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Show I total abstinence and I HonCatbolk missions X j (BY REV. T. F. BURKE.) For some years the Catholic church in, America has taken a prominent stand upon two matters which may at fust appear to have but little in common. com-mon. These two matters are her work in the cause of total abstinence and her preaching' of Catholic doctrine to th'ose not in her fold.' In all parts of our land where non-Catholic massion M-ork has been attempted it has met with success, greater or less. Not only these personally engaged in the work, but all Catholics who love religion, mu?sJt feel that any good action M-hich may tend to further such a noble undertaking un-dertaking as the conversion of America to the Catholic faith, deserves most serious se-rious consideration. Now, to some who have been laboring labor-ing among non-Catholics it has become evident that the practice and preaching preach-ing of total abstinence are most influential influ-ential factors to the furtherance of non-Caltholic mission work. And this for tM a reasons. In the first place, the cause cf total abstinence, as defended by the church, presents her to the minds of men in a plain, public vay, as she is always, the defender of Christian Chris-tian morality. In the second place, through the powerful influence "fvhich her ytand upon any moral question exerts ex-erts upon, the social body, she helps, by her preaching of total abstirence, to remove re-move one of the most serious obstacles to religious thinking, and thus more efficiently to prepare the May for the acceptance of all Catholic truth. He wiho Mould today blind himself to the existence of the drink evil in our land and to the neceseaty of adoptin? some stringent measures to abolish it, is untrue to the best Interests o'f his country and of religion. He who M-ould hesitate to see in intemperance an evil M-hich has an intimate bearing, in its unseemly rxnver, upon social, political and religious life, at the best confesses his ignorance of existing facts. Let him study the reports of police courts, and the records will compel him to admit ad-mit that the majority of crimes take their root, in intemperance. Let him honestly consult medical statistics, and he must confess that no other vice has laid to its charge so many fatal diseases. dis-eases. Let him- know, a5 lately was acknowledged by the head of an insane in-sane asylum in Mhich M'erew.2,600 inmates, in-mates, that over one-third of the madness mad-ness in our land is caused by drink, and hi'a reason will force him to oppose the veil with all his power. Let him go down, to the lower deaths of life and Mitneois the aM-ful misery of children and of mothers; kit him behold the poverty and the inhuman wretchedness that drink by its magic coniures up; let him come as close to all this as, for example, the Catholic priest must come, and if there be a spark of love for man' within 'hijg heart, it will set him on fire in his efforts to put down the evil. ; Thece facts are sufficient to applaud the efforta which result from the prac-j prac-j tice of total abstinence; but if any are l looking for another motive, they can ; find it in the assistance which this prac-tives prac-tives gives: to the spread of Catholic truth. The best outside of the church have recognized hte evil of drink; and, it mmit be confessed, havo at times done far more to oppose it than Cath-I Cath-I olics theimaelves. Terhaps- they have, not Infrequently, made mistakes in the I methods of their opposition, but such j retakes can be easily forgiven and , eaa ly rectified. One of these mistakes . has been their failure to distinguish between the Catholic church and the personal faults of some of her mera- bers. "By their fruits you shall k northern," nor-thern," they Euy. And then, judging by the lives of me bad Catholics, they lllogieally conclude that the church is responsible. Drawing conclusions from ime unfortunalte instances Mhich have come to their notice, they have not hesitated hes-itated ait times to point Ho the Catholic church, the- church which M-e love. as. to the supporter of the liquor traffic. Furthermore, s-aelnjr some who lead drunken lives, they have asked themselves them-selves and others: How can that church be the true Church of Jesus Christ? We can, indeed, distinguish between the teachings of the church and the immoralities of individuals; w? can draw the line between what shir commands' and what her members d; we car. see the nobility, the purity. thi sobriety which she inculcates manifested manifest-ed in lives Mhich are perhaps little, heeded by thefie outside her fold. But non-Catho;i:cs judge her by the public standing cf her members in the community. com-munity. Th y judge her by the names above saloor.-s, by the names in the records rec-ords of police courts, by the names that figure in the hhitorit's of crime reported in our d:iiv papers. So it ix our duty, not only by our teaching, to present the Catholic Catho-lic church .i she is but also by our lives. If M-e would be her trus missionaries. M-e must show her to thy world as the church of the purest morality; we must shOM- her in all her truth, her beauty, and her glory; Me must shoM- her Us she is, the Church, of Jesus Christ, the church made for man. the bulwark of the true interests f of human society, the defender of the sacredness of the marriage tie. tho f protector of the holy rights of child- f hood, the church of purity, of temper- t ance, and, Mhen conditions demand it. the church of total abstinence. f When those outside of the church be- f come acquainted Mith her stand upon this matter of intemperance, they listen M-ith a readier ear to her voice. I When, for instance, they learn that J Pope Leo XIII., in -view of the condi- i tions existing in our land, has recom- f mended total abstinence to his spiritual 'i children, they realize that the Cathoiiu i ChUrrh 1S4 nllVO trw tVlQ. mnrol ir t r.r.ci I of humanity. When they come to know-that know-that the highest ecclesiastical authority author-ity in America, the Plenary Council of Baltimore, has recommended the prac- i tice to clergy and laity, they understand under-stand that the Bishons of the Catholic; Church in this country have taken a:i ') unequivocal stand upon the drink: i question. Morality and religion are f closely allied. Every moral problem has its bearing upon religious progress. If non-Catholics are thus led to understand under-stand that the Catholic Church, far from putting any obstacle in the way of total abstinence, is always readv t support and to further it, they will b-i led also to listen more willingly t M-hat she has to say on other matters. C An instance in point came to our knoMledge lately. During a Catholio mission a goodly portion W a Protestant Protest-ant congregation attended some of tho . sermons. One night they listened t ! a sermon on total abstinence. With . M-hat result? They talked of it among themselves, and as a consequence during the non-Catholic mission Mhich. foIloM-ed, about half of that congrega- V tion attended regularly. We feel that j like results can be brought about on :i. ! larger scale, as the practice of total abstinence becomes more Mide-sprea'6 among our people. j When, therefore, some Catholics ask: Why should Me become total abstain- ! ers, and fail to find sufficient motives) ni- me reasons) ordinarily- presented? I here is a motive worthy of the ac- ceptance of all. We love our countrv. We pray for the conversion of our fel- S loM--citizens to the Catholic religion. In the success Mhich has attended the- j work thus far M"e see visions of greater I triumphs. We hone that one d;iv j America will be Catholic. To bring-about bring-about this result is an extraordinary-undertaking. extraordinary-undertaking. Its accomplishment requires re-quires the use of extraordinary means. Total abstinence is an extraordinary-means; extraordinary-means; but if in the least it can he'r along such a glorious work, and wh. can doubt it. is there any Catholic Mho will hesitate at the sacrifice. To soma extent the drink evil is as a mist hiding the truth of Christ's religion. Thi sooner this mist is raised and the pura atmosphere of sobriety prevails, ttvi sooner will the beauty of Catholic truth be seen. We need Catholic, men and women to take the strongest stand ! possible against the evil of intemper- I ance. The stronger our stand, the quicker will the evil and its attendant drawback to religion disappear and the; quicker will be realized our prayer for the conversion of our country, when America shall be the first Cathoiin nation of the M-orld and the brightest gem in the crown of Catholic glory. |