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4 r i * PAGE 4—The Southern Cross, December 23, 1976 “News Of Great Joy” Now it came to pass in those days, that a decree went forth from Caesar Augustus that a census of the whole world should be taken. The first census took place while Cyrinus was governor of Syria. And all were going each to his own town, to register. And Joseph also went from Galilee out of the town of Nazareth into Judea to the town of David, which is called Bethlehem -- because he was of the house and family of David -- to register, together With Mary his espoused wife, who was with child. And it came to pass while they were there, that the days for her to be delivered were fulfilled. And she brought forth her first born son, and wrapped him in swaddling clothes, and laid him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the inn. And there were shepherds in the same district living in the fields and keeping watch over their flock by night. And behold, an angel of the Lord stood by them and the glory of God shone round about them and they feared exceedingly. And the angel said to them “Do not be afraid, for behold, I bring you great news of great joy which shall be to all the people: for today in the town of David a Savior has been bom to you, who is Christ the Lord. And this shall be a sign to you: you will find an infant wrapped in swaddling clothes and lying in a manger.” And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying, “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace among men of good will.” And it came to pass, when the angels had departed from them into heaven, that the shepherds were saying to one another, “Let us go over to Bethlehem and see this thing that has come to pass, which the Lord has made known to us.” So they went with haste, and they found Mary and Joseph, and the babe lying in the manger. And when they had seen, they understood what had been told them concerning this child. And all, who heard marvelled at the things told them by the shepherds. But Mary kept in mind all these things, pondering them in her heart. And the shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all that they had heard and seen, even as it was spoken to them. Gospel According to St. Luke Chapter 2 (vs 1-20) Christmas Programs NEW YORK (NC) - The U.S. Catholic Conference (USCC), in cooperation with the three major television networks, will present Christmas specials, including a satellite transmission of Pope Paul Vi’s midnight Mass Dec. 24 from St. Peter’s Basilica. The papal Mass will be broadcast on NBC’s “Christmas-1976” religious special from midnight EST until its conclusion. Franciscan Father Agnellus Andrew, former director of religious programming for the British Broadcasting Corporation and president of UNDA-International, the worldwide The Southern Cross Wishes All Its Readers A Happy And Holy Christmas association of Catholic broadcasters will provide commentary. CBS-TV will visit the Graymoor Friars Dec. 24 from 11:30 to midnight in “Christmas at Graymoor.” The program will focus on the homeless men cared for in St. Christopher’s Inn, and on the residents of New Hope Manor, a rehabilitation center for girls, both on the Graymoor Friars’ grounds in Garrison, N.Y. The program will also feature the 35-member Graymoor Chorale. ABC-TV will broadcast “A Bicentennial Christmas Liturgy” on Christmas from 12:30 p.m. to 1:30 p.m. EST. This program will show the Christmas midnight Mass, taped at the Cathedral of SS. Peter and Paul in Providence, R.I., with music by the Peloquin Chorale and Orchestra. Some of the musical selections will come from the American liturgy which Dr. Alexander Peloquin composed for the bicentennial. Bishop Louis E. Gelineau of Providence will be the principal celebrant and homilist. All programs were produced in cooperation with the USCC office for film and broadcasting. How Are You Thinking? Rev. James Wilmes One of life’s most searching questions comes wrapped in the offhand inquiry, “How are you feeling?” Yet the way we feel physically depends many times on how we are thinking. Consider how a good appetite is ruined by an item of bad news. How a pleasant day is spoiled by an unpleasant experience. Think how anger flushes the face with blood; how fear drains it white. There is nothing organically wrong in these instances; it is the mind that is ill. Nor is there organic change when good news brings a sparkle to the eye. When faith gives energy enough to do the seemingly impossible. Or when love laughs at weariness. Thus it is that the good which the mind perceives, communicates itself to the body just as surely as the evil held in the mind. Health is contagious, flesh and blood mirror the sound mind just as surely as they do the sick mind. So how are you? Not your head or your stomach or your heels, but YOU, the person! Here are some requirements for contented living worked out by Goethe, the famous German poet and philosopher: “Patience enough to work until some good is accomplished. Charity enough to see some good in your neighbor. Faith enough to make real the things of God. Hope enough to remove all anxious fears concerning the future. Strength enough to battle with difficulties and overcome them. Grace enough to confess your sins and forsake them. None of those are beyond the reach of anyone who really means business, who would really change their destiny with their thinking. RESOLUTION: Think positive happy thoughts always, savoring joyful memories while “pulling the shade” on all that is negative, depressing, angry. Control undesirable thinking by first whispering a prayer - “I love you, Jesus; help me, Jesus” - and then getting too busy to think or else crowding out undesirable thoughts with family chatter, phone calls, T.V. programs until delay and time bring healing and composure to evaluate or ignore poor thinking. SCRIPTURE; “Where thy treasure is, there also will thy heart be. If the light that is in thee is darkness, how great is the darkness itself.” Mt. 6, 21, 24. “Which of you by being anxious about it, can add a single cubit to his stature? Do not be anxious but seek first God.” Mt. 6, 25 PRAYER: Dear Jesus, flood my soul with your thoughts and spirit so I may spread your fragrance everywhere. Amen. The Southern Cross DEADLINE: All material for publication must be received by MONDAY NOON for Thursday’s paper. Business Office 225 Abercorn St., Savannah, Ga. 3 1401 Most Rev. Raymond W. Lessard, D.D., President John E. Markwalter, Editor Second Class Postage Paid at Waynesboro, Ga. 30830 Send Change of Address to P.O. Box 10027, Savannah, Ga. 31402 Published weekly except the second and last weeks In June, July and August and the last week in December At 601 E. Sixth St., Waynesboro, Ga. 30830 Subscription Price $3.60 per year by Assessment Parishes Diocese of Savannah Other $6 Per Year Image And Likeness Joseph Breig In the beginning, the Bible tells us, God said, “Let us make mankind in our image and likeness.” And so it was done. Then, in due time, God made himself in our likeness. Without ceasing to be God, he became one of us. Forever, he is one of us. Like you and me, God, in becoming our brother, began his human existence in the womb of his mother. When he was miraculously conceived in a virgin, his human characteristics, like ours, were programmed from that moment by the marvellous DNA chemical code, which in our time has been discovered by the sciences of genetics and microbiology. Thus, like you and me, God was once an embryo in his human nature in Jesus Christ. And he was a fetus. Like us, he developed within his mother. Like us, for whose salvation he came among us, God-in-Christ lived for overshadowing of the Holy Spirit, his heart began its rhythmic beating. His human brain developed. Swiftly, his arms, legs, fingers and toes were formed. He swam in the amniotic fluid, gaining in strength and agility. Protected though he was by the sac and the fluid, Jesus the Savior-God must have felt the impact of outside sounds, and of Mary’s activities. Doubtless she felt his kicking as he exercised his muscles. As God, this little pre-bom infant Jesus (whose name means He-Who-Saves) knew all things, and possessed all power in Heaven and on Earth. As God, he numbered the stars, the planets, the moons, the comets he had created. He held them all in his hand. As God, too, he knew each of us perfectly, each of us from Adam and Eve to the last one of us who will ever come into being. He knew our failings and wickednesses, but loved us nevertheless. And so he entered into our humanity to redeem us from our greeds, lusts, cowardly betrayings of truth and justice. When God took upon himself our human nature, to live and suffer and die with us and for us, he came to Earth as all of us come - as a conception, an embryo, a fetus, an infant. God in Jesus Christ, the pre-born child, travelled for nine months in Mary’s body. He was with her and Joseph, borne within her, on the arduous journey to Bethlehem, humbly obedient to Caesar’s order for a census of humankind. As God, Jesus guided and guarded the three of them across the steep hill and through the deep valleys. But as a human being, he lay helpless within his mother’s womb, dependent even for his human life. As the almighty God, he sent the mysterious star to proclaim his coming to the Magi, and through them to the world. As man, he lay hidden under Mary’s heart, awaiting his birthday - the first Christmas. When Mary’s days were accomplished, God-in-Christ came forth from her. She wrapped him in swaddling clothes and laid him in a manger. And the Magi and the shepherds - and after them countless others to the end of time - came to worship him. They came, and we come, to the Stable and the Crib under the Star of Bethlehem, to worship and thank our God who made himself in our likeness - which is mysteriously his own likeness - for our salvation. And we remember that he said to us that whatever we do to his least brothers and sisters, even to the tiny human being within a mother -- the smallest of his images and likenesses -- we do to him. Every morning at three o’clock, 84-year-old Henry Keuls awakens and begins thinking about what’s wrong with the world. But he never stops there. After he has thought about what’s wrong, he begins to ponder about what he could devise to change it. Out of these morning thinking sessions, Henry Keuls has conceived 20 inventions which have been patented and manufactured to bring greater safety, health or comfort to people. Big and energetic, Mr. Keuls works ten hours daily, driving from his New York office three days a week to his plant in Berkeley Heights, New Jersey, where his inventions are made. An immigrant from Leiden, Holland, Henry Keuls arrived in the United States in 1911 with only $25. He worked as a ranch hand, a miner, a factory worker and a salesman. Then he began Called By Name Georgia Carolina Ministry Rev. John S. Adamski Vocation Director Archdiocese of Atlanta His Birth, Verse Or Word One of the enjoyable dimensions of every Christmas season is the opportunity to hear from friends through Christmas cards. It seems as though many people make that special effort to send greetings and a little note about themselves because of this Christmas tradition. During the rest of the year, it’s too easy to find excuses to avoid spending the time with such thoughtful communication. As I’ve been reading cards coming in this year, the beauty and meaning of many of the verses has struck me more than once. Many cards carry a printed verse which often expresses much of what Christ’s birth is all about. After such a reflection, sparked by the verse, I often conclude by wondering why we continue to find it so difficult to translate the meaning of that verse into the substance of our lives as Christian people. Much of what we do to celebrate Christmas in our society works against the true meaning of this feast. Much of what we can do to attempt to live as Christians reflects more of our feeble nature than communicate Christ’s presence. But the value of our celebration is the opportunity which it gives us to enter into the whole mystery and meaning of Jesus’ life in our midst once again. Christmas is our joyful, thankful, “would you believe?!,” experience that our God’s love for us cannot be contained or restrained but flows over into human life in the person of Jesus. It’s too profound and amazing a concept for us to deal with within the circumference of our minds alone. Rather, we need the flesh and blood, energy and warmth which is found in the man, Jesus. Here is God’s WORD, his clearest and most important sharing of himself with us. Jesus is WORD made flesh, made man, made like one of us. You and I as Christians are called, by the nature of baptism, to join ourselves to his amazing experience of life. Christmas, the life of Jesus today, relies for meaning and substance on the actions and effects of our lives. Christmas should be the “pause that refreshes” because it can fill us once again with the excitement of knowing that our God loves us. That excitement and connection of God with our lives is the root and foundation of Christian vocation. Every Christian man and woman is to be the means, the person, of making it all happen again within our experiences and for the sake of the people around us. Christian faith is the commitment to this WORD and the strength to set ourselves in the direction of bringing it all to life in and through us. For those actively engaged in Church ministry, or considering such a life of service, Christmas can be the Lord’s message that we’re on the right track, that we’re doing the right thing. Whenever the frustrations of our weaknesses and the difficulties of ministry seem overpowering, Jesus’ birth is the clearest picture and reminder that this is God’s work finally. God’s work which is so important that he sends his Son to make it all happen. Let your Christmas days go beyond the verses and wrapping which envelope so much of our lives. Go beyond all that to a peaceful, joyous hearing and speaking of the only “WORD which matt God’s.” his career as an inventor, devising the cylindrical, screw-top box that contains the familiar Tinker Toys. He went on to invent a dozen toys, then he turned to devices to improve the quality of living. One of his recent inventions is the Vanes Air Pollution Extractor, an inexpensive, lightweight unit that uses no electricity, fits into any window, and washes air free of dirt, insects, pollen and fumes. It is never hard to think of things that are wrong with the world. But those who love God and their fellow creatures will want, like Henry Keuls, to go one step further, and think of what can be done about it. Such creative thinking is truly a partnership with the Creator. For a free copy of the Christopher News Notes, “Thoughts on Thinking,” send a stamped, self-addressed envelope to The Christophers, 12 E. 48th St., New York, N.Y. 10017. What One Person Can Do Rev. Richard Armstrong HENRY KEULS, INVENTOR