The Georgia bulletin (Atlanta) 1963-current, December 18, 1980, Image 1

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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.” orgia \lU-S+il\ Catholic Archdiocese of Atlanta Vol. 18 No. 45 Thursday, December 18,1980 $8.00 per year V V rv 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.