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PAGE 4—THE BULLETIN, November 28, 1959 CASH VALUE OF GRADUATE STUDIES JOSEPH BREIG WHY NOT BE A RICH SOUL? As every American Catholic knows — even if he knows lit tle else about his religion — this is “the month of the poor souls.” And if you are a typical Catholic American, at some time in this month you have said to some one, or to yourself: “Well, if I make it to purgatory, I’ll be satisfied.” The state ment is so common among us as to be nearly tiresome. Every body accepts it; or at least no body challenges it. And yet it js an unthinking saying, filled with psychological and theolog ical pitfalls. For one thing, you will em phatically not be satisfied if you make it to purgatory. As long as you are there, you will be more profoundly dissatisfied —to put it mildly — than you have ever been in your life, or have even imagined you could be. In the dim spiritual light in which we live in this world, ab sorbed in distracting activities and material things, we miss the direct company of God only vaguely. Some of us think about Him so little that we think we hardly miss Him at all. Others, however, will tell you that a day without Mass and Communion seems empty. That is one reason they are in church each morning, even at the cost of considerable effort. These people have a kind of faint foretaste of Heaven. They feel in some small measure the burning longing for God which in the souls in purgatory, freed from earthly concerns, is at white heat. We in America — and per haps Catholics generally around the world — are keenly con scious of the “poor souls.” That is why we arrange for so many requiem Masses for the repose of their souls — and so few Masses simply to thank and praise God. Conversely, it seems to me that we are not nearly conscious enough of the power of the Mass and the sacraments for our own perfection here on earth. These two factors cause us to say we’ll be satisfied with attaining purgatory. But this is a mistake. It sets our spiritual sights too low, and I think tends to encourage a kind of sloth. No Catholic should aim at purgatory; every Catholic should aim at Heaven —Heaven the instant of death. Once you select that for your objective, your attitude chang es. Mediocrity in the spiritual life no longer is your measure of excellence. You begin to cast about for means by which you can go up higher. Appreciation for the power of the Mass, the sacraments, the sacramentals and the devotions of the Church grows in you. The keys to the kingdom of Heaven, given to Peter, mean much more to you than former- iy. Gradually, you realize that the Church possesses those keys, and has the power, with your cooperation, to sanctify you in such fashion that it is not impossible, but perfectly possible, for you to be a saint. More and more you come to understand that Christ, with an infinite desire, wants you to at tain sanctity and to come into His presence the moment your work on earth is done. You see Him as friend, not as severe Judge. a « His love for you—which is a boundless love, huge, gigan tic, overwhelming — begins to be felt by you. And you start to return it. You live in love of goodness, not in fear of sin. A tremendous change takes place in you. You are then on the right track; you are heading for the destiny God decreed for you — and died to help you achieve. And as a practical step, why not study up on the power of the sacrament we call Extreme Unction — the sacrament some of the saints described in the words, “the anointing unto glo ry.” Theology For The Layman (F. J. Sheed) At the Last Supper Our Lord uttered the words which are at once the formula of our re demption, and the charter of His Church. “I am the way and the truth and the life. No man cometh unto the Father but by me.” It is possi ble to have known and loved the phrase all one’s life, yet not given much actual mind to what it contains; there is so much splendour in the saying, that one may fail to grasp what is being said. To anyone whose experience this has so far been, it will be valuable to pause now and make his own examination of those superb words, before going on to read mine. A first thought may be of wonder why, if Our Lord is the Way, there is need for more: why are Truth and Life added? If He is the Way, when you have found Him, you have found all. But the two addi tional words are there to chal lenge us. With them we are face to face with a reality at once frightening and stimulating. It is the reality St. Paul expressed —“Work out your salvation with fear and trembling.” (Phil. 2.12). Salvation is not handed to us on a platter: in no sense is it a labor-saving device. What Christ does for men is what men can not do for themselves, not what they can: what they can, they should. To have found the Way is not the end, it is the begin ning. The Way is not the Goal. Only the Goal is, for us, per manence: the Way may be lost. (Continued on Page 5) Question Box By David Q. Liptak Q. "Newsweek" magazine re ported recently on a panel dis cussion as to whether or not a doctor should forewarn a dying person of the imminence of death. This brought another question to mind. If a doctor failed to warn a dying person in this matter, who would be responsible? I remember a case in which an elderly woman re mained in danger of death for some lime, yet no one would tell her about her condition, for fear of disturbing her. The doc tor kept telling her husband and family that it was not necessary to call in a priest right away, and none of them would take it upon themselves to have her anointed. They just kepi on telling her that she would get better. But suddenly she went into a coma, and by the time the priest arrived, she had al ready died. Weren't the doctors and her family guilty of grave deceit? A. There is no condemnation severe enough for deceiving a dying Catholic to such a degree that he dies before having had the opportunity to prepare his soul and receive the last sacra ments. Such deceit involves an injustice that cannot possibly be repaired in the ordinary sense. Any sincere physician—Cath olic as well as non-Catholic— who is properly informed about the significance of the last sac raments will not hesitate to forewarn his patient, either di rectly or indirectly, of the dan ger of death, so that the dying person may ready himself spi ritually while consciousness re mains. This warning need not be explicit, Thus, a doctor might choose to tell the fam ily that a priest should be called in to see the patient, or that the patient should be anointed. In a hospital, the doctor’s placing of a patient on the “critical” list frequently indicates that the latter is in danger of death. (In a Catholic hospital, of course, and in all other hospitals to which a Catholic chaplain is as signed, all such “critical” cases will be investigated by a priest.) Unfortunately, though, the interpretation of “critical” varies with hospitals — in some institutions it means that a pa tient is extremely close to death. In the event that a physician (Continued on Page 5) SHARING OUR TREASURE KINDNESS TO LONESOME GIRL LEADS TO CONVERSION By REV. JOHN A. O'BRIEN, Ph. D. (University of Notre Dame) Do you want to win a soul for Christ? If so, there’s a simple technique of doing so. Start with some act of kindness, con tinue your kindness, and soon the person will want to know more about the religion which prompts such good ness. That will give you the opportunity of e x p 1 aj i n ing your holy Faith and ultimately of bringing the per son to a priest for instruction. This is illustrated by the ex perience of Bernadette L. Rog ers, 2362 North Villere St., New Orleans, who has helped to lead nine into the Church. “I was working in the adjutant gen eral’s office in Washington, D. C.,” said Bernadette, “and living in Midway Hall with about 500 girls of various faiths or no faith. In the dining room I noticed a girl who was near ly always eating alone. She seemed somewhat shy and aloof. “So one evening I went over to the little table at which she was seated, and asked if I might join her. She welcomed me and introduced herself as Maudelle Reddick from St. Louis. We soon became good friends and I found that Maudelle was lonesome, home sick and hungry for companion ship. I brought her with me to a bingo party where she had a good time and met many people. “Father Thomas Burke, S.S.J., said Mass on Sundays in the large recreation room of our Hall and I invited Maudelle to go with me. She was glad to do so, and was greatly impressed by the large number of girls in attendance, by their devotion and by the carefully reasoned sermon. Fortunately Father an nounced he was about to start an Inquiry Class and invited all interested persons, Catholics or non-Catholics, to attend. “This was just what was need ed to capitalize on Maudell’s interest. She was eager to at tend, and to help her feel more at ease I went with her. ‘I’m How Do You Rate on Facts of Faith by Brian Cronin 1. To whom did Jesus make the promise "... for they shall be called the children of God” in His. Beatitudes? : (a) The merciful? (b) The meek? (c) The poor? (d) The peacemakers? 2. What division of the Roman Curia is the supreme court of appeal? : (a) Apostolic Signature? (b) Sacred Peniten tiary? (c) Sacred Roman Rota? (d) Apostolic Chancery? 3. Our Lord appeared to St. Margaret Mary Alacoque ex horting the faithful to practice devotion in His honor to : (a) The Poor Souls? (b) The May Devotions to the Blessed Virgin Mary? (c) The Stations of the Cross? (d) The First Friday Devotion? 4. Which well-known saint was the author of “Spiritual Exercises”? : (a) St. Francis of Assisi? (b) St. Augustine? (c) St. Ignatius of Loyola? (d) St. Dominic? 5. A brother of St. Peter was also one of the Apostles. His name was : (a) Matthew? (b) John (c) Philip? (d) Andrew? 6. The shortest Gospel text is read at the Mass on the Feast of the Holy Name, and on what other day? : (a) All Saints’ Day? (b) Palm Sunday? (c) Good Friday? (d) The Feast of the Circumcision? 7. Who is the patron saint of Boy Scouts? : (a) St. George? (b) St. John Berchams? (c) St. Aloysius Gonzaga? (d) St. Christopher? 8. In the Old Testament, which prophet was rebuked by his donkey for cursing God?: (a) Balaam? (b) Jonah? (c) (c) Elias? (d) Daniel? Give yourself 10 marks for each correct answer below. Rating: 80, Excellent; 70, Very Good; 60, Good; 50, Fair. Answers: 1 (d); 2 (a); 3 (d); 4 (c); 5 (d); 6 (d); 7 (a); 8 (a) Jottings . (By BARBARA C. JENCKS) bringing you a sinner,’ I said in jest as I introduced her to Father. ‘Sinners or not,’ retort ed Father, ‘you and Maudelle are most welcome.’ In a kind and friendly manner Father ex plained the establishment of the Church by Christ and the bestowal of authority to teach all nations in His name. “When Maudelle learned that the Catholic Church could trace its origin back to Christ and her list of popes back to the Apostle Peter, the first pope, 15 cen turies before a single Protestant sect saw the light of day, she was mightily impressed. Like most non-Catholics she had im agined in a vague way that all the Christian Churches came from Christ. But citing the exact dates and places where the leading Protestant denomi nations began shattered that illusion. “As there were about a dozen others present, Maudelle soon felt at home. Any who had ques tions were invited to remain af ter the lecture so Father could answer them without detaining the entire group. Persons who are not sure they will embrace the Faith hesitate to come alone to a rectory and take so many hours of a priest’s time, but they will gladly come to a public Inquiry Class. When such classes are held twice a week in every parish the num ber of converts will be doubled or tripled. “Upon the completion of the instructions Maudelle along with the others was baptized and made her first Holy Com munion. Radiantly happy, she told her brother about her won derful discovery and now he, too, is a Catholic.” “Yes,” I said, “and it all be gan with your little act of kind ness to a lonesome girl.” Father O’Brien will he grate ful to readers who know of any one who has won two or more converts if they will send the names and addresses of such per sons to him at Notre Dame Uni versity, Notre Dame, Indiana. DETERMINATION Salt is a good preservation, but it takes a lot of sand to keep a good resolution. “Let me not die before I’ve done for Thee My earthly work, whatever it may be; Call me not hence with mission unfulfilled, Let me not leave my space of ground untilled. Impress this truth upon me— that not one Can do the portion that I leave undone.” » * * • "A TEACHER AFFECTS eternity. He can never tell where his influence stops.” Think about those words of Henry Adams. Education has suddenly boomed into becom ing America’s number-one topic of discussion. One out of every four Americans sits behind a classroom desk. The other three debate, criticize and read about education. Then there is the teacher who is often ignored in the sound and fury of debate. If you ask me who today’s he roes are, I say those who de spite unattractive obstacles, se lect the field of teaching. There must be something noble about those who pass up the well- paid areas of business and in dustry to step into the public arena to teach. There is little natural reward here. In the public school system, the teach er is the target of the great tax- paying public. On a college lev el, there is the board of trustees and the powerful alumni. And there is always the critical stu dent! They are with us to the end. Teaching then is a voca tion in the strictest sense of the word. One must have an ele ment of dedication and sacrifice to dare to be a teacher. Padraie Pearse, the great Irish patriot, scholar, martyr, said: “I thought it a wondrous thing to be a teacher. I gave the little ones I taught the very breath and soul of my body.” I do not be lieve that any one goes into the teaching field primarily for any personal gain or selfish reason. I think by their very profession, teachers are people apart in this world of getting and spending. * * * • TODAY'S TEACHER needs to have the abilities of a circus performer and television entertainer to hold his audienc es and student ratings. He must be a quiz contestant with all an swers supplied. He must some how make today’s Madison Av enue-geared youth interested in thinking, with no money, pleas ure, fame immediately involv ed. It is a thankless job. This is perhaps why we have so few real scholars in America today. Today’s generation has lost its power to concentrate and dig deeply. We live too much on the surface. We spend our energies on those things, hardly worth having. Scholarship and spirit uality can trace their unpopu larity and dearth to the same source. It takes heroic virtue to be a student today even as it does to be a teacher — and a saint! To digress for a moment. When Charles Van Doren was at his television peak of quiz fame, teachers gloried in point ing out his accomplishments to students. He was an attractive example of scholarship. He was an advertisement for study. Un happily young Van Doren while possessing knowledge—and an swer's, lacked wisdom. One so ciology professor has pointed out that if Van Doren had been paid adequately as a college in structor, he might not have been tempted to accept answers and prizes. However, the moral ist says that Van Doren’s per sonal integrity should have dic tated. It is strange, too, that a university would fire Van Do ren when it keeps exposed Communists, atheists, adulter ers and those who might not have the best influence on youth. Intellectual whited- sepulchres! • THERE HAS BEEN much discussion on what constitutes the ideal teacher, the great teacher. My students in their lofty moments say that they want a teacher who makes them think, who makes them reach high until their mental muscles ache. They want fair teachers, teachers who know and love their subject and are able to communicate that knowledge and love as painlessly as possi ble to them. However, it would seem that they would like to be entertained while the pain ful process of education is going on. One priest-educator has written that the great teacher is the one you cannot remem ber personally, you only re member what he said. Why does anyone become a teacher today? I think he becomes a teacher because he realizes that youth is the finest investment, that there is a human challenge here. There are no worldly plaudits, there is usually criti cism from the inside and out side. St. Thomas More says that there is no greater charity you can perform than to impart knowledge to another. Some how you have brought a human soul a little further along the road to final destiny where she can learn from the only Teacher Who knows everything. The teacher indeed affects eternity! CARL G. VRETMAN ATLANTA SERVICES ATLANTA—Funeral, services for Carl G. Vretman were held November 10th, . at Christ the King Church, Rev. John J. Mul- roy officiating. Survivors are Dr. and Mrs. William Moore, Saratoga Springs, N. Y. Mr. and Mrs. John Wortendyke, West Nyack, N. Y.; Mrs. Valborg Renborg, Stockholm, Sweden; grandchil dren, nieces and nephews. SERVICES FOR MRS. WHITED ATLANTA—Funeral services for Mrs. Margaret E. Whited were held November 14th at the Sacred Heart Church, Rev. John Emmerth officiating. Survivors are a daughter, Mrs. Virginia Burns; mother, Mrs. H. H. Sikes; brother, J. O. Wa, and sister, Mrs. Hazel Hut ton, all of Atlanta. THE BACKDROP A commonly accepted as sumption is that the higher ac ademic degrees — Master of Arts and Doctor of Philosophy —are keys to success mainly in the field of education. That a graduate de gree is essen tial to ad vancement in the teaching profession is not to be de nied. More and more un iversities and colleges, as the years pass, are closing the door to the higher ranking and better paying faculty appointments to teachers who lack a higher de gree. In many colleges a teach er must have a Doctor of Phi losophy degree to advance to the rank of full professor, or even to assistant or associate professor. CHEMISTRY FIGURES But teaching is not the only profession which puts a prem ium on advanced study. No less than the universities and the colleges, industry and govern ment today are demanding ad vanced degrees as a prerequi site for the more responsible jobs in their plants and re search laboratories. A recent survey of employ ment of chemists and chemical engineers, outside of university class rooms, showed that start ing salaries for inexperienced graduates in both fields was much greater for the holders of advanced degrees than for those possessing only a bachelor’s de gree. The median starting salary for chemistry graduates hold ing a bachelor’s degree in 1959 was $450 a month, for holders By JOHN C. O’BRIEN of a master’s degree’s $525 a month, and for holders of a Ph.D degree $700 a month. Starting salaries for graduates in chemical engineering were somewhat higher than for grad uates in chemistry — $490 a month for bachelors, $560 a month for masters and $725 a month for doctors. The survey also showed that the holders of the higher de grees advanced to positions of greater responsibility and high er pay much faster than those with only a bachelor’s degree. Rarely, in fact, do bachelors proceed beyond the routine jobs in their profession. They reach their maximum earning power relatively early and then re main at a standstill. While many college students fail to realize in college the cash value of a higher degree in in dustrial or government employ ment, the number who do has been increasing. In 1957, for example, some 15 per cent of Bachelor of Science graduates indicated that they were going into graduate study. By 1958, the proportion had risen to 26 per cent and by 1959 to 31 per cent. These figures point up the in creasing emphasis which seems to be developing toward the at tainment of a graduate degree in chemistry before seeking full-time employment. Students are beginning to realize those chemists and chemical engi neers who have graduate de grees not only received better starting salaries but have the best long-range improvement potential. PART TIME JOBS So great is the importance at tached to graduate study by employers in industry that many firms have initiated part- time employment programs for holders of bachelor’s degrees who wish to continue their stu dies. Such employment provides the students with sufficient funds to defray a large part of the cost of their graduate stu dies. According to the survey, the median salaries paid part time students ranges from $187 a month for bachelors in chem istry to $200 for masters. Bach elors in chemical engineering were paid on the average, $200 a month, while masters were paid $210. Because of the higher salaries paid by industry, an increasing proportion of graduates in chemistry and chemical engi neering have been accepting in dustrial employment in prefer ence to teaching. This is par ticularly true of bachelors in chemical engineering, of whom 88 per cent go to work for in dustrial firms. And more than half of those who attain the Ph.D degree and nearly 63 per cent of those holding bachelor’s degree in chemistry also accept industrial jobs. The conclusion students spe cializing in science and engi neering apparently should draw from the survey of the chemists is that, if they wish to reach the top in their profession, they must no longer consider their education completed on the commencement day when they receive their bachelor degrees. The scope of scientific know ledge has been so widely ex panded in the last few years that four years in college is suf ficient only for mastering the elements of a scientific special ty. GOLD STAMP FOR ETERNITY The man of the hour is the husband whose wife told him to wait a minute (ancient Aztec proverb). Seriously, have you ever stop ped to figure the cost of the phrase, “Wait a minute?” If you’re making $5,000 a year, ev ery minute you have to wait costs nearly five cents. At $10,- 000 a year, this figure doubles to nearly 10 cents a minute. And, if you should reach the $100,000 a year category, your minutes will each be worth one dollar. By this reckoning, it’s all right to tell me to wait a min ute. It’s only a penny’s worth of time. Benjamin Franklin, sounding very much like my father try ing to get me up on a wintry morn for sixth-grade suffering, once said: “Up, sluggard, and waste not life; in the grave will be sleeping enough.” Cheerful thought. It’s true, though. Stealing or wasting or “killing” time are among our most deplorable habits. Not that this is a plug for the old puritanical notion of work, work, work. Recreation and relaxation are tonics for soul as well as for body. They’re every man’s right. But they are far from the idea of sheer waste of the precious commodity. At times we all moan that we lead a dog’s life. Maybe. But it’s a sure bet we often lead a cow’s life. A University of Cali fornia scientist, evidently with nothing better to do, figured that the average grazing cow takes 60 bites a minute, chews her cud for 7 hours a day and lies down for 12 hours a day. If you don’t think we’re cow like (not to be confused with cow-lick), just consider these statistics. If God granted us 70 years of life, it would be dis tributed in this way: 16 years spent in education, 5 years in amusements, 5 years at the din ner table, 4 years in transpor tation, 4 years in conversation, 13 years in work, 3 years in reading, and 20 years in sleep ing. How much time would we give God? If we went to Mass every Sunday and prayed for five minutes every morning and evening, we’d give five months to God. Five months out of 70 years of life! The moral of the statistical story is obvious. We all can give much more time directly to our Lord in prayers and devotions. Yet there’s more to the lesson. Glance at all the time we spend sleeping and slaving and gab bing. Surely this time should Father Whartaata View trow the Rectory !l J also be given to God if we’re going to collect gold stamps for eternity. St. Paul put it something like this: Whether we eat hot dogs or go fishing or prepare a fi nancial report, we should do everything for the glory of God. These everyday actions are made pleasing to God by our intentions. The housewife, for example, stares at the dirty dishes, the soiled diapers and muddy floors. What can she do to make them more than just dishes and dia pers and floors? She can turn them into those gold stamps for heaven by washing them gen erously, and washing them for God. If she uses this certified gold-stamp method, she can make everything she does a prayer. There’s another way to make every moment of our life count. That is by living each one. Too often we spend our time in the past or the future. After all, what is the past? It doesn’t really exist. Nothing we do or think will change it a bit. Neither is the future any more real. All we have to work with is now, the present moment. Our good Lord doesn’t expect us to change the past. We can’t. Nor does he command us to be holy tomorrow. It’s today, now, in the present that our Savior wants good use of the time He sends us. When He said, “Suf ficient for the day is its own evil,” that’s what He was talk ing about. The only real time is now. The saints understood this and acted on it. For many of them, the past was a mess and the future was pretty uncertain. But they realized that they couldn’t work on past or future; time meant here and now. So they said their prayers, scrub bed their clothes and darned their socks with the thought that the time would never come again. It was easy, they figured, to make this minute golden by offering it to God. For most of us, anyway, life is but a succession of these lit tle, apparently unimportant moments. When eternity calls, the life we present as our tick et to heaven will be nothing but these small minutes. But they add us to a holy life if we live all of them, and live them for God. To mention the ladies again, home research experts say that the average housewife washes two and a half million cooking and eating utensils in her life time. This makes about 70 stacks as high as the Empire State Building. It’s up to the average house wife — and to all of us — to make these efforts pay divi dends for heaven through our appreciation of time. Otherwise, they’re just water down the drain. Miss Stella L. Penfield Services In Atlanta ATLANTA—Funeral services for Miss Stella L. Penfield 92, of Atlanta were held November 17th at the Sacred Heart Church Rev. Clarence J. Biggers, S.M. officiating. Survivors are three nieces, Mrs. G. M. Tadlock and Mrs. Eloise M. Kirby, both of Atlan ta, and Mrs. H. A. Munday, Omaha, Neb., two nephews, L. A. Webb Jr., Jackson, Miss, and SM/Sgt. K. P. Kirby, USAF in Germany. luUrtttt 416 8TH ST., AUGUSTA, GA. Published fortnightly by the Catholic Laymen’s Association of Georgia, Inc., with the Approbation of the Most Reverend Arch bishop-Bishop of Savannah, The Most Reverend Bishop of Atlanta and the Right Reverend Abbot Ordinary of Belmont. Subscription price $3.00 per year. Second class mail privileges authorized at Monroe, Georgia. Send notice of change of address to P. O. Box 320, Monroe, Georgia. REV. FRANCIS J. DONOHUE REV. R. DONALD KIERNAN Editor Savannah Edition Editor Atlanta Edition JOHN MARKWALTER Managing Editor Vol. 40 Saturday, November 28, 1959 No. 13 ASSOCIATION OFFICERS FOR 1958-1959 GEORGE GINGELL, Columbus President MRS. DAN HARRIS, Macon Vice-President TOM GRIFFIN, Atlanta Vice-President NICK CAMERIO, Macon Secretary JOHN T. BUCKLEY, Augusta Treasurer ALVIN M. McAULIFFE, Augusta Auditor JOHN MARKWALTER, Augusta Executive Secretary MISS CECILE FERRY, Augusta Financial Secretary