The Catholic bulletin. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1911-1995, 1916-06-17
DOMAIN OF TEMPERANCE
WHAT ARE you DOING WITH 1T.

The Very Rev. John T. Murphy, G.
S. Sp., at one time the American pro-
vincial of his order, but now OF
Ireland, delivered lecture before the
Portarlington Total Abstinence Society
some time ago on THE Mission of the
Total Abstainer." 1t is published in
full in the Irish Catholic" from
which we take these extracts:
you know total abstinence to walk
abroad among men twice blest-blest
in itself and blessing all around You
know it to walk erect, a shining ex-
ample, above suspicion, without
reproach, keen of eye, prudent of
tongue, warm of heart, active in work,
steadfast in duty, faithful in trust,
loyal in friendship, wise with the
wisdom that is from above which
ST. James tells us, first induced, is
chaste, then peaceable, modest, easy
to be persuaded, conserving to the
good, full of mercy and good fruits,
without judging, without dissimula-
ton You, my dear friends, know
all this, and more. You know that in
total abstinence you have found
precious pearl of priceless worth. The
question is, what are you called to do
with it? Are you going to keep it
| for your own exclusive enjoyment?
Are you going to draw the blinds and
close the shutters in your own COM
| Portable total abstinence home, and
shut your ears to the Shrieking storm
outside? Will you fail to show
light to the shipwrecked mariner, to
give helping hand to the forlorn
traveller? God forbid, my friends, for
in that case your total abstinence
would fail in the essential quality of
all goodness, which is to communicate
itself abroad.
Every individual and every right
ordered society has a mission from
| God. Now, what is the mission of
the total abstainer and of the total
abstinence sodality? 1t is, as | take
it, to spread the light and dispel the
darkness, to promote the cause of
temperance and fight it's enemies.
| When Christ first sent forth His
twelve Apostles to the lost sheep of
the house of Israel to preach and to
heal, the chief argument on which
He based His command was: Freely
| have ye received, freely give This
same argument applies to us, total
abstainers. Freely, with little or no
merit, with little or no sacrifice on
| our part, we have received from God
the graCe-for grace it is-to see and
understand and embrace the gift, the
treasure, the blessing of total absti-
nence. Freely, too, and Zealously and
| generously we should strive to give
around us of it's benefits, to smoother
the way for it's triumph, by removing
prejudice, by taking every lawful
means to weaken the enemy, and even
| tually to rOut him. There is no dis
guising the fact, there is no denying
that this mission of the total abstain
er is difficult one. The demon of
intemperance, like those of other
| demons of old, has blinded mems
eyes, that they may not see the
raVageS he has wrought on the one
| hand, nor the blissful works of total
abstinence on the other and he has
deafened mems ears, that they may
not hear either the meanings of his
victims or the sweet voice of the
Saviour 1t is all very discouraging at
first sight, but we can and ought to
take heart from that subIimest of all
missions, that given by the Father to
His eternally begotten Son, and trans
mitted by Him to His Apostles and
Disciples