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PAGE 2—The Southern Cross, September 5, 1963
Who Wears It?
The Badge Of A Christian
On two occasions THE SOUTHERN CROSS
published editorials advancing the opinion
that the Civil Rights March on Washington
for Jobs and Freedom was unwise because
of the attendant dangers of disorder or vio
lence, and because it was unlikely that any
legislator could be persuaded to change his
mind about voting against the President’s
civil rights proposals.
We are very happy to "eat crow" and to
offer our sincere congratulations to the
planners, leaders, and participants of the
march who proved * so decisively that our
doubts and fears were completely ground
less.
The orderliness and good humor of the
marchers and the lack of vindictiveness and
demagoguery on the part of the speakers
was all the more remarkable for the fact
that almost a quarter million Americans
had gone to the Capital to seek redress of
grievances which they feel most keenly, and
which have dried up the hearts and hopes of
countless thousands of their mothers and
fathers before them, and of all too many of
their contemporaries.
Their conduct and dignity were in marked
contrast to the outraged cries of the guardians
of a dead past, who somehow find the act of
citizens journeying to the country’s seat of
government an act of subversion and a threat
to American democracy, and their restraint
stands as a silent reproach to the United
States Senator who shamed his office by
allowing that he "would just as soon” that
the march ended in disorder.
It is extremely doubtful that the President’s
civil rights proposals have either gained or
lost support as a result of the march, for
certainly the demonstrators did nothing to
persuade backers to change their minds,
and it seems that if Our Lord, Himself, were
to appear to every legislator who still kicks
against the goad of equality of human rights
and opportunities, telling them they are
wrong, they would not be persuaded.
But, surely, the conscience of the Nation
has been challenged as never before, for the
more than two hundred thousand men and
women who chanted "Freedom, Freedom" in
the streets of Washington, D. C, last Wednes
day were really crying out to all the people
of America, "How can you say that you love
God—that you follow Christ—when you hate
and dishonor Him in theperson of your neigh
bor?"
The man or woman who shuts his ears to
the question—who seeks to rationalize the
plainly worded warning of Jesus Christ, "As
long as you did it to one of these. . .you did
it to Me’’—who seeks refuge from the de
mands of the Christian Way of Life in some
dimly remembered "Traditional" way of
life of a bygone day—shuts his ears to Christ
and defiantly hurls back at Him the badge of
Christianity, for "By this shall all men know
that you are My disciples, if you have love
for one another.”
Love Fills The Day
God’s World
God made us to love Him—
forever. The whole purpose of
life is contained in this vocation
to love. Compared to it, all
lesser human goals fade into
insignificance.
At first
glance it
might seem
that God is
being miser
ably short
changed. Ev
eryone i s
Lurrying
through the
day, occupied
with a thousand duties and in
terests. Fathers work at a driv
ing pace to provide for their
families. Mothers, carried to
distraction, minister to the
needs of husband and children.
Single men and women in'
schools, offices and the market
place have their own pressures
and stresses. We are tempted
to say, "It seems that very
little time is being given to
loving God. If that is what God
made us for, His idea is not
paying off very well."
Then we reflect on the nature
of charity, and we realize that
it is not a matter of spending
our whole day looking at the
sky (or at the tabernacle) and
saying, over and over, "My
God, I love You!" Explicit acts
of love must have their place,
yes. But principally God ex
pects us to show our love for
Him by fulfilling our nature as
human beings.
This means, at a minimum,
that we respect God’s will and
(By Leo J. Trese)
that we live our lives within the
framework of His laws. Still
better, it means that God is
the target of our total life.
Whatever intermediate aims we
may have, God is the ultimate
objective of all we do.
In practice, this becomes a
matter of trying our best to
discharge well the obligations
that life has placed upon us.
Assuming that we are united
with Christ by sanctifying
grace, love for God then is ex
pressed in our efforts to be a
good father, mother, neighbor,
citizen, parishoner. We love
God by being a good teacher,
nurse, secretary, mechanic,
merchant, doctor, lawyer or
politician. We love God even in
our recreations and social ac
tivities.
In short, we love God by
trying to use well the talents,
great or small, with which He
has endowed us. Somehow the
circumstances of life have set
tled us into a certain area of
existence and action which is
uniquely our own. This area,
however unimportant it may
seem to be, is the particular
part of God’s total picture on
which He wants us to work.
Or, to vary the figure, this is
our "beat," which we must
cover to the best of our ability.
As we progress through our
busy day, we are forwarding
God’s plan for the world. For
God, this is the Seventh Day.
God is "resting," as He leaves
it to us to carry on (under His
guidance) His work of creation.
We are not consciously thinking
of God all the time, no more
than is a man explicitly thinking
of his family while his mind is
on the work which provides their
bread and butter. Yet, every new
day, with God as our ultimate
objective, speaks of our love
for Him.
It may seem to us that we
are making a ridiculously weak
impact upon the world. We may
see very little "creativity" or
long-range importance in what
we are doing. However, this is
not a matter which need con
cern us. A man in a rowing
shell bends his back to the car
without knowing or worrying
about what lies ahead. He leaves
the guidance to the cox-swain.
For us, God is the helmsman—
and our contribution to God’s
own final objective may be far
more important than we think.
No, God is not being short
changed on love quite as shame
fully as the world's busyness
might lead us to believe. True
enough, it is sad that there are
so many persons whose lives
are not oriented to God. They do
but sharpen the challenge to
ourselves. It is for us to make
up to God, by our own more
perfect service, for all the love
He seeks and does not get.
(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 of future columns. Ad
dress all letters to Father Leo
J. Trese, care of this news
paper.)
Congress Shows It Can
Act Swiftly In Emergency
(By J. J. Gilbert)
WASHINGTON, (NC)—Con
gress, often accused of being
laggard, can act swiftly in an
emergency. In fact, the whole
legislative process, including
the signing of Congressional
acts by the President, can move
at top speed.
This was proved when legis
lation was turned into law to
head off a nationwide rail strike
that was only hours away.
The railroads had expressed
a determination to make chan-
es in work rules at midnight of
August 28. The unions said just
as emphatically that rail work
ers would go out on strike one
minute after the rules were
changed. When it appeared that
the unions and management
would not settle differences be
fore time for the train stop
page, Congress went into high
gear. Despite that it was threa
tened with obstruction by one
of its members, the Senate en
acted the legislation by a vote
of 90 to 2 one day, and the
House acted the next. Mean
while, special arrangements
were made to put the legisla
tion on the President’s desk
within almost minutes, and the
whole business became law be
fore the strike materialized.
The railroads had said ear
lier that they would withdraw
their work rules changes if
Congress acted. The changes
were the reason given by the
unions for their threat to strike.
It was a real cliff hanger,
what with the last minute res
cue, and all.
Enactment of the legislation
came on the day that the March
on Washington for Jobs and
Freedom was held. This enor
mous outpouring of demonstra
tors tended to overshadow this
story, but it was big front
page news nonetheless. The two
things were united in a way,
because there was apprehension
lest some thousands of the mar
chers, who had come by train,
would not be able to get home.
The law which Congress en
acted would not ordinarily be
popular. That, undoubtedly, is
why the lawmakers awaited as
long as they dared before they
acted. The measure compels the
contestants in a labor dispute
to abide by the findings of com
pulsory arbitration. This
strikes at collective bargain
ing, freedom to strike, and other
rights labor has won by hard
effort over the years. It puts
restrictions on management,
too.
Whether the tremendous
March on Washington served to
influence one Congressional
vote with regard to the Presi
dent’s civil rights bill remains
to be seen. There are many who
think it did not. But leaders of
the march in Washington that
day spoke in terms of elevat
ing and prodding and stimulat
ing the national conscience.
There is reason to think that
the march achieved this end.
If the national conscience is
brought to feel that the civil
rights plight of the Negro is
a national emergency, Congress
can act swiftly, and will, de
spite some obstruction.
SOMETHING FOR YOUR COUNTRY
The Others In Christ
It Seems to Me
One of our troubles as human
beings is that we’ve got to
communicate piecemeal, one
word after the other. This leads
to vexing problems of empha
sis, and to inadequacies in un-
d e r s t anding
one another.
Every
newspaper is
p a infully
aware of the
d ifficulty.
How shall the
story be
written t o’
achieve as
much balance as possible, with
out sacrificing interest and dra
ma? I have sometimes written
a first paragraph 20 or 30 times,
and still been dissatisfied.
The Boston Pilot not long ago
had a headline which read, not
very ecumenically, "Catholics
at Lutheran Meeting Stress Uni
ty in One True Church.” I mean
to say, those words "one true"
can be like sandpaper if taken
as implying that all else is
false.
NOW OBSERVE the evolu
tion in meaning as we move
from the headline through the
story. The first sentence quotes
a Jesuit theologian that "Catho
licism recognizes the Lutheran
Church as a ‘genuine Christian
Church’—although not on the
JOSEPH BREIG
same level as the Catholic
Church."
The theologian was Father
Johannes Witte of Rome’s Gre
gorian University, an official
Catholic observer at the assem
bly of the Lutheran World Fed
eration in Helsinki, Finland.
Answering a press confer
ence question, Father Witte said
that "Roman Catholics can
not acknowledge the Lutheran
Church as the true Church be
cause Jesus Christ founded one
Church, and this ope Church
is guaranteed by Jesus Christ
Himself until the end of time."
BUT, FATHER WITTE went
on, "Roman Catholics recog
nize the several elements of the
Church which are outside the
Roman Catholic Church. . .All
Christians having received
Baptism in faith, are in this
sense within the one communion
of Christians. . .This is the ba
sis for the ecumenical move
ment which strives for reunion
of all these Christians in one
unique Church of Jesus Christ."
At this point, I am sure, we
are all feeling much more ecu
menical than when we read the
headline. Still, we have the feel
ing that Father Witte’s remarks
stopped just when they could
have become most enlightening.
Lutherans are baptized, and
so are we. Now what has Bap
tism done to us? It has done
something altogether wonderful
which we try, with words that
badly limp, to describe by say
ing that we have been made
cells in Christ’sMystican Body;
that His life flows in us in a
way analogous to the life of a
vine living in all the branches.
AS CHRIST acted in His own
body while on earth, now He
acts in and through us—He
speaks truth and loving-kind
ness with our tongues; His com
passion is seen in our eyes;
He does mercy with our hands;
and He in us, and we in Him,
give worship and glory to God.
We say, too—and truly—that
by Baptism we are made God’s
family, destined to share His
divine life forever. This being
so, we are, by Baptism, more
closely related to one another
than is a son to the mother
from whose womb he came
forth.
We seek the perfection of uni
ty because already, in a most
marvelous manner, we are one
in Christ; and Christ’s life in
us draws us toward one another
despite all our misundertsand-
ings and human feelings. And
this, rather than raising com
parisons between Churches, is
what is vital now.
Where Do I Write ?
I pray Thee, make my column
read; And give me thus my
daily bread."
THERE’S A GREAT curiosity
on the part of the public as to
the surroundings in which an
artist or writer creates. Cur
rently, I am reading the sec
ond of a series of books entitled
"Writers at Work," a compila
tion of interviews with writers
here and abroad and inevitably
will come the question "Where
do you write and how do you
get your ideas? It would seem
that surroundings were more
important to an artist than to a
writer.
You can tell much a persons’
tastes, likes, by the brick-
brack of life which surround
him, the colors used, the kind
of books in his library, whether
his home is geared to beauty,
comfort, or rich ornamentation.
A person’s home does bespeak
much about him even as an
artist’s studio will tell much
about the artist. So it is no
wonder that readers sometimes
ask where I write? Do I write
in longhand? How do I think of
column topics ?
* * *
NEWSPAPER OFFICES are
not conducive to creative writ
ing, they are not supposed to
By BARBARA C. JENCKS
be. The news writer should be
continually reminded of ur
gency, time, briefness, and he
should be able to write well
despite the fact that phones are
ringing around him, people are
continually interrupting, ques
tions asked, conversations
nearby. It takes a particularly
disciplined mentality to write in
a newsroom environment. For
those who wish to write in the
creative vein or articles of a
feature variety, a newspaper
office is not the place. The
ideas and the writer must re
move themselves to a place of
silence. I have also heard that
some writers are able to put
a symphony or concert record
ing on and work with this in the
background. I cannot write a
column with interruption or with
background sound, be it music,
a vacuum cleaner or a carpen
ter pounding. Unhappy is the
poor victim who calls on the
phone during this writing
period. It is another thing when
writing a news story in the of
fice, news stories are so or
ganized that they can be broken
at any point and picked up later.
* * *
THE ROOM in which I write
tells a lot about my interests.)
One side of the room is lined
with books: poetry, lives of the
saints, drama, reference books,
the kind of books referred to
when writing. The novels, bio
graphies are in another room.
(If books were dollar bills, I
could retire for a couple of
weeks.) In this room, there is
a four drawer file of quotations,
clippings, articles, notes which
I can refer to often. I have a
file on subjects such as educa
tion, science, women, saints,
religious, art, authors, etc. I
also have a file on various
people: President Kennedy,
Pope Paul, Dr. Dooley, favorite
authors such as Thomas Wolfe,
Eugene O’Neill, James Agee,
Sigrid Undset. I am forever
clipping magazines and news
papers when a particularly good
article is found. My file or quo
tations is the largest. When I
read, I use a pencil and copy
a well phrased or particularly
inspirational line. Associates
will tell you that my handwrit
ing would qualify for the medi
cal profession, so hard is it
to discern. Therefore all writ
ing is done on a standards type
writer, my typing is not much
better than my handwriting. I
write at a large heavy mahogany
desk which was my grand
father’s. On the desk amid clut
ter of clippings, paper, books
is a yellow legal-lined pad of
paper on which I jot down my
(Continued on Page 8)
Peace Corps
MINNEAPOLIS, (NC)—Peace
Corps director R. Sargent
Shriver called here for Catholic
college students to ‘‘give a
tithe" of their time to volunteer
service organizations like the
Peace Corps or Papal Volun
teers for Latin America.
Shriver gave the keynote ad
dress (Aug. 27) at the National
Federation of Catholic College
Students (NFCCS) congress.
More than 600 representatives
of colleges and universities
across the country attended.
In a question period after his
talk, Shriver said "Catholic
colleges have not fulfilled their
responsibility unless 10 per
cent of their classes give two
years of service," to volunteer
organizations.
If this were done, he said,
it * ‘would change the face of the
Western hemisphere."
Labor Hits
Sunday Sales
CINCINNATI, (NC) — Or
ganized labor mapped plans
here to curb Sunday retail sales
and to "prevent Sundays from
becoming a commercial jun
gle."
The Central Labor Council
approved organization of a Cit
izens’ Sunday Closing Commi
ttee to stage demonstrations at
two subruban department stores
that open on Sundays.
Demonstrators will hand
leaflets to customers of the sto
res asking. "Is this purchase
you made on Sunday neces
sary?" and "Would you or
members of your family want to
be forced for livelihood to work
every Sunday?"
Book On School Aid
ST. LOUIS, (NC)—Citizens
for Educational Freedom said
here a book is being prepared
by scholars of different reli
gious persuasions on gov-,,
ernment aid to students of non
public schools.
Daniel D. McGarry of St.
Louis (Mo.) University will
be general editor of the book to
be entitled "Educational Free
dom: the Case for Government
Aid to Students in Independent
Schools," the national head
quarters of CEF said in a
statement.
CEF said the book will be
published by Bruce and Com
pany of Milwaukee.
DAVAO, Philippines, (NC)—
At a basketball game between
the Maryknoll Fathers here and
a local Filipino team, the home-
team was taking a decided beat
ing from the taller American
quintet.
The American team was led
by Father Dave J. Rezek, a six-
foot, four-inch Maryknoller
from Chicago, who commanded
all the play off the backboards.
At half time, with the score
hopelessly lopsided, one of the
spectators approached the Ma
ryknoll team with an interesting
proposal:
"Since you priests are so big i
and we are so small, couldn’t
you raise the basket on your
end and lower it on our side?"
His suggestion was rejected
by the referee as the Mary-
knollers went onto rack up their
sixth straight win against no
losses.
Priests Freed
In Haiti
LONDON, (NC)—Two Haitian
priests who were arrested and
put in prison by the Duvalier
government have now been re
leased, according to word
reaching here. They are Fa
thers Jean Claude Bajeux,
C. S. Sp., and Paul Claude,
C. S. Sp., both teachers at a
seminary in Port-au-Prince
and editors of a magazine
published there. The priests are
believed to be still under police
surveillance.
Swiss Guards
Sworn In
VATICAN CITY, (NC)—Five
recruits have been sworn into
the Swiss Guards, bringing the
number of the personal body
guard of His Holiness Pope Paul
VI to 96. Full complement is
100. The recruits will take a
special course of studies for a
month. After a year they will
become full members of the
guard.
Climb Ladder
To Mass
CRYMMYCH, England, (NC)
—Parishioners who attend
Mass here must climb a ladder
into an attic over a farmer’s
barn. Father Raymond Joyce
has established a mission here,
from his parish at Newcastle
Emyln, and meets an average ,
of 30 people for Sunday Mass in
the attic.
QUESTION BOX
(By David Q. Liptak)
Q. Could you tell me or give
me some information about a
practice known as "True De
votion to the Blessed Mother?”
A. St . Louis de Montfort’s
True Devotion to the Blessed
Virgin Mary can be epitomized
as a way of spiritual perfection
through (1) complete self-dedi
cation to Our Lady and (2) a
faithful, everyday living up to
this dedication.
IN THE SAINTS own words:
"True Devotion consists in giv
ing ourselves entirely to our
Lady, in order to belong entire
ly to Jesus through her, . .We
must give her all we have in
the order of grace, and all that
may become ours in the future,
in the orders of nature, grace
and glory; and this we must
do without the reserve of so
much as one farthing, one hair,
or one least good action; and
we must do it also for all eter
nity; and we must do it, further,
without pretending to, or hoping
for, any other recompense for
our offering and service except
the honor of belonging to Jesus
Christ through Mary and in
Mary. . ."
BOTH THE IMMEDIATE aim
and the ultimate purpose of this
devotion are, of course, closer
union with Christ. Were this
not so, the devotion would be—
in Louis Montfort’s own words
again—"false and delusive."
But the way to Christ, as he
envisions it, must be cleared
and paved by placing ourselves
and all our good acts into the
hands of Mary, that she may
dispose of them as she wills.
For when we offer Christ any
thing through the immaculate ,
hands of his mother, "we take
him by his weak side," as it
were (allowing for the inaccu
racy of the expression).
ST. LOUIS DE MONTFORD
outlined and detailed his True
Devotion in a new classic
treatise. The work first came
into worldwide focus when it was
discovered in an old trunk in
1842, 126 years after his death.
Today it appears in many lan
guages and over a hundred edi
tions. Pope Leo XIII, who bea
tified the author, explicitly re
commended it; so too, St. Pius
XI knew its contents by heart,
having practiced the devotion
(Continued on Page 7)
V) The Southern Cross
P. O. BOX 180. SAVANNAH. GA.
Vol. 44 Thursday, September 5, 1963 No. 9
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 Mark waiter, Managing Editor
Rev. Lawrence Lucree, Rev. John Fitzpatrick,
Associate Editors