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PAGE 4—The Southern Cross, November 1,1973
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Pension Reform
Imagine a workingman, approaching
retirement and looking forward to a
modest pension that will supplement his
Social Security payments. Imagine too
the disappointment of that workingman
when he learns that the pension benefits
he had anticipated do not exist.
Up until now, one of the great
unremedied injustices in American
economic life has been that this scenario
is not merely imaginary, but in millions
of cases all too real. In those cases, at
one time or another when a worker
assumed he was covered by a pension
plan, he changed jobs or was laid off or
his firm went bankrupt. As a result, and
without his knowledge, he forfeited his
pension rights.
The bill’s key feature provides that a
worker’s right to one-quarter of his
pension cannot be forfeited once he has
worked five years. After each additional
year during the next five, he is entitled
to five more percent of his pension.
After ten years, his rights accrue at the
rate of ten percent a year, so that he is
entitled to a full pension after 15 years
of work.
The measure has now gone to the
House for consideration by the Ways and
Means Committee. There, it has already
come under fire from committed
advocates of pension reform. They argue
persuasively that pension benefits should
be more generous, and should become a
matter of right even earlier, than the
present bill provides.
It was to cure this inequity that, on
September 19, the Senate by a vote of
93-0 adopted a sweeping pension reform
bill. The action was a landmark in the
history of American social reform.
It promises to assure 35 million
workers covered by private pension plans
that their pension rights will be
protected as never before.
One would hope that these
constructive criticisms will be
incorporated into the bill as it is
approved by the House and finally
adopted by a conference committee of
both Houses. Still, even if the House
passes the Senate bill without
amendment, the Congress will have
taken a long stride toward guaranteeing
the pension rights of literally millions of
workers. (AMERICA MAGAZINE)
Charismatic Confusion
Reverend John Reedy C.S.C.
We are just beginning to get snarled in one
more ecclesiastical hassle; and this one, as far as
I can judge, is completely meaningless.
God knows, we’ve seen enough confusion
and dissension in the Church during the past
decade. Everyone should be anxious to avoid
additional bitterness, especially that generated
by a non-issue rooted in confusion and
misunderstanding.
These thoughts occurred to me as I read
another Catholic columnist who was basing
some of his own misapprehensions about the
Catholic Charismatic Renewal on a number of
recent statements issued by Pope Paul.
Personally, I think it’s wise for everyone,
especially those in authority, to avoid
exaggerated response to a movement which
flourished as rapidly as this one has, a
movement which has a history of only about
seven years among Catholics.
On the whole, I think the position of the
American bishops has been wise. As a group,
they have acknowledged the impressive
influence of pentecostalism on many lives; they
have offered cautious encouragement, without
embracing the movement with open arms.
At the same time, they recognized that there
are some aspects of the phenomenon which give
reason for concern and indicated that these
should be watched.
Right now I think the bishops could take a
more active and visible role in providing
leadership, guidance and the theological
resources needed to help the movement develop
in a balanced, authentic direction. The
participants are pleading for just such
leadershio.
But what about those statements of Pope
Paul which are disturbing that columnist . . .and
others? Does the Pope see problems which have
not been recognized by the American bishops?
These statements disturbed me, too, when I
read them; or, rather, they confused me. I
couldn’t figure out just what he was talking
about. There was no doubt that he used the
term “charismatic” to identify an element of
Catholic life which poses problems and dangers.
And the people in this movement certainly .
identify themselves as members of the Catholic
CHARISMATIC Renewal.
But the Holy Father just didn’t seem to be
talking about this particular development. He
kept warning about people who would enshrine
the charismatic element of the Church at the
expense of the institutional or structural
element. Such a dichotomy just isn’t
characteristic of the movement as we know it in
this country.
I came away from the several readings of
these documents with a hunch (I’m not about
to set myself up as an expert interpreter of the
thoughts of Pope Paul) that he was talking
about a discussion which peaked and passed in
this country three to five years ago.
At that time we were subjected to a lot of
speeches and publications which lamented the
ineffectiveness and bureaucratic timidity of the
official Catholic leadership . . .and the
smothering effect of institutions and structures
on the life of the Church.
These elements were contrasted with
“charismatic” Christians who broke free of
these bonds and followed what they perceived
as the inspiration of the Spirit.
Many of these people were into efforts at
social protest, demonstrations for peace and
justice, experimentation with new life styles
and experiments in communal living.
A '.ot of wild things were said, a lot of nutty
things were done by people claiming to be
charismatic in that sense. A fair number of the
people involved drifted away from the
priesthood, the religious life and from all
contact with the formal life of the Church.
The recent Papal warnings, applied to those
excesses, are very easy to understand. But that
phenomenon is something completely distinct
and separate from the Catholic Charismatic
Renewal Movement. All they have in common
is the term.
My only point is that it should be possible
for someone-perhaps the new Apostolic
Delegate-to find out just what the Pope is
talking about. That clarification could spare us
the absurdity of another biuising internal
battle -dver something which is a non-issue.
LOVE IS ABOVE ALL ELSE - That
theme is illustrated for readings of Nov.
4; First -- Moses enjoins the Israelites to
fear the Lord and keep his
commandments; but, most of all, to
love their God with their whole heart,
their whole soul, their whole strength
(Deut. 6/2-6). Second - Unlike the
priests of the old order, who served and
died, Christ will be our priest forever,
showing His perfect love for us forever,
making intercession to God for us
forever (Heb. 7/23-28). Gospel -- Jesus
teaches that the foremost
commandment is the commandment to
love, first our God, then our neighbor
as ourselves (Mark 12/28-34). (NC
Sketch courtesy J.S. Paluch Custom
Bulletin Service)
Pearls Before Swine?
Mary Carson
I enjoy cooking, especially trying new
recipes. My problem is that I have children who
would eat hamburgers or frankfurters at every
meal if I let them, and who regard anything
new with suspicion.
If one of my kids hollers: “Mom’s making
hot dogs and beans for supper!” the kitchen
fills with hungry children immediately.
But when I have created some tantalizing,
exotic dish for dinner, I hear comments like:
“I’ll finish my homework first and eat later.”
Or, “I think I’ll take my girl friend out for
pizza tonight.”
It’s deflating to my ego.
Last night was a perfect example. I made a
steak and kidney pie. Admittedly, with food
prices what they are, it was mostly kidney. The
bit of steak was just to improve the name.
My husband thought it was delicious. I
thought it was delicious. The kids
thought . . .things like, “Yuccch!”
When I told them it was “Cornish Steak Pie”
one commented, “You used good steak to
make THIS?”
There’s a way of getting more mileage from a
ham than the pig did who was originally
walking on it.
My supermarket had a special on hams, so I
bought a whole one. I had the butcher cut the
center slices. This gave me the ham steaks to
broil, two halves to freeze, and the bones for
soup.
When it was time to use one of the halves, I
cut the excess fat from it and rendered it, giving
me a supply of ham fat for frying as well as the
little fried out bits.
That night we had baked ham. No problems.
The next night I took the drippings from the
baked ham, the bits of fried out fat and made
home baked beans.
It was a raw day, and the beans and molasses
cooking smelled good. I got carried away and
made “Steamed Boston Brown Bread” to go
with them and the left over sliced ham. All it
needed was a good salad.
A recipe for “Frozen Cranberry and
Pineapple Salad” sounded just right.
It made a delicious, attractive, well-balanced,
nutritious meal . . .
They didn’t like it.
“Mom, why don’t you make the canned
baked beans instead of this kind?”
“Why didn’t you just make cranberry sauce
out of the cranberries?”
“Why couldn’t we just have had ham
sandwiches . . .on regular bread?”
The classic in carefully couched comments
came from one son who tried to be diplomatic.
He sampled the meal, then asked, “Did it take
you very long to make this?”
Their tastes puzzle me. The same kids who
don’t like my exotic dishes enjoy raw clams,
fried eels, and pickled mussels. They’ll turn up
their noses at my split pea soup, but relish
Camembert cheese and pumpernickel bread.
The quick answer might be that it’s my
cooking. But, God in His goodness, gave my
kids a mixture of tastes. While most of them
like simple, standard food, one has an appetite
like a sump pump.
I’ll concot a supper out of a bit of left over
chicken, broth cooked from the bones, and
steamed rice, and my favorite appetite will say,
“Mom, this is great. I love left-overs. Can I have
more?
Meanwhile, the rest of them are trying to
lose it by pushing it around the edge of their
plates.
Some day I’m going to write a cookbook
titled: DO I HAVE TO EAT IT? . . .subtitled,
YES.
Let’s End
Religious
Illiteracy
Joe Brieg
Nothing could be more authentically
American than the appeal of the U.S. Catholic
bishops for an amendment to the U.S.
Constitution permitting religious instruction
and prayer in public institutions, including
public schools.
Conversely, nothing is more un-American
and anti-American than the secularism-the
bland ignoring of God and religion--which has
spread through the nation in this century.
We will do well to remember those truths as
we listed to the howls to be expected from
people who have perverted church-state
separation into an anti-religious battle cry.
America’s roots are profoundly religious:
“We hold these truths . . .that all men are
created equal and are endowed by their
Creator” ...
Religious, too, are the roots of education in
America. All the early schools were founded
and maintained by religious bodies. And the
Northwest Ordinance-which, with the
Constitution, is the basis of the nation’s
constitutional law-sees the purposes of
education as threefold: religion, morality and
knowledge, in that order.
The Ordinance was adopted for the
Northwest Territory in 1789, and in the same
year was approved by the first U.S. Congress in
its first official act.
Article III of the Ordinance reads: “Religion,
Morality, and Knowledge, being necessary to
good government and the happiness of
mankind, schools and the means of education
shall forever be encouraged.”
Every American youngster should be given
the educational opportunity to become
religiously informed and literate. Nobody is
more pitifully miseducated than one who has
learned the secular subjects but been left in
ignorance on religion and morality.
Need I say that I do not mean-nor do the
bishops mean-that instruction in religion, or
prayer, should be forced on anyone. What is
proposed, rather, is that secularism not be
pressed upon young people through the public
school system or other public institutions,
which is what happens when schools teach as
if there were no such thing as a body of
knowledge about religion and morals and
ethics.
It is preposterous, and it is profoundly
dangerous for America’s future, to twist the
Constitution’s ban on a govemement
establishment of religion into a charter of
ignorance about the meanings and purposes of
life. Public schooling should include an
opportunity for every youngster to attend
classes taught by teachers of his denomination,
if he and his parents so elect! And although
prayer should not be imposed on any pupil by
any teacher or other school official, neither
should prayer be exiled from buildings erected
with the taxes of a religious people.
Americans of all denominations, it seems to
me, can unite upon the simple proposition that
nothing in the U.S. Constitution, as adopted by
the Founding Fathers, was meant to permit or
promote the use of the people’s taxes to
undermine the religious foundations of this
nation and its families.
Finding
New Life
Rev. Joseph Dean
“To the thirsty I will give water without
price from the fountain of the water of life”
This promise is for you, for you who want
something more, For you who knew that you
have a thirst that has not yet been satisfied,
For you who have heard of a water that
refreshes beyond compare, For you who feel
burdened, who feel that you have reached the
depths and want to rise,
For you who are on top of the world, but
who know that all the world does not have
enough, For you who are full of fears and
anxieties, for you who feel hardened and
closed,
OUR PARISH
“Why should anyone
want to bug the lectern?”
For you who are full of eagerness and
enthusiasm, for you who want all a human
being can have, For all men, there is a promise,
a promise made by your God, by the one who
made you.
Perhaps you knew him and have wondered if
there should not be more. Perhaps you have
only dimly heard of him and wish you could
find him. Now he speaks to you. Now he offers
you a promise, a free gift, a new life - without
price. He offers it to you, freely, just as he
created you freely, because he loves you.
“Let him who is thirsty come; let him who
desires take the water of life without price.”
(Rev. 22:17)
These lines are taken from a booklet entitled,
“Finding New Life”, published at Notre Dame,
Indiana, P.O. Box 12.
This booklet reminds us that God can speak
to us when we are alone but this cannot happen
unless we spend time with Him in prayer.