Newspaper Page Text
PAGE 4—The Georgia Bulletin, January 27,1977
Miss Coleman’s Quote
We search for the memorable phrase
in President Carter’s inauguration
address and don’t find it. The quotable
quote is not there. A Kennedyesque
glitter and gold speech, it was not.
It was simply Jimmy Carter and we
accept that. In fact, we welcome it. It
was simply this man from South Georgia
who ran and insisted the people knew
him and would elect him, and they did.
But the address was not a language
disaster altogether. He did admirably
quote his high school teacher, Miss Julia
Coleman. We should remember it, both
the quote and its principle: “We must
adjust to changing times and still hold to
unchanging principles.”
Let us begin life in Mr. Carter’s
administration by hoping that he will
fulfill the promise of that quote. This is
a changing world, containing still many
unchanging principles. The powerful
often forget in the array of diplomacy
that saturates their day.
Life, its existence and defense, is an
unchanging principle. Its desperate cries
for help in our Christian nation have yet
to be heard.
The needs of the poor are unchanging
and still largely ignored or forgotten.
“Every man enough to eat and every
man a job,” is far from being a reality in
this land. As any President ends any day
in the White House, he should know that
children still go to bed hungry in this
most powerful nation.
Peace is an unchanging yearn, not just
in the trouble corners of the earth - but
here at home. “Bring us together” was
said in one way or another by distant
and recent Presidents. We still wait for it,
hope for it and never find it.
Brotherhood named community is not
found.
We may remember Miss Coleman’s
quote. But that’s not important. We have
reason to be happy that President Carter
remembered it. May his memory not fail
as he makes it a practicality over a first
four years.
- NCB
Birthright : Baby
Teresa Gernazian
With $10,000 worth of abortion advertising
monthly in the Atlanta papers, is it any wonder
that only eight babies were placed for adoption
by Child Service and Family Counseling Center
last year, compared to 199 in 1970?
Yes, the temptation to a desperate young
girl is almost too great to resist. Yet there is an
alternative - Birthright - and it does reach
some. But we need to reach more. Perhaps you
can help.
Birthright was founded in 1968 by Louise
Summerhill of Toronto, Canada and our local
group was formed in 1971 under the
directorship of Mrs. Terry Weaver. Trained
volunteers reach out with care and concern to
single and married women with unplanned
pregnancies who contact us for help. (If a girl is
out of the Atlanta area and does not have the
money, we do accept collect calls.)
Since it is non-sectarian there is no meddling
in morality and a girl can call Birthright
without fear of being made to feel more guilty
than she already is. Because of strict
confidentiality, the caller needn’t give her real
name, if she’d rather not. The volunteer helps
the girl realize that the decision she has to make
must do more than solve her immediate
problem, it must be one that she can live with
for the rest of her life.
All chartered Birthright groups, and they are
now world-wide, follow these. policies: no
debating abortion; no lobbying; no abortion
referrals. The decision to keep the baby or give
it up for adoption is left up to the individual, as
this is also one that the girl must live with from
now on.
Last year there were 1,300 calls. The need
for this service increases daily and so does the
need for volunteers and financial help, job
offers and homes where a girl can live with a
family until after her baby is born - anywhere
from two to seven months.
We are planning an all-day Training Session
on Saturday, February 19, from 9 til 4 at the
office, Room 127, St. Joseph’s Infirmary. To
accommodate those who will attend, it is
necessary to call the office at 688-4496. At this
point, we are desperate for help. If you have
been thinking about volunteering for Birthright
and are not quite sure this is “your thing,”
you’re most welcome to come and find out. If
you then decide you don’t wish to be a
telephone volunteer, perhaps you can help in
one of the many other ways that are needed.
There are numerous churches who have been
super to Birthright and can never be thanked
enough. We cite a recent one to give an example
of bringing the children into the picture. Sister
Patricia of Our Lady of the Assumption
planned a Birthright Shower, in which the
children decorated packages containing baby
gifts and presented them during the Children’s
Mass on Christmas Eve. The gifts were left on
the altar Christmas Day for others to contribute
to the shower also.
Birthright offers a homey atmosphere and
once in a while things get rather hectic. Two
hundred or so calls were made for one client
last yeai; asking for a job lead and prayers. The
prayers were answered for the mother cancelled
the scheduled abortion six hours before it was
to take place.
Financial donations are tax deductible and
checks can be made out to Birthright, Inc. and
mailed to P. O. Box 98361, Atlanta, Ga. 30359.
We need more advertising and when our $50
per month two-line “Pregnant? Positive help
from Birthright” ad is compared to the $10,000
worth of abortion ads - well, need I say more?
Georgia
Catholic Archdiocese of Atlanta
DEADLINE: All material for publication must be received by
MONDAY NOON for Thursday’s paper.
Most Rev. Thomas A. Donnellan — Publisher
Rev. Noel C. Burtenshaw — Editor
Michael Motes - 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. 308 30
Published Weekly r 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
OUR PARISH
<(0
&
n
occwne ll
‘At least you can enter the kingdom of Heaven!’
/
M|
Called By Name
>
f ~ M
Georgia Carolina Ministry
V
Rev. Robert Mattingly
Vocation Director - Diocese of Savannah
J
St. Augustine — Confessor of Faith
Before his conversion, St. Augustine was
held by a chain of sin. He was living out of
wedlock with a woman who bore him a son.
Although he was brilliant, he could not accept
the Christian way of life. He pursued many
paths, all of which led to frustration.
One day while he was in a garden, he felt a
strong urge to reflect upon his life. He realized
that his will was perverse and lust had grown
from it. He had given in to lust, and habit was
born. Since he had not resisted the habit, lust
became a necessity. These were the links which
formed what St. Augustine called his chain, and
it held him fast in the duress of servitude. He
was moved to cry over his present and past
sinfulness. Flinging himself down on the
ground, he continued to experience true
contrition of heart. He felt moved to read from
the scriptures, so he picked up a Bible and this
passage is the one to which he turned:
“Not in revelling and drunkeness, not in lust
and wantonness, not in strife and envying: but
put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no
provision for the flesh in concupiscence.”
He had no need to read further. By the time
he reached the end of the sentence it was as
though his heart was filled with a light of
confidence and all the shadows of his doubt
about Christ being the way were swept away.
He also realized that by his own strength he
would fail to be chaste but by God’s strength
he would not fail. He resolved to cast himself
upon the Lord who would cure him of his ills.
Later Augustine received the sacraments of
the Catholic Church including Holy Orders. He
later felt moved by grace to accept the office
of bishop. God in his great mercy and love
bestowed upon him many gifts.
The point I wish to make is that St.
Augustine was gifted with the grace to convert
as well as the graces of his special vocation. St.
Augustine had searched before for truth, yet it
was only when he was given special graces from
God that he could see and know the truth. Too
often we forget that prayer is a gift, conversion
is a gift, and vocation is a gift. St. Augustine
was aware of his gifts, and therefore his faith
increased so that he richly deserved the title,
“confessor of faith.”
Too often today in our society which
stresses advancement and aggressiveness, we
can confuse the notion of vocation. We must
remember that we ourselves cannot be chaste,
celibate, priests, sisters, or brothers. It is only
by the grace of God that we can live and
acknowledge that Jesus is Lord in response to
his call. If we gratefully recognize the gifts God
has given us, we too will be confessors of faith.
Resound
More on Fr. Hein . . .
ATLANTA - As we in the Catholic
community continue our frantic efforts to
encompass the enormous mystery of God
within our institutions and practices, Father
Larry Hein, S. J., leaves us to continue his work
in the field where his outstanding talents have
shown themselves over the years -- the field of
prayer as experience.
It seems evident that our present practices -
liturgy including the sacraments, celebrations,
recitation of words - can become rigid and
empty, a mere following along “just in case.”
This same emptiness spills over into our lives.
Our Catholic community (and there is ample
evidence that the rest of the believing
community in the area too) is hungry for
something much deeper.
Our institutions and practices need not
continue to become sterile ends in themselves -
but they will do so if we continue to reject
through unfounded fears, the necessary steps
we must take for them to become truly
meaningful.
I believe I am speaking for countless
believers - Catholic, Protestant, Jewish and
maybe others - who have been helped by Father
Larry to grow in their faith, when I express my
deepest gratitude to him for his quiet insistence
that God is universal mystery, and that like
Christ, we can each experience the mystery and
allow it to overflow into our lives in the
stillness of prayer.
Sincerley,
MRS. HENRY L. DE GIVE
What One Person Can Do
Rev. Richard Armstrong
JOHN LINDSAY,
ASSOCIATED PRESS PHOTOGRAPHER
In 1937 floods washed over huge portions
of the United States. By February, the Ohio
and Mississippi had swept away whole towns.
Millions were fleeing, homeless from Arkansas
bayous, Ohio lowlands and even Pennsylvania’s
Monongahela-flooded hills. People of ten states
fought to reinforce the sagging levees of the
White, the Ouschita and the Missouri rivers.
John Lindsay, an Associated Press
photographer, went to Memphis, Tennessee, to
cover the flood crisis as 50,000 refugees
streamed into the imperiled city. Its levees
were dangerously strained, as the Mississippi
was expected to crest at 53 feet - IV2 feet above
its record level.
Mr. Lindsay heard rumors of a prison chain
gang working on a nearby levee. Chain gang?
Few Americans in 1937 were aware that chain
eangs existed. Few photographers had ever
been allowed near them. Thinking, “maybe
pictures will do some good,” the newsman
dragged his equipment through soggy woods
and across washed out roads. He found the
gang and asked the guard if he might take
pictures. The guard agreed and though Mr.
Lindsay was appalled at the sight of the irons
and chains, he held his tongue and took picture
after picture.
The photographs appeared February 2,
1937, in the nation’s papers. For most readers
it was the first sight of chained men. Only days
later, he read in the paper: “Chairman E.W.
Hale of the Shelby County Commission has
recommended commutation of sentences for
the 500 black prisoners who worked on the
levee.”
It was the beginning of the end of the chain
gang in American prisons - because one press
photographer cared. Whatever our profession
may be, a genuine caring for humanity can find
expression through it, if we take the time and
trouble.
Most Of Us
Are
Whiffenpoofs
Dave McGill
Nearly everyone has heard “The
Whiffenpoof Song” - “We’re poor little lambs,
who have lost our way: Baa, baa, baa!” It’s an
old drinking song from the 1890’s, which I
confess to have sung many times in the past
with friends in the wee hours, over too many
beers. I remember when we’d get to the part
that goes, “Sing the Whiffenpoofs, assembled
with their glasses raised on high”, the guys who
wore glasses would raise their specs into the air
instead of their beer mugs.
That old song reminds me of sheep, and of
how in so many ways we Christians are sheep.
We follow the crowd in hairstyles, dress,
entertainment, and in “keeping up with the
Joneses.” There was even a phenomenon in
college we called “The Sheep,” which often
occurred at fraternity meetings. A large
majority of members would go into a meeting,
bound and determined to vote a certain way on
some subject, only to be swayed totally (like a
flock of sheep) to the opposite viewpoint by
the persuasive reasoning of somebody who was
in command of the facts and was willing to
stand up for the opposite viewpoint.
We were a nation of sheep with few
exceptions as we were ied into Viet Nam; the
number of men there was multiplied by a factor
of 30 by Kennedy (from 600 to 18,000), and
then by another factor of 30 by Johnson (to
over half a million men) before very many of
the sheep stirred.
I took a lunch break last week, and walked
to a place where there was a TV set, to watch
Jimmy Carter become President and to listen to
his inaugural speech. There were over 100
people crowded around that TV when I arrived,
and the “sheep phenomenon” was there in full
force. The TV’s picture kept streaking and
flipping like they’ll do if the rabbit ears are
pointed the wrong way or if the vertical hold
needs a tweak. Would you believe that we all
just sat or stood there for nearly a half hour,
hurting our eyes as we listened to the oath and
the speech? NOBODY (including me!) got up
to take a stab at turning that “radio” into a TV
set.
Life is like that. It’s easy to be a sheep, but
tough to be a shepherd. You might fail if you
stand up to be counted. (You might make the
picture even worse!) Shepherds are always in
trouble. Abel was a shepherd, for example, and
of course Jesus was a shepherd of a different
type.
Jesus used sheep a good deal in His teaching.
He said if a lost sheep is found, it gives more
joy to the shepherd than the 99 who didn’t
stray at all . . . He said we should of course save
a sheep from a pit on the sabbath, and then
cured a guy’s withered hand, saying that “a
man is far more important than a sheep” . . .
He described the Last Judgement by using
sheep for the favored side of the King ... He
found in the temple those who sold sheep . . .
He said that the sheep hear His voice and follow
Him and that He is the door of the sheep
fold ... He told Peter to feed His sheep ... He
said He was the Good Shepherd, and that He
knew His sheep ... He said that the Good
Shepherd lays down His life for His sheep, and
then He did . . .
The successor of Peter has an overall
responsibility for being a shepherd of the
Church. The bishops in turn each have their
own individual flocks to tend. The pastor of
your parish is a shepherd, too, with sheep for
which he, too, is responsible.
Is the layman to be a sheep, or a shepherd? I
don’t think we are expected to remain as sheep,
waiting to be swayed by the pressures of
society, in today’s rough and tough world. I
think Jesus wants us all to serve as shepherds in
each of our environments - our home and
family, our work, neighborhood, parish,
organizations, and wherever we are. We are to
support the clergy by being courageous
Christians, not following meekly wherever the
world leads us.
If we don’t stand up at each opportunity for
Christ and His teachings, then about all we can
expect to say when we someday meet the Lord
are the words at the end of “The Whiffenpoof
Song”: “Lord, have mercy on such as we . . .
Baa, baa, baa.”
We can do better than that. We can each be a
shepherd in sheep’s clothing.
i
*
t
1
4