The Cross

Media

Part of The Cross

Title: The Cross
Issue Date: Volume IV (Issue No. 9) October 1949
Year: 1949
Language: English
Rights
Place of publication: Manila
extracted text: APPOINTMENT: BACLARAN exequiel molrna HELL IN CHINA john Considine THE MAN WITH THE PLOW vitaliano gorospe WHAT ABOUT SEX? msgr. fulton sheen THAT ROOSEVELT-SPELLMAN CLASH OCT. 1949 FEATURE STAGG-NANT JUNGLE THINKING CASE FOR THE NBI? THE TIME OF OUR LIVES PHOOOEY! EH? HOW SILLY IS SILLIMAN mario gatbonton OUR MARRIAGES ARE OUT OF DATE federico moreno CARRYING THE CROSS You Don’t Need The Cross Manila Dcor Reader, You do not need the CROSS. At any rote, not os much as your neigh bor. Your enthusiastic support of it shows that you are, in oil probability, a practicing Cotholic. You like the CROSS, because it is a kind of monthly letter to keep you in touch with Holy Mother the Church. You reod it and find in it- your own thoughts in black and white. Your emotions, desires, and deepest aspirations, your problems and ideals. You see your own self mirrored in 4,000 readers trying to lead Catholic lives. And you ore glad ond proud, like Miss AJamis, • Cf. Letters) thot you are part of such a grand and beautiful Mystical Body. But 4,000 is a mere dot against the huge backdrop of 19,000,000. Should we not ask with Our Lord: "Where are the other nine?" The millions who think the Mystical Body a myth; employees who hove nothing more substantial to read than the daily papers, or the comics; students, who grow up to be "sceptics and infidels;" teachers whose slavery to Godless BE Monuols, prevent them from building our children into upright citixens; men and women who poss thru life like fleeting shadows with no idea of the Mystical Body. The CROSS must reach such men. Nay, being Catholic, it aims to reach all Filipinos from the top of Batanes to the tip of Turtle Islands. The CROSS oims to reach your neighbor, who has heard neither of CHRIST nor of His CROSS. With your help, we can carry the CROSS far . even to the sumpit of Philippine Journalism. Sincerely in Our Lady, The Editors P. S. Regards to you — and your neighbor. When shall we meet him? “I’ll tell the Cross A DOCUMENT FOR SEN. SOTTO Manila Sir: Some people deny that Rizal was actually married to Josephine Bracken. One of them is Senator Don Vicente Sotto who, in an article in the Philippines Herald of August 14, 1949, maintained that there was not such a marriage between Dr. Rizal and Miss Bracken. One of the reasons for denying this marriage is the fact that in his Last Farewell, Rizal called her only. his "sweet stranger, my friend, my joy.” Nobody knows for sure when the Last Farewell was finally writ ten, but it can be asserted without any successful contradiction that the latest chance Dr. Rizal had to write it was the time between the mid night of December 29 and the early morning of the following day, December 30. It is also an incontrovertible fact that in the morning of that fateful December 30, when Miss Bracken came to be married to Dr. Rizal, the Last Farewell had already been written, neatly folded and hidden in the alcohol stove. Obviously, our Great Martyr could not call her wife when he wrote that poem. But after their marriage, when he was already about to leave for the place of execution, he left her a last souvenir, the devo tional entitled "De la Imitation de Cristo y Menosprecio del Mundo,,’ on the inside cover of which in his own handwriting, Rizal called Miss Bracken his wife. It was that last moment, the only time in which Ri zal could write as her husband, and on that occasion he did not for get, he did not fail to call her his wife: he wanted to and he did put it in writing on that last occasion before he faced death that Josephine Bracken was his wife. The following is a reproduction of the page of the devotional on which the handwriting of Rizal appears: 1 THE CROSS DE LA IMITACldN DE CRISTO Y MENOSPRECIO DEL MUNDO (Reproduction from. Austin Craig’s "Life, Lineage and Labors of Jose Rizal,” page 241. With permission from, the Philippine Education Co., Inc. Hoping you will accord to this letter a favorable consideration, and thanking you in advance for the same, I remain, Very truly yours. ELIAS M. AT AVI ADO. OCTOBER, 1949 PRIDE — MUTUAL San Jose, Antique Sir: I want to tell you what a never failing delight it is to receive the CROSS each month. It makes me feel so proud and glad to be a Cath olic, to be a little, though undeserving, part and partaker of the grand and beautiful Mystical Body portrayed in your magazine. So to you and your associates a sincere thanks and may God bless you. Maria Alamis Eds: Miss Alamis can be sure the Mystical Body is equally proud of her. TWO BIRDS — ONE STONE (No address) Sir: I have been told that a year’s subscription to the “FILIPINAS” costs P4.00. I know that a year’s subscription to the CROSS cost P4.00. Enclosed therefore you will find P8.00 for a year’s subscription to the FILIPINAS and the CROSS to be sent to the Veterans at V. de Luna Hospital so that they may have something to read. I hope you will accept this. Thank you very much. (No name) Eds: God bless this unknown benefactor, who has helped both the Veterans and the Catholic Press. HOLD ON! Sir: I wanted to write you to stop sending me the CROSS as I shall be assigned to another place sometime this week. When I revealed this feeling to the President of my organization for young ladies, I was given a look as impolite but sincere as a yawn. For the young girls and even grown ups, both married and unmarried, want always to turn to the “HEART TO HEART” pages of the CROSS. So please continue sending the magazine to ........................ but address it to Miss ............................................ President .............................:.................. (20 copies) In case my new place of assignment calls for the CROSS, may I notify you? Thanks! Rev............................................. Eds: Most certainly! father. The CROSS will cross any barrier to help lighten the cross of any man. To reader: Now let's turn to HEART TO HEART. OCTOBER, 1949 Vol. IV No. 9 NATIONAL CATHOLIC MAGAZINE Regina Bldg., Escolta, Manila, Philippines TABLE OF CONTENTS EDITORIALS: Stagg-nant Jungle Thinking .............. 5 Curb That Itch .................................... 6 Burn the Chain-Letters ....................... 6 Case for the NBI?................................ 7 The Hell of it ....................................... 8 The Time of Our Lives ....................... 8 Phoooey! Eh? ....................................... 9 Go to the Workingman ....................... 9 ARTICLES: How Silly is Silliman?. . . M. Gatbonton 11 Our Marriages are Out of Dote .............................. F. Moreno 14 Appointment: Baclaran.... E Molina 19 I Discover The Seminary. . . O. Suazo 23 All-Time Cure-All .............................. 25 Hell in China ................ J Considine 37 The Man with the Plow . . V. Gorospe 40 Patient in Ward 8 ......... L. Sanchez 46 "Whom Seek Ye?" .............. J. Burke 48 Aling Juana leads a triple life .... 50 Are We Sleeping? ......... S. K. Rozas 52 That Roosevelt-Spellman Clash .... 54 Rosary on the Air........... W. Driscoll 58 What About Sex?........... F. J. Sheen 61 POEMS: To a Mother .................. B. Llamzon A Lay-Brother's Reverie. . B. Llamzon 21 43 COLUMNS: Heart to Heart.............. Lily Marlene 26 Horse Sense .................. Leon Garcia 35 Thinking With God......... Fr. Lebuffe 51 DEPARTMENTS: Cartoons—by GAT I'll tell the CROSS .............................. 1 Carrying the CROSS ........................... A The Apostleship Corner . . Fr. Verceles 31 Intentions for November. . Fr. Siguion 32 This Got Me ...................................... 63 Movie Guide ................................ 65 Managing Editor Mario Gatbonton Business Manager Raul C. Reyea Board of Editors Antonio Estrada Hermenegildo B. Rayas Nicolas Zafra Enrique F- Lumba Contributing Editors Salvador Araneta Miguel Cuenco Pacita Santos Renato Arevalo ★ nt Our friend Samuel Stagg, a very well-meaning and sincere Protestant Minister, writes a weekly column in the "Theological" FREE PRESS under the pen name of "THE JUNGLE PHILOSOPHER". Speaking of God in a recent issue, Mr. Stagg unwittingly showed thot his primitive ideos are indeed fit only for his stagg-nant habitat — and not for the civilized world he has been trying to reform. He wrote: " 'Then you believe in God?' I asked. 'Well,' he (his famous scientist friend, o Nobel prize winner) chuck led. 'The word God meons a lot of different things to different people. Let us put it this way: The other doy I saw you win a quarter mile race. Those fine muscles of yours would not hove won thot race unless they had been guided by intelligence and disciplined by will. Your spirit, if you want to call it that, and your body, working in perfect harmony won thot roce. This universe is like that, too. There have to be will and intelligence to coordinate things or this universe would not run.' The attempt to define spirit opart from matter con only end in an in tellectual vacuum. Motters divorced from spirit could only end in chaos without any meaning at all. The two are interdependent. They have olwoys co-existed. They always will. They are but different aspects of one harmonious whole — the universe." We could refute this pantheistic theory of Mr. Stagg and his scientist friend by showing the inescapoble contradictions it involves. We could point out that since it identifies God with the universe, God would thus at the some time be infinite and finite, eternal and Temporal, changeable and un changeable, necessary and contingent, etc. But it would suffice to call our readers' attention to the one funda mental defect in this Stagg-nont thinking. Before the JUNGLE PHILO SOPHER attempts to write for us 20th century Filipinos, he should first keep up with our more civilized definitions of God, matter, spirit and universe. And, by the by, of jungle too — and philosopher. Or does he take our community for another Stagg-nant jungle? 5 THE CROSS CURB THAT ITCH Although the price* of necessities and commodities ore constantly, albeit slowly, on the decline, still we may perhaps see another generation pass be fore our peso can equal its pre-war brother. Ah! . . . the good old days. There is, however, one never foiling woy of cutting down the prices of goods, which, like many a sane way of bettering the world, has never been tried. It is — curbing the itch to buy. Let every Juan, Moria and Juanita Nations, Jr.) think twice before digging they do not in all honesty need. It is need not buy! (or Juonito, to complete the United into their pockets to buy the things surprising how mony things a mar. The old shoes can perhaps stand another "repair-while-you-woit '. Or ■ perhaps all that the re-conditioned jolopy needs is onother re-conditioning and a new coat of point. Mother too can always do wonders with the "old look" to keep them apace with the "new look". Indeed, the possibilities are limitless — once a man starts using his head. And not for decoration either. Businessmen may shoot us for advocating this seemingly anti-business principle. But there is no denying its soundness as a moral principle. It is in very truth the Christian poverty of spirit in practice enriching a man's entire life. Laymen may think that, because they are laymen and have money to burn, they are not bound by the spirit of Christian poverty. Who wos it who said: "It is easier for a camel to pass thru the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven?" At any rate try it — and see what happens. Wotch the camel pass thru the needle's eye — like many in NCAA star's shot, sin tocar! BURN THE CHAIN LETTERS Ever since men learned to write letters to one another, the Church has always fought the most inane superstition ever to cross the world — the CHAIN LETTER. Popes and priests have thundered condemnation from’the pulpit on its emptiness; Catholic papers have spent reams of precious space on its deceit — but the pitiable ignorance and perversity of some "pious" people go on. Only the other day one such letter came under our very nose right in our editorial office. Read it and laugh, or weep, or scream, or squirm ac cording to your mood. OCTOBER, 1949 CHAIN OF GOOD LUCK This chain of good luck was sent to me via United Press dispatch and was sent in 72 hours. It 'was started in Africa by a French Of ficer under Gen. de Gaulle and is going around the world for the first time. The person who breaks this chain will surely receive bad luck. DON’T KEEP THIS LETTER. This must be mailed within 72 hours after your receipt hereof. A private in the Philippine Army won the first prize in the Sweepstake for complying with this chain. Mr. Franklin D. Roosevelt was elected for third term as President of the United States 52 hours after he had mailed this letter. Captain Ro mero who broke the chain died 72 hours after he received this letter. Segundo B. Villanueva of the City of Baguio who laughed at this chain of Good Luck met instantaneous death in an accident. President Ma nuel Roxas broke the chain, did not read it, died after he received this letter. INSTRUCTIONS: Make twelve copies and mail them to your friends. DO NOT RETAIN THIS COPY. Cancel the first name and add your name at the last. (Follows a list of twelve names.) Notice how the slinking, cowardly individual who started this racket packs a short note with ignorance and superstition and cowardice and in timidation and threats and heresy and bad english — and bunk! There is only one answer to a chain letter of this kind. Burn it! CASE FOR THE NBI? The NBI should be commended for their magnificent job in tracking down smugglers. Their brilliant records of nobbed victims speak highly of their untarnished reputation olong this line. There is however one type of smuggling (?) that apparently has re ceived little or no attention from anybody. It is the shipping into this country of pornographic filth in the form of pulp books, magazines, pictures, comics, and films. The smuggling of jewels and other goods costs our government heavy losses in taxes. The easy entrance of pornographic poison, on the other hand, costs our nation millions in souls. Should we pause to choose between silver ond souls? What has the Legion of Decency—if there be one! — done about this? THE CROSS THE HELL OF IT The saddest scene of the election drama is now on. If the CROSS suddenly turned into a towel, we would use it to wipe our teqrs for the piti able spectacle of a people in crying need of big-hearted leaders. One doy last month our two leading presidential candidates were re ported to have cost aside their manhood and put on the things of a chlild. One lost his temper and cried: "I'm telling him to go to hell!" The other backfired: "I am sending him to hell first!" The hell of it oil is thot we have all grown used to the hobit of hell — which is all very good (thot is, hellish!) for the inhabitants of hell and bad for the notion. Hell frightens us no longer. In fact, we think it glamor to domn, in moments of violent affection, our friends in hell. (Though how we con escape this place ourselves if such is our attitude, is beyond us. I Decent people merely laugh at this hellish joke saying it is all part of the game of politics — when they should weep, because the game of politics is being played so. It is time to realise thaf nobody benefits from this hellish habit of hell. No sir, not even the horned hell-cats whg love (that is, hate) this hell of a — hell! THE TIME OF OUR LIVES Never in our history have we had so many places and means of diver sion as we have todoy. In every capital, and especially in Monila, one sel dom finds a block without o bar, a cine, or o night club, or another joint for amusement. It is all very consoling to think thot at last after years of suffering during the war, our people, especially the youth, are having the time of their lives. But are they? Alarming numbers of our youth ore seeking joy in the wrong ploces. Things hove come to such a pass that certain Colleges in Manila have imposed rigid rules ogainst the entry of students under the influence of liquor. Our youth will certainly be the last to admit thot this kind of life is— after all—what they have fought for. Let's have fun, boys. Lots of it — but clean, wholesome fun, huh? OCTOBER, 1949 PHOOOEY! EH? Our Bus. Mgr., o very herd working — and handsome — young man, once tried to solicit ads for our little magozine. Unlike Ad-Soliditors of secular papers, he could not boast of a wide circulation; but he could open to any man vast opportunities for unlimited merits. So he decided to ap proach some prominent Catholic business executives in the hope thot these, if ony, should see the motives he would unfold before them. "How many is your circulation?" asked one such executive. "4,000, sir." In accordance with advertising "ethics," he could have soid: "40,000." "That's too small. I can't advertise in the CROSS." "Won't you at least help our Catholic monthly, sir? The Catholic Press. . . ." The Catholic executive shrugged his shoulders, threw up his arms into the air and remarked: "Phooooooey!" That was that for our Bus. Mgr. whose face had grown thick with every refusal. He had learned the hard way thot in the world of business the Almighty Peso is still king. Or in business parlance: "Business is business!" So he went home. But he had all the right to say: "Phoooey!" In the world of motives, he knew who IS king? But he repressed thot remark. No one says "Phooooey!" when some prominent Catholics support secular papers — and"phoooey" the Catholic press. GO TO THE WORKINGMAN Once Frederic Ozanom and a group of friends organized to discuss some of the mony attacks on the Church in his time, and attempted to refute these by recalling what the Church had accomplished for mankind. But at one of their meetings a listener, weary of hearing about the glories of the past, shouted: "Oxanam, you are right when you speak of the post; in past centuries Christianity has done wonders. But what is it doing now for mankind? And you, too, who pride yourself so much on being a Catholic what are you doing for the poor? Show us what practical benefits the workingman reaps from your religion and we, too, shall believe in it!" Ozanam accepted the challenge and the St. Vincent de Poul Society was the result. But the some challenge is hurled as fiercely in our day. It is easy to sit at a scholar's desk and pen woeful indictment of a sinful world. It is easy to blast Communists eloquently from the safety ol the sanctuary. It is easy to condemn labor unions and the shortcomings ol union leaders, even though the unions hove given to millions their first tost* of economic security. 10 THE CROSS Christ went to the poor and heoled their bodies ond their hearts. Leo XIII counsels: "Go to the workingman, particularly where he it pcor." —The Yardstick This striking passage from "The Yardstick" socks us all in the jaw, doesn't it? THAT “THEOLOGICAL” FREE PRESS This time,"our big (journalistically speaking) brother, the FREE PRESS, goes "theological" again on the subject of Union of Church ond State. It happened this way. President Quirino visited the island of Bohol. During the President's public address. Bishop Rosales honored the President by sitting on the platform. Therefore, says the FREE PRESS (in the person of Leon Ty), tsst, tsst, tsst, we are having too much union of Church and State in P. I. An amazingly wide and illogical conclusion, don't you think, L. Ty? "No, no," says Mr. Ty, "you ignore the reason I stated." "What wos your reason, Mr. Ty?" "Bishop Rosales thus honored the President, because all.’..the Rosales family is anti-Avelino. Don't you know that former representative Rosales of Samar, the Bishop's brother, is a bitter political enemy of Avelino?" "Come, come, Mr. Ty, let's be frank. Ex-Rep. Rosales is Anti-Avelino alright—but he is anti-Quirino, too. He is no less than chairman of the Nacionalista campaign in Samar. Truth is Bishop Rosales honored Pres. Quirino because Mr. Elpidio Quirino IS President of the Philippine Re public—Period!" It's time our "intelligentsia" of the renown of Mr. Ty and Mr. Malay (cf. Cross—September) studied earnestly the much abused clich6: "Union of Church and State". TICKETS TO THE “KINGDOM OF GOD” by ESTELITA JUCO Pretty collegialas (why are they all so pretty?) are going the rounds with handbags full of tickets. The Cause? For the Missions. The play? "THE KINGDOM OF GOD" adapted from Mortinez-Sierra's, directed by Daisy-Hontiveros-Avellano, and presented by the Paulinian Players' Guild. We, Christians, were ordered by our Commander-in-Chief some 2J000 years past to "Go, teach all nations . . .'' But not all of us are blessed with apostolic zeal to leave our haven of basketbaH games and parties for some primitive heathen isle. Come Mission Week every October we ore invited to jump on the merry bandwagon. Won't you get a three-way ticket to the "KINGDOM OF GOD" by helping the pagans, the missionaries—ond yourselP An Editorial •JHoxv Silly Is Sill iman? By MARIO GATBONTON Not so silly— When it wos founded some 43 years ago for the education of Pro testants. (Alwoys and absolutely silly of course, whenever, and if, it prosely tizes Catholics.) In fact— Thirty-six years later, on March, 1937, the University of the Philip pines conferred on its Presbyterian founder, Dr. Dovid Sutherland Hibbord, the degree of Doctor of Lows, the uplift of the men ond women of the Philippines." The citation as read by UP Pres ident Dr. Jorge Bocobo follows in port: "This, the highest degree of the University, attests to the eminent po sition you hove successfully attained in the field of education and human betterment . . . thru your conse crated interest in the spread and predominance of spiritual ideals and moral verities in this country, for which we shall eternally remain pro foundly grateful to you. . . ." It could well be presumed then thot Silliman Institute, of which Dr. Hibbard wos founder ond President, hod ottamed to a certain degree the high purpose for which it was estab lished. What this purpose was con be gleaned from the following passage in o book, Around the World Studies and Stories of Presbyterion Foreign Missions by Bradt, King and Reherd, presumably three Presbyterian min isters. The book was published in 1912 after these three men had mode a survey of Presbyterian Missions throughout the world. Three of the Chapters ore on the Philippines, and in thot on Education, the question is Sincerely Yours "I am convinced thot Protest antism in general treats Catholics with shameful ignorance and un fairness." —Dean Stanley (Anglican) "Roman Catholics meet the real difficulty in education. Our Protestont churches utterly ignore it." —President Harper (Chicago University) 11 12 THE CROSS osked why in view of the splendid public school system estoblished by the United States in the Philippines, the Presbyterians nevertheless estab lish their own mission schools. “The answer is, for the same rea son that the Church maintains Chris tian Colleges at home. From a strict ly educational point of view, the Government is doing a magnificent job for these people, which is worthy •of all praise, but it is not giving any religious tiaining. ft is caring for the head and the hand, but gives no special consideration to the heart. . . The public schools of the Philippine Islands are not even planning to meet the religious needs of the young people. If they are in organization and method and spirit non-religious, it is no surprise that practically they are non-religious. The Great Teacher has said, 'We cannot gather grapes of thorns, or figs of thistles." . . . In a conference with one high in authority in the Philippine Govern ment, and intimately connected with the public school system, we were told that many of the graduates of the public schools are going into scep ticism and infidelity. Political lib erty and religious "free thought" go together in the minds of the young men coming out of the schools." "What better reason than this sig nificant statement, and the avowed policy of the Government in keeping all religious and biblical instruction out of the schools, do we need fp justify the maintenance of a few well equipped colleges and training schools for the advanced education of our leaders in the Protestant Filipino Church?" A very high and noble purpose — this. An ideal worth oil the fight and the talent of any sincere and honest Protestant. But today — We wonder if Sillimon would back up on effort to get religion into the public schools — ond thus prevent them from turning out any more, sceptics and infidels. Yes, we wonder. Reports hove it thot some 3,000 Sillimon students and faculty mem bers recently staged on indignation rally against the banning of Palma's book, Pride of the Malay Race. Dr. Tiburcio Tumbagohan, Sillimon gra duate school professor in education, rapped the government for banning the book ond asserted thot "the ten tacles of fascism are creeping into this country." How silly of Sillimanians! How fascistic of Dr. Tiburcio! Would their noble founders have supported the efforts of a few Masons to stuff Palma's irreligion down the throats of public school students’ Would they who "gave special con sideration to the heart", have rallied for that which corrupts the heort? Would they? In fighting the imposition of Pol - ma's book on high school students, Cotholics ore merely defending their children — and consequently Pro OCTOBER, 1949 13 testant children — from the impo sition Ot anti-religious ideos. It is bod enough, in the words of the three Presbyterian ministers, that our gov ernment is "not even planning to meet the religious needs of our young people." What is to be said — ond done! —.when the government would go on aggressive step further and compel their young minds to believe anti-religious ideas? It is bad enough that our public schools are "non-reli gious in organization and method and spirit". What is to be said — ond done! — when the government would moke them anti-religious? We hate to soy th_! Sillimon folzs would back up the government so long os it is anti-Catholic — ond not ontiProtestant — ideos thot are thrust to our children's eyes. We hate to think that they will cheer loud and long so long os it is the Catholics who take all the punishment. If this is the type of religion that they swallow in Silliman, then silly would be o mild ad jective for Sillimon. And yet it is hard to understand how Sillimon people can justify ther stand on the banning of Palma's book, Pride of the Malay Race. Un less, of course, silly Sillimon has gone the way of public schools in turning out sceptics and infidels ... In deed, "We cannot gather grapes of thorns, or figs of thistles." In such cose, we certoinly can think of no better text-book for such a religion course than—you're right! The Pride of the Maloy Race. A young mon spooks his mind our marriages are out of date By FEDERICO B. MORENO The truth about Filipino morrioges is thot they are not up to date. A survey of the present social at titude towards the institution of mar riage in the Philippines reveals the pertinent fact that four-fifths of Fi lipino families ore sold on the idea of late marriages. This disturbing fact accounts for an alarmingly low rate in the number of marriages in the country. The result is a norrow and shallow bond which knits the new family to gether. Late marriages, furthermore, encourage long engagements which more often than not bear out the overhanging threat to the morals of engaged couples ond, in some cases, which do not end in marriage. Although delayed unions may sometimes work out well for families, they do not benefit the country in the long run. Compared to other countries, our marriage rate falls be low their standards. In the United States lost year, there were 28 morraiges for every 2,000 people. For the year 1948, only 18 marriages for every 2,000 in population count were estimated in the Philippines. One would be led to reason out that because of the "dissolubility" of morriage by divorce, Americans rush headlong into eorly marriages, thus increasing the marriage rate. In this country, however, the wedlock is not broken not because the couples do not want divorce but because they cannot be divorced. Our laws are so strict that spouses must suffer cri minal conviction before relief is given the innocent ones. The number of marriages that end in separation is not a fact to be ignored by Filipinos. The arguments of our "wise" elders in support of late marriages are usually based upon experiences, upon circumstances which differ in extent, slightly or largely from the factors affecting present-day cou ples. The discouragement of early marriages is pounded into the heads of this generation, so much so thot young peoDle are so afraid of the responsibilities of marriage that they would gladly give up the opportunity to start a home for the selfish pur suit of making money. Money ond 14 OCTOBER, 1949 15 seems to be the pre-requisite for o hoppy marriage. More sentimentalism appears to hove swept most families off their feet than is actually necessary. Un selfish love hos ceased for porents who hate to see their children cruelly taken from them by marriage. Most of them would eye the suitors of their daughters or sweethearts of their sons with jealousy. If marriage has some what crept into the family conversasation, the tendency to discourage the children becomes stronger than ever. This is where long engagements come The consequence of long engage ments sometimes revolts against humon nature. An engagement lasting up to 12 years wos reported in a tra gic case of stabbing where the frus trated suitor or would-be benedict knifed the girl when she told him of her coming morriage with another mon, the preferred choice of her par ents. For the wealthy, old folks, ship ping their children abroad to "con tinue further studies" for the purThis article will doubtless raise a lot of eyebrows— especially those of the "wise" old folks whom the young outspoken author takes to task. But we invite discussion on some very provocative points brought up by a promoter of early marriages who is still a bachelor at lorge!—Eds. pose of moking them change their minds, usually does the trick. Four or six-year engagements ore a common practice in the islands. The chances are that these betrothments do not terminate in marriage, for the couples hove either grown tired of each other or met others whom they think will make better spouses or have just given up the idea of waiting any longer. There is also the danger of seri ously toying with the morals of en gaged couples during lengthened en gagements. Marital relotions are a constant source of temptation. Ille gitimate children occur more fre quently in this trying period. Some times, ond fortunately, the shocking events could be the causes which has ten the marrioges. But the threat to society arising from the events re mains imminent. The second argument which the elders advance evidently makes ca reer an essential element of mar riage. In other words, a mon withouto career Is unwanted In marrioge. How often do we hear Fili pino parents requiring from the mon who pursues a career to finish his career before marrying either their daughters or other daughters! It seems to them that a fresh college graduate is greatly different from an undergraduate. It also seems that an undergra duate will be prevented from finish ing his career simply because of the "difficulties" of marriage. These parents will go as far as to even men tion one or two cases to illustrate 16 THE CROSS their point. But the truth is they have completely eliminated "deter mination" and "ambition" from the undergraduate. They reoson out, in correctly at that, marriage saps out these fine qualities from the groom. How an observer can be expected to swallow that line is a wonderment! An undergraduate who is earning Pl 50 monthly while studying is in a better position than a new lawyer who has hardly any regular client to speak of ond who roams the streets to fetch out a meager compensation for his career. There ore lowyers who are prepared not to eorn a single centavo the first six months of practice. What new engineer or doctor or teacher can support a family inde pendently upon graduation? How long offer receiving his diploma will he be in a position to support such family? Perhaps, in the future, the career man will recp the benefits of his pro fession. But does it mean thot the non-career man will no longer pro gress from his Pl 50 monthly? As it is from the preceding argu ment, Marriage has been apparently reduced to an Economic Institution. The love of man and woman for each other, in this "practical" world, hos been relegated to the background. It is no longer a question of love but of support. The idea of a home as a spiritual retreat hos vanished. In turn, a business house flourishes where the payment of rent, food, light, water, clothes, and other material things that bespeak of comfort is the mea sure of a happy and successful life. The ever-illusive term "security" hos been the basis of marriage for most women, sacrificing love and principle, only to realize loter in life that even the world with all' the material resources at its command does not have what is called security. By way of pretending unselfish ness, most parents would have their daughters finish careers or work in order to make them financially inde pendent. This is for their own pro tection, so the wise saying goes, in the event of marriage failures which end in separation between the spou ses. The woman is every case, they say, is the one who suffers. Perhops, they have heard of it; perhaps, they hove not. But the fact is that under the law the husband is obliged to support his wife even in an agreed separation from the ma rital domicile. Thus, under the law, the wife is amply protected, no mat ter how the marriage works out. Here, protective measure is not needed. The motive behind such protection is thot parents demand that their sons or daughters, os the case moy be, repay them for the sacrifices spent in their behalf from the cradle to their present marriageable age. These erring parents believe that because they have invested money and hard work in their children's training ond education, they have a right to ex pect that those children will give some years of their working life to their support. At times, these demonds are dis OCTOBER, 1949 17 guised in the form of "consolotion" or "relief". With this belief, one would think thot the rearing of chil dren is no longer a natural duty but rather, a cold, business-like endeavor. The education which parents have provided for them has been converted into a loan. It tends to reduce the home into a banking institution! The training and education which are made possible to children are ob ligations which parents owe them. It is a debt in fovor of the chil dren incumbent upon parents to ful fill. A child did not have the choice of coming into the world. The deci sion was its parents' ond to them alone belongs the duty of support and education. The duty to support or to help their parents exist only if and when such parents have no other means of income ond are incapaci tated by physical defect or old age. The present generation must live for the next generation. There is no turning bock. But rather, parents should move their children to look towards the future and after the fu ture of their own children. This is how mankind progresses. The Philippines being pre-dominantly Catholic, the viewpoint of the Church should help to guide erring parents who hove taken unto them selves the role of judges in the affairs of their children, basing decisions upon whims ond coprices of their making. With respect to long en gagements, thot is, deliberately done either by the parents or the couples themselves, the Church considers it a great mistake. The reasons given ore thot they ore a source of moral donger to engaged couples and, that often they do not end in marriage. The monotony of delay wears out the patience ond control of the couples who hove agreed and are intending to get morried but yet do not marry. It usually works at a disadvantage for women who, in case of a split between the couples, are left at the mercy of spinsterhood unless other men are willing to take them os their wives. Thus, the Church is not in favor of deliberately long engage ments. Early, not late, marriages broaden ond deepen the family ties which ore much-sought after by every married couple. The advantages which early parenthood possess ore helpful. Re searches conducted among families in the United States show that it is more probable for children to experi ence a happy childhood and to grow up well adjusted when their parents 18 THE CROSS have contracted an early morrioge. Emotional maturity ond enrichment ore acquired by young couples from the company of children. The distance in years between par ents ond children has often impaired the former's ability to cope with the latter's psychological problems. But in early marriages, the difference in age is smaller and of greot assistance in the solution of childhood complexi ties. When a couple enters into wedlock at an early age, it has greater chances of witnessing the unfolding of the lives of the children ond grandchildren the satisfaction of which hos been denied to most people in lote marriages. On the contrary, children are likely to become orphans by the loss of either or both parents at an early age, in some cases, when they need them most. Some Filipino parents frighten their children with the so-called "dif ficulties" of marriage which they claim to hove undergone. There can be no doubt about the veracity of those "difficulties". But what ca reer is not beset with difficulties and tribulations which demand quite an amount of sacrifice for its success? Marriage, as every other career, is subject to hardships at the outset, which increase with the years up to a certoin point, at which point the harvest of the fruits takes place. Only after fifteen yeors of study and practice, if fortunate, will the lawyer achieve fame ond readily reop the products which he has sown. The same thing happens to a doctor whose professional skill attends the needs of our human bodies — and the en gineer, dentist, journalist, business man, teacher, ond the rest of them. Thus, marriage partakes of the same nature of all careers, and os the most important, the labour is not left in the hands of one but rather lightened, for it is shared by two. As the greatest of all careers, it should be encouraged rather than discour aged by wise parents. There are more chances of enjoy ing wedded life.together in early mar riages than when couples marty in their late years. Youth hos the tend ency to appreciate life un all its as pects. Almost everything is taken in the gaiety and merriment of the pe riod. The qualities of young people ore such that even if faced with on unsurmountoble obstacle, the inclina tion to either disregard it or take it in good stride overpowers the elderly reaction to brood or despair over it. Then there is that ideolistic atti tude which young couples have ond maintain, those ideals to which the young look forward, from which older minds have turned away. One coyld mention many reasons why an early marriage should be en couraged rather than a late-one, pnd why it is better than the other. But the best reason lies in the difference of human behavior, between the laughter ond a quiet smile, the flash ing eyes and a fixed stare, the loving heart and the loved. No favor too small; no favor too big for Mary. Appointment: Baclaran By EXEQUIEL MOLINA “This week, 3,823 petitions were received. And the number of fovors ocknowledged gronted ron to 102," the voice of the Redemptorist fother rang clearly thru the spacious. Chapel at Baclaran. The '0,000 people gathered from ail walks of life strain ed their eors to listen to the simple and unaffected letters of gratitude. The Novena to Our Lody of Perpetuol Help had storted once again. It was a Wednesday afternoon. To those who have not gone to or heord obout this devotion on o Wed nesday, the following questions natur ally come up: Why the number of people? What is it all about? From o very quiet ond humble be ginning, the novena has become po pular among people who reolize the futility of their undertakings without the aid of divine grace. Started by an American Chaploin, J. Captain John Wallace, on June 27, 1948, the con gregation which flocks the weekly Novena in honor of Our Lady of Per petual Help, hos grown from a few hundreds to several thousands. But the most impelling reason that has drawn a lot more of people to it ond stirred their hearts with ardent devotion is not the granting of fovors asked for; it is rather the contagious desire to go down on one's knees ond pray when he sees the congre gation during the Benediction of the Blessed Sacrament and hears the di vine praises os a song rising from ten thousand hearts to join the angels on high! Whot further proof of devo tion con the skeptic ask for? It is such scenes as these that appeal most to Mory. So long os men remember Her in their hour of need, there is still hope for humanity. In the United States, the novena is made in six hundred churches, from 6:00 o.m. to 12:00 p.m. The congregation at the Boston Mis sion Church alone, hos grown to the astounding number of 30,000. To day the Redemptorist fathers at Ba claran have to repeat the novena ten times every Wednesday in order to accomodate the ever-increasing number of devotees. The Blessed Virgin is known to all Catholics os the Immaculate Concep tion, the Queen of Angels, but She has chosen the title "Lady of Per petual Help" as a symbol ond a pro mise to those who come to Her in their direst hour of need. 19 20 THE CROSS The favors asked of the Lady of Perpetual Help under the classifica tion of temporal favors include re quests for finonciol aid, employment, health, peace in the home, success ful delivery, success in examination ond many others. But it is the amaz ing number of conversions that hove occured as a result of this novena that must rate a second thought in every Catholic. Every week, letters of gratitude come pouring in, thanking the Blessed Mother for the conversion of a loved one, a Protestant, an Aglipayan, a Pagan, or a Catholic who has strayed oway from the faith. And such seem ingly impossible feats would have remained thus, if those grateful peo ple had not invoked Her aid. Only last week, an Americon wo man was so impressed by the devotion of the crowd that she got convinced of the truth of the Catholic Faith. She finally decided to abandon the Protestant sect and embrace Cath olicism. Through the kindness of the Rev. Fr. James O'Donnell, Rector of the Baclaran Church, who has made available the impressive record of the various letters of thanksgiving, we will quote part of a beautiful and sincere letter written by a woman who had given up all hope for spirit ual salvation: "One Wednesday afternoon, a friend of mine invited me to attend the Perpetual Novena at Baclaran. I had never heard of this par ticular devotion and in fact I have not been to church for several years. I consented to go out of mere politeness.” “When the time came for the Novena, it rained very hard. And I thought my friend would not come to get me, but to my sur prise, at 5:50, she arrived. I told her I thought it silly to go to church on such a day but she re minded me of my promise so I decided to go but with a very hard grace. Entering the door I was given a paper containing the prayers and I followed them with the congregation.” “Then a strange thing happen ed. Jn general, I hate prayers and find them on awful burden but as the devotion proceeded, the beauty of the prayers'began to grip me. As I looked around and saw the earnestness and faith with which the members of the congregation prayed, I began to feel a sense of “I felt unworthy to be present among such good people, like an intruder among the intimate friends of Christ. I felt a deep sense of guilt for my careless sin ful life. I was moved to the depth of my being in a way that I never before experienced in my life." “It was then that I began to pray. I felt unworthy to direct my prayers to God because of my sins. So, I prayed to the Blessed Mother again and again ta tell me what God wishes me to do and I’m willing to do it.” OCTOBER, 1949 21 TO A MOTHER (On her son's entering a Seminary) B. LLAMSON, S.J. Sweet mother, weep not overmuch; For where I go, the rainbow-lights of memory Gleam bright. They'll flash your cherished face to me All thru life and forever and forever! You're glad I know; 'Tis not selfish thoughts that cloy Your heart this moment, moke you weep like this. Though poined you know the deeper feel of bliss, — Tears are at times but soft syllables of joy! Have you forgotten O eternal hills That drank the visions of those hidden years. The day another mother bathed in tears Waved os her Son left for the Jordan rills? On entrance day then would you say it's true When mothers weep, they're more divine not less? And hills, you will complete my happiness And say, my mother looks like Mary too? ‘‘During the Benediction of the Blessed Sacrament I heard a voice from the depths of my conscience vdiich told me to make a good Confession. The very thought fill ed me with dismay. If anyone had suggested that to me half an hour before, I would have told him that I preferred to shoot my self than to go to confession.” "Even now the very thought fill ed me with fear but such was the change brought about in my soul that I said, My Mother, if you give me the strength and courage to do this, I’ll do it." And she did. There ore mony more stories of conversions thot to quote them we would fill o book. There are men who have not received the Blessed Sacrament in years, like the singular example of on old mon who had not gone to Communion in sixty yeors. There were Protestants, Aglipayons, and pagons who woke up to their job of saving their souls — and were baptized. All these are but manifes tations of the Blessed Mother's in finite mercy. The Lady of Perpetual Help has not forgotten the sick and the af flicted. She has come to them in their hour of pain ond affliction. To wit, here ore the gists of two letters, one written by a daughter and the other by a mother: The girl wrote that the doctors 22 THE CROSS said thot her father had cancer. She felt very desperate ond having heard of the novena, joined it and asked the Blessed Mother for help. Two days before her eighth Wednesday, the doctor pronounced her father as cured. The doctor decided to call off the operation and her father was treated only with X-ray. He was dumbfounded at his potient's recov ery! But the girl knew that the Blessed Mother had answered her prayers. From that time, she wrote further, her father started to pray the Rosary every night. A mother, who wos ot her wits' end when her 2 J-. years old son -got seriously ill, wrote: "A week ago my son had an acute swelling of the face. As he was suffering very much, I brought him to a doctor but he did not perform any treatment. The following day, it got worse and I didn't know what to do. “Looking up at the family altar, I discerned the lovely picture of our Blessed Mother of Perpetual Help. I prayed so intently on my knees with my little boy in my arms." “A little while, he fell asleep. Before he woke up from his nap I could not believe my eyes when I saw that the swelling seem to subside. In the afternoon, he was normal in every way." Like Jesus Christ, who performed miracles and won the hearts of the people, the Blessed Mother has so graciously consented to grant the countless temporal favors thot have been asked of her. Yet, they are just little acts to impress upon men the efficacy of prayer; that the way to eternal salvation is still cleor to all who sincerely strive to seek it. Leave us not forget the words of our Blessed Redeemer to His Holy Mother according to St. Brigid in his vision: "A* you refused’Me nothing whilst I was on earth, so I will refuse you nothing now that you are in heaven." And in His dying breath, Jesus bequeathed His Divine Mother to the whole human race, to which She has granted innumerable favors os a lost sacred trust of her Divine Son. There is no fovor too small nor tdB big for Maty. If we could in our sim ple earthly way add more to the praise of our Mother, we would nor hesitate to put this sign beneath the Holy picture of the Blessed Mother of Perpetual Help: HELP GRANTED. RED CHRISTIAN From a missionary sister in the path of the Chinese Red Army comes this strange bit: "When the Reds arrived near the mission of the Columban fathers not far from us, one of the soldiers stepped up, knelt before the priest, and said: 'I'm a Christian. I can't go to Ma*s. But will you please give me your blessing?' " It's a muddled world. Columbus discovered America I discovered the Seminary By OLIVERO SUAZO I wish I could express in words whot I felt when I first beheld and discovered the truth about seminary life. I say, beheld and discovered, because the greatest surprise that ever came nearest to knocking the daylights out of me, took place ra ther deadly. It came to me during my first two days in the seminary. And anybody who wos in my shoes at that time would have conceded to my calling it a "fatal initiation" (that is, if he could withstand a nervous break down.) MAMA'S BOY No one, for example, who had entertained the conception that a seminarian is puerile countenance would ever dream that he would meet seminari ons of sturdy physiques, ide could never reconcile a jolly ond jocular young man with his • conception of the froil seminarian, much less a seminarian who could, with his deli cate sense of humor, moke him roll up his stomach in guffaws. THE LITTLE ANGEL I hove always pictured the semi narian as a holo-heoded boy who goes through life with folded hands, pacing the dark corridors with his guardian angel and six others hov ering above his head. And of course, the possibility of beholding a semi narian who could flip a cute onehander into the basket was unthink able as a trip to the moon. The re velation of this seemingly unbeliev able fact was aggravated when the same seminarian was seen kneeling silently before Our Lord in a visit offer thot 'nip-and-tuck' game. Or maybe this one will evoke the skep tics to raise their eyebrows. . . a professor who handles the spheroid with the proficiency of a seasoned basketball player. GLOOMY PRISON CELL My attitude towards the edifice called the "Seminary" was equally shallow. Before I entered its secure walls, o feeling of ominous dread pictured it as a baleful enclosure of cold grey stones where the only occasional sounds were the scuttling of the church rats in its dingy depths, where dark recesses and corridors harbored dust-coated antiques and 23 24 THE CROSS cob-webbed relics in rickety dens. How tremendous o surprise it wos for me when I found out thot I was a victim of a dire obsession, I cannot fully expound. Only this I know, thot hot surges of consternation usu ally rise up whenever I think that everything was the opposite of my foregone conclusions. SILENCE OF DEATH Perhaps, one will conclude that deathly silence is the dominating characteristic of seminary life. To this, I give an answer. During re creations, which by the way occur decorously, the atmosphere is very normal. Peals of laughter echo in the cool corridors — the results of clean jests and wholesome pranks. Here and there, parlor games go with the liveliest of animosity. In a corner, o tinkling piano is surrounded by a group of troubadors singing a native song. While in onother cor★ ner, a ping-pong or maybe a pool game goes on uninterruptedly. And while all these scramblings for en tertainment bustle, the spirit of ar dent brotherly love prevails above all. Yes, brotherly love. . .this is the thing thot makes the seminary a large family. OLD BUT NEW FRIENDS The massive walls, however, do not sever you from your friends left behind. For omong your fellow seminarians, you see images of them. There will be one who talks just like your best friend, there will be those whose smiles and ever-ready hands are just like those of your teamate in school. And my conception, of course, of a seminarian buried in the thick of ancient tomes and manuscripts van ished as I saw the confusion of an Intramural basketball game after a class of Sociology and Debate. This cot ate my rooster. So . . . Requirements for Doily Communion All-Time Cure-All 1 . Frequent and daily Communion as a thing most earnestly desired by Christ our Lord and by the Catholic Church, should be open to oil the faithful, of whotever rank and condition of life; so that no one who is in the state of grace, and approaches the holy table with a right and devout disposition, can lawfully be hindered there2. A right disposition consists in this: that he who approaches the holy table should do so, not out of routine, or vain-glory, or human respect, buf for the purpose of pleasing God, of being more closely united with Him by charity, and of seeking this Divine remedy for his weaknesses and defects. From this it is evident that any person who is not certain that he is in the state of mortal sin, and who approaches the holy table for the purpose of nourishing his soul with this heavenly bread, is to be admitted to the sacrament. Mere scruples or doubts are not suf ficient to prohibit him. Nothing but the certainty of mortal sin.. Furthermore, it is not necessary for one to go to confession every time one wishes to receive. This would impose some inconvenience on a person and would doubtless deter a number. The Council is explicit in declaring that nothing need keep a person from approach ing os often as he wishes, provided only that he is in the state of grace and has the proper disposition. By making daily Holy Com munion so easily available, the Church shows her profound solicitude in having the faithful approach with the greatest possible frequency. The desire of Jesus Christ and of the Church that all the faith ful should daily approach the sacred banquet is directed chiefly to this end: that the faithful, being united to God by means of Ithe Sacrament, may thence derive strength to resist their sensual passions, to cleanse themselves from the stains of daily faults, and to avoid those graver sins to which human frailty is liable. Its primary pur pose is not that the honour and reverence due to our Lord may be safeguarded, or that the Sacrament may serve as a reward of virtue bestowed on the recipients. 25 Dear Miss Marlene, I’m a married woman with two kids of 17 & 15 yrs., respectively. I’ve been married for 18 yrs. now and thru these years I’ve been for giving him for all the connections he has had with cheap women, with the thought that he will try to-repent as years go by. Recently, I found that he has been living with a widow for a month and in doing so he has neglected us so that the kids of mine as well as his, (he was a widower) can’t even afford to pay the fees in this cur rent school year. Then and there I had a talk with this woman as I found out that she is good and religious too. She told me that my husband had told her that he was a widower and had promised to marry her later on. The mistake she had was in consenting to live with him without marriage as he believed in him. After telling her and showing her our wedding picture and mar riage contract, she told me that she won’t have anything more to do with my husband. So please what am I to do? Frankly, Miss Marlene, I love my husband and so do my kids and I believe I'll continue loving him and being faithful to him in thought, word and deed as I know we Catholics must. Right now we are living together as he has asked for forgiveness but I have been so disillusioned and almost heart-broken that I would like to ask you if I must go on forgiving him and taking him back if he ever does the same mistakes. Everytime he wanders we are left in debts so that our future is dark and depressing. Please do help me and may God continue enlightening you thru your advices. A heart-broken wife 26 OCTOBER, 1949 27 Dear Heart-broken Wife, You say that your husband is unfaithful to you ond fails to support you and his children — and you osk if you must go on forgiving him. The answer, definitely, is — you have no obligation to continue to allow him to live with you. No obligation, I soy. But if prudence, (or love) urges you to take him bock, well, that is for you to decide. In my opinion, it would be good if our government would provide a "whipping post" for men like your husband. Unfortunately we have all too many of thot type, and vigorous, public whippings might bring them to their senses. Meanwhile I shall join in prayer that God may give you strong faith and wisdom in your very hard trial. And while I am on the subject of prayer, how about bringing up your case to "Our Lady of Perpetual Help" in the Redemptorist Chapel in Badoran. Our Lord once said that this kind of devil is not driven except "by prayer and fasting." In other words, prayer, and more prayer — and penonce, and more penance. Dear Lily Marlene, I'm a 16-year-old junior in a Catholic girls’ school in Manila. My problem is this. — It is about the Apalachicola and Calypso. I like them very much, very much. I can do them very mildly but I'm not doing them. My mother and older sisters' ‘‘take it or leave it" advice is not to dance those, no matter how I do it even though they said it’s no mortal sin. I’ve consulted the priest in our Religion class about it and he gave out adjectives for it as: immodest, unchaste, etc. He said it’s a mortal sin —that is for the real calypso and apalachicola. If it is really, why has our archbishop kept silence about it? I want to do these dances — anyway I can do it mildly, but being in doubt, for the sake of my peace of mind, I ignore them — but it's terribly hard. Both boys and girls except me in my crowd do it — and they sort of make me feel funny if I say so to the fellows asking me to danoe> with them these latin numbers. And due to the popularity of the latin pieces, I’m being a wallflower that I seldom enjoy myself in parties and dances. Now boys and girls of Catholic Colleges in Manila are doing them too. ■Shall I or not? Is it a mortal sin or not? How about me dancing it mildly? A Wallflower 28 THE CROSS Dear Wall-Flower, Most ball room dances ore decent or indecent, depending on the man ner in which they are danced. If you are sure that your dancing is refined and restrained, then I don't believe there is any sin involved in this Latin dances. However, be very careful. It is so eosy to be carried away by youthful enthusiasm and the desire to do what everyone else does. Try to set a good example in your own crowd and they will respect you the more for it. If, however, your Bishop gives any directions in this matter, be sure to obey him, — as I will, wholeheartedly. Dear Miss Marlene, I am a girl of 20, and I am engaged to a fine and handsome doctor of 25. Both of us are madly in love with each other and are planning for our future but my parents object to it as (. am too young yet. Miss Marlene, am I too young to be married? If so give me the best advice you-can. I. Dear I— At twenty you are young, but not too young to be planning for your future. There are parents who shut their eyes to the fact that their children have grown up. They wish to keep their sons and daughters dependent on them forever, if possible. But they are wrong. Children have their own lives to lead. They have to learn to make their own decisions. The best thing that parents can do for them is to give them the proper education, example, and guidance, so that when the time for decision comes, they may be able to make the right choice. If you are sure that you have found your right partner for life, then go ahead. Listen respectfully to your parents' advice, but make your own pions. However, do so carefully and wisely, asking our Lady's blessings and guidance, particularly during the beautiful but dangerous time of com pany-keeping. Dear Miss Marlene, This isn't really a love problem as I’m still too young to meddle with, love affairs. You see, we just transferred to a new house and this happened to be beside an “Iglesia Ni Cristo" chapel. A family lives in this chapel. AU the children, also the mother adopted the religion years ago. The father is a Catholic. During Sundays, they have services. They sing loud too, so much so that we can’t help but hear. They do nothing but sing throughout the whole day. The girls in ths family are very friendly. They are very entertain OCTOBER, 1949 29 ing and have a kind of respect for our religion. Tell me, is it bad to make friends with them? Please help me and let me know soon. For your info, I study in a good Catholic school so you needn’t worry. ROSE Dear Rose, There is nothing wrong in year making friends with your Iglesio de Cristo neighbors. Provided they don't try to impose their practices and be liefs on you, there's nothing to worry about. Who knows, by your good example, the time may come when you moy be able to bring them back to the true fold. Dear Miss Marlene, A year ago, the family of my friend moved to our neighbor. It happened that I fell for her younger sister at the first sight. But I just keep it silent until three months or so of our friendship, then I wrote her a letter expressing my love. After a week or so when no answer has come, I wrote her another but still no response. So then, I tried to communicate with her in person, though, when ever I approach their home, she would hide from me. I tried many times and got the same results. In such case, I stopped going to their house. So I tried to explain clearly in my letters but still she didn’t reply me until now I’ve sent her about thirty (30) letters or so and I got the same results. Only that my feelings and my love has grown great er and hotter. What shall I do, Miss Marlene? Should I stop writing her and wait for the personal chance? Or should I keep on writing her? What good if she didn’t feel anything for me? Do you think one can win such a love as this if in her heart she didn’t feel as what I do? A Love Trouble Dear Love Trouble, You are certainly a most persistent fellow! I should think thot writing thirty fetters without eliciting any response is more than enough proof that you are wasting your time. And the fact that she refuses to see you when ever you come up her house should convince you that she doesn't want to have anything to do with you at all. So why don't you be reasonable and save yourself all this trouble and humiliation. The sooner you stop this futile courtship, the better off you wiU be. Look around you — there are a lot of other nice girls who will welcome your attentions. You may not realize it now, but you will be far happier if you try to forget her and try to get interested in other young people. 30 THE CROSS Dear Miss Marlene, I am 19 years of age and an aspiring student. Every morning I use to hear and serve mass in our parish church. In going home from the church I always meet a lady who also frequents the church. Everytime we meet, we were always exchanging some looks. Since she is a devout catholic, it came to my mind to befriend her, but I don’t know of anybody who can introduce me to her. I am fond of making friends with lots of people but not to those kinds who are always in any social gathering and are crazy of banned dances. I also dance but in some rare occasion. I am not what you might describe an "effeminate," but because I don't have any interest in any social affair, I have to break my company with them. My question is: How could I win the friendship of this girl. M.A.R. Dear MAR Perhaps she may have some brothers or cousins whom you could be friend. It is easier to start an acquaintance with members of your own sex. Then you moy be able to meet her thru them. Or you "may try to join some parish octivity in which she is interested. There is always some way — if you try hard enough. Dear Miss Marlene, There’s one who is after me but I got not a bit of care for him. Whenever he sees me he can’t resist but to come along. I don't really have the mood of seeing him nor going with him, He acts more than a thorn on my part — I mean he seems more or less a devil to me. Miss Marlene, tell me then what to do in order to put myself out of this........ T.E.C. Dear TEC Ignore him, give him no encouragement whatsoever. If you make your self cleor and stand firm — it won't take him long to realize thot there is nothing to be gained in keeping on with his unwanted attentions. You may hurt his feelings now, but in the long run, it is better that way, ond he wHI be grateful to you for it. "I desire that this manner of prayer (Rosary) shall be perpetually promoted and practised." —Our Lody to St. Dominic THE APOSTLESHIP OF PRAYER CORNER By Rev. Pedro Verceles, S. J. National Director In a symposium on the "Radio Apostolate" in one of our religious institutions on June, 1949, a young religious pleaded with his audience to "join in prayers asking that if it be God's will, the Sacred Heart Pro gram be introduced into the Philip pines." Two years later, on the 1st of June, 1949, the Apostleship of Prayer began its doily radio program ♦n honor of the Sacred Heart. Todoy this program is still heard over Station DZPI at 5:30 A. M. Soon it will also be broadcast over the Cebu radio station, DZBU. Ap parently that zealous young religious did not ask the prayers of his audience in vain. In the United States the Sacred Heart program brings Christ's truth, love and peace in 1,500 broadcasts a week, over 500 stations, to 65,000,000 Americans who profess no foith. It breaks down prejudice, builds up understanding and teaches tolerance. There is no denying that aside from the Press and the movie, the radio is one of the most potent factors of propaganda today. This is one reason why the radio apostolote has always been close to the heart of the late Pius XI and our present Pontiff, Pius XII. Here in the Philippines we hove six broadcasting stations that are on the air throughout the day and a major portion of the night. Some Pl,000,000 have been invest ed in these stations while the num ber of rodio sets scattered through out the length and breadth of the orchipelago approximates 40,000. Rodio programs, especially those in the notional language, hove become so popular that the Sampaguita pic ture alone receives an average of 1,000 fon mails a day. In view of the 1,000,000 radio listeners in the Philippines, it becomes imperative for the Church to get busy using this powerful means of spreading the kingdom of God. For in the business of preaching the -gSspel, no legitimate means should be left un exploited. Aside from the weekly programs of the Pox Romano, the Ave Maria Hour and the St. Francis Hour, the only daily Cotholic programs heard over local stations are the Sacred Heart Program ond the Angelus. [Continued on page 34) 31 32 THE CROSS Intentions Blessed By The General Intention: Thot the knowledge of religion may be promoted among Catholics. Public interest is defnltely on the material side of life. Ours is o scientific oge. With all the technical knowledge ot its com mand, Science uses the forces of nature to conquer space and time and to make these conquests felt in every sphere of life. The pro gress of science so dozzles the eye—especially of our youth—thot we have lost the vision ond the love of the spiritual, the religious, the supernatural, the eternal. But today more than ever before, men need spiritual forces that would protect ond regulate life itself,—such as religious truths and practices. For, material progress in the hands of those who rule by force, can be converted into an instrument of injustice and druelty especially in modern worfare. Only the voice of our Saviour, Jesus Christ, gives us the remedy. To His apostles and their successors, to His priests. He gave the command: "Go ye ond teoch all nations. Teoch them what soever I have commanded you.” Indeed these shepherds of souls have the grave obligation of looking after the religious instruction of our Christian people. But the natural law dictates that fathers of families themselves have the first inalienable duty of giving their children the proper education and religious training, while to the mothers belong the responsibility of teaching their young ones their first lessons about God and their first prayers. When parents entrust to others a port of this duty, they should understand that the responsibility continues to rest on their shoulders, so much so that they should see to it that they who take their place actually teach their young ones what they themselves are supposed to teach. Thus they should osk for Catholic instruction for their children in the public schools, in as much as, according to the new Civil Code, art. 359, religious instruction is to be given as part of the official school program. To the adults in'general are directed the parish sermons and OCTOBER, 1949 33 Holy Father For November Rev. Jose Ma. Siguion, SJ. with greater authority the teachings of our Holy Fother and our bishops. Every state of life has its own obligations which are declared in the Holy Gospel ond explained, according to the needs of the times, by the infallible teaching of the Supreme Pontiff. Thonks to this supreme voice, which is not only national, but universal and divine in character, the light of truth continues to enlighten all men of good will in all their complex problems. It is clear that we all have to have deep conviction and moral strength to be able to comply with our duties even to the point of sacrifice. Mission Intention: For peace and concord in Madagascar. Most recent persecution, fanned by Communists, is the destruction of the notable progress of Catholicism in Madagascar, a french pos session. More thon one half of its 2,700,000 population ore Chris tians, to wit, 700,000 Catholics and 600,000 Protestants. A violent revolution broke out in 1947 against the french colony which soon spread thru the east coast where the Catholic missions were estab lished. The work of two Vicariates with all their churches went up Innumerable Catholics have resisted the persecution with admir able fortitude, but not a few new converts have abandoned the Faith, while others have returned to their ancient superstitions. WATCH FOR THE APOSTLESHIP OF PRAYER’S 1950 BEAUTIFUL, COMMEMORATIVE SACRED HEART-HOLY YEAR CALENDAR!!! With picture* of the Sacred Heart, the Holy Father and St. Peter's Basilica in four colon. One copy—45c. ♦ 100 copies—40c. each 1,000 or more copies—35c. each Write THE APOSTLESHIP OF PRAYER 2821 Herron, Sta. Ana Manila 34 THE CROSS THE APOSTLESHIP (Continued from, page 31) The Socred Heart Program, which is sponsored by the Apostleship of Prayer, is gradually, but steadily, growing in popularity among our people, Catholic and non-Catholic alike. The fan mails we receive everyday from all over the Philip pines, which average about a dozen, bear witness to this fact. It is encouraging to read the letters of people who listen to this program. Here are a few excerpts from their letters: “Me and my family since a week ago have been always busy listening to your Sacred Heart Program and we appreciate it very much for it helps us to get closer to the Church and to God."— Antonio R. Macias of Zamboanga. ■ "Your program is truly won derful. I wake up early just to be able to hear it."—Florsefina Licup of Rizal Ave. Extension. "I congratulate you for your nice program. Such a reminder keep us closer to the Sacred Heart of Jesus and His Blessed Mother in this period of materialism, where the welfare of souls is for gotten." — Asuncion Acosta of Pangasinan. “It is wholesome food for thought and is refreshing to the human heart and soul."—Florecita Viceral of Batangas. “We wish to inform you that We tune in daily for the Sacred Heart Program and we are indeed very grateful for such an oppor tunity of listening daily to talks and songs that draw us closer to the Sacred Heart of Jesus.”— Signed by Erlinda Frile, Leticia Guevara, Augusta Reyes, Carmelita Santiago, Aida Domingo, Carmen Brillantes, Lutgarda Sison, Teresita Brillantes, Virginia de Leon, Rosie Rosales of Holy Ghost College. “I think your broadcast is the best means of starting the day right. It puts me in the proper mind-set for the day's work. A bove all I’ like the daily sermons rendered by the ministers of God. These made me learn more and more and understand better my duties as a Catholic."—Primitiva V. de Santillan of Malate. “For those who have had little or no religious instruction, the sermons are enlightening. People are made to understand and love their religion better and are brought closer to God. For those who were given a good grilling of it, the daily topics are a substan tial food for meditation and the answer to a long felt need of the spirit in the midst of this ma terialistic strife-torn world. — L. de los Santos of Laguna. And so with many other letters which for lack of space we could not all quote here. The Sacred Heart Program is drawing crowds to the Heart of Jesus. Moy it continue to bring more men to a personal love ond devotion to the Sacred Heart! HORSE SENSE By LEON GARCIA JUSTICE: A LA COMMUNISM At the end of March o Yugoslav doctor living in Bulgaria wos tried by a Sofia court on charges of es pionage. He was named Cedomir Hitch. Dr. Hitch was convicted and sentenced to twelve years in prison. The current issue of the Belgrade humor magazine Jez publishes its own views on present day Communist Information Bureau justice. No for mal link is established with the Sofia trial. But if one notes the similarity in the nome and the sentence of the accused one can draw his own conclusions. Furthermore, Westerners who hove been puzzled about some of the trials in Comminform lands recently may be interested in what appears to be the prevailing view here. The title of the Jez article is “The Judge Inter rogates." The text thereof follows' "Judge: Accused, your nome? "Accused. Hitch. "Judge: Profession? "Accused: Doctor. "Judge: You therefore admit that port of the accusation. Good. What is your political affiliation? "Accused: Communist. "Judge: That means you are a Yugoslov. You also admit this. Very good. "Accused: What kind of an ad mission ore you talking about? I am only answering. "Judge: Wonderful. Secretary, write—'The occused odmits all the main points of the accusotion ond is prepared to answer for the crimes committed.' "Accused. Scandalous. This is vulgar. "Judge: Secretory. The accused stated that he is aware that his deeds were scandalous and vulgar. Ac cused, tell me do you know where the seat of the Americon Govern ment is located? 35 36 THE CROSS "Accused: Naturolly, in Wash ington. "Judge: It appears that you are well informed of the conditions in the imperialists' camp. Of course. Secretary, write: 'The accused, by his own admission, had close ties with the American Government from which he received.' Wait a moment, secretary. How many dollars did you receive, accused? "Accused: I didn't receive ony "Judge: Very good. Continue secretary—'From whom he received orders for espionage but he com ploins that he wasn't poid in dol lars.' "Accused: Tell me why you need all this? "Judge: We have to justify twelve years' imprisonment. "Accused: I will unmask all of you ot the public trial. "Judge: Be at ease. We don't need publicity. We con conclude oil this ot o closed triol." Could you die like this? Hell In China By JOHN J. CONSIDINE, M.M. Cold December winds blew os the the Communist sweep beat open the gotes of Jehol, in North China, ond took seventeen priests into custody. Some of the priests were Belgians; others were Chinese. Among the lat ter wos Father Peter Chang an ex perienced missioner ond seminary professor, who was respected for his fine judgment ond loved for his zeal. As this fifty-four-year-old Chinese was led away from the group, he called back to his fellow priests on old Lotin expression from the Church of the ages: "Moriomur fortiter!" — "Let us die bravely!" "Your guilt has not been great, Fother," the Reds began with honey ed voice. "Your punishment will be light, if you will renounce Catholic ism ond be converted to CommunFather Chang not only refused; he proceeded to exhort his tormentors to become Christians. They tortured and beat him while he pleaded for their souls. For a period of days, they sought to break his resolution, throwing him on the floor of his cell to pass each night with his bruises. One day they broke his leg. All that night the priest in the cell next to him kept vigil to Father Chang's low moanings. The next day death came. In Yenon, the Communists took prisoner Father Liong, o young Chi nese of twenty-nine, and called upon him to apostatize. "Of course I will not opostatize!" he replied. "Not only am I a Chris tian, but I am a priest. And if you cut off my head, I shall still be a Christian and still be a priest." He wos immediately clubbed to in sensibility. At this juncture the Na tionalists successfully attacked Yen37 38 THE CROSS on. Fother Lion could have escaped, but he remained ond was carried off by the fleeing Communists. His weakness made him a burden, so he was soon shot. In Maoshantung village, in Jehol Province, three Chinese religious — Sisters Wang, Chao, and Mary — were colled upon to renounce their religious vows, to abjure Christianity, and to marry. Because they refused the "people's court" of the Reds con demned them to deoth by dragging. The three Sisters were stripped, and their arms were bound to their bo dies. A rope wos fastened to the feet of each, and then tied to a, horse. The horses were beoten ond frightened, ond the three religious were dragged over stones and stubble until they were dead. In this same region, a saintly Chi nese priest. Father Ho of Heou Fou, was imprisoned and ordered to re nounce his religion and become o Communist. Stories hove grown up around the memory of this holy man's end. One report has it that, as Fa ther Ho was about to be shot, a flo wer appeared above his head, and it eluded the Red executioner when he tried to grasp it. Another report says that a Catholic woman who wos blind sent her little boy to dip a piece of cloth in the blood of the martyred priest, and then, applying this cloth to her eyes, the woman received her sight. In the Maryknoll mission in Man churia, an elderly Chinese priest, Father Maurice Poi, was imprisoned. His ordinary clothing was taken from him, and he was given burlap to wear. After some six weeks, he was shot three times in the bock of the head, ond his body was thrown in a ditch. Christians hid the body in the snow and then buried it secretly at night. Such tales bring to mind similar in cidents in the history of-.the great persecutions in the early centuries of the Church. "One torture gaining popularity," reods a report, "is known as the 'dragon lantern' . . . the back of the priest is slashed open, cottoq sa turated with gasoline is inserted in the wounds, and the cotton is ignited. The mod antics of the victim suggest the squirming dragon lanterns of Chinese parades. Some other forms of torture are practiced: one layman OCTOBER, 1949 39 had holes drilled in his back, and then the holes were filled with gaso line and ignited." Over five hundred churches hove been commandeered by the Com munists in North Chino, and over a thousand schools. Following the re fined technique of modem Commun ism, core is taken to avoid the onus of the direct accusation of religious persecution. "The persecution organized by the Communists," soys a report from Pe king, "is worse than that of the Box ers in 1900. The Boxer persecution wos violent and bloody, but it was openly anti-Christian and of short duration. The Communist persecu tion, on the contrary, is sly, long in duration, nerve-racking, with spying of family on family. It is organized by men who pretend to respect free dom of conscience." There is tremendous drama in this picture of deoth for Christ in China. We experience a profound sympathy for such groups of missioners as the Immaculate Heart Fathers, who have suffered cruelly along the Mongolian border. But when our eye embraces the spectacle of thousands of native sons and daughters of China — priests, religious, and laity — facing hideous tortures, the loss of all pos sessions, and often the loss of life itself, our admiration knows no bounds. We ask ourselves. "Could I die like this? Would I, with all my vaunted faith, prove as gloriously constant in bearing witness for Christ?" — From Moryknoll “Down with Religion!” Marx: "Religion is the sigh of the op pressed creature, the temper of a heartless world ... It is the people's opium. The abolition of religion as the people's illusory happiness, is a requisite of their real hoppiness." Lenin: "Our program is built on science and in porticulor on the material istic view of the world . . . Our propaganda necessarily includes, also, atheistic propaganda . . . "... religion is pot a private matter. Our party must not be indifferent to unawareness, obs curantism, and obfuscation in the form of religious convictions . . . We hgve founded our union, among other things, especially for a struggle against the religious deceptions of the workers." Yaroslavskii:* "A person cannot act correctly, cannot act in an organized man ner as a Communist, as a Leninist, if his brain is poisoned by reliStalin: "We shall be guided by the rightly understood interests of the proletariat, and will agitata against Catholicism and Protes tantism and even Orthodoxy, in order to ossure victory of the world to the socialist view." * President of the League of Militant Atheists. 40 THE CROSS "Go to school so you won't hove to work", "He comes from the form" or its equivolent, the contemptuous Togoloq epithet, Provinciano — these and such like expressions used to monifest disdain are indicative of on unhealthy attitude that our young people ore nurturing towards the farm. This otmosphere of contempt shows that we do not hove the Chris tian outlook on the soil. The Soul and the Soil The Church is interested not so much in the farm as in the former. Her divine mission is to save humon souls. The Church believes thot there is greoter opportunity to work out the soul's solvation on the farm. For there is a close connection be tween the soul ond the soil, between the land and good Christian living. The Faith and the cultivation of the soil go hand in hand. Even the pagan Romans of old saw the connection between virtue ond the land. Pliny, the historian, quotes Cato thus: "The agricultural population produces the bravest men, the most valiant soldiers, and a class of citizens, the least given of all to evil designs." In the words of Pius XII, there is need today of "light, space and air" for good moral living. The Home on the Farm The family is of primary import ance in the Catholic philosophy of rural life. The family is the- source of population, the chief agency in the training and education of chil dren. It cannot fulfill its twofold The Church believee in the man with the plow By VITALIANO GOROSPE, SJ. purpose if the union between fother and mother is not stable and per manent. Rural life promotes and strength ens the unity and permanence of the morrioge bond. The Church be1 lieves that the home on the form is specially adopted to nurture strong and wholesome family life. The open country around the barrio . Is conducive to the practice of domes tic virtues—respect for parents and OCTOBER, 1949 41 elders, helpfulness, oneness in work, ploy and prayer, mutual love and neighborliness. Rural environment fosters spiri tuality and sanctity in the individual members of the family; it develops their taste for beauty ond the finer things of life. Our kundimani, our folk dances, the beautiful customs of our people grew up with the rice from the fields of Central Luzon, with the sugar from the plantation of the Visoyas, with the abaca from the hillsides of Mindonao. Our poetry did not come from the slums of Tondo; it was born of the harvest ond the planting season by the rice paddies in a house on stilts. It is in the home on the farm where religious ideals can be pursued and where individual happiness, peace ond contentment can be discovered. The home on the farm brings with it new securities—better lives, fuller lives, happier lives. The home on the farm is a firm foundation for the family, the Church and the State. The farmer is truly the backbone of our notion. The home on the form is the basis of Filipino society, of Filipino culture, of our way of life. Farming: A Way of Life The lond is the foundation, of the family. The farm was made for the home. The Church believes that the normal way for.a family to live is upon the lond which supplies its im mediate needs. The lond is pri marily for home-building ond family subsistence, ond only secondarily for profit-making ond industry. The economic security of millions of Filipinos demands independent ownership of the farm. The woy of life which will bring the vast major ity of Filipinos to the peace and prosperity necessary for them to live their lives in a human way material ly, spiritually, and morally is to be 42 THE CROSS secured only by the widest possible distribution of lond. If offer the common good hos been served, there should be more land to be had, big business could enter into the field of farming. But in our present agricultural economy, where farming is the predominant economic factor, the common good demands that big business does not compete with the small farmer. That does not mean that big business has no place in our economy. In this modem world of electric typewriters and magic-beam victrolas, "big business" is a necessary part of life. Capital is needed to de velop many of our natural resources and thus increase the wealth of our country. -Mining for example offers a good field for big industry. The individual former cannot push a railroad into a forest and dig a shaft oil by himself. Another field for the enterprising businessman would be the processing and canning of foodstuffs to allow for the export of perishable farm products. There are many ways in which the big businessman and the small farmer can help one another for mutual be nefit. The moneyed businessman can put up a textile factory to turn the pi ria fiber into saleable cloth. He can help the small farmer transport his goods to market by inter-island and cross-ocean shipping. Coopera tion, not competition is the key to the small farmer-big business rela tionship. The Church insists on the sacred ness of the individual person, so that in the Catholic view of rural life, when the profit-urge and human values come in conflict, the human being ond the moral law should triumph. Why? Because the first end of forming is the livelihood of the individual family. Farm Ownership: A Natural Right Since the lond is necessary for the seJf-preservation of the average Fi lipino family, farm ownership is a notural right. The land says St. Thomas Aquinas is "necessary for supporting human life". The rice we eat, the nipo hut we five in, the sarong our women wear — they all come from the lond. "Nature, therefore, owes to mon a storehouse that shall never fail, the daily supply of his daily wants. And this he finds only in the inexhaustible fertility of the earth." But "man not only can possess the fruits of the earth, but also the earth itself". (Leo XIII). We should hovd a greot esteem for the soil because it is one of God's basic gifts, given to us to supply our earthly needs. Widespread Distribution of Lond In her Christian rural philosophy, the Church odvocates widespread dis tribution of land. For she is oware of the evils of the kasama system. "Moreover, there is the immense army of hired rural laborers, whose condition is depressed in the extreme, ond who have no hope of ever obOCTOBER, 1949 43 A LAY-BROTHER'S REVERIE (Dusk in a Jesuit Chapel) I kneel tonight before Love's lonely door. Alone with the Alone; And thoughts like waves on some forgotten shore. Wash on my heart's small zone. No souls each day before Him may I lay. But ever one — one breast Thot pants away the calloused pains of day. Beside His Own in rest. Sweet King, if chrismed hands were mine, what lands I'd bring Thy Sacred Heart! But now — what con these do, these gnarled cracked hands Save ploy poor Martha's part? But hush — why weep I thus and ever bow So sad before Love's throne? Were not His Kingly Honds like mine. His Brow Sweat-soaked in toils unknown? Deep silence — and peace. B. Llomson, S. J. taining o shore in the lond." (Pius XI) In the Philippines there is not yet o sufficient distribution of arable, productive soil. Tenantry is still widespread ond is one of the causes of the agrarian problem in Central Luzon, a sore spot in the social structure of our country. The Kasama: The Church's Concern The kosama has no true liberty, no true security. He is on economic slave, dependent on the will of the landlord who has complete control over- the land he cultivates. He hos lost his right to a family living wage because he hos no property, no sav ings, no land, no home. The kasama system pauperizes his mind and his soul; it breeds fear, kills his sense of responsibility and . self-relionce, lowers his ideals, makes him work solely foi job and pay. He confuses democracy ond tyran ny. For this is how he reasons, "the hacendero owns everything. nothing. The hacendero cheats me of my reward. He is not put in jail. I steal food for my hungry children. I am punished by the law. The hacendero has money to bribe cor rupt government officials. I hove nothing with which to plead my cause before the law courts of the land. The hacendero is heard beTHE CROSS couse he is big. No one listens to the small kasamo. There is justice ond protection for the hacendero. There is none for the kasama. This is the kind of democracy in which I am mode to live." Con we blame him then if he mistakes democracy for tyranny? If his reasoning is extreme it is also partially true. Nor does the kasama toke the time to make fine distinctions when hunger grips the home and stares him in the face. He sees black or white, not varying shades of grey. Starving and embit tered, he loses his reason and be comes an easy prey to the pernicious propaganda of Toruc ond other un scrupulous agitators. It is in behalf of this honest, help less, oppressed peasant not the un just, greedy, lawless Huk that the Church proposes her rural doctrine of widespread lond distribution. If working people can be encouraged to look forword to obtaining a shore in the land, the result will be that the gulf between vast wealth and deep poverty will be bridged over, ond the two orders will be brought nearer to gether. The Church advocates the multi plication of smoll land-holdings, but she condemns two extremes, unbri dled Capitalism or unlimited own ership, and Communism, no owner ship, not even small ownership. The Christian Ideal: Fomfly-UnitHere we are at the heort of rural Catholicism. The Christian ideal is that each rural family should own and operate its own farm. Farpilyunit-operation is the Church's answer to the acute social problem of today. There is certainly no better way to secure on even and wide distribu tion of land ownership than by de fending and promoting the family The family-unit-farm is the major social and economic need of our country. It alone can rebuild our nation. 'The family farm is the best solution tc the Huk problem, the answer to Communism. The menace of Communism can easily be staved off by "the ownership of a few acres". (Leo XIII) The fomily form is the only necessary basis of a free and democratic Philippines. Without the fomily farm there con be no independence, no security, no progress for millions of our people. In the fomily farm their spiritual and cultural advancement, the pre servation of their rights ond liber ties, the future of their country rests. The Man With The Plow The man with the plow, the cara bao, and a few hectares of land will never become a Communist. For he cannot readily give up the lond to which he owes his life and well be ing as well as the life and well being of his wife and children. He cannot readily give up the land upon which OCTOBER, 1949 45 he hos lavished his core ond skill, many years of his sweet and labor. He hos learned to love the land in which his happiness ond thot of his forefathers before him, ond of his family ore rooted. He is a free citizen, for he does not depend on another for his livelihood. He is se cure "for of the products of the earth he can moke provision for the fut ure". (Leo XIII) He is industrious, thrifty, honest and responsible, "the backbone of the nation". The man with the plow is o man of serious-thought and deep seated convictions. The man with the plow is a mon of character ond good judgement. The man with the plow is a man of devotion ond loyolty, the last to abandon his home, his friends, his country, ond his God. Everything depends on the man with the plow. The Rural Road to Eternity No one then should think that the Church is merely interested in spi ritual matters and has no concern for our earthly needs. For "in re gard to things temporal she is the source of benefits as manifold and as great as if the chief end of her ex istence were to insure the prosperity of our earthly life." (Leo XIII) However, our temporal welfare is always subordinate to Our eternal destiny. The Church is interested in rural life because the farm brings heaven closer to our reach. Appeal of the Church Now no Papal Encyclical hos ever put a stop to a rice shortage. No joint Pastoral of the Philippine Hier archy has ever prevented a Huk raid. But that is only because the Church needs the cooperation of men. The future of the Filipino former should be the concern of all especially the government. There is a long way to go before the Christian ideal of the family form can be realized in our country. But the first step in bringing obout that ideal is a change of mind, a change of attitude. The Church appeals to all for a Christian out look on family living on the form. The modern Filipino boy ond girl es pecially should be convinced that better farms mean better homes, bet ter hearts, better lives. TAKING HIM LITERALLY He was a famous retreatmaster, ond he wos also a famous kidder. But sometimes his kidding backfired. When he arrived to give the sisters their retreat, the superior asked him what he would like to have for breakfast. "Oh," he replied, "I am a very light eater. Just a glass of water and a toothpick." The Mass over, he came to breakfast.. . . and on the beautifully set table were a glass of water ond a clean and shining service plate in the exact center of which rested a toothpick. "Visit the Sick” A poignant episode . . . Patient in’ Ward[8 By LEOPOLDO C. SANCHEZ Luis wos just o nome to me then — o name of a patient whom I did not know, ond never saw. It still is o nome to me. Yet somehow I feel I knew him all along; I feel a genuine ottochment for him. With out doubt, without reason, I know he hos become o close friend; ond I know too, I shall miss him. I first learned about Luis through the patients whom I thought were his friends. In fact, the little thot I know about him, I only heord — hearsay passed by words of mouth. He was confined in ward 8, a frac ture cose, and hanging in those wooden frames with contraptions to keep the broken bones stroight. Unfortunately, my bed was among those occupying the corridor outside ward 8. I_ never ventured inside this ward; I did not have the chance to do so. This, I was to regret later. From my bed however, I could dis tinctly hear the goings-on inside the word — the laughter, the merriment, the teosing and the jokes. It seemed the nome Luis kept being mentioned more often than not, and I became aware of his name after a long while. I did not give it much thought ot - This story of deep human interest comes from the pen of .o polio victim ot the National Orthopedic Hospital who re fuses to be beaten by illness. Mr. Sanches dictates his art icles to a friend, edits the Hospital paper — is on avid La Salle fan. —Eds. the time, but then I could not help pitying Luis. He wos always the butt of the jokes it seemed —mean, vulgar and insulting jokes too. But Luis seemed to take all these goodnaturedly. I thought may be he took all these in fun for I never heard on answer or a faint sound from him. I would like to think that he was beyond this means—beyond anger because he was a gentleman. That was why I started asking more ques tions about him. "In his five months stay here, he was only visited once by his relatives," so I was told. "He is good and silent," another infor mant enlightened me. "I want ,to write home for money — then I'il have a blow-out of fried chicken and fried rice," this was the wish Luis disclosed to a friend of his. 46 OCTOBER, 1949 47 As the doys ond the months passed, the jokes become less fre quent, ond with this, the mention of Luis' nome become less frequent too. Quite unnoturol after being so used to hearing about him, I was beginning to wonder. Yet, somehow inside me I felt better because it meant no more insults for Luis — no more heartaches for this patient whom I only knew by name. Nevertheless, he become less of a name to me with the passing day and he began to take on a more per sonified imoge in my mind—human, real and likeable. Luis with the gen ial nature, Luis smiling, unafraid and confident. The thing wos—without being aware of it, I was learning to like him. This was the smooth tenor of events os it was meant to be; and os irrevocably destined too, breaks and ripples disrupted it. In the hustle and bustle of the ward, the words "Luis is dying, Luis is dying," rose above the din — recurrent sounds which were vague, indistinct ond with no meaning to me—not until the full import of its meaning sped into my consciousness. I was joltede. . . visibly shocked! I could not believe it—I didn't want to—yet the sad truth taunted me. He was weakening, grasping for breath, delirious, and on the brink of death. One day, two days, and the once noisy word wos silent with foreboding. This continued. I prayed hard — I was hoping against hope that it should not be. Three doys, four days .... he suffered to the very end. I would like to console myself with the thought of the kind student nurse who prayed the rosary by his side when he expired. I would like to think too, of Luis whom I never knew and never sow — Luis, his longing for fried chicken, fried rice, and his dreom of walking on his feet again! He had failed to find what he had sought for while here on eorth, and I want to believe that somewhere across the hills, he has ot last found these things. FR. LORD BLUSHES I was reading the Sunday announcements for the parish church and poying strict attention to the strange new names before my eyes. So I read straight ahead: "Tuesday at 7 o'clock for Jane Smith" — I paused — "Ann Mass." Then os I read a second intention for Thursday for John Kelly, Ann Mass, I began to wonder who this woman was who was coupled with so many different people. At last it dawned on me. Blushingly I read the last: "Soturdoy for Moy Schwartz, Anniversary Mass." —Rev. Daniel A. Lord, S. J. Behold the Mon! "Whom Seek Ye?" By JAMES W. BURKE, O.M.I. From o casual estimate, I suppose there are more books, pamphlets, ond brochures published about Christ than about any other person in the history of the world. About His adorable Figure have swirled the tides ond currents of controversy; gentle souls have com posed sweet poems about Him; strong souls have thundered forth in the defense of His Divinity; the blasphemous and the flippant have defiled their pens in attacking His person. Whoever hos written about Him cannot do so and not be af fected one way or the other by His dazzling Personality. Volume upon volume has been written of His Divinity — the library of any seminary will bear thot out; but I would write of His Humonity or more particularly, of one facet of His Humanity, His strength of character. Unfortunately for the truth, we sometimes fall Into the extreme of re garding Our Lord as a dreamy, soft, idealistic Man. This distortion, per haps, comes from some types of "estampitas" which we see too often; these show Him in a very weak light and He appears almost effeminate in His looks. He most certainly was not the sugar coated type or He would never have appealed to a group of fish ermen who later became His Apos tles. Fishermen are far .from being soft os we know. Christ has been called by Tennyson "strong Son of God", and the poet in this case wos not merely idealizing. He wos telling us of Christ as He was in the days of His sojourn on earth. As a model for our boys and men, let us dwell on this ongle of Christ's character — His manliness, His strength, His vig orous woy of life. Perhaps the first glimpse of His strength of character can be discerned when He was a boy of twelve years, when with Mary and Joseph He went up to Jerusalem on the annual pil grimage. Doubtless He walked most of woy, while Mary and Joseph togk turns riding on the donkey. As any young boy of His age would want to do, He wanted to show that He was quite able to take care of Himself. OCTOBER, 1949 49 Then He was lost for three doys, but we gather from the account of the Sacred Author thot He did not spend His time in fruitless going about the city of Jerusalem. No, the Boy Christ showed His strong char acter by doing what He knew His Father wanted Him to do. He went to the Temple ond spent most of the time with the Jewish groy beards and engaged them in such conversa tion that we ore told, "ond all that heard Him were astonished at His answers". He could hold His place even among the elders of the Jew ish faith at the early age of twelve years. Eighteen years later Christ began His public life; and here He shone forth in the splendor of His Divine strength. Time after time He lashed out ot the Pharisees for their evil life ond their callous disregard of the spiritual welfore of their people; He called them "vipers," blind lead ers of the blind", and compared them to a filth-filled grove, "but within you are full of rapine and unclean ness". On one occasion He was so elo quently forceful that the Pharisees sent a delegation to arrest Him, but the very ones sent were so impressed by the beauty of Christ's words thot they returned to their craven mosters ond reported "never did man speak as this Man". No, Christ was no weakling. He Who drove the money changers out of the Temple wos not soft; He Who was accustomed to pray the whole night on the cold mountain tops was not weak; He Who went into the bleak stretches of the barren lands to fost for forty days ond forty nights wos a strong Man. But beginning in the terrible strug gle of the agony in the garden ond ending in the crucifixion, we see in Christ all the traits of strength. The human element in Christ was revulsed ot the thoughts of the torments He wos to undergo, so much so that from His pores Blood oozed forth, yet He prayed, "My Father if this chalice may not pass away, but I must drink it. Thy will be done". When His captors come to ap prehend Him, He went forth un daunted to meet them. He asked, "Whom seek ye"? they said, "Jesus of Nazareth", Jesus answered, "I have told you that I am He" — and He odds a touching phrase with regard to His Apostle "let these go their way"; in other words you wont me, but don't harm my Apostles. This is the Christ, the manly Christ Whom I would hold up for imitation. We ore living in times when softness of character has no place. When it was a question of the glory of His Father, the defending of the op pressed, the upholding of virtue, Christ was divinely strong. He never knew what it meant to compromise when it come to questions of His teachings. What doth it profit a man, if he gain the whole world and suffer the loss of his own soul? ALING JUANA LEADS A TRIPLE LIFE By MALABON MARYKNOLL SISTERS "Feed the Hungry" Juana the First holds a stall right ot the busiest corner of the morket in Molobon. Presiding over bushel baskets of rice of varying qualities and prices, she can judge to a nicety any sample presented to her. A burying of her hands in the white grains, a trickling through her fin gers, o rubbing of groin against groin; then: "Hmm, good ilongilong, but not the new harvest. I give you nine pesos a kaban." But there is more than rice on Juono's mind. Now ond again, she calls out some message. "Ay, you, Totoy! You did not come lost Sun day. No good will come of thot sort of thing." She pulls on urchin from the crowd. "Tell your Nonay I will bring the priest to see her this afternoon." The message moy concern a mar riage to be rectified, or a wily femi nine snore to get o husband back to the sacraments. Juana is involved in all sorts of things like thot. Juono Number Two is quite dif ferent, seemingly. She lives with her beloved old folks, in the four-room nipo hut behind Malobon's motion picture "palace". There she hos gathered oil the unwonted old peo ple in town. She cooks for them, sews for them, straightens out their petty tongles, thinks up little treats for them. Other charitable women help pay. the bills, but Juana slaves for th6 old folks personally. We got to know Juono the Third before we knew either of her other selves. Each down, os we go into our huge, ruined Sponish church for Moss, someone is there, in addition to the bots wheeling ond squeaking high in the desolate arches. A wo man is kneeling motionless when we enter, ond she is still there when we leave. This is Juono's truest self. We seven Sisters ot Molobon have a big school on our hands, and a rapidly growing number of children to whom we teach catechism on Sunday afternoons. Will you come to teach the little children?" I asked Juana. "Yes, Madre," she soid imme diately. Every one calls Juana "Aling". Thot meons "Big Sister," and she is, indeed a big sister to all in Malabon. 50 Almighty and merciful God— almighty, ond so never in need of the power to help us. . . merciful, and so always eager and anxious to help us. . . our God and our Father, and thus devoted to us "through thick and thin". . . just waiting for us to ask Him so that He moy give us what we need. . . Keep us from all harm— from all that may hurt us from outside. . . from all that may hurt us from within— uncontrolled passions. . . unconquered bad habits. . . a proud, unbelieving mind. . . a rebellious will. . . That being unencumbered both in soul and in body— bad habits always snarl us up. . . sin always weighs us down. . . a bad conscience slows us up noticeably. . . unencumbered in soul— with no false ideas in our minds. . . with no unchecked sinful tendencies in our will. . . unencumbered in body— with our emotions properly controlled. . . with our senses rightly used always. . . We may with freedom of soul accomplish Your work— the only "free thinkers" are the Saints. . . the only free men are those who have cast all sin aside. . . "Where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom" (2 Cor. 3:17) . . . "With freedom did Christ make us free; stand fast then, and be not caught again under the yoke of slavery" (Galetions 4:31 ).. . we must hove "the freedom of the glory of the children of God" Dear Lord Jesus You know how easily I get all snarled up in sin and bad habits and slothful ways. Even when not seriously sinful, all these tie me down and slow me up. That mokes my way to Heaven more difficult. So 'please keep me free from all sin ond sinful habits even of the lesser, kind. Then I shall run fast and merrily home to You in Heaven. 51 Now is the time for action! Are We Sleeping? by SIXTO K. ROXAS We pride ourselves on being the only Catholic nation in the Orient. It is about time we realize that we ore the most UN-Catholic of Catholic nations. Our Government certainly is not Catholic. Of course, there is a vague reference in the Preamble of our Constitution to "imploring the Aid of Divine Providence". But the same Constitution is invoked to keep religion out of our public schools. Ironic, is it not? We ask God to help us keep God out of our schools. Again some of our "Polit icians" (save the mark) seem to think that separation of Church and State means enmity between Church ond State. They feel it is their duty to use every chance and power they get to attack the Church—that is to soy, to attack all decency ond morals. And the Philippines is colled a Cotholic Country. Our society moy be a society of Catholics, but it is certainly not a Catholic society. No real Catholic society would ever tolerate the social injustice that is seen in our slums where men live in filth ond rank in decency; in many of our farms where tenants are bound by bonds worse than mere slavery. Whot Catholic society would ollow its Government officials, the so-called servants of the people, to pass orders permitting indecent pictures to be shown in its theaters, or promulgate a law thot keeps God owoy from the schools where its youth ore taught. But above all, and this brings us to our real point, would you call that o Cotholic society whose members are not bound by the ties of the Mystical Body of Christ, to work for the spread of the Catholic life into every phase of the social, political and moral life of the nation? Cotholic Philippines has no real Cotholic Action Organization. It is true that we hove several units that perform Catholic Action work. But the trouble with them is that tfcey ore just thot—several units. Whot we need is a centralized organiza tion that shall be a union of all these units. What we need is not several units, but one unity. 52 OCTOBER, 1949 53 It is sod to say thot in this mat ter, Catholics must learn from their archenemy, the Communists. They must leorn to have os great a devo tion' for their Catholicism as Com munists hove for their Communism. So that they shall possess the same zeal—not to turn their backs on society because it is in such a state of disorder, but to plunge into it and set it in order; not to stay owoy from politics because it is dirty, but to dive into the thick of it ond clean it up; not to turn in disgust from the work of education because teochers are looked upon with such disdain, but to take it up with gusto and place teachers in o new light winning for them admiration and appreciation—all for Christianity, for Christions and for Christ. This is a big job, yes, ond we offer no magic, over-night re medies. But we do soy, let us start something, anything; but let us make a start. The most logical place to do this would be where Catholics are trained for the world—the Catholic Schools. How shall we make a start there? We moke no claims to being experienced educators, but perhaps this moy work, or ot least help. The school is supposed to represent a miniature of the society we are to live in. All right, then suppose a miniature is formed in each Cath olic school of how a Catholic so ciety with a real Catholic Action organization should func tion. A central organization will be formed under a priest, to show thot all Catholic Action must be a parti cipation of the laity in the work of the hierarchy. This organization shall branch out into a social order section to study how the graduate can bring Catholic action into the social order; a government section to show how he can enter politics os a Cotholic; into Law, Medicine, Commerce sections to study practi cally how Cotholic Action can be brought into these different fields. These sections shall take the form of practical study clubs thot shall not merely study principles from thick text books—but moke surveys of actual problems and formulate solutions. Then with this, the graduate will not go out of the school, a bewild ered "green horn" untrained to meet the formidable problems that will seek to sweep him off his feet. He will take one look at the mass of confusion that is society, look up briefly to breathe a short prayer to Christ ever gazing protectively from beyond the blue sky, step out of his graduation gown, and get to work. With enough graduates like these, then, maybe, we can look the rest of the world in the eye, and say: "Now, at last, we are a Catholic nation." Suffering, in itself it neither good nor bad. It only becomes one or the other by its effects on the soul and character. Pierce Confusion ond See the child That Roosevelt-Spellman Clash It took a long time to convince editors, radio news commentators, ond, it seems, even members of Con gress, that Catholics ore not asking for "support" of their schools through any Federal Aid Bill. This is probably due to the fact that organized enemies of the Cotholic Church had had their attention first. Since the Cotholic Press news ogency serves only the Cotholic Press, its explanation did not reach the 100,000,000 and more non Catholics who, through other medio, were told a different story, wholly unfounded. Those Who Understand, Approve George E. Sokolsky is one of the few columnists who took the trouble to ascertain just what Catholics of the United States were asking for. Even such widely circulated maga zines as Time and Newsweek, not to speak of releases sent out by the Associated Press, misrepresented the Catholic position. Instead of seeing donger of on encroachment on the field of the State by the Church, Sokolsky sees danger in the reverse, nomely, thot of the State supporting measures dis criminatory to its own citizens if they happen to use their constitu tional right to send their children to schools of their choice. So Does Dorothy Thompson Mrs. Dorothy Thompson express ed her belief that Cardinal Spellman's argument is morally ahd constitu tionally correct. In her column "On the Record" (August 3, 1949) Mrs. Thompson wrote: In the opinion of this columnist, Mrs. Roosevelt did confuse the is sue, and Cardinal Spellman's argu ment is morolly and constitutionally correct. As a result of Mrs. Roosevelt's in terpretations, many think she is op posing a determined effort to secure Federal funds for the support of parochial schools. But public sup port of parochial schools is not in volved in the Barden Bill at all. A school is on institution for Hie education and guidance of children and youth. The American Constitu tion has been interpreted as prohi biting religious instruction or deno minational control of public schools54 OCTOBER, 1949 55 Thousands of Catholic parents wish their children to have a reli giously-guided education and there fore send them to parochial schools, which, as far as secular education is concerned, conform to the stand ards set for all schools by state boards of education. Parochial schools—their buildings and their teaching staffs—are sup ported by the church. They receive no State or Federal funds, nor are they asking for any. That is the first thing every reader must get clear. It is precisely this that Mrs. Roosevelt confused by saying these and other private schools "should receive no tax funds whatsoever" and that "the separation of church and state is extremely important to any of us who hold to the originol traditions of our nation." The Federal aid involved which Mr. Barden and Mrs. Roosevelt would prohibit to all except public school children, hos nothing to do with education. It has to do with child welfare—free bus transporta tion to secure safety and punctuality; free non-religious text books; health checkups; free lunches and milk. A bus is neither Catholic, Pro testant, Jewish, nor atheist. Neither are geometry, nor inflamed tonsils, nor a glass of milk. The services are given to school children and the parents of school children. The schools, in which the children are gathered, are merely used as o con venient means of distributing those services. Furthermore, they are paid for by all porents—whether they send their children to public, parochial or pri vate school. And if these services, primarily concerned with safety and health, are refused some children on the grounds of the separation of church and state, then in all con science the parents of such children should be exempt from taxation to pay for them. Catholic parents already help pay for the public schools, though many prefer religiously guided education. That is an act of free choice. But access to public schools is not denied They naturally wish their chidren to receive the material benefits af forded other children via schools. The Barden Bill denies them. It says, in effect: "You hove a consti tutional right to give your child a religiousjy-guided education, but if you exercise it, you'll get no free milk or health check-ups." And in this sense it is anti-Catholic in ef fect if not intention. So Does The New York ‘Times' Commenting editorially on the dis pute between Cardinal Spellman and Mrs. Franklin Roosevelt, the New York Times (August 15, 1949) wrote: The majority (of the Supreme Court, Everson vs. Board of Educa tion, February 10, 1947) held that New Jersey did not breach the First Amendment when it provided "a general program to help parents get their children, regardless of their religion, safely and expeditiously to ond from accredited schools" — 56 THE CROSS among which tectarian school* meet ing the "secular educational require ments" were included ... A law ap propriating Federal funds to be used for the general purposes of private schools would not, on the record, be sustained by the Supreme Court. On the other hand, a law allowing such funds to be used for the direct benefit of school children's health or safety, no matter whot kind of school each attends, seems both rea sonable and proper ... It is the child we must care for, protect and cherish. . . It is the child who must be treated everywhere on a fair and equal basis with all other children. So Does The A.F. Of L. The American Federation of La bor announced that its "official pol icy" was the advocacy for children attending all schools of "such serv ices and such privileges as will pro tect their very heolth and safety," and it released its official policy in these words: It is an empty right to allow the existence of parochial schools for the use of those children whose parents, in good faith, believe they should send their children to such schools, if our government, while re cognizing this right, at the same Hme denies the children who attend these schools such service* and such privilege* a* will protect their very heolth and safety. The Unpoiioned Favor Justice A Gallup Poll of Public Opinion was taken among voters throughout the nation on the subject of the grant of Federal funds even for pa rochial school maintenance. Voters were asked this question: "If the Bill in Congress is possed which would give $3’00,000,000.00 in aid to schools in the poorer stotes, should this money go entirely to public schools—or should part of it go to parochial schools?" The result was that 41% of all voters favored the distribution of the $300,000,000.00 proportionately among public and parochial schools despite the fact that 10% of the voters had no opinion. Had they been equally divided it would have disclosed that nearly half the popu lation believes in the., government support of both schools that do the same work for the State. Summary Of What Catholic* A»k (11 Catholics have never sought and do not now seek Federal Aid for the "support" of their schools. (2) It is very true that Catholics have written about the "injustice" of double taxation, of unfair discri mination contained in the American policy of requiring their schools to follow the same curriculum imposed on State schools without offering to pay anything for the efficient teach ing of that curriculum. The defense of a theory is not tontamout to action for a contrary practice. If State aid were actually granted It would be granted not to the school, but to the child. Education taxes are computed on the basis of the cost per child in the kindergarten, elementary and high school. Since that is true, even "support" of a OCTOBER, 1949 57 private school would actually be on allotment to the child. (3) In neorly all other countries the 'State permits Episcopalians, Catholics, Presbyterians, Lutherans, to erect their own schools, and if they do a good job in teaching the State curriculum, the schools are maintained by the State. In many of these countries the parent is permitted to declare to which school he would hove his school tax money applied. Over here, of course, thot practice which seems to be eminently just, does not obtain. Yet Catholics ore not trying, "according to a plan," os charged by the POAU, to have the American policy altered. (4) While, under the Barden Bill, Catholics, who would pay $60,000,000, would not be entitled to any services whatsoever, even if all their children, attending non-public schools, would be counted in order to procure a large Federal grant, and then immediately deducted in order that the per capita allowance per public school child might be greater. In practically every State a similar injustice obtoins, since the local pub lic schools receive a per capita al lowance from the State for every child enrolled in both the public ond parochial schools. In the State of California the parochial schools themselves are tax ed, pven though they bring great relief to the public in every city of that State. Isn't that unjustly pen alizing a school to which the Su preme Court of the United States gave official status? (5) The government owes health services to every child, no matter what school he may attend. Wasn't on effort mode by our President even this year to have enacted into law a Bill which would provide heolth serv ices, such as free medicine and a physician's core, to every one in the land, rich or poor, and regardless, of course, of the religion or race to which he (she) might belong? Bus transportation for oil school children has been made legal by the legislatures of sixteen states. But whether allowed by a special law or not every child is entitled to it from the viewpoint of safety on the high.way. If the State would have children attending Cotholic, Lutheran and other schools, use certain textbooks, then evidently, if it supplies these books to the children in public schools, it should furnish them to the others qj well. This is again a serv ice to the child, and not to the school. Hence any opposition to the mini mum demands of Catholic through a Federal Aid Bill is unfair, and must be motivated either by reli gious prejudice or by a misunder standing of the situation. Every child in the nation has civil rights, among them the right to ottend any school which meets the re quirements of the State, to health services, to protection on the high way, ond to textbooks prescribed by the State itself. The answer to World Problem* Rosary on the Air By WILLIAM DRISCOLL, SJ. The onnouncer on Station WCBM, Baltimore, Marylond, U.S.A., hod just said, "Be sure to tune in tomor row night at the same time when Fulton Lewis, Jr., will be with you again." Before I could reach the radio to turn it off, the next pro gram was announced. I could hard ly believe my ears! "The Daily Ra dio Rosary for Peace," the announ cer was soying, "brought to you each night, Monday through Saturday at this time on Mutual's Baltimore Sta tion WCBM, through the courtesy of The Reparation Society of the Im maculate Heart of Mory, with head quarters at St. Ignatius Church." That's what it was. . . .the Rosary wos about to be said over the oirwaves. The next voice wos a fa miliar one. . . . that of the Director of the Reparation Society, Fr. John Ryan, SJ. As he prayed the first parts of the "I believe in God," the Our Fathers," and the "Hail Ma rys," the strong voices of twenty or twenty-five men, chimed in with the responses! Here wos something truly remarkable! Two or ’three gathered together and praying—and "I am in the midst of them," soid the Lord. Here this radio program was perhaps gathering two or three hun dred families in His Name, and in the name of the Blessed Virgin, ond here-was Christ in those two or three hundred homes! The Director began "Hail, Holy Queen, Mother of Mercy" at the Rosary's end, but my mind trailed off in wonder at the greatness of such a noble undertaking. The next voice I heard was the announcer's: "It is now 7:30. Mutual presents Gabriel Heatter." That was Monday evening, April 18, 1949, the first evening of the Daily Radio Rosary for Peace. It is now the month of the Rosary, Oct ober, and the Daily Radio Rosary for Peace is still gracing the Baltimore ether. Hundreds of Boltimoreans ond Marylanders have ottested to the great popularity of the progratn by their letters, letters of thanks, re quest, petition, hope, and great gen erosity. "We are non-Catholics, "one lady 58 OCTOBER, 1949 59 wrote in a letter to the Director of the Reparation Society, "but we just wouldn't miss the Daily Rosary for Peace for anything in the world. We have learned "Hail, Mary," and we too are praying the Rosary along with all of our Catholic neighbors and friends. Please keep it going; we will only hove peace in the world of today through prayers like these." Another letter contained five dol lars as a contribution to the financial side of putting the Rosary on the air. "The good this program is do ing," the writer soid, "is worth far more than this. May this little contribution of mine help to bring the true gold of Christ's peace into the world of today." Such unsolicited contributions by friends of the program, the Rev. Di rector writes, are the only means ot hond of keeping it on the air, for although the heavenly airways be tween us and Mary are open ond free for os many programs daily as we will send, the commercial air ways of a large city frequently find themselves unwilling to give daily time gratuitously. "We began by not knowing where the money would come from, but it has been supplied in many marvelous ways so that we have been just able to meet our expenses as they come due each month," writes Fother Ryan. Even in this most important item for the production of the radio pro gram, the men of the Reparation Society try to give honor to Our Lody and her Divine Son. The honor that they give flows from the virtue of trust; they trust Our Lady. In honor of Our Lady of Fatimo, the Society waits till the 13th of every month to pay the bill, and the required amount has never foiled to come in. "The biggest capital investment we have is our confidence in Our Lady," one member remarked. All during the summer months, and these represented some of the worst weather Baltimore has ever known, the original group of men came nightly to the Chapel of Grace in the bosement of St. Ignatius Church, where before the Shrine of Our Lady of Fatima, they prayed the Rosory for Mory and Baltimore to heor. With practice they improved in reciting the prayers, and they came to answer in perfect harmony. The cadence ond the fulness of the men's voices give a rich background to this up-to-the-minute adaptation of the Church's oncient prayers. In addition to the prayers of the Rosary, several successful novenas have been conducted on the program by the addition of on appropriate prayer to St. Ignatius, St. Joseph, to Our Lady of Mt. Carmel, ond to the Sacred Heart. One labor union member wrote in: "The prayer of the Cotholic Worker which you added to the Rosary for the Novena before the feast of the Patronage of St. Joseph, was one of the grandest prayers I, a worker like St. Joseph, have ever prayed for my self or for my fellow workers. With such prayers in our hearts we'll sure ly beat Communism." 60 THE CROSS On the Feast of the Sacred Heart, a public Act of Reparation was read ot the beginning of the program, and Consecration of the Fomily to the Sacred Heart at the close. Now the Family Consecratoin is repeated each Friday, and innumerable homes have received a picture of this Family Consecration for their parlor walls from the Reparation Society. This is a grand step in the fulfill ment of Our Lady of Fatima's de sire that the people everywhere say the Rosary. According to reports as yet unconfirmed by ecclesiastical authorities (and included here as unconfirmed), Our Lady told Mrs. Wise in Canton, Ohio, U.S.A., on June 28, 1948: "Tell the people not nearly enough of them ore saying the Rosary daily. The conversion of Russia depends chiefly on the peo ple praying the Rosary." Is it not possible thot this won derful means of spreading the devo tion which Mary so greatly desires may be taken up in places all over the United States, and also all over the world? Baltimore, Maryland, is not nearly os Catholic os many other places in the United States, ond cer tainly not as Cotholic as Manila, or other places in the Philippine Is lands. If such a program can be carried on in Baltimore so success fully., it should be much more suc cessful in many places 'in the Islands. Your convos is too big for the drawing, maestro. Ay, hijo, don't you know that tree is growing up? Pointed paragraphs from Msgr. Sheen's "Peace of Soul" What About Sex? By FULTON J. SHEEN There is no more towering nonsense than to say that the Church is opposed to sex. She is no more opposed to sex as such than she is opposed to eating a dinner, to going to school, or to owning a house. Where, then, did the sex fana tics get the idea thot the Church is the enemy of sex? They got it from their inability to moke a distinc tion — o distinction between use and abuse. Because the Church con demns the abuse of nature, sex fanatics think thot the Church con demns nature itself. This is untrue. Sex Isn't Sin The Church does, of course, speak of sin in the domain of sex, os it speaks of sin in the domain of pro perty, or of sin in the area of self love. But the sin does not lie in the instinct or the passion itself. Our instincts and our passions are God given; the sin lies in their perverSin is not in hunger, but in glut tony. Sin is not in the seeking of economic security, but in avarice. Sin is not in drink, but in drunken ness. Sin is not in recreation, but in laziness. Sin is not in the love or the use of the flesh, but in lust, which is its perversion. Just as dirt fs matter in the wrong place, so sex can be flesh in the wrong place. Sex and an Elephant For it is the isolation of the sex factor from the totality of human life, the habit of regarding it as identical to the passion an elephant might feel, the ignoring of the body soul tension in man, which causes so many abnormalities and mental disorders. Folse isolation of the part from its whole is a common trait in contemporary thought. Man's life nowadays is divided into many de partments which remain ununited and unintegrated. Interplay with Sex The sex drive in man is at no1 moment an instinct alone. Desire from its beginning is informed with NOTHING BUT SEX Sex is in the ods. You hear about it at potties. Popular fiction is mad about it. The movies love it. What about you — what's your attitude on it? 61 62 THE CROSS spirit, ond never is one experienced oport from the other. The psychic and the physical interploy. Just as the idealists, who deny the existence of matter, sin against the flesh’, so the sensualists and carnolists sin against the spirit. But to betray either aspect is to invite revenge. Sex ond the Glonde Sex instinct in a pig and love in o person are not the same, precisely because love is found in the will, not in the glands — ond will does not exist in a pig. Sexual desire in a person is different from sex in a snoke because, in the human being, it promises something it cannot com pletely supply. For the spirit in man anticipates, which a snake does not: mon al ways wants something more than he hos. The very fact that one of man's passions for knowledge, love and sec urity con be completely satisfied here below suggests thot he might hove been made for something else. The infinite craving of a soul can not be satisfied by the flesh alone. Love, remember, is not in the in stinct, it is in the will. If love were purely organic, no more significant than any other physical act, such as breathing or digesting, it would not sometimes be surrounded by feel ings of disgust. But grown-up is much more thon this — it is not on echo of a child's forbidden fantasy, os some would tell us. Each soul feels a restless ness, a longing, an emptiness, a desire which is a remembrance of something which hos been lost — our Paradise. We are all kings in exile. This emptiness con be filled only with Divine Love — nothing else! Hoving lost God (or having been robbed of Him by false teachers and sex charlatans) the person tries to fill up the void by promiscuous "love affairs." But love, both humon and Divine, will fly from him who thinks it is merely physiological: only he can love nobly who lives a noble life. Sex and the Soul On the positive side , it is the Christian position that the sex in stinct is the reflection of love in the spiritual order. The sun comes first, then 'its reflection in the pool. The voice is not a sublimation of the echo, and neither is the belief in God a sublimation of a carnal in stinct. All love, all perfection ond all happiness are first in God, then in things. The closer creature: such as angels and saints, come to God, the happier they ore; the forther away they stay, the less they con reveal the works of divinity. Sex Forgets Since the stress on sex is due to a forgetfulness of the true nature of man as body and spirit, it fol lows thot the release from anxieties, tensions, and unhappiness (created by identifying man with a beast) is dependent upon a restoration of the meaning of love. Love includes the flesh; but sex, understood as ani mal instinct, does not include love. Human love olwoys implies Perfect Love. THIS GOT ME FROM MENELEO D. HERNANDEZ ART FOR ART'S SAKE The principle of "Art for art's sake" is a very good principle if it means that there is a vital distinction between the earth and the tree that hos its roots in the earth; but it is a very bad principle if it means thot the tree could grow just as well with its roots in the air." —Chesterton FROM BENEDICTO A. CARREON MATTER OF TIME Convict: "How long you in for?" New cellmate: "Ninety-nine years. How long you in for?" Convict: Seventy-five years." Cellmate: "Then you take the bed near the door. You're getting out first." FROM JOSE MACAPAGAL AD LIBBING The ploy Richard III wos being staged, and as an actor declaimed the celebrated lines: "A horse, a horse; my kingdom for a horse," a wit in the audience cried out: "Will an ass do?" Thereupon the actor approached the footlights ond said in a loud aside: "Come oround to the stage after the performance and we'll see." —Voice NO PHOOOEY HERE—BUT PIGS FOR SALE A pig farm near Monila is selling some of its youngsters. Very good breed. Perfect ladies and gentlemen. Make your reservations right away. Write XYZ, care of THE CROSS (Eds: To prove the effectiveness of CROSS ads: Soon as the above ad circulated in our office, friends of the CROSS immediately made reservations!) RECENT ARRIVALS HEW ADD REORDERED BOOKS MR. BLUE byMyles Connolly—The Author hos achieved in "Mr. Blue" the biography of a human paradox. . .a sort of modern St. Francis. . .Mr. Connolly has given us a book to own and a book to give away, a book to read ond to reread ond love.................. P 4.20 PLANNING YOUR HAPPY MARRIAGE by Daniel A. Lord, SJ. ... P 6.30 TWO IN ONE FLESH by Rev. E. C. Messenger, Ph. D.—"I have written this work particularly with the difficult and delicate tosk of the sex instruction of children ond adolescents in view. Un- - less we first clarify ond check our own ideas on the subject, we are hardly capable of giving a satisfactory instruction to children on the subject of sex." Three volumes; I—INTRO DUCTION TO SEX AND MARRIAGE, P4.20; II—THE MYSTERY OF SEX AND MARRIAGE, P7.35; III—THE PRACTICE OF SEX AND MARRIAGE, P4.20 ... . ..................................One set at PI5.75 REASON TO REVELATION by Daniel J. Saunders, SJ.—This work of apologetics sets forth ond discusses the proof of the divinity of Christ. The miracles and prophecies of Christ and His resurrection are subjects of concluding chapters. Earlier sec tions establish the authorship ond credibility of the Gospels, from which most of the evidence is adduced................................ P 7.35 THE RICHES OF THE MISSAL by Jean Vagoggini, O.S.B.—This work is a spiritual commentary on the Moss. Taking in turn the familior stages of the spiritual life (the purgative, the illuminative, and the unitive way), the author selects in great abundance from the Missal examples of each............................. P 8.40 THOSE TERRIBLE TEENS by Vincent P. McCorry, SJ.—A few of Father McCorry's observations may seem to hurt, but they're meont to help. A few sound shocking in print—but they're meant to cure, not to electrocute ...................... P 4.75 FRANCE PAGAN? by Maisie Ward—This book makes most fascinat ing reading. It shows the efforts made by the Church in France, under the able guidance of His Eminence Cardinal Suhard, to meet new problems with new methods --------------------------------- P 6.30 THE PASSION OF THE INFANT CHRIST by Caryll Houselander— In this book the focus of the author's contemplation is the Divine Infancy as it is lived in the members of the Mystical Body. ... P 3.70 THE PRESENCE OF MARY by Francis Charmot, SJ.—An answer to the great need for a work explaining clearly and simply Our Lady's role in the lay apostolate. It is penetrating spiritual reading presenting Mary as authentic Queen and Teacher of Catholic Action ............................................................. Clothbound P 5.25 Paperbound P 3.15 goofcmarfc Regina Building * 15 Banquero & Eacolta * Manila * Tel. No. 2-88-49 MOVIE GUIDE CLASS A—Section I—Unobjectionable for General Patron: Artic Manhunt Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court Red Menace illegal Entry Take Me Out to the Ball Game Canadian Pacific For the Love of Mary Babe Ruth Story Enchantment A Date With Judy Girl From Manhatton Doughter of the Jungle Arson, Inc. Trouble Makers Come to the Stable Adventures of Gollant Bess Oldfashioned Girl El Dorodo Pass Beyond Glory Gay Amigo I Surrender Dear Joon of Arc Mozart Story Lick of the Irish (’LASS A—Section II------Unobjectionable for Adults Any Number Can Play Dells of San Fernando Chicago Deadline Great Sinner Highway 13 His Young Wife Homicide I Cheated the Law Madam Bovary Red, Kot and Blue State Department—File 649 Reign of Terror Portrait of Jennie Red Light Secret of St. Ives Song of Surrender Objsession Woman Hater Somewhere in Europa Snow bound Behind Locked Doors Countess of Monte Cristo Good Sam Emperor Waltz Hatter's Castle Hollow Triumph Key Largo Kiss the Blood off my Hands Mr. Peabody and the Mermaid Summer Holiday Tap Roots Pitfall Snake Pit So Evil My Love Train to Alcatraz Night Upon Night YOU CAN’T JUST SIT The world is changing. The masses are struggling for o bit of security, for a place in God's sunlight in which they con live decently. "The hands of the clock of history are now pointing to an hour both grave and decisive for mankind. An old world lies in fragments. To see rising as quickly as possible from these ruins a new world, healthy, juridically better, more in harmony with tne needs of human nature—such is the longing of tortured peo ple*."— Pius XII