% 3 ^ STRENGTH and LIFE Address Most Rev.W.H. O'Connell Coadjutor Archbishop of Boston to the Knights of Columbus Cathedral of the Holy Cross Boston^ October /2, ^906 STRENGTH AND LIFE 175-45 1 Digitized by the Internet Archive in 2017 with funding from Boston Library Consortium Member Libraries https://archive.org/details/strengthlifeOOocon 121H5 STRENGTH AND LIFE HE wisdom of ages and men long buried in the past is the torch which serves to brighten the path of present duty. Every great man, every man who has toiled, not for himself, but for the ages — for eternity — has lighted his lamp at that flame, and, dying, has bequeathed the light of his life to all men who follow. To such posterity is a debtor. How little any of us should know but for the treasury of the ages from which we freely draw. How little the greatest among us could accom- plish did he rely upon his own self-made knowledge. What a pigmy that man soon becomes who refuses to grow by the study of his elders. Great veneration for the dead past is the only safe stepping-stone to security in reaching an honorable and lasting future. Only little men are irreverent. The conceit which ignores is as shallow as it is insolent. It crumbles as it was reared, in a day, and its ruins excite, not sympathy, but scorn. And so it is that the profound knowledge of history is necessary for those who govern or build society, and the study of the great men of the past is the best food for the men of the future. The world even 4 Strenotb anb %itc has its dogma of the veneration of saints. Every suc- cessful merchant, every great lawyer, every brilliant orator of the last generation has established his devotion and has his shrine. Yes, the veneration of the great of the past is a normal sentiment. And you, sir knights, in hallowing the great name of Columbus, proclaim not only his greatness but your own high sentiments — the one of all others distinctive of true knighthood, rever- ence — a quality of mind and heart which may God preserve in you amid a world growing, it would seem, sadly lacking in its possession. There is something awe-inspiring in the aspect of one whose whitened locks and bowed figure, whose feeble accents and slow step, tell us that the evening of life is passing and that soon the night will come. There is in his very feebleness a great mystery that touches us. We look at him and read the whole story of human life in the deep furrows set by care, and the bowed shoulders which have bent under so many burdens. So, too, the autumn of the year brings sadness even in its beauty of decay. The chill winds, the falling of the fiowers and blossoms, the leaves that strew the once shady groves, all proclaim the dying of the year. And there is a pathos in the decay of nature which even winter has not. And why? Because in man and in nature, in the whitened locks and sere leaf, we behold the inevitable law of all things mundane; the law of birth, growth, the climax, strength anh Xife 5 and then the slow hastening to the silent end. And this contemplation of the ebb and flow, this witnessing of the evanescence of all mortal life, brings its lesson to him who contemplates it. In all things material this mor- tality is inherent. Men, flowers, kingdoms, associations, armies, nations, all are subject to the same absolute law. To-night I look out upon your body, young and hearty and strong in all the vigor of youth, not only as individ- uals, but in the splendid cohesiveness of your organization. I see in your faces the light of energy, and I read in the story of your united association all the power of man- hood in its prime. Your organization is still young; as life goes, you are young. Not one of you but wishes to it long duration, permanency, and continued efficacy. Not one of you perhaps but has seen many another like it pass, even in a few brief years, through all the periods of birth, growth, and decay. Many of you, maybe, more than once, since the birth of your organization, have feared the same sudden course for it, too. Will it last? Will it endure? That is the question which all really interested in its welfare ask with anxiety. It is not enough that it now stands out among similar societies as numerically strong, nor that it is spreading its branches far and wide. That is good, but it is no more security against decay than the florid condition of a healthy youth is security against the feebleness of age. Just now, when its vigor and its far-reaching strength are 6 Strenotb anb %itc most evident and gratifying, is the very time to look beyond to-day and to provide for its future as well as for its present strength. That is a subject well worth investigating. We must think and provide, not only for the growth, but for the permanency of this organi- zation. That is what we shall consider to-night. I have said that the law of growth and decay is uni- versal for all things merely human. The conserving element which alone can modify this law must be spir- itual. And just as the human body retains the vigor of life and action so long as the soul inhabits it, and instantly succumbs to the law of disintegration and decay the very moment the soul deserts it, so is it true of the mortal body or organization. If its aims and its objects be merely material — if the spirit which vivi- fies it be of the world, then it is certain that whatever be its momentary strength, its wealth in numbers and resources, however promising its hopes and fiattering its prospects, the day must come when time will sound the trump of death. The enthusiasm of its founders will begin to slacken in the hearts of its lukewarm mem- bers. The law of change soon leaves its imprint upon its purposes through dissension, and gradually the vivi- fying principle which sustained it, diluted in its expand- ing breath, becomes weaker, and then the decadence begins. Only one kingdom in all the world escapes this general law, and that is the kingdom of God — strength anh Xtfe 7 the Church. As she lives by the spirit of God, which changes not, so the ages pass over her and leave her still ever youthful. And those organizations alone par- ticipate in that perennial youth which are governed, animated, and vivified by the same spirit which preserves her from any danger of decay. As the fruitful mother of many children, she gives of her endless bounty to all who live within her house; not only to her immediate offspring, as are the religious orders, but even to those of far less affinity, the thou- sands of societies and associations bound to her and subject to her; organizations like yours, founded with far less spiritual ends and with fewer spiritual obliga- tions. The spirit of God preserves not only her but hers. How many kingdoms have come and gone since Bene- dict gave his rule of life to the monks of the West? Yet the great Benedictine Order still rears its noble monas- teries upon the hilltops, and generation after genera- tion of learned monks walk through their silent cloisters, still guided by that same rule which reared Monte Casino. How many nations have risen to the apex of might and fallen to a lowly place since the Poverelle of Assisi espoused his bride. Lady Poverty, and sent his sons over all the world to teach men the folly of all wealth except the riches of heaven? Yet the Franciscans still fiourish to-day as if naught had changed. How evident all his- tory proclaims the eternal vitality of everything blessed 8 Strength anh Xife and protected by Holy Mother Church. And how equally obvious it proclaims that those organizations which rest upon other foundations sooner or later disappear and are forgotten. It must, therefore, be clear to all who reason and read that for the enduring force of associa- tion there must be an enduring principle of life; and that proposition, philosophically sound, is proven by the facts of history. With this, therefore, as a truth incontestable, it is easy to draw conclusions and to fore- cast results in regard to your organization and every other like unto it. The criterion, therefore, which is the basis of our hope that the organization of the Kjnights of Colum- bus, erected by its founders for the realization of noble purposes, and whose growth and rise have been so rapid and encouraging, is all contained in this: Have its origi- nal purposes grown with the growth of numbers? Is its animating principle the spirit of life eternal? If so there is nothing to fear. What is the spirit of life eter- nal? What is this mysterious force of activity which, penetrating to every member, thrills it into action and saves it from decay? What is this mysterious sap drawn by the roots from the very substance of the soil in which they are sunk, and which, overcoming the natmal law of gravitation by the higher and sublimer law of attrac- tion, moistens the fiber of the tree with its potent unction, and which rests not till it has brought life and nourish- strength anh Xtfe 9 ment to the very end of the longest branch, and, push- ing ever onward, makes its subtle course through the thinnest stem to the very tip of the tiniest leaf? When the sun sets the sap ceases to flow, and at its rising this mysterious force begins once more its work. The tree is the Church. The sap is the active principle or charity stirred into life by the presence of the Son of God. The branches are the religious orders, and the tiny leaves are the thousands of the multiplied organiza- tions like yours; offspring, tender offspring, of the sturdy life of the whole tree, and above all the inflnite potency of God’s sun; the sun of that God who has deflned Him- self in one consoling word — Love. “ Deus caritas est.” It is charity, therefore, which is the only source of per- ennial life. And even as when the sun goes down below the horizon, the soil refuses to give up its nourishing forces to the tree, but remains cold and sterile, so, too, when the warmth of God’s love ceases to warm the springs of human activity, the life of an organization sinks to its end and its sap of life soon dries up, leaving only a residue which soon becomes absorbed and vanishes. The great author of life, the Son of God, by whom all things were made, has revealed the secret of perma- nency and eternal vitality. All ye who would know the only method of conserving the vital spark which keeps alive not only men but associations and organizations like yours, harken to the wonderful words which can lO strength anh Xife alone solve the great mystery: words, which, like most of the divine truths which Jesus Christ uttered, seem to contradict the dictates of human wisdom, but which in reality are revelations of Him who alone knows all things because He created them. ‘‘ Whosoever will save his life shall lose it; and whosoever will lose his life for my sake shall find it.’’ The law of the spirit of God again and again contradicts the spirit of the world. The law of natural economy would seem to inculcate increase by saving. The egoism of the world inculcates growth by selfishness. Upon this law self- guided humanity has ever built and ever failed. The law of the spirit opposes itself to such futile wisdom and cries out to man: Lose that you may gain life. Care not for yourself but for others, if you would increase your own vitality and preserve it. And this same law, exemplified so perfectly in the life of Him who came to teach all truth, is the potent power of permanency and pereimial activity of that organization of which He is the head and founder. It is because she un- ceasingly gives herself for the good and the happiness and the consolation of others that she perpetuates her- self to all ages. And you, sir knights, must learn from this text the best method of prolonging and strength- ening the force of your organization. For since, as I have said, the kingdom of God on earth is the only kingdom that has survived the ages ; since the Church strength ant) Xtfe 1 1 is the only organization that has defied the ravages of time, you must look to her as a model upon which to build a lasting edifice, and, by imitating her supernatural wisdom, give stability to the life of your brotherhood. “ Whosoever will lose his life for my sake shall find it.’’ Here is the law of eternal life — the giving of one’s self for others for Christ’s sake. Here is the di- vine law of charity which must be your guiding star, illumining the path of your knighthood and leading it by the noble way of unselfishness, which lifts it above the powers of death. Give yourselves for others; live for others; sacrifice yourselves for others. Think less of' your organization than of the good it may perform. Turn your eyes not inward upon your own petty needs, but outward upon the great work which stands before you to accomplish. And so surely as the words of God are true, just so surely will the life, the activity, the welfare, and the prosperity of the Knights of Columbus grow and fiourish and endure. Have you banded together merely to enjoy yourselves? Have you taken the great name of Columbus, the name of him who left all that was dear to him to risk life itself upon the wide expanse of unknown seas, not for himself, but to bring the light of Christian faith and hope to others — have you taken his name in vain? No, it cannot be so. The Church could never bless a society formed for selfish aims. Were mere social en- 12. Strength anh Xife joyment, or worldiy pleasure, or material gain, or politi- cal ambition, or any other selfish aim the object of this society, its name would have no meaning. The Church would give it no recognition. You would not be here in a body in this hallowed place, nor would a bishop of the Church be now addressing you. It is because we know and realize that your aims are ideal, not material, that you desire to assist in the great work which the Church is doing among mankind, that you have her recognition. And it is with the hope that my words may rouse in you a fuller realization of Christian prin- ciple, of Catholic ideals; it is that the blessing which you are to receive to-night may fall on fruitful ground that I am here to address you in the name of Him who to men like you twenty centuries ago first spake the secrets of life eternal, teaching men how by charity alone is life preserved. “ Whosoever will lose his life for my sake shall find it.’’ Is there a demand for such work as associations like yours can accomplish? How can you doubt it? Have you lived thus long not to know that the hope of the community, of the nation, of the Church, lies in the unselfish activity for good of men like you? Are you so deaf as not to hear on all sides the cry for help that is filling our streets and our cities? A cry which all must hear, for its wail is too strong to be silenced even by the. turmoil of the mart, but which few, alas! heed, Strenatb anb %itc 13 except those who have dedicated their lives to God’s service in the priesthood and in the religious life, and their hands are all too few to bring the needed aid. The cry of the children neglected by those who should care for them. The cry for sympathy arising from the mul- titude of those who suffer injustice. The cry in the courts for the protection of the law against the brutal force of might. The cry of the sick and ailing who have no friends to bring them a remedy for their ills. The cry of those who have fallen and who are spurned by the world for seeking to rise again. Is it possible that men with hearts hear all this and steel themselves against it? Or has the very commonness of suffering and need served only to make it appear hopeless and beyond the reach of aid? Why is it that so often the priest appeals in vain for workers in the cause of charity, for interest in the conferences of St. Vincent of Paul, for helpers in every good work which constitutes the very life and sal- vation of a parish? The appeal to which always comes the same answer, I am too busy, I have no time, I am too tired. All of which are but thin veils which cannot cover the real reason, which is that charity has grown cold, that selfishness has grown stronger, that while there is no time or leisure for the great work which must be done unless the mission of the Church is to prove a failure, there is always time and leisure for self-amuse- ment, for self-interest, for self-advancement. strength anh Xife H If to-day, sir knights, you desire to multiply your strength, not only in numbers, but of yoiu: claims for noble recognition, you must resolve to reduce to its lowest factor all that is selfish, and elevate to its highest point all that tends to bring out from every member of your body corporate the elements of true knight- hood — fidelity to God’s law, fidelity to His Church and her laws, the love of God which preserves from sin, and the love of your neighbor, which will bring you wher- ever there is human need. Already you have done much. The very act of bringing together into a common fraternity thousands of young men is an accomplishment which demands recognition. At a crisis, when it was feared by many that a certain laxity of purpose was beginning to mani- fest itself, the organization vindicated itself and gave a new impulse to its course in the right direction by a magnificent act of generosity to the cause of Christian education. At once it became evident to all America that the capabilities of the order were great. It was the first great unselfish act of your body corporate, and the spark of noble charity quickened a higher life among all the members. It stands as a proof of what you can do as instruments in the hands of God for the fur- thering of noble ends and the realization of glorious aims for the progress and prosperity of Holy Church. And doubtless you now realize that that act of unsel- strength anh Xife 15 fishness has already brought its reward in the higher standing of your organization, in greater confidence where formerly there was doubt, and even in the in- crease of your numerical strength. “ Whosoever will lose his life for my sake shall find it.^’ The act of momentary sacrifice has increased your wealth, moral and even material, and it is only by repeated actions of this kind, of losing that you may gain, that the invincible law by which the spirit of life is governed will be fully realized in you. That great example of the whole organization has been felt in every local council throughout the land, and similar acts of knightly generosity on a smaller scale materially, though morally not less effective, have given witness of the infiu- ence of that good example. Here in Massachusetts we know the help you have given to the blessed and noble work of caring for the children of the poor and unfor- tunate — a work which in its character of protecting the weak must appeal to every knightly soul; a work which is of incalculable benefit to the state and of great assistance to the Church ; a work which will surely bring myriads of blessings in its train to you individually and to your order; blessings which, coming from the Giver of all good things, are always the richer when given in recompense for aught that is done for the sake of His little ones. I doubt not there will be among your number a short- Strenotb anb %itc i6 sighted few, unable to look beyond a narrow field and unwilling to make great efforts for the accomplishment of large projects, who will seek to reduce the order to the petty limits of a social club, or, at best, confine its purposes to a merely mutual life insurance company. And they will no doubt endeavor to eliminate every altruistic plan on the basis that it is not practical. Not practical — that is the word so often misused to stifie every aspiration for the ideal. That is the very doctrine which takes the soul out of all that is best and noblest in human life. It is the cankerworm of modern methods which is eating into the very vitals of Christianity itself, gnawing at the roots of every plant destined by God to bring forth beautiful blossoms, fragrant with the odor of fraternal love. Not practical, because not selfish; not practical, because ideal. Do they forget that in such heartless analysis every holy sentiment is reduced to ashes? It is. this deification of the practical that is turning human hearts to stone. It is this destruction of the ideal which has become a blight in human life, which, as it progresses outward from the individual, attacks the family, associations, friendships, society, and even religion itself; withering the very heart of man, and drying up in its progress friendship, love, patriot- ism, and devotion — for all these, subjected to the alchemy of selfishness, must appear unpractical, unprofit- able, and therefore useless. strength anh %iU 17 We have but to look around us in our daily walk through the streets of a busy city to see the marks which this devotion to the so-called practical leaves on every side. Read it in the hardened face of the tight-fisted merchant whose thought never reaches beyond himself! Read it in the disintegration of families where it has obtained a shrine! Read it in the rottenness and cor- ruption which flood whole nations where the ideals of citizenship are fast disappearing! Read it in the riot- ous tumult of the poor to whom its gospel has been preached! Read it in the empty churches where its doc- trines have resounded, and then answer me. Are you who call yourselves knights to relinquish the quest of the Holy Grail, the cup which held the blood of Him who gave the world the great law of its life eternal, ‘‘ Lose that you may And,” to go in search of the vile vessel whose contents minister only to self-gratification and self-profit? Remember again the solemn warning, ‘‘ Whosoever will save his life shall lose it.” The charity which gives itself for the good of others must be at the very foundation of your order, and upon that solid rock will be safely reared the beautiful temple of your lives. Stone upon stone it will rise until it reaches heaven it- self. The hearts animated by that ideal will throb with a strong impulse of human and divine love; the love of fellow-man, which constitutes friendship ; the love in holy matrimony, which preserves its sanctity; the love of i8 Strenatb anb Xife human society, which creates strong and honest citizens; the love of country, which breeds high-minded patriots; the love of God, which brings forth heirs to the king- dom of heaven. These are all ideals which your practi- cal man may be incapable of realizing, but without which man ceases to be man, ceases to possess that which most ennobles man, and is left with nothing worth possessing. The true sense of the word ‘‘practical ” is to use sound judgment. To be practical in that sense is a duty. In this higher sense, in this nobler valuation of all which constitutes our best life, it would be easy to prove that in the end the so-called practical man is the most unpractical of all. When you can prove that those who possess most enjoy most what they possess, then you may conclude that selfishness is practical. But just so long as the greatest joys of life come from the moral satisfaction begotten of the service we render to others — to our friends, and to those who have no friends, to our family, to society, by deeds of kindness which lift us out of ourselves into the atmosphere of universal brotherhood in Christ, the world of Christian ideals, just so long will it be true that in all that con- stitutes the best of life, the unselfish man is the richest. Rich first of all in his capacity for enjoyment, multi- plied again and again by the number of those to whom he brings help and happiness. That the tendency of the world around us, especially in the commercial life StrenGtb anb Xife 19 of a country like ours, is toward self, is recognized by all. It is undoubted, I think, that where the business instinct is uncurbed, the colder and keener faculties of the mind prevail; and the only force that is curbing and bridling this merciless instinct is the idealism of religion. To the dictates of a heartless spirit of barter, whose motto is “ Get all that you can that you may live,’^ religion answers, ‘‘ When you have gotten all that you can you shall die.’’ Which is right? No need for me to answer here. And, indeed, if the motto of commercialism were true, the eternal getting could only give a life absolutely unworth having. And it is so true that those who have tried it have at last fully realized it, and often too late repudiate the selfish phi- losophy which brought them only dross, and robbed them of all that makes life worthy — the love and grati- tude of fellow-man, the respect of those around them, and their own self-respect. One thing is certain — that the natural tendencies of man uncorrected by the life of the supernatural are not outward, but inward. It is only religion, only the knowl- edge of the duties we owe toward God by service to those around us that keeps the circle of beneficent action from growing ever narrower, until finally its little radius only reaches the sphere of our own petty, imaginary needs. And so it is only religion, by its cultivation of idealism, which keeps alive the fires of the soul, warming all the 20 Strength anh Xtte better instincts and higher purposes. Where faith grows weaker charity begins to cool; and when charity is cold then conies death, — the death of the man, the organiza- tion, the society. It is fair, therefore, to presume from this argument that where there is lack of interest among men for all those good works and noble deeds for the welfare of others, spiritual as well as temporal, there is little faith and little real religion. And if we go far- ther we shall find that the cause of all this v/ithering up of high ideals, generous co-operation, active faith, is due to the clogging up of the channels by which God’s grace and supernatural help is conveyed to man. Jesus Christ declared Himself to be the way, the truth, and the life, and it is only by union with Him that the life of the spirit is quickened in us. And that union, the closest and warmest permitted to mortal man with his God, is obtained in the sacrament of His love. The blessed sacrament is the secret source of all the super- natural vitality in the world. Christ in the blessed sac- rament is the life of the whole Church, the surest key to life eternal. From the tabernacle radiates the influence which creates out of weakness miracles of strength. Holy communion is the food without which all that is best in us languishes, and the frequent participation in the sacrament of the altar stimulates all the best energies of which the soul is capable. What seems impossible becomes not only possible, but easy. Strenatb anb %iU 21 If, therefore, you desire the perpetuation of the life of your organization, you must first of all learn the les- son of unselfishness. You must turn outward and not inward your activities. You must live according to the higher ideals of Christian faith and strive after the imper- ishable goods of eternal life. And all this you will be absolutely unable to do without an active faith and an ardent charity. And your faith and your charity can be kept alive only by the practice of your religion, and especially by the nourishment which comes only from the bread of life in holy communion. Do not tell me that you are not a sodality or a reli- gious confraternity. I know well what you are, and I know well the aims of your organization. But I repeat with absolute conviction that unless with the growth of numbers you grow also in the spirit of your holy faith, these aims can never be achieved. As you cannot be too careful in the admission of candidates, to require as an absolute condition that they be prac- tical Catholics, that they be faithful to the laws of the Church in attendance upon holy mass, in their frequen- tation of the sacraments, in their reverence for the Church and those who represent and govern it; so, if you will persevere in strength and in numbers, you must insist upon it that the very life of your organiza- tion participate of the life of the children of God. And whenever the indications of an ebbing vitality show 22 Strenotb anb %\U themselves, you may be sure that the cause is not in the aim of the association, nor in the effort for high work, nor in the expanding sentiment of charity, but in precisely the opposite direction — in the lowering of standards, in the letting down of bars, in the ebbing of the tide of religious sentiment. To-night, here in this holy temple dedicated to the holy cross upon which your Saviour died, renew your pledges to stand close and fast to the standard of the cross. Renew in your hearts the lofty sentiments of devotion to your holy faith. Kneeling before the tab- ernacle, in which is enshrined the sacrament of Christ’s love, offer to Him your hearts’ affections. Draw near to Him that you may feel in your souls the influence of His life and His words. Draw near to Him that your weakening spirits may be fortifled by the tide of His precious blood. Draw near to Him that the force of His eternal vitality communicated to your hearts and souls may run through every member and bring back to a new life, by the resurrection of the purposes of this society, whatever part is languishing or lukewarm. He is your king eternal. Offer at the foot of His throne the purest and highest sentiments of true knighthood — a clean heart, a strong fidelity, a high determination to live in obedience to His law; and as the saving host, which conceals while it reveals His divine presence, is raised above your bowed strength anh Xife 23 heads, beg of Him to bless not only you, but your whole organization; and then rise like true knights of old and go forth from this temple of the holy cross refreshed in spirit, renewed in purpose, to face the future courage- ously, to continue with undaunted energy the combat in God’s name, for God and for His holy Church. When Columbus, whose great name you bear, turned his bark seaward in quest of unknown lands, the wise ones of the world laughed him to scorn. His faith in the God whose spirit was leading him on never wav- ered, and every evening he gathered his crew on the deck of his little caravel, and as they watched the stars appear, by which they kept their course, they knelt and sang in unison a prayer to Mary, the star of the sea, confident that if even the stars of heaven should fail them in the mists of the ocean, she would still bring them to a safe haven. You, who bear his name, imitate his glorious example, in faith in God, in confidence in Mary your mother. And then, unretarded and unmoved by the thousand obstacles which beset the path of all men and organizations in the struggle for good, your course will each day be safer and surer, and your perse- verance in a good cause will win for you the admiration of men and the benediction of heaven. Boston College Library Chestnut Hill 67, Mass. Books may be kept for two week unless a shorter time is specified. 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