The Georgia bulletin (Atlanta) 1963-current, November 14, 1963, Image 5

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The Georgia bulletin, November 14, 1963, Image 5

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Newspaper Page TextTHURSDAY, NOVEMBER 14, 1963 GEORGIA BULLETIN PAGE 5 GEORGIA PINES 1 Visiting The Host City BY REV. DONALD R. KIERNAN Last week, it was a trip to Savannah. The southeastern regional meeting o: the Catholic Press Association was holding its annual meeting in that city. I was invited to give a talk on die Role of the Editorial Page to delegates representing new spapers in seven southeastern dioceses. As I left Gainesville it was a beautiful morning and it was one of those days that seemed to get better as the hours went on. My first assignment as a priest was at the Cathedral in Savannah. Consequently, a trip back to that city is always a pleasant journey, recalling man;., many pleasant memories. The only thing which cast a dark cloud on the day was the tact that I had to give a speech. THE CONVENTION \\ AS well represented. Our "sifter newspaper” of the diocese of Savannah was the host. l ather Francis Donohue and Mr. John Markw alter did a magnificent job in prepar ing and arranging a program. Truly, if Savannah has merited the nameof the HostCity of the South, these two men did an excellent job in maintaining that reputa tion. After the convention sessions I drove over to the Cathedral of Saint John die Baptist. This church structure has recently undergone a complete renova tion. Under the direction of a native Savannahian, the Cathe- ral Rector, Monsignor T. James McNamara has pally restored the edit ice to its pristine beauty' nd made it the barometer of Catholic prestige i Savannah. 1HE NEXT DAY 1 DROVE out to the Benedic- ne Military School. The Fathers have recently lilt a complete new plant in the south section of e city. Recently the local community, which was rmerly a part of the Belmont Abbey, North Caro ls, was independently established and Father •de, O.S.B. was named the first Prior. The Benedictine Fathers have an unusual history in the port city. During the last century' a group came here from Germany and built a monastery on an island nearwhat is known today as the Isle of Hope. There was a lack of vocations and the community died out. Before the turn of the century, Monks from Maryhelp Abbey (now Belmont) estab lished a church and school on Habersham street and in 1902 the present Sacred Heart Church and old school located on Bull street was begun. The school was used up until September of this year when the new "B C” was built on a tract of 110 acres just off Waters Avenue. A VISIT TO THE Sacred Heart Church brought back memories of two ordinations I had attended in that church. When one thinks of the many priests and sisters in the service of religion who were former parishioners of that parish a true per spective of the influence of the Benedictine Fathers is realized. The trip back through Statesboro brought me past Saint Matthews church in that town. The church was dedicated soon after Bishop Hyland came to Georgia. The Glenmary Fathers staffed that church which for many years was a mission of the Cathedral parish some 60 miles away. THE TOWN OF BROOKLET is on the way. Soon after the late Bishop O’Hara came to Georgia, he preached a mission in that town to a group of Ita lian immigrants who had settled there. This was about 25 years ago. All along the way from Savannah to Atlanta I saw signs of Catholic churches, missions and sta tions. Times of the Masses and locations of chur ches were conspicuously posted. The church in Georgia has really grown during the past 10 years. I recall that when I was transferred from Savan nah to the Immaculate Conception in Atlanta, some 12 years ago, the only town which I passed through that had a Catholic church was Macon. Its a won derful tribute to the faith, loyalty and sacrifices of the good Catholic people of Georgia. QUESTION BOX ‘Gee, Lady...’ BY MONSIGNOR J. O. CONWAY . HOW I HATE TO WRITE THIS MESSAGE! r TO SAVE THE FAITH PLEASE RESIGN! J MUST BE TOO OLD TO BE WRITING. SO .ASE, AFTER WHAT YOU WROTE ABOUT ", ROSARY LEAVE SUCH PROBLEMS TO ISL WHO ARE INTERESTED IN HELPING T UNINFORMED. GET SOME CIRCULARS ON T ROSARY AND GET HEPPED. Gee, Lady, all I did was to tell a poor strugg- liconvert that if, a f ter reasonable effort, s ^ e stound the rosary an annoying curaen ana a dis cern to her, she should not attempt to say it, but should choose other prayers m more meaningful to her. And then I told her that she could be a good Catholic without the rosary. And she can, too! At least nine-tenths of the saints on the Church calendar never said the Rosary in their lives- I and only a baker’s dozen of them said the rosary as you and I 'say it. Di‘ou know that the second part of the Hail M ar Vasn’i even “invented” until the 16th cen tury? * ai not trying to demean the rosary or to jiscouiy. anyone from saying it. Many people find it, S pi r ing and consoling: a very comfor table, niiiar form of prayer. Some say 15 decades a day without weariness, and pos sibly thout serious distraction. More power 0 l * iern lay the good Lord bless and keep them I Vnd 1 an ure His Blessed Mother loves them. . . jrovidet^ey do not try to force their own favo- lite devo» n 0 n other people. Senility as at least one compensation: long eperiencq assure you, my pious lady, that I h.ve dealt llh many converts through the years ad that nny of them never learn to like the r sary. I k, w some bom Catholics — and even sine pries — who find the rosary monoton- as and discing. Priests are urged by Church l.w to say t. rosary daily. But lav people have n> obligation say it at all. They must pray, but t'Cy arc fre to choose their form of prayer. Q. MA\ A 'aTHOLIC ATTEND A PARISH DINNER PUT o by a NON CATHOLIC PARISH? A. Yes. Q. I HAVE BEEN TOLD THAT A CATHOLIC WHO MARRIES A DIVORCED NON-CATHOLIC OUTSIDE THE CHURCH CANNOT RECEIVE ANY BENEFIT BY ATTENDING SUNDAY MASS. A. He may receive many benefits: (1) the nega tive one of avoiding an additional sin each week, (2) many favors, temporal and spiritual, which the merciful may grant to his family and friends, and even to him the half-repentant sinner, (3) actual graces without number, and eventually possible the grace of conversion, (4) keeping close to the Church so that eventual return will be easier, and (5) giving good example — in this at least — to his children and his neighbors. Of course, unless his conscience is more confused than we think, he cannot receive that primary benefit which is loving union with God in sanctifying grace. But I am confident that he does not offend the Lord by his unrepentant wor ship, in which he exercises faith and hope while unable to love fully. Q. IN A RECENT QUESTION BOX A READER INQUIRED ABOUT EVOLUTION IF IT WAS CONTRADICTORY TO THE BIBLE. YOUR LONG ANSWER REMINDED ME OF THE STORY OF A LONG WINDED SERMON, AND CALVIN COOLI- DGE’S ANSWER WHEN SOMEONE ASKED HIM, "WHAT W AS THE SERMON ABOUT?” HE ANS WERED: "HE DIDN’T SAY." I AM SORRY YOU DID NOT MAKE IT CLEAR, AS IT IS A SUBJECT OFTEN ARGUED ABOUT. A. Clearly then: You may accept all the theo ries of evolution to which your scientific studies may urge you, and you need have no fear of con tradicting the Bible. Only one exception must I make: In the present status of our scientific and theological knowledge we should not subs cribe to polygenism; the theory that the human race is descended from a diverse and multiple an cestry. Pope Pius XII cautioned us against polygenism in his Encyclical Humani Generis: "Now it is in no way apparent how such an opinion can be reconciled with that which the sources of revealed truth and the documents of teaching authority of the Church propose with regard to original sin, which proceeds from sin actually committed.by an individual Adam and which through generation is passed on to all and is in everyone as his own." liturgical week A Christian Community (CONTINUECfrOM PAGE 4) rebirth. We honor he presentation in the temple as a figure of that pure orship which Christ offers the Father wherever is disciples are gathered. ”1 made Sion my stron&old” (First Reading is the affirmation of every Chistian as it was of Mary.) FRIDAY, NOVEMBE. 22„ ST. CECILIa, \ IRGIN, MARTYR. It * not the absence of a human and proper use of s* which makes virginity an honored vocation in thtChurch, but rather the fact that this vow is mate out of a specific love for and dedication to God *jd the holy Community. All the texts of the Mass rflect the virgin's wit ness to the ultimate realities, to the truth that the destiny God offers man lies beyond time and space in that eternity of which the Eucharist is pledge. SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 23, ST. CLEMENT, POPE, MARTYR. "Upon this rock I will build my Church” (Gospel). So the worshiping com munity is only truly itself when its liturgy is pre sided over by the bishop or the priest who is his vicar. Such is the way Christ builds His Church. Not only with Bible and sacrament, but with priesthood, too. A human instrument for the order and protection of the biblical and sacramental ministry. Saints in Black and White ST. VALENTINE 64 ACROSS 64. Calcium; abbr. 23. Landing ship. Tanks; 1. A sharp blow 66. Brad 24. abbr. Omissions excepted 3. Any cook 68. Government Agency; 29. Fnemv 9. Opposed to weather abbr. 33. Hard 13. French author 69. A game of making 34. Adherent 14. Crown words 35. It is 15. Cloaks 71. Vapor 36. Weep (Scot) 17. Seed covering ~ 3. Cheese 3' " . . Culpa 18. Mantle 75. New Rochelle College 38. Proof reader s mark 20. Cohered 76. Plug 40. Anarchist 22. Mollusk ~8. Invariably )2. Stone 25. Deserter 80. Celia 4 3. Quiet 26. Arabian City 81 Care 4 5. D.D.L, 27. Vocalized pause 82. Notch 46. Perish 28. Exercise 83. Stoneware; French r. Printers measures 29. Pelt .9, I ish eggs 30. Water; French DOWN 5() The manner in 31. Size of shot which he died 32. Anurans 1. Pursue 54. Exact Point 34. Annoys 2. Roll 55. Imploring 35. Volume 3. Premium 56. Lily .... 39. il. Sins 4. Contaminate 57. Declaim Rile 5. Red Organization; 58. He was one i2. Neon abbr. 60. Cambric M. Christmas time 6. Lyre 63. A promise to pay; 48. A cut of pork 7. World War 11 area: abbr. 51. Median abbr. 64. A boat 52. Relative 8. He was executed in 65. Heap 5 3. Fgg dish 6' Overdue 55. Drones 9. News service 69. Pravei ending 56. A built a M) Milk 70. Bellow church in his memory 11 Charles Lamb's 72 A day yf the week; 59. Giggle pen name abbr. 60. Note; music 12. Fscapcr “ i. Farewell 61. Hockey ball 16. Cringe Palladium; (chenG 62. By birth 19. Middle ear 79. Football position; 63. Pin 21. African antelopes abbr ANSWER TO LAST WEEK'S PUZZLE ON PAGE 7 VICAR GENERAL Reprimands Priest For Attack BRIDGEPORT, Conn. (NC)~ The Vicar General of the Bridgeport diocese has repri manded a diocesan priest for his activities in an effort to impeach Chief Justice Earl Warren of the United States. In a statement issued from the chancery, Msgr. William F. Kearney, vicar general, stated: "Recently certain statements and activities on the part of the Rev. Francis E. Fenton espe cially a petition approved by him with reference to the impeach ment of the Chief Justice of the United States were widely pub licized in the press.” MSGR. KEARNEY said that after consultation with Bishop Walter W. Curtis of Bridgeport, who is in Rome at the Second Vatican Council, he had the following comments: "The statements and activi ties of Father Fenton, as re corded in the press, were, to put it mildly, ill-advised and un called for. "He neither consulted with nor received permission from St. Michael’s Holy Name Under the direction of the president , Mr. Charles Buechlein, the Holy Name Society of Saint Michael’s Ch urch met at the rectory on Wed nesday night. Plans for the 26th. annual bridge party to be held on Nov ember 21st and assignments were given the men. Parish singing, and a more active par ticipation in the Mass were also topics of discussion. ecclesiastical superiors. “HE ACTED IN open con travention to directions pre viously given to him by his ec clesiastical superiors to re frain from indulging in politi cal statements and activities and to confine himself to the spiritual work for which he Altarian Drive The Altar and Rosary So ciety of Our Lady of the As sumption Parish will be in charge of the Annual Thanks giving Clothing Drive. Dona tions will be accepted from No vember 24th to December 2nd. SOME OBJECTORS NEW YORK (NC)—An official of the Third Order of St. Fran cis called objections to the group’s presenting its 1963 St. Francis Peace Medal to Dr. Martin Luther King a sign of “confusion.” Father PhilipMarquard, O.F. M., of Chicago, presenting the Peace medal to Dr. King, said the Third Order had encoun tered objections from "a good ly number of people” to the choice of the Negro integration leader for its honor. FATHER MARQUARD said he thought those who objected were “sincere.” was ordained.” The Monsignor stated "the incident is highly regrettable from every angle especially the embarrassment and distress caused to so many of our good Catholic people.” ' FATHER FENTON, pastor of Blessed Sacrament parish in Bridgeport’s East End, had urg ed parishoners to sign a peti tion calling for the impeach ment of Chief Justice Warren. Members of the John Birch Society, of which Father Fen ton is a member, collected more than 600 signatures as ►parishoners left Mass. Dr. King, a Baptist, is pre sident of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference. In se lecting him for its 1963 Peace Medal, the Franciscan Third Order cited his "truly Chris tian approach to the civil rights problem through his program of non-violence.” DR. KING, accepting the award, said it signaled "a new level of fellowship and concern” in the civil rights effort. He called it “dear and meaning ful” as his first award from a Catholic group, and said he ac cepted it for his companions “in the front lines of this dif ficult struggle.” Third Order Honor Given To Dr. King ARNOLD VIEWING Seminary Fund Clear And Cold BY. JAMES W. ARNOLD In the stark northland of Europe, Ingmar Ber gman, the brooding Swedish genius who is to movies what the moon is to a clear night sky, continues to build as he says his cathedral. His new film, "Winter Light,” reconfirms what is hardly a secret: while others may approach his technical skills, no maker of movies works closer to the naked center of the eternal hu man dilemma. Is man an absurd accident or an image of the divine? Writer-director Bergman is a major artist working with great themes in an atmosphere of spartan integrity. In the whole world there may be only a half- dozen creative men of whom one could say the same; none speaks to so vast an audience. It is astounding luck that the present master of the flickering image should be a medieval intellect ual frankly obsessed with tracing the footprints of God; The Hound of Heaven in Bergman is not pursuer but pursued. Bergman is not an entertainer in the usual sense. One does not approach his films expect ing them to be “like” the Hollywood product or even the European art films, whose non commercialism is often commercialism with a backspin. One goes to a Bergman movie as to a good novel or painting, expecting artful in sight rather than a show. (He is one filmmaker who may be unhesitatingly recommended to those who love books and who haven't seen a movie since the eighth grade.) "Winter Light,” for example, is a grim tale about a village minister who despairs. The cast are familiar members of the Bergman “repertory”: Gunnar Bjornstrand (in most Ber gman films since 1952), Ingrid Thulin, Max von Sydow (George Stevens’ choice to play Ch rist), 'Gunne Lindblom- The stars , as always, are completely secondary to the story. Bergman, as both author and interpreter, is in full charge. Nearly everything about the film is unplea sant, including the bleak scenery and the ending. There is no music background. Pretty actresses Thulin and Lindblom are made to look as awful as possible. If a man is unfamiliar with Berg man and attends to what he usually attends to in movies, he will be bored and distressed, and come after the critic with an elephant gun. One recalls, terrified, the customers who found little to amuse them in “West Side Story.” Neither should a viewer expect to get Berg man’s point in literary or verbal terms, as in a book, play or too many movies. With Bergman you do not so much listen as watch; the film's impact and meaning are in its pictures. There is the magnificent last scene in "Wild Straw-' berries” where, without words or even logic, the viewer is flooded with a sense of beauty, peace, love. This is what the director means to "say” about the selfish old.man who has re deemed himself on the brink of the grave. At the end of “Winter Light,” the minister, drained of all faith and human feeling, turns wearily at a service to face a congregation of only one: the sad-faced mistress he has just cruelly tried to abandon. Bergman's God, in a final act of mercy, seems to say: bring light and love to only one, this one, and there will be hope for you both. But the pastor, turned inward to his own misery, misses the point. Bitterly (and with supreme unconscious irony) he recites the prayer: “Holy, holy, holy. . . . the whole earth is full of His radiant glory. . . .” It would be wrong to expect religious ortho doxy or comfort from Bergman, the rebel son of a middle-class Lutheran clergyman. He refuses to say whether he is a Christian or even a believer. An atheist will find little satisfaction in him, but an agnostic might. The message is always ambiguous, and Bergman simply wants his audience to think: "Each person has a right to understand a film as he sees it . .*' Yet the central questions of Bergman's art are religious questions; whatever his own faith may be, he wants to contribute to man's unend ing dialog about God. In “Winter Light,” he deals again (as in “Seventh Seal” and “Virgin Spring”) with the crucial issue for modern man: the fact of monstrous evil in the world, and the silence of God. Is He silent because He doesn’t exist? Or because evil is part of a plan beyond un derstanding? Atheism is a relief, the tortured minister ex claims: “If God doesn't exist, life (makes per verse sense). . .inexplicable suffering need be explained no longer. . .there is no protector, no creator, no fault. . . .” The pastor thinks his unbelief sets him free, but each new act leads to greater misery: die disturbed parishioner to whom he revealed his despair commits suicide; he brings bitterness to the widow and agony to the schoolteacher who loves him; finally, his church is empty and barren. It was inevitable that Bergman, intrigued with the problem of man’s abandonment by God, should one day confront the annihilating moment on Calvary when God was forsaken of God. Those words, Chesterton says, man shall never under stand in all the eternity they have purchased for him. Bergman's attempt, via a crippled sex ton, is beautiful whatever its theological accur acy: that Christ's greatest suffering was His utter loneliness, to “understand that no one un derstands,” that He was willing to share even the last terror of men - the silence of God, the agony of doubt. "God is love, and love is God,” says an in toxicated church organist, who then dismisses the notion as "tripe.” Perhaps for Berg man an intuitive proof of God’s existence is the arid horror wrought in "Winter Light” by non love. The key may be in the director's own words on man’s over concern with self:” . . .we stand and bleat about our loneliness without listening to each other and without realizing we are smothering each other to death. The individualists stare into each other's eyes and yet deny the existence of each other. We walk in circles, so limited we can no longer distinguish between true and false. . .” Bergman’s gift to us all is to put the an of the film, accessible to everyone in the world, into the heart of the great human controversies: good and evil, truth, love, sin, God. Remember the SEMINARY FUND of the Archdiocese of Atlanta in your Will* Be quests should be made to the “Most Rev erend Paul J, Hallinan, Archbishop of the Catholic Archdiocese of Atlanta and his suc cessors in office”. Participate in the daily prayers of our seminarians and in the Masses offered annually for the benefactors of our SEMINARY FUND. God Love You BY MOST REVEREND FULTON I. SHEEN ROME...The other morning, before the daily Mass for the Council began, I met a bishop whom I did not immediately recog nize. For he was dressed in purple, and the last time I had seen him in the “bush,” he had been dressed in torn khaki—the only practical outfit for his primitive mission diocese. This bishop, and hundreds of others, remind the rest of us what bishops are for, namely, the service of the people. In the Missions they are not adminis trators—there is hardly anything to ad ministrate; they are shepherds with their sheep, servants with their mas ters—the poor. The same is true of many bishops here from persecuted countries. They seem to be girded with a towel, as was Our Lord the night of the Last Supper when He washed the feet of his Apostles. In other words, they are what are called in Greek, Doulos—slaves of the faithful and of all mankind. It is in this spirit that the Holy Father calls himself: "the servant of the servants of God.” It is the Will of God that we be beggars in the United States for these brother bishops, who are not judges but servants of die people. If you could come to the Council and meet these hun dreds of men who, in poverty, minister to the poor, how you too would yearn to be their servants I They truly live the words St. Augustine so often repeated to his people! "I am a bishop for you, I am a Christian with you.” I intercede for these poor bishops of the world, who have to trust more in God because they lack coins to remind them, "In God We Trust.” Absent from you in body, I am nevertheless present among you in spirit, begging a remembrance in sacrifice and prayers for these holy men who keep before our eyes the ideal of service rooted in Our Lord, whom St. Peter called "the Bishop of our souls.” It is going to be a different world after this Council. You can help bring it into being by helping those who are most like Christ in His poverty, His Crucifixion and His emptying of glory to stand among men as those who “minister and are not ministered unto.” In your will, in your daily self-denial, in your bearing witness to Our Lord in your office and work, make your self saintly by serving first the saintly. GOD LOVE YOU to E. G. and A, C. for $5 “We are 'strolling troubadors.’ We offer our first tip for the Missions. You’ll be hearing from us soon again." ...to Mrs. S. F. L. for $10 "I offered my daughter, a mother of six, this money. She asked me to send it to the Missions instead. 1 feel so proud to think she thinks of others first.” ...to K, C. for $25 “I have been hungry but have been able to buy food. This is for those who do not have the money to buy food.” We are not only asking for your sacrifices, but for your pray ers. Send your request and an offering of $2 for the WORLD- MISSION ROSARY, and we will send you these multicolored beads blessed by Bishop Sheen. Each time you say the WORLDMISSION ROSARY remember to put aside a daily sacrifice for the Holy Father. Cut out this column, pin your sacrifice to it and mail it to Most Rev. Fulton J. Sheen, National Director of The Society for the Propagation of the Faith, 366 Fifth Avenue, New York, N. Y. 10001, or your Diocesan Director, Rev. Harold J. Rainey, P. O. Box 12047, Northslde Station, Atlanta 5, Ga.