Newspaper Page Text
DECEMBER 3, 1956.
THE BULLETIN OF THE CATHOLIC LAYMEN’S ASSOCIATION OF GEORGIA
FIVE ■
Jottings ...
(By BARBARA C. JENCKS)
w "v/' " ■
What are people going to say at
your wake? More important, what
are they going to remember about
you in the weeks, months and
years which follow that wake?
Few r of us will warrant headlines
when we. die. Most of us will be
relegated to the small type of an
obituary column. The grief won't
be widespread. No more than a
handful will grieve after the ex
citement af. the funeral has pass-
1 ed. Few will have charity centers,
boulevards, "trophies or scholar
ships ^donated in their memory.
Few- will . leave legacies large
enough to bay immortality. How
many will pray for us? What will
we have left to warrant prayers
and happy memories when we no
longer hear the traffic of life,
smell the antiseptic of the sick
room, see the face of a loved one
or feel the cares of a hand? What
is our legacy to those few who
knew "and loved us? Man is
hungry for immortality. He wants
to leave a little part of himself
in the world. In some cases, how.
a man is remembered will be com
mensurate with his eternal desti
ny-
* * *
We have all heard the graphic
mission sermons about sudden
death. Most of us have known
someone who has had such a ren
dezvous. We have eaten with
them in restaurants, met them
on the street, kneeled beside
them at Mass and a day or a
week would pass and a heart at
tack or highway accident has
placed them in the ranks of the
dead. It makes us stop and makes
some of us ttemble. Suppose you
were to die tomorrow or the next
day, what kind of memories would
you leave to date? How would
God find you? How would your
family, friends and co-workers re
member you right now? What will
ever be associated with you in
their minds? Will they remember
you in prayer as well as conversa
tion'? Will they' say: “Joe loved
good food and drink, music and
cigars,” and leave it there? Or
will they be able to say, too, that
“Joe loved God and Joe loved his
fellowman.” Sure, they will re
member all of us for little things
like a laugh, a smile, a pet ex
pression and our particular likes
and dislikes. They will remember
us with particular places and peo
ple and songs. What would you
give to have them say: ‘I miss Joe.
He always had time for me. He
gave without counting the cost.
The world was a little better be
cause of Joe.” Each day we are
leaving memories to someone.
Suppose today’s were to be the
final memories?
. * * :j:
I wouldn’t want to die today
or tomorrow. Not that I don’t
often yearn for that better offer
which heaven presents. Don’t you
ever get homesick for the peace
ful meadows of heaven? I do al
though there is so very much that
is good about this life, too. I don’t
ward to die right now because I
don’t feei I would make heaven
at this date. Also I feel that I
must right many wrongs and fin
ish much business. But the de
parture date isn’t my doing. In
the novena at the parish church,
we pray: “Give me to die just at
that time and in that way which
is most pleasing to Thee and best
for my salvation.” We all seem to
live as if we would live forever..
How we bank on old age! We
think there will be time for pray
ers and good works aplenty then.
How many never make it? Writ
ers, of course, yearn to leave some
tangible evidence of their exist
ence behind. They feel that they
will live on in their writing.
Books, as with memorials of stone
and bronze, aren’t. the important
legacies to leave. Man’s best mo
nument is found in the hearts
and prayers of his family and
friends. Let him be remembered
| for his good example, his charity,
his honor, his principles, his puri
ty, his faith. These are the memo
rials which we would leave. I
keep this quotation on my desk
and would that I could live up
to it .so that good things would
be spoken at my wake and the
years that will follow: “I shall
pass this way but once; any good
things therefore that I can. do,
or any kindness that I can show,
let me do it now. Let me not
defer it or neglect it, for I shall
not pass this way again.”
BE ALERT
The man who burns the mid
night oil has little chance of
fulfilling his day dreams.
McCollums
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BACKDROP—
(Continued from Page 4)
of coffee on ‘festivity fatigue’ are
widely recognized. And it is a
practical one for motorists to fol
low.”
PERTINENT SUGGESTIONS
For keeping ,Us out of the obit
uary columns this year-end or out
of a bed of pain in a hospital,
Quinn offers these suggestions:
1. Never drive when overtired,
even if it’s only home from a
party.
2. Keep a car window open;
fresh air helps you sta5^ awake.
3. To top off a festive evening,
make it coffee; on long drives
stop for a cup at frequent inter-
v a 1 s.
4. While driving, talk it up
with other passengers in the car,
if alone, turn on the radio.
This advice, of course, has a
familiar ring. We have heard it
all so often in the past, and the
FOP would not claim any origi
nality for their suggestions. But
when the men who ha^e to. spend
their Christmas and New Year
eves cruising the streets and the
highways are sufficiently inter
ested in our safety to beg us to
take care, would we not be wise
to listen to them.?
After all, this is a policeman’s
way of wishing us, in a very real
and practical sense, a truly
“Happy Christmas”.
YOU CAN WIN CONVERTS
Couple Wins 19 Relatives
By REV. JOHN A. O'BRIEN, Ph. D.
— (University of Notre
Meeting Bn Paris
On Dec. 11 Of
Vital Importance
(Continued from Page 4)
French and British governments,
on the other hand, faced severe
political repercussions at home if
they gave the promise without
obtaining certain guarantees they
asked.
Steps have been taken to dis
solve this impasse. The extent to
which it is solved, and the char
acter of the scars it may leave,
will have great bearing on the
outcome of the Paris discussions.
If things should go wrong at this
meeting, Soviet Russia—an out
sider, of course—can be relief
upon to exploit such difficulties
to the utmost.
It is expected here that Nehru
will try to get the United States
to look more favorably upon
Communist China. This convic
tion is made the more certain by
the report that Premier Chou was
accorded an impressive welcome
upon his arrival in New Delhi on
November 28, and that Nehru will
talk with him after, as well as
before, Nehru’s Washington visit.
The outcome of the NATO
meeting will have an important
bearing upon Nehru’s visit here.
Its success or failure could in
fluence greatly the vigor with
which Nehru presses the cause of
Red China. More important, how
ever, its success or failure could
affect our whole plan of defense
against communist aggression.
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Did you ever bear of a couple
leading 19 relatives into the fold?
Probably not. Yet such is the
feat accomplished by Clifford
Wysong and his wife, Virginia.
Converts themselves, they are
members of St.
Therese of the
Infant Jesus
parish in India
napolis, where
they operate a
grocery store
and meat marlt-
e t.
“Mrs. Wy
song,” I asked,
“how did you interest so many
in the faith?”
I started by telling my nephew,
Paul Dillon, of the splendid moral
training he would get in a Cath
olic school. That led him to ask
about the.teachings, of our faith.
I answered his question and told
how the practice of our holy
faith, especially the reception of
the sacraments of Confession and
Holy Communion,. develop mohal
character.
Paul’s interest continued to
grow, so I passed ©n to him a
copy of Cardinal Gibbons’ “The
Faith of Our Fathers”. He liked
it very much. Then I phoned a
friend in Our Lady of Lourdes
parish, w h ere Paul lived and
asked for the name of one of the
priests there. 'She gave me the
name of Father,Ernest Strahl, so
I got in touch with him and ar
ranged for Paul to receive a
course of instruction.
“Paul interested his father and
mother, and Father Strahl soon
had the whole family, numbering
six, under instruction. Three
months later, Clifford and I were
the godparents at their baptism
and we knelt at their side when
they made their First Holy Com
munion. They were the happiest
family in the state of Indiana.”
“Splendid! How did you in
terest the others?”
“I used the same method with
another nephew, Jesse Hodges.
He and his wife Alma had seven
children and I told him about
the wonderful moral training the
Sisters give in our schools and
urged him to try to get his child
ren into a parochial school.
“Like every parent, Jesse and
Alma were deeply interested in
having their children get an edu
cation that would help them to
grow up to be good, law-abiding
God-fearing men and women.
Acting on my advice, they en
rolled their school-age children
at Our Lady of Grace parochial
school in Noblesville, Indiana.
“They, followed this by taking
instructions and before the year
was out, they and their seven
children and Jesse’s father were
r e ceived into the Church by
Fathers Francis White and Ed
mund McCarthy. Clifford and 1
were godparents for all but two.
“Faith Joy Dillon, another rel
ative, lived with us for a while.
Clifford and I told her how much
our faith means to us and when
she thus became interested, we
encouraged her to get a course
of instruction. She and her two
children are now Catholics.”
“That means that 19 of your
relatives are now Catholics
through the zeal of you and
Clifford. Were there any others?”
“A f r lend of ours, Patricia
Hohs, was married to a Catholic.
We told Patricia of the great hap
piness we derived from the prac
tice of our faith after groping
in the dark for many years. We
advised her to look into it. This
she promised to do. Later the
Hohs moved to Peoria and we
were glad to get a letter from
Patricia telling' us she was re
ceived into the Church. Since
then Patricia and her husband
John have been blessed with two
children and they have also been
baptize d.”
“That means,” I summed up,
“that a total of 23 persons are
now Catholics because, under the
grace of God, you and Clifford
were willing to bear witness to
the truth, beauty and holiness of
your religion, pass out Catholic
literature, explain your faith, and
arrange for their instruction by
a priest. These are the simple
methods by which Avery Catholic
can share his spiritual treasure
with others.”
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