The Catholic bulletin. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1911-1995, 1922-12-16
Sermon By The Bishop Of Duluth

thing in them which those outside thel
Church cannot explain, but which wei
know comes from their religious train
ing and from their formed religiousII
characters; women who sincerely Lowell
their neighbors, and in whose conver4lI
|sation the law of Christian charity ISL
never transgressed, either by detrac-aI
ton or calumny; women who in their|l
social lives will have the courage toll
refuse to associate with divorced perl
sons, no matter how high their stand-l
ing in society; women who wills bel
brave enough to voice the Church's spo-
sition regarding the sanctity OF mar
riage and the blessings of motherhoodsl
in the presence Of those who advocated
the hideous practices Of paganism. In 4
a word, Catholic women, whateverl|
their social position, should be- mark
ed women by reason of their unswerv-l
ing allegiance to their Catholic print
ciples.
Simple Standards of Living.
Catholic women of the United States
must make demands for more simple
standards of life. American life has
become too complex. and the complex
ity is about non-essentials. In the last
analysis, there are but few real ne
cessities for corporal life. We need
| fresh air to breathe; we need whole.
some food; we need shelter; we need
raiment: we need restoring sleep and
healthfui relaxation and recreation;
we need sufficient provision for old
age. All the completely Of life in
America is developed about these ma
iterial considerations, about pleasures
and comforts. Cannot our Catholic
women, by holding up simpler stand
lard, show tr1ler ideal OF womanhood,
cannot they show that material things,
pleasures, comforts, are means, not an
lend in themselves? ne
Too little time is given to real solid
intellectual development and to the
demands of the soul seeking perfec-
ton. There should be a greater num-
Der of scholarly Catholic women who
have been trained in Catholic philoso-
ply. More women living in the world
as devoted wives and mothers should
Interest themselves in mysticism and
the things of the higher spiritual life.
You are not called upon to be a St.
i Catherine of Sienna, nor Catherine
Emmerich, but it is possible for each
lone of you to enrich her life immeas
urably by giving more time and con-
federation to the things of the spirit.
AS representative Catholic women,
lyou are expected to make use of many
opportunities to become both sanity
land scholarly. Membership in the Ma
4 tional Council Of Catholic Women can
igiye you the vision of imperialists in
the Kingdom of Christ May that
membership make you more firm in
4 the faith, and more enthusiastic about
iyour opportunities to serve the
Church, translating your enthusiasm
into deeds.
4 Americanization.
4 Your organization can help greatly
in the work of characterization. /
fventure to think that in this we waste
too much time in trying to prove that
we are patriotic. The President of
the United States knows that our
country has no more loyal citizens
than Catholics: the members of the
4 Federal Congress >and the state Off
Gals throughout the nation know how
genuinely patriotic Catholics are, and
lever have been. Every honest inquir-
4 er can ascertain conclusively the
quality and extent of our patriotism.
The fact of our patriotism can be
proved as clearly as the existence of
the City of Washington. May we not
more profitably do two things that will
force others to recognize the patriot
ism Of Catholics? First, let us have
confidence, patriotic confidence, in our
selves as citizens of the United States.
Let us insist that every Catholic cit
lien cultivate and experience in him
Isef this confidence. We should al
low no citizen, no group of citizens, to
treat us patronizingly, as though they
had a brand of patriotism superior to
] ours. Every Catholic man and WON
an should feel this confidence, should
help to make his fellow Catholic cit
liens experience it. This commend
able confidence should make Catholic
women resolve to use the ballot on all
occasions. There is not the remot-
i est suggestion to be made as to par
ty affiliations or candidates. But our
Catholic women should vote always,
and according to Conscientious judy.
tment.
4 Secondly, we should urge all the
Catholic children of the United States,
Il whatever be the nationality OF their
parents, to cultivate great love for
1.-THE English language. Could we not
offer thousands of substantial annual
sfprizes to the children of our foreign
born citizens to stimulate their inter.
! est in the study of English? Our sue.
cess, am sure, with the children of
those whose mother-tongue is not Eng
fish. win be extraordinary II we but
perfect an organization to give them
the necessary encouragement Let
our next generation of children Of for
| eign-born parents Poles, Italians,
French, German, Jugo- and Czecho-
q Siavs, and all the nations of the world
here gathered feel that confidence
| (which perfect command of the Eng
lish language will give them. Your
Council may be able to give great en-
tcouragement to this study.
Il / - = r