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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