OCR Text |
Show What Do Our Boys Read ? Catholic fathers and mothers, how often do you 6top to ask yourselves this question I Do 3-ou know what your boy is reading? Have you asked him the name of the book in which he seemed so thoroughly absorbed? Have you ever looked it over to see what it contains? We fear that too often our Catholic parents will be forced to confess their neglect of this essential duty. Think for a moment of the moral tendencies tenden-cies of this age of ours. We know the history of crime that is being daily recorded in each of our large cities; and it is this history of crime which is the source of much of the material found in the chapters of many of our modern novels. Are you anxious to have your children feed their minds upon these husks that -are unfit for swine? Perhaps you have not read these books yourself. So much the better. But this cannot serve as your defense. A cursory glance at the chapters, bearing the most suggestive titles, will give you an insight into the worth of the book; while, if even this is not possible, pos-sible, there are those to whom you can always refer, not the least among whom is your confessor. Every book which your boy brings into the house should be first submitted to you for inspection, and the slightest doubt as to its moral soundness should be sufficient to cause you to forbid the reading of it, at least until you have made inquiries. in-quiries. A paper cover does riot condemn a book: but look very carefully at the name printed on that paper cover, and see whether the condemnation of the book is written there. Then go a steD farther. MMffy mm IIIWPI.HIHII1H..I ' 1 mm li'tW' ' 1 ''"."""I, l.i.li'HIW.I' Wim UHI IHIIIIIIJIIMIH and see if the book contain those sadly prolific seeds of evil that are being scattered broadcast over the land, and if so, cast them out as you would a most deadly poison. Does your'boy read the detailed stories of crime that, glare out at us from the pages of the average daily and Sunday papers? Do you permit this? Would you be proud to confess it to the world? Can you hope to keep his mind unsullied, to keep him faithful to the precepts of God and Holy Mother Mo-ther church, to have in him a dutiful and respectful son, vdien ideas and thoughts of this kind are being crowded out of his mind by the throng of criminal crim-inal details that would shock the ears of even those whose profession is crime? " A word of warning, then, should bring wisdom to you who are the guardians of a sacred treasure. Holy Mother church needs faithful sons. Are you striving, by this means, to satisfy the desire of her motherly heart ? Holy Angels Calendar. |