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THE BULLETIN OF THE CATHOLIC LAYMEN’S ASSOCIATION OF GEORGIA 3 NEW YEAR’S GREETINGS By THE RT. REV. BENJ. J. KEILEY, D.D., BISHOP OF SAVANNAH. I am asked to send a New Year’s Greeting to the readers of The Bulletin, and I trust this includes all the Catholics of Georgia. On New Year’s Day every one you meet greets you with the salutation: “Happy New Year! I have often wondered what, if any, meaning they at tach to this salutation. I suppose some say it seems it is the customary thing to say, while others have in a vague and general way some wish for your health and temporal prosperity. To me New Year’s Day always brings as it comes memories of Christmas and the fragrance and echo of Christmas memories yet cling to it. And with Christmas always comes the story of Bethlehem’s closed door, the cold and dreary cave, the wailing in fant, the pure Mother, the rude shepherds and the midnight strains of heavenly music as the Angel Choirs chanted the Christmas Hymn of Glory to God and Peace to Men. New Year’s has a message of an ticipated mercies as it tells of the first shedding of the Precious Blood. But though both feasts bring in a sign of joy and peace, I can find nothing which suggests health and temporal success. I would not be understood as excluding these from my New Year’s Greeting to you. But I would fain hope as 1 greet you on New Year’s Day with a Happy New Year, that the coming year may be rich in spiritual blessings for all. I would wish that hand in hand with the Little Child of Bethlehem you tread the pathway of 1921 and never leave the guiding hand which leads you. There is a Book being written \Vhich is made up of our daily lives, and our deeds are the scribes who daily write therein. I know not how long may be the chapter which is devoted to the life of each, but I do know that when the last page is reached, that day we die. I would hope for all that few blank pages be found therein, but that every page be il lumined with the golden record of good works. I hope that the record for 1921 may show in every parish a larger number of men approaching Holy Communion, assisting at daily Mass and coming to secure the blessing of Our Lord at Benediction. I would wish to see a wider interest in the work of the Church. I would desire to see every Catholic always observant of the law of God a^d the precepts of God’s Church, and ever obedient to the law of the State and standing bravely for law and order and opposing disorder and violence. In a word, my New Year’s Greeting to all is that they may always be loyal prudent Catholics. The times are evil. Men are drifting away from the teach ings of Christ. Many openly deny Him who brought them. The only salvation for Country and State is a return to Christ and His teachings. The only sure guide is the Catholic Church. May God bless you all and make you fervent Catholics. I had just written the last words of this New Year’s Greeting when my telephone bell rang, and I took hold of the receiver to hear the voice of the president of the Laymen’s Association. He told me he had news of a great sorrow—that Mr. Farrell had drop ped dead. I felt like tearing up my New Year’s Greetings; foi what mockery it was to wish a Happy New Year with many blessings to all the readers of The Bulletin, when the Editor and founder of The Bulletin lay dead in his Augusta home. Mr. Farrell was in very truth the Catholic Lay men’s Association. His tireless energy, his boundless zeal, his remarkable knowledge of Catholic teaching, his familiarity with newspaper work, his unfailing courtesy and gentleness of manner; his grasp of the situation in this State, and his boundless loyalty to the Catholic Church, made him the ideal man for the position he filled with such signal ability. He was the embodiment of ideal Catholicity. In every relation of life he was a man worthy of imita tion and of highest praise. May God give rest and peace to him and may He give us one who can take up his work. PRESIDENT RICE’S NEW YEAR’S GREETING A few weeks ago our Publicity Manager, Mr. James J. Farrell, sent out a circular asking the officers to write a few words of New Year s Greeting for the readers of The Bulletin, but instead of that, it is my sad duty to officially inform the members of the As sociation of his death, which occurred suddenly Wed nesday, December 15, 1920. Next to his wife and four little ones, his loss to the Catholics of Georgia is greatest. To me his death is like one of my own, for since the organization of our Association in 1916, I have been thrown in daily touch with him in our Laymen’s Work. It is impossible to exaggerate the loss which our Association and the Church in Georgia have sustained by his sudden and untimely going away. Truly a Prince and a great man has fallen in Israel. In culti vation of intellect, depth and warmth of heart, in the possession of wide and varied information, he was excelled by few. We are told that there is no crisis without its prophet and its leader, Almighty God will give us ours. The year 1921 promises to be the greatest year of the Association. The progress of activities outlined by Mr. Farrell before his death was the most compre hensive and the most thorough that he had ever plan ned. It will be carried on without interruption or change. A meeting of the officers has been called for January 9th, when the necessary steps will be taken to insure its complete working out. The loss we suf fer in his death is as severe as it was sudden; but God in His goodness has spared him to us long enough for the work to be set on a lasting and solid base. I, therefore, greet the Members of the Association, as it were, smiling through tears. And I pray, and feel that you will join with me in the prayer, for that great gift of God which the Angels from Heaven an nounced in the Christmas Season gone—that splendid Christmas goal of earth which our departed friend so valiantly and tirelessly devoted his life to attain, and we are organizing to help on—Peace to men of Good Will. P. H. Rice, State President.