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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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