St Marys Academy - Chimes Yearbook (Philadelphia, PA)

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bered among her ranks many fine writers since early times. Who is going to retrace this path and rid the world of its chaos? There are few well- known Catholic authors today. Those most widely read are G. K. Chesterton and Hilaire Belloc. Thomas Merton, a young Catholic author, is not only gaining great prominence in literary circles but at the same time, is bringing Christian ideals to light. These are the people to watch so that we may follow in their footsteps. Through them, the young journalist will learn how to herald the cry for Catholic Action through the pen. From the condition of the world today, it is obvious that there are no real leaders, merely politicians. Without competent men to guide us, progress is at a standstill. The biggest mistake our leaders are making is leaving out the One through Whose help, we can win the peace. Without God we can do nothing. Only when the nation is led by able men who give due credit to God, can there be peace and unity among all peoples. Again, we use Webster to define the word unity , He says that it is the state of oneness or singleness. One is very small, but not an easy number to achieve. 'To begin with we must have unity of the family. If there is oneness in the family, the state will be as one and it will build itself into a single nation. We cannot expect other nations to have unity until we ourselves have attained it. This is the year of decision. This is the time when we must decide what we are going to do and how we are going to do it. We can reach a verdict only by uniting into a peaceful, God-loving body and by deciding on certain principles that must be carried outg also by building up men who can bear the brunt with courageous souls, men who turn to God when they know they need Him. We cannot count time by years but by progress. Let this be the year of construction rather than destruction. Let us tear down the foundation of the past year and begin to rebuild with God's help. Unless the Lord buildeth the house, they labor in vain that buildeth it. WHA T! Not Again WHAT A FASCINATING TITLE! And how well it fits into the woeful tale I have to tell of my own dear family and our hopes. What are they? Ah, dear reader, that is the trouble. We're beginning to wonder ourselves. You see, it all started last February when the moving bug bit us--as he so villainously does every two or three-years. But this time it was going to be different, so we thought! Our latest tactics called for an entirely new house. After all, there were certainly enough new houses being built and somebody had to buy them, so-why not us? fLater we were to say, But why us? j After dis- cussing the matter thoroughly, it was brought to a vote and unanimously agreed that we launch a search for a modern dwelling. We then set out. The search which followed is something I would rather not discuss, if you don't mind. Indeed, if any of you have ever gone through the same experience, I'm sure you'll understand. As PHYLLIS BEGGIN, '52 usually happens, after persevering efforts, we found our dream house -well anyway, a plot of land situated on Cottman Street, in the residential section of Mayfair. We stood around ecstatically when told that it would be constructed by june at the very latest--Hmn! Here is a brief summary of what has happened since that time. March-You'll be in by June. April- We'll start digging any day now. May- A period of damp, rainy weather which lasts until-. july- Hurrah, they've started! Our abode is a pile of dirt. ' ' August- Things are looking up. It's now a pile of rocks. i ' ' ' September- Almost finished and we should be in next month. . ' October-!S'till waiting, but they said we'll be in by November for sure. ' But ' ' 'I wonder ?

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Progress and World Peace WEBSTER DEFINES progress simply as a step forward, a brief definition but a mean- ingful one. Modern man, with all his marvelous inventions, feels certain that he has indeed made progress. With the advent of the Atomic Age have come amazing discoveries in medicine and other allied fields. New wonder drugs such as penicillin, streptomycin, and aureomycin have relieved some of the formerly incurable ailments of mankind. The door to atomic power, hailed by some as a Saviour of mankind and by- others as a diabolical machination, has been unlocked. The assembly line, as originated by Henry Ford, has greatly accelerated the output of manufactured goods. These and other examples are cited as proof that our age is indeed an age of progress. Yet, if one takes a closer look at the facts, it seems that for every step forward that man takes materially, he takes two steps backwards spiritually. Never before in history has the whole world been so morally decadent. Countries once Christian- France, for example-have crumbled because moral values have been discarded. In place of them man has adopted a code of mores or cus- toms that he has changed to suit his own individual needs. Divorce, an almost unheard of thing a century ago, is now tolerated and even advised on the flimsiest of grounds. So-called mercy killings are now considered humane practices. Slowly but surely, man is attempting to usurp rights which belong to God This he labels Progress. In trying to adjust himself to this changing world, man has formulated and furthered the growth of certain political and religious idealogies. The most powerful ones are the three isms -- Fascism, Nazism, and Communism. The first two have been conquered by democratic nations but the third has continued to grow and to grasp more and more nations in its deadly grip. Begun as a small movement, it has taken hold of the masses with a speed comparable only to the beginnings of the Christian religion. But where Christianity has raised the dignity of man to a level never previously reached, Communism has crushed it to a point where it is barely recognizable. Com- JANE RAFFERTY, '51 Par Hanrsoucx-r, '51 munism is a doctrine which is basically opposed to every thing that Americans believe in. Only now are the people of democratic countries beginning to combat it. How? Invariably, the method proposed is war. Nations seem to regard war as a universal panacea for the illnesses of the world. Yet, it appears that all the wars of history have not succeeded in bringing about that much desired elusive end-peace. In 1914, we entered a war which the President promised would safe- guard the world against all further attacks. What did it accomplish? Nothing. Did it bring about peace and security? No, for approximately twenty- five years later, the same country that we had conquered waged another war. Again we were victorious. As the popular saying goes, We won the war, but we lost the peace. Again today, the whole world is in the same muddled condition. On June 25, 1950, the United Nations made a decision to defend Korea. This move will have very serious repercussions. We offer as a perfect solution the greatest ism' of all-Catholicism. The cry for Catholic action is loud. More Christophers are needed to bear Christ's name to the waiting world. The fields of television, radio, journalism, politics and various others are wide open for new ideas, ideas that will raise man again to the dignity he first possessed. Who can do this better than those who know and abide by the moral law? Because of the great influence television bears on fascinated men, women, and children, what better opportunity is there to present Christian ideals than through this medium? But as we click that little knob what appears? Cowboys, murder stories, and variety shows. Nowadays, children, instead of playing house, imitate murderers. Is it any wonder so many people are mentally deranged and war- loving? Yes, this mechanism has its many dis- advantages but at a closer view it is not wholly bad. Perhaps by showing good example and knit- ting the family closer together it may aid in solv- ing some of the many world problems. Another field that has taken as many steps backward as forward is that of literature. The Church has led the way to culture and has num-

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Your specs can be your . . . WINDOWS 0F THE WDRLD NOW, YOU PROBABLY don't know me. I'm just an old country gent spending my life, what's left of it for me to spend, right here in Countrydell. And I've a little something I'd like to mention after a bit. Nothing special, mind you, but pull up a chair, and you might get interested. Folks around these parts are right nice. just plain, ordinary folks who live day after day, through sunshine and shower, but they mean well and usually manage to keep on the right of the Lord. We take great pride in our town. It's not very bigg I guess the population isn't any more than a hundred, if it's that much. We haven't any skyscrapers or big department stores, but jim Collins' General store suits us and we're happy with what we have. That jim Collins is a nice chap. He lets me set my rocking chair on the porch of the store and never bothers me-just lets me sit there all day a-smoking my old briar and dreaming, or else talking to the townfolk. There aren't many people in town today: they all went to Matt Rochson's place. He's going to demon- strate a new electric machine he got for milking his cows. I stayed right here on the porch. I figure that those new fangled ideas will bring city ways to our little town fast enough and I don't aim to rush out and meet them halfway. I prefer the country myself. That clean, fresh feeling in the air, a little brook a-gurgling somewhere near, and birds chirping in the trees on a still summer dayw yes-I guess that's as close to heaven as we'll get in this world and I don't like the idea of letting some giant of a locomotive come snorting in and spoil the dream. Well, that kind of takes me away from what I planned to say- I'm no philosopher but I've seen enough and heard enough in my life to help formulate a little common sense. There's no fool like an old fool, they say. Well, I am old, I've seen seventy-three summers already, but I like to think that I'm not a fool. Now I sit here every day looking out at the passing world through these glasses of mine and I see all kinds of folks--skinny, fat, tall, short, some happy, some sad. Some folks look a little worried, others look so serene you'd think that no matter what happened, they wouldn't blink an eyelash. What is it that makes people so different? Why do some always look so worried and fretful? JOAN GREIPP, '51 How can others go through life looking like they hadn't a worry in the world? Well, like I said before, I'm no philosopher, but I think I know the answers to these questions. I think that the biggest difference is sight. Now don't get me wrong-I don't mean that Hattie Frick is crabby because she needs glasses, or that the wrinkles between young Hank Jessup's eyes are from squint- ing and not from fretting over last month's chicken feed bill, no, I don't mean that. And I don't mean that a cheerful person is s'happy because he happens to have 20120 vision. Take me for instance. I wear glasses, I have to-can't see a thing without them-but still I'm happy. No, I don't mean eyesight when I say sight is the big- gest differenceg no sir, I mean something different. You take these people that have a kind of hind- sight. They're usually moaning about some drought or flood that happened years ago. These poor people look so far back to the past they forget the present and there is no future for them. These are the people that are always troubled. They just let life slip through their fingers. You might say their glasses are clouded with the things of the past and they can't look through them to see the sunshine of today. Next-are you still listening? I get to talking like this and just keep right on going. Light up a smoke if you wantg I always say a smoke helps a feller relax. Well, like I was saying--next are the people who always look happy. Now these are the folks with foresight. They get set for their tomorrows by doing today's job with a smile. That's good advice you know-take care of every today and you won't have to spend time worrying about the future. If something unexpected hap- pens, like as not they're ready to change their plans to fit the need. These people maybe don't have perfect eyesight but leastways they have their glasses on straight and clean 'n they get a good look at the world. Can't help wishin' more folks would use foresight 'stead of hindsight. Might make for a better world to live in. Funny isn't it, how you can take something like a pair of glasses and moralize on them? I wou1dn't be without my glasses though, no sir. I depend on them, you bet-I call them my windows of the world. I '