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PACE 4 GEORGIA BULLETIN THURSDAY, DECEMBER 26, 1963 ^ 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, Halllnan MANAGING EDITOR Gerard E. Sherry CONSULTING EDITOR Rev. R. Donald Kiernan 2699 Peachtree N.E. " P.O. Box 11667 Northside Station Atlanta 5, Ga. Member of the Catholic Press Association and Subscriber to N.C.W.C. News Service- Telephone 231-1281 Second Class Permit at Atlanta, Ga. U.S.A. $5.00 Canada >5.00 Foreign $6.50 Pilgrim Pope Pope Paul Vi’s visit to the Holy- Land next week will be a momen tous occasion in the history of the Church. He will be going as the first Pontiff to set foot in this sacred area since the time of Peter, trie first of the Chief She pherds of Christendom. Pope Paul has made it clear that he goes to the Holy Land in no royal fashion, but simply as a humble pilgrim in prayer and re flection. His motives are com pletely religious in character, and have no political significance whatever. Some people see in the Papal visit a desire to act as mediator between the Arabs and the Jews in their perennial ter ritorial and political disputes. This again is but a flight of fancy, for this is not the role of a pil grim . Furthermore, the Pope could just as well plead such peaceful mediation from with in the walls of the Vatican as from anywhere else. This is not to say that Pope Paul is not interested in the es tablishment of universal peace among all men of good will. This was the gist of His Christmas message, and is one of the tasks that he has chosen as did his predecessors -- the establish ment of peace and order throug hout the world. The very nature of the Papal Office cries out for justice and tranquility, which is also the constant prayer of the Church. It is with this in mind that we will prayerfully trace the footsteps of Pope Paul VI as he walks through the land where Ch rist took on human nature, began His ministry, and suffered the Cross to save mankind. Pope Paul’s pilgrimage will also be ours, for he will repre sent us all. We should use the opportunity to make the days of his pilgrimage, January 4-6, as special days of prayer and pen ance for his success and safety. Indeed, we might suggest that they be mornings when we make a special effort to go to Mass and Communion in spiritual union withHim. After all, what better way to start a pilgrimage? GERARD E. SHERRY School Vandalism Catholic high schools in both Atlanta and Savannah have this year been touched by vandalism growing out of football rivalry. The only relieving note in this unfortunate coincidence is that in both cases steps have been taken to correct the causes of the situ ation. There is no need to com ment on these specific incidents. What is disturbing is that there apparently exists sucha destruc tive trend in connection with you thful sports. Traditionally we have viewed school participation in competit ive sports as a kind of training for life. The playing fields of Eton apparently formed empire builders. The sandlots and grid irons of America are supposed to train sound and noble minds in sturdy bodies. The tradition, a curious mixture of classical hu manism and Calvinism, is a good one as far as it goes. It is certainly not in itself either destructive or anti-social. Some unhealthy ingredient has been added. We cannot blame on l ~ I “Did you call me. Father?” the sport the kind of vandalism we have mentioned or the braw ling which too often follows a keenly conte sted competition or the neurotic hysteria which re gularly orchestrates “games”at the little league level. These and similar excesses are usually the result of intense school or team “spirit”. Too frequently they are due to the culpable influence of adults who have forgotten that the single im portant consideration is the good of the young pa rticipants, not vic tory or defeat. The values of dis cipline, physical fitness, co operation, hard work for suc cess and failure as synonyms of victory and defeat. Adults, par ents especially, who surren der their proper role as examp les of reason and moderation for the fleeting taste of vicarious ac complishment in their children’s athletic victories, need to recon sider the matter. Some youngsters evidently learn lessons from sports exac tly opposed to what they are in tended to teach. The fault can not lie primarily with the chil dren. It must spring from bad ex ample or lack of direction on the part of their elders. Schools and parents who overesteem athletic prowess teach a lopsided scale of values. Adults who expend exag gerated emotion on the out come of a game undo the good that the experience ought to ac complish. Educators have attempted in recent years to inject a note of caution and moderation into the area of school sports. Their ef forts have had only partial suc cess. Unpleasant incidents con tinue to make the news. It is time to drain some of the emotiona lism from the discussion and to attempt a blanced and reasonable solution. L.F.X.M, Build a New Year! LITURGY Am LIFE Ancient Custom Of Church BY REV. LEONARD F. X. MAYHEW Christmas Midnight Mass has once again seen churches crowded not only by the faithful but by very many non-Catholics who are drawn year after year by the charm and beauty of the solemn liturgy. The tremendous impressiveness of the Christmas night services to those who know Catholicsm only in its externals is a con tinuing marvel. Midnight Mass has a unique attraction for Catholics, also, and is undoubted ly the favorite service of the year for almost all of us. Until the restoration of the Easter Vigil a few years ago to its proper time during the night preceding Easter, Christmas Midnight Mass was the only relic of a very ancient custom of the Church. In antiquity, all of the great feasts were celebrated at night, with a vigil leading up to the solemn offering of the Eucha ristic Sacrifice. The early Christmas imitated the exam ple of Our Lord who spent so many nights in prayer. They dr amatized their separation from the secular world and their ar dent longing for the dawning of Christ’s triumphant second coming. The liturgy of Christ mas portrays the lovely solem nity of this sacred night: “While silence envelop- ped the earth and the night was in the midst of its course, thy almighty Word, O Lord, came down from heaven, from thy royal throne.” THE SYMBOLISM of light tha t vanquishes dark ness runs all through the liturgy of Christmas. The actual date of Christ’s birth is not known. December 25, the day when the sun begins its renewed ascent after the winter solstice, was cho sen to replace a pagan feast of the sun. Christ, the true and unconquered Sun! dawns: on the world to destroy the murky vapors of sin and ignor ance. The Christmas light, which finds such a touching expression in the Christmas trees in our homes, is a recurrent theme in all the three Masses of Christmas. In the beautiful midnight Mass, the light of Christ’s coming bursts upon a world steeped in a moral darkness which parallels the night dur ing which we have gathered to worship. The se cond Mass of Christmas is to be offered at day break. The rising sun presents a lively and clear symbol and is joyfully greeted in the Introit: “A light shall shine upon us this day, for the Lord is born to us.” In the third Mass, cele brated during the daytime, the figure of light is found in the Gospel: "In him was life, and the life was the light of mankind; a light that shines in darkness.” IN THE CHRISTMAS liturgy the Church envis ages three nights and three births. She leads us first into the mystery of God’s inner life, into the night “before the day star” when the eternal Son is begotten in the absolute image of the Father. On Christmas and, above all, in the Eucha rist, this unsoundable mystery is closer to us than ever. The second night of birth took place in time and is the day that we celebrate. The Church leads us to Bethlehem, to the stable, to the joy of Mary and the proof of divine love “lying in a manger.” The third night of birth is present and personal. It is our own re-birth. It is the mystery of Chris tmas as it affects us personally, as it renews our own sense of our brotherhood with Christ, of our adoption as sons by His Father. The Ch urch thinks of us as one with and in Christ when she sings at the Midnight Mass: “In the bright ness of the saints, from the womb before the day star I have begotten you.” LITURGICAL WEEK ‘King And Child’ BY REV. ROBERT W. HOVDA DEC. 29, SUNDAY WITHIN THE OCTAVE OF CHRISTMAS. The alternating notes of “king" and “Child” in today’s Mass increase our aw areness of the mystery of the Incarnation. From a natural point of view, it is incredible that the Gospels and letters of the New Testament and the preaching of the Church in those first years of its life affirm so faithfully both the div ine and the human in the unique existence whose Birthday we are celebrating. Psalm 92 (Entrance, Alleluia, Offertory Hymns) refrains His kingship. But even the stress on His full humanity in the First Reading and Gospel takes into account the myster ious, the sacramental quality of that humanity, “He took birth., so as to ransom" (First Rea ding). "This child is destined to be a sign” (Gospel). Jesus Christ is Himself the great Sa crament, visible sign of God's love, favor, grace. 1 MONDAY, DEC. 30, MASS AS ON CHRISTMAS (3rd Mass, with readings from the 2nd). 'The whole world from pole to pole has seen die salvation that our God has wrought” (Gradual, Communion Hy mns). As the Eucharist and die six sacraments which surround it make the Savior’s saving, life- giving, healing, forgiving work apparent to us, so the great Sacrament, Christ, has made God’s love and salvation apparent to the human race. Christianity is a deeply sacramental religion, not simply a religion that happens to use cer tain holy signs that we call sacraments. TUESDAY, DEC. 31, MASS AS OF YESTER DAY. The First Reading teaches that the kind ness of God has dawned on us, and the Gospel makes much of seeing and hearing. Again we hail the Incarnate Word as sign, as sacrament, whose advent touches the senses and speaks to the hearts of all men everywhere. II Vatican Council’s lit urgical reform is concerned precisely with this: that Christ’s advent, His action, in all of the sa craments should communicate to, reach, and enn oble those who respond to Him with fiath. WEDNESDAY, JAN. 1. OCATVE DAY OF CH RISTMAS. The Old Testament and Jewish roots of Christianity receive attention today as we continue the celebration of Christmas. The Gos pel’s account of Jesus* circumcision affirms the king whose advent we hail as in the line of the Old Testament covenant and prefigures the New Testament initiation of Baptism. Reference to Mary’s virginal motherhood in the Collect and Postcommunion prayers affirms Him as the offspring of the chosen people. The uniqueness of the Christ event in no way dim inishes the importance for all of us of Abraham and Moses, the kings and the prophets. THURSDAY, JAN. 2 MASS AS ON JAN. 1. It is this unbreakable bond with Abraham, Moses and (Continued on page 5) NCCM PROJECT A Release From Racism BY GERARD E. SHERRS The most crucial problen facing hese United States in 1963 was the growing rest lessness of our Negro citizens at th; small gains made in their struggle for equa rights and opportunities. Their inguished <ry for freedom is always accompanied by tht word “Nowl” Taking the overall \iew, we have not aivanc- ed much this year in this area. Small vonder the leaders of the non-viclent movement anong Negroes are being pressured toward more belli gerency. The Negro impatience is more han justified. One has only go to look at the situ ation in Birmingham as a prime example. Ne gotiation, what little there is of it, has not improved the civil rights of these Alabama Negroes b\ very much — despite a change to a more moderate city ad ministration. ANOTHER EXAM PLE is here in the city of Atlanta. Whie the Georgia capital is painted as the mos pro gressive southern city in relation to civil ‘ights, in reality it is behind some other state: in the area--especially in regard to public acconmoda- tions and restaurants. No, the Negro’s lot has not improved that much in 1963. As I see ii, the basic problem is rquestion of education and good will. Here ve accept without question the need for better eiucatioral opportunities for our colored citizen*. But we should also be thinking of the need for the edu cation of whites; education in the area of neigh bor and community responsibilities. Unless we whites are convinced of the justice of the Negro cause and act to speed complete acceptance of the Negro as an equal citizen, there will be no peace in this country. For Catholics this has become an urgent problem. In all areas of the country, most of the laity are far behind our bishops in both the thinking and the acting in the field of responsible race relationships. We are, therefore, proud of the National Council of Catholic Men for their recent is suing of a program of study and action to help the laity speed their contribution toward the easing of community tensions, and the establish ment of right relationships between the races. The NCCM program is entitled “Release from Racism”. I have just had a chance to sit down and study the whole package. It is a monumental effort of planning and im plementation. Fulling no punches, the intro duction to the program says: REAPINGS AT RANDOM "CATHOLIC LAY ORGANIZATIONS have irr portant contributions to make in our Country struggle to find a Release from Racism Its an honest fact that although there are notje exceptions, most lay organizations have notet accepted the challenge. “Many things have contributed to this stat ion: a tradition of concentrating on stctly a lack of understating of the Church’s teaching on race; a inability to relate the Church’s teaching to sp’ltual anti social problems, like racism, that b^ront the Church; a shortage of facts about the ace issue; an erroneous sense that Catholics ^re not re sponsible for creating nor are they^erpetuating the problem; a shortage of materi.s describing wha: could and should be done. “ 'RELEASE FROM RACISM’ 5 a program of study and action to aid leaders J f Caholic or ganizations who see the need aid the opportuni ty of involving their organizaton in tie inter racial apostolate. It is design'd to help nform, motivate and guide Catholic Uy organizaions to take an active part in eliminiting prejuice and discrimination from our sociey.” One can only agree with tie NCCM oint that "courage must take the form of aeon if the debt of social misery under which he great majority of our colored citizens labc is to be paid off.” WHILE THE "RELEASE from Pcism” kit is intended for NCCM affiliates where the National group is not establishe parochial groups can make use of it with^reat profit to themselves and their communes. Indeed, the kit includes a parish prog m which, if carried out, would make a maj‘ contribution in the fight for racial justice. 1963 has almost gone. Theffeat lesson to be learned in this year is it takes more than talk to accomplish racf justice. Some * °f us have talked too muc without acting. We have paid only lip serv e to the cause. The Church is full of sori actionists who Can quote the pertinent f.agraph of every major social encyclical ci statement of the American Hierarchy on me relations. Yet, all over the country these same knowledge able people refuse to tale t_> necessary steps of putting potent theory into >otent action. We talk too much. We act tjo littu THE NATIONAL COUNCIL of Catholic Men now gives us the opportunit of putting words into deeds through us progrn “Release from Racism”. It would be a goc idea for inclus ion in New Year resolutions - that is, among the ones we want to keep, s long as we are denying the Negro our conon and love, we are also denying a basic uholic doctrine. The NCCM gives us anothe opportunity to make amends.