Newspaper Page Text
f
PAGE 4
The Southern Cross
September 4,1980
An Amazing People
The world watched these past
weeks as Poland’s workers challenged
its communistic government. Strikes
are nothing new for these amazing
people who just won’t lie down and
play dead. This is the fourth time in
twenty-five years that the workers
have left their jobs. As in 1956,1970
and 1976, economic reasons
prompted the workers initial
demands. But this time they appear to
have won the right to form
independent trade unions.
The Catholic Church, which Poland
has remained loyal to, emerged as a
potent third force in the current crisis.
The nation’s bishops issued a joint
statement supporting the strikers’
demands and Masses were celebrated
in shipyards for the strikers. The
Church, which usually must fight for
any publicity, was promininent in the
print and broadcast media.
Pope John Paul II played a low key
role, but expressed solidarity with his
people in prayers and messages sent to
the Polish bishops.
These actions by Polish workers are
most courageous for they are
challenging the economic system of
the soviet bloc which says that its
people exist for the state, not the
state for its people.
We salute this nation as it fights for
its religious and economic life. _ jem
Liturgy Corner
Rev. Douglas K. Clark
The Roman prayer IV differs in two ways
from the Greek canon of Basil. First of all,
the language is more direct and less florid, as
Latin is usually less florid (though not
always more direct) than Byzantine Greek.
More importantly, the positioning of the
institution narrative differs, as it was decided
that in all of the new Eucharistic prayers,
the institution narrative (including the
“consecration”) should be placed as in the
Roman canon, although retaining the Greek
placement would have been valid.
The Greeks have always placed the
institution narrative, the story of what Jesus
did the night before he died, in the
thanksgiving section of the prayer, which
details what Jesus did to save us and thanks
God for His work. Thus the events of the
Last Supper form part of the whole story of
Christ’s redemptive work and preface the
account of His saving death and resurrection,
recounted in the “anamnesis” (memorial)
section of the thanksgiving prayer).
The Greeks do not, in their theology,
regard the words of Jesus, “This is my
body ...” and “This is my blood ...” as in
themselves effecting the consecration, since
they rightly stress the role of the Holy Spirit
invoked in the epiclesis (“Let your Spirit
come upon these gifts ...”). The Roman rite
has tended to stress the role of the priest
uttering the words of institution, although
since Vatican II, the epiclesis and role of the
Holy Spirit have been very much
emphasized.
Since we admit that the Greek and other
Eastern rites, Catholic and orthodox, have
valid eucharists, even though their epicleses
follow the words of institution and therefore
they do not consider the words of
institution to be “words of consecration,”
we must admit that our Eucharistic Prayer
IV could have retained the form it has in the
Eastern Churches.
Apparently it was thought that our
people would have been too confused or
even scandalized by a eucharistic prayer that
prayed “Let your Spirit... make these gifts
... the body and blood of Christ” AFTER
the words of institution had been spoken.
A Letter To Santiago
Tom Lennon
By now, Santiago, you must be an adult,
probably living in Lima, Peru, perhaps a
husband and father, and, I hope, maybe not
quite as poor as when I knew you.
You were only a young boy when the
mailman brought you to my living room.
The postmark on the thick envelope was
Chimbote, Peru.
Inside the envelope were several
documents from the Foster Parents Plan
agency that was, so to speak, sponsoring our
temporary friendship. Your picture was
enclosed and I saw a child looking very
serious, standing stiffly at attention, dressed
in his best but poor clothes.
The agency told me all about you,
Santiago. Your family was poor. Your father
had deserted you. Your mother worked hard
12 hours a day washing clothes for people.
You had one sister, and all of you lived in a
clay hut that I found hard to visualize.
I’ve saved all your letters, Santiago. In
your first letter, you introduced yourself
very formally, or at least the translator of
your Spanish made it sound formal. “My
name is Santiago. I will like to write to you
very much every month, and I hope you like
writing to me. I am 10 years old, but I am
not very good in arithmetic.”
Your fourth letter shocked me with news
that I had already heard on television. “A
terrible earthquake came here. It made me
very nervous. We are afraid another one will
come. Our clay house was completely
destroyed. I also lost my copybook in the
earthquake. It was my best copybook.”
At the time I had some extra green stuff
and so, in addition to the regular monthly
support donation, I sent your family $100.
You wrote back, “With your wonderful gift
we have built a new house of reeds. But it is
near a river and lots of times the mosquitoes
keep me awake at night and it is hard to pay
attention the next day in school. Thank you
for your gift and for writing to me every
month.”
Later the river flooded and destroyed
your house again. I wondered how you all
kept on going.
Sometimes I wasn’t sure what to write to
you, Santiago. So I wrote to you mostly
about what my life was like when I was 10,
about some of the big snows, and the
trouble I had with arithmetic, and how I was
sick too often. I tried to encourage you, for
in almost every letter you said you were not
a good enough student. I suspected your
teacher told you that, and I suspected she
was wrong.
One day, Santiago, I had a bad time at
work; everything went wrong. When I came
home that night, I felt like cursing the whole
world. But, in my mailbox was your
monthly letter. Without a great deal of
enthusiasm I opened it and read it. I shall
never forget this part:
“Mr. Lennon, you have told me that your
father died when you were very young, and
it made you sad. You know that my father
left us and never came back, and so I feel
very sad like you did. But, Mr. Lennon, now
I think of you as my father. You have
helped me so much and I love you and will
never forget you. You will always be my
father.”
Your letter made me cry that night,
Santiago. You did so much more for me
than I ever did for you.
(Tom Lennon writes for the National
Catholic News Service.)
The Southern Cross
ruses so5 s«o)
Most Rev. Raymond W. Lcssard, D.D.. President
Rw. Joseph St raise
Director, Department of Communications
John E. Marfcwalter, Editor Rev. Douglas K. Clark, Editorial Writer
Please send P.S. Form 3579 601 E. 6th St., Waynesboro, Ga. 30830
Send News Items to Ml E. «th St.. Waynesbnm. Ga. 30S30
DEADLINE: All material for publication must be received by
MONDAY NOON for Thursday’s paper.
Business Office 225 Abcrcom St., Savannah, Ga. 31401
Second Class Postage Paid at Waynesboro, Ga. 30830
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
THE CHURCH: REFLECTIONS
WHEELCHAIR WH EE LIES ~
Ten-year-old Michael Frombaugh of
Newville, Pa., doesn’t let the fact that
he has cerebral palsy stop him from
having fun. One of his favorite
activities is when his sister, Rhonda,
takes him out for wheelies. (NC Photo
by David S. Strickler)
What One Person Can Do
The Christophers
DOOR TO HOLINESS
Recently I visited a community of
Benedictine monks. It was not my first visit,
nor will it be my last. These men have a gift;
the Spirit of Love abides in them.
I was struck by a dialogue homily one
morning, when one of the Brothers discussed
the need for discipline in the Christian’s life.
He read from the Rule of Taize, by Brother
Roger Shutz, the founder and the prior of a
Protestant monastic community in Taize,
France.
“ . . . Do not impose discipline on
yourself for its own sake. Gaining mastery of
yourself has no aim other than to render you
more available. Let there be no useless
asceticism; hold only to the works God
commands. Carry the burdens of others,
accept the petty injuries of each day, so as
to share concretely in the sufferings of
Christ. .. this is our first discipline ... Be a
sign of joy and brotherly love among men.”
My favorite line is: “ .. . there should be
no useless asceticism.”
Many religious communities develop
elaborate systems of pious practices. These
are good insofar as they foster the love and
worship of God; but very often they become
an end in themselves. Here we read that the
aim of self-discipline is to “render you more
available” to carry the burdens of others. It’s
certainly not a new idea, but in the
contemplative surroundings of a Benedictine
monastery, it stirred me deeply.
Jesus is so often pictured as narrowing
our freedom, and constricting our lives, but
in reality Jesus is the one who liberates us
fully. St. Benedict, a true follower of Jesus,
was also a liberator. The vows of poverty,
chastity and obedience, the basis of
Benedictine spirituality, are in actuality
three great freedoms: freedom from
materialism, freedom from sexual
preoccupation, and freedom from self-will.
It is an asceticism which, if properly lived,
renders the person more free; therefore more
available to others; more open to a life of
selfless service.
This year marks the 1500th anniversary
of St. Benedict and his monastic tradition.
It is a marvelous legacy of holiness. Jesus
once said, “By their fruits you will know
them.” We congratulate all the Benedictines.
In honoring St. Benedict, we give honor and
glory to Almighty God and Jesus His Divine
Son. The vine and the branches are one.
For a free copy of the Christopher News
Notes, “The Challenge of Loving,” send a
stamped, self-addressed envelope to The
Christophers, 12 E. 48th St., New York, N.
Y.10017.
The ‘Unpolitical
Olympics’
Joseph Breig
I don’t know how Lord Killanin, who has
now finished his term as president of the
International Olympic Committee, could go
on blandly claiming - as he blandly did -
that politics have nothing to do with the
Olympics, and the Olympics have nothing to
do with politics.
I don’t know how his Lordship could
stand up deadpan at the close of the
boycotted Olympics in Moscow and say that
“the Russians have been so good in running
these Games that we didn’t want to do
anything that might cause them
embarrassment. It is better to finish the
Games on a happy note than on a sour one.”
I don’t know, I surely don’t know, how
Lord Killanin could have had the
unspeakable gall to announce that he was
going to fly the American Flag at the close
of the Olympics in spite of President Carter’s
urgent request that he refrain from doing so
- and then announce that he had changed
his mind at the request of the Russians.
You see, the dictators who rule the
people of the Soviet Union had asked
Killanin not to fly the American flag in
defiance of America’s president, because
those dictators did not want to “further
aggravate tensions over Afghanistan.”
I don’t know how on earth Lord Killanin
could stand up before the Olympic crowd
and blandly praise the Soviet officials while
simply ignoring the fact that the armies of
those officials were continuing to overrun
the neighboring nation of Afghanistan, using
tanks and Mig planes and artillery and all the
other modern weapons to destroy Afghan
villages and kill Afghanistan citizens.
I sure don’t know how any of the world’s
free nations could have rejected, as many of
them did, President Carter’s appeal for a
boycott of the Moscow Olympics as at least
one small way of showing mankind’s
disapproval of Russia’s brutal, unprovoked
attack on an almost defenseless neighboring
country.
I don’t know how any athletes could have
failed to see that world peace and the rights
of small nations to exist unattacked were
more important than the participation of
those athletes in the Games in Moscow. I
realize that these athletes had been training
for years for the Olympics, and that to stay
away from Moscow involved a small sacrifice
-- but what if those men and women had
been asked to risk their lives in defense of
their countries against a Soviet invasion such
as the brutal invasion of Afghanistan?
I don’t, for sure I don’t, understand how
Lord Killanin could go on repeating, as he
did, that politics has nothing to do with the
Olympics, when he knows full well that
nations such as East Germany and the Soviet
Union spend huge sums training boys and
girls from childhood for Olympic events,
because they think that they gain political
advantage and world prestige from winning
Olympic runs and jumps and javelin throws
and shotputs and whatnot. They think that
such victories throw dust in the eyes of
humankind concerning their denials of
human rights and their cruel crushing of
human dignity and the rights of nations.
And let me add that I certainly do not see
how anybody can go on barefacedly alleging
that the Olympics and politics have nothing
to do with each other, when the ineffable
Lord Killanin has been succeeded as
international Olympic president by-pay
attention now - by the Spanish ambassador
to (of all places!) the Soviet Union.
o
*
Propagation of the Faith
Rev. Joseph C. Otterbein
Diocesan Director
P. O. Box 8789, Savannah, Ga. 31412
The six months of silence imposed on this
writer because of illness is broken! Tis good
to be back with you. One thing is certain: I
discovered a great loving concern on the part
of many in the assurance of prayers, greeting
cards and the like. For all this, I make my
thanks known to God and ask His special
blessing on you.
The Missionary Intention for August gives
us food for thought. “That Christian families
may be filled with the missionary spirit.”
Pope John Paul II commented on the
significance and the missionary call implicit
in the mystery of the Epiphany in January
of this year. “At the same time the Church’s
wish for herself is that she be truly
missionary; that she will know how to
approach Christ in the difficult and
complicated circumstances of our times, and
will be able to indicate to every man the way
to Hm. We wish all that to men and women
missionaries. We wish all pastors of souls the
same... IT IS OUR WISH FOR EVERY
FAMILY and all the laity. We extend this
wish also to theologians, since they have a
special responsibility in indicating to modem
man the way to Christ.”
The missionary obligation of the whole
church implies the missionary obligation of
the Christian family. This alone would be
enough to make our own the missionary
intention of the Apostleship of Prayer for
the month of August. This doctrine,
accentuated by Vatican Council II is ever
more explicit and insistent in the documents
of the Church, of Synods, of Episcopal
Assemblies and of missionary Congresses.
The decree “Ad Gentes” dedicates paragraph
41 to the missionary obligation of the laity
and speaks of the concrete obligation of the
family in cooperating in missionary work,
above all through the promotion of
missionary vocations.
In “Evangelii Nuntiandi” Paul VI speaks
of the evangelizing radiation of the family:
“One cannot fail to stress the evangelizing
action of the family in the evangelizing
apostolate of the laity. At different
moments in the Church’s history and also in
Vatican Council II, the family has well
deserved the beautiful name of ‘domestic
church’. This means that there should be
found in every Christian family the various
aspects of the entire Church. Furthermore,
the family, like the Church, ought to be a
place where the Gospel is transmitted and
from which the Gospel radiates” (no. 71).
The Christian family, therefore, as a
“Domestic Church.” the cell and the basis of
the Church, the People of God, has the same
mission as the Church: to evangelize. It has
the responsibility to educate in the faith,
even in the case of a mixed marriage.
“Families resulting from a mixed marriage
also have the duty of proclaiming Christ to
the children in the fullness of the '
consequences of a common Baptism” (Ev. '
Nunt. 71).
The Christian family, therefore must be * *
aware of its responsibility of being a
stimulus for the transformation of society.
Pastoral activity must seek to integrate the
entire family in the missionary action of the
Church, in its universal dimension; because *
as it is the “domestic church”, it must be the
educator of the local and the Universal
Church.
There’s a lot to mull over there. Maybe -
you will be thanking God because you tried
to be that kind of family; maybe you will
see new goals to strive for. “That Christian
families may be filled with the missionary
Spirit” is an intention I suggest we keep *
close to our hearts.
Thanks again for your generosity to the
Propagation of the Faith and for your
kindness to me. God bless you!