St Thomas High School - Thomist Yearbook (Rockford, IL)

Page 16 text:

Somehow or other in this emancipated day, even among those who are always traditionally respectful in their attitude toward ecclesiastical superiors, the word churchman may have an ominous sound. This is a world in which things and words become quickly standardized and the reputation of an entire class will be made to suffer from the estimate men make of its most poorly equipped representative. VVhole sets of men are, so to say, tarred with the stick of deprecation where only a small minority may deserve to be stig- matized. Therefore if the word church- man is not always and everywhere a popular term it is because to many in- telligences it bespeaks a crystallization, a rigidity and a general lack of sweet rea- sonableness. Now, historically, the title I12l churchman has a noble connotation-it has indicated constructive effort, of a very high order, great personal sacrifice, and a sense of nearness to the people. Hut in the America of card-indexes, loose-leaf ledgers, efficiency experts, vast programs discharged vicariously, outer offices where many serve who only stand and wait, even this term of respect suffers the implication of high voltage go-getting and is, to that extent, the child of this time. There is in the position of the ecclesiastical executive an added difficulty -for in the very nature of his place he has an entrenched position accompanied by very deiinite authority in things tem- poral and spiritual. There is indeed noth- ing alarming in all this of course. On the contrary it is one of the most encour- aging of things to discover, as discover one must who knows only a little of these matters, that so few churchmen, with these dangerous armaments in things spiritual and temporal, are carried away from their pristine fervor. VVhenever this temptation to become institutionalized and remote is manfully resisted by a churchman of episcopal rank, and a lively and sincere interest is retained in folks: when a brotherly con- cern and not a mere professional interest with fraternal terminology as a mask, is exercised toward the priests of the diocese: when a painstaking and unequi- vocal effort is made hy a prelate in all things to please all men that they may be savedl'g in short, in so far as he walks back in spirit to the moment when his Divine Master said ul have compassion on the multitudel' and hnds there the out- line of his method in living out the higli adventure of being a father in Godg-by that much is he a great churchman.

Page 15 text:

------- -- fe rf ' 'l i'1 Bishop Muldoon, As I also in all things please all men, not seeking that which is profitable to myself, but to many, that they may be savedfl l Cor. 10-33. To escape the dehumanizing influence of career, to resist the temptation to be- come an impersonal entity in the manage- ment of a highly organized group by exer- cising a genuine and constant considera- tion for the persons affected, must in com- mon honesty be conceded as something more than most leaders have managed to achieve. Not a few of the world's antag- onisms have for their breeding ground an unfortunate impersonality of contact-an impersonality that bespeaks to the aver- age mind the ominous threat of interpos- ing the imaginary line of caste between the executive head of a government or a business and those engaged in the minor agencies. It is hard to escape the convic- tion cherished by many minds, that when most men in executive or administrative positions announce that A line must be drawnf, they have in mind the line be- yond which the' rest of the race must not pass if they seem to remind their leaders that they too are human and therefore, all things else being justly observed, some- what amendable to the conventions of social contact. Everyone will no doubt grant that in the church, where social conscience is quickened by grace and where a vast The Cbzmbmme knowledge of human nature and its needs is acquired by discipleship in the school whose Divine Teacher the people heard gladly because He had compassion on the multitude, there should be a softening of the rigidity which obtains in the secular order where the gesture of fellowship from the superior to the inferior is ordi- narily a mere matter of policy and pose. There is a rather pungent epigram which indicates that f'Human nature is very prevalent. It has the quality of suggest- ing that perhaps something ought to be done about that. Most people believe, too, that if they are to look for any resist- ance to that stubborn fact they may look for it in the person of a churchman like The Right Reverend Bishop Muldoon, whose training and aspirations of service to humanity might be expected to soften some of the asperities in the lives of others. Certainly in the case of an ec- clesiastic, people may justly be expected to hope that the grace of God, a sense of proportion and a noble desire to serve them and- still remain one of them and one with them will exercise a salutary effect upon his character. lf God has vouchsafed him a sense of humor this also is a great asset. Plainly stated the pos- session of such qualities constitutes splen- did equipment-and with equal plainness it may be averred that the absence of them can be no small disaster. llll

Page 17 text:

'1-Z-e,,,,,, ,,,, , Q , Y , ,, L ,, Y , ,- 4 4 lt is not, indeed. enough that a great charity for the people and a consuming care for their salvation be the full extent of a Bishop's endowment or achievement -he needs something which, owing to the different forms under which it may be manifested, might seem different from this absorbing interest, but which in reality is an outgrowth of it. One must be of a sufficiently simple faith to believe that. He needs social vision, the uncom- mon gift of common sense, and a sheaf of other qualities. Someone has said that a Bishop must be a man who answers letters and suffers fools gladly. These other qualities are noted elsewhere with relation to the subject of these para- graphs, but just here it seems we must not depart from the conviction that per- sonal consecration to an arduous task is absolutely indispensable in a man whom one would honestly attempt to designate as a great churchman. Great business acumen and organizing ability are not, indeed, gifts to be flouted or minimized and when a churchman possesses them he can render a notable service to the cause of Christ-but failing in the highest type of personal devotion, forgetting that he must walk with kings nor lose the com- mon touch he falls short of eminence. And he falls short of eminence because it is exactly there in that unspectacular quality of the Shepherd's soul, genuine love for his people, that the vitality of his function resides. All else may pass away, but the Worcl that breathes into his heart across a span of 1900 years must not pass away. Secondary to this intimate dedication of self to the cure of souls in an eminent churchman should be a faculty for self- criticism, or to avoid the harshness which , M A A , 'E ,, is associated with that word, let us say self-examination and self-judgment. By that is meant the faculty of judging hon- estly the group of which the individual is an integral part and in the tradition of which his work is carried on. A distin- guished convert once said to the writer Bishop Muldoon has the best faculty of standing outside the Church and looking in of any man T have ever encountered. If there is anything the matter with the Church in America, Bishop Muldoon knows what it is-nor would he be afraid to voice his opinion. Human defects in- here wherever humanity carries on its work-but it is not usual to find an indi- vidual who is himself responsible for an important department in that work and who is not at the same time afflicted with that paralyzing discretion which fears to point out defects of method, the ulterior motives of some of its inspiration, or the general disabilities, predicated of bias, prejudice, and personal interest which mar the outline or halt the progress of that work-and this even at the highly personal cost of including himself in the indictment. To acknowledge an error of judgment, of practice, and to be willing to begin humbly again to work over the ground and submit to the discipline of so searching an experience-well, for that task, in any branch of human endeavor requires an honest man, a sincere man and a truly humble one. When the field of endeavor is the Church, where a cer- tain reverence and many cherished amenities would give pause to criticism from even a member of the hierarchy we may offer a sincere tribute, more preci- ous than conventional words of praise, to the Bishop of intellectual integrity, who mixes equitably in his nature the .... ....,.,... ...., N. ...... , ,.,.- . .,..,. ..,., . H ..,. , M .e ,,.. , ,e ., -E, fe' ' 1 A 'F 'f .... . -'ffif i I-'!a2e21:Si2s3f:i. 41: :sees-V :ssl-' ass. 'taizgsgersfzzfegfm as-, 'Rigs safe--1-.are!2s5'E:5sif ia5si::ff,: Y --'W e:asezv::15:':ggzea.. an M, 24242 4.1: - -, ff, 'xt '-yjf 'H ..,. as-If .VM 1 ,... 1fAt45f2-iff-122:21--.gifgr vdf A-1 Qiifi- QQ, 3::'l'?2 '2---if-----1-21---1-f.-1,-I IIS