose zealous members are building up in Catholic communities "a new intelligentsia," which promises to be an effective barrier against the assaults of unchristian agencies. Hh Joseph Francis Rummel, Episcopal Chairman of Lay Organizations. National Catholic Welfare Conference TABLE OF CONTENTS Preface . : - 3 Foreword 5 Youth Council Plan 7 I The Call To Action 9 II Doer of Deeds . 15 III Keeping Your Balance 20 IV Youth Crusaders - -'•••>• 26 V Who Is My Neighbor 33 VI Human Solidarity 39 VII Youth Achieves :. 44 VIII Youth At Work 49 IX The Family Unit .t^S..:...: . 56 X Youth Creates Beauty 61 XI The Service of the Mind 67 XII Heading the Professions 73 XIII Leadership of Volunteers 81 XIV Youth in Action 89 XV What Youth Demands 96 XVI Strength Through Union 100 XVII Christ In Us | | 107 FOREWORD Once again the Youth committee of the National Council of Catholic Women dedicates the current series of the Call to Youth broadcasts to the leaders and spon- sors of its diocesan youth programs. May you find there- in some philosophies and techniques which will assist you in the glorious task that you have undertaken—one which you are doing with a sincerity and intelligence that evokes the admiration of all. Although your program is chiefly concerned with leisure time activities, may you have the power to de- velop in this youth a stiffening of the moral fibre be- cause their generation so needs it. Even while you give them gay fun, sports, and the joy of creating, may you show them the beauty of sacrifice and the victory of dis- cipline. May you help them to know the old, old truth, beautiful and unchanging because it is divine—that no phase of life even the recreational, intellectual, or social can reach its fullness unless it shall be consonant with and contributory to, the discharge of the mission of living. Anne Sarachon Hooley National Youth Chairman N. C. C. W. "Christus Vincit, Christus Régnât, Christus Imperat" YOUTH NATIONAL COUNCIL OF CATHOLIC WOMEN Our Youth groups of young women and girls are organized as our Senior Councils, with a parallel set-up throughout. They are sponsored by the Youth Chairmen of the Councils: Each Parish has a parish chairman of Youth. The parish chairmen compose the deanery committee. The deanery chairmen compose the diocesan com- mittee. The diocesan chairmen compose the national com- mittee. The National Chairman of Youth is appointed by the National Board of Directors, as is the Field Secretary of Youth. Our Youth Council is Our Aids to Leaders are 1. National in scope Youth Leaders' 2. Diocesan in au- Loose-leaf thority Notebook $1.00 3. Parochial in func- , _ t j o n Youth-Today & Tomorrow .25 Our Objectives are 1. Spiritual integrity Youth-Leader- 2. Cultural apprecia- ®hlP a n d 4.jon Catholic 3. Intellectual A c t i o n 2 5 balance The Call to 4. Recreational joy- Youth .35 ousness 5. Service General Plan n a t i for Leisure Our Age Levels are a j.- • Time Activi- 1. Junior High ties .10 School 2. High School Culture for 3. Out-of School Young People .10 OUR PROGRAM SUGGESTIONS: I. Spiritual Confraternity of Christian Catholic Social Action Doctrine Group prayers Catechetics Corporate communions Apologetics Days of Recollection Liturgy Missions—Retreats Field Mass II. Cultural Study Clubs Discussion groups Reading groups Trips-tours III. Vocational Vocational Guidance Parent Education Homemaking IV. Recreational Hobby Clubs Sports-Games Hiking-Camping Swimming V. Service Catholic Action Crusading for Christ Libraries Music Dramatics Art Handicrafts Home Economics Apprentice Training .Commercial Training Picnics Parties Dancing Community Nights Play Days Youth Leadership Social Service Civic Cooperation THE CALL TO ACTION Anne Sarachon Hooley Youth Chairman, National Council of Catholic Women I am genuinely happy to say Good-morning over the air again and after an absence of seven months, during which the Call to Youth hour has known some splendid and inspiring talks, to join you once more for a discus- sion of those needs and opportunities of today's youth which lie so close to the hearts of all of us. Before be- ginning may I express appreciation to the National Broadcasting Company and its educational director, Mr. Dunham, for the vision which provides this interest in youth, to the many who by letters and by messages have signified their eagerness to join us at this weekly hour, and to that other large number who, in response to last year's call have organized and maintained fruitful youth programs. The N. C. C. W. has several hundred youth leaders actively working and only limitation of time forbids my relating to you the tremendously stimulating, and suc- cessful plans which are being carried out. In the visits which the field secretary and members of our committee pay to the various parts of the country, perhaps the most gratifying point has been to see how, with the coopera- tion and tactful participation of adult sponsors, youth themselves have done the creating and the leading in the formation of plans, and indeed the wise measurement of values which they have shown. There has been evidence too that those places where most success has been met were almost universally localities where the planning group had been thoroughly set up. It is extremely im- portant that the parish, the city-wide, or the deanery chairman be so selected that they can not only meet with the planning group of their own particular units, but that they can also meet with the diocesan or state board or council in order to gain by the experiences of others and to keep in touch with the material offered by the national headquarters which is a clearing house for ex- periments, national contacts, help on program material 10 "THE CALL TO YOUTH" and the services of a field secretary, in making available the various agencies already set up and serving well. Any program can start off with a bang because of the enthusiasm for something new brought by youth itself, but it can easily die or fall flat if there is not back of it a committee which functions with regularity, with steadiness, and with intelligence. It is generally agreed, we believe, that in all group work for every hour spent in actual program the leader should give at least one and preferably two hours to planning, to evaluation of re- sults, and to conference with the sponsoring council. Volunteer leaders particularly are frequently forced to drop out for brief or even prolonged absences and in this case only the executive committee which is permanent in character will be alert to the emergency and supply a substitute immediately in order to hold the interest previ- ously gained. The gayest party and the seemingly most spontan- eous fun is usually a result of careful planning. Someone has foreseen the slip-ups that are apt to occur and pro- vided a stopper for that gap which if not bridged will produce a lull and eventually a definite break in the in- terest. So we urge you to perfect organization to that point where it can function unobtrusively and efficiently. Register your leaders with national headquarters that they may frequently and regularly gain new ideas, en- couragement and training, as well as become part of a powerful influence. During the series of broadcasts which begins today, it will be our privilege to bring to you many guest speak- ers, distinguished because of experience or research in work with youth. The talks will concern the means for securing those four things which must necessarily be given to boys and girls of today if they are to know com- plete happiness and the riches of living. We must then in any youth program provide these four: An opportunity to play, to create, to think and to pray. If We could supply these, there would be no talk of a lost generation, no mournful headshaking over the outcome of youth. A chance to play. Here especially there should be great freedom, wide range and choice of activity, abund- THE CALL TO ACTION 11 ant release of sheer animal spirits, and an atmosphere of fun—in short, a good time. But the good time need not be hampered one iota by the fact that the sports are planned, that they offer opportunity for all the advantages of sports. Athletics are health-building, they develop muscle coordination and precision, and they develop that spirit of fair play and team work, that adjustment to getting along with one's fellow men, and they do it the more admirably because it is fun. Nevertheless the lead- er must see that athletics are wide enough in range to include all as players, not as spectators, that the re- quirements for meeting places and rules and safety are met, and that girls' sports are provided for girls as well as boys' sports for the boys. Gone are the days when attics and cellars and spacious back yards furnished room for play, and definitely with us are the days when com- munity centers and parish halls must supply that lack, but it is lamentable that so many programs are held up because of the ambition to own an elaborate expensive gymnasium while others more fertile in initiative make splendid progress with simple equipment. Another im- portant consideration is the need for developing skill in carry-over sports, in swimming, dancing, tennis, hiking, and a dozen similar ones so that when the age for attain- ing these skills is passed, leisure time will still include the wholesome finer type of recreation because of habits formed in adolescent and post adolescent years. A chance to create. Every youngster and in fact every adult finds herself at one time or another wanting to do something. During infancy there is block-building, a little later there is doll clothes and toy airplanes, but as adolescence wanes there is an urgent need which amounts occasionally to an obsession for a means of self-expression. In maturity when the individual settles down to a vocation or a profession, these earlier interests fall into the pattern as an avocation, but in youth they are essential as a means to emotional stability and char- acter development. A group program also can easily provide means for testing aptitudes and talents with a view to counselling and personnel guidance. Therefore, whether it be dramatics or music or painting, or one of 12 "THE CALL TO YOUTH" the crafts, a balanced schedule must give opportunity for satisfying those atavistic urges common to every one. In our complex civilization these outlets must be pre- pared whereas in the older simpler manner of existence, they arose as natural duties or customs in the course of living. A chance to think. Youth, that fertile field for all propagandists, must be encouraged to think. And they are, I believe, singularly independent in their thinking today. They think of love and marriage, of social prob- lems as those problems affect youth, of morals though they do not call it by that name, and certainly they think of economic conditions. The other day in the Pull- man car I sat next to a very attractive boy of 15. He talked interestingly and charmingly of current subjects, and as we got deeper in conversation he suddenly re- marked, "But life's rather a grimy dull thing, don't you think?" I was not at all surprised to hear this pat phrase, but I was amazed to find that after I had answered his question in the only obvious manner, he remarked quite simply and certainly sincerely, "Why, I hadn't thought of it that way." He had had unusual advantages of travel and culture for his age but had no fundamentals on which to base his thinking. Youth should be given an opportunity to discuss in forums and informal discus- sion clubs those things vital to them, but a leader must furnish a standard of fundamental truth with which they can test values. A leader can bring to them that frag- rance of age-old wisdom, and beauty, and charity which clings about the teachings of perfect truth. A chance to pray. By this I do not mean a casual going to church on Sunday, but rather a weaving into every part of life that deep red thread of divinity spun by the Creator of all life. A distinguished gentleman in the radio world, commenting on the time assigned to us for these broadcasts, remarked, "It is peculiarly fitting that you should have these weeks between Candlemas and Whitsuntide because you can in the spirit of the liturgy so well picture to youth the victory of sacrifice and the beauty of self-discipline." There are no years of carefree gaiety, no months of revelry so sweet that THE CALL TO ACTION 13 they can compensate those fleeting bitter moments • of despair when sorrow comes to find one unprepared with inner strength. And come it must even to youth, whether it be suffering, or loss, or only brooked desires. Youth is entitled to know the value and the wonder of the riches of the spirit both that they may experience its positive ecstasy as well as its strengthening force. Through this and this alone, will they come to bear the Cross with the same serene dignity with which they wear the garlands of the years. And so we hope that every youth program will in a small measure at least provide a chance to play, to create, to think, and to pray. None of us admit that a basketball tournament, a good baseball league, or a series of boxing matches would alone constitute a sufficient piece of youth work, valuable though it may be as a single part. Yet because this is an easy way to catch the glamour and consequently the applause of the crowd, too often it is accepted as a complete plan. Youth is entitled to more, to a vision which will enable them to see life in perspec- tive as a whole. It recalls the exquisite verses which read: "All things have their season and in their times all things pass under heaven A time to be born and a timé to die. A time to plant, and a time to pluck up that which is planted. A time to kill, and a time to heal. A time to destroy and a time to build. A time to weep, and a time to laugh. A time to mourn,. and a time to dance. A time to scatter stones, and a time to gather. A time to embrace, and a time to be far from embraces. A time to get, and a time to lose. A time to keep, and a time to cast away. A time to rend, and a time to sew. A time to keep silence, and a time to speak. A time of love, and a time of hatred. A time of war, and a time of peace. What hath man more of his labour? And I have found that nothing is better than for a man to rejoice in his work, and that this is his portion." 14 "THE CALL TO YOUTH" "Young People, You Are Our Co-Workers! We Demand of You: The Vicar of Christ Demands Of You Your Collaboration!"—Pope Pius XI. Topics for Discussion 1. Discuss the need of Catholic Youth organization today. 2. Why is adult sponsorship essential? 3. How is the N. C. C. W. set-up of National, Diocesan, Deanery and Parish Chairmen working in your diocese? 4. How can you better help the young people of your diocese to have the opportunity "to play, to create, to think and to pray"? 5. What are the aims of all Catholic youth work? Bibliography Christian Education of Youth....Encyclical, Pope Pius XI National Catholic Welfare Conference—10c A Manual of Catholic Action Msgr. Luigi Civardi Sheed & Ward, 63 Fifth Avenue, New York City—$2.00 The N. C. C. W. National Committee System National Council of Catholic Women—25c The Call to Youth—1937 Radio Series N. C. C. W.—35c Youth Leadership and Catholic Action....Youth Institute N. C. C. W.—25c DOERS OF DEEDS Right Reverend Monsignor Michael J. Ready General Secretary, National Catholic Welfare Conference All recognize the importance of this present series of broadcasts sponsored by the National Council of Cath- olic Women. The "Call to Youth" program is designed both for the inspiration it can give the young people of today as well as for an exercise in adult education which it offers to leaders and counsellors of youth activi- ties Everyone believes in youth's tremendous poten- tialities. Thoughtful citizens are eager to help youth find the safest channels for developing its powers and insuring its own and society's welfare. It is quite impos- sible to overemphasize the merit of the Council's interest for youth. There is a special heartening challenge in the state- ment of Our Lord charging us to "be doers of the word and not hearers only." It suggests a necessary time for instruction and learning, pointing towards a practical exemplification of the teaching imparted. More than that, the injunction quite definitely tells us that we must participate in the actual work of building up the King- dom of God on earth, "of doing the truth in charity" as St. Paul described it. It is quite likely that young people, especially stu- dents in school, are yearning for an opportunity to do something. It is not an unusual symptom of impatient adolescence that eloquent criticism is expressed against the slow processes of "hearing," which we understand to mean education in a general sense. Most young people suffer tedium from not having present opportunities of really doing something. The self-discipline required to curb that ambition judiciously is a very necessary ele- ment for success in life. For we are not urged to do just anything and to waste our energies in mere rotary motion but we are enjoined to be doers of the word doers of the truth, doers of deeds which fulfill our human dignity and merit a destiny of happiness. 16 "THE CALL TO YOUTH" The very word "deeds" carries' a rather heroic note. Deeds are not in a class of ordinary accomplishments. They signify something inspiring, thrilling, and likely enough mean to us some great, breath-taking achieve- ment. When we put the phrase "doers of deeds" I would wish you to think of giving an extraordinary, fine, noble service. Not that all of us or, indeed, many of us will be called to do unusual tasks but our happiness in life will depend greatly on the zest we have for doing our usual homely duties to the very best of our abilities. Youth is not criticized because of any lack of ideal- ism. But youth today, as youth yesterday, frequently has difficulty evaluating a true idealism from cleverly popularized superficialities. Youth is subjected to much more of that kind of appeal today than yesterday because certain well devised safeguards have broken down in both the home and school and because exceedingly attrac- tive agencies of amusement and instruction have selected youth as a center point of attack. The whole aim of our youth work, then, is to per- serve for youth, opportunities of true idealism. Nothing so irreparably destroys those opportunities as the preva- lent, taken-for-granted standards of the rampant natural- ism and materialism of the time. Religious truth and the soul-satisfying spiritual ideals which flow therefrom are considered as outmoded as the horse and buggy. Moral principles are regarded much the same as the cruel rit- uals of an aboriginal tribe. The omniscience of an intelli- gence fashioned by godless education is considered quite sufficient as a norm of morality. Power, influence and material success are all the heaven or hereafter a man need strive for. In this maelstrom of contradiction youth needs in- telligent and sympathetic guidance and encouragement. It is precisely for this purpose that you are urged to or- ganize youth work and give to it something more than an interest in a hobby. To do it well you must know youth, youth today not of yesterday. You must know youth's educational environment and his abilities and ambitions. You must see youth in his home which per- haps has suffered much during the difficult past years; DOERS OF DEEDS 17 know his companions and recognize in him and them the worthy men and women of tomorrow. Play with them, work with them, study with them and especially pray with them for the preservation of those spiritual qualities which mean the difference between defeat and victory. Those engaged in the encouragement and, direction of youth are indeed doers of worthy deeds. Every American today gladly acknowledges the sim- ple yet noble greatness of Abraham Lincoln. The youth of our land well might consider the standards on which were molded the character of this great patriot. Men of various political convictions might debate the wisdom of Lincoln's policies but none impugn the honesty, the mod- esty and piety of his character. Poor and humble by birth, enduring hardships which few now are forced to bear, Lincoln made opportunities for helping himself and getting an education. His courage and self-sacrifice stand as an inspiration for all who would use well the plentiful blessings of this nation. His sympathy and patience, his forbearance and magnanimity are qualities which all of us might imitate in these days of growing hatred and recrimination. They are virtues which we like to think of as American. In Lincoln we see the fine wholesomeness of a truly great man, a doer of great deeds. It is perhaps undignified to turn from the contempla- tion of Lincoln's true greatness to moralize on the danger of accepting hero-standards from the ballyhoo prophets of today. Their denial of man's moral worth and spiritual greatness makes them fall back on the build-up technique and created glamour needed to give fleeting fame to commercial heroes. Genuine honesty and true nobility do not need pretense and bluff. Do you recall the dialogue in reference to Marco Polo's selection as the one best suited to convert the great Khan to the Christian Faith? Marco by some was thought too young for the important task but his father argued in favor of youth. "For," said he, "it is not only the old that are religious. The young are, too; but there's a difference. The religion of old men is reason and trans- lation; the religion of the young is a burning cloud. 18 "THE CALL TO YOUTH" The Tragedy of the Bitter Tree of Calvary is not a sym- bol to them, but a great reality, and their tears are not of the spirit only, but of the body too." It is that spirit in youth we must preserve, a spirit which compels them adventurously to serve God and their fellowman with their whole heart, whole mind and whole soul.. DOERS OF DEEDS 19 "Be Doers of the Word" Topics for Discussion 1. Why is it so necessary to "know youth" if you are to guide youth well? 2. "Youth Demands Action." How may study and ac- tion be combined? 3. How many study club programs lead to action? 4. Discuss the Lives of Saints—saints who, through study and prayer, acted wisely and effectively. 5. Name statesmen who have through prayer, study and action guided our country well. Bibliography Alters' Practical Psychology (from "Psychology of Character") Vera Barclay Sheed & Ward, 63 Fifth Ave., New York City—$2.00 How Fare American Youth American Youth Commission, 744 Jackson Place, Washington, D. C. Prospects for Youth November, 1937 Annals American Academy of Political and Social Science 3457 Walnut Street, Philadelphia—$2.00 Twenty-One Saints Aloysius Croft Bruce Publishing Company, Milwaukee—$1.50 Lives of the Saints Butler Benziger Brothers, Cincinnati, Ohio—$5.00 Historical Lives of Statesmen. KEEPING YOUR BALANCE Anna Rose Kimpel Field Secretary of Youth, National Council of Catholic Women Certainly the objective in all Youth work is the de- velopment of well rounded personalities. What can be worse than the man who sees only his job; the woman who speaks only of the meals she serves; or the youth that exists only for dancing? Rather let us aid in the development of young men and women who have bal- anced lives through the opportunities we may give them to play, to create, to think, to pray. These four give to us our bases for a well-balanced program of activities. As our Holy Father, Pope Pius XT, stressed in his Encyclical, The Christian Education of Youth: "Complete education takes in the whole aggre- gate of human life, physical and spiritual, intellectual and moral, individual, domestic and social. The true Christian does not renounce the activities of this life; he does not stunt natural faculties; but he develops and perfects them by coordinating them with the supernat- ural. Thus he ennobles what is merely natural in life and secures for it new strength in the material and temporal order, no less than in the spiritual and eternal." This then, is our foundation for a balanced program, a program that will be so varied that it will reach all types of young people, whatever their interest, whatever their organization. Strange as it may seem, all girls are not interested in basketball or in dancing, in dramatics or in art. Being human, young people do not enjoy the same things any more than grown-ups. As you well know some of your friends like golf, While others prefer bridge; some needle-point, others knitting; some stamp collecting, others aeronautics. Why then do we so often try to fit all youth into a one pattern club ? Certainly if we are to make our programs attractive to more people we must allow for personal preferences. For convenience, to have "pegs upon which to hang our thinking" we have KEEPING YOUR BALANCE 21 classified our activities into five groups—spiritual, cul- tural, vocational, recreational, and service. Surely no di- vision is to be considered as complete for each must per- meate the other. A youth may be cultured on the gym floor as well as in the personality class and young people may carry "Christ with them" as effectively on the dance floor as in a religious discussion class. Under spiritual activities we have listed discussion clubs, spiritual crusades, group prayers, retreats, days of recoliection, and the never old study of the liturgy, all leading to an understanding of a true Christian per- sonality, an appreciation of real values and a measuring rod of faith with which to judge the theories and the standards of the modern world. Our cultural activities include our dramatics, choral groups, art classes, handicrafts, book clubs, poetry classes, and trips to places of interest, such as art cen- ters, libraries, concerts, craft exhibits and plays. It is to be remembered always that the art that has lived through the ages is of Christian origin, the expression of the artist's love of the true Christ and His teachings. Surely when Youth has been given the opportunity to know the best of our culture, the crude and vulgar will have no appeal, so it is thro'ugh our cultural activities that we may give to youth a pride in his sacred heritage, a taste of genuine beauty that all Youth seeks eternally. In a well-balanced program vocational interest should have a ranking place. Through leisure many people have been guided in their life work; many an avocation has become a vocation; many a hobby a career. All Youth need and welcome some direction in better fitting them- selves for their life work, whether in the home, the office, the store, or the professions. Then, too, in the vocational field greater attention should be given to one of the most important vocations, that of marriage and parenthood. Discussion clubs of Christian standards of family life are vital today, if our youth is to think wisely and construc- tively for the good of society as well as for individual happiness. In addition, practical experience in home arts, cook- 22 "THE CALL TO YOUTH" ing, sewing, home nursing, first aid, interior decorating and housekeeping are necessary and popular where given. It is interesting to note that the Home Making badges of the Girl Scouts double those of an athletic nature and our Youth reports show this same eagerness on the part of the girls to enjoy the age-old feminine occupations. Certainly this interest is to be fostered if we wish, ulti- mately, to "Keep First Things First." Since youth is a time of joy and action, recreational activities must play a large part in our leisure time planning. Sports offer to girls, as to boys, the best all- round recreation—fun, exercise, health and a challenge to play the game. It is not against sports, but against the abuse of sports that criticism has been directed. In talk- ing seriously with girls throughout the country we have found that only a very small number care for the too strenuous, competitive type of athletics. For the few, yes; for the many, no. Constitutionally, girls have certain physical and psychological differences and so enjoy and profit by a different type of sports. No doubt, one reason for the comparatively small number of girls who attend youth meetings in some cities is that we have stressed athletics for the few to the neglect of 'the entire number. We have given of our limited time, facilities and leader- ship to the eight or ten on a team rather than to the eighty or a hundred who would enjoy intramural contests and social games. Again this is not a condemnation of basketball and baseball, but a plea for the widening of our programs to include the more purely recreational sports of volleyball, dodge-ball, and the rest, as well as the minor sports of ping pong, deck tennis, shuffle board and the carry-over sports of swimming, tennis, archery and golf that young folks may enjoy anywhere with friends through life. But sports are not our only recreation for many youth groups carry on happily year in and year out with- out sports. There are hiking and camping for the out-of- doors, dancing parties, sleigh rides or beach parties, roasts and picnics always, to say nothing of play days,' song fests and community nights. We need a sane bal- ance in our recreational as well as in our general pro- KEEPING YOUR BALANCE 23 gram, and whatever the activity, with it must go the great joy of re-creation, of play, of real pleasure. . Since the final satisfaction of all education, of all experience, is to be found in the service of others, we must give to youth the opportunity to know and develop this spirit of helpfulness, of Christian Charity. First there is service within their own group, as officers, com- mittee chairmen, and effective co-workers, each contrib- uting of her talents to the whole. And here, may I state, is the place for the sponsor to demonstrate real leader- ship, unobtrusively showing the way, but not doing the work. We have no place for the dictator, for the one man director, but for the guide who will bring out the best of others. Our young people must learn through doing their own youth work, their own planning and their own taking of responsibility. Only thus will we develop the leadership of tomorrow. The spirit of helpfulness may be further accented through service projects. In addition to the tradi- tional Christmas and Thanksgiving baskets to those in need, may we not add the thoughtfulness that will prompt a Valentine basket, a Fourth of July picnic, a Labor Day excursion; besides the accepted service of reading to children in the hospitals, may we not add the greater consideration of entertainment for the shut-ins at home; for the regular apprentice training of younger groups, may we not add the Crusading for Christ, that will bring Christian thought and culture to the world at large? Youth, working with clever leaders, will find new ways always to be of service, of carrying the banner of Christ onward. But all of this cannot be done in a week, a month, or perhaps within a season, but by careful consideration we can bring the whole cycle of a well-balanced program to each group within the year of activities. This necessi- tates advance planning, of course, so we urge that every group have an annual program, a map that will show the way, but flexible enough to permit changes should need or opportunity demand. Every youth leader should sit in round table with her youth officers early in each year, with them learn the preferences, of the group and ar- 24 "THE CALL TO YOUTH" range, meeting by meeting, a well rounded schedule of spiritual, cultural, vocational, recreational, and service activities. We acknowledge that sponsoring a well-balanced pro- gram is more work than to conduct a one activity club in a dictator fashion, but it is more fun too, and far more satisfying. There are helps available everywhere that will aid a leader in this broader planning. For you we have prepared a bibliography that may be had for the asking. There is our "Youth Leaders' Note-book," full of ideas for a varied program, our reprints of last year's radio series and the list of books that you may find in your public library, so no leader need be without prac- tical ideas and suggestions. Then, too, our succeeding radio broadcasts of this series will treat in detail of each of the five divisions that will give to all youth the oppor- tunity to play, to create, to think, to pray, to develop a well-balanced personality, a true Christian character which is the objective of all Youth work. KEEPING YOUR BALANCE 25 "Complete Education Takes in the Whole Aggre- gate of Human Life."—Pope Pius XL Topics for Discussion 1. How may a "well rounded personality" be achieved? 2. Outline a balanced program of leisure time activities for your group for the coming year. 3. How many young people are in your parish? How many attend youth meetings ? Why the difference ? 4. How may we interest more young people in our parish program? 5. Discuss plans for enlarging your cultural and voca- tional programs. Bibliography Youth Leaders Note-book . N. C. C. W. N. C. C. W.—$1.00 Youth Today and Tomorrow Youth Institute N. C. C. Wi—25c A General Plan for Leisure Time Activities Beatrice Harrison N. c. c. w:—ioc Recreation for Girls and Women Ethel M. Powers National Recreation Assn., 315 4th Ave. New York—$3 Handbook for Recreational Leaders Children's Bureau Children's Bureau, Dept. of Labor, Washington—20c YOUTH CRUSADERS Reverend Vincent Mooney, C.S.C. Director, N. C. W. C. Catholic Youth Bureau It is a matter of record that during the Middle Ages, young and old joined the Crusades in order to reclaim the Holy Land. With the Cross of Christ emblazoned upon their breasts, they went forth to the conflict. Now it is a far cry, to be sure, from the Crusades to our own times, and yet, from the Crusaders we may learn a lesson. They went forth courageously to conquer the Holy Land for Christendom; today, we carry on unselfishly to con- quer youth's heart for Christ. If that motive is lacking, our efforts to teach youth to work and play, to create, and pray, will not develop doers of deeds. Without that in- centive, we will undoubtedly fall far short of the idealism which must characterize a balanced youth program. Consider this also—this modern crusade is not the responsibility of the few. Assuming as we do that youth's cause is Christ's cause, this crusade of ours implies co- operative effort on the part of the Church's leaders— Her men, Her women, Her youth. If we unify our forces the youth program will be a practical means whereby we may interpret in keeping with its high purpose, the mar- velous mystery of youth. It must be evident to all of us that today, the world over, the youth field is the battlefield. If that is not true, then how can we explain the regimentation of youth in Europe? How interpret the feverish activity of the rad- ical element in the American Youth Congress? If youth is not the focal point in modern society, why is the American Youth Congress so deeply interested in the forthcoming World Youth Congress? If youth is not in the headlines, why do youth pressure groups attach so much importance to legislation such as the American Youth Act? That bill, you may be interested in knowing, calls for an appropriation of five hundred millions of dollars, an appropriation which is ten times the amount now allotted to the National Youth Administration. If YOUTH CRUSADERS 27 youth is not the battleground today, how shall we account for the fact that in this country alone there are over three hundred national, non-governmental agencies work- ing with youth or for youth? I raise these questions for three reasons-—first, to convince you that youth work carries with it real re- sponsibility. Secondly, to assure you that your partici- pation is indispensable; finally, to remind you that if it is true that the hand that rocks the cradle rules the world, it is equally true that the adult who molds youth's character can make or break America. In recent years we have witnessed an unusual inter- est in youth, with a corresponding multiplication of youth programs. At the same time, we have seen the rise and fall of many hastily conceived and poorly executed pro- jects. In pointing out this futility of effort on the part of inadequately equipped leaders, in stressing the fact that poorly planned programs have no permanent value, I do so in order to impress upon you this fact—youth leadership implies certain aptitudes for the work, serious preparation, and some training. It is well to note also that these qualifications are equally essential both for the volunteer leader and the professionally trained, full time, salaried worker. In the light of these observations you will readily recognize the necessity of serious thinking and long- range planning. Our youth crusaders must have clearly defined objectives. Once these objectives are agreed upon it becomes our task to interest and develop the various types of leadership necessary to bring about the accomp- lishment of these objectives. If you apply these princi- ples, then a balanced program of youth activities will naturally develop, in keeping with youth's needs. Youth programs, after all, are only a means to an end. Therefore youth work cannot in any sense be looked upon as a substitute for the home, the school, and the Church. Youth work is important, but not to that extent. America has suffered too much in recent years because too frequently we have dispensed bits of informa- tion rather than genuine education; we have thought in 30 "THE CALL TO YOUTH" terms of stream-lined houses instead of cultured, Chris- tian homes; we have substituted philanthrophy and social service for religion and worship. In view of these facts, it is very essential that youth crusaders interested in youth programs should emphasize the supreme impor- tance of these three basic institutions. It is only commonplace to say that we must con- stantly be on the alert to offset the destructive forces exacting their toll of youth. Take, for example, the much- discussed topic of Communism. Here in America the Young Communists are feverishly active. They play a very vital part in the American Youth Congress. They also use the American Student Union as a practical means of propagating Communistic philosophies. The Young Communists League has undoubtedly capitalized on the plight of modern youth, and like all radical or- ganizations, it offers a solution for all youth's difficulties. Now I am not an alarmist. I do not see Communists behind every door and under every bed, but I do say that Communism appeals to those young people who are suf- fering from sickness of indecision. Your duty as youth crusaders is to marshall youth's forces in order to com- bat this menace. This will require considerable study on the part of the individual, and a reasonable amount of adult supervision over study clubs, discussion groups, and youth conferences. By such means our American youth can and will acquire a sufficient mastery of a Christian social philosophy comparable with their needs. Today youth is interested in the question of peace, but seldom if ever do we try to convince youth that social justice and Christian charity constitute the real basis for peace. Today, as always, youth dreams dreams, but youth is also thinking in terms of labor, unemployment, a liv- ing wage, the relationships between employer and em- ployee, and temperance. I can think of no better means of improving the cultural phase of the youth program than by the inclusion of such topics. If you do that in connection with your study clubs and discussion groups, you will do much to help youth arrive at a better under- standing of the principles applicable to such problems. This is a positive approach and it is the hard way. At YOUTH CRUSADERS 29 the same time, experience teaches us that in the long run, it is the best way. Let us now consider the ease of literature. Like the movies, here is a tremendous force for good or evil. Suppose the youth of America, under capable adult lead- ership, were to unite its forces in support of a movement designed to eliminate from the newsstands the vicious literature which undoubtedly weakens youth's character. Hollywood cleaned house when a united Christian front supported the Legion of Decency. Would not a similar result follow if a clean literature crusade, -carefully planned and intelligently directed were to assume na- tional proportions? The reasons for such a crusade are obvious. J. Ed- gar Hoover, head of the Federal Bureau of Investigation made that point clear when he said: "The increasing number of sex crimes is due in large measure to sex lit- erature, badly presented, in certain magazines. Filthy literature is the great moron maker. It is casting crim- inals faster than prisons can absorb them." We all see the necessity of co-operating with the United States Public Health Service in the war on social diseases. We appreciate the wisdom underlying our Pure Food Laws. Now, desirable as these things are, it is even more important to preserve the moral health of American youth. Therefore, youth crusaders can and should real- ize that here is a magnificent opportunity to safeguard youth's interests. To illustrate what can be done to improve conditions, I will cite two instances, one in Washington; the other in South Bend, Indiana. The United States Attorney's Office in the City of Washington, ordered three maga- zine-distributing agencies to cease selling thirteen par-i ticular magazines. This so-called literature was being sold in direct violation of the District Statute which pro- hibits the circulation of indecent publications. In South Bend the Deanery Council of Catholic Women took the initiative in a clean literature campaign. The mayor, the chief of police, the Boy Scouts, the Y. M. C. A., the Ministerial Association, the principals of the public schools, Catholic and non-Catholic youth organiza- 30 "THE CALL TO YOUTH" tions—all supported that drive. The action taken in Washington and in South Bend produced results. Would it not be possible for you to follow the same procedure in your community? There is another matter which merits the attention of the Christian crusader. I refer to girls' athletics. We all agree that athletics have a definite place in the sports program. St. Thomas, the great Dominican philosopher assures us that "there is virtue in games and recreation." He also states that "there is wrong in excess and there is wrong in neglect." In thus stating definite morality norms to serve us as a guide, the great philosopher and theologian did not say that men should not direct and supervise and coach girls' athletic activities. Neither did he say that they should. If he were alive today, however, I am sure that he would urge all serious-minded women to protest against these and similar abuses. These abuses are present today because we are more interested in championships than we are in human beings. We em- phasize winning teams and ail-American performers, yet we fail to adopt measures which will develop attractive, well-balanced, Christian personalities. Unscrupulous, publicity seeking, commercially minded promoters may resent such criticism. I still insist, however, that these same gentlemen are using girl athletes and girls' athletics for their own selfish purposes. Now you may say, "What can be done about it?" In the first place, demand that women control and direct girls' athletics. Stop the exploitation of the girl athlete. Secondly, give your undivided support to the policies governing girls' athletics as formulated by the Women's division of the National Amateur Athletic Federation and the Women's Division of the American Physical Ed- ucation Association. Third, insist upon the application of these policies in your sports program. A sustained crusade of that sort will enable you to render invaluable service to America's young womanhood and motherhood. After all, good men do idealize women, and any effort on your part to preserve for womanhood its almost sac- ramental charm will receive the support of clear-thinking men. YOUTH CRUSADERS 31 In offering these observations, I have done so, strong in the hope that they may stimulate some thought on your part with regard to more practical procedures in keeping with youth's needs in your particular community. In conclusion I assure you that there is no royal road to follow in this fascinating but rather complicated field of youth work. That task is difficult because as Monsig- nor Kerby said on one occasion, "The child is a plan of God, a distinct, wonderful work, begun by Him, to be completed by you. Only as Faith instructs us, only as the high wisdom of the race helps us, only as effort and prayer assist us, shall we understand youth as the hope of humanity." Carry on then, courageously, for Christ. He was the Ideal Youth and He is still youth's ideal. Strive always to provide youth with real guidance on the basis of an apostolate and in keeping with our Christian philosophy of life. If you bring to your work that type of leadership as well as a genuine spirit of unselfish service, you will not only help youth to grow and develop, but you will also help youth to grow more like Christ. Therein, it seems to me, you will find ample compensation. 34 "THE CALL TO YOUTH" "Put Ye on the Armour of God."—St. Paul. Topics for Discussion 1. Compare the Crusades of the Middle Ages with the Modern Crusade of Youth. 2. Crusades need leaders: How can you better train your leaders in an appreciation of a carefully planned balanced program? 3. How can your youth help in a. U. S. Health Campaign b. Clean Literature Crusade c. Catholic Peace Crusade d. Social Reconstruction. 4. In your athletics are you upholding the standards and ideals of the N. C. C. W. and the Women's Divi- sion of the National Amateur Athletic Federation? 5. Discuss crusades for your youth groups for the com- ing year. Bibliography Atheistic Communism Encyclical, Pope Pius XI N. C. W. C.—10c Current References on American Youth Problems American Youth Commission, 744 Jackson PL, Washington, D. C. Good Times for All Times Nina B. Lamkin Samuel French, 25 W. 45th Street, N. Y. C.—$2.50 Publications of National Amateur Athletic Federation N. A. A. F„ 303 West 42nd Street, New York City Catholic Action Monthly Magazine N. C. W. C.—$2.00 a year WHO IS MY NEIGHBOR? Dorothy J. Willmann Executive Secretary for Parish Sodalities, Sodality of Our Lady In a world that seems to have lost sympathetic un- derstanding of the homely word, "Neighbor," the ques- tion, "Who Is My Neighbor?" takes us into a field as vast as the universe. But its answer is specific. It includes the unpleasant crank living next door, or the pleasant per- son living on the same floor of your swanky apartment building or dilapidated tenement. Our modern idea of neighborliness is so different from the true meaning of the word that youth think it strange when they are told to be neighborly. If I were simply to catalogue the persons who are our neighbors, probably some blunt and frank youth would rise up and say, "So what?" The people you know, with their innumerable strug- gling and strivings for wealth, position and power, have arrayed themselves into two opposing parties, your en- emies and your friends. In the world at large we are surrounded py an atmosphere that seems to breathe in- trigue and treachery among nations, hatred and conflict between classes. In our own country, as elsewhere, class has organized against class, worker against worker, peo- ple against their democratically-elected legislators and administrators. Business competition is marching straight along the road to selfish monopoly. In most of these affairs the meaning of neighborliness has long since been forgotten. Youth have been exposed to the unwhole- some example of those who are anything but neighborly. For everyone of us, regardless of our religious be- liefs, there is one Person Who stands out in all of history as the perfect Exemplar of neighborliness. For two thou- sand years there has reechoed in the ears of men the command of Christ Who said, "Love thy neighbor as thyself." In an era that breeds enmity and haterd, in a world 34 "THE CALL TO YOUTH" that incessantly attempts to excite animosity and hostil- ity, the unusual command to "love thy neighbor as thy- self" comes as a distinct shock. The interesting question for each of us is, "Who is my neighbor?" Can he be an unfriendly person, one who wishes me ill, does me harm? Is it possible that Christ wanted me to love the beggarly poor? Did He want me to love a selfish employer who begrudges me a living wage? Must I love those who are diseased, who impair humanity with their ills ? Is it my duty to love the stranger in my community? In Rus- sia? In Spain? Or in France or England or Germany? Can that Man Who-claimed to be God mean that I must love those who make unjust laws, who enact injustices in the face of abysmal want? Must I love the legislators and administrators of our state and of our nation in spite of divergent political affiliations? Surely a Man Who lived two thousand years ago cannot understand these personal difficulties. He could not have known what an impossible command He was .giving when He said, "Love thy neighbor." But wait: that Christ lived in a specific community and human nature was then just as human as it is today. He lived in a world that had not been sublimated by a Redeemer Who gave His life because He loved His en- emies as well as His friends. He brought something startlingly new into human relationships. Before His com- ing into the world men had loved only their friends and their benefactors. But Christ saw the condition to which this policy had brought men and gave to them a golden rule: "As you would that men should do to you, do you also to them in like manner. And if you love them that love you, what thanks are to you? For sinners also love those that love them." At another time He said: "For- give thy neighbor if he hath hurt thee . . . Hast thou heard a word against thy neighbor? Let it die within thee. Love thy neighbor and be joined to him with At delity." Love then, is the one meaningful word that He brought into the new era. Strange and contrary as it may seem to modern modes of thought, the word "Neigh- bor" is all-inclusive. Our neighbor is everyone who WHO IS MY NEIGHBOR? 35 comes into direct or indirect, remote or proximate rela- tionship to us. All human beings are our neighbors, and today modern devices and apurtenances have brought us more closely together. We who are similar in our inter- ests, ambitions, and national ideals, have the opportunity of attaining to harmonious relationship, mutual charity, and true neighborliness. But this social harmony, if it is to be secure, cannot be effected in a haphazard manner. And for that reason inter-human relationships have been molded into the state or the community. The natural law, common consent of mankind, the sanction of Almighty God, have thus arranged society for the betterment of man. For the preservation of this status, or we might say, for the greater neighborliness of the inhabitants of a community, man normally gives generously his alle- giance, his loyalty, his intelligent activity. And so it is with youth, i t is to their material bene- fit, and frequently also to their spiritual well-being, that they think clearly and act intelligently where civic inter- ests are at stake. Ever before them must be the indubit- able realization that the State exists for man, and not man for the State. Their active and thoughtful contribu- tion to the State must ever have in view the common wel- fare of mankind and not the personal aggrandizement of a few individuals. If the attitude of youth is a neigh- borly one, the poor and the rich, the needy and the proud, the kind and the unkind, and the just and the unjust, will be brought into a harmonious unity within the State. "Love thy neighbor as thyself" is the motivating power behind the actions of youth just as it is the goal towards which they move. In a specific way the needs of every person are brought within the study of youth. Class hatred and bit- ter selfishness have no place in their hearts. It is only love—which is another word for neighborliness—that can bring about a healthful world in both the natural and supernatural way. Although the word "love" is often abused and misused, youth can easily learn once again how to love and whom to love. They can, as many are doing, help the poor and the oppressed. But they cannot allow their love to lead them astray; they must 36 "THE CALL TO YOUTH" recognize that many people are poor and oppressed, not because others have been avaricious and grasping, but because of their own indigence, laziness, and corruption. Youthful persons, with the spirit of love in their hearts, will remember that they must love all poor, those who suffer through their own fault as well as those who have suffered unjustly. With the courageous industry of youth they will investigate thoroughly, find the cause of specific ills. They will try objectively to cooperate with those who are in a position to right the wrong. Personal loyalty and charity will not make them blind but it will move them to courageous achievement and to a genuine effort towards straightening out chaotic conditions. Chivalry has too long been thrown into the discard. Yet chivalry, properly interpreted and easily nurtured in the heart of youth, has within it the possibility of bring- ing to the world a new vision. Chivalrous people are those who are gentlemanly and courteous. They are pro- tectors of the honor of others. They are ready and will- ing to protect the weak and the helpless as they are gen- erous and gallant to those who do them harm. In the heart of a chivalrous youth there is no room for vindic- tiveness and in his life there is no time for revenge. His thoughts and all his endeavors are constantly turned to do good, to love his neighbor. Youth are, on the whole, spontaneously sympathetic and as a consequence they have never yet failed to ans- wer the demands of charity. In fact, unscrupulous per- sons too often take advantage of youthful sympathy by leading them to unworthy objectives. In order to avoid such costly mistakes it is imperative that youth learn the value, necessity, and common sense of intelligent di- rection. This direction must come from rightful author- ity. The observance of authority has fallen into common disrepute and man, dependent entirely upon his Creator, and through Him upon other social beings, has come too often to the opinion that authority destroys individual- ity. The truth of the matter is that respect, loyalty and obedience paid to the rightful authority immediately ex- pands man's freedom of action and guides his will within safe and chartered spheres. WHO IS MY NEIGHBOR? 37 The same Christ that gave His'command to love thy neighbor also gave pertinent example of His respect for authority. Of course His first loyalty was given to God from Whom all authority comes. Then He gave to con- stituted parenthood an example of His fealty. In the civic order He obeyed precisely the prescriptions of His country, the paying of tolls, taxes and tithes. He recog- nised and respected the authority of the state because of its God-given power to effect benefit upon mankind in the neighborly way. He enjoined upon His followers the ad- monition contained in His dictum: "The disciple is not above the master, nor the servant above the lord." And ' in all things Christ, the Man, practised what He taught. To the leaders of youth, then, is given the all- important privilege of teaching and observing the com- mand to "love thy neighbor." Youth will love; youth can be shown whom to love. Through chivalrous ideals and obedient actions, youth will learn that "He that loveth his neighbor hath fulfilled the law." But lest youth be led astray with the queer and attractive inducements of those whose love is only as deep as the sugar-coating on the pill, they will realize that God has ordained an au- thority in the family, in the community, and in the state (even as in the church) which is to be respected. Then truly, will youth know that now, as two thou- sand years ago, men can say, "By this shall all men know that you are my disciples, that you have love one for another." For "the love of neighbor worketh no evil"— when the word "love" be made a living actuality in the lives of youth, inspiring them to follow the advice, "Love thy neighbor as thyself." 38 "THE CALL TO YOUTH" "Love Thy Neighbor as Thyself" Topics for Discussion 1. Who is my neighbor? 2. Give evidence that Christ deemed "love thy neigh- bor" necessary to salvation? 3. How would "loving thy neighbor" solve our national and international problems? 4. How would training in chivalry (politeness) aid youth to appreciate the rights of others? 5. How may we train youth to follow the only real Leader—Christ? Bibliography The New Testament The Social Message of the New Testament Dr. Henry Schumacher Bruce Publishing Company, Milwaukee—$2.00 The Map of Life..... Frank J. Sheed Sheed & Ward, New York—$1.25 The New Testament Series—Life of Christ and Acts of the Apostles.... Parts I, II, and III St. Anthony's Guild, Paterson, N. J.—25c each Christ, The Leader.... Rev. Wm. H. Russell Bruce Publishing Co., Milwaukee, Wis.—$2.00 The Queen's Work and publications of the Sodality of Our Lady. 3742 West Pine Blvd., St, Louis, Missouri. HUMAN SOLIDARITY Mary G. Hawks N. C. C. W. Representative, International Federation Catholic Women's Leagues Do you ever give a thought, a grateful thought to the many human persons whose heads and hands are busy serving you; those who are feeding you, clothing you, keeping you warm, transporting you here and there, giving you reading, entertainment, music, pictures? We might go on forever ennumerating the innumer- able and varied devices we receive from one another and which we take so much for granted that we scarcely give them a thought. Perhaps you may say to me: "Why should I? They are paid for it. We all have to earn a living." Even so, has all of this endless chain of mutual service only a money value, or should we recognize in it a human, a personal value? Even the machine which replaces the man is a human brain-child, conceived by a human mind and controlled by human hands. Moreover, all of these human persons, throughout the world, are spiritual-physical beings like ourselves. They have the same physical needs, the same spiritual aspirations. They may vary in color, in custom, in lan- guage. Their culture, may have a stamp of its own, but they all live and love and labor and die. They serve and are served by countless others, sometimes near at home, sometimes from far beyond the borders of their national culture, even beyond the seas. For nowhere is the human person entirely self-sufficient. - This universal interdependence of all the members of the human family is a daily, hourly reminder of human solidarity. It points back to a common origin, man's creation by God; it points forward to a common goal, everlasting life with God, our Father in heaven. How much there lies between the start and finish that tears and strains the fabric of human solidarity, although it cannot utterly destroy it—indifference, thoughtlessness of the spiritual values, the physical wear and tear that go into the seen and the unseen human services; suspicion, prejudice, personal dislike, enmity, strife, destruction! 40 "THE CALL TO YOUTH" These evil forces operate disastrously in every social contact or circle beginning with the first and small- est, the family (which should be indissolubly united in the bonds of love) and reaching out in wider and wider circles of community, city, national and international life. "We cry, 'Peace, peace,' and there is no peace j , We criticize and condemn the process as its affects the larger units of human solidarity, setting nation against nation, or class against class, and faction against faction within the confines of a nation, but we are rather apt to over- look the fact that the process finds its roots in that micro- cosm, self, the individual human person. So long as we permit indifference, suspicion, preju- dice, personal dislike, enemity, to operate unchecked with- in our inner cosmos and breed strife in our personal relations and contacts, we need not be surprised, even greatly shocked, when their mass cultivation produces mass strife—war. There is an elemental peace program—a kinder- garten program, if you wish—which, if generally cul- tivated, would, in time form a post-graduate degree; I recommend it especially to youth groups, for it will grow with them and create a true Christian civilization. It ends in peace but it begins with war, war on one's own personal suspicions, prejudices, dislikes; everyone has them so everyone can take part in the program. Item two, will be the positive cultivations of interest in, and understanding of, other persons, other groups, other nations. A further development is enrolling all the members of a family, a school, a social group in the same two-fold effort. Offensive nick-names will be taboo, for the Golden Rule is now effective and you "do unto others as you would have others do unto you." Unfair, partisan newspaper publicity will be elimi- nated in the forward march, whether it be partisan to class, or faction, or nation. Whatever foments suspicion, prejudice, hate, must be discounted and overcome. Truth, justice, charity, must be upheld. Hence, the study pro- gram will be enlarged to cover historical backgrounds, causes and effects, the facts that underlie all human com- merce in things and thoughts; the psychology of nations as well as of individuals. Study club outlines and "Aids" HUMAN SOLIDARITY 41 are available through the National Council of Catholic Women. Patriotism, loyalty and devotion to one's own country will not exclude appreciation of the culture and the character of other peoples. The fallacious peace formula: "If you want peace, prepare for war," will be rejected. It is born of suspicion and enmity and produces only the same vicious brood. This will not entail the utter condemnation of all arma- ments. Governments have duties towards their own na- tionals. They must protect them against invasion and aggression; but the munitions makers and their ilk who cry, "Wolf, wolf," to speed up armaments should not be heeded. Neither do we subscribe to the pacifist formula: "If you want peace, prepare for peace." This is far too simple to be sound, at times too simple to be sincere. It assumes an appreciation of. human solidarity, a universal educated Christian conscience before the fact. We accept and purpose the peace formula proposed by the Polish statesman, Halecki, in 1932: "If you want peace, prepare the kingdom of God." Upon this formula, with this slogan, if you will, our elemental peace program may hope to attain the post-graduate level. "Peace on earth to men of good will," was the heavenly message that came to earth with the coming of Christ. If men would know true peace they must have the "good will to prepare the kingdom of God" within them as suggested as primary for spreading the peace of God throughout the widening circles of human contacts. Human solidarity springs from the Fatherhood of God Who gave to it a common parentage and its personal endowments. It achieves its perfection here and its ulti- mate goal, Heaven, through Christ. "A new command- ment I give unto you," He said, "that you love one an- other as I have loved you." And to give added zest to his difficult "new commandment" He identifies Himself with those we are bound to love. "Whatsoever you do to these, the least of My brethren, you do unto Me." St. Paul pictures clearly and vividly the essential unity and harmony of this Christian society organized through the Redemption of Christ, when he compares it to the human body. Nothing could bring home to us more 42 "THE CALL TO YOUTH" clearly the essential interdependence of one human per- son on another and the mutual dependence of all than this simile of the body upon whose variety and coordina-. tion of functions, upon whose perfect articulations and movement we depend for all action which is the suste- nance and expression of life. We know how infinitely happier and better the whole body is when each part, each cell, is in perfect health and perfectly fulfills its service to the whole. We know how moribund we are when the head refuses to direct and the heart no longer supplies the blood stream with regularity and adequacy. This is the simile and the standard we look to as that brotherhood of man, established by and in Christ, the God-Man. This positive ideal is the goal of the Chris- tian followers of the "Prince of Peace." But it is a goal that is set upon a mountain top. The ascent is not easy. We must shed the retarding impedimenta of personal suspicions, prejudices, dislikes, and enmities before we start to climb. But if we establish "the peace of Christ" first in our own hearts and take with us the staff of prayer we may dare the climb and even carry others with us. This program of self-conquest and of peaceful pene- tration reaches everywhere for it speaks a universal language, the language of sympathy. A story is told of the Ursuline, Mother Mary Amad- eus, who went out among the Cheyennes to open schools for their children. A rebellion appeared to be portending among the Indians. They were restless and sullen, s The army officers were making no headway in negotiations; everything, everyone, had failed. Finally they said to the Ursuline nun, "Mother, will you see what you can do?" She went out where the chiefs were gathered with their squaws and papooses and went about among them, smiling at the children, caressing them, taking the babies in her arms. After a little while the tension eased evi- dently and the great Chief stepped forward: "The great, holy, white chief woman," he said, "has spoken better than you all. We will give her our children to teach." True peace will flourish when we learn to love our neighbor as ourself. HUMAN SOLIDARITY 43 'Peace be With You Topics for Discussion 1. How can you make the "elemental peace program" effective in your community? 2. How may our Youth Councils further contribute to the "Peace of Christ in the Reign of Christ"? 3. Write for peace programs and free pamphlets of the Catholic Association for International Peace, 1312 Massachusetts Avenue, N. W., Washington, D. C. 4. Outline a peace program for a general parish meet- ing. 5. How may you "create peace" within yourself and ex- tend it to others? Patriotism, Nationalism and the Brotherhood of Man 10c Bibliography Primer on Peace 25c National Attitudes Peace Education all—National Catholic Welfare Conference 10c 10c A Catholic Looks at the League. Code of International Ethics.... Epstein Epstein Catholic Social Guild, London, England—25c YOUTH ACHIEVES Mrs. William J. B. Macaulay Chairman, Board of Directors, Girl Scouts, Inc. Work with youth is tremendously thrilling and in- spirational because, as has been said earlier, "The child is a plan of God," fraught with great possibilities and charged with an eternal destiny. Today that child of yesterday has become a youth, touched with the bloom of young maturity, but a youth in a new era, an era stranger and more hectic than any we have ever known. It would have been difficult for your great-grand- mother to picture a day in which a woman drives a high- powered motor car, manages an electric fuse, pilots an airplane across two continents or occupies a place in the Cabinet of the United States. Further, that she takes all these in her stride. It is a part of the changing world for better or for worse in the march of progress. Looking back at preceding years of which ours is a composite, we seff the post-war period with its mad frenzy of luxury and profligate spending, the depression period with its hunger of body and spirit, until we come to 1938 rampant with social and economic disorder. Into this day without warning and with little safeguard, youth (is plunged to find itself confronted with coinflicting claims,, confusing philosophies and the allurement of false freedom. All about it is the atmosphere of instabil- ity and insecurity, and at hand are ever ready and willing influences to instill doubt and to incite rebellion. The most heartening thing we can bring to that youth is the assurance that real things, real standards never change. Truth is inflexible and inviolate because it is divine in origin. If youth today is to achieve its fulfillment (and why else does it exist?) then it will achieve it because it knows the truth and refuses to barter that truth at any price. Truth is unchanging and yet somehow there is ever a newness about it, a delight- ful unfolding of unsuspected values, of hitherto unrecog- nized virtues. Because it is real, what we love and revere, no matter how aged and accustomed, it is always young. • YOUTH ACHIEVES 45 It was St. Augustine who spoke of that beauty which is "ever ancient, ever new." It has been said that youth needs a chance to play, to create, to think, and to pray. It needs all four if it is to see life steadily and to see it whole. For the girls of today are of widely diversified type—the studious girl, the athletic girl, the girl with an inclination towards sci- ence, and the one with a bent for ar t ; the one with a gift for society and the one with a gift for solitude; the one with an urge for creation, and the one with the de- sire for following. ' Behind the consideration of the girl's interests lies the fundamental one of satisfying her inherent needs— needs of which she is, perhaps, not even consciously aware; such needs as affection and understanding, con- genial companionship, acquisition of a particular skill which will insure recognition from her chosen group; and a sense of being at ease with her world. With it will come, we believe, the ability to distinguish transitory values from those which are eternal. It is most important that any program should con- cern itself with character-development. It should teach the girl how to meet disappointment bravely; it should keep her strong in spirit as well as in body. It should expose her to experiences of beauty; it should give her a chance to meditate, to create, to play and to lead; it should open up all the world of outdoors to her, and offer her the privilege of serving, making her realize always that the individual is even more important than the citi- zen though possessing always grave and inescapable du- ties toward society. Certain individual needs may be so pressing that they must be met before any others are considered. A gM busy all day in a factory, an office, a school, may need, most of all, just plain fun; while a girl with a great leisure may need more than anything else a chance to share experiences with those who have been less for- tunate. If we were to placard the American spirit we should be apt to say that it is a spirit of strong individualism— of an almost fierce recognition that every citizen has the right to be different—"It is a free country," we say when 46 "THE CALL TO YOUTH" some foreigner comments on our individual digression from a set pattern. The most passionately cherished of all our civil heritages is the right to think independently. Our citizens are not all to be cast in the same mold or denied any chance of difference. The vitality of our peo- ple springs from their willingness, by and large, to accept and to use difference. We wish each citizen to develop to the full his own personality—his own talents—to the end that he may add them to different ones contributed by others, that the resulting organism may be rather like a symphony orchestra than an army marching to a goose step. Along with the democratic right of freedom of thought and the divine gift of the freedom of the will, lies the responsibility to use them wisely, generously, and justly. It is the statute law as well as the Divine law that privilege exists only so long as it does not interfere with another right. So youth, thinking in accordance with the philosophy of truth, must know that its freedom may extend just so far as it does not encroach upon the freedom of its neighbor, and likewise that freedom of the. body and spirit is Youth's, just so far as it does not en- croach upon the commandments of God, given to Youth that it may truly achieve its mission of living. The great gift of Youth is its power to do, its cour- age; its willingness to count the cost, its flame. To them we hand today the thrilling challenge of their responsi- bility, not only to themselves but to society, knowing that in the Divine compensation there can be no happiness without the satisfaction that they have achieved. A woman said to me recently: "If I were rearing my family again I should rear them in a sterner school because I know now how much beauty and strength comes to them through discipline and self-sacrifice." We are jealously guarding the happiness of youth when we give them the power to measure all experience by the standard of truth, because only when they are equipped to reject the false and the tawdry in favor of the true and the beautiful, can they know the richness of living. We do not believe what was said some years ago by a school superintendent to a young teacher: "Girls are clay on the potter's wheel; we can mold them as we YOUTH ACHIEVES 47 choose," nor believe with the pessimists of today that "human nature never changes." We believe that human beings can conceive an ideal not yet attained, and, with the aid of supernatural grace, change themselves and their environment so that the realization of this ideal be- comes possible. And so may it not be that, in making our philosophy articulate and active in our small circle, we may even be moving toward a solution of the world's most pressing problem—the ability of great diverse groups to live harmoniously together. "The letter killeth," says St. Paul, "but the spirit quickeneth." So let us be "fit min- isters of the new testament; not in the letter but in the spirit." 48 "THE CALL TO YOUTH" "Educate for Leisure Topics for Discussion 1. Discuss the New Leisure, its opportunities and its problems. 2. What should be the aims of a character development program ? 3. How may such a program appeal to all girls of varied interests ? 4. What contributions will youth bring to a Youth Council? 5. How can Catholic youth lead others to an apprecia- tion of real values? Bibliography Leisure, the Magazine of a Thousand Diversions 683 Atlantic Avenue, Boston, Mass.—$1.00 a year Recreation, the Magazine for Recreation Leaders National Recreation Assn., 315 4th Ave., N. Y. C.—$2 yr. Good Times for All Times., Nina B. Lambkin Samuel French, 25 W. 45 Street, N. Y. C.—$2.50 A General Plan for Leisure Time Activities Beatrice Harrison N. C. C. W.—10c Culture for Young People Agnes B. Harding N. C. C. W.—10c YOUTH AT WORK Linna E. Bressette Field Secretary, N. C. W. C. Social Action Department Enumerated for you in the opening address were four things which youth must have—an opportunity to play, to create, to think and to pray. May I add one more which is most important; to work, for youth must not be idle. The greatest demand young people are making today is for work—for jobs. Many of them have been out of school for three or more years ready for work with no work in sight. They have not had the joy of stepping into their first jobs and the happiness of contributing to their own needs and those of others. I need not rehearse the story of the countless thousands who "took to the road" when their families became subjects of charity. I need not tell to you the story of their aimless wanderings from one place to another. I should perhaps remind those in- terested in the youth program that nothing is more detri- mental to the physical and moral make-up of a young person than that condition of helplessness caused by a fruitless search for the means of earning a livelihood. Unemployment has played a major part in creating problems of youth today. It seems to me our first atten- tion should be turned toward supplying employment for them as one of the quickest ways out of their difficulties. There would then need to be less talk and worry about juvenile delinquency, juvenile crimes and of youth going Communistic. The unrest should be satisfied with jobs. They have a right, a God-given right, to work and a right to a living wage for the work they perform. They are asking for a chance to work. They are willing to apply themselves diligently for an opportunity to establish themselves in life. Youth has not been having the sort of opportunity youth is entitled to. As late as 1935, it was estimated that there were 6,300,000 employable high school graduates and 2,450,000 were without work. Approximately 300,000 were on re- 50 "THE CALL TO YOUTH" lief who had never held a job—nine out of each ten youths were between the ages of 16 and 25. 5,000.000 were neither at school nor at work—nearly one quarter of all of the young people of this generation. Everywhere young people were hunting jobs. Many of them came from homes that could ill afford to provide for them. That condition exists today. Even in the year 1929 when we were at the peak of our material greatness, 18,000,000 gainfully employed persons or 44 per cent of all those gainfully employed exclusive of farmers, had annual earnings of less than $1,000; 70 per cent less than $1,500. Many families lived in straitened circumstances and many in chronic want. In this general economic picture youth bore the heaviest burden. So long as fathers of families are deprived of the chance to make a decent livelihood, just so long will youth face more and greater problems. We must plead guilty to years of disregard for some of the essential needs, not only of youth, but of the greater part of our population—to a disregard of human and economic waste. Our failures confront us more prominently when viewed in relation to youth. A recog- nition of these failures will help us to correct the injus- tices that exist today. The conditions affecting the youth of today—the citizens of tomorrow—have challenged us to take some action to correct the disadvantages bearing down so heav- ily upon them. These disadvantages called for special action and aid. When, on June 26, 1935, President Koosevelt signed the order creating the National Youth Administration, he said: "I am determined that we shall do something for the nation's unemployed youth because we can ill- afford to lose the strength and energy of these young men and women. They must have their chance at school —their turn as apprentices—their opportunity for jobs— a chance to work and earn for themselves." The National Youth Administration seeks to aid young people along four lines of endeavor; education, employment, vocational guidance, and profitable use of leisure time. The value of these endeavors can certainly YOUTH AT WORK 51 not be depreciated but they must be supplemented by our own efforts. Reports of the NYA show that in every community, steps can be taken to provide work of some kind and in a measure to alleviate the plight in which some of the young people find themselves. It is for the leaders of youth to take the necessary steps. ' • We must not overlook the fact that vocational guid- ance and training must be woven into any program that deals at all comprehensively with youth's problems. Even if jobs were available, we should not want youth attract- ed to the blind alley kind. We do not want our young people to take jobs for which they are not fitted. We do not want them to be square pegs in round holes—misfits in industry. We must face the necessity not only of find- ing jobs for them, but of equipping them to take suit- able jobs. . No stone must be left unturned to provide jobs, but where none can be discovered, work must be arranged which offers them an opportunity to be useful and to learn. Youth must not be idle. To allow youth to do nothing is to warp it badly. Idleness leads to undesirable mental attitudes. Inability to earn a living may result in anti-social tendencies, hopelessness. It may stay youth's initiative and moral stamina. Probably the most serious element in the predicament is the moral deterioration that accompanies unemployment, and it is particularly to be feared in relation to youth. The effort of the National Youth Administration to provide leisure time activities should be enlarged upon by youth leaders. There are thousands of young persons today living away from home in cities and towns to which they have gone to work. They must face moral, spiritual and economic hazards. It is my thought that many of them have no contact even today with our youth leaders. An effort should be made to reach them. It is easy to reach the girl and boy in our schools, in the so- dalities and other organized groups, but I would have our youth leaders seek out those others living in the cheap rooming houses where mpral standards are low and those whose new found companions in the factory or elsewhere are having a subtle influence on them and 52 "THE CALL TO YOUTH" changing their mental attitude toward life, and to the boy or girl whose wage is too low to provide healthy rec- reation. Any program for youth at work or out of work must take into account these economic, moral and spiritual risks. Youth has encountered many other dangers along with unemployment. We have feared that youth would grow despondent— lose hope, ambition, and zest for work; but somehow youth has managed withal to maintain its morale. Youth has not lost hope. Moreover, youth seems not to be the "lost generation" but rather a generation that is finding itself. Young people today are showing great interest not just in themselves but in conditions throughout the world. Youth views all work as respectable and something to be desired. Youth recognizes the dignity of labor, that labor is not a commodity, that there are many in- adequacies and inequalities in the world today and that there is something that can be done about it. Youth is asking today why it is and how it is that this nation, the richest in the world, with the greatest resources in the world, finds itself with one third of its population ill-fed, ill-housed, and ill-clothed. Youth is looking for the answer and will find it, but the leaders of youth must not let them grope alone. The problems facing youth today cannot be consider- ed separately from the general social and economic prob- lems of the country as a whole. Youth will not have it so; hand in hand with their leaders they will share the burden of bringing order out of a disordered economic system. Let us give them wise leadership. In an address some months ago, the President of the United States reminded us that "Christianity began with youth and for two thousand years youth has revitalized it." Just so will youth revitalize our economic life. The minds and hearts and hands of youth will shape the future; therefore youth must be trained, enlightened, and informed. There are many ways to assist in their education. Great effort is being made today through study clubs, group discussions, conferences and other channels to imbue youth with certain fundamental prin- YOUTH AT WORK 53 ciples and rights; to teach them that Christian principles must dominate economic life, that industrial activities are subject to the moral law, that moral principles have their rightful place in the field of economics and in- dustry. ( . It was Leo XIII, of sainted memory, who said, "These problems are not all social and economic, but are moral and religious and their solution must be found in the moral law and the pronouncements of religion." Youth must be taught that in the new order of things there is a great place for the young man or woman equipped with the great principles laid down for them by our Holy Father and that there is great necessity for putting these principles into use. They must be taught that they have an obligation to apply Christian prin- ciples to all of their work and social relationships. Youth leaders must encourage them in habits of 1 honesty, punctuality, loyalty, work and service, the best they can give. Youth must be able to reject subversive influences, must learn to reason calmly and to discipline • itself. The National Council of Catholic Women has at- tempted to have a constructive youth program. In addi- tion to the study clubs and other educational activities mentioned, the Council made an effort the last two sum- mers to reach the workers. To do this, Institutes on In- dustry were opened at the National Catholic School of Social Service. The best instructors were secured. They studied and discussed, under able leadership, problems of employment, wages, the right of workers to organize, the right of employers to organize, the necessity for organi- zation, the stewardship of wealth and the fundamentals of a Christian Social Order. These Institutes should appeal to youth leaders who must strive unceasingly to teach not only our youth, but themselves that the only safeguard to peace in our economic life is social justice measured by Christian standards. The spirit that has sustained youth through these troubled years is something deep and fine. Leaders must make it articulate. The other day headlines in a newspaper caught my attention. They read "Youth on the March". I asked i m 54 "THE CALL TO YOUTH" myself, "Where? What is youth's goal?" The answer came to me in some verses written and sent to me by a young friend of mine a short time ago: Down the long road of the world they pass** The youth of life hurrying by. Some of them laugh and sing as they go And some have tears in their eye. You and I stand on the brow of the hill And watch where their feet have trod. Our hearts keep beat with their hurrying feet As they cry: "We are looking for God!" Let us help them to find Him and to keep Him. **Written by Marjory Cannon Murphy, Wash. D. C. YOUTH AT WORK 65 "The God-given Right to Work" Topics for Discussion 1. What is one of the great problems affecting the youth of the nation today? a) What is its cause? b) Suggest remedies. 2. Approximately how many young persons between the ages of 16 and 25 are unemployed? What action was taken by the Federal Government to alleviate this condition? 3. What are some of the evil effects of unemployment on Youth? 4. Select ten passages from Quadragesimo Anno set- ting forth definite principles which might help to promote peace in industry. 5. What five qualities should youth leaders encourage? Suggest others. 6. Name and interpret two projects of the National Council of Catholic Women. Bibliography Reconstructing the Social Order (Quadragesimo Anno) Encyclical of Pius XI. N. C. W. C.—10c Toward Social Justice N. C. W. C. N. C. W. C.—15c N C C W Report of Industrial Committee N. C. C. W. N. C. C. W.—10c Pamphlets of the National Youth Administration 1338 G Street, N. W., Washington, D. C. Folders on Industrial Institutes N. C. C. W. N. C. C. W.—free THE FAMILY UNIT Mrs. John J. Shea President, Nashville Diocesan Council of Catholic Women The "Family Unit" presents the highest form of human and spiritual happiness, a state blessed by God where joy comes from mutually doing and watching, loving and praying. Consider the happiness of the newlywed; it is so complete, so perfect within its own small circle, where one man loves one woman and one woman loves one man. Later, if God chooses to widen this circle it broadens it- self and there is happiness for three, more than enough to go around, and without effort or realization love and happiness continue to envelop and surround those within the family unit. Mother, father, children, home;' four words expressive of supreme happiness. As we parents grow older our problems multiply, our experiences become more interesting, our wisdom and judgment keener. Scientists acclaim not all the birds of the air are mated, so to those of us whom God has bles- sed, our charges are indeed sacred. When our family unit increases we recognize in our beautifully developing children our strongest and our weakest characteristics. When our children are young th sir difficulties are many but simple. As they grow older their problems are fewer, but more important and capable of permanent results. We observe these children resembling the individ- uals we had hoped to be and we find ourselves humoring them and doing for them the things we always had wanted to do. That fascinating electric train with its bridges and tunnels, signals and stop lights, causes the father's pulse to tingle, and on Christmas morning 'way down inside of him, he has that feeling of deep satisfac- tion and pleasure: at last that dream train is his. The fur coat we include in our daughter's wardrobe for college, "because I need it so, Mother", causes us to wonder if our own education was complete. After all, we do know that even before we were members of this THE FAMILY UNIT 57 family unit, our greatest joy was serving and giving rather than receiving. Our prayers are not always answered. Often our hearts are heavy, but we should realize that in propor- tion to our happiness we must accept an occasional heart- ache and a disappointment, and knowing "God's in His Heaven" we should pray to be directed and guided. We parents by now (if we have made the most of the advantages and opportunities given to us) have assumed our proper place in society, and while to all of us success as the world knows it (with its honor and glories, an- xieties and responsibilities) may not come, we should accept the strata of society in which we find ourselves and grace it with dignity and appreciation. To those whom success has favored, their debt of gratitude is great. The husband is known as a successful man; the wife, a companion by his side. Together they go fulfill- ing their obligations to God, to man and to the state, grateful for the honors and glories, accepting the an- xieties and responsibilities. Our days are longer. We are more tolerant, understanding, reminiscent and grate- ful for the happiness that is ours. The family unit grows larger: not one child but several. We take pride in the beautiful development of these blessed charges and we hear them echo our words and admonitions. We realize the heritage beyond all price which we will bequeath our children, and with this spirit, our spirit, the spirit of the truly Christian mother and father blazing in their hearts, they will carry the torch from generation to generation, and Christian marriage and Christian parenthood will never cease to be the glory and the wonder of the civilized world. Youth is ever looking forward, upward, outward, filled with ideals, hopes, ambitions and dreams. Directed in the proper channels, the ultimate achievement is good; misdirected, tragedy is the result. Reverend Edgar Schmiedeler, 0. S. B., Director of the Family Life Section, National Catholic Welfare Con- ference, in his article, "Parent Education", says, "In its broadest sense, parent education is taken to include prac- tically everything that pertains to marriage, home-mak- 58 "THE CALL TO YOUTH" ing, family life generally. In other words, it includes the whole field of relationships between the family members within the home, all that comes under what is known to- day as home economics or domestic science, and all the various phases of child care and training within the family circle." Nothing under heaven could be more acceptable in the sight of God than a young couple realizing the ideals of Christian marriage; that marriage is a divine insti- tution and a sacrament, a sign of the union of Christ and His Church, its prime purpose to bring into the world and rear children for happiness here and in the here- after. Youth must be taught to appreciate and to strive for the economic and social conditions that are necessary to a full and complete existence. Conditions are unsettled. Our youths are confronted with a serious economic prob- lem, Wanting to marry, they ask, "How can we marry?" Our Holy Father's Encyclical, "On Christian Marriage", stands forth as a beacon light. We must watch and pray; our homes, our families, the whole structure of civiliza- tion is being threatened. As citizens and leaders of Youth our responsibility is ever present, to hold high our ideals of Christian family. To this end we urge a frank facing of the problem on the part of our young people and a definite preparation for marriage and parenthood, not only in group study and discussion but in individual reading of literature dealing with the family in all its relationships. The many vocational activities that have so great an appeal may include home arts and crafts. How our girls love home decorating, cooking, sewing, home nursing, and child care! For our boys, too, there are special activities to be fostered. And this family life must be an influence in the community, a mother's and daughter's tea, a father's and son's breakfast or supper, a family community night: all these will do much to build high ideals of home life. In all w£ do we keep ever before us the Holy Family as the perfect model. From its inception, the National Council of Catholic Women has had as its objective the preservation and pro- tection of the family and family life. Our young mothers and fathers of today were girls and boys of yesterday; a THE FAMILY UNIT 69 great majority entered this most important field of life with practically no training or prepaartion. Every child sent to earth by God is a definite re- sponsibility and the moral growth, emotional develop- ment, and future conduct of these children depends on our relationship, understanding and association with them. Let us realize they have their problems. Listen and be genuinely interested; if there is that perfect understanding between parent and child, there will not be so many problems. When your big girls come to you after their dates and in front of the log-fire discuss the problems and the good times of the evening; when your big, little boy tells you "it's been a keen day", after you've had his pals on a mcnic in the woods; and your little girls, when you kiss them good-night, whisper, "I love you, Mother;" and when your baby boy whom all the family accuses you of spoiling, stays close to your side and your heart; and when your husband whom you have loved through all the years, loving you, shares in your happiness and sor- row—from within your soul comes a prayer of gratitude for the joys of this sacred family unit. God bless them and keep them. 60 "THE CALL TO YOUTH" "Matrimony was not instituted or restored by man, but by God"—Pope Pius XI. Topics for Discussion 1. How may we lead youth to a better understanding of Christian Marriage? 2. In planning your annual programs, how may you give greater emphasis to vocational guidance? 3. Youth is interested in the much publicized problems of sterilization, birth control, divorce, euthanasia. How may they receive the knowledge of Catholic principles? 4. How may you further develop "Home Art" activities for the young women? 5. Discuss the value of joint recreational activities for young men and women. Bibliography On Christian Marriage Encyclical of Pius XI N. C. W. C-tflOc An Introductory Study of the Family Rev. Edgar Schmiedeler, 0. S. B. D. Appleton-Century Co., 35 West 32nd St., N. Y. C.— $2.50 Conserving the Family —- Rev. Edgar Schmiedeler, 0. S. B. N. C. W. C.—10c Birth Control and Sterilization Pamphlets .... N. C. W. C. N. C. W. C. Your Partner In Marriage Daniel A. Lord, S. J. Queen's Work Press, 3742 West Pine Blvd., St. Louis, Mo., 10c Religion Book IV Rev. John M. Cooper Catholic Education Press, Washington, D. C., $1.25 y o u t h c r e a t e s b e a u t y Beatrice Harrison Craft Department, Detroit Public Schools It is through rich, colorful, vigorous beauty found in art, music, poetry, prose, drama and the dance that youth reveals those treasured secrets of their innermost imaginings. Youth is beautiful because it is creative, and creative because it is part and parcel of vital reac- tions stimulated through an ability to truly live in an all encompassing area so real, honest, and direct as to be re- ferred to as—Youth; an area that finds its members eager and willing to react in a unique though normal fashion to surrounding influences, stooping, even yield- in.? to temptation one moment then rising to heights of spiritual elevation the next; an elevation the height of which the rest of us dare not even dream, yet from which springs the very essence of creative beauty—and upon you, the youth leaders, falls the grave responsibility of conserving and recording these vivid experiences, the rich raw materials of which are but the basic elements of today's culture. Immediately you ask for a clarification, a definition of terms. What are the forms and formulas through which a leader might evolve, develop and nurture this highly desired creative power whence emanates beauty? How is it recognized, where is it found, and what are its particular prerequisites? And instantly the youth of yesteryear gives back the answer:. "Know youth itself." Only in and through a thorough understanding and appreciation of the world and the environment of which they are an integral part can the how, the where, the what be sought. For this creative power is a vital force springing from the depth of the inner self and when nur- tured and developed in the fertile soil of active thinking and doing it blossoms forth naive, sincere, and uniquely individual, a living symbol of a rich imagination. In the sparkling jest of the catch phrase, the joy and humor of the witty saying, the rhythm of the song and dance, the colorful pattern of the dress, the nonchalant attitude of 62 "THE CALL TO YOUTH" seeming indifference so often mistaken for over-confi- dence or an enlarged ego is found the vitality of Youth. It is their spontaneous ability to think and to do that enlarges the scope of their self expression and brings to full fruition the life in the world around them, making it an exciting place in which to live. Thus it becomes both a privilege and a challenge tp youth leaders to plan a program that will not only develop and conserve this universal power of youth, but build it with greater strength, more beauty, and deeper meaning. If we examine the definition of creative beauty we come face to face with two schools of thought: the one that plans, then develops; the other that develops, then plans. And whether it is art, music, prose, poetry, drama, or the dance, these opposing views are apparent. Both are sincere but so divergent in concept that there immediately ensues a vast amount of seeming confusion. Of the first school we adults are a direct product. This school of thought develops and utilizes to fullest measure rules, laws, and skills as a basic structure upon which to erect the desired product, creative beauty. To the follow- ers of this school the creative urge is a foregone conclu- sion subjecting its very being to the application and force of the skills that are poured down upon the mater- ial from whence this creative expression shall emerge fully gowned in robes of technical perfection. Beauty is a special type and kind of perfection abiding within the area of the created, the degree of beauty being solely a degree of perfect craftsmanship. Out of this thinking has arisen the idea that the creative urge is an aloof something showered upon the fortunate few, leaving the great mass of mankind with but a limited power to appreciate. Yet how, I ask, can one appreciate without feeling or feel without creating? If one is void of the power to create will not that same one lack the power to truly appreciate? One afternoon while visiting an exhibit in the Chi- cago Art Institute I heard a high shrill voice say, "Oh, John, wasn't Cezanne marvelous? Please tell ine what to think so I can appreciate this great painter." And com- plimented, John began in a low, slow, almost bored voice YOUTH CREATES BEAUTY 63 a half hour's explanation of rules, laws, and principles that would have so shackled Cezanne he would never have been able to paint, let alone create; yet never once in all this deep, involved discourse of laws, skills, and abidings did John touch upon the creative powers of th is . great genius. John's was a power of admiration, not appreciation, for the explanation was as void of feeling as the walls upon which the pictures were hung. Ce- zanne's objective was never to produce a perfect tech- nical masterpiece. Instead it was his desire to give an expression to a very personal, significant experience producing a painting that was a definite record of a most unique imagining. And it is this desire to give a satis- fying expression to a unique experience that likens the creative beauty of youth to the creations of genius. Both find satisfaction through doing. Their approach is direct yet simple. They seek the path to glory by their search for truth for both realize that in and through truth is found beauty. They are both richly endowed with a vision to see and plan and a will to execute. Theirs is a world of real values. Recently a student of mine was requested to aid a teachers' committee in the preparation of a memory book to be given to an honored member of our Board of Education. Delightedly she accepted,- and upon being given the material with which to work she passed her hand over the surface and excitedly responded, "Just the feel of it gives a joyous sensation!" With the deftness of a draftsman she laid in her design and hurriedly applied the color. Her fingers flew with such rapid cer- tainty that I was entranced and unthinkingly queried, "Lucia, how do you know what color to use next?" With an expression of complete dismay she paused, looked up, and smilingly replied, "I can't explain, it is all inside of me," then quickly returned to work; for evolving before her was that joyous sensation made real by those glorious colors. Truly creative beauty was this, for it came from within; a spontaneous response to a joyous inner experi- ence. Thus proceeds the second school of thought, the one that develops, then plans; utilizing the creative urge as the center or vortex about which all else. revolves while the skill and technique emerging through the act 64 "THE CALL TO YOUTH" of doing become the means toward the end, not the end itself. Beauty is its own excuse for being and is spirited, vital, real in relationship to the depth of feeling of the doer. The "how" of this creative doing, like the big black bugaboo of cradle days, just jumps right out at you. It never comes twice in the same shape, size, form, or color. It simply comes dancing, laughing, singing, filled with the sheer joy of living for it dwells in the depths of inspiration, the marble castles of idealistic youth. Beauty is not the definite concern of these creat- ors. Their interest lies in the ability to fashion into being the seeing, thinking, feeling of the inner self; the success or failure of the act is simply the likeness of the thing conceived to the thing produced. So as a strong basis for any program involving creative beauty, I would set the foundation firmly on the words, "Just let it happen," and instantly erect the superstructure from the materials through which it can happen, and may I add, will happen. Some time back a noted designer of .ladies' hats whose creations from rare and costly materials were ever in demand attended a social function of rather amusing nature. After the usual perfunctory duties were cared for he was handed part of the advertising section of the Sunday paper, a brightly colored piece of tinseled Christ- mas ribbon with the artistically tied bow still in perfect order, a small tightly curled feather, a few artificial cherries, a handful of pins. From these he was requested to fashion a bonnet of most unusual design. The finest creation, he was told, would receive not only the approba- tion of the other guests who were likewise devising ideas from nothings, but a prize as well. "From these?" he disdainfully queried, holding up the motley array, "Haven't you forgotten the waste basket?" The hostess being thoughtful and considerate of the needs of each guest hastily furnished the missing item. The merriment that followed challenged this doer of deeds, and from the assortment before him he produced a most unique headdress. Though his efforts were rewarded with the coveted prize his greatest joy came in the realization that waste baskets and their contents held such ingenious pos- YOUTH CREATES BEAUTY 65 sibilities. Ever afterwards he advocated the salvaging of beautiful pieces. They hold a twofold joy: first, their very being stands as a challenge to the ingenious capacity of the doer, and second, the intrinsic value lies not in the costly outlay of raw materials, but in the beauty of the creations and because these creations are of and from the environment they hold a deeper and more personal meaning than extrinsic productions. So when planning your program if cost is an item of concern try salvaging waste materials. You will find them satisfying as well as a bit of a challenge even to you, the leader. Hence the materials become the media through which youth experiences the world about. These materials are part and parcel of the environment and can be pushed, poked, patted, twisted, hammered, shoved, pulled, and wound into shapes and forms that convey ideas and in- spirations. The greater the choice of material the greater the stimulus. They are the raw stuffs of any community that become the challenging forces bringing into being the things that so amuse and satisfy in story, song, or dance; the things that elicit praise and humor in wood, wire, clay, metal, fabric, color, and papiermache; the thing that sends the exacting one deep into the realms of profound research to verify the needed data. By and through this material the inspiration, the idea, is carried into full creation in the medium of expression most desired. The degree of beauty is solely dependent, not on learned con- cepts but on the capability to concentrate, the ability to think, the wish to create, the desire to play, the power to pray. Collectively these enable the doer, as Shakes- peare so adroitly expresses it, "to body forth the forms of thing unseen and give to airy nothing a local habita- tion and a name." No nobler task nor higher duty could be conferred upon you, the leaders of youth, than the opportunity to help youth find the way to create, to de- velop and nurture the wish to create, and to evolve the place and the materials through which this can happen; for life holds infinite possibilities when "Youth Creates Beauty." 66 "THE CALL TO YOUTH" "Beauty is Truth; Truth, Beauty" Topics for Discussion 1. How will Hobby Clubs give to youth the "opportun- ity to create"? 2. List the hobbies of adults you know. Would these experts help youth to a wider appreciation of crafts? 3. How may your committee "salvage waste material" and help youth create? Have you a "salvage shelf" in your meeting room? 4. Plan a party, allowing each young person to create something of beauty from waste-basket scraps. 5. Since we learn through doing, plan action programs for the coming year. Bibliography Preparation for Leisure Frederick P. Keppel Journal of Adult Education, January, 1988 Youth Leaders Notebook N. C. C. W. N. C. C. W.—$1.00 Handicrafts of the Southern Highlands....Allen H. Eaton Russell Sage Foundation, New York City—$3.00 How to Run a Hobby Show Leisure, 683 Atlantic Avenue, Boston—10c Hobbies, a Bibliography Vocational Division, Office of Education, U. S. Dept. of Interior, Washington, D. C. t h e s e r v i c e o f t h e m i n d Miriam Marks Executive Secretary, Confraternity of Christian Doctrine The mind is won to service primarily through ideals, faith and organization. Consider the instrument which you turn on to receive messages from all parts of the world. A man had an ideal, he had faith in that ideal, he organized effort and material, and we casually accept a modern miracle—the radio. And so in various realms of life where ideals, faith and organization are co-ordi- nated, door after door opens, revealing incomparable worlds of interest and power. Yet, amid the alluring opportunities of today ideals remain separated from the lives of many. Thoughts, de- sires and activities strike no root in spiritual faith. Countless of our youth, with all their strength, follow restlessly one of the "isms" of the age which like the gorgeous coat of Joseph provide color—but not harmony. Youth is the age of ideals and of faith; the age that revels in organized effort; the age of initiative and the driving desire to exercise it; the age of new interests seeking experience among the multiple activities of com- merce and society. To provide opportunities for the initiative of youth the National Council of Catholic Women centralizes its youth program through the National Catholic Welfare Conference established by the bishops of the United States, and provides its federated units with information and program suggestions from the departments and bu- reaus of the Welfare Conference. This youth program through spiritual, cultural, vo- cational and educational activities links leisure with the life of the spirit. It offers youth "an opportunity to play, to create, to think and to pray." It is a program that builds upon the many-sided interests of youth, that uses their knowledge and experience as a point of contact, that seeks to encourage rather than repress, to under- stand rather than disapprove. The youth program offers ideals and evidences confidence in the courage of youths 68 "THE CALL TO YOUTH" to live by, and to preserve for their sons and daughters, these ideals entrusted to them. In all activities, hiking, bowling, dancing, as well as in spiritual development it is interest that sets youth thinking and planning for themselves. It is interest that generates enthusiasm in' their organized efforts. Then too, young men and girls need to do their own work rath- er than have it done for them, for all of us learn best the facts we find out for ourselves and half the fun is in experiencing the ecstasy of discovery in the develop- ment of a plan. Youth, engaged in a creative effort with all the ex- citing choices of success and failure, pierce through the crust of dry facts to their inward, pulsing meaning. With faith in an ideal and working together each contributes toward a result finer than any could attain alone. From a recent challenge from the chairman of the Advisory Committee of the National Youth Administra- tion, I quote: "At no time in the history of man has he needed more than at present the power to make moral de- cisions and the willingness to include God in his worldly calculations." And Mr. Taussig also said: "I wonder if education is safe if we exclude spiritual training?"* The power to make moral decisions, the willingness to include God in our worldly calculations results from faith in an indispensable ideal; a challenging ideal that will develop the higher service of the mind and that driving force, the will, which sends us out upon the myriad adventures of life to realize our hopes, our dreams, our ambitions. We organize for the fulfillment in youth of the words of Christ: "I am come that they may have life, and may have it more abundantly." (John 10:10). By what means is this accomplished? By convincing youth of the im- portance of the higher service of the mind and of the power of the grace of God; by offering an attractive, workable plan for promoting the knowledge and practice of faith in organized groups, not as a required religious course to be completed with a sigh of relief, but as some- thing to be lived and loved. We need to present religion as a way of living, as an heroic adventure in goodness. * School and Society, Jan. 16, 1937, p. 76. THE SERVICE OF THE MIND 69 This is being done in many parts of our country through religious discussion clubs. A religious discussion club is a group of ten or twelve persons meeting weekly for about an hour to discuss religion. A simple plan of organization is offered but no cut and dried method. The discussion club asks each member to think. Yes, to think aloud so that all may profit thereby. Of course discussion is halting at first for the laity are not in the habit of talking about religion and often must first acquire a religious vocabu- lary. There is of course, a vast difference between grasp- ing an idea and interpreting that idea to others. But gradually the members of a religious discussion group develop the power of expression and discuss religion as well as they do secular subjects that interest them. In- terest is essential to promote discussion and youth's in- terests are primarily in persons, in courageous, heroic leaders of men. Let us then present to the youth of our land the great Leader, Christ, that He may plant in their minds the seed of faith to influence their thought and conduct. Christ, the Son of God, the greatest leader of all history; all history is based on Him. Men mark time by Him; B. C., before Christ, and A. D., Anno Domini, the Year of our Lord. He is the best known Man in all history, the most loved Man, the most hated Man. Christ taught for only three years. He made claims that no other man.ever made and He presented His credentials: He was the fulfillment of prophecies; He performed mir- acles, predicted events which came to pass. While dying on the Cross He opened paradise to a thief; He trans- formed the thoughts and conduct of men. He left no written word yet through the centuries His influence on the lives and deeds of the human race is a greater miracle than giving speech to the dumb, sight to the blind, or life to the dead. He planted the tiny seed of fa,-th leaving it to men to cultivate and to develop into the mighty kingdom of God. Youth reading, retelling and dramatizing the ever new and challenging stories of the Gospels realize they are historical facts, that they were real, they actually happened. The majestic, lovable Christ becomes a living 70 "THE CALL TO YOUTH" personality, presenting in His life and through actual life situations the virtues a Christian should possess. The active participants in these discussion groups meet in the Gospels the privileged men and women who came in contact with Christ; meet every type of human char- acter, and discussion reveals that each character has his present day equivalent. Thus the Gospels present a grow- ing picture of the scenes and settings and of the teach- ings and power of the Son of God. Christ becomes a dynamic personality and a historic reality. Interest is often sustained and further developed through simple, informal dramatization. With improvised costumes and settings and but brief preparation the truths of the Gos- pel stories are brought to both participants and observers. I recently attended a joint parish meeting of eight discussion groups, where each group presented a scene in the life of our Lord. Later in the evening I was Italking to a lad of nineteen who said, "You know, I realize more than ever tonight how just and square our Lord was with everybody. Just think how John loved Christ and stood by Him, then James and Simon lived with Him, but because St. Peter was a born leader Christ made him the head of His Church even after Peter denied Him. In reading the Gospels even we can see that ,St. Peter was the leader. A lot of things came to me tonight during that scene where our Lord said to Peter and Andrew, 'Come after Me and I will make you to be fish- ers of men.' I thought how Christ went into his ship to fish, that was the 'bark of Peter; ' I thought of the time Christ, told Peter to. take a coin from the mouth of the first fish he should catch and pay tribute for Him and His disciples. Then too, when the disciples caught the one hundred and fifty-third fish it was Peter who drew the net. I wonder if Christ didn't choose Peter because he was a leader of fishermen? He wouldn't be easily discouraged when people wouldn't believe or even when men and women would give up their faith. You see Peter knew how many bad fish come into a net and how many good ones slip out of it." The lad explained that in his discussion club each member makes a special study of one person in the Gospels, that he was assigned St. Peter and felt that he THE SERVICE OF THE MIND 71 knew him almost personally. Then he continued: "Why Mother, Dad and I talked about St. Peter for two hours on Sunday. We talked of the faith he showed when all the odds were against him, of all he went through for love of Christ—that is of course after he received the Holy Ghost on Pentecost." This youth concluded by say- ing: "When you learn to know St. Peter from the Gospels and the Acts of the Apostles you find yourself thinking about religion a lot more and it just does something to T O U . " If youth are brought to know Christ in a personal way and become confident of the truths of His teachings they are prepared to meet undisturbed the deceptions and allurements of life. Even in suffering and defeat they are aware that Christ by His grace will continue and complete His work in their lives as He did in St. Peter's, as He does for all who take up their cross and follow Him. About 1900 years ago on a day now commemorated throughout Christendom as Good Friday the world de- clared its victory over Christ the Son of God; but the glad feast of the Resurrection proclaiming Christ's vic- tory over the world is the perennial triumph of divine love. When a youth keeps before him his Ideal, evidences in daily conduct his faith in Christ, and unites with others in an organized effort to turn to the social apos- tolate the truths of faith he comes to know that the de- feat of Calvary is glorified in the triumph of the Resur- rection, the fulfillment of the heroic sacrifice of undying love. 72 "THE CALL TO YOUTH" "Our need today—an informed and articulate laity." Topics for Discussion 1. Discuss the essential coordination of ideals, faith and organization in a youth program. 2. How may youth "carry Christ" and His teaching into their spiritual, cultural, vocational and recreational activities ? 3. How may we make a religious discussion club prac- tical? Discuss plan of organization. 4. How may we help youth to see Christ and His Saints as living personalities? 5. How can we lead youth to know the saints as friends, "each with a present day equivalent"? Bibliography Youth Today and Tomorrow Youth Institute N. C. C. Wi-25c Manual of the Confraternity of Christian Doctrine St. Anthony's Guild, Paterson, New Jersey—10c The New Testament Series, Parts I, II, and III (Life of Christ and Acts of the Apostles) St. Anthony's Guild—25c each The Way of Life McNeill & Aaron St. Anthony's Guild—50c The Means of Grace . McNeill & Aaron St. Anthony's Guild—50c h e a d i n g t h e p r o f e s s i o n s Olive Gage and Dorothy Abts Faculty, National Catholic School of Social Service Miss Gage: Social work presents a wide field of operation, since it is that profession that is concerned with the welfare of human beings. Schools of Social Work equip students with the methods and skills whereby they can assist individuals to cope with their per- sonal difficulties. Over and above that, training pre- pares the students for leadership in the larger social, moral and economic problems of society. Since social work is pre-eminently devoted to human individuals and groups, it is essential that social workers have a desire to be of service to others, and ability to work with other people, and specialized knowledge and equipment. The field of social work is complex. Ordinarily it is divided into social case jvork, which attempts to help persons individually; social legislation, which seeks to assist welfare through regulation by law; social action, which mobilizes the social interests of various groups for the common welfare; social research, which engages in fact-finding; and social group work which guides the interaction of individuals through groups. In the professional school, opportunity is given the student to find that part of the profession which interests her and for which she is best fitted. Miss Abts: Do the schools of social work offer training in the field of group work leadership? Miss Gage: There are today 31 schools of social work that are members of the American Association of Schools of Social Work. Most of these schools offer specialized courses in social group work. The Na- tional Catholic School of Social Service, through its courses in group work, aims directly to prepare a number of students for professional leadership in Catholic Youth Councils. By group work is meant the "voluntary activities of formally organized group work agencies." Group work, built up around a host 74 "THE CALL TO YOUTH" of leisure time activities, directed by qualified lead- ership, is a new and ever broadening field of social work. Hundreds of communities are employing di- rectors of social centers and playground leaders. National organizations, such as the Eecreation As- sociation, Catholic Youth councils, the Boy Scouts, the Girls Scouts, and the Boys' Clubs of America are aiding community life through programs of recrea- tion, athletics, music, little theaters, playgrounds, clubs and activities of many varieties. Miss Abts: As you suggest, group work is concerned with leisure time activities. We know that individuals get benefits through recreation, such as self- expres- sion, physical development and character-building, but I wonder if most young people don't just nat- urally supply their own leisure time activity? Why does social work have to direct such service for youth? Miss Gage: The answer to your question, is suggested by something I read recently in the form of a query asked and answered by a negro bishop. "When is a man lost?" he asked. "A man is never lost when he doesn't know where he is, for he always knows where he is wherever he is. A man is lost when he doesn't know where the other folks are." Group work is concerned that individuals who don't "know where the other folks are" have the opportunity to get to- gether. Then too, with leisure time becoming more extensive than school time or work time, there is in- creasing recognition of the importance of wise use of leisure time. How many youngsters do you and I know who started out to have fun but got into trou- ble through mistaken ideas of fun? Satisfactions were found in a troublesome street-corner gang or in a pool room or in just "doin' nothing", whereas the opportunity to play, to think, to create, and to pray might have been wholesomely satisfied through an organized program under supervised leadership. "If," as Shakespeare's wise Portia said, "to do were as easy as to know what were good to do," all young people would, of course, instinctively associate in HEADING THE PROFESSIONS 75 worthwhile leisure time pursuits. Organized group work enables youth to do jointly what they can't do separately. Its purpose is expressed by social group work agencies as the "socialization" of youth. Miss Abts: Filling leisure time with constructive activi- ties calls for group leadership then, does it not? Miss Gage: Obviously, the mere provision of space and equipment for group activity and filling it with a membership is not group work. Experienced leader- ship must be supplied in addition to that which will be found within the group itself. Miss Abts: To a large extent, volunteers are leading groups. I am interested, however, in the place of the professionally trained worker in this picture. Miss Gage: There seems to be a prevailing notion that group leaders need only an expansive personality, an interest in people and a craving for the crowd. Because the leader's work is tied up with care-free moments, it is easy to view group leadership as an informal, easy kind of thing to do. Let us visualize the trained group worker as a kind of "social engi- neer." She must have the capacity to organize a collection of individuals into an active, constructive working unit. She must steer the program so that it will have a well-balanced program of spiritual, cultural, vocational, recreational and service activi- ties, through discussion groups, music, art, and civic activities, dramatics, games, athletics, and physical education. But providing a program is not the whole thing; to see that it is carried out in such a way that the individuals in the program have their ca- pacities, their needs, and their opportunities for self- expression met is paramount. In other words, a dose of so much of this kind of play and so much of that kind of activity does not give group work its proper essence. The professional plans, surveys, supervises, analyzes, and directs. She it is who is responsible for the whole program, while the volunteer leader usually works with one or two of several groups. The volunteer usually selects her work as a part7time avocation; the professional selects it as a full-time 76 "THE CALL TO YOUTH" vocation. One of the major duties of the professional leader in group work is selecting, training and su- pervising appropriate volunteer group leaders for clubs, classes and other activities. Miss Abts, what parts of the group work program can be carried by volunteers ? Miss Abts: Many of the specific services in all fields of social work must be performed by volunteers. It seems to me that in recruiting them we should look into individual talents and abilities so that each volunteer may bring to a well-balanced program the benefit of her particular training and experience. The. physical education instructor, the successful homemaker, the business executive are each special- ists who as volunteers may assume responsibility for the various group activities. The many tasks in social work can not be performed by professional workers alone, even in normal times, and in every period of emergency and stress, such as war or serious economic depression, we are reminded that there can never be too many intelligent and devoted workers. No one group, trained or untrained, pro- fessional or lay, can claim exclusive responsibility for the tasks involving human welfare. Miss Gage: But, do not professional workers themselves sometimes give the impression of being self-suffi- cient ? Miss Abts: I believe the attitude you describe is not so much one of self-sufficiency as it is an impatience with taking time to train and use volunteers. When we work under pressure and feel the need for imme- diate accomplishment, it always seems easier to do the job ourselves. But I would like to say a little more about the con- tribution of the volunteer. I have been impressed over and over again by the number and variety of great movements initiated by lay people. The history of social work is largely the story of the life and work of a long line of individuals who have recog- nized the needs of human beings and who have done something about them. HEADING THE PROFESSIONS 77 Miss Gage: Would you tell us something about a few of these volunteer leaders? Miss Abts: St. Francis of Assisi is the first who comes to my mind. The essence of the appeal of St. Francis lies in his great love and respect and courtesy for every individual man. He and his friars found end- less ways to serve their fellow men, and to share the buoyancy and joyousness with which they loved and served God.' To a world full of preoccupation with material things St. Francis brought his strikingly beautiful concept of the Lady Poverty and demon- strated the nobility and freedom of a life unencum- bered by worldly possessions. Then there is St. Vincent de Paul whose charitable works penetrated almost every area of human need. Many of his methods and principles of organization are still accepted as valid and are in use by social agencies today. His teachings were given practical application too, in the work of another great volunteer, Frederic Ozanam. Starting with a small group of fellow stu- dents at the University of Paris, Ozanam founded the first Conference of the Society of St. Vincent de Paul for work among the poor. From that modest beginning grew the international organization known today all over the world. Among the great women of the nineteenth century were two volunteers. Elizabeth Fry, the Quaker heroine, made a magnificent contribution in the field of prison reform. One of our own countrywomen, Dorothea Dix, carried on a remarkable crusade for the better care of the insane. Most of our private social work today, highly organized as it is and carried on by staffs of professional workers, owes its beginning to the interest and planning of a group of loyal lay people. The first of the group work agencies in this country was established through the initiative of a sea captain, who, impressed with the work of the London's Young Men's Christian Asso- ciation.. urged the establishment of a similar society in Boston in 1851. Three young women in Hartford, Connecticut, organized the first Boys' Club; a sand 78 "THE CALL TO YOUTH" garden- started in Boston in 1886 is said to have been the first supervised playground in the United States; and the settlement movement, both in this country and in England, had its origin in the desire of certain socially-minded men and women to bring about a better kind of community life. Social work programs of all kinds have been developed through the initiative of volunteers. Miss Gage: But now that so many of these programs have been established, the main burden of the work seems to be carried by the professionally-trained worker. What function is left for the volunteer? Miss Abts: The function of the volunteer is a continuing one. We will never reach the point where we can say that every human problem has been solved and every human need has been met. As soon as something has been done with one problem, there is an appeal for help in meeting another. Human needs are almost unlimited and they are constantly shifting, even as the life of the individual and that of the group changes and develops. There will always be human response to human need. Some people will be inter- ested in one problem, some in another. No one pro- gram will satisfy all groups. People differ in their recognition of a problem and in their method of solving it. Like-minded people will continue to or- ganize programs and agencies in order to carry out the ideals and plans which to them seem important and feasible. At present we are witnessing a tre- mendous interest in youth work, and volunteers are carrying on the greater part of the activities in these programs. Miss Gage: In what way is the volunteer directly helpful to the professional worker? Miss Abts: She is helpful in many ways, but I want to mention just one of her special values. To the pro- fessional worker, too close to the picture, the vol- unteer brings a fresh viewpoint and renewed con- fidence in the worthwhileness of the job. To that same worker, absorbed in her responsibilities and intent upon achieving a certain goal, she brings the HEADING THE PROFESSIONS 79 sobering influence of community attitudes and the healthy reality of a lay person's interpretation of the work. ss Gage: Without question we seem to have arrived at a rather definite agreement that each, the volunteer and the professional, has well-defined functions in the field of social group work. With Robert Frost, we are aware that "something there is that doesn't love a wall, that wants it down". There can be no wall between professional and volunteer when there is candid appreciation of the fact that both are in- separable companions. They are inter-dependent. Their clientele is a common one; their activities, though they may vary at such .points where each one's special skills can function, are, nevertheless, inseparable in a well-balanced program. 80 "THE CALL TO YOUTH" "The Ultimate Wisdom of Living is Service." —Jorgensen. Topics for Discussion • 1. Why is Social Service an ideal profession for Catho- lic young people? 2. Why is training for Social Service necessary? 3. The National Catholic School of Social Service is the national project of the National Council of Cath- olic Women. How does it fill a real need in the coun- try today? 4. What is the relation of the professional worker and the volunteer? 5. How may volunteers in your diocese obtain training to better fit them to lead youth? Bibliography Leadership in Group Work Dr. Henry M. Busch Association Press, 347 Madison Ave., N. Y. C.—$2.50 National Catholic School of Social Service Catalogue and Brochure N.C.S.S.S., 2400 19th St., N. W., Washington, D. C. Studies in Group Behavior Grace L. Coyle Harper and Bros., 49 E. 33rd St., N. Y. C.—$2.75 A Group Leaders' Manual Walter L. Stone Informal Education Service, 2622 W. Ashwood Ave., Nashville, Tenn. Youth Today and Tommorrow Youth Institute N. C. C. W.—25c l e a d e r s h i p o f v o l u n t e e r s Mrs. Alice Conway Carney National Community Organizer, Girl Scouts, Inc. Miss Constance Armstrong President, Board of Directors, Catholic Young Women's Club, New York City Announcer- When I was a child we used to play a game caUed "Follow the Leader." Even as youngsters we had sense enough to realize that the game w ^ Pret y silly and decidedly unsatisfying when the .leader did any old thing that came into his head. As I look back now I know there were one or two in our S M even at that tender age proved the saying Leaders are born -no t made." Their leadership had form, cohesion; action with purpose, and trailing their footsteps and antics was exhilarating and ^mula t - incr The ensuing discussion is on Leadership . I he securing of volunteer leaders and their training. Mrs. Carney, how do you feel about the saying, "Leaders are born—not made" ? Mrs Carney: As usual, there is much to be said on both sides, but it is a delight for me to talk over this morning our common interest m volunteer leader- ship Miss Armstrong, your work has been with girl's clubs and sodalities in parishes and, of course, with the Catholic Young Women's Club, while mine has been with the younger girl in Gir Scouting, and I wonder if our points of view wouldn t be similar. Miss Armstrong: I am happy, too, to discuss this subject with you. For that reason I think it would be well to talk over the essential characteristics of a good leader which could apply to all volunteer leaders m any kind of club work. The leader to my mind must have a sense of partnership with the young people for successful group activity. Do you agree? Mrs. C. I most certainly do. In other words she must 82 "THE CALL TO YOUTH" have sympathetic understanding of young people and a generous spirit toward them. Miss A. Given these qualities, there must also be a will- ingness to sacrifice some of her free time for the training which any leadership requires as well as a willingness to persevere in the recurring obligation she has assumed. Mrs. C. Undoubtedly. Furthermore, the kind of leader we seek is one whose social adjustment to her own environment is sound. It is manifest in her work her family, her friends. She takes to leadership be- cause she sees girls as equal souls, each worthy of a chance to develop. She has no desire to dominate. Miss A. What about a young woman who is too limited in experience or too limited in time to take the full responsibility of club leadership? Is there a place for her? Mrs. C. Yes, indeed. She may have talents and hobbies to share and incidentally she could be serving an apprenticeship which might eventually fit her for full leadership. Even if, for some reason or other she is unable to achieve full leadership, her contin- uing as an assistant would be a valuable contribu- tion. Miss A. Haven't you found that there are a number of older women who have much to contribute in the way of leadership? Mrs C I should say so. Many an older person, who has tallen into a rut or has become absorbed with wholly selfish interests, has been suddenly awakened to the fact that she can give back to society, by taking an interest in the young people around her, some meas- ure of return for the gifts she has received. In mv experience I have met many such women, who through this opportunity of associating with youn* people m their group activity, have told me that they felt like singing paeans of gratitude to their Creator for the beneficent work they have found to do. Miss A. . That has been true in my experience and there is no question that now as never before there is a LEADERSHIP OF VOLUNTEERS 83 greater interest in social welfare, and group work offers a glorious opportunity to participate accord- ing to one's particular talents and desires. For that reason I think it's a mistake for any of us to plead with women to become leaders. Don't you agree? Mrs C I do indeed. However, I don't blame anyone who is approached as a potenial leader, for asking the question, "What's in this for me?" It's selfish but it is asked, and if you open the door and show these people the splendid opportunity for increased inter- est in life for themselves they will have their answer as to what they are going to gain in their giving. Miss A That's very true,, and moreover the leader is given an opportunity to take a place in the com- munity as one who has achieved and is respected. Many organizations have been successful in securing leaders. Where are they found? Mrs C We seek leaders from the parishes, from col- leges from alumnae associations, from church and civic clubs, and we try not to forget to look around in our own circle of friends for leaders. Miss A. What do you think is the strongest appeal you can make to them? Mrs. C. A number of years ago, someone suggested that social group workers might launch a slogan, It s smart to be serious." Well, the slogan was never used to my knowledge, but it is an interesting thing to note that the finest, most gifted young women within the last few years have been attracted to so- cial group work, making it almost the fashion to be engaged in some kind of volunteer service. The amazing thing about these women is, too, that they are avid for training for the jobs they volunteer to do. Miss A. It seems to me this training would bring to the volunteers not only increased respect for the work to be done, but a keener desire to be worthy of the task they are asked to do. Mrs C I do want to add that this rather serious ap- ' proach to the use of a part of the volunteer's time m 84 "THE CALL TO YOUTH" training does not preclude joy, humor and amuse- ment. Stodginess and stuff y solemnity need have no part in this work. On the contrary, the sureness and self-confidence which come from training for the job should bring a gaiety of spirit and a new zest to every activity. Miss A. How do you interest these women in taking training? Mrs. C. By showing the prospective leader that volun- teers and professionals alike need training. A good heart is a good beginning but a trained mind is a necessary supplement. We want "to know that our young people are not following a hit and miss leader whose game is without form or objective. The mod- ern trend is toward a blend of good will and intelli- gent training for the volunteer job in hand. Miss A. I am aware that there are group work training courses given in colleges; also some given by recrea- tion departments in local communities; and, too, I have heard of the splendid institutes provided by the National Council of Catholic Women in their dio- cesan organizations. But what are some other train- ing opportunities that you know about? Mrs. C. Many local communities offer courses which help with group work. There are courses in girl psychol- ogy and behavior, program planning; courses in special interests such as nature, arts and crafts, music, dramatics, homemaking, etc. There are training centers throughout the country where a leader may take intensive courses of a week or two to help her to be a leader. Miss A. I can readily see these courses will help a leader to increase her store of knowledge, and help her in club management. And, too, she acquires principles of self-government and passes them on to her girls in many ways. Mrs. C. Yes, and we have noticed that the trained leader allows her girls to choose their own adventure and to plan with them the steps which will lead to satis- factory club work. She learns, to guide rather than to try to supply too much ready-made planning LEADERSHIP OF VOLUNTEERS 85 Trained leaders allow freedom of suggestion and discussion, and only when the young peop^ s pro- posals involve moral or physical hazards are tney ?towed A trained leader knows that she should be interested in the individual g i r l - i n the individual s relation to the group, and in the group itself. Miss A And wouldn't you say that girls seek and gain from such wise leaders inspirations, information and guidance? , ,. . Mrs C. Yes, surely, but what guides you m the selection of leaders in your club experience! Miss A I would say that the same qualities of leadership we have mentioned before hold true in the selection of leaders for every club, and I have always tried to bear in mind the type of activity that a parfacular srroup of girls join the club to find. Then I try to find someone whose hobby or possibly professional work qualifies her to be a helpful guide to the girls in this particular group. Mrs C But you invite many noted specialists to your c l u b Do you find that these people have helped your group work? Miss A. Yes, we do call on distinguished people and they • have volunteered their time most generously. They a?J leaders in their own fields but not necessarily f roup leaders. They have been invaluable m supple- menting our club leaders and stimulating our dub members. But tell me, af ter your leader is selected anTtrained and her club is under way, does she have anyone to whom she may turn for advice? Mrs C. This is a very important factor to keep in mind. Surely af ter a leader has been secured and trained, she must not be left completely to her own devices. I believe that a committee of women should function as an advisory group, or sponsoring committee to the leader. • • '. Miss A. Yes, advisory: but they should, in no way, inter- fere with the club activities. • Mrs G Oh no, but they may make it possible for the leader to take more training at intervals, may help 86 "THE CALL TO YOUTH" her with equipment and literature, may sometimes provide a good meeting place, or act as liaison offi- cers between the club and the parish. Miss A. Such a committee could act as a source to be tapped in order that the leader may feel recharged. That little pat on the back, that word of appreciation for the volunteer leader is very important and very human. Another help to leaders is giving them an opportunity to come together at religious retreats In this way the leaders may keep before them a spiritual motive in their work, because the most im- portant forces are spiritual, and without this motive in our work, it is cold and shallow. Mrs. C. Yes, we have urged our leaders to attend such re- treats whenever possible, and the leaders have come from them reinforced in their desire to do a finer piece of work. The National Council of Catholic Wo- men tells me that through their youth program they have noticed a great growth in volunteer leadership everywhere. Miss A. What do you think is the reason for this in- creasing number of volunteers? Mrs C Well, I suppose the need for such volunteer leadership has been so much discussed through the press and those groups interested in the welfare of youth that it has caught public attention. I suppose too, that people can hardly escape this appeal in church or in college; and perhaps the chief cause lies in the satisfactions which the leaders themselves have had, and in their enthusiasm in telling others l H ™ e t h i s i s ^ encouraging sign, we must real- ize that we are only scratching the surface At presen in New York City a recent census £ shown us that over 75% of the-young people in this area have never been touched by club work or any form of organized recreation. Commercial recreation if any, is all that has touched them. ' l f Mrs. C Yes, and there are thousands of eager little girls, young girls and young women waiting and W l m J ° m a C l u b i f right leaders could LEADERSHIP OF VOLUNTEERS 87 Miss A It would seem then that our task has only just begun. Only now we have so many more people who are conscious of the need. Let us hope that the number of leaders will grow in still greater propor- tion than it has in the past few years. Mrs C We will find, no doubt, the greatest number of volunteers in the ranks of people who are already busy either in their homes or in professions, but they will realize that giving to others a little time each week is a way of staying cheerful; a way of making new friendships; a way of broadening their interests. It will give them a feeling of belonging to the community. Volunteer work helps other people, but the greatest reward is to the one who does the volunteering. 90 "THE CALL TO YOUTH" "All for Christ" Topics for Discussion P What qualities do you deem essential for a volunteer leader? 2. How can we interest and hold more fine leaders and sponsors ? 3. How may your publicity, through the press, radio talks, etc., serve to interest new leaders in Youth work? 4. Have your leaders the Youth Leaders Notebook and other national helps ? 5. Arrange to have reports of national and regional conferences made and discussed. Bibliography Proceedings, N. C. C. W. Conventions,—1935 to 1938 N. C. C. W.—$1.00 Leadership Organization of Social Recreation XT ,. :--;- Robert K. Murray National Recreation Assn., 315 Fourth Ave., N.Y.C.—20c Youth Leadership and Catholic Action .... Youth Institute N. C. C. W.—25c Girl Scout Manual and Service Publications Girl Scouts, Inc., 14 W. 49th Street, N. Y. C. N. C. C. W. Youth Leaders Note-book N. C. C. W.—$1.00 y o u t h i n a c t i o n The Tracomian Players Dramatic Club, Cleveland, Ohio Narrator: The scene—the studio workshop of the Play- ers. Mr Hafey: I am very happy to make your acquaintance, Mr. Blake. We are pleased to have you come and look over the club. Mr. Blake: It is going to be a rare treat for me. When the editor handed me the assignment I was sur- prised to hear of an amateur group with workshops organized on the Little Theatre plan. Mr Hafey: The workshop is the foundation, the back- ' bone of our organization, Mr. Blake. Every member of the Players belongs to at least one of the com- mittees or as we call them, workshops. Mr. Blake: Is this basement of the Rectory your head- quarters ? - Mr Hafey- Yes. This is what we call Studio "C". Our ' pastor has been kind enough to let us use this large basement for our clubroom. Mr. Blake: Do all your activities take place here? Mr Hafey: No, our general monthly meetings and all of ' our plays are held in the auditorium. The studio is used exclusively for meetings of the workshops. Mr. Blake: Would you tell me something of the manner in which your workshops operate, Mr. Hafey? Mr Hafey: Better than that some of them are in ses- ' sion now. I'll take you around and let you see them in actual operation. Mr. Blake: Fine idea. Do you handle all of the publicity for the group? Mr Hafey: No, there are four people on the publicity I committee besides myself. We meet orce each month to formulate publicity methods. Mr. Blake: How do you control the membership of your ' club? 90 "THE CALL TO YOUTH" Mr, Hafey: We have a special committee which takes care of all applicants. This committee acquaints pros- pective members with the functions of the group. After applications have been filed the young people are placed on probation for three months, after Which time the executive committee, which is com- posed of the heads of the various workshops, decides whether the applicant is qualified. If approved, the new member at one of the public meetings takes the Tracomian pledge of fidelity. Let's go over to the Dramavox corner and see what it is doing. The Dramavox is our club paper. Oh, here's the editor, Miss Elwood. Miss Elwood, I would like you to meet Mr. Blake from the Daily Bulletin. Mr. Blake: How do you do, Miss Elwood. Miss Elwood: How do you do. Mr. Hafey: Mr. Blake has been sent here by the editor of his paper to get some information about our or- ganization. Would you mind telling him something about the Dramavox? Mr. Blake: I have seen several copies of your paper and really I think that it is excellent. Miss Elwood: Thank you. The Dramavox has just cele- brated its third anniversary. In three years it has grown from one page to twenty-six in the present edition. It is mailed as far as Los Angeles in the West, New York in the East and New Orleans in the South. Mr. Blake: Splendid! And to think it is all assembled here. I have read many of the articles. Their appeal is not merely local, I can see that. Who does all the writing for you each month? Miss Elwood: We have eight staff writers, besides one or two guest writers. Our staff artists do all the drawings. Our production staff takes care of the mimeographing, stapling and other incidentals. Mr. Blake: It looks like a well organized staff; no won- der your paper has been well received. May I take this latest copy along? Mr. Hafey: Surely. By the way, the aim of our organi- zation is printed on the frontispiece, it is taken from YOUTH IN ACTION 91 that of the National Catholic Theatre Conference "To promote and spread Catholic truth through dra- matic art, to unite Catholic groups interested in dra- matic art, to provide services to members of the or- ganization, to elevate the standards of the theatre." Mr. Blake: That's really an ideal, but it doesn't seem impossible. What is the prayer on this page? Mr. Hafey: That is our Catholic Action prayer; it is printed each month on the top of the front page, and then too, we recite it before each meeting. "Dearest Lord: teach us to be generous, teach us to serve Thee as Thou deservest; to give and not to count the cost; to fight and not to mind the wounds; to toil and not to seek for rest; to labor and not to ask for reward, save that of knowing that we are doing Thy will." Mr. Blake: Beautiful; a fit prayer, not only for your par- ticular group, but for all of us. By the way, what is this over in the corner with the screens around it? Mr. Hafey f Oh, I'll have to show you that. This is what we call our "Green Room". We try to retain its spirit; we use it for a library. Come over and browse around. Mr. Blake: A very cozy corner, and quite a number of books. Mr. Hafey: Yes, this is not only a cozy corner but a busy one. Here's our librarian; Miss Mahon, I would like you to meet Mr. Blake. Miss Mahon: How do you do, Mr. Blake. Mr. Blake: How do you do. Mr. Hafey: Miss Mahon, would you tell Mr. Blake some- thing about the library? Miss Mahon: Certainly. On these shelves we have all the plays and books on the drama. Here are books on acting, costuming, directing, and many subjects pertinent to the theatre. Over on the other shelf we have books of fiction and general subjects. Here are many of the selections of the Catholic Book of the Month Club; then over here we have a pamphlet rack and magazine stand. The library is open to members every evening. 92 "THE CALL TO YOUTH" Mr. Blake: It is really an extraordinary arrangement that you have down here. Say, what are these mar- ionettes on this screen? Mr. Hafey: Oh, they are the results of some effort on the part of our costuming workshop. Miss Bell here, a member of this group, will tell you about it. Miss Bell, this is Mr. Blake. Miss Bell: How do you do, Mr. Blake. Mr. Blake: How do you do. Miss Bell: These marionettes have been made entirely by members of the costuming workshop. They are characters from the play "A Saint in a Hurry". This is Saint Francis Xavier. These are nobles of the Spanish Court. Mr. Blake: They're clever enough. Their clothes are cor- rect to the period, too, aren't they? Miss Bell: Yes, the group has been studying sixteenth century styles and have made the clothes true to that period. Before we stage a big production, we try to have it assembled in miniature, that is, in regard to scenery and costumes. Mr. Blake: Well, that's one workshop that leaves the boys out, doesn't it? Miss Bell: Oh, no. The boys build the stage and fur- niture. They do some of the research and help to manipulate the marionettes. And say, some of the boys like to play with these little dolls as well as the girls. Mr. Blake: That's interesting. Sometimes I think we would be more happy if we retained some of our simplicity from childhood. Mr. Hafey, are these some pictures of plays that your club has pro- duced ? Mr. Hafey: Yes, we like to have some remembrance of the players and the settings that were constructed, so we have a picture taken, framed and hung in our club room. They serve as an incentive for the future,, as we try to improve with each production. Mr. Blake: Well, tell me this: doesn't it cost a great deal to stage a play properly? YOUTH IN ACTION 93 Mr. Hafey: With a little planning and a fixed budget we have always managed to realize some profit. Of course our main purpose is not a financial one. We feel that the drama is a powerful vehicle for good. Mr. Blake: Yes, I realize that we are easily affected by that which we see. But how do you manage to,stage outstanding plays since outside the necessary costs there is a question of royalties? Do you pay them? Mr. Hafey : We do not believe in being pirates. We feel that royalty evasion is unethical. If we cannot afford to pay them we simply forget about that particular play, but in our estimation, it is stealing another man's good to escape their payment. Mr. Blake: I agree with that. Mr. Hafey: As I was saying, we are not interested in dramatics principally for financial gain although we manage to realize a fair sum from our productions. Our budget committee allows a certain amount to each committee for expenditures. We tell the light- ing, the costuming, and other workshops just what is expected of them and how much they are allowed to spend. Mr. Blake: That's good planning. Mr. Hafey:' The expenses are kept down considerably since the workshops do most of the construction work. For example we could never afford a high rental for scenery, so we build our own sets. The cost of muslin, lumber, paint is negligible, so it not only saves us money but provides interest and ini- tiative for those not interested in acting. Would you like to meet our stage manager? Mr. Blake: Certainly. Mr. Hafey: This is our stage manager, Mr. Fabian. Mr. Blake. Both: How do you do. Mr. Hafey: What are you working on, John? Mr. Fabian: I have just finished drawing a floor plan for our September production. Mr. Theil, our designer and painter, is working on the design and color schemes. 94 "THE CALL TO YOUTH" Mr. Hafey: The backstage group has rented a barn where they do the actual building of sets. Is there any work being done there now, Mr. Fabian? Mr. Fabian: Yes, a few of the boys are stretching the muslin over the frames and getting it sized and painted. They are now busy on the set we will use in June. Mr. Blake. That sounds interesting. I'm sorry that I don't have the time to visit the barn this time. I hope to see it on my next trip. By the way, do you produce religious plays only? Mr. Hafey: No, indeed. We have a play-reading com- mittee which analyzes plays and prepares reviews for us. These serve as a basis for our choice of plays. We stage many plays that are not religious; but all must conform with the standards of the Le- gion of Decency. Would you care to sit in on a skit for a few minutes? In the adjoining room over here a final rehearsal is being conducted for a radio one- act play to be broadcast tomorrow evening. Mr. Blake: Fine. Mr. Hafey: This play was written by a member of the play-writing workshop, and is being directed by a member from the director's group. Mr. Blake: Has this group been successful in its writing attempts? Mr. Hafey: We have staged three of our own plays. The last one was a musical and very well received. Now we'll go in; the name of the play they are rehearsing is "His Conquest". Its setting is an army prison. A captured deserter is embittered against God and life. A nurse struggles to mellow his attitude. But here we are— (Sound—a door opening and closing. . . showing group rehearsing "His Conquest". Mr Blake: (Interrupting) I'm sorry that I must leave, Mr. Hafey, but I'm ten minutes late for the office al- ready. I am really amazed at what can be done. There are several questions I would like to ask, so I'll ^e back again to see "Youth in Action". YOUTH IN ACTION 95 "The Sanctuary of the Stage."—Rt. Rev. Msgr. Michael J. Ready. Topics for Discussion 1. How may Catholic truth be spread through drama- tics? 2. Do plays presented in your parish fulfill the ideal of the Catholic Theatre Conference? 3. How do "workshops" increase membership in parish activities ? 4. How may dramatics aid in the development of a well balanced program? 5. Why may dramatics be considered a cultural ac- tivity? Bibliography Bulletin of the National Catholic Theatre Conference Catholic University, Washington, D. C.—$2.00 a year Culture for Young People Agnes B. Harding N. C. C. W.—10c The Drama Workshop Mary Manse College, Toledo, Ohio—free The Work of Little Theatres Clarence H. Perry Russell Sage Foundation, New York City Catholic Play List Federal Theatre Project, 1697 Broadway, N. Y. C. w h a t y o u t h d e m a n d s Mrs. Alfred S. Lucas Youth Chairnian, Mobile Diocesan Council of Catholic Women "What Youth Demands" has, in this era, presented so much discussion that we very often find the grown-ups mournfully shaking their heads over what they feel must be the outcome of the demands of a group which appar- ently displays very little initiative, depth of character, or sense of responsibility, which seems to live for a good time and someone to serve them at every beck and call. But if we listen to those who have been Youth lead- ers, who have taken the time to study and really to know Youth, to learn its hopes and ideals, we find that the boys and girls of today are intelligent, courageous, inter- esting and appreciative. If they are given the chance, they will equip themselves to be the leaders of tomorrow, and the hope of our nation. Rather than blame Youth because it is living in an age in which scientific progress has presented many aids for our manual duties, thus giving much more leisure time to all without eliminating or re-directing any of that vast storage of energy that all Youth possesses, it is our duty to present to Youth a well-balanced program of study and play. Let us give to each youth the opportunity to play, to create, to think and to pray; the opportunity that will enable him to use his talents and energy to build towards personal leadership, character, and the proper Christian attitude toward his fellowman. Above all Youth demands understanding, first of all a spirit of understanding from those in whose charge he is directly placed and secondly an understanding knowledge of . the principles he must possess to carry out successfully his duties in .life. We know the danger and folly of training Youth's mind without planting in his heart the love of God and of one's neighbor. Youth demands a better understanding of religion, for though he may be possessed of deep spirit- ual feeling and of a desire to love and serve God, he can- WHAT YOUTH DEMANDS 97 not love and serve a Christ he does not know. In order that we may help Youth to gain this better understanding of religion which he so greatly desires, we, the Youth leaders, should see that religious discussion clubs are planned and made practical enough to treat of subjects of the day. Thus we can give Youth not only a personal knowledge of our faith but also the ability to talk with confidence on religious matters of interest to people gen- erally. Youth dislikes to be uninformed or to feel un- certain of his position. Youth demands study combined with action. To ask a young person to study problems of peace, industry, family life, and the like, for a long period of time is to ask the impossible of Youth. He needs a challenge to learn. Even in simple things action may be organized; place Youth in a position where he needs to study a cer- tain problem and he will do it well. Teach him, "Love thy neighbor as thyself," not only in study or thought but in his every action toward his fellowman. Let Youth determine his own attitude to all humanity and to his own group. Do some have the feeling that they are bet- ter than others? Are they intolerant of those who differ with them even on minor details? Isn't this the begin- ning and basis of bigger disagreements between peoples? We must teach Youth to live for the fatherhood of God and the brotherhood of man in his own group, and in school, and in society. We must develop in each Youth an appreciation of all Youth as a creation of God, equal in His eyes. Youth demands clean literature. Most boys and girls enjoy reading but are confronted on all sides with the dangers of indecent, sensuous books, papers, and magazines. Here Youth should combine study and action by watching newsstands and magazine racks, reading and acquainting others with the published lists of ob- jectionable material, sponsoring the pledges against in- decent literature and influencing all to refuse to buy questionable publications. But let us have a positive pro- gram, too, that will foster good reading. Our homes and parish libraries should have interesting, good books easily available. Our public libraries are happy to carry the best of modern literature if there is a demand for it. 98 "THE CALL TO YOUTH" Through Book Discussion Clubs let us acquaint our young people with the best and they will demand it always. Youth demands social life; not in the terrible whirl that so many socially ambitious parents are wont to thrust their boys and girls into when they are mere children, but rather he wants a chance to know young people of both sexes and with them to enjoy participating in good, clean, wholesome sports and amusements. Youth is a time of joy and happiness when boys and girls should have grand times together, always remembering to "Car- ry Christ" whether on the football field, basketball court, or dance floor. Youth demands in the home, not only the love of his parents but their understanding and companionship as well. Unfortunately, in many cases, parents allow them- selves to be swept into a mad, rushing tide of living that leaves little time for home life with their children. They feel if they have furnished good food and clothing, a com- fortable home, and capable instructors or servants they have done their duty to their children, and under the guise of teaching self-reliance leave the children to more or less plan their own lives and carry on. In the home in which parents are interested and sympathetic listeners to Youth's problems, giving wise counsel and understand- ing, and seeking the companionship of their boys and girls in their recreation and good times we are sure to find happy, carefree Youth who love their parents and think of home as that haven of rest and joy it was instituted to be. Youth demands a sense of belonging. He longs to be recognized as one of an active group that is doing things. Well planned activities that include each member of a group give him prestige and a feeling of pride and that sense of belonging. Youth demands a sense of working for a cause. How futile to labor and plan without any reason for all our efforts or any knowledge of why we are fighting! Youth's cause must be the cause of Christ and he must serve it with all his time, his strength and his life, with devotion to noble ideals no matter what happens, for only by this can the great satisfaction of life be attained. WHAT YOUTH DEMANDS 99 "The weapons of a Christian warrior are his books."—Cardinal Gibbons. Topics for Discussion 1. What are the demands of youth today? Do you agree with those given? 2. How may you better combine study and action in your own club? 3. List study club topics in which modern youth has a live interest. Compare lists. 4. Discuss Catholic books for a "good reading cam- paign." 5. How may youth "Carry Christ" in all activities. Bibliography Book Reviewing N. C. C. W. The Social Message of the New Testament Dr. Henry Schumacher Bruce Publishing Company, Milwaukee—$2.00 The Catholic Literary Revival Calvert Alexander, S.J. Bruce Publishing Company, Milwaukee—$2.50 The Sheed & Ward Survey (1934-1938) Sheed & Ward, 63 Fifth Ave., N. Y. C.—$2.50 Partners in Play National Recreation Assn., 315 4th Ave., N. Y. C.—$1.00 s t r e n g t h t h r o u g h u n i o n Reverend George Johnson, Ph.D. Director, N. C. W. C. Department of Education One's first reaction to the subject, ' "Strength Through Union," is a feeling that it is a bit trite and that young people have heard so many preachments based on it that they would much prefer to listen to anything else. As long back as you can remember, someone has been telling you that the rope is made up of many strands, each of which can be broken easily, but that the rope is strong, because the strands are intertwined. It has been demonstrated to you that a single stick of wood can be snapped in two by very little pressure, but that it takes a mighty force to break a bundle of sticks. You have conned by rote such sayings as "United we stand; divided we fall," and learned the meaning of the Latin words, "E pluribus unum." You have been exposed to no end of harangues and pep talks about class spirit and team play. As a consequence, I can almost hear you saying, "Old stuff," when you hear that this is going to be a talk on "Strength Through Union," and see you twirling your radio dial in search of something that will not be a thrice-told tale. "Strength Through Union." Of course it is old stuff—very, very old stuff—but, like most stuff that is very, very old, it is also very, very new. There are cer- tain truths that human beings in every generation since the beginning of time have had to learn, and it is largely because they have never quite learned them that things go wrong in the world. After all, almost everything that is worth while in life is commonplace, and talk about it is trite. Yet, strangely enough, the greatest thrills we get out of living come when we glimpse something of the vital meaning of the commonplace and discover the un- usualness of the trite. "Strength Through Union." All of the major con- troversies and struggles and rivalries that are going on in the world today are somehow or other bound up in those three words. As Doctor Rudolf Allers, the dis- tinguished Viennese psychologist, at the present time a STRENGTH THROUGH UNION 101 member of the faculty of The Catholic University of America, points out in his book, "The Psychology of Character," there are two great fundamental urges in each and every one of us—the urge to power and the urge to society. The first of these impels us in season and out to assert the self that we are. The other drives us to unite with other human beings for purposes of safety and protection. We cannot get along without other peo- ple and yet other people are constantly making it difficult for us to get along with ourselves. Here we have the root of all the stresses and strains that human society is experiencing and all of the conflicting doctrines con- cerning the best way to run the world. We want strength, and in order to have strength we must have union. The Communist would get strength through one kind of union, the Fascist through another. Anyone who has any respect for the dignity of human nature realizes that the kind of union either one of these envisages is too high a price to pay for the kind of strength they would achieve. For, after all, what looks like strength may in reality be weakness, because the union which produces it en- slaves the soul of man. The urge to power that is of the warp and woof of our being demands that we be free, for only if we are free can we be truly human. On the other hand, we need to be safe, and in order to be safe we need one another. We are dependent—dependent on our families, dependent on our neighbors, dependent on our fellow-citizens, dependent in some degree on all hu- man beings everywhere. The fact that there are other people with whom we must live, on whom we must lean, with whose happiness and good fortune our own happi- ness and good fortune are most closely bound up, puts obstacles in the way of our will to power and limits our freedom. What we have to discover, what human beings have never completely discovered, is a way of living with other people and working with other people and cooperat- ing with other people in such a way that each and every '.one of us will be safe and secure in the protection of other people,, and at the same time have all the freedom that is necessary to develop our powers as individual human beings. 102 "THE CALL TO YOUTH" Recently the American Youth Commission sent investigators to Maryland for the purpose of finding out something about the young people who live in that State. Thousands of young men and young women were interviewed and much was revealed concerning the way that life appears at the present moment to American youth. One interesting fact that was uncovered is that a fairly large percentage of these young people in Mary- land seemed more interested in economic security than anything else. That is to say, they wanted jobs and a regular income and insurance against poverty and need, and they were not much concerned about the price they might have to pay for these things eventually in terms of individual liberty. They seemed to be convinced that society owed them a living and that if society could not pay its debt through the machinery of privately-con- trolled business and industry, then it is up to society to make good by government action. What this might eventually mean in the way of regimentation, political control and the narrowing of the sphere of individual freedom concerned them little if at all. Now, of course, this does not seem to agree at all with what the poets say of youth. According to them, youth is a time of high adventure, when it is a joy to live dangerously, when there is much embarkation of unchartered seas and much blazing of-new trails, and little if any thought of the morrow. I have heard people who have seen the results of the Maryland Survey won- dering if American youth is growing old too soon and acquiring the point of view of age when life for it has only just begun. I have heard others express great con- cern for the future of American democratic institutions if the youth of the land is more interested in eating regu- larly and sleeping comfortably than in laboring to pre- serve at all costs its birthright of freedom. However, poetry to the contrary notwithstanding, there is nothing strange about human beings, young or old, wanting to be safe and secure in an economic way. After all, what young people want is to take their place in life, establish homes, become mothers and fathers of families, and live as human beings are supposed to live. STRENGTH THROUGH UNION 103 An individual who is living on the verge of starvation, who has no assurance that he will continue to have a roof over his head, who is young and vigorous and cannot find a job, who loves a girl but knows it will be many a year before he will be in a position to marry her, is not free. Being young, he has hardly had time to learn very much about the virtue of patience. He glimpses the great possibilities there are in life and living. He dreads the thought of it slipping by and leaving him stranded. Small wonder that he looks with friendly eye at those things which offer immediate satisfaction, and is not greatly concerned at what may happen fifty or one hundred years hence. For the moment, the freedom he wants is bound up with being safe—safe from hunger and homelessness and joblessness. You can hardly expect him to under- stand that man does not live by bread alone when his elders do not understand it. None the less, it is true, that man does not live by bread alone. Human beings may unite together for the purpose of being safe, only to find out too late that there is little purpose in being safe unless one is free. As a matter of fact, experiments in other parts of the world are demonstrating that people cannot be safe unless they are free, which is another way of saying that people nev- er and under no circumstances can be safe unless they are allowed to live as human beings. Only that union is a good union which makes it possible for each and every individual composing it to be strong in his own right. The copy book maxim is right: A chain is only as strong as its weakest link. You young people can do something about all of this. It is not necessary for you to stand. on the side-lines and watch someone else play the game. You can take part in it here and now. You feel stirring within you the urge to power. You want to make something of yourself as a human being. At the same time, you feel the need %f other people and you want to join up with them and work with them toward the making of a society in which you can be safe and yet free. You believe in America and are confident that there is an American way. Your worst enemies are those who preach to you the doctrine of despair, who tell you that you are the 104 "THE CALL TO YOUTH" victims of the villainy and stupidity of your elders, that you have been deprived of your birthright. These are your worst enemies, because they are not telling you the truth. The generations that have gone before you have bequeathed unto you in the United States of America a priceless heritage. In a short span of years, by dint of great labor and sacrifice, they transformed a vast wilderness into a land of rich opportunity. Because they were men, and not gods, they could not do everything. They have left something for you and your children and your children's children to do. There are abundant possi- bilities in this land for self-development and the making of a happy and successful life. Of course, it is not a land of limitless opportunity. There never was such a land. But opportunities are plentiful none the less, and there are resources in each and every one of us, particularly if we are young, to create more opportunities. All in all, the civilization that has been developed here in the United States is something rather fine. It is based on the principle of liberty, which means that it is founded on a deep respect for the dignity of your per- sonality. It is good for you to bear in mind that, whilst democracy is a way of getting things done, it is also a way of doing them, and, in the long run, it is what hap- pens to us human beings in the process of doing things that is more important by far than what we accomplish. Of course, much remains to be done; everyone with any sense must admit that there is something wrong about a social order which creates plenty, but fails to distribute that plenty in an equitable manner. There is something wrong with a social order that leaves so many people in an economic position which is unsafe. There needs to be something in the way of a better organiza- tion of American society. The beginning of this reorganization must take place in the heart and soul of each and every one of us. Herein^ lies the great opportunity of youth. You have faith and you have courage, because faith and courage are the characteristics of youth. Although you may be a bit bewildered, you have not lived long enough to become disillusioned, and consequently you have your hopes and expectations and your untarnished ideals. You can be- STRENGTH THROUGH UNION 105 gin to learn without first unlearning. If you are young, you are not in a rut. But where will you begin? Why, with yourself, of course. "Strength Through Union." You have a job to do right in your own heart and soul and unless you and all the millions of you who are young begin to do that job, there is no hope for this or any other society. Strength comes through union, and you need to be strengthened with might according to the inward man. Another saying that is trite is this: Better times await the coming of better men. It is trite, but it is terribly true. Better men and women will be women and men better able to rule themselves, who understand what life is all about and live accordingly. If there is anarchy and disorder in the hearts and souls of the individuals who make up the social group, there will be anarchy and disorder in the social group. If, on the other hand, each and every individual is the master of himself, then so- ciety can rule itself in an orderly and democratic fashion. Your job is to learn the Truth, for the Truth alone can make you free. By the truth I mean the real Truth, and not what some propangandist calls the Truth. That Truth is found in the teachings of Jesus Christ and what those teachings mean in social and economic and political terms. That Truth is found in the teachings of Jesus Christ and what those teachings mean, first of all, in terms of your own individual, personal life. That Truth runs counter to many of the urges and impulses that are stirring in the depths of your being. Those urges and impulses must be brought to heel and disciplined accord- ing to the Truth. This means that very frequently you will have to do violence to yourself and sacrifice the whim of the moment for the principle which endures. Fre- quently will you have to crucify your flesh, with its vices and concupiscences. The result, however, will be that you will emerge a strong person, because you are a united person. You will live according to your reason and not according to your impulses, and the higher will in you will govern your lower self. Then you will join yourself with others like unto yourself for the making of a newer and better and holier America. 106 "THE CALL TO YOUTH" "We praise all who cooperate in this great work" —Pope Pius XI. Topics for Discussion 1. What is Catholic Action? How may it develop "strength through union"? 2. Discuss the National Catholic Welfare Conference, "the agency of the Archbishops and Bishops of the United States for the promotion of unity in Catholic work." 3. In our youth councils how may we help youth to reconcile the two fundamental urges "to power and to society"? 4. What is youth's place in Social Reconstruction? 5. How may the survey of the American Youth Commis- sion aid our youth work? Bibliography Catholic Action Official organ of N.C.W.C. N. C. W. C.—$2.00 a year Catholic Action Encyclical of Pius XI N. C. W. Cjg-10c A Manual of Catholic Action Msgr. Luigi Civardi Sheed-Ward Publishers, 63 5th Ave., N. Y. C.—$2.00 National Catholic Welfare Conference—pamphlet. N. C. W. C.—10c Youth Serving Organizations American Youth Commission, 744 Jackson Place, Washington, D. C.—$1.50 Youth Tell Their Story American Youth Commission—$1.50 c h r i s t i n u s Anne Sarachon Hooley . Youth Chairman, National Council of Catholic Women There is a feeling of both pride and privilege in bringing you today the closing broadcast in that section of the Call to Youth series sponsored by the National Council of Catholic Women in cooperation with the Na- tional Broadcasting Company. The series will be con- tinued by the American Union of Hebrew Organizations in an excellent program, on the same topic, Youth. Be- ginning last February with the understanding and stim- ulating talk of Monsignor Ready, General Secretary of the National Catholic Welfare Conference, you have heard during these four months from leaders of thought in those fields which most directly concern youth. They have included representatives of the Confraternity of Christian Doctrine, the Welfare Conference Bureau of Youth, the Social Action Department, the Sodality of Our Lady, Girl Scouts, the International Union of Catholic Women's Leagues, the National Youth Council, the Na- tional Catholic School of Social Service, the National Council of Catholic Women's Youth Committee, two large metropolitan girls' clubs, and a diocesan president and a youth chairman. In addition there was a portrayal of ideal family life, a picture of the field of arts and crafts and of drama workshops. To the guest speakers, to Mr. Franklin Dunham of the National Broadcasting: Com- pany, and to the local stations who have carried the pro- gram, I know you would have me say a word of gratitude, on this closing day. Varied as these talks have been, each has brought a flood of mail, expressing interest and encouragement. Your generous response has kept the series going and has helped us to measure its vitality. Furthermore, it indicates an almost universal interest in the problems and successes of youth. Whether or not there is any truth in the statement that this era is more wasteful of that great asset, youth power, than any age described in history, it is certainly true that by and large the United States at least is thinking on this subject. 110 "THE CALL TO YOUTH" Before beginning today's brief talk, we should like to send our sincere congratulations and greetings to the second Western Youth Conference which is opening at this moment in Reno, Nevada. Assembled there at the invitation of His Excellency, the Most Reverend Bishop Gorman, and under the sponsorship of the N. C. C. W. Youth Committee are youth directors, adult sponsors, and youth themselves from the four western provinces to take part in a two-day conference and training course in youth programs. This is the second of the western youth meetings called by the Women's Council in con- junction with the Youth Bureau of the Welfare Confer- ence and gives promise of being another valuable aid to those enthusiastically engaged in the work. The Lost Generation has been these many months a favorite topic both for the press and the public plat- form. Speakers bemoan the social and economic condition where young people find themselves denied the oppor- tunity of a job, where many homes are so destitute that they can not provide adequate food and housing for a family to say nothing of an average education or train- ing for a job. Thwarted ambitions, delayed marriages, and general restlessness naturally follow in the wake of such a situation. We are concerned, and rightly so, that youth should be allowed to tramp the road or to stand bewildered and helpless at the crossroads, and there is a universal leaning to the support of any move which would eliminate this. Regrettable as aré physical and material conditions today, there is a greater need, aggra- vated perhaps by the depression and the recession, but existing even among those born by chance into more for- tunate circumstances and that group who are in school or who hold satisfying positions. That is the need aris- ing from the poverty of the spirit. Numberless phases of current social custom and accepted patterns lead di- rectly to this poverty. It would seem then that leaders and sponsors of youth programs have a definite, tangible task before them in preparing youth to raise a standard of its own. We have somehow a genuine conviction that if you, the boys and girls between the ages of sixteen and twenty-five, should stop to think dispassionately and calmly, and CHRIST IN US 109 thinking see the extent to which youth are being cheated, that you would of yourselves remedy the situation to a great extent. The dean of a girls' large school told me recently that it is not an uncommon thing for the school to receive a letter from a parent giving permission for her daughter to spend the weekend in town, and in the same mail a letter to the dean asking that she persuade the girl not to go because she is too young for such fre- quent trips but insists that she knows her own mind. Well, if that be a typical case then the only hope lies in that girl being equipped to know at an early age the fundamentals of spiritual and consequently temporal hap- piness. There is general agreement that youth at seven- teen tQday are considerably more mature than the girls who reached seventeen at the turn of the century. At first sight that may seem to you an advantage, but it has its drawbacks. Since next week with its commencements and its beginnings is an ideal time of stock-taking, we might consider for a few moments the four divisions of our youth program in which youth form the standards. Take first the question of recreation because youth is by its very nature a time for stimulating, satisfying fun. Unfortunately, however, the world presents- to you a vast array of pleasures rather indiscriminately mixed. There are parties, dancing, gay companionship, sports, and games of every kind which leave you stronger and better equipped for the business of living. Then, too, there is seeping into society a standard of recreation which is cloaked under a number of high-sounding phrases, such as "the new freedom," "social progress," "the discard of old-fashioned ideas," and "the right to live one's own life." You have ample evidence that these result in emotional instability, loss of self-respect, and the lessening of chances for creating a happy family life. Is this freedom? Surely not, when it hangs about your neck a yoke which must gall with increasing intensity as the years go by. License, perhaps, yes: but a man-made license made by man with crass ingratitude and a pro- fligate disregard of his rights and his dignity. Secondly, there is that realm where you find outlet for the atavistic urges and creative instincts. Long years ago you felt its first stirrings when you painstakingly 110 "THE CALL TO YOUTH" piled one upon the other your building blocks and sat back to gaze proudly through infant eyes upon the result. Now, somewhat later you can find expression for that in arts and crafts, in hobbies, in music, or a dozen other fields. But on the other hand you may lounge idly satisfy- ing this urge vicariously through things that someone else prepares for you. It is interesting to note that two of the most popular features in the entertainment world today center about a wooden dummy and an animated cartoon. Do you want the satisfaction of doing things with your own hands and minds? You may thrill to building things and dreaming dreams or you may sit listlessly and have them all done for you. Check also on your intellectual balance. You are con- fronted daily by propagandists of every ism and osophy which man can concoct, some vicious, some harmless, and some rich. Are you strongly enough fortified with a background of truth to distinguish? How many of you in student organizations, in young people's groups, in factories, or on street corners rally to the banner of communism, and such insidious causes without stopping to think whether you would like to forfeit the privileges under which you live as citizen of a democracy and a Christian nation? Do you value such things as freedom of worship, freedom of press, social justice, and the right to the pursuit of life, liberty, and happiness sufficiently to preserve them from loud-mouthed agitators? The things which you do today will determine your rights and your privileges tomorrow. And finally, the importance of all these falls beneath the need for building spiritual strength. It is in youth that one lays the foundation for the only perfect joy and perfect strength—the Eternal One. Too few will be the number who point out to you the beauty of sacrifice and the victory of self-discipline because ours is an era of the easiest way. Chiseling or "Pennies from Heaven" are much more popular doctrines than "Whistle While You Work." Yet the only security, the only happiness which never dims is the one which comes from close friendship with that Life-giving Head of which we are the branches, and this friendship is perfected through CHRIST IN US 111 a discharge of the mission of living. It is the establish- ment of Christ in Us. These are the principles which are being fostered in the many youth programs of the diocesan councils, and with our deep admiration and gratitude for the work which they are doing, goes always the hope that they are building slowly but firmly the vigor and the flame. What youth needs most in this evanescent, rapidly moving day is a listening-ear but "not a passive listening-ear—rather one which will draw from them their wonderings and their doubts to be received with tolerance, respect, and dignity, and which will give back to them the strength and idealism of maturity. You cannot bid them set sail upon an uncharted sea without rudder or compass and complain that they fail to reach home port, or that reach- ing home port, find they have retained only the ballast and thrown overboard the cargo of precious jewels which would have meant for them fulfillment as well as serenity for the years that are to come. And if in this mood you give a listening-ear, you will increase their initiative, their wise self-expression and their independent thinking. Promise yourselves that you will never mold your program to the acclaim of the crowd at the expense of youth itself. It is so easy to be carried away with the plaudits of the spectators, to stage a show, and to take smugly that passing adulation which enthusiasm en- genders so freely. The papers carried not long ago the story of how a dictator entering a new country, gathered to him hundreds and thousands of youth almost instantly. Well, a fire wagon in the smallest village can boast that it is followed by every youngster in town, to say nothing of the adults, but I question the lasting value of this parade. Leadership is at once a joy and a tremendous task, but only the joy must show on the surface. The martyr complex is a sure indication that you are not yet ready to become either leader or sponsor of youth programs. If you can say gaily and gallantly as youth itself: "Hail and farewell: If it has been my lot as lead- er, guide, or companion to walk with you a part of the way, if together we have assembled the tools with which you are to play, to create, to think, and to pray, if to- gether we have builded so that in the turmoil of the day 112 "THE CALL TO YOUTH" you can achieve your own satisfaction in the service of God and country, then it has been a happy lot and happy am I to have known this gif t ; God speed you on your way." If you can say this, then you are a leader, and Gcd speed you on your way. CHRIST IN US 113 "To Play, To Create, To Think, To Pray" 1. By what means may we help youth today to prevent its being "The Lost Generation"? 2. How may the four divisions of our youth program aid in forming Christian standards? 3. Discuss the youth organizations functioning in your district. Which uphold Christian principles? 4. Are all your activities planned to develop Catholic ideals ? 5. Send suggestions to the N. C. C. W. for next year's "Call to Youth." How may it better serve you? N. C. C. W.—25c Social Message of the New Testament Dr. H. Schumacher Bruce Publishing Company, Milwaukee—$2.00 Topics for Discussion Union in Christ. Bibliography Rt. Rev. John J. Burke, C.S.P. The Needs of Youth Rev. George Johnson N. C. W. C.—25c The Call to Youth—1937. Series Radio Talks N. C. C. W.—35c THE FAITH OF MILLIONS New and Revised Edition By the Rev. John A. O'Brien, Ph. D. includes An Outline For Study Clubs Here is the modern companion to Car- I dinal Gibbons' "Faith of Our Fathers." It is j the most complete and comprehensive ex- j position of the doctrines and practices of the j Catholic Religion available in a single vol- I ume in the English language. Highly praised by members of the Hier- archy, clergy and laity, it carries a preface by His Eminence, William • Cardinal O'Con- nell and an introduction by His Eminence, Dennis Cardinal Dougherty. It is especially adaptable and highly recommended for use in convert instruction classes and by study clubs. Including 44 chapters and 560 large j sized pages, it is available in two bindings at I extremely reasonable prices. j The first edition—5,000 copies—of this great [ book was sold in less than two months. Durable Paper Cover—Single copy, $1.00; 5 [ copies, $4.50 postage prepaid; 25 copies, 65c each, plus postage. Beautiful Cloth Cover—Single copy, $1.50; 5 copies, $7.00; 12 copies, $15.00, postpaid. Our Sunday Visitor, Huntington, Indiana A Catechism On n BIRTH CONTROL By the Most Rev. John F. Noll, D. D. 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"The Church and Marriage" has been acclaimed by bishops, pastors and laity; parts of it have been read from the pulpits of many churches; parents, as well as young people, should read this instructive book. Of this book, Bishop Boyle, of Pittsburgh, wrote: "It is like a letter from home." Others have said, "It is one of the most beautiful and appealing treatments of this important theme which has appeared in our generations." Send for this book today. Beautiful cloth binding, 194 pages, price $1.25 postpaid. Our Sunday Visitor, Huntington, Indiana Biggest Value In Catholic Book Field Thirteen booklets by The Rt. Rev. Msgr. Sheen, Ph. D., for $2 .75 Regularly priced a t $3.60 these large size pam- phlets by America's outstanding orator and author are available at this low price for a l imited t ime only. Some of the booklets contain as many as 17 chapters. 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In quanti t ies, $3.00 per 100, "Chr i s t Today," by Very Rev.* Dr. Ignat ius Smith,, O. P., 48 pages and cover. Single copy, 10c pos tpa id ; 5 or more, 8c each. In quanti t ies , $5.50 per 100. " T h e Church and the Depression," by Rev. James M. Gillis, C.S.P., 80 pages and cover. Single copy, 15c pos tpa id ; 5 or more, 10c each. In quanti t ies , $8.09) per 100. " T h e Fullness of Chr i s t , " by Rt . Rev. Msgr. Ful ton J . Sheen, 176 pages and cover. Single copy, 45c pos tpa id ; 6 or more, 30c each. In quanti t ies , $16.50 per 100, " T h e Church and Modern Though t , " by Rev. James M. Gillis, C.S.P., 80 pages and cover. Single copy, 15c pos tpa id ; 5 or more, 10c each. In quanti t ies , $8.00 per 100. "Misunderstood T r u t h s . " by Most Rev. Duane G. Hunt , 48 pages and cover. Single copy, 10c pos tpa id ; 5 or more, 8c each. In quanti t ies , $5.50 per 100. " T h e J u d g m e n t of God and The Sense of Duty , " by R t . Rev. Msgr. Wil l iam J . Kerby, 16 pages and cover. Singlg copy, 10c pos tpa id ; 5 or more, 5c each. In quantities-, $3.50 per 100. "Chr i s t i an Educa t ion , " by Rev. Dr . J ames A. Reeves, 32 pages and cover. Single copy, 10c pos tpa id ; 5 or more, 8c each. In quanti t ies , $3.50 per 100. " W h a t Civilization Owes to the Church," by Rt . Rev. Msgr. Will iam Quinn, 64 pages and cover. Single copy, 10c pos tpa id ; 5 or more, 8c each. In quanti t ies , $6.00 per 100. " I f Not Chr i s t i an i ty : W h a t ? " by Rev. James M. Gillis, C.S.P., 96 pages and e w e r . Single copy, 20c pos tpa id ; 5 or more, 15c each. In quanti t ies , $10.00 per 100. " T h e Prodigal Wor ld ," by Rt . Rev. Msgr. Fu l ton J . Sheen, 140 pages and cover. Single copy, 35c pos tpa id ; 5 or more, 25c each. In quanti- ties, $16.00 per 100. " T h e Coin of Our Tr ibute ," by Very Rev. Thomas F . Conlon, O.P., 40 pages and cover. Single copy, 10c pos tpa id ; 5 o i more, 8c each. In quantities-, $5.50 per 100. " P o p e P ius X I , " by His Eminence Pa t r i ck Cardinal Hayes. A n ad- dress in honor of the 79th b i r th of His Holiness, 16 pages and 4-color cover. Single copy, 10'c pos tpa id ; 5 o r more, 8c each. In quant i - ties, $5.50 per 100. "Misunders tanding the Church ," by Most Rev. Duane G. Hun t , 48 pages and cover. Single copy, 10c pos tpa id ; 5 o r more, 8c each. In quantities-, $5.50 per 100. " T h e Poet ry of Duty , " by Rev. Al f red Duffy, C.P., 48 pages and cover. Single copy, 10c pos tpa id ; 5 or more, 8c each. In quanti t ies , $5.50 per 100. "Character i s t ic Chris t ian Ideals ," by Rev. Bonaventure Mclntyre , O. F.M., 32 pages and cover. Single copy, 10c pos tpa id ; 5 o r more, 8c each. In quanti t ies , $5.00 per 100. " T h e Catholic Church and Youth , " by R-ev. J o h n F . O 'Hara , C.S.C., 48 pages and cover. Single copy, 10c pos tpa id ; 5 or more, 8c each. In quanti t ies , $5.50 p e r 100. " T h e Spir i t of the Missions," by Rt . Rev. Msgr. Thomas J . McDonnell, 32 pages and cover. Single copy, 10c pos tpa id ; 5 or more, 8c each. In quanti t ies , $5.00 per 100. " T h e L i fe of the Soul ," by Rev. James M. Gillis, C. S. P. , 96 pages and ciover. Single copy, 20c pos tpa id ; 5 or more, 15c each. In quanti t ies, $10.00 per 100. " O u r Wounded W o r l d , " by R t . Rev. Msgr. Fu l ton J . Sheen, 112 pages, and cover. Single copy, 25c pos tpa id ; 5 or more, 20c each. In quant i - ties, $11.60 per 100. The i i rs t six addresses in this series published separately under the t i t le "Freedom and Democracy: a Study of Their Enemies, '1 56 pages and cover. Single copy, 15c pos tpa id ; 5 or more, 10c each. In quanti t ies , $6.00 p e r 100. ••The Banquet of T r i u m p h , " by Rev. James J . McLarney, O. P. , 32 pages and cover. Single copy, 10c pos tpa id ; 5 or more, 8c each. In quanti t ies , $5.00 per 100. "Society and the Social Encyclicals—America 's Road O u t , " by Rev, R . A. McGowan, 32 pages and cover. Single copy, 10c pos tpa id ; 5 or more, 8c each. In quanti t ies , $5.00 per 100. "The Chris t ian Family ," by Rev. Dr. Edward Lodge Curran , 68 pages and cover. Single copy, 15c pos tpa id ; 5 o r more, 10c each. In quanti t ies, $7.00 per 100. " T h e Dublin Eucharis t ic Congress," by His Eminence Will iam Car- dinal O'Connell. An address rebroadcast f r o m Dublin, 12 pages and cover. Single copy, 10c pos tpa id ; 5 o r more, 5c each. In quanti t ies , $3.75 per 1.00. " R u r a l Catholic Act ion," by Rev. Dr . E d g a r Schmiedeler, O.S.B., 24 pages and cover. Single copy, 10c pos tpa id ; 5 or more, 5c each. In quan- tities, $3.60 per 100. "Religion and H u m a n N a t u r e , " by Rev. Dr . Joseph A. Daly, 40 pages and cover. Single copy, 10c pos tpa id ; 5 or more, 8c each. In quanti t ies, $5.50 per 100. " T h e Church and Some Outs tand ing Problems of the Day," by Rev. Jones I. Corrigan, S.J. , 72 pages and cover. Single cropy, 15c pos tpa id ; 5 or more, 10c each. In quanti t ies , $8.00 p e r 100. "Conflicting S tandards , " by Rev. James- M. Gillis, C.S.P., 80 pages and cover. Single copy, 15c postpaid - 5 or more, 10c each. In quanti t ies, $8.00 per 100. " T h e Hymn of the Conquered," by Rt . Rev. Msgr. Fu l ton J . Sheen, 128 pages and cover. Single copy, 30c pos tpa id ; 5 or more, 20c each. In quanti t ies, $12.00 p e r 100. " T h e Seven Las t W o r d s , " by Rt . Rev. Msgr. Ful ton J . Sheen, (prayer book size) 32 pages and cover. Single copy, 10c pos tpa id ; 5 or more, 5c each. In quanti t ies , $3.00 per 100. " T h e Church and the Child," by Rey. Dr . Pau l H. Fur fey , 48 pages and cover. Single copy, 10c pos tpa id ; 5 or more, 8c each. In quanti t ies , $5.50 per 100. "Love 's Veiled Victory and Love's L a w s , " by Rev. Dr. George F . Strohaver , S.J. , 48 pages and cover. Single copy, 10c pos tpa id ; 5 or more 8c each. In quanti t ies, $5.50 per 100. "Religion and L i tu rgy , " by Rev. Dr. Franc is A. Walsh, O.S.B., 32 pages and cover. Single copy, 10c pos tpa id ; 5 or more, 8c each. In quantit ies, $5.00 per 100. " T h e Lord 's P r aye r Today," by Very Rev. Dr . Ignat ius Smith, O.P., 64 pages and cover. Single copy, 10c pos tpa id ; 5 or more, 8c each. In quan- tities, $6.00 per 100. "God, Man and Redempt ion," by Rev. Dr. Igna t ius W. Cox, S.J. , 64 pages and cover. Single copy, 10c pos tpa id ; 5 or more, 8c each. In quan- tities, $6.00 per 100. "Th i s Mysterious Human N a t u r e , " by Rev. James M. Gillis, C.S.P., 48 pages and cover. Single copy, 10c pos tpa id ; 5 or more, 8c each. In quanti t ies, $5.50 per 100. " T h e E te rna l Gali lean," by Rt . Rev. Msgr. Ful ton J . Sheen, 160 pages and cover. Single copy, 35c pos tpa id ; 5 or more, 25c each. In quanti t ies . $16.00 per 100., "The Queen of Seven Swords," by Rt . Rev. Msgr. Fu l ton J . Sheen (prayer-book size), 32 pages and cover. Single copy, 10c pos tpa id ; 5 or more, 5c each. In quantities-, $3.00 per 100. "The Catholic Teaching on Our Indust r ia l System," by Rt . Rev. Msgr. J o h n A. Ryan, 32 pages and cover . Single copy, 10c pos tpa id ; 5 o r more, 8c each. In quanti t ies, $5.00 per 100. " T h e Happiness of F a i t h , " by Rev. Daniel A. Lord, S.J. , 80 pages and cover. Single copy, 15c pos tpa id ; 5 or more, lOic. In quanti t ies, $8.00 per 100. " T h e Salvation of Human Society," by Rev. Pe te r J . Bergen, C.S.P., 48 pages and cover. Single copy, 10c pos tpa id ; 5 or more, 8c each. In quan- tities, $5.50 p e r 100. " F a i t h , " by Rev. Vincent F . Kienberger, O. P., 48 pages and cover. Single copy, 10c pos tpa id ; 5 o r more, 8c each. In quanti t ies, $5.50 per 100. "Catholic Educa t ion ," by Rev. DT. George Johnson, 40 pages and cover. Single copy, 10c pos tpa id ; 5 or more, 8c each. In quant i t ies . $5.50 per 100. ,. ' •; , ' " T h e Church and Her Missions," by Rt . Rev. Msgr. Wil l iam Quinn, 32 pages and cover. Single copy, 10c pos tpa id ; 5 or more, 8c each. I n quanti t ies, $5.00 per 100. " P i u s XI, Fa the r and Teacher of the N a t i o n s " (On His Eight ieth Bir thday) by His Excellency, Most Reverend Amleto Giovanni Cicognani, 16 pages and cover. Single copy, 10c pos tpa id ; 5 or more, 6c each. In quanti t ies , $3.00! per 100. " T h e Eas t e rn Catholic Church ," by Bev. J o h n Kallok, 48 pages and cover. Single copy, 10c pos tpa id ; 5 or more, 8c each. I n quanti t ies , $5.50 per 100. " J o y In Rel igion," by Rev. J o h n B. Delaunay, O.S.C., 40 pages and cover. Single copy, 10c pos tpa id ; 5 o r more, 8c each. In quanti t ies , $5.50 per 100. " T h e 'Los t ' Radiance of the Religion of J e s u s , " by Rev. Thomas A. Carney, 40 pages and cover. Single copy, 10c pos tpa id ; 5 or more, 8