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PAGE 4—THE BULLETIN, December 24, 1960 PRESIDENTIAL INAUGURATIONS THE BACKDROP The Inauguration of a Pres ident of the United States still falls far short of the corona tion of a British monarch in pomp and pageantry, but it is no longer the simple ceremony it was at the beginning of the Repub lic. The Inau guration of P r e s i dent- elect Kenne dy will be a grand spec- t a c 1 e wit nessed by hundreds of thous ands who will converge on the capital from all points of the compass. Already the hotels are receiving more requests for room reservations than they can fill. The ring of carpen ters’ hammers is heard on Cap itol Hill, where stands for some 60,000 spectators are be ing erected, and in the park opposite the White blouse from which the President will re view the military units assign ed to escort him to and from the Capitol. CELEBRATIONS The day’s festivities will be capped by an enormous In augural Ball in the city’s larg est place of assembly, the Na tional Guard Armory. And the scramble for the coveted invi tations to this event already has begun. After the ball fa vored guests will repair to innumerable supper parties hasted by Democratic dignita ries eager to celebrate the par ty’s first victory in eight years. Contrasted with the revels By JOHN C. O’BRIEN planned for the coming Janu ary 20, the early inaugurations were simple affairs. George Washington had a small mili tary escort when he was first inaugurated in New York City. But Thomas Jefferson walked unescorted from his boarding house in Washington to the Capitol. In Jefferson’s day the in auguration ceremony was held in the Senate Chamber in the presence of members of Con gress, the diplomatic corps and a few invited guests. The Pres ident, his hand resting on a Bible, repeated the oath of of fice after the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, delivered his Inaugural Address and then retired to the White House where he received his personal friends. But as the country grew and means of transportation from distant parts of the country im proved, more and more citi zens poured into Washington to witness the installation of the Presidents. And to accom modate the larger crowds, the inaugural committees moved the ceremony out of doors. Abraham Lincoln took the oath of office on a stand erect ed on the west side of the Capitol. In recent years the stand has been erected on the steps leading up to the east entrance. OPEN HOUSE Andrew Jackson, a man of the people, threw open the doors of the White House af ter his inauguration to Tom, Dick and Harry. By nightfall the interior of the President’s huose was a shambles and no subsequent President attempt ed to hold open house. It has long been the prac tice for the incoming President to call upon the outgoing Pres ident and to ride with him to the Capitol for the installa tion ceremony. Occasionally coolness between the Presi dent and President-elect has made the ride embarrassing for both. President Grant went so far as to refuse to ride in the same carriage with h i s successor. The inaugural committee solv ed the dilemma by having the President ride in one carriage on one side of Pennsylvania Avenue, the President-elect in another carriage on the other side of the street. President Andrew Johnson did not attend the inaugura tion of his successor. He slip ped out of the White House on the eve of Inauguration Day. President Harding showed a rare delicacy of feeling as he rode with outgoing President Wilson. Realizing that Wilson could not raise his arm, ber cause of paralysis, to acknow ledge the cheers of the crowds lining the avenue, Harding also refrained from doing so, although the plaudits undoubt edly were intended for him. While Mr. Eisenhower has made no secret of his keen disappointment over the defeat of the Vice President, it is ex pected that he will observe the proper amenities during his ride with Senator Kennedy. "He's Waiting ft BL'jlg .-'sS ii-i' ' pi Mi m hag JOSEPH BREIG GOOD EXAMPLE KINDLES AIRMAN'S INTEREST SHARING OUR TREASURE CAN THIS BE SO? Reverend J. A. O'Brien, University of Notre Dame Next to the grace of God, the Most powerful influence in drawing people into the Faith is the good example of Catholics. Certainly it is this which quickens their interest in the Faith and causes them to in vestigate it. Once they do this with open mind, a humble heart and in a spirit of prayer, they are almost certain to enter the Church because its credentials are so cogent and convincing. This is illustrated in the conversion of Sergeant Calvin Hobbs of Mather Air Force Base in California. “I was born in Mississippi,” he re lated, “and grew up in Omaha, where I went off and on to various Protestant Churches. They differed from one an other in important articles of the creed and I never felt that any of them was really Christ’s true Church. “My first glimpse of the Catholic religion came when I married Gloria Claxton, a Catholic. Her religion meant a lot and no matter how busy she was, she found time to say her daily prayers and to attend Sunday Mass. Shortly after the birth of our first child I enlisted in the air force where I had another opportunity of seeing how seriously Catholics take their religion and practice it. “At the invitation of a Cath olic convert, I attended a Catholic mission at Fort Knox and this further deepened my interest. I started taking in structions, studying ‘Father Smith Instructs Jackson,’ but before I could complete them, I was transferred. At Randolph Air Force Base, San Antonio, I resumed them with Father (Col.) William J. Clasby, using the Baltimore Catechism. “I was deeply impressed with the Church’s teaching concerning the Real Presence of Christ in the Holy Eucharist. Unmistakably clear are the words of Christ: ‘Unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man, and drink his blood, you shall not have life in you. He who eats my flesh and drinks my blood has life everlasting and I will raise him up on the last day’ (John 6:54-55). “I could see now why my wife and the Catholic men in the air force were so radiant and happy when they returned from Mass and Holy Com munion. How wonderful it was to discover that Jesus left us not merely an empty sym bol but His real self, body and blood, soul and divinity, to nourish and strengthen us. What a far cry this is from the wafer which Protestant Churches give as a mere sym bol or remembrance of Christ! “I was also stirred by learn ing that Jesus established a sacrament to dense us of our sms. Everyone craves not only to be pardoned but also to re ceive an external assurance of ,such pardon. This he gets when the priest pardons the penitent in confession in ac cordance with the power giv en to him by Christ when He said, ‘Whose sins you shall for give, they are forgiven them’ (John 20:23). “When I perceived that the Catholic Church traces her origin back to Christ, her Founder, 15 centuries before a Protestant sect came into be ing, I knew that I had found Christ’s true Church. This con viction was deepened when I saw the long list of pontiffs stretching from the Apostle Peter to the present pope. “I was baptized by Father Clasby and received our Eu charistic Lord. My heart throbbed with joy and grati tude to God. Now Gloria, I and our five children are a thoroughly united family. Al ready my niece and nephew have embraced the Faith and I hope to share it with many more.” Father O’Brien will be grate ful to readers who knows of anyone 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, In diana. JOTTINGS IDEAL CHRISTMAS GIVING We ought to be stunned by Christmas. We ought to be shocked from head to toe. We ought to stand staring as we try to take in the astound ing tidings of it. And then we ought to be galvaniz ed into joy ous action. Our lives should be turned up side* down. We should be changed so radically as almost to doubt that we are the same persons we were. Let’s take a minute or two to look at Christmas as if we were coming upon it for the frist time. LET'S IMAGINE that we had never heard of it—a n d then somebody comes on the dead run, shouting the news. What is the messenger say ing? Is he mad? He is telling us that God has become one of us. Humanity’s agony of waiting is ended. Our exile is over. We are go ing home. The promises of the proph ets are fulfilled. The black skies are turning bright. Chaos is changing into glorious order. No longer will we wander, weeping for lone liness. GOD IS WITH His people after the centuries of absence. He has opened the door of our desolate world and entered. He has joined our family, There He is. We can see Him. Hear Him. Touch Him. Embrace Him. Is this possible? Is it credi ble? Let us question the messen ger. God is infinite, isn’t He? And eternal? " ' Yes; but He has entered space and time. But God is pure spirit! God is God. True—but He has taken a human nature. He has become man while remaining God. This Infant is He? But God is almighty! THAT IS RIGHT. He is for ever almighty. Now He has taken up helplessness for our sake. The omnipotent One has made Himself weak, the Infi nite has become small, the Timeless has placed Himself in time. But why? Why? Because He loves us, and wants us to love Him. Because He Who is goodness wants us to be good. Because He Who is happiness wants us to be happy. But a child can suffer, can be cold, can be hungry, can be frightened and lonely. A child can weep. Can God sorrow and suffer? IN HIS HUMANITY He can. That is what He came for. That is what He chose. But a suffering and sorrow ing God—what a scandal! Not at all; what a glory. A glory worthy of God and His goodness. What does He want in re turn? He wants a small thing that is a great thing. Name it. He wants a birthday present. A Christmas present. Name it. He shall have it. Are you sure? Name it! Name it! HE WANTS YOU. All of you. All your strength, all your soul, all your strength. He wants your love. And your loyalty. Your obedience. He wants you to turn from evil, hating it, and embrace good, loving it. But I am weak. He knows that. I am inconstant. He knows. How can I give Him what He wants? Will it. Honestly will it. Put yourself in His hands, tie will replace your weakness with His strength. Give yourself as His Christmas gift; that is all He wants. Well . . . No “well” about it. Do it! And then Christmas will come to you. IF POPE JOHN SURRENDERED THE KEYS . . . SUM AND SUBSTANCE By Rev. John B. Sheerin, C.S.P. "Our Christmas offerings to Christ Child should match that of the three Kings', gold in preciousness; frankincense in holiness and bitter myrrh in willing submissiveness . . .” (YEAR OF GRACE) • IT IS the custom in some European nations to give not one but three gifts to each person on the Christmas gift list. These gifts are said --to represent mind, heart, body—I would suppose, for example, a book, flowers and an article of clothing. Remember that the Christ Child received three symbolic gifts of gold, frank incense and myrrh from the Kings. The older and more re flective I become, I find that the gifts I would wish to give and the gifts I wish to receive cannot be bought. They are not sold in even the most ex clusive gift shop. What mail order catalogue guarantees for Christmas delivery, gift wrap ped: a Cape Cod sunset? A golden Fall day? What shop sells peace of mind and health of body, joy, laughter? And so we play a game of make be lieve. We buy neckties and scarfs and jewelry and toys to convey the great wishes we have in our heart for our fam ily and friends at Christmas. Imagination is missing in our gift exchange. Perhaps only in books or records, do we find the ideal gifts which capture By BARBARA C. JENCKS moments in and out of time. What would I suggest as ideal Christmas giving? What would be the gifts I would desire? First, there are books which convey peace and joy and love to dear ones. There are the gifts of Missal which hold the most important moments of a lifetime in print'; there are books, of poetry which convey, love and beauty; art books also convey beauty and joy and go beyond the here and the now. Records have this same power. Select a particu lar symphony, opera or even musicale which is a favorite of someone' on your list. This gift holds depth and thought and can carry beyond the tangible as symbolic of mind, heart and soul. Here are a few of the sym bolic gifts I would wish to be stow at Christmas: I would wish someone to see: The movie, “Miracle of Marcelino.” The Broadway Musicale, “Sound of Music.” The television drama, “Amahl and the Night Visitors.” I would wish someone to hear: Wagner’s “Evening Star” from “Tannhauser.” Isaac Simone’s Chorale singing “The Drummer Boy.” I would wish someone to read: “The Littlest Angel.” Dylan Thomas’ “A Boy’s Christmas in Wales.” “John Kennedy’s. “Profiles in Cour age.” Morris West’s “The Devil’s Advocate.” I would wish someone to smell: fir, incense, salt air, roast turkey, roses, candle wax—Christmas smells. For me, there are many moments in and out of time I would like to relive again but these are gifts no mortal can bestow—they are gone but re live in the quiet memory of Christmas candlelight: b i g things like the first trans atlantic crossing, my first sight of Ireland, an audience with the Holy Father . . . hun dreds of little things which compose most of our days: a word of gratitude from a stu dent, campus .walks in fall, high Mass on First Fridays, luncheon in a favorite Italian restaurant, Cape Cod in late August, rainy . days in book stores and galleries, the re reading of good books, an af ternoon at Tanglewood, yawn ing dawn in a darkened chapel or Church, friends, laughter which comes too seldom to us all these days, home. What a gift list this would be and no bills in January! Be a defensive driver, urg es the Allstate Safety Crusade. A defensive driver has the ability to look ahead, to see a potential accident situation de veloping, and to adjust his own driving to avoid the possible accident. Pope John, on December 3rd, praised the 1 Archbishop of Canterbury for his “courage” in making the visit' to the Vatican. It certainly took cour age for Dr. Fisher to visit the Pope in the fa c e of ru mors that he was prepar ing to “sur- r e n d e r” to the Pope. , There was, of course no surrender hut the visit- . will undoubtec prelude to subsequent contacts between Catholic and Anglic, leaders. In cautioning .nst excessive optimism about the outcome of such meetings, Pope John warned: “We re main on the threshold of great problems.” ONE HEAD The evening before his his tory-making interview, Arch bishop. Fisher gave a talk at Rome 1 -in which he advocated !he formation of a “Common wealth of Churches.” I pre sume he meant a loose con federation on the style of the British Commonwealth of Na tions. At any rate, the impli cation is that he favors an as sociation of Christian Church es in which each Church would, recognize the authority of the heads of the other Churches. The Pope coukl^ not subscribe to such a concent since Christ appointed one head of the one Church he founded for all Christians. Henry VIII claimed to be the spiritual as well as politi cal ruler of all Catholics in England. The reigning Pope refused to ‘recognize his claim. The chief difference between Catholics and the Church of England, therefore, is a. dif ference centering around the universal authority of the Pope over all Christians. It is sometimes said that the Church of England would re turn to union with the Roman Catholic Church if Rome would abandon its claim to Papal Primacy. Now we know that the Catholic Church can not abandon this claim be cause it is based on revealed truth. But, for the sake of illustrating my point, let us suppose that Rome did sur render this claim. What would happen? Rev. Bernard Leeming, S,J. in his The Churches and ihe Church (Newman tells us what happen.- He says (p. 244) that if the Pope v/ere no longer the supreme ruler of the Church, then Catholicism would disintegate into, an asso ciation of national churches. There would be a Catholic Church of of the United States, a Catholic Church of France, etc. The situation would be simi lar to that of the Orthodox Churches. There are 14 Na tional Orthodox Churches, each one governing itself. The Patriarch of Constantinople (Istanbul) enjoys a primacy of honor but no supreme juris diction or authority. Or perhaps, as Father Leem ing points out, if Rome aban doned the Papal Primacy which is the cohesive principle of Catholicism,.then..the Cath olic Church would divide up into a number of independent bodies as is ture of Protestant ism. These independent Cath olic Churches could then join with other churches in a fed eration of Christian Churches. LEADERS DISSATISFIED Some leaders of the World Council of Churches, however, are dissatisfied with any kind of federation or association as a substitute for a real Chris tian unity. Such a federation exists in the World Council at present and many World Council leaders are of the opinion that it is a narcotic that renders church leaders complacent about disunity rather than a stimulus to gen uine religious unity in faith, ritual and organization. Dr. Visser’t Hooft, World Council leader, said in 1952: “We must react against the temptation of accepting the present established disorder of our ecclesiastical world sim ply because it has been made to look less shocking as it has been provided with an ecu- (Continued on Page 5) serve as the THE HELL OF IT m the Rector;' Th* R«v. Rob art H. Wharton The sports car enthusiast arrived at the pearly gates in his Jaguar. “You are wel come,” St. Peter told him, “but in heaven we don’t use auto mobiles.” “Then I’m place,” said the hotrod- der. “C a n you give me a passport to hell?” This was arranged and Satan wel comed the Jaguar own er. “You’re just my type,” he beamed. “Fine!” replied the speed fan. “Gimme a map of your, highways.” “Highways?” said Satan. “There are no roads down here. That’s the hell of it.” Perfect description of hell. Hatlo’s Inferno couldn’t do any better. Like a musician without any audience, a chess-: player without an opponent, a tailor stuck in a community where everyone’s clothes fit perfectly. Bertrand Russell, the emi nent English freethinker, won’t like my talking about this, though. Here’s what he says about it: “I think only cruel people could have invented hell. Peo ple with humane feelings would not have liked the thought that those who do things on earth which are con demned by the morality of their tribe will suffer eter nally without any chance of amendment. I don’t think de cent people would have ever adopted that view.” I’m not cruel. I pulled the wings off a fly once when I was a kid, but I’ve done pen ance for that deed. I have hu mane feelings. I think sweet thoughts of motherhood, The Flag, children and dogs. And I guess I’m a pretty decent sort of fellow, all opinions to the contrary notwithstanding. But I believe in hell. Or, rather, my “tribe” does. Mr. Russell took a detour, in the first place, when he said We invented hell. We didn’t invent it — we inherited it. It would be nice to wish hell out of existence because we don’t understand it. But we Would have to contradict Christ to do so, because He warns us about the place 15 times in the Bible. The Scriptures call hell “a place of torments, an un quenchable fire, everlasting fire, the bottomless pit, ever lasting punishment, outer darkness.” Pretty strong words for an imaginary place. If we could understand the majesty of God, if we could realize the magnitude, of sin, if we could see that God’s jus tice demands some sanction for his commands — then we would not find any difficulty in convincing ourselves of eternal punishments. It’s not fair to our Creator to think He’s just waiting to catch us in an unguarded mo ment and plunge us into the abyss. He created us for hea ven. He is continuously call ing sinners to repentance by His graces. He makes it almost ridiculously easy to get back in His friendship, once it has been lost, by giving us the sacrament of Penance. No one will be convinced of hell’s existence unless he remembers that only sin can put us there. And it’s of the very, nature of sin that it is fully understood and quite de liberate. And we needn’t fear that God will not take into account our inherent tendency to evil, the temptations we’ve fought and the disadvantages we’ve suffered. He does figure these things in — more than we do when we judge others. Hell is real, not because we want it to be or even think it should be. It is there in all its ugliness because God tells us it is. And the gentle Christ would not have mentioned it even once if He didn’t want to warn us to avoid it. The essence of hell is the remorse, envy and despair caused by separation from God. Our hearts were made for God, and there’s no greater pain than the knowledge that the only object of our love has been lost. Besides this pain of loss, there is a positive infliction of pain in hell. We know this also because our Savior has said so. Not only is hell there, but it’s eternal. It won’t end. If we could look forward to a sen tence of, say, only a few thou sand years—many of us would decide to have our forbidden fun while we can on earth. A temporary hell wouldn’t be too hellish. Bertrand Russell wouldn’t believe this, but I’m not bring ing up the subject to mean. And you haven’t read this far just out of morbid curiosity. Hell is a doctrine of our Faith, a good conscience-scorcher when the going gets rough. Those of us, moreover, who think that everything pleasur able is sinful should remem ber that hell probably has a list of regulations an eternity long. Or if it seems that all the live-wires, all the exciting people are heading for the lower regions, we should con sider that they’ll no doubt end up in different cells anyway. That’s the hell of it. Question Box By David Q. Liplak Q. The meeting between Pope John XXIII and the Anglican archbishop of Can terbury revives the whole question of how the English church severed itself from the Holy See. Could you summarize the history of the break? And could you give the reason why the Angli can priesthood is invalid? A. The metropolitan See of Canterbury as such was found ed at the turn of the sixth cen tury by St. Augustine, a Ro man monk sent by Pope St. Gregory the Great to evange lize Anglo-Saxon England. In 601 St. Gregory recognized St. Augustine as “Bishop of the English,” thereby acknowledg ing the precedence of his See. TEN CENTURIES interven ed before the Catholic Church in England was severed from the Chair of Peter. How the break occurred cannot be sum marized in a simple statement. On the negative side, however, it can be said that England might still be a Catholic na tion had not Henry VIII de cided to repudiate his wife of eighteen years, Catherine of Aragon, for one of the queen’s attendants, Anne Boleyn. FIVE LAWS enacted by Parliament in the spring ses sion of 1534 laid the ground work for the schism. In one of them, the Heresy Act, the primacy of the papacy was re jected outright. The Ecclesias tical Appointments Act stipu lated, among other things, that the Supreme Pontiff was henceforth to be ignored inso far as the appointment and consecration of bishops was concerned. In another piece of legislation, the King was rec ognized as “supreme head of the Church of England” with full ecclesiastical powers. And the so-called First Succession Act provided for general ac ceptance of Henry’s divorce and his adulterous union with (Continued on Page 5) 3% 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, December 24, 1960 No. 15 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 Treasure) ALVIN M. McAULIFFE, Augusta Auditor JOHN MARKWALTER, Augusta Executive Secretary MISS CECILS FERRY, Augusta Financial Secretary