Newspaper Page Text
Bishop s Office
Diocese of Savannah
P. O. Box 8789
Savannah, Geobgia
01402
Fourth Of July 1976
July 1,1976
My dear friends in Christ,
Our celebrations this Sunday, the Fourth of July, take on a special meaning in
this year of our country’s Bicentennial Anniversary. As we commemorate that
day two hundred years ago when the Declaration of Independence was first
adopted and proclaimed, we recall not only that a new nation was born, but one
that recognized that all human beings are created equal by God.
During that span of two centuries, men and women have come in the
hundreds of thousands because they had heard the whisper of a land beyond the
sea where rich and poor stood equal in the light of freedom’s sky. When they
came, not all things were as bright as they might have expected. Yet, in spite of
human frailty and sinfulness on the part of some, these newcomers knew they
were in a land where before the law all human beings were equal and all would
have a better opportunity to develop their capacities and realize their dreams of
life, liberty and happiness.
As we rejoice with gratitude on this historic occasion, we also recognize the
grave responsibilities that are ours, if we are to preserve the traditions and
institutions that guarantee our freedoms, if we are to perfect them so that these
same freedoms can be enjoyed by all. As Catholics, we might be tempted to
boast of our record as good citizens; we cannot, however, allow ourselves to
become self-satisfied. The very perfection we seek as followers of Christ also
calls us to become concerned and involved in promoting and realizing the
well-being of all the citizens of our local and national community. The message
of love and peace which Christ proclaims to us not only reminds us that service
is our greatest privilege but that in our free society responsible participation is
our greatest right.
The Holy Father, Pope Paul VI, in his recent message to the Bishops of the
United States, exhorts us in these words: “At every turn, your Bicentennial
speaks to you of moral principles, religious convictions, inalienable rights given
by the Creator. If all Catholics and people of good will were united in those
sound moral principles formulated by your Founding Fathers and enshrined
forever in your history, what a beacon of light America would be for the world.”
That our nation may be such a beacon should be the object of our prayers and
hopes on this Fourth of July, 1976.
Devotedly yours in Christ,
The Southern Cross
DIOCESE OF SAVANNAH NEWSPAPER
Vol. 57 No. 25
Thursday, July 1,1976
Single Copy Price — 15 Cents
“Hunger For God” One Focus
Of Macon Eucharistic Event
BY JERRY CANTWELL
The Pilgrimage for Renewal in the
Eucharist declared by Bishop Raymond
Lessard as one of the Savannah
Diocese’s observances of the 41st
International Eucharistic Congress will
in part emphasize man’s hunger for
God.
“Hunger for God” has been identified
as one of the eight basic hungers of man
and is incorporated into the Eucharistic
Congress’ overall theme of THE
EUCHARIST AND THE HUNGERS OF
THE HUMAN FAMILY. It is also one
of the three themes upon which the
diocesan celebration at Holy Spirit
parish in Macon on July 31st will focus.
The other two to be emphasized at the
Macon event are “Hunger for Bread”
and “Hunger for the Spirit.”
The theme of man’s hunger for God,
of God’s revelation of himself to his
Clark To Be Ordained
Rev. Mr. Douglas Clark
On Saturday, July 3rd. Bishop
Raymond Lessard will ordain Douglas
Clark to the priesthood. The ceremony
will take place in the Cathedral of St.
John the Baptist, Savannah at 10:00
A.M. He will celebrate his first Mass in
Blessed Sacrament Church, Savannah on
July 4th. at 12:30 P.M.
Rev. Mr. Clark, a native of Ohio,
graduated from William and Mary
College in Virginia. He has studied
theology at the North American College
in Rome for the past four years. He also
worked in the diocese as a seminarian in
Savannah and the Albany deanery. Last
summer he worked as a deacon in
Cambridge, England.
The people of the Savannah deanery
are invited to attend this ceremony of
ordination. This marks the first time
that an ordination ceremony will be
performed in the Cathedral since Father
LuCree and Father Fitzpatrick were
ordained.
Clergy Assignments
Bishop Raymond W. Lessard announced the following assignments last
week.
EFFECTIVE JULY 1,1976
FR. TADG (TIMOTHY) O’MAHONY, from pastor of St. Anne’s,
Columbus, to pastor of St. John the Evangelist, Valdosta.
FR. JOHN O’BRIEN, from associate pastor of St. Teresa’s, Albany, to
associate pastor of St. John the Evangelist, Valdosta.
FR. RICHARD MINCH, from associate pastor of Sacred Heart, Warner
Robins, to associate pastor of St. Teresa’s, Albany.
EFFECTIVE JULY 14,1976
FR. LAWRENCE LUCREE, from rector of Cathedral of St. John the
Baptist, Savannah, to pastor of St. Matthew’s, Statesboro.
MSGR. FELIX DONNELLY, from pastor of St. Teresa’s Augusta, to rector
of Cathedral of St. John the Baptist, Savannah.
FR. WALTER DIFRANCESCO, from pastor of Sacred Heart, Warner
Robins, to pastor of St. Teresa’s, Augusta.
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MSGR. MARVIN LEFROIS, from pastor of St. Mary’s-on-the-Hill,
Augusta, to pastor of Sacred Heart, Warner Robins.
FR. STEPHEN MCINTOSH, a priest of the Archdiocese of New Orleans
assigned as associate pastor of Sacred Heart, Warner Robins.
EFFECTIVE IMMEDIATELY
REV. MR. WAYLAND BROWN, assigned to diaconate ministry at St.
James, Savannah.
MSGR. MARVIN LEFROIS, Diocesan Director of the Permanent
Diaconate.
people, and of their response to him will
be evident throughout the six-hour
celebration. The opening ceremonies
and procession of the Blessed Sacrament
to its repose in a sylvan grotto will be
immediately followed by a holy hour in
which God and his people will dialogue
through an exchange of scriptures,
psalms, and songs.
At the end of each hour thereafter,
his people as individuals will be invited
to seek him out in silent meditation in
the grotto. Moreover, one of the
intervening hours will feature a formal
program structured around the very
theme “Hunger for God.” Presented by
Fr. Robert Teoli, this program will
emphasize man’s search for God as
manifested in his search for genuine
community both within and beyond the
immediate family.
This seeking of God in community
has been reflected in the poetry of both
the secular and the sacred prophet.
Donne, for example, wrote that “to be
no part of anybody is to be nothing,”
and Teilhard envisioned man’s ultimate
salvation being reached in a final
coalescence of all men with themselves
and with God. Therefore, an activity
focusing on man’s search for God can
do no less than emphasize the same
medium.
THE BREAD OF LIFE -- Msgr. John Foley in his
article on the themes of next month’s International
Eucharistic Congress tells us “As Christians receive the
Holy Eucharist, the Bread of Life, their relationship
with Jesus is intensified, their identity with Him is
confirmed.” Youth is pictured receiving Eucharist
from Savannah’s Bishop Raymond W. Lessard at June
17 Augusta Deanery Eucharistic Celebration. The
liturgy was one in a series of deanery celebrations in
preparation for the 41st International Eucharistic
Congress to be held in Philadelphia, August 1-8. (Photo
by George Champion)
The Hungers Of The Human Family
(The following is part of a series on the
themes of the 41st International Eucharistic
Congress to be held in Philadelphia next
month.)
BY MSGR. JOHN FOLEY
THE EUCHARIST
AND THE HUNGER FOR BREAD
“I was hungry and you gave me to
eat.”
This was the way Jesus assured His
followers that personal care for the
starving is the same as a personal service
done for Him. Further, He warned that
those who did not care for the hungry
would be invited to depart into
“everlasting fire”; but He reassured His
listeners that the compassionate would
be invited to enter “the kingdom
prepared from the foundation of the
world.”
Why is feeding the hungry the same
as feeding Christ Himself?
First, of course, every human being is
the brother or sister of every other
human being -- because all have the
same Father, God. All are members of
the same human family. To give food to
a hungry person is to share a meal with
a member of the family; to refuse to
give food to a hungry person is to turn
one’s back on a brother or sister.
Because Christ is true man as well as
true God, He is the brother of all -- and
to turn one’s back on a starving brother
or sister is equivalent to turning one’s
back on Jesus Himself, just a* it is Christ
our brother who is fed in the person of
every starving brother or sister in the
human family.
Second, all followers of Christ have
the same life - a created share in the
very inner life of God Himself, a special
life called grace, because it is a
gratuitous gift from God over and above
the marvelous gifts of nature. Because
all who believe in Jesus and live in His
love truly live by the divine life of Jesus
Himself, then it is Jesus who is fed in
the person of His follower who is
hungry and poor.
As Christians receive the Holy
Christ just as surely as we do when we
receive Him in Holy Communion.
To refuse to feed the hungry would
be not only an injustice to members of
the family; it would be not only a
refusal to serve Jesus in the person of
others; it would be, in fact, to starve
ourselves spiritually, just as surely as if
we never accepted Jesus’ invitation to
receive His Body and Blood in the
Eucharist.
The “everlasting fire” promised by
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41st
International
Eucharistic
Congress
Eucharist, the Bread of Life, their
relationship with Jesus is intensified,
their identity with Him is confirmed. As
Christians become truly one with Jesus
in the Eucharist, they also intensify
their unity with all their brothers and
sisters in Christ to such an extent that
denial of charity to a brother or sister in
need is equivalent to denying
nourishment to a part of one’s own
body. Thus, in feeding the hungry, we
are not only ministering to the needs of
brothers and sisters; we are not only
serving the person of Christ in others;
we are, in fact, nourishing ourselves in
Jesus to those who refuse food to the
hungry burns not only in eternity but
also in time, as selfish aspirations turn
to frustrations, as possessions turn to
ashes and as glutted bodies are scourged
with the pain of starving souls.
To receive Jesus in the Eucharist and
to live Jesus in the Eucharist is to be
united with Him and with all humanity
in justice, peace and love; to refuse food
to the hungry, however, is fo experience
the opposite of unity -- alienation:
alienation from other members of the
human family Whose needs we ignore;
alienation fr< Jesus whom we refuse
to serve in others; and alienation from
ourselves, who suffer the paradox of
spiritual starvation in refusing to share
the bounty with which God has blessed
us.
THE EUCHARIST AND THE HUNGER
FOR FREEDOM AND JUSTICE
“If any man eat this bread, he will
live forever.”
The words of Jesus in promising the
Eucharist are both provocative and
paradoxical, for how can bread nourish
for a life that will never end and how
can such a life bring a happiness that is
complete?
First, we know from experience that
starving people are not truly free. Their
bodies are not free, because they are too
weak to do anything. Their minds are
not free, not only because they are
preoccupied with the one thought of
physical survival, but also because their
brains suffer the effects of malnutrition.
We also know from experience that
oppressed people are not truly free.
They are inhibited -- or prohibited -
from traveling, from speaking even from
praying. They are hindered from
developing.
Thus, there exists throughout the
human family a hunger not only for
daily bread to fend off starvation, but
also for the realization of fundamental
dignity which provides psychic security.
If human beings are deprived of food,
they are destroyed physically; if human
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