The Intermountain Catholic. (Salt Lake City [Utah] ;) 1899-1920, 1901-10-12
CHRISTIAN GENEROSITY.
The Object Recommended to Our
Prayers During October.


Christian. To be generous. in the
original meaning of the term, is to
be of noble extra ction, and to have
the nobility of mnd and heart, the lofty
sentiments that should be inseperable
from noble birth. What nobler origin
can there be than ours in Jesus Christ ?
1t is no mere figure OF speech, but
reality, that by baptism we are born
anew in Him, the sons of God brothers
of Christ, heirs of the kingdom of
heaven. In thought, deed and senti-
ment we should strive to be as noble
as our birth.
Virtue like this is necessarily Chris
tian, and there is no need of qualifying
it under this name except TO put before
us the One, who alone as God and
man, could be it's source and model,
since it is more divine than human. It
Is the excessive charity with which
Christ loved us, the charity which
prompted Him to annihilate Himself
when the slightest act of His would
have been enough to save US, to shed
His blood in profusion when the least
drop would have paid our ransom. How
generous it was in Christ to beStow the
benefit of His presence and the might
OF His miraculous powers on the poor
and afflicted of Israel, How gener-
ously patient to bear with their if
them in the simplest elements of reli-
gioni How generously He overlooked
the pettiness and meanness of His
Apostles. their low ambition, rivalries,
contention and recourse to human in
fuence? How generously He could ac-
cept as we'll as give, for this. too is a
trait of generosity, as when He insist
ed on letting Mary Magdalene scatter
the precious ointment on His feet, and
magnified the mite of the poor widow
in the eyes of all in the temple!
The object of our Holy Father is des-
ignating Christian Generosity as the
general Intention for October. is mani
testify to renew among Catholics the
world over a sense of the need of this
virtue in the prosecutions to which the
Chirch is subject in countries in which
the government has been seized by
enemies of religion, and in the face of
the hardships which we encounter in
countries like England and our own. in
which there is so much discrimination.
on the part of certain bodies of our
fellow-citizens, il not on the part of
our government against Catholic in
terests.
Without adverting to the need of
more Christian generosity among the |
Catholics in other countries, it is well /
worth while to reflect on the need of (
ii in our own country. A little more of 1
il would support our schools, or at |
least inspire those who give trifle for
this purpose to give it cheerfully. with /
out forever harping on the hardships /
or impossibility of supporting a Cath |
olic school, and cherishing secretly. if |
not avowing openly, the conviction.
rarely well founded, that a free reli-
gious school is necessarily inferior to
common one Christian generosity
would prompt some rich Catholics to
al l.
OF supporting the fine appearances of
the Sectarian or secular institutions to
which they send their sons or daugh-
ters because they are not generous
enough TO take God at His word. and
train their offspring to seek first the
kingdom of God, in the sure hope that
all things viii be added unto them, 1
even the social advantages and bust
ness chances they hope to secure for
their future
Christian generosity, finally, would
make us all give more of our time, our
energy, ability, learning, fortune, infiu-
ence political or social to the advance
ment Of religion, and make us give it
ungrudgingly, mcdestly, yet fearlessly.
Cith no other motive than that of re-
paying the generosity with which
Christ has treated us. with no other
hope of reward than the confidence
that He will not be outdone in gener-
osity.
There are many reasons why we
should pray for Christian generosity.
First of all it is something heroic, and
lothing heroic can be had without
prayer. Then it is something very
Hare. its opposite-meanness- COM
mon, but it is altogether exceptional
Necessary at all times, it was rarely ]
more needed than it is in our time: ]
without it Christian life is impossible
and religion must perish. 5