The Catholic bulletin. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1911-1995, 1920-05-29
A DOLLAR EVERY SUNDAY.

Inc following dlalOgu is a good
illustration Of how little some
Catholics realize the increasing
needs of the Church.
In the rOtnnda of the Hotel La
Sale, Chicago, New World man
found a group who We're dis
cusslng the Laymen s Convention,
which had just concluded. Bishop
Schrembs closing address. in
which were outlined plans of the
National Catholic Welfare Coun-
Gil for a country wide organiza-
ton of men, was the particular
topic.
Its great stuff but how is all
this to be done,' asked one pros
porous looking man, a La Sale
street fnancier.
"Well, that s up to the organi-
zation,' said another, with a "Let
George do it, air and an ease
ease acquired from much "passing
the buck.'
"No, it's not, - said a third, Mr..
Frank NJ. Sullivan, a mining man
from Seattle. cts up to u.s.
"Well, | don't SEQ began the
shifty gentleman.
"You ought to-" broke in the
aggressive Westerner. "Look here
now, turning to the La Sale
street man, GLOW much did you
put on the plate in church last
Sunday ?"
The fnancier smiled, "You
don t get me-" he said. Il hap
pen to be one Of those who don t
think it too much to drop a dollar
occasionally.''
"Put it there" said the mining
man, YOU'RE after my own heart.
But, why the occasionally? Why
not every Sunday?' %
EVERY Smday,' repeated the
financier. Ism t that coming too
strong?'
"Not a bit,' said the Seattle
delegate. "Think again. What
does a dollar get you down town
here today. You spent two dol
lars on each Of us for that lunch
you treated us to. | gave a half
dollar each for those cigars we are
smoking. 1t costs us eight dollars
for the room | occupied here last
night, for six all too short hours.
Why, that waiter to whom you
gave that seventy cent tip at lunch
would have been insulted had you
offered him what you well-to-do
Chicago fellows drop on the plate
in Church on Sunday"
"That's all right" said the La
Sale street man, "but we re doing
our share by the Church. We give
at Christmas and Easter. And we
drop our coins every Sunday, same
as we always did"
"That's the point,' the West
erner said, "you re doing what
you always did. That's right. But
what you always paid for your
lunches and for everything else in
life doesn t go any more, does it {?
Prices have gone up. You pay the
increased cost because you realize
this fact. Don't you think costs
OF church maintenance have gone
up as we'll? You cant find a place
to spend your nickels and dimes
here in the loop, so you save them
for Sunday to drop on the plate.
Now, you fellows are not pikers
by any means. But [ can It under
stand why men Of your means and
position in life continue to dump
your chicken feed on the Church. -
81 guess it s because we haven t
given enough thought to the mat
ter,' the Seattle man went on.
"In the old days when many Of us
worked for a dollar or two a day
we dropped our nickels and dimes
on Sunday. We still have that
habit. And it, time we lost that
small change habit, if we expect
our Church to get anywhere in our
service today. We offer the priest,
who is trying to reduce the debt
on our parish church, what a
negro porter or waiter would
throw in our faces. We'd be
ashamed to give that small amount
even as a tip. Yet somehow in
church a nickel looks big. But
the time when a nickel in the box
on Sunday would satisfy our fnan-
cial obligations to religion for a
whole week has gone"