Newspaper Page Text
JULY 9, 1955.
THE BULLETIN OF THE CATHOLIC LAYMEN’S ASSOCIATION OF GEORGIA
FIVE
YOU CAN WIN CONVERTS
Mrs. Gollahon Wins Nine
By REV. JOHN A. O'BRIEN
. (University of Noire Dame).
holy Catholic
The good example of a devout
Catholic is the best, testimonial
for the faith and the strongest
inducement to churchless people
to enter the fold. Action speaks
louder than
words and. an
upright life is
more convinc
ing than any
argument. Few
are the
Catholic
bands or
who can
the example of
a devout and
spouse.
Mi’s. Gladys Gollahon of St.
Agnes parish in Cincinnati had
to wait a long time for the fruits
of her prayer ana example to
appear, but they finally did.
Now, through God’s grace and
the intercession of Our Lady,
she can count nine souls whom
she helped to lead into the fold.
“George and I,” Mrs. Gollahon
told me, “were married on Sep
tember 4, 1926. We were blessed
with two daughters and a son
and they have all been, carefully
reared in the Catholic faith.
When George was a young man
he taught Sunday school, but
later he lost interest and hadn’t
attended any church for years.
“I didn’t argue religion with
him, but I prayed for him and
hoped that the example of the
children and of myself would
show the wonderful help which
a Catholic gets from the practice
of his faith.
“I have a special devotion to
Our Lady and in the fall of 1949,
I tried to express that love by
composing the words and music
for a song of prayer to Our Lady
of Fatima. Things happened fast
after that. The song took on, and
out of a clear sky my husband
said he would like to take in
structions.
“Though this was what I had
been hoping and praying for, I
could scarcely believe my ears.
It seemed as though Our Lady-
stepped in to do what I hadn’t
been able to do.”
“Did you bring George to a
priest?”
“Yes. I brought him to Fath
er Roland Flinn who gave him
instructions one evening a week
for several months. In May, 1951,
he was received into the fold. In
the following September we
celebrated our 25th Wedding An
niversary and you can’t imagine
how happy our family was on
that day. At last we were really
united—all of us kneeling to
gether at the Communion rail.
“Now George says that it is a
joy for him just to walk into a
Catholic church because he can
feel the presence of God.”
“You rightly give the credit,”
I remarked, “to Our Lord and to
_ii.
f&linf Ike?
4el like !
BACKDROP-
(Continued from. Page Four)
of seconds before the judgment
seat of God.”
“Prayer is the one and only
force by which man will ever re
ceive the inspiration, the courage
and the strength to enable him
to direct nuclear forces toward
a better and more abundant life,”
Mr. Murray said. He held that
human prudence is not enough,
even with the good will of every
person on earth—much more we
need Divine Guidance.
“We pray or we perish,” he
warned in a line that should be
emblazoned in the minds of men
everywhere.
THE CHRISTIAN MOOD
Thomas Murray’s answer to
nuclear power is not a mood of
fear or of futility or fatalism
which sees world conflict on a
full atomic scale as inevitable.
None of these, is the Christian
mood, he argues. And he sees the
final significance of the release
of atomic energy in the fact that
“it is a God-given means for. the
moral education of mankind.”
Hubert Snider
Services At Atlanta
ATLANTA, Ga.—Funeral serv
ices for Mrs. Hubert M. Snider
were held June 23 at the Cathe
dral of Christ the King, Msgr. Jo
seph G. Cassidy officiating.
Survivors are the grandchil
dren, Mr. and Mrs. Hubert M.
Snider, Mr. and Mrs. Reginald
Millard, Mrs. H. G. Walker, Mrs.
R. A. Wethington, Mr. and Mrs.
P. H. Donnelly.
•• • *3 n c\ RC
is best by
taste-test^
too I
Our Lady for the grace of con
version; but it was your prayers,
your example and your fostering
the devotion to Our Lady of Fa
tima that earned that grace.
Have you been able to help any
others?”
“A- young pianist, Wallace
Deering', became interested .in
my song, ‘Our Lady of Fatima’,
and asked me many questions
about our devotion to the Blessed
Mother. I answered them and
soon found he was ready for a
course of instruction in our holy
fait)). I got him in touch with
Father Donald A. Tenoever at St.
Louis parish, and he later receiv
ed Wally into the Church. Ge
orge and I are his- godparents
and knelt at Wally’s side when
he made his First Holy Commu
nion.”
“Splendid! Were you able to
help any others?”
“Tommy Huffire attended a
Catholic school with my young
sters for a year. The spiritual
training he received during that
year made a deep and lastiiig im
pression upon him. Later, when
he had children of his own, he
wanted to send them to Cath
olic school. I took him to see Fath
er Harold Thorburn at St. Paul’s
and Father arranged everything
nicely and became interested in
the family. Now Tommy, his
Wife and five children are all
Catholics and George and I have
the honor of being their godpar
ents.”
“That means then,” I observed,
“that you have helped to lead
nine souls into the Church. Your
prayers, good example and^ your
devotion to Our Lady channeled
the grace of faith to those souls.
You were especially wise and
prudent in making a contact for
all these; with a priest. That’s the
way to see that truth seekers ar
rive safely at their goal. You’ve
set, Mrs. Gollahon, an inspiring-
example for all of us.”
Readers who know of any lay
person who has helped to win
two or more converts are kindly
requested to send the name and
address of such a person to Fath
er John A. O’Brien, Notre Dame,
Ind.
The bad manners exhibited by
Americans w h o go treking
abroad becomes an increasingly
serious problem. It would seem
that the very precepts of com
mon courtesy, “please” and
“thank-you” are left at the gang
plank. I have seen violations
which have made me shudder.
I realize, too, that the violators
would not act that way at home.
What happens to the American
tourist then when he hits foreign
soil?
A friend of mine, a leading-
radio personality in Ireland, has-
been visiting several foreign
countries, where in her own
^vords she has been “dining with
ruling royalty, retired postmen,
tourist leaders and tram drivers
wives.” As a result, she wrote
tensely this directive: “If you
love your country, you’ll try to
get two six letter words includ
ed in its vocabulary. One is
‘please’ and the other is ‘thanks’.
All Europe is commenting on the
bad manners or rather rudness of
your fellow countrymen both
young and old. You are making
gnemies where you might easily
have made friends—so do get
the parents and the teachers on
the job.
Along with getting a passport
and a vaccination to go abroad,
I would suggest they incorporate
an Emily Post course as a re
quired preliminary. I find that
the heart of the matter in all
probability lies in the American
visitor’s indifference. He thinks
Europe and Europeans are way
behind the times. They feel that,
once on foreign soil, all the text
books are thrown away and any
thing goes. The one goal for
most Americans is to let those
Europeans know that in America
everything is bigger, better, fast
er, louder, and more expensive.
They pound tables for service,
they order such foreign items
as ice cream sodas, hamburgers
and hot dogs; they demand ice
water, whistle for waiters and
taxis alike and dress in loud, un
suitable clothing. We hear all
too much about this type of tour
ist and all too little about the
ones who conduct themselves as
ladies and gentlemen, guests of
another country.
A large portion of American
unpopularity abroad, I wager,
can be traced to the tourist traf
fic, even more than the diplo
matic and political policies of
the moment. The average Eu
ropean, I found, was more than
anxious to like us. He is un
familiar with the international
jargon and is very apt to judge
this country of ours on the tour
ist ambassador. Politness is a
universal precept and Europeans;
have every right to expect it, '
To my friend’s scorching in
dictment, I can only say that we
Americans do not operate like
that at home. In defense, I have
a news report which reads: “If
you. have any doubts as to the
courtesy of the American peo
ple as a whole, ponder this: The
use of only two polite words
costs the nation $15,000,000 year
ly writes Bernard Kline. It is
estimated that amount is spent
for the inclusion of please and
thank you in telegrams. That
these two words are so highly
regarded as to merit in annual'
expenditure should be inspira
tion to all of us to be more liber
al in -our oral use of them.” Let’s .
take them with us when we go
visiting our friends across the
sea!
L Hawkes Co,
OPTICIANS
83 Whitehall Street, S. W.
ATLANTA 3, GEORGIA.
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