Below is the OCR text representation for this newspapers page.

PAGE 4—THE BULLETIN, March 22, 1958. JOSEPH BREIG Dr. Peale: Apologies, Thanks It seems hardly necessary to say that often I do not see eye- to-eye with Dr. Norman Vincent Peale. But that needn’t deter me from thanking him publicly for the rollicking pleasure I derived from a phrase he used not long' ago in a mag a, z i n e piece. I did not see the article, but somebody told m e about i t, and I went around all day with my funny bone vibrating in response to the passage in which Dr. Peale. with a marvelous air of literary inad vertence, spoke of Protestants, non-Protestants and Jews. Of course Dr. Peale had his tongue mischievously in cheek, and rightly so. Ten thousand times in the past, he must have resisted, with who knows what gigantic wreslings with his con science, the temptation to give expression, at least obliguely, to the annoyance felt by many Protestants over the use of the word “non-Catholic” by Catholic writers. j 4 tffiWW I AM HONESTLY GLAD that Dr. Peale at long last succumbed. I congratulate him upon yields ing to a long-suppressed and in nocent desire. We Catholic jour nalists had this verbal ear-box ing coming to us. And its com ing gives us an opportunity to say that many of-us recognize, deplore and helplessly struggle against the maddening inade quacy — and yet handliness — of the term “non-Catholic.” We realize that nobody can ac curately be characterized simply* as “non” -— not though the list of nons be lengthened until it fills shelves of books. There are countless things that any human being isn’t; but to refer to him in that negative way is to fall disgracefully short of describing him. What is of far greater im portance is what he is. To be humorous about it, Protestants — and Catholics too — are non-voodooists. They are; no n-polygamists. They are fion- Hottentots. They are non-fire- worshippers. They are non- Lotus-eaters, non-pagans, nop- Stoics, n o n-fatalists, n 0 n-ani- misls, non-pantheists and non cannibals. But we could go on for endless pages in this way without a mile of saying what a; Protestant or a Catholic is. PROTESTANTS BELIEVE IN GOD. They believe in the Trini ty. They believe in Christ. They believe, most of them, in the fall of man and the redemption; in divine help for our needs of soul and body; in the efficacy of prayer; in the Scriptures as writings inspired by God; in the Ten Commandments, and so on It has been my happy expert . ence,' furthermore, that almost all the ' Protestants I have met in a reasonably long lifetime not only believe in, but practice with heart-warming constancy love of neighbor and any num ber of other magnificent virtues. To dismiss such splendid peo ple with a cart-sounding word like “non-Catholic” seems arbi trary, capricious, - thouhgtless and ill-mannered. I myself swore off the term some years, ago after somebody had told me — what I should have guessed — that many Prot estant (and Jews also) found it offensive. And yet I must beg Dr. Peale’s indulgence for those of my colleagues who still use it. It is one of those words for which there ought to be, but isnT, a handy ; substitute. I have found its abslnbh from my vo cabulary confoundedly awkward. HOW, FOR INSTANCE, is one| to avoid the term is some such .sentence as “there is a tremend ous amount of good will toward Catholics among non-Catliolics in this country,” when one means not only Protestants, but Jews and those of no particular, denominational persuasion? I suppose it could be done; but it might involve some remarkably clumsy eircumlocuting. Nevertheless, I promise Dr. Peale that I will continue to avoid the word like the plague. I assure him, further, that Cath olics who do use it have not the faintest thought of being in- vidiuos or offensive. The term to them, is simply a-verbal de vice that, saves time fLd spkee. B Meanwhile, I repeat that I ami grateful Jo Dr. Peale for the j sheer joj? 1 got out of his telling use of “non-Pptestant.” It was one* of the* neatest literary strokes of tb,e year. . Theology For The Layman S TRANG Little-Known E BUT T R U By M. ]. MURRAY Facts for Catholics Copyright, 1958. N.C.W.C. News Servk* E Soviet Penetration Of Latin America (By F. J. Sheed) When I was very new as a street-corner speaker for the Catholic Evidence Guild, a ques tioner asked me what I meant by ‘spirit. I answered “A spirit has no shape, has no size, has no color, has no weight, does not occupy s p a c e.” H e said “That’s the best defi nition of noth- ing I ever heard.” Which was very rea sonable of him. I had given him a list of things spirit is not, with out a hint as to what it is. In theology spirit is not only a key-word, it is the key-word. Our Lord said to the Samaritan woman “God is a spirit.” Un less we know the meaning of the word spirit, we do not know what He said. It is as though He had said “God is a —Which tells us nothing at all. The same is true of every doctrine; they all include spirit. In theology we are studying spirit all. the time. And the mind with which we are studying it is a spirit too. We simply must know what it is. And I don’t mean just a definition. We must master the idea, make it our own, learn to handle it comfortably and skill fully. That is why I shall dwell upon it rather lengthily here. Please do not, lose patience. I know you are longing to get on to the great doctrines. So am I. But slow careful, thinking here will pay dividends later. This series is not planned as a hand- gallop over the field of revela tion. It is an effort to teach the ology. We begin with our own spirit, the one we know best. Spirit is the element in us by which we know and love, by which therefore we decide. Our body knows nothing; it loves nothing' (bodily pleasures are not enjoy ed by the body; it road s'to theih (Continued on Page Five) ! Jottings. (By BARBARA C. JENCKS) Q. Why is fasting especially associated with Lent? A. Fasting is recognized by the Church as one of the chief means of Lenten mortification because the practice is one of the most natural, salutary, and effective modes of daily pen ance, and was recommended as such by the Apostles to the early Christians. The New Testament practice of fasting was foretold by Our Lord Himself in a dis cussion with the disciples of St. John: “But the days will come when the bridegroom shall be taken from them, and then they shall fast.” (St. Matthew IX: 15) The words, “then they shall fast,” point not only to a time, but also to the reason why they will fast; i.e.; their fasting will not be like the fasting prescribed in the Old Testament, but will have a special relationship to Christ’s own passion and death, from which its efficacy will de rive. Q. Does medicine break ihe fast? What about vitamin pills? A. Medicines do not break the fast, even though they are not prescribed. Thus, liquid medi cines, cough drops, lozenges, cold pills, vitamin pills and aspirins are all permissible. Q. I am an adult bound to fast. If I have a very light breakfast throughout the year, must I eat a lighter breakfast during Lent? A. As regards the meals them selves, the law stipulates that there be one full meal. Two oth er meatless meals are allowed, but together they should not equal another full meal. There is no directive to cut down on any specific meal ex cept in so far as the two lesser meals tend to equal the main meal. No matter what the con ditions, moreover, if one cus tomarily partakes of a very light breakfast (juice, coffee, and toast) lie does not have to eat less during Lent. Q. What is meant by "Phari saical scandal"? A. “Pharisaical scandal" is present when the innocent or in different action of a person is maliciously misconstrud by an- (Continued on Page Six) • THE CENTENNIAL of the feast of Our Lady of Lourdes will not soon be forgotten by this columnist. Would that every day of my life could he like unto it. Somehow when in Europe, I missed visiting France’s great shrine. In truth, I did not give too much thought to either Bernadette or Lourdes in those days. I had read, of course, the book of the Jew Franz Werfe and seen his movie, “Song of Bernadette.” I went and visited Ireland’s Marian Shrine at Knock and called it a day, by passing Lourdes. It wasn’t until I came to Notre Dame thhl I began to appreciate both the great French Shrine and the lit tle French' saint:' Notre Dam# was founded in 1842 by a French priest who never, dreamed his college would be immortalized today by the “Fighting Irish” spirit rather than that of the praying French. He loved' Our Lady so much that he called his college ‘Notre Dame’ and he built the greatest Lourdes shrine found in the New World. In 1873, only 15 years after the Lourdes apparitions, he began to plan the grotto at Notre Dame ydiieh is a replica of the one in France. This has become one of the strongest and deepest-rooted of Notre Dame traditions, Visitors from across thePnation Visit this' grotto but it is the men of Notre Dame who have made it such an inspirational center. To and from classes, they; kneel Imre to light a candle and say a prayer. On football days, "the' grotto"is ' mobbed with those praying for victory and in May there are services conducted here each evening for the student body •— several thousand men strong. Sweethearts have become en gaged here and cures of body and sou! have b@en accomplish ed. On the Feast of Lourdes; thousands visited here and knelt in, deep snows,to hondr the lit tle girl and “her beautiful lady.” • ALTHOUGH. I couldn’t travel over to France for the centennial and make up for the visit I massed in 1954, I could travel across the road to this grotto. (Incidentally the news papers reported that Americans and the Irish led centennial pil grims in number at Lourdes.) I went over to the Notre Dame grotto in the early morn ing in sub - zero weather. There were four of us, two nuns and two lay people. We recited the rosary and said the prescrib ed prayers as the snow fell fast and we looked up at a snow crowned statue of Our Lady. Bernadette and her shrine hard ly a century and ocean and con tinent removed. It was now and here. During the day, I talked to a Frenchman whose great-grand mother had been at Lourdes in 1858 and seen Bernadette during an apparition. I also talked to a woman who 15 years before had been cured of cancer through Lourdes and I heard a priest who had only recently been cured, preach a sermon. It was day filled with meaning and devotion,, • IN THE MORNING, there Was the Mass in the college chapel sung by the nuns. All was white — the vestments, the altar, the candles, the flowers, the veils of the students — out side all was white with deep v snows hiding the dark earth and the trees for the feast of Mary “who was conceived without sin.” In the big Church of Our .Lady of Loretto in the heart of our campus, a high Mass was .sung in mid-morning by the stu dents. What: a sight to see 1,000 young women turn out in honor of Our Lady and sing her praises, The priest who preach ed that sermon had been cured » the summer before at Lourdes and his sermon was moving, preached as it was in humility and sincerity. Like myself, he. had not always been a devotee of Lourdes. He had been struck down so that he might find out. I was more fortunate 1 was daz- rled and stunned by the message in the centennial year. • LATER IN THE afternoon, I traveled back across the road • to Notre Dame to attend a pon- ^ * ,,, -pou^O. are 7ivo -■w . oj %vhonS of St Thiers fasforal Staff are in Limburg Cathedral & Gdoqne Cathedral, QernvmydUntd ihe Trench solution it teas preserved, , ^ "TfeOes Cathedral, Armagh library, IRELAND, HAS THE INSCRIPTION *.r tfgDICMBSHOP v IN GREEK. OVER THE MAIN DOOR,. ^ Aur EARW IS™ CENTURY ofwe H° LV oV / 'A oaS COI'H’INED TO THE <A0 5 £flVORDER,WHERE SniN. , 6- ST JOHN CAPISTR^ . ^V’oWOTiOd 300 SHARING OUR TREASURE Two Great Convert Apostles By REV. JOHN A. O'BRIEN, Ph. D. (University of Notre Dame) Did you ever hear of a person winning f.841 converts? Proba bly not. Yet that was the num ber : by Monsignor John A. Gabriels, pastor of the Church of the Resurrection in Lansing, Michigan, b y t h e time h e celebrated the golden jubilee of his ordina tion in June, 1957. Beloved b y his flock, he is univer sally esteemed for his leadership in every worthy civic.movement. Averaging 37 Converts a year, he is still going strong. How re markable his achievement is be comes evident whe one recalls that the national average for priests in 1956 was 2.8 converts, His secret? Inquiry Classes three nights a week throughout the year — four complete courses — announcements made from pul pit and over the radio, and zeal ous lay recruiters. Outstanding among these is Joseph W. Kutchey, 231 N. Clemens Ave., advertising man ager of the Lansing Industrial News, who brought 28 persons for instruction and saw them all baptized. He stood as god father for many, and after their reception continued to serve as a Big Brother for all in the prac tice of their faith. “I’m a World War I veteran,” began Mr. Kutchey, “and I went with Howard Long to the Vet erans’ State Convention in Lan sing. Howard mentioned that he tifical Mass on the campus in Sacred Heart Church in honor of the anniversary. The church was thronged, mostly by college men whose deep resonant voices sang out during the Mass. Sev eral thousand college men with their crew cuts and lumber jackets and gray flannel slacks, all kneeling as the memory of a little peasant girl is recalled is a sight not easily forgotten. Neither was the sermon of Bis hop Pursley of Fort Wayne. The Bishop said “Bernadette was the daughter of a pauper, an ignorant girl, a nobody in world affairs. She was chosen because Mary is the Mother of Him who came to be a sign of contradic tion, to expose the empty pre tension of pride and place, to reserve the false values of the world, to manifest the mysteries of His kingdom to little ones and hide them from the wise and great.” This little girl with no college degree, no particular attractiveness, no background, so to speak, has caused thou sands upon thousands in the past hundred years to pause on their avenues and paths — professors, bishops, cardinals, scientists, sociologists, architects, surgeons, artists, writers, the great and the small; the rich and the poor; the learned and simple. She had done what few could do in mak ing these thousands bend their knees and bow their heads be fore the sovereignity of Al mighty God. She reminds us in the words Our Lady “I do not promise to make you happy in this world, but only in the next.” I hope I shall never forget the day in the years which remain or that I shall never become deaf to this lesson of Lourdes and the saint who was born there. —— SPECIAL HOLY WEEK PROGRAM HOLLYWOOD, Calif., (NO— A special broadcast in observ ance of Holy Week will be pre sented on Marian Theatre on March 30. Screen star Dan O’Herlihy will be featured in a reading from Sacred Scripture on the Passion and Death of Christ. The program will be heard over the Mutual Network at 10 p. m., E.S.T., and 7 p. m., P.S.T. Marian Theatre is produced by Father Patrick Peyton, C.S.R., founder of the Family Rosary Crusade. THE BACKDROP was a non-Catholic Sunday school teacher, while his wife was a Catholic. I told him it would be worth while to look into the Catholic faith not only for the unity of his family life but also for his own spiritual welfare and happiness. “I explained that Monsignor Gabriels had public Information Classes three nights a week and offered to come with him. That clinched it. Little by little the picture began to dawn on Howard that his denomination came into existence only 16 cen turies after Christ had founded His Church. “This was a revelation to Howard, for like most non-Cath- olics he labored under the illus ion that his denomination went beck to Christ. This was the be ginning of the end for him. At the end of- the course he was re ceived into the Church and I was his godfather. His joy on receiv ing Holy Communion was too deep for words. “At the end of a retreat at Manresa I learned that Dr. Wil fred Laine was a non-Catholic, though his wife was a Catholic. I had . a long' talk with him and suggested that he take a com plete course of instruction in the Catholic religion. But he said he didn’t feel quite ready. “ I dropped in on him from time to time, and told him I would be glad to go with him to one of Monsignor Gabriels’ In formation Classes whenever he felt interested. Finally he ac cepted. He was greatly impress ed with the friendly, clear and logical exposition. Then 1 tipped off his wife that it would be well for her to come with the doctor. “This she did and it helped immensely. The doctor is today one of the best informed Cath olics in Lansing and is a real apostle. “My most memorable convert is my wife, a convert since 1918. I find that it is always helpful to offer to go with a prospect to the instruction, and if he has a Catholic wife to encourage her to attend also. It gives persons a feeling of security to realize that someone is interested in their religious welfare.” How true! Few will come alone. In Winning Converts, Uni versity of Notre Dame Press (35c), Monsignor Gabriels tells tiie whole thrilling story of how with help of lay recruiters and God’s grace he has won nearly 2,000 converts. That pocket hook will help every Catholic to win a convert each year. So captivated are the Ameri can people at the moment by the new sweetness-and-light cam paign emanating from Moscow that they have been overlooking a serious Soviet threat at our very doorstep, . in the south ern half of the Western Hem- : isphere. Not even the State Depart ment seems to: be aware of the scope of Soviet activity or of the decline in American prestige south of the Rio Grande. While our gov ernment has been striving — with little success — to thwart Soviet penetration in the Middle and Far East, it has been taking for granted the friendship of Latin America. We took alarm, it is true, when the communists got a strangle hold on Guatemala and poured in aid to help the anti-commu nist forces oust the Red-oriented regime. But once that was done, we settled back, confident that the communist threat in the Western Hemisphere had been thrown back. PARTY GROWTH Merely because the Reds had not yet seized control in any other South American country, we assumed that communist in fluence must be slight. We over looked the growth of the native communist parties in many Latin American countries, al though our intelligence agents were faithfully reporting what was going on. They were telling their superiors in Washington, By JOHN C. O’BRIEN for example, that from a group of 25,000 in 1947, the communists in Brazil had grown to a party of 100,000 by 1956. We should not have been sur prised, therefore, by recent de velopments indicating that our famed “good neighbor policy” was collapsing from neglect. In elections in . Guatemala and Ar gentina we saw that the way for a candidate to win the presi dency was to campaign on an anti-American program. The rise of anti-American feeling in Latin America, could have diastrous conse quences for the United States. That part of the world, as the Kremlin weir knows, is of prime importance to us as a supplier of essential raw materials. From 50 to 90 per cent of our imports of 15 critical raw materials re quired for national defense come from below the Texas bor der. If Moscow can deprive us of these, then victory in the competitive co-existence strug gle is assured for them. In return for the dollars we have been spending for raw materials, the South Americans have been good customers of the United States. Next to Can ada, Latin America absorbs more American capital than any other part of the world. By the end. of last year, United States direct investment in the 20 republics south of the Rio Grande amount ed to $8,400,000,000, or Trie- third of our investment abroad. SOVIET TRADE Yet, despite this heavy invest- , ment of American dollars, one of the chief complaints of the Lat in Americans is that we are re luctant to make long term loans so that they may develop their own resources. As might be expected, they would like to build their own indust ries instead of having Ameri can capital do it mainly for the benefit of Americans. At a recent economic confer- ence in Rio de Janeiro, called to : promote economic co-operation; between the two hemispheres, the American representatives threw cold water on Latin American suggestions for loans ' for industrial development. A re quest by Brazil was turned down, reportedly because the Brazilian government proposed to undertake an industrialization project. Rebuffed by the Americans, the South Americans have been turning reluctantly to the Rus sians who have offered to ac comodate them on terms of their own choosing. As a result of these economic contacts, Soviet trade with Latin American has doubled in the last five years. The Russians are now waging a frontal, economic attack with offers of oil drilling, refinery and other industrial equipment in return for raw materials. Hand in hand with these ex panded trade relations has gone deep communist penetration into some of the southern republics. The next Soviet move undoubt- / edly will be to try to establish . econpmie and technical missions to further increase Latin Ameri can dependence upon the Soviet orbit. Who Is An Alcoholic? This We Believe (By FATHER LEO TRESE) As a rule, the path that leads to success is pretty well strewn with thorns. The plight of the alcoholic is one that affects all of us in one way or another. The compulsive drinker whom we classify as an alcoholic is a problem, not only to himself, but in varying .de grees to his wife and children, to; his relatives and friends, to his employer or employees,! to his fellow workers, to his com munity. ' : In discussing the problem of alcoholism we first need to be clear as to the meaning of term, Many people have the mistaken idea that an alcoholic equates with a Skid Row character; that he is a besotted and wretched specimen of humanity, a man who deliberately tramples upon the finer things in life. Another misconception is that everyone who drinks heavily is by that very fact an alcoholic. The true description of an alcoholic is that he is anyone, man or woman, for whom drink ing is a problem. The alcoholic may be a factory worker or a store clerk, a lawyer or a dortor, a college professor or a priest. If a woman, she may be a nurse, a secretary, an entertainer or a housewife. Alcoholism is no re specter of persons. Smart men seem to succumb to'it.more easi ly than the stupid; good men suffer from it as well as the lax. Not every heavy drinker is an. alcoholic. Here for example is a man who takes several drinks in the course of a day. On certain occasions and with convivial companions he even may “hang one on,” that being his idea of a good time. However he feels no “need” for alcohol, no compul sion to drink. His drinking habits remain the same for years on end, with no progressive in tensifying of his drinking. Any time that his drinking creates a problem in any department of his life — at home, at work, at social affairs -— he decreases or quits his drinking without dif ficulty. Such a man, heavy drinker though lie be, is not an alcoholic. He does not have the disease. In spite of all that has been written about this sickness, there still are many people who do not accept the established fact that alcoholism is a disease. Many people still see an alco holic as an unrepentant and self ish glutton who could quit if he wanted to. But this is precise ly what distinguishes the alco holic from the ordinary drinker: the alcoholic cannot quit just by wanting to. Alone and unaided he cannot quit for long. The disease of alcoholism is compounded of two elements: an emotional element and a physi cal element. The alcoholic has a deep-seated emotional problem of which he himself may be un aware. This alone would not make him an alcoholic. Many people' have deep-seated emo tional problems without feeling any need for alcohol; if they drink at all, their drinking may be. very moderate and never a problem. The alcoholic, how ever, in addition to his emotional problem has an abnormal body .chemistry which .cannot:tolerate alcohol;.the more alcohol he con sumes, the more alcohol his sys tem craves. Diabetics who have to fight their craving for sweets can perhaps understand a little, of the abnormal chemistry which afflicts Jm alcoholic. The symptom which most clearly distinguishes the alco holic from the non-compulsive drinker is the progressiveness of alcoholism. In his earlier stages the alcoholic likes to “get a start” on a party or gathering before he goes to it, even though he knows there will be drinks when he gets there. Then too he begins to feel that he must have his drinks at certain chosen times of the day -— perhaps be fore lunch and before dinner —- and before any kind of a special event such as the theatre or a wedding. At this point he still thinks that he can quit, any time he wants to, and even may “go on the wagon” periodically, but never to stay. As time goes on the periods when he “must” have a drink increase in' number. He takes to gulping his drinks at social af fairs and consumes more drink than the other guests. He likes to mix the drinks himself so that he can make his own Stronger. He takes to carrying a bottle of his own. He minimizes and conceals the amount of his drinking. This latter is especial ly true of women alcoholics who, according to the researchers, are particularly furtive and deceitful in their drinking habits. Less and less does the alcoholic now talk of quitting, and he increase- ingly drinks too much “at the * wrong time;” on the job, for 'example,;pr before an important meeting,' interview or social af fair. He becomes increasingly irritable and unreasonable dur ing sober periods, increasingly undependable.. He suffers from ■ torturing guilt feelings but feels helpless to do anything about it. He arrives at the point where he lives to drink and drinks to live. This process of deterior ations is not sudden. Usually it will cover a period of several years. The alcoholic is likely to be a person with a fine mind, with exceptional talents, with basical ly good moral principles — but a person with a sickness. It may be you or I, or it may be some one close to us. We must leave until next week the question: What can I do to help. MEETING IN NETHERLANDS VOGELENZANG, The Neth erlands, March 8 (NC) — “The University Woman and the Mod ern World” wil be the theme of a n international meeting of Catholic women students to be held here from April 9 to 16. The meeting is being organ ized by Pax Romana, Interna tional Catholic student and in tellectual movement. 3% Hullrtttt 416 8TH ST., AUGUSTA, GA. Published fortnightly by the Catholic Laymen’s Association c Georgia, Inc., with the Approbation of the Most Reverend Arch bishop-Bishop of Savannah, the Most Reverend Bishop of Atlant; and. the Right Reverend Abbot Ordinary of Belmont. Entered as second class matter at the Post' Office, Monroe, Georgia and accepted for mailing at special rate of postage provided b; paragraph (e) of section 34.40, Postal Laws and Regulations. REV. FRANCIS J. DONOHUE REV. R. DONALD KIERNAN Editor Savannah Edition Editor Atlanta Edition JOHN MARKWALTER Managing Editor Vol. 38 Saturday, March 22, 1958 No. 21 ASSOCIATION OFFICERS FOR 1957-1958 E. M. HE AG ARTY, W ay cross Honorary Vice-President GEORGE GINGELL, Columbus .... ... .... President MRS. DAN HARRIS, Macon . ... ... . _ Vice-President TOM GRIFFIN, Atlanta Vice-President NICK CAMERIO, Macon Secretary JOHN T. BUCKLEY, Augusta „. Treasurer ALVIN M. McAULIFFE, Augusta Auditor JOHN MARKWALTER, Augusta Executive Secretary MISS CECILE FERRY, Augusta —; Financial Secretary