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PAGE 5 — The Southern Cross, May 24,1990 Memorial Day At Andersonville Knights Sponsor Annual Memorial Service been designated by Congress as the only creasing numbers. Over the years, the park in the National park System to serve number ot people attending the Mass and The 1990 Memorial Day Mass for war dead will be celebrated at the Rostrum at Andersonville National Historic Site at 11 a.m. on Monday May 28. Principal Celebrant of the Mass will be Father Marvin J. LeFrois of Sacred Heart, Warner Robins. Homilist will be Father Robert Chaney of St. Teresa’s, Albany. Fourth Degree Knights of Columbus will serve as Honor Guard. All Assemblies are encouraged to participate in the Honor Guard or by attendance at the Mass. In the event of inclement weather Mass will be celebrated at St. Theresa Church, Cordele. BY JESSE L. LARA leprinted From Columbia Magazine For over a dozen years now, Father Patrick Adams, O.F.M., pastor at St. Theresa’s Church in Cordele, Ga., has come to the Andersonville National Historic Site on Memorial Day. He comes with a sense of humble urgency to do the one thing he has been doing all of these years - concelebrate Mass with priests from throughout the diocese in honor of the thousands of American servicemen and women who have died serving their coun try. Father Adams, an honorary life member of the Knights of Columbus and current faithful friar of Albany (Ga.) Assembly, chose Andersonville as the site for the memorial service for several reasons. During the Civil War, he explained, Ander sonville was the largest of many Con federate military prisons. Today, it has Four to live million Ethiopians face star vation this year according to David Holdridge, Catholic Relief Services Direc tor for Africa. This latest crisis has been seen coming since last fall due to lack of rain. CRS reports that nearly 98% of the crops in the Ethiopian province of Tigre failed due to lack of rain; in Eritrea pro vince, 100% crop loss has occurred. The situation has been complicted by the renewed outbreak of civil wars which have plagued Ethiopia for several years. Competing armies have begun using food as a weapon in their sturggle for military victory and political domination. CRS officials said they hope to help 800,000 people per month in eastern Tigre, when the province’s southern relief corridor can operate at peak capacity. For the moment, there is a fragile agreement that the mer cy missions will not be attacked and truck convoys of food are trickling through some of the embattled areas. But the food that is getting through is not nearly enough, and aid workers and Western diplomats are not optimistic that the fragile truce will last for long. In an article by Howard Witt of the Chicago Tribune, John Wiater, Ethiopia representative for CRS, said “Both sides (of the warring factions) are going to put their military objectives first as a memorial to all Americans ever held as prisoners of war. Father Adams, who was also a Navy chaplain during the Korean War, feels the Mass is a good way to remember those who gave their life for the cause of peace with justice in the world. The Mass is anticipated by the com munity who participate in it annually in in- before feeding hungry people. This is an opening that has to be exploited as fast as possible before the door closes.” Enough food is available from interna tional relief agencies and foreign govern ments to avert another wholesale starva tion. The U.S. has committed itself to pro vide one-third of Ethiopia’s emergency food needs this year. However, Western governments have no way to monitor whether all the food is actualy reaching the people who need it or if some of it is be ing controlled by the rebel fighters for their use and purposes. The greatest obstacle right now is getting the food sup plies to the starving people. We can’t ignore the plight of the Ethipoians. We must find a way to get this job done. Write your Congressional delega tion requesting that the United States pro vide long term developmental assistance to Ethiopia. This is the only way to solve the cyclical drought and famine afflicting this country. Catholic Relief Services needs additional funds to transport the available food and provide rehabilitation of famine victims. Support CRS in their endeavors through the Works of Peace program of National Council of Catholic Women or through your private donation to CRS. (This information from the National CCW was submitted by Shirley LaVecchia, Legislative Chairman of the Savannah DCCW.) memorial service has risen so much that the Mass site has had to be moved to larger, more open areas of the park. Members of Albany Assembly have taken part in the Memorial Day services since their second year. In 1988, Father Adams turned over the responsibility for staging and publicizing the event entirely to the assembly. “I was worried about the service,” Father Adams explained, “especially if I should be transferred out of the diocese. The Knights have gladly ac cepted the responsibility.” James Bramble, a past faithful navigator for Albany Assembly, said the assembly’s involvement has increased each year. 1 ‘As the host assembly, we have the responsibility for arranging the honor guards. We request participation from all of the other assemblies in the state, and have had members from as far away as Atlanta take part in the service.” On average, 40 Knights serve as honor guards during the service, he added. The Knights also arrange the involve ment of the citizens of Albany in the Mass and memorial service. Buglers, guest soloists and other musicians have to be Editor: The death penalty has been a hotly debated subject. For some of us the elec tric chair, like the Cross, symbolizes the ultimate power of eradicating human life. We are understandably torn by the am biguities of competing arguments about this. In the midst of an already polarized debate, we can foster some healthy dialogue by considering the distinctive message of Christ as we form our con sciences on this important pro-life issue. To form one’s conscience about the death penalty, we must go beyond our gut- level reactions to a violent crime. A Chris tian listens to the Word of God and to the teaching authority of his or her church. The fact is that the majority of the leadership of the religious community in the United States has come out clearly against the use of capital punishment. More importantly, they have each review ed their own tradition’s basis in the scrip tures. We, too, have to turn to the Word of God. The danger in this, of course, is that “proof text” approach is often used whicn argues a point without appreciating it’s historical context. The standard one is “an eye for an eye” (Genesis), which would justify violent retribution, e g., the death penalty. contacted and a program has to be prepared. The number of people attending the ser vice has increased each year, due in large part to the publicity campaign the Knights undertake. Since the Georgia State Convention is held annually prior to the Memorial Day service, Albany Assembly members attend the convention and pro mote the event there. The assembly also uses the local newspapers and the diocesan newspaper, The Southern Cross, to promote the event. The National Historic Sites Commission also includes the memorial service in its publicity of Andersonville. The Memorial Day program ends not on a somber note, but on a note of hope. The Knights sponsor a family picnic for members and their families. Knights from other communities attending the program are encouraged to tour the park. In addition to coordinating the Memorial Day services, the Knights have also begun to explore the possibility of erecting a monument on the grounds in honor of all military chaplains. Bramble explained that the Knights have contacted the U.S. Department of the Interior and have started a memorial fund. The Knights hope to erect a monu ment to honor Father Peter Whelan, who ministered to both Confederate and Union soldiers at Andersonville near the end of the Civil War. Father Whelan was also a prisoner of war, captured by Union soldiers and returned to Georgia in a prisoner exchange. The monument will honor all military chaplains for their im portant and valuable services, Bramble explained. (Jesse L. Lara is grand knight of Sacred Heart Council No. 4371 Knights of Col umbus in Warner Robins, Ga.) FOOD FOR THE BODY AND THE SOUL — How does a busy parish find time to have Scripture Study? Father Robert Cushing at Holy Spirit in Macon found the answer. He lead the class an hour before morning Mass, and served breakfast to those who came! The Early Morning Breakfast and Scripture Study Group pictured above seemed to be enjoying both the food for the body ... and the soul. VIOLENCE ENDS WHERE LOVE BEGINS A better understanding of the lex talionis (law of retaliation) reveals that it was not a command to seek vengeance, but a limitation on retaliation. It moved Hebrew society from unlimited to limited retribu tion. The focus of the Hebrew covenant was on God’s regard for the sanctity of life. In the New covenant, Jesus expressly fulfills this in his Sermon on the Mount (Mt. 5, Lk. 6) calling us beyond the former perspective of limited retaliation to nonretaliation and active love. For Chris tians, the message of the Bible is fully realized in Jesus Christ, whose life ex presses redemption and forgiveness - not vengeance. Every Old Testament text must be weighed against the overpowering impact of the New Testament, where Jesus con stantly rejects the normal human tenden cy to redress injury by injury. Jesus gives us a new commandment such that violence is not corrected by counter measures of violence, but by mercy. Violence can only end where love begins. Christians are only further debased when we respond to a violent crime with more violence. Because Christ came to save and not to condemn, do those who would follow the Risen Christ have any other alternative than to abolish the death penalty? Father Robert Cushing Holy Spirit Church Macon BY SHIRLEY LAVECCHIA NCCW Update: Ethiopa