Newspaper Page Text
PAGE 2-The Georgia Bulletin, MarSh 27,1980
. Getting Married?
BY LIZ SCOTT
(3rd in a series of ten)
In parenting, what you
expect is almost never
what you get. And that’s
to be expected.
It starts when you lay
eyes on your first precious
little bundle. And he is
(gasp) ugly.
No pre-parenthood
class, no childbirth film,
prepares you for this.
Because no matter what
you’ve heard or seen with (
your own eyes, you have
firmly believed that to his
own parents every child is
beautiful.
So whose is this
chinless crabapple the
nurse is holding out to
you?
Luckily, babies pretty
up in a hurry. Wrinkles
fade, chins and foreheads
assume human dimensions,
and scalp fuzz becomes
engaging ringlets.
By that time you’ve
encountered more
surprises.
I was astounded to
discover that Dr. Spock,
whom I had dutifully read
from cover to cover while
awaiting the arrival of our
first, had left out a few
things.
1
Nowhere in Dr.
Spock’s, nor in any
baby-care book I found,
was I warned about
checking a diaper with the
eyes, never the finger. Or
told not to leave the
evening paper next to the
baby seat, as, surprisingly,
babies will attempt to
digest the news, literally.
Or assured that newspaper
ink, in small amounts,
apparently isn’t toxic.
Experts made no
mention of the baby car
seat problem encountered
by my friend Amy. After
reading various consumer
safety reports she ignored
her budget and invested in
the most expensive car
seat on the market, one
that had to be bolted to
the floor and into which it
took 10 minutes to insert
baby at the beginning of
each outing. But her son
was dextrous enough to
disassemble the whole
thing from the inside, a
feat he accomplished on
the freeway. Then he
crawled between her and
the steering wheel to
announce his new-found
freedom.
He’ll be a great
mechanical engineer, says
Amy, if he should live so
long.
Later you, like Amy
and the rest of us, find
yourself automatically
leaning into the back seat
to push down all the
buttons on the doors
before you start the car -
so automatically you do
this even when the back
seat contains only adults.
Or you comment to
your seatmate on the bus,
“Oooh, look at that big
black horsie,” and the
fiftyish lady nods and
smiles.
“I always expected,”
says my neighbor, Mattie,
“that no matter what
anyone else’s kids did, my
kids would always obey.
Instantly and without
questions.”
So she was pleased
when, for several weeks in
a row, her directions that
her sons were to clean
their rooms before they
received Saturday
allowance were met with
quick compliance. Well
done, too. Nothing shoved
under the bed, nothing
jammed in a back corner
of the closet. Much later
she learned that everything
out of place had been
stowed in a large plastic
trash bag, lowered out of
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the window before
inspection and retrieved
later.
Beth, mother of five
who carpools with me,
said that before she had
children she could never,
never understand what
would motivate a parent
to anything so terrible as
child abuse.
“Now,” she says, “at
least, I can understand.”
What she didn’t expect,
says Beth, was to have to
stretch the extension cord
on her telephone out into
the garage and squat
behind the washing
machine in order to have
an undisturbed chat.
Our washing machine is
usually making noise itself.
It’s a money making
source for our five
children, who have a
standing arrangement with
me that a dollar may be
earned, at any time, by
their washing, drying and
putting away a load of
clothes.
Son Michael, at nine,
had a fiscal emergency and
decided to speed things up
by skipping a step - the
dryer. He was astounded
by my reaction when I
stepped out of the shower
and reached for the stack
of neatly folded towels, to
find them sopping.
He said later that he’s
never heard a naked
woman yell so many
terrible words. Made him
give back the dollar, too.
The last thing you ever
expect is to become
indispensable. I certainly
didn’t. There are a lot of
experts in this world -
they must number into the
thousands - who know
infinitely more about child
care than I do.
So, when my son falls
out of a tree or my
daughter has an awful
problem or my toddler is
scared, why is it that only
I can handle things? No
one else will do.
I’m also the only
person in the world who
can make scrambled eggs
taste decent, says young
Michael.
Guess that’s more than
I ever expected to be.
READY TO LISTEN ~ Father Tom McCall,
S.J., is pictured above in his office at the Chapel
of the United States Penitentiary in Atlanta. His
ministry is a large “ministry of listening,” he says.
All Saints Shares
Renewal Success
It has been said that
our Lord’s invitation to
Christian living has been
eloquently extended to
mankind more often than
the sands of time, and yet,
never with greater impact'
than at All Saints Church
during the recent Week of
Renewal March 10-14.
One young adult
summed it all up by
saying, “I know now that
Christ is always protecting
and watching over me, and
will always give me the
power to live up to things
I can’t live up to by
myself.’’ Another
parishioner commented,
“This renewal and the
parish are ONE with
Christ.” This deeper
awakening to renewed
Christian values was
reflected in the personal
sharing of parishioners
throughout the week.
There were other
voices, too. There were
those of inactive Catholics
who found that a “yes”
response to this special
calling carried with it an
inner peace, a joyful
return to an all loving,
all-forgiving God. One man
who said he rarely
frequented Mass or the
Sacraments witnessed that
the renewal had meant
“everything” to him.
“I have accepted Christ,
the church, and a new
approach to life,” he went
on to say.
Throughout the entire
week Father Richard
Kieran, the renewal
spiritual director,
emphasized the
importance of a personal
relationship with Christ
and the need for an active
prayer life encountering
the scriptures. Continual
conversion and active
participation in Christian
community were stressed
as vital to Christian
growth. He pointed out
that a strong and vibrant
parish family is essential in
order to share the critical
responsibility of imparting
the good news of salvation
in Jesus Christ to those
around us.
At week’s end, the
evaluation sheets
completed by the many
hundreds in attendance
reflected a strong desire to
continue in the spirit of
the Week of Renewal. As a
consequence, many small
groups have been formed
to share scripture and to
renew faith commitments.
Several groups will be
meeting weekly to discuss
the book by Father David
Knight, “His Way.” which
helps develop a deeper
prayer life a conversion to
Gospel living, and a greater
commitment to
community.
Father Joseph Beltran,
Pastor of All Saints, said
he thought the parish has
realized in its first year of
Outreach a significant
movement toward
strengthening spiritual
values. A spiritually
strengthened community,
he said, is necessary to
meet the challenges posed
in the family, and in the
social, business and civic
lives of parishioners.
“I encourage each and
everyone of the parish
family,” says F’ather
Beltran, “to live his faith.
In this way All Saints,
through its evangelizing
efforts, will be attractive
to those to whom we
reach who may still be in
doubt about our Lord’s
redemptive love.”
BY LYNNE ANDERSON
Walking with Father
Tom McCall, S.J., through
the building where he
works, one might easily
think of Buckingham
Palace. Both edifices
feature dingy gray facades,
too heavy, which give the
impression the buildings
might topple forward.
Obscured by an
oppressive fog, both
buildings easily blend into
the surrounding area.
And both buildings are
surrounded by guards -
plenty of them. However,
at Buckingham Palace,
coppers and guards keep
people OUT, whereas at
the Atlanta Federal
Penitentiary, where Father
McCall works, guards keep
people IN.
Of course, some people
within the walls of the
prison, built in the 1890’s,
can leave whenever they
wish. The employees
simply pass through the
gates as if they were
passing through a gate of a
white picket fence. But for
the 1300 inmates of the
Penitentiary, those gates
are closed.
CLOSED DOORS, TOO
Father McCall says the
prison’s closed gates are
not the only closed doors
the prisoners have
encountered in their lives.
“The men we deal with
have often been left in a
position of dealing with a
society that’s dealt with
them,” the friendly priest
says.
“Many of these guys
have nothing - no hopes,
no dreams, no pride,” he
says.
Father McCall is one of
the two prison chaplains
who minister to the
inmates; the other is
Chaplain Charlie Riggs.
The two men manage
all faith groups which
meet on week-nights. They
also conduct worship
services for the 300
prisoners who avail
themselves of the services.
“There are 22 different
outreach services,” Father
says “which include many
different religions.”
The two chaplains are
not told why a prisoner
has been imprisoned; if a
prisoner wants to discuss
why he’s there, then both
are ready to listen.
LISTENING IMPORTANT
“We have a large
ministry of listening,”
Chaplain Riggs explains,
“as well as a ministry of
presence. Sometimes, a
prisoner won’t come into
the chapel to see us; he’ll
just meet us in the
corridor. Maybe that one
quick visit was all he
needed at that time, so it’s
important just to be visible
and to be available,” he
says.
Both men credit
volunteers who come into
the prison and provide
support for the prison
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ministry. Friends Outside,
Inc., and Christian
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ion, (CHAT), are two
groups of volunteers.
Although the chapel is
“home base” for the
chaplains, both men work
in units, which are
composed of cells in which
four men are housed. Each
unit h 775-200 men
living i it and is staffed
by three counselors, one
secretary, a unit manager,
and two case managers.
Each unit branches
from the main wing of the
prison. A barred door
separates the unit from the
wing.
Inside the unit, the men
are allowed out of their
cells.
The men may keep
personal clothing, toilet
articles, writing material,
and things that can be
bought at the prison
commissary, up to $75.00
per month in their cells.
The commissary is a
highly popular place,
Father says.
The men purchase
goods there with the
money they earn in the
prison, although they
don’t use coins and bills. A
charge account balance
and debit ledger is kept for
each man, and it must
balance exactly, says the
supervisor of the
commissary.
‘‘Going to the
commissary is a form of
entertaining,” Father
McCall explains.
“Although the men are
allowed to return for
seconds in the mess hall,
they still want to stop by
here after dinner. ‘Let’s go
to the commissary,’ they
say.”
Fresh fruits and soft
drinks are the big sellers at
the commissary, says the
supervisor, but its main
appeal is its social aspect,
says Father McCall.
Chaplain Riggs adds
that a prisoner’s social
structure is gone in prison.
“Privacy is eroded in
prison,” says Chaplain
Riggs, “and compounded
with a feeling of
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desolation and isolation,
this makes the prisoners
feel completely alone.”
Father McCall and
Chaplain Riggs have
studied much about
criminal behavior, they
say, and even though
experts disagree on what
causes criminal behavior,
they both tend to accept
the current popular theory
that a manipulative
personality develops in
would-be criminals early in
life.
Of course, they are
quick to add, people other
than criminals develop this
same manipulative
personality and fit right in
with the social structure in
secular society and will
never spend a day in
prison.
OTHER CAUSES
‘‘Prisons are an
indictment of the
churches’ failure,” says
Chaplain Riggs, “in that
we as Christians often
DON’T share and DON’T
provide support to others
in need.”
Father McCall says that
reaching out to a prisoner
is often not easy.
“It’s a very macho
world in prison,” he says,
explaining that often the
men don’t want to be
bothered.
Still, this doesn’t
prevent the white-haired
priest from going about his
ministry in a loving, gentle
way.
“We have the various
programs available to the
men,” Father says, “and
we try to be there when
they need us.”
The Atlanta Federal
Penitentiary will close in
1984. In January, 1981,
its population will
decrease to 800.
At present, Father
McCall plans to be at the
prison until it closes,
basing his ministry on
Matthew 25; “When, Lord,
did we see you in prison
and come unto thee?” and
Christ’s answer,
“Inasmuch as ye did to
one of the least of my
brethern ye did it to me.”
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