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PAGE 4 GEORGIA BULLETIN THURSDAY, DECEMBER 31, 1964
EXPECTATIONS
Archdiocese of Atlanta
the
GEORGIA BULLETIN
SI»VINO GEORGIA'S 71 NORTHF»w COUNTIES
Official Organ of the Archidocese of Atlanta
Published Every Week at the Decatur DeKalb News
1/jUtAs ^ybot/ /?65
[/pdating
The Year
BY GERARD E. SHERRY
PUBLISHER- Archbishop Paul J. Hallinan
MANAGING EDITOR Gerard E. Sherry CONSULTING EDITOR Rev. R. Donald Kiernan
ASSOCIATE EDITOR Rev. Leonard F. X. Mayhew
Member of the Catholic Press Association
2699 Peachtree N. E. a nd Subscriber to N. C. W. C. News Service
P. O. Box 11667 Telephone 231-1281
Northside Station
Atlanta 5, Ga. Second Class Permit at Altanta, Ga.
U. S. A. $5.00
Canada $5.00
Foriegn $6.50
Search For Patience
The advent of the new year
brings with it the dangers of
impatience at the frustrations to
be faced and the jobs that are
undone. Yet the virtue of patie
nce in its ultimate analysis,
is merely one phase of docility
to the real. It is a recognition
of the dimension of time.
If we are to be realistic, to
work in the world as it is, in
order .to remake it into what
it should be, then we must ac
cept the fact that things hap
pen in time, that causes unfold
into effects only through the pas
sage of time. Patience leads us
to a proper perspective, a
balanced view of events, so that
we actually come to grips with
things in all their reality.
To sow in the spring, and to
demand a harvest within weeks
is an absurdity. To ask a ten
year old to assume the respon
sibilities of an adult is to vio
late the principle of growth. To
demand an immediate solu
tion to a complex international
problem, deeply rooted in his
tory, is to demand the impos
sible, and to foredoom one's
efforts to failure.
A man who intends to swim a
river will set his pace and his
sights to that task. If instead he
thought that he was merely going
to swim the length of a pool, he
would be disheartened and give
up in despair before he had fin
ished the first mile. Overoptim-
istic understimation of the task
before us has led many of us
to a despair that would have
been avoided if we had taken
the element of time into ac
count.
For the Christian, the virtue
of patience is more than this,
for it is a real sharing in the
patience of God. By Baptism we
are called to share in the life of
God, and thus we must acquire
His virtues. Before this truth we
must adjust our pace to the pace
of a God who could launch the
universe, and bide His time be
fore setting upon it the master,
Man. We must have the endurance
of a God who could watch His pro
digal sons go wandering off into
the slavery of sin, and then wait
and wait until man could re
ceive the promised Redeemer.
In putting on the New Man, we
must share in the fruitful wait
ing of the Lord, Who had come on
the most important task His
Father could devise, but Who
waited for thirty years, before
He did anything about the task.
This is the God, to whose pat
tern we must conform ourselves.
In the light of this aspect of
Christian patience, an adoles
cent impatience in the adult
Christian borders on blasphemy.
On a much deeper level there
is a further aspect of Christian
patience , and that is the rede
mptive value of patient endur
ance. In the final analysis, the
Lord did nothing when He re
deemed us, He merely endur
ed death. He hung, obediently
and willfully upon the cross
until the excruciating torture
had drained His life away. In
.manfully accepting the fact of
time, we can share in this pass
ion of patience.
To be aware of the gravity of
a problem, to glimpse a work
able solution, but to remain
inactive, or at least to accept a
minimal activity, in obedience
to proper authority or in ac
ceptance of the limitations im
posed by the element of time, is
to be stretched upon the Cross,
and is in fact more redemptive
than to charge ahead and actu
ally work out a solution. In a
creed fraught with paradox
this aspect of patience brings us
to the great paradox of the
Cross, and is most contrary to
our natural inclinations. But
if we ignore it, and fly off in
revolt or in disillusioned ab
dication we shall have squander
ed the most practical contribution
we can make to local, national
and international problems.
The Pope Said It Then
What Will We Write?
GEORGIA PINES
After The Storm
BY REV. R. DONALD KIERNAN
Like the stilness that comes after a big storm,
these past few days, after Christmas, are like
a welcomed breathing spell. Merchants are
not the only one who are exhausted on Decem
ber 25tJ>. The same holds true for parish;
priests. Making sure that the Christmas crib is
put out on display, arranging for the unusual
crowds that attend Midnight
Mass, scheduling the hours for
confessions, answering the
telephone usually, "What time,
does tiie Midnight Mass
begin?") all of these
things are joyful to a priest
but physically exhausting.
Now added to all of these
church duties the priest sends
out Christmas cards too, he
has members of his family for whom he must
do some shopping, wrapping and mailing and
yet, at the same time, there are the routine
obligations which must be attended to.
Then after the Midnight Mass there are us
ually ten or fifteen people who invite the
priest out. for "breakfast” and if he replies
with a "no" because he has to say the 7 a.m.
mass. ... the parishioner has a dejected look
and acts as if they have been speaking to
the original Scrooge,
Well, what's the solution? In fifteen years I
have never found it. So, consequently, Decem
ber 26th finds me exhausted, running late
and desperately trying to find some subject to
write my column about!
retirement.), So here I am on CX;cember 29th
and as yet have not even read my Christmas
cards or opened any packages.
Christmas has a tremendous buildup, no
doubt brought on by enterprising merchants.
It seems that the turkey on Thanksgiving is
not even cold before the first Christmas carol
comes blaring over the radio. Store windows
are gaily decorated and a spirit of merri
ment fills the air.
Then comes Christmas night and its all
over. I even saw a tree out in a trash barrel
at 9:30 on Christmas eveningl
The day after Christmas brings with it an
exchange of gifts (wrong size) and some stores
are now busier than they were the day before
Christmas.
All in all, it is a reflection on the feverish
tempo in which we all live. Were it not for
smoking, tranquilizers' etc., I imagine that
many would suffer nervous breakdowns just
from sheer exhaustion. What with going to
parties, giving parties and obligation part
ies— for many there is little time to enjoy
one’s own family.
Spiritual writers for years have unsuccess
fully tried to "put Christ back into Christmas”
and with the deluge of advertising and mer
chandizing forced on the American people
it is not small miracle that there are still
people who appreciate the religious signif
icance attached to the Holy Season.
I have an additional fete. My birthday falls
on December 28th and though 1 am now try
ing to hide the years I do think it calls for ano
ther celebration. (Gosh, I can remember when
I thought a man 40 years old was ready for
I felt real proud when I heard of a mother
of five who asked her children if they would like
to have an orphan spend the holidays with
them rather than exchange gifts among them
selves. The children all voted for the orphan.
A "real" Christmas was spent in that home.
Real proud, I say. Yes, because that mother is my
sister.
SUPPORT FOR VIETNAM
This week, former President
Eisenhower stated that he belie
ves the “unconditional surren
der" policy in World War II
was a mistake and that it caus
ed the Germans to fight longer.
"Germany was defeated after
the Battle of the Bulge," he said.
"By January 16, 1945, it was all
over, and anyone with sense
knew it was over." But the war
continued and many lives were
lost after that date because, as
General Eisenhower said,"Hit
ler used something from the
mouth of our own leader and per
suaded the Germans to fight
longer than they might have,"
The main thing wrong with
President Franklin D. Roose
velt’s slogan on unconditional
surrender, the General said, was
that it seemed to be directed at
the people instead of at the war
lords who led them. Eisenhower
added that while he had never
condemned the unconditional-
surrender policy publicly before,
he had questioned it privately
when he was Supreme Comman
der in the European theatre.
He said that Gen. George C.
Marshall, Chief of Staff of the
Army at that time, had intimat
ed strongly that he also
thought it was a mistake.
This all sounds very familiar.
During the war, Pope Pius
XII objected to the policy of
“unconditional surrender" for
the very same humane rea
sons. Yet his cry not only went
unheeded but has been used to
vilify his name recently. Rolf
Hochhuth in his slanderous play
“The Deputy" alleged that this
objection of Pius to stated Allied
policy was evidence of his pro-
Nazi sympathies.
It now appears that the Pope
was in good company in his ob
jections. There are quite a few
men, of both armies, buried
along the Rhine and beyond who
must wish that someone at that
time had the wisdom to see
what the Holy Father saw and
proclaimed and what General
Eisenhower now claims was so
apparent to those on the inside.
STAR HERALD CAMDEN, N. J.
Your World And Mine
BY GARY MacEOIN
Since I recently reported from Vietnam in this
column on the grave deterioration of our position
in that critical area, things have become steadily
worse. The military situation is today compar
able to that in the spring of 1954, just before the
disastrous French defeat at Dienbienphu. AsU.S.
Ambassador Maxwell Taylor has siad, there are
45 wars being fought in the 45 provinces of the
Republic of South Vietnam.
Ambassador Taylor has been in the United
States for talks with the military chiefs and the
President. No new policy has been announced, but
Administration statements indicate a belief that
what is needed is to step up
the military effort. In other
words, if we put on enough
pressure, we can make the war
no longer worth the Communists
while.
I HAVE HAD the oppor
tunity to discuss the situation at
length with leading members of
the American Friends of Viet
nam, a non-partisan group of this country's
top experts on South-East Asia, men who have been
working unselfishly since the Republic of South
Vietname was created to help it fulfil its pro
mise, and to develop in the United States a
better understanding of its problems and of the
contribution we can make to solve them.
These men have no miracle drug, no simple
solution. They all agree that the deterioration
is progressive, that we are approaching disin
tegration. But they have not abandoned hope.
They believe that stable democratic government
can be established in Vietnam, but not by mili
tary' effort alone.
"The primary problem always was and it still
is political," according to Mr. Joseph Buttinger
Author of THE SMALLER DRAGON, a book which
describes Vietnam's successful 2,000-year effort
to prevent China from grabbing the rich rice
bowl of the lower Mekong Valley, Mr. Butt
inger is this country 's leading student of Viet
namese history.
"A STABLE government with broad popular
support is the primary need if we are to con
vince the enemy that he cannot win, and such sup
port is almost entirely lacking," he says.
"To gain the people, we must convince them that
it is worth their while to support the govern
ment. This can be done only by' a program of im
mediate reforms coupled with a prospect of
peace to follow soon."
What kind of reforms does Mr. Buttinger
have in mind? "Eighty per cent of Vietnamese
are peasants, and only a small minority of these
own the land on which they live. We should pro
claim immediately that the land they are culti-
CONTINUED ON PAGE 5
This has been a very vital year on many fronts.
Politically, it saw the people of this nation repud
iate extremism whether from the right or left. It
also saw the election of the first southerner as
President of all these United States.
On the international front, it saw the demise of
Nikita Khruschev as leader of the Communist
world and the repudiation of his influence in the
Soviet Union. It also
saw a change of gov
ernment in England
where Harold Wil
son’s Socialist Par
ty won a narrow vic
tory over the Con
servatives. The year
also saw member
ship in the United
Nations increase to
an unprecedented degree. For the first time since
its inception, a balance of power (numerically) lay
with the emerging nations of Asia and Africa. On
the surface things look pretty grim, especially in
Viet Nam and Malaysia, both of which are hard
pressed by Asian Communist elements. But if
things look grim in some areas, there is hope in
the field of religion, especially in relation to the
Church.
NINETEEN sixty-four saw the successful con
clusion of the Third Session of Vatican Council II
with much meaningful work accomplished. It also
saw the introduction of the vernacular into the lit
urgy of the Church and its overwhelming accep
tance by the majority of the faithful. But one of the
greatest of the successes within the Church by
year's end was the spread of fruitful dialogue be
tween people of all races and creeds. The exam
ple of Pope Paul Vi’s early January travels to the
Holy Land and his meetings with Orthodox Pa
triarch Athenagoras set the pattern for many oth
er Church leaders. No longer was it considered
un-Catholic to extend the hand of love and friend
ship to our separated brethren— rather, it was to
be the norm in the search for religious unity.
Pope Paul Vi’s November journey to the Asian
Continent and the International Eucharistic Con
gress in Bombay was further evidence of the
Church's concern for mankind — above all, its
special copcen^ forthejipor and the needy. Anoth- 0
er shaft of light in a world overshadowed • by
clouds of injustice and discontent was the Pope’s
First Encyclical issued in the summer and entitl
ed Ecclesian Suam. Pope Paul spoke of the re
newal and the dimensions of the Church and no
where was it more appropriately confirmed that
the Church must be concerned with the world. He
confirmed in this 1964 document that:
‘The Church should enter into dialogue with the
world in which it exists and labors. The Church
has something to say; the Church has a message to
deliver; the Church has a communication to offer.
"It is no secret that this important facet of the
contemporary life of the Church will be specially
and fully studied by the ecumenical council, and
we have no desire to undertake the concrete exam
ination of the themes involved in such study, in
order to leave to Fathers of the council full free
dom in discussing them. We wish only to invite
you venerable brethren, to preface such study with
certain considerations in order that we see more
clearly the motives which impel the Church toward
the dialogue, the methods to be followed, and the
goals to be achieved. We wish to give, not full
treatment to topics, but proper dispositions to
hearts.
"Nor can we do otherwise in our conviction
that the dialogue ought to characterize our apos
tolic office, heirs as we are of such a pastoral
approach and method as has been handed down to
us by our predecessors of the past century, be
ginning with the great, wise Leo XIII. Almost
as a personification of the Gospel character of the
wise scribe, who, like the father of a family,
"knows how to bring both new and old things of
his treasure-house” (Mt* 13,52)., in a stately man
ner he assumed his function as teacher of the world
by making the object of his richest instruction the
problems of our time considered in the light of
the word of Christ.”
ARISING out of the Pope’s words, it is a pity the
dialogue within the Church was not as fruitful as it
is between ourselves and others. While one can
only speak about these United States it is tragic to
witness the travail of the Church in California and
elsewhere, where the conflict between freedom
and authority nas not yet been resolved. In such
situations it is not sufficient to condemn either
side. There is a great need for prayerful concern
and understanding.
The new year will no doubt see many changes
within the Church; within the world. It will be an
exciting year with the probable close of Vatican II
at the end of the Fourth Session, If one is to look
back over the twentieth century, the results of
Vatican II will be the main consideration of the
historians. Nineteen sixty five will see a con
tinuation of Aggiornanm ento — the updating —
the renewal — the essential reform. A happy,
fruitful New Year to ail who seek it.
REAPINGS
AT
RANDOM