Newspaper Page Text
PAGE 4—The Georgia Bulletin, May 1,1975
/
Editorial
y. >
Farm Workers’Week
“The pastoral care of migrants has always attracted the motherly attention and
the solicitude of the Church. In fact, it has never ceased throughout the centuries to
help in every way those who, like Christ in exile in Egypt with the family of
Nazareth, were compelled to emigrate to lands far away from their country.” That
statement from our Holy Father Pope Paul VI recalls the national and local situation
of the migrant farm worker in this country.
The annual observance of National Farm Workers Week is scheduled for May 4 -
10. Since it is during this season that farm workers begin to move to places of
harvest, it is most fitting that we turn our attention to supporting these workers and
this week of concern for them.
Taking the position that the cause of the United Farm Workers is a just one, the
National Conference of Catholic Bishops has urged our whole-hearted support for
the struggle of these workers for legitimate protection of their economic rights.
That urging is made necessary by the day-to-day plight of these disadvantaged
citizens. It is an urging to be heeded because, to most of us, farm workers are simply
anonymous and, to some extent, forgotten. In many respects the problems and
hardships to which they are exposed are seen simply as their problems and
hardships, rather than as ours. But they are ours, not only because we are distantly
dependent upon the fruit of their labors as the food for our tables, but also, and
more directly, because these farm workers are our brothers and sisters in the Lord z
Jesus Christ.
Mere awareness of the farm workers’ plight will not be an adequate response to it.
What is also required is an active willingness to deal with the questions of social
justice as they surface in the farm workers’ life. The observance of National Farm
Workers Week is a reminder to us of our responsibility in this area of life in the
family of Christ our Lord.
Most Reverend Thomas A. Donnellan
Archbishop of Atlanta
/
Catholic Women’s
v j
Celebration
^
Teresa Gernazian
-j
Sounds great to me. A night especially
designed to highlight the past and present
impact of the Catholic Women in Georgia. Yes,
the Archdiocesan Council of Catholic Women
and the Atlanta Conference of Sisters cordially
invite the women of Atlanta to a relaxing and
informative Evening of Celebration in
conjunction with International Women’s Year.
The first part of the program will be a film
on Flannery O’Connor - a warm personal view
of the lovely Southern lady we’re all so proud
of.
The second part will be a panel discussion of
The Involvement of Women in Ga.” Those
participating will be Lithangia Robinson,
President-elect, Georgia Education Association
and a teacher at Ozbome Jr. High School;
Lorraine Donaldson, Ph.D., Professor of
Economics, Georgia State University; Ellen
Nolan, HM, member, Jesuit Team in
Spirituality and Christian Life Community and
Helen Beltran, mother, grandmother and active
Church worker^
I’ve had the pleasure of knowing Lithangia
Robinson through the prolife movement and
am delighted that Mrs. Beltran, so dearly loved
by all who know her, will represent
motherhood. Hopefully, I’ll get to meet the
other two panelists that evening.
The social hour will follow the panel and will
be a perfect opportunity for the laywomen and
Sisters to get to know one another better. The
planning group for the affair is the National
Assembly of Women Religious, a committee of
the A.C.S., and their ardent hope is that many
of the women will bring friends of other
denominations to share our celebration.
The time and place: Thursday, May 8, 8 to
10 p.m., St. Pius X High School Cafeteria.
A lot of womanpower has been put forth in
the spiritual and social growth of Georgia and I
for one look forward to an evening in
appreciation of it.
Most Rev. Thomas A. Donnellan - Publisher
Rev. Peter A. Dora - Editor
Michael Motes — Associate Editor
Marie Mulvenna - Associate Editor
Member of the Catholic Press Association
Telephone 881-9732
Business Office
756 West Peachtree, N.W.
Atlanta, Georgia 30308
U.S.A. $5.00
Canada $5.00
Foreign $6.50
Postmaster: Send POD Form 3579 to THE GEORGIA BULLETIN
601 East Sixth Street, Waynesboro, Georgia 30830
Send all editorial correspondence to: THE GEORGIA BULLETIN
756 West Peachtree Street, N.W.
Atlanta, Georgia 30308
Second Class Postage Paid at Waynesboro, Ga. 30830
Published Weekly > except the second and last weeks
in June, July ana August and the last week in December
at 601 East Sixth St., Waynesboro, Ga. 30830
*
PRAYERS FOR HARVEST - This
Wisconsin farmland, being prepared for
planting, symbolizes what the U.S.
bishops are concerned about in
designating May 25 a National Day of
Prayer for a Good Harvest. Not only
farmers are involved in the day, “the
entire world has a stake in food and
natural resources,” said Bishop James
Rausch, general secretary of the
National Conference of Catholic
Bishops.
Prayerfully Yours
Rev. David E. Rosage
PRAYING WITH JESUS
SUNDAY — Jesus was always grateful for
what the Father was doing. Many times Jesus
thanked His Father in advance for what the
Father was about to do. On one occasion Jesus
offers His thanks to the Father for providing
for the needs of His people by supplying them
with food. Jesus was also grateful because the
power of God was so manifest to all present on
this occasion.
JOHN 6: 1-15
MONDAY — Jesus was about to give us one
of His greatest gifts - the gift of Himself in the
Holy Eucharist. Again, He first offered thanks
to the Father. The Eucharist, too, means
thanksgiving. With Jesus let us thank the Father
for this magnificent gift.
LUKE 22: 39 46
TUESDAY — Someone said to err is human,
but to forgive is divine. What a powerful
prayer of forgiveness Jesus taught us from the
deathbed of the cross: Let us ask the Father
not only to forgive us, but also to help us
forgive anyone who has wronged us.
LUKE 23: 32-34
WEDNESDAY — Jesus taught us that in
moments of severe trial we need to pray more
fervently. During His agony Jesus prayed for
strength and perseverance. St. Luke emphasizes
the fact “In His anguish He prayed with all the
greater intensity.” Beg Jesus to join you in
prayer in moments of trials and difficulties.
LUKE 22: 39-46
THURSDAY — The whole purpose of life is
to give ourselves completely to God. This
wholehearted commitment is by no means easy.
We must come to it daily in prayer before a
total oblation can be made to the Father. Again
Jesus taught us the way by His own prayer.
LUKE 23: 44-46
FRIDAY — Jesus always loved His own who
were with Him in the world. Toward the end of
His earthly sojourn He prayed intensely for
them. He also prays daily for us that we, too,
might share His joy as we walk more deeply in
the divine life He shares with us.
JOHN 17: 9-19
SATURDAY — The great prayer of Jesus was
that His followers would really be able to form
a strong Christian community in love. He
prayed earnestly that all of us might be one as
He is in the Father and the Father in Him. This
close union can be effected only by love.
JOHN 17: 20-26
/
N
What One Person Can Do
jjk J* jjg
Rev. Richard Armstrong
s
ALEXIS DEVEAUX, WRITER
What can a teenager do if she’s a sensitive,
thoughtful “loner” growing up in the inner
city? Alexis Deveaux became a writer.
For most of her life, Alexis lived on W.
114th St. in Harlem, surrounded from her
babyhood by noisy garbage trucks, junkies,
welfare - all the sights and sounds and smells of
poverty. But she saw more than that. She saw
poetry, too, in the street scenes, in the spirit of
the people around her. A shy child, who seldom
talked to anyone, she longed for
self-expression. As a sixth grader, she began to
write.
A French teacher noticed her talent,
befriended her and introduced her to the
poetry and plays which were to inspire her.
“She made me want to explore myself in
writing,” Alexis says, “to probe everything in
me and to express it all.”
After six years of writing, Alexis broke into
print. Harper & Row published “na-ni,” a book
“for children of all ages, including adults.” In
August, 1973, her first novel, “Spirits in the
Streets,” was published by Doubleday, and her
first play, “Circles,” was performed in March of
that year. She is now working on a second play
and another children’s book.
Alexis writes about the burden of poverty in
the ghetto, but she also writes about the beauty
there. “The people are good people,” she says.
“They’re strong. They survive. Even without
dreams, they survive. If I can only get one
person a year to listen Ill continue to write
about such things. At least one person will
know that we have to deal with each other.”
Each of us has a God-given talent of some
kind, through which we can reach those around
us. And if we use the ability to reach even one
person a year, our efforts are worthwhile.
For a free copy of “Build Up, Don’t Tear
Down,” send a stamped, self-addressed
envelope to The Christophers, 12 E. 48th St.,
New York, N.Y. 10017.
*
‘Called
By
Name’
V.
Rev. John S. Adamski
Priests and Sisters:
Today’s Mystery People?
“You’ve got a cool room. I bet if more
people knew about this, they’d want to be
priests too.” This was one of the more quotable
comments made by one of our seventh grade
boys recently. We took advantage of the World
Day of Prayer for Vocations to bring our young
people, boys and girls, to the rectory or the
convent so that they might get a better glimpse
of where priests and sisters live.
In the process of talking with several groups
of junior and senior high boys, I realized again
how little they really know about the everyday
circumstances of my life as a priest. Since my
days pass quickly with regular involvement with
people, it’s easy for me to lose sight of the fact
that I am actually in contact with relatively few
of the 850 families who are in the parish where
I work. The vast majority of people still see the
priest on Sunday and that’s about it.
As a young boy growing up in Buffalo, New
York, I attended daily Mass and Catholic
schools. My uncle was a priest and so I was very
familiar with the rectory. It wasn’t a strange or
unusual place to me. I was very comfortable
there. Most of the young people in our dioceses
in the southeast don’t have nearly that sort of
regular, frequent contact with the Church. Most
do not attend Catholic schools. Necessarily
then, priests and sisters are a distant part of
their lives and experience.
I’m mentioning all this to emphasize the fact
that a call from God to serve his people doesn’t
happen in a vacuum. Many circumstances either
encourage or discourage people from viewing a
life in church service as a viable option for their
lives. Those of us who recognize the Importance
of having people involved in specific forms of
Church ministry need to realize these
circumstances more fully.
Priests, sisters and parents must be the active
communicators about the nature and value of
religious life. We can’t go on presuming that
everyone understands everything about
contemporary priests and sisters. The shape of
ministry itself has undergone many outward
changes in the past decade to the point that
even those with a strong Catholic background
aren’t always aware of the focus and style of
priests’ and sisters’ lives now.
Activities connected with this year’s
observance of the World Day of Prayer
indicated that we may be moving into a period
of more positive attitudes toward
communicating the value of vocations in
ministry. Several parishes made a serious effort
to spend time with their young people through
various programs. So often, initial questions are
not at the level of working through the
theological import of ministry, but rather just a
sincere interest in some of the things that
priests and sisters do and the way we live.
When the whole Church demonstrates that
much willingness to let itself be known and
better understood, then we won’t have a
vocation crisis any longer because we will have
removed the barriers which grow in ignorance.
God’s powerful, loving presence with his
people, when clearly seen, will be all the
attraction that Church ministry for the future
will ever need.
f "N
Don’t
Fool
Yourself
Rev. James Wilmes
V I J
Of course you’re right. But you could be
wrong and therefore mistaken. An innocent
mistake can be as serious as one made
purposely. Of course you have your«opinions.
But they could be “half-baked” and therefore
wide of the mark. It is good to walk the line
resolutely; but it is the line as you see it, and
you could be in error.
Of course you know what is best. But it is
best for you, and not necessarily for another.
Not even for another whom you love dearly,
and for whom you make decisions that govern
his or her life. “One man’s meat is another
man’s poison.” So what is “best?”
Of course you are sure of your facts. But
facts can be deceptive and you could be
deceived. Remember the four blind men and
the elephant. Each was right as to the facts but
wrong as to the interpretation. Moreover, no
one can know all the facts.
And of course you have the solution. But it
is your solution and thus well pleasing to you.
It could be unacceptable to another. What is it
that works? A workable solution must be the
composite of all solutions.
The reader may not particularly like this
suggestion; he may dislike it. For it points up
the uncomfortable truth that the mind plays us
tricks. And the trickiest play of all is to justify
ourselves at any cost, giving myself the
advantage of the best light. We are capable of
infinite self-deception. This is the mind at the
mischief of rationalizing. This means finding
perfectly plausible reasons whereby we may go
on believing what we want to believe. It is all
right if you know what you are doing. But just
don’t fool yourself.