Newspaper Page Text
PAGE 4—THE BULLETIN, July 26, 1958
JOSEPH BREIG
if I Were Young
As I recall, it was Chesterton
who said, 60 or 70 years ago,
that if St. George were to come
back to life, he would take a
long look at the world around
him — and prepare to be a
martyr again.
Today, my
guess is that
Chester ton
and St.
George, if
they could
come among
us now, might
take the long
look together,
and get ready to be, in one way
or another, apostles, mission
aries.
Being no prophet, I may be
mistaken, but I think we are
emerging from our long baptism
of blood and fire. I see the end
ing of the period in which we
had to use most of our energies
in holding the fort of religion
and civilization.
IF MY JUDGEMENT is cor
rect, the person who is in his
teens or 20s now ought to look
forward chiefly to expounding
truth, rather than, chiefly de
fending it, as we who went be
fore them found it necessary to
do.
I agree with those who feel
that a new wind is blowing
across the world, dissipating the
old fumes of error, hatred, prej
udice, lies, selfishness, greed
and ignorance.
Our centuries of tribulation
and misunderstanding have been
due for the most part to a mad
individualism which blinded
men and women to the common
good, to the duty of loving and
serving fellowmen everywhere
on earth.
IN INSANE REBELLION
against the individualist insani
ty, movements like fascism, naz-
ism, and communism blacken
ed the world with violence,
cruelty, injustice, falsehoods
and wars.
I think the pendulum now is
nearing the center. We have had
more than enough of hatred and
lies. Now we want love, truth
and justice. We are seeking the
peace which only right order
can give. We ask for guidance.
If I were a youth today, look
ing forward to a career and
wishing to serve God and man
in it, I would think not so much
of refuting objections as of re
vealing the depth, breadth and
beauty of goodness, divine and
human.
I WOULD WISH to fit my
self not to argue, but to enlight
en and inspire. I would concern
myself less with preparing to
battle evil things, and more
with training myself to propa
gate nobility. I would desire to
educate rather than dispute.
I would be heartened in this
course by many facts about the
modern world.
I would observe, for example,
that racial, national and class
discrimination no longer can
pretend to any real respectabili
ty — not in our South, not in
South Africa, not even in India
where the castes are crumbling'.
The wrongs survive, but their
foundations have been washed
away. There is no durability in
them now.
I WOULD PERCEIVE that
such foolishness as divorce, with
its restless seeking for other
mates, and birth prevention,
with its nervous-nelly fussing
over population growth, are be
ginning to look as imbecilic as
they are.
Such things no longer have
any power of attracting vigor
ous youth.
I would mark well the fact
that even the most enormous bi
gotry in all history — the com
munist bigotry against God and
religion, and against man as
God’s image and likeness — is
heaving and splintering from
the pressure of its own ignorant
contradictions.
IF I WERE YOUNG NOW, I
would judge that the future be
longs to those who will harvest
the seeds so long watered with
blood and tears.
I would resolve to devote my
self to positive work. I would
try to grasp firmly, and set forth
for others, the splendor of re
ligious dedications, of holy mar
riage, of family life, of good
government, of human dignity,
of the literature that elevates
rather than degrades, of wise
education, of people-to-people
help, of right international re
lations, and the like.
I would look upon television
and radio, nuclear power, the
drama, modern medicine, bank
ing and business, as colossal op
portunities to do colossal good.
Oh, if I were a young person
today, I would be filled with
hope and determination — and
courage.
Theology
For The
Layman
si
RANGE BUT TRU
Hie.Known Fact* for Catholics
E
Ethics In Government
By M. J. MURRAY
©rprrtgtit, Its*. If.C.W C. N«w> amfen
(By F. J. Sheed)
Mystery, Not Contradiction
The one, infinite indivisible
Nature of God is wholly posses
sed by three Persons — each of
them, therefore, God, each of
them, therefore, able to do all
that goes with being God. If we
are seriously
using our
minds upon
this supreme
truth, two dif
ficulties may
strike us: (1)
it may seem
quite incon
ceivable, prac
tically a contradiction in terms,
that . one nature should be
possessed by three persons; (2)
we may feel that if the Father
is God, the Son is God, and the
Holy Spirit is God, then there
are three Gods, not one.
We must look closely at each
of these.
Take first the apparent im
possibility of three persons
having one single nature.
As we think of person and
nature in ourselves, it seems
clear that one nature can be
possessed and operated in by
only one person. But this appar
ent clearness comes from not
looking deep enough. It is true
that we are conscious of a
reality within us, nature, by
which we are what we are, and
a reality within us, person or
self, by which we are who we
are. But whether these are two
realities, or two levels or aspects
of one reality, we cannot see
with any certainty.
When we try to look really
closely at ourselves, it is not
so easy. Of our nature we have
a shadowy notion, of our self a
notion more shadowy still. When ^
someone says “Tell me about
yourself,” we talk of our quali
ties or the things we do, but
. not of the self that has the quali
ties and does the things. We
know there is a. self there, the
thing that says I, but we cannot
get it into focus. Both as to the
nature I have and the person I
am there is more darkness than
light.
So that although all our ex-
(Continued on Page Five)
By David Q, Liplak
Q: If has always been my im
pression that there is something
selfish about the kind of life led
by cloistered monks and nuns,
like the Trappisls and Carmel
ites. Wouldn't it be far better
for the Church if cloistered con-
templatives were allowed to en
gage in certain outside apostolic
work, such as teaching or aurs-
ing in hospitals? Then they
would be accomplishing some
thing of practical value for the
community.
A: No Catholic could possibly
harbor the impression that a
cloistered religious contemplat
ive is living a selfish, imprac
tical life, without at the same
time showing himself to be
grossly ignorant of true piety
and the nature, significance and
efficacy of the contemplative
life as such.
FOR CONSIDERED IN IT
SELF, the contemplative life
(i.e., the state in which prayer
and penance are emphasized al
most to the exclusion of all ex
ternal activities) surpasses in no
bility, meritorious worth and
practicality the active life (in
which outside works are en
gaged in, though not without
recourse to some contemplation,
which is necessary for all).
This does not mean that, the
active life cannot be preferred
to the contemplative life in a
specific instance. Each soul, of
course, must fulfill God’s will
in his particular case. Subject
ively, then, that state is su
perior to which one has been
called by God.
BUT TAKEN IN ITSELF, the
contemplative life is by its very
nature higher than its antithe
sis. In the words of Pope Pius
XI:
"ALL THOSE WHO, accord
ing to their rule, lead a schedul
ed life remote from the din and
follies of the world, and who as
siduously contemplate the di
vine mysteries and eternal
truths and pour out ardent and
(Continued on Page Five)
Jottings ..
(By BARBARA C. JENCKS)
• TWO BOOKS especially
ideal for summer vacation read
ing because of subject matter
and escape themes are Henry
David Thoreau’s "Walden" and
Anne Morrow Lindbergh’s "Gift
from ihe Sea." I wonder if many
others have noted the similarity
between these two classics. The
popularity of both the long-time
classic “Walden” and the newer
best seller “Gift from the Sea”
shows that schedule and con
formity-ridden men and women
do yearn to jump the traces and
return to nature if only for a
few weeks as Mrs. Lindbergh
did or for a longer period as did
Mr. Thoreau with his now-
famous experiment in primitive
living. Reading both these books
would be a brief reprieve to the
harrassed time table, clock-
punching victim or tranquillizer
addict. It is no wonder that
many a city prisoner groans be
fore his terms and sighs aloud
in wonder if this was the life
God intended man to live. Both
authors retreated so that they
might maintain their equilibri
um and that they might measure
their life and its standards and
ideals. It would seem that never
before had people been whipped
to such feverish pitch and ac
tivity in the pursuit of empti
ness as they are today. Both
these books will serve as cooling
foundations to feverish minds.
• THOREAU WRITES: “I
went to the woods because I
wished to live deliberately, to
front only the essential facts of
life, and see if T could not learn
what it had to reach and not
find when I came to die that
I had not lived. I did not wish
to live life which is not life, liv
ing is so dear.” Mrs. Lindbergh
writes: “For life in America to
day is based on the premise of
ever-widening circles of contact
and communication . . . My mind
reels with it. What a circus act
we women perform every day
of our life . . . This is not the life
of simplicity but the life of
multiplicity.” She says “One
learns first of all in beach liv
ing the art of shedding; how
little one can get along with
not how much.” Comes a vaca
tion opportunity and too often
the wearied office worker or
tycoon flings himself headlong
into a series of exhausting ac
tivities — long motor trips, ex
pensive resort lodges, trips to
big cities. They balk at the back
to nature plan — a quiet place
in the country or a house at the
shore. They have little time to
think and take inventory. Thus
they return without being re
plenished or refreshed during
their allotted annual rest period.
• MY IDEAL VACATION
spot has always been a cottage
by the sea: long talks at night
by a fire, long walks along the
beach, good books, fishing, sim
ple food and dress. This is a va
cation in . true .sense. The con
centration is not on the super
fluous. Mr. Thoreau and Mrs.
Lindbergh go yet further in their
retreat ideas. Again the author
of "Gift from the Sea" writes
what I wish could be my diary:
“For a full day and two nights
I have been alone. I lay on the
beach under the stars at night
alone. Alone I watched the gulls
at the end of the pier dip and
wheel and dive for scraps. It
seemed to me separated from
my own species that I was near
er others. Beauty of earth and
sea and air meant more to me.
I was in harmony, I melted into
the universe, lost in it, lost in a
canticle of praise, swelling up
from an unknown crowd in a
cathedral: Praise ye the Lord,
all ye fishes of the sea, all ye
birds of the air, all ye children
of men. Praise ye the Lord.”
Thoreau writes of this same dis
covered beauty of nature and
silence: “For most part I minded
not how the hours went. The
day advanced as if to light some
7ne Art Gallery of ike PRO OVITATB
CHRISTIANA movement, Assisi, Italy,
Contains move than. 30,000
photographs of pictures
of Christ from earliest
, times to ike present dag.
This 2/2. Foot
fAO~ MAWS THE
" END OF TWO OLD,
NOW UNKNOWN, FRENCH
FAMILIES A CENTURY AGO
WHEN A CHILDLESS
COUPLE, EACH THE LAST
OF THEIR LINE, CONVERTED
THEIR FAMILY JEWELS
INTO AN ALTAR SET,
Sold RECENTLY IN
LONDON By A RELIGIOUS
ORDER .
THE BACKDROP
I
at a recent PARIS' J
NUPTIAL MASS Was
played on HARMONICAS/
SHARING OUR TREASURE
Nurse Shows Patients How To
Put House In Order
By REV. JOHN A. O'BRIEN, Ph. D.
(University of Notre Dame),
Mrs. Grace Sullivan, a regis
tered nurse in St. Joseph’s
parish, Terre Haute, believes
that it isn’t necessary to go to
fair off heathen lands to do mis
sionary work, that opportuni
ties surround
us on every
side right here
at home. That
she has put
her belief into
practice is
evidenced b y
the fact that
she has won
eight converts and reclaimed
four fallen-aways.
“The Crusade for Souls that
was launched throughout In
diana a few years ago,” began
Mrs. Sullivan, “opened the eyes
of all of us to the opportunities
of sharing our” faith with our
churchless friends and neigh
bors. It made us realize that we
lay Catholics are called by
Christ to be apostles and to help
our priests in extending His
kingdom.
“When that crusade was get
ting under way Archbishop
Schulte came down here on a
stormy winter night and ad
dressed a mass meeting at the
high school. He appealed to
every Catholic to win at least
one convert and reclaim one
fallen-away each year. He said
it was high time for us to bear
witness for Christ and His
Church, and not be content with
merely attending Sunday Mass.”
“Incidentally,” I remarked,
“Archbishop Schulte drove to
all the deanery meetings no
matter how distant and address
ed each one. I had the pleasure
of being with him at all those
meetings. It was his deep per
sonal interest and earnest
appeals that helped to make the
crusade so remarkably success
ful not only in the Indianapolis
archdiocese but also throughout
the whole state. The Indiana
crusade thus set the pattern for
operation doorbell in Wiscon
sin.”
“The archbishop’s eloquent
appeals,” continued Mrs. Sul
livan,” “made a deep irhpression
on all of us, and I’ve tried in a
humble way to put his advice
into practice. I operate a nursing
home, where a number of eld
erly patients reside. When I find
one without any church affilia
tion I tell him about the peace,
joy and security which our holy
Faith affords.
“One to whom I spoke was
69-year-old Charles Allred. He
wanted to know if there were
any age limits to members join
ing it. 1 told him “No.” Then I
work of mine; it was morning
and long; now it is evening. In
stead of singing like the birds, I
silently smiled at my incessant
good fortune.” “Madness” many
will call it. Life must be faced
and lived among our fellow men
and all the world cannot be
running away to the woods or
the seashore to meditate and
write. Yet if we are to survive
the long winter, if we are to re
tain our own singleness of spirit,
we must escape from the mad
ding throng and the market
place at noonday be it for a day
or week and there we must
store up refreshment and light
which will last when the dark
days are upon us.
Florida Chancellor
Dies July 12th
ST. AUGUSTINE, Fla. (NC)—
Msgr. John W. Love, 43, Chan
cellor of the Diocese of St. Aug
ustine, died (July 12) of a heart
attack in Daytona Beach. He
also was pastor of St. Augustine
cathedral here.
He was born May 3, 1915, in
Corry, Pa., and studied at
Georgetown University and the
Catholic University of America,
Washington, D. C„ and St. Ma
ry’s Seminary, Baltimore, Md.
He was ordained in Miami by
Archbishop Joseph P. Hurley,
Bishop of St. Augustine, May 9,
1942.
After two years of post-grad
uate work in canon law at
Catholic University, Msgr. Love
served as Vice Chancellor and
assistant director of the Mission
of Nombre De Dios, St. Augus
tine, where the first parish Mass
was offered in continental Unit
ed States in 1565.
In 1949 he was named dio
cesan consultor and Chancellor.
104th Council
STEUBENVILLE, Ohio, (NC)
-—The 104th diocesan council to
affiliate with the National
Council of Catholic Women en
tered the national federation
this week with 100 per cent of
the parish and local groups of
its diocese.
gave him a copy of Deharbe's
Catechism and explained it to
him. While undergoing instruc
tion he got a heart attack and
was taken to St. Anthony’s Hos
pital where the chaplain, Father
John Volgyese, O. F. M, Conv.,
finished the instruction and bap
tized him.
“Another elderly patient was
Anna Hatcher. She had no
Church affiliation. I told her it
was timte for her to begin think
ing about putting her house in
order and explained how the
Catholic religion could help her
do so.
“On the First Friday of the
month a Franciscan Father
brings Holy Communion. I told
Mrs. Hatcher how wonderful it
was to receive our Eucharistic
Lord, and offered to arrange for
her instructions. She was now
eager to learn more about the
Faith. Father William Stineman
at St. Patrick’s instructed her
and received her into the
Church.
“After receiving her first Holy
Communion she was like a new
person — so radiantly happy.
Now she had something to live
for, and something to look for
ward to after death. Four years
later on Easter Sunday, 1956,
she died a beautiful death — so
peaceful and resigned. Her ten
grandchildren are now Catholics.
“I am especially concerned
when I discover patients who
have never been baptized. I
explain how Christ instituted
baptism to remove the guilt of
original sin and urge them to
let me introduce them to a
priest. In this simple way I
have been able through God’s
grace to help lead eight into
the fold and win back four
fallen-aways.”
The ethics of men in public
life, or the lack thereof, is again
in the spotlight as a result of
disclosures by the House Com
mittee on Legislative Oversight
that the assistant to the Presi
dent had ac
cepted gifts
from a New
England tex
tile manufac
turer.
A bill has
been intro
duced in the
Senate pro
posing establishment of a Com
mission on Ethics in Govern
ment which would be charged
with the duty of drafting a code
of ethics for public officials.
A similar proposal recom
mended by a subcommittee of
the Senate Committee on Labor
and Public Welfare at the height
of the so-called scandals in the
Truman Administration died on
the vine.
The fact that the recommenda
tions of the subcommittee
evoked so little interest among
the lawmakers raises the ques
tion whether American moral
standards have undergone a
decline.
This was a question to which
the subcommittee devoted no
little attention in its report
on the lapses in the Truman Ad
ministration in 1951 and 1952.
The committee asked itself a
series of questions about ethical
standards in public life and the
seeming indifference of the
American people to the wrong
doing of some of its servants.
SECULAR TREND
“Is there a secular trend in
America,” the subcommittee
By JOHN C. O’BRIEN
asked, “which creates a new
moral problem? Have the
churches declined as a training
ground for moral conduct? If
such a trend exists and should
continue, what will be the con
sequences?
“Do people have an over
weening desire for wide social
approval which makes them less
independent in their judge
ments, less loyal to ancient
values and more inclined to go
along with the sentiment or the
practices of the moment?”
The subcommittee also con
sidered in a speculative way the
seeming indifference of the
public evidenced in the extent
of nonvoting and a general
apathy in regard to politics in
terrupted at times by intense
interest and feverish reform.
“If these traits of a politically
immature people should be
found to exist,” the subcom
mittee asked, “would they in
dicate some degree of gullibil
ity and emotionalism generally?”
The subcommittee also raised
the question whether there is
general ignorance of the basic
ethical and political ideas upon
which American institutions
were founded.
“Are Americans,” the sub
committee asked, “unaware of
the ideas and principals which
really control them today? If
such ignorance exists, how does
it affect capacity to deal with
present day problems in public
affairs?”
PROPOSED REMEDIES
The subcommittee did not
attempt to answer the question
it asked itself. But it insisted
that these were questions of
profound significance for which
answers should be sought
through an inquiry, such as the
Senate is now being asked to
consider.
And, while it deferred con
clusions as to the basic causes
of ethical lapses on the part of
government officials pending
the completion of a full inquiry,
the subcommittee did, _ however,
propose general remedies, none
of which have yet been adopted.
It suggested, for example, that
all federal officials receiving
$10,000 a year or more should be
required to disclose their in
comes, assets and all dealings in
securities and commodities. It
proposed amendments to the
Administrative Procedure Act,
prohibiting the acceptance of
any gift from a person or organ
ization with which a govern
ment official transacts business
for the government.
It even went so far as to sug
gest that public officials should
avoid involvement with persons
outside the government through
attendance at frequent lunch
eons, dinners, parties or other
expensive social engagements.
Whether anything is done to
raise ethical standards in gov
ernment depends, in the last
analysis, upon the public. An
old axiom holds that any people
get the kind of government
they deserve. If we accept what
seems to be a prevalent belief
that politics and corruption go
hand in hand, we will continue
to have loose ethical standards
in goverriment. If voters return
men who have betrayed a
public trust to office, as they
have done in some instances in
the past, then we shall continue
to have too many cynical and
self-serving public servants.
Helping Each Other To Health
This We Believe
Luck is the crossroad where
planning and opportunity meet.
A few weeks ago we discussed
here the problem of mental
health. That discussion brought
letters of comment from several
persons who have suffered or
are suffering from some form of
emotional or gS? f >
psy cho logical
d i s t urbance.
Reading these
letters, we
were remind
ed that people
such as these
—persons who
recognize their nervous disor
ders for what they are, and who
have the desire to do something
about it — these are the more
fortunate ones.
All too often the persons with
an emotional or psychological
handicap Will cling stubbornly
to the delusion that his difficulty
has a physical heart palpita
tions, or for his recurrent head
aches, or for his frequent at
tacks of nausea, or for his fits
of dizziness, or weak spells or
coughing spells, or extreme fa
tigue, or trembling, or depres
sion or overanxiety. He still
thinks the doctors are wrong,
still thinks that there is a hid
den physical cause which some
day will come to light.
He cannot bear to admit to
himself that his infirmity may
be nervous in origin. He has a
feeling (totally mistaken, of
course), that there is something
shameful about admitting that
his trouble may be “all in the
mind.” This is the person really
to be pitied, because it is next
to impossible to persuade him to
seek the kind of help he really
needs. He will recoil almost in
horror from the mere thought of
consulting a psychiatrist. He
thinks that to do so would be to
infer that his illness is a shame
and a pretense — which of
course it is not. Again and again
it needs to be emphasized that
an illness rooted in the mind can
be just as real as one rooted in
a diseased organ. It is not some
thing that can be cured by tell
ing ourselves, or by being told,
that it just isn’t so.
For any person who suffers
from nervous symptoms for
which his physician has been
unable to find any organic
cause, there is a remarkably ef
fective and inexpensive form of
therapy available. This is the
self-help path to mental health
which is called Recovery, Inc.
It is about 20 years since Re
covery was started by a Chi
cago psychiatrist, and it now
has spread to every major city
and to many smaller communi
ties too.
The essence of Recovery con
sists in weekly meetings of
small groups of people who are
or have been the victims of
(By FATHER LEO TRESE)
some kind of emotional, psy
chological or nervous illness,
Together they study and dis
cuss the causes of such illnesses,
and the remedies. They share
their experiences and support
and encourage each other in
their efforts towards recovery
and continued health. All this
is done under the guidance of a
trained leader who himself has
found good mental health
through the Recovery tech
niques.
Beginners in Recovery, per
sons who previously had
thought their own problems to
be unique, usually are amazed
to discover that there are so
many others who share their
problems. Members of a Recov
ery group will include persons
who at one time were hospitaliz
ed with nervous disorders and
who now in Recovery maintain
the mental health which enables
them to live a normal life. There
will be others who suffer from
an emotional or psychological
illness which easily could have
led to hospitalization if Recov
ery had not provided the needed
therapy. Still others, with less
er problems, find in Recovery
the aids which help them to a
happier, richer life. Finally some
members may be persons who
are not themselves sufferers
from any psychological disorder,
but who do have loved ones suf
fering from such an illness. In
Recovery they learn how best
to help the one they love.
Recovery is not an organiza
tion in the ordinary sense of the
word, with officers, dues and
constitution. Recovery simply is
groups of people with a com
mon problem, dedicated to«the
task of helping themselves by
helping each other. This is a
thoroughly Christian concept,
even though Recovery meetings
are non-religious in , character.
It is assumed that each member
will find the spiritual help he
needs in his own church and re
ligious practices. There is no
fee for participation in a Re
covery group. Members are ask
ed to buy a copy of the discus
sion book if they can. If they
cannot, they are welcome to
share a book with someone else.
In most cities Recovery, Inc.,
is listed in the phone book. A
call to the number listed there
will bring immediate and detail
ed information through the
mail. The Recovery office will
provide information as to the
meeting place and time of the
group which is nearest to the
person who inquires. No “appli
cation” is needed for attendance
at a Recovery meeting. Once the
time and place is known, anyone
is welcome to walk in and to
take a seat and listen. Those
who live in smaller towns or
rural areas where no Recovery
phone number is listed, may ob
tain information by writing to
Recovery, Inc., 116 South Michi
gan Ave., Chicago 3, Illinois.
For anyone with a nervous ill
ness, a phone call or a letter
may be the first step towards
health and happiness.
A man never adds to his sta
ture by treading on others’ toes.
lulklUt
416 8TH ST„ AUGUSTA, GA,
I uWished 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
V°l- 39 Saturday, July 26, 1958 No. 4
ASSOCIATION OFFICERS FOR 1957-1958
GEORGE G1NGELL, Columbus President
E. M. HEAGARTY, Waycross Honorary Vice-President
MRS. DAN HARRIS, Macon Vice-President
TOM GRIFFIN, Atlanta T 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