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PACE 4 GEORGIA BULLETIN THURSDAY, MAY 2, 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 Kieman ADVERTISING DIRECTOR Sue Spence Member of the Catholic Press Association and Subscriber to N.C.W.C. News Service Telephone 231-1281 U.S.A. $5.00 Canada $5.50 Foreign $6.50 Second Class Permit at Decatur, Georgia 2699 Peachtree N.E. P.O. Box 11667 Norths ide Station Atlanta 5, Ga. The Bond Issue PIRATE OF DIGNITY SOCIAL DOCTRINE In the recently published En cyclical of Pope JohnXXIII, Pac- em In Terris, there appears an eloquent passage charging Chris tians to enter public life and per meate it with Christian wisdom and understanding, in order to be of service in conjunction with all men of good will. This obviously implies a com mitment to be active in civic affairs as well as purely domes tic or Catholic affairs. Readers in Atlanta and Fulton County have an opportunity to make such a civic contribution in voting on the Fulton-Atlanta Bond Issue on May 15. The fifty million dollar Issue is an important one. 15.9 million will go to the County, with the remainder earmarked for At lanta. It is not our purpose here to propagate for or against the Issue. Readers will have to make up their own minds in the light of their own convictions. We do re commend, however, that they ex amine all sides of the subject in order that the decision made is in the best interest of the whole community. Certainly, emotion has no place in the judgement, neither has hate, prejudice, self ishness, or greed. Naturally, in such an issue as this politics does play a part. A uthentic The secret of authentic witness lies in witnessing to Christ, not to ourselves. We must consider always, and speak of Christ's function as teacher, Christ’s work of salvation, Christ’s role as law-giver, Christ’s action in making men holy. In reality, Christ is primary, and thus He must be first in mind, first on the tongue and first in consid eration. We, His members, instru ments in His hands, docile to His ministrations, receiving of His bounty, are secondary. Since this is the reality behind the dogma, all we have to do is to really accept it, and then live it. If we are Christ-cent ered and not self-centered our neighbors will be able to listen to us without fear. In becoming a Man, God took up the limitations of a man. Christ, the Godman, lived in one place, in one time, in one neigh borhood. And yet His work was universal. That He was a Jew must have scandalized the Greeks. That He was a carpenter must have scandalized the petty temple officials. His mountain accent offended the city dweller. And yet Incarnation demands this limitation, without being frust rated by it. When God mixes in humanity, He is bound to produce mysteries. Since the Church is the Incar nation spread abroad in time and space, she will also have Her own particular marks and these can ojfend. But we are fair when we ask Her to carry the burden But the progress of Atlanta and Fulton County demands that no one should play politics in order to influence the outcome. All political parties and groups should look to the common good, rather than narrow partisan viewpoints. For this reason, it is to be regretted that the issue of rac ial discrimination is being brought into the reasoning of some in urging citizens to vote one way or the other. We sin cerely believe, however, that the race issue has no bearing on whether one should vote yes or no. Injustice to the Negro is real; and we work actively against such unchristian attitudes, even among our own co-religionists. We feel, however, that the Negro community will make a mistake if it uses discrimination as a lever to defeat the Bond Issue. Here, too, no matter what the provocation, they must think of the common good. May 15 is an important date. Whether we make our vote “Yea” or “Nay” let us live up to our civic responsibilities. Witness of our snobbery? We have no license to offend. We are not permitted to build stumbling blocks. The fact that we have been called into this Body of Christ means that we must do His work, we must be as open to His use as were His own eyes and hands. The mystery of God’s choice of instruments is deep enough without our clouding it any further by our pride. We rejoice, but we do not boast. We accept, but only to share. We look up to God with grati tude, not down on our neigh bors with contempt. BY FR. ROBERT W. HOVDA (Priest of the Pittsburgh Oratory) MAY 5 THIRD SUNDAY AFTER EASTER. Re alism and balance are words which fit the lit- rugy of the Church like a glove. That is why people who love the Church's public worship and live deeply in its spirit rarely become "indulgence addicts” or -reuc-chasers” or an} other kind of spiritual eccentric. Today's Mass brings this to mind because, while we are ce lebrating the Easter feast, God's grace-ful gift of triumph over death, and perhaps in clined to lose sight of the world and its work, its goods and its evils, the liturgy calls our at tention to the Ascension. It will be a "little while" before Jesus comes in final and full glory (Gospel), before we will know the full realiz ation of the triumph we possess now in faith. Human Being BY REV. LEONARD F. X. MAYHEW Catholic social doctrine, as proposed by Pope John XXIII in Pacem In Terris, has its foun dation in the nature of every human being as a person - that is, a rational and free being. From this personal dignity of every man flow certain natural rights which belong equally to every human being without discrimination. Cor responding to each of these rights is a related duty. Together, these rights and duties const itute the basis of natural law. The Pope points out that the principles of his encyclical, being based on natural law, "provided Catholics with a vast field in which they can meet and come to an understanding” both with non-Catholic Chr istians and with those who do not believe in Christ, "but who are endowed with the light nf reason and with a natural And operative honesty." The acclaim which the new encycli cal has received from ever}' quarter is an example of the meeting of minds over common oroblems which the Holy Father wishes to stimulate. In the past, solid response to the teachings of Papal social encyclicals has been very slow to materialize. With the initial acclaim once worn off, any real change in thinking on the part of Catholics has taken many years. Apparently, there are many who have still not fully absor bed the significance of the encyclicals of a gene ration or two ago. We cannot afford to allow this to happen in the present case. The problems and issues treated by Pacem In Terris bear immediately on the present situation of crisis and danger for the whole human race. Because of this urgency, Pope John several times in the encyclical presents us with an analysis of world conditions that is as actual as today’s headlines. EARLY in the encyclical the Pope indicates three "distinctive characteristics of our age” which mark a pattern in the historical evolution of society. He lists first the emergence of the working class. Great gains have been made by the worker in economic status and political power, most of these advances dating roughly from the era following the first World War. "Today," the Pope continues, "workers... insist that they The First Reading reminds us almost brutally that during this "little while" even the life of the baptized is full of struggle and contest, of pain and suffering. The Church in this 'Tittle while” is a Church of free men in an as yet unconsummated creation, hence a Church of sinners, to whom virtue does not come easy. MONDAY, MAY 6 MASS AS ON SUNDAY. Yet the hymns of the Mass still ring with Easter praise, joy, confidence. "Acclaim him” (Entrance), "The Lord has brought redemption” (Gradual), "Praise the Lord” (Offertory), "Af ter a little while you will see me" (Communion). It is this Christian thanksgiving for God’s tre mendous gifts (from which the Mass, the Euc harist, is itself named) that enables the holy and priestly people to lend their hands to the toilsome task of shaping creation. TUESDAY, MAY 7 ST. STANISLAUS, BISHOP, MARTYR. A bishop-martyr symbolizes in his person this triumph-defeat paradox of Chris tianity. Bishop, he stands in the line of the Ap- Is A “Person” be always regarded as men with a share in every sector of human society: in the social and economic sphere, in the fields of learning and culture, and in public life." No one can doubt that this emergence of the laboring class, at all the various stages that different nations exhibit it, is the source of thorny and sometimes explosive problems. They range from Castroism to our own complex wrestling with the effects of automation and technological progress. The second characteristic, which the Pope styles as "obvious," Is the emerging importance of women in public life. Once again, this pat tern runs to many and varied examples depend ing on the history of the culture on which we concentrate. THIRDLY, Pope John cites the revolutionary change in social and political life as "men all over the world have today - or will soon have - the rank of citizens in independent nations.” The old world of some nations ruling other nat ions is about to disappear* with the exception of the Communist empire. In discussing this sub ject the Holy Father takes occasion to declare that "racial discrimination can in no way be justified" and to point out the "fundamental im portance and significance for the formation of a human society” of this principle. The emer gence of free non-white nations and the struggle for equality of citizenship of Negro Americans are twofacetsof this "distinctive characteristic" of our age. In the world view of Pope John, then, our time is characterized by the actualization of the natural equality of men. There is a gradual fading of a false sense of inferiority on one hand and also “of the corresponding superiority complex which had its roots in social-economic privileges, sex or political standing." The present movement in the world, as Pope John sees it, is toward a more human society, one more in keeping with the dictates of natural law, since it Is based on an awareness of moral rights. The maximum degree of real freedom for every man- that is, freedom which is actual, which can be exercised concretely sees to be the criterion of a truly human and truly Christian society. In such a society relationships will be expressed in terms of rights and duties, equal and undifferentiated for all. Like Glove ostles, proclaiming the good news of God's saving work in Jesus Christ. Martyr, he reminds the Christian assembly of which he is president that the Church's existence in this 'Tittle while” is not a triumphal existence but an existence of humble witness and apparent failure. WEDNESDAY, MAY 8 MASS AS ON SUNDAY. "Help all who call themselves Christian to live up to that name and to reject what is contrary to it." This opening prayer of the Mass is echoed in the other proper priestly prayers: the prayer over the offerings (Secret) and the prayer after Communion. It is good to be here in this dangerous "little while”-- "creators” under and with the Creator, "redeemers" under and with the Redeemer. THURSDAY, MAY 9 ST. GREGORY NAZ1- ANZEN, BISHOP, CONFESSOR, DOCTOR. A doc tor ("teacher”) of the Church is more than a "relay-station”, though there is nothing insign ificant about relaying or simply passing on the CONTINUED ON PAGE 5 LITURGICAL WEEK Fits Liturgy Of Church CIVIC COMMUNITY The City Of Man BY GERARD E. SHERRY While it is true that many Catholics, lay and clerical, still hold a narrow parochial approach to the problems of the civic community in which they live, I do not think that I need to belabor the point that this is an un-Catholic attitude. The strong urgings of the modern popes and our own American bishops should be sufficient for that. But I do feel that it is important for us to investigate the question of how Catholics can enter into the solution of the vexing problems of the cities in which they live, and to which they should belong. Permit me to wraw upon the Gos pel for a fundamen tal principle which can guide us in our discussion. At least twise, Christ told us that we are to be the Salt of the Earth, and the lea ven which raises the whole mass of dough. Now, both of these concepts imply a certain catalytic function. The salt makes good food taste better, and more to the point, in the days of the Gospels, which had no freezers, the salt preserved meats. The salt does this by being what it is, and by working on the food or meats at they are. The salt respects the food it savours and the meat is preserved. The leaven, or yeast, works slowly and yet effevtively, releasing the hidden powers of the dough. Hiddenly, imperceptibly, the yeast works throughout the whole mass, but as with the salt, by being what it is and by acting on the dough as the dough is. Here lies the basic principle for a Catholic contribution for the civic community: a sound respect for the civic community in all its reality and a real effort for Catholics to be what they are. LET us look first at this civic community. This city, so fraught with dangers, so bright with hopes, so burdened with problems, so open to improvement, so threatening to man, and yet so essential to his human development; this city is our home and our responsibility. This city is lovable and fascinating, challenging and dangerous. This city is not the City of God, but neither is it the City of Satan; it is the city of man. All that Is noble, inspiring and inspired in man finds its natural completion and perfection in this city. But also, all that is debasing and savage in man finds free rein in this city. The city contains all men, of all conditions, all stations and all kinds. Because it is the City of Man, it must serve men. It must be shaped to the measure of man, it must be for men. The constant temptation to make the city foremost and man secondary must be resisted at all costs. To reverse the roles and make man for the city not only ruins men, but it peverts the city. Because it is the city' of man, it can never limit man to this world and its goals. It must always leave the door open to higher goals for men. Because it Is the City of Man, it can work only with human power, with the strength of men. But it stands in need of more power than mere man car. give it. THUS we look at our civic community as a good thing, called to the heights, but besieged by self destruction. We see it as the servant of men, but limited to human vision, human power and human goals. Where can the city get a higher vision, a higher power and a higher goal? This is the role of the Christian, a man of Faith, of Hope and of Charity. The city of Man needs men who know what they are, where they are going and how they are to get there. This the the Christian has by Faith. Because his God has told him by word and deed that he, man, is good, lovable and loved, the Christian knows who man is. Because God became a man, the Christian knows, by Faith, that everything human cries out to be baptized, to be raised beyond itself, just as man has been raised to share in the Divine Life itself. The Christian man’s faith sets the goals and judges the means for all that Is human, even or especially for the building of the City of Man. The City of Man sets its sights upon the goal of Man. The Christian knows by faith that his goal lies beyond this world, beyond and yet my steriously through this world. Heaven begins here, is won here, and can be lost here. Before all of the dangers, discouragements, and difficulties which the ambivalent City of Man offers to men, the Hope of the Christian gives courage and conviction. The Hope of the Christian is no chimaera, a dream. It is the clear perception of distant goals, and the power to obtain them. Rooted in the knowledge of Faith, Christian Hope is the power of God himself, given to men to make It possible for them to do what it impossible by their own strength. Since the City of Man is an essential part of man’s pilgrim life, a threat or a help, the resources of hope are available even for the building up of the City of Man. THE CITY of Man can call upon Justice as its highest motivation. But mere justice Is so hard to maintainn, ami can be so cold even when maintained, that it needs a higher power, a greater impetus. The Christian man is a man of Charity - that is, he is a man in whom dwells the God who is l*ove. With this Charity, made up of the command to serve his neighbor and the means to render this service, the limitations of mere justice are transcended, the mechnical nature of mere justice is converted into a warm human thing. Men whose hearts of stone have been re placed with hearts of flesh by God are men who can ennoble and enliven the City of Man as it is building. REAPINGS AT RANDOM. CONTINUED ON PAGE 8