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Y PAGE 4—THE BULLETIN, September 19, 1959 JOSEPH BREiG HOW BEST TO VOTE Any citizen, who really be lieved that it would be impos sible for a Catholic, because he was a Catholic, to be a good U. S. president would, of course, have to cast his ballot against a Catholic can didate — no matter what the candi- date’s qualifi cations. O t herwise, the citizen would be vio lating his conscience and voting against his convictions concern ing the' best, interests of his country. Conversely, any citizen who really believed that any Cath olic, because he was a Catholic, would inevitably make the best possible president, would have to vote that way. Otherwise, he too would be violating his conscience and acting against his convictions about America’s best interests. THE TROUBLE IS that in each of these cases — and in one as much as the other — the citizen would be acting on a grossly mistaken judgment, due to misinformation, or bad logic, or bad theology, or confused pa triotism — or all four. It is a happy circumstance, therefore, that the discussion about the possibility of a Cath olic in thd White House gives all of us an opportunity to re think the basic principles of good citizenship and right- minded voting. Let us suppose, for the sake of this rethinking, that a Catho lic has been nominated. Immediately I as a citizen and a Catholic, must address myself to the task of deciding whether I will vote for the Catholic or for his opponent, who is (let us say) a Presbyterian of great worth. MY FIRST DUTY is to put out of my mind everything that might warp my judgment. May be in my boyhood a Presbyteri an lad punched my nose. May be nothing; it really happened!) Maybe I have known some Presbyterians, who seemed un sociable and censorious. No matter; such considera tions are irrelevant, unworthy and irrational. I am not being asked to vote for or against Presbyterians generally or the Presbyterian .rCljufch. My job is to look at the particular Presby terian who is up for president, and judge his candidacy by what he is and what policies he favors. Equally, I have no right to leap to the conclusion that the Catholic candidate, because he is a Catholic, will make a better president. Above all, I do not have the faintest right to vote for him without caring whether he will better serve the country. NO; IT IS MY MORAL DUTY — and my conscience tells me so — to examine as best I may the records of the two men; to listen to their speeches; to inquire into -their integrity and wisdom, and to support the one whom I judge best fitted to guide the nation. This is true not only for me as a Catholic; it is true also for Protestants and Jews, and for citizens who profess no particu lar church connection. Voting is a serious business. To vote honestly and intelli gently, for the greatest good of the nation, is a moral obliga tion of every citizen. God de mands civic virtue of every one. There are some Americans, it seems clear, who think that a Catholic president could not possibly be a good chief execu tive — could not be trusted to keep the oath of office. This is emphatically a mistaken atti tude. TRUE, AS LONG AS a cit izen is convinced that it is the right attitude, he must vote ac cordingly. But he has another duty to God and America — and to himself. He has the obli gation of investigating his atti tude to discover whether it is rational or irrational. If he will do that open-mind- edly, he will come to realize that blind prejudice is bad for America, and bad for the person who is prejudiced. I do not expect to see preju dice vanishing — although it appears to be diminishing. But I am certainly not going to let prejudice against Catholics trick me ■'into prejudice against any body else. If it should come about that a Catholic were nominated, he and his party would simply have to convince me that he was the better candidate. Other wise, I would vote for his op ponent. Theology For The Layman (By F. J. Sheed) Every single action of Christ was the action of the Second Person of the Blessed Trinity, and this includes every action done by Him in His human nature. For natures are sources of action, but not doers. It is always the, person who does them and. in His human nature, there was but one single per- • son, and that person God. There was no hu man person, for that would have made Him two people, each with His own distinct nature. His hu man nature was complete. But it was united to a divine person, not a human person. He who said I in it was God, not man. We may make this clearer by glancing at two great Chris tian truths — Mary was the mother of God, God died upon the Cross. I remember as though it were yesterday the first time a street- corner heckler said to me “If Mary was the mother of God, she must have existed before God.” I was a newcomer to the outdoor work of , the Catholic Evidence Guild, and I simply gaped at him. In a superior voice he went on “You realize of course, or don’t you, that moth ers come before sons.” The im mediate answer, though I did not handle the question very brilliantly at the time, is that mothers must exist before their sons are born; and Our Blessed Lady did exist before the Sec ond Person of the Trinity was born into human nature; that this one Son already existed in His divine'nature does not alter the truth that it was in her womb that He was conceived as man, from her womb born into our world. His eternal existence as Son of His heavenly Father does not by one jot diminish what she gave Him. -There is nothing received by any human, being from his mother, which He did not .re- (Continued on Page 5) How Do You Rate on Facts of Faith By Brian Cronin 1. Acolyte is another name for: (a) The Holy Ghost? (b) The Pope? (c) Altar Boy? (d) Apostle? 2. The sprinkler which the priest holds in his hand to sprinkle holy water during church ceremonies is called the: (a) Thurible? (b) Crosier? (c) Aspergillum? (d) Censer? 3. Only one of the Apostles was present at the Crucifixion. He was: (a) John the Baptist? 'b) Peter? (c) James the Greater? (d) John the Beloved? 4. Where did the Ascension of Jesus occur? (a) Garden of Gethsemane? (b) Mount Calvary? (c) Mount of Olive? (d) Mount Sinai? 5. Who is the patron saint of housewives? (a) St. Agnes? (b) St. Anne? (c) St. Margaret? (d) St. Zita? 6. The days of special penance marking the four seasons of the year are called: (a) Rogation Days? (b) Ember Days? (c) Vigils? 7. In 1926, the first American to be appointed an Apostolic Delegate was assigned to represent the church in India. He was: (a) Cardinal Mooney? (b) Bishop Sheen? (c) Cardi nal Spellman? (d) Cardinal Stritch? 8. What does the Pope’s benediction “Urbi et Orbi” mean? (a) “Pray for peace”? (b) “To the city and the world”? (c) “Blessings to the world”? (d) “Peace and prosperity”? Give yourself 10 marks for each correct answer below. Rating: 80-Excellent; 70-Very Good; 60-Good; 50-Fair Answers: 1 (c); 2 (c); 3 (d); 4 (c); 5 (b); 6 (b); 7 (a); 8 (b) CIA Warns Gullible Americans THE BACKDROP Jottings ... (By BARBARA C. JENCKS) (By David Q. Liptak) Q. As Catholics, must we ac tually hold that the Bible was written by God rather than by men? If so, why do we use such expressions as "the Gospel of St. Matthew.” or "the Epistles of St. Paul?" Are there any passages in the Bible itself indi cating that it was written by God? A. Catholics must hold that the Sacred Scriptures were written under a special divine influence, specifically attributed to the Holy Spirit, and known as inspiration. By virtue of this special divine influence the hu- 0L an _a u thojs of the books of the Bible (i. e., St. Matthew, Moses, etc.) were moved and impelled to write in such a manner that 1) they correctly understood, then 2) willed faithfully to put down in writing, and finally 3) expressed in apt words and with infallible truth all the things — and those things only — which the Holy Spirit ordered. IN THIS SENSE, the Holy Spirit was the principal Author of the Scriptures, while the hu man writers functioned as Sec ondary or.-instrumental authors. Since human beings are free agents and vary in personality and mode of expression, the pre cise how, of divine inspiration remains a profound mystery. THE BIBLE ITSELF does at test to the fact of its own in spiration. In the New Testa ment, there are two complemen tary texts which demonstrate that the Old Testament was written by God. In the first of these (II Timothy III: 16), St. Paul says: “All Scripture is in spired by God and useful for teaching, for reproving, for cor recting, for instructing and in justice ...” In the second (II St. Peter 1:20), the first Supreme Pontiff recalls that the prophet ic utterances of the Old Law were of divine, not human ori gin: “No prophecy of Scripture is made by private interpreta tion. For not by will of man (Continued on Page 5) SHARING OUR TREASURE Good Example And Inquiry Class Win Convert By REV. JOHN A. O'BRIEN, Ph. D. (University of Notre Dame) Have you ever brought a non- Catholic friend to an Inquiry Class? If not, you are, failing to avail yourself of an excel lent means of helping to win a convert. Many, who are not suf ficiently inter ested to ring the rectory doorbell and ask for in structions, will attend when they are in vited. This is illustrated by the experience of Mrs. Anne S. McManus of Whittier, Cali fornia. “I was reared,” related Anne, “as a Christian Scientist in Rochester, New York, where my father is principal of a grade school. While at Middlebury College, however, I attended the daily chapel and Sunday Vesper' service. I enjoyed the hymn singing and the sermons, as they seemed to be more like what a church service should be than the Christian Science service. “In the spring of 1939 I met James R. McManus and we be gan to date. I discovered that Jim was a Catholic who knew His religion and loved it. It was n’t long before we were deep ly in love. Jim explained many things about the Catholic reli gion and arranged for me to receive a course of pre-marital instructions at Old St. Mary’s Church in Rochester. “We were married outside the altar rail in October. Jim at tended Mass regularly and I went with him. I could see how much his religion meant to him, and how much it influenced his life. He backed up the practice of his Faith with a good Chris tian life. This made a deep im pression on me. “In September 1941 Jim en rolled at the University of Illinois to complete a semester needed for his B. S. degree. We attended Mass at the beautiful Catholic chapel at the Univer sity. One Sunday the priest an nounced that an Inquiry Class would be conducted for all inter ested in knowing more about the Catholic religion, without com mitting anyone to embrace it. “That rang a bell for me. Jim came with me, and we found the course, conducted by Father Gerald McMahon, O. S. B., one of the assistant chaplains, most interesting. The credential that proved most convincing to me was the fact that the Church was founded directly by Christ and had been governed by the successors of the Apostle Peter for more that 19 centuries — five centuries before a Protes tant sect was established. “While I had probably known these historical facts for years, their practical implications nev er seemed to have dawned upon me. Now they did. If the Catho lic Church had been founded by Christ and authorized to teach in His naihe, then it ,and it alone, is the one true Church and I shohld delay no longer in joining it. “My parents were not only unopposed to my conversion but were happy about the proposed step, particularly my father. In his work as a grade school prin cipal he had seen much un happiness stemming from mixed marriages. His own grand parents were Irish Catholic im migrants who had settled in the country where there was no Catholic church and had grad ually drifted away. “On March 28, 1942, I was ■ baptised and received my first Holy Communion the following day with Jim kneeling at my side — two red-letter days in my life! I had but returned to the Faith of my forebears, as may be truly said of every con vert from Protestantism. Now Jim and I pray together, receive the sacraments together, and re- sons i 0 } llm a ( Notre Dame Uni- joice together when any of our verS ity, Notre Dame, Indiana. "Please be a little boy again and I will be a little girl and nothing is trite and nothing is old. We can smile gently at a ripe grape and satisfy our hunger with a raisin." • THE STORY IS TOLD of the old professor who queried his class at the beginning of his course as to what they expected to learn from him. The students replied that they wanted to learn how to be happy and suc cessful and to understand the peoples of the whole world. The old professor turned away sad ly for he knew the secret to none of these things. Heading the best-seller list today is a book entitled “T h e Status Seekers.” It could be subtitled “the American concept of suc- cesss.” It tells of the American preoccupation for getting ahead and keeping up appearances. It tells that the car you drive, the church you attend, your vocab ulary and accent, the political party you favor, your choice of furniture and food all stamp you as a member of a certain social class. Sadly enough suc cess is too often defined in the American vocabulary as wealth, fame, social status. Is it really? Are there very many who would dare discard the worldly definitions of success and go the way of a “Mr. Blue?” * * * • IT WOULD BE INTER ESTING to take a random suc cess survey on a busy street- corner some noontime. The an swers would be quite different if they were to remain anony mous. If a reporter were to ap proach you this moment and ask you: What do you consider success? Are you successful? Do you think you will ever at tain success? Think about the answers you would give if your name accompanied the inter view or if you were to remain anonymous. What is it we strive all our days to possess? The sociologists and psychologists and advertisers say that it is status, acceptance, belonging. Most people believe, it seems, that happiness is the bonus which comes with success. They operate on the theory that once they are in the right section of town, belonging to the right club, landing in the president’s chair, that they will be auto matically successful and happy. Although this theory has been disproven time and time again, men feverishly strain for the top rung thinking that success and happiness finally await their grasp like a pot of gold at the end of the rainbow. • WHAT IS SUCCESS real ly? Does it have anything to do with tangibles and accumula tions and fame and wealth and power? Some have ventured to say that it is being able to ad just to the world and the peo- four children is baptised, makes his first Communion or is con firmed, and we are closer and happier than ever before.” Father O’Brien will be 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- Servicas For Frank T. Reese AUGUSTA, — Funeral serv ices for Frank Thomas Reese, were held September 5th, at St. Patrick’s Church, Rev. Ar thur Weltzer officiating. Survivors are his wife, Mrs. Helen Mura Reese, one son, Glenn Francis, his father, Tho mas W. Reese, Augusta; one sis ter, Mrs. Agnes R. Harper, Au gusta; and other relatives. Atlanta Services M iss Arline Schuily ATLANTA, — Funeral serv ices for Miss Arline Izabella Scully were held September 5th, at the Sacred Heart Church, Rev. C. J. Diggers officiating. Survivors are Miss Mary Scully, Miss Genevieve Scully, Col. and Mrs. James W. Scully, Falls Church, Va.; Mr. and Mrs. Alexander Scully, Wilmington, North Carolina. As Soviet Premier Nikita Khrushchev sets foot on Ameri can soil and begins spreading his message of peaceful co existence, it would be well for Americans to keep in mind an appraisal o f Soviet objec tives made as recently as the latter part of August by the C e n t r al Intel ligence Agency of the United States government. As if to warn gullible Ameri cans not to be tempted to accept Khrushchev’s honeyed words at face value, CIA publicized its considered judgement that So viet aims are inflexible. “The objective of communism is abundantly c 1 e a r,” says the latest CIA pronouncement. “The communists want to rule the world. They want to abolish free society. They have, in fact, announced their intention of world domination and they are determined to carry out their intention.” SUBVERSION AT OUR DOORSTEPS On the very eve of Khrush chev’s departure for the United States, supposedly on a mission of good-will, the communists were up to their ears in sub versive activities not only in the Far and Middle East but at, our very doorsteps in the Carib bean and in Latin America. By JOHN C. O’BRIEN In Laos, a small free country in what was formerly Indochina, they are carrying on a program of subversion, propaganda, penetration and force designed to snuff out the liberties of a valiant but weak people. In Iraq we find communist subversion, propaganda and penetration and at least an incitement to murder. A vehement program of propaganda and subversion is being directed against the Shah of Iran. The communists are working day and night to split Iran away from other nations of the free world with which she has voluntarily alighed herself. In May of this year, at the very time Khrushchev was angling for an invitation to visit the United States, a Soviet intelligence officer, Vadim Kotchergin, was sent to Cuba under the guise of a member of a Soviet Trade union dele gate to guide Cuban communists on how to exploit and penetrate the government of Fidel Castro. In Mexico and Argentina, the Soviet Union has interfered in trade union activities to the point of offending the national sovereignity of those nations. At the moment Soviet agents are seeking to promote a “Con gress of Latin American Peo ples.” The communist aim is to undermine the amity and co operation of member-peoples of the Organization of American States. This aim is to be dis- guished under ,fhe pretended purpose of defending the in ternal resources of the Latin American countries against “im perialist and capitalist” exploi tation. SECRET TRAINING Latin American communists, in ever-increasing numbers, are being trained in the Soviet Union in the techniques of gain ing power, leading to the estab lishment of communist dictator ships. Their training is describ ed by CIA as “clandestine from beginning to end.” The trainees are aided by So viet agents in obtaining illegal travel documents in defiance of their own and other govern ments in order to travel to the training sites within the Soviet Union. They are being taught to exploit honest and legitimate national aspirations of the na tive Latin American political parties, labor unions and other democratic institutions. One of the Soviet’s primary instruments in Latin America is the Confederation of Workers with headquarters in Mexico. This Confederation, headed by Vicente Lombardo Toledano, is the regional liaison bureau for the World Federation of Trade Unions, which has headquarters in Prague but is controlled from Moscow. Whatever olive-branch wav ing Khrushchev indulges in the United States probably will turn out to be a smoke screen to divert our attention from the active subversion now being carried on throughout the world. pie around you, it is a coming to terms with life. Others say life is a series of successes and failures. It is not one sudden burst of passing the finish line. Setting out to accomplish a certain thing, such as winning a sailboat race or being com pany vice-president, and doing it is all part of the bits and pieces that make success. Look around you and see the type of persons you consider successes. Would you want to-Cfcange plac es with them? Is a Catholic or Christian’s concept of success different from others? I asked my students once to define suc cess. They did very well. It was not defined in terms of money. It was defined as reaching hea ven, doing God’s will, choosing the good in all things, living up to the ideal exemplified by Christ.. Will these concepts of success stay with them after they leave the cloistered cam pus? Will they, too, with their families join the race for status in the material symbols of jobs, houses, cars, clothes, clubs, in terests? • AS FOR ME, success has nothing to do with externals. The man who appears as the worst failure in the eyes of the world may in reality be the biggest success story. I am thinking of my hero, “Mr. Blue,” who lived gloriously. It has nothing to do with health or wealth or fame or power. It is an inner peace and content ment which tells a man whether he - is successful or not. He knows it each night as he goes to bed and again each morning as he awakes. Each man can measure for himself the extent of his success, no charts or graphs or books can tell him. Sometimes we can best measure success by failure. In T. S. El liot’s latest book “The Elder Statesman,” he defines para doxically the successful failure in these terms: “What do I call failure? The worst kind of fail ure, in my opinion, is the man who keeps on pretending to himself that he’s a success. The man who in the morning has to make up his face before he looks in the mirror.” nr 'll Vi from the Redorj Father Wh»rl*n'a View "WHAT, ME WORRY?" Science is always destroying pleasant myths we have held for centuries. Now a prominent biologist has come along and attacked our honored belief about the owl and his wisdom. “He’s not wise,” says the biologist, “he’s dumb. He’s dumber than a chicken, if that’s possible. If it weren’t for his extraordinarily sensitive ears (his eyes are only incidental in hunting), the owl would proba bly starve to death. An owl go ing after mice in pitch dark is guided to the quarry purely by sounds.” What’s so dumb about that? I’d like to see Mr. Biologist catch a mouse by sound in pitch darkness. Or in broad daylight, for that matter. We have to con cede that most people are smarter than owls; therefore he’s pretty dumb by our standards. But what’s so erudite about chickens? At least the owl doesn’t end up on our dinner table without his head. I don’t mean to argue with science in its prejudice against owls. It’s just that I used to know a charming owl who lived right outside of my window. In time we became rather good friends. I must admit I usually carried the conservation; all he would say was “whoo” (or “whoom” as the case might be). You couldn’t beat the simple dignity of his bearing. Which brings me to the point. The Sunday newspapers, in an article entitled “The Sermons America Wants to Hear,” listed this topic as one that should be treated by every preacher who wants an enraptured congrega tion: “How Can Religion Elimi nate Worry and Tension?” This is serving religion a big order. If we could somehow get all worry and tension out of our lives, we’d soon be like the owl, just perched day and night staring through big round eyes. Since God gave us a mind to figure out things and nerves with which to feel things, prob lems are a part of our life. Especially since Adam and Eve got things off to a bad start. Dogs, cats, zebras, aardvarks and owls are not intelligent be ings. Therefore, no worries. But who wants to be an aardvark or an owl? Nor does Mr. Owl ever suffer from tension like we do. He has nerves, I suppose. But he has never had to drive through Washington or write a column or listen to the kids arguing about who’s going to sit next to the car window. As long as we remain thinking creatures with all the mixups this brings about, we have to accept the consequence: jitters. It’s one thing or another. Cad- waller will have the fear that he’ll never be able to pay for all those Christmas presents. Tomorrow’s visit to the dentist can make life seem like it’s not worth all this. Parents will worry how they’ll ever pay the grocery bill now that Junior is 6’4” tall and weighs 210 — even though he’s only 12 years old. How do we go about ridding ourselves of tension completely? All we have to do is stop nations from squabbling, do away with politics, agree on religion, ban rock ‘n’ roll, cease competition in business, take the horns off automobiles, declare Commu nism non-existent, forbid the kids to get sick, and tell dogs they shouldn’t bark when we’re trying to sleep. The point, of course, is that religion will never eliminate all worry and tension until we get our wings and halos. For that matter, my latest divine revela tions indicate that even in the heavenly regions someone is al ways fretting because he wanted pink wings instead of blue. It’s unrealistic and un-Christian to expect all troubles and tempta tions to terminate, all disagree able things to disappear. Before we all drown our dis appointment in a Coke, how ever, let me say that religion can do a lot to reduce worry and tension. Or, to put it another way, religion can help us to live with the worries and to survive the tensions of life. It’s all a matter of solid con victions. We know that God loves us and watches over us with tender care. Sure, we know because it’s a teaching of the Church. But when we become really convinced of the Provi dence of God, our burdens are not nearly so heavy. Evqn since we were little shavers tormenting Sister in class, we have known that we’re on this planet to know and love and serve God. Yet if we became really convinced of this Catechism truth, we’d breeze through the difficulties of life like the saints did. We are sure Christ died for us because He loves us. Yet we’re often lonely, insecure and troubled because the truth just doesn’t sink in deeply. Religion will never make a Paradise on earth, of course. It’s not supposed to. Some trouble and bother is going to be present unless we can turn into carrots or oak trees. Alfred E. Neuman, who grins ridiculously from the cover of “Mad” magazine, is al ways saying:-“What me worry?” He’s too stupid to worry. And the old owl, even though he has a certain charm, doesn’t worry because he hasn’t that much intelligence. Being endowed with this in telligence is quite a privilege; but it has its drawbacks. It means we’ll worry and be tense sometimes. Firm convictions about the truths of our Faith, however, will keep the worries from becoming obsessions and the tensions from becoming nervous breakdowns. If we don’t grit our teeth and decide to live our Faith in earnest, the only solution is to lock ourselves in our room and never go out. But, even then, we’d worry about what’s going on outside. Services For W. L. Harrington AUGUSTA, — Funeral serv ices for Mrs. Elizabeth Keene Harrington were held Augus 29th, at St. Mary’s-on-the-Hil Church, Rt. Rev. Msgr. Daniel J Bourke officiating. Survivors are four sister; Mrs. Bell Armstrong of Augusts Mrs. Bertha K. Wright, of Char lotte, N. C.; Mrs. Edmund K Stovall, of Hollywood, Calif, and Miss Ruth F. Keener o Augusta; and several nieces am nephews. People who borrow money to get themselves out of a rut us ually end up in the hole. ©f* Sttiirtut 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. Subscription price $3.00 per year. Second class mail privileges authorized at Monroe, Georgia. Send notice of change of address to P. O. Box 320, Monroe, Georgia. REV. FRANCIS J. DONOHUE REV. R. DONALD KIERNAN Editor Savannah Edition Editor Atlanta Edition JOHN MARKWALTER Managing Editor v °l- 40 Saturday, September 19, 1959 No. 3 ASSOCIATION OFFICERS FOR 1958-1959 GEORGE GINGELL, Columbus President. MRS. DAN HARRIS, Macon Vice-President TOM GRIFFIN, Atlanta Vice-President NICK CAMERIO, Macon ~ Secretary JOHN T. BUCKLEY, Augusta Treasurer ALVIN M. McAULIFFE, Augusta Auditor JOHN MARKWALTER, Augusta Executive Secretary MISS CECILE FERRY, Augusta Financial Secretary