Catholic Problems in Western Canada

by George Thomas Daly

Are we in conscience bound to spread the true faith among our non-Catholic brethren? Most undoubtedly we are. The examples and precepts of the Master, the canons of the Church, the love of God and our neighbour, are among the pressing motives which should appeal to a true Catholic and make him zealous within the sphere of his influence.

"Thy Kingdom Come!" That prayer of the Lord, which has become our morning and evening prayer, is vain, if in the ordinary course of life we do not try to extend the boundaries of that spiritual kingdom in the very souls of those with whom we come in daily contact. Is not the light of our life to shine out so that it may serve as a beacon to those outside the Fold? But nothing is more striking than the words of the Good Shepherd: "And other sheep I have that are not of this Fold; them also I must bring and they shall hear My voice" (Jo. X., 16). Who could explain the profound yearnings of the Divine Master's heart and the deep feeling of obligation that are summed up in these words: "Them also I must bring." The Divine Shepherd finds Himself responsible for the sheep that are not of His own Fold and His only ambition is to bring them in.

This recommendation of Our Lord, His Church understood when in her Canon-law She makes it a duty for all bishops and priests to look upon the non-Catholics residing within the boundaries of their jurisdiction as recommended to them by the Lord and placed in their charge. (Canon 1350, No. 1.)

The Plenary Council of Quebec, the authoritative voice of the Church in Canada, is most emphatic in its recommendation of our separated brethren to the zeal of all Catholics. (No. 331)

The obligation of conscience to come to the help of our non-Catholic neighbour is moreover founded on the precepts of Christian charity. If Christ will condemn to Hell those who did not give Him to eat and to drink in the person of the needy, what will He not say to those who neglect the spiritual works of mercy. The activities of Christian zeal, to one who rightly understands the spirit of the gospel and the economy of the redemption, have the same binding force as alms-giving, and fulfill in the spiritual world the part charity has to play in the scheme of Christian economics.

The obligation of alms-giving is complementary to the right of property. For, as St. Thomas says, "It is one thing to have a right to possess money and another to have a right to use money as one pleases." (II. a, II. ae, Q. XXXII., art. 5, ad 2.) This duty when conscientiously performed re-establishes that economic and social equilibrium which strict justice alone is not able to create. For, the inequitable distribution of wealth greatly depends on the inequality of power of production. This inequality of natural gifts in man remains an unchangeable fact which faith alone in a Divine Providence can explain, an ever renascent problem which Christian charity only can solve.

This mystery of Christian solidarity reveals itself also in the spiritual world. We may say of each Catholic what St. Ambrose said of the priesthood: "Nemo Catholicus sibi,"—no one is a Catholic for himself alone. By a mysterious law of Divine Providence the conservation and propagation of the faith are, after Divine Grace, largely dependent on the influence of man on man. We are all verily "Our brothers' keepers." We are commissioned by Christ not only to keep the faith but also to hand it down to others, not only to keep its fire burning in our hearts but to spread it, and to fan it into a conflagration. The gift of faith implies the charitable obligation of weaving our belief into our every day life and, through that life and its influence, into the lives of others. The plenitude of some make up for the penury of others. If St. John, to urge the precept of alms-giving, said: "He that hath the substance of this world and shall see his brother in need, and shall shut up his bowels from him: how doth the charity of God abide in him?" (I. Jo. III, 17), with how much more truth cannot the condemnation of the Beloved Apostle be applied to one who, rich in Faith—"that substance of things unseen," makes no effort to help his brother who is deprived of it? Therefore charity, through its spiritual works of mercy, re-establishes the equilibrium in the spiritual realm and stands out as a vital factor in the economy of our religion. To understand rightly this principle and to reduce it to action, is to be a true and ardent apostle. Then, and then only, are we able to say in truth, with the martyr, St. Pacien, "Christian is my name, but Catholic is my surname."

How pressing is this obligation to be an apostle, to be truly Catholic, among our non-Catholic brethren? Why should we particularly turn the energies of our zeal to the conversion of non-Catholics? What special claim have they to our prayers?

The supernatural element of Faith, often the fruit of a valid baptism, which still lingers in the souls of many non-Catholics; the fact that numbers of them, because they are in good faith, belong thereby to the "Soul of the Church;" the rising tide of indifference and unbelief which is now burying under its water the last remnants of Christianity to be found among the conflicting creeds: these are the predominant motives which, according to the principles of St. Thomas Aquinas, should attract the preference of our zeal. For the order of the charity, says the Holy Doctor,[1] depends on the relations of those we love, to God and to ourselves, and on the urgency of their spiritual needs. By this doctrine, among those outside of the Church, those professing Christianity have the first claim to our apostleship. Therefore missions to non-Catholics, caeteris paribus, take precedence over foreign missions.

We all recognize the reality of this obligation and understand, vaguely perhaps, the burden of its responsibility. We all indeed, at times, say with the Divine Master: "There are other sheep that are not of this Fold; them also I must bring."—But, what have we done to bring them?