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I COLLATING RENEWAL Dangers In Reform REV. LEONARD F. X. MAYHEW Professor Romano Guardini, despite his Ital- ianate name, is a German priest and, indeed, the “father" of the German liturgical movement. Ever since the First World War, he has pioneer ed the effort to revitalize Catholic worship. On April 1, 1964, he wrote an open letter to the German Liturgical Congress in which he raised questions that are relevant to the American Church as well. There is a subtle temptation inherent in the mood which has followed the Constitution on the Sacred Liturgy and the partial introduction of the vernacular. There appears to be a tendency to imagine that reform and re newal have definitively arrived or, at least, that we have reach ed a kind of plateau on which we can relax. Unchecked, such would be a foolish and tragic mis- an attitude take. GUARDIN'! begins by noting - as all of us have noted again and again - the magnificent work of the Vatican Council in its decree on the liturgy. The important issue is raised, how ever, when he characterizes this achievement as only beginning: "The Council has laid the foun dations. . . truth became manifest. . .now the question arises how we are to set about our task so that truth may become reality." We would only be deceiving ourselves, if we trust ed blindly that the implementation of liturgical renewal is inevitable. There have been other reforming Councils and other reforming decrees in the history of the Church which have failed of lasting effects and have ended as mere his torical curiosities. The first and absolutely essential need is to rediscover both individually and collectively the real meaning of a “liturgical act." We can not fail to recognize our own experience in Guardini’s explanation of why we have forgotten QUESTION BOX Words Of Sympathy? BY MSGR. J. D. CONWAY Q, I would like very much to know what words should be expressed to the family of the deceas ed person at a wake. A. Frankly, I have never quite known myself. Usually it should be no stilted formula, but an hon est expression of sympathy» Maybe, in some cas es, it is just as well not to m$kc,,any, direct reference to the deceased or to the sorrow of the family. Your very presence and your handshake may testify to your sympathy, and often- repeated words can become a strain on those who hear them. Q. I never commit a mortal sin, to my knowledge, and yet 1 worry if there would be a Possibility of my not emer ging heaven when I die. A. You will get to heaven by the redemptive grace and love of Jesus, your Saviour; by your faith and trust in Him, result ing in your honest, practical love for Him. Since it is He who sanctifies and saves you, the trials and mental torments" which you describe may well be the means He uses to develop your vir tues. Rare is the person who finds the road to heaven uniformly straight, wide and smooth. Q. I picked up a novena booklet on the life of St. Rita of Cascia, Advocate of the Impossible. After reading her life story I started to pray to her. In the meantime, however, it came to my attention from a nun that when St. Rita answers a prayer she demands in some way or other a payment. And now I’m kind of leary to pray to her, because the payment may be higher than what was asked for. A. Would you bargain with the Lord? You might rt_ad Genesis 18, 22-32; there Abraham gives you good example of how to go about it. But if you read further you will find that it didn’t work. Do you fear the love of our Savior? Do you doubt the generosity of Him who gave His life for you. St. Rita is powerless except through Him. Do you delight in superstitions? There are signs of two of them here; (1) that "Advocate of the Impossible" bit, and (2) her demand for pay ment. 1 have heard that before, but don’t be lieve a word of it. CHURCH AND STATE Your World And Mine CONTINUED FROM PAGE 4- ctice. It is almost impossible for a Christian to get a commission in the Egyptian army or a high post in the public service. And Egypt regards itself as the most modern of Moslem states. The Buddhists in Ceylon and elsewhere in Asia also see themselves as custodians and protect ors of the national culture, entitled as such to special privileges. Where they have come to pow er, they frequently utilize the machinery of gov ernment to restrict the activities of other re ligions. Thus, Ceylon has expelled most Christ ian missionararies. IT IS against this background that onemust view the movement within the Catholic Church for a reformalation of its onw position on Church- state relations. Traditionally in Europe, the state adopted the role of protector of the Church, sub sidized its activities and paid salaries to the clergy. The Church gradually came to claim such protection as a matter of right, regarding as un friendly any state which denied it. So highly, in fact, did it come to prize the material aid of the state that i n return it gave gobernmenfs subst antial authority in Church affairs, for example, a decisive voice in selecting bishops and other Church fonctionaries. The historical development in the United States was unique. Here, the constitutional separation of Churchand state was hailed by Catholics not as withdrawing previous benefits but as ending dis criminations suffered under the colonial regime. Subsequent experience revealed great advantages in complete independence from state protection and interference, and this encouraged theologians to re-examine the theoretical bases for what had come to be called the traditional Catholic posi tion. WHEN AMERICAN theologians began in the last century to suggest that perhaps their system was better than the European, their colleagues THURSDAY, DECEMBER 10, 1964 GEORGIA BULLETIN PAGE 5 Saints in Black anti W! ST. BIBIANA r f / i t v 131 DEPRIVED OF RIGHTS how to perform such an act: 'The faithful did not perform a proper liturgical act at all, it was simply a private and inward act, surrounded by ceremonial and not infrequently accompanied by a feeling that the ceremonial was really a disturbing factor." On the other hand, as he further points out, it is inescapable for anyone who considers the discussion and the decree of the Vatican Council that "the religious act un derlying the liturgy is something singular and important," The pressing now is to recognize what this act is and to make it real in our own experience. ONE PROBLEM is that the usual discussion- even among those who feel enthusiasm for litur gical renewal - is limited to issues that are re latively external: participation by the congrega tion in the outward rite and the use of the verna cular. Professor Guardini asks: "whether the wonderful opportunities now open to the liturgy will achieve their full realization; whether we shall be satisfied with just removing anomalies, taking new situations into account, giving better instru ctions on the meaning of ceremonies... or whether we shall relearn a forgotten way of doing things and recapture lost attitudes." A great deal of learning, teaching, thinking - and, yes, experimenting- will be required to make the liturgical act of prayer recognizable and "natural" to us twentieth-century men.The Coun cil has said that the outward signs of the litur gy must be made clear, simple, not requiring much explanation. Considerable adjustment will be needed for us to sense the presence of the community of the Church in our common pray ing, singing and eating of the Eucharist. It will be even more difficult for us to begin to ex perience the religious nature of certain actions, whether performed or watched, and the sacred ness of holy times and seasons. We will need to develop the inward silence that is filled and expressed in our sacramental activities. All this and more will be necessary, if liturgical rene wal is not to fail by becoming no more than an exchange of new habits for old ones. '■ a. * - 'f /f *7 3o *3i T> V4 v/ v* V7 f /* // /a AT" ' /r Priest Protests At 6 Raids’ Made On Welfare Families 7* i U <■7 7? w J -7 kT 173. 7J 71 *7 tr vv *7 Si >ry 7& p7 m ACROSS 1 waxen 5 average 9 preteritlon 13 pergola 14 comrade-in-arms 15 glacial ridge 16 age of moon at be ginning of calendar year 17 money, exchange fee 18 publish genus " * '• 19 gleams 20 bar and grille 21 She was to death 24 rime 25 denary 27 also 28 note; music 29 soft port of bill 31 comforts 32 Greek letter 33 stale 36 young ox (Eng.) 40 Her sister's name 43 runner 45 rower 46 Japanese admiral 47 ivy thicket 48 sponge 50 She and her sister were very 52 any clergyman 53 verb ending 55 small mesa 56 solo 60. Assumptionist Fathers 62 half way 64 ruler of Tunis 65 suffix, state of being 66 part of a harness 69 depression-era agency 70 at a distance 71 unsorted flour 72 emmets 74 fleck 75,.sign; Old English 76 firing pin 77 ami 78 former 79 azure 80 Samuel’s son DOWN 1 This was her shield against temptation 2 first principles 3 destiny 4 vocalized pause 5 magnesium oxide 6 biblical Judge 7 under; nautical 8 Excelsior State; abbr. 9 self-important 10 wet 11 auctions 12 profession 13 swiftly 16 —— the Red 17 sodium bicarbonate 22 Hawaiian Territory; abbr. 23 Apollo's son 26 --- Sparks 30 sooner 31 to enlist 34 Siamese coin 35 to break down a sentence 37 Biblical name 38 shepherd's pipe 39 three; Italian 40 plunge 41 World War II area 42 low 43 Her parents were both 44 truth; Chin. 48 a person who has been granted a patent 49 Asian wild moun tain sheep 51 residue 52 tavern; slang 54 accomplished 57 The name of the wicked woman whose care she was placed under 58 angry 59 lofty . 60 degrade 61 modify 63 “--profundis" 67 noun forming suf fix-inflammatory disease 68 bar 70 dcg-faced ape 73 African antelope 74 lumber along 76 lung disease 77 Egyptian soul, myth ANSWER TO LAST WEEK’S PUZZLE, PAGE 7 BOSTON (NC)— People rece iving public welfare assistance are being harassed and depriv ed of constitutional rights, a priest-social worker said in a statement to the press here. Father Joseph T. Alves, dir ector of Family Counseling and Guidance Centers Inc., said that "some welfare personnel in our local Guidance Centers Inc., said that "some welfare per sonnel in our loca commun ities" are conducting "midnight raids" on women who receive aid for dependent children. THE theory behind such raids, Father Alves explained, is that some of these women may be "cheating," receiving welfare benefits on the pretext that there is no man in the fam ily to support the children, while they live clandestinely with their husband or another man. Sometimes, it has been found, husbands unable to find employ ment pretend to desert their families so that the children will have at least the small amount paid for aid to depend ent children. As a member of the Com mission on Ethics of the Na tional Association of Social Workers, Father Alves said, "I wish to point out that the practice of wholesale ‘midnight raids’ is a violation of the natural and civil rights of human beings in our society and is ab solutely contrary to the spirit of the Social Security Act and our democratic institutions— both of which seek to insure the dignity' of man." HE SAID he sincerely hopes ARNOLD VIEWING Irish Soap Opera BY JAMES W. ARNOLD on the other side of the Atlantic dismissed their views as offensive to pious ears if not smacking of heresy. But times have changed. In particular, the Communists have demonstrated (as indi cated above) how a hostile government can use the pretext of support to enslave a Church. Forced to study the problem in a broader context, more theologians have come to believe that the best protection for the Church is complete in dependence in the sense of friendly separation, such as prevails in the United States. How widespread the feeling has grown is clear from the number of requests by Council Fath ers for a positive statement of the principle in the proposed declaration on religious freedom or in Schema XVII’s presentation of the Church in the modern world. Some countries of south ern Europe still favor the old view, but it re tains few supporters in the rest of Europe and ap-_ parently none at all in the mission lands. PARTICULARLY notworthy is the change in Latin America, where the Church’s traditions de rived from Spain included a close interlock ing of the two powers and an overlapping of their activities. But the experience of Mexico, where an unwilling Church was villently forced to re linquish its claims to privilege, has opened many yees. Today, the Church in Mexioc is more pro gressive and has more vocations than in any other Latin American country. Bishop Mendex Arceo of Cuernavaca, accord ingly, summed up not only his own views but those of many of his colleagues in Mexico and elsewhere in Latin America when he told me that "the proper relationship is on of full liber ty of action for the Church in its own area and for the state in its, within a framework of colla boration in areas of common interest. Where the Church claims the right to dominate the state, we either have a clericalization of civil life ar, by reaction, a state control of the Church. We do not want either." The name of Tony Richards and the raptures of the New York critics snookered me into seeing "Girl With the Green Eyes," which is magnifi cent stuff if you like 90 minutes of endlessly cute candid photography 0 f Rita Tushingham. There are to be honest many worse penances, although Miss Tushingham, as patrons of "A Taste o f Honey" may remember, is no threat to Miss Universe, The Beatles have prettier hair than this chunky convent girl from Manchester; her nose mouth and teeth are all dis tinct liabilities. But she had the natural verve and innocence of extreme youth, and she has those incredible eyes, which are all the more spectacular for their ordinary surround ings. SHE IS, in a wholesome and amusing way, marvelous fun to watch. But pro ducer Richardson ("Tom Jones") has entangled her in the ancient soap opera about the common shop girl who falls for the moody, sophisticat ed squire and finds that love does not bridge the intellectual and social chasm between them. The film may have special interest for Catho lics because it is set in Dublin and the Irish coun tryside, and adapted from one of those "anti- Irish" Irish novels by an Irishwoman (Edna O’ Brien). The heroine is a Catholic girl whose deep need for love allows her to overcome her scru ples about a liaison with an older married man (Peter Finch, as comfortably virile as an old to bacco pouch). Cast as half-comic villains are her parents, relatives and priest, who feel violent ly about adultery but hardly at all about tempe rance or charity. Her righteously livid father and uncle whisk her back to the farm, while completely ignoring her and getting stupefyingly drunk, Her mother has a brutally Jansenist viewof pregnancy; "Are you sure there’s nothing wrong with you?" The priest first excuses the boqzing ("A man needs a drink—it’s the climate"), then demands that she give up the only love she has ever known to prove her love for God. She runs, naturally, back to her lover. EVENTUALLY the irate family bursts into Finch’s home in a half-burlesque ‘rescue scene that resembles, in its mindless muscular arro gance, the prelude to a lynching in an intererr- acial melodrama. All this leaves little doubt how Miss O’Brien and the film-makers view the de fenders of Conventional Virtue. If the sin of adultery receives muchmore sym pathy than the sin of uncharity, it does not turn out an unmixed blessing either, At least one obs tacle , likely to placate moralists, Is that the man is unable to return the girl’s love permanently and exclusively, There is also an insightful con trast between her gay spirits before and after the affair and her weeping and crabbing about in the midst of it. But the movie has little of the moral power or deep humanity of predecessors like "A Taste of Honey," which celebrated the preplexing truth that sin sometimes leads to virtue. The wrong here comes across as something nice and senti mental and touching, but dash it all, it just didn’t work out. Our girl, however, has learned from it, and at the end seems cheerfully ready to go on to bigger and better Fun. IF ONE CAN ignore all these important ob jections, as well as an obsession with bedroom behavior, adults will find "Green Eyes" beauti fully put together. First-time director Desmond Davis (a cameramanfor earlier Richardson films) strains the artiful devices of highbrow New Wave cinema to make us forget the romantic plot cliches: the getting -to-know-you conversations in photogenic locations, the discovery that Finch has a wife, the discovery that he has a child, the clumsy moments when he meets her friends and she meets his, the opened letters and jealous arguments, etc. For one example, Davis loves to fool around with the possibilities of cutting. Actors often seem to carry on a continous conversation as they move to differenct times and places. (Miss Tushingham will ask a question on the street, and Finch will answer, without a moment’s pause, in a restaurant, where both are wearing differ ent clothes). Another time, she rushes toward him in a forest and when she sweeps into his arms they are in a hallway in his home. But the film’s one prime asset is Miss Tushing ham, shot from every angle in all her vast re pertoire of moods. Yet a word of caution. The new film art is already producing its own clinc hes. If once more we see heroines windowshipp ing, reflected in glass and followed by a sweep ing hand-held camera, or tippy toeing gaily through the woods, twig in hand, we will make a loud Bronx cheer, Uncle Harold and I. And that goes double for the big sex scene, all tender vio lins and reeds, closed yees, bare sholders and swirling montage of images widly melting, melt ing. . . into a colossal abolescent succotash. CURRENT RECOMMENDED FILMS: Superior; Behold a Pale Horse, That Man From Rio, Fail Safe. For special tastes: Night of the Iguana, A Hard Day’s Night, Four Days in November. Better than most; Topkapi, Fate is the Hunter. that recent calls for more pol icing of public assistance cli ents, "especially by 'midnight raids," are prompted by igno rance of the plight of the poor and ignorance of the constitu tional rights of all persons in this democracy rather than fur ther evidence of the racial, na tional, and class prejudices which prevent us seeing the 'image and likeness of God’ in our less fortunate brothers. Then again, could there pos sibly be such ignorance in this matter?" The Boston priest said he en dorsed completely the 1964 statement on "midnight raids" by the Board of Directors of the National Association of Social Workers. He agreed that "although the ways in which such raids are conducted vary, they are usually characterized by a surprise visit at an un conventional hour. Entry in the home is gained by duress since the mother fears the loss of the public assistance payments. Sometimes one member of the aiding party’ will go to the back door and one to the front in the hope of ‘flushing’ out a man. . . ." BECAUSE such "surprise visits" are usually conducted without official warrants for such search, "midnight raids" are by definition improper, Fa ther Alves said. He said that they engender "a climate of fear and apprehension" and that they "abuse, insult and offend” innocent people much more of ten than they expose welfare frauds. Father Alves holds the degree of Doctor of Social Welfare from the Catholic University of Ame rica, and was appointed by Rich ard Cardinal Cushing in 1958 to establish and direct Catholic Family couseling, Dinner Honors Fr. George Ford NEW YORK (NC)— Father George B. Ford was honored at a dinner here (Dec. 1) by 1,000 persons for his 50 years of service to the community. The priest retired in 1958 as pastor of Corpus Christi Church. Father Ford was coun selor to Catholic students at Columbia University for 16 years. 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. God Love You BY MOST REVEREND FULTON J. SHEEN Remember the Gospel story about the cure of the ten lepers? Only one, a Samaritan, returned to thank Our Lord. Think of itl Ten men who had been doomed to a living death, destined to a suffering vigil as, limb by limb, their bodies rotted away. Ten men given back their lives, and only the member of an outcast race came back to say ‘Thank You.” And today, gratitude is still one of the world's most neglect ed virtues. What of us in the United States? How much we have been given but how often do we return to thank? In the midst of modern discouragement about teenagers who have more and seem less grateful for it than most, it is well to know about one mem ber of that “outcast race*’ who wrote to us: “I needed some way to thank God for all He has given me. Money is just about the only thing that I haven't got right now. Please use my last $2 for the Missions.” It is signed “A Broke Teenager.” Another teenager whose initials are J. P. writes: "I am 14 years old and have heard that wanting to share is a sign of grow ing up, I hope this is true because I want to share the knowledge of the Redemption with all my brothers and sisters in Christ - the poor, sick and hungry of the world, and help them to know God. I see Christ suffering in them. One would be selfish to keep to him self the knowledge of Christ’s Redemption and not spread it. I want all to know and reach salvation and so I pray. Praying is the best way of helping the missionaries but still I want to do more. I have much to be thank ful for: my faith, wonderful parents, a good education, liberty, good fortune, health. When I think of all the starving, poor people of the world, the sick with no help, the many who know no God and places where God lives in a terrible shanty, I cannot, as a Christian, let this be. Charity is a mark of Christianity. "I think in life I would like to teach souls to love God as He loves them. The money I send isn't very much in relation to all that is needed, but I know it cannot be used for a better purpose. Somehow it may loosen a nail or lift a thorn or bind up a wound,* Once I asked Mary to intercede for me and asked God to help me win a poster contest. I won, so part of the prize money, which I promised to Him, is included.” It is this well-thought-out spirit of sacrifice in the young that spells hope for the future. Another $2 sacrifice came with the following note: “Please use this for the Missions. I'd only spend it on the Beatles and the Missions need it more." May we ask the teenagers who read this particular column to emulate those tof our; own age and to share your blessings with the poor of the world. The secret of all happiness is service,as all unhappiness of the heart comes from seeking one's own pleasure, what won derful hope we would have for the future if we received 100,000 such letters from teenagers I God Love You, GOD LOVE YOU to R, M. G, for $1 "Enclosed is my allow ance. It is for the needy. They need it more than I do.” . . to Sue, Margie, Helen and Lucy for $4 “Our Girls Club had a show and we made $8, We are sending half of it to the lepers.” , . . to G. P. for $200 'This is to be used as you wish. It is part of what I earnedlast summer while working in a sugar re finery,. I would like to send more but I cannot because I am at tending college.” Do you find yourself preplexed by problem Christmas pre sents? What to give a teacher, priest, nun, relative, is always dif ficult to decide. A welcome gift for anyone on your list (or for yourself) is a subscription to WORLDM1SSION, a scholarly quarterly magazine of current missionary activities edited by Most Reverend Fulton J, Sheen. Read about the frontiers of the Church in the world today. Send only $5 for a year's subscription to; WORLDMISSION, 366 Fifth Avenu, New York, N, Y. 10001.