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PftCE 4 GEORGIA BULLETIN THURSDAY, JANUARY 2, 1964 ^ 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 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 Congratulations! The congregation of Atlanta’s First Baptist Church is to be congratulated on its decision to admit all to the main sanctu ary, irrespective of race or col or. This important step is a ma jor contribution to the cause of racial justice, and should be the incentive for other congregations of religious bodies to do away with un-Christian Barriers in houses of worship. Major credit for this important decision should go to the Rev. Roy McLain, Pastor of the First Baptist Church, and his Board of Laymen who requested, and supervised, the congregation’s voting on the matter. To many of the congregation, there must have been some real soul- searching, and it must have taken a lot of courage to repudiate over a century of tradition and social custom to drop the barriers. Af ter all, even though we disagree with those who perpetuate segre gation of the races in some of our churches, we have always be lieved that the majority of them are honorable men, even if they are wrong in their attitudes. No need in this case, there fore, to recriminate about the past; rather, we must look upon this decision in the light of the present and the future good of this great southern community. We hope the First Baptist step will be followed by other relig ious groups which still remain entrenched in their misguided beliefs that segregation is some how justified in Christian teach ing. We must constantly reiterate Pope Leo XIIl’s emphasis on the fact that “All are equally called to the adoption of one God and Father; that all are members of the same body and all are shar ers of the divine table; the gifts of grace are for all, and in the same way the gifts of eternal light lie open for all.” (IN PLUR- IMUS, May 5, 1888). The First Baptist’s decision will go a long way to enhance a faltering image of Atlanta in re lation to the acceptance of our Negro brethren as equal citizens. It should also cause a re-examination of conscien ces of the hotel and restaurant owners who have constantly dod ged their civic responsibilities in the area of public accommodat ions. The hesitancy of these bus iness men in opening their doors to all races is a local disgrace, and must be said to share some responsibility for the national calamity of rampant racial in justice. Token desegregation and con ventional quota systems are but hypocritical acts, which impede rather than speed complete dese gregation of public accommodat ions. We earnestly urge the hotels and restuarants involved to put the city and its citizens before self-interest; to ignore the political pressure of a repu diated minority; to be courageous rather than feartul; to act for the needs of 1964; to urgently help Atlanta justify the national repu tation which it has not yet earned as the most progressive city on race rights in the south, and in deed the nation. GERARD E. SHERRY Georgia Traffic Deaths One of the big problems facing the State, apart from racial justice and inadequate edu cational facilities, is traffic sa fety. The death toll in Georgia for 1963 passed the 1,300 mark and puts the State among the worst 15 in the nation. We are among the bottom third. Nationally, traffic deaths for the first eight months of 1963 reached 27,200 against 25,900 for the same period in 1962. In other words, although the mile age rate (nationally) went up 3% the death rate went up 5%. Slaugh ter on the road is increas ing rapidly. It is a somber thought that, in comparison, battle deaths in the Korean war were some 33,000. Traffic safety and adherence to the laws of the road are moral obligations for all citizens. There has to be an immediate acceptance of this truth if we are to ever arrest the appalling car nage presently being witnessed on the roads of the State, and throughout the nation. Modern highways and modern laws are concerned with making our use of the road a safe and pleasurable occupation, Alas, in many people they have engende red a devil-may-care attitude unbecoming to responsible citi zenship. We must all cultivate a deeper respect for others if we ever expect to reduce traffic de aths. We will have to realize that both we and the cars we travel in, have their limitations; that speed is a luxury, not a neces sity; that traffic laws are a bene fit, not a hindrance. Many of us would not think of becoming burglars, embezzlers, or hold-up men. Indeed, most of us have a great respect for the majority of laws on the statute books. We seem to treat traffic laws as something different--as if they are not as important as the rest of the laws that govern our conduct. Therein we make our mistake. Our conduct on the road, and our compliance with traffic laws is as vital to the commu nity well-being as anything else. Only when we realize this, and accept it as a necessary guide in our conduct as drivers will we eliminate the frightful scou rge of traffic accidents. Inthis new year, we have the responsib ility to start making Georgia roads the nation’s safest. GERARD E. SHERRY LITURGICAL WEEK Holy Name Of Jesus BY REV. ROBERT W. HOVDA SUNDAY, JAN. 5 THE HOLY NAME OF JESUS According to his original plan, Pope Paul will be today and tomorrow in the Holy Land, that ancient, middle-eastern center of world history into which Jesus came as the climax of a ser ies of God's mighty deeds for man's salvation. As we celebrate today's feast of the Name of Jesus and tomorrow’s great Epiphany, we join ourselves to our primate-bishop in prayer around our altars, that this dramatic appeal to the unity of Old and New Testaments and to the common discipleship of Orthodox and Protestant and Catholic may forcefully advance the cause of the Church’s renewal and reform. Today’s Mass stresses both truths. The Gospel account of J esus * naming and circum- cision places Him without ques- Y I tion as a member of that chosen . f people whose call in Abraham ’S. / and whose Sinai-covenant spell the beginning of a new spirit- ual era for the human race. Entrance, Gradual and Commu nion Hymns invite to share this era all the nations, for whom the Jews had been a sign. MONDAY, JAN. 6 THE EPIPHANY OF OUR LORD JESUS CHRIST. The Jordan baptism, the Cana wedding, the wise men as symbols of the pagan nations—all manifest Jesus as Messiah- King Today and on the Sundays following we ce lebrate these manifestations of His glory as a proper conclusion to Christmas. We see Him no longer as Infant. Accepting the fact that the Son of God really became part of the human family, one of us, we at once affirm His Lordship and His King- ship lest we be lost in merely human senti ment. The Preface sings of His appearing in the reality of our mortal nature only to emph asize that He "renewed us in the light of his own deathlesseness." TUESDAY, JAN. 7 MASS AS ON EPIPHANY. But we sometimes forget that His kingdom "does not belong to this world." We forget that He is our Lord and Saviour because He is our Brot her, because He is fully man as well as truly God. In forgetting these things, in failing to bal ance the deeds of Christmas and Epiphany, we have at times made the tabernacle more import ant than the altar. We have turned our churches from sacred as sembly halls for worshiping communities into throne-rooms of mere adoration. We have removed and elaborated our altars until they become shrines, rather than holy tables for the celebration of sacrificial meal. WEDNESDAY, JAN. 8 MASS AS ON EPIPHANY. The Incarnation makes His glory our glory, His Kingship our kingship, His priesthood our priest hood. First Reading and Gradual Hymn both teach of a worship which has profound effects on the worshipers. The glory of the Lord "is upon" us, "has risen upon" us. It does not remain purely external, leaving us with nothing but our awe and wonder. It renews us and is with us. THURSDAY, JAN. 9 MASS AS ON EPIPHANY. God’s Word teaches, "Rise up, Jerusalem, and shine fourth, thy dawn has come." Even on the purely human level, we identify ourselves with presidents (as we have keenly felt in re cent months), with kings and leaders. This is a psychological identification. But Jesus Christ identifies us with His kingly glory by renewing our very beings, by giving us a new birth, by an interior and real union. FRIDAY, JAN. 10 MASS AS ON EPIPHANY. This is why the Church as the great sacrament of Christ, continues to manifest His Glory on this earth. Fr. Karl Rahner says, "The whole of mankind is already in principle accepted for sal vation in this member and head of mankind. . . mankind as a whole has become a consecrated humanity." When we worship, then, we must be conscious not only of the sacramental presence of Christ before us, but also of Christ-in- us, of Christ acting and worshiping in and through us, of our christened dignity. SATURDAY JAN. 11 MASS OF ST. MARY ON SATURDAY. "Not by reason of good works that we did ourselves, but according to his mercy, he saved us" (First Reading). Thus the Church, sacrament of Christ, Epiphany of Christ, shows us that God’s grace is free and undeserved by en rolling us, batpizing us, without any merit of our own. Mary’s unmerited glory, as symbol of faith and of the Church, as an object of Christian devotion is one of the ways in which we keep this Gospel truth before our eyes. REMARKABLE DOCUMENT Liturgical Constitution BY FATHER LEONARD F. X. MAYHEW The Constitution on the Liturgy promulgated by Pope Paul at the close of the last session of the Vatican Council is a remarkable document for many reasons. Not only does it establish a radi cally changed approach to liturgical worship but it also illustrates a new and broader self understanding on the part of the Church regarding every aspect of her activity. Its vast impor tance, along with its relative simplicity of style and logical clarity, Indicate that it must be from now on part of the basic equipment of every informed Catholic. (The Constitution on Liturgy was published in a sufv plement to the December 12, 1963 issue of THE GEORGIA BULLETIN). What is immediately impressive about the new approach to the liturgy is its completely pastoral nature. A dozen historical reasons had led us in the immediate past to a too legal and tradition- oriented attitude. Unintelligible rites, repititlons and arcane symbolism were rationalized in the name of mystery and sacredness. The inmate sac redness of the action was made the excuse for a kind of fetishism whereby physical presence was enough to achieve the ends of worship and sanctification. The public solemnities of the Church often became merely a pleasant atmos phere in which the faithful could pursue their pri vate devotions. The Council’s Constitution has struck all this down and has drawn the blueprint for a sane practice in accord with principle. THE COUNCIL has acted to create a lit urgy that is meaningful and effective. The bis hops, acting as zealous and concerned pastors, have laid the foundations of a liturgical prac tice that can speak easily to the mind and heart of those who share in it. This is the background of their decision to extend greatly in it. This is the background of their decision to extend greatly the use of the vernacular languages in the Mass and in the administration of the Sacra- (CONTINUED ON PAGE 5) RACIAL JUSTICE Some Source Material BY GERARD E. SHERRY It has been stated that, the basic unity of the human race is such an absolute truth, that the minute a Catholic denies it, he has committed the sin of heresy. The basis for this unity is claimed to be the origin of the human race in Adam, its redemption by Christ, and its goal, which is heaven. Despite this, we find Catholics as well as others refusing to accept the doctrine. Some even suggest that the several statements issued by the Ameri can Hierarchy in recent years, applying the doct rine in the fight for racial justice, are merely political statements, and are not binding. Having done some research recently on the subject, I find there is a wealth of source material emphas izing and justifying our bishops’ stand. POPE LEO XIII, for instance, made several comments on the subject, two of which I quote: ”. . .(The Catholic Church) zealous gu ardian of the doc trine of Her Founder who, by his own voice of his apost les, has taught men about the brother hood which unites them all, as issuing from one origin, as redeemed by one price, equally called to the same eternal beatitude. . ." (From the letter Catholicae Ecclesiae, 20, November 1890, to Car dinal Lavigerie, on the subject of the Anti-Sla very work.) ". . . They will feel and understand that all men indeed have been created by God, their com mon Father, that all strive for the same ob ject of good which is God Himself; . . .that all equally have been redeemed by the grace of Jesus Christ, and restored to the dignity of sons of God, so that they are clearly united by the bonds of brotherhood not only with one another, but also with Christ the Lord, . . , and furthermore . . . that no one, unless he is unworthy, will be deprived of the inheritance of heaven."(From the Encyclical Rerum Novarum) POPE PIUS XI said: REAPINGS AT RANDOM ". . . Then only will it be possible to unite all in harmonious striving for the common good, when all sections of society have the intimate conviction that they are members of a single family and children of the same Heavenly Father, and further that they are one body in Christ, and everyone members of one another’... (From the Encyclical Quadragesiomo Anno. "... The will to strengthen and to diffuse for the common good of human society that brother hood in which we are all closely united by the bonds of a common nature and origin has never perhaps so taken hold of men’s minds asin our times. . . (From the Encyclical Mortalium Animos). POPE PIUS XII went into a little bit more de tail: ". . . The first of these pernicious errors, widespread today, is the forgetfulness of that law of human solidarity and charity which is dict ated and imposed by our common origin and by the equality of rational nature in all men, to what ever people they belong, and by the redeeming sacrifice offered by Jesus Christ on the Altar of the Cross to His Heavenly Father on behalf of sinful mankind. "... In fact, the first pages of the Scripture, with magnificent simplicity, tells us how God[ as a culmination of His creative work, made man to his Own image and likeness (Cf. Gen. 1/26,27); and the same Scripture tells us that He enriched man with supernatural gifts and privi leges, and destined him to an eternal and inef fable happiness. It shows us besides how other men took their origin from the first couple. . . "... A marvelous vision which makes us see he human race in the unity of one common origki in God 'One God and Father of all, who is above all, and through all, and in us all.' (Eph. 4/6); in the unity of nature which in every man is equally composed of material body and spiri tual soul; in the unity of the immediate end and mission in the world; in the unity of dwell ing place, the earth, of whose resources all men can by natural right avail themselves to sustain and develop life; in the unity of the super natural end, God Himself, to whom all should tend; in tie unity of means to secure that end. . . . ", . . It is the same Apostle who portrays for us mankind in the unity of its relations with the Sons of God . . .; in the unity of its ransom> effetted by Christ, Who (is) the Mediator bet ween God and Man; 'For there is one God, and one mediator of God and Man, the man Christ Jesus’. (1 Tim. 2/5). . . . • to H S hl of unity of all man kind which exists in law and i n fact men do not feel themselves isolated units, like grains of san4, but united by the very force of their na ture and by their internal destiny. . (From the Encyclical Summi Pontlficttus). ” . . When however there i s question of an0 _ thei conjectural opinion namely polygenism, the chiBren of the Church by no means enjoy such llbq-ty. For the faithful cau nol em brace that opiuon which maintains eith^ r t h at after Adam the'e existed in this earth tr* e men w h 0 ^ not tike their origin through tat ura i generation fron him as from the first parent of all, or tha Adam represents a certa ln number of flr8t patent*. • • (From the ^ C y C n ca i Human! Geieris). '“ ch *” *i! ch =hould lay to rest m that the Chris,... obll ,„.