Newspaper Page Text
PAGE 4—THE BULLETIN, October 31, 1§3®
JOSEPH BRE1G
PAPA K's
In his TV talk before depart
ing from America, Khrushchev
delivered what amounted to a
60-minute commercial for com
munism.
The soothing lilt of the trans
lator’s voice
came close to
making it a
singing com
mercial.
Khrushchev
did not call
com munism
commun i s m.
He called it
socialism.
The reason is obvious enough.
The word “communism” is load
ed with memories of crimes
against humanity, justice and
religion.
One of Khrushchev’s- purpos
es was to make us forget those
abominations, and to beguile us
with campaign promises of a
childish heaven on earth.
THE GENERAL EFFECT of
his sales pitch was that every
thing would be ducky if only
we would let the Kremlin turn
the earth into a kind of asylum
for the simple-minded, with us
as inmates and the bosses of
communism as keepers.
In this never-never land, ev
erybody would be fed, housed,
clothed, schooled, medicined,
put to bed, got out. of bed,
worked a little, vacationed a
lot, and eventually old-age-
homed — all under .the benign
dictatorship of the proletariat,
operated by Grampa Khru
shchev & Co., with the cheery
help of Papa Mao Tsetung, as
demonstrated in Tibet.
I wonder what the advertis
ing chaps were thinking as they
listened to Gramps Khrushchev.
In their commercials, they pro
mise a lot, but they are not free
to promise everything.
Khrushchev promised every
thing.
BUT WAIT A MINUTE—not
quite everything. He offered
everything except the right of
a man (or woman) to call his
soul his own.
Khrushchev said that apart
ment buildings are going up all
over in Moscow. But he did not
say that a family under commu
nism can own its own home, or
lock the front door, or sleep at
night without fear of a govern
ment agent’s knocking in the
wee hours. It can’t.
TV TALK
Good old K said the Russians
are better, fed every year. We
hope they are. But he did not
say that a farmer could have
his own farm, or that a house
wife could shop in a store not
operated by the Kremlin.
He said the Kremlin pays for
schools. He did not say that
anybody could choose a school.
HE SAID THAT if a Russian
needs an operation, the govern
ment pays. He did not mention
that the Russian goes to the
doctor he is ordered to go to,
whether or not he considers the
man competent.
Jolly old Khrushchev assur
ed us that pretty soon there
won’t be any taxes in the Soviet
Union. He neglected to mention
that not long ago, the Kremlin
confiscated the savings of the
people — after forcing them to
save in the first place — and
that whatever you buy, you buy
from the government, at prices
set by the government, with the
wages the government allows
you to have.
Kindly old Khrushchev for
got something. He forgot we are
not children who have never
reached the age of reason. If we
were all simpletons . . . but we
aren’t.
KHRUSHCHEV thoughtfully
avoided the word “commun
ism.” After all he’s our grand-
pop now. He doesn’t want to
pain us with memories of Hun
gary. Or of workers fighting
tanks with paving stones in
East Germany.
He told us about devastation
and death in Russia during
World War II. But he didn’t
mention “communism”' because
we might remember that World
War II started with a pact un
der which Hitler -invaded Pol
and from the west while Stalin
invaded it from the east.
The Great Red Father, with
touching solicitude, wanted to
spare us thoughts of the en
slavement of Latvia, Lithuania,
Estonia, Romania, Albania,
Czechoslovakia, Bulgaria. He
protected us from visions of the
millions who fled from commu
nism in Korea and Vietnam,
and of those who lost hands or
feet — or their lives crawling
through mined border areas,
thoughtfully provided to keep
them inside the socialist para
dise.
Oh, well —- we got the mes
sage anyhow.
Theology
For The
Layman
By F. J. Sheed
(COLUMN 41)
Once we have come to some
understanding of who and
what the Redeemer is, we are
in better condition to see into
the meaning of Redemption.
For the
state from
which hu
manity need
ed to be re
de e m e d it
would be well
to re-read Ar
ticles 32-34 of
this series, es
pecially the beginning of 34.
Here we may summarise brief
ly. Owing to the sin of the first
man, the race had lost its union
with God; a breach lay be
tween. Where God and man had
been at one, they were now at
two: till at-one-ment, atone
ment, was made, heaven was
closed to the race’s members.
God could, of course, have
simply written off the race as a
failure; He could, as simply,
have forgiven the sin; He chose
that in human nature the sin
committed in human nature
should be expiated.
For the act by which Christ
redeemed us was a wholly hu
man act. The life He offered as
sacrifice was His human life: an
offering of the divine life would
have been meaningless. The
suffering was in His soul and
body; the death was the separa
tion of His soul and body.
In Him, humanity gave its all,
holding back nothing. Here was
a total obedience as against the
disobedience of man’s sin, a to
tal acceptance and self-surren
der as against the thrust and
self-assertion of man’s sin. And
all this was wholly in human
nature.
But He who performed the
act was God: actions, we have
seen, are always in the nature,
but the person does them: and
the Person whose human, nature
this was, in whose human na
ture all this was done, was, is,
God the Son. Because He was
truly man. His sacrifice was tru
ly human, so that it could be
set against the sin of the race.
(Continued on Page 5)
Question
Box
SHARING OUR TREASURE
Business Man Helps Convert
A Minister
By REV. JOHN A. O'BRIEN, Ph. D.
„„ (University of Noire Dame) . _
By David Q. Liptak
Q. I understand fully that the
obligation of hearing Mass on
Sunday cannot be fulfilled by
watching Mass on television.
But isn't it possible for the
Church to change its ruling in
this matter? Isn't the Sunday
Mass precept a part of Church
Law, just as the Communion
Fast precept is? In view of the
fact that th£ Communion Fast
law was changed, why couldn't
the Sunday Mass law be also
changed, so as to permit the
hearing of Mass on TV, for ex
ample? Isn't it true that by
watching Mass on TV a person
could observe the ceremonies
far better than if he were in
church?
A. It is true that, according to
general Church Law today, the
obligation to hear Mass on Sun
days and Holydays of Precept
cannot be satisfied by watching
Mass on television. As the law
reads, bodily presence at Mass
is required: i.e., one must ac
tually be in or around the place
where Mass is being celebrated,
and morally united with the
celebrant.
Physical presence is required
not only by virtue of Church
Law, however; nor precisely for
the purpose of bringing the
faithful together to witness the
sacred liturgy at first hand. Ra
ther, the ultimate and principal
reason for the Church’s require
ment is the Natural Law in
junction binding all men to
worship God not only privately,'
but publicly and corporately as
well.
“Attendance at Mass on cer
tain days is imposed by the
Church,” writes one theologian,
“not principally in order that
they may see and hear what the
Church is doing, but that they
may fulfil their primary duty
of offering worship to God pub
licly and socially, as well as in
dividually and internally. The
viewer in the privacy of his
home may be intimately united
in spirit with the Mass which is
being offered, but only by phy
sical presence at a public act of
(Continued on Page 5)
This is the day of the lay
apostolate. Our Holy Father,
Bishops and priests are appeal
ing to all Catholics to help
them spread the truths of
Christ. This' you can do by
telling your
n o n-Catho lie
neigh bors
ah omt' your
holy Faith,
loaning them
Catholic. liter
ature, setting
a good exam
ple and bring
ing them to a priest for instruc
tions. This is the technique
used by Mr. Michael J. Gibbons,
proprietor of the Gibbons Sup
ply Company and the Gibbons
Hotel in Dayton in winning
three converts.
“When I fell in love with
Bertha Kemp,” said Mrs. Gib
bons, “I wanted desperately to
share with her my holy Faith,
the source of all my happiness
and peace of mind. Bertha’s
parents were God-fearing Chris
tians with many relatives in
the ministry. I explained many
points about my religion and
gave her Cardinal Gibbons’
The Faith of Our Fathers.
“That book removed many
misconceptions and enabled her
to grasp the all-important his
torical fact that the Catholic
Church alone has been founded
by Christ and alone has been
authorized to preach and teach
in His name. This startled her,
as it does most non-Catholics
who have the vague idea that
all. Chris t i a n denominations
stem from Christ. • -
“Bertha took instructions
from a Sister of Notre Dame
and just prior to our marriage
was received into the Church.
That is the ideal time for the
non-Catholic in a mixed court
ship to enter, for it enables
both parties to receive Holy
Communion on their wedding
day and thus start with God’s
blessing upon their married life.
“God has blessed us with four
children and 17 grandchildren,
and we can never thank Him
enough for all the graces show
ered upon us. The second per
son I interested in the Faith
was Clara Stark, one of our em
ployees. I told her of the joy
and happiness which comes
from receiving the forgiveness
of our sins in confession and
our Eucharistic Lord in Holy
Communion.
“Clara had been to Mass
several times with Catholic
friends but they had given her
little information about the
Faith and no encouragement to
look into it. I explained that
she could take a course of in
struction without, committing
herself in advance. This pleased
her immensely. So I got in
touch with Father Friedel, S.
M., at Dayton University, who
instructed and received her into
Church.
“Like all converts, Clara is
enthusiastic over the Catholic
religion and all the aids it pro
vides for living a virtuous, up
right and happy life. She makes
frequent closed retreats with
the Dominican Sisters here.
“The third person I interested
was a Protestant minister,
Robert B. Scott, who was also a
college professor, radio lecturer
and writer. His father and two
brothers were also ministers,
and he had a Ph. D. in Latin
from the University of Cali
fornia. We met on an ocean
cruise and I saw that he was
still groping. I suggested that
he make a closed retreat with
the Jesuits in California and
sent him several excellent Ca
tholic books. After the retreat
he took instructions from Fa
ther Burke, C. S. P., then pastor
of St. Mary’s Church in San
Francisco.
“The Church’s unity, sanctity,
universality and apostolic char
acter were, he perceived, the
unmistakable marks of the true
Church. Those marks drew him
into the Church as a magnet
draws steel. Since 1937 I’ve giv-
How Do You Rate'
on Facts of Faith
By Brian Cronin
1. By whom were the words “My Lord and my God” spoken?
(a) Peter? (b) Thomas? (c) St. John the Baptist? (d) Mary
Magdalen?
2. Who was called the Little Flower of Jesus? (a) St. Therese
of Lisieux? (b) St. Bernadette? (c) St. Teresa of Avila? (d)
St. Rose of Lima?
3. The origin of the Christmas crib devotion is attributed to:
(a) St. Nicholas? (b) St. Stephen? (c) St. Francis of Assisi?
(d) St. Christopher?
4. Who was commanded by God to sacrifice his son Isaac?
(a) Solomon? (b) Abraham? (c) Moses? (d) Daniel?
5. Father Louis A. Dion, the recently appointed chaplain to
American Catholics in Moscow, is a member of the: (a)
Jesuits? (b) Dominicans? (c) Maryknoll Missioners? (d)
Assumptionists?
6. In 1789 the first U. S. diocese was established in: (a) Bos
ton? (b) Washington? (c) New York? (d) Baltimore?
7. Which one of the apostles escaped unhurt from a cauldron
of boiling oil? (a) John? (b) Andrew? (c) Philip? (d) Tho
mas?
8. Hyperdulia is the name of the special honor given to: (a)
The Pope? (b) Our Lady? (c) Martyrs? (d) The Passion?
Give yourself 10 marks for each correct answer below.
Rating: 80—Excelent; 70—Very Good; 60—Good; 50—Fair
ANSWERS: 1 (b); 2 (a); 3 (c) 4 (b); 5 (d);
6 (d); 7 (a); 8 (b)
Jottings ...
(By BARBARA C. JENCKS)
"The Church is the Cate-
chism and it is our mother
leaning over our crib teaching
us our evening prayers. It is the
martyrs in the Colosseum and
the martyrs in Uganda . . . it is
the ivrinkled old nun and the
eager eyed postulant. It is the
spire glimpsed from a train win
dow. It is six o'clock Mass with
its handful of saints at the com
munion rail in the gray dark and
it is pontifical high Mass with
its crowds and glowing grandeur
in St. Peter’s. It is the Carthu
sian at prime on Monte Allegro
and the lesuit teaching epistomo-
logy in Tokyo." Myles Connolly.
» * '*
• ONCE IN a while a minia
ture view of the Church with
its power and glory, its ancient
newness surges over me and I
am breathless with wonder that
I am a microscopic part of it.
In one brief flash, I see and
sense anew what it means to be
a Catholic. And so it was with
me last Sunday. It was a beau
tiful fall day with the foliage
turning to an almost New Eng
land perfection. The sky was
mantle blue. There are no skies
like October skies. The bell in
the big campus Church of Our
Lady of Loretto tolled. It said:
“Three young Sisters who have
knelt, prayed, come to me in
their sorrows and joys during
their postulancy, novitiate and
scholasticate are now leaving
my protection to be members
of a larger congregation.” Three
Sisters of the Holy Cross with
their Mother General came
foreward. There was a sermon
by a Dominican who had been
a missionary in (he Near East
who told them the only sadness
was coming back from mission
life, there was only joy in leav
ing. I remember, I remember
. . . many such missionary de
parture ceremonies. I had burn
ed with the desire to be a mis
sionary: to be the instrument
from which someone first hears
the name of “Jesus and Mary.”
Most of us cannot go to the far
away places with the strange
sounding names in person. We
are like Therese, the Little
Flower, who was a stay-at-
home missionary. I can send
my prayers, alms and writings
to the missions, I cannot go
there myself much as I yearn.
Whenever anyone ever asks me
what I think is the greatest
thing in the world to be? I al
ways answer “a foreign mis
sionary.”
• AFTER THE ceremony and
Benediction, the young nuns
filed out under the unfurled
mantle of Mary’s skiesi followed
by their Sisters in Christ, those
whom they leave to become
members of another family. The
idealistic oostulants, the veterans
en weekly each of our 200 em
ployees a mimeographed sheet,
explaining some teaching of our
holy religion to share its pre
cious treasures with them.”
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 address of such per
sons to him at Notre Dame Uni
versity, Notre Dame, Indiana,
and the old Sisters, some who
could only shuffle along, whose
years had long been spent on
God. The procession was indeed
the Church militant: I stood in
the Church doorway for a mo
ment watching the drama of
dreams unfold, as old and
young filed by to promise pray
ers to the mission-bound Sis
ters. The sun beat down hard,
the organ still resounded, the
bell tolled. I turned and walked
alone out a side door, thinking
hard about the scene just wit
nessed. As I passed the old
nuns’ infirmary, I heard a
moaning. Perhaps a Sister in
her last agony. The drama of
the Church is in continual per
formance, a nun lies dying,
three others leave for mission
lands, old nuns with arthritic
hands tell the beads over and
over for the young and the old,
dreaming of better days. As I
walked further into the heart
of the campus with the bell still
tolling, I passed young couples,
hand in hand, oblivious to the
great drama which had just
taken place about 100 yards
from them. They, too, had their
dreams. The blue skies had
other things to say to them and
the bell did not toll yet for
them. And so three nuns leave
for the mission, an aged nun
lies dying, nuns of all ages pray,
a layman wonders, young lovers
look into one another’s eyes
and a plane flies low over the
campus and a bell tolls. This is
the Church in miniature portion.
* * *
• THE SENSE of the uni
versality of the Church came
upon me in Europe as it does
to all Catholic travellers. The
world is our parish; a Corpus
Christi procession in Amster
dam; the feast of St. Anthony
in Rome; a priest bicycling in
Dublin and two white capped
St. Vincent de Paul Sisters
chatting in a Paris station . . .
this is the Church! Yet it is
right here, too. Somedays it be
comes more pronounced and
shouts more loudly at us. Later
on that thought-laden Sunday
when the scales had fallen a
moment from my eyes, I walk
ed hack under the stars to my
room. I was still in a meditative
mood. I nodded absently to the
large statue of St. Michael as
I did to the students who pass
ed. I stopped as is, usual at my
favorite shrine of the Sacred
Heart and then on to the statue
of St. Therese. These statues are
along my walk home and they
are as much a part of my life
here as the people I meet
everyday. Coming to St. Ther
ese, I discussed with her some
of the day’s proceedings which
still were nestling around my
heart and mind. I said to her:
“Here we are, others come and
go to the missions, we remain.”
Then I told her how important
she was in the Church and how
important those missionaries
Were to the Church and the
Sisters who took part in that
ceremony . . . and then I real
ized that the students who pass
ed me by with a nod were part
of the long procession, too, and
50 was I ... so was I.
Survey Shows Teen-agers Lack Intellectual Curiosity
THE BACKDROP
Most of the talk about im
proving the quality of education
in the United States centers
around money. The crying
need, we are being told, is more
classrooms, more playgrounds,
more equip
ment, more
teachers.
That we
need all these
things is self-
evident. But
what we seem
to be over
looking is that
classrooms and teachers alone
cannot give us the educated
youth that we must have if we
are to meet the challenge of
the education-hungry youth of
the Soviet Union in the years
ahead. We must have a will to
learn on the part of our stu
dents, and that, it appears, we
do not have.
FEW ARE LINCOLNS
We all are familiar with the
story about how Abraham Lin
coln walked miles to borrow
books, how he pored over their
pages stretched out before the
fireplace in his rude cabin
home. But, if we are to trust
the findings of a survey of some
6,500 high school pupils in the
nation’s capital, such dedica
tion to learning is rare today.
Although the survey covered
only one city, the attitudes re
vealed are probably typical of
high school children throughout
the country.
The survey showed that a
very large proportion of the
high school teen-agers looked
forward to going to college.
By JOHN C. O’BRIEN
More than one-third said they
desired a college degree. Twen
ty-three per cent said they
wanted some college. training
even though they might not be
able to finish a college course
and about one-fifth said they
hoped to take a graduate or
professional degree.
On first reading, these statis
tics would seem to indicate that
today’s teen-agers are aware of
the need for a college education
in the fiercely competitive age
in which they live. But the sur
vey produced no evidence that
today’s youth is prepared to de
vote time and effort to the pre
paration needed for the success
ful pursuit of a higher educa
tion.
The students, for the most
part, seemed not to realize that
year by year the colleges are
lifting their sights and stiffening
their requirements for admis
sion. They seemed not to have
heard that the colleges are be
coming more and more selective
in choosing their students from
among the hundreds of thous
ands who storm their gates at
the opening of each academic
year.
The average high school stu
dent interviewed by the inves
tigators seemed to think that he
could loaf through high school
and still pass his college en
trance examinations. Of all the
students covered by the survey
few reported that they spent
more than one hour a day on
home work. Five per cent said
they devoted as much as three
hours a day on home study.
Another five per cent said they
did no home work what ever.
TV TOPS LIST
Among the many ways in
which the students said they
spent their after-school hours,
watching television headed the
list for 88 per cent. But among
the television viewers, 53 per
cent admitted they never
watched an e'ducational pro
gram.
Reading, which, before the
advent of television, was a pop
ular leisure activity among
teen-agers, ranked only fifth
among the ways Washington’s
high school students used their
out-of-school hours. Only a few
said they were interested in any
of the arts. Most of them shun
ned such intellectual activities
as concerts, lectures, discussions
or dramas. Only 44 per cent
looked forward to visiting mu
seums of natural history or art
galleries.
While 75 per cent said they
had visited a public library one
or more times during the year,
few said they used public lib
raries in connection with their
studies. Swimming pools were
three times more popular than
libraries.
Clearly there must he some
thing wrong with an education
al system which fails to stimu
late intellectual curiosity on the
part of students who one day
hope to go to college. If a hab
it of work is not formed in a
student in his high school years,
how can he be expected to suc
ceed in the college or university
where the requirements are ex
acting?
Father Whartwi’t
FIVE FOR FORGIVENESS
‘‘Your grandma still sliding
down the banisters?"
‘‘We wound barbed wire
around them."
‘‘That stop her?"
‘‘Nope, but it sure slows her
, >>
up.
This reminds me of the chal
lenge thrown up to a recent
convert to the Church: “Does
going to confession make you
stop sinning?”
“Nope,” was the reply, “but
it complicates it considerably.”
Frequent and fervent confes
sion is sure to complicate sin
ning. It is hard to face God,
get a good look at our sins and
resolve to do better — and then
swing back into the old habits.
But when the Sacrament of
Peace is used properly, it
should do more than complicate
sinning. It shold stop it. At least
the big sinning.
Sometimes, though, we don’t
pay enough attention to the im
portant things. Like little El-
wood. Sister asked him one day
what is the most important
thing to do before going to con
fession. Elwood’s reply: “Look
under the curtain and see if
there are feet.”
We’re just big Elwoods. It’s
easy to be preoccupied about
the feet in the box, the length
of the line, the big dance to
night, or the fruit-howl hat on
the lady nearby. In order to
make our efforts pay dividends,
we should give more attention
to a sincere preparation.
The old five-finger formula
is the best aid, I think. School
children learn on their five fin
gers the five steps for a good
confession. We’ll take five now
. and see if we’re as exact in our
preparation as the tiny tot who
begins his confession: “Bless
me, Fa-ther, for I have sinned.
My last eon-fes-shun was sev
en days a-go.”
Before we look at the hand,
however — what about the at
tire of the body? No need for
sackcloth and ashes to get in
the mood. But a penitent in
shorts doesn’t seem very penti-
tential. A sacrament is being re
ceived. Even aside from this,
the beach — not God’s House
■— is the place for casual cloth
ing.
So much for fashions for peni
tents. The five steps for a good
confession, as any little shaver
can tell you, are: 1) examine
your conscience, 2) be sorry for
your sins, 3) resolve to do bet
ter, 4) confess your sins, and 5)
say your penance.
First thing first. How long
should you spend examining
your conscience? Depends on
how much you have on your
conscience. If you confess every
week or two, a few minutes
should suffice to bring faults
to mind. But if you’re among
View
from the Kectorj
SI
the Easter season prodigals,
digging up the sins should take
10 or 15 minutes. A little spade
work on the way to church
might help too.
The examination of conscience
should cover the ten command
ments, the precepts of the
Church, the duties of your state
in life, and your faithfulness in
reading “View From the Rec
tory.”
Sorrow for sins is the key
to forgiveness. It’s a must. Our
sorrow has to include all mortal
sins, of course. But even the just
man falls seven times daily; he
has the problem of working up
genuine contrition for venial
sins. Better to pick out a few
venial sins and be truly sorry
for them than to spread the sor
row thinly over a multitude of
sins.
The purpose of amendment is
the gauge of sorrow. Unless the
bitter tears of remorse are ac
companied by the intention to
stop sinning and avoid the oc
casion of sin, they’re merely
crocodile tears.
It serves no purpose to con
fess being uncharitable 72 times,
cursing 84 times and lying 33
times — unless you sincerely
intend to stop being uncharita
ble and cursing and lying. Sure,
you might fall again; but the
resolution of amendment must
be there at the time of con
fession.
Regarding the actual confes
sion, there’s more to it than see
ing if feet are sticking out of
the box. Confession, the cate
chism will tell you, should be
humble and sincere and com
plete. Completeness, of course,
doesn’t mean recounting a lot
of unnecessary details. The con
fessor isn’t interested in what
FIRM FOUNDATION
The man who got to the top
started qualifying for the task
when he entered high school.
5ty*
418 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
Vol. 40
Saturday, October 31, 1959
No. 11
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
Aunt Agatha said to you only
yesterday or how much pain
you suffered on your last visit
to the dentist. We should give
the true facts, the number of
times the sins were committed,
and any important circum
stances.
Contrary to general belief,
the penance given by the priest
does not have to be said in
church immediately after con
fession. If the roast is burning
in the oven, or the kids are be
ginning to dismantle the church,
or Fido has decided to come in
and pray — by all means, save
the penance for later. Still it’s
an excellent custom to perform
the penance immediately if
possible.
That’s it. Five fingers for for
giveness. The device is not a
game for children. We all need
a tool to help us make sure we
haven’t forgotten anything be
fore we journey to the box.
It’s too bad we’re not as lucky
as Mary Magdalen who was
able to kneel at Christ’s feet and
shed tears of sorrow for her
sins. But, on second thought,
we don’t have it so tough.
We can have the same sorrow
and desire for improvement as
Magdalen had. And we do hear
the same words of consolation,
even though they’re in Latin
and through the lips of Christ’s
representative: “I forgive you!”
For the joy of hearing these
words, putting heart and soul
into five simple steps is little
enough.
John J. Kearns
Decatur Services
DECATUR — Funeral serv
ices for Mr. John J. Kearns
were held October 14th, at St.
Thomas More Church, Rev. Jar-
leph Burke officiating.