Below is the OCR text representation for this newspapers page.

f i PAGE 2—The Georgia Bulletin, April 24,1980 Getting Married? ARE YOU READY FOR MARRIAGE? BY JAMES AND MARY KENNY (One In A Series of Ten) NC NEWS SERVICE Ready, willing and able. Unfortunately, the increasing divorce rate suggests that these words may not be in the correct order. Many young people seem to be willing and able to marry long before they are ready. How do you know when you are ready for marriage? Is it enough to be deeply in love? The feeling of love is so profound when it first hits that the couple is certain it will last forever. Sadly, love that lasts forever is proving to be the exception rather than the rule. Love is not enough for marriage. The relationship and the common task involved in marriage both call for a certain amount of personal maturity. Are you mature enough to marry? Four common sense areas are worth exploring. Couples should try to answer these questions as honestly as possible: Can you take care of yourselves financially? Can you wait out your sudden impulses? Have you had a variety of life experiences? Have you planned your life together? First, can you provide for yourselves? Can you put a roof over your heads and food on the table. I know a couple who planned to furnish their home by winning prizes on a television game show. That’s not very realistic. On the other hand, you need not have thousands of dollars in savings. What is needed is for one or both prospective partners to have a steady job and the prospect of continued employment. In a very real sense, being grown up means being able to pay your own way and not depend any longer on your parents. Second, can you wait for things? Can you be patient? A very basic definition of maturity is the ability to delay gratification. The mature person realizes that there may be greater rewards if he does not grab selfishly for the present moment but waits for tomorrow to unfold. Patience is required to put the welfare of the other, spouse or child, ahead of one’s own. Third, a breadth of life experience is desirable before marriage. Have you both “been around?” Have you dated others? Have you held a job? Lived away from your parents’ house? Traveled a bit? Gone to school? Have you had enough variety in your living ventures that you can choose marriage to this person from among a number of options available to you? Marriage is a lifetime commitment, a serious one that will involve the wellbeing of two or more people. Serious commitments can only be made with knowledge and wisdom. Knowledge can only come from the school of life. Wisdom is possible when choices are faced with humility and an open mind. Do not back into a marriage because a pregnancy or lack of other opportunities has made it the only choice available. Choose each other, rather, as the best of many possible adventures. The ability to plan is a final mark of marriage readiness. The mature couple not only brings a breadth of past life experience to their marriage, they also take time to map their future together. Marriage involves togetherness on many levels. It is simultaneously a business arrangement, a division of labor, a sexual commitment, an intimate companionship and a promise of family. How will you earn the money? Will you both work? Who will handle the money? Where will you live? Do you plan children? How soon? How many? Too often, dating focuses exclusively on working out the affectionate and friendship relations and neglects the more mundane aspects of a marriage. Problems over money, children and in-laws have surprised and shaken many a marriage. The mature couple, in their love for one another, will use their engagement to plan their lives together. Marriage readiness depends on the psychological and emotional maturity of the two individuals who have announced their intention to unite. A good way to prepare for marriage is to explore and develop the maturity of the prospective partners. Marriage between mature partners stands a much better chance to survive and to go beyond survival. Mature partners are able to stand on their own, to consider the needs of a partner, to bring rich experience to the relationship and to plan a future together. They bring to their marriage multiple resources which can keep their love alive and growing throughout a lifetime commitment. Thefts Plague Parish BY THEA JARVIS The ordinary business of running a parish wasn’t enough. Greater burdens were to be added to Blessed Sacrament Church in Atlanta these past two weeks in the form of three successive burglaries. The robberies included the loss of the microphone, the tabernacle, and the ciborium, which held the Blessed Sacrament. For the members of the Blessed Sacrament community, vandalism and robbery is something that has been dealt with before. But this marks the first time that the Eucharistic Host has been taken. Father Leo Holleran, assistant pastor who came to the parish last June, is aware that the object of the break-ins was not desecration, but the few expensive accoutrements of the church interior. Nonetheless, strong feelings abound. “I’m not angry, but I do have the feeling of being violated,” says Father Leo. The parishioners, too, are affected: “They are somewhat discouraged,” says Sister Linda Maser. “They are trying very hard to have the church act as a presence in the area. This is making it difficult.” Difficulty sometimes brings out the best in people. It may well be so with the courageous community on Stone Road. They are certainly being tested. TORE'S ITALIAN VILLA DAILY LUNCHEON SPECIALS Sag* Hill Shopping Center 1799 Briarcliff Rd 873-3482 MONDAY — Chicken Parmigiana *2.50 TUESDAY — Baked Lasagna 2.50 WEDNESDAY — Eggplant Parmigiana... 2.50 THURSDAY — Baked Manicotti 2.50 FRIDAY — Veal Parmigiana 2.50 Served with Italian or Roqwfort Salad and Tore's Rolls ATLANTA 233-9404 Peoctwee Oanle Shopping Confer Flowers for all occasions arranged to your individual taste & decor rail ate gold Jewelers • Designers Nurses Are People Too! MISS ANN GUSCIO, English teacher at St. Pius, was honored at a luncheon in Macon on Saturday, as a nominee for “Outstadning Teacher of the Year.” Miss Guscio was one of three regional finalists chosen for this Georgia Council of Teachers of English award. Miss Guscio, who has taught for 22 years, this year led St. Pius to a first place in the region literary events tournament. (Ed Note: Joan Cassels is a Homemaker, a mother, a nurse and occasional columnist for the Georgia Bulletin. This is one of three articles on nursing.) BY JOAN CASSELS, R.N. Nurse. The word evokes an image of a neatly groomed, efficient, hard working angel of mercy dressed in white. She is always expected to be calm in a crisis, professional. She should be uncomplaining even though she may be on her feet most of her day, or night or whatever erratic hours she may be working. She is the physician’s helpmate but would never overstep her bounds by questioning his decisions. Right? Not necessarily. Today’s nurse is still a professional, but SHE may actually be a HE as more men are going into nursing. There is a great need for men in nursing, but they often find it difficult to be accepted by patients and doctors. If you are a male nurse, be prepared for a variety of reactions when you enter a patient’s room. Some areas o f nursing seem to be Sacrament Of Unity THE EUCHARISTIC LITURGY Pope John Paul’s letter to bishops on the eucharist received wide attention in the press, especially because of a brief discussion it contained about the use of Latin in the Mass for people who “having been educated on the basis of the old liturgy in Latin, experience the lack of this ‘one language,” which in all the world was an expression of the unity of the church and through its dignified character elicited a profound sense of the eucharistic mystery.” The pope wrote: “As far as possible, these sentiments and desires are to be accommodated, as is moreover provided for in the new dispositions.” A number of liturgists seemed to agree that the paragraph devoted to Latin in the Mass did not represent a new stance for the church at this time. But many people had gained from the accounts they saw the impression that the pope’s letter was explicitly a letter on the Latin Mass. The pope’s 10,000-word letter on the eucharist stressed the sacredness of the liturgy. Pope John Paul talked about renewal. He stressed the sacrificial aspect of the eucharist, observing that the eucharist is not only a banquet. And, among other points, he discussed the relationship of the eucharist and penance, the dimension of the eucharist which leads to service of people, and the centrality of the eucharist in church life. “Thanks to the council we have realized with renewed force the following truth: Just as the church ‘makes the eucharist’ so ‘the eucharist builds up’ the church,” the pope wrote. He said: “The liturgical renewal that has taken place since the Second Vatican Council has given, so to speak, greater visibility to the eucharistic sacrifice. One factor contributing to this is that the words of the Eucharistic Prayer are said aloud by the celebrant, particularly the words of consecration, with the acclamation by the assembly immediately after the elevation. All this should fill us with joy, but we should also remember that these changes demand new spiritual awareness and maturity both on the part of the celebrant - especially now that he celebrates ‘facing the people’ - and by the faithful.” The pope’s letter appeared to be a strong effort to reconcile people in the church. He said: “Above all I wish to emphasize that the problems of the liturgy, and in particular of the eucharistic liturgy, must not be an occasion for dividing Catholics and for threatening the unity of the church.” —Catholic Trends Scouting Boosts Family BY FATHER JOHN KIERAN Catholic Scout Chaplain Emphasizing the importance of the family, leaders of the Catholic Church and the Boy Scouts of America attended the 26th biennial conference of the National Catholic Committee on Scouting, April 8 - 11, in St. Paul, MN. Representing the Archdiocese were Fred S idler and Father John Kieran, Chairman and Chaplain of the Diocesan Committee on Scouting. Nearly 300 lay people and clergy represented local Catholic committees on Scouting from dioceses and from local Scouting councils of the Boy Scouts of America. Ben M. Hauserman, Chesterland, Ohio, who has served as national committee chairman for the last 4 years, told the participants, “Our theme, ‘Scouting BSA Family All the Way,’ was selected to coincide with the ‘Year of the Family’ and to show how Scouting and the family are mutually dependent. The trend today seems to be away from family orientation, and this is affecting our religious growth, our population, economy, and eventually will a’ffeot our country’s leadership. The family is the-mainstay of our nation, and Scouting is a way of preserving it.” Mr. Hauserman completed his service as national committee chairman and was succeeded by Henry B. Murphy of Trenton, NJ. Rev. Richard P. LaRocque of Putnam, CN, continues as national chaplain. Subjects for discussion included Scouting leader development, urban concerns, religious emblems program, women in Scouting, religious activities, membership, communications, Scouting for the handicapped, total youth ministry in the church, serving Catholic members in non-Catholic units, religious vocations, and youth members. In the nation, there are more than 314,000 Cub Scouts, Boy Scouts, and Explorers in nearly 13,000 packs, troops and posts under Catholic auspices with an equal number of youth members in other Scouting units. The National Catholic Committee on Scouting has had the responsibility for 52 years to promote and guide cooperative contacts between the proper authorities of the Catholic Church and the Boy Scouts of America. The local Catholic Committee on Scouting provides training for laymen of Catholic faith, works with local Scouting councils to extend and strengthen Scouting under Catholic sponsorship, promotes the spiritual phase of Scouting through a religious emblems program, conducts various activities, provides chaplain services, and keeps Scouting leaders of Catholic faith informed to create a better understanding of the aims and ideals of Scouting by both clergy and laity. The next activity planned by the Diocesan Committee is the Annual Banquet, April 26 at Our Lady of the Assumption parish. fjWWWWWWVWWWWVW (Gulf) WWWVWWta Bob Todd Gulf Service Gulf Tires Batteries AC Tune Up & Diagnostic- Accessories Center Mechanic on Duty Lubrication All Minor Repairs Road Service Wheel Alignment Brake Work Tires Balanced Cars Washed 160 Ponce De Leon Ave. N.E. 874-6310 Atlanta, Ga. 30308 874-9250 iWWWWWMWWVWWWW OWENS PLBG - HEATING & AIR C0ND. 4# *• 233-3913 REPAIR SPECIALISTS BOILER REPAIR & REPLACEMENTS SEWER SERVICE WATER HEATERS SOLAR INSTALLATIONS BUCKHEAD "SINCE 1943" more accepting of male nurses: emergency room, orthopedics, anesthesia, psychiatry. Many people have the false opinion that men become nurses because they couldn’t get into medical school. Male nurses do not want to be doctors and they are disturbed by the notion of some that they do. A common belief, too, is that one has to be somewhat effeminate to pursue a nursing career. A fellow nurse friend of mine who has just recently become a father takes this suggestion lightly. “You should see the looks I get each year when I run in the Peachtree Road Race and someone asks me what I do for a living. They just do not expect a male nurse to be a family man interest in athletics.” DOCTORS AND NURSES Most doctors are men and most nurses are women. (For the sake of simplicity I will use the standard pronouns for each.) Nurses of yesteryear were taught to treat doctors as superiors whose authority and decisions were never to be questioned. It wasn’t that long ago that a nurse would stand when a doctor entered, often giving him her chair. If a doctor seemed to be in error it was unheard of to challenge his decision. Today’s nurse strives to achieve a good working relationship with a doctor. It is a relationship based on mutual respect and trust. Nurses feel an obligation to speak up if she feels that the doctor is in the wrong whether it pertains to patient care or the personal treatment of the nurse herself. The nurse is with the patient eight hours a day compared to a short visit from the doctor. Therefore, she is often in a better position to evaluate the needs of that patient. It is in the patient’s best interest to have a nurse who is unafraid to make suggestions and assist in planning his care. FIGHTING THE SEXY IMAGE Like many women who work outside the home, the nurse is sometimes an object of sexual harassment. How many times have we seen cartoons or TV shows depicting the nurse as a voluptuous blonde in a mini-skirt? This unfair image creates an atmosphere where nurses must endure sexual overtures, both physical and verbal, from male patients and co-workers. That small unfortunate group of men (some of whom are doctors) still see nurses as subservients and do not exclude the nurse’s acceptance of improper conduct. If this occurs, the nurse should report these offenses to her supervisor if she is unable to effectively deal with it herself. The fact that the nurse comes in contact with the human body on a regular basis does not mean that she is less modest or has lower standards than women in other professions. IT’S OKAY TO CRY Let me explode the common myth that nurses never get involved with their patients. If you have nursed a patient dying with cancer to his final days, you ARE involved. When a newborn infant dies at birth, or a leukemic child succumbs in your arms, you are involved. When you spend six of your eight hours in the room of a psychiatric patient who is having an acute psychotic break, you are involved in the deepest most meaningful way. Nurses feel a great loss and sense of failure when a patient dies. I have seen nurses hiding in the nurses lounge crying after a patient’s death. There is no need for this. Family members feel a need to share their grief. Seeing that a nurse cares enough to cry can • be very reassuring. Hopefully, the picture of an unfeeling, stoic nurse untouched by suffering and death is forever a thing of the past, -to be continued- Next: “Professional Burnout” Flannery Revisited BY SISTER JOAN LEONARD, O P. With the recent publication of Flannery O’Connor’s letters in the collection THE HABIT OF BEING and the release of the film version of one of her novels, WISE BLOOD, there appears to be renewed interest in the Catholic novelist, Flannery O’Connor. To provide for public discussion on her, the Graduate Institute of Liberal Arts, Emory University is sponsoring a program, ‘‘The Communities of Flannery O’Connor: The Enigma of a Georgia Writer,” Wed. April 30th at 7:30 p.m. in 208 White Hall. Sally Fitzgerald, official biographer of Flannery O’Connor and editor of THE HABIT OF BEING will be the principal speaker. Her talk is entitled ‘‘Georgia’s Flannery O’Connor - Stranger in Her Homeland.” It will set the direction for the second part of the evening which will explore O’Connor as a writer, religious thinker and a Georgia regional artist. Elisabeth Lunz of the Emory English department will moderate the follow-up panel discussion. The participants on the panel include Professor William Sessions, Professor of English at Georgia State, a long-time friend of Flannery and Regina O’Connor and correspondent of Flannery. In his presentation, “Flannery O’Connor: A Displaced Person?” he will study the effects of her social relationships upon her work. Professor William Mallard, Professor of Systematic Theology, Candler School of Theology, the second panel member, will look at the religious vision of O’Connor’s work in his address ‘‘Flannery O’Connor: A View from the Woods.” O’Connor’s stories and novels, set in rural Georgia, are often concerned with themes of grace, sin, and redemption. Professor Elisabeth Stevenson, biographer and faculty member of the Graduate Institute at Emory, will address “The Artist’s Vocation.” Following the panel discussion there will be an opportunity for the audience to continue the conversation with the speakers on Flannery O’Connor as a literary artist, religious thinker, and as an example of Georgia’s cultural heritage. The public is invited to the program as well as to a reception at the end of the evening. The program is made possible by a grant from the Committee for the Humanities in Georgia. For further information call 329-7601 or Sister Joan Leonard at 373-0522. SALLY FITZ GERALD will be the principal speaker at Emory University’s program ‘‘The Com munities of Flannery O’Connor: The Enigma of a Georgia Writer.”