Newspaper Page Text
SOUNDINGS:
This Child Is Born - For You
BY MSGR. NOEL BURTENSHAW
The two words were impossible to
read. With slick, happy movements,
the gift wrap girl nestled the box in
crisp Christmas wrappings of red.
Noting the obvious delight of her
customer, she adjusted, then
readjusted, the matching bow. Now,
lastly, she would add the card. The
mysterious, invisible words were on
that card.
As she completed the masterpiece
and I continued my wait in line, I
challenged my mind to succeed
where my spectacles had failed. What
did the card say? Merry Christmas?
No - too long. Happy Holiday?
Seasons Greetings? None of these.
The words seemed short and festively
precise.
The girl, obviously enjoying her
admired skill, nodded her thank you
across the counter, lifted the picture
perfect present and passed it into
satisfied hands. The card fell visibly
into place. The printed two words of
herdsmen.
The inhabitants cited many valid
excuses justifying their insistent
segregation. Shepherds had a natural
Fourth Sunday In Advent
greeting were the most perfect I had
ever seen.
They simply read FOR YOU.
The shepherds were not invited to
take part in Caesar’s census. They
were in the hill-country outside the
town of Bethlehem. They were in the
hi 11-country outside every other
town, too. And the respectable
inhabitants of those towns hoped the
sheep and the shepherds would stay
in those hills. The census count did
not include the meandering, mangy
aversion to soap and water. They
frequently and publicly polluted the
air with noisy chatter and
unnecessary gregarity. They were
visibly lazy and, most of all, they
were unstable wanderers of the
Palestinian hills. Respectable towns,
like the regal city of David,
Bethlehem, shunned the raggedy
tribe. They were most certainly
unwelcome.
But St. Luke chooses his words
well. Drama drifted into the lives of
those Bethlehem shepherds that
night. The hill-country was the place
to be. The angel stood in their
trembling presence. And the message,
meant for a dynasty of believers, was
entrusted to these shabby shepherds.
Carefully, the heavenly messenger
picked his words. They would never
be forgotten.
FOR YOU, this day in the city of
David is born a Saviour who is Christ
the Lord.
While the census takers shuffled
their papers and counted their heads,
while the innkeeper bragged of no
empty rooms, while Joseph cringed
in frustrated desperation, while a
stable took on palatial proportions,
forgotten but faithful sheepherders
were issued this solitary invitation.
Do not be fearful; this child is
born, FOR YOU.
“WHILE THE CENSUS takers shuffled their papers and counted
their heads. . . while a stable took on palatial proportions,
forgotten but faithful sheepherders were issued this solitary
invitation.”
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Catholic Archdiocese of Atlanta
Vol. 18 No. 45
Thursday, December 18,1980
$8.00 per year
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Christmas
at the
Cathedral . . .
SACRAMENT OF PENANCE
Sat., Dec. 20 - 4:30 - 5:30
p.m., 7 - 8 p.m.
Mon., Dec. 22-11 a.m. - 12
noon, 7-8 p.m.
Tues., Dec. 23 - 11 a.m. - 12
noon, 4:30 - 5:30 p.m.
Wed., Dec. 24 - 11 a.m. - 12
noon, 3:30 - 5 p.m.
CHRISTMAS VIGIL MASSES
Christmas Eve, Dec. 24 -
5:30 p.m. Family Mass, 8 p.m.
MIDNIGHT MASS
The midnight Mass will be
concelebrated by the staff of
the cathedral. Archbishop
Donnellan will be the principal
celebrant and homilist.
CHRISTMAS DAY MASSES
7-8-9 a.m. 11 a.m. Mass
will be celebrated by the
Archbishop, 12:30 p.m. — Folk
Mass, 5:30 p.m. Mass, Spanish
Liturgy at 7 p.m.
At the
Village . . .
SPECIAL COLLECTION
The annual collection for the
children of the Village of St.
Joseph will be held on
Christmas Day in every parish.
This collection is for the
support of our dependent boys
and girls who are being cared
for at the Village. Help our
children by giving generously
on Christmas Day.
On
Television . . .
CHRISTMAS DAY MASS
Archbishop Thomas A.
Donnellan will celebrate the
Christmas Mass on television.
The Mass can be seen at 9 a.m.
on WSB Channel 2 in Atlanta.
The Immaculate Heart of Mary
Choir will sing the liturgy. The
lector will be Tim Crow. T he
Archbishop will be assisted by
Msgr. Noel Burtenshaw,
HAVANA, CUBA
“NOW, WHEN THE ANGELS had gone from them into heaven,
the shepherds said ‘let us go to Bethlehem and see this thing that
has happened which the Lord has made known to us.’ So they
hurried away and found Mary and Joseph, and the baby lying in the
manger.” (Lk. 2, 15)
Lennon Aided
Catholic Centers
NEW YORK (NC) - Two Catholic
institutions, the New York
Foundling Hospital and Covenant
House, are among those that have
been assisted by John Lennon, the
singer-songwriter and former member
of the Beatles who was shot to death
in New York City Dec. 8.
Sister Miriam Duggan, a
spokeswoman for the New York
Foundling Hospital, a hospital for
children run by the Sisters of Charity
of St. Vincent de Paul, said Lennon
“has been consistently wonderful to
our children.” Lennon was
“marvellous to our hospital, a great
friend,” she said.
Sister Duggan said she did not
have figures available on the
assistance given to the hospital by
Lennon.
Celine Gallo, a spokeswoman for
Covenant House, an agency in New
York City founded and directed by
Conventual Franciscan Father Bruce
Ritter to assist homeless and
runaway youth, said Lennon and his
wife, Yoko Ono, sent two checks, for
$10,000 each, one the week before
he was shot and the other a year ago,
to Covenant House. They had also
sent gift-wrapped packages this^past
Four Nuns Rescued
HAVANA, Cuba (NC) - Four
nuns, one the secretary of the papal
pronuncio to Cuba, were rescued
unharmed by security forces who
stormed the nunciature after it had
been taken over by 15 armed men
and women seeking to leave Cuba.
One male employee of the
nunciature, Antonio Herrera, a
Cuban, was killed during the
storming.
“It was the longest day of my
life,” Sister Maria Feo Lopez told NC
News. She is a member of the
Servants of St. Joseph and a Spanish
citizen. The three other rescued nuns
were Sisters of the Sacred Heart of
Mary from Canada: Sisters Ines
Castcir and Lucille Richelieu, both in
their 30s, and Elena Simbam, 28.
Sister Feo Lopez said five women
and nine men took over the
nunciature about noon Dec. 9.
Although armed, they assured the
nuns they would “respect our lives to
the end.” The rescue operation was
completed at 6 p.m.
Sister Feo Lopez is secretary to
the papal pronuncio, Archbishop
Giulio Einaudi, who arrived at his
post Nov. 2. He was out on business
at the time of the takeover. Another
nunciature official, Msgr. Giuseppe
Lazzaroto, was on sick leave in Italy.
Sister Feo Lopez said the captors
created a dangerous situation but
behaved well. The nuns did not have
access to the area where Herrera was
kept, but later learned that an armed
man had stood behind him all the
time.
“I acted as mediator between the
government and the occupants of the
nunciature,” the nun said. “Among
their demands in exchange for
surrendering they asked the
government not to make charges of
armed assault. Authorities agreed to
this, but the occupants decided not
to leave. When security forces moved
into the surrounding gardens, our
captors began shooting.
“The security agents used tear gas
to dislodge them and did not answer
the fire.”
Sister Feo Lopez added that her
information was that the only
casualty had been Herrera.
“An Interior Ministry official told
us they had to act promptly because
they had learned that our lives as
hostages were in jeopardy,” the nun
said.
She and the other nuns agreed
that the “security forces acted
efficiently and with regard for the
lives of all those involved by using
tear gas only.”
Initially the 14 who staged the
occupation demanded to be flown
out of Cuba. Last April more than
10,000 Cubans seeking to leave the
country jammed the grounds of the
Peruvian embassy in Havana. This
started the mass exodus to the
United States, Costa Rica, Peru and
other countries.
“One of our captors told me that
if their attempt failed, he would
rather commit suicide than to go and
face the conditions he was trying to
escape from,” Sister Feo Lopez said.
She added that there has been no
statement from the nunciature on
the incident, but that the rescued
hostages discussed the details of the
occupation with Archbishop Einaudi.
Radio Havana described the
captors as “anti social elements with
jail records, some armed.” It added
they will have “to answer for the
action before a court.”
At the time of the Peruvian
embassy occupation thousands were
allowed by authorities to leave the
port of Mariel in flotillas sent by
Cuban exiles in Florida. The
government media called those
leaving “common delinquents,
anti-socials and bums.”
Due to the observance of the Christmas Holidays,
THE GEORGIA BULLETIN ivill not publish next week.
Thanksgiving to the youngsters at
Covenant House, which is caring for
about 200 youngsters at present, Ms.
Gallo said.
Covenant House provides social,
psychological, educational, legal and
medical assistance to about 15,000
youngsters a year.
She said Father Ritter had invited
Lennon and his wife to visit
Covenant House. They had not come
and Father Ritter had had no
personal contact with the couple.
Both institutions were among
those listed by a spokesman for Miss
Ono as among those assisted by the
Spirit Foundation, which Lennon
established a year ago with a grant of
$100,000.
Other beneficiaries listed include
the Salvation Army and St. Barnabas
House, an agency of the Episcopal
Mission Society, which provides
emergency shelter and foster care to
runaway, abandoned, abused and
neglected teen-agers.
A spokesman for St. Barnabas
House, Richard Pease, confirmed
that Lennon had sent gifts at
Thanksgiving and Christmas to the
youngsters.
HERALDS OF THE SEASON Jack Kimberly
and Sylvia Becerra of Marist High School present
a new friend with some soft and fuzzy Christmas
cheer at the Scottish Rit£ Hospital. Jack and
Sylvia are among the many members of the
Archdiocese who are taking time out for others
during this Christmas season.