CARDINAL GRIFFIN TELLS LEEDS C.P.E.A. RALLY
By a Staff Reporter " To end the present crisis we need first and foremost God's help. We need initiative and team work. All the planning in the world will be useless unless each individual plays his part."
In opening his speech the Cardinal said:
"All of us have been made aware, during the past two years especially. of the attacks made from withinand without against the well-being of our nation. It is the concern of every individual, and you members of the Catholic Parents' and Electors' Association have a very special part to play. First and foremost we have to exert every effort to bring' God back to His people and religion back to the country.
ARE WE ON GOD'S SIDE?
People sometimes ask themselves whether God is with them. There is a much more important question and it is this: are we with God 2 Are we on God's side ?
" Obviously, we always like to imagine that God ought to be on our side, but very rarely do we consider the more important question of whether we are on God's side.
Answering the question why men to-day suffer frustration, the Cardinal said it is because " men seek happiness where complete happiness is not to be found and so, as a result, they become all very unhappy. Man's soul will never be satisfied with merely material happiness and pleasure," he added.
As to how we are to overcome the present crisis and this sense of frustration, " We need," said the Cardinal, " first and foremost, God's help.
After the passage quoted above the Cardinal continued:
" We saw, during the war, how the whole country rose to a united effort in a spirit of sacrifice and of real hard work to win the war. This same spirit, I might call it of adventure, and of determination and of selflessness,' will be the greatest asset in securing prosperity at home and peace abroad."
'The Cardinal went on to stress ' the obligation that falls on all of us of carrying out what our Lord describes as the most important and first commandment.
"Unless this obligation is carried out in our individual lives and in public worship this nation will go into a decline.' warned the Cardinal.
FIVE THINGS TO DO Describing " these critical days" as " a challenge to every Christian man and woman," the Cardinal detailed five ways in which we may meet the challenge.
Firstly. we must not be " disillusioned or distressed. We are fighting God's battle and He will be with us in the forefront."
Secondly, there must be the greatest care in training children in the love of God and the practice of pryer.
Thirdly. a help to the last; the Cardinal urged the practice of family prayer, especially the family rosary.
Fourthly " as an act of divine charity " we must help those " who are privileged to have large families, which privilege often implies, in many cases, a heavy burden."
Fifthly, we must -make our religion part and parcel of our lives and not merely a Sunday practice. By doing this we shall bring the principles which Christ taught into our daily lives."