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PAGE 4—THE BULLETIN, May 3, 1958 * '• ‘ JOSEPH BREIG New Springtime Of History From time to time in the past couple of years, I have been criticized for what some readers have considered my pollyanna optimism. I have never quarrelled with these people. My only reply has been to remind them, mildly, that I was viewing with alarm 30 years ago, when they were pointing predicting a bright future for the world. I was looked upon as a pessi mist then. The difference in judgments has been due to a difference in facts understood and faced. THIRTY YEARS AGO, capi talism seemed hellbent upon its own ruination, and deaf to all appeals for reform; while almost nobody realized the menace, the black wickedness, the damnable hypocrisy and the insane fanti- cism of the communist conspira cy against all nations. with pride and Somewhat to my surprise, I have lived to see capitalism rev olutionized — and that peace ably — while communism’s cruelty and falsity have torn the blinders from the eyes of everyone but fools and scoun drels. I have seen nations uniting for defense; truth prevailing over abominable lies; the United Nations surviving where the League of Nations collapsed. And I have felt the wind of a new spirit of social justice, of concern for fellowmen, and of humility blowing across the world. I HAVE SEEN A GIGANTIC TURNING toward God, includ ing millions obeying the direc tions of Our Lady of Fatima, 1 have watched while an un known priest, Father Patrick Peyton, became world-renown ed by preaching family prayer to an astoundingly receptive mankind. For those and other reasons, I have concluded — and have said publicly — that the worst is over, and that the strange, wonderful, touching and exas perating family of the human race was about to find itself making a breakthrough into a noble new age. I have been rather alone in my opinion — as I was alone in the opposite judgment 30 years ago. But now I find myself, astonishingly, in the best com pany on earth—that of Pope Pius XII. I AM AWARE THAT THE HOLY FATHER would like it to be little mentioned that Christ appeared to him in his apparently fatal illness a few years ago, and gave him to understand that God willed that he continue to lead the Church for some time to come. But I think it wise to remember that fact when weighing the force of what Pope Pius XII con cludes about the future. He voiced his judgment a few weeks ago in a supremely con fident — indeed a soaringly cheerful — address to 100,000 members of Italian Catholic Ac tion youth in St. Peter Square. Pope Pius never speaks with out due thought. But in this case it seems to me that his words become even more im pressive in the light of the fact that only a fortnight earlier, he had cancelled his anniversary celebrations to show his dis pleasure with an anti-clerical smear campaign in Italy. THE POPE'S HAPPY OUT LOOK, in other words, was due to his considered belief that, the positive factors enormously out weigh the negative in our time. What did he say? Pie said that “all the world is reawakening,” and mankind “stands on the threshold of a new springtime in history.” Humanity, said Pope Pius, is emerging from its “dark winter” of errors, lies, hatred, dishon esty, broken families, and dev astated and disunited nations. He spoke of the vast increase in works of welfare; of the al most unbelievable progress of science, and of the delivery of men from crushing manual la bor. And he continued: “Also in the life and activity of the spirit, there are evident signs of reawakening . . . We also note evident signs of a re awakening in social life. “For the first time, men are aware not only of their increas ing independence, but also of their marvelous unity. That means that humanity will be come always more ready to feel itself a part of the Mystical Body of Christ.” In this “springtime of the world,” the Holy Father said, there will yet be some “winds and storms.” But “there is pass ing through the world a voice of reaction against evil.” So it has seemed to me also. Theology For The Layman (By F. J. Sheed) As we have seen, a steady gaze will show us that a being which has no parts, no element in it that is not the whole of it, cannot occupy space. Continue to gaze, and we see that it can not be chang ed into any thing else, it cannot by any natural pro cess be de stroyed. We have at last arrived at the deepest truth about spirit — spirit is the being which has a permanent hold upon what it is, so that it can never become anything else. Ma terial beings can be destroyed in the sense that they can be broken up into their constituent parts: what has . parts can be taken apart. But a partless be ing lies beyond all this. Nothing can be taken from it, because there is nothing in it but its whole self. We can conceive, of course, of its whole self being taken out of existence. This would be annihilation. But just as only God can create from no thing by willing a being to ex ist, so only God can reduce a being to nothing by willing it no longer, to exist: and for the human soul, God has told us that He will not thus will it out of existence. A spiritual being, therefore, cannot lose its identity. It can experience changes in its rela tion to other beings — e.g. it can gain new knowledge or lose knowledge that it has; it can transfer its love from this object to that; it can develop its power over matter; its own body can cease to respond to its animat ing power and death follows for the body — but with all these changes it remains itself, conscious of itself, permanent in the flux of things, indeed by memory dominating the flux and bringing the parts under tribute, casting its hold forward over the future. The student to whom all this is new should keep on thinking over these truths, turning back to them at odd moments — on (Continued on Page Six) I I (By David Liplak) Q. Has there been a change in recent years with regard to the ruling that women should wear hats in church? Lately on sev eral occasions I've noticed wo men going into church without hats, even for Benediction. It seems that the custom of not wearing hats in church is more prevalent among younger wo men and teenage girls. A. Women are generally ob liged to have their heads cov ered while attending church services, unless approved cus tom or special circumstances dictate otherwise. Men, on the other hand, ordinarily must re move their hats during sacred functions. These rules hold true regardless of whether worship is being conducted inside or out side of church. SO READS the law of the Church, as defined in Canon 1262: "Both inside and outside the church, men shall assist at sac red ceremonies with their heads uncovered, unless the approved usage of the people or particu lar circumstances require a dif ferent practice; women (shall assist at them) with heads cov ered and dressed modestly, es pecially when they approach the holy table." BY VIRTUE of a tradition dating from Apostolic times, and explicitly mentioned by St. Paul (I Corinthians 11, 5 sq.), it is also common practice for wo men to cover their heads when ever making a visit to church or any place wherein the Bless ed Sacrament is reserved. This tradition, as St. Paul implies, is based on reasons of propriety and modesty. THIS DOES NOT MEAN that a woman must never venture in side a church without a head covering. Because many women nowadays are apparently not in the habit of wearing a hat every (Continued on Page Six) Question Box —-—* "—-—^—- - Jottings ... (By BARBARA C. JENCKS) rrr r r r r r -rrrrrrrjj .. . . . /j,,. | • FIFTY YEARS seems like a great many years. What would I wish to accomplish in fifty years? What do you wish to be at fifty? If you have pass ed fifty and had the opportunity would you do things over much differently? Fifty years is a great number of years; it is half a century in the measure of his tory. How many of us right now could account for our years? They dribble past us one by one. Year piles upon year and we do not change. We plan to reorganize next year or clean house next month. The years pass and we are the same. We are no bigger or better in the eyes of God with the passing of time. What have we done with our talents and our time? Fifty years is a long time to waste in empty pursuits. Fifty years, however, is a very short time when it is spent in the service of God. • A VERY DEAR nun friend of mine marked her golden jub ilee of religious profession last week. For fifty years, she has been bound to God by vows of poverty, chastity and obedience. She has lived these vows around the clock in Ireland, France, England, India and the United States. She is a missionary and has served God in his poor and needy in the far-flung family of the world. Think what fifty years represents in the nun’s case! Besides and more import ant than all else, she has spent several hours of every one of these days of these fifty relig ious years before the Blessed Sacrament in chapels of her or der across the face of the earth. Would that we all could look to or back on such golden years. Such a life makes most of us in our little pursuits and with our little toys like midgets and dwarfs. My life was blessed when it brushed briefly but meaningly against this-quite re markable Franciscan Mission ary of Mary. She taught me what courage was and faith and dedication to God. She was a soldier of Christ in the strict est sense. I would only wish that some of her experiences could be written for public per- usual but I think far too much of her to cause her embarrass ment in a eulogy on occasion of her jubilee. Her fifty years of unflinching dedication are her best testimony. Those of us who are fortunate enough to know her as a friend know some of the milestones which have marked those years and as we respect and admire her, we also love her. • TODAY on campus, a sister was buried. She was just fifty. I watched from my room window the long procession: probably 200 black garbed nuns with bowed heads moving slow ly in procession with the stark black small casket of the sister following on a caison-like car riage. The bell in the church tolled the number of years of her profession. It was a deeply beautiful thing to watch. One sister who is just fifty has died, her fifty years, the later filled with much physical pain, were God’s. Another Sister has spent all fifty years in the service of God. Somehow in her late teens she knew exactly what she wanted to do with that life of hers. They both chose well. How good it is to live in the Lord. How great it must be to die in the Lord. Fifty years is a very long time or it is a very short time. A few more weeks and more New Year’s resolutions will be carried out—and quietly buried. Experience helps a man recog nize his mistakes after he makes the-same one several times. - Q T Li R A N G E 8 U T T R U ,itfle-K itown Facts By M. J. MURRAY - 5 Wcs«turvc*lv^ for Catholics ©npyrlgM, ms. N.CW C. N<w> ivrki E THE OLDEST M BEIT TANy- depicts the WHOLE LIFE of Christ ft OKI Bethlehem, to Gaidary. ^**** ar t/Ae first^ STRIKING CLOCK seen in Europe WOS brought from. JERUSALEM in So 7 by two monks s-presenteci 1~o MONTREAL BUILT 182q, REPLACING EARLIER CHURCHES OF 165-6 AND (672. ACCOMMODATES 12,000 PEOPLE, AND IS ONE OF THE LARGEST CHURCHES ON - THE NORTH AMERICAN ' v CONTINENT. THREE ^ ON THE ARMS OF Whit By. HEflOLESf ike LEGEND ikat ST HILDA 7?' CENTURY ABBESS OF WHITBY, ' VEUYEREO THE TOWN FROM A PLAGUE OF SNAKES. SHARING OUR TREASURE Insurance Agent "Sells" Catholic Faith By REV. JOHN A. OBRIEN, Ph. D. ►^ AAAAA ^ A ^J Universi1 *' of Nol?e DamG >. By Rev, John A. O'Brien, Ph.D. (The University of Notre Dame) Mr. John O. Shields, 803 South Meramec St., Clayton, Missouri, a member of Immaculate parish, is a life insurance agent who has used his salesmanship to “sell” the Catholic faith to four per sons and is currently in- struct! n g three pros- pects. He takes an act ive part in the Catholic Cen sus and Infor mation Pro gram which Archbishop Ritter launches each year throughout the St. Louis archdiocese. For four successive years that cru sade has averaged more than a thousand converts. “I believe in the life insurance I sell,” began Mr. Shields, “and I also believe that the Catholic religion faithfully practiced is an eternal life insurance. Hence I wouldn’t be true to my con viction if I didn’t try to sell the Faith to others. “I explained to my sister-in- law, Marjorie Shields, that it would be worthwhile looking into the teachings of the Cath olic Church, of which her hus band and children are members. I pointed out that a family is more united when they are bound together by the ties of a common faith, and explained that she would not be pressured into joining the Church, and indeed wouldn’t even be admit ted unless she believed in it. “Marjorie perceived that she had nothing to lose, and perhaps much to gain, by taking a course of instruction. So I took her to the Inquiry Forum conducted by Father Harkness, S.J., at St. Francis Xavier Church. He has been giving public instructions for years and inquirers feel free to attend since they are not ask ed to commit themselves and are not monopolizing his time.” “Yes,” I said, “he’s been a pioneer in the use of the In quiry Forum and has sent me copies of ingenious drawings he uses in his instructions. He has received hundreds of converts and helped to spread the use of the Inquiry Forum to many par ishes.” “When the three months course ended,” continued Mr. Shields, “Marjorie saw that the Catholic religion is the one true Faith and embraced it. Now her family is more closely united than ever, with all attending Mass and receiving Holy Com munion together. “This was the approach I used also with Carl W. Lothman, whose wife and daughter are Catholics. 1 took Carl to Father Harkness’ Inquiry Forum and he had nearly completed it when he. was stricken with a heart attack and died suddenly. Since he had expressed a desire to em brace the faith, Bishop Leo Byrne, pastor of Immaculata, ruled that he had received bap tism of desire and buried him from the Church. ’ “As a result of reading Win ning Converts (University of Notre Dame Press), I was in spired to install and service a pamphlet rack in a neighbor hood drug store. Mrs. Carl John son took from it a pamphlet which opened her eyes to the divine origin of the Catholic Church. She phoned me that she and her husband wanted to learn more about the Catholic religion. “So I arranged for their in struction with the Fathers at St. Mary Magdalen parish, R i c h- mond Heights, in which they reside. Three months later both of them were baptized and they are now devout and enthusias tic Catholics. It shows the im portance of having well-stock ed pamphlet racks not only in church vestibules but also in bus, air and railroad terminals and in stores. : “Right now I’m instructing three prospective . converts and find it intensively interesting. I’m using Finding Christ's Church (Ave Maria Press, Notre Dame, Indiana), to excellent ad vantage. Please pray that God will give them the gift of faith and lead them to the baptismal font.” HISTORIC BOOKS TO LIBRARY A 1745 first edition of Charles Linnaeus’ “Flora Suecica,” a work on botany, gets an approving inspection from Father Colman Farrell, O.S.B., at left, Librarian, St. Benedict’s Col lege, Atchison, Kan., and Rt. Rev. Cuthbert McDonald, O.S.B., President of the college. The rare volume is part of a collection of 194 old books given to the college by an anonymous donor, as a memorial to the late Rev. Edmund J. Cummins, of Plaltsburg, Mo. The collection consists of works by classic authors of ancient and modem literature, scientific pioneers, and scholars in many fields, from the I6U1 to.the 19th Century. (NC Photos) The Plight Of The Older Worker BACKDROP THE Almost since the day he took office more than four years ago, Secretary of Labor James P. Mitchell has been begging in dustry to let down the barriers to the employment of the older work er — the man or woman who has pass ed 50 years of age. With untir ing zeal and unflagging en ergy he has pleaded the cause of workers, who, when they lose a job after passing the prime of life, find it difficult, if not impossible, to get another. He has caused stu dies to be made of the proficien cy of the so-called older worker in an effort to break down the prejudice of employers against him. All of these studies support the conclusion that the worker passed 50 is just as productive as a man in his twenties or thirties. Yet the problem of the older worker remains unsolved. The pitiful plight of men who find the gates of employment locked against them because of their age is now engaging the attention of a group of Sena tors — Hubert H. Humphrey, of Minnesota; Richard L. Neuber- ger, of Oregon; Estes Kefauver, of Tennessee, and Pat McNa mara, of Michigan. OUTMODED PRACTICES They have introduced a bill providing for a White House conference to be called by the President not later than Dec. 31 of this year to consider the out- By JOHN C. O’BRIEN moded practices in the employ ment and compulsory prema ture retirement of middle-aged and older persons. Humphrey was moved to pro pose government action by the almost tearful pleading of a man who called on him at his office in the Senate office build ing. This man, who was 53, in good health and eager to work, told the Senator in tones of des peration that he was unable to get a job because of his age. “They say I am too old,” said the man, who had had steady employment until he lost his job less than a year ago. “I am 53 and have two daughters in high school and boy in junior high. My wife is not too well and she worries about me. What can I say to them, Senator? Can I say I cannot support you any more because I am too old? Can’t the government do some thing?” Humphrey believes that the prejudice against the old work er is a survival from the last century when, because of rigor of toil and the primitive state of medical diagnosis and treat ment, men reached their un productive years early and died at an early age. Even as late as 1900, the average life expec tancy was only 46 years. Conceptions of impairments due to old age formed then, Humphrey points out, still seem to have currency among employers today. Yet in recent years, thanks to the widespread use of labor saving devices, men are not worn out at 50. Not only that, they live longer — ave rage life expectancy of a male is now 67 years — and this means that their working years must be prolonged if they are not to become embittered wards of the state m the declining years of their life. STEADY WORKERS The assumption that a man of 50 is not as good a worker as a younger man has been tho roughly exploded by controlled tests comparing the output of workers m the two groups. The Department of Labor’s studies show that the older worker’s average output in a factory is not appreciably dif ferent from that of workers in their twenties and thirties. The older worker, moreover, has been shown to be more depend able than the younger worker. He is absent trom his work bench fewer days in the year and is less prone to change jobs. A study by the University of Illinois of 3,000 workers 60 years of age or older, produced sim ilar evidence of employability. This demonstrated that there is no speeific age at which work ers become unproductive. Su pervisors reported that on the whole workers of 60 years of age or older were as good as, or su perior to the average younger workers with reference to over all performance, absenteeism, dependability, work volume and human relations. Considering all this proof that the man who has reached 50 has many productive years of labor ahead, it is a crying shame - that employers continue to give him the cold shoulder when he seeks the opportunity to support The Alcoholic's Family This We Believe If some member of our fam ily were to develop what seem ed to be a serious physical ill ness, very few of us would un dertake to doctor the sick per son ourselves. We would be afraid that, in our ignorance, we might do the sick per- s o n more h a * m than good. If we did have to care for such a patient, we should want to learn all that we could ness. This same principle should guide us if a member of our family is a victim of alcoholism. With the best of intentions we can, through ignorance, hinder rather than help the problem drinker. We should know for ex ample that alcoholism simply will not respond to scolding, to coaxing, to reasoning or to per suasion. To say to the alcoholic, “If you really loved me, you’d quit drinking,” is even less ef fective than saying to a tubercu lar patient, “If you loved me, you’d stop coughing.” Similarly ineffective is an ap peal to religion. To tell the al coholic sufferer, “If you would pray more and go to confession and Holy Communion oftener, you could overcome your drink ing,” makes about as much sense as to tell the diabetic, “If you practiced your religion bet ter you could burn up your blood sugar like everyone else.” The alcoholic does need the help of prayer and the sacraments to give himself spiritual strength; but these means of grace, as we know, are not intended by God to provide physical or psycho logical therapy. An especially unfortunate ap proach is to say to the problem drinker, “Aren’t you ashamed to be breaking your children’s hearts and disgracing them in front of their friends, not to mention the bad example you give them? Don’t you care for your children at alJ?” The al coholic does love his children, his wife, his parents. Whether or not he admits it to anyone else, he does realize what he is doing to them; realizes it yet cannot stop. As a consequence his guilt feelings are intensi fied, his interior agony increas es, and he drinks harder to kill the pain. This is the alcoholic’s living nightmare: to watch him self crushing the ones he loves the most, and yet not to be able to stay in his own hand. There are so many things that the wife (or parents) and family of an alcoholic needs to know. They need first of all to know the nature of the disease with which they are dealing. For that purpose a book like “Primer on (By FATHER LEO TRESE) Alcoholism” by Marty Mann (published by Rinehart & Co.) should be read. This book, and many others on the problem, can be procured at any public library or book store. Factual information also can be had for the asking from the National Council on Alcoholism, 2 East 103rd St., New York 29, N. Y. Yet, even with an understand ing of the disease, there still are many problems that face the al coholic’s family daily. Should I pour his liquor down the drain when I find it, or at least hide it from him? (Strangely enough, the answer to that one is no). How can I protect the children from being harmed by their fa ther’s condition, and what can I tell him? If I take the children and leave, will that wake him up or will it finish him? What should my attitude be when he is sullen and irritable during his sobering-up periods? Should I try to check his excess by go ing with him when he is on a drinking spell? These are the kinds of questions that arise. Members of the problem drinker’s family circle should know that there exists for them an association which parallels Alcoholics Anonymous. Origi nally this fellowship of persons whose lives are affected by an alcoholic sufferer called them selves non-Alcoholics Anony mous. More recently the name has been shortened to Al-Anon, and Al-Anon groups now exist in most cities. A phone call to the local A A office, (the first number in the telephone direc tory) will provide information concerning the location of the nearest Al-Anon group. Or in formation can be obtained from Al-Anon headquarters, P. O. Box 1475, Grand Central Annex, New York 17, N. Y. Where no Al-Anon group ex ists, any two or more interested persons can get a group started. AA headquarters or Al-Anon headquarters gladly will fur nish all needed assistance in establishing a new group. Some members of Al-Anon are wives, husbands or other family members of a person who already is a member of AA. An AA’s task of self-re habilitation is made much eas ier when those close to him learn, as members of Al-Anon, how they can support him in his efforts. Other participants in Al-Anon are family members whose problem drinker is not yet a member of AA, perhaps not yet ready to admit that he needs help. In this case the fam ily members learn how they can cope with the problem which for the present they must live with. They learn too the attitudes that will most help their loved one towards an ultimate recovery. There is much that family and friends can do to help the victim of alcoholism, if only they know how to go about it. Their love for the sufferer would be questionable indeed, if through culpable ignorance, they failed to extend to him the help that only they can give. At least the people who aren’t thankful for what they receive should be thankful for what they escape. 0% lulbtin 416 8TH ST., AUGUSTA, GA. Published fortnightly by the Catholic Laymen’s Association of Georgia, Inc., with the Approbation of the Most Reverend Arch bishop-Bishop of Savannah, the Most Reverend Bishop of Atlanta, 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 by 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, May 3, 1958 No. 24 ASSOCIATION OFFICERS FOR 1957-1958 GEORGE GINGELL, Columbus President E. M. HEAGARTY, Waycross Honorary Vice-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 T Auditor JOHN MARKWALTER, Augusta — __ Executive Secretary MISS CECILE FERRY, Augusta Financial Secretary