The Catholic bulletin. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1911-1995, 1911-03-25

civilized world will rejoice that
"The War-drums beat no longer,
and the battle flags are furled,
In the Parliament of Man, the Fed
GRAFTON Of the World. =
Continued from page ID
THE ST. VINCENT DE PAUL
SOCIETY.
viewing the, sad results of misfortune.
SymDathizers may be mere humani-
tarians, philanthropists, Protestants or
Catholics. The first of these oftimes
gives generously and relieves much
want and bodily suffering. The Sec
,ond through carrying out his schemes
for the betterment of the poorer
classes becomes a benefactor to many
and deserves encomiums from all who
have the welfare of the needy and
down-trodden at heart. Why set our
separated brethren in a class by
themselves? Because while they are
| all considered Christians they are not
all believers in the divinity of Jesus
Christ. Again they generally place
more Importance on the needs of the
body than we do; and while the Cath
Ollie Church gains most adherents by
exposition of doctrine, Professionals in
crease their number by practical deeds
of charity and on this account are,
in most places, more generous givers
of material assistance than we are.
Catholic Charity.
| Efforts put forth by Catholics for
the betterment of the needy have in
view their spiritual as well as their
material good. With us charity is not
simply matter of feeding, clothing
and housing the INDECENT. Charity is
| based on belief in Christ and acts of
charity are done through love of Him
that develops in us the desire to in
crease the number of His faithful fol-
! lowers, and to fix the minds of our
fellow beings on Him during time of
want as much as during prosperity
We should ever keep in mind that
the highest kind of charity is helping
our neighbor in his spiritual more
| than in his corporal necessities. In
carrying on her works of charity the
Catholic church, besides erecting and
maintaining splendid eleemosynary in
situations has encouraged the multiple
cation of organizations that labor graf
uitously for the relief of poverty and
the moral uplift of the culpably poor.
''The Catholic Church is charity in
action; it is Christ's mission continued
among men and for men" {.
Some without the light of faith to
guide them see in the wonders of
Catholic charity only the perfection
of human achievement or human
effort, and foolishly ascribe to organi-
zation or to discipline or to both what
every Catholic child knows, has it's
necessary supernatural source and
support in the Sacred Heart of the
Redeemer of men by whose aid all
things are made possible"
Need of More Wealthy Members.
To successfully carry out it's mis-
sion the st. Vincent de Paul Society
should increase it's membership among
the wealthy class. In the many re-
ports at hand I find very freqently:
Work is hampered by lack of funds; ~
The prosperous classes are not as
well represented as they ought to be
~ vi
Catholics make their contributions to
non-Catholic organizations" and SINH.
lar statements that show we are not
receiving the proper assistance from
: those who are in a position to give
generously. Turning to financial state
ments made by various councils OF
the ST. Vincent de Paul Society we
cannot be blamed for concluding that
this most effective Catholic organiza
ton is not always doing it's self-im
posed duty to our INDECENT. I have
just now examined one of the best
reports Of this far-reaching charitable
: work and after finding the number Of
individuals assisted during the past
year I turned to the Groceries and
Food" account and to my surprise and
, disappointment found that the
amount of food given to each person
was less than one dollar for the year
In another report eulogistic of the
work of a certain Conference we find
much has been made of the number
of individuals helped by the St. Vim
cent de Paul Society but when we
: come to the item "For Groceries" and
do little figuring we find that re
cipients Of charity received from thi:
source food to the amount of fifty
nine cents each during the entire
year. This niggardly giving is mo-
confined to few Conferences. TAX
ing the report of the Superior Council
of New York with it's 80 Particula
7 and its 487 Conferences we are toll
: that it's receipts were in the yea
: 1909, 100000; and with that sun