Below is the OCR text representation for this newspapers page.

Serving Georgia's 88 Southern Counties Vol. 39, No. 21 Christ Is The Bridge AN EASTER MEDITATION By Rev. Gerard S. Sloyan, Dept, of Religious Education, the Catholic University of America) During the Easter Vigil first the new fire is blessed, and then the Easter-Candle is blessed and lighted from it. This waxen sym bol of Christ goes forward in solemn procession through the Church, dispelling darkness. It is set in a place of honor in the sanctuary, incensed, and then praised in song. This pillar of beeswax aflame is none other than the risen Lord. His light is our light, as we are reminded when the church is turned into a sea of flame from the single source. DARKNESS OVERCOME The deacon or priest bids the hosts of heaven and all the min isters of God rejoice (“Exsultet”), for He has wrought salvation. Darkness has everywhere been overcome by the brightness of the eternal King. The Church our Mother is adorned with Christ’s radiance, and we gather around hirn in the figure of a flame to thank the almighty God for His great mercy. There is a key phrase .which comes near the end of this Easter Song—after we have discovered in the Resurrection a fulfillment of the biblical signs of the slain lamb and the dry-shod progress of Israel through the Dead Sea. That phrase is the one in which the night is described as “truly blessed” when “Egypt was dispoiled and Israel enriched.” In .that night—which is recalled here to illus trate the more glorious night of Christ’s rising from the dead— “heaven is wedded to earth and God to man.” There could not be a clearer declaration of the meaning of the Paschal Mystery. It is either the consummation of a loving union between Creator and creature, or it is nothing' at all. Christ, in this conception is the great link between God and man. He makes the holy nuptials possible. The big question of our day is not so much whether God is, as whether He cares for us. For if He is, and does not care for us, being somehow lost in the swirling galaxies of space, then we are in a desperate condition. The heavens were a safe enough place when they were thought to be the abode of the Lord of the heavens, but now that they have become chilly wastes of weight lessness,"'and sunspots are recognized for the raging storms on the fiery globe that they are, the heavens have become terrifying indeed. HUMAN DREAMING? In Galileo’s time the problem was even more intense. The Incarnation had been comprehensible in a tiny Ptolemaic cosmos which had the earth as its center. Why should not the central event of Providential design have taken place on the central body of the Lord’s creation, men asked, and why should it not have happened to the uniquely intellectual visible species man? Surely God could love His creatures that much, mysterious though the awful condescension was. But with Copernicus’ identification of the sun as central, the faith of some was weakened. That strikes us as strange, but it was so. With the subsequent identification of our planet as a minor member of a third or fourth-rate solar system, the modern un believer finds comfort in his view that the claim of a special Providence is so much human dreaming. The Christian position is unchanged. It will never be changed. Deeper insight into the power of God heightens the mystery of the Incarnation. It does not destroy the mystery. In a sense we need all the information we can gather on how high God is above us. Then and only then will we realize why we need an intermediary for Him to come close to us. God needs to approach us, and we need to go to Him through someone who will act as a bridge. WHY WE NEED CHRIST We already know what man is. We need to know what God is. The better we know what He is, the more we will realize why we need Christ to close the limitless gulf of difference between God and us. To be a Christian means to believe in the Incarnation. To be lieve in God is not enough: Jews, Moslems, and half a world be sides do that. Even to believe in Christ is not enough. Let us go back to the Easter Song for a moment. “Heaven is wedded to earth, and God is wedded to man,” it says. Now there is no such thing as a successful wedding except of two who bear a resemblance. The Latin proverb says, “Love finds, or makes, two alike.” Men marry women and are happy in building a lifelong love with them because by nature men and women are alike. In any couple there are differences of taste and temperament and skill. But basically they are the same kind of creature, these two who have the same thoughts and desires. God can be wedded to man only if He is like him. But man is made in God’s image and likeness, we say. There must be some deeper similarity than this effected on Easter eve, or else the (Continued on Page 2) EASTER GREETINGS SAVANNAH — Their Excellencies Archbishop Gerald P. O’Hara, and Auxiliary Bishop Thomas J. McDonough lake this occasion Io extend to Ihe priests, religious and faithful of the Diocese of Savannah devoted greetings and blessings on the feast of the Resurrection of our Divine Saviour. DIOCESE OF SAVANNAH EDITION Published By The Catholic Laymen's Ass'n of Georgia OFFICIAL NEWSPAPER OF THE DIOCESE OF SAVANNAH MONROE, GEORGIA, SATURDAY, MARCH 21, 1959 10c Per Copy — $3 a Year Requiem For Rev. Charles Canavan, S.M.A. Day Of Recollection For Savannah Priests SAVANNAH — Priests of the Savannah Deanery attended a Day of Recollection on Wednes day, March 18th at the Cathed ral of St. John the Baptist. The exercises were under the direc tion of the Rev. Louis Wheeler, S.J., who-also conducted the Re treat for Savannah Diocesan Priests iq September, 1958. The attending priests also heard a sermon by His Excel lency, Bishop Thomas J. Mc Donough, Auxiliary Bishop of Savannah. The Day of Recollec tion ended with Benediction of the Most Blessed Sacrament in the afternoon. MACON—Requiem Mass was offered at Tenafly, N. J. for the Rev. Charles Canavan, S.M.A., former pastor of St. Peter Cla- ver Church, here. Father Canavan, who was pastor of the Macon church from 1947 to 1955 died in Phil adelphia. A requiqm mass was offered for Father Canavan at St. Peter’s on March 6th. “And His sweat became as drops of blood, trickling down upon the ground” (Luke 22:44) This stained glass window of the Agony of Christ in the Garden is one of a set in Blessed Sacrament Church in Kansas City, Kansas. It shows Christ’s disciples in modern dress asleep, with one dozing oyer a newspaper, while our Lord bears His agony alone. Above the disciples the mushroom cloud of an atom bomb is shown against a background of modern buildings. HOLY WEEK AT CATHEDRAL TO BE MARKED BY SOLEMN PONTIFICAL CEREMONIES SAVANNAH — Solemn Pon tifical Ceremonies will highlight Holy Week observances at the Cathedral of St. John the Baptist in Savannah. On Holy Thursday morning at 10:00 a. m. His Excellency, Bish op Thomas J. McDonough will be celebrant at the Mass of the Chrism and will be assisted by the clergy of the Diocese. At this Mass are consecrated the Sacred Oils used in the solemn administration of the Sacra ments of Baptism, Confirmation, Holy Orders and Extreme Unc tion. Bishop McDonough will also Pontificate at the Liturgical Ac tion, Veneration of the Cross PRAYER FOR VOCATIONS O God, hear our prayer and lot our cry come unto Thee. Bless our Diocese of Sav annah with many priestly vocations. Give the young men You call, the light to understand Your gift and the love io follow always in Ihe foot steps of Your Priestly Son. —Indulgence of seven years Mary, Queen of Ihe Clergy, pray for us. St. John Vianney, pray for us. Imprimatur: +Thomas J. McDonough and Holy Communion on Good Friday. Assisting Bishop Mc Donough on Good Friday will be Monsignor T. James McNa mara, Rector of the Cathedral as Assistant Priest; Father Rob ert Teoli, Deacon; a priest of the Benedictine Community as Sub deacon; Monsignor Andrew J. McDonald, Master of Ceremon ies and Father Herbert Well- meier, Assistant Master of Cere monies. The 10:00 Mass ori Easter Sun day will be a Solemn Pontifical Mass at which Bishop McDon ough will be celebrant, assisted by the Cathedral Clergy. Tenebrae Services will be held On Wednesday and Friday eve nings of Holy Week at 8:00 p. m. The sermon on these two oc casions will be delivered by Rev. Louis A. Wheeler, S.J. In addition to the Pontifical Ceremonies of this most solemn week of the Church year, Bishop McDonough will also conduct the Stations of the Cross in the upper Church of the Cathedral at 3:00 p. m. Good Friday after noon. On Holy Thursday the Holy Oils to be used throughout the coming year will be consecrat ed. Bishop McDonough will be assisted by the following Clergy of the Diocese: Assistant Priest, Rt. Rev. Msgr. T. James McNamara. Deacons of Honor, Very Rev. Bede Lightner, O.S.B., Very Rev. John D. Toomey. Deacon of Mass, Rev. Felix Donnelly. Subdeacon of Mass, Rev. George James. Subdeacon of Cross, Rev. Bar tholomew Keohane, S.M.A.. Subdeacon of Balsam, Subdea con of Oil of Sick, Rev. William V. Coleman. Deacon of Oil of Catechumens, Rev. Edward Frank. Deacon of Chrism, Rev. Fran cis Donohue. Priests of the Sacred Oils, (Continued on Page 8) The Priest And People Rev. Felix Donnelly One of the most remarkable accidental effects of the priest hood in the world today, is that the priest stands as the most promi nent person in whatever society he finds himself. He does not seek this prominence, but the very fact that he shuns worldly ambition for himself, makes him stand out from his fellowmen. Because he is not interested in personal gain, his advice is sought by people of every station in life. Because he has spent many years in study and prayer, his guidance is of great value to those highly skilled in their calling, as well as those of more modest learning. Because he repre sents Christ he is the center not only of religious life, but of every noble phase of life. The more be rejects self interest and the things of the world, the more he is made the center of the little world HOLY THURSDAY: CONSECRATION OF OILS A part of the solemn climax of Lent, is the Consecration of the Holy Oils of Chrism, Catechumens, and Infirm, on Holy Thurs-' day, by the Bishop. Upper left photo shows presentation of the urn of oil to the Bishop by the subdeacon; upper right, the Bishop blesses the oil. The small vessel contains the balsam to be mixed with the oil of the infirm. Lower left photo shows anointing of the hands of a deacon being ordained to the Priesthood, as the ordaining Bishop uses the oil of catechumens; lower center, shows anointing with chrism of the forehead as Bishop administers Confirmation. Lower right, Sacrament of Extreme Unction adminis tered by priest using oil of the infirm (sick).—(NC Photos). within which he moves. No one is more amazed than the priest himself, at the quiet tenderness and high esteem with which people honor him. He strangely realizes that no one who seeks such promi nence would gain it. This is left for the one who entirely disclaims personal ambition. He realizes that, though this may mean much to the world, he comes like Christ, “to do the will of Him Who sent me.” His supreme interest must be to accomplish this Will of God—To restore all things in Christ. As Christ stood in the temple before beginning His public ministry, to read a message of His life, so the priest of today, His representative, reads the same words: The spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he hath anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor; he hath sent me to heal the contrite of heart: To preach deliverance to the captives, sight to the blind, to set at liberty those who are bruised, to preach the acceptable year of the Lord, and the day of salvation.” In the same sense the priest has been anointed by God, to be the instrument of the Redemption in the world today, and though he is mindful of the position in which the world holds him, he has no real concern for this prominence. His concern is that he ramain a worthy instrument in the hands of God, continuing the flow of the graces of the Redemption. The priest begins his day with the offering of the Sacrifice of the Holy Mass, in which he renews the Sacrifice of Christ Himself, to atone for sin, to convert others, to apply to individual souls the merits of the Saving Death of Christ. He prays for his people in this Mass, and at least on Sunday offers the Mass for the people under his care. The priest brings spiritual life to his people in this way. In serving as the instrument in all the Sacraments, the priest either brings grace anew to the soul, or brings an increase in God’s grace. He becomes in this way a spiritual Father, bringing the life of God to men. So there is set up in this way a real spiritual re lationship between the priest and the souls he serves. He brings new spiritual life through Baptism, returns the soul to God through Confession, and brings the very “Food of Life” at Holy Communion, with the prayer, “May the Body of Our Lord Jesus Christ preserve our soul unto life everlasting.” Even at the end of life he is the spiritual Father, giving the gentle command, “Go forth Christian soul, upon thy journey, in the name of God the Father who created Thee, in the name of God The Son, Who redeemed thee, in the name of God the Holy Spirit, Who sanctified thee.” The prayer of the priest follows the soul into the after-life, especially through the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass. He is one relative who never for sakes us, always ready with help given him by God. As we share this spiritual relationship with the priest, we should pray for him, that God may keep him entirely dedicated as an in strument in His hands, applying the Redemption of Christ to the souls of men. The priest needs the help of all his spiritual relatives. He has been given work that is more exalted than that given the Angels, and yet he is of the earth. He must be a bridge from God to men, and yet he remains a man. In this he needs your prayers to accompany the purification of his actions and his intentions in the service of God and his fellowmen. Lacordaire described the life of the Priest with his people: “To live in the midst of the world without wishing its pleasures; To be a member of each family, yet belonging to none; To share all sufferings, to penetrate all secrets, to heal all wounds; To go from men to God and offer Him their prayers; To return from God to men bringing hope and pardon; To have a heart of fire for Charity and a heart of bronze for Chastity; To teach and to pardon, console and bless. What a glo rious life! It is yours O Priest of Jesus Christ.