Every time I log on, it takes me a good ten minutes to come to terms with the great privilege to have a blog named Catholic Scout. I go on and read over my last article, and I cannot help but sit back and wonder at it. Then I get stuck, what can I say? Well the silence is broken.
For me Catholicism and the principles Lord Baden Powell set down in his book Scouting for boys go hand in hand. Yes, his imperialism is antiquated by modern-day standards, but I cannot but help having a certain admiration for it.
Baden-Powell had a sense of service to a greater good, of legitimate and organised authority, that every man has a unique place to occupy in the world. It reminds me much of Monsignor Gilby’s book We Believe, such a faithful and accurate expoundation of Catholic teaching.
The Catholic Social teaching as Monsignor Gilby explains in his book We Believe is one of the most beautiful things that I have ever read. I had no idea. In a world where if one can get something, even to the detriment of another, then so often one does. The scouts mentality is very different; “how can I serve” as opposed to the “what can I get” attitude and that is so close to the ideal of Catholic social teaching.
How precious are these books, where a mans mind is preserved for generations, generation where these ideals and indeed the ever-so-important living examples are no longer found. Thank you Monsignor Gilby, Michael Davies and Lord Baden-Powell for being guides amid the encircling gloom.
Catholic Scout 