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Vol. 10 No. 45 Form 3579 to 202 East Sixth Street, Waynesboro, Georgia 30830
Thursday, December 21,1972
$5 per year
Father Richard Kieran
Takes Reins of Senate
CHILD’S JOY AT CHRISTMAS - With all little children everywhere,
David Crowe of St. Thomas the Apostle parish in Smyrna looks forward
to the warm and happy celebration of Christ’s birth at Christmas.
Diamonds Are Forever
BY PAT RILEY
Of the telling of Christmas stories
there is no end, so great is the
inspiration of the first one. To that
lenghtening list I here add one that was
told me by the man who lived it.
We were boys together, or rather
stood on the verge of manhood
together, and the memory of him is one
of the freshest and fondest of my
youth. His gaity was irrepressible, and in
retrospect I see that he had judgment
and perception beyond his years.
When NC News Service sent me to
Washington from Rome in the early
1960s, I made a point of journeying to
Southern New Jersey to see him. He was
pastor of a poor parish, mostly of
market gardeners, Italians like himself. I
found him prematurely gray and not in
strong health, overworked yet
complaining only of insufficient time to
read. The night I arrived, with his work
over and his Office said, he reached
back into the years before we met and
spoke of the hard times of his boyhood.
Dick’s father had been a photo
finisher, but the Great Depression put
him out of work. To support his family
- a wife and two boys - he took odd
jobs. He would lead a horse and wagon
through the streets of Brooklyn
hawking potatoes, and in winter he
would shovel snow. Hardly lucrative
occupations, these, and even simple
necessities such as warm clothes for
Dick and his younger brother became
heartaching problems. One winter, to
get shoes and overcoats for the boys,
the father pawned his diamond stickpin
and the mother her diamond earrings.
Meanwhile Dick had found an
after-school job delivering meat. This
brought him three dollars a week plus
tips, not at all bad for a 13-year-old boy
in such times. He wanted to give the
money to his father, but was told to
keep it and use it wisely. So in his mind
a great project formed.
Secretly, he searched out the pawn
tickets, scrutinized them, and put them
back. As Christmas approached, he
returned for the pawn tickets, pocketed
both them and his savings, and made
straight for the pawnshop.
“It’s just as if it was yesterday,” he
reminisced.
“I can see the pawnshop on the
corner. I can see the big glass cases full
of cameras and jewelry, and the musical
instruments hanging on the wall. There I
was, walking up to the broker with the
tickets and the money in my pocket,
feeling 10 feet tall. I’ll never
forget that Christmas. My mother
opened the little package, but when the
earrings and the stickpin came into view
she stopped still, and kept looking down
at them without a word. Then I saw she
was crying. I looked up at my father,
and he was crying too. Pretty soon we
were all crying.”
“Dick”’ I exclaimed, “what a
wonderful story!”
“But it isn’t finished,” he said,
smiling. He grew serious and paused a
moment, whether to savor the memory
BY FATHER JAMES MACIEJEWSKI
Father Richard Kieran, principal of
St. Pius X High School, was elected
president of the Atlanta Senate of
Priests in ballotting last Friday.
Father Kieran, 32, was unopposed in
the election. Father Liam Tuffy,
assistant pastor of St. Thomas More
Church in Decatur, was likewise
unopposed in the voting for
vice-president.
In the only contested election, Father
Joseph Sanches was the choice over
Father Michael Woods for the post of
secretary-treasurer. Term of office for
all three of the new officers will be one
year.
Father Kieran, who succeeds Father
Daniel O’Connor in the presidency, is a
native of Ireland, where he studied for
the priesthood at St. Patrick’s College in
Maynooth. He holds the degrees of
Bachelor of Science, Bachelor of
Divinity and Master of Arts in
Education.
He has been involved in the local
cursillo movement since his ordination
in 1965. His older brother John is
pastor of St. Joseph’s Church in Dalton.
Upon his election to the presidency
he issued the following statement:
“My immediate reaction to my
election as president of the Priests’
Senate is a concern to discern clearly
the direction in which God would have
me lead. My first commitment is to
more prayer and study of the Word of
God, to know His will and to have the
courage to be faithful to it.
or to master his emotion I do not know.
“When I was ordained,” he finally
said, “those diamonds were on my
chalice.”
A Parent’s
Barbara Bentley, 14-year-old
daughter of Mr. and Mrs. James E.
Bentley of Immaculate Heart of Mary
Parish, died on December 4. At the age
of 12, it was discovered that Barbara
had cancer and her right leg was
amputated. But this did not darken
Barbara’s spirits.
“She was such a very special person,”
recalls her mother Betty. “She refused
to let the loss of her leg discourage her.”
Barbara spent the last two months of
her life in bed. During that time Father
Noel Burtenshaw, Pastor of IHM, often
visited her.
Mrs. Bentley wrote the following
prayer after her daughter’s death. The
funeral Mass to which she refers was
held December 6 at Immaculate Heart
of Mary.
Dear God,
What can we say when our hearts are
so full? How can we tell the many,
many loving people the way we feel or
even let them know how much we
deeply appreciate all they did for us? To
name names would take so much paper,
“It is my conviction that our mutual
concern to be as effective as possible as
spiritual leaders in north Georgia should
bring us together as the Priests’ Senate. It
is my hope that we will become more a
brotherhood of priests in search of
better ways to build up the Body of
Christ. The Senate should be service
oriented. Priests should come together
as a Senate for encouragement, support
and new ideas in ministry.
“I suggested restructuring of the
Senate when I announced my
availability for office. I will present a
plan for reorganization at the first
meeting of the Senate in January. With
our small number of priests it should be
possible for everyone to be a voting
member.
“The senators will meet soon to
establish goals for 1973. I hope our
major concern will be more effective
priestly ministry in the archdiocese.
Working with our archbishop, we must
evaluate our present effectiveness; we
must establish our priorities; we must
determine the most effective use of our
manpower and we must study
alternative forms of priestly ministry.
“I would appreciate hearing from my
brother priests, our sisters and our lay
people suggestions for goals for the
Priests’ Senate for 1973. In particular, if
you are concerned about the
effectiveness of our ministry, let me
hear from you. I ask also that you give
me and the Senate maximum prayer
support. Let me know if you will be
praying for us in 1973. Write to me: Rev.
Richard A. Kieran, 2674 Johnson Rd,. N.
E., Atlanta, Ga. 30345.
“On behalf of my brother priests, I
would like to thank the senators who
have just completed their term of office.
I want to thank especially Father Daniel
O’Connor for his leadership for the last
two years.
“I am grateful for the opportunity to
serve as president. I take courage from
the words of St. Paul: There is nothing I
cannot master with the help of the One
who gives me strength.” (Phil. 4:13)
Prayer...
but dear God, there is one in particular
that we would ask your blessings and
graces for. It is Father Noel Burtenshaw.
The compassion, understanding, love
and comfort this one man gave our
family in our greatest hours of need are
beyond description. The many visits to
YOUR Barbara, dear God, the Mass he
offered in Barbara’s room on
Thanksgiving Day, for our family, so
much dear God, and when You came to
claim Your Barbara, in the wee hours of
the morning, Father was also there with
us.
Dear God, how can we ever thank
him for the beautiful way he let all of us
pay our final tribute to Barbara? The
Church was open to all, and as if that
weren’t enough, he opened up the
rectory to all with such hospitality.
Such kindness and consideration from
one of your servants to another must
not go unrewarded, dear God, so please
help us to find a way to say thank you
to him. He is truly your servant in
Christ. We would like everyone to know
him for the kind of person he is.
Barbara wants them to know, too. We
ask in Jesus’ name.
Amen.
Pope Paul Vi’s
Christmas Mass
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Live coverage, via satellite, of
Pope Paul Vi’s Midnight Mass and
Christmas message will be
broadcast in Atlanta on WTCG,
Channel 17, on Christmas Day at
12:30 p.m.
This is the first time that this
traditional celebration has been
telecast live in the United States.
BY FATHER JOSEPH SANCHES
On December 11 the Trappist monks
of the Holy Spirit monastery assembled
together in their monastic Church to bid
prayerful farewell to one of their
brothers, Father Charles English.
Archbishop Donnellan along with the
Abbot, Father Augustine Moore, and
the other monks celebrated the Mass of
the Resurrection for Father English.
Father English was a native New
Yorker who spent his younger years as a
supporter and collaborator in the
Catholic Worker Movement in New
York City with Dorothy Day. Twenty
years ago he came to Georgia to serve
the Lord and the Church as a Trappist
monk in Conyers.
The quiet and hidden life he lived as a
monk made his passing almost
unnoticed except for the few relatives,
mends and monks he left behind. Only
one friend of many years paid him
special tribute. Tom Sullivan delivered
the homily of the Mass. His death and
burial, like the life he had lived, was
quiet and unadorned and celebrated in
the striking simplicity of the Cistercian
custom.
He spent his life for God in secret;
may his Heavenly Father reward him in
secret.
OFFICERS IN CONFERENCE - Father Liam Tuffy, the new
vice-president of the Atlanta Senate of Priests, discusses future plans with
Father Richard Kieran, the new president, after their election last Friday
at the Catholic Center.
THE ELECTED -- Newly elected delegates to the Atlanta Senate of
Priests met last week to chart programs for the new year. They are (left to
right): Fathers Joseph Ware, Richard Kieran, James’ Cummings, Jerry
Hardy and Liam Tuffy. Missing from the picture is another newly-elected
delegate, Father Michael Woods. (BULLETIN staff photos)
Archbishop* Oii.ce
So West Peachtree Street. N. "•
Atlanta. Georgia
December 18, 1972
My Brothers & Sisters in Christ,
“I bring you good news of great joy - ^J town
be shared by the whole peopl - V yQU; He is
of David, a Saviour has oeen
Christ, the Lord.”
Sain, Cuke, in a lew £
meaning of Christina . • • , Christian joy.
church . . .The source <'"^“tThe Saviour is born.
The good news is tha 11 that not only has
^iniru"huU^ih experienced by
US.
Advent has been a ^.^ e os f n g omselves'foAhe
coming and a time o H is coming meaningful for
conversion that make hear the good news,
us. NOW we must be open
and eager to proclaim it.
r a Drince of peace and love is
The coming of a pr n v suffering a nd
almost a paradox' n ^ d b ha tred, violence and
war . .In a society marked Dy iracte Q f the
indifference. Yet ^omeho ^th^ ^ ^ clothe
message does mfluen indifference to
Smp:^n men p r om e s d edishness to love - even ,f
only for a time.
Our task is to open ourselves completely to tbe
message. It Is "“‘then ttn away We express
momentarily and -a. d j es 50 quickly,
regret that the Chrisg* sp.r.it^“aVday to
Ours is the responsibi y t ^ H|S redeeming
translate the doctrine of Ch The proof
love . . -into the reality of the^p ^ ^ ^ we
of our acceptance of t 5 9 nee ds of D ur
work towards applying it to tne
' C May our own Christmas gift ^ace to so
-Si^tSdst^Da/
*
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Most Reverend Thomas A. Donnellan
Archbishop of Atlanta