The Catholic bulletin. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1911-1995, 1913-12-06
THE SOCIAL VALUE OF FIRE.
QuENT COMMUNION.
The Leaven of Catholic LIves-The
Secret of Purity and Charity.


root of all preventable social evils and
abuses is human selfishness, in one
or other of it's myriad forms and man
ifestations, proceeding in various
ways, directly or Indirectly, from
pride, covetousness, lust, and the rest
of the capital sins. Thus spoke Rev.
H. Lucas, S. j., before the last annual
Conference of the Catholic Young
Mems Societies of Great Britain.
There is, to take only few instances,
the selfishness of the employer who
cuts down wages to as low figure
as he dares, and who thereby not only
Injuries his own work people, but
makes it difficult Ito say the least)
for other employers to deal generous
ly or even justly with theirs. There
is the selfishness of the usurious
money-lender, more fatal to national
prosperity in some other countries
than in our own. There is the selfish
ness of the adulterator of beer and
of foodstuffs, and of the manufacturer
of woven fabrics which are not what
they profess to be; the selfishness of
the owner of unsanitary property, or
of tenement houses which barely
escape condemnation by the civil
authorities; and worst of all the man
fold selfishness which is displayed
or more or less skilfully concealed
in the whole of that nefarious bust
ness that is known as the white slave
traffic And there is on the other
hand (for we must not throw all the
blame on the rich) the selfshness of
the working man who spends on sinful
or frivolous self-indulgence-o drink,
on gambling, or on amusements-the
wages which ought to be devoted to
the support of his wife and children
These are only few examples, which
it is needless to multiply, of the So
cial mischief wrought by human sell
fishness.
Now selfshness, so long as it pre-
walls, either among the great majority
of the members of the body polite or
at least among the more influential
classes, will always be clever enough
to elude or evade or in great measure
to render nugatory even the most
beneficent social legislation. And
that is why say that, under present
circumstances, such legislation can at
best serve only to palliate or mitigate
the evils against which it is directed
In view, then, of the insuficiency of
even the most perfect organization
apart from an animating Christian
spirit, for the redress of social abuses
it cannot be doubted that good ex-
ample, and the salutary personal and
collective influence which will be ours
in virtue thereof. is what modern
society chiefly needs at our hands. In
other words, the more Christlike each
one of us can become the better quail
flied he will be to exercise, in his own
measure and degree, the kind of in
| fuence which Christ Our Lord Him
self exercised for the social better
ment of mankind. 81 live" says ST.
Paul, now not I, but Christ liveth in
me-" And the more nearly we can
approach to this ideal, the more effica
cious, in the long run, will be our eff
| forts on behalf of our fellow men, and
in particular of those who most need
our help. Precisely how this happy
result is to, be brought about we car
none of us foresee. The leaven in the
parable is hidden" in the meal, ant
it's action eludes our observation. But
to believe in the efficacy of the spirit
ual leaven signified by the parable is
part of the trial of our faith and Of
our confidence in Him who came that
men might have life and might have
it more abundantly. We all need tt
lay to heart Our Lords loving admoni
ton to Martha: Martha, Martha, thou
art busy about many things; now
one thing is necessary" On a super
fetal view it might indeed seem tina
to be preoccupied with this one thing
necessary would so distract maj
from the practical affairs of life here
below, that one thus preoccupieC
could hardly be an efficient socia
worker. And yet, as the life histor!
of innumerable saints has shown, thi:
is as far as possible from being thu
case. For, in fact, preoccupation will
the next life impels man to be earn
est and diligent in those kinds of act
ivity whereby life everlasting is to b.
attained And chief among these i!
the exercise of charity, which includes
on the part of those who are qualified
for the task, strong desire and a re
solute determination to do all that cal
be done for the welfare-temporal ant
spiritual-of ones neighbor.
To return now to the leading illus
tration or comparison, which is GU
Lords own, in the physical order tn,
working of the leaven meets with M
opposition in the meal wherewith it il
mingled, provided that the meal itsel
be clean and wholesome. But GU
task is the more difficult one of leav