Newspaper Page Text
PAGE 2—The Southern Cross, April 26,1973
Author Urban Steinmetz
To Lecture in Diocese
Urban Steinmetz, Executive Director
of the Family Enrichment Bureau and
noted author of several books on
Marriage and Sexuality, will visit the
Diocese of Savannah early in May to
talk with groups in Macon, Augusta and
Savannah, and to lead the annual
Theology Seminar sponsored by the
Department of Christian Formation.
IN MACON on Tuesday, May 8th,
Mr. Steinmetz will talk to adults at the
monthly “TEMPO” discussion at 10:30
a.m. at St. Joseph’s Center. He will
meet with members of the clergy at
3:30 p.m. for a discussion of Marriage
Counselling. In the evening, from 8:00
to 10:00 p.m., he will talk to married
couples at St. Joseph’s Social Hall. His
general topic for adult groups will be
marriage enrichment and
communication in marriage.
IN AUGUSTA on Wednesday May
9th, Mr. Steinmetz will talk to the
Senior Class at Aquinas High School at
1:00 p.m. At 4:00 p.m. he will meet
with an interdenominational clergy
group for discussion of marriage
counselling, at St. Mary’s Hall. In the
evening there will be a talk on
enrichment and communication in
marriage for adults at St. Mary’s Hall,
starting at 8:00 p.m. Some of the group
attending will be married couples who
have taken part in a Marriage
“Encounter”.
IN SAVANNAH on May 10th he will
address boys from Benedictine College
and girls from St. Vincent’s Academy
before meeting with clergy at 3:30 p.m.
A meeting for married couples on
marriage enrichment and
communication is planned for 8:00 p.m.
at Blessed Sacrament School.
The theme of the Theology Seminar,
which will be held on May 11th and
12th at St. Vincent’s Hall, Savannah, is
“UNDERSTANDING HUMAN
SEXUALITY.” Its aim is to help the
priests, sisters and teachers attending to
better understand sexuality and its
influence on human lives and
relationships. Some topics to be studied
during the Seminar will be: “A
URBAN STEINMETZ
Theology of Sex - Fact or Fiction?”
“Celibacy and Sexual Adolescence”,
and “Natural or Unnatural - Are These
Phoney Words?”
The Seminar will open on Friday
May 11th at 1:00 p.m. with
Registration and light refreshments. Mr.
Steinmetz will conduct sessions Friday
afternoon and evening, and will end
with a Saturday morning session. The
Seminar is planned to allow ample time
for questions and comments,
small-group discussion and clarification.
It will end with a closing Liturgy at
11:45 a.m., Saturday.
Mr. Steinmetz served as a marriage
ST. LOUIS - The month of May has
been designated as Senior Citizens
Month by the Catholic Hospital
Association (CHA).
In recognizing the role of Catholic
health services in meeting the needs of
the aged, CHA has named May as a
month of special care and concern for
the elderly.
Sister Mary Maurita, R.S.M., CHA
executive vice-president, said the action
was initiated to focus attention on the
increase in life expectancy and
the obligation of society to give all
persons, regardless of age, an
opportunity to share fully in the social,
economic and spiritual life of the
community.
“We are asking all Catholic-sponsored
health care facilities to reexamine the
(Continued from page 1)
organ . . .Most went up for
Communion.”
--“One Christian we spoke to-he
took great pride in calling himself a
Christian-assured us that just as
vocations are increasing slowly in
Canada, so they are in Cuba. He also
said more young men and women were
becoming interested in the Church.”
-“Most priests seem so busy that the
volunteer services of young people are
vital. The rural churches are run like
missions in Canada-that is, the priest
travels from church to church, saying
Mass, giving Communion and
ministering to the people.”
-“The North American belief that
the Church is dead in Cuba is disproved
by a bishop’s heavy schedule, which
includes Masses, confessions and
Confirmations in the country. We tried,
without success, to arrange an interview
with him.” (He was Auxiliary Bishop
Evelio Ramos Diaz of Havana.)
--“A weekly bulletin is provided for
parishioners of the Cathedral. The one
we saw contained comments critical of
the religious environment in Cuba and
the schedule of Masses and Confessions.
counselor for the Catholic Social Service
for nine years before becoming Director
of the Family Enrichment Bureau,
which is a non-profit
interdenominational Family Life
organization based in Escanaba,
Michigan. He is the author of a number
of recorded programs on marriage and
contributes articles regularly to many
national publications. He is well known
for his books, which include “The
Sexual Christian”, “The Male
Mystique”, “I Will - the Present and
Future of Marriage”, “Let’s Talk about
Sex” (a discussion program for parents),
and “With Marriage in Mind” (a high
school discussion text).
activities for the aging in which they are
engaged,” she said, adding that Catholic
hospitals and nursing homes are being
urged “to upgrade these kinds of
services.”
She said that in paying “special”
tribute to older citizens, all
informational and educational means
should be used to foster an environment
in which older people can enjoy the
opportunity to lead useful and
satisfying lives consistent with their
capacities.
“This will certainly help fulfill our
mission for which the charity of Christ
gave us direction,” she said.
With headquarters in St. Louis, CHA
represents 850 Catholic-sponsored
hospitals and long-term care facilities
throughout the U.S.
But there was no criticism of Castro.”
Blatchford and McGovern also
collected some information “on the
negative side.” The number of priests
has declined, all Catholic schools have
been closed, the condition of churches
has been deteriorating (but this, they
said, “only serves to reinforce the idea
of suppression . . .Catholics are
constantly reminded that they are being
discouraged, and, to some extent,
ignored.”
The writers cited an instance of the
double talk the government gives
tourists.
One Cuban, they said, had at first
insisted that “there was no open
anti-religious movement, but panicked
when we asked if we could use his
name. In his broken English, he said:
‘No, please, don’t use my name. Or my
situation.’ It is probably typical. In
applying for a job he was asked; “Are
you really a Catholic?’ he said yes. He
was then asked if he was a practicing
Catholic. Again, he said yes. It was
suggested that he return home and wait
until he was contacted for another job.
He has not yet been contacted.”
CHA Designates May
Senior Citizens Month
Church in Cuba—
MASON
INC.
Printing
Office Supplies
Office Furniture
Duplicating
Machines and
Supplies
AD 2 -4192
18-20 W. BRYAN ST.
Corish & Company, Inc.
If you rent, check our low costs to protect your
valuable personal property.
206 East Bay Street Savannah 234-8868
Weddings - Passports -
Publicity Pictures
Serving Savannah since 1939
with quality photography.
8 E Liberty - 234-2509
The Citizens
And Southern
Banks
In Savannah
Eleven convenient locations
in Savannah to serve you!
Philip Batastini
Tailors -- Cleaners
407 - 12th St.FA2-5900
Columbus
233-0049
■704 ABCRCORN ST.. SAV>NNAH. GA
Professionol Optical
Service
Eugene Moore - Bill Phelps
Opticians
236-5210 125 East Hall
DORIS
JEWELERS
AUGUSTA, GA.
I Johnnie Ganem
I Steak Ranch
| CHARCOAI BROILED
STEAKS
! PRIME STEAKS
| DINNERS - LUNCHEON
COCKTAILS
| DINNER MUSIC
i Gaston and Habersham
AD 3-3032
Everything for the
Sick Room
Hospital Beds - Wheel Chairs
- Invalid, Walkers - Patient
Lifters. Many other Sickroom
needs.
Prescriptions called For
and Delivered
Wachtel’s
2364271
Physician Supply Co.
Paul H. Ewaldsen
402 BULL STREET
FINE FOODS SINCE 1937
AT THE LEVEE
For Wedding
Invitations
The Acme Press
Phone 232-6397
1201 Lincoln Street
SACRAMENT OF PENANCE. Some of the
fifty-seven fourth-grade youngsters who received the
Sacrament of Penance for the first time at St. Joseph’s
church, Macon, on April 18.
Penance: “God Still Loves Us!”
BY GERALD T. CANTWELL
“Gonna sing my Lord, for all that
I’m worth, Lord, Lord . . .” sang the
children as, banners aloft and candles
alight, they pressed into the darkened
hall on the heels of the guitar-playing
priest. Minutes later they prayed in Joy:
“God, we know how deeply you believe
in us. We know how much you trust us.
We know how much you love us. This
all brings us happiness and much joy.
We are very happy.”
Thus did fifty-seven fourth graders of
Macon’s two schools and interparochial
CCD program approach their reception
of First Penance in a tender little
ceremony at St. Joseph’s Church on
April 18th.
Significantly included in the program
as the scriptural reading was the story of
the parodigal son, understood from the
perspective of the sorrowing, forgiving
father anxiously awaiting reconciliation
with his errant child. All in all, an
attitude and atmosphere totally
different from that dread foreboding
with which my contemporaries first
appraoched the Stygian darkness of the
confessional forty years ago.
The essential difference results from
the new approach taken to the
sacrament and its catechesis by the
Savannah Diocese’s Department of
Christian Formation (DCF). The
program completed last week in Macon,
incidentally, was at least one instance of
the shoemaker’s children not going
about barefooted.
For Macon’s interparochial religious
education coordinator, Patty
McLemore, and the St. Joseph pastor,
Father William Coleman, are the
co-authors and principal architects of
the new program which the DCF
brought out last year. Adapted
throughout the diocese, it will soon
become national as Ave Maria Press
plans to publish it.
The tender little celebration of the
sacrament by the Macon children and
their families had its origins two months
earlier when in the classroom and home
the fourth grade families began to
prepare. As the weeks went by, the
children’s classroom instruction was
complemented by two other elements: a
series of three parents’ meetings and
completion of a six-part family
workbook at home.
At the first two parents’ meetings,
paralleling the material their children
were going over in the classroom, the
adults examined through group
dynamics - how else, under William
Coleman? - the concepts of a loving
God who seeks to reconcile us sinners
and of sin, sin which denies the worth
and needs of others. Each of these first
two sessions concluded with a prayer
service reemphasizing the evening’s
theme.
The third meeting brought about a
coalescence of both principals and
principles. The adults and the children
met together and through the medium
of a Greek chorus dramatization the
youngsters brought together the two
concepts previously explored by
portraying God’s response to sin.
A profoundly simple homily by
Father Coleman synthesizing the whole
program and a penitential prayer service
followed, and we left the hall, touched
as never before by the beauty of this
once-dreaded sacrament and the great
love the God who gave it to us has for
us.
It may well be that at this stage of
their development the children, while
comprehending the words they spoke
and sang, did not completely grasp their
theological impact. But - and herein lies
the genius of the DCF program - as the
children were prepared for their
reception of the sacrament, their
parents were led to examine the
sacrament from a fresh perspective and
quite possibly for the first time fully
comprehended its scope and impact.
Through the medium of their
childrens’ preparation, more than a
hundred adults had been introduced to
a new concept of the sacrament by the
diocese’s master teacher.
The key to that concept, the key to
the DCF Penance Program is an
understanding of God as a loving, kind
being. Its entire essence is captured in
the little prayer of joy that the children
offered - “God still loves us; He still
trusts us.” Once having acknowledged
the goodness of God, the children - and
their parents - are able to approach him
in the Sacrament of Reconciliation
seeking not the expiation of guilt
through a punishment handed down by
a severe, vindictive God as we once
believed, but instead God’s assurance of
his love for and trust in us.
Secure in this belief, we are then able
to see some worth in ourselves and,
having taken this giant step, are able to
go the full mile and appreciate the
worth of others around us. Moreover,
having opened ourselves enough to see
the worth of others, we are also able to
see their needs as well.
The corollary of our new
understanding of our relationship with
God involves a fresh concept of sin. It
seems axiomatic that the God who loves
us so much loves all other men equally
well. This being so, we must understand
that to harm another is to offend God.
And this offense we understand as sin.
Sin, then, denies the worth of another
human, refuses help when needed,
pridefully rejects help when offered,
withholds recognition from the good
deeds of others.
We come to understand finally that
God was forced to hand down a set of
laws because in its infancy and
immaturity the human race was not yet
ready to grasp the essence of sin as that
which offends God through harming
another. By this point, we have
recognized that for the most part the
effect of obeying the ten
commandments was to prevent
ourselves from harming others. Some
sin, of course - very little but some -
directly offends God.
In sum, then, the DCF program not
only brought the fifty-seven Macon
children to the Sacrament of Penance in
joy and love, but it also brought to
parents - to those who have ears and
would hear - a whole new perspective,
one which could conceivably change
whole attitudes and lives. “God still
loves us!”
for a stay
to be remembered
THE
ULTIMATE
in luxury & comfort
205 DECORATOR DESIGNED ROOMS
COLOR TV *Hl-FI • MUSIC
GUEST DIALING IN EACH ROOM
FREE PARKING • SWIMMING POOL
RESTAURANT AND LOUNGE
ALL MAJOR CREDIT
CARDS HONORED
PHONE
233-3531
■ ■
DOWNTOWNER
MOTOR INNS
201 West Oglethorpe
Savannah, Georgia
< J
Citadel Head Coach Speaker
At BC All-Sports Banquet
Robert J. Ross, head coach at the
Citadel, was the main speaker at the
Benedictine Military School All-Sports
Banquet held Saturday night, April 14,
at the school cafetorium. The All-Sports
Banquet is an annual event sponsored
by the B.C. Athletic Association, which
is headed this year by Charles H. Moore.
Mr. Moore also served as master of
ceremonies for the banquet and awards.
The Neil Sledge Trophy for ideal
qualities of good sportsmanship and
faithfulness in athletics at B.C. was
awarded jointly to Joe Rowland and
Chris Thompson. Dr. Neal Markowitz
presented the award in memory of the
class of ’53 member.
Mike Finnocchiaro presented the Bill
Gaynor award for excellence in overall
sports ability and in academic
achievement to Tony Wolfe.
Kerry McBride won the Golden
Helmet Award, sponsored by the
Savannah Coca-Cola Co., recognizing
excellence in football as judged by the
team members.
CSM Dempsey Logue, vice-president
of the Chatham Artillery, presented first
and second place trophies in the city
and region rifle meets to the Varsity
Rifle team.
Completing the special awards was
the presentation by Judge Julius Fine of
the annual Man of the Year Award, this
year, to the Woman of the Year. Mrs.
Louisa Gaynor was the winner for her
outstanding work in behalf of the
Athletic Association and for her
dedication to Benedictine.
Coach Jim Walsh announced that the
football team had selected Jerome
Provence captain for next year and John
Stegin co-captain. Coach Walsh, assisted
by coaches John Stephens, Tommy
Cannon, and Fr. Albert Bickerstaff also
extended recognition and appreciation
to those students who have participated
in any phase of athletics at B.C. during
the current school year.