Catechism

Title

Catechism

Language

English

Year

1930

Rights

In Copyright - Educational Use Permitted

Fulltext

GREEN AND WHITE 121 act in real life. They don't have to be Saints or people of extraordinary holiness. They don't even have to do all that a good Catholic does-at least, not in public. They are not supposed, for instance, to go through their devotions before their readers. But they are expected to avoid whatever is unworthy of the dignity of a good Catholic. If hero and heroine agree to get married, the wedding should be celebrated in a Catholic Church, and not before the Justice of the Peace. If a baby is born to the happy couple in the story, the parents see to it that baptism is administered as soon as possible. A short sentence or phrase is sufficient to indicate this. It may be that on a Sunday a gay party of young men go out on a picnic. This, the author might mention, took place after the boys had heard an early Mass. lt1s these little touches, scattered here and there, wherever needed, that reveal the all-pervasive Catholic spirit. Little casual (yet not casual) touches like these are not obtrusive, and they tend to make a good Catholic reader feel at home in the reading of the story. It naturally would be ·the cause of a jolt to the minds of many sensitive and sensible Catholics to read ari account (written by a Catholic student) of a good man gone wrong, persisting in wrongdoing, and when the end comes, concluding his life with a dramatic gesture of heroic impenitence. Of course, our student writers do not deserve severe censure for this. That they have committed similar· mistakes before, we may attribute to inadvertence on their part, and to their quite understandable youthful strivings after dramatic effect. Stories of despair, r~venge and the like are easily dramatic, but often also morbid in their effect. If the essays and stories, submitted to us, do not breathe this wholesome Catholic air, at least their lesson ought not to be antagonistic to Catholic sentiment and thought. This is even more important than local color, technique, etc. 3. That readers are already weary of listening to stories like this : "John was a tall, handsome youth. . . Mary was a pretty girl of sixteen summers .. They met. . . Wedding bells. . . . dingdong !" An ingenious and not too improbable story is always read with interest. 4. That slang is not good English and deserves no place in a department consecrated to the fine arts of Shakespeare, Scott and Macaulay. 5. That the Editor's ~isual comfort should be consulted in presenting articles for his perusal. Would it be too much to ask our contributors to hand in their articles, essays, stories or verses, neatly typewritten in double or triple-spaced form? The Editorial Staff trusts that these swrgestions will not be misconstrued. and- that they will be received in good part by those to whom they are addressed. ---«»·--Catechism There are two La Sallites of excel- dertaken the laudable task of instructlent standing in their respective classes ing ignorant children in the vital truths (the Commercial Class and th.e Fourth of our Faith.. They have assumed Year High) and worthy· members of charge of about one hundred boys in the Sodality of our Lady, who have un- the district of Tondo for the pll'I'pose 122 GREEN AND WHITE of preparing them for First Holy Communion. We cannot help wishing that there might be more students of their fine stuff (especially among the Sodality) to help them carry on their charitable apostolate. We have been informed that they are in sore need of assistance, and they have earnestly requested us to make an appeal through the GREEN AND WHITE to see if we could recruit from amongst our school readers at least four new catechists to join hands in this noble and meritorious work of mercy. It does not entail very much labor and bother, we are assured, nor does it occupy much more than one hour a week, on Sundays. It is a labor of love, and the kind souls engaged in it will not go unrewarded. Mr. Anselmo Ferrazzini will be very much pleased to give further particulars to any inquirer. ---«»·--A Challenge Like a bolt from the blue the A.A. Class received some time ago a challenge from the La Salle Chamber of Commerce to a debate upon any subject of the challenged party's choice. It was provided in the note of defiance (for such it seemed) that the dialectic joust should take place not earlier than the 20th of October and not later than December 31st. It also stated that Bro. President had generously promised to award a cup to the winning team. The A.A. Class, after some hesitation, decided to take up the gauntlet. By the time this leaves the press, arrangements will have been completed between the two College departments which have-with considerable reason-been long ·regarded as rivals. Had an invitation to a handball, tennis, or basket-ball match been jssued, no unusual rumpus would have been stirred up. But a challenge to a debate is something new. It is a good sign. It shows that our students of Commerce have not narrowed down their interests to things purely commercial to the exclusion of "irrelevant and impractical subjects." It is very grateful to us to learn that Debating, the joy of the High School student, still holds out attractions for La Salle's Commercialites. An especial benefit to be derived from inter-class contests of this kind, in which more or less practised orators and debaters take part, is the renewed interest in Debating that is bound to arise among the nevv·er members of the La Salle Debating Club, upon whose constant encouragement and training, and ultimate success will depend in great measure the recovery of that tremendous power and prestige enjoyed by the La Salle Debating Club in those years when sneakers of the caliber of de Vera, Gibbs, Ortigas, Ugarte, Araneta, and Heredia fortified her ranks. Any effort made in this direction deserves unstinted commendation. It is our hope that the A.A.-Commerce debate will come off as well as it gives fair promise to, and that there will be more frequent encounters of similar nature in the future. We look forward, also, to witnessing a controversial clash between the La Salle Chamber of Commerce, and the Senior Debating Club.

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