Newspaper Page Text
•Z-riAjrli 1 - J-xlr. CoLLi-lli,, nr.
JOSEPH BRE1G
Khrushchev’s
The U. S. and the other west
ern powers are wisely insisting
that if any kind of “summit”
conference is held, there must
be adequate safeguards against
its being turned into a mere
Soviet propa
ganda exer
cise, plus an
attempt to by
pass the Unit
ed Nations, to
weaken the
west’s arma
ments without
weaken ing
Russia’s, and to cast into the
discard the rights of smaller na
tions -— in particular those in
eastern Europe.
Thus Khrushchev apparently
has been balked in a transparent
plan to lure the free world into
a blind alley, while surrounding
the Kremlin with a spurious air
of respectability, and siren-sing
ing the west into a vodka-drink
ing mood of forgetting the past
— including the butchery of
Hungary.
WHAT KHRUSHCHEV obvi
ously has been striving to bring
about is a universal pretense
that the Soviet government is
a government like other gov
ernments, as if the Red Army
were not holding sovereign na
tions in slavery, and as if the
USSR and the other iron cur
tain countries were not filled
with concentration camps in
which millions exist on a level
lower than the beasts of the
jungle.
The Kremlin’s announcement
that the Soviet Union was aban
doning tests of nuclear weapons
— but would resume testing
unless other nations followed
suit — fooled nobody but those
who desperately desire to be
fooled. President Eisenhower
was accurate in calling the ma
neuver a gimmick. The Soviets
had only recently completed a
long series of tests, needed time
to prepare for the next series,
and knew the U. S. and Britain
were on the eve of scheduled
testings.
THE WESTERN POWERS
rightly replied by reminding the
Kremlin that the U. S. has been
trying for 10 years to get Russia
to agree to an honest disarma
ment program under UN super
vision, with foolproof guaran
tees against secret war prepara
tions and surprise aggression,
Question
Box
By David Q. Lipiak
Q: Since in receiving the
Blessed Eucharist, one receives
the principal source of all grace,
our Lord Jesus Christ, how is
it that a person who goes to
Communion daily, even week
ly, is not necessarily a saint?
Isn't it true that the sacraments
produce grace infallibly as long
as they are received worthily?
A. The Blessed Eucharist is
spiritual food meant to main-
fain the life of the soul and to
unite it more and more closely
with Christ. Every barrier to the
life of grace or to spiritual union
with Christ, then, necessarily
constitutes an obstacle to the re
ception or to the full friut of the
Eucharist.
FOR THE WORTHY RECEP
TION of Holy Communion, it is
absolutely requisite that one be
in the state of grace and have
the right intention. The state of
grace is necessary because, as
nourishment is given only to the
living, so the Bread of Life can
only be given those who are
spiritually alive — not dead, as
a result of mortal sin. The prop
er intention is imperative lest
the act of communicating itself
be blameworthy. A right inten
tion, according to the classic
definition of Pope Pius X, is
found in him “who approaches
the holy table . . . not out of
routine, or vainglory, or human
respect, but from the purpose of
pleasing God, of being more
closely united with Him by cha
rity, and of seeking this Divine
remedy for his weaknesses and
defects.” «*;
ALTHOUGH THE SOUL is
always fed with grace by the
worthy reception of the Euchar
ist, the fruits of the Blessed
Sacrament actually experienced
by the communicant will in
crease proportionately with the
soul’s union with Christ (com
munion means “union”). "The
Eucharist is fhe Sacrameni of
union," writes Abbot Marmion,
(Continued on Page Five)
SI-
RANGE BUT T R 0
ittle-Known Focfs for Catho!i<
it
By M. J. MURRAY
Copyright, 1938, N.C.W C. News ServU*
VALENCIA,
SPAIN, has
astanishtng vOa^
of celebrating
St Joseph’s fewtday.
"FALLAS'
Curious figures
often satirical-
caricatures -
arc constructed
and. paraded,
through the
Streets. ORIGIN
WAS MEDIEVAL*
WOODWORKING
APPRENTICES
CELEBRATING
winter's eno
and their..
Patrons.
Feast.
m.
Wfolm
Oim L&ny or t
CONSOLATION
P/CTUFF IN TUR/ti, ITALY,
is belieYed to ie
]5 ooY^L OLO -
SHARING OUR TREASURE
Collision in Super Market Nets
Seven Converts
By REV. JOHN A. O'BRIEN, Ph. D.
fTTni rtf Noite Dame j <
Big Failure
and that the west still stands
ready to negotiate such an
agreement the moment the Sov
iets will stop doubletalking and
get down to the business of
establishing durable peace.
Perhaps it is too much to hope
that Khrushchev can bring him
self to face the international
facts today. But the facts stand
■— the free world has heard the
Russians crying wolf (or lamb)
entirely too often; we can no
longer be deluded by hypocrit
ical smiles; we are strong
enough to defend ourselves; we
want true peace based on justice
for everybody and human rights
for all humanity, and we are
not going to sell out the cap
tive peoples in any crooked deal
with communism.
WE ARE AWARE, TOO, that
everywhere behind the iron cur
tain the communist despotism
stands on shifting sands. It is
not we, but the Marxist bureau
crats, who are in deep trouble.
The free world grows ever
stronger and more calmly unit
ed, while behind the iron cur
tain, the foundations of Mos
cow’s empire of oppression are
eroded, hiddenly but hugely, by
populations restless for libera
tion.
Militarily, the world is in a
standoff. Khrushchev finds his
nuclear-missile blackmail fall
ing on deaf ears. Something as
tonishing has happened. The
people in the free world are not
afraid of Russian threats. They
have arrived at an unspoken
collective decision that they
prefer death — even the death
of civilization — to imprison
ment in the kind of hell which
they have seen communism cre
ating.
IT HAS DAWNED UPON
THE WEST, too, that Russians
are no more eager to be blown
into atoms, or to die slowly of
radiation poisoning, than any
other people. They have no
more stomach for starting war
of total extermination than we
have. Perhaps they have less
stomach for it. They would be
dying for the brutal tyranny
they detest; we at least would
have the satisfaction of sacri
ficing ourselves for something
worthy of a man.
Khrushchev can have his sum
mit conference any time he is
willing to talk sense. Until then,
the free world is not interested.
• THIS IS THE time of year
when young people are given
all kinds of advice about chos-
ing their lifetime work. “Suc
cess” is a word that will figure
prominently in commencement
addresses. How often do we hear
the word “satisfaction” or “hap
piness” or “contribution” in
these talks? Young graduates
are urged, to be successful. Alma
maters want their graduates to
enter the lucrative fields. They
want someday to figure in be
quests or be endowed with new
buildings and properties. Not
that this wrong. Yet so much
emphasis is put on success in
the worldly connotation of pres
tige and riches. Success means
different things to different peo
ple. But as John C. Cort says
in his current “Today” article:
“Success has seduced more
Christian souls than any other
pagan goddess you can men
tion.”
• SPURRED on by the
worldly connotation of success,
the majority of the young peo
ple will move toward the lucra
tive fields. The areas which de
mand dedication and sacrifice
but which offer satisfaction will
attract fewer numbers. Some of
these fields are teaching, med
icine, nursing, social work, re
search, the arts and of course
particularly, the religious life. It
is perhaps the most important
choice of a person’s life when he
decides on his job. It is through
his work, he will be sanctified.
We recall the prayer from the
Mass of the feast of St. Joseph
the Workman: “O God, the
Creator of all things, you have
imposed on all men the obliga
tion of work. May the example
and prayer of Blessed Joseph
help us to accomplish the tasks
you have commanded us to per
form so that we may attain the
reward you have promised.”
• THERE COMES a time in
most of our lives when we are
laced with, the choice of a job
Theology
For The
Layman
By F. J. Sheed
“Where was God before the
universe was created,” asks the
street-corner heckler. His ques
tion breaks up nicely into two—
Where was God when there
wasn’t any where? Where was
God when
there wasn’t
any when?
Briefly the
answer is that
the words
where and
when have no
application to
God at all.
But if we are as brief as that,
no one will see the answer.
“Where” means “in what
place” which means “in what
location in space.” But God is a
spirit, and a spirit does not
occupy space, only bodies need
space. Yet we do say that God
is everywhere. How can He be
everywhere if He is not in space
at all?
Follow closely. Everywhere
means where everywhere is.
The phrase God is everywhere
means that God is in every
thing. Clearly a spiritual being
is not in a material being as
water is in a cup. We must look
for a different meaning for the
word “in” A spiritual being is
said to be where it operates, in
the things that receive the
effect of its power. My soul for
instance is in every part of my
body, not by being spread out
so that every bodily part has a
little bit of soul to itself, but
because the soul’s life-giving
energies pour into every part of
the body. Everything whatso
ever receives the energy of God,
bringing it into existence and
keeping it there; that is the
sense in which God is omnipre
sent, is everywhere, in every
thing. It is no convenience for
God of course. He does not need
things. But they need Him,
desperately.
We can now look at the
second part of our heckler’s
question — “before the universe
was created.” Just as “where*'
is a word of space — and God
(Continued on Page 5)
which offers security and mon
ey on one hand and only sat
isfaction on the other. I doubt
if I would be happy in a well-
paid job which did not ask
anything human or personal
from me. I could not go through
the motions of a job for even the
highest salary if it did not call
for some use of the heart and
soul. It seemed important to me
that this human element be in
the job of my choice. I had to
feel as if I were contributing
something important. Thus the
■well-paid jobs on fashion maga
zines and public relations were
passed by and I never was sor
ry. Of course even now I would
like to write the great American
novel or a good play. Yet per
haps I am one of the people
whom success would seduce. I
do not want to be satisfied with
monetary reward or prestige. In
the field of Catholic journalism,
I found little monetary gain.
I did receive unlimited soul-
satisfactions: such as a letter
from a shut-in reader who
gleaned extra joy in looking for
the column in the newspaper
each week or writing about
heroic missionaries and painting
their glorious stories which
might otherwise never be
known and that now hundreds
of subscribers will thrill before.
Both Catholic journalism and
teaching carry a tremendous sat
isfaction for me. They also hold
an awesome responsibility.
C. P. A. MEMBERS
TOTAL 543
RICHMOND, Va., (NC) —
Membership in the Catholic
Press Association has hit an all-
time high. The total member
ship is 543, with the active mem
bership at 306, the first time it
has passed 300, Floyd Ander
son, secretary, told the editors
and publishers gathered in Rick-
mond.
Rev. John A. O'Brien, Ph. D.
{The University of Notre Dame)
Did you ever hear of a col
lision in a super market result
ing in the winning of seven con
verts and the reclaiming of eight
fallen a ways? Probably not. Yet
that is the rich harvest which
stemmed from
the collision
of two carts
one Saturday
morning in
Albers Super
Market in Cin
cinnati.
“I was push
ing my cart,”
related Mrs. Teel a Seissiger ol
St. George’s parish, “through
the aisle, gawking at the attrac
tive display of foods, when sud
denly there was a bang! My
cart had crashed head on into
another, pushed by a man.
‘“Pardon me,’ I exclaimed, ‘I
wasn’t looking where I was
going.’
“‘No,’ said the man, ‘it is I
who am to blame, gazing at all
that fruit instead of watching
my path through this crowded
aisle. Glad it was only carts and
not speeding Cadillacs, or there
would have been some casual
ties.’
“Say, what’s going on here?”
asked an attractive woman who
now joined us.
“This was the way I met Mr.
and Mrs. Thomas Murphy a
Negro couple. After a bit of
friendly chatting, Mrs. Murphy
said, ‘You look like a woman
who wouldn’t mind my asking
a question. I’ve noticed a num
ber of women wearing a charm
like the one you’re wearing on
your necklace. I’ve been curious
to know what it is.’
“I explained that it was the
Miraculous Medal worn in
honor of the Blessed Virgin.
This necessitated a few words
of explanation in regard to the
honor which Catholics pay to
our Lady. I asked if they be
longed to any Church and, on
finding that they didn’t, I in
quired why.
“‘Because no one ever asked
us,’ replied Mrs. Murphy.
“ I told them that they were
always welcome at a Catholic
church and mentioned briefly
how much it has to offer. I
volunteered to see that, if they
were interested, they would get
a good course of instruction.
Mrs. Murphy said they would
be glad to attend such a course
when the weather got cooler.
“So I asked for their tele
phone number and gave them
mine. Then and there we be
came good friends. We kept in
touch with one another over the
telephone. I went to the chan
cery office to find out where I
might send them later on for
instructions.
“The chancellor suggested the
Deminican Sisters at the Mother
of God parish. I called on the
Sisters and Sisters Charles Bor-
romeo went to see them. My
husband and I also visited them.
After Sister finished instructing
them, they were baptized by Fa
ther Richard F. Redman, with
my-husband and myself acting
as their sponsors.
“We gave each a rosary, and
every night they knelt down
and recited it together. They
became daily communicants and
couldn’t understand why more
Catholics did not receive daily.
So enthusiastic were they over
their new-found faith that they
sought to share it with others.
“While Tom Murphy was in
the Veterans’ Hospital, he was
instrumental in getting eight
patients to return to the sacra
ments. He and his wife also
helped to lead five converts into
the church. When Tom died, Fa
ther Cornelius Grein., O. F. M.,
chaplain at the hospital, called
him a ‘saint’.
“When I think of all that
those two converts accomplished
in seven years, I feel they put
us ‘cradle’ Catholics to shame.”
The incident shows how any
contact, even the most casual,
can be used for a divine purpose
if we have the necessary zeal.
The all-important step was taken
when Mrs. Seissiger took the
Murphy’s telephone number and
followed through by arranging
for their systematic instruction.
What a far-reaching chain re
action she thereby started, and
what a precious harvest!
Father O’Brien will he grate
ful to readers who know of any
one who has won two or more
converts if they will send the
names and addresses of such per
sons to him at Notre Dame Uni
versity. Notre Dame. Indiana.
More than 3,000 members of the National Catholic Music
Educators Association attended the 11th annual convention
in Pittsburgh, May ll-to-15. Shown warming up before an
instrumental department demonstration are, left to right:
Sister Mary Victorine, O.S.B., of Crookston, Minn.; Sister
Mary Carlissa, S.S.N.D., Pittsburgh, and Sister Mary Paul,
O.P., Akron, O. (NC Photos)
w'.:v— .
Jottings ...
■
(By BARBARA C. JENCKS)
A Singable 'Star Spangled Banner'
BACKDROP
rp tt ri
1 rl h
How many of us, at one time
or another, have not stood
sheepishly mute when called
upon to join in the singing of
the national anthem? Not many,
it would be safe to say. For the
plain fact is
that most of
us do not
know the
words and
could not sing
them if we
did.
That being
the situation,
it should come to us as welcome
news that Congress is consider
ing legislation to make the na
tional anthem “singable.”
Nearly everyone recognizes
the tune — even when it issues
forth from a scratchy recording
before a baseball game — but
not one in a hundred of us can
get through more than the first
verse. School children are
taught to sing the hymn but, as
they grow older, they forget it.
A dozen Frenchmen singing the
Marseillaise would make more
sound than 500 Americans at
tempting to sing “The Star
Spangled Banner.” Its range of
tone is so wide that only trained
singers can run the gamut from
the low to the high notes.
Although it has long been ac
cepted as the national anthem,
The Star Spangled Banner’s of
ficial status dates only from
1931 when it was designated the
national hymn by Act of Con-
By JOHN C. O’BRIEN
gross. In that law, however,
Congress neglected to state
which of the 271 copyrighted
versions or which of the many
keys in which the song is writ
ten was to be official. As a re
sult the national anthem is sung
or played in any arrangement
that happens to strike the fancy
of the singer or the leader of a
band.
CHECKERED CAREER
This oversight was brought
forcefully to the attention of
some members of Congress
when they learned that, during
the visit of Queen Elizabeth a
few months back, the Protocol
Division of the State Depart
ment instructed all service
bands which might have oc
casion to play the British na
tional anthem in the Queen’s
hearing as to the precise key
and tempo in which it was to
be played. There was only one
way to play “God Save the
Queen,” but “The Star Span
gled Banner” could be played in
a dozen different ways.
Considering its checkered
career since the words were
penned by Francis Scott Key
(who, incidentally, was no mu
sician) while watching the bom
bardment of Ft. McHenry in
1814, it is a wonder that the
anthem as we now hear it bears
any resemblance to the original.
The first man to publish it,
Samuel Sands, introduced 43
changes, and, as the years pass
ed, other changes were made
both in the text and in the tune
which was borrowed in the first
place from an old British drink
ing song.
Various attempts have been
made by music arrangers to
bring the song within the range
of the average voice, but these
have been rejected because they
substantially altered the tradi
tional lyrics or the tempo. Re
cently, however, Paul Taubman,
a distinguished composer, has
tried his hand at making the
anthem singable. It is his ver
sion, favorably commented
upon, which the pending legis
lation would make official.
Taubman succeeded in tak
ing the road blocks out of the
anthem by a few minor altera
tions. He lowered by two tones
13 notes accompanying the
phrase beginning, “And the
rockets red glare,” and by two
tones five notes accompanying
the phrase “O’er the land of the
Free.” It is at these points that
most Americans attempting to
sing the anthem fall mute and
let the band carry on.
Few of us fail to thrill to
the tune of the national anthem,
particularly when played by a
military band. If in uniform we
carry our hand to our caps or if
in civilian dress place our hats
over our hearts. But we feel
uncomfortable when asked to
sing it. Let us hope, therefore,
that Congress authorizes a sing
able version; it would give us an
incentive for learning the words
from beginning to end.
Two Steps To Happiness
This We Believe
(By FATHER LEO TRESE)
Disappointments, worry and
fears: in everyday living these
are our three most common en
emies. They are enemies whom
we easily can disarm, if we
have acquired from Christ the
skill to do so
—if- we have
acquired from
C h r is t the
strength and
the wisdom
which make
us master of
our own en
vironment. It
is from prayer and the sacra
ments that we gain the strength
we need. The wisdom will be
achieved by “putting on the
mind of Christ,” as St. Paul ex
presses it. If we can see the
world as Jesus sees it, and view
our own particular problems as
He would view them, our vic
tories will be frequent and our
defeats will be few.
There are two steps which we
can take, two steps which will
help us to become Christ-like in
our outlook on life and in our
approach to life’s problems. The
first step is to remove the ob
stacles to Christlike thinking.
This means to remove the faults
which color our thinking and
our judgments. Each of us is a
complex of faults, but we do not
all have the same faults to the
same degree. In one person
pride may predominate, in an
other selfishness, in another
envy or any one of a dozen oth
er basic character defects.
If we wish to discover our
own dominant fault, we can at
bedtime if for several nights in
a row we look back through the
day just finished. We can ask
ourselves, with merciless hones
ty, “How would Jesus have liv
ed this day differently if He had
been in my shoes?” After a few
evenings of this self-examina
tion, a pattern of behavior
should begin to emerge. We
should be able to detect a par
ticular virtue in which we are
especially'lacking.
Once we have discerned our
principal fault, we are ready to
go to work on it. From now on,
each evening we look back
through the day to see where
our fault has got the best of us,
to see where we have failed in
the practice of the virtue we are
trying to acquire. We then look
ahead to tomorrow and we place
imaginary check marks opposite
the persons and the events that
will put the most strain on the
virtue in which we are weakest.
We make a definite plan for
tomorrow, trying to foresee and
to prepare for the points of
stress.
After a few weeks of this (or a
few months if need be) we shall
find that we have conquered our
most enslaving fault. Our sec
ond biggest fault then will have
moved to the head of the list, so
next we go to work on that. In
tkis fashion, fault by fault, we
strip away the successive lay
ers of self. This practice of at
tacking our faults individually
instead of facing the hopeless
task of rooting them all out at
once, is a spiritual device hal
lowed and proven by centuries
of usage. It is called “the par
ticular examination of con
science” (“particular examen”
for short), and has contributed
to the formation of thousands oi
saints.
Hand in hand with the elimi*
nation of handicapping faults,
should go the positive effort to
develop a Christianlikeness in
our thinking and in our respons
es to life’s problems. This second
step is accomplished through
meditative spiritual reading.
Did it ever occur to you how
seldom we give God a chance to
speak to us, a chance to guide
us? Ordinarily we are so im
mersed in activity and distrac
tions that God’s voice has a hard
time getting through. Our an
swers to this difficulty will be
to choose a good spiritual book
(meaty but not dull) and to read
each day a few paragraphs or a
few pages. If there is no Catho
lic library or bookstore accessi
ble to us, our pastor or confes
sor will gladly help us to choose
a suitable book; perhaps even
may lend us one.
The idea will be to read slow
ly, with a sharp eye for any
thought that seems to strike a
responsive chord within our
selves. When that happens, it
will be God attempting to speak
to us. It is the time to pause and
to examine the thought closely,
to fit it to ourselves, to drive it
home. We need not worry as to
how much or how little we read.
It is the thinking we do about
what we read that counts,
thinking which God will inspire
if we let Him.
We are not reading in order
to instruct ourselves or to enter
tain ourselves. We are reading
in order to get God’s slant on
things, in order to develop in
ourselves the mind of Christ.
This practice is called “medita
tion” or mental prayer. Like the-
particular examen, it is an an
cient ascetical exercise which;
can lead to a holiness beyond
all expectation. Obviously, both
our particular examen and our
meditation should be prefaced
with a prayer for God’s assist
ance, and ended with a prayer
of thanks for the lights that
have been given.
If we will adopt and perse
vere daily in these twin prac
tices of the particular examen
and meditation, we shall gain a
new understanding of ourselves,
of our duties, of our relation
ships with others. We shall pro
gressively weaken the threat of
life’s disappointments, worries
and fears. We shall discover the
truth of our Redeemer’s words,
“My yoke is sweet and My bur
den light.”
To Observe
60ih Anniversary
WOODFIELD, Ohio (NC) —
Msgr. Joseph G. Mehler of St.
Sylvester’s church here will of
fer a Mass on June 4 in observ
ance of his 60th anniversary as
a priest. A native of Sharon, Pa.,
he has served at St. Sylvester’s
since 1929. He received his high
er education at St. Joseph’s
Monastery, Baltimore, and St.
Michaels’ Monastery, Union
City, N. J., both institutions of
the Passionists. He was ordain
ed on June 4, 1898.
t Ittllrtitt
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 31, 1958 No. 26
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 Auditor
JOHN MARKWALTER, Augusta Executive Secretary
MISS CECILE FERRY, Augusta Financial Secretary