The Georgia bulletin (Atlanta) 1963-current, August 06, 1964, Image 5

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The Georgia bulletin, August 06, 1964, Image 5

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Newspaper Page TextTHURSDAY, AUGUST 6, 1964 GEORGIA BULLETIN PAGE 5 FLANNERY O’CONNOR’S PEOPLE Authentic And Universal Saints in Black and White ^I^NSEJNTEREST BY REV. LEONARD F.X. MAYHEW "Yes'm,* The Misfit said as if he agreed.” - in Flannery O'Connor’s A Good Man Is Hard To Find - "’Jesus thown everything off balance." 1 In this brief sentence the author crammed the major preoccupations, as she called them, of her brilliant writing. There is her concern for the South- what today’s jargon calls the old South, with its uncomprehending resistance to change, its colorful dialect, its apocalyptic religion. There is her own fine sense of the ironic. And, above all, there is the preoccupation which outweighed all else - Christ. Introducing the second edition of her first novel, Wise Blood, she wrote: "That belief in Christ is to some a matter of life and death has been a stumb ling block for readers who would prefer to think it a matter of no great consequence.” Flannery O’Connor has left us only a small corpus of published work: Wise Blood, her first novel, published in 1952; A Good Man Is Hard To Find, collected short stories, published in 1955; The Violent Bear It Away, a novel published in 1960; other stories and articles published in periodicals which have not been collected. We hope that all her writings will soon be publish ed. Never "popular” in the unpleasant sense of the word, Miss O’Connor's writings have won her a growing body of critical acclaim and an ever-widening circle of admiring readers. Many of the characters of Miss O'Conor’s fiction are grotesque and off-balance, precar iously perched on the brink of hysteria. With in this unlikely world of her own creation, she wrote with the most delicate subtlety imagin able. Her stories and her people are authentic and universal not because she accurately de scribes the outward experiences of her self and her community but because she pierces through this exterior shell to the common ground of human need, pain and expectation we all share. The sights and sounds of the world she describes are transformed by her artistry. Only when we read through the characters and events of her stories can we begin to grasp their intent. Without a word of warning- and with no ex plicit reference to the theological insight which- frames her thought- she can withdraw us com pletely from the everyday world and the rea der neither resists nor rejects the strenuous demands of the transfer. He is led willingly into the otherwise incredible categories of the author’s Apocalypse. Her point is to reveal that, under the facade of normalcy, the structure and re lationships of daily experience are off-center and grotesque and violence-breeding. Caroline Gor don wrote of the characters of Flannery O’ Connor’s stories: "They are ‘off center', out of place, because they are victims of a rejection of the scheme of redemption. They are lost in that abyss which opens for man when he sets up as God.” Flannery O’Connor’s writing is deeply influenc ed by a peculiar synthesis of her Catholic philosophy with a sympathy for the sometimes bizarre evangelism of the rural South. This re ligious mentality, with its free-wheeling pre achers and self-anointed prophets, contains a kind of truncated sacramentalism. It presumes the presence of the divine- of grace, if you will- immediately beyond the most prosaic things. The very experience of religious exaltation and ecstasy becomes the aim of religion. Miss O’ Connor saw these God-fearing, Bible-quoting people digging furiously for real Sacraments, which infuse grace, as fertile ground for divine mercy. Flannery O’Connor was a prophet, a seer, sent to "warn the children of God of the terrible speed of mercy.’* Even from her loss we can salvage the memory of a "stranger from that violent country where the silence is never broken except to shout the truth.” QUESTION BOX Catholic Burial BY MONSIGNOR J. D. CONWAY Q. I think it is a dirty shame that a non- Cathoiic man who raises Catholic children cannot be buried from a church, and a priest cannot accompany the body to the cemetery. The Ecu menical Council still has a lot to do to bring tolerance and love and understanding to such families as this, of which I happen to be a part. A. You must admit, however, that much pro gress has been made in the past couple of years. The Council Fathers meet again Sept. 14; pray hard that they may be responsive to the guidance of the Holy Spirit. They may not discuss the problems of Chris tian burial in detail; but they will lay down important guide lines for later reform of church laws. Q. I would greatly appreciate an answer to my question. I have a six-grave lot in a Ger man Catholic Cemetery. My parents are buried there, I am now married to a non-Catholic and I rather doubt that there is any possibility of him becoming a Catholic. Naturally we would like to be buried in the same cemetery. Due to the ecumenical movement would the non-Cath- olic be permitted burial? Or can you give me the clue to circumvent refusal? A. Some dioceses are more strict about these matters than others. I would suggest that you speak to your pastor about it. Find out if ex ceptions to the law are permitted in your area. If they are not, then the only way of circum vention I can suggest is for both of you to live long enough that the ecumenical movement really gets moving and produces some practical results in matters of this kind. A Catholic can get a dispensation to share every day and night of her life with a non- Catholic husband. Should not the law allow them to lie peacefully beside each other in death? Is the consecrated soil of the cemetery more sacred than the marriage bed? We marry them in church now. Why can't we bury them from the church, if they wish it? Q. My husband and I would like to find out about a Catholic school. We have a little girl who will start school this September, and would like to know the difference between the public and Catholic schools. We are Catholic and many of our friends don’t believe in paying to send their children to school when their tax money is spent on the public school. And they teach the same. So why not send them to the public school? We have a new Catholic school that is open since last year. A. You are very fortunate to have that new Catholic school and you should take advantage of it. You will find the additional money well spent—a good investment for your child’s spir- tual welfare. The big difference between the two schools is that religion is taught in the Catho lic school; it cannot be taught in the public school. As Catholics you have a strict obliga tion in conscience to see that your child gets a good religious education. Are you able to do the job yourselves? Sunday school won’t do it. TROUBLE IN CEYLON Your World And Mine CONTINUED FROM PAGE 4 They blame the inroads of Tamils from the south of India for the decay of this culture, and one of their grievances against the colonial regime was that it encouraged further immigration of these Tamils who now numbermore than a million. The colonial administrations also neglected the na tional culture and customs, of which the Buddhist monks have always been the principal exponents, and they favored the development of Christian communities raised in Western attitudes and ways. Christians, who number 900,000 (six-sevenths of them Catholics), now feel the change of climate. The considerable number of them whoareTamils by race come under the same general cloud as their Hindu fellow'-Tamils. But even those who are of Singhalese origin suffer from their identifica tion with the West, The unfavorable image is se dulously cultivated by the Communists, whose in fluence is high and growing. Communism in China has managed to reach an understanding with Budd hism and allows it considerable privileges, Com- rpunists and Buddhists also have found ways to work together in Vietnam, north and south, SIMILARLY in Ceylon, both groups stress the area of agreement in their teachings, soft-pedal ing the conflicts. The regime in power since 1956, first under Solomon Bandaranalke- and since his assassination under his 'widow> is in fact far to the left. One of the great blows to Catholics in Ceylon Bombay Making Big Effort For Eucharistic Congress Arross friend when in Paris England‘s World War II air force 1 2 an em large Assistant Adjutant General; abbr. mast musical note He sought In his father’s place English Rebel leader (1450) having wings titled wet node tumult diminutive held by the enemy vocalized pauses corrode distressing period Libya measure present time World War II Gov’t Agency knot lace prior comb, form-foot ace flushed He left Rome on his - night humorist tradings wine plant (French) methodical view peruse closely He Journeyed to Asiatic plant Goddess of Dawn (Vedlc) fine china levies niton; abbr harvest foretell (Scottish) tight chemical ending grain rubidium: abbr. Keystone State: abbr. ANSWER TO LAST WEEK’S PUZZLE ON PAGE 7 1 venture 3 5 57 down was in the 9 look over 13 He was of descent 4 14 scruff 5 15 Pacific pine 6 16 a caliph 17 Roman cloak 7 18 cheese 8 19 Nelson's victory site 9 20 personal pronoun 21 gorged 10 24 Cape Horn native 11 25 Title of address 12 27 child 13 28 “Mr.” — 16 29 ancient City of Asia Miner 17 31 game 22 32 editorial “1” 23 33 farewells 26 36 repetition 30 40 woman porter 31 43 exclamation 34 45 average 35 46 compass point 37 47 agent; abbr. 38 48 devote 39 50 Spanish length of measure 40 52 serious 41 53 our religion: abbr. 42 55 prompt 43 56 S. American Country 60 He is one 44 62 Spanish Sir 48 64 Biblical High Priest 49 65 article : German 51 66 He returned home and his 52 did not know him. 54 69 hostel 57 70 theme: music 58 71 fence to restrain cattle 59 72 bullet sound 60 74 pertaining to desert 61 75 transaction 63 76 pealed 67 77 stand 68 78 discover 70 79 insects 73 80 leaf cutting ant 74 Down 76 1 green bnck 77 BY FLOYD ANDERSON (N. C. W. C. News Service) BOMBAY, India— Hard work and detailed planning mark pre parations for the International Eucharistic Congress, to be held here Nov. 28 to Dec. 6 this year. From Valerian Car dinal Gracias down to the young est clerk in the congress of fices, there is an intense in terest in and concern for its success. They know, too, the concern that may be in the minds of some potential pilgrims about Bombay housing accommoda tions during the Eucharistic congress. Cardinal Gracias told me: "It is very difficult to per suade people there are accom modations even better than hot els. Many people who may be afraid to come will find private homes, both Catholic and non- Catholic, most comfortable.” HE ADDED: "We have a whole committee of non-Catholics combing the city for accommo dations. One man said at a meet ing the other day, ‘I can be sure of finding accommodations for 100 people in private homes, and almost all are very com fortable.*” The cardinal said that seve ral bishops and priests had written him, asking to be placed in private homes be cause "we want to know some thing of the life of the people.” CONGRESS officials said that plans are being made to have ocean liners berthed in Bom bay and turned into floating hot els, both for people who come on them and for those who come by air. Officials expect four of these ships, and perhaps three or four more, so that, they said, several thousand foreign visitors could easily be accom modated in these "floating ARNOLD VIEWING ‘What A Way To Go’ was the nationalization in 1960-61 of the Catholic primary schools, followed by the withdrawal of subsidies from Catholic secondary schools and the imposition of severe limitations on them. The blow, however, was not without its beneficial side. Many Catholics are now recognizing that they themselves had to share the blame for the official action, because of their failure to move with the time, ALTHOUGH the clergy is largely Ceylonese (386 out'of 534 priests in 1962), the priests were slow to get rid of such feudal institutions as forms of address proper to superiors in speaking to the people. Catholic leaders educated in the Catholic schools had continued after independence to iden tify themselves with the conservative party which sought not only to retain Western ways but to pre vent social progress. Many Buddhists had gone to Catholic schools had backed the take-over, not from any prejudice against Catholicism, but be cause of the failure of the teachers to project or even take into account the culture of the country. Ceylon’s Catholic leaders are in a hurry today to correct the faults of the past. There is a ser ious effort to develop a social conscience, so that Catholics will exert an influence in a country for justice and equality. Because of the high propor tion of Catholics among the educated, this change can be very beneficial. One can agree with veteran missionary Father Haas that "the Church in Cey lon is beginning to blossom.” As "What a Way to Go” opens, six somber men are following widow Shirley MacLaine down a vast staircase, carrying a large pink coffin. One man stumbles briefly; the others glance at him with a mixture of disdain and panic. Then it happens: the coffin slips, hurtles down the stairs, and be gins to dart and circle crazily about the marble floor with the pallbearers in desperate pursuit. If you can’t see anything funny in this nonsense, then you prob ably won’t like this movie. The incident is typical of the off beat, “black” nature of its free wheeling, rather undignified sa tire. But objectively speaking, “What a Way” is (with some reservations) fresh, clever and exorbitantly funny. It is certainly one of the most inventive, cine matic adult comedies Hollywood has manufactured in years, WHY CINEMATIC? Because most of what hap pens could happen only in movies. The casket se quence is one example. Among others: visual spoofs of four different moviemaking styles (si lent comedy, French neo-realism, 1930’s musical comedy, Big Budget Romance); the use of editing, fast and slow motion to manipulate story elements and free them from normal restrictions of space! and time; sequences using mechanical painting machines which produce abstract art depending on the mood of the noise in the vicinity. Nearly every visual element in the picture makes its own comic point, including costumes, sets and colors. Miss MacLaine, by herself, is a kind of visual smorgasbord. This is surely the most photogenic face available today; she turns the most routine shot (e,g„ fearfully peering out a jet window dur ing takeoff) into high comedy. She gets marvelous help from Paul Newman, Dick Van Dyke and Gene Kelly, all of whom are supreme visual stylists. Even the impassive countenance of Robert Mit- chum becomes visual mate rial when references to his “stony, sunless” face lead up to a half-heart ed smile. THE CRITICS didn’t like the movie. There may be several explanations. One, many movie review ers, oddly, don’t care for visual humor, especially if it is broad and direct. Two, the film is devas tating moral-intellectual attack on some widely revered Sacred Cows, Including: the doctrine of Hard Work, the stockpiling of money, religious hypocrisy, romantic love, extravagant living and extravagant dying, sentimentality, modern art, and the star-worshipping aspects of show business. Although thoughtful customers, especially Cath olics, should appreciate satire aimed at such tar gets, it is unquestionably minority humor (devised chiefly by Broadway wits Betty Comden and Adolph Green), “What a Way” may set no box-office rec ords this time around (it is against all our vices, just as that super money-maker, “That Touch of Mink,” was _for them). But it will be a minor BY JAMES W. ARNOLD classic for years in the art houses. hotels.” Speaking of the plans to place congress visitors in private homes, Father Herman D’ Souza, general secretary and liaison officer for the congress, said it would be an excellent opportunity for Westerners to see Indians in their homes— and that non-Christian Indians will also have, for the first time, a chance to meet Western Christians on a close personal basis. CARDINAL Gracias’ keen in terest in the preparations is shown by his close checking with the congress office at 5 Convent Street here. Priests connected with the office say he will drop in two or three times a day to make a suggestion, to check on preparations or just to see how the plans are going. In the large congress head quarters, committees meet to handle the many details, while all around them additions are made to existing church struc tures, and a new building on the corner moves toward com pletion. These new quarters will be used to house distinguished visitors to the congress and for press accommodations for journalists covering the many congress events. THE CONGRESS has had ex cellent cooperation from all Murces. Cardinal Gracias said: "The government has been most cooperative. They have put a man especially on this job to do whatever is necessary.” One of the exhibits planned will be at St. Xavier High School, showing the life of the Church in India since it was visited by St. Thomas the Apos tle. This will serve a double purpose: explaining the Church in India to visitors—but also explaining it to the non-Chris tians of India. FATHER D’Souza said that foreign visitors who do not know English or Indian languages will be met by guides and interpre ters who have been trained fortwo years. Each group will be accompanied by these aides as they go from their residences to the congress site and back again. Bishop O'Connor Keynote Speaker MADISON, Wis, (NC)—Bis hop William P. O'Connor of Madison will open the 17th an nual convention of the National Catholic Cemetery Conference with an address Oct. 20. Keynote speaker at the con vention, which will continue here until Oct. 22, will be Msgr, Joseph P. O’Brien, director of St. Raymond’s Cemetery, Bronx, N. Y. s Seminary Fund Remember the SEMINARY FUND of the Archidocese of Atlanta in your Will. Bequests should be made to the “Most Reverend Paul J, Hallinan, Archbishop of the Catho lic Archdiocese of Atlanta and his successors in office'’. Participate in the daily prayers of our semi narians and in the Masses offer ed annually for the benefactors of our SEMINARY FUND. THE PITY is that religious people may judge it primarily on its mistakes. The movie, in fact, brilliantly exemplifies the dilemmas confronting film artists who want to deal morally with evil, either in comedy or realistic drama. It is enor mously hard to describe evil on the wide-wide screen without being compromised by it. This is exactly the issue in arguments over such movies as “La Dolce Vita” and "The Si lence.” In making their moral point, do they de scribe sex so graphically as to seduce the congre gation? In satirizing sexy French films, does "What a Way” succeed in making them absurd or merely enticing? Plainly, it is impossible to show 90 seconds of animalistic love-making, even to ridicule it, without shocking many viewers out of their sox. And "What a Way” will play to audien ces heavily loaded with adolescents of all ages, THERE IS still another unhappy possibility: that a movie merely feigns a moral approach so that everybody can get knee-deep in sex and material ism and enjoy it without feeling guilty. (This is like the well-known psychological quirk by which a man who subconsciously likes pornography gets a job censoring pornographic movies). One would hesitate to assign such base motives to artists like Fellini and Bergman, but with a film like “What a Way” (director Lee Thompson’s last job was ’Taras Bulba”), you can never be sure. Edith Head’s costumes, for example, are funny more often than tempting, but they do relentlessly pursue the norm of semi-nudism. In the elegantly murderous sequence demolishing the Doris Day- type epic, the heroine W’ears a new gown in every shot, even within the same scene, and the lush sensuality drips over everything like wet mascara. In the fadeout, the lovers wave at the camera from a bed set in the middle of a huge, bubbling, cham- page glass. The message is deliciously clear. But the audience has been dragged through an orgy of materialism en route to the point. This kind of ser mon is bound to be popular, but its sincerity may be suspect. ACCIDENTAL or deliberate, the film is com promised here and there. But as a whole it is a feast for the truly adult cinema addict, from the French subtitles during the singing of “Frere Jacques” ("Brother Jack, do you sleep?”) to a shot of movie idol Kelly being trampled by fans while the sound track carries an elephant stampede left over from ’Tarzan.” CURRENT RECOMMENDED FILMS: For connoisseurs: Tom Jones, Bridge on the River Kwai. Superior entertainment: It’s a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World; What a Way to Go, Dr. Strange love. Better than most: America America, Black Like Me, Becket,* Fall of the Roman Empire, The Pink Panther, God Love You BY MOST REVEREND FULTON J. SHEEN A photograph of a starving child holding a bowl as he begged for food appeared in the July-August issue of MISSION. This copy of MISSION fell into the hands of a little girl whose mother "Page 26 of your July-August MISSION magazine had quite an effect on our Peggy, who is seven years old. She picked to say good-night, and she said: ’Mother, look at that I’. "Most evenings I have a hard time getting Peggy to finish her dinner and I usually end up saying: ’How some poor children would love to have your meal I’ Peggy's usual comment is: *1*11 betl But I think that she now realizes that there are many hungry children throughout the world. She was so deeply im pressed by all this that I prom ised a contribution to The Society for the Propagation of the Faith from Peggy and me. Your MISSION magazine is most appealing and I only wish 1 could contribute more, but you can count on hearing from us as often as possible." This is one of several instances of children being deeply touched by the poverty and hunger of other children in the world. Not long ago, we spoke of a nine-year-old girl who wore braces because of a back affliction, but she sent $1.30 for child ren who suffer more than she because of hunger. Perhaps we should address our pleas to children. They have souls that are receptive to God’s grace. Did not Our Lord say it was only such who would enter the Kingdom of Heaven? They also are more readily moved to action on hearing of grave need. We therefore address this God Love You column to all the children of the world— to those who wear braces and to those who do not— in the fond hope that they may fulfill for their elders the words of Scripture: “A little child shall lead them,” How many children are there who will answer this appeal and inspire their parents to be mindful of the hungry of the world? GOD LOVE YOU to R. R. P. for $5 “For God’s poor.” .... to M. S. for $10 "I am sixteen and this is some of the money I earnecd. I promise to send the Missions something out of every pay check, for we all owe something to people who have so little, whether it be money or prayers.” ., . to Mr. and Mrs. E, B. for $5 ”In thanksgiving for selling my first news story.” ... to Mrs. S. A, W. for $15 ”1 won this on a fishing trip with my good husband— he was the loser and I won for the Missions,” ... to M. C. for $20 ”In thanks giving for recovering something I thought was lost.” Send us your old gold and jewelry— the bracelet or ring you no longer wear, last year’s gold eyeglass frames, the cuff links you never liked anyway. We wiL resell them and use the money to aid the Missions. Your semi-precious stones will be winning precious souls for Christ. Our address: The Society for the Propagation of the Faith, 366 Fifth Avenue, 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 Pro pagation of the Fidth, 366 Fifth Avenue, New York lx, N. Y. or your Archdiocesart Director, Very Rev. Harold-J, Rainey P. O. Box 12047 Northside Station, Atlanta 5, Ga.