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PAGE 4—The Southern Cross, May 20,1976
Responsibilities
The highest decision-making body of
the United Methodist Church has shifted
the official policy of that denomination
on abortion.
Previously the stance had been one of
advocating the decriminalization of
abortion. Now they “support the legal
option of abortion under proper medical
procedures, while noting that
governmental laws and regulations do
not necessarily provide all the guidance
required by the informed Christian
conscience.”
The General Conference of the United
Methodist Church, which is made up
equally of laity and clergy, said: “Our
belief in the sanctity of human life
makes us reluctant to approve abortion.
But we are equally bound to respect the
sacredness of the life and well-being of
the mother, for whom devastating
damage may result from an unacceptable
pregnancy. In continuity with past
Christian teaching, we recognize tragic
conflicts of life with life that may justify
abortion.”
We reject such reasoning on the
grounds that it is never morally right to
perform an evil act in order to produce a
good end.
However ... we must recognize that
the members of the general conference
did all that they could in order to speak
within the framework of Christian
teaching according to their tradition.
This calls for an important distinction
on our part: it is possible - and even
mandatory - to reject a teaching without
necessarily condemning the teacher. In
short, we must continue to love our
brothers and sisters in Christ even if we
don’t share their interpretation of moral
matters.
We have not done enough. We have
not given the good example of total love
and respect for life. We have been lax in
prayer to God for enlightenment. We
have looked for simplistic excuses to
avoid the responsibilities of Christian
life.
\
Because of our irresponsibility, life
has lost its place of honor in the hearts
of men.
Perhaps we will learn to take our
Christianity seriously, or perhaps
meaningful human life will not survive..
Springtime Joys
Rev. Joseph Dean
When you hear a really good joke for a
change, what do you do? Do you file it under
“Jokes” and forget it? No! When you hear a
good joke, you tell it to the first person who
comes along.
When you get some especially good news in a
letter or from a phone call, do you keep it to
yourself? No! You share it with the first person
who will listen to you. When something truly
exciting happens in town, do you yawn and
switch on the television set? No! You let
another person in on it and even join in
together in the excitement. And have you ever
noticed that a comedy is much funnier if you
are watching it with friends and relatives, rather
than just by yourself?
Have you noticed that you enjoy a movie or
a play more if the actors are also enjoying
themselves while putting on the play? Then it is
more fun for everybody involved. Once a
laughing mood gets started, all the jokes seem
even more funny than ever before.
A certain young man seemed so discouraged.
His classmates suggested he go to see the
comedy of the year. They went along with him
to see it again. They were alert enough to know
that if he saw it alone, he might smile
occasionally, but it would be hard to laugh
there, all by himself. Laughter is a peculiar
thing. It has a life of its own. Who doesn’t
know persons who get you laughing helplessly,
simply by laughing themselves? We call it
“infectious” or “contagious” as if it were some
sort of a disease. Perhaps it is; but it’s a very
pleasant one.
In the “Acts of the Apostles” we encounter a
very happy group: The first Christians of the
church are in the springtime of life. This cluster
of apostles and friends cannot get over what has
happened to them. They can’t believe it’s true.
Can God be so good that he has gifted them
with this - a new life, that goes on forever?
Jesus has risen. Here he is among them; he
whom they thought was dead. Well, he was
dead. But death doesn’t seem to have been able
to contain him. Has death lost its staying
power? Can we ever take death seriously
anymore? This is certainly good news.
But resurrection is a serious matter; it’s a life
or death matter; and that’s why Easter is such
powerfully good news. A movie is just fun. It’s
not important, but Easter is, and that’s why it
completely outdistances mere fun.
It is deeper, firmer, greater, and we call it
joy. Jesus is present, as the Risen Christ, and he
galvanizes the fledgling community. These
various broken human beings are carried
beyond themselves into a new unsuspected
reality.
Imagine trying to ask one of these early
Christians if God is a God of love. Who would
even think to ask? Their whole existence speaks
it: their unity, being of one heart and mind,
their gifts of peace, of the Spirit, their healed
brokenness, with no need forgotten, and their
witnessing in power.
They are witnessing to the resurrection. They
do it in words and in deeds. But they witness in
another, more powerful, way - almost despite
themselves. Some immense, exciting, wonderful
occurrence has transformed these people, and
you do not have to talk to them to know it.
Their whole community radiates delight. They
are witnessing delight.
What the disciples really expected, once they
realized that Jesus has risen from the dead was
this: They expected a good bawling out. They
expected Jesus would reproach them, upbraid
them, judge them, blame them, criticize them
for abandoning Him, even dismiss them from
His service.
But Jesus comes as a friend. He says Peace -
Shalom! His acceptance of them, just as they
are, is another reason for their sudden joy. We
have anxieties just like theirs too. We need to
discover, as they did, the living presence of the
Lord, and experience joy and even Christian
delight. Then we won’t seek eternal life so
much. Rather we will begin to experience it,
now, for now is the heart of eternity.
The Southern Cross
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Weird “Theology”
Joseph Breig
“Weird” is the word to which one must
resort to describe some of the notions of some
of the persons nowadays who call themselves
theologians.
It is downright spooky that after nearly
2,000 years of Christian teaching about the
central mystery of the Faith, some of these
people should be questioning the bodily
resurrection of Jesus from the dead.
Yet Pope Paul VI, in an Eastertide address,
found it necessary to reassert, “against an army
of deniers and critics,” the fact that Christ,
after dying on the cross and being laid in a
tomb, rose, in his now glorified body,
triumphant over death.
In explaining why Pope Paul felt moved to
speak on the subject, National Catholic News
Service said that “in recent years some
theologians (have been claiming) that it is only
the personality or the works of Christ - not his
physical body - that rose from the dead.”
Apparently those “theologians’
bother to study the Scriptures.
do not
On Easter morning, Mary Magdalene and
Joanna and Mary the mother of the Apostle
James, with other women followers of Jesus,
found the tomb empty. As they hastened on
their way to tell the other disciples the news,
“Jesus met them, saying, Hail! And they came
up and embraced his feet and worshiped Him.”
Nobody can embrace the feet of a spirit, or
A spirit does not eat food. Neither does “a
personality” nor “the works of Christ,” nor any
such invention of these peculiar “theologians.”
The hardheaded doubts of St. Thomas are, of
course, another irrefutable evidence of the
reality of Christ’s bodily rising from death. Not
until he had probed the wounds in the hands
and feet of Jesus, and placed his hand in the
lance-wounds in Christ’s side, would Thomas
believe.
Perhaps the most touching of Christ’s many
appearances to his disciples after his
resurrection took place when he showed
himself on the lake shore at dawn while Simon
Peter and six other disciples were in their boat
fishing. When they came ashore after netting a
miraculous catch of fishes, they found that
Jesus had lighted a fire and was cooking fish for
their breakfast.
Similarly, he ate with the two disciples
whom he joined as they hiked to Emmaus.
And as Jesus rose, so, at time’s end, will all
who love Him and strive to live up to His
commandments.
Called
By Name
“Geo rgia - Ca ro lin a
Ministry”
Sister Anne O’Connell, R.S.M.
Archdiocese of Atlanta
“Teaching Sister Today”
As a teaching sister, I find myself in an
apostolate that continually offers challenges as
new horizons open. To be involved in the
education of youth is a wonderful experience
that brings one in touch with the beauty of
living in a special way, for it is here that so
much growth takes place. Through Christ we
have great hope for the future as events far
beyond our comprehension can occur every
day.
In thinking about my apostolate as a teacher,
I feel that one of the most important aspects to
consider is to look at this field in relation to
our world of today -- a world rapidly changing
in technological advances. What does all this
mean?
Primarily, I believe that for the first time in
history the material future of humanity is tied
up with the improvement of the interior man.
Wolf-Dieter Marsch has said that “Man is not a
finished product; he participates in the
evolution of the world process in marching
toward the consummation of history.” Man,
who is a fellow-worker with God, is to be
responsibly engaged in working with
technology. Christ came to liberate us from sin
and death into the fullness of our humanity.
This liberation will be completely realized at
the final coming of the kingdom of God, but it
must begin to arrive right now if it is to occur
at all.
The Synod of Bishops in 1971 stated clearly
that liberating education should “awaken a
critical sense, which will lead us to reflect on
the society in which we live and on its values.”
If we can discern truth and become critical
reflectors, we open the avenue for creating new
alternatives that can more fully humanize
people and increase the possibilities for a
peaceful and just world. The goal here is great --
great both in thought and in magnitude.
Secondly, if elementary education is to help
students prepare for life, then they must be
prepared to deal with change. While academic
subjects remain important, they must be
balanced by an understanding of and reflection
on the processes of life in an ever-changing
world. Too often people re-act instead of act. I
find there is need to emphasize the value of
dealing with change, so that youth learn to
pause long enough to ask, “What’s going on
here?” Otherwise there is a risk of giving up
personal freedom as action dominates life. To
live that life to its fullness, reflection on action
must take place.
The school years are such years of growth
and change, and, with any change, there is both
joy and pain. Failure and conflict are an
inevitable part of living, but we can help
students to learn more creative ways of
handling conflicts so that they can venture
toward new understanding and risk moving to
the richer and more complex social experiences.
Through working with students in this
manner, I too have grown for they teach me
much in their own unique ways. In carrying out
this ministry of education and in my
relationships with the students, my own
relationship with Christ is enhanced and
fulfilled.
I believe that the key to much that is being
said today in education goes back in a very
simple way to the root meaning of the word
“educate” - that is, to draw out. As a teacher, I
am called to draw out the gifts and strengths of
the individual student, and then to build on
them. “As a tree bends, so shall it grow.” The
child who experiences love, self-reliance,
acceptance, cooperation, will not become the
adult who lashes out at others because of his
own feelings of inadequacy. In our
cure-oriented world, we are called to add the
Christian dimension of care and meet the child
where he is. Caring can achieve wonderful,
intangible things. We, too, are learning every
day of our lives, and must be open to the
opportunity to be co-creators with God.
This is the age in which the Lord has asked
each of us to live. The challenge of teaching
today offers many opportunities to be
co-creators with God, and my vocation as a
celibate religious gives this challenge an added
dimension. The responsibility is great.
of a mere personality, or of
Christ.’
‘the works of
In John’s Gospel there is emphasis on an odd
detail concerning the resurrection. When Peter
and John entered the tomb, they saw not only
the linen cloths in which Christ’s body had
been laid, but also “the handkerchief which had
been about his head, not lying with the linen
cloths, but folded in a place by itself.”
A disembodied spirit does not reach up,
remove a wrapping from a head, fold it and
place it to one side. Neither does “a
personality” nor “the works of Christ” do any
such thing.
When the risen Jesus appeared to the
disciples in the Upper Room, they thought they
were seeing a ghost. But Jesus swiftly corrected
that notion. He commanded them to examine
the wounds in his hands and feet, and to feel
his muscles and bones, saying to them, “A spirit
does not have flesh and bones, as you see I
have.”
Then, to emphasize even more his bodily
resurrection, Jesus asked for food and ate it
while they watched.
What One Person Can Do
Rev. Richard Armstrong
JONI EARECKSON, ARTIST
When teenager Joni Eareckson broke her
neck, she severed her spinal cord and could no
longer be “outstanding girl athlete of her
graduating class.” But she didn’t quit.
The youngest daughter of a former Olympic
wrestler, Joni is a fighter, too - a different
kind. After the diving accident which left her
paralyzed from the neck down, she was
frustrated and despondent. But during her 18
months of hospitalization, she began to change.
The girl, who had belonged in high school to a
Christian youth group called Young Life,
prayed that God “would show me that He was
real.” Her boyfriend helped. Quoting a passage
from the Bible, he suggested that the accident
itself might have been His answer.
This was hard to swallow. But Joni pondered
the words of St. Paul, “All things fit together in
a pattern for those who love God.”
“I began to develop patience,” she says. “I
stared using the mouth stick recommended by
my occupational therapist.” She found she
could not only write but draw. “My drawings
got better and better. I think they were a visual,
outward expression of what was going on in my
heart.”
Today at 26, Joni operates a greeting card
company called Praise the Lord which
reproduces her own work. She is co-owner of a
religious bookstore with sales running about
$1,000 a month.
Friends flock to the converted 200-year-old
slave cabin outside Baltimore in which the
young artist and businesswoman lives with her
sister, near their parents. She cheerfully accepts
her dependence on people, reflecting that “ ...
people like to feel needed.” Do you need
people? Are you needed?
For a free copy of the Christopher News
Notes, “Ability Is What Counts,” send a
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Christophers, 12 E. 48th St., New York, N.Y.
10017.