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PAGE 5 — December 24, 1970
(All Articles This Page Copyrighted 1970 By NC News Service)
KNOW YOUR FAITH
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The Spirit
Of Christmas
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THE SPIRIT OF CHRISTMAS, whether over-commercialized Or not, always appears a joyful
mystery to children when they search for the gifts of love on Christmas morning. (NC PHOTO)
By Mary Carson
From all you hear, the
commercialism of Christmas,
has had a very powerful,
effect on children. “All they i
think about is what presents'!
they are going to get'.” “They
have no thought of the real
meaning of Christ’s birth.”t*
“They just think ^
gimme .. .gimme .. .gimme.”
Wondering if my own .
children had any idea of true -
Christmas Spirit, I asked >
them. They asked their i
friends....
What’s important about* 5
Christmas?
.. .going to Church whenf
you can visit the Crib
. . .getting presents;;*,
especially if it’s something"
you really wanted
. . .singing Christmas*
songs with the choir
. . .decorating the tree
without punching each 1 other
.. .giving presents because ||
you really want to, not ’cause
you have to
. . .Christmas caroling,# 1
even though we’re out of |
tune
.. .cleaning up wrapping ^
paper is horrible
.. .to some it’s Santa
Claus as some wizardous guy
who can be everyplace at
once, with presents for
everyone, but what’s actually
important is the coming of
Our Lord
. . .kids thinking “we got
to be good,” working hard
and everything to get toys
. . .knowing v that candy
canes make you get stuck to
Chairs -- and mothers hate
them
...sleeping late in the
mornings
. . .forgetting about
school work for two weeks
. . .waking up in the
morning and finding it
snowed and everything looks
clean and new
. . .saying /‘thank you”
for the pajamas when you
really wanted a spaceman suit
. . .feeling about the
Infant Jesus like you do
about the first warm day in
spring
. . .letting your little sister
have TWO TURNS with your
racing car ,
U c . .Mommy not yelling
’cause the living room is a
mess .
. . .saying something nice
about your brother
.. .new slippers
The Shepherds And Christian Education
By Father Raymond A.
Luckey S.T.D. PH.D.
(Fr. Raymond Lucker is
Director of the Department of
Education, United States
Catholic Conference.)
The shepherds of Christmas
have a special appeal for all of
us. There is Something
attractive about the idea that
God would choose to
announce the birth of his Son
first to this group of poor and
, unkempt people. They lived in
the fields eking out a meager
living, guiding their flocks. We
can only imagine their surprise
and terror as “the angel of the
Lbrd” suddenly appeared and
the “glory of the Lord shone
round them.” (Luke 2,9) .
Their response to the
revelation of the angel is a
model for parents and teachers
and all those involved in
Catholic education. The
messenger of God said “I come
to proclaim good news to you
-- tidings of great joy, to be
shared by the whole people.
This day in David’s city a
savior has been bom to you,
the Messiah and Lord.” (Luke
2,10-11)
Parents and teachers are
•also witnesses. They must
proclaim in word and in their
lives the gospel of Jesus Christ.
The center of the Christiam
message is the good news that
Jesus is the Lord, the one
anointed by God, who lived
with us, went about doing
good, taught us, suffered,
died, rose again and is exalted
at God’s right hand. The
purpose of his coming was to
give glory to God and peace -
that is the divine gift of
friendship between God and
man - to all mankind.
The shepherds heard the
good news. And they
responded. They “went in
haste” over to nearby
Bethlehem. Once they saw,
they understood what the
angel had told them about the
child - he is the Messiah and
Lord. They told others the
good news and returned to
their flocks “glorifying and
praising God for all they had
heard and seen” (Luke 2,20).
This is what Christian
education is all about. It is
concerned with creating an
atmosphere where men,
women and children respond
to the good news. Response is
the kev.
The gospels relate frequent
incidents where Jesus
rewarded those who
responded to him in faith. To
the two blind men he said,
“‘because of your faith it shall
be done to you’. And they
recovered their sight.”
(Matthew 9, 29) He healed the
centurion’s son, saying, “go
home. It shall be done because
you trusted.” (Matthew 8,13)
To the woman suffering from
hemorrhages he said, “your
faith has restored you to
health.” (Matthew 9, 23)
Many other instances could be
cited.
Response follows the
message. This is the example
of the shepherds. This is the
demand of Christ. “Anyone
who hears my words but does
not put them into practice is
like a foolish man who built
his house on sandy ground.”
(Matthew 7,26)
In commissioning his
apostles, Jesus said, “make
disciples of all the nations;
Baptize them .. .teach them
to carry out everything I have
commanded you.” (Matthew
28,, 19-20) Note our Lord’s
emphasis on living faith, a
faith that is put into action.
On the - first Pentecost,
Peter proclaimed the Lordship
of Jesus, the good news that
the Son of God lived among
men, was put to death and rose
again. His hearers responded,
“what must we do?” Peter
told-them, “you must reform
and be baptized, each one of
you in the name of Jesus
Christ, that your sins may be
forgiven; then you will receive
the gift of the'Holy Spirit.”
(Acts 2, 38) Through the
centuries, the Church has
reminded' us that Christian
education demands a
response. We are not just to
hear the word of God but keep
it.
The. Vatican Council
renewed this vision of
Christian education when it
described its goals: that the
baptized become ever more
aware of the gift of faith they
Scripture In The Life
Of The Church Today
Some Call it Love
Others Charity
By Fr. Walter M. '
Abbott,S.J.
Sometimes I think Chapter
13 of Paul’s First Letter to the
Corinthians must have been
inserted later into the material
now designated as Chapters 12
and 14--by an editor putting
Paul’s various writings
together for publication, or by
P^ul himself adding the
thoughts of this chapter to the
letter. At other times I think
he probably experienced the
nearly poetic outburst of this
chapter right where it stands,
in the. midst of his comments
about the charismata or
special gifts. What do you
think?
At any rate, Chapter 13 is
the most beautiful page of
Paul’s works. It is all about
love-or charity, as some
English translations render it.
The word in Greek is agape,
with the accent on the second
syllable. It is called “charity”
in the translation of the New
Testament which
English-speaking Catholics
published at Rheims in 1582.
That book, together with the
two volumes of the Old
Testament published at Douai
in 1609-10, was used by
Catholics for nearly 400 years
because, as its title page
declared, it was “faithfully
translated into English out of
the authentical Latin.” The
Pheims-Douay Version
followed the Vulgate Latin, so
•closely that in this chapter it
practically- reproduced the
Vulgate word for agape,
“chari tas.”
In reading Chapter 13 you
will find that not -only is this
love or charity something that
S,t. Paul recommends to
everybody; it is something
without which anything else
you do is futile. Without it, he
says, you are nothing (13:2).
Even if you try to give
everything you have, even if
you give your body to be
burned, it will do you no good
if you do not have love.
I find it difficult to imagine
anyone giving everything he or
she has, especially life itself,
unless ; i in fact love is the
motive. I think, therefore, that
there is. a certain poetic
exaggeration in what Paul
wrote here. What he means
comes through loud and clear,
of course. It is that union with
God and Christ leads to love of
God and of our fellow
members in the body of
Christ; if you don’t have it
then you might as well have
none of those charismata
discussed in chapters 12 and
14.
If you take thjs chapter in
the context of Chapters 12
and 14, you can say that Paul
teaches the charisms are not
given to all but the way of love
is open to all men and women
of good will. You can say that
he held the charisms may
happen not to benefit, the one
who possesses them but love
or charity benefits the
possessor of that gift and the
whole Church too.
In everything he wrote,
Paul was thinking about Jesus
Christ. An overstatement, you
think? Chapter 13 makes no
mention of Christ? I think
easily of Jesus as the model
when I read, in 13:4, “Love is
patient and kind; love is not
jealous, Or conceited, or
proud.” Then I read, “love is’
not ill-mannered, or selfish, or
irritable.” Suddenly I
remember those many
occasions in the Gospels when
Jesus was irritated, even
angered. It makes me think
that Chapter 13 is very
instructive. I begin to see that
there is a difference between
irritated and irritable.
(Continued on Page 6)
1 have received; that they learn
how to worship God the
Father in spirit and truth; that
their personal lives be modeled
on the Gospel; that they work
for the growth of the Church,
and the Christian
transformation of the world.
Schools, CCD. youth
activities and adult education
programs must aim at more
than just helping people
Understand and i assent to -
Christian doctrine. They must
foster an atmosphere that will
help children and adults to
give a total human response to
God’s living Word. This is the
meaning of faith.
Belief signifies a radical act
of self-Surrender to God. It
means to say yes to. God. The
believer turns himself
Completely to God who
communicates and reveals
himself. It is a responding
faith, a living faith, and
demonstrated in the worship
of God. Faith is expressed in
the daily love of God and one
another. -
Christmas is a time for
optimismfor hope. I am
optimistic about the future of
Catholic education. I know
that this optimism is not
, shared by others who only see
the critical problems facing
-Catholic schools. I view
Catholic education in its
broadest sense of the teaching
mission of the Church. In this I
see many signs of progress.
Boards of education are
springing up all over the
country, intensely involving
thousands of people in
improving the quality of
education for all of the poeple
of God. The teaching of
religion is undergoing a great
renaissance. / The liturgy is
becoming a better means for;
the Christian education of the
people of God. More and
more, parents are taking
seriously their responsibility
of developing an atmosphere
of faith in their homes. Many
thousands of them are
preparing their own children
for the reception of the
sacraments.
The response of the
shepherds to the good news
was this: it changed their lives.
They heard it. They went to
see. They told others. They
worshipped God. This i$ the
goal that Christian education
muststrivefor.
.. .having a friend over to
play and having all the parts
to a game. That’s only on
Christmas Day. After that
some parts are always missing
.. .helping Grandma trim
her tree
.. .hot cocoa late at night
. . .going to Mass
BEFORE we open our
presents, ’cause it’s Jesus’
birthday, and that’s morp
important
. . .going to Mass AFTER
we open our presents, so we
have something to thank Him
for
.. .playing with your little
, sisters’ toys that you are
really too big for, but they’re
fun anyway
.. .the pine smell from
the Christmas tree
.. .placing the Crib under
the tree and having to
remember Which sheep gets
propped in the back on some
cotton, ’cause he’s missing
two of hiS legs
. . . on Christmas Eve,
when the tree is all decorated,
lighting a real fire in the
fireplace, and listening to
Christmas carols
.. .how come Christmas
carols always sound so nice
on Christmas and so funny in
August?
.. .smelling all sorts of
special foods cooking, and
dinner with the good dishes,
' ( and turkey sandwiches for '
lunch for two day'S straight
.. .feeling that home is
the nicest place ip the world
.. .sleigh riding down an
icy hill on a new sled - until
you crash
. . .having your little
sisters drag you out of bed
before dawn, when you only
got to sleep a few hours ago,
because you went to
Midnight Mass
. . .painting snowflakes on
the windows
. . . .snowballs fights when
you have new gloves that
dorFt have any holes in them
yet
.. .sending the toy trains
through the tunnel and
chasing the cat out the other
end
.. .putting the colored
lights on the big spruce tree
in front of our house
. . .driving around and
looking at all the decorations
all over town, and coming
home and liking ours best
. . .staying out till 1 a.m.
but not being in trouble,
because you were at Midnight
Mass
. . .launching your new
rocket through the neighbor’s
picture window
.'. .going around to other
churches to see their cribs
.. .getting ice skates the
year it’s warm, and roller
skates the year we have two
feet of snoW
... .always getting a tree
that’s two feet too big and
trying to fit it in the living
room
.. .sneaking down to see
the presents before anyone is
awake
. . .going to visit your
irascible old great-aunt and
trying to be nice to her
.. .helping with the dishes
when it’s not your night
.. .goirig to the first grade
Christmas play. Joseph forgot
his lines, the angel’s halo fell
off and rolled across the
stage. When they had Santa
Claus, he sneezed and his
whiskers blew off
. . .in accepting a gift,
particularly the work of a
small tot, seeing the thought
intended and the effort
expended
. . .the Faith of Joseph,
the Hope of Mary and the
Love, of Jesus, a very tiny
new little baby, cooed to
sleep in His Mother’s arms.
Question
And
Answer
BY FR. RICHARD McBRIEN
Q. The 2.6 million-member American Lutheran
Church recently approved the ordination of women to
the ministry. It was the seventh major American
denomination to do so. A week earlier the House of
Deputies of the Episcopal Church narrowly defeated.a '
similar move to permit the ordination of women to the
priesthood and the episcopacy. Which decision, in your
view, represents the trend of the future?
A. The decision of the American Lutheran Church,
ft now joins several other major Protestant bodies
which permit the ordination of vvomen: the United
Presbyterian Church, the United Methodist Church,
the United Church .of Christ, the Disciples of Christ, the
Lutheran Church in America, and the American Baptist
Convention.
Until this year, the Lutheran churches in the United
States had opposed any effort to ordain women, even
though the Lutheran churches of Norway, Sweden,
Denmark, and Czechoslovakia had been accepting
wome n into the ministry since about 1950.
While it is true that the Episcopal Church resisted
the proposal at this time, it did agree to permit women
to serve as fully-accredited members of the heretofore
all-male House of Deputies and to be ordained as
deacons.
I have answered questions about the ordination of
women once or twice before in this column, and I'
should not want to review all the arguments in its favor.
Briefly, there is no theological or doctrinal argument
against it.
Those who argue against the ordination ofiyomen
on such grounds often imply that women are somehow
inferior and, therefore,cannot be entrusted with major
religious responsibilities. Such views have existed for a
long time within the Church, but antiquity is no
substitute for truth.
The only possible objections against the ordination
of women are practical: Would the average lay person
accept it? Would it disrupt ecumenical harmony?
Would it force a radical change of ecclesiastical
structures apd clerical life-styles? And so forth.
As circumstances change, these practical objections
will dissolve. And since there are no theological or
doctrinal objections, it is fair to say that the trend is
toward approval rather than disapproval.
Q. The National Association of Laymen has been in
the neWs in recent weeks. First, their executive
committee urged the Catholic Church to make weekly
Mass attendance optional so that Catholics who miss
Mass on Saturday evening or Sunday morning will no
longer be guilty of mortal sin, and, secondly, the
Association has urged a full and Complete disclosure of
finances on the part of the Church in the United States
and of every diocese in particular. There are times when
I think the whole thing is coming apart. A few years ago
it would have been unheard of that laymen should
make such proposals. Isn’t this some of .that “fresh air”
that Pope John XXIII carelessly let in through the open
windows?
A. You have submitted two major questions here,
and I have addressed myself to both of them,
separately, in weeks past.
By calling upon the Church authorities to remove
the penalty of mortal sin from the failure to attend
, weekly Mass, the NAL committee members are
implicitly accepting the rigid theology which they are
presumably trying to oppose. They.are assuming that it
is always a mortal sin for a Catholic to miss a single
Mass, unless he is sick or unless it is physically
impossible or seriously inconvehient for him to get
there. (See my columns for the weeks of October 12
and N ovember 30.)
Furthermore, their proposal may give the
impression that a person can be a faithful member of
the Church even if he participates in the Eucharist
rarely or occasionally. This is not the case.
Part of the essential mission of the Church is to give
praise and Thanksgiving to God for what he has
accomplished, is still accomplishing, and will yet
accomplish in Jesus Christ. It is the responsibility of the
Church, fulfilled in the Eucharistic celebration; to keep
alive his memory, to embody his presence, and to direct
the world’s attention to his .future coming.
Christians who are casual or indifferent about this
task because they think that the mission of the Church
is exclusively one of service to mankind are mistaken.
What distinguishes the Church from the rest of
mankind is not its service but jts acknowledgement of
the Lordship of Jesus. The Eucharist provides the
principal occasion for this acknowledgement. Those
who remain away from the Eucharist as a matter of
course are not really serious about Christian faith or the
mission of the Church
In real sense, attendance at the Eucharist is already
optional. 4t must be the result of a free decision by
people who believe in the Lordship of Jesus, who
believe in the significance of the Eucharist, and who
believe in the mission Of the Church to be the
sacrament of Christ among men. Those who don’t
really believe these things have no reason to be at the
Eucharist in the first place.,
In response to the second part of your question: the
membership of the Church has a right to know-the
financial status of the Church because the whole
membership, laity included, are responsible for the
mission of the Church (see the Dogmatic Constitution
on the Church, n. 30 and 33). Ecclesiastical leaders
have an obligation to use the Church’s financial
resources in a prudent and open fashion (see, for
example, the Pastoral Constitution on the Church in
the Modern World, n. 88).
Fortunately, the trend, however hesitant or
uncertain, seems to be in the direction of greater
openness. It is important that pressure be applied in
those areas where secrecy remains .as the standard
procedure.
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