The Waterbury Democrat., 1931-01-22
Good Christians
BY REV LEONARD FEENEY, s. j..
(From America, The Catholic Weekly

1 its existence. And when I salute them as Good Christians I do so in no spirit of irony. do So with reverence and respect, and little | tinge of sandness.
 | I have never been privileged 70 meet young women more refined and gentle in their department, or more sringing Tn their natural goodness. They were ddessed with taste and simplicity. They wore plain felt hats that seemed to have come from the same bargain counter, and their lowered dresses, modest in pattern 1 and proportions, had something of l the charm of crinoline, the glory of gingham, and the homeliness of a kitchen kimono. Their complexions were innocent of all artifice. They were bedecked with the jewelry of the poor. Their voices were low and ladylike. One of them spoke with | the bewithing drawl of Georgia, the other with the sprightly accent of Illinois. They seemed wonderfully healthy in an unathletic way. It was not the health of a gymnasium (that | forced, :TferiOr sort of health that l destroys ones nicer sensibilities and turns ones brain into a bicep); it | was the health of wind and sun shine, of boating and bathing and roaming Tn the fields, the health If good appetite, a good conscience, and a good nights sleep.
 Their books and their baggage all bespoke the temper of their charac- ter. Their books especially interest ed me. They were good books, clean books; travel, biography, ethnology, educational essays, interesting and wholesome reading for interesting and wholesome minds. Their talk about .he countryside, the people, the customs, culture, art, cathedrais of Europe, was all intelligent and sympathetic, and full of nice obser- vation and generous impulse. They spoke of their work in Japan with a likea5le restraint. They were loathe to be called missionaries" pc cause the word seemed to smack of the heroic. They preferred to call " work" undertaken, they sad, partly in a spirit of zeal. and partly in spirit of adventure There were times when I suspected them of possessin", at least in few brief flashes, :he sublime virtue of hu mility.
 They were nose delicate and re- sourceful in avoiding any issue With me on the subject of religion. Not that I tried even remotely to force any, but it requires a great deal of tact to .a.lk in loose, watered terms about Christianity" and "the Chris a man who displays his religion in his clothes. But they managed it skilfully, and I evinced a real sym- pathy for them when they com plained of the bad influences ef- fected by American movies, Amer ican magazines, and even Ameri- can tourists. in destroying in the minds of the native Japanese the ideals of Christian modesty and Christian social behavior which the Y workers were trying to instil. l proud of the fact that Christian lad les of their type were giving the better features of our civilization at least some representative in the Orient. This small show of tolerance on my part thawed our small talks and melted it nearly to the point of authentic friendship. They seemed suddenly to breathe more freely and to cherish the fact that I had not been despising them in secret. And anxious to be generaus to me in re- turn, one of them unbent so far as to remark, almost with warmth, al I trace of cOndescension: You know have q friend who is a Catholic nun. She is Madame of the Sacred Heart"
 I expect always to remember the little cold chil! that ran down my spine at the mention of this name on her lips. In all my life I had never before heard Protestant speak of ''The Sacred Heart" In the present instance 1t was an icidental and of ficial use of the term to be sure. but it was none the less unusual and astounding. It was as though had seen MT Hoover bless himself; as though I had heard Lindbergh recite the Hail Mary; as though I had. lis- tened to the Salvation Army singing the Tantum Ergo.
 With this shock for a start, I had only to close my eyes and allow all sorts of strange things to happen in my imagination. I began to pie ture how goodness could be trans muted into saintliness in the lives of these two young ladies who sat across the aisle. if only they could discern .h their Messiah any traces of the real Sacred Heart.
 If only their pleasant philosophers.