John Hugh O'Donnell

“ Standing in the silence and the loneliness of that place, reflect how trivial, how infinitely trivial and unimportant are the petty ambitions and jealousies and pains and pleasures of life, and as the sense of this universal emptiness grows upon you, reflect what a precious privilege it is to exchange the cares and heart burnings of life for that interior peace which was the sole possession of Jesus and Mary. Remember the beautiful promise of Our Lord that they who instruct others unto justice shall shine as stars in the Kingdom of Heaven. ”

“ Now, in order to bring the body into subjection so that the soul may enjoy the glorified life for all eternity, we must practice penance and mortification; which is just another way of saying that the cross is always with us. From the natural point of view, this is a hard saying. Being human, we instinctively shrink from pain, and even discomfort. It is not easy to accept the cross. Indeed, who can accept it without the help of Mary, who bore her cross so nobly? For a moment let us contrast the philosophy of the cross with the philosophy of the world. ”

“ No modern writer has expressed so well the true philosophy of life and death as the late and beloved Father John W. Cavanaugh, distinguished ninth president of Notre Dame: "Come with me then to God's own, to the last resting place where the great ones of the earth are sleeping their dreamless sleep. Stand in spirit beside these moss-grown graves and remember that the clods beneath your feet were once a human heart disquieted by the wild thirst for wealth or power or pleasure. ”

“ Without the soul the body is a lifeless thing—"for dust thou art, and into dust thou shalt return" (Genesis 3:19) . But the philosophy of the world does not believe in the soul. The philosophy of materialism takes many forms, ranging from the hedonism of the sun-worshipper to the pragmatism of the utilitarian, and all forms have this fault in common: they see man as a soulless automaton, self-made, sufficient unto himself, coming out of nothingness, and to nothingness returning. ”

“ Truly does the author of the precious little book, The Following of Christ, declare: "If, indeed, there had been anything better and more beneficial to man's salvation than suffering, Christ certainly would have showed it by word and example." And what creature knows the meaning of suffering better than Mary, His Mother? "And because of Our Lady God fell in love with humanity."
Mary stood at the foot of the cross on Calvary and saw her Son breathe forth his human life as an oblation to God the Father for the sins of mankind. She is the tender, loving Mother of Mercy. ”

“ To all who are maimed in body, or bruised in spirit because of the war; to the crippled and ill; to sinners who have put God out of their lives for some created thing; to boys and girls whose lives are before them with the temptations that may lead them from the path of happiness; to fathers and mothers oppressed with daily and heavy burdens as they struggle to maintain a home in which to rear children in righteousness; to all who are wearied and distressed, remember that we have a powerful intercessor and helpmate, if we but have recourse to her. ”

“ But what would the body of man be were it not for the principle that animates it? For it is the soul that gives it life. That soul is brought into being by the direct act of the Creator Himself. It is what makes man the image of God. The soul is immortal. ”

“ Since the soul sets man above and apart from all of God's other creatures, it is the supernatural life, the life of the immortal soul, that should be our first concern. It is this life eternal that we are striving for as we sojourn here in this our exile. Such is our goal, and as we strive to reach it, Mary is our helpmate and our mediatrix. In this sense she is our life, because she will lead us to God, the Source of Life.
Now, in order to possess God, man must follow in the footsteps of His Son. He must accept the way of the Cross as the Master does. ”

“ Instead of sun-worship, mankind must return to the worship of the Son—of God.
From Mary is learned the lesson of the body as the repository of the soul, the image of God. Recall the words of the Archangel Gabriel: "The Holy Ghost shall come upon thee:" That is, Mary's conception of the Incarnate Word was brought about by the Holy Spirit, Who also supported and strengthened her through all that the Incarnation implied. The very life of mankind dwelt within the body of the Blessed Mother, who was the Vessel of Honor, the Vessel of Singular Devotion. ”

“ But what concerns me is that so often the sun-bath is prolonged into a moon-bath accompanied by bodily pleasures that are ruinous not only to the body but also to the soul. Sin in some of its various aspects follows. The tragedy is that such cultists confuse the means with the end: in glorifying their bodies through obeisance to the sun, they are losing their souls by not recognizing the Creator of the sun, God Himself, their last end. For God sent His only Son to redeem men in order that they might become sons of God. ”

“ Consisting usually of an address, mainly expository, by one or another of America's leading Catholic preachers—though sometimes of talks by laymen, sometimes of dramatizations—and of sacred music provided by a volunteer choir, the Catholic Hour has distinguished itself as one of the most popular and extensive religious broadcasts in the world. An average of 100,000 audience letters a year, about twenty per cent of which come from listeners of other faiths, gives some indication of its popularity and influence. ”

“ Like the pagans, they offer their bodies to the sun, in the hope that the alchemy of its titillating rays will somehow enhance and ennoble them. In performing the rite, some get well browned. Others, we might say, go so far as to give their bodies to be burned—and coconut oil is no soothing ointment. ”