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PAGE 4 GEORGIA BULLETIN THURSDAY, DECEMBER 24, 1964 CHRISTMAS the 'Archdiocese of Atlanta GEORGIA BULLETIN SfRVINO GEORGIA'S 71 NORTHMu COUNTIES Wiyl 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 *W> S 2699 Peachtree N. E. P. O. 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 (Efymtmas 1964 “O wondrous exchange; the creator of the human race, taking unto Himself a living body, deigns to be born of a Virgin: and becoming man from no human generation, hath bestowed upon us His divinity/ * (Vesper Antiphon-Feast of the Circumcision) “O God, by whom the dig nity of human nature was won- drously established and yet more wonderfully restored, grant that through the sacra mental rite of this water and wine we may have fellowship in the Godhead of Him, Who deigned to share our manhood, Jesus Christ, thy Son, our Lord, who is God...” Y ou continue to know and to love and worship and redeem on earth. And so it is that the Church reappears over and over again in her prayer on the feast of Christ’s birth: “Accept, Lord, this day’s festal offering, and in Thy gracious bounty grant that through this interchange of sacred gifts, we may grow to be like Him in Whom our human nature is made one with Thine.” (Prayer over the Offer- ings--Midnight Mass) (Offertory Prayer from the Mass) With the Church and with all men of good will in this Christmas time of 1964 we adore You, Lord Jesus Christ, born for us and for our sal vation, We surrender to You absolutely and without reserve the one gift we have to give You, the one gift You want, our humanity, our bodies and souls to be Yours, Just as some two thousand years ago You begged from a Virgin Maid the body in which You would worship God on earth and redeem the world, so today You reach toward us from a manger bed and seek from us another body to use in this world in this our time for the worshipping of God and for the redeeming of the world. And we answer with a new echo of Your mother's fiat. We surrender like her in love. This is our gift and we give it willingly, lovingly--our hu man nature, our humanity, to form together with You and with one another a body through which You can worship God and redeem the world today. And in return we receive from You, humbly and grate fully, Your gift -- for our possession, for our use, for our joy -- the very Godhead, divinity itself! The Christmas feast is a warm and shining sign of the “marvellous exchange” that is constantly taking place deep in the life of the Church. For it is through Y°ur ever-pre sent actions of Baptism and the Confirmation and Eucha rist that You give us divine life, O Lord, so that we can know and love and do divinely. It is through these sacramen tal acts of Yours that we are able to yield to You our sel ves, our human life, formed into one body through which “He restores our nature through the Holy Spirit, shed on us in abundant measure through the Savior, Jesus Christ. So justified by His grace, we were to become heirs with the hope of eternal life set before us, in Christ Jesus, our Lord.” (Epistle -- the Second Mass of Christmas) “As this day’s newborn hu man child shone with the brightness of the Godhead, so may the earthly substance of this offering bring the divine within our reach,’ (Prayer over the Offer ings -- the Second Mass of Christmas) Through the grace of Jesus Christ which is poured out upon us in the blessed feast of Christmas we are made aware as never before of what we are, of what we have been made, of what has been done in us by the action of Christ through His Church. As we are, so we must think; as we are, so we must act. In terms of what we are, so we must put values on the world, on people, on things, on pleasure. Through You, Lord Jesus, we have been united to the God head. Godhead is ours, power and divinity is ours, to live with, to love with, to be happy with, to give to a poor world, O wondrous exchange! “Therefore,” says St. Leo in his Christmas sermon, “let us put off the old man with his works, and having become sharers in the Sonship of Christ, renounce the deeds of the flesh. AWAKEN, CHRISTIAN, TO YOUR DIG NITY! You have been made a partaker in the divine na ture. Scorn to return to your former vileness through an evil way of life. Remember that you have been snatched from the power of darkness, and transported into light and the kingdom of God.” THANKS BE TO GOD! GEORGIA PINES Moving Heartbreaks are always odious, but were I to use the ele ment of suprise in judging the merits of a de parture I think that my exit from Gainesville would get the first prize. Last Monday evening in Gainesville, some sixty-five men suprised me with a “going- away" party and presented me with my first color-television set! (St. Anthony’s is such a big parish that I don’t know when I ever will get a chance to look at it! ) This farewell was all the more touching be cause of this number only four of the men were my own parishioners. The Hall County- Sheriff, the Gainesville and Athens Police Chiefs, the two Legislators from Hall County, the Mayor pro-tem of Gainesville, five mem bers of the Medical profession, six members of the local Bar Association, local business men etc. made up the assembled group. The Governor, unable to attend because of his father’s illness, honored the group with a tele gram. It was a wonderful display of fellow ship and a good example of the ecumenical spirit which has captivated the hearts and minds of men of good will. THE FIRST few days in a new parish are always confusing. Getting used to new names and faces, finding streets, listening to the phone constantly ringing, and answering the door are quite a change from the quiet life of a “country parish”. I shall never forget the warm welcome I received here at St. An thony's from the first moment I arrived. This is truly a parish with a warm heart. Opening Christmas cards, answering impor tant letters etc. really make the day shrink. Here it is the 20th and I have not yet sent out any cards myself! I’ll close this column wishing my readers and all the loyal supporters of our newspap er the most Merry of all Christmases and the fondest wish for a Blessed New Year. PUBLIC OPINION Your World And Mine inally federal political systems. But in prac tice they are highly centralists. When the “strong man” voices his position, the response all the way down is automatic. It is natural for people raised in such traditions to suspect connivance when the local level ignores the com mand given by the c.ntral executive. That is, of course, the same question we hear with increasing shrillness from individ uals and groups within the country dissatisfied with the rate of progress. I have, nevertheless, found that our visitors become quickly con vinced of the positive values of our present system, once they get to understand the motives which dissuade the federal authorities from us ing forCi. except as a last resort. A newsman from Venezuela summed up his observations for me. “We hear a lot about race discrimination in the United States, and we cannot reconcile-your practices and atti tudes with the rest of our image of your coun try as the lc-ader of world democracy. What I have seen, however, is a society' in action. The Negro is a victim of discrimination in many ways, especially in access to housing and in job opportunity. But the improvem ,-nt is more rapid than I was led to expect,” ASKED TO what extent his own views reflect ed those of the general Venezuelan public, my friend said that he thought that both Venezue- CONTINUED ON PAGE 5 BY GARY MacEOIN I wrote last week about the reactions of a group of Latin American opinion leaders to our election campaign and voting procedures. This was just one element in a program which offered them the opportunity to discuss United States policies and practices with a nember of his torians, social scientists, newsmen, politicians and public officials. They were understandably interested in our programs of foreign aid and our defense and Cold War policies. But both formal and infor mal discussions convinced me that they regard equal rights as the touchstone of United States sincerity. They were remarkably well informed about the developments of the past few years. Indeed, it seems to me that our enemies may have done us a favor by stressing in their propaganda how far our practice in race relations fell behind our principles. The bleak picture they painted serves to highlight the rate of progress. “HOW CAN a local administration sucked for years in frustrating the national will as clearly expressed by Congress and the fed eral executive?” This is the question that seems to be asked most insistently by foreign observ ers. Many Latin American countries have nom- BY REV. R. DONALD KIERNAN Well documented statistics about the moving habits of Americans reveal the fact that almost one-fourth of this nation move every year. Now some of these people move merely from the first floor to the second floor, others move to homes on the same street, and still others have so little to move that it does not require the ser vices of a moving company. In sixteen years I have received seven different appointments to various churches and missions in this state. I guess that in my own small way that I have contributed to these statistics. However, I must confess that every time I move that it be comes more and more diffi cult. I recall my first move from Savannah to Atlanta. All of my possessions were able to be piled in the trunk of my little Plymouth. This last move from Gainesville to Atlanta requir ed the services of Adams Transport Company. Not that my worldly possessions are really worth that much but I’m afraid that over the years 1 have acquired another American ha bit of not being able to decide what to save and what to dispose of. IT ALL adds up that everything is piled in boxes, suitcases, foot lockers etc. with the resolution that they will be sorted out before being brought into the new rectory. I must confess that I had these same dispositions when I was transferred from Cedartown to Gainesville. It was only when I was packing to move to Atlanta that I suddenly realized that in six years I had not quite “got-around” to sorting my belongings. The farewells are the most difficult part of leaving. In all six parishes in which I have been stationed the people have been most thoughtful and generous to me. Comparisons Make Believe To Reality BY GERARD E. SHERRY Among the Love Letters of Phyllis McGinley there is the Ballade of Lost Objects, an impish lament on the swift growth of kids in anyone’s family. The final stanza sums up the feelings of many parents at this time of the year: “Prince, 1 warn you, under the rose, Time is the thief you cannot banish. These are my daughters, I suppose. But where in the world did the children Vanish? It is all brought to mind by the sudden realiza tion that for the first time since the advent of our children no doll will grace the foot of the Christmas Tree. Last year there was a terrible period of anguish at being unable to find the right type for the youn gest girl. Chatty Kathy or some such title, which did al most all the things that humans do. I should have known, though, that this was the last of the parade of the dolls, for there was soon dis-enchantment with the almost human doll. (Perhaps that was the trouble — it was too clever for the world of make believe. A child likes to think it has the gift of making its inanimate friends communicate.) But now the child is becoming a girl—and soon a woman. IT IS appropriate to meditate on all this at Christmastide, for we are apt to think of it only in so far as it reflects newness—whereas it is also supposed to remind us of growth in Christ. There is something about Christmas which brings into the open the fulfillment of creation and puts us human persons on that elevated plane which we hardly ever acknowledge. I read the other day a book on homilies on Christmas given by Pope Paul VI when he was Giovanni Battista Cardinal Mon- tini. Archbishop of Milan. In telling of the intimate stirrings of this holy day, he says; “In Christmas, nature and life find their own gentle and innocent language which makes us savor something of the original harmony of creation, and restores us to the joy of true things, simple things, and good things like an incantation that reanimates us. But right after this lyrical and romantic aspect, another appears which alters the clarity and force of the great over-riding motive for the birth — which is all true — with elements of fantasy, legend and spectacle. Thus we have the Christmas Tree and Santa Claus, that replace the creche .or nativity scene .with attempts to transform the exquisite historical nature of the mystery-into myth and amusement. The mind is amused but also confused. One easily reverts to childhood. But, alas, one remains a child. One never ascends to the sublime encounter with the heavenly Child.” ONE REMAINS a child! Certainly this is'the fate of any of us who, in growing up physically, has failed to grasp the significance of the matu rity of the Spirit. In attaining manhood; in reach ing for the material elements of growth and pro gress, we may have lost sight of “the joy of true things, simple things and good things..." The Gospel story as told by St. Luke and St. Matthew is clear: a child is born who is God — the Word made Flesh. The bridge between Heaven and Earth is opened and our liberation is as sured. The freedom of the sons of God is es tablished. AH that is in the Church has Christ as its center. The unity of Christ is also explain ed. Existing in two natures, He is still one, yet both divine and human. It is this truth which lies at the root of a joyous and happy Christmas. It is this truth which is obscured by the tinsels and the symbols of gross commercialization on this holy day. WHERE IN’ the world did the children vanish? They have become girls-and soon they will be come women. They no longer want dolls or other baby toys. They are grown up. But art they? Is Christmas a tim. of taking or giving? The an swer to this question will give us a clue to their growth. Have they grown up sufficiently to see the Christ-Child in every child? Have they grown up in love? That which enables them to over come pride and prejudice; that which enables them to see the image of the God-Man in all men, ir respective of raCv color or creed. Do they know the difference between the child and the do cility of the Child-like? REAPINGS AT RANDOM Christmas therefore is the invitation to ag- giornamento—to the updating. are invited to become what we are—Christians, truly and willingly emancipated by the mystery of the In carnation. That is why we can say with Pope Paul: “A Christmas without Christ and the term Christian without faith in Christ, are a mockery of divine truth and of human Intelligence. Let those of us who believe set to it that Christmas is given the true significance and splendour; the celebration of the mystery of the incarna tion; and that the term Christian be given the power and glory 0 f a genuine Christian life.” THE INANIMATE have become too clever for the- world of make believe; most of U s, alas, are not clever enough to master the world of reality. But where in the- world did the children vanish? There’s still time to discover that they didn t. Christmas reminds us the) have merely grown up. But have they in Christ?