God and Your Child
By Mary Cecilia McGrath, Ph.D.
Ash Wednesday began the great
season of penance. It effects the
church throughout the world-. The
day is hamed from the distribu
tion of ashes. “Remember man
that thou art dust and unto dust
thou shalt return,” is the Church’s
warning.
The Church is our Mother even
as she is the Spouse of Christ. In
baptism she brought us forth as
children of grace destined to in
herit with Jesus Christ, God’s own
Son, the wonderful life of God in
heaven. We are on earth for only
a few years. We are placed here
to work out 6ur salvation. Our
Mother, the Church, does not wish
us to forget, or neglect, or fail to
appreciate why we arf here. So
she reminds us of our purpose
very forcibly on Ash Wednesday,
holding before our eyes the fact
of death and the fate of our body.
However, she does not intend
that we be gloomy about death.
Death is no tragedy. It is, instead,
our birth into heaven, our en
trance into the great inheritance
which the Saviour bought for us
by His passion and death. The
saints have had the right outlook
on death. They loved to think
about it; they longed for it to
come and free them of this life
that they might enter into God’s
life. After all, it was for the life
of God in heaven that we were
made. Our. destiny is so wonder
ful that the Son of God left heav
en, lived on earth 33 years, suf
fered most cruelly and died a most
ignominious death on the Cross,
to win it for you and me. No won
der the Church doesn’t want us to
make a mistake and miss it.
Theologians tell us that the
greatest pain of hell is rot the
torture of fire suffered there. Nor
is it being with everybody you
despise and hate forever. No, the
greatest pain of hell is that souls
there have lost God. They have
lost the life for which they were
made—the life of God. They have
lost the treasure that Jesus Christ
came Himself to win and safe
guard for them—the possession of
God. And they have lost it of their
own free will and forever.
No, death is not something to
be feared. If we are in the state
of grace, death is a friend. It is
sin that is our enemy. It is sin
that makes death a gateway to
darkness. Our Lady, appearing at
Fatima, warned against this ter- '
rible eneffiy of ours, sin, which is
destroying Christ’s work in the
souls of so many. And as Our j
Lady, weeping in her sorrow, told
the three children to whom she
appeared, death is finding thous
ands of these souls in sin and they
are being plunged into hell. What
a dreadful price for men to pay
for a little gratification of the
body! We need the Church to re
mind us: Remember man that
thou art dust and unto dust thou
shalt return.
—Mary Cecelia McGrath, Ph D.
Confiscation of Church
Property by Yugoslavia
Condemned by Vatican
Berne. —(C)—The following
well - authenticated reports of in
cidents in Yugoslavia received
here add further details to the
picture of the relentless nd mny
sided harrassment of the Church
under the rule of Marshal Tito!
In Zagreb the Government has
confiscated the Bishop Lang home
for unemployed working girls. The
house, with all its furnishings
and funds, was taken over and the
Sisters in charge turned out into
the street. So many charitable
and educational institutions have
been confiscated in Yugoslavia
that it is impossible to accomodate
thfe Sisters in the few Motherhous
es which remain. Many Sisters
must return to the homes of their
parents.
In the village of Sovski Dol,
a young cniversity graduate nam
ed Josephine Nevistic, who had
been teaching catechism to the
village children, was attacked and
beaten to death by two unknown
men. A well-known communist
by the name of Smojver had been
seen in the village for several days
before the murder. The local po
lice investigated all the houses in
Sovski Dol, but did not appre
hend the murderers; instead, they
told the villagers not to talk about
what had happened. Nothing has
appeared in the Yugoslav press
about the crime.
A Dominican priest of the Za
greb archdiocese was arrested re
cently on the charge of participat
ing in a political demonstration
and fined the heavy sum of 2,000
dinars. The “demonstration” was
a procession in which the statue
of the Blessed Virgin Mary was
carried.
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“Fabrics and Fashions’’
The public prosecutor in the dis
trict of Zubanja, gathering all the
priests of his district to insruct
them on what subjects they might
discuss, in their sermons, told them
that, among other things, they
were forbidden to preach about
Job. The Prosecfutor. said that
the people might apply to their
present conditions the lesson of
Job, who according to the Old
Testament recovered his lost pro
perity and happiness through a
policy of patience and resignation.
The last publishing house under
Catholic auspices in Yugoslavia
the Sacred Heart Printing Press of
Zagreb, was confiscated last
month, under a “law” which pro
vides that the property of a crimi
nal may be confiscated by the
Government. The director of the
Sacred. Heart establishment was
sentenced to two years in prison.
At election time the police have
been particularly active in their
surveillance of priests. People
who spoke to priests on the streets
were later questioned by the po
lice as to what the priest said,
what was his attitude on the elec
tions, etc. Priests in country dis
tricts were subjected to great
pressure in order to force them
to vote.
Among the acts of vandalism
against sacred objects reported re
cently was the demolition of the
widely-venerated statue of the
Blessed Virgin at Travnik in Bos
nia, the destruction of the statue
of the Madonna at Zagreb, outrag
es committed at the Shrine of Our
Lady of Bistrica, and the defac
ing of pictures of the Blessed Vir
gin in a number of confiscated re
ligious houses.
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Catholic Church Gains
Chinese Approval
Because of Good Works
By Rev. Patrick O’Connor, S. S. C.
(Special Correspondent)
Shanghai.— (NC) — Never be
fore has the Catholic Church been
so highly regarded by the people
of China as it is today. Popular
prejudice against Christianity is
at an all-time low here.
fever since my arrival in China
three monthes ago, I have been
meeting evidence of this truth. I
have found it in Shanghai, Nan
king and Peiping; in Kalgan, gate
way to the north-west, and in
Manchuria. It has been confirm
ed in conversation with persons
from widely separated parts of the
country.
Independently and uniformly,
Chinese and foreign Bishops and
priests, Brothers and Sisters have
testified to it. I have heard trib
utes to the Church from such di
verse non-Christians as the for
eign-educated Mayor Ho of Peip
ing, the communist Li Lisan and
the Nationalist General Fu Tso-yi,
governor of Spiyuan and Chahar
The communist spokesman, one of
the top Reds in Manchuria, freely
acknowledged the works of mercy
done by Catholic missionaries
during the war and the personal
risks and sacrifices they endured.
In Peiping recently I attended
the premiere of the first major
motion picture produced in China
since the war. Entitled “The Sa
cred City,” it is probably the most
ambitious movie ever filmed by a
Chinese company. The' hero is an
American Catholic priest and the
plot is woven around his fearless
activities in shielding and shelter
■ug nu '-iiiiiese hock, uunng me
war. His church is the “Sacred
City” of refuge and prayer. The
scenes were shot in and around
real churches in the Peiping area.
It is clear that the Chinese di
rector and entire company tried to
be reverent and sympathetic in
handling their Catholic theme. At
the premiere of this highly sig
nificant film the theatre was
crowded with prominent Chinese.
Since then the movie has been
shown to capacity houses in Peip
ing, Nanking, Tientsin and other
cities. The Chinese press has
given it enthusiastic reviews.
Probably the principal reason
for the comparative popularity of
the Church at present is1 the uni
versally recognized charitable
service rendered by the mission
aries during the war. All China
knows how priests, Brothers and
Sisters stayed with their people,
threw open- their buildings to
refugees and risked their lives to
help the afflicted. The elevation
of His Eminence Thomas Cardinal
Tien, Chinese hierarchy and the
completion of the establishment
of diplomatic relations between
China and the Holy See have
added to the friendly feeling. The
personal prestige of Cardinal Tien,
Archbishop Paul Yu-pin, and Dr.
John C. Wu is another factor1.
During the war and immediately
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Responding to the radio appeal of the Holy Father, Pope Pius XII,
on Ash Wednesday, nearly 2,000,000 children in Catholic schools
throughout the United States began the Lenten “Save Starving
Children” drive of the Bishops’ Relief Campaign for Victims of war.
At Our Lady of Lourdes School, Bethesda, Md., typical of scenes
throughout Ihe country, the children and their teacher c.pen the
drive with a mite box. (NC Photos)
after its close, when U. S. soldiers
were numerous in China,, the
sight of the stalwart American
Catholics in uniform going to Mass
made a favorable impression!
The Chinese communist perse
cution of the Church is not a
popular movement nor is it gen
eral. It is usually engineered by
out-of-town red agents, who fre
quently have to resort to intimi
dation to overcome local reluc
tance and even opposition. No
where have the attacks on the
Church been a spontaneous de
velopment and nowhere have they
happened unless the red army
was in control. Nor is the perse
cution practised uniformly. In
some places they permit the
Church to function fairly normal
ly.
All the missions of the follow
ing communities having American
priest members are completely
outside the communist-held zones:
Dominicans, Franciscans cf Cinc
innati, Franciscans of New York,
Shorty’s Gulf Service
C. E. Motsinger, Prop
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Phone 31935 411 W. Fifth St.
WINSTON-SALEM. N. C.
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LAURINBURG, Nv C.
California Jesuits, Maryknollers in
South China, Passionists, Scarboro
Foreign Missions, St. Columban’s
Society and Vincentians, Eastern
and Western Provinces. Part of
the territories staffed by the Di
vine Word Fathers, the Canadian
Jesuits, Franciscans of California
and Franciscans of Chicago and
most of the Maryknoll territory in
Manchuria are in non-communist
control.
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