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1 GEORGIA PINES 6 Ask Not.-’ THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 28, 1963 GEORGIA BULLETIN PAGE 5 Saints in Black and White ! PmSmjwm LdYMm ST. GERARD 74 REV. R. DONALD KIERNAN Monday, November 25, 1963 ... a day to re member. All over the country ears are tuned to radios, and faces are fixed upon television scenes to witness the final tribute of a sorrowful nation to a truly great man, John F. Kennedy. Since that fateful movement on last Friday when an assassin's bullet: ended the life of our first Catholic President, messages, prayers and tri butes have been pouring into Washington from all over the world. This man was loved, admired and respected. The resume of his life pre sented over all television cir cuits brought many remem- berancesandrecollections, lam sure, to millions of people in this land of ours. The first time I remember j seeing John Kennedy was years ago in Boston. He was running for a seat in the House of Representatives. I re call overhearing two old men making a comment following a rally speech which John Kennedy had just given. One man said to the other: "He has the fire of old Honey Fitz". (Honey Fitz was his grandfather who had served as Boston’s may or.) Kennedy was not too well known to Georgians until the Georgia delegation to a national Demo cratic convention picked him for the vice presi dency to run with Adeli Stevenson. Kennedy de clined to run at this time. When I was stationed in Athens, I recall that he came to the University of Georgia and delivered a graduation speech in Sanford stadium. The au dience was packed with Georgia politicans and al ready this young man had gained fame on the na tional scene with his best seller, Profiles in Cou rage. The late President’s next visit to Georgia was while he was running for President. I recall a reception at the Dinkler-Plaza hotel in which he charmed everyone with his easy manner, warm smile and terrific personality. I drove to Warm Springs to see and hear him spea k to Georgians during his bid for the presi dency. He was a great figure standing on the porch of Roosevelt’s "little White House" and all went away convinced that this man could win. I recall that when I returned to my car, handbills had been placed in all the automobiles reading that if this man won the "Pope of Rome would be run ning the country." (I wonder where those hate- mongers are now I) Just last summer while riding on a friend’s yatch in Nantucket Sound, I saw the President through field glasses as he cruised about guard ed by two coast-guard vessels. I went to Washington in January of 1960 to see this man inaugurated as the 35th President of the United States. A big snow storm fell the night before and workmen worked fevorishly the night through to clear the parade route. It did not dampen the ceremony one bit and I think the one single thing remembered from that day were his words, "ask not what your country can do for you, but what you can do for your country." All over the world today memorals are being conducted in Protestant, Catholic and Jewish chur ches. There is a feeling that this good man belong ed to us all. Here in Gainesville at Saint Michael’s Church the Mayor, City Commissioners, depart ment heads of the city government along with of ficials of Hall County joined the parishioners in a final requiem for America's departed President. "Ask not what your country can do for you, but what you. . ." John Fitzgerald Kennedy lived these words. Tireless, devoted, selfless, a man of unquestioned integrity, he gave his own life for the country he loved so much. QUESTION BOX Catholic Birchers? Q. CAN YOU GIVE ME SOME GUIDANCE IN THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN CATHOLICISM AND MEMBERSHIP IN SUCH SOCIETIES AS THE JOHN BIRCH SOCIETY. HERE IS A CLIPPING ABOUT A PRIEST WHO BOASTED FROM THE PULPIT OF HIS MEMBERSHIP IN THIS SOCIETY, AND URGED HIS PARISHIONERS TO SIGN A PETITION, CIRCULATED AT THE CH URCH DOOR, CALLING FOR THE IMPEACH MENT OF CHIEF JUSTICE WARREN. IT IS DIFFICULT FOR ME TO UNDERSTAND HOW A CATHOLIC —LAYMAN OR PRIEST—CAN PRO MOTE SUCH A SOCIETY AND RECONCILE HIS OWN CATHOLICISM WITH THE AIMS AND PUB LIC STATEMENTS OF THE JOHN BIRCH SOC IETY. A. I was pleased to read that this misguided priest received a public reprimand from his Chan cery Office. I hope he is given a penance requiring daily medi tation on Pope John’s two great encyclicals: Mater et Magistra and Pacem in Terris. I will wager that he has never read either of them. Any Catholic, lay or clerical, who consorts with the John Birch Society is either totally ignorant of the social principles of his religion, or is carried away by blind pre judices. And any priest who urges his parish ioners to sign a petition asking for the impea chment of the Chief Justice should be sent to a psychiatrist. He is mad — even as the mad .racists. We may not like some of the decisions in which the Chief Justice has participated, along with a majority of the court, But judges are not appointed to please all the people, but rather to interpret the law and apply the principles of our Constitution to modern problems. By and large the Warren court has done this job admirably. And even if you disagree violently with this state ment, you must, if you have plain, common sense, admit that there are no legal grounds on which impeachment proceedings could even be instituted against any member of the court. For tunately our Constitution has made them immune from the rabid rantings of public opinion. Only thus can justice be done. Q. JESUS WAS A HUMBLE MAN AND CHOSE SIMPLE HUMBLE MEN AS HIS APSOTLES. HE HAD ONLY CONTEMPT FOR THE PROUD AND HAUGHTY. THAT IS WHY I CANNOT UNDER STAND THE BISHOPS OF THE CATHOLIC CHURCH. IF A LAYMAN OR A PRIEST WANTS TO TALK TO A BISHOP HE MUST FIRST KNEEL AND KISS THE BISHOP’S RING. WHEN THE BIS HOP VISITS A PARISH HE WANTS TO HAVE A THRONE TO SIT ON, TO SHOW THAT HE IS A BIG SHOT, AND WE INFERIOR BEINGS. WAS IT EVER NECESSARY FOR A REALLY BIG MAN TO PUT ON THE DOG TO MAKE AN LITURGICAL WEEK Meaning Of Incarnation (CONTINUED FROM PAGE 4) CONFESSOR. Every Mass is a consecration of our few talents to the Almighty (Gospel). And the First Reading today suggests specific examples of the general Gospel mandate. Since our talents are God’s gifts, they are to be used in humility— not only in subjection to Him, but also in chari table subjection to others and to our superiors. All this in an atmosphere of praise. SATURDAY, DEC. 7, ST. AMBROSE, BIS HOP, CONFESSOR, DOCTOR. Another great doc tor and teacher this week, so another opportunity’ to return to the Council Fathers in our thoughts and prayers. May what they have provided for the renewal and reform of Catholic public worship soon become evident around these altars in the things we say and do at Mass. Billy Graham Receives Belmont Abbey Ovation i. 4. 8. 13. 14. 15. 17. 19. 20. 22 23! 24. 25. 27. 28. 29. 30. 31. 32. 35. 3 1. 55. 36. 3”. 38. 40. 41. 44. 4 5. 46. 47. 49. ACROSS 50. . 51. Siouan Indian 52. Boot 53. Aida 54. Thus S5, Occident 56. Ovexdecorate 57. Superiors 58. Dye 59. Roman Catholic; 62. abbr. Ci 1, Minerals (,5. Behave Cheer! 66. Charge 6". South 68. Legend Biblical wild n\ Returned to lite 1. Place where he was born in France 2. Blunder 3. Dull persons (slang) 4. Me was noted for his 5. sweetness of 6. Yes in Cuba Sulker “. Six on a die 8. Obtains 9. Sailors 10. Soak 11. God of War; Gr. Myth. 12. Musical composition 16. Spanish coin Trite 18. 13 - 19 19. Unknit 21. Brother of 37 down 23. Baseball team 2 i. Narrate again 2 5. I nits of weight; abbr. 26. Haven 2". Stop watch 2s. F.rrors excepted 30. Roman album 51. Purifying plant 33. Swiss song Females 36. Teacher's Association; s~. abbr. W. Infant id. Cupolas ) I. Obscure ■i2. DOWN 15. Religious order of i5. nicn; nbbr. 16. Bond i~. ". ... Revolution" -.8, Sugary .»•). Personal Pronoun 50. Government Agency; 52. abbr. " tu. Brute" 5 v Derive 5 5. Serenity V v Revise 5 s Operatctl 5‘>. Gobi symbol i< > Plate where his t.i estate was (. 1. Journey Male and female 6i. A kind of trout Part of a stair Inclined vs ay Attire \X eiriJ Causeways Similar L- s»os HI ion I dihlc.mushroom Am. tfur Wall painting B.other of 51 across Rattans Cut..Ip.I Characteristic of the ikrgy Ass (German) Tax Kncamp Communion plate Bundle He founJe-l one Bt >re Negligent Me was born of parents (•at West Point freshman Duration Ohio College I own Brnr.il Seaport Portuguese coin v.\e • Potato River in VCV.lt rn >|lv r ;a Gadolinium; abbr. ANSWER TO LAST WEEK’S PUZZLE ON PAGE 7 BELMONT, N.C. (NC)—He preached the gospel according to Graham, but it sounded as if Evangelist Billy Graham were using a Catholic translation of Holy Scripture for his text. The renowned crusader won a standing ovation from 2,000 priests, nuns, and laymen for his first address ever on a Ca tholic college campus. BEFORE THE overflow crowd in Belmont Abbey Col lege gymnasium here, Billy Gra ham called for Christian unity; praised the Second Vatican Council and the late Pope John XXIII; confessed he lifted some words and phrases of Bishop Fulton J. Sheen for use in his sermons; strongly condemned America's secularistic trend, and underscored present day revolutions—Christian, racial, moral, political and scientific. “We have on our coins,” he said, "the inscription ’In God we trust’; we have chaplains in our armed forces. And we have people who seem bent on re moving these things from our way of life. We must remem ber that God honors the na tion that honors God." THERE IS "a great revolu tion" now raging in Christen dom, he said. "I don’t know when it began. Perhaps during World War II," he continued. "I think the em phasis that the late Pope John brought, the Ecumenical Coun cil of the Bishops in Rome it self—a council that has the prayers of all Christendom— herald the present Christian re- IMPRESSION? WAS NOT THIS KNEELING AND KISSING BUSINESS COPIED FROM THE PROUD AND ARROGANT PRINCES AND KINGS A THOU SAND YEARS AGO. DO YOU THINK ANY UNITED STATES PRE SIDENT WOULD EVER BE ELECTED A SECOND TIME IF HE WERE TO DEMAND THAT EVERY VISITOR KNEEL AND KISS HIS HAND? IS IT NOT ABOUT TIME FOR THE HIERARCHY OF THE CA THOLIC CHURCH TO GET UP TO DATE AND DO AWAY WITH THIS SHOW OF PRIDE AND ARRO GANCE? MY WIFE IS A CATHOLIC AND I THINK THE CHURCH IS OKAY, BUT HAVE NO USE FOR ANY ONE WHO DEGRADES HIS FELLOW MAN. A. You have a point, sir, but you make it much too sharp. It is painful as a needle. It is true that Jesus was humble; He came to serve and to minister. Yet He was pleased when a sinful woman knelt at His feet, bathed them with her tears and dried them with her hair. And He strongly defended Mary of Bethany who anointed Him with precious oil. Love and respect can give dignity to signs of homage. Feudalism debased these signs. This kneeling andkissingbusiness was certainly copied from die proud and arrogant princes of centuries ago. In those days bishops were apt to be princes - or at least counts or dukes. Respect Is due to authority. All legitimate authority comes from God; and we honor God when we respect His representative. But the norms and manners of respect may change as customs evolve. Kneeling and kissing were fitting signs of respect \n feudal times. They are anachronistic in modern America. We tolerate them as ceremonial ves tiges of our ancient heritage. The throne is even more ceremonial; tradi tion has made It a part of our liturgy. There may be a temptation for one bishop or another to think he is a "big shot" while seated on his throne; but others may be humbly conscious of their un worthiness. I doubt that the average bishop has any intention of making you and me feel inferior beings. And actually I doubt that * the average Catholic does have this inferior feeling, even though die throne, the mitre, and the incense do Impress him with the high office of the bishop as the successor of the Apostles - mostly fisher men of the Lake of Galilee. The kneeling and ring-kissing are on the wane in democratic America. Most bishops reserve them for ceremonial occasions. For the rest, I respect your argument that the Church should get up to date and sluff off many of Its antiquated vestiges of feudalism. And it would not much hurt prelatial pride if Monsig- norial robes and dignities were among the first to go. ARNOLD VIEWING Funny, Talkative BY JAMES W. ARNOLD "Mary, Mary" will please nearly everyone - ranging the considerable gamut from Debbie Rey nolds fans to admirers of Jean Kerr - except movie buffs. In defiance of the principle that movies must move, practically nothing in"Mary, Mary" moves except the performers' mouths. There hasn't been so much tongue-wagging in one place since the Senate took up the foreign aid bill. The result is not really catastrophic, since the sounds have all emerged from the fertile mind of Mrs. Kerr, die onetime Pallas Athena of Catholic University. The lady's mastery of the wisecrack is comparable only to that of Dorothy Parker, who when told of the death of Calvin Coolidge reputedly ask ed: "How do they know?" SHE ALSO IS shrewd enough to realize that waggish females can be a drag. "Mary, Mary" Is about a Kerr-ish girl (Miss Reynolds) who has just bon-motted herself out of a husband (Barry Nelson). She wins him back only when she learns to keep her mouth shut. As the fellow says her skin reminds him of white por celain, she simply purrs - instead of firing back, "You mean like the kitchen sink?’’ Both characters are victims of inferiority complexes. He is a serious-minded book publish er torn by self-questionings ("How could I com municate with you? You were always communi cating with yourself. The line was always busy"). Mary’s compulsive witticisms hide feelings of inadequacy left over from an awkward teenage. Conversing with her is like throwing custard pie at a fan. VIEWERS WILL FIND little in the film related to ordinary human problems. Mary edits letters to the editor for Ladies Home Journal ("a little like incest"). Other characters include her hus band’s tax lawyer (Hiram Sherman), an aging film idol (suave Michael Rennie), and a rich food fad dist (Diane McBain, who looks like the late Carole Lombard but isn’t quite as funny). There is some good stuff on typical male-female misunderstand ings (I didn't say you were plain, he apologizes, but an ordinary, average girl. ..). But the comedy has more glitter than substance. As a 1961 stage hit, the show was a prototype for the more lethal "Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?" In both, the sexes stand around with half-empty glasses jabbering at each other. Mrs. Kerr’s characters use dialog as a blunt instru ment, but do not intend to maim. In the end there is armistice for the sake of love and peace: life will be duller but happier. THE PLOT IS MAINLY an excuse for Mrs. Kerr to engage In harmless repartee with herself on such vulnerable subjects as television commer cials, Hollywood (Rennie hears giggling in the kit chen, confesses nostaligia for the old days on the Paramount lot), even th e state of society (Ren nie’s ex-wife fell in love with her plastic surgeon after he removed a wartfrom her shoulder blade). But some gags are very "inside," as when a bust of a morose Indian is said to look like Jack Warner. If one believes that movies should do more than just make plays or books available to a wider audience, "Mary, Mary" is not much of a movie. Scenarist Richard Breen (onetime Fordham man) has made few script changes. The comedy is still verbal rather than visual; about 95 per cent of it takes place In one room. THE CHARACTERS are state concoctions, mak ing their contrived entrances and exits, pouring drinks, circling the sofa, whipping up snacks in the kitchen, etc. Producer-director Mervyn Le- Roy ("Gypsy") uses three or four cameras and fast cuts to provide an illusion of motion; perhaps his best touch is an argument over a bobbing ex- ercycle between actors Nelson and Rennie (both holdovers from the Broadway cast). Actor Nelson, in fact, is so good the show’s title might easily be "Barry, Barry." A kind of harrassed combination o f Johnny Carson and Jackie Cooper, he performs in restless spurts and arm-wavings like a toy soldier wound too tight. With ingenious gestures and vocal tricks, he gets vast mileage from such lines as "Life with Mary is like being caught in a telephone booth with an open unbrella...no matter which way you turn you get it in the eye." THE BEST SCENE has Nelson and Miss Rey nolds desperately ran-sacking the apartment in search of a cigaret ("Just ask yourself where you would go If you were a cigaret"). Later, Nelson, who has somehow taken sleeping pills, stands bar ring the door (to prevent an elopement between Rennie and Miss Reynolds) with the sleepy reso lution of a demolished boxer trying to re-focus on Sonny Liston. Debbie shows admirable sophistication in belt ing out the Kerr lines ("It was bad enough being plain, but plain and bright 1 In my high school that was a beatable combination"). But along the way she has picked up a theatrical, Bette Davis-ish way of ending her sentences in the air like ques tions, e.g., "In your whole life you never shook a bottle of magnessyah." THE RARE PLAY-FILM differences are fas cinating. In giving an example of "someone who is nice to look at but not beautiful,” Mary says Carl Sandburg. (In the play, it was Mrs. Roosevelt). Mary gets locked in the closet instead of the bath room (too earthy?) Rennie suggests going to a movie at the Museum of Modern Art. Instead of "Duck Soup," it’s "The Informer." (The Marx Brothers are "out" this season). The best thing about the Kerr lines is that they're funny even when you hear them wrong. Man’ criticizes one of her husband's authors: "He writes like a sick elf." I thought she said "sick elk." I laughed harder, because I know more elks than elves. CURRENT RECOMMENDED FILMS: For everyone: Lawrence of Arabia, Lilies of the Field, The Great Escape. For connoisseurs: Winter Light, 8 1/2, This Sporting Life. Better than most: The Longest Day, The Haunt ing, The V.L P.’s, The Reluctant Saint. volution.,.The emphasis in our time may be on the Holy Spi rit. Everywhere people are ga thering—Protestants, Catho lics and, yes, Jews—to pray together. I know of 114 such groups on Long Island itself. Is the Holy Spirit in our time doing something that is beyond any of us?" THE MAIN PORTION of the Graham address was a sermon —the personal sermon of a man dedicated to his faith, a man convinced that all men "must accept Jesus Christ as their personal Saviour." It was only in this area that Graham strayed once from Ca tholic theology. He placed his emphasis on forgiveness for sin from Jesus. But in so doing he omitted the Sacrament of Pen ance. Afterwards, a priest remark ed: "Billy Graham comes so close to the Church, He walks up to the line, then backs away. And his theology even on this point was not totally wrong. There is, you know, perfect contrition," THE WARMTH, the stage presence, the dynamism of Gra ham enveloped his audience, capturing it for Graham if not for his crusade, "I am not a Protestant pope," he said, "although inParaquay I was once referred to as the Protestant pope. And I admit that there are Protestants who think they are popes.” To newsmen in the audience, primed to ask questions, he cautioned; "Everywhere I go I’m asked what I think will come of the Ecumenical Council. I don’t know. I’m not a prophet." But, he added, he is certain that the council has engen dered a greater understanding. IN A BRIEF news conference prior to the address, Graham denied reports that he has ac cepted invitations to speak at five other Catholic colleges. Father John Oetgen, O.S.B., president of the Benedictine college, summed up the ef fectiveness of the event. He said; "We have received news paper clippings from through out the country praising us for inviting Dr. Graham to speak here. "After listening to Dr. Gra ham, I must say that we should not be praised for being the first to invite him. We should be blamed for having waited so long to extend the invitation.” New Auxiliary WASHINGTON (NC) — Pope Paul VI has transferred the Most Rev. James E. McManus, C.SS.R., from the See of Ponce, Puerto Rico, to the Titular Diocese of Benda and named him Auxiliary to Francis Car dinal Spellman, Archbishop of New York. Seminary Fund 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 J. SHEEN ROME...The other night, as we dined with about eighteen bishops from behind the Iron Curtain, we asked seven of them who were near us at table to add up the number of years they had spent in prison and In concentration camps because of their Faith. The total was twenty—six years! We then told them that they were "dry' martyrs," explaining that a “wet martyr" was one who shed blood for his Faith while a dry martyr was one who died a thousand times through suffering. They answered: "We are all potential wet martyrs," adding that they had either just gotten out of prison or were getting ready to be sent back. We then told them that Christ has various kinds of presence in the world: one is in the Church, another is in the Eucharist, another in the poor (Leon Bloy, unable to receive Communion one day, asked that a poor person be brought into his sick room), and the other presence of Christ is in the suffering of His bis hops, priests and people who are by their lives. Millions and millions of our faithful Catholics live in a state preparatory for martyr dom. Youths in many countries think not so much of living but of dying for the Faith. "witnessing to Christ* Won’t you identify yourselves with these holy men and women by little acts of self-denial, so that you may at least have pin pricks to set alongside their scars? One of the great advantages of fasting is that by doing without something you want, you be come one with those who are in need. St. Paul says that if one- member suffers, for example the hand, the whole body suffers with it. So it is in the Church; the poor and the suffering are part of our body. If you denied yourself just one cigarette a day, you could send the Holy Father, through his Society for the Pro pagation of the Faith, about $6 a year, or $5.73 more than the average per capita contribution of United States Catholics to the Vicar of Christ for the Missions and missionaries of the world. May the Holy Spirit inspire you to love those who love unto death! GOD LOVE YOU J. A. H. for $1 "I am 12 years old and am sending you four weeks allowance, hoping it will help a little.” ...to R. R. K. for $10 "In thanksgiving for the short wait in the expectant-fathers’ room for number six to arrive." ...to Mr. and Mrs. F. E. 0, Jr. for $100 "We could have paid a few store bills with this, but the stores will be paid in time anyway. The poor and suf ering of the Missions, on the other hand, have been way overdue for a ‘payment* from us." Why not give a WORLDMISSION ROSARY blessed by Bishop Sheen for Christmas this year? Each decade is a different color, representing the five continents where m issionaries are labor/ng to bring Christ to the pagans. Sed your request and an offering of $2 to The Society for the Propagation of the f aith, 366 Fifth Ave nue, New York, New York - 10001. 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, Northside Station, Atlanta 5, Ga.