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If the social reform that is being demanded on all sides is
to have any hope of success, it must begin with the reform of the
family. --Victor Cathrein, S.J. Franciscan Herald Press, Chicago 1938
To Christian
Fathers and Mothers, Husbands and Wives, and to all home lovers the
world over: This little volume is affectionately dedicated under the
patronage of the Supreme Models of the Christian home, Jesus Mary, and
Joseph.
Introduction
The world to-day
is full of reformers. Society, we are told, is sick with many ills, and
a radical remedy is imperative if the utter breakdown of Christian
civilization is to be averted. Yet, while the urgent need of reform is
quite generally conceded, there is a wide divergence of opinions as to
the proper means of bringing it about. As Catholics, possessed of the
divinely revealed truths that should regulate all human action, we know
that many of the remedies proposed for the cure of social ills are
inadequate, because they do not reach the root of the evil; and that
many a well-meant reform movement is foredoomed to failure, because it
is not based on the only true and solid foundation of all social
reform; namely, the principle that there can be no real, permanent
social justice and morality without private justice and morality; and
that there can be no enduring private justice or morality without
religion.
A Truism
So much is
agreed upon among Catholics: religion and morality must form the basis
of all true reform; and it is a truism to say that if all the
individuals that make up society were morally good and religious, the
ills that afflict society would disappear. It is furthermore agreed
among Catholics that the Catholic Church offers the individual all that
is necessary for leading a good life. Why then do so many of her
children fail? They have the true Faith; they have the Commandments,
which tell them what they must do and what they must avoid; and they
have the means of grace, prayer and the Sacraments, to help them to
avoid sin and practice virtue. Why, then, are they not all morally good
and religious?
The Sin of Adam
The fundamental
reason is simply that they do not choose to be so. Sin is apparently so
pleasant, at least for the moment, and the constant practice of virtue
is so hard, that men often choose the former in preference to the
latter. Even in Paradise, where all circumstances were so favorable,
Adam and Eve abused their free will by disobeying God. But in
consequence of that first sin of Adam, there exists in all his
descendants a strong inclination to evil, which makes the practice of
virtue still more difficult. And added to all this is the example of
the wicked world in which we live.
The Enemy Without
It is this
latter, the bad example of the world around us, which forms the great
obstacle to social reform even among Catholics. If man were merely an
individual living by himself, he would have only the enemy within to
fight against; but being a social being, destined by God to live in
society with others, he has also an enemy outside himself--the evil
example of many of those with whom he lives. How to overcome this evil
example is the great problem of social reform. It is easy enough to say
that the bad example must be offset by good example; but how and where
is the good example to be had?
Catholic Societies
Many there are
who say that since it is mainly social attractions that lead Catholics
into dangerous company and dangerous places of amusement, we must have
our own societies, our own social agencies, club rooms and recreation
centers, so that our people can satisfy their craving for company and
amusement in a harmless manner. While admitting that our people should
be provided with ample opportunity for healthful and innocent
recreation; while admitting, too, the importance and desirability of
Catholic societies, both secular and religious, and attesting that,
when properly conducted under proper auspices, such societies can do an
immense amount of good, I am nevertheless of the opinion that it is not
by means of these societies that social evils will be greatly reduced.
Let us have these societies by all means; but when we have established
them and made them flourish, let us not imagine that our task is done.
In all such societies something is wanting,--namely, the intimate daily
association of the members in all the important affairs of life.
The Best Catholic Society
Happily,
however, there is a society that has this all-important requisite; a
natural society in which the great majority of men spend their lives; a
society that is capable of exerting a lifelong influence on its
members. That society, dear reader, is the family. In the family we
have all the essential things that man requires as a social being for
his physical, moral and intellectual well-being and advancement. And
since the family rather than the individual, is the unit of society, to
reform society one must begin with the family. Restore religion to its
rightful place in the home; let religion direct, control and permeate
the family life, and not only will the individual have the safeguard he
needs against the evils of society, but society itself will be
transformed. This, then, religion in the home, is to my mind, the best
of all remedies for the reform of society; and the purpose of this
little book is to explain the remedy and to induce all Christian
families that can be reached to adopt it.
"For the love of our Savior, Jesus Christ, we implore pastors of souls,
by every means in their power, by instructions and catechisms, by word
of mouth and by written articles widely distributed, to warn Christian
parents of their grave obligations. And this should be done not in a
merely theoretical and general way, but with practical and special
application to the various responsibilities of parents touching the
religious, moral, and civil training of their children, and with
indication of the methods best adapted to make their training
effective, supposing always the influence of their own exemplary
lives." ---Pius XI, "Christian Education of Youth"
Continue:
Introduction
Necessity of Religion in the
Home
Prayer in the Home
Catholic Atmosphere in the Home
Good Reading in the Home
Harmony in the Home
Necessity of Home Life
Conclusion
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