Christian Brothers Academy - Purple and Gold Yearbook (Syracuse, NY)

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PURPLE AND GOLD Page 15 The spirit of C. B. A. The day a young fellow enters C. B. A. appears to him the beginning of real life. A new idea of life seems to get hold of him. First of all he meets human teachers, men whose lives are pledged to God, for the service of the Catholic boy. I said human teachers because they are saints, scholars and sports and that's the kind of a combination we need teaching school nowadays. As the new boy goes through his Hrst few days he finds that it is part of the unwritten constitution of C. B. A. for everyone to say hello to the next fellow, and smile. The spirit of C. B. A. is found in every depart- ment of school activity. Daily, the boys receive religious instruction. They thereby learn the true basis of good conduct, the only way of personal happiness. In a body, the students approach the Holy Table on the First Friday. An annual retreat at the beginning of the school year sets aright whatever may have been amiss in the past. In studies, C. B. A. diverts that same enthusi- asm to activities that ennoble the mind. Any one who comes to C. B. A. must study or else he is told to go elsewhere. Public speaking, debates, student-teaching under the direct supervision of the teacher, are some of the activities that tend to give full play to the boys' capacity for personal work. C. B. A. is not a mill for athletes. It is primarily a Catholic school, bent on producing men who can use their souls and bodies for the noblest purposes, after the best training afforded by any high school in the United States of America. And the boys at C. B. A. are athletes. They are taught, very positively, to become enthusiastic over clean sport. All of C. B. A.'s teams are fighters but very clean fighters. In sports, we claim, for this year, championship teams in foot- ball and basketball. Baseball and tennis must yet speak for themselves. And win or lose, C. B. A. is there with the glad hand for all other clean sports whom she meets. The C. B. A. spirit is the despair of many. Many can not see how it is done. But it is done. And, with God's help, C. B. A. will always be great in religion, studies and sports-always going on, making men in the highest sense of the term. .IOHN GAFFNEY , Success There must always be a parting. After four pleasant years at C. B. A., we have reached our objective-graduation-and we must bid adieu to our Alma Mater and to our classmates. As we bid each other fond farewell, each wishes the other an infinite degree of success in the future. Perhaps there is no other question that we ask ourselves more frequently than, Will I be a suc- cess P We need not look for the answer for it is written in everyone's heart. The future holds nothing for us for which we are not responsible ourselves, since the Almighty has said As you sow, so also shall you reap. If we are sowing the seeds of religion and virtue, the answer to our question is, Yes 3 but if we are sowing the seeds of unbelief and vice, the answer is No . In a worldly sense we may achieve success, money, honor and fame, but is that success? Far from it, that kind of success matters but lit- tle. What does it profit a man if he gains the whole world and suffer the loss of his own soul. VVhat will our money and fame avail us when our body has returned whence it came, and our soul is heralded into the sight of our Maker? He will not regard our earthly veneer of riches and fame, but He will regard how pure we have kept our most priceless possession, our soul. Will He heed the number of hours we have spent in

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PURPLE AND GOLD Page 17 Success- amassing a huge fortune? XVill He notice how many men pay homage to us? No! But He will count how many hours we have spent in His ser- vice and to how many men we are charitable. If worldly goods will avail us nothing, we should Seek first the kingdom of God and all other things will be added unto us. Earning a money fortune should be a secondary motive, while amassing a spiritual fortune'should be our primary motive in life. ' If we strive to live up to the divine standard of success, we will be chosen as one of the elect on the day of judgment. Continued Let us, therefore, live up to the teachings of those noble Brothers who have imbued us, the truths of our Holy Catholic religion and the prac- tices of our faith. Even if we are in rags and hungry and the world calls us poor, if we have saved our immor- tal soul, we are a success. Although we cannot all achieve fame and fortune, we can all have the kind of success that will last for eternity and this is what we wish each other as we say good-bye. ' CARL HOFMANN -, Adversitg l The heart is like the earth. It has its periods of storm and peaceg days of cold and gloomy nights, sunshine and rain. Then, as like the earth, the budding of virtue and the birth of genius follows. Many who have reached the pinnacle of suc- cess have walked through the valley of trials and the woods of obscurity. 'They have enjoyed suc- cess, suffered defeat g days of prosperity followed by nights of adversity, their laughter turned into tears 5 their sanguine expectations chilled by dis- appointment. But stop and consider what these difficulties are doing for us. Their mission is to aid, not to hold back. They arouse talent and unfold virtue instead of confusing and saddening the mind and soul. Adversity trains the faculties, arouses en- ergy, develops ability, so that when trials sweep the soul, it is ready to grapple and succeed. Do we realize our resources, our ability? No. But when necessity demands we can come to the front and then we will realize our power. Our reserve power will then be found. VVith nothing to start the fire of ambition, to let loose our vir- tues, we will become a useless burden on society. If a man has nothing to cause him to use his rea- son and cunning, his force of mind, his genius, he will become but a drone in the hive of industry. But if he is stirred, jostled from his routine, amazed, surprised, hurt, he will awake and be- come a conqueror. just as the storm makes the tree hardy, firm against the elements and thus enables it to bloom into a beautiful spectacle, so does the storm of adversity help man. It gives him determination, courage, and enables him to succeed, thus gaining friends, followers, and admirers. Adversity evokes what is greatest and noblest in man. It stirs talents, arouses ambition, quick- ens enterprise, calls forth freedom and justice, enlarges the soul. It causes kindness, sympathy, purity and nobleness to blossom forth into won- drous beauty. When properly utilized, it makes for completeness in mankind. ARTHUR NICGUIRE