Newspaper Page Text
PAGE 4—the Bulletin, October lit, Pjou
\J ■
THE CHRISTIAN SPIRIT
Tray With Me*
The Most Reverent" Thomas J. McDon
ough, Bishop oi Savannah, has issued his
annual appeal lor funds to continue and to
expand the vari ed works of the Diocese.
This year’s goal is $110,000.
Contrioutions alone will not bring suc
cess to the 1960 drive. What is needed is
genuine enthusiasm for the necessary un
dertakings of the Church in all parts of the
Diocese. What is needed is not just giving,
but cheerful giving. What is needed is giv
ing. with the conviction that the generous
self-denial involved will bring the Blessings
of God upon the Apostolic and missionary
endeavors of the entire Diocese, and upon
all of us as individuals who follow Christ
willingly, in the spirit of Faith, bearing
HIS cross on OUR shoulders.
It was such a spirit of genuine, fervent
sacrifice by millions upon millions of
Christians over nineteen centuries that
brought the Faith to us and such phenom
enal growth to the tiny Church born on
Pentecost Sunday.
“And the multitude of believers had
but one heart and one soul: neither did
any one say that any of the things which
he possessed was his own.” (Acts. 4:32)
“For as the body is one, and hath many
members, and all the members of the body,
whereas they are many, yet are one body,
so also is Christ. For in one Spirit were we
all baptized into one body . . . For the body
also is not one member,' but many . . . Now
you are the body of Christ, and members
of member.” (1 Cor. 12:12-14 and 27)
THE PRICE
The United Nations Organization is
now fifteen years old. Of all human means,
it has been called, “Mankind’s .last best
hope for peace with justice in the world.”
Now, a decade-and-a-haif after its
founding the world seems to be more
sharply and dangerously divided than ever
before. Khrushchev rattles his rockets,
warning of Russia’s military might, and
threatens to try to scuttle the U. N. if his
demands, aimed at extending the influence
of Communism throughout the world are
not met. A Communist dictatorship exists
only 90 miles from the mainland of the
U. S. Some of the newly emerged nations
of Africa seem to feel that it is more pro
fitable to support the aims and position of
Russia with regard to the activities of the
U. N. on that continent, heightening fears
that this great organization may collapse
and with it, the hope of the world for
peace.
And yet, with all this, there is no
cause for consternation or dismay. For
these actions only prove that nations can
be more successful in trying to overcome
evil by natural means alone than any in
dividual. And if the world can only become
convinced of this, then all the troubles and
tensions presently gripping the world will
only have been the price of wisdom.
Grace perfects nature. Men and wo
men of good will labor tirelessly and un
selfishly to put the principles of the Unit
ed Nation Charter into effect throughout
OF WISDOM
the world, sincerely longing for the day
when men will “beat their swords into
plowshares and their spears into pruning
hooks.” But only the Grace of God can
water the seed which they plant, and bring
it to fruition.
It remains for the world, then, to seek
the Grace of God which will perfect man’s
natural efforts, and overcome any evil.
This is the month of the Holy Rosary.
It is also a month when we recall to mind
that the Blessed Virgin Mary promised
the world, at Fatima, that if people pray
and do penance, then Russia will be con
verted; and warned that if her words were
not heeded, Russia would spread her errors
throughout the world.
So, if time seems to be confirming the
warning of Mary, it must also be confirm
ing the fact that at least not enough of the
world is praying and doing penance.
What good will your prayers and pen
ances do — or mine — when so many do
not believe in their necessity?
Moses -extended his arms in prayer,
and as long as he prayed the battle went
in favor of the chosen people, but when he
tired and began to flag the tide of battle
shifted to the enemy. What good are your
prayers?: “The prayer of one just man
availeth much.”
How often do YOU say your Rosary
— how often do YOU deny yourself —
how often do YOU receive Holy Commun
ion — how often do YOU sincerely and
fervently pray for peace?
Visiting Barbarians
T H E
Arrogance and boorishness
seem to be the hallmark of
diplomacy as conducted under
communist rules.
A more disgraceful display
of churlishness and contempt
for civilized
d e p ortment
than that
staged by
Nikita Khru
shchev and
his newest
puppet, Fidel
Castro, at the
meeting of
the United
Nations General Assembly
would be hard to find in the
annals of international confer
ences.
The two dictators swaggered
into New York, attended by
letinues of plug-uglies, in the
manner of gang leaders look
ing for a rumble. Although
they have been guests of the
United States — when they
were not actually in the Unit
ed Nations Building, an inter
national enclave—the two dic
tators have acted as though
they were on their own soil.
ARMED GOONS
When civilized heads of state
visit a foreign country, their
security officers refrain from
interfering with the police, of
the Lost country, recognizing
that" their ‘ writ authority
does not run beyond their own
borders. '
But when Khrusfichev visit
ed Castro at the Hotel Theresa
in Harlem, the chief of the
Soviet leader’s body guards,
BACKDROP
By JOHN C. O’BRIEN
taking matters into his own
hands, undertook to shove the
New York police aside. New
York Police Commissioner Ste
phen P. Kennedy complained
that Khrushchev’s security
chief actually punched a New
York policeman in the sto
mach until restrained by one
of the policeman’s colleagues.
Western statesmen are ac
customed to Khrushchev’s bul
lying behavior, his threats and
his name-calling, but they
were not prepared for the ar
rogance he and his entourage
have displayed since they ar
rived on American shores.
They find his disdain for the
sovereignty of a mighty nation
an ill omen for the future of
relations between the com
munists and the rest of the
world.
But if Khrushchev’s conduct
has been overbearing, that of
his Cuban ally has been down
right swinish. Although he had
been warned not to bring arm
ed goons into the United
States, one of Castro’s guards
showed up at a reception for
Castro in the Hotel Theresa,
toting a sidearm.
When police undertook to
unarm him, he cried, “diplo
matic immunity!” And it took
a ruling by Secretary of State
Christian .Herter to convince
the “barbudo” that diplomatic
immunity did not cover bear
ing’arms in a foreign country.
INDOOR COOKOUT
The conduct of the Cuban
dictator and his party at the
Hotel Shelburne violated every
rule of decency. When they
stomped out of the hotel to
make a propaganda play for
support among Negroes and
Spanish-speaking residents in
Harlem they left their Shel
burne quarters in shambles.
The carpeted floors were
littered with cigarettes and ci
gar butts. Chicken feathers—
the Cubans were plucking live
fowl and cooking them in their
rooms—littered a sofa. A floor
lamp and telephone were
yanked from the wall and bath
towels had been used to shine
shoes. A more calculated ges
ture of .contempt for a host na
tion could hardly be imagined.
The abuse of diplomatic im
munity by communist and
communist oriented diplomat
ic missions has become a ma
jor headache for the State De
partment.
While the police were try
ing to cope with the brash an
tics of the Russians and the
Cubans, an attache of the Mo
roccan UN mission ran down
a New York policeman who
had waved him away from a
turn into a traffic-congested
street. And when the police
man asked to see the diplo
mat’s license he got a knock
down punch for his pains.
Russian diplomats also have
shown disdain for the traffic
laws, which they seem to be
lieve' dp. not apply to them.
Long Island police repeatedly
have had trouble with mem
bers of the Russian UN mis
sion speeding to their summer
hide-away in Glen Cove. One
of the offenders was the Sov
iet Ambassador.
ACT OF KINDNESS WINS WHOLE FAMILY
SHARING OUR TREASURE
wm i* * Reverend J. A. O'Brien, University of Notre Dame
Do you really want to share
your holy Faith with a non-
Catholic friend? If so, go out
of your way to show some
kindness to him. Kind deeds
are the beautiful fragrant
flowers which grow from the
seeds of love.
They will
win one’s
heart and
prompt him
to look into
the religion
which in
spires such
kindness.
This is illus
trated in the
John Albert
Bend.
“Four years ago,” related
Mrs. Albert, “St. Jude’s Church
held its first summer festival.
For my husband and me it
meant the annoyance of extra
traffic and assorted noises, but
for our three children it meant
a respite from mid-summer
doldums. Our own Church
would never approve such ac
tivities. Unconcerned with
adult opinion, the children
could scarcely finish breakfast
in their eagerness to get to
the festival.
“Kevin, six, liked especially
the pony rides and usually
stayed the entire morning. One
day he was back in a half-
hour. ‘Mommy, I found a dol
lar!’ Actually it was a ten-
dollar bill. I explained to him
and his older brother, Dan,,
that they must try to find the
owner. Dan volunteered to
take Kevin to the rectory.
Father John Szot opened the
door.
“ ‘Here,’ said Kevin, ‘this is
yours.’ ‘How come?’ asked the
pastor. ‘Kevin found it near
the pony track,’ explained Dan,
‘and mother says it belongs to
you.’ They started down the
steps for home. ‘Just a minute,
boys,’ said Father, reaching for
his wallet. ‘This, Kevin, is for
being an honest boy.’ It was a
dollar bill.
“They had taken a dozen
steps, when Father called to
Dan. ‘This is for keeping your
brother honest on the way over
or (smiling) for not talking
him out of it.’ The boys were
touched by the big-hearted
generosity, entirely unexpect
ed, of the priest as well as by
his sense of humor. They felt
like young millionaires.
“When the new St. Jude’s
School opened in September,
Dan announced he wanted to
go to ‘that nice priest’s school.’
He begged and pleaded. Our
son in a Catholic parochial
school! What would our fam
ily, friends and neighbors say?
We went to the priest, hoping
that Dan would not be admit
ted. But there was room and
Dan was enrolled in the third
grade.
“A few months later Dan
announced that he was going
to the Catholic Church on
Sunday. No one at school had
suggested it. He just wanted
to go to Father Szot’s Church.
Off he went alone to Mass.
Every Sunday I would awaken
Dan, help him get ready, and
then watch as he walked to the
corner alone. My eyes and
cheeks were moist as I turned
away.
“My husband suggested that
(Continued on Page 5)
conversion of the
family of South
*%%>//»
JOSEPH BRE1G
What One Letter Did
Eighteen months ago, news
paperman Martin Duggan and
his wife Mae, after putting
their children to bed, sat down
and wrote to the St. Louis Re
view, saying
sters without
exception, no
matter what
school they
attend, are
entitled to
share in the
benefits of
t h e educa
tional taxes
paid by their
parents.
Today, there are 12 chapters
in six states of Citizens for Ed
ucational Freedom, an organ
ization that grew out of the
Duggan letter.
What happened was that a
St. Louis insurance executive,
Vincent Corley, father of eight,
read the letter and suggested
to the Duggans that they get
together with some other peo
ple and do something about
“A Fair Share for Every
Child.”
THE FOUNDING MEETING
was held in the Duggan living
room. Leadership came from
Anthony W. Daly, an attorney
in Alton, 111., across the river
from St. Louis, who for 10
years had campaigned, by writ
ing and speaking, for “freedom
of choice in education without
financial penalty.”
The half-dozen couples pre
sent agreed that the first need
was to call public attention to
the justice Of the cause. Why
should parents be denied a
share in the school taxes they
pay, just because they exer
cise their inalienable right to
send their children to a relig
ious school which meets stand
ards set up by government
educational authorities?
Such was the question which
Citizens for Educational Free
dom began putting before the
people.
CEF BASED ITS position on
justice,. civil rights, and the
guarantees of the U. S. Con
stitution and the UN Declara
tion of Human Rights, but
above all on the primary right
of parents to choose schools for
their children.
About a year ago, stories
about CEF appeared in some
newspapers, and in one month
CEF received letters from cit
izens in all parts of the nation.
CEF in the meantime had
begun publishing Fair Share
News, and today there are
more than 7,000 on the mail
ing list.
CEF HOLDS that its cause
is just, that millions are in
terested in “A Fair Share for
Every Child,” and that what is
needed is to mobilize public
opinion.
CEF suggests that the equi
table way to handle the prob
lem would be to make educa
tional grants not directly to
schools, but through parents to
schools they select for their
youngsters.
Daly, a retired probate
judge, is of the opinion that
present school tax laws violate
American constitutional gua
rantees of freedom by penal
izing some parents economic
ally' for exercising., their right
of cnoiee in education.
JUDGE DALY ARGUES
that it is inequitable to seques
ter the taxes of all the people
for the benefit of parents of
children in public schools.
CEF, an undenominational
organization, emphasizes that
it supports the public school
system wholeheartedly, but
that “when the state assumes
the task of providing educa
tional facilities, taxing all citi
zens for these schools, it must
in fairness provide for ail
school children, whether they
attend public schools or other
schools of their parents’
choice.”
CEF also stresses that it is
not “seeking to introduce re
ligion into the public schools,
nor do we seek public funds
for any church.” What CEF
wants is “a certificate plan for
distribution of educational
funds, similar to the GI Bill
of Rights for Veterans.” Says
CEF:
"We are acting as Ameri
can citizens to protect our
rights and our children's
rights to freedom of choice
in education."
In this series on education
and religion, I mention CEF
as evidence of the concern felt
by increasing numbers of citi
zens over the problem of giv
ing education the direction,
coherence and inspiration that
come from religion.
Citizens for Educational
Freedom has its national head
quarters at 3109 S. Grand
Blvd., Room 25, St. Louis 18,
Missouri.
A Patriarch's Views On Christian Reunion
SUM AND SUBSTANCE
Rev. John B. Sheerin, C.S.P.
(Editor, The Catholic World)
Early in September I paid a
visit to the Patriarch of the
Greek Catholics of the world.
His Beatitude, Maximos IV,
lives on the outskirts of a tiny
village called Ain Traz. It is
35 miles southeast of Beirut
in Lebanon
and not far
from the
place where
the keys
were given
by Christ to
St. Peter.
His Excel
lency, Bishop
Eustace
Smith, O.F.M., Apostolic Vicar
of Beirut, arranged the trip
to the mountain vastness and
acted as interpreter in the con
versation.
NEED FOR CHARITY
Beirut is a city full of sur
prises but the surrounding
country is a world utterly dif
ferent from anything I have
ever seen. We drove through
sleepy towns full of Druses,
that strange, ethnic group
which is today commanding
the attention of scholars. In
the recent revolution in Leba
non it was the Druses who
swept down from the hills in
an attempt to capture the air
port of Beirut.
When the road leaves the
towns, it winds its way along
the edge of vast, perilous cliffs
so that we felt as if we were
in an airplane, looking down
on the countryside below. The
Patriarch’s residence is about
10,000 feet above sea level.
His Beatitude received us
graciously. He is a man well
over 80 years of age but vig
orous in his speeech and ac
tions. This summer he attend
ed the Eucharistic Congress at
Munich and was official guest
of a number of European coun
tries on his return trip to Ain
Traz.
The Patriarch did not ex
press any soaring hopes for
Christian Reunion as a result
of the coming Ecumenical
Council but he was optimistic
about the general movement
for Reunion. He spoke with
vigor, persuasiveness (and
hopefulness) about the im
portance of developing a new
approach to the whole ques
tion of reunion with the Orth
odox churches.
He maintained that what is
needed is charity and that our
approach to the Orthodox in
the past has been lacking in
that virtue. Our theologians
have been directing theologi
cal objections at Orthodox
claims and the Orthodox have
been replying in kind—but
there has been no meeting of
minds because there has been
no meeting of hearts in chari
ty.
ORTHODOX POSITION
As the Patriarch expressed
it, we have been telling the
Orthodox: “You are wrong.
Give up your errors and join
us.” But he pointed out that
this approach is futile and only
serves to widen the. gap be
tween us and our Orthodox
brethren. For they feel that
they are right and that it is
their antagonists who have al
tered Christian teaching. They
stand in their own good faith
as representing the primitive
Christian Church.
Patriarch Maximos contends
that we must have a sympa
thetic appreciation of this at
titude of the Orthodox and this
can be achieved not by argu
ment but by an honest at
tempt to understand what the
Orthodox position actually is.
The Partriarch of all Greek
Catholics spends the winter
season in his residence at
Cairo, spring at Damascus and
summer and early fall at Ain
Traz. He is specially concern
ed about the plight of Cath-
(Continued on Page 5)
LOOSE PINS
©isa til©
Heeifc»s*y
Sy Rev. Robert M. Wharton
The sales manager of a fast-
i growing outfit sticks pins in a
big relief map behind his desk
to show where every one of
I n: salesmen is at a given
inn next, •
Ragsdale, of. the New Eng
land sector, was not, in the
opinion of t 3 manager, living
up to his early promise. He
was therefore summoned to
the home office for a pep talk.
“I’m not saying you’re in
imminent danger yet of being
fired,” was the stern finale of
ti ■ sale manager’s warning,
“but if you’ll look carefully at
my ma;?, Ragsdale, you’ll note
I’ve loosened your pin!”
That’s what happens when
we commit venial sin—our pins
get loosened in the heavenly
chart. We’re still connected,
still listed in the Book of Life
when we commit venial sins.
It’s just that our celestial con
nections are not as tight as
they should be.
Everyone is against mortal
sins, the ones that take away
the life of grace from our
souls. Even those who habit
ually fall into serious sins gen
erally recognize their evil and
entertain at least a vague de
sire to get rid of them. But it’s
not always so with venial sins.
A venial sin is one that’s
easily pardoned. It doesn’t take
away the life of grace; it just
weakens it. Venial sin is, in
other words, a disease of the
soul, not its death.
Because these venial sins are
indeed small compared to mor
tal ones, it is easy to overlook
them, to learn to live with
them — even to get pretty
chummy with them. Some of
our best friends commit them.
Aren’t we all sinners, any
way? So why get excited about
them?
Excited? Who’s excited? No
one should let venial sins panic
him. The only time we lose
our heads about venial sins is
when we try to be perfection
ists (a different thing from
seeking after perfection) and
get disgusted with ourselves
because we’re so weak. No
one can overcome sin by grit
ting his teeth and saying 500
times a day, “I must not sin.”
Our aim should be to neith
er exaggerate venial sins nor
ignore them. They are sins,
and therefore important. They
offend God, they weaken the
life of grace in our souls, they
make it easier to commit mor
tal sins. Yet we don’t get ex
cited and impatient with our
selves. We try to overcome
them because they offend our
Best Friend, who loves us.
Venial sins, unlike their big
brothers, can be forgiven out
side confession. They don’t
have to be confessed. We can
erase them by devout recep
tion of Holy Communion, by
prayer and by penance.
Another difference between
mortal and venial sins is that
we can be sorry for only some
of the venial ones and still
stay in grace. It’s impossible
to be sorry for one mortal sin
and not for another—in order
to obtain forgiveness, we must
have contrition for all of them.
But one venial sin can be for
given even while we have no
intention of doing away with
another one.
What are some of the most
venial sins?l Lies—even those
so-called “white” ones—must
be somewhere near the top of
the . list! Various kinds of
cheating (not embezzling large
sums of money) should be'in
cluded. Profanity is a contend
er for first ‘plaoein popularity,
certainly. So. is uneharitable-
hgss'. Hetty theft,, destruction of
Ipi'bperfy and stealing' company
time are; well-known veriia’fe
too. 1 ■ ■’ '■
It’s generally agreed, then,
that venial sins are easily com
mitted and that they should
go. The main problem is how
to get rid of them. As we have
indicated, the essential thing
is to want to be perfect be
cause that’s what pleased our
Savior.
After we resolve to punish
venial sin, the next step is to
recognize them. We can be
come so used to them, so fond
of them, that we think we . -•
ready for our gold-plated halos
already. Therefore, regular ex
aminations of conscience
should reveal the big faults.
There’s no such thing as
peaceful coexistence with ve
nial sin. If every Catholic
would avoid tne “it’S-only-a-
venial-sin” attitude and strive
for the perfection God de
mands, the world would mar
vel anew at the Church’s vi~
rality.
If we accept venial sin as an
inevitable companion in life,
we in y end up like the man
whose preacher said at his fu
neral: “iinw, he wasn’t what
you call a good man, because
he never gave his heart to the
Lord; but he was what you’d
call a respected sinner.”
Question
Box
By David Q. Liptak
Q. At the close of a funeral
Mass, why is it that the cas
ket is sprinkled with holy
water and incensed by the
priest?
A. The aspersion of the body
of the deceased with holy wa
ter during the absolution cere
mony following the funeral
Mass symbolizes death and
burial in Christ as well as pre
servation of body and soul
from the powers of evil.
THE FIRST historical men
tion of blessed water in the
exequial rites of the Church is
contained in an eighth-century
sacramentary, which may have
been in observance as early as
the sixth century. Indeed, the
first clear reference to holy
water itself dates only from
the beginning of the third cen
tury. At that time water was
specially blessed for use during
prayers for the health of the
sick and the warding off of
satanic influences.
"MOST PROBABLY, the
rite of sprinkling the corpse
and grave with holy water
really came from non-Roman
sources in France and Spain,”
writes Father Gerard Mon
tague in a specialized commen
tary on the subject. “The rite
of aspersion with holy water
was not part of the early
Christian obsequies. The
Church suppressed as supersti
tious the various funeral obla
tions of the pagans. Yet for
the early Fathers water was
frequently regarded as a synL
bol of death; this notion was
naturally ■ suggested by the
symbolism, of baptism—the old
sinful man was buried in the
waters of the font.”
THE BODY of the deceased
is incensed during the funeral
absolution ceremonies because
it was, during life, the temple
of the Holy Spirit.
THE USE OF INCENSE in
the exequial rite for this reason
was already a traditional prac
tice at the close of the second
century. There were other:
reasons, however. One was to
remind the bystanders that
suffrages for the dead are ac
ceptable before God. Another
was to signify that the deceas
ed had passed'from this world
, with, the: spiritual fragrance of
his good' works.
A PRACTICAL REASON
jalap underlay the introduction
of mgen^Linto; the funeral ab
solution- Iff tile, words of Fa
ther Montague, again, incense
served “the utilitarian purpose
of counteracting the malodour
of corruption since the Chris
tians did not bury their dead
with undue haste as did the
pagans . . .”
(Continued on Page 5)
Uttlbltn
416 8TH ST., AUGUSTA, GA.
Published fortnightly by the Catholic Laymen’s Association of
Georgia, Inc., with the Approbation of the Most Reverend
Bishop of Savannah; and the Most Reverend Bishop of Atlanta.
Subscription price $3.00 per year.
Second class mail privileges authorized at Monroe, Ga. Send
notice of change of address to P. O. Box 320, Monroe, Ga.
REV. FRANCIS J. DONOHUE REV. R. DONALD KIERNAN
Editor Savannah Edition Editor Atlanta Edition
JOHN MARKWALTER
Managing Editor
Vol. 41 Saturday, October 15, 1960 No. 10
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
