Newspaper Page Text
BY MICHAEL MOTES
Soundings
BY MONSIGNOR
NOELC. BURTENSHAW
Old Jacob was furious.
The aches and pains in his
back told him he had done a
good thorough job. He had
worked since early morning all
alone in the dusty darkness of
that stale smelling stable to
properly prepare. And now the
Roman was barking objections.
A broom handle across the
back would settle the silly
prattlings of this self-righteous
centurion.
It was bad enough that the
high and mighty Caesar, from
the throne in Rome, had
ordered a census bringing
pilgrims from North and South.
It was impossible for
Bethlehem, a meager town of
one solitary inn, to house so
many. But this uniformed loud
and boastful bully, fresh from
the fields of war, ordered a
suite for himself and warm
surroundings for his prancing
Arabian steed.
The innkeeper hollered at
Jacob. The stable, used only for
wandering waves of straying
oxen, must be in perfect order
to greet this kingly beast.
Otherwise Roman steel might
fan the air and Jewish heads
might roll. So make it perfect,
fetch brushes and rakes and
fresh hay. The stable must be
ready.
Jacob was indoor-help. His
job was at the inn, not here
among the scratchy field mice
and the crawling pests. But he
needed to work. So the stalls were
swept and laced with fresh
straw. The broken backdoor
was heaved onto the squeeky
hinges and fresh soft hay was
layered on the old manger.
There was no time for paint but
Jacob was proud of his shiney
finished product.
Now the General stood
gazing at Bethlehem’s best
looking stable with fury in his
eyes. No, it would not do. This
magnificent stallion was the
beautiful, black gleaming beast
backed off the lodgings Jacob
had carefully prepared as if
insulted by the offered
invitation.
Flinging himself into the
silver saddle and rearing his
frightened mount, the centurian
promised retribution on
everyone. The innkeeper and
finest, fastest of the Roman
legions. He would not house a
Jewish donkey in that run
down excuse for a stable. It
might not last the night. There
were even holes in the roof. No,
it was not good enough. Never.
Looking every bit as
arrogant as his master, the
his rotten accommodations
would suffer, that lazy,
hobbling unshaven old janitor
would suffer and Bethlehem -
god forsaken city at anytime -
would never be heard of again.
It was his final promise as he
disappeared into the oncoming
darkness.
As Jacob left for home,
disappointed that the beautiful
horse had declined shelter in his
stable, he saw the young couple
quietly slip through the mended
back door. Soon he heard the
first whimpers of the wide-eyed
newly born. Scampering,
murmering, bright faced
shepherds almost knocked him
to the ground as they converged
on his stable. Quietly,
adoringly, excitedly they
surrounded the mother and her
beautiful baby boy laying on
the freshly prepared manger.
Jacob felt that somehow his
work had not been a waste. The
stable gleaming clean stood
proudly prepared for this
mysterious moment.
He also felt, as he walked
home beneath a sky of bright
heavenly stars, that the Roman
was wrong. Bethlehem would
be heard of again.
Cathedral
Christmas
Christmas services at the
Cathedral of Christ the King
will begin at 5:30 p.m. on
Christmas Eve with a
Family Mass. At 11:15 p.m.
December 24, the Cathedral
Choir will present a musical
program, followed by the
Midnight Mass with
Archbishop Donnellan as
principal celebrant and
homilist.
Christmas Day Masses
will be celebrated at 7, 8
and 9 a.m. The 11 a.m. High
Mass will again feature the
archbishop as principal
celebrant and homilist.
The 12:30 p.m. Mass
Christmas Day will be a
Folk Mass. Mass will also be
celebrated at 5:30 p.m. and
at 7 p.m., the latter being in
Spanish.
\J U4ti l\
Catholic Archdiocese of Atlanta
Vol. 17 No. 45
Thursday, December 20,1979
$6 Per Year
Atlanta’s Cheeriest Christmas
CANCER HOME Auxiliary members Catherine McElroy (left)
and Edna Perdue bring the spirit of Christmas to the ill by helping
to decorate for the holidays.
When....
More than 50 members of the
Auxiliary of Our Lady of Perpetual
Help Cancer home turned out for the
annual day the group sets aside to
decorate the home for the holiday
season.
No area of the building is left
undecorated by the volunteers, who
spend countless hours throughout
the year making the terminally ill
Cancer Home patients as comfortable,
as possible.
But Christmas is such a special
time that the Auxiliary members put
forth that “something extra” that
brings the holiday spirit to visitor
and patient alike.
Of the 14 Christmas trees
decorated, the most unusual is one
which came out of “retirement” for
a very special reason this year.
Called the “Bicentennial Tree,”
the patriotically-decorated display
was originally clad with red, white
and blue symbols of American
patriotism in the Bicentennial Year
of 1976.
“This year we brought out this
special tree again in honor of the
American hostages being held in
Tehran,” says Auxiliary member
Dixie Barton. “We feel that it is an
appropriate reminder of those being
held prisoner, whom we all keep in
our prayers at this Christmas
season.”
Each of the trees in the Cancer
Home carries a special theme.
Scottish plaids brighten one tree,
while another seems set in the winter
wonderland of a blizzard.
For patients, staff and the many
visitors who fill the Cancer Home at
this time of the year, the work of the
Auxiliary is an outstanding example
of brightening the lives of others.
WHEN THE HOSTAGES come back home
we will celebrate Christmas again. So don’t
undeck the halls, don’t dim the lights on the
tree and don’t remove the hedges of holly
from the house.
WHEN THE HOSTAGES come back
home, we will sit down and write verses on
cards once more. We will stuff love notes in
Christmas stockings and shower them with
gifts dreamily made, just for them, in the
Claus household at the North Pole.
WHEN THE HOSTAGES come back
home, there will be lullabyes of carols sweetly
sung. The Silent Nights they missed, the Joy
to the World they were denied, will be heaped
high before their reminiscent eyes and manger
scenes of great and tender warmth will glow
beneath the traditional twinkling star just for
them.
WHEN THE HOSTAGES come back
home, Bing will share his dream once more of
a White Christmas, Frosty the Snowman will
come to chilly life and the jangle of Jingle
Bells will resound from street to street. From
household to household.
WHEN THE HOSTAGES come back
home, gleaming glad wrapped presents will
reappear complete with mighty Christmas
bows. And we will capture their raptureous
surprises on our flashing Polaroids and
clicking Instamatics.
WHEN THE HOSTAGES come back
home, we will ring the church bells calling our
loved ones to the midnight table of the
Eucharist. We will heap upon them with
enthusiastic excitement the brotherly sign of
peace. We will sit down and know them in the
breaking of bread.
WHEN THE HOSTAGES come back
home, we will love them so much, with such
warmth and relief, there will be no room
within us to hate their furtively cunning
captors.
We promise it will all happen, when the
hostages come back home.
--NCB
Winning Christmas Essay
(EDITOR S NOTE: We congratulate
Neal Callahan, a seventh grader at Saint
Jude's School, for his first-place winning
essay on the theme “We Are Entertaining
A Homeless Family For Christmas.”Neal,
whose essay appears here, receives $50.
Second-place winner is Karen Meadows, a
student at St. Mary's in 'Rome. Her
essaywill appear in our January 3 issue.)
BY NEAL CALLAHAN
There were only four more days
until Christmas, and I was thinking
how great it would be on Christmas:
the whole family together loving and
caring for each other.
But when my dad returned home,
he told us that he had very important
news about Christmas. He called a
family meeting in the family room.
He told us that we were having
company for Christmas, a family.
Sheila asked him where they were
from. My dad told her they were
refugees from Vietnam. My heart
sank. Well, there goes a great private
Christmas, ruined by a couple of
boat people!
That night I thought about the
refugees. I felt angry and curious at
the same time. I had heard a lot
about boat people on the news but I
still felt curious.
The next day on the way to the
airport I asked my dad why he
invited the refugees. He told me it
was the Christmas thing to do,
besides, they had feelings also, but
they didn’t have anyone to care for
or love them.
Well, it helped, but I still felt
bitter and confused. Then my mom
really changed my feelings. She
reminded me how I would feel if I
had no money, food, shelter or warm
clothing.
She told me that I would expect
someone to care for me. Suddenly I
felt sorry for the Vietnamese family.
And when I met them, I felt even
closer. They were my friends, people
just like me, with a family just like
mine.
It was the best Christmas ever!
Christmas TV Mass
Archbishop Thomas A. Donnellan’s Christmas Mass will be
broadcast on WSB-TV, Channel 2, at 11 a.m. on Christmas Day.
Assisting the Archbishop will be Monsignor Noel C. Burtenshaw.
The Holy Spirit Choir w ; H perform under the direction of Bob
Krick.