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PAGE 5 - February 19, 1970
KNOW YOUR FAITH
GROUP STUDY OF THE BIBLE
Scripture In The Life
Of The Church Today
By Father Walter
M. Abbott, S. J.
During the past two
decades the Christian
churches throughout the
world have learned much
about methods of Bible study
in groups. Here are some of
the facts. Most Bible study
has been dull and uninspiring.
Many groups get bogged
down in details because they
lose the main lines of Bible
study. People lose interest
because they feel trapped in a
study that is preoccupied
with the ancient world rather
than with the real questions
of today.
• 4
On the other hand, there
has been some bright,
inspiring, and highly relevant
group study of the Bible.
Some of it has been
conducted in controlled and
observed experimentation,
for example, at the
Ecumenical Institute, Bossey,
France; at the World YMCA
Center, Mainau, Germany; in
several Catholic catechetical
centers, and in Christian
Family Movement meetings.
Their experience gives rise to
the hope that Bible study
groups can be instruments of
renewal in the Church. You
don’t see results overnight. In
fact, group study of the
Bible, like individual private
study, is something that
develops slowly, needs all the
help it can get, and always
runs the risk of failure. It is
very much like the human
being: baby, child and
grownup.
We know one vital
ingredient for success: a good
leader. It seems, too, that the
leader should not be a priest
or minister. The reason given
is that a clergyman has an
inhibiting effect on the
discussion. Also, it is said, the
leader should be a learner
rather than a teacher. He (or
she) should be a good listener
and be able to draw out
people who may be reluctant
to speak up in a group. The
clergyman can help leaders; if
he has the ability, he can even
Worship And
The World
BY FATHER JOSEPH
M. CHAMPLIN
An Old Church Becomes A New Cathedral
Remodeling an old church
for the new liturgy is a
sometimes expensive and
always delicate task. Parish
priests know this all too well;
Bishop Robert Tracy of
Baton Rouge, Louisiana
likewise discovered that hard
fact of life nearly a decade
ago when he announced the
project to renovate century
old St. Joseph’s church and
make it his cathedral.
Not everyone was pleased
with the good bishop’s idea.
Many felt sad at the prospect
of this tampering with their
historic landmark and
venerable spiritual home. A
few even flashed resentment
and carried sharp criticisms to
the chancery office. When
actual demolition started
parishioners stood in line to
secure sections of the marble
Communion railing. Parents,
grandparents, even
great-grandparents had knelt
at that rail and received the
Eucharist. It seemed a scandal
not to preserve as a relic of
the past at least a piece of
this material in one’s home.
Time marches on and
people’s views change. Today
(a few years and $700,000
later) former critics have
become staunch supporters
and sadness at the passage of
something beautiful has
turned into joy at the
creation of something better.
How was such a
transformation in both the
building’s interior and the
parishioners’ hearts
accomplished? Through
repeated consultation with
more than 40 experts and by
two years of public
discussion.
Bishop Tracy, then in
Rome for the Vatican
Council, was determined in
this effort to follow the spirit
and guidelines of the conciliar
document on sacred liturgy.
He sought the advice of
artists, architects and
liturgists, sent a delegation to
Cuernavaca on an inspection
tour of that renowned church
and engaged competent men
to draw up a floor plan.
Copies of the tentative
sketches were next forwarded
to experts for their analysis.
The Catholic Commentator,
Baton Rouge’s diocesan
paper, published both the
drawings and the comments
from advisors or readers as
they reacted to this initial
concept of the renovation.
That process was repeated
over and over and over
again--10 times in fact. This
patient procedure, however,
paid handsome dividends.
People of the diocese came to
feel they had an active part in
the decision-making process
and thus took a greater
interest in the reconstruction
of St. Joseph’s. Moreover, the
repeated scrutiny by so many
individuals smoothed out
specifics of the plans and
helped bring into existence a
cathedral, to quote the
General Instruction of the
Roman Missal, “truly worthy
and beautiful,” a church
eminently “suitable for
celebrating the Eucharist and
for active participation by the
faithful.”
Here are some of the more
salient features in the
renewed house of the Lord:
*A huge, handsome
crucifix by Notre Dame’s
Ivan Mestrovic set off-center
on the plain, marble
sanctuary wall.
*An equally attractive,
contemporary sculpture of
the Holy Family by Mr.
Frank Hayden, a disciple of
Mestrovic’s now teaching at
Southern University.
♦Appropriate symbols in
the floor mark the stational
locations for the sacraments
of marriage, confirmation and
ordination.
♦A cupboard one foot
wide and three feet high,
illuminated, with glass door
and in full view of the
congregation for the storage
of silver holy oil vessels.
♦The organ located in
front of the cathedral and at
the side with a place for the
choir to LEAD congregation
al singing.
♦A pulpit for proclamation
of the Scriptures and
preaching of the homily. The
lectern for commentator or
leader of song is on the
opposite side and set back to
distinguish it from the pulpit.
A special stand at the edge of
the sanctuary holds an open,
sacred book as a sign of God’s
presence in His word.
♦The bishop’s Chair behind
the main altar with flanking
stalls for the special occasions
when the shepherd, his priests
and the faithful- assemble to
worship together.
train them. At least he should
be a resource person for
leaders or for groups, which
will always run into questions
that require some research. If
the priest or minister doesn’t
know the answer,- at least he
can tell the leader, or the one
in charge of the group to get
the answer, where to look for
it.
Obviously, what we are
talking about here is parish,
neighborhood, or home group
study of the Bible. It is study
to find what God says to us
through the Bible. It is study
meant to lead to action. At
the end of every meeting each
person should ask himself
what he will do as a result of
what he has learned. The
whole group should pray
after the study it has just
made. Any group that does
this is returning to early
Christian practice, returning
to the tradition nourished by
the Fathers of the Church
and the great scripture
commentators in the
subsequent history of the
Church.
Since I am a priest, and
therefore according to the
results of the experiments
I’ve mentioned I should not
lead a group in study, I
suppose that my meetings
with you should be along the
lines of the meetings between
the clergymen and the group-
leaders. When a group is larger
than eight people, it must
think of dividing. A group of
twelve should split; if a group
grows to 16 or 20 it will start
to go downhill. The best
development, it seems,
includes a regular meeting of
group leaders with their
clergymen.
Such a meeting, however,
is a matter of technical
problems. It is not what I
want to do in this series. I
want to give you what you
can use with your group. I
want to consider you as a
first group, which will grow,
and divide, and multiply. I
think a clergyman can get a
first group started. I did it
successfully with some
Americans who live and work
in Rome. At least they said I
did, bless them. At any rate, I
shall make this series of
meetings as bright and
inspiring and relevant for you
as I can.
There are many methods
that can be used for
successful group Bible study.
I could list at least two
dozen. In general, though, I
would advise dividing each
meeting into three parts. In
the first part everyone
concentrates on
understanding the passage
assigned for study (already
read beforehand). Besides the
standard translation the
group will use (we will have
more to say about this in the
(Continued on Page 6)
HOW DOES THE BIBLE apply to life today? Some study groups try to find out by rewriting
passages in a modern setting. Take the Exodus. The Israelites believed God had acted to free them
for a journey out of slavery in Egypt to the promised land of Israel. Many, if not all peple today,
hope of journey beyond present limitations to the promise of a more meaningful life in the world.
Perhaps Exodus-meaning can be repeated again and again today. (NC Photos, by John Sullivan)
FREEDOM
Major Social Movements
By Grant Maxwell
Dr. John Buell has said
that the “Church has not
joined the world movement
for freedom.” The Council
cannot be faulted here; it
committed the Catholic
Church unequivocally to the
quest for responsible
freedom.
Yet many people, some
Christians among them,
suppose that serving others in
the spirit of the Gospel
cramps human freedom and
hinders personal
development.
The opposite is true.
Vatican II stated that “man
cannot fully find himself
except through a sincere gift
of himself.” Christ showed us
by his own life that the new
command of love is the basic
law of human perfection and
hence of the world’s
transformation.” And His
Gospel teaches us to have “a
sacred revefence for the
dignity of everyman’s
conscience and its freedom of
choice.”
One of the great freedoms
willed by God for all men is
the free opportunity to
develop into mature human
beings. Millions are hindered
in this quest by
discrimination of various
kinds.
Vatican II condemned “as
foreign to the mind of Christ
any discrimination against
men, because of their race,
color, condition of life, or
religion.” “Every type of
discrimination,” said the
Council, “Is to be overcome
and eradicated as contrary to
REMODELING AN OLD CHURCH for the new liturgy is a sometimes expensive and always a
delicate task. In Baton Rouge, Louisiana, century-old St. Joseph s Church was transformed into a
cathedral. The people of the diocese took an active role in decisions affecting the change, and
according to Father Jospeh Champlin. sadness at the passage of something old yielded joy at the,
creation of something better. (NC Photos)
God’s intent.”
What are we waiting for? It
cannot be for lack of social
injustices that have their
roots in ignorance, prejudice,
discrimination. As one
instance, various forms of
discrimination now deny
many an equal chance to
obtain even a basic education.
Social discrimination
accounts for many of the
difficulties faced by the
youth of minority groups.
Witness also the special needs
of handicapped children; the
education handicaps of young
people in city slums; and the
financial burdens of private
schools. The educational
problem is especially severe in
foreign countries; in Asia,
Africa and Latin America,
most people still are unable
to read and write, simply
because they have never had a
chance to learn.
Now that we have
examined the world
movements for Peace, Justice
and Freedom, what specific
contributions can Christians
make to animate these
movements with the spirit of
the Gospel? Where do we
begin to awaken our sense of
responsibility towards these
great movements of our time?
In truth, humanity’s search
for peace, justice and
freedom begins with the basic
social unit, the family. The
Christian family must do its
part in bringing the Gospel
spirit into the community of
men. The Christian family
gives a remarkable witness to
the modem world when it
opens its door to receive all
who enter; when it goes out
to serve in the community of
men.
Within the Christian home,
Vatican II said that family
life should strive to be a
“school of deeper humanity”;
“the first school of those
social virtues which every
society needs,” the
environment in which
children begin to learn “the
art of living fraternally.”
(Continued on Page 6)
•X *
Question And
Answer
BY FR RICHARD MCBRIEN
Q. Is it proper any longer to speak of the Roman
Catholic Church as the “one, true Church of Christ?”
If not, haven’t we yielded to the temptation of
religious indifferentism where one religion is
considered to be as good as another?
A. The expression “one, true Church of Christ” is
misleading and it should be avoided. It implies that
Catholics are the only real members of the Body of
Christ.
The relationship* between Catholics and
non-Catholic Christians was a matter of some
discussion in the 1940’s and 1950’s, particularly as
the ecumenical movement among Protestants grew
and as people began wondering whether or not the
Catholic Church could, in good conscience, associate
itself with this new quest of Christian unity. It
seemed to many Catholics, including many of the
Church’s leaders, that participation in the ecumenical
movement would imply that unity was a future goal
and did not already exist in the Roman Catholic
Church. Such an assumption seemed to compromise
the Catholic conviction that the unity of Christ
desired is to be found in the Catholic Church, and that
the only way to full Christian unity was through the
return of all non-Catholic Christians to the Roman
Catholic Church.
There was some basis for this sort of reasoning
even in contemporary papal documents, such as the
two encyclical letters of Pope Pius XII, Mystici
Corporis (1943) and Humani Generis (1950). In the
latter document the pope had written: “.. .the
mystical Body of Christ and the Catholic Church in
communion with Rome are one and the same
thing...” Therefore, it was not enough that
non-Catholic Christians were baptized, or reverenced
the Word of God in Sacred Scripture, or celebrated
some of the sacraments. They lacked one thing that
was presumably absolutely essential for membership
in the Body of Christ; namely, communion with
Rome. Thus, all non-Catholic Christians were related
to the Church merely by desire (in voto), which
means that if they actually knew the Roman Catholic
Church to be the “one, true Church of Christ,” they
would spontaneously join it.
On first reading the eighth article of the Second
Vatican Council’s Dogmatic Constitution on the
Church, It seems that the council is simply
reaffirming the teaching of those earlier encyclicals.
The text of the constitution reads: “This (one)
Church (of Christ), constituted and organized in the
world as a society SUBSISTS IN the Catholic
Church” (my emphasis).
As a matter of fact, however, the phrase “subsists
in ” was not in the original draft of the document.
Rather, it was selected, as a more accurate and
suitable replacement for the “is” that appeared in the
first draft. The reason offered for this change was
that de facto there do exist outside the visible
boundaries of the Catholic Church genuine elements
of sanctification (see, for example, the Decree of
Ecumenism, n. 3), Vatican II was saying, therefore,
that the means of Christian holiness are not confined
to the Catholic Church, and that the Body of Christ is
larger in scope and extent than the Catholic Church
by itself.
One can conclude that the Body of Christ “subsists
in” the Catholic Church, but one cannot say, without
serious qualification, that the Body of Christ and the
Catholic Church are simply “one and the sae thing.”
Other Christians, who do not belong to the Catholic
Church, share in the life of Christ’s Body, even
though the degree of such participation may differ
from one Christian community to another, or from
individual to individual.
One final comment: it is also wrong to speak of
Catholics and non-Catholic Christians as if they
belong to different “religions.” There are different
denominations and different traditions, but all
Christians profess and practice the same religion. The
same reasoning would apply to the custom of
referring to non-Catholic Christians as holding to a
different “faith.” Thus, a Protestant who becomes a
Catholic is described sometimes as one who “accepts
the faith.” This is not only demeaning to the
non-Catholic Christian community in question, but it
is also theologically inaccurate. There is only one
Lord, one faith, and one baptism (Ephesians 4:5-6).
If a person accepts Jesus of Nazareth as the Lord, he
is a Christian and he shares the same basic faith as a
Catholic who makes the same profession about
Christ.
Therefore, when one moves from one community
to another within the Body of Christ, he does not
embrace a different faith (unless, in his previous
situation, he did not accept the Lordship of Jesus and
now he does). By the same token, were a Catholic to
shift his own place within the Body of Christ
(without renouncing faith in the Lord, and faith in
his presence in the Christian community and in its
sacraments), one cannot responsibly speak of that
Catholic as one who has “lost the faith.” I am not
urging the latter course, nor making light of its
consequences or implications. But we should be
aware that not all of our “common-sense theology” is
always accurate. Sometimes it is wrong, and Christian
respect for persons is often lost in the process.