1917 Yearbook
Source URL
Title
1917 Yearbook
Description
Catholic America's Duty
IT IS DISTRESSING, yet nevertheless a fact that to the
average American Catholic, mention of the missions fails to
elicit any response that would show his interest therein. The
average Protestant church-goer, on the other hand, if not
an active worker in the cause of the missions, had at least
heard much of them and probably had contributed according
to his means to the mission propaganda of his particular communion. The
lack of knowledge and consequent lack of interests among Catholics has
been deplorable. Just now they are beginning to realize that the Church
is Catholic and that she has been in these days, as ever in times past, following out the commands of her founder, "Going, teach all nations".
At the outbreak of the war, the average number of pagans under instruction, of a population of one billion, was one million yearly, with three
hundred thousand baptisms in the same period. If sufficient funds and
workers had been available, five times as many could have been cared for!
Think of what that means: each year Christ's kingdom would have had
one million, two hundred thousand more citizens, each year the gates of
heaven would have been opened to receive hundreds of thousands more than
entered there, and hell would have been cheated of so much prey! So much
was the spread of Christ's kingdom upon earth restricted by lack of men and
means.
And then came the war! It seems the attempt of Satan to cripple the
missions. Twenty-five per cent of the missioners were called to service, and
these were the strong, the able, the fit to endure hardships of missionary
life, and who in the ordinary course of events had before them many useful
years. How many of them will return? And who were left? The feeble,
the aged, the dying. From whence shall their ranks be filled? Before the
war the Seminary of Foreign Missions at Paris had three hundred students;
it now has six. And the tale is the same throughout the warring nations.
As for means: what material aid can they be expected to give who themselves face famine, whose children and children's children will groan under
the burden that grows day by day upon them ?
IT IS DISTRESSING, yet nevertheless a fact that to the
average American Catholic, mention of the missions fails to
elicit any response that would show his interest therein. The
average Protestant church-goer, on the other hand, if not
an active worker in the cause of the missions, had at least
heard much of them and probably had contributed according
to his means to the mission propaganda of his particular communion. The
lack of knowledge and consequent lack of interests among Catholics has
been deplorable. Just now they are beginning to realize that the Church
is Catholic and that she has been in these days, as ever in times past, following out the commands of her founder, "Going, teach all nations".
At the outbreak of the war, the average number of pagans under instruction, of a population of one billion, was one million yearly, with three
hundred thousand baptisms in the same period. If sufficient funds and
workers had been available, five times as many could have been cared for!
Think of what that means: each year Christ's kingdom would have had
one million, two hundred thousand more citizens, each year the gates of
heaven would have been opened to receive hundreds of thousands more than
entered there, and hell would have been cheated of so much prey! So much
was the spread of Christ's kingdom upon earth restricted by lack of men and
means.
And then came the war! It seems the attempt of Satan to cripple the
missions. Twenty-five per cent of the missioners were called to service, and
these were the strong, the able, the fit to endure hardships of missionary
life, and who in the ordinary course of events had before them many useful
years. How many of them will return? And who were left? The feeble,
the aged, the dying. From whence shall their ranks be filled? Before the
war the Seminary of Foreign Missions at Paris had three hundred students;
it now has six. And the tale is the same throughout the warring nations.
As for means: what material aid can they be expected to give who themselves face famine, whose children and children's children will groan under
the burden that grows day by day upon them ?
Date
1917
Identifier
http://cdm16810.contentdm.oclc.org/cdm/ref/collection/p16810coll2/id/2057