Newspaper Page Text
Photo and Text by Carl J. Pfeifer
(Copyright, 1976, NC News Service)
PAGE 4—The Georgia Bulletin, December 16,1976
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Editorial
A Letter From The Pope
You can’t be gentle all the time. Pope
Paul has gone to great lengths to be
gentle with traditionalist Archbishop
Marcel Lefebvre, but the archbishop has
failed to respond in obedience.
In a letter earlier this fall the Pope
told the archbishop, “In effect, you and
those who are following you are
endeavoring to come to a standstill at a
given moment in the life of the Church.”
The October 11 letter, recently
released, was sent to Lefebvre one
month after he visited the Pope at the
Vatican September 11. The archbishop
has rejected Vatican II decrees and has
been the object of widespread publicity
in recent months as he has celebrated
Tridentine Masses in various parts of
Europe.
In June this year the archbishop
defied a direct order from the Pope not
to ordain seminarians at the seminary he
founded in Econe, Switzerland. In his
letter, the Pope told the archbishop that
while pluralism in the Church is
legitimate, it must be a licit pluralism
rooted in obedience.
The Pope said the archbishop, rather
than practicing obedience, had
propagated and organized a rebellion.
This, he added, “is the essential issue” in
the archbishop’s regard.
In his letter, the Pope outlined his
conditions for rectifying matters with
Lefebvre, including a call for a
declaration from the archbishop
affirming adherence to Vatican II, a
declaration that, among other things,
retracts accusations or insinuations
levelled against the Pope.
The letter is a strong one. Our Holy
Father has demonstrated heroic restraint
and boundless charity in this whole
matter.
But now the Church is threatened by
the possibility of schism, and
Archbishop Lefebvre has been directed
to obey. Still, he has not been
excommunicated and this stands as
witness to Pope Paul’s love of the
Church of Jesus Christ. He clearly will
not abandon any possibility for unity..
Jacinta, Bright Star
Of Fatima
Teresa Gernazian
Many years after the burial of Jacinta Marto,
when her body was being moved for reburial, it
was found to be remarkably incorrupt. Jacinta,
one of the three shepherd children to whom
our Blessed Mother appeared at Fatima in
1917, was not quite 10 years old when she
died. Yet her missionary spirit shines brightly
and is a model for today’s youth.
Father Robert J. Fox, pastor and national
columnist and lecturer, has put out a two-part
cassette (one hour each) called “Jacinta, Bright
Star of Fatima,” covering the life of this
zealous girl. Father Fox narrates it in the first
person and it is very effective for young
children, although adults are sure to enjoy it
too. It seems it would be of particular interest
to shut-ins.
In August of this year Father Fox took a
plane load of teenage boys to Fatima for a
Youth Pilgrimage, something he hopes to do
again in the future. He feels so many of the
Fatima apostles are missing the boat if they fail
to include the young people of our country.
Therefore, he is combining two spiritual
endeavors into one thrust with these two tapes.
First, he is showing how Jacinta was spiritually
transformed after Our Lady’s appearance. Then
he is explaining his newly organized Blue Army
Cadet Program for both grade school children
as well as high schoolers. He feels Jacinta,
Francisco, her brother, and Lucia formed a
prayer cell when they said the rosary together
and the other prayers the angel had taught
them. So his Blue Army Cadet Program, which
has a manual and catechism, is based on the
idea of two or more young people getting
together to pray, all the while striving in a
missionary spirit to get others to join in. When
the group grows to six, it should split up. He
also earnestly desires to motivate the
handicapped and suffering youth to offer up
their pains and lonliness for the conversion of
America.
,
Flip Quips
The political transition from Ford to
Carter is shown to be moving according
to design; Carter and Ford meeting in the
Oval room squaring things between them.
Jimmy sizing up the future . . . Jerry
sighing ’bout the past.
The way of the political wrong guesser
is hard. The Ins are moving out, the Outs
are moving in and the voters are
wondering, are we in or out and by how
much!
With hopes hinged to job hand-outs
some volunteers hustled, running around
getting out the votes, only to learn they
won no hand-outs, but . . . just another
run around.
Frank J. McArdle
A friend and I have been imploring little
Jacinta’s intercession recently and we can
witness to the fact that her requests are really
special to Our Lord.
The Blessed Mother appeared to her several
times after the six main apparitions, telling her
she would go to heaven soon but she would
suffer before that. A tumor formed in her left
side from which abundant fluid issued. Indeed,
she did suffer, but she offered everything to the
two hearts of Jesus and Mary 7 for the conversion
of sinners.
Her cause for beatification is underway and
we can be most grateful to Father Fox who has
studied the Fatima message since he was a
teenager, for his burning zeal in revealing all
aspects of its spiritual treasures in such a
balanced way.
The set can be ordered for $6.50 from
P.O.P.E. (Parents for Orthodoxy in Parochial
Education) a nonprofit organization, P. O. Box
6161, San Rafael, Ca., 94903.
Catholic A rchd inccsc of Atlanta
DEADLINE: All material for publication must be received by
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Most Rev. Thomas A. Donnellan — Publisher
Rev. Peter A. Dora Editor
Michael Motes Associate Editor
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photomeditation
FAITH SIGNED
Baptism . . . the infant’s father signs her head . . . with the sign of the cross ... as
mother, family and friends look on . . . with the little girl expressing some of the
surprise . . . and wonder of it all.
It is something full of wonder ... A young mother and father . . . out of their shared
love . . . gave life to a child . . . Now they share with her . . . their faith . . . and that of
the whole Church . . . signing their daughter with the sign of that faith . . . the sign of
the Cross.
Through their shared faith . . . and that of the Church . . . God draws their
daughter . . . into a new quality of life . . . into a new bond of love . . . with
Himself . . . and His Son, Jesus . . . New birth ... a rebirth . . . new life . . . are
f '
Called
Name
Georgia Carolina Ministry
Sister Genevieve Sachse, O.S.B.
Associate Director
of Vocations
Archdiocese of Atlanta
V /
HOSEA - Call to Fidelity
The book of Hosea is one of the richest in
the imagery of Israel as the unfaithful wife and
God, as the relentless, everfaithful Lover.
As time after time Hosea went to bring back
his prostitute wife, he came to understand how,
in a much more dramatic way, God called Israel
back to His love.
Often the first reaction of the person
challenged to consider a Church vocation is
“Who me? I’m not the type,” by which type is
generally meant the ultra pious and proper
person. That characature is hardly the criteria
used by Christ when He picked his motley crew
of apostles. Jesus’ criteria, even for working
miracles, was that of faith, fidelity to His
promise of salvation.
The call of every Christian, and in a special
way, the call of the priest and religious, is a call
to fidelity in spite of - not because of - the
kind of person he or she is.
signed . . . symboled ... in the sign of the cross . . . traced on the infant’s head ... by
her father.
How appropriate . . . that the father . . . and the mother . . . sign their child . . . with
the sign of their own faith . . . for it is their faith . . . lived out in everyday life . . .
which is the soil ... in which the infant’s new life . . . can take root and grow.
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Advent—
I A
A Time To Question
Lx,.. JmL
Reverend Noel C. Burtenshaw
<
We are sitting at the moment in a very special
Advent of our own. It is Advent in the Carter
Administration. Some important things are
going to happen and we want to know what.
Who will be Secretary of this or that? Who is
getting that job? What will the Cabinet be like?
It is a time of waiting and a time of questioning
and a time for surprises. And as each day goes
by, our questions are answered - the men are
picked -- the positions are filled. Soon our
political Advent will be over and a New
Administration will be launched.
Those who wait always have questions. How
many times does the child ask “how many days
to go till Christmas?” Even as the
announcements of Christmas unfold, he still
asks. As he sees the tree and the decorations
and the furious preparations - he still asks.
All of us who wait for important chapters of
our lives to unfold -- have questions to ask. It
reassures us and often grants security and
comfort to us.
St. Luke tells us about the questions of the
crowd to the last of the Prophets, John the
Baptist. John brought the questions on himself.
He preached the Savior without compromise,
without let up. “Strengthen the paths and level
the mountains.” And they knew his message. It
was not the terrain -- but their own lives. It was
not the deeds and the sins and oppressions of
others they should worry about, but their own.
The Savior would not be a cleanser of a system
but the Redeemer of a people - each one -
every single one. So strengthen the paths and
level the mountains.
So it was natural for their quick comeback -
they asked questions -- “What will we do?”
“What are we going to do?” “How are we to
prepare?” He had the answers. “Let the man
who has two coats give one away. The man who
has food give to him who has none.” If you
have something remember there are those with
nothing. If you are in authority, don’t be a
bully, don’t exact the last drop of what is due.
Don’t worry about preparing others - prepare
yourself by giving to others. The questions had
been asked - now they had been answered.
Advent is a time of questions for us too. Are
we going to touch our lives with salvation this
year or are we going to let this season skip by,
be gone, celebrated alone, with no outreach to
anyone else? Are we just planning to exchange
gifts with the family and those who love us and
always think well of us? Those who are glad to
see us and say so.
Or are we going to go a little bit out of our
way this year? Do we know someone who is
lonely, never visited, with very few friends? I
am not talking about a check to St. Vincent de
Paul, or the Empty Stocking Fund. But opening
yourself to someone who expects little or
nothing this Christmas. Someone who hungers,
not just for a present but for a little warm
company, a friendly ear and a willing smile. Are
you planning that kind of preparation this year.
Or will it be the usual celebration, reaping a lot
of smiles and good cheer for yourself.
The Savior is coming. Like the crowd before
John the Baptist, we have a question: “What
will we do?” The answer comes in so many
ways to us, so many well known ways.
We should be like Ebeneezer Scrooge waking
up from his horrible dreams and wanting to
make up for his skin-flint life. He rushes out to
buy the town for Tiny Tim and then - delivers
it himself. “What will we do?” they asked, the
Baptist. “Reach out to your brother,” was the
answer. The answer is the same for us. Do you
want to have yourself a Merry Little Christmas?
Then see to it someone else does. Share
yourself as John did, as Mary did, as Christ did.
Liturgy of Hours . . .
ROME, ITALY -- I am a professor of Liturgy
at Saint Francis Seminary, Loretto,
Pennsylvania, presently on a sabbatical leave in
order to complete my doctoral studies in
Liturgy here at the Pontifical Institute of San
Anselmo, Rome, Italy. At the present time I am
in the process of writing my doctoral
dissertation in which I am primarily concerned
with the reformed Liturgy of the Hours and its
pastoral stress upon the involvement of the
laity
Consequently, I am seeking any and all
information which may be available concerning
the actual pastoral application of the Liturgy of
the Hours on the parish level within the
dioceses of the United States of America. While
I fully realize the many practical problems
involved in such implementation to date, such
as the prohibitive cost of breviaries,
nevertheless, I would be very grateful for any
information you may be able to give me in this
area concerning your own diocese.
Are there any parishes in your diocese which
have been or are presently implementing this
prayer in this fashion, that is involving the laity
in its communal recitation? If so, the following
is a suggested outline of the areas which should
be of particular interest and help to me: the
name of the parish, the particular Hour or
Hours employed, the manner in which it is
celebrated, the number of people involved in
the celebration, has the attendance been good
or bad, what is the parishioners attitude toward
this practice, has there been any catechetical
Sometimes, like the pharisee who went up to
the Temple to pray, one hasn’t been very bad
and may actually have really worked at being
good. We rarely see ourselves as having been
particularly unfaithful, and therefore, it is easy
to slip into the subconscious assumption of
having “earned” our way into the House of the
Lord.
Saul of Tarsus fit that picture and had to be
knocked off his horse in order to see - not how
faithful HE had or had not been - but how
faithful the Lord had been regardless of Paul’s
own doing. The same is true for us.
Over and over again in his epistles Paul
hammered away at the fact that even the good
deeds we do are contingent upon our faith, our
fidelity, and that very same faith is itself a gift
of a totally faithful God who has loved us into
goodness.
Everyone who responds to a call to ministry
must at some time be overwhelmed at the
awesomeness of the fidelity of a God Who
would call someone like himself or herself,
sensing in some way the immensity of the
condescension in such love. The old mystique
by which a priest or religious was somehow
automatically elevated to a higher plane of
holiness by the fact of one’s state of life, missed
one of the most magnificent aspects of the
mystery of God’s grace which faith-fuily
operates in us day after day after day.
The call to fidelity is our call to respond to a
faithful God; our fidelity lies in our recognition
of and our response to that fact.
preparation before this prayer was actually
implemented?
As I said, this is merely a suggested outline
and any information you can send me on this
would be gratefully received. If this would be
asking too much, then I would very much
appreciate even the very simplest of answers
such as yes, we have implemented this program
in our diocese or no, we have not as yet had the
opportunity of doing so.
Whatever information you can send me on
this matter would be an invaluable and
indispensable help to me, not only in
successfully completing my thesis but also in
helping me to draw up a proposed practical
program for possible implementation of the
Liturgy of the Hours on the parish level for the
United States of America.
I realize that this may be making undue
demands on your valuable time but this is the
only way in which I am able to get such
information which is necessary for the
completion of my thesis. Any and all costs
which may be involved in mailing any
information to me would be promptly repaid if
you would kindly inform me of the cost
involved.
Thank you for any and all help which you
may be able to give me in this matter.
REVEREND DOMINIC F. SCOTTO, T.O.R.
CONVENTO DEI SS. COSMA E DAMIANO,
VIA DEI FORI IMPERIALI1,
00186 ROMA, ITALY
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Letters... Letters
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