Newspaper Page Text
PAGE 7 — The Southern Cross, December 7,1972
Getting It T ogether
At St. Benedict’s
BY REV. FRED NIJEN
On a sun-drenched December 2, last
Saturday, more than forty persons,
men, women, young adults, religious
and priests, from the Saint Benedict’s
parish, Savannah, came together in
order to “get itself together.” At the
Saint John’s Center from 11 a.m. to 4
p.m. representatives from Saint
Benedict’s enjoyed an exploration and
experience of community that we will
all long remember.
The theme of our day together was,
“We are the Saint Bendict’s Catholic
Community.” If the theme sounds too'
simple and elemental, we of Saint
Benedict’s found, as I am sure many
other parishes would find, that this
theme was an exciting place to begin - at
the beginning. Through communal
prayer, study and discussion, we tried, as a
body, with Christ our Head, to fathom
and feel the powerful truth of the
simple statement: “We are the Saint
Benedict’s Catholic Community”.
The day began with a slide
presentation of scenes from the parish
as well as from the surrounding
community. Dr. Prince Jackson led the
discussion following this slide
presentation. The purpose and theme of
our slides and our sharing was to raise
the question of who we are in relation
to God’s Word, the sacramental life of
the parish, the non-Catholic institutions
surrounding us, and the poverty and
social problems which . are the
environment and air we breathe in our
Saint Benedict’s area. No final answers
were gained - there are no final answers;
but, many exciting questions and
possibilities were raised in this first
segment of the day.
After breaking for lunch, which was
simple and shared in community spirit,
we began the second segment of our
exploration. Mrs. Francis Bazemore
presented a pictorial history of the Saint
Benedict’s parish. Beginning with Frs.
Lissner and Obrecht, each phase and
development of the parish community
was recalled through pictures. The
sharing here was very exciting and
fruitful. We all realized that the roots
of our parish community were sunk deep
in the love, sweat, and toil of many
noble men and women who had given
of themselves in the past that we might
have life now.
At this point in the day we had
prayerfull explored the, “Who are we”
and the “Saint Benedict’s” portions of
our overall theme. It now remained to
share the “Catholic” and the
“Community” parts of our puzzle. Mrs.
Anne Bell led a discussion of the
Teleketics film, “The Eucharist:
Sacrament of Life.” The film and our
sharing led us into a deeper
understanding and appreciation of the
Eucharist as the center and source of
our Catholic life together.
What it means to be a community
was touched upon and touched us
during the entire day. But, the question
of “Where we are going as a
community?” was specifically treated in
the fourth segment of the day. This
sharing was led by Mrs. Otis Charlton.
Through the medium of the collage, we
expressed as a group the direction in
which we felt our community should
move. During this time of the day an
opportunity was also given to receive
the sacrament of penance for those who
so desired.
Our day of getting together was
fittingly closed with the Mass. The Mass
was the votive Mass of the Holy Spirit.
We thanked the Spirit of God for
gathering us together as He does in
every age; we asked the Spirit to
continue to lead us in building up the
body of Christ. Our day together was
truly a day of sharing the community
life of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit.
Praise the Lord!
6 Maude 9 Episode Nixed
PEORIA, Ill. (NC) - Television
stations here and in Champaign, Ill.,
refused to carry an episode of Maude, a
CBS-TV situation comedy, dealing with
abortion and vasectomy.
The stations, apparently the only
CBS affiliates that refused to carry the
episode, received 1,105 letters favoring
their action and 538 opposing it.
In Champaign, the local chapter of
the National Organization for Women
sued to force WCIA-TV to show the
program, but a local judge denied their
request saying that the group showed no
urgent need for airing the program.
Spokesmen for the two stations
criticized the program for dealing with
abortion in a frivolous manner.
The two-part program implied that
Maude, the leading character, decides to
have an abortion, while her husband
considers having a vasectomy after
learning that Maude is pregnant.
Officials of WMBD-TV in Peoria and
of WCIA said that they were not
censoring the show but merely acting on
a ruling of the Federal Communications
Commission that states that stations
“have the positive obligation and
responsibility to make programming
decisions based on their judgment and
their ascertation and evaluation of needs
and interests” of their audiences.
The spokesmen also said that showing
the program might have been a violation
of the Illinois abortion law, which
forbids advocacy of illegal abortions in
“print, radio or television.”
The stations, which are owned by the
same corporation, have carried programs
giving both sides of the abortion
controversy and will continue to do so,
the officials said. They said, however,
that they will retain the right to decide
the way in which the subject is handled.
Stations in Rock Island and Quincy,
Ill., carried the Maude episode, and
spokesmen for the stations said they felt
the subject was handled tastefully. All
four stations serve parts of the Peoria
diocese.
Need a speaker?
Our Speakers Bureau has four speeches—
and a color film — available free of
charge. The topics are timely and inter
esting. Contact the nearest Georgia Power
office or write Public Information & Ad
vertising, Georgia Power Company. Box
4545, Atlanta, Georgia 30302.
Georgia Power Company
A citizen wherever we serve®
PUPPETEER—PRIEST. Father John Tickle, Confraternity of Christian Doctrine
Director of the diocese of El Paso, Texas, spoke to teachers of religion at workshops in
Savannah and Augusta last week. The priest used a hand puppet named Gordo to help
demonstrate imaginative use of story telling techniques and visual aid.
Readers Reply
Editor:
Christians everywhere are asked to
support the needs of our less fortunate
fellow men. The members of the
religious community at Pacelli High
School in Columbus should be
commended for their desire to
contribute their services for Christian
charity. The scholarship fund for needy
minority groups is indeed a worthy
cause.
However, basic economics require
that stipulations be made. The religious
teachers at Pacelli compare their services
and worth to that of lay teachers. It is
felt that expenses of the two groups
must also be compared. The individual
in a religious community, if he is to be
paid a salary comparable to a lay
teacher, must then accept the expenses
of a lay person.
It is suggested that the school board
pay the staff members the salary that
lay teachers are paid. The religious
would be required to pay rent to the
owner of their residence, pay for
utilities, hire a housekeeper and maid
(or provide these services themselves).
They would have to buy their
automobiles, and pay for their upkeep,
including gasoline, oil, insurance, taxes
and maintainence. They would be
required to pay their medical and dental
expenses (physicians and dentists would
give them the same discount that lay
teachers receive). They would buy their
own insurance (medical, personal
property, liability, etc.), contribute to
their own retirement, and have their
own savings for an emergency.
Expenses for food, recreation, travel,
entertainment, clothing, and laundry
would be the responsibility of each
individual.
This fair salary would also be subject
to Federal and State taxes as well as
Social Security payments. The teachers
would be expected to tithe to the
church, contribute to the Bishop’s
Fund, buy chances on raffles and in
every other way “contribute to the
support of the church.” Local and
national charities such as the Heart
Fund, Christmas Seals, Cancer Fund,
Easter Seals, and countless others would
ask for their aid. Each would, of course,
contribute his “fair share” to the United
Community Appeal.
The Pacelli School Board would have
the authority to hire them, fire them
and set standards for them. Teachers
would be required to further their
education at their own expense, as are
the lay teachers.
When all of these requirements are
met the teachers would be allowed to
contribute all of their extra money to
the Pacelli Scholarship Fund if they
desire.
Catholic educators have always
stressed the fact that each right is
accompanied by a responsibility.
Perhaps the religious need to be
reminded of the responsibilities that
accompany salaries. With the above
facts in mind perhaps the religious at
Pacelli High School would like to
re-examine the value of their
“contributed services.”
Douglas J. Giorgio, Jr., D.D.S.
Savannah, Ga.
Macon Youth Join
Anti-Poverty Fight
BY SISTER ELIZABETH
SOCIAL APOSTOLATE MACON
During the first three weeks of
November the Campaign for Human
Development was launched across the
dioceses of our nation for the fourth
consecutive year in an effort to attack
poverty at its roots. It does this in three
ways: first, through education, by
sensitizing Americans to the horror of
poverty, where it exists whom it
enslaves; second, by conducting an
annual collection in every Catholic
church in the nation; third, through
allocation, by channeling the proceeds
to self-help projects administered by
and for the poor.
The main emphasis on this campaign
lies in its efforts to change the attitudes
of our people toward the poor and to
present the social teaching of the
Church in a simple non-technical way.
This is exactly what the children of
the Macon parishes did by means of a
poster contest. The theme centered
around the caption for the campaign —
“Poverty - when people don’t care -
Human Development - when people
care” Any art medium was used and the
resulting products proved a hard task as
far as judging went. The results of the
contest are as follows:
BEST OVERALL ENTRY - 5th
Grade - St. Peter Claver School
OUTSTANDING THEME PLAN -
8th Grade - St. Peter Claver School
BEST CLASS PARTICIPATION: 1st
- 3rd Grade - St. Joseph School; 2nd -
4th Grade - C.C.D. Class; 3rd - 8th
Grade - St. Joseph School.
MOST ORIGINAL ENTRY: 1st -
Jean Connor and Sheri McAfee - 8th
Grade - St. Joseph School; 2nd - Sheila
Rowley - 6th Grade - St. Joseph School;
Elvana Povada - 8th Grade - St. Joseph
School; 3rd - Glenn Brickl - 8th Grade -
St. Peter Claver School.
BEST INDIVIDUAL
PARTICIPATION: Douglas Whipple -
7th Grade - C.C.D. Class.
The cooperation was excellent from
teachers, through parents down to
poster makers. The posters were on
display in the three parish Churches of
Macon as a fitting conclusion to the
Campaign. In conjunction with the
poster display and poverty collection
there was also an opportunity for each
parishioner to become actively
concerned about the poor by means of
flyer put out by the Macon Social
Apostolate. By means of this flyer
definite needs of the community were
made known with opportunity for
volunteering service in various areas
such as transportation, visiting, sewing
etc.
All together it was an excellent
example of united concern from varing
groups of our community. The cildren
displayed in very realistic ways the
plight of the poor while the concerned
adults gave their time, talent and
financial assistance.
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Father John Tickle Leads
Augusta Discussion Series
BY MARY RAUSCH
Father John Tickle of El Paso, Texas,
“touched” every teacher in the Augusta
Deanery who participated in his unique
discussion series last week. One of
his messages to the Adult-Education
directors was to “Touch Someone
Today.” He queried the teachers about
the manner in which they became
involved in CCD work and it became
evident that each was influenced by
someone - not a book or a class - but
someone who loved them and who
loved God.
The listener loses himself in the story
as related in modern language with
excellent characterization. A child
would consider it “learning about Jesus
the fun way.”
The trick (not the “art”) of
storytelling is using conversation instead
of declarative sentences. The word
“that” is the curseword of the
storyteller. Father’s rendition of “Jesus
Walking on the Water” was so realistic
we felt the people and the situation
were true today and not just part of a
story out of a book.
The Teen-Encounter with Father
Tickle was richly rewarding. Fifty-five
teenagers from all parishes of Augusta
gathered for an afternoon of talks,
filmstrips, sharing and self-expression.
These young Catholics responded
beautifully and with enthusiasm to
Father’s well-designed expose with a
curious method of explaining the
manner in which the Bible was written
(a covered box with three items to rattle
and shake), a 10-minute filmstrip of
Bible History and an “Intelligence Test”
leading to refreshments. The filmstrip
entitled “The Eucharist” with its
throbbing heartbeat brought Christian
love and living into life today. The
culminating activity was group posters
designed with tiny circles, triangles,
rectangles, and squares summarizing
what the students gained on this day. A
penitential service and liturgy followed
reflecting the style of early Christians.
“Conscience Formation” was the title
of Father Tickle’s talk with the parents
Friday evening. Questions arose such as:
What is morality from a Christian point
of view? What is the parents’ role in
this? Where does one’s moral sense
come from? What is a developed or
undeveloped conscience? When should a
child go to confession? What can
parents do (or do not do) to help their
child develop a good Christian
conscience?
Father Tickle’s talks were both alive
and lively! Enjoy yourself while you
learn all those little “tricks”,
“techniques”, “methods” so essential in
teaching young children their
faith .. .but most of all teach by loving.
The Catholic Cemetery
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• To DixHor^a A Family OMiydMi
• Choicest Locations Available Now
• Finances Not Impaired By Sickness
• Judgment Not Impaired By Sorrdir
• Avoid Mistakes Made in Haste
WE’LL
DO YOUR
CHRISTMAS
SHOPPING
THE HOLY FATHER'S MISSION AID TO THE ORIENTAL CHURCH
Christmas is Christ’s Birthday. This year, to
show Him you love Him, give your presents to
the poor. . . . For instance, train a boy for the
priesthood. We’ll send you his name, he’ll write
to you, and you may stretch payments to suit
your own convenience ($15.00 a month, $180 a
year, $1,080 for the entire six-year course). The
friend who has everything, if you sponsor a
seminarian in his name, will appreciate this
NO more than a gift he doesn't need. We’ll send
NEED your friend our attractive Gift Card before
TO Christmas, telling him what you have done. . . .
LEAVE Or sponsor a Sister-to-be ($12.50 a month, $150
THE a year, $300 altogether), a homeless child ($14
HOUSE a month), or feed a refugee family for two
weeks ($5). Your friend will be pleased you
thought of someone else when you remembered
him. . . . Please write to us today to be sure
the Gift Cards reach your friends before Christ
mas. We’ll send the cards as soon as we hear
from you.
dl
Nr
MORE
GIFT
CARD
SUGGESTIONS
The Midnight Mass in Bethlehem will be of
fered for the members of this Association. This
is our Christmas thank-you gift to you. Please
pray for all of us, especially our priests and
Sisters overseas. And have a happy Christmas!
OUR
GIFT
TO
YOU
We’ll send a Gift Card (or a letter, if you prefer)
to the person you designate for each of these
Christmas gifts:
□ $10,000 will build a complete parish ‘plant’
(church, school, rectory, convent) where the
Holy Father says it’s needed overseas. Name
it for your favorite saint, in your loved one’s
memory.
□ You can build a church now for $3,800, a
school for $3,200, and the Bishop in charge
will write to you.
□ Your stringless gifts in any amount ($5,000,
$1,000, $500, $100, $50, $25, $10, $5, $2)
will help the neediest wherever they are — in
India and the Holy Land, for instance. Remind
us to send a Gift Card.
□ Our missionaries can offer immediately the
Masses you request. Just send us your in
tentions.
© AX
Dear enclosed please find $ .
Monsignor Nolan:
FOR
Please name —_—
return coupon
with your street .
offering
CITY STATE ZIP CODE
THE CATHOLIC NEAR EAST WELFARE ASSOCIATION
NEAR EAST
MISSIONS
TERENCE CARDINAL COOKE, President
MSGR. JOHN G. NOLAN, National Secretary
Write: Catholic Near East Welfare Assoc.
330 Madison Avenue*New York, N.Y. 10017
Telephone: 212/986-5840