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About The Georgia bulletin (Atlanta) 1963-current | View Entire Issue (Nov. 12, 1964)
PAGE 4 GEORGIA BULLETIN THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 12, 1964 the Archdiocese of Atlanta GEORGIA BULLETIN SfRVINO GEORGIA'S 71 NORTHERN COUNTIES Official Organ of the Archidocese 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. 0. Box 11667 Northside Station Atlanta 5, Ga. ASSOCIATE EDITOR Rev. Leonard F. X. Mayhew Member of the Catholic Press Association and Subscriber to N. C. W. C. News Service Telephone 231-1281 Second Class Permit at Altanta, Ga. U. S. A. $5.00 Canada $5.00 Foriegn $6.50 Political Heresy Heresies, like poverty, we will have always with us. In fact, her esy is one of the particular kinds of poverty that we will have always with us, because it is a poverty of faith. One of the most pernicious her esies of the last election cam paign was that nameless one which lies at the foundation of such .statements as “clergy should stick to religion and not talk about social problems,** or “the Church should stay out of all race matters because they are purely political**. The implication behind all of these statements is, of course,- that religion is something that concerns the secrets of a man’s own souh and that it has no fur ther competence in the world of men. Let a man pray‘to God and, perhaps, go to church, and all debts to religion are stisfied. If this be religion then St. Paul knew nothing of religion. “Let everyone be subject to the high er authorities, for there exists no authority except from God, and those who exist have been appointed by God. Therefore he •*, w fr° resists the authority resists the ordinance of God.** Would he have worded his ideas differ ently if he had been speaking of the Supreme Court decision on 8e g re gation? Would he have had any other comment than this on the divorce mills of the United States; “A woman is bound as long as her husband is alive, but if her hus band dies, she is free?** As for motion pictures and ob scene publications what would he say if not: “Now when you sin thus against the brethren, and wound their weak conscience you sin against Christ?** Of course, St. Paul knew noth ing about strikes on the part of labor and contract hold-outs on the part of management, but he did lay down a general princi ple: “All things are lawful, but not all things are expedient. All things are lawful, but not all things edify. Let no one seek his own interests, but those of his neighbor.** AN ALTAR BOY NAMED "SPECK" **Thou shalt not bend! In the matter of race relations he spoke directly: “For you have been called to liberty, brethren; only do not use liberty as an occasion for sensuality (that is, an occasion for indulging earthly passions), but by charity serve one another. For the whole law is fulfilled in one word: Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself. But if you bite and devour one another, take heed or you will be consumed by one another.’* What St. Paul would have said about many of the crack-pot theo ries and propositions of our mo dern world we can well imagine when we hear him say: “See to it that no one deceives you by philosophy and vain deceit acc ording to human traditions, according to the elements of the world and not according to Christ.** No, the modern heretic’s idea of religion is not that of St. Paul. Still less it is that of Christ, Whose doctrine and Whose doc trine alone St. Paul preached. The Son of God came to earth for no other purpose than to' ; unite man to God, and religion, taken in its widest sense, signi fies a living union of man with God. It is not one man’s union with God, It is the union of this man, and this man, and this man. It is the living union of every man with God. r j Christ made it brilliantly clear that any given individual cannot achieve union with God and at the same time neglect the union of other men with Him. Union with God has two faces, love of God and love of those persons whom God loves, which is the same thing as saying love of all men. Religion must therefore guide men in all that concerns their personal relationship to God and their personal relationship to others. What the modern heretics have in mind when they tell priests, and writers, and publi cations to “stick to religion** is something which has nothing to do with religion. For our part we prefer to go along with St. Paul: “Discharg ing therefore this ministry in accordance with the mercy shown us, we do not lose heart. On the contrary, we renounce those pra ctices which sham conceals, we avoid unscrupulous conduct, we do not corrupt the word of God; but making known the truth, we recommend ourselves to every man’s conscience in the sight of God. And if our gospel also is veiled, it is veiled only to those who are perishing. In their case, the god of this world has blinded their unbelieving minds, that they should not see the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, Who is the im age of God. For we preach not ourselves, but Jesus Chirst as Lord, and ourselves merely as your servants in Jesus.” We cannot, of course, claim the inspiration which directed St. Paul, but we too are hei?s to the “good news’* of the Master and we attempt to dispense it as best we can. We, and all others who share our mission, are per fectly willing to stick to re ligion, without the heresies that would desicate it. THErlJOUSEOF MAST! ‘RACIAL NjJ D/SCR/MMAT/Om, /S A DSSP/CABLi EV/L’— i ^ as. BISHOPS AT L#^' gCUMENtGAL | COL//VC/L GEORGIA PINES Not-So-Good Old Days BY REV. R. DONALD KIERNAN The old cry of “I wonder what has become of the good old days?” is new quickly followed up by a new cry, “I’m not so sure that the old ’days were so good after all.” Some years ago there was a popular novel named THE LAST HURRAH. There were those who thought that it was a take-off on the late Mayor of Boston, James M. Curley. Anyhow, the principal character, nearing death, could not un derstand why his people had left him. THE OBVIOUS explanation was that those who depended on the ward boss for a handout or the local politician for a ton of coal had at last gained a measure of financial security from retirement plans, social security, and the like. A few old timers, I am sure, remember theTownsendPlan.-lt probably was the first concrete answer to the ”chicken-in-every-pot” theory. At any rate it was the forerunner to many of the security benefits which the aged enjoy today. to getting postcards every winter from our “rich friends” down south. NO WONDER, then, that the return cry to the "good old days” is one of shudder, “I'm not too sure that the old days were so good after all”. Now, of course, not every change necessarily means an improvement. Personalized service from the working man is one thing which disap peared with guaranteed security. Everyone now feels such a sense of independence that, for example, we approach waiters in a restau rant with the same degree of humility that we had when we appeared home five minutes late for a meal. ANOTHER thing which has virtually disappeared are those good rectory housekeepers. "ITiat was one job which offered security and dignity to many an older person! Bowling alleys have gone to automatic pin set ters and the golf courses are literally dotted with automatic carts because caddies are scar cer than the proverbial hen's tooth. Today if you knock a golf ball in the drink the caddy (if you are a good tipper) might hold your shoes and socks while you retrieve your own ball! It is a little difficult for the young today to understand that at one time we had depressions, apple sellers, soup lines and county poor farms. It was not too pleasant a thought for people to go through life with at least the remote possibility that they would spend their aging years in a condition such as that. TODAY WE all grow up exercising as much energy in planning what we will do in our retire ment years as we do on our vocation in life. Everyone is born with a desire for security and the better planned it is the happier our twil- light in life becomes. „ It's not too long ago that Florida was known only for hurricanes and the wealthy vacationed in Aiken, S. C. and Augusta, Georgia. Jekyll Is land was the playground for a small select group of millionaires and we all looked forward GRASS cutters no longer trim next to the sidewalk and baby sitters want an unconditional guarantee that your TV set is one of the color variety. So much have we become accustomed to the 40 hour working week that I heard this story. A priest whose custom it was to bring Holy Communion to the shut-ins in his parish every Tuesday told Mrs. Mulcahy that he would not be able to come the following Tuesday morn ing. “Why not?” asked Mrs. Mulcahy. Father X explained.'" “Well we are having the Forty Hours.” “Good”, said Mrs. Mulcahy, “thepolice- men and firemen have had the forty hour week for many a year and I'm glad that you priests are at least getting decent working hours.” But, go back to Ye Good * olde Days? Never. Deep down I think we’ll all admit that we never had it so good! HOLES IN IRON CURTAIN? Your World And Mine BY GARY MacEOIN As compared with the rapid pace of the United States, things always changed at a leisurely rate in Europe. Such, however, is no longer the case. In the quarter century since Hitler invaded Poland in 1939, Europe has undergone trans formations at a speed and of a depth such as we in the United States have never known, least of all during the same period. Nor am I referring simply to the catastrophic changes caused by the war itself, but primarily to the revision of institutions and emotional attitudes that occurred subsequently. The party system of govern ment is all but out in many countries. A simple majority no longer gives the victor full con trol of the apparatus of state and the right to set the na tion on a new social and econo mic course. The deep ideolo gical cleavages between parties had made this system un workable. INSTEAD, THE trend is towards a perman ent coalition of the democratic parties and in terests, excluding only the left-wing and the right- wing totalitarians. The weighting of each element in the coalition varies with election results and other indications of a change in popular feeling, permitting a gradual readjustment of government policy instead of violent swings of the pendulum. The Italian “opening to the left” offers an excellent example of the new techni que. Coalition involves dialogue * and political dialogue is reducing the ideological differences between the moderates, further isolating the hard line Fascists and Communists at the extremes. This trend is diametrically opposed to that in the United States, where the traditional control of both parties by moderates is threatened by an onset of extremism. Socialists have not only rejected Marxism. Many no longer profess doctrinal Socialism as condemned-by the Church. What they advocate is what Pope John XXIII described in Pacem in Terris as a “historial movement with economic, social and cultural aims,” and which fulfills his qualification of conforming to right reason and interpretating man’s lawful aspirations. If the former Left as represented by Socia- CONTINUED ON PAGE 5 AND THE SICK The Poor Lazy Poor BY GERARD E. SHERRY The teacher had asked the class to write a paragraph on the war on poverty, and I was shown the answer from one of the students. It said: “The war on poverty is something started by Lyndon Johnson to win the election. There is nc need to help the poor with other people’s money. They could help themselves if they weren't so lazy. Too much of our taxes are going intowel- fare programs which are bringing on socialism and communism. At least that is what my par ents say.” REAPINGS AT RANDOM I WAS informed that only two students out of thirty five favored the war on poverty. Most of the paragraphs written were political in tone and lacked any sense of compassion or under standing. Underylihg it all was the question, “Why should we help these people who won't help them selves?” Down the road from my office, there is a hospital. The other day, they rang up a couple of church groups (not Catholic-even through it would also apply here) and appealed for some visi tors for an old man dying of cancer. It seems as if the patient wasn’t poor, but he was friend less. He had no relatives and no one seemed to care about him except the hospital staff. IN ANOTHER hospital last week, I was visiting a friend, and I happened to pass along the corri dor where a door was open, and I saw an appeal ing look from the man lying on the bed. I stop ped and said hello, and his face lit up, so I went in to chat with him for a few minutes. He was ever so grateful, expalining that his daughter visited him twice a week. He had been in there nearly a month and was expecting to be there for another two or three weeks. He didn't want for anything except human companionship and understanding— the crying spiritual and physical need of the millions of Mr. and Mrs. Anonymous thoughout our land. Many of them are not poor in the material sense; yet they are in dire need of our recognition and our concern. The Corporal Works of Mercy, and charity in general, have become slogans rather than spiri tual acts. How many times has Christ asked for our witness to charity through some needy person or Institution? How many times have we judged the need on our own account without considering the possibility of turning Christ away when he needs us most? In our modern day, charity has become a by-word for tax deductible expense account experts. You have often heard even the pleaders for charity pointing to the benefits accrued by tax deductions. But this makes a mockery of real charity. It expresses only love for oneself and a demand for personal gain. The exercise of real charity actually implies sacrifice. In other words, self denial— doing without something for the love of another and for the benefit of another. Some people, of course, deny my thesis and point to the millions given to charity. Unfortunately, there is a passage from St. Matthew which fits much of our giving: "TAKE CARE not to practice your religion be fore your fellow men just to catch their eyes; otherwise, you have no reward with your Father in Heaven. For example; when you are about to give alms, do not send a trumpeter ahead of you, as the hypocrites do in. the synagogues and streets to win the applause of their fellow men. 1 tell you plainly, they have their reward already. When you give alms, your left hand should not know what your right hand is doing. Thus your alms are given in secrecy, and your Father, who sees what is secret, will reward you.” It is surely worth thinking over especially in relation to the sick. Loneliness is their in evitable condition. The sick person, even when well on the road to recovery, may not always notice it, but at times loneliness is to him over whelming pain. Such pain may be harder to bear than physical pain, and when borne alone, is often times unbearable. This is one reason why many sick people give us such a wonderful example— they become .closer to God for to whom else can they turn when so many reject them and forget them? Here again St. Matthew asks our consi deration—especially for those who may be stran gers, who may be our enemies, who may be one of the millions of the anonymous. “YOU HAVE heard it said; Love your neigh bor, and hate your enemy. I, on the contrary, de clare to you: Love your enemies and pray for your persecutors, and thus prove yourselves children of your Father in Heaven. He, certain ly, lets His sun rise upon bad and good alike, and makes the rain fall on sinners as well as saints. Really, if you love those that love you, what reward do you deserve? Do not tax collec tors do as much? And if you have a friendly greeting for your brothers only, are you doing anything out of the common? Do not the heathen do as much. . . ?” I gave the student example to sta*t these Reapings, because we must be awfully care ful of the scandal we are giving the young by our bad example. One of the first parental dut ies is to teach love by dispensing it.
