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Where the Action Is!
BY JANE WILLIAMS PUGEL
It was one of those Sunday mornings any parent would
recognize. We were straining toward the zero hour -- that last
possible minute when we could leave for Mass and still beat the
priest up the aisle.
One lad had just announced that he was going to church
barefooted because “those women” (his sisters) had hidden his
shoes again when they cleaned his room. His shoes, it seemed,
were supposed to be kept on his pillow because then he could
find them “even on dark days.” Shoes located (on their shelf),
we turned our hand to subduing three-year-old Ann who was
refusing to be crammed into a dress.
Shoed and dressed, we finally were ready to take off. My
18-year-old daughter turned to me and sighed, “How do you
suppose* “real life” families handle getting to Mass?”
i
I couldn’t help laughing as I shoved people out the door.
“You better believe it, honey,” I told her, “this is about as real
as you’re going to get!”
And it’s true; family life is real life. Much of this world’s
living takes place in families-families of all types and
descriptions. Each one is unique, a sort of closed circle.
Taken together, the influence of the family is breathtaking.
Everybody springs from some kind of family, making it the very
cornerstone of society. All in all, families are an awesome fact
of “real life.”
Many of us blessed with happy families tend to take things
for granted. We get bogged down in the nitty-gritty of daily
What’s
A Samaritan?
BY STEVE LANDREGAN
When Jesus chose a Samaritan as an example of the one who
was neighbor to the man who fell among thieves on the road to
Jericho (Lk. 10:33f) he struck a responsive chord in his
listeners.
To the Jews of Jesus’ time the Samaritans were the most
detested group of people in the Near East. The reason for the
mutual hatred was religious, not political. Unfortunately there is
no hate like religious hate.
The causes of the alienation dated back to the time of the
exile in Babylonia and before. Samaria, the source of the name
Samaritan, is a hill in that section of Palestine between
Jerusalem and Galilee. According to 1 Kings 16:24 it was owned
by a man named Shemer. When Omri, the sixth king of the
Northern Kingdom of Israel, decided to build a new capital city
he chose this hill, purchased it from Shemer and named it after
the former owner . . .hence Samaria.
The reasons for Omri’s choice are not difficult to discern.
Father John L. McKenzie, in his “Dictionary of the Bible”
describes the site as “agreeable and defensible. It occupies the
top of a hill which is steep on all sides offering a good view of
the Mediterranean and exposure to the sea breezes.”
Omri, and particularly his son, King Ahab, converted the hill
into a truly magnificent royal capital. The Northern Kingdom
was wealthier than its southern neighbor, Judah, both in natural
resources and because of the presence of commercially
profitable caravan routes.
The prophet Amos, who went north to prophecy to the
residents of Israel, had little good to say about Samaria and its
residents. He criticized its citizens for their oppression of the
poor, their religious hypocrisy and their blatant materialism. An
idea of the opulence of this royal city can be gleaned from the
prophet’s tirade against excessive luxury (Amos 4:13-15) in
which he refers to houses of ivory and ebony.
Amos’ prediction of the vengeance of Yahweh for the sins of
Samaria came to pass with the capture of the city by the
Assyrians in 721 B.C. and the deportation of 27,290 inhabitants
(2 Kings 17). The Assyrians not only deported captured
peoples, but also repopulated their lands with deportees from
other areas. This was the pattern followed in Samaria and the
Northern Kingdom.
The new population, probably from eastern Mesopotamia,
brought their own gods with them, but interestingly enough
accepted Yahweh when introduced to the Hebrew religion by
the few surviving Israelites. There were even some efforts by
Judeans to preach Yahweh in Samaria prior to the fall of the
Southern Kingdom in 587 B.C. and the exile of Babylon.
The exiles from the Northern Kingdom never returned but
those of the Southern Kingdom did in 538 B.C. and one of the
first things attempted upon their return to Jerusalem was to
rebuild the Temple that had been destroyed by the Babylonians.
The Samaritans wanted to participate in the project but were
refused. The reason is not clear but it probably was rooted in
the resentment that still persisted over the Northern Kingdom’s
secession from the united Kingdom of David and Solomon.
The establishment by the Northern Kingdom of rival shrines
to Yahweh at Bethel and Dan and a general tendecy among
Judeans to consider their northern brothers as heretics and
deviationists all contributed to the rebuff. The mixed blood
lines of the Samaritans were probably also a factor.
In any event the Samaritans didn’t take the rebuff quietly.
Through various means they harassed the building of the
Temple and succeeded in delaying it several times. But to no
avail.
Finally, sometime before the revolt of Judas Maccabeus the
split became complete and the Samaritans built their own
Temple to Yahweh atop Mount Gerazim. The Samaritan
scriptures include only the first five books of the Old
Testament, the Pentateuch or Torah. None of the prophets are
accepted.
The depth of the feeling that remained in Jesus’ time is
reflected by the attempt to insult Him by calling Him a
Samaritan in John 8:48. In Luke 9:52 a Samaritan village
refuses hospitality to Jesus and His disciples on their way to
Jerusalem from Galilee.
When Jesus chose a Samaritan for the hero of His story on
loving your neighbor His listeners knew instantly what He
meant. . .your neighbor is not just your friend, but your enemy
as well. It is an interesting postscript that Samaria was the
first place outside of Judea where the Gospel was preached.
Philip the deacon fled Jerusalem after the martyrdom of
Stephen (Acts 8:4ff) and preached in Samaria where he won
many converts
survival, the tumult and the shouting - the getting-to-Mass
espisodes, naps, housework, homework, committee meetings.
Sometimes family life seems to be just getting things done, and
it takes some small thing to make us realize that this is real life.
Sometimes the small thing that makes us sit up and take
notice is funny. Like the day a neighbor told me that her son,
an only child, said he liked to visit us because “they are a real
family with lots of kids and a junk drawer.” Success!
Sometimes it is sad. A seventh grade friend told my daughter
wistfully, “You’re lucky to have a mother who gets up cooks
for you, and things.” She was talking about what I consider my
daily ho-hum, yet she didn’t have it, and recognized the
absence ...
Family life is so important it has been dignified by a
sacrament, and by a noteworthy example, too. The son of God
grew up in a family. God could have chosen any situation for
the growing-up of Jesus, yet he chose a family that had to work,
cook, do dishes, earn money, go through year after year of “real
life.” Just like us.
We could do worse than consider the Holy Family when we
slip into the doldrums of family living. True, it won’t change
our circumstances, but it can enhance our view on days when
things get out of focus.
Our families, with all our ups and downs, laughter and tears -
our crisis centers - are the very core of society. Our influence is
limitless. The world around us reflects what we are. Our health
and very survival are worth large amounts of consideration,
work and prayer.
Besides, I like families. Why, some of my best friends belong
to one.
I recently asked two friends-both parents-what they felt had
been the biggest influence on their faith as they were growing
up. Jerri responded immediately, “My family.” Then I asked
about rereligious education classes. She said she did not have
any regular catechism classes as a child, except for a couple of
weeks before first confession and communion in second grade,
and confirmation several years later
Jerri added that she felt strongly that it was at home that
children really learn what is most important in life. They share
with the family such basic experiences as forgiveness, joy, death,
concern for others, sharing, the place of God in life In her
opinion family living involved the child with the very same
themes explored in religious education classes, but in a more
immeidately meaningful manner.
Mary Ann hesitated a bit before answering my question. She
had attended parochial school for all eight grades. “I’d have to
say that what happened at home most influenced my own faith.
My parents had such a respect for other people They responded
BY FATHER JOSEPH M. CHAMPLIN
I became very nervous during the presentation of gifts at our
Saturday night Mass of anticipation on the Fourth Sunday of
Advent last year. Supposedly two college students were to carry
candles to the altar, light them, and then bear these burning
symbols to a triangular Advent “tree” located at the side.
However, unknown to me, there had been a communication
mixup and, instead, the ushers pressed into service children of a
family previously prepared to take part in the “offertory’' 7
procession.
(NC Photo)
“WHEN JESUS CHOSE A Samaritan as an example
of the one who was neighbor to the man who fell
among thieves on the road to Jericho he struck a
responsive chord in his listeners. To the Jews of Jesus’
time the Samaritans were the most detested group of
people in the Near East.” In contemporary Israel, this
Samaritan man wears a distinctive hat, marking him as
an elder in the small remnant of what was a prominent
group.
“OUR FAMILIES, with all our ups and downs,
laughter and tears -- our crisis centers -- are the very
core of society . . .Besides, I like families. Why some of
(NC Photo)
my best friends belong to one.” Jane Pugel and her
family -- including all nine children -- gather on the
lawn for an informal portrait. (NC Photo)
resemble monastic or religious life. It simply means that it is at
home that the Christian faith finds the soil in which it grows
most naturally.
Normally the family, the little Church, exists in relationship
to the broader Church community. The local Church with.its
Sunday worship, its formal religious education programs, and its
involvement in contemporary issues complements family life.
The faith of the young can be greatly influenced by the broader
adult Christian community of which each family is a part.
Therefore, while the quality of family life is normally the
most significant factor in the religious education of the young,
the influence of other contacts with Christians outside the
family circle is also important. Realistically it seems to me that
one of the major thrusts needed in religious education today is
the development of creative and meaningful links between
family and other influences within the Church. The parish
worship and formal religious education programs need to be
more realistically related to the day-to-day living of families.
Priest, teacher, and parents need to discover viable ways of
working together to build up the faith of the whole community.
(NC Photo)
“I LIT THE CANDLE for Kathy, took her by the
hand and led the girl and her brother over to the tree.”
Father Champlin helps Kathleen Verdi, 3, light an
Advent tree in his parish in Fulton, N.Y
f ' ^
(All Articles On This Page Copyrighted 1973 by N.C. News Service)
Know Your Faith
< 4
Family Life and Religious Education
BY FATHER CARL J PFEIFER, S J
Symbols in Worship
generously to neighbors or even strangers in need. My mother
went to daily Mass and it was obvious to all of us that she drew
her strength from that. Acutally my parents never gave us
sermons or religion lessons, but we knew that their lives
centered on their relation with God ”
I found that my own experience as a child confirmed their
impressions. My experience as a religious educator over the past
15 years even more strongly suggests to me that what matters
most in the growth of faith in the young is normally the quality
of family life they experience. Faith normally is nurtured or
stunted primarily at home. It is not so much a matter of parents
teaching their children Catholic doctrines or preaching sermons.
Rather, as Jerri and Mary Ann suggest, what really influences
the faith, moral sense, and spirituality of the young is the way
their parents face day-to-day living.
There is a long tradition in the Church of referring to the
family as the ECCLESIOLA, the little Church. This is not meant
in the sense that the home should be filled with candles and
holy pictures. Still less does it mean that family life should
Eddie Verdi offered no problem. Age 9, fourth grader, new
altar boy -- this lad certainly could handle the candle bit. But his
petite sister, Kathleen, age 3, worried me. I knew she couldn’t
reach the altar and presumed she was afraid of fire.
The mis-match, however, turned into a beautiful experience
for all concerned. I lit the candle for Kathy, took her by the
hand and led the girl and her brother over to the tree. Our
capacity congregation watched silently, intently, no doubt
concerned more about the successful outcome of that
precarious trip than the meaning of the candle ceremony.
We introduced this extremely simple, but powerfully
effective symbolic gesture at the beginning of Advent during the
5:15 Saturday and 8:30, 9:45 and 11.15 Sunday Masses. Grades
1-4 supplied our “candle bearers” on the first Sunday, with each
class taking one service. Grades 5-8 fulfilled a similar function
on the second, high school pupils, the third, and returning
college students, the last.
The boys and girls, young men and women came equally
from the local Catholic and the area public schools - a happy
blending to insure that all facets of the parish’s youth were
represented.
The tree itself was a plain, yet handsome, wooden triangle
with indentations for four candles on each arm and a place for
the Christ candle on top. As the Sundays progressed first two,
then four, next six, finally eight tapers were lighted.
This Advent ceremony culminated on Christmas Eve at the
packed 7 p.m. Mass (isn’t it remarkable how instantly popular
that innovation became?) and during Midnight Mass. At each,
we turned off all church lights before the gospel, had altar boys
hold candles at either side of the lectern, proclaimed the
Nativity good news, while the choir hummed background music,
then waited as a parishioner carried the flickering Christ taper
from the rear up the main aisle to the tree now situated in the
center of the sanctuary.
As soon as the candle had been placed at the tip of our tree,
the choir and congregation sang a resounding “Alleluia, alleluia”
and the church lights were switched back on
This type of sign service contributed in many ways to the
Advent-Christmas celebration at Holy Family. It involved 34
individuals more intimately in the liturgy, a significant enough
plus alone to justify the ceremony. It also stirred the interest of
other worshipers and gave these Masses a fresh, different, but
the same quality. Above all, however, it inched those present
more deeply into the mystery of Christ.
Symbols do that. They reveal, but hide; they draw us closer
to an invisible reality, while c using us to understand that the
face to face fullness is yet to come; they enable us to meet, to
touch Jesus in faith, yet don’t allow us to embrace or hold on to
Him.