Newspaper Page Text
July 2,1981
PAGE 5'
Point Of Connection:
BY FATHER PHILIP MURNION ° th . ers ° n the parlsh staff may have dlvided
reelings.
Parish’s School
“The parish school is often the centerpiece
of a parish’s educational ministry . . . The
school complements the family’s effort to
ensure formation in the fullness of Christian
life and provides pupils with a sound
foundation in educational skills. It is this
special contribution of the parish school that
earns its support from the entire parish.”
This 1981 statement of the U.S. bishops’
Committee on the Parish brings into sharp
focus the position of the parochial school in
many parishes. Nonetheless, in some parishes
that have a school, questions are being asked
about the relationship of the two: the school
and the parish.
I firmly believe the school can serve in a
powerful way to integrate education and the
life of faith. But how will this be done?
What is the purpose of the school? Who
should be admitted to the school? How will it
be funded? What connection ought to exist
between the school and the rest of parish life?
Such questions will be asked with
increasing frequency in the future, I think.
Principals, teachers, pastors and other staff
members will address these questions with
parishioners and parish council members,
seeking ways for schools to be seen as an
integral part of parish life and to fulfill their
full potential.
Sometimes, the school is treated as a
separate entity in the parish. Often today a
number of families associated with the school
- pupils and parents - are not part of the
worshiping community of the parish. Their
only relationship with the parish is through
the school.
This situation especially prevails in locales
where public schools are regarded as very
deficient.. Parents in these areas
understandably look for a good school, one
where there is enough order for learning to
take place and one where the teacher will care
for the children.
In these places, it is not unusual to find in
the school a number of Catholics who do not
frequent the sacraments as well as members of
other Christian communions and
non-Christians. In some cases, pastors and
On the one hand, some feel there is little
justification for the kind of investment a
school represents if the school is not regarded
by the parents principally as part of the
religious formation of the children.
On the other hand, some pastors hope that
the school children and their parents will be
encouraged through their experience of the
school to become more active Catholics. They
are content meanwhile that the school is
offering a good basic educational service that
will help youngsters, often those in serious
need, to have a better life.
It is a puzzling situation. Studies indicate
that parochial schools have a much greater
impact on the future belief of young people
and their future relationship to the church
than do CCD or other religious education
programs. Still, for some children and their
parents, the parochial school seems
unconnected with faith and the church.
As a consequence, discussion has been
generated about the purpose of the school. Is
it to be a real means of evangelization? How
closely should it be tied to the worship life
and other activities of the parish?
If the school truly operates as a means of
forming youngsters to be adult Catholics, it is
easier to see that the school should be
supported by the entire parish. But if some
people see the school as simply a private
education service, however understandable
the value of such a service, then should it be
supported only by the parents who use it? It’s
a question.
We have gone from a situation in which
there was little if any tuition charged parents,
to one in which parents are required to pay an
increasing portion of the school’s costs. And
there are even cases in which the school finds
itself competing with the religious education
program of the parish, as well as other
activities, for the parish’s scarce money.
Those are just some of the problems and
forces at work.
Educational work ranks high on any list of
the priorities of a parish and its people. But,
here and there in my travels, I hear pastors
express their frustrations because a parish and
a school seem very little connected to them.
Gatherings Must Be Conducted
BY FATHER JOHN J. CASTELOT
St. Paul makes a point of order as he
concludes his discussion with the Corinthians
about spiritual gifts. When the community
gathers for liturgical worship, he writes in
Chapter 14 of the First Letter to the
Corinthians, if its gatherings are going to be
profitable, they must be conducted in an
orderly manner.
All of the spiritual gifts make a
contribution to the Christian community, but
if all the gifts are exercised at once, the result
is hardly constructive. It is bedlam.
When it comes to the gift of speaking in
tongues, Paul has some practical advice to
give. He advises that no more than two or
three people should speak in tongues at any
one session. Interminable liturgies are
counterproductive, he thinks. Moreover,
those who speak should not all speak at once;
each one should speak in turn. Even then,
there should be someone with the gift of
interpretation available to translate the
message for the community; an unintelligible
message is simply not a message. So true is this
Discussion Points And Questions
1. Father Philip Murnion indicates that the purpose of the parochial
school should be integrated into the overall purposes of the parish. Why
do you think he feels this way?
2. Father Murnion suggests questions will be raised in the period ahead
about the relationship of schools and parishes. Which question do you
find the most interesting? Why?
3. Do you agree with John Sullivan that children learn valuable lessons
on the soccer field? Have you experienced this?
4. Choose one story told by Sullivan and explain what its main lesson
might be.
5. According to Father Castelot, what is the purpose behind Paul’s
criticisms of the way the Corinthians are using the spiritual gifts? i
6. If you have been reading Father Castelot’s articles on the Church of
Corinth over a period of weeks, what would you say were some of the
reasons Paul wrote his letters to the people there?
7- Take a few minutes to think about your experience, if any, with
parochial schools. What did you appreciate most about the school? How
did it help you?
REGINA WILSON spends a quiet moment reading in her their mission that the school is an instrument of formation
third grade class at Cathedral Elementary School in Raleigh, and not just a place for education. (NC Photo by Dan
N. C. Catholic educators are gaining a clearer understanding of Hulburt)
Musings:
The Soccer Field
BY JOHN R. SULLIVAN
I. As a former 10-year-old and the father of
a current 10-year-old (soon to be 11, I am
always reminded), I once flattered myself that
I could empathize with him - putting myself
in his shoes or his words in my mouth.
But just listen to a 10-year-old sometime
and you’ll know thfo speech cannot be
replicated.Not nohow.'”
But my assignment remains: Write about
what’s happening to this 10-year-old, what’s
forming him and influencing his growth.
Where to start? Maybe last Sunday.
Sundays are dominated by two events:
morning church and afternoon soccer.
There are, to put it blandly, valuable
lessons to learn from each. But lets turn to the
soccer field. The lessons of soccer, or of sport
generally, are something Mark would be
happy to hear about.
Yes, he and his teammates would be
delighted to hear what we adults are trying to
accomplish while they’re out there in the glare
and dust.
The wisdom of the playing field is not
common to all. While some on the team are
simply playing, others, like Plutarch’s frogs,
In Good Order
that, if an interpreter is not available, those
who possess the gift of tongues should just
keep quiet and pray to God from the heart,
Paul suggests.
Even the more: constructive gift of
prophecy should not be robbed of its efficacy
by being used in a disorganized way. As in the
case of the gift of tongues, the number of
those speaking with prophetic inspiration
should be limited to two or three. And if,
while one of them is speaking or about to
speak, someone else should get a sudden
inspiration, the others should have the good
grace to yield the floor. Paul is not trying to
stifle the Spirit. On the contrary, he is trying
to make his gifts more effective in building up
the community.
Remember that in the New Testament, the
word “prophecy” sems to refer to the gift of
inspired preaching, the extraordinary ability
to move people, to edify and exhort them.
All Paul asks is orderliness. If an inspiration
is worthwhile, it can be kept until the next
meeting. “You can all speak your prophecies,
but one by one, so that all may be instructed
and encouraged.”
The action of the Holy Spirit does not
destroy human freedom or self-control.
People do not become robots or zany ecstatics
driven by compulsion. “God is a God, not of
confusion, but of peace.”
God gives his gifts to intelligent and free
human beings to be used intelligently and
freely. Consequently, the members of the
Christian community would be acting quite
contrary to the divine intention if they were
to exercise the gifts in a way that would cause
confusion: “The spirits of the prophets are
under the prophets’ control.”
A brief and nicely balanced restatement of
his rather strong directive on the orderly use
of charisnis concludes this chapter. Paul
writes:
“Set your hearts on prophecy, my
brothers, and do not forbid those who speak
in tongues, but make sure that everything is
done properly and in order” (1 Cor. 14:39).
are dying in earnest. And nothing is simple,
not even kicking a ball up and down a field.
Some vignettes may serve best in making
the point.
II. The boy stands in the center of the field.
A moment ago the whistle blew, and his team
won the game, a close one. But he and his
teammates are not cheering and pounding
each other on the back, as they usually do.
No, they are' squinting at a parent who is
screaming at the referee.
“What was that all about, dad,” he asks
later.
“I think Mr. (Smith, McCarthy) was upset
because he thought the game was running over
time.”
“But we won, didn’t we? What was he mad
about?”
III. The rain falls hard, but the game goes
on. The halfback receives a pass, pushes the
ball forward and sprints down the sideline. A
defender joins the race for the ball, shoulder
to shoulder.
“Referee, look at those elbows. That’s not
fair. Why if I did that on the street, I’d be in
jail.” The coach’s outrage has no impact.
Neither do the alleged fouls; the ball arcs
toward the goal.
The goalkeeper rushes out, the ball is
punched away. But the keeper is down. The
first to his side is the complaining, opposing
coach.
IV. Minutes later, at the field’s other end,
an attacking player is fouled, his legs cut out
from under him by an aggressive but
less-than-skillful defender.
The referee awards a free kick and the
offending player helps his opponent to his
feet. Both grin; it isn’t every day you get to
roll in the mud like this.
But from the sidelines comes an
unmistakable adult voice: “Don’t take that
from him. Get him back! ”
The grins become masks, expressions of
pained tolerance.
V. As play continues, the players’ faces
reveal their attitudes. On the front line is a
tiny boy, frail but quick and skillful. He
spends much time sliding and tumbling 2
smiling every second.
“Billy’s so small he gets knocked over
whenever somebody comes near him,”
explains his mother, “but he loves it and says
he can fall better than anybody else on the
team.”
Among Billy’s teammates is a large boy, a
good athlete who has grown faster than his
muscles want. Every move is a concentrated
effort to make the feet land where they
should. At halftime, after 30 minutes of
non-stop play, he is drained. No smile, only
determination.
“You’re doing great, Erich,” beams his
father, “keep it up.”
VI. In the second half there is an almost
automatic kindness and consideration among
the players, along with epithets, tears and
smiles.
But it is not wholly innocent. This is
competition, its goal to beat the other, to take
advantage of his mistakes and weakness.
Of course, there are rules and, complaints
aside, they work. The advantage sought is the
fair advantage, honestly gained.
And there is the real world. Is it the same as
this world of Sunday afternoon? Is it a world
of winners and losers, or are there others in
that world, too?
THE LESSONS OF SPORT are not Nothing is simple, not even kicking a
universally taught; the wisdom of the ball up and down the field. (NC Sketch)
playing field is not common to all.