Newspaper Page Text
JULY 23, 1955.
THE BULLETIN OF THE CATHOLIC LAYMEN’S ASSOCIATION OF GEORGIA
FIY®
YOU CAN WIN CONVERTS
Osters Show The Way
By REV. JOHN A. O'BRIEN
— i (University of Noire Dame) — —..
Clarence and Rita Oster of Riv-
erdale, 111., believe that modern
selling techniques can be used
to “sell”' religion, and that lay
people with their numerous non-
Catholic contacts are admirably
qualified to do
the job. T h e y
have put both
beliefs into prac
tice with auch
magnificent re
sults as to cap
ture the interest
of hundreds of
parishes in Illi
nois and to win
the praise of Cardinal Stritch.
Parents of five small children
who have spent more than their
fair share of time in hospitals, the
Osters found it necessary to sup
plement their regular income by
taking on extra work. Rita drew
on her previous office experience
by taking on secretarial work she
could do at home. The work .con
tinued to grow and, in 1954, the
young couple started their own
business, Oster Office Assistance,
with offices at Harvey. They of
fered their skills and facilities in
enlisting parishioners in the con
vert apostolate to various pastors
on Chicago’s south side.
One of the first to respond en
thusiastically to their sales letter
was Msgr. Walter E. Croarkin,
pastor of St. Agnes parish in Chi
cago Heights—a city of some 25,-
000 people about 30 miles south
of Chicago.
Its 1400 families embrace peo
ple of 20 different nationalities.
This zealous pastor was willing
and eager to have the Osters see
what they could do in selling his
parishioners on the idea of going
out and selling their faith. Like
every pastor who 1ms tried it, he
knew it was no easy job. Sure,
they come to church but most of
them can scarcely be pulled by a
caterpillar tractor to the door of
a non-Catholic family.
It was then that 1 first heard
from the others. “Would you read
rough drafts of sales letters,” they
wrote, “which we are. preparing
to send out to the parishioners of
St. AgneS? Will you suggest some
considerations to help us bring
home to Mr. Catholic Layman and
Mrs. Catholic Laywoman their ob
ligation to share their faith with
their churchless friends and
neighbors?”
“It’s an inspiring sight,” I re
plied, “to see two Catholic lay
people seeking to bring the tech
niques of modern salesmanship to
the convert apostolate. Such an
effort is long overdue. I’ll be de
lighted to help in any way I can.”
The Osters prepared expert let
ters, each containing a personal
“pep talk” from one lay person to
another. They “laid it on the line,”
called a spade a spade, and chal
lenged every parishioner to show
that he was more than a religious
parasite, always on the receiving
end. A priest could scarcely have
devised quite such snappy sales
letters.
Msgr. Croarkin and his three
curates supplemented the Oster’s
direct mail campaign by an
nouncements at all the Sunday
Masses, and with a sermon on the
duty of the laity to share their
faith with others. They drove this
central truth deep into their con
sciousness and their conscience by
mailing to each family a pamph
let, “How You Can Share Your
Faith” (Catechetical Guild, St.
Paul, Minn.)
The results was a whirlwind
campaign. The Knights of Colum
bus, Holy Name Society, Legion
of Mary and various other parish
organizations pitched in. Canvass
ers called at virtually all the
homes of churchless families with
in the parish area and invited
them to the Inquiry Class lectures.
They offered to call for them and,
if necessary, to baby-sit for them.
Seven years ago when an In
quiry Class was introduced at St.
Agnes only a handful of people
showed up. But when Father Wil
liam R. Doran faced his audience
on October 13, 1954, he looked
into the eager faces of 125 people,
40 of whom were non-Catholics.
The others were Catholics who
wanted to get a deeper grasp of
their holy faith.
On Christmas 12 converts were
received into the Church and five
fallen-aways returned to the sac
raments. One of the families sub
sequently brought their five chil
dren into the fold. The seed for
future conversions was planted in.
many souls and a large number of
Catholics have a more articulate
knowledge of their faith. A total
of 24 souls were won for Christ.
A new Inquiry Class has been
started and still greater results
are expected from it. This all goes
to show how effectively lay peo
ple can multiply the fruitfulness
of any Inquiry Class by getting
out and recruiting prospects.
Readers who know of any lay
person who has helped to win two
or more converts are kindly re
quested to send the name and ad
dress of such a person to Father
John A. O’Brien, Notre Dame, Ind.
BACKDROP-
(Continued from Page Four)
out of the French Revolution.
They were apparent when , the
matter of government attitude
toward the Church was being de
bated in the recent constitutional
convention. But Arenbishop Ros-
sell y Arrellano, who rallied the
country against the Communists
with clear and courageous pas
toral letters, fought again against
binding restrictions on the
Church. He had emerged as a
national hero after the Guate-
melan revolution and now his
standing could not be ignored. The
place in which he is held by the
government itself was plain en
ough as President Castillo Armas;
bestowed special honors on him,:
early this month, before a throng
of 50,000 in Guatemala City.
SCARCITY OF PRIESTS
In all Guatemala, with 3,000,000
persons, there are said to be only
about 170 priests. In their com
munity, covering the large moun-
tain-and-jungle area of Huehue-
tenango, the Mary knoll Fathers
have about 25. Father Rickert,
riding horseback to reach distant
remote places in his charge, looks
after 20,000 persons. In even more
remote places priests may be as
few as one to 50,000 to 100,000.
Not Spanish alone, but sometimes
two or three Indian dialects must
be learned. In some areas baptism
is almost the one sacrament that
has survived; the others have
perished.
Today, working through native
catechists who are taught first,
American priests are bringing
back the teachings often forgotten
since the Spaniards. And for the
first time in generations they
move freely in one of the most
beautiful lands in the world with
out fear of exile or bitter attack.
The Prefecture Apostolic of
Palawan has been raised to the
rank of a vicariate apostolic by
the Holy see.
SAINTS ALIVE!
THE CCD-
(Continued from Page One)
spare the time.” To a certain ex
tent this may be true of many
people, but everyone has the
time to pray for the success of
the Confraternity program. The
Confraternity was designed with
everyone in mind, both those
who could take an active part
in the work of bringing the souls
of men to God, and those who
cannot.
The Confraternity of Christian
Doctrine is composed of “Active”
members and “Associate” mem
bers. The Associates are those
who assist in the work of the
Active members by prayer and
by contributing to the financial
support of the Parish Confrater
nity. And those who cannot af
ford to contribute financially to
the support of their Parish Con
fraternity are still eligible for
membership, since prayer is the
only pre-requisite for Associate
membership. Both Active and
Associate members share alike
in the Indulgences with which
the Confraternity has been
endowed.
The Success of the Church’s
foreign mission ventures has
been attributed in large measure
to the prayers of members of
Contemplative Orders whose
lives are completely dedicated
to the task of praying for the
sanctification and salvation of
souls. And just as the efforts of
our Missioners to win souls for
Christ would be seriously hamp
ered without’ the all-powerful aid
of prayer, so the efforts of the
Parish Confraternity will be
seriously hampered without the
aid of the Associate members.
These Associate members, by
their prayers, bring down from
Heaven the blessings and Grace
of God upon themselves, the ac
tive members, and those who are
the object of this Lay-Apostolate.
Their prayers beg God’s Grace
to strengthen the. spirits and the
efforts of the Active members
and to enlighten the minds of
those who are waiting for the
teachings of Christ, the treasures
of Faith.
To recapitulate ... the CCD
is composed of Active members,
those who are capable of the
work involved in carrying out
its mission; and Associate mem
bers, those who assist the Active
members by their prayers and
financial support. So there is a
place for everyone. More than
that, there is a need for every
one in the Confraternity of,
Christian Doctrine.
Are there very many who
would be anxious to know the
saints on social terms? Horse
back riding with St. Francis de
Sales? A chat over after-dinner
coffee with lawyer Thomas
More? A bike in the country with
Francis, of Assisi? A book discus
sion with Teresa of Avila? Would
the prospects scare you?
Clifton Fadiman, the renownd
commentator, in a magazine ar
ticle some time ago on the great
conversationalists of history said:
“I don’t think I would want to
spend much time talking to Tho
mas More or, for that matter,
any other saint. Saints are too
inward.”
There are many people, sadly
enough, who share Mr. Fadi-
man’s squeamishness about the
saints’ sociability. Ask a young
ster who his personal hero is and
you will be given the name of
of some ball player or television
comedian. Ask someone else the
greatest woman of history and
answers will range from Marie
Antoinette to Cleopatra. States-
m e n will name men like
Churchill and militarists will cite
Napoleon. The saints are never
given much thought in the
human scheme of things. They
seem to be classified separately.
The saints, desperately need
press a g eh t s. Most: artists
through the years have painted
them as effeminate and unim
pressive looking. They are hoist
ed onto cold, hard marble pedes
tals in the churches where, hold
ing lillies and heavy books, they
look severely down upon the
congregations. And worst of all
are the writers who fill books
with their extraordinary ,feats,
completely forgetting to stress
that they started out as human
beings, not as something approx
imating the angels. The common
ground is never accented.
It is all well and good to have
a healthy reverence for the
saints but this should not sepa
rate us from them as friends.
They deserve honor and tribute
and respect, but most of us are
missing a lot by not adopting
them as our personal friends and
heroes. Through the works of
many writers and artists, this
picture of them is clouded. It is
hard to imagine the saint who
bonds the first niche to the right
of the altar as once being flesh
and. blood, walking city streets,
sitting at a family dinner table
exchanging news, and, most of
all, coming up against the every
day trials and temptations that
we do. How many times are the
saints translated into these
terms? » -
We are all hero-worshippers
at heart. The athletic champion,
the television singer and the
actor all claim their followers,
It is time that the “All Stars"’
were given the new look. What
better companion today than
charming Teresa of Avila, the
personable Augustine, the witty:
Thomas More, the elegant Fran-
cis de Sales. Take them off their,
pedestals for a while and get to
know them as men and women,
as heroes and as models. And,
Oh! what I wouldn’t do to get
a little first-hand journalistic in
spiration from St. Paul!
MARRIAGES
O ■ d
| WOOD-D'ARCY |
o —————o
ATLANTA, Ga. — Miss Mary
Beth D’Arcy, daughter of Mr,
and Mrs. James D’Arcy Jr., and
L. Alton Wood Jr., son of Mr.
and Mrs. L. A. Wood of La-
Grange were married July 9th
at the Cathedral of Christ the 1
King. Msgr. Joseph Cassidy of
ficiating.
© O
| SLOCUM-HOWARD |.
o o
COLUMBUS, Ga.—Miss, Betty
Ann Howard, daughter of Mr,
and Mrs. B. D. York of Colum
bus, and Fred N. Slocum, son of,
Mrs. O. H. Morrow of Pomona.
Calif., were married July 8th at
the Holy Family Church, Rev.
Father John Cuddy officiating.
O O
| HYDE-HYEH \
O o'
ATLANTA, Ga. — Mrs. Grace
Jackson Hyer the daughter of
Mrs. James G. Hogue, and Al
fred D. Hyde were married July
2nd at the Sacred Heart Church,
Rev. Father F. M. Perry officiat
ing.
STATEMENT OF CONDITION
OF
CITIZENS BARK OF HAFEIELIE
LIABILITIES
Deposits:
Demand - $2,790,346.80
Savings 716,037.03
Total Deposits 3,506,383.83
Capital 300,000.00
Surplus 50,000.00
Undivided Profits 48,345.81
Unearned Interest 61,157.14
Reserve Losses on Loans __ 11,924.76
Other Liabilities 7,048.23
Total $3,784,859.77
ASSETS *
Cash and Due from Banks -$ 889,818.01
U. S. Government Bonds __ 1,007,107.46
Loans and Discounts —-— 1,839,951.99
Banking House 21,468.94
Furniture and Fixtures — 21,417.88
Interest Earned,
Not Collected 4,372.58
Other Assets i__ 722.91
Total $3,784,859.77
MEMBER OF THE FEDERAL DEPOSIT INSURANCE CORPORATION