Newspaper Page Text
GEORGIA BULLETIN, THURSDAY. MAY 9, 1968 3
THE MODERN CATHOLIC LAYMAN
More Than A Door-Bell Puncher
By MARY LACKIE
The Church has used the
layman as door-bell puncher and
fund-raiser, but for generations
has overlooked his special talents,
said Leo J. Zuber, Jr.
Zuber, who has done his fair
share of fund-raising, discussed
the lay diaconate, vocations, the
Baltimore Cathechism mentality,
and the challenge of Vatican 11 in
an-interview.
The well-known Catholic
layman is a member of the
Archdiocesan Religious Unity
Commission, the Board of
Development, and former book
review editor of the Bulletin.
ZUBER SAID, “I am
delighted that the U.S. bishops
agreed to ask Rome for the lay
diaconate. In my experience
speaking before Catholic groups,
the Church suffers in some degree
because the layman has not been
an active participant. Churches
are filled every Sunday with
laymen —professional men and
men who have special talents and
skills. What effort is ever made to
channel this talent? There is no
challenge to going around
punching doorbells for a building
fund every four or five years. It’s
got to be done, but the appeal is
limited.
“Notice that new Atlanta
skyline. It was put there by
laymen of all denominations
working together with their
talents and skills. How little of
LEO ZUBER looks at one of the many books he read while serving as a
reviewer for the old Bulletin. He is a member of the Archdiocesan Religious
Unity Commission and the Board of Development.
In his opinion, past concerns
of the laymen have been oriented
toward one thing-the parish
plant. Zuber said, “We are too
concerned with this investment.
We don’t dare not to be
concerned with it. And not one
that talent has been siphoned off grain of sai\d or sliver of wood in
into the affairs of the Church.”.
Zuber hopes the diaconate is
approved and that Georgia will be
among the first served by
deacons. He said, “I am confident
that I would be interested in
going into the diaconate.”
that parish plant will ever get to
heaven. But what is our job? To
get to heaven and to make earth a
little more like heaven.”
Parish schools could be
incorporated into the public
school system or converted to
TATIYTJO
►Dinner Theater
■UFfiT DINNER 7:00 C M. TO »:J0 P.M.
TUES, WED,
THUR, - $7
FRI, SAT • $•
SUN - *6
BROADWAY'S
SMASH HIT!
“EARLY
TO BED”
By
HARRY CAULEY
with
th« Now York Coot
ROBERT BROWNING
LORNA BALE
iUBim JETT
JACOUIE ULLENOORF
RALPH WAINWRIGHT
Residential Commercial
To Buy Or Sell A Home
FINTAN REILLY
Your personal representative serving:
Our Lady of the Assumption Holy Cross
Saint Jude Immaculate Heart of Mary
Saint Thomas More Christ the King
Saints Peter & Paul Holy Spirit
Over Sixteen Years On The North Side
liiortlieast
2960 N. Druid Hills Rd., NE Telephone
Atlanta, Ga. 30329 261-0488
some other purpose, Zuber said.
“If sisters have particular gifts in
teaching, it is far more important
that this gift be shared widely in
the community with Catholics,
Protestants and Jews and not
limited to the precincts of the
Catholic ghetto school.”
“IF GIRLS could see nuns
dressed in business clothes, using
their own names, giving as much
to their community as they could
and still leading a life of
dedication in a religious cause,
the effect on vocations would be
widespread,” he said. “The nun’s
field today is not just the cozy
kitchen garden, it is the field in
the far forty.”
Children today are growing up
in entirely different
circumstances and are being
educated in a different way.
“They are going to want more
freedom than they have had in
the past. The opportunity for
vocations is greater than it ever
was, but our structure of religious
mentality is the old traditional
one and has attraction to a very
few girls.”
Zuber, who said he has always
rebelled against the Baltimore
Cathechism mentality, noted a
“massive change” in book tastes
since he first began book
reviewing in 1949.
HE SAID, “Catholic
publishers used to be pietistic.
People apparently lapped up
books of a pious and uplifting
nature. Yoii couldn’t give those
books away now. Today, people
are writing on theology, but not
‘in the shop.’ It used to be a
closed communication-priests
talking to other priests-now, men
like Hans Kung are talking to the
layman.”
During his 13 years as
reviewer and book review editor,
Zuber built a methodical system
for book selection, files of
reviewers, and correspondence
with publishers. The Zubers
received 25 copies of the Bulletin
a week. They, would clip the
reviews and ' sort them on the
dining room table and mail copies
to the publishers and authors.
Zuber said, “As a side effect of
this book review effort, I have
taken boxes of books to the
Trappist monastery, St. Thomas
More school, and the D’Youville
library.”
HUNDREDS OF books were
reviewed in the column by about
25 volunteer reviewers including
authors, artists, priests, religious,
and editors. They selected books
from a list sent to them by
Zuber. How did he find his
reviewers? Zuber said, “I used to
sniff these people out. Flannery
O’Connor most often chose
material from theology books.”
The Zuber family visited the
O’Connor home in Milledgeville.
Zuber recalled, “Flannery was
always interested in her livestock.
The geese had the run of the
yard, and when she had visitors,
they would know there was
company and line up in
hierarchial order, parading past
the porch, honking, and then
disappear around the side of the
house. She loved to watch the
peafowl and had a Mexican and
Sicilian burro.”
The former editor said the
book, “Shepherd in the Mist” by
the priest, Edward Boyd Barrett,
had a quiet influence on him.
“Barrett left the Church and was
reconciled to it before his death.
His book is a no-holds- barred
acount of his efforts to drag
down the Church. During the
1930s he was vehemently
anti-Catholic and he never could
see what it was that pulled him
back.
“1 BELIEVE that Barrett was
the precursor of many priests
today. They leave the ministry,
but they don’t leave the Church.
They still consider themselves
Catholics. I would hope that
every priest who is leaving the
ministry or considering it, could
read this book.”
Zuber spoke' - of priests who
perhaps did not foresee the
results of their efforts, but who
paved the way for Vatican II.
“Vatican 11 would never have
been the success it was, nor
would we be living in times as
good as they are, difficult as they
are, if it had not been for the
work of these men who prepared
the soil.”
He categorized the priests in
two groups, “There were those
men out on the dusty roads in
trailers trying to take the
sacraments to Catholics. Msgr.
Cassidy, Msgr, Moylan, and
others like them who probably
never wrote a book. And there
were men like Gustave Weigel and
de Chardin who made their
contribution through literature.
Their names will be
remembered.”
Zuber said, “Our life span
isn’t so great. It is important that
we, as alive, alert, and hopefully
intelligent laymen can leave a
heritage our children can build on
later. Our children will be
building the spires. We are trying
to dig the foundations or shore
them up. We should be proud to
be here, and in the years to come,
be proud to say that we were
there, hopefully helping.
USTGATC OWNERS t UUIHDRY
1836 South Roswell RoadBf 428-2915
In Eastgate Shopping Center
ECONOMY CLEANERS
101 FAIRGROUND
QUALITY IS ECONOMY
MARIETTA, GEORGIA
428-3770
HOWARDS
Kosher Sandwiches - _Steaks - Pizza
Pat Mell Shopping Center
Across From Cobb Center
325 Pat Mell Road
Marietta, Ga.
435-9147