Bulletin (Monroe, Ga.) 1958-1962, March 05, 1960, Image 4

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j?AG.bj 4—'THE BULLETIN, Ma“cii 3, 1950 BULLETIN EDITORIALS LENT “And now there remain Faith, Hope and Charity, these three, but the greatest of these is Charity.” The words of St. Paul con cerning the paramount importance of the virtue of Charity, read in the Mass for Quinquagesima Sunday, set forth the true spirit of the Holy Season of Lent. This is a time of spiritual renewal, a time of special striving to become more and more like to Christ, a time for great efforts to grow in the Love of God and Neighbor. Prayer, Penance, self-denial—all will be like so much “kicking against the goad” or “beating the wind” unless they are directed toward, and result in the acquisition of a greater degree of Divine Charity. For “if I speak with the tongues of men and of angels ... if I should have prophecy . . . and all knowledge ... if I should have all faith ... if I should distribute all my goods to feed the poor, and if I should deliver my body to be burned, AND HAVE NOT CHARITY, IT PROFITETH ME NOTHING.” Certainly then, the pious exercises of Lent, daily Mass and Holy Communion, more frequent and earnest prayer and medita tion, penances and mortification should be more than mere “Spirit ual Calisthenics.” They should be means of spiritual growth. They should be undertaken as a service of Love for Christ, the Re deemer, with a real and conscious desire to become more and more like to Him Who said, “By this shall all men know that you are my disciples, that you love one another,” and who proved His own infinite love for all of us by becoming “Obedient, even to the death of the Cross.” UNFAIR DISCRIMINATION Maybe we’re just old-fashioned. We don’t see anything wrong in waving the Flag or in pledging allegiance to the same. And we just can’t dredge up any sympathy for college and university stu dents who are more than willing to let the United States Govern ment contribute toward their education, but who, for some strange reasons, feel ashamed to make the public declaration that they will “Bear true faith and allegiance to the United States of America.” Two wars in less than twenty years brought death to thousands upon thousands of America’s young men, alike in many respects to the college and university students of today. Strange, indeed, how men, who were soon to lay down their lives defending their country “against all enemies, foreign and domestic” could thrill with pride as they raised their right hands to take the same Oath which a few short years later would become a sign of “unfair discrimination.” JOSEPH BREIG INSULT IN THE SENATE There is no human right that is under more relentless • seige nowadays than the right of par ents to see to it that their chil dren are educated in religion as well as in the other Rs of learning. This is true in America, and it is true in much of the rest of the world. In some places the attack is massive, open and frontal, as behind the iron and bamboo curtains, or under the recently overthrown communist government in Ker ala State in India. In . other places the persecu tion — and persecution it is — is like the nagging of a shrew of a wife who hopes to have her way by a process of endless ac cusations. putting herself al ways in the right, and her hus band everlastingly in the wrong. This latter is the case in the U. S. THERE ARE certain people who miss no opportunity—and indeed create opportunities — to make it appear that parents who do not send their young sters to tax-supported public schools are second-class citizens, and no patriots. These citizens are denounced as “divisive.” They are represented, slyly, as somehow un-American. The implication is broadcast that there is something disloyal — if not nearly subversive — about them. Religious schools are subject ed to a constant smear cam paign, adroitly worded, and cunningly planted in the public prints. Loftily-phrased propaganda conveys the notion that relig ious schools — and independent schools of any kind — are at best contemptible, and at worst dangerous to national unity and progress. The theory seems to be that if enough tar is brushed on, some of it will stick. SOME OF IT STICKS, all right. This was demonstrated recently in the U. S. Senate. A bill was introduced to spend $1,833,000,000 in two years in federal aid to public schools, in part for construction, in part for teacher salaries. Roughly, the idea was to pro vide $20 a year, per pupil, in federal aid to states, so that schools in poorer states might be brought toward the stand ards of those in richer states. But here’s the rub: children in parish and other independent schools were to be counted in each state’s school population. These same children would then be counted out; no aid would go to them; all aid would go to public school pupils. THE INSULTING INEQUITY of this is obvious. Not only was the bill a direct slap in the face for religious parents; but the largest proportion, by far, of in- dependent-school pupils is in the richer states. Thus the “count ’em in, count ’em out” provision went direct ly contrary to the stated pur pose of the bill. One man in the Senate raised his voice in protest. Sen. Frank J. Lausche of Ohio told his col leagues that the bill would “rub salt in the wounds” of parents who send their children to re ligious schools. He tried to amend the bill to count only public school pupils. He was voted down. The Senate then passed, 51-34, the “salt in the wounds” bill. PARENTS OF CHILDREN in religious schools thus were con temptuously brushed aside by a large majority of senators, in cluding Catholic presidential as pirant John F. Kennedy of Mas sachusetts. The Senate then voted down a bill to lend $150 million to in dependent schools for construc tion, although its sponsor, Sen. Wayne Morse of Oregon, esti mated that such schools save U. S. taxpayers $1,185,000,000 a year by educating children without public expense. Sen. Kennedy voted against that bill, as did Sen. Lyndon Johnson of Texas, another presi dential hopeful. Sen. Hubert Humphrey of Minnesota voted for it. Sen. Stuart Symington of Missouri, also mentioned for the presidency, was absent and not voting. REALIZATION Wars will end only when peo ple of all nations are convinced that even the winners are los ers. Set a good example by square dealing—not by shouting. Theology For The Layman By F. J. Sheed THE MYSTICAL BODY (2) To the Ephesians, St. Paul said (I. 22): “God made Christ the head to which the whole Church is joined, so that the Church is his body.” In other words Our Lord, living in H i s natural body in heaven, lives also in another body on earth. The second body is not a replica of the first, it is of a differ ent order. But it is as truly en titled to be called both a body, and Christ’s body. In a body, every element, every limb and organ, every cell lives with one same life, the life of him whose body it is. So it is with Christ’s natural Body, so it is with His Mystical Body. The two lives are different: in the first Body it is natural life, in the second supernatural life, sanctifying grace. In the Church every member has his own nat ural life and must labor to cor rect its defects; but the life of grace, by which at last we shall come to the vision of God in heaven — that is simply Christ living in us, sharing His own life with us. “I live,” says St. Paul, “now not I, but Christ lives in me.” We have cells in our own body living with our life; we must become cells in Christ’s body, living with His. We must be incorporated with Christ, built into His Body. How? By baptism. Born into the race of Adam, we must be re-born into Christ. “We were taken up into Christ by baptism” says St. Paul to the Romans (VI. 3); to the Galations he says (III. 27) “All you who have been baptized in Christ’s name have put on the person of Christ . . . you are all one person in Christ.” That then, is the Church; and that is what it is to belong to the Church. We are built into, in that sense made one with, Our Lord’s humanity. But that hu manity is the humanity of God the Son; so that we are united with the Second Person and so with the Blessed Trinity. We now see new meaning in two (Continued on Page 5) Question Box By David Q. Liptak Q. Why is the Eucharistic Sacrifice called the "Mass"? I have tried to find the answer in several reference works, but each author seems to have a different solution. Is there any one accepted answer? A. Until relatively recent times, there was some doubt as to the precise origins of the term Mass. It is now quite clear, however, that the word comes from rr.issa. a late Latin sub stantive (not the past participle of the verb rnitto) meaning a dismissal; i.e., the breaking up of a congregation or a public meeting. In the light of modem research, other theories once proposed concerning the origin of the term are generally re garded as untenable. (Examples of such theories are that “Mass” derives from the Hebrew mis- sah, meaning a tribute or offer ing; or that it is based on the Greek muesis, meaning a mys tical initiation; or even that it is an adaption of the Germanic Mess, meaning a feast or gather ing.) IN THE BEGINNING, the Christian missa (dismissal) was a kind of solemn rite, especially characterized by a blessing and prayer — not, therefore, so sim ple as the modern dismissal of the Mass, the Ite Missa Est (i.e., “Go, it is the dismissal”). The early Church missa (dismissal) formed an important part of practically every divine service, including Vespers and Matins, for instance, as well as the Eu charistic Sacrifice itself. Be cause the principal ceremony of this missa (dismissal) was a blessing imparted by the cele brant, the missa itself came to be associated with the conclud ing blessing of divine services. BY TRANSFERAL, then, mis sa came to be the descriptive term for the entire service which preceded the missa (dis missal). And subsequently (at least by the fourth century), (Continued on Page 5) S V fe~A N 3 ft B Little-Known Feels M. J. MURRAY ? t o for Catholics E CqwUjfct XfS*, R.CW.C, 9 Students Uphold Loyalty Oath THE BACKDROP SHARING OUR TREASURE 'Bring People To Mass/ Advises Convert Professor By REV. JOHN A. O'BRIEN, Ph. D. , , , . , , ■ , r .(University of Notre Dame) . Have you ever invited a non- Catholic friend to go with you to Sunday Mass? It’s a simple but effective way to kindle the spark of interest in our holy Faith, especially if you have briefed h i m beforehand on the meaning of the Mass a n d provided him with a missal or pray- book to follow the Holy Sac rifice intelli gently. This is conversion of Dr. Siegmund A. E. Betz, professor of English at Our Lady of Cincinnati College. “I was reared,” related Dr. Betz, in the United Brethren Church and attended Sunday School regularly. When I en rolled at the University of Cin cinnati, I became a lay preach er. Deeply interested in music and choir work, I took voice lessons from the late Charles Young, the choirmaster at St. George’s Catholic Church near our home. “I soon found mvself singing ‘O Salutaris Hostia’ from the choir balcony of the church that never quite loosened its grin on me. After taking mv doctor ate at the University of Cincin nati. I began mv teaching career at Lindenwood College in St. Charles, Missouri, where I join ed the Anglican Church and again became a lay preacher. “I was a frequent visitor, however, at the Catholic Church in St. Charles, and on one oc casion a curate there suggested that I might like to follow the same kindlv light that had led Newman on. In 1956 I wel comed the onportunitv to teach at Our Lady of Cincinnati Col lege and began to attend Sun day Mass at St. George’s again. Our family has lived for more than 30 years near that church and its influence upon me was powerful even in my childhood. “Its twin spires, topped by golden domes, are visible for miles, and I used to think of them as the symbol of my own community. More important, ever since my first visit as a child in that church, I knew that great and holy things were transacted in the fragrant Gothic depths of that building. Central in my conversion has been devotion to the Real Presence in the Blessed Sacra ment. “From the time of my first onportunity to be present at Catholic ceremonies, liturgical worship has seemed to me the natural, the inevitable, and the simplest way of worshipping God. The liturgy radiates the presence of Our Lord, and cer tainly one way to made con verts would seem to me simnlv to bring people inside the doors of Catholic churches. That, at anv rate, was the wav for me. “I read Gibbon’s The Faith of Our Fathers, Newman’s Apolo gia and Karl Adam’s The Spirit of Catholicism and made a spe cial study of the Oxford move ment which brought so manv converts into the Church in England. I perceived that onlv the Catholic Church could trace her origin to Christ and alone could speak with divine autho rity. She alone was empowered to forgive sins and to consecrate the bread and wine as Christ did at the Last Supper. “I received instructions from Father Alfred Stritch and was conditionally baptized on De cember 21, 1958, at St. George’s. Great indeed was my joy in receiving Our Blessed Lord in Holy Communion. I owe much to the many friends who had long been praying for me. Like many a convert from Anglican ism, I perceived in the Holy Fa ther the indubitable successor of St. Peter and knew that my true home could only be in the historic Mother Church of Christianity, and yet I hesitated so long. Thank God, my journey is now over and I am home at last!” 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 persons to him at Notre Dame University, Notre Dame, Indiana. BEST AT U. N. MODEL MEETING Three seniors from Georgetown University, Washington, D. C., a Jesuit-conducted school, were picked as the out standing delegation at the University Model United Nations in Montreal. They were selected from 70 delegations repre senting 55 North American universities. Discussion at the meeting included the question of the admission of Red China to the U.N., the legal status of outer space, disarma ment and the establishment of an international food bank. Left to right are: James Cadden, Washington, D. C.; George Giard, Dallas, Tex.; Walter Nicgorski, Milwaukee, Wis., and EY. Joseph A. Sellinger, S.J., dean of the Georgetown college . „ of arts and sciences. (NC Photosi — ~ The virtual unanimity of opinion among university ad ministrators and faculties that students seeking loans under the National Defense Education Act should not be required to take loyalty oaths seems n o t to extend to the students them selves. The loyalty oath require ment has been denounced rather gener ally by educators, including ad ministrative officials of a few Catholic universities and col leges. The argument advanced against the oath is that it is an affront to college students to single them out as a class who must attest their loyalty in order to become eligible for loans financed mainly by the Federal government. Other re cipients of Federal subsidies, critics of the oath point out, are not required to affirm their loyalty. That being the case, the critics ask, why should not the loyalty of students be taken for granted? STUDENT COMMITTEE Other objectors to the oath maintain that it is a threat to academic freedom, and at best will serve no useful purpose, since no subversive would have any qualms about taking it. Curiously, a similar loyalty requirement was written into the National Science Founda tion Act ten years ago without provoking a ripple of protest from the watchdogs of civil liberties. That act required a loyalty affirmation by graduate science students seeking federal aid. By JOHN C. O’BRIEN Nor did many students ob ject to signing the affidavits. The National Science Founda tion reports that some 12,000 students signed the affidavits in the past decade as a condition of eligibility for government aid. Several colleges and univer sities have refused to participate in the National Defense Educa tion Act loan program, in which the Federal government makes available nine dollars for each one dollar loaned to a student by a college or university. No estimates of the number of students who have refrained from applying for loans because of the loyalty oath are available. But students on many campuses have gone on record as rejecting the critical views of the univer sity administrators and teachers. In fact, a National Student Committee for the Loyalty Oath has been formed, representing students in over 30 colleges and universities. The chairman of the committee, Douglas Caddy, a senior at Georgetown Univer sity, reports that a “revolt” against the views of the faculties is taking place on the nation’s campuses. “The students,” he said re cently, “are overwhelmingly in favor of the oath, and they re sent the contrary implications made by some university ad ministrations. We expect many more student organizations to come to the defense of the oath in the next several weeks, now that they realize what the con troversy is about.” In recent weeks student or ganizations at the University of Houston, Ohio State University and Dunbarton College have in dorsed the loyalty oath. A reso lution passed by the Student House of Representatives at the University of Houston declared that “it, as a body, is in favor of retaining all and any loyalty oaths as a requirement for ob taining Federal and state grants or loans.” SOME OPPOSE OATH The resolution added that “any student or individual who desires to obtain such loans should be required 'to take an oath that he or she is not a com munist and does not advocate the overthrow of our govern ment.” At Dunbarton, a college for women in Washington, D. C., a resolution upholding the loyalty oath was adopted unanimously. The student congress of Holy Cross College has gone on re cord 20 to 0 in favor of the oath. Similarly, the executive com mittee of the Midwest Federa tion of College Young Republi cans recently passed a resolu tion defending the oath and suggesting that the university officials “could better spend their time combating commu nism than in attacking those who are trying to stop its ad vance.” Not ail students organizations, of course, defend the loyalty oath. The Twelfth National Stu dent Congress, for example, has demanded repeal of the oath provision, denouncing it as a “threat to academic freedom.” Among the lawmakers who have tried to repeal the oath re quirement is Senator John F. Kennedy, a candidate for the Democratic Presidential nomi nation. A repealer bill intro duced by him in the last session of Congress was shelved by the close vote of 49 to 42. ^ View from (fee Rectory A second-grader was attend ing a Catholic school for the first time. Across the aisle, he saw another boy printing the letters JMJ (Jesus, Mary, Jos eph) across the top of his paper. He was greatly puzzled, but he wasn’t going to be outdone. Across the top of his paper, he printed his own favorite initials: USMC. This reminds me of my semi nary confreres who put some thing like this on all their ex amination papers: JMJFPA. They counted on the heavenly influence of Francis, Philomena and Anthony as well as that of the Holy Family. It was equiv alent to writing HELP on the test paper. There’s nothing wrong with this pious practice, of course. Just so we’re not devoted to too many saints. Too many initials on the paper might look strange. And we have to realize that the saints won’t help much if there are not some solid answers down below the initials. The superabundance of saints in the Church must puzzle many persons standing outside. Even some Catholics, I’m afraid, miss the point. Recently we received a letter about saints. It was signed “Just-Beginning-to-Think-Cath- olic.” This was probably not the writer’s real name, unless dad and mom had quite a sense of humor. Anyway, J.B.T.T. Cath olic said this: “Enclosed is a clipping re garding Mother Seton’s saint hood. Haven’t we enough saints? Hard enough keeping track. If some of this would help solve some of the world’s problems, it would be worth it. Do Catholics have the edge on producing saints?” We sure do have lots of saints. You can’t tell one Francis from another without The Cathedral Directory. But this doesn’t keep us from being greedy for more. Especially one so illustrating as Mother Seton. She would be our first American-born saint. Several years ago, Mother Ca- brini made it — and we were delighted. She was an American citizen, but her birth in Italy kind of threw a lot of the credit across the ocean to that land. Mother Seton, on the other hand, was born and reared in the United States. Anyone who’s not interested in seeing Mother Seton canoniz ed just doesn’t know her. The courageous woman accepted so cial disgrace in eighteenth-cen tury New York by her conver sion to Catholicism. From that time on, Mother Seton was a veritable power house, Among many other CROWDED HEAVEN things, she was noted for her generous acceptance of extreme hardships. Before her death in 1821, she had founded the Sis ters of Charity in this country as well as three schools — the beginning of our parochial schools. So we do look forward to see ing Elizabeth Bayley Seton on the lists of the saints. Sure, there are many others. But there was only one Mother Set on, just as there was only one Aquinas and one Jerome and one Little Flower. We never tire of honoring il lustrious persons of our world. Every patriotic citizen reveres the memory of Washington and Lincoln. The musician has Beethoven for a model; the phi losopher looks to Plato; lovers of art consider Michaelangelo the master; scholars find per fection in Shakespeare’s works. Should we neglect to honor new heroes because we have too many already? The saints, anyway, far sur pass other heroes. They were the human beings who best ful filled their purpose in life. When we honor them, we are glorifying God’s power so evi dent in them. They reflect, in other words, the perfections of our Creator. The Church presents many saints to us for imitation. In spiration and encouragement, if you will. Everyone can find someone up there with the vir tue he needs, someone who had similar problems when he was on earth, someone who did the Stolblttt 41G 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, March 5, 1960 No. 20 ASSOCIATION OFFICERS 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 same kind of work. If we want zeal, we can turn to Paul or Francis Xavier. For simplicity, it’s Francis Assisi; for brotherly love, Vincent de Paul. The road to heaven is a lot easier when we think about Francis de Sales’ gentle ness, Don Bosco’s cheerfulness and Thomas More’s courage. These heavenly VIPs are more than decorations. They can help us by their interces sion. The communion of the saints means just that. There’s an intercommunion among God’s friends here on earth, in purgatory and in heaven. Does the Church have an edge on producing saints? Frankly, yes. I know there are holy peo ple in other religions. There are many saintly souls all around us in our Church. There are bad ones among us, too. The canonized saints, howev er, weren’t merely holy. They attained that heroic degree of sanctity which almost takes our breath away. As Father Conway says in his Question Box: “Sanctity is to ordinary good ness what genius is to talent.” We have only to check history to see that no religion can match these marvels of God’s power — the saints. This is not bragging. It’s not our work, but Christ’s in His Church. So, J.B.T.T. Catholic, shoot— if you must—at this old head of mine. But spare your Church’s saints. NEW ANGLE The thing that makes a man’s salary seem so small seems to be the high cost of trying to live. FINGER MAN There is little hope for the fellow who blackens his friends in an attempt to whitewash himself.