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PAGE 2—The Southern Cross, January 15,1976
Lesson
Reports from Eastern European
countries fear the prospect of a
“worker’s Paradose” with no workers.
A recent news dispatch by Helen M.
Szablya details the sad result of nearly a
generation of easy abortion in Bulgaria,
Hungary, Czechoslovakia and Rumania.
Hungary’s dilemma is typical of the
area. This country’s falling birth rate has
led to predictions that by 1980
one-quarter of its population will be
retired, thus putting a great strain on its
workers.
The news dispatch tells us that the
government has reversed its tactics:
“Premiums are now offered for those
having children. Whereas paid maternity
leaves of three months had been the
practice, the government now offers
three years of maternity leave with half
pay and no loss of senority or fringe
benefits.
“Incentives to bear children have also
been inserted into the country’s
mortgage laws. A couple who borrows
from the government to build a house
will be forgiven part of the loan principal
for each child they produce.
“Efforts are also being made to
change social attitudes toward mothers
of more than two children. Two years
ago, in what was a radical move for a
country with free medical care, the
government began charging fees for
abortion - payable in advance.”
January 22 will mark the third
anniversary of the U.S. Supreme Court’s
decision which has made possible the
legalized deaths of millions of unborn
infants who have been killed since then.
It should be a time for sober reflection
of all Americans.
Abortion is a great moral evil. But
aside from the morality of the question,
it is not practical.
Iron Curtain nations have learned this
lesson. Results of their permissive
abortion policies should be warning
enough for this nation.
The Extra Mile
Joseph Breig
The United States must leave no stone
unturned in the search for peace. We must be
willing to walk the extra mile. But this does not
mean that we should become a nation of
pollyannas or ostriches.
We were right, I think, to sign the Helsinki
pact. But we would be fools if we were to
imagine that such documents mean that the
Russian communists have given up their
atheistic god-complex-their determination to
destroy all religion, to wrest the world from its
Creator, and to rule humankind by usurping
God’s place.
The Soviet bosses change tactics according to
circumstances, but to date they have not
changed their ultimate goal and their grand
strategy. They still suffer from the messianic
complex of supposing that they should
dominate the earth and all its people, and that
anyone who stands in their way must sooner or
later be liquidated.
Not long ago, there was smuggled out of the
enslaved world behind the iron curtain an
underground periodical titled “Chronicle of the
Catholic Church in Lithuania.”
For producing and distributing that
publication, Five Lithuanians were sentenced to
prison terms; but their places were taken by
others who are striving to remind the world
what goes on in their country.
The “trials” of the five took the familiar
form of so-called court proceedings in the
Soviet empire. Like most things Soviet, the
trials were a mirror-perversion and mockery of
such proceedings in the Western world.
The “defense attorney” was actually an
agent of the prosecution. Each defendant was
led into the “Supreme Court” room in Vilnius
under escort of half a dozen soldiers, and was
forbidden to look right or left.
One of the prisoners, Petras Plumpa-Pluiras -
“a Lithuanian without citizenship” - told the
Soviet agents sitting in judgment on him;
“Until 1961, I was doubtful of my religion. I
did not attend church, and I had no idea of
God.
“Then (one day) I asked myself, why, if
there is no God, why is so much effort exerted
to fight him - to fight what does not exist.
Since, then, my faith has not let me down.”
The Soviet constitution, in one of the
countless Soviet cynicisms, says that “Citizens
are by law guaranteed freedom of speech and
freedom of the press.” But the Lithuanians
went to prison for no crime other than
producing a publication which told about the
situation of religion in Lithuania, a nation
brutally annexed to the Soviet Union years ago,
in 1939.
At that time, Lithuania was a Catholic nation
of 3,200,000 people. Since then, the Soviets
have sent in hundreds of thousands of Russians
and Mongolians to live there.
The Helsinki pact pledges that force will not
be used to change national boundaries or to
subjugate peoples. The Soviet Union is on
record as a signer. It may do some good. But let
us keep our powder dry.
What One Person Can Do
Rev. Richard Armstrong
ELIZABETH BLACKWELL, DOCTOR
In the early 1840s, a visit to a friend dying of
cancer started Elizabeth Blackwell on a path
that was to change the history of medicine.
“You are fond of study, Elizabeth,” the
woman told her. “You have health, leisure, and
a cultivated intelligence. Why don’t you devote
those qualities to the service of suffering
women? Why don’t you study medicine?”
Elizabeth acted on her friend’s suggestion.
She left, her family in Cincinnati and took
teaching jobs in Kentucky and North Carolina
to earn money for medical school. She applied
to 29 medical colleges before Geneva College in
New York State accepted her. The students
voted to admit her because they considered the
whole question a joke on the school’s
administration. But Elizabeth’s intelligence and
persistence won over her classmates and the
faculty. And on January 23, 1849, she
graduated first in her class.
Dr. Blackwell had to go to Paris to practice
her skills. She was forced to train as a mid-wife.
Back in New York, she overcame a vicious
campaign attacking her morals and medical
skill. “I understand now why this life has never
been lived before,” she said. “It IS hard, with
no support but a high purpose, to live against
every species of social opposition.”
She kept on. She founded a hospital and
medical college for women in New York City,
then repeated the process in London. Dr.
Elizabeth Blackwell, who died in 1910, once
summed up her source of strength this way: “In
the midst of immeasurable woes of society I
can work with unfailing courage and clear
conviction that good is stronger than evil, and
there is a grand moral purpose in creation,
infinitely larger than our tiny intellects can
grasp.”
Such vision is basic to any effort to change
the world for the better.
For a free copy of “Eight Who Made a
Difference,” send a stamped, self-addressed
envelope to The Christophers, 12 E. 48th St.,
New York, N.Y. 10017.
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1976 WEEK OF PRAYER
FOR CHRISTIAN UNITY
JANUARY 18-25
Religious TV Programs Unlikely
To Increase Or Improve
By Peter Genovese
More religious programs are appearing on
television than ever before, but none of the
heads of religious programming at the three
national networks foresee more or better
programs in the future.
There will not be more programs because, as
one executive producer noted, “There’s no use
kidding ourselves. No matter how good we
make these programs, the majority of people
will not watch them.”
They will not be better because, the three
producers agreed, given production costs
existing programs are already and have to be
“nothing short of perfection.”
Religious programming may be classified into
five categories. First are programs offered on
Sunday mornings by network: to affiliated
stations, such as ABC’s “Directions,” NBC’s
religious news specials, or CBS’s “Lamp” and
“Look Up and Live.” About half of the 700
affiliated stations nationwide carry their
respective network’s religious programs.
Next are “devotional” programs produced by
national religious bodies, such as the Lutheran
Church-Missouri Synod’s “This is the Life,” the
Seventh-Day Adventists’ “Faith for Today,”
and such evangelists as Rex Humbard, Billy
Graham and Oral Roberts, all of which are
offered to local stations on a six-month or
yearly basis.
The third category comprises programs
produced by local stations. Some of the bigger
markets - Chicago, Los Angeles and New York
- produce first-rate documentaries and specials.
Smaller stations, however, face the problem of
funding.
“There are many cities where religious
programming may mean no more than a priest
and rabbi having a conversation with each
other,” says Pamela Ilott, CBS director of
religious programming. “I know of one station
in a large city whose idea of religious
programming is a priest saying the Rosary for a
half hour.”
Coverage of religious news events, from
Vatican Council II and the canonization of
Mother Seton to the Eucharistic Congress next
year, form a fourth category of religious
programming.
A little-noticed fifth category is the
treatment of moral themes on prime-time
programs, such as the presence of moral values
in programs like “The Waltons” and “Little
House on the Prairie.”
The three network religious programming
heads emphasized the low ranking of religious
programming on the list of network
broadcasting priorities.
“All the surveys and ratings show just how
low a rating not just religious but all ‘serious’
programming gets from the viewers,” noted
Ilott. “There’s no use kidding ourselves,
because no matter how good we make these
programs, the majority of people will not watch
them.”
But “religious programming is very
important to the networks because they see it is
a responsible thing to do, it is in the
community interest,” said ABC’s Sid Darion.
“They see the necessity of working with
representatives from the major faith groups and
not having to make all the decisions.”
The three networks meet yearly with
Catholic, Protestant and Jewish representatives.
“We give them a chance to tell us their desires,
the areas they would like to see covered, and
then we describe our budgets,” Darion
explained.
All the religious groups screen programs in
advance for theological accuracy but the
networks retain editorial control.
The nature of religious programming is
determined by local stations, with the
differences being mainly in the number of
programs carried. There are also regional
differences. “In the Bible Belt, you’ll see a lot
of time going to the syndicated
fundamentalists,” said Ilott. “Some areas will
drop, under local pressure, our ‘Look Up and
Live’ and ‘Lamp’ programs because they’re too
liberal.”
Although that may be true for many
stations, their reason for not carrying such
critically acclaimed network programs is the
Federal Communications . Commission’s
recommendation, not requirement, that three
to five percent of all broadcast time be devoted
to public affairs programming, which ncludes
station-produced programs on local politics and
community issues. (NC News Service)
Bless Little Things
Rev. James Wi lines
According to the poet, there was once a wife
and mother whose routine was a succession of
little things. There was sweeping to do every
day, beds to be made, meals to be cooked, and
clothes to be mended. There were sleepy heads
to be coaxed to go to bed at night and sleepier
heads to wake in the morning and get off to
school. There were aches and pains to be healed
and hurt feelings to be soothed.
There were minor misdeeds to be punished
and solemn judgments to be rendered over
laughable isuses in dispute. Outside the home,
there was small talk with neighbors and friends
plus the joys and sorrows common to all. And
so on and on.
Now this woman, entangled in little things,
none the less dreamed of doing something big.
She identified herself with the glamorous
figures of movie and television fame, and lost
herself in their fictional adventures. But of
course, it was only a dream. How could she
have what others had, do what others did? With
her petty round of cares, difficulties and
troubles, there was never time. There never
would be time!
Then one day there suddenly was time. Her
chores were easier now. Her responsibilities
were lighter. Her house was uncluttered now.
Her hands were unbusy. At long last she could
do those things she counted great! Did a sense
of blessed release uplift her? NO! For, now
from her heart this one prayer wings, “God give
me back the little things.”
RESOLUTION: Thank God often for the
busyness of the present moment as a reflection
of His all-wise Providence. See the little things
demanded by daily duty, not as distractions to
be escaped, but as acts of love requested by
Christ to be done for Him and his friends.
Transfer good habits of service to other areas as
children grow or aged parents die, such as
baby-sitting for poor mothers, volunteering
help in a nursing home, and similar services.
SCRIPTURE: Jesus said, “He who is faithful
in a very little thing, is faithful also in much”
Lk. 16, 10. “Watch, lest your hearts be
overburdened with self-indulgence and
drunkenness and the cares of this life, and the
last day come on you suddenly as a snare” Lk.
21,34.
PRAYER: Thank you, Lord, for this day’s
blessings, big and small. Forgive us if we don’t
recognize them all. Amen.
Called
By
Name
41 '(,eo rgia - Ca ro l i na
Ministry"
Rev. Thomas Peyton
Assistant Pastor — Savannah Diocese
PRIESTHOOD IN PERSPECTIVE -
NEWLY ORDAINED PRIEST
It’s been almost two years since the
celebrated moment of ordination. And as I
search through these elementary years of
priesthood, I continue to feel that same call to
love and be loved, to serve and be served, to
struggle and be healed.
I have found it to be true, that during these
first two years, I have had to unvest my priestly
robes. I have found myself stepping down off
the cement pavement and getting into the
unpaved streets of the city, and face the
pastoral traffic of every day life. The
gold-framed “priestly portrait” of ordination is
gradually being replaced by a constantly
changing “pastoral mural” of the faces of men
and women to whom I have been sent to serve.
The frame of this mural is the wood of the
Cross, the symbolic structure of the dying and
rising of daily life.
Often times, I have felt the pain of ministry
in being called to be a prophet. As a leader of a
particular Christian community, a priest finds
himself challenging their prejudices and his own
in the name of the Gospel. There are some
priests, who upon accepting the call of being a
prophet, meet their own prophetic fate, a
sometimes painful scorning from his own
people! In humility, the priest can often times
find Calvary a REAL moment in his ministry, a
personal and pastoral dying and rising with
Jesus Christ. Today, perhaps more than in any
other time, the young priest finds the cross in
the midst of his people.
To support his own sharing in the dying and
rising of Christ in his ministry, the young priest
needs to live, practice and grow in a strong
spiritual milieu. I find it essentia5*that I share
time with the Lord, and pray in solitude,
because I feel when a priest can express his
honest relationship to the Lord Jesus, his
personal strengths and weaknesses become the
glory of the Lord!
For me, the Eucharist is the spiritual
moment par excellence! Even if I crowd Jesus
out of my day, I always try to make this
liturgical moment a real sharing celebration for
all who gather in His Name.
But a personal prayer life “in solitude” is
only a personal step into spirituality. I believe
that a priest, especially a young priest, needs
the prayer support of his Bishop, his brother
priests - and his sisters!, and the people to
whom he has been called to serve. I would find
it a “spiritual revolution” if the presbyteriate
joined together (and also with our sisters) in
prayer hours and prayer meetings to form a
spiritual bond of love visible for our people to
see! I do miss the shared prayer of the seminary
when administrators, priests, sisters, students
and friends shared prayer together.
I am aware that this is happening in various
dioceses all over the country, but I would like
to see it become a more visible reality in our
own dioceses. For when priests and sisters
gather together in prayer, it can become a
rejuvenation experience for one; it can be
support for another in a moment of despair;
and for another, a ray of hope in the midst of
frustration. And what a better place for the
plea for priestly and religious vocations to
further the building process of the Kingdom of
God, then when the “laborers” - we priests and
sisters -- gather together in the Father’s Name!
Finally, I find human relations a very strong
and positive influence in my development as a
young priest. Every personal relationship of
each new day is a UNIQUE encounter with
Jesus Christ. Liturgies, Penance Services, Prayer
Meetings are all encounters with the Lord; but
just as important, are the social moments of
relaxation with families, friends -- male and
female, and young married couples. Celibacy is
[not abstinence, it is fulfillment. And it is in
[sharing this community life with these men and
women, that my celibacy comes alive; it makes
me vulnerable, and thus at times painful! But
that’s life; that’s Christ’s life, being vulnerable
for the needs of the people.
All the moments of my youthful priesthood,
the day to day joys and difficulties, which;
after all, are part of my work, find strength in
the dying and rising events of bringing Christ to
birth in myself and the people I live with.
So, when a brother priest asks me: “Tom,
how’s priesthood going?” I respond: “I am
having growing pains which are a bit painful at
times, but I love it!” Ministry like life itself
finds peace in the words of the psalmist: “the
Lord is my rock and my refuge, whom should I
fear.” Praise God!