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PAGE 3—The Georgia Bulletin, May 15,1980
In Mary’s Service
BY FATHER
JOHN MORRISSEY, O.M.I.
(Second In a Series)
The Church has long
associated the month of
May with Mary, the
Mother of God. For the
Oblates of Mary
Immaculate this
veneration of the humble
Virgin of Nazareth has
ever been a twelve month
concern.
“One cannot be an
Oblate of Mary
Immaculate and never
speak of the Blessed
Virgin.” So spoke the
present Superior General
of the Oblates, Father
Fernand Jette, to a group
of his fellow Religious at
Cap-de-la-Madeleine, --
Canada’s National Shrine
to Our Lady.
As followers of Christ
we, the Faithful, are well
acquainted with that
moment in time when
Mary’s Son from a Cross
confided to John,
“Behold your Mother.”
As Oblates of Mary
Immaculate, we are well
acquainted with another
moment in time when a
young Frenchman,
saddened by the sight of
The Cross that had been
placed on the shoulders
of the Church in France
by the angered spirit of
the Revolution and
wishing to do something
about it, resorted to a
movement whose roots
were found in the Spirit
of God and whose
message was: HE HAS
SENT ME TO PREACH
THE GOSPEL TO THE
POOR.
That young
Frenchman all Oblates
know as Blessed Eugene
de Maze nod, the
Founder of our Religious
Community. To those
called to put into effect
his ideal -- and in
imitation of the Son of
Mary, he let it be known
to all generations of
Oblates, “Behold your
Mother.” We bear Her
name as our family
name.
His successor. Father
Jette, in addition couid
tell his confreres, “Mary
is at the heart of the
Oblate charism, but in an
unpretentious way, as
one who inspires and
sustains, who encourages
and accompanies .. .-
Mary is truly at the
center of our lives.”
For some time there
has been talk of the crisis
of Marian devotion, the
rejection of Mary. But
really is it any cause for
wonder? When the Son
of God is forgotten by so
many of our day, what
chance has Mary, The
Mother of God to be
remembered? The
salutation of the Angel
of the Annunciation,
“Ave Maria” ... “Hail
Mary!” has seemingly in
our day given way to a
cynical “Vale Maria!”
“Goodbye -Mary!” .. .-
And yet, even today as
of old, Mary still insists,
“All generations will call
Me blessed.”
Some ten years ago
the Holy Father, Paul VI,
addressed himself to the
cited concern. He posed
a question, “What has
happened?” And in
answer he let it be
known, “This is what has
happened together with
so many spiritual
upheavals: devotion to
Our Lady does not
always find our minds as
well disposed as
formerly . . . Are we
today as devoted to Mary
as the clergy and the
good Christian people
were formerly? . .. Has
not a worldly outlook, a
critical attitude made us
less spontaneous, less
convinced in our piety
toward Our Lady?”
Of more recent date
Pope John Paul II tells
us, “One must not be
afraid to confess one’s
faith in Mary, just like
one confesses his Faith in
Jesus Christ.” In this he
borrows on the faith of
his forebears.
So too, our Superior
General reminds all
Oblates, “It is equally
relevant today as in the
past for the Oblates to
continue to preach the
Blessed Virgin Mary, to
make her known and
loved. It is an obligation
that stems from our
roots ... we must dare
to speak of Mary, speak
with faith, while
conscious of the
limitations of language.”
Yes, the Blessed
Virgin, Immaculate in
her conception . . .-
Mother of the
Missions . . . has always
held a central place
among us. The FIRST
PURPOSE of the
Congregation, it is true,
is NOT to promote the
cult of Mary, even
though that be one of
our purposes. Our
Founder has said on so
many occasions, “He has
sent me to preach the
Gospel to the poor.”
And again, “The aim of
our institute is the very
same which the Son of
God had in coming on
earth.”
We Oblates preach the
Gospel to the poor under
the patronage of Mary,
with the help and
support of Mary and
with her sentiments in
our hearts.
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Shares Women’s Struggle
ART TEACHERS LYNN MARTINOVICH (St.
Jude’s) and Carmela Howard (Christ the King)
prepare for a recent two day ten hour workshop
they conducted for Archdiocesan school art
teachers. The new Archdiocesan Art curriculum
was discussed and utilized.
NEW YORK (NC) -
Bishop P. Francis Murphy,
auxiliary of Baltimore, was
peppered with questions
by women at St. James
Cathedral, Brooklyn, after
he delivered a paper
attacking church sexism
and pleaded for
collaboration in multiple
ministries of the church as
“an act of necessity.”
The 47-year-old prelate,
a member of the bishops’
Committee on Women in
Church and Society, told
some 150 persons,
including members of the
feminist St. Joan’s
Alliance and local
members of the Women’s
Ordination Conference,
that he shared their
“pain.”
He urged them to
continue dialogue with
their bishops, to explore
how barriers could be
broken down and to write
proposals to the National
Conference of Catholic
Bishops (NCC).
Bishop Murphy said the
church is challenged by
“the struggle of women to
achieve full personhood in
society.” He was
concerned by “our failure
to facilitate the full
personhood” of women in
the church.
The women’s
movement has raised
“important questions”
about whether the
interpretations of
revelation are “inherently
sexist,” he said. For
example, he took the
opinion of Rosemary
Reuther and other scholars
that the church is a
contemporary example of
the ancient patriarchal
society “very seriously.”
There is a need for “a
profound examination of
our theological
anthropology.
‘‘The disaffection
expressed by some men
and women, and the
defensive attitudes of
others, all challenge the
credibility of the church as
a sacrament of unity,” he
continued.
The bishop cited
examples where Christ
used feminine imagery in
parables. He referred to
sections of two documents
from Vatican II and the
“Peace on Earth” 1963
encyclical of Pope John
XXIII which scored
discrimination based on
sex.
“If you focus only on
ordination, you miss a
whole other area of church
life, and where the church
is leading us,” he told the
group.
The Vatican declaration
of January 1977 said
ordination was not a
“human right” and spoke
of complementary roles
for men and women, he
pointed out. “But that
concept is one that needs
continual study,” he
added.
Two “problematic”
areas on the question are
the attitudes of church
officials and the church
system itself.
“I believe the church
experiences systemic
short-sightedness regarding
women,” he said. Quoting
St. Paul, he reflected that
‘‘the more universal
integration of women is
not an act of tolerance; it
is an act of necessity.
“There is something
missing when the voice or
the presence of women is
not impacting on the
whole church.”
The two groups
“especially vulnerable” in
the issue of the place of
women in the church are
those women activists
trying to change the
system, and “the ordained
clergy, including bishops”
who may feel “dimini
shed.”
The flare-up after the
bishop’s talk was the
liveliest exchange so far in
a Friday night series of
Seven Shepherds lectures
Private Schools Respected
WASHINGTON (NC) -
The U.S. Supreme Court
has let stand a Kentucky
Supreme Court decision
which limited the power
of the state to regulate
private schools.
The Kentucky court
ruled unanimously last
October that the state
cannot require private
schools to follow state
accreditation guidelines,
set standards for quality of
instruction, require
certification of private
school teachers or force
private schools to use
state-approved textbooks.
The state board of
education decided last
January to appeal the
decision to the U.S.
Supreme Court, which
announced May 12 that it
was refusing to accept the
case for review.
Kentucky officials had
said that it would be
difficult to get the U.S.
Supreme Court to accept
the case since the
Kentucky ruling was based
on the Kentucky
constitution and might not
involve a substantial
federal question.
The Kentucky decision
was based on the section
of the Kentucky
constitution which states
that no person may be
“compelled to send his
child to any school to
w h i c h h e may be
conscientiously opposed.”
The case originally had
been filed after a group of
Christian schools in
Kentucky were cited by
state officials for lacking
state accreditation.
While Catholic schools
were not directly involved,
the Louisville archdiocesan
League of Catholic Parent
and Teacher Associations
filed a friend-of-the-court
brief with the Kentucky
court in support of the
Christian schools’ position
that the state should not
be allowed to intrude on
the operation of the
private schools.
After last October’s
ruling, the Catholic school
superintendent of the
Louisville archdiocese,
Father Joseph M. McGee,
labeled the Kentucky
court’s action a good
decision but added that its
only effect on Catholic
schools would be to make
compliance with state
education regulations
voluntary.
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at the cathedral. The
bishop, seated in the
center of the sanctuary,
blushed during the
feminine torrent of
comments and
frustrations.
“I don’t think women
have made one bit of
advance since 1971 - we
have regressed rather than
progressed,” shouted
Frances J. McGillicuddy,
past president of the St.
Joan’s Alliance.
“We’re talking about
careers in the church. The
bishops are saying we’ll
give you crumbs but call
them ministries.” She
added that she was
speaking this way to
Bishop Murphy because
“you’re well on the way to
becoming one of our
better bishops.”
Ms. Kathleen
McCormick-Walsh, a
Manhattan school teacher,
drew applause as she
commented, ‘‘Many
women have educated
themselves but there is no
place we can offer our
service to the church.”
The only openings, she
said later, seemed to be as
volunteers on parish
committees.
“Keep speaking to
church leaders,” Bishop
Murphy advised. “I admire
you and others who have
undertaken training. I
think this is the pain of it
all.”
Ms. McCormick-Walsh
said later that the bishop
was “a lot to the left of
most bishops, but he’s still
back in the Middle Ages.”
Sister Ann McCarthy,
associate superintendent
of Schools of the
Brooklyn Diocese, asserted
that some women “are
educated up to the
eyeballs.
“We are always kept
very close to the water but
never able to drink from
it. We’re always given
second place. How do we
get a hearing?” the nun
asked.
JOHN CARDINAL CODY (left)
presents Sister Mary Ida Brasseur,
S.S.A. with the Catholic Church
Extension Society Lumen Christi
Award in Chicago. Looking on is
Father Edward J. Slattery (right),
acting president of the Society.
“Lumen Christi” Award
CHICAGO, Ill. - John
Cardinal Cody presented
the third annual Catholic
Church Extension Society
L UMEN CHRISTI
AWARD to a Sister of
Saint Anne who has served
34 years in Alaskan
missions.
Sister Mary Ida
Brasseur, S.S.A., of
Dillingham, Alaska, was
the recipient of the award,
which is presented to the
U.S. home missioner
judged most exemplary in
spreading the light of
Christ. Cardinal Cody is
the chancellor of the
Society, which has granted
nearly $75 million to the
home missions since its
inception in 1905.
At the presentation,
Sister Mary Ida explained
the major challenge to
frontier mission work.
‘‘Our parish at
Dillingham includes all of
Southwest Alaska and the
Aleutian Island Chain, so
there are many thousands
of square miles to be
covered,” said Sister Mary
Ida. “But Extension has
been my daily bread, and
has been the daily bread
for the Catholic ministry
in Alaska. Throughout the
state, Extension’s work
can be seen.”
The Society has funded
programs in Alaska ranging
from construction of
mission chapels to aircraft
maintenance. Priests and
sisters must rely on air
travel as the only means to
reach isolated parishioners.
Mother Teresa Cancels Visit
CLEVELAND (NC) - Mother Teresa of
Calcutta, India, the winner of the 1979
Nobel Peace Prize, has cancelled her visit to
the United States, planned for the first
week of June, said Sister Priscilla Lewis,
superior of Mother Teresa’s missionaries of
Charity in the United States.
Mother Teresa’s trip was to include
visits to New York, Cleveland and Chicago.
“Unforeseen circumstances” were cited
as the reason for the cancellation. It is
uncertain if the trip could be rescheduled
in the future, Sister Lewis said.
Mother Teresa said in April that she
would not participate in any more
receptions in her honor. “The public gaze
that has fallen on me after I received the
Nobel Prize is hindering normal work of
service to the poor and I have decided not
to participate in any more receptions,” the
69-year-old nun said April 1. She has
received numerous other honors since
accepting the Nobel Prize in Oslo, Norway,
Dec. 10.
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