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The Prophets: Announcing The Savior
BY FATHER ROBERT KINAST
Catholic University of America
You’ve heard it before -- “Why do we pay so much attention to
the Old Testament if we believe that Jesus is the Savior and has
already come?”
It is true, of course, that Christians accept Jesus as Savior and as
fulfillment of the expectations of Israel and the world. Therefore,
most of our attention is righly focused on the New Testament
accounts of Jesus’ life and ministry. But it is also true that we
cannot fully appreciate, or even understand, the New Testament
without some familiarity with the preceding history of Isreal.
However, this isn’t the main reason for paying attention to the
Old Testament. We should pay attention to it for the same reason
that Jews do, because for Jews it is not an OLD testament. Rather
it continues to be a source of living encounter with the God of our
history. And that should be true for Christians as well.
The coming of Jesus 2000 years ago does not mean that he no
longer comes into our lives. In fact he continually comes to us and
if we are to recognize him in our midst today, we need to be
familiar with how he was recognized in the past. Here, the prophets
of Israel are especially helpful.
The prophets announced the advent of the Savior, but HOW
they announced it is important for us. The readings from the
Advent Sunday liturgy illustrate this very well.
First of all, the prophets expected that the coming of the Savior
would benefit COMMUNITIES and in that way benefit individuals.
The prophets did not see persons in isolation but as encompassed
by others.
First Sunday In Advent
Eg., Isaiah 2:1-5 (1st Sunday of Advent) sees the mountain of
the Lord’s house to which ALL NATIONS shall come. Those to be
saved are described in Is. 35:1-10 (3rd Sunday of Advent) in
groups: the feeble, the weak, the deaf, the blind.
Perhaps we can ask ourselves: what is the most important
community we are part of? What would benefit that community
most? How would we share in that benefit?
Second, the prophets used IMAGES. They used them to
concretize the future and at the same time to expand the present.
Is. 11:1-10 (2nd Sunday of Advent) takes the common experience
of a bud emerging from a stalk and lets it image the offspring of
David who will save the family tree and all nations with it.
Perhaps we can ask ourselves: what is the dominant image in our
present experience? What all can it mean for our future? Might the
Savior come to us through this image?
Third, the prophets envisioned the FUTURE coming of the
Savior by blending their present experiences with the stories of past
fact. Eg., Is. 35:1-10 addresses a contemporary experience of exile
but draws upon the desert stories of Israel’s exodus to anticipate a
new homecoming. Likewise, Is. 7:10-14 (4th Sunday of Advent)
faces the need for a sign to strengthen the people in the present and
joins this with the traditions of naming future leaders of Israel
before their birth. ✓
Perhaps we could ask ourselves: what is our most important
present experience? What part of the story of our life up to this
point stands out most? Does this help us anticipate how Jesus might
be coming to us?
(Continued on page 6)
Georgia
Catholic Archdiocese of Atlanta
Vol. 18 No. 42
Thursday, November 27,1980
$8.00 per year
Will It Be Georgia
Or Notre Dame,
Father Joe?
Holohan is an Irish name. And in
our story it belongs to an Irishman
who lives in Athens, Georgia. Of
course, Athens, Georgia is the home
of the Georgia Bulldogs, usually a
pretty decent football team.
Father Joe Holohan is the
Newman Chaplain over at the
student center in Athens. And he will
tell you that the Georgia Bulldogs are
not just a pretty decent team this
year, they are Number One. And not
just Number
One in the state.
They are
Number One in
the nation. And
to go down fair
and square into
the history
books as the
season’s Num
ber One, all
they have to do
is beat those
yankee intru
ders from South Bend, Indiana called
the Fighting Irish of Notre Dame.
Father Joe has always been a fan
of the Irish. Why not? First of all
he’s a priest. Secondly Notre Dame is
our Blessed Mother’s team and
thirdly he’s Irish. All good reasons to
radically rally behind the boys from
the Golden Dome.
But the good father, living in
Athens for many frantic football
seasons, will tell you he has always
given first allegiance to the Bulldogs.
“I have always been a dog of
Dooley,” says Father Joe proudly
showing the red lining in his black
coat. “We have had good years and
bad years but the kids at the center,
the staff and myself are unshakable
in our devotion to the Bulldogs.”
However, this football season has
brought a slight hitch. You see,
Father Joe, one of six children, has
an older brother John who has a son
called Pete. Well little Pete
practically beat every high school
football team in New Jersey
single-handed. He was all-city,
all-state, all-everything and four years
ago easily earned a scholarship to -
you guessed it - Notre Dame
University. He is a senior receiver for
the Irish this year.
So - Georgia is Number One and
Notre Dame is Number Two and
they plan a first and final meeting to
settle accounts on January 1, down
where football bayou bedlam was
born - New Orleans. The gunfight at
OK Corral will fade into flights of
kindergarten fancy in comparison to
this shoot-out of North and South.
The question remains, which team
gets Father Joe Holohan’s hollers?
Will it be his home-based Bulldogs or
his faith and family Fighting Irish
from South Bend?
Well, Father Joe has the last word
on the matter. In fact, he has a few
last words. “I am a true Bulldog
fan,” he answers in exasperation.
“Look, I even have a “How ‘Bout
Them Dawgs” sticker on my car. How
can anyone doubt me?”
So he will cheer for Georgia,
right? “Put it like this,” says Father
Joe with finality. “I’m rooting for
the Dogs, but praying little Pete does
well.”
Yeah, Father Joe is Irish alright!
NOBEL WINNER MEETS PRESS - Nobel Peace Prize winner
Aldolfo Perez Esquivel (left) of Argentina listens to his interpreter,
Richard Chartier, editor of Fellowship Magazine, at a press
conference at the National Press Club in Washington. The Argentine
human rights activist and editor fielded reporters questions before
meeting with officials of the U.S. Catholic Conference.
ARGENTINIAN NOBELIST
Award Is “For My People”
BY JAIME FONSECA
WASHINGTON (NC) - In his
whirlwind tour of Washington, Nobel
Peace Prize winner Adolfo Perez
Esquivel of Argentina said many
times the award was not for him but
“for my people of Latin America,
the poor, the peasants, the Indians,
and all those who fight for human
dignity, church workers included.”
Z Most of these people belong to a
° growing movement of Christian
grassroots communities or
“comunidades de base.”
He said he feels identified with
them to the point of having been
jailed and tortured for his work in
defending their human rights through
the continent-wide organization
“Service for Peace and Justice”
which he helped to launch in 1974.
“The honor and the moneys go to
them,” the 49-year-old peacemaker
told NC News. An architect and
sculptor before his crusading for
justice through non-violence, Perez
Esquivel gave lectures in Washington,
Philadelphia and New York on his
way to Oslo, Norway. He also held
meetings with congressmen and
human rights leaders.
He explained that the $212,000
involved in the 1980 peace prize will
go to further programs in
publications, education and
leadership training “wherever it is
needed.”
Fresh from a meeting of his group
in Chile, he said that contrary to
reports about progress in
negotiations in the border dispute
between Argentina and Chile over
territorial waters and three islands
near the Beagle Channel, the
situation is seen by Catholic leaders
“still as critical.”
Pope John Paul II has involved
mediators in the dispute since April
1979 at the request of both
governments.
“The church in both nations
indeed is using its influence toward a
peaceful solution. From my stay in
Chile I know the people, like the
average Argentinian, do not want
war. They consider each other as
brothers and sisters who want to live
in productive peace. So they support
the papal mediation. But again, the
people are not participants, only
mere spectators. If negotiations do
not achieve a good solution because
there are hardened sectors in both
armies, the whole issue should be
postponed until representative
governments are in power.”
The Chilean military junta has its
(Continued on page 7)
Thanksgiving Statement On Bigotry Issued
(The following Statement of
Concern was issued this week
by Archbishop Thomas
D onnellan and Alvin M.
Sugarman, Rabbi, The Temple.)
As we celebrate our National
Feast of Thanksgiving, we Americans
begin to take stock of our blessings.
Individually, each of us will have a
personal catalog of gratitude that will
vary from person to person.
Collectively, however, there is little
question that freedom stands at the
top of the national list of things for
which we should offer thanks. The
pursuit of freedom under law was
one of the dreams which brought our
ancestors to this land. The exercise
of freedom under law has continued
to this day as symbolic of our
national character and as essential to
our national identity.
It is, therefore, particularly
disturbing to hear again voices from
the past which would tell us that a
particular race or creed or national
group is not to be allowed the
freedom guaranteed by the laws of
the land. The injustice in this is
obvious. Moreover, such voices, for
example those of the Ku Klux Klan,
poison something deep in the
wellspring of our national spirit.
They insult Americans with their
bigotry and make us less “one nation
indivisible, under God with liberty
and justice for all.” They are voices
we recognize only too well because
we as Catholics or as Jews have heard
their hatred adressed to us. But it is
not in our own defense that we speak
out now. Rather it is on behalf of
our Black brothers and sisters, and as
an expression of the concern we feel
with them over the resurgence of
these groups. In their name, and in
the name of any other individuals or
groups whose rights are denied, let
this much be clear:
No one has the right to deny
anyone else the basic human rights
guaranteed by the Constitution of
this land; no one has the right to
intimidate, repress, or threaten
anyone else who seeks to exercise
those basic human rights.
And here we speak to our own
congregations:
It is inconsistent with the
teachings of our religious heritage
that a Catholic or a Jew hold
membership in the Ku Klux Klan; to
Archbishop Donnellan
be associated with such groups is
equivalent to endorsing their
positions, both present and past.
We speak out on behalf of our
Black brothers and sisters not
because they cannot speak for
themselves. Rather, we speak because
we are Americans who refuse to
allow the Klan to speak for us. More
than that, we remind our
congregations that we cannot merely
stand idly by when the rights of
others are threatened, especially
when they are threatened by a group
that has historically levelled the same
attacks at us. An attack on the rights
of any one of us is a threat to the
rights of all of us.
Too often in our history, we have
waited until matters reach dangerous
(Continued on page 6)
Parish-Action Santa
MSGR. NOEL BURTENSHAW
A lot of things happened
suddenly when Ginger Gage
planned her good deed for
Christmas 1980. And all of them
were super good.
Ginger is the young singles boss
out at Holy Spirit and reaching
the empty arms of poor children
like a great big chubby Santa was
her wish. It came true - and then
some.
“Our singles group is small,”
says this young pretty dynamo,
“but marvelously motivated. The
idea was really Ray Rerer’s, but
we all want it to happen. It will be
a great afternoon for the
children.”
The invited little guests were
chosen by EOA, an agency Ginger
has worked with in the past. They
chose children from the Dixie
Hills neighborhood, a community
greatly needing care and attention
this Christmas. It was in Dixie
Hills on the Southside of Atlanta
that young Latonya Wilson Was
murdered. She is one of Atlanta’s
tragic children. The planned
outreach of Ginger’s singles will
come as a healing to this wounded
community.
EOA agreed to bus the children
out to Holy Spirit for the party.
Presents, food and the bright
decorations of the season were
needed. The plan began to form
and as the singles persisted in their
efforts, the pieces fell into place.
“It will take place on Sunday,
Dec. 14,” says Ginger “and the
the decorations. “We started to
dig down into our own pockets,”
says Ginger, “but our Parish
Council insisted on having a part.
They came across with the
money.” So the hot dogs, the
creamy cakes, the party hats and
all the trimmings will be there,
along with brightly wrapped gifts -
everything to light up the lives of
Atlanta children, who have
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Heralds Of The Season - Second In A Series
gifts will all be there. That
morning our Sunday school will
have a children’s Christmas
Liturgy, and in that liturgy each
child will present a brightly
wrapped gift at the altar for our
little guests.” So Ginger finds that
her outreach touches, not just
those who need help, but her own
little brothers and sisters in the
parish. They will be beautifully
and excitedly reminded that
Christmas is to give - not just to
get.
The Holy Spirit singles now
had the problem of the food and
known, to some degree, the
shadow of terror.
“Miss Copeland of EOA has
been wonderful,” says Ginger.
“She organized the children of
Dixie Hills and will help us make
this day one of excitement for the
children.” As Ginger Gage, whose
brother, Father Phil, is a Marist
priest in the West Virginia
mountains, relaxes with her
family on Christmas Day, she can
be comforted that through her
efforts, and the thoughtful
planning of Holy Spirit parish,
one community of children
Gifts will be brought to the altar in the children’s liturgy. Later
these gifts will be presented to the young guests. All will be
reminded that Christmas is a time not just to get but also to give.
reached out to another in this
season that commemorates the
gift of a Divine Child come on
earth.
“There’s jUst one thing we
need now,” said the enthusiastic
Miss Gage to this interviewer with
an impish grin. “Someone to act
as Santa.”
Forget it, Ginger. No way.
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