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PAGE 4 I -The Southern Cross, June 5,1975
The Southern Cross
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Devoted Service
Last Sunday Pope Paul VI celebrated
the 55th anniversary of his ordination to
the priesthood. Any priest would be
thankful for having been given so many
years to minister to Christ and his
Church. Any priest would be fortunate
to be active in his ministry after so many
years. Any priest would rejoice at having
lived through such a wonderful time in
the history of the Church and of the
world.
But our Holy Father can also rejoice
that he has been given the strength and
wisdom of leadership when it was most
needed.
Pope Paul VI has had to carry the
responsibilities of his office in a time
To Cure
Modern life certainly can be
traumatic. One of the most frequent
complaints is that life is being
dehumanized by machines. But you
haven’t seen anything until you have
been in a hospital.
If ever technology has been a threat to
the human person, it is in the hospital
room. A patient’s body is connected by
tubes and wires to a collection of “life
support” systems. The physical benefits
are obvious; but, unfortunately, the
person is easily lost in the confusion.
The Catholic Hospital Association
(CHA) is holding its national assembly
this week in San Francisco. In the
keynote address former U.S. Surgeon
General Dr. Luther L. Terry spoke on
the unique challenges to those who
marked by the greatest of tension,
bitterness and misunderstanding. Many
men would be satisfied just to hold on;
just to keep things together during the
storm. But Pope Paul has done much
more than the minimum. Even in the
very center of contemporary confusion
he has provided constant positive
leadership. He has never side-stepped an
issue nor has he weakened under
pressure.
Any priest would thank God for the
opportunity to serve so well. But in the
case of this priest who is our Pontiff, we
should all thank God for such a fine
example of what He can accomplish
through men who would seek to do His
will..
and Care
practice the healing art.
“The need to deliver modern, quality
health care and at the same time to
preserve the dignity of the sick person is
probably the greatest challenge facing
our hospitals today,” he stated.
We bring all this up in order to echo
the praise which Dr. Terry had for the
Catholic hospitals of this country. “They
have been recognized,” he said, “not
only for providing quality health care
but also for the humanitarian concern
they have shown for the patient while he
is receiving care.” The motto of the CHA
is “The Charity of Christ Urges Us On.”
“If this motto is observed,” he added,
“we will show that we care as well as
cure.”
‘Called by Name’
By Sister Patricia Blaney, OLM
Religious Women:
Role of Community Life
In the early days of the Church, what
impressed the pagan world in which the Gospel
was first proclaimed was not the metaphysics,
theological articulation, liturgical
sophistication, and certainly not the splendor,
pomp and power of those strange new people
who called themselves Christians. Rather it was
just the fact that in these scandalous, strange
Christian communities people really loved one
another. That is, these people came together to
form vital, supportive, primary groups which
fostered life and love, faith and ministry. Based
on the post-Pentecostal development of these
early Christian communities, religious women
in today’s Church continue to witness this same
ideal: a community of life and love, a
community of faith and ministry. The neglect
of one of these areas is hazardous, if not
destructive, to the total fulfillment of
communal religious life.
Religious community life today, contrary to
the traditions of the past, is not uniformity,
conformity, or a rigid adherence to rules or to
structure. It cannot be forced or mandated.
Religious community is primarily a group of
people coming together in openness and loving
acceptance, in welcoming support of one
another and with reverence for the distinct and
awesome gift of vocation present within each
person. Community dispels loneliness and
isolation. It is the affirmation of life with
others and for others. It is based upon a group
of people who are willing to communicate,
people who can rejoice in the memories of the
past, reflect upon the recent developments of
the present, and create a hopeful vision for the
future. Community is only possible if people
have a deep love and loyalty for each other and
for what they desire the community to become.
The members of a religious community are
bound together by the possession of vitally
significant values, by the attainment of
worthwhile goals, by the expression of mutual
esteem and loving respect, and by the
acceptance of the co-responsible direction of
their lives. Community is dynamic, creative,
diverse, and pluralistic. It takes place where one
can freely be at home and yet be challenged to
become her best self. It fosters the growth of
naturally emergent leadership and requires
maximum active participation and
accountability from each member. It is the
common sharing of ideals and purpose, rather
than work and structure, which gives vitality to
the community. The unconditional profession
of, vows to community is a worthwhile,
rewarding commitment and a basic foundation
of a shared hope for the future.
Community life mast also be assimilated as a
profound theological truth. Throughout
salvation history God has called us to become a
community of His chosen people. In the New
Testament Jesus has called us to unity in the
Father, “that they may be one.” Our belief in
the Trinitarian God is the best example of
community. Perfect community in the Trinity
is a dynamic movement that is constantly
creative and continually a manifestation of
relatedness and love in union with others. The
mission of Jesus, who was sent by the Father,
was to call disciples to foLlow Him and to form
a living community under the inspirations of
the Spirit. Religious life has no meaning today
without this same call to community in union
with the Trinity. Religious publicly manifest
that Jesus is Lord and the center of their lives.
Only Jesus makes community possible. It is the
essence of religious life to achieve this
perfection of Christian community, that is, to
form a communion of love as a response to the
call of Christ. Community is prompted by the
interior gift of the Spirit which urges us to
unity and peace in the common possession of
Divine Life.
True Christian community encourages an
individual to develop her talents and abilities
for the sake of the Kingdom of God as well as
for the sake of her community. Perhaps the
greatest good religious can do for our alienated
society today is to witness to the fact that true
community is possib’e and that God has called
us to union in Him. It is God’s love that casts
out fear, brings healing, and fosters
reconciliation among people. Community
women need to be present to and to care for
the conditions of human weakness in society as
committed disciples of Christ, as special signs of
His Love to the lonely, rejected, and wounded
individuals with whom we live. Just as in the
days of the first Pentecost, when the early
Christian communities were recognized by the
unusually profound presence of Love in their
midst, religious communities today give witness
to our society of that same presence of the
risen Christ through their commitment to life
and love, faith and ministry.
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Getting Teen-Agers
To Mass
I feel guilty when I get letters from parents
who are distressed because their teen-age
children do not go to Mass every Sunday. They
write and ask me how I get mine to go. They
just presume mine always do.
From the time they were toddlers, I have
taken my children to Mass. More by example
than by preaching, I have tried to teach them
that Mass is worthwhile.
But in the middle to late teen years, the
questioning starts. “Why go?” “If I’m not
getting anything out of it, what good is it
doing?” Their only reason for going to Mass
was to please me.
That was enough reason at the time, and I
prayed that an understanding, or faith, or
devotion would take ever before that reason
wore out.
It didn’t.
So I have the same problems most parents
have; my teen-agers don’t always go to Mass on
Sunday.
What am I doing about it? For one thing,
praying a lot.
Another thing I do is to take every
opportunity I get to talk to the kids, and tell
them why I go to Mass. I derive spiritual,
emotional, and communal benefit from it.
Surely I can be close to God at other times,
whether I’m in Church or not. But I personally
find Communion a very positive sign of my
union with Christ.
There is a parallel between Mass and family
unity. My son at college can write, or call on
the phone, and the communication is good. But
I find greater joy in his coming home and
sharing a meal with us. It’s an acknowledgment
of the bonds we share.
So I go to Mass out of love, acknowledging
the bond I share with Christ and the
community.
Mary Carson
Some parents take a different approach.
They tell their children to go to Mass because
they’ll go to hell if they don’t. To some degree
that may work for them. But I think that few
teen-agers today are moved to Mass by fear. I
know mine wouldn’t be.
A family, gathered together only because
they dread the consequences if they don’t,
would not have a very harmonious, warm,
communicative meeting. So I don’t talk to my
children of damnation if they don’t go to Mass.
If I believe that Mass is a sign of love, then
demanding would destroy that. Nothing is as
destructive as trying to cram love down
another’s throat. If I want them to learn to love
Mass, I can not force them.
I ask them to go, out of love. Under these
terms, they go .. . the girls frequently, the boys
occasionally.
Teen years are a time when there often is
difficulty handling love, particularly love of
parents. To do something simply for his
mother’s sake, seems more a sign of weakness,
an inability to stand on his own two feet, than
a sign of love.
A child’s love of his parents goes through
tremendous changes, the most drastic during
teen years. Frequently, the only way a
teen-ager can feel he is maturing is to totally
break from his parents.
The difficult part is that to parents it looks
like rejection.
Some children make the change from
dependent love, to no love, before they achieve
a mature love. It’s sometimes erratic - showing
a maturing love at times, and complete
disregard at others.
But if I can keep all this in mind, then as
their love of me, and their love of God matures,
they will return to Mass with far deeper
devotion than if I force them now.
I believe it will happen. They are good kids.
What One Person Can Do
Rev. Richard Armstrong
ALICE JOHNSON, A FRIEND TO STUDENTS
Until recenlty, Alice Johnson was “just the
school custodian” of Davy Crockett Junior
High School in Channelview, Texas. For 18
years, the 63-year-old woman has swept the
halls and kept the schoolrooms tidy. Now
school officials have decided to name the
town’s new junior high school after her.
“I couldn’t say anything,” Mrs. Johnson
recounts. “I just stood there and looked at
them.
Imagine naming a school after a broom
pusher. I thought they would name it after
someone important, someone more deserving.”
But both school board members and students
thought there was no one more deserving, than
Alice Johnson.
“Mrs. Johnson is a lady who has given
personal attention to the kids and taken pride
in our junior high school,” said the board’s
vice-president. “She helps handicapped children
get through the halls. She’s an unsung hero who
makes things click.”
The students agree. “If you’ve ever got a
problem you can talk it out with her,” said a
seventh grader. “And she makes us pick up
trash and clean up our lockers.”
Soon, Alice Johnson will have a $3.5 million
school bearirg her name. It will be
Channelview’s expression of gratitude to a
“broom pusher” who became a custodian not
only of floors and halls, but of children’s lives.
No life work is really insignificant. It can be
a channel through which a God-given love for
others can flow.
For a free copy of “What One Person Can
Do,” send a stamped, self-addressed envelope to
The Christophers, 12 E. 48th St., New York,
N.Y. 10017.
Enthusiasm
And
Authority
John Reedy, C.S.C.
Two weeks ago I summarized those principal
criticisms of the Catholic Charismatic Renewal
Movement which were formulated by one of its
founders, Dr. William Storey. Many
circumstances surrounding this interview were
fortuitous. (If I were a member of the
movement, I suppose I would see them as
inspired.)
As I mentioned before, the criticism was
something I stumbled across in an effort to do a
different kind of interview. Doctor Storey did
not seek me out to go public with his
judgments. He later told me that he assumed I
had heard something of the criticism he had
sent to Church authorities; he was as surprised
by my unaware approach to the interview as I
was to his criticism.
Nor was there any deliberate attempt to
break the report the same week in which we
had long accounts from Rome on the reception
of the 10,000 charismatics by Pope Paul.
But I did read the reports from Rome very
carefully. Assuming their accuracy, it seemed
quite clear that the Holy Father was
enthusiastic in his encouragement, even though
he clearly stressed the importance of the
movement’s accountability to Church
authority.
And at just about the same time, we had a
balanced comment on the movement issued by
the Canadian hierarchy. Half of it was devoted
to encouragement, half to cautions about real
or potential dangers.
As I read the Canadian statement, I found
that most of its cautions echoed the major
points of criticism offered by Storey.
And as I read the Holy Father’s emphasis on
accountability to Church authorities, I
recognized that most of the criticisms offered
by Storey would be resolved if the movement
becomes truly open and responsive to Church
authority.
In my own reflection on the conversation,
the richest insight came from my realization of
the importance of structured authority,
institutions, law.
In recent years, we have seen a great
emphasis on the problems arising from
exaggerated, anachronistic use of law and
authority in the Church. Very few people, even
those in authority, would deny that the current
situation of the Church calls for substantial
adaptation of law and tin procedures in which
authority is exercised.
However, assuming the validity of Storey’s
judgments, these problems of the charismatics
are a striking illustration of the experience and
wisdom incorporated in traditions and
structures which often seem to be useless fossils
from ancient Christian times.
Religious enthusiasm, holiness movements,
are nothing new to the Church. They began in
the earliest centuries and recurred throughout
the history of the Church. Some were true
movements of reform. (The reform of
monasticism which began at Cluny comes to
mind.) Many veered off into excesses and
schismatic movements when they refused to
accept the direction of Church authority, which
was, in fact, often ponderous, insensitive, even
unedifying.
Yet, in spite of all the unedifying examples
of authority which could be cited, there has
been a mainstream of wisdom, unity, slow
development and responsiveness which can be
discerned in the history of Catholicism.
Many writers have commented that one of
the most impressive credentials arising from the
history of Catholicism lies in the fact that its
basic commitment and role have survived 2,000
years of very obvious human weakness.
It doesn’t take much imagination to picture
the serious mistakes which could be made by
Chruch authorities in dealing with this
movement.
For me, however, it is even easier to picture
the mistakes which could arise in the movement
if it is not truly accountable to the entire
Church through its established authority.
There is immense energy, dedication,
enthusiasm in the charismatic movement. Even
if it should veer off into error, some of the
individuals might remain truly holy in their
subjective lives and beliefs.
What we must recognize, though, is that such
holiness is not the only element of Church life.
The Catholic Church is a widely diverse
community of the people who profess Jesus as
Lord and accept an organizational bond of
unity manifested in Church authority.
Without true and open accountability to this
authority, good people -- of edifying holiness or
of profound social commitment - can be a
destructive influence in the life of the Catholic
Church.
This is an old truth which needs a modern
appreciation.