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PAGE 4 GEORGIA BULLETIN, THURSDAY, JANUARY 17, 1963 the Archdiocese of Atlanta GEORGIA BULLETIN serving GEORGIA’S 71 NORTHERN COUNTIES Official Organ of the Archdiocese of Atlanta Published Every Week at the Decatur DeKalb News PUBLISHER - Archbishop Paul J. Hallinan MANAGING EDITOR Gerard E. Sherry CONSULTING EDITOR Rev. R. Donald Kiernan ADVERTISING DIRECTOR Sue Spence Member of the Catholic Press Association and Subscriber to N.C.W.C. News Service 2699 Peachtree N. E. Telephone 237-7296 U.S.A. $5.00 P.O. Box 11667 Canada $5.50 Northside Station Foreign $6.50 Atlanta 5, Ga. Second Class Re-entry Permit Pending at Decatur, Georgia The Unity Octave The whole world is stirring with an intense desire for re ligious unity. There is a fer ment never felt before, anxious and hopeful. Led by Pope John, the Catholic faithful are inspir ed to pray for his holy cause with an interest and ardor of unmatched proportions. Non- Catholics too pray, work, and trust that the grace of God will bring about Christian reunion. The Chair of Unity Octave, January 18-25, is a fitting time to beg God for the blessing of unity. This “providential cus tom" as Pope John called it, began in 1908 under the lead ership of Fr. Paul Jame s Fran cis, S. A v a convert to the Church. The Octave stresses the primacy and the importance of prayer. Studies, meetings, printed materials on unity are helpful, and to some extent, necessary; but the prime ne cessity, the inescapable duty, is humble and earnest prayer. Prayer is indispensable. The Unity Octave is a call to pray for all the world: for Catholics that they may deepen the bonds of unity which bind them to Christ and to each other; for non-Catholics that they may realize the evil of separation and the return to the one and only fold where the Good Shepherd longs to receive them. As the late Episcopalian lead er, Bishop Manning of New York, said: “More than ever today, when the whole world is one, we must think of Christian Unity in its true world-wide meaning. . .Reunion will come, not by compromise of faith and conviction, not by throwing aside creed and doctrine, but by a fuller appreciation of the truth revealed in Christ." The Catholic offers his pray er and sacrifices for unity in the spirit of faith, realizing that “the salvation of a large number of souls depends on the prayers and voluntary mortifi cation born from this purpose by the members of the Mystical Body of Christ." (Pius XII). Catholic prayer for unity is not offered in the spirit of com petition, as though the Church is trying to gain in numbers in an effort to impress other religi ous bodies. Prayer for unity is not offered in the spirit of pride or complacency, but with grati tude and zeal - in the spirit of faith. As Fr. Charles Boyer, S.J., noted authority on reun ion, has written: “Prayer tou ches the heart of God and at the same time disposes men’s souls for receiving His gifts. Prayer for union prepares those who do not belong to the Catholic Church to recognize the legiti macy of this Church and to see that in her and in her alone is realized the unity that Our Lord has willed. Prayer likewise dis poses Catholics to the under standing, the universal charity, and the exemplary life that are the conditions of progress to ward unity." Catholics pray for those out side the Church, not against them. Prayer is not a disagree able duty, a burden that somehow has to be undertaken, but an act of all-embracing love, offered in the spirit of faith. Catholics should pray for their own lead ers as well as those outside the Church. Archbishop Yaeger of Paderborn, Germany makes this interesting point: "Our prayers are specifically need ed by those learned theologians who are working in the field of controversy, who are reason ably clarifying ideas and trying to clear away the debris of centuries of polemic." The faithful should pray for their own clergy, scholars, and bis hops, as well as leaders of non-Catholic groups. Prayer for unity is offered to God in the spirit of faith - the faith that can move the apparent mountains of diffi culties regarding reunion. Christian Unity is a gigantic problem, but it is not to be left to the outcome of history or to the Last Judgement. As Pope John has said of the com ing council: "The outcome of the approaching Ecumenical Council will depend more on a crusade of fervent prayer than on human effort and diligent ap plication. " The words also ap ply to the apostolate of Chris tian Unity. Prayer is not an excuse for idleness, it is not a comforting shell into which men crawl when they are faced with diffi culties. Prayer is an activity of the soul, asking for the great est need in the world - the grace of God. Prayer draws down the dew of divine grace upon parched, thirsting, and needy souls. It is the balm to heal aching wounds, the strength to do battle against spiritual enemies. While prayer for religious unity should be offered daily by the sincere and apostolic Ca tholic, it should be even more fervent and intense during the Chair of Unity Octave, January 18-25. As Fr. Gusatve Wei- gel, S.J. has declared: "To all who believe in the desire of Christ that we all be one and who according to Christ’s com mand love their neighbor. A SYMPTOM VI . _ :,-0. illf: 'AND THAT WAS MY FATHER?* LITURGY AND LIFE ‘Religion For Sale,’ Sign BY REV. LEONARD F. X. MAYHEW “NoDody can tell you what faith is,*’ the an nouncer intones unctuously; “you can't see it; you can only feel it; but faith is a powerful instrument to help you face your problems and to get more out of living.'* Then comes to the soft-sell pitch to "attend the church of your choice" and absorb "strength to face life’s challenge." I can only repeat what a critic wrote of Thronton Wilder: I agree with much of what he says but I will op pose to the death his right to say it in this way. Such sloppily conceived pub lic service advertising in the cause of religion - together with books which peddle *'po sitive thinking", don’t-rock- the-boat ethics, and garish, side -show religious "art” - pro duce one unmistakable and un pardonable result. They chea pen religion. And they appear to be unbiquitous. IN THE attempt to make religion palatable to tastes conditioned by mass culture, they succeed only in making it in bad taste. Other ages have committed many crimes against religion. They have persecuted it, overcomplicated it, removed it from the context of daily life. It has remained for our time to make it vulgar. The vulgarisation of religion by the attachment of devotional value to ugly, meaningless repre sentation of sacred persons panders to a kind of mass-produced superstition. The impression of ten is that the spiritual is given its sufficient due merely by the display of a plastic statue, a luminous crucifix or a glass eyed mummy label ed with the name of our Savior, Ms Mother or a Saint. The one consolation - and it is a welcome one, indeed - is that a reaction against this sort of thing seems to be growing steadily. The taste for meaningful, Individualized religious art is con tinuously more in evidence. That religious art worthy of the name is at the same time becoming more readily available proves, I am sure, some thing pretty obvious about the law of supply and demand. CONSIDERABLY more serious is the cheapen ing of religion Involved in the effort to popula- LITURGICAL WEEK rize church attendance through commercials and to sell patriotism and mental health under the .guise of promoting religion. Let me make it clear, if it be necessary, that I am not im pugning the motives of those who engineer such efforts. Not their motives; only their wisdom. I have no objection to mental health or patriotism nor, heaven help us, to church attendance. I do object, however, and strenuously, to sell ing religion as a commodity treated to make it unobjectionable and easy to swallow, complete with emotional trading stamps as a come-on. To conceive religion as some kind of healthy, well- meaning fellowship with those who share our own ideas and then to stud it with useful, easy, satis fying virtues is to cheat God and man. IT IS CERTAINLY a mockery of the cross of Christ. To subordinate religion to our gratitude for ou. national wealth or to fight against Com munism is a fearfully illogical substitution of means for ends. Finally and most dangerous of all, the effort to market religion as the antidote for neurotic anxiety not only leaves itself open to anti-religious objections common since Freud, it tends to give them more than a little basis In fact. It is always a good deal more demanding to be right than it is to be wrong or only partially right. Religion is a very complex idea, every bit as complex as man. Its subject, and God, its object. The basic bond between man and God is creation. At the core of man's being there exists a tie of absolute dependence upon his Creator. RELIGION is man's assent, his kiss, placed upon the chain that binds him inexorably to God. Religion is born of the inter-action of the primal fact of creation and the awful burden of human freedom. It takes its first step in the awe of the absolutely unnecessary creature in the face of his absolutely necessary God. From here it reaches out to humble suppli cation born of need, gratitude that springs from the incredible spectacle of divine generosity and contrition that arises from the incredible spec tacle of human sin. The whole is consummated in love, God-given and God-directed. This Is the religion portrayed In the liturgy of the Mass, the "indispensable source of the true Christian spirit." His Manifestation As Lord BY FR. ROBERT W. HOVDA (Priest of the Pittsburgh Oratory) JANUARY 20, SECOND SUNDAY AFTER EPIP HANY. Jesus continues His Epiphany (His mani festation as Lora) at a wedding feast (Gospel). His touch transforms water to wine, an earthy feast to a sacrament of eternal happiness. The Mass itself Is an example of that trans forming touch. A human meal, human fellow ship around a table, becomes at the Last Supper a sacred sign of final glory. "The Lord sent feu ch his Word and healed them" (Gradual) has for the Christian a universal application ONLY negation, sin, is excluded from the blessing of His coming and His hard won do minion. The application Is most obvious, most ap parent, in the case of those earthly things which He has made actual Instruments of His grace; the water of Baptism, the bread and wine of the Eucharist, etc. He transforms without destroy ing. He creats a new reality without mutilating the old. So the First Reading teaches that the fellowship of His Mystical Body is a unity of diverse beings, with none of the richness (or oddities) of our humanness lost in the process of incorporation. The Word heals, makes whole, by love. MONDAY, JANUARY 21, ST. AGNES, VIRGIN, MARTYR. The first session of the Ecumenical Council has made Catholics more conscious than ever before of the scandal of Christian disunity. So the annual week of prayer for the unity of the Church has a special appeal and urgency for us this year. The virgin has always been a symbol of the Church. This feast of a virgin martyr reminds us M the suffering and imperfection which are rea lities of the Church's existence in this world. We must pray and work for unity. But also we must understand that in time and on earth the answer to our prayer may not be precisely what we expect. TUESDAY, JANUARY 22, SS. VINCENT AND ANASTASIUS, MARTYRS. The total reliance of the Church upon God is the great lesson of today's Mass. As we pray tor toe unity at Christians, it is a salutary tnought. How much of our divi sion and separation has come about because we have been more attentive to kings and governors, parents, brothers, relatives and friends (Gospel), than we have been to the Word of God? WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 23, ST. RAYMOND OF PENNAFORT, CONFESSOR. Our opening prayer (Collect) today links the holy man we celebrate with confession and penance, Chris tian themes basic to the work of ecumenism (Christian reunion). CONTINUED ON PAGE 5 The ‘Wall of Shame BY GERARD E. SHERRY - ’ . . ' . ! : y ' - ;■ t' \ v . - ; I , } The City of Atlanta has been the leader in the South in the work of peaceful integration over the past several years. Under the courageous inspira tion of responsible city officials, Atlanta news papers, and the business and educational commu nities, much has been accomplished to ensure elementary rights for Colored citizens. Atlanta has not only led the South, it has led the rest of Geor- REAPINGS AT RANDOM gia in working to wards a sensible so lution to racial strife. Things are by no means complete in this regard. Many, many inequities re main; but things are being done. Atlanta's leading citizens are not only talking - they are acting. Indeed, some of our fellow citizens in the North, and other areas of the country, could take a few lessons from this metropolis of the die hard South. IT IS therefore tragic that this good record should be sullied by a recent dispute between the Negro community and the City Fathers. In mid-December, the Board of Alderman approved the errection of barriers at Peyton and Harlan Roads, in South West Atlanta. The action was taken at the urging of a White citizens group which ac cused Negro real estate operators of "block busting.'’ Further encroachment of Negroes into the White areas was halted by this action. How* ever, it brought protests from both sides of the barricades; city action was upheld in the courts, although further litigation is planned. Many citizens of both races, believe that "the Wall’’ (as it is called) is a blot on the good name of Atlanta. They assert it is giving a false image abroad, not only for the city but for the nation. It has not achieved its main purpose, and has led the Negro leaders to a policy of non-cooperation with city officials. The Negroes say "The Wall” must go before they will enter into negotiations to end the dispute. Shades of the West and the Com munists over Berlin ami its infamous wall. FROM A practical point of view, we are faced here with a perennial problem — that of giving the growing Negro population the right to live in decent parts of our cities and towns. It is hard to arrive at a peaceful solution because of the fears of many Whites. And these fears are not confined only to Southerners. The White communities in Chicago, New York, Baltimore, Los Angeles, San Francisco, and many other places, have shown opposition to Negro expansion in their inner cities and suburbs. In addition, of course, unscrupulous real estate operators have exploited these fears and reaped a handsome profit. Furthermore, these exploiters come from both races. Negro as well as White house-owners are made to suffer. "Block-bust ing” is an evil which should be outlawed by re sponsible real estate men — and they form the majority. If they cannot police themselves, how ever, then legislation should be Introduced carry ing stiff penalties. WE HAVE spoken of White fears — perhaps we should be strictly honest with ourselves and call it by its right name — prejudice. This vice is hidden in all our hearts. It comes to the surface only when we have to face the problem. We will never get rid of this predudice until we stop view ing the Negro solely as someone of a different color; whose environment and standards are below ours. If it is true in many cases, it is we, the White people, who have encouraged its continuity. For so long we have deprived them of the oppor tunities to better themselves, spiritually, morally and materially. We have been shortsighted, but still are guilty. Prejudice is hard to throw off. It requires ( the fullness of charity and humility to eradicate it. Hardly any of us are that charitable or that humble that we can look at the Negro and call him "bro ther.” Even among Catholics, the basic doctrine of the unity of the human family is hard to swallow. Though the Negro Catholic receives the same Sacraments as we do; though he is equal to us before the Tabernacle; though he has the same divine dignity and eternal destiny that we have, too few of us are willing to goandwalk the same path with him. The ideal of the Catholic community, which Saint Paul, called the Church, is lost at the exit of our churches and chapels. Small wonder that we bring such prejudice into our school sports and community affairs. MANY WHITE people have never visited a Negro area in their city. They have no idea of the squalor and degradation that is the lot of many Colored families. Admittedly some of the conditions are of the Negroes own making. But much of it is simply because they have been deliberately kept down, culturally and materially. Through the pressures of consclence-strlken, and responsible White people, many Negro citizens have been given the opportunity to better them selves. Many have entered the professions and business, and have done well. They want better housing. They want to get out of dilapidated inner cities into the greener suburban areas, or into better neighborhoods within city limits. Alas, most White people refuse to accept even those Negroes who have an equal financial and professional sta bility. The net result is that we force the Negro to go from one ghetto to another. In some cities, we find Jews are tr<**ted in a similar manner. This is most un-American and, more import antly, un-CathoIlc. IF ALL this sounds a harsh indictment. It Is nevertheless true. The Negro was supposed to have been emancipated over 100 years ago. Some of us fall to heed the lessons of history. We also refuse to heed the voice of the Church. If Catho lics can only join together on this crucial issue, we would be well on our way to solving a major obstacle to good racial relations.