Johnstown Central Catholic High School - Memories Yearbook (Johnstown, PA)

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REVEREND JAMES FXTZGIBBON DIRECTOR OF DRAMATICS REVEREND JOHN O,LEARY PROFESSOR OF RELIGION If we work upon marble, it will perish, If we work upon brass, time will efface itg If we rear temples, they will crumble into dust. But if we work upon immortal souls, If we imbue them with principles, With the just fear of God and love of fellow men, We engrave on those tablets something that will brighten eternity.

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FATHER CAWLEY'S MESSAGE TO THE GRADUATES 1 IIS N' TO this point in your educational experience, you have been laying foundations merely. From now on you must attend to the superstructure of your life. Thus far you have had the valuable assistance of efficient and selffsacrificing teachers. From here on you must, in a sense, go it alone. Your training has well fitted you for the task. See to it then that you build wisely and well. Build as on a rock, so that, when the storms come, as come they must, and the rains fall, as fall they will, your house will stand firm. Hold fast to the teachings that you have learned. There is a God, Who created you. You belong to Him, body and soul. His claims upon you must always come Hrst. Train yourselves always to be attuned to His Holy Will, even in the smallest details. There is a future life, which will never end. God wants you to spend eternity with Him in Heaven, in the enjoyment of infinite happiness, your reward for a life of faithfulness and devotion on this earth. You have a soul to save. If you lose your soul, all will be lost, even though you may attain great power and influence and wealth and fame. The only way in which you can save your soul is to keep God's Commandments, to obey His law. In your efforts to do this, you will have the constant assistance of Divine grace, which will come to you, if you seek it, from the Holy Spirit, through the Church, which was established by jesus Christ to guard the deposit of faith, to teach, to rule and to sanctify. Many other truths you have learned, but all stem from these, which are fundamental. Hold fast to these, and all will be well. You wonder why I stress principles which have formed the subject matter of religious instruction for you year after year. Two reasons motivate me. One you know, namely, that these truths are indispensable to your temporal and eternal welfare. The other you do not know, namely, the world, in which you must work out your salvation, most vigorously denies these vital principles, and denies them in such a way as to deceive, if possible, even the elect, and if the elect, then so much the more you, who are about to enter the world with the same admixture of inexperience and selffassurance that have spelled eternal ruin for many youth who have preceded you. For instance, the world will speak to you day after day about what is called the new freedom, urging you to break away from all restraint, but it will say nothing about personal responsibility, selffdenial and discipline. It will lay great emphasis on the rights you have, but it will make no reference to the duties you must discharge. It will tell you all about liberty, but nothing about the principle of authority, and little about obedience to law. It will tell you that religion is superstition, the opium of the people, that there is no moral law, no such thing as sin. With such a gospel, Satan, through his agents in the flesh, by means of the radio, the press, the stage and the screen, will seek constantly to ensnare you and to gain possession of your soul. 'LBe on your guard, therefore, behold, I have told you all things beforehand. CMark, XIII, 23D 'iStand firm and hold the teachings that you have learned. C2 Thess. II, 15D Strive constantly to improve the valuations that guide you and to elevate the pleasures that allure you, so that you may be effective interpreters of the harmony of Divine life, and that one day you may take your soul back to God, Who created it. Seek first the Kingdom of God and His justice, and all these things shall be given you besides. fMatt. VI, 33D GOD BLESS 'YOU

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FACULTY REVEREND THOMAS CAWLEY ............ PRINCIPAL REVEREED TICS SISTER MARY VINCENTIA, O. S. F ......... Mathematics SISTER MARY VIRGINIA, R. S. M. . . . English