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The Georgia Bulletin
March 12,1981
Groping For Unity
A brief sidelight to Saturday’s
Christian Council breakfast was a
discussion between the principal
speakers about “Christian realism”
and. “Christian utopianism.” In
everyday terms, that seems to be the
difference between the way things are,
the way we think things could be, and
the way we know things should be,
ideally.
The great tragedy of Atlanta’s
children is forcing some
reexamination across the city -- and
around the country. Much of it
concerns why we are so short, not of
some faraway ideal, but so short of
what could be. The answer repeated at
the breakfast was that we fall short on
working with one another, until a crisis
is at hand.
One place to begin is with a gesture
of support for the mayor and the
police, despite the lack of resolution
in the case; and later for efforts
forthcoming through the Christian
Council, the Archdiocese, the parishes
for children in Atlanta's inner city
neighborhoods.
Then, we need to sustain what we
begin. What some call utopian, is
simply carrying a dream a long way.
"GRK
Elmo Ellis
Second Sunday in Lent
March 15, 1981
THETf/ORD Gen 12.4
this Weekend
Paul Karnowski
Several years ago the mini-series ROOTS
was a smash success. Millions of viewers
across the country dutifully tuned in their
television sets every night for a week, as they
became caught up in this story of epic
proportion. ROOTS not only changed the
thinking of TV executives, but it also
stimulated a renewed interest in genealogy
(sometimes known as “rootology.”) Now, it
seems, we all have an aunt, a grandfather, or
at LEAST a distant cousin who spends his or
her spare time poring over family trees-a
task we once relegated to dour-faced
librarians or eccentric history buffs.
A good case can be made for the pursuit
of one’s “roots.” Such a search provides us
with a personal sense of history, a feeling
that we are part of the continuum of
humanity, and an identity that goes beyond
our own environment.
When it comes to spiritual roots, three
major religions trace their heritage back to
the man in today’s first reading. Christians,
Jews, and Moslems all place Abraham in a
prominent place on their respective family
trees. For good reason: Abraham was a man
of exceptional faith. In the book of Genesis
we find many stories of his great faith, the
most familiar being the sacrifice of his son
Isaac.
One of the distinguishing notions of the
Israelite faith is their belief that God acts
through history. We share in that belief
whenever we trace our way back through
salvation history to the likes of Abraham.
The preceding centuries, we discover, are
filled with the handiwork of God.
But the content of today’s first reading
seems contrary to the comfort we find in a
spiritual genealogy. God asks Abraham to
leave behind his family, his friends, and his
possessions. The radical discontinuity God
asks of Abraham reminds us that God works
in two directions at once. Certainly God
works through families as they pass their
faith and belief from one generation to
another. But our God is a personal God; He
establishes a one-on-one relationship with us
if we allow it. Let us not overlook the
example of Abraham. He descovered his
“roots”, his origin, and his meaning not by
looking back, but by looking UP. It is by
looking up that we will see the face of
God-and live!
It is almost enough to say he is a
Peabody Award winner. But that only
tells us about the stirring quality of
his journalistic ability. More, much
more, could and should be said about
Mr. Radio, Atlanta’s Elmo Ellis.
For many years, the air waves have
blazed his dedication across the city
of Atlanta and the entire southeast.
His devotion to integral news
reporting, the creation of stronger
community ties and brotherly
cooperation has made his name a
trusted concept with all segments of
our community.
Mr. Ellis is best known for the
success achieved in his life’s work -
WSB Radio. This 50,000 watt, day
and night servant of our North
Georgia communities has the stamp of
his trusted integrity. Always keeping
his responsibilities of service
uppermost in mind, Elmo Ellis has
courageously explored the wonderful
art of radio communications to
brilliantly entertain and inform an
audience most responsive to his art.
His leadership has made WSB a best
loved and popular giant.
The announcement that Mr. Ellis
will retire at the end of the year is not
good news for journalism. However,
we can be certain that his quality
service to the industry will continue
and his w'ise, pointed and challenging
editorials, needed in our maturing
city, will be a part of our day for
some time to come. -NCB
Resound... Resound... Resound...
Depression?
Father Richard J. Lopez,
Vocations Director
Some time ago I was walking around the
church grounds and my face must have
revealed my state of mind, which was rather
low. A parishioner stopped me and said,
“You look discouraged.” I explained I was
just a little depressed. “What!” he said.
“What could a priest be depressed about?”
Such an attitude, joined to the rather
frequent rehearasls of people upset with
certain priests or sisters over past hurts,
makes me wonder if people realize that
priests and religious can have “bad days.” It
should be recognized that to be ordained a
priest or professed a sister or brother does
not mean one will forever be “high” or in a
perpetual good mood.
Depression, irritability and short temper
can affect even saints! What folks often
forget is that a good deal of a priest’s or
religious’ work is mental and or problematic.
People in ministry often find themselves the
“receptacle” in which hundreds of people
drop their pain and agony. The priest must
be constantly “on deck,” up and ready with
something significant to say at emotionally
draining ceremonies like weddings and
funerals. Liturgies and homilies celebrated
and preached often to thousands are more
exhausting than most lay people would ever
guess. We do not usually dig ditches, but
what we are called to do can be more
draining than that! If you understand all
this, and also understand that most people in
a religious vocation tend to be sensitive and
therefore prone to more “ups and downs,” it
is not surprising that we would have “bad
days.” What amazes me about most priests,
sisters or brothers, is not that they
occasionally get depressed, but that they are
not more so!
What our occasional discouragement and
depression calls us to is a closer walk with
the Christ of Gethsemane, a renewed
examination of the priority of our spiritual
life, and a renewed examination of the
balance in our life of labor and leisure. What
depression and irritability in the lives of
priests and religious calls you, God’s people,
to is an awareness that Christ calls HUMANS
to His service. Humans who need from you
the same love and patience you expect from
us, and that Christ lavishes on all of us.
Lent II. Acceptance
Dolores Curran
—
To The Young People of Atlanta:
Even though we are far away in miles, we
want you to know that we, the boys and
girls at Stella Maris Catholic School in San
Diego, are with you. We and our parents are
like so many across this country who feel so
lost as to find some way to help you and to
tell you we care.
We decided that the best way we could
express our concern and caring was to set
aside March 6th as a special day of prayer
for you. On that day a Mass will be offered
with the main intention being for your
safety.
This church service will be attended by all
our classes, grades one through eight, by our
teachers, and by many of our parents. Also
on that day our special prayers will be for
the souls of those children and young adults
who have gone to God as well as for their
heartbroken families.
Please know of our continued nearness in
thought through our prayers-you are not
alone.
May God Walk With You,
Your friends,
The Students of Stella Maris Academy
La Jolla, Calif.
To the Editor:
I was looking forward with great
anticipation to the new series “Scripture For
Our People” in the Georgia Bulletin, but I
was very much disappointed. My
expectation was that this would be a positive
teaching series on Scripture based on our
rich Roman Catholic heritage and tradition,
which we so sorely need here in North
Georgia.
Instead, I saw the articles as a criticism of
our separated brethen and their practices
and beliefs concerning the Bible.
We must bear in mind that our brothers
and sisters in the Lord are doing what they
believe to be God’s will for them; their
enthusiasm, zeal and love for the Lord, in
many instances, is a beautiful example to be
followed.
They are indeed coming out of their
Protestant tradition, and, as such, are being
faithful to their beliefs, and that is as it
should be.
We, as Catholic Christians, must respect
them for this, and at the same time, realize
that in respecting their commitment, we are
not treating our own belief as less important.
Jane Condell
Atlanta
To our brothers and sisters in Christ in
Atlanta, may the grace and peace of Our
Lord Jesus Christ be with you.
We the faithful of St. John the Baptist
Parish of Alden, New York, are united with
you in prayer and sacrifice. The kidnappings
and murders of your children have shocked
us deeply. We want to share your burden
and your cross, your anxiety and your grief.
We also share with you our hope and trust in
the Lord. Even though we go through dark
valleys, we are together in Spirit and Truth -
that evil will not win out; that God will see
us through.
We, your brothers and sisters in Christ,
will pray Psalm 27 every day with you and
say an Our Father, a Hail Mary, and a Glory
Be for you. On Wednesdays, we will fast for
you and remember you and your children
during our evening prayer. On weekends we
will offer up your needs during our prayer of
the faithful.
We are with you. May God be with us all.
The Parish of St. John the Baptist
Alden, New York
A few years ago, Editor Don Zirkel of the
Brooklyn Tablet sent me a story about some
parents who divorced their daughter.
Alongside the article, Don penned “!? !” He
didn’t need to write more. The idea of
parents doing such a thing is foreign to our
very nature. Yet in the interim, I have heard
of several such cases across the country.
Children also divorce their parents by
moving out or running away and literally
never returning except for strained
obligatory visits or funerals. Adult children
sometimes divorce their elderly parents
when they interfere or become troublesome.
And we all divorce people whose colors,
accents, and beliefs are not acceptable to us.
The first of the gospel values I want to
discuss as one extremely relevant to family
life is acceptance. It is one of the values
most dramatically taught and modelled by
Jesus during his life with us. He ate with
sinners, made friends with taxpayers, and
consorted with prostitutes. He put up with
rivalry, arguments and peevishness among his
disciples without taking them off His board
of directors. He accepted children who
pestered, a mother who prodded, and a
Father who forsook him.
Yet, look at us who profess to follow His
way. As a people he gathered unto himself,
let’s ask ourselves these questions: Are there
some in our family who are more acceptable
than others? Why? Are there some in our
parish family we accept and others we do
not? Our national family? Our world family?
Acceptance is foundational to the family.
Each of us needs to be assured and reassured
that our family is a place where we are
accepted for what we are, not what we do,
what we look like, or what we have. It’s the
place where we belong, where we don’t have
to pretend, where we can be ourselves.
Yet, this isn’t true in all families. Some
families object to God’s design and spend
their time trying to change individuals. I’m
not talking about changing behaviors but
changing people to make them “more like
me” and therefore, more acceptable. Jesus
chided the apostles’ behavior occasionally
but he never implied, “or else you leave,”
even to Judas. He loved people into
goodness. Love, the most basic gospel value,
begins with acceptance.
If we accept each other at home, we will
be able to accept each other in our larger
world families. Racism, ageism, sexism, and
religious discrimination are all antithetical to
Christ’s style of acceptance. That’s why so
many Christians were appalled last summer
when Baptist leader Bailey Smith proclaimed
that God does not hear the prayers of the
Jew. Jesus listened to everyone.
Yet, we’re seeing an alarming rebirth of
groups like the Ku Klux Klan and a rise in
anti-semitism in this country, one that our
Christian families must resist, not by politely
ignoring but by exposing openly and
encouraging each other to resist publicly.
Acceptance often requires courage. Look
at the flak Jesus got just for eating with
sinners. The question this week, then, is how
courageous is our family? Together, answer
these questions:
1. What gospel values require courage of
Jesus?
2. What was the most courageous thing
our family did last year?
3. Did it live out a gospel value?
4. What groups of people don’t we like?
5. Why?
6. Why did God make them?
7. Why did He make us?
8. Which of us was His mistake?
9. Mention one way we don’t accept each
other in this family.
10. What’s a common family putdown?
11. What are we proudest of in each
family member?
12. Can we get into the habit of using a
“putup” for every “putdown?”
The World Of Waiting
Father John Catoir
Catholic Archdiocese of Atlanta
Most Rev. Thomas A. Donnellan - Publisher
Rev. Monsignor Noel C. Burtenshaw - Editor
Gretchen R. Keiser — Associate Editor
Thea K. Jarvis — Contributing Editor
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The question has often been asked,
“What makes saints saints?” One person gave
this simple explanation:
Because they were cheerful when it was
difficult to be cheerful;
Patient when it was difficult to be
patient;
Because they pushed forward when they
wanted to stand still;
They kept silent when they wanted to
talk;
They were agreeable when they wanted
to be disagreeable.
That was all. It was quite simple and
always will be.
What struck me in that beautiful piece
was the importance of the passive virtues:
restraint, patience, silence. Then I
remembered St. Paul’s famous commentary
on love. Love, or charity, is the essence of
Christian perfection, and he summed it up
beautifully:
‘Charity is patient, is kind, charity does
not envy, is not pretentious, is not puffed
up, is not ambitious, is not self-seeking, is
not provoked, thinks no evil, does not
rejoice over wickedness but rejoices with the
truth; bears with all things, believes all
things, hopes all things, endures all things.”
(1 Cor. 13:4-7)
How much of your life is filled with
waiting, enduring, holding back? Most of us
do a lot of this as a matter of routine. It
doesn’t seem especially meritorious or
sanctifying, but apparently it is. I think of so
many good people who suffer the
humiliation of being taken for granted, being
used, even unintentionally, by the people
they love. They endure these things because
they are holy.
John Milton, in his sonnet on blindness,
wrote these famous words: “They also serve
who only stand and wait.” The service of
love is very often a kind of waiting.
God waits. The world He made is filled
with waiting. Waiting is one of the primary
laws of nature. Winter waits for spring. Buds
wait for warmth. The earth waits for rain.
Nothing in life comes to instant maturity.
The value of waiting is far superior to a
mindless activism. All things begin as a tiny
seed, waiting to grow to full stature.
Dante described hope as “a waiting with
certitude.” There is an ultimate meaning to
all our waiting. Pray for the grace to wait
with an openness to the Holy Spirit.
Sometimes it is in silence that we learn to
reach the depths of our own being.
Sometimes doing nothing can be the greatest
service. Just being there when you want to
run away could be the holiest thing you’ll
ever do.
“It’s Always Germs This And Germs That...”