Newspaper Page Text
O.
V P
Vic
SERVING 88 SOUTH GEORGIA COUNTIES
The Southern Cross
DIOCESE OF SAVANNAH NEWSPAPER
Vol. 54 No. 9
Thursday, March 1,1973
Single Copy Price — 12 Cents
Lenten Pastoral Urges
Fasting, Prayer,Charity
In a Lenten Pastoral Letter from Father J. Kevin Boland, Administrator
of the Savannah diocese, Catholics are exhorted this year to special acts of
fasting, prayer, Charity and education.
The letter notes that works of Charity “will of necessity differ from
person to person” but suggests that they should follow an admonition of
the prophet Isiah:
“Is not this the sort of fast that
pleases me -- it is the Lord who speaks --
to break unjust fetters and undo the
thongs of yoke, to let the oppressed go
free, and break every yoke, to share
your bread with the hungry, and shelter
the homeless poor, to clothe the man
you see to be naked and not turn from
your own kind.”
It is statements like this, said Father
Boland “that make our decisions
concerning Lenten practices so
demanding and heart rending.”
The Administrator said in the Pastoral
that many people have regretted the
decision of Pope Paul in 1966 to change
the church’s laws regarding Fast and
Abstinence, but declared that “if we
look at the situation in the proper
perspective, however, we find that the
new approach to penance makes far
greater demands upon our spirit of
generosity.”
He emphasized that the Pope did not
“do away with” the necessity of
self-denial and service, but
“re-emphasized their importance.”
The letter makes the following
reco m mendations:
“FASTING: For the poor, who
seldom have enough to eat, fasting in
reality has been a way of life. Their
penance could be the effort in
attempting to endure this condition in
union with the sufferings of Christ.
Those who are sufficiently blessed with
the goods of this world could impose
upon themselves certain acts of
moderate self-denial related to the
comforts of life, and different forms of
recreation that we take for granted.
“It is important that our private life
should be re-examined and rekindled. It
is impossible to share Jesus with others
unless we, ourselves, are fully
committed to His message. It is
impossible to know and love Him
without a strong and consistent
relationship.
possible, we should support and be
enthusiastic about the various programs
of enrichment offered in our parishes
during the Lenten Season. The better
awareness we have of God’s message and
the workings of His Church, the better
prepared we will be to take God at His
word and attempt to live our lives in the
spirit of His love.”
Father Boland has been serving as
Administrator of the diocese since
Savannah’s former bishop, Gerard L.
Frey was installed as the Bishop of
Lafayette, La. in January.
Lent begins on Ash Wednesday,
March 7th and ends on the day before
Easter Sunday.
“EDUCATION: To the degree
WEEKLY HOME MASSES are a regular part of parish life in St.
Benedict parish, Savannah, and they come complete with a priest who
leads the communal singing and accompanies it on his guitar. Here, Father
Reed Nijem, the pastor, leads his congregation during the offertory hymn.
ASH WEDNESDAY BEGINS LENT ~ Lent begins
on Ash Wednesday, March 7. According to the law of
the Church, this is a day of abstinence and fast. Thus
no meat should be eaten on Ash Wednesday (by those
14 years of age or older) and the quantity of the two
smaller meals should not exceed the quantity of the
main meal (for those between the ages of 21 and 59).
(Photo by R.N.S.)
“The Church—A Place to Grow”
BY GILL BROWN
Lent begins next week, and with it
begins the annual Lenten Program
which will involve Catholics in all areas
of our Diocese. This year’s Program,
developed by the Department of
Christian Formation, is called “The
Church - a place to grow.” It studies
the new vision of the Church as
prolcaimed by Vatican II, and has been
designed to help Catholics of all
persuasions - from those who prefer the
more traditional views to those who
tend toward the most progressive - to
fit this version into their lives and feel at
home with it.
Special services will be held in the
Cathedral of St. John the Baptist,
Savannah, during the Lenten period.
Sunday Masses will be celebrated at
7:30 A.M.; 8:30 A.M.; 10:00 A.M.;
11:15 A.M.; 12:15 P.M.; and 5:30 P.M.
There will be three week-day Masses
each day: 8:00 A.M.; 12:00 Noon and
5:30 P.M.
Ash Wednesday: Blessed ashes will be
distributed after the week-day Masses
on that day.
Instructions in the Catholic Faith will
be given each Tuesday at 7:30 P.M. in
the Cathedral meeting room to which all
are welcome. A special Lenten series of
lectures and discussions will be
conducted in the School Cafeteria each
Thursday at 7:30 P.M., starting on
Thursday, March 8th.
A series of workshops held in each
Deanery recently helped priests, sisters
and teachers prepare to present the
program in each parish. To most
Catholics, the introductory note will be
sounded on Sunday, March 11, when
sermons preached in church will
keynote the first week’s topic.
The dominant theme is growth. Too
often, Catholics have thought of the
Christian life as something static. They
were either “in” or “out of” the state of
grace. “The Church - a place to grow”
stresses that just as people grow and
mature in other aspects of their lives, so
too they should grow in their lives as
March 8th: “The Languages and
People of the Bible” by Dr. Russell
Moores; March 15th: “Marriage Cases
and Their Solution” by Father Francis
J. Nelson; March 22nd: “The Books of
the Bible - How the Bible Came to Be”
by Dr. Russell Moores’
March 29th: “Witchcraft and Evil”
by Dr. Russell Moores; April 5th:
“Catholic Education in the Modem
Church” by Father William P. Dowling.
Dr. Russell R. Moores is head of the
Humanities Department of the Medical
College of Georgia.
Father Nelson, the Officialis of the
Diocesan Marriage Court; Father Seikel,
Diocesan Superintendent of Schools;
and Father Dowling, the Chairman of
the Diocesan Social Apostolate
Commission, will speak on the work of
their various departments. The public is
cordially invited.
Church members. The purpose of the
Church is to help them in this growth
and development towards a mature faith
life.
The main theme for each week will
be carried through in elementary and
high school classes on weekdays, and in
CCD classes. Special classroom outlines,
including art and discussion projects,
have been prepared.
Adults will be able to attend
educational sessions led by priests or lay
leaders, involving this year an innovative
“do it yourself’ workshop approach to
group learning.
Weekly leaflets, handed out in
church, have been designed for private
rather than group use this year. They
are to be taken home by each family to
read at home.
Handbooks for elementary and high
school teachers have been distributed in
good time for pre-Lenten preparation.
“PRAYER: This is the duty of all.
We are obliged to deepen our love for
Jesus Christ by a more frequent
reception of the Sacraments.
INSIDE STORY
Refugees’ Plight
’Know Your Faith’
Pg. 5
CHD Figures
Pg. 7
Readers Reply
Foiled Again!!
Father Lawrence Lucree, pastor of Albany’s St. Teresa parish, is having a hard
time trying to enter the Institute for Continuing Theological Education in Rome
at the North American College there.
He applied for admission to the Fall session of the three-month course last
year but found it full-up. He was accepted for the Spring term and was due to
leave for Rome this week. But a visit to the hospital has foiled him again.
While recuperating, he will reside in Savannah, serving as Supervisor of the
diocesan archives.
Cathedral Lenten Series
i
Ml
HEADLINE
(V\
HOPSCOTCH
Dollar Devaluation
WASHINGTON, D.C. (NC) - The 10 percent devaluation of the U.S. dollar will cut
into overseas missionary and relief work by American Catholic agencies, but the extent
of the impact cannot be measured yet, according to top Catholic officials questioned
by NC News. Bishop Edward E. Swanstrom, executive director of Catholic Relief
Services (CRS), said the lessened value of the dollar will directly affect some programs
but touch on others only indirectly. The CRS supports programs in 68 countries
around the world.
1974 Synod Set
VATICAN CITY (NC) - Pope Paul VI announced the Fourth General Assembly of
the Synod of Bishops will be held in the Vatican in October, 1974, to discuss
“Evangelization in the Contemporary World.” The Pope’s decision was sent by the
Vatican Secretary of State, Cardinal Jean Villot, to Bishop Wladyslaw Rubin, secretary
general of the Synod of Bishops. The Synod of Bishops is a post-conciliar development
which periodically brings together elected bishops from around the world to discuss
selected subjects and make their opinions and suggestions available to the Pope.
Civil Rights Complaint
SOUTH BEND, Ind. (NC) -- A Notre Dame law professor submitted a formal
complaint demanding that the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights “take immediate
action to restore the civil right to live to the child in the womb.” Charles F. Rice asked
the civil rights commission to intervene on the grounds that the U.S. Supreme Court
abortion decision denies the unborn child “equal protection of the laws.” Rice said the
civil rights commission is required by law to investigate the abortion situation because
federal government is involved through the compliance of military hospitals with state
abortions laws.
Downed Airliner
VATICAN CITY (NC) - Pope Paul VI expressed “profound pain” at the downing of
a commercial Libyan jet airliner by Israeli fighter plans and denounced “every act of
violence that strikes the lives of innocent persons.” In a telegram to Libyan head of
state Col. Moammar Khadafy, Pope Paul said: “Permit us to express to your
excellency our profound pain at the tragic attack of a Libyan airliner over the Sinai
that caused the loss of numerous lives.” The papal telegram stated that the Pope shares
the grief of the families of the persons killed, and added: “We pray to God to grant the
victims eternal repose and to give quick recovery to the wounded.” In closing, the
Pope stated: “We repeat our criticism of every act of violence that strikes the lives of
innocent persons and we reaffirm the need that respect for human life must prevail in
the conscience of individuals and peoples.”