Newspaper Page Text
THURSDAY, MAY 5, 1966
GEORGE BULLETIN
PAGE 5
URGENT DUTY
Liturgical Experiment
BY REV. LEONARD F.X. MAYHEW
WHAT "AGGIORNAMENTO" and "renewal"
meant to the years of the Council's actual delib-
erations, the word "experimentation" will mean
to these first crucial years of beginning to im
plement the Council’s directions. In other words,
the mood and crying need of the Church seem to
dictate relatively unhindered freedom to test
methods and solutions. Experimentation is being
mentioned more and more in articles, speeches,
conferences, everywhere that the implications
of Vatican II are being taken seriously.
The very sound of the word implies ambiguity.
If we admit that we are experimenting, then we
simultaneously admit that we do
not possess a final, definitive
answer. Even more, we admit
that there may be more than
one answer to a given question
or problem. And finally, we
admit that there may be, and
indeed, probably will be, mis
takes made. To accept ex
perimentation as a proper part
of the Church’s life, then, im
plies a very different mentality from that which
marked our immediate past. It marks a definite
departure from a cast of mind which expected
and produced rules and laws to meet every con
ceivable case and depended upon "dispensation’
to meet exceptions. This creates intellectual and
emotional difficulties for many people, both
those in authority and some subject to authority.
Experimentation must begin from clarity be
fore it invades the ambiguous. It must be clear
what we are experimenting with — and what we
are not experimenting with — and why, A per
son or a community who are not clear and secure
in their grasp of the firm foundation of the ex
perimentation will not be able to experiment con
structively. Providentially, the Church has been
given this firm base to operate from. If the Coun
cil has accomplished anything, it has been to give
the Church a clear grasp of its nature and of the
present demands made upon it by its mission.
Nobody is going to experiment with the doctrines
of the Faith; but the attempt to understand and
express them in terms of contemporary thinking
and needs is called for. Nobody is going to ex
periment with the mysteries of the Mass and
Sacraments; but the communal celebration of
these mysteries must be reformed to make them
live for present-day man in the almost infinite
variety of his needs and concerns. The Church
must experiment in order to know not only what
the Spirit has said to her but what He continues
to say.
EXPERIMEhTTATION in the Church will take
place in the realm of the practical. The Church
is not interested in pure research or experimen
tation for its own sake. The Church’s objective
is clear and well defined: to restore all things
to the Father in Christ Jesus. The very enor
mity of this overwhelming task dictates that we
bend every effort always to find the most effec
tive means to achieve our ends. It makes con
stant improvement our most incumbent obliga
tion.
In the core of the Church’s life, where the
Christian life is to be most intensely experienced
and signified, the duty of experimentation is most
necessary. This means in the liturgy of the Eu
charist, which the Council teaches to be pre
cisely this core. Liturgy must create community
of love and mission not only in cultures as dis
parate as Asian and European but also as dis
parate as adolescent and adult. Liturgy deals
with persons, it is the work of persons, and it
must be able to meet them as they are It must
be able to reach them as they are affected by
nationality, age, education, family history and
the particular circumstances of a particular hour,
day or season. Liturgy can only happen in an
atmosphere of real freedom.
GOOD NEWS
Strangers, Wayfarers
BY MARY PERKINS RYAN
SERIOUS Christians of every denomination are
asking themselves these days in just what sense
they are meant to be "strangers and wayfarers",
as the Epistle for the Third Sunday after Easter
says that they should be. The Anchor Bible tran
slates the same phrase, "pilgrims and immi
grants," and the J. B. Phillips version, "stran
gers ana ‘temporary residents’ ". But in any
case the impression given is that Christians can
not, settle down in human society and be perfect
ly at home there.
Yet, as this same Epistle brings out, Christians
are to be good members of society, obeying legi
timate authority, "Honoring all
men,” "keeping your behavior
good among the Gentiles, so that
from accusing you as wrong
doers, they may, when faced
with your good works, glorify
God on the day of retribu
tion." How are these two at
titudes — that of a stranger
and that of a good member of
society — to be reconciled?
In the light of the documents of the Second Vat
ican Council, particularly those >n the Apostolate
of the Laity and The Church in the World today
it is beginning to look as though American Cath
olics had been generally trying to reconcile these
attitudes the wrong way. As members of var
ious immigrant groups, they very naturally wanted
to settle down and not remain "immigrants" in
any sense. As members of a Church that was
looked upon as foreign and un-American, they
wanted to become and be considered 100% Ameri
can, good members of the established society.
Thus the Roman Catholic Church and those who
belong to it have become an integral part of the
American scene — so much so that certain or
ganizations are said to seek out Catholics be
cause they have found that they generally make
more loyal and contented employees than other
people. And so the "stranger” attitude, rec
ommended by St. Peter, has been taken to mean a
lack of responsibility for changing society and
social structures: they are here; we have tc 'ive
with them; it’s not our job to try to change them.
Yet we cannot "honor all men”, as St. Peter
tells us to do, if we accept social and economic
structures, and ways of thinking and speaking and
acting, which dishonor any group or individuals.
The behavior of Catholics generally does not at
the present time seem good to large masses of
underprivileged "Gentiles." Christians gen
erally have not been acting in such a way that
people of no faith, "faced with our good works,’’
are ready to "glorify God on the day of retribu
tion." On the contrary, the fact that we believe
in God and act as we do seems to a great many
people a good argument for not believing in Him
or glorifying Him.
The Second Vatican Council has, therefore,
called us to re-assess our situation in the world
and our attitude toward it. We are to be "stran
gers" in the sense that we do not accept things
as they are. We are to be good members of our
society in the sense that we are trying to make
it a place in which all men will be truly honor
ed — and never to settle down until it is.
For, as the Pastoral Constitution on the Church
in the Modern World states very clearly: "...
Christians cannot yearn for anything more ardent
ly than to serve the men of the modern world ever
more generously and effectively. Therefore, hold
ing faithfully to the gospel and benefitting from
its resources, and united with every man who
loves and practices justice, Christians have
shouldered a gigantic task demanding fulfillment
in this world. Concerning this task they must
give a reckoning to Him who will judge every
man on the last day.
NOT EVERYONE who cries, 'Lord, Lord,’
will enter into the kingdom of heaven, but those
who do the Father’s will and take a strong grip
on the work at hand. Now, the Father wills that
in all men we recognize Christ our brother and
love Him effectively in word and in deed. By
thus giving witness to the truth, we will share
with others the mystery of the heavenly Father’s
love. As a consequence, men throughout the world
will be aroused to a lively hope — the gift of the
Holy Spirit — that they will finally be caught up
in peace and utter happiness in that fatherland
radiant with the splendor of the Lord."
TOO MUCH PROSPERITY
Your World And Mine
CONTINUED FROM PAGE 4
Curiously, the current economic boom threat
ens to increase the deficit. A boom cuts exports,
because more production is absorbed at home.
It increases imports, because there are longer
delays in delivery of domestic products, and be
cause simply there is more money around. Of
the many ways to deal with such inflationary ten
dencies, the simplest and most logical is a tax
increase. But in an election year, who can afford
to be logical?
What should be clear is that our "nagging de
ficit" is a problem resulting not from depres
sion but from prosperity. It-is not caused by our
living beyond our means in the sense of living on
our capital, but simply by expansion of our over
seas capital accumulation at a faster rate thhn
we are willing to pay for.
I have not mentioned foreign aid as an element
in the picture, and strangely enough, it is scarce
ly mentioned in the current newspaper discus
sions. The omission is significant. I think few
realize how foreign aid has changed. It is not
simply that the total non-military aid is less,
nor even that a high proportion of the allocations
is never appropriated. More significant is the
composition.
Allocations of food, for example, represent no
drain on foreign exchange. To the extent that
they come from farm surpluses, they do not even
increase our taxes or our budget deficit. Other
allocations are mostly loans, in considerable part,
short-term loans, and they mean in practice the
export of our manufactures, not our money.
Outright grants for technical assistance also go
in large part to U.S. specialist firms for surveys
and research. A total study of foreign aid, in
cluding the rate of repayment of principal and
interest on loans, is badly needed.
In the meantime, we are faced with a "head
tax” on tourists. If I protest, it is not special
pleading on my part.
ARNOLD VIEWING
Q. HAS THE Catholic Church ever allowed a Protestant per
son and a Catholic person to be married in the Catholic Church?
I had always understood that this was not possible. But a friend
of mine says he has attended more than one marriage such as
this in the Catholic Church, and that as long as the Protestant
promised that the children would be brought up in the Catholic
faith, this was all that was necessary.
A. It is being done every day. Many bishops now permit a
mixed marriage to take place at Mass, with the nuptial blessing.
Q. Please tell me if confession is com
pulsory (if one has no mortal sins) to ful
fill one’s obligation of Easter Duty? My con
fessions were routine, once a month. Then
last year my confessor told me not to con
fess the venial sins and little faults. Since
then I have become so emotionally upset when
I want to go to confession, because I have
nothing to tell. I feel that a sincere act of
contrition every night and weekly communions are more bene
ficial to me.
A. Confession is not necessary for your Easter duty. Only
those who commit grevious sin are obliged to go to confession.
Most other people should go, but I believe you are an exception
- until you find a confessor who will be kind and understanding
towards you.
***
Q. I married outside the Catholic Church abour 40 years ago,
and always had a feeling of losing something when I didn’t go
to the Catholic church, but since the Church made all those
ridiculous changes I am glad I am not a member.
A. I FIND FT EASY to understand that a person who has failed
to practice his religion for 40 years is not prepared to embrace
a renewed and enlivened form of integral Christianity.
•••
Q. Is scrupulosity a sin?
A, No, but it may lead to sin. At least it can prevent the attain
ment of mature morality. In some cases it is a neurotic problem
which needs the help of a psychiatrist. In other cases it is only
a matter of fear, worry and misunderstanding which a sympathe
tic confessor or spiritual advisor can help you handle.
Out Of “Bond-”age
"HARPER" is a hard-boiled throwback to the
Raymond Chandler private eye yarns of the 1940’s,
which did so much to immortalize the tough guy
hero and the images of actors Humphrey Bogart,
Dick Powell and Alan Ladd.
It is a refreshing switch from the James Bond
mystique, because detective Lew Harper, like
Philip Marlowe before him, is a
genuine human specimen who
thinks, feels and bleeds. "Har
per," like the British-made
"Ipcress File," is a cautious
attempt to restore the Hero in
an age of Anti-Heroes. The
major question is whether the
public is ready to return, after
only 10 years, to a once-fas
cinating but terribly tired and
stylized formula.
"Harper" also has the services of Paul New
man in the title role, and Newman, certainly one
of the four or five best film actors in America,
gives the traditional shamus type dimensions
unheard of in previous philosophies. His scope
as an actor enables Harper to be more than the
usual stolid—faced, gravel—voiced bully in a trench
coat, whose sole relief from monotony is the
ability to deliver sardonic wisecracks.
Young director Jack Smight (‘TheThird Day")
also has a reverence for the crudities of melo
drama, although he is not as bright a prospect
as "Ipcress” director Sidney Furie. Smight
helped his cause by recruiting for relatively small
but crucial parts performers like Julie Harris,
Arthur Hill, Lauren Bacall and Shelley Winters.
If the action and lines are often silly, it is com
forting to know that weak actors might have
made them sillier.
Harper, like his prototype Marlowe, labors
among the decadent rich, the bizarre misfits
SOCIAL REFORM
‘The American’ Church
BY GARRY WILLS
T IS ESTT1MATED that about forty to fifty mil
lion Americans, men, women and children, are
members of the Catholic Church. This is a siz
able percentage of the population. If the adult
Catholics were to develop any kind of a spirit
of solidarity, they could have a far greater in
fluence upon the nation as a whole than they have
manifested to date.
Politically, in the larger cities Catholic voters
seem more inclined toward the Democratic than
the Republican Party. Taken by
and large the trends seem to re
flect the clifnate of the geo
graphic area in which they live.
Socially, that is in social
action, it is just in recent years
that they seem' to be maturing
toward a more alert social con
sciousness in regard to con
crete issues.
On the labor front, the Catholicity of the rank-
and-file union members, perhaps because of their
relatively large numbers, is at times noticeable,
but I have not found any distinct differentiation
between Catholics and non-Catholics among the
really dedicated leaders of the labor movement.
In the financial world and the higher echelons
of business, the Catholic layman seems to con
form to established patterns of action inaboutthe
same way that respected men of other faiths do.
In professional circles and in public life cer
tain individuals stand out as Catholics in all parts
of the country, but as a class they do-not seem to be
possessed of any distinct spirit of active leader
ship that differs from any other type of American
Catholic. A small percentage of Catholic journa
lists give the impression of wielding a greater
influence than their, numbers might warrant.
It would be untenable to say that American
Catholics, as Catholics, have little or no in
fluence on American life. Whether that influence
is as widespread and forceful as it should be in
proportion to our numbers and the talent of our
members has been a debatable question for some
time.
The impact of "Americanism" upon the struc
ture and the life of the Church in America, on
the other hand, is the reverse side of the coin.
As the current ferment of the renewal begins
to show itself and diverse potential movements
seem to be shaping up, it might be timely to pose
a question in this way: “What influence upon the
Church itself does the spirit of Americanism hold
for the future?" Will die Church in America be
more Christian because of our American way of
living or will it be less Christian as Catholics
approach the perplexing problems of the day in
a unique spirit of "Americanism"? Will the
Church in America succeed in purifying what needs
to be purified in our own modern life or will we
become so anxious to "Americanize" the work
ings of the Church as to find ourselves in some
kind of conflict with what has been accepted as
traditional Catholicism?
This is not merely a theoretical question. The
seeds of its practical significance are already be
ing sown. The "American attitude" on birth
control, for instance, is common knowledge. For
millions, the morality of the subject is no longer
even being discussed. The average American
family is limited to just about two children. The
"American attitude", I feel certain, has had an
effect on the thinking of a great many Catholic
married couples. It’s influence is bound to con
tinue regardless of what the final statement on
the subject by Pope Paul VI may be.
The clamor for a more democratic form of
government within the Church is heard in many
places. Visiting theologians from other countries
seem to take pleasure in contrasting the structure
of our political form of government with that of
the traditional structure in the Church.
A question: "Could the Pope, with or without
the support of the bishops, transform the govern
ing power in the Church into some kind of a popu
lar democratic system?’’ (Personally, I don’t
know, but I doubt it very much.) Suppose a suf
ficient number of American Catholics were mo
bilized into a moving force and demanded a dem
ocratic form of Church government, could an
American schism be the end-result of the grow
ing agitation?
What will be the final acceptable consensus on
the jPart of ^American Catholics in regard to the
.whole, question of authority and obedience "in
religious orders? This issue is already taking
its toll in vocations both to the priesthood and
among religious brothers and sisters. I asked
a young nun, a Superior to one of the Congrega
tions, "Are you having much trouble with ‘drop
outs’ among novices and newly professed sis
ters? Her answer was this: "Wehave more ‘put
outs’ than ‘dropouts’."
Problems in regard to the Faith both in Catholic
and non-Catholic colleges and universities has be
come and will be for some time in the future a
major concern of the "American Church". Dis
satisfaction among the younger clergywiththeold
relationships between bishops, pastors, and cu
rates is rife.
The fantastic proposal of a ‘labor union for
priests" has been givenmore serious considera
tion than it deserves in some clerical circles.
How much of the disturbed thinking on matters
of this kind is due to the pragmatic "American”
manner of looking at life in our interpersonal
relationships?
These are just a sampling of some of the bits
of potential dynamite lying around these days or
being exploded in the air. Others could be added.
There is a new book about to appear in the
bookstores on just such subjects. It will be pre
sented as a sociological analysis of the Church
in America. It will state some tentative predic
tions or conclusions as to what may be the grow
ing outcome of the tensions we are now exper
iencing in a more or less sporadic way. The book
is bound to be controversial. The truth cannot
harm us. But again, the "American way” of
presenting even the truth through press, radio
and TV can leave misleading impressions.
If the answers to the questions stirring the
minds of thinking Americans today were all black
or all white on one side or the other, it would be
a simple thing to defend the white and denounce
the black. Unfortunately, so often you have a mix
ture of the use and abuse of a right; a co-ming-
ling of sound traditional custom with either new
or worn-out personal opinion and practice. The
need of prudential judgment in particular cases
often allows for an open challenge to the judg
ment arrived at and the prudence or lack of it
exercised in the making of it. There is no longer
any simple, fool-proof answer which would settle
an issue with the stroke of a pen.
There is still an Authentic Voice in the Church
which can command the obedience and demand the
loyalty of the Catholic conscience. But even the
nature and the areas of operation of that Voice
are being held up to question by some in the tur
bulent times in which we live.
Sooner or later, nevertheless, that Voice will
proclaim a message of meaning which will es
tablish the Church’s position on what today may
be points of controversy. They who listen and ac
cept the message will be numbered among those
"thinking with the Church". Others - some at
least - may choose to exclude themselves from
the fold. When and if that day comes, we will
know the meaning of the term "the American"
Catholic Church.
and cruel roadhouse underworld of Los Angeles,
"where the worst people are the worst in the
world." Since he is trying to bring order and
justice to hell, he is doomed to frustration. But
he recognizes hell for what it is, reacts to stu
pidity and wickedness with justifiable ferocity,
and to the lost souls, offers compassion. He is
a missionary whose dedication to a hopeless cause
costs him his wife (Janet Leigh). But the pain
is redeemed by a sense of humor and perspec
tive, and above all by the "six weeks out of a
year" when he wins.
Harper is the private eye at his best: the Cool
Idealist. He is all the expected things: compe
tent, clever, indestructible, irresistible to women
but, for a change, able to resist them. Perhaps
his best quality is to understand people, in all
their absurdity, without judging them. For him
evil is always a mistake and death always a
tragedy; he is willing to lie to salve the objec
tively ridiculous hurt of a female junkie (Miss
Harris) whose worthless boy friend has just
been killed. In an imperfect world, an imperfect
hero like Harper is quite acceptable.
But let’s not over-do the enthusiasm. The film
is much less admirable than its hero. The
story, adapted from mystery writer Ross Mac
Donald, is one long cliche, involving a sexy
dowager (Miss Bacall) who wants to find her
philandering husband, a spoiled nymphomaniac
daughter (Pamela Tiffin) used mainly to deco
rate the family swimming pool, assorted dumb
cops and California weirdos (an alcoholic has-
been actress, a nature-boy religious fanatic who
uses his mountain-top temple as a front for wet
back smugglers). Harper makes endless forays
into seamy bars and nightclubs to question sing
ers and waitresses and is endlessly beaten up by
sadist goons.
The color helps the lush and often wild in
teriors look pretty, but works against the hard-
real-nuts-and-bolts atmosphere of the script and
makes the bloodier moments downright repulsive.
The film relies for effects more on dialog than
visuals, but there are several good touches,
especially a ransom money pickup staged at
night among the moving colored lights and clank
ing derricks of an oil field.
"Harper" is recommended mainly for mature
lovers of the private eye genre who are willing
to accept the typical sordidness, no-down-pay
ment characterizations and brass knuckles may
hem, if these are at least partly saved by a little
wit, a little style, and a genial hero that one can
almost like.
CURRENT RECOMMENDED FILMS:
For everyone: Dr. Zhivago.
For connoisseurs: The Gospel According to St.
Matthew.
Better than most: The Slender Thread, The Spy
Who Came in From the Cold,
Judith, The Trouble With Angels
God Love You
MOST REVEREND FULTON J. SHEEN
IS THERE any act in our life which has so much finality about
it as writing our last Will and Testament? True, we can leave
only things. In this we differ from Our Lord Wno left Himself in
His final Testament saying: "This is My Body. This is My
Blood.” But our Will involves more than disposing of what we
can no longer enjoy, like 20 crates of oranges on a desert isle
which would rot before they could be eaten. Our Will is basically
a test of our faith. Do I really believe that
what I enjoyed during life came from God’s
hands? Do I have any sins in my past which
need some kind of expiation? Which sins
have been bound up, one way or another, with
the house, possessions, wealth 1 had during
life? Is not my Will my autobiography?
Would anyone ever know, when my Will is
read after my death, that I believed that Our '
Lord is my Judge, my Savior and my Love?
If a man oh leaving for a foreign country gives a baseball to
a boy, bracelet to the night-club hat-check girl, a ballpoint pen
to a manufacturer of ballpoint pens and gives nothing to his wife,
would not his wife ask, "How much does he really love me?"
When a man’s Will leaves thousands to a gymnasium, a gold
plaque to a rich church and a million to an institution which
already has millions, but nothing to Christ in the poor, then
heaven may query, "How much love is in his heart?"
If we were on trial would we not hire the best possible attorn
ey? But are we not on trial when we die? Is not our attorney
for the defense "JesusChrist, thejust,oar Advocate in Heaven?
Shall we go into the eternal court without ever having giyen a
thought to our defense. Suppose that we are wicked when we
breath our last. There is hope on one condition: ‘To him who
does not work but believes in Him Who justifies the impious, his
faith is credited to him as justice" (Romans 4:5). Our Lord
will plead for us if we have faith in Him. But, if the one docu
ment we leave to be read after our death makes no mention
of Him, His gifts, or our love for His Presence in the poor,
can we be sure?
Think it over I When you write your Will write: “I commend
my body to the earth in penance; I commend my soul to the
mercy of my Advocate, Jesus Christ, the Just.” When it comes
to making bequests keep in mind: 1) There is little charity in
making the rich richer, even though they are “good Catholics”
or “great institutions." 2) Request that whatever you give be
spent on the poor in Christ’s Name within 12 months after pro
bation and that not one cent of it be invested in stocks and bonds
or property in the United States. 3) If your faith is deep enough
to leave to the Holy Father the distribution of your money to
help the poor and spread the faith, then your Will will read:
“Because I love Him Who gave me life and all the means to en
joy it, I bequeath to The Society for the Propagation of the Faith
in order that others may be fed, clothed and come to know and
love God, the sum of , to be distributed within a
year as the Holy Father knows best.”
GOD LOVE YOU to Mrs. R.C. who, when her husband's Will
was contested by relatives, sent $4,000 of her own money in
order to carry out her husband’s last wish...,to Mr. and Mrs.
L. C. for $500. “We thank God that your talks and MISSION
magazine have made us recognize our responsibility to share
our blessings with Our Lord’s poor. Thank you for this help,"
Cl/T OUT this column, pin your sacrifice to it and mail it to
Most Rev. Fulton J. Sheen, National Director of The Society for
the Propagation of the Faith, 366 Fifth Avenue, New York, N.Y.
10001, or to your Diocesan Director, Rev. Noel C. Burtenshaw
P.O.Box 12047,2699 Peachtree Road, N.E. Northside Station,
Atlanta 5, Georgia. 30305