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f if 1 4 PAGE 4—The Southern Cross, June 8, 1963 Long Live The Pope! Perhaps no Pope in the long history of the church has been so universally loved as John XXIII. For, his own great heart and deep seated love for all men as chil dren of God was manifested so often and in so many ways that men of good will, what ever their religious beliefs, could not help but respond in kind. And so it is that Catholics are not alone in mourning the death of this great and truly good man. For, while others of dif fering religious beliefs did not acknowledge the Pope to be the Vicar of Christ on earth, the world certainly saw him as a true shepherd of souls, seeking out the "other sheep who are not of this fold" with the longing of the Christ who prayed, ‘ ‘That they all may be one, Father, as Thou in Me and I in Thee, that they all may be one in us." They saw him following in the footsteps of the Prince of Peace, exhorting all men to make their peace with God, so that neighbor could be at peace with neighbor and nation with nation. His convening of the Second Vatican Coun cil to renew the Faith and revitalize the life of the Church, and to rekindle the Hope of a Christianity scandalized by its own dis memberment—his great encyclical "Pacem in Terris" reminding men and nations of their duties to themselves, to God, and to each other, that the world might not be plunged into the unimaginable horrors of nuclear war—these will be among the most enduring monuments to his memory. But the greatest will be the universal and sincere affection in which he was held by men everywhere, of all religions and of none, while he lived, and the equally wide spread and heartfelt sorrow which cast a pall over the world at his death. Countless prayers will ascend to the throne of a Merciful God that Angelo Giu seppe Roncalli who became Pope John XXIII, "Servant of the servants of God" might en ter "the land of refreshment, light and peace." But, though Christ has called His Vicar out of this world, He remains with His Church and the Holy Spirit still dwells in it to call to our minds everything that He has command ed. He will send us another shepherd. May the beautiful soul of Angelo Giuseppe Roncalli rest in peace. The Pope is dead. Long live the Pope!! Love For Enemies! God’s World (By Leo J. Trese) It would be much easier to love God if God did not demand that we prove our love by the love we show our neighbor. Sometimes the obligation to love our neighbor is the hardest of all our Christian du- t i e s. The reason is that our neighbor is not only that nice per son who is so easy to get along with. Our neigh bor includes the nastiest, meanest persons we may come up against. Just listen to Jesus: "You haye A heard. that it was said,. ‘Thou shalt love thy neighbor and hate thy enemy.’ But I say to you, love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, and pray for those who persecute and calumniate you, so that you may be children of your Father in heaven" (Matt. 5:43-45). Our human nature—our merely human nature—rebels against this whole idea. If some one has hurt us, everything within us cries out for ven geance. If we can find no way to "get even," we nourish bitter thoughts against the offender. We imagine all kinds of evil things happening to him—and hope that some of them do. At least, this is our first impulse. Fortunately, God does not ask us to love our enemies with a natural love. Natural love is an emotion aroused in us by peo ple who attract us strongly. It is almost impossible to have this natural love for an enemy, to feel an affection for someone who has hurt us deep ly. God asks only for supernatur al love, which does not depend upon feeling at all. By super natural love we rise above our emotions and look at our ene my through God’s eyes rather than through our own. We see this disagreeable person as a soul whom God created out of love, a soul whom God wants with Himself in heaven, a soul for whom Jesus died. If our enemy is so precious to God, we dare not set ourselves up in opposition to God. We dare not wish evil upon our adversary. We dare not condemn him (or her) to hell, not even in our thoughts.. On the contrary, we labor bravely to bring our resent ment under control. The words come hard, but we say with sincerity, "Yes, God, I do for give this person who has hurt me so." Then we proceed to pray for the person, that he may receive the graces he needs to change his ways and to be come the kind of person God wants him to be. Prayer is the perfect anti dote to hatred. If you can pray for a person, you do not hate him. You still may feel a strong aversion to the person, but your supernatural love is on a higher plane than emotion, like sunlight above the clouds. You have forgiven your foe. You are praying for him. Is there anything further that Je sus expects of you when He says, "Love your enemies?" Must you accept your adversary into your circle of friends and act as if nothing had happened? Not necessarily. If you know that this person will hurt you again, given the chance, it is the part of wisdom to avoid him if you can. Moreover, you have a right to seek redress for the damage he has done. You may sue him in court even while you pray for him. However, if the one who has offended you offers an apology, you must accept the apology. You already have forgiven him interiorly; you now forgive him exteriorly also. You will treat him civilly, be willing to speak if you pass him on the street or meet him at a social gather ing. Indeed, it is the perfection of charity to meet your enemy more than halfway, to make the first move towards reconcilia tion. A simple "hello" when you meet him will make it plain that you harbor no grudge. If he refuses to answer or ans wers in unfriendly fashion, you have done your duty. There is no need to speak again unless and until he takes the initia tive. Forgiveness, prayer, recon ciliation. For one who has been deeply hurt, none of this is ea sy. That is why love for our enemies is such infallible proof of our love for God. (Father Trese welcomes let ters from his readers. The in creasing volume of letters pro hibits personal answers but problems and ideas contained in such correspondence can be the basis for future columns. Address all letters to Father Leo J. Trese, care of this newspaper). Pope John XXIII Promoted St. Joseph Devotion (N.C.W.C. NEWS SERVICE) Pope John XXIII throughout his pontificate fostered devo tion to his patron saint—St. Joseph, the foster father of Christ. At papal audiences, in solemn documents, and in radio mes sages to the world on the Saint’s two yearly feast days, Pope John hailed Joseph, the carpenter, as the model of the Catholic father and patron of the Univer sal Church. The Saint's name was given to him in baptism—Angelo Giu seppe Roncalli, a younger bro ther also was named Giuseppe. Early in his pontificate, he lauded the example of St. Jo seph to the workers of the world. In a radio message ob serving the Feast of St. Joseph the Worker on May 1, 1960, he warned the workers to avoid the lures of communist ideology and urged those in power to help promote better living and working conditions. Recalling that St. Joseph, a tradesman all his life, was the working man’s saint, he said: "In proposing the example of St. Joseph to all men who find their condition of life in the world of labor, the Church in tends to remind them to consid er their great dignity and invites them to make their activity a powerful means of personal perfection and of eternal merit. Oh, what greatness does the silent and hidden figure of St. Joseph acquire through the spirit with which he carried out the mission entrusted to him by God!" On the Feast of St. Joseph, March 19, 1961, a year and a half before the opening of the Second Vatican Council, Pope John announced that he would proclaim St. Joseph the coun cil’s patron. He recalled at this time the labors of his predecessors, from Pope Pius IX onward, in spreading devo tion to St. Joseph. He noted also that St. Joseph is always invoked to help the Church in its projects and con cerns. Again in an audience the pope declared that all should imitate the humble life of St. Joseph. In an apostolic letter he ur ged a rekindling of devotion to St. Joseph as patron of the Universal Church and said he intended to have the altar to St. Joseph in St. Peter’s basi lica renovated so that it would "acquire a new, greater and more solemn splendor and that it shall become a point of attrac tion and of religious piety for countless crowds," This project was completed by May 1, 1962. On March 19, 1962, the Feast of St. Joseph, the pope’s name day, Pope John sent candles to all the Catholic churches ir. Rome to burn for the inter cession of his patron saint for success of the Vatican council. The day is a holy day of obli gation in Italy and most of Europe. In response to a petition of many Catholics throughout the United States and the world, Pope John issued a motu pro- prio in which it was decreed that as of December 8, 1962 the name of St. Joseph shall be inserted in the Canon of the Mass, to be placed in the Com- municantes, the third prayer in the Canon of the Mass, im mediately after the Blessed Mo ther’s name and precede those of the Apostles and a dozen early martyrs. This he hoped would give "great impetus" to devotion to St. Joseph and the Holy Family. Further efforts by Pope John to give "a new, greater and more solemn splendor" to the altar of St. Joseph in St. Peter’s were indicated by an nouncement in late January, 1963, of the near-completion of a huge mosaic of St. Joseph to be placed behind the altar. The 10 by 6 1/2-foot mosaic, the work of master artisans of the Vatican mosaic studio, is the first permanent image of the Saint for the basilica. It is said that when Pope John received in audience a group of 130 American Jewish leaders in October, 1960 he greeted them with the words: "I am Joseph, your brother." The Pope was obviously referring to a quota tion in the Old Testament story of Joseph of Egypt. The Pope Of Love To Jews Pope John Was 4 Joseph, Your Brother 9 (N.C.W.C. NEWS SERVICE) Both before and during his pontificate, Pope John XXIII played an inspiring role in the Church’s efforts to curb anti- Semitism. He was praised by Jewish leaders on many occa sions for his efforts in their behalf. During the tragic days of World War II, for example, Archbishop Angelo Roncalli, while serving as Apostolic De legate to Greece and Turkey, acted to prevent the sacrifice of innocent victims of war and persecution. From his post in Istanbul he intervened to divert a shipload of Jewish children from what would have been a tragic destination. Immediately following his election as Pope, Cardinal Ron calli received congratulations from Chief Rabbi Isaac Herzog of Israel who remembered the diplomat’s assistance to Jewish rescue missions. To Arch shop Roncalli, thousands of Jews owed their opportunity to escape persecution and to find refuge in Palestine and else where. It is related that he was in strumental in saving many Jews who were persecuted bySlovak, Bulgarian and Hungarian nazis. These incidents were recall ed in October, 1960, when Pope John received a delegation of 130 U.S. members of the United Jewish Appeal and the Jewish study mission, led by Rabbi Herbert Friedman. "I am Joseph, your brother," he greeted them. The quotation, given in the context of the Old Testament story of Joseph of Egypt, had a double meaning. The Pope, baptized Angelo Giu seppe, counts St. Joseph as his patron. It was no surpirse when Is rael’s Ambassador in Rome, Eliahu Sassoon, attended fun eral rites for Pope Pius XII and the coronation ceremonies of Pope John XXIII. President Yitzhak Ben-Zvi, of Israel was among the heads of state to whom papal letters of accession were dispatched by the new pontiff. It is said to be the first time in modern history that the Vicar of Christ wrote to a suc cessor of King David. Written in Latin, the letter was answered in Biblical Hebrew. During his pontificate Pope John displayed "a sympathetic attitude towards Israel and all that is being done there," re ported Melkite-Rite Bishop George Hakim of Acre spiritual head of the 20,000 Eastern-Rite Catholics there. When Pope John in 1959, or dered the words "unbelieving" and “perfidious” in reference to Jews and Moslems deleted from the liturgy of Good Friday, he received letters of praise from such Jewish organizations as The American Jewish Com mittee, the Jewish War Vet erans of the U.S., and the Anti- Defamation League of B’nai B’rith. Pope John Issued Eight Encyclicals It Seems to Me Pope John XXIII incarnated love. He made people feel the warmth of the love of God in Christ for them. Two titles of the successors of St. Peter would have had to be invented for him had they not al ready long existed: Vicar of Christ, and Servant of the Servants of God. And the servants of God whom he loved and served were all the world’s men and women of good will, whether they served God as Catholics, or "other Chris tians," or Jews, or Buddhists, of whatever, according to their consciences. He restored to the word "Catholic" the fullness of its meaning of universal. In John, the papacy which had been ‘ ‘the prisoner of the Vat ican” went out to all humanity, crying to Christians that they are members of Christ, to Jews, "I am Joseph, your brother,” and to mankind, ' ‘We are one family." By the power of his love, Pope John made himself God’s instrument in what must be recognized as a miracle of divine grace. In afewyears,the climate of the world was trans formed. Pope John’s smile, the smile of a happy and innocent child despite his venerable years, was like sunlight dis solving the dark clouds of cen turies of misunderstanding and of two world wars. The dread fully hurt human race felt it self suddenly healed. So all-embracing was John’s love that even communists felt it. It created the conditions in JOSEPH BREIG which we may hope that at last we are seeing the visible begin ning of the fulfillment of the prophecy of the Virgin at Fa tima in 1917, that Russia will be converted , and an era of peace be given to mankind. Communisits, like the rest of us, can be changed in their deepest beings by a love like John XXIII’s. By his example, he taught us how to love—and not least, how to love our sworn enemies; indeed how to love them, with God’s help, into be coming our friends and bro thers. The ecumenical council which was the chief vehicle, aside from his own beautiful person ality, of John XXIII’s love, almost certainly will be re convened by the next pope, and will continue his work of re newing the Chruch so that the attractiveness of the Faith will be seen by all. When Angelo Joseph Roncalli was elected Servant of the Servants of God, the Church was like a battered warrior, hardened and on guard after centuries of defending the ramparts from ferocious as saults. When he departed from us for the good place which he trusted that the Lord was reserving for him, the armor and sword had been cast aside, and the Church came forward beaming, arms opened to em brace all humanity. What John accomplished is irreversible. Even if the ecumenical council were not resummoned—which God for bid—the Church would still wear the wonderful smile of this wonderful pope; would still be filled with the childlike love he instilled in it. We have not entered the mil- lenium; possibly we shall never enter the millenium. There will be strife in future as in the past; there will be greed and selfishness and hatred. But the haters will no longer be in the ascendancy, as for so long they were, setting men and nations against one another. John XXIII has left the world a legacy of love that will en dure long after you and I have joined him wherever he is with God; it is his will and testament, and no mere man has ever be queathed greater wealth. The secret of John XXIII was an unassuming, unhurried humble, wholehearted commit ment to God. Seeing this man, loving him and being loved by him, we see clearly that we can all be saints. The terrible sacrifices of a St. Francis or a St. Anthony are too much for us. But with John XXIII we can quietly live each moment for God, leaving it to God to lead us where He will, as John wait ed, never dreaming that he would be raised to the high est human office, there to work marvels for God and fellow- men. John XXIII, in a sense, wrote his autobiography when he an nounced his "work indul- gencies," by which each of us can gain a plenary indulgence once a day, and countless par tial indulgences, merely by re peatedly offering to God, in prayerful thought or word, the duty we are doing at the mo ment. It was by living each mo ment in God that Angelo Joseph John became one of the great men of all time. An Anniversary By BARBARA C. JENCKS When I am dead Cry for me a little, Think of me sometimes, But not too much, It is not good for you . . . Think of me now and again As I was in life At some moment which it is pleasant to recall But not for long . . . While you live, Let your thoughts be with the living. Theodora Kroeber * * * TIME IS a brave asset to all griefs, so they say. Yet I wonder as I wander if it really is and if it should be. The two years since my mother’s death are like two weeks and then again they are sometimes like two hundred years. Death is a fact that is ever present, it is awakening to sudden pain after a dream of reunion. Or, it is the need which crowds in after a tiresome day when the heart cries for that someone to share the little and big things and for a light in the window and a warmth that only a mother can bring to a home. Psychiatrists, of course, have proverbial field days with cases like mine, those who admit openly they miss their mothers and seem never to be able to forget or replace and always somehow to remember. If this be folly, I am guilty with no sense of shame. There are always days such as this when an anniversary requiem is of fered; there are the holidays, the birthdays, and theeverydays of coming into an empty house— songs, poems, a name in the paper, an association will sud denly bring me up short to the fact anew that death is and has been. It is not always sad. The memories many times are hap py as I am filled with gratitide that God in His mercy gave me such a mother. God makes no mistakes and if the death seem ed untimely to mortal eyes—" "All that I took, I took naught for thy harms but that you might find them in My arms." * * * AND SO another year of sep aration by death has passed and another year toward an unend- (Continued On Page 7) (N.C.W.C. NEWS SERVICE) One of the most significant papal pronouncements of mod ern times —Mater et Magistra —dealing with Christian social principles and their contempor ary application, heads the list of seven encyclicals issued by Pope John XXIII. Ail important documents, they have dealt with a variety of subjects—Christian unity and the foundations of peace; the centenary of the death of St. John Vianney, the cure of Ars, model for priests; the recitation of the Rosary for the critical needs of the Church; the mis sions and their need for native priests; the 15th centenary of the death of Pope St. Leo the Great; the practice of pen ance; and on the social teach ings of the Church. The greatest of these, Mater et Magistra (Mother and Teach er) was greeted with high praise by labor, civic and religious leaders throughout the world. Dated May 15, 1961, the 20,000- word document was not releas ed until July 14 of that year because Pope John wanted all the Catholic bishops and other Christians throughout the world to have the official text in La tin and in various other languag es at the same time. In it the Pope reviewed Chris tian principles regarding the social-economic order as con tained in the writings of his predecessors, Leo XIII, Pius XI and Pius XII. He developed and applied their teaching to present day problems. He stressed especially the needs of the underdeveloped nations, the agricultural economy, popu lation problems, the rights and duties of the individual and call ed for reconstruction of the so cial relationships through the application of Christian prin ciples and apostolic action by lay persons. In 1959, Pope John issued four encyclical letters within five months. His first, on June 29, was entitled: Ad Petri Cathedram (Near the Chair of Peter). This 12,000-word document was a di rect appeal to the separated Christians to reunite with the Catholic Church. It also sound ed a warning of the universal devastation that would result from nuclear war. Pope John's second encycli cal, dated August 1, 1959 and containing 9,000 words, was entitled — Sacerdotii Nostri Primordia—(From the Begin ning of Our Priesthood). It com memorated the centenary of the death of St. John Vianney, the cure of Ars and patron of par ish priests. In three parts, it dealt with priestly aspirations, the priest’s need of prayer and*r pastoral zeal. On September 26, 1959, John XXIII, in a 1,400-word encycli cal urged the faithful to recite the Rosary during the month of October for five special inten tions. Titled Grata Recordatio (grateful Memory), it appealed for prayers for the guidance of the Pontiff, for missionar ies and apostolic works, for peace and concord among na tions, for the success of the Roman Synod and for success of the ecumenical council. A month later, November 28,4 1959, Pope John issued his en cyclical Princeps Pastorum (The Prince of Shepherds) to commemorate the 40th anniver sary of Pope Benedict XV’s apostolic letter on the missions, (Maximum Illud). The 9,000- word document stressed the need for recruiting and training native priests and lay persons for the spread of the Faith in mission lands. Pope John issued another ap peal for Christian unity in his encyclical: Aeterna DeiSapien- tia. (The Eternal Wisdom of God), on November 11, 1961. ■ Written to commemorate the 15th centenary of the death of Pope St. Leo the Great, it paid I tribute to a pope who directed one of the earlier general coun cils of the Church (Council of Chalcedon, 451). Though the 7,000-word letter invites all separated Christian bodies back to unity, it is directed chiefly to the schismatic Christian churches of the East. His seventh encyclical, dated July 1,1962, was entitled: Paen- itentiam Agere (ToDoPenance) and contained 3,500 words. In it he urged the world's Catholics to practice penance inprepara- ^ tion for the ecumenical coun cil, which opened in Rome on October 11, 1962. And he call ed upon the world’s bishops to (Continued On Page 6) The Southern Cross P. O. BOX 180. SAVANNAH. GA. Vol. 43 Saturday, June 8, 1963 No. 38 Published weekly except the last week in July and the last week in December by The Southern Cross, Inc. Subscription price $3.00 per year. Second class mail privileges authorized at Monroe, Ga. Send notice of change of address to P. O. Box 180, Savannah, Ga. Most Rev. Thomas J. McDonough, D.D.J.C.D., President Rev. Francis J. Donohue, Editor John Markwalter, Managing Editor Rev. Lawrence Lucree, Rev. John Fitzpatrick, Associate Editors