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PAGE 2—The Southern Cross, March 15,1973
Thinking of Summer 9 73?
(Mary Gail Peterson is a guidance
counsellor and resident advisor at St.
Mary’s College in Notre Dame, Indiana.
She and four other young people lived
and worked out of the Newman Center
in Statesboro last summer, in
connection with the Glenmary
Volunteers Program.)
“What’s a nice girl doing in a place
like this?” I had wondered when I
arrived back in South Bend, Indiana. I
asked the same question of myself when
I arrived in Statesboro, Georgia last
summer.
I knew I had volunterred to work on
the summer program for the Glenmary
Brothers and Sisters. I knew I wanted to
know if what I was teaching my
students in Racial and Cultural
Minorities was true today.
I wanted to know if it was possible
for five strangers to live together for
two months in peace. I wanted to know
why the poor would always be with us.
I wanted to know if community,
especially Christian community, was
viable today. I wanted to know what I
as a “layman” had to offer in the time
span of two months. I had more
questions than answers.
I arrived in Augusta. I was all
“spiffed up” (never again to be spiffed
up until the day I left). I was hot, the
temperature was 110. I was exhausted.
Neil picked me up and took me to the
Newman Center where the volunteers
were to live. Leo was at home waiting
for us, having just returned from putting
up a fence for a playground at the
Episcopal Church. Two more volunteers
arrived the next week.
What a crew! Neil was 26 and a
junior in a Wisconsin college. Leo was
19 and a freshman at a New York
university. I was 26 and a high school
counselor in Indiana. Tom was 31 and
ran a furniture business in Rhode Island.
(He was also running for State Senator
and has since won! -- though he did not
tell us until we parted). Chuck was 19
and a freshman at the same New York
university as Leo, although they had
never met.
We had our ups and downs as a
community. “I never promised you a
rose garden.” We wanted to work, play
and pray together but we didn’t always
want to do it at the same time. We
learned. Oh, how we learned!
Theological Institute
Four of the leading theologians in
the United States will take part in a
Summer Theological Institute next June
at Spring Hill College.
The Rev. Paul S. Tipton, S.J.,
president of Spring Hill, announced that
the College will sponsor the institute for
clergy and other interested parties June
12 through June 15. The Rev. Walter
McCauley, S.J., chairman of the
Theology Department at Spring Hill will
be director of the institute.
Under the general title of “The
Church,” the program will be an intense
five-day study of ecclesiology consisting
of lectures and panel discussions.
Father McCauley said the following
authorities in theology will comprise a
panel for the Institute:
The Rev. Raymond E. Brown, S.S.,
Auburn Professor of Biblical Studies at
Union Theological Seminary and
Woodstock College, New York City, the
leading American biblical scholar in the
studies of the Gospel of St. John.
The Rev. Walter J. Burghardt, S.J.,
Professor of Historical Theology,
Woodstock College, and visiting
professor of Theology, Princeton
Theological Seminary, one of two
American members of the Papal
Theological Commission and editor of
the eminent scholarly journal,
EDMONTON, Alta. (NC) - Catholic
educators reacted to efforts to have
alternatives to the theory of evolution
discussed in public school classes by
pointing out that the Church has not
condemned the theory and that the Bible
does not give a scientific account of thef
world’s origins.
“Theologians have been cautioned
from time to time, but there has been
no denunciation of the theory as
contrary to Catholic belief,” said Oblate
Father Charles Weckand, professor of
theology at Newman Theological
college.
Trie Rev. Neil Unruh of the Christian
Mission Alliance Church in Hythe,
chairman of the Committee for True
Education, is organizing efforts in the
province of Alberta to have the theory
of creation recognized in school texts.
He has complained that all texts are
written from the evolutionist standpoint
only.
“Theological Studies.”
The Rev. Joseph H. Fichter, S.J.,
former Stillman Professor of Roman
Catholic Studies at Harvard Divinity
School, Professor of Sociology, Loyola
University, New Orleans, and noted
expert in the area of the sociology of
the priesthood.
The Rev. Richard A. McCormick,
S.J., Professor of Moral Theology,
Bellarmine School of Theology, Chicago
and member of the consortium staff of
the Kennedy Center for the study of
Bio-Ethics at Georgetown University,
Washington, D.C.
In announcing the Institute, Father
Tipton said: “We at Spring Hill hope
that this Institute will be a first in a
series of annual theological seminars.
The team of experts who have been
selected to serve as the faculty of the
Institute are the most outstanding
theologians in their fields and have
international reputations. The College is
pleased that it can sponsor such a
significant and meaningful program. We
are looking forward to a large
enrollment in the program.”
Further information on the Summer
Institute may be obtained through
Father Walter McCauley, S.J., Director
of the Summer Theological Institute,
Spring Hill College, Mobile, Alabama
36608.
educational system should recognize the
findings of all scientists,” Mr. Unruh
said. “We’re not asking the government
to include the first three chapters of
Genesis. We’re asking them to make
available other scientific evidence.”
He said that his daughter’s seventh
grade textbook indicates that the theory
of evolution as an explanation of man’s
origin is beyond dispute and “makes the
statement that no one takes the Bible
seriously anymore.”
Commenting on the
evolution-creation controversy, Father
Weckand said: “The teaching authority
of the Church has clearly recognized
that the Bible isn’t meant to be taken as
a scientific text.”
He said that modem scriptural
scholarship has indicated that the Book
of Genesis is “asking us to believe, for
example, that man is different from the
rest of creation. He owes his existence
to some form of special intervention by
God. He has a special relationship with
God.”
What did we do? Our main project
was the Feed-a-Kid program sponsored
by the Federal Government and the
community. The program consisted of
daily providing bag lunches and
recreation activities for the kids. Each
of the guys had an area for which they
were responsible. They had to provide
the recreation. (Equipment was
borrowed). My responsibility was to
supervise thirteen girls in the making of
1,000 lunches. (I never liked bologna
before I went to Statesboro and I don’t
touch it now!).
Twice a week we went to Savannah
to play with the kids at St. Mary’s
Home or paint rooms or whatever
needed doing. In our “spare time,” we
built a doghouse for the two collies
living in our house (Leo and Chuck had
to crawl in the doghouse to show the
dogs how to use it), cleaned our house
(cleaning took nine hours after the dogs
left), had a party for the Catholic youth
in the town, taped a radio program,
critiqued plays and tapes, feasted once
with good ol’ Fr. Teoli, practiced and
sang for Mass, etc.
Part of the “etc.” was cleaning up St.
Martin’s House. St. Martin’s was a house
that was used to sell clothes for a dime
or quarter. The roof had been blown in
and some kids had broken into the
house. Anyway, there were two feet of
clothing all over the house. The mildew
was unreal (when it rains, it pours!).
All told, we did forty-nine loads of
wash. You can imagine the looks we got
when we told those who asked why we
were washing the clothes. The roof was
patched and the four-foot weeds which
surrounded the house were cut down.
Don’t get me wrong! We had a ball,
too. We went roller skating one time
and Tom ran right into a garbage can to
avoid a kid. Leo and I had pillow fights
that had everyone in stitches. Neil had a
gold bathrobe that would send everyone
rolling at 7 a.m. Chuck drew caricatures
of all of us and pinned them on the
wall.
Meals were a riot! Every time Chuck
barbecued, it rained. One time I made
catfish stew and everybody loved
everything in the stew - except the
catfish. When we had guests, we had
wine and Hamburger Helper! (Budget,
you know!)
The reason I am writing this article is
because Bob Cushing, who was a friend
of ours last summer, is helping recruit
for a new summer program called
Christian Service in South Georgia. Bob
is a seminarian and was in Statesboro as
a campus minister. Are you interested?
Contact Fr. Bob Mattingly or your
pastor for more information. Bob said
that they needed 40-50 people in
various small communities, mostly in
convents and rectories, around the
diocese.
I may still have questions but I grew
into some answers. The social apostolate
and community living are great. We can
help if we’re open and accepting of
ourselves and others. The summer of ’72
was one of the most fantastic
experiences of my life. I offer the same
to you in ’73.
‘Our basic platform is that the
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DEVELOPMENTS AT WOUNDED KNEE ™ An Army
armored personnel carrier Monday passes a Sioux gift
shop on the main street of the Pine Ridge reservation
en route to the Wounded Knee area. The vehicles and
roadblocks were put back after reports of intensified
smuggling of guns and ammunition into Wounded
Knee, which American Indian Movement (AIM)
members have held since Feb. 27. Russell Means (right
in bottom photo), one of the AIM leaders, explains to
followers what is expected of them as members of
their self-declared “sovereign nation.” Although
religious leaders seemed to help bring peace last week,
by Monday an FBI agent had been shot and Means said
that any spy who entered the “nation” would be shot.
(NC Photos)
It’s a Matter of Language
BY SALVATORE CHIDICHIMO
ST. MARY’S ON THE HILL
Augusta, Georgia
Catholics throughout the world have
experienced a change in the Church
which to many has been traumatic. The
sudden appearance of young,
long-haired choir members, some of
whom hold guitars and adjust
amplifiers, has caused a variety of
comments from the elders or
“professionals” in the Church
membership.
It is not unusual to hear comments
like “Oh, they think they will be
‘discovered’ by a talent scout who may
attend Mass some Sunday,” or “They
are just showing off and are not really
involved with Church or God.” It is not
possible to refute these arguments
completely, because individual motives
can never be determined. There is
always the possibility that a few (there
is always that 5 percent in ALL groups
of anything you measure) are not
completely sincere and are not mature
enough to really relate what they do to
God. I cannot believe that it’s more
than 5 percent; after all, when was the
last time you heard of the discovery of a
new popular group in the Catholic
Church? The majority of our young
choirs are either sincere or very poor at
playing odds - the former seems like the
obvious alternative.
The hair, the clothes, the general
appearance of the young group is
shocking to many of the older Catholics
(a group who also is 95 percent pure
and sincere in what they think and do in
Church affairs). We have for so long
related the outward signs of worship to
a “separate” place (the Church, where
God IS), that we are used to dressing up
to go to that place. If we change that
concept around and make God a person
who is everywhere, then why not wear
the same clothes and hairstyles to
Church that you wear to school? to the
supper table? to the movies?
If we “visit” God on Sunday, then
perhaps we had better reinstitute rigid
dress rules and grooming regulations.
Motives of course are the key. The
youth of today would wear these same
clothes and styles to visit the President;
the old argument that “you wouldn’t
wear that to go to ...” is not a solid
one anymore. This young group, strange
and puzzling as they seem to many, are
a pretty dedicated crew. Rain nor snow
nor sleet stops them; the youth choir is
there when many of us make excuses
why God would not expect us to travel
on a night like this.
A selfish, showy lot? They play to
near-empty churches at times; they also
sing as loud and strong to helf-empty
pews. They have somehow found
enjoyment in worship, the inherent
motivation which is so much better than
going to Mass to avoid “going” to Hell.
Perhaps we should consider looking
elsewhere if their appearance is strange
and distracting; but then we should
walk down the street with blinders on.
They are us, we are them, we’re one big
family. They act and we sit; they act
and we react. It’s easy to criticize and
find fault, to point to minor
inconsistencies, the obvious 5 percent.
When will the realization of the 5
percent make the worth of the 95
percent as obvious as it should be?
When you clear away all the clothing,
hair and motive considerations, it
appears to me that you have one basic
difference in worship - language. Young
choirs say, “Hey, I can’t talk to God
that way or in that tone or mood!” I
recently went to a “conventional” Mass
at 12:30 p.m. on a Sunday (I usually go
to the “new” Mass at 6:15 p.m. on
Sunday), and I listened very closely to
the hymns, to the people “talking” back
to God.
t
I am used to hearing “It’s me, it’s me
Oh Lord, standing in the need of
prayer” - speech patterns and structure
I can relate to my life, words I am used
to hearing together (linguistics to the
students of language). I sat there
listening to “Under the shadow of your
throne Your saints have dwelt
secure ...” - a “foreign” tongue when I
thought about it.
I’m a “middle-aged” Catholic, about
thirty, and aware of what I heard
twenty years ago in church and on the
street, but also atuned to the change in
my own language and what I have heard
“in the world” in the last five to ten
years. Quite a difference! I found that I
was asking myself what I was saying in
that “conventional hymn - you know
what? I really wasn’t sure!
How can the young people of today
relate at all to it? It’s a matter of
language to a great degree - we are all
asking God to help us; we are all saying
that we are sorry, etc. - young people
are not spreading wild ideas under the
guise of modern song sung at the altar.
Think about it. If you find meaning
in what you sing in the hymns, then sing
them; if you do not, what are you doing
singing them? Perhaps the older
Catholics, although not completely
atuned to “rock expression” or “joy to
the world” worship, have also
outgrown,, developed beyond, 18th
century words of praise. If it doesn’t
mean much to you from a language
standpoint, you really aren’t saying
anything of meaning to God.
Perhaps you might be more at home
with singing Jimmy Dorsey-style hymns
in church if you are forty or older?
Think deeply about that! It may sound
farfetched at first, but it may be more
relevant to you and may give you a
feeling for what young people are doing
when they sing what they sing in the
way that they sing it.
It’s a matter of language to a great
degree, the old versus the new in
worship. Whether it’s rock, Dorsey or
18th century, if you know and mean
what you are saying, it’s fine. Oddly
enough, there are many older people
who understand the language of the
youth choir - we’re all wearing the
clothes, the hairstyles, etc. (5-65 years
old) - the youth Mass is full of more
than just young people. Maybe it’s not
really a youth Mass, maybe it’s more of
a 1973 Mass? If we can’t talk, act, and
dress etc. like we do in our daily lives
while we’re in Church, then we do have
a problem, but it’s not in the Church.
We’re at a point in time when we all
need to talk to God, but it must be in
our own way, our own language and
expression. The youth choir is sincere;
our forty-and-over people are really
sincere; even we middle guys are sincere
- guess what? God understands us all,
that’s what really counts.
I think I’ll go back to the 6:15 Mass
next week or I’ll be telling God things I
don’t understand again. What Mass are
you going to next week?
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