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GEORGIA BULLETIN, THURSDAY, MARCH 16, 1967
Bestseller Uses God As Its Subject MatterX
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BUFFALO (CPF) — "The
Lord is like my Probation Of
ficer, He will help me, He tries
to help me make it every day.
He makes me play it cool and
feel good inside of me...He ma
kes sure I have my food and
that Mom fixes it. He helps her
stay sober and that makes me
feel good all over."
The Psalmist could very well
envision his Lord as a shepherd
. and speak of green pastures, but
for an 11-year-old delinquent
from a broken home in an in-
ner4city slum, the above ver
sion makes much more sense.
He and other youths like him
are responsible for translating
more than 40 Biblical stories,
proverbs, parables and teach
ings into language more readi
ly understandable to disadvan
taged youths for whom "sheep"
and "vineyards" are not very
meaningful, not to mention the
Scriptures' frequent references
to God as a father.
"If he's like my father, I sure
would hate him,” responded a
boy to the Rev. Carl F. Burke,
Protestant chaplain at the Erie
County Detention Home, and the
remark has led, several years
later, to a highly successful pa
perback called "God Isifor Real,
Man”—the latest religious-
bestseller.
Compiiled by Mr. Burke and
fi^st published last Spring by
thej YMCA’s Association Press,
it ^translates many portions of
the Bible into wording that in-
Jier-city youth—-in trouble with
the Taw pi: not—will "dig”:
the battle between the Israe>
lites and the Philistines is no
less than a "bumble," com
plete with switchblades and zip-
guns; the man aided by the good
Samaritan is attacked not on
the road to Jericho but on the
mall of a housing project; the
parable of the one sheep that
was lost becomes "The One
Used Car That Was Snitched.”
"Since cars are on the minds
of so many of these boys, and
often stolen by them, we talked
about stolen cars," Mr. Burke
said in explaining how that par
ticular translation came about.
“There is nothing new in the
method. It is as old as the first
missionaries who found lan
guage barriers."
The latest survey by "Chris
tian Herald” magazine of "what
Protestants are reading” has
"God Is for Real, Man" in
first place, ahead of Harvey
Cox’s "The Secular City."
But the book has been receiv
ed warmly by Catholic critics
also.
In an editorial, "Ave Maria"
magazine praised it as "a wel
come contribution to the grow
Sait ex tyiecthtya
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ing—but still sadly sparse
——literature that expresses
modern man's need for God...
In a very real sense, these
brief essays can be considered
prayers for they can open com
munication with God in a way
that is refreshing and start
ling.”
Stating right off that "popu
larizations of Scripute stories
generally leave me cold,” the
reviewer for Detroit’s "Michi
gan Catholic," Rev. William
Cunningham, called it "a re
velation of the hpnoor and my
sticism ofthe slums." Among
the book's most revealing pas
sages:
In a segment on the Com
mandments, one youth gives
his interpretation of the Four
th: "It means to love your mo
ther, even if she hollers at you,
and try to understand she is
tired from working all day.
It means to try to love your
father, even if you don’t know
him or where he is." As for
bearing false witness: "No tell
ing lies to the fcops or in court,
no matter how many breaks
they say they’ll give you."
Old Testament Proverbs
were translated into the lingo
of the street, and experience:
"They way of a fool is right
in his own eyes, but a wiseman
listens to advice" comes
through to them as "If you’re
so smart, how come you're in
jail? You’d be smarter if you
listen to the teach’."
The Proverb about heaping
Change
(CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1)
(2) approval of Biblical
translations listed above for
weekday use only;
(3) recitation of the "silent
parts" of the canon of the Mass
aloud or chanting of these texts,
according to the pattern al
ready approved for concele-
brated Masses;
(4) prose translations of the
five "sequences” from Hymns
of the Roman Liturgy by J. Con
nelly may be used as alterna-
lives to the metrical transla
tions already approved;
(5) the sequence Dies Irae is
left to the choice of the cele
brant in Masses where it must
now be included;
(6) the Nicene Creed may be
recited without chant in Masses
which are otherwise consider
ed to be sung Masses;
(7) the Apostles’ Creed may
be substituted for the Nicene
Creed in Masses with a con
gregation of deaf persons (be
cause of the difficulty of "re
citing” the longer creed in the
sign language).
All the concessions are ef
fective immediately,- with the
exception of the supplementary
weekday readings, which are
prepared to begin on the Monday
after Low Sunday, April 3. Only
the latter, the use of the new
weekday readings, requires the
permission of the individual
diocesan bishop. . Since this
permission is given on an ex
perimental basis, reports are
to be sent to Bishops’ Commit
tee, which will then report to
the Holy See concerning the re
sults of the experiment in the
United States.
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coals of fire on your enemy s
head by feeding him when he
is hungry is put to practical
gang-use by one youth: "If one
of the Black Hawks is hungry,
give him a hot dog; if he is
thirsty, give him some wa
ter. He won’t be able to figure
it out, and you will keep him
off base. Besides, God likes
it that way." 1
The youths' approach to the
Old Testament appears to be
more humorous than in the
rest of the book, letting their
slang and imaginations give life
to stories such as The Flood:
"God was bugged that he even
thought of making the world. So
there was only one thing to do
—throw the whole damn thing
out and start again. But he had
worked too hard to throw every
thing away, in that Creation bit,
and he didn’t want to go through
that again. He found a cool cat
called Noah....”
But in dealing with the New
Testament and particularly the
parables and Christ’s other
teachings, Mr. Burke’s "an
gels with busted halos’* see
clearly the everyday apprecia
tions. As with Christ's "Bless
ed are you when men revile
you and persecute you. . .
"When the big kids pick on
you, even when you know you
are right, you should stick with
it. Like when they want you to
go grabbing a purse and beat
you up if you don't. If you don’t
you'll be better off later."
The parable of the unjust ser
vant is turned into the story of
the unjust tenant (after the land
lord had agreed to forget about
the back rent) and Christ’s ad
vice to the rich young many
comes out as "get rid of all
your apartment houses and
rent - a - trucks.” For bypre-
ferring material things to the
things of God "he would always
feel empty inside. It's like the
feeling you have when you skip
school or when you ride in a
stolen car or stay out late.”
MRS. Joseph Gatins and Mrs. Jane Wilkes demonstrate home
management.
HAMMER out loud for my brother and my sisters.
Task Forcers ‘Get Involved’
(CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1)
needs of our community," said
Mrs. Fenlon. '
Mrs. Alice Harris and Mrs.
Julie Hummel of St. Jude's
parish, who have 11 children
between them, work in a day
care center-- "I guess,” said
Mrs. Harris," I work with
children because all I know are
little children." The women
try to plan things the teachers
couldn’t do "if we weren’t
there to help," she said. As
part of an enrichment pro
gram, the volunteers took small
groups of children for a train
ride from Rich's to Emory.
"We rode the train three weeks
in a row," said Mrs. Harris.
"I just try to listen to people’s
problems," said Mrs. Cathe-
; rine Warren of Radcliffe United
Presbyterian Church. As a
friendly visitor in the task force
■ program, she visits invalids and
; sometimes, "just people who
need reassurance, who need to
know that somebody cares about
I them.” With her help, a blind
' woman who had been afraid to
i walk took her first steps.
In the Vine City center, which
was closed temporarily due to a
lack of funds, Mrs. Ann Miles of
St. Peter and Paul parish tries
to help with teen-age boys who
would like to keep up their
; school-work. “There are some
1 exceptionally bright students"
: here,” she said, "you can spot
them right off—but they need
help to keep in school." She
feels that the volunteer is only
an instrument who can be used
to fill a need. "The whole or
ganization is outstanding," she
said.
"There are no more dedicat
ed workers than the EOA pro
fessional people, said another
volunteer. One of the profes
sionals, Miss O.L. Dixon said,
"there is growth, both per
sonally and racially(in this pro
gram) that helps the whole city
of Atlanta. Residents here know
that successful people are
really sincerely interested in
them."
Both staff members and vo
lunteers agree, that the pro
gram takes patience J'Volun
teers sometimes feel that they
are not doing the most excit
ing job, but it is meaningful.
They are working with people,
and since many of them can
come down for only a few hours
a week, they must remember
that you can't put people in a
package and just open it once
a week. Sometimes, in an
agency, we have to give volun
teers work that can be comple
ted in the time that they are
i here," said Mrs. Hilda Wil
son co-ordinator of volunteers.
She added that, "The little
pieces of work when they are
fitted together, added up—in
one month since the program
started, 28 volunteers offer
ed more than 600 hours of their
time."
"We can use all the people
we can 'get," said C.O. Em
merich, EOA director. "The
strength of any program is to
tal involvement—the response
is the fine thing about At
lanta.”
The Volunteer Task Force is
supposed to be working itself
out of business. "The Atlanta
EOA cannot and doesn’t want
to depend on the federal go
vernment totally," said Mrs.
Mary Lu Mitchell, publicity di
rector,*' The volunteer task
force can take over and work
through church groups and or
ganizations."
The task force is a pilot
program—funded for one year
by the EOA and initiated by
the Community Council. It co
vers 12 target areas in the city
and Fulton County with offices
in Gwinnett and Rockdale. Vo
lunteers are scattered through
out the community and their
work involves a wide variety of
projects." There is. almost
anything a volunteer can find
to do and be creative," said
Mrs. Haynes. All are tangible
ways that men and women can
participate in the community.
The next training program
for volunteers begins March 27
at the Palmer House, 430Tech-
wood Q:. N.W. It will meet on
Monday and Wednesday, 9:30-
2:30 p.m. for three weeks (six
sessions). This will be follow
ed by three weeks on the job
training. For further informa
tion and an interview, call 577-
2250.
£oxuc4 pUtc poodb
2137 N. Decatur Road-Decatur, Georgia ME 7-5031
1975 Candler Road, Decatur, Georgia 289-6131
1 HOUR MARTINIZING
"For God so loved the world that
that he gave his only-begotten
Son, that those who believed in him
may not perish, but have life
Everlasting.” (John 3:16)
2373 FAIRBURN ROAD S.W. ATLANTA, GEORGIA
Chaplqin Leaves Post
RALEIGH, N.C. (NC)~The
Catholic chaplain at North
Carolina State University has
requested and received a leave
of absence as the result of a
disagreement with Bishop
Vincent S. Waters of Raleigh
over participation in weekly
peace vigils.
Bishop Waters, who main
tains a policy against permit
ting diocesan priests to take
part in political demonstra
tions, told Father Gordon J.
Kendall, 39, not to participate
in the vigils. Father Kendall
said he could not do so in good
conscience and proposed in
stead that he be granted a leave
of absence.
Later, Father Kendall pre
pared a statement with the help
of Father H. Charles Mul-
holland, a personal friend.
Father Mulholland, who has
been editor of the North
Carolina Catholic, diocesan
newspaper, will replace Father
Kendall in the chaplain’s post
at the university. He will con
tinue work with the paper, as
sisted by Father Frederick
Koch. They will serve as asso
ciate editors.
"Father Kendall’s decision
was precipitated by his involve
ment in the public peace vigils
held each Wednesday in down
town Raleigh,” the statement
said. ’ Bishop Waters forbids
priests of the diocese to be
involved in public demon
strations that may be inter
preted as having partisan po
litical implications. He felt
that the weekly peace vigil vio
lated the principle of Church
neutrality in matters of legit
imate political controversy,
"Father Kendall did not share
this opinion and felt that he
would have a problem of con
science in accepting the nec
essary discipline demanded in
the life of every priest,” the
pute. .. could best be resolved
by a leave of absence."
The statement said Father
Kendall expressed gratitude to
Bishop Waters for providing
an opportunity to gain "greater
competency in the university
chaplaincy," and for the oppor
tunity to resolve a difficult
problem of conscience.
Father Mulholland emphasis
zed it was Father Kendall, not
Bishop Waters, who proposed
the leave of absence and the
two had parted amicably.
The statement said Father
Kendall “plans to pursue gra
duate studies in religious
sociology and related sub
jects," but he has not yet de
termined what university he
will attend.
It noted that Father Kendall
retains all his priestly faculties
and may celebrate Mass in any
parish church.
PHONE 237-4295
fact CLEANERS
by Wlx ■
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WORCESTER, Mass. — Fa
ther W. Van Etten Casey,
S.J., professor of Biblical
Theology at Holy Cross Col
lege, has been appointed
director of the American
School of Oriental Research
in Jerusalem for the aca
demic year 1967-68. The
ASOR, founded in 1900 by a
group of American Protes
tant biblical scholars, is now'
“supported by 140 American
universities and more than
800 American scholars,” ac
cording to Father Van Etten.
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