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The Georgia Bulletin
October 29,1981
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In The Name Of God --
Reach Out With Food
It’s Your Parish
Dolores Curran
Let us repeat with vigor and
enthusiasm the words of Indira Gandhi
after the economic summit at Cancun
last week: “It was a step forward." No
one is claiming a victorious
breakthrough. The problem of hunger
in the Third World has not been solved.
An international give-and-take between
the haves and the have-nots was not
worked out. Some leaders came away
pleased; others were most upset. It was
that kind of meeting. But, in the words
of Mrs. Gandhi, “it was a step
forward.”
It was. But more movement is
necessary. There is real hunger in the
world. America is a nation of
overeaters. We are plagued with
medical handicaps because of our abuse
of food. Other emerging nations need
our daily excess. Politics enters the
picture and quite suddenly it becomes
difficult for the haves to give to the
have-nots. But hungry men, women
and children are strictly non-political.
The message heard at Cancun was
"less government assistance, more
private investment.” The message was
welcomed but with caution. "Private
investment,” said one African leader at
the U.N., “wants fast returns on
capital. It wants to invest in minerals,
oil and diamonds where a quick return
is reaped. We need help in agriculture
where the return is slow, very slow.
Only government concern can give us
that kind of assistance.”
Cancun told us that the problem is
still there unsolved. Not only was that
message given to world leaders, it was
given to the world. In the midst of our
many uneasy trouble spots around the
globe, there is another factor we tend
to forget. Brains are being destroyed,
bodies are being crushed, babies are
dead at birth simply because there is no
grain in the bowls of untold
populations.
If the nations of plenty can reach
out, the mission is clear. In the Name of
God, reach out with food.
--NCB
When, in a column a couple of years ago, I
mentioned a good parish, I got a letter that
questioned my guidelines for judging a parish
bad, mediocre or good. “What is your basic
criteria?” asked the writer. “What do you
look for first?”
That one is easy. The first most underlying
clue to a parish is WHO OWNS IT? If there’s
no clear answer, then a parish has passed its
initial physical and is on its way to good
health. If nobody owns the parish, then
everybody does and we call it community.
However, lots of parishes are owned by
someone or some group. Here are the most
familiar ones:
FATHER. By far, the most typical parish
owner is the pastor. It is his parish, whether by
choice or delegation. Lots of pastors don’t
want ownership, but their parishioners don’t
want it either, so it becomes a hot potato. In
other parishes, Father demands ownership as
a by-product of ordination and this creates its
own problems, or mystique, as the canon may
be. (In one parish, I’m told, the housekeeper,
as an extension of the pastor, owned the
parish but only because of longevity in the
parish. When she passed on, as they say in the
sagas, both the parish and Father were
liberated to become a community.)
SCHOOL PARENTS. The second most
familiar deed holders are those who have or
had their children in the parish school. This is
the familiar “parish-is-the-school” model of
church and those parents who have been told
they are special for sending their children to
the school believe it. Even if only
one-thirtieth of these people have children in
the school, the school is the allegiance test
which, if you pass at some time in your parish
life, proves you are a good supportive
parishioner deserving of ownership.
NATIVES. Next most common landlords
are those who were there first. Everyone else
is a newcomer, a ‘they’, even though ‘they’
may have been there 25 years. These owners
are the ones with the most kin in the parish
graveyard and the original stained glass
windows in the church. Therefore, they grant
themselves the right of eminent domain. They
still talk of the good old days when the
founders didn’t have to share the Good News
with people they didn’t know.
ETHNIC. German, Italian, Polish come
next. If you’re Irish in an Irish parish, your
vote counts more on the KC ballot. However,
if you’re Irish in a Polish parish, offer it up.
People don’t want their First Communicants
marching with yours. If you’re Hispanic in
L.A., you have more ownership than in most
other places because you’re almost in the
majority there (however, you might have a
foreign-bom Irish pastor, a real possibility in
L. A., and that could change things).
RURAL. If you live in the country
adjacent to a metropolitan area, you’re
already experiencing the big city folk moving
into your area for the joy of country living.
That’s okay, but when they start bringing
their big city ideas into your comfortably
secure parish, you’re likely to make a stand
for rural ownership and ask them to drop
“visitor” envelopes into the weekly basket.
RENEWAL OR TRADITIONALIST. If
you’re for English, the sign of peace, and
coffee after Mass, you own a part of the
cornerstone IF your pastor also likes them. If,
however, he’s for Latin, a sign of subservience
and raffles after Mass, go back to renting. It
isn’t your parish.
CIVILIAN. If you live in a parish near a
military base, you can claim more ownership
than those military people moving in because
they are going to leave in two years. Why
crowd your pews and classes with their
children? Why bother to listen to their needs,
input and ideas?
There are more, but you get the idea. I’m
sure you can come up with your own parish
landlords, but if you can’t, thank God and
move on to community ownership.
The Feast of All Saints (A)
November 1,1981
THE
THIS
ORD
W EEKEND
Paul Karnowski
Revelation 7: 24,9-14
1 John 3: 1-3
Matthew 5: 1-12
I don’t believe it. The faded and dog-eared
photo of my First Communion class stares at
me from the bottom of a storage box and, try
as I might, I cannot remember the names of
any of the other little boys in the picture.
(The girls are in a separate, but equal,
photograph) Thirty-eight anonymous boys
dressed in white shirts and white ties surround
me, and I haven’t the first idea who any one of
them is.
The Apostle John must feel the same in
today’s first reading from the Book of
Revelation. In the midst of his vision one of
the elders asks him to identify a group of
people, all dressed in white. John tells the
elder, “Sir, you should know better than I.”
Indeed he does. The elder informs him that
they are those who “have washed their robes
and made them white in the Blood of the
Lamb.” The elect. The saints.
When we celebrate the feast of Ail Saints
we think of celestial crowds, vast numbers of
people dressed in white. There seems to be no
individuality in such an assembly. But if we
look closely we’ll see variations on the theme
of sanctity. There’s the born-saint. She
exhibits a sweet disposition and a sincere
concern for those around her. The born-again
saint is recognized by the circles under his
eyes; black circles that remind us where he
was before he climbed the mountain of virtue.
There are saints with rebellion in their eyes.
They challenged the status quo-whether it was
the king, the Church, or their neighbors. The
most common saint is the reluctant one. She
trudged along the path of holiness tentatively,
always looking back to make sure she wasn’t
missing anything.
Despite their individuality, the
communion of saints have more in common
than their white garb. To a lesser or greater
degree, they all strived to make the law of
Jesus a reality: the law of the Beatitudes
found in today’s Gospel. Some were exquisite
peacemakers; others practically died of
malnutrition as they hungered and thirsted
for holiness.
We are called to share in this communion
of the saints. But we need not look skyward or
imagine ourselves in a heavenly choir. Why,
we could see the beginnings of holiness in a
First Communion picture.
Let’s hope they’re not all as dusty as mine.
LOUISIANA TRADITION -In Des
Allemands, La., a small community
outside New Orleans, members of St.
Gertrude parish place lighted candles
on tombs in the parish cemetery after a
candlelight procession from the
church. The ritual is an All Saints Day
tradition.
The Gift Of Wisdom
Resound ... Resound
To the Editor:
I recently read an article in the Georgia
Bulletin about a bishop of Virginia who
wanted to stop the sport of football. He has
this goal because of a young boy who was
killed playing this rough sport.
My opinion of this article is that it is real
crazy. This sport is the most famous in the
United States. I think boys are very aggressive
and they need a sport for entertainment, and
to let out all their anger and aggression. But if
he ever does stop this popular sport many
people will be very angry and disappointed.
Robert Tomas
8th Grade, Immaculate Heart
of Mary School
To the Editor:
On behalf of the Grey Nuns of the Sacred
Heart, may I express sincere thanks to the
Georgia Bulletin for its assistance in extending
an Archdiocesan-wide invitation to our area
Grey Nun Jubilee celebration.
We were gratified by the welcome presence
of so many of our friends and colleagues. A
sense of solidarity - at-one-ness - was evident
as we joined in prayer and praise to our
Father. “Who has done great things for us.”
As Grey Nuns, it is reassuring to sense the
support of the Archdiocesan community as
we re-commit ourselves to the service of our
God, the Church and the people of North
Georgia.
Sister Barbara Harrington, GNSH
Atlanta
To the Editor:
I am writing regarding your article
“Violence Under Guise of Fun and Games.” I
think what Bishop Walter Sullivan of Virginia
said about football being hazardous to
children’s health because a student was killed
in a game is wrong. In football you take a risk
just like in any other sport. If you are hurt it is
because of a bad play on your part or the
other team’s. In all other sports there have
been deaths, but it was hardly ever on
purpose. The reason the boy died was because
God said it was time for the boy to come to
Him. The Bishop probably would not have
said anything about football before the boy’s
death. I think football should be played by
anyone and everyone.
Tony Giarrusso
8th Grade, Immaculate Heart
of Mary School
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Father John Catoir
The gift of wisdom is often called the most
beneficial gift of the Holy Spirit for it opens
us to true love, holiness and happiness. By this
gift a person is made receptive to the subtle
divine pressure that moves the soul to savor
the things of God.
It is said that where your treasure is, there
your heart will be also. Your treasure is where
you give most of your attention.
What should I do with my life? Wisdom
guides each one of us to the right answer.
Does the pursuit of fame and fortune
deserve a life’s dedication? Wisdom says,
“No.” Fame is passing, wealth can never warm
your heart. Wisdom says there is more to life.
It is through a loving knowledge of God
that the soul, under the influence of wisdom,
is prompted to judge all things in their
relationship to God. Wisdom elevates the soul
above reason, above common sense to a kind
of sympathy for the divine point of view. It
often conflicts with so called “realistic
thinking,” or logic. God’s ways are not man’s.
Wisdom helps us to see clearly the right path.
A life’s direction is the result of a definite
choice or series of choices. We are what we
choose to be. We do in life ultimately what we
want to do. Some people may not like their
life and blame its direction on others. While
it’s true to some extent that others can shape
our lives for better or worse, eventually we
reap what we ourselves sow.
Whether we are wise or not we all know we
will one day die. Wisdom looks squarely at the
prospect of death and accepts it as a fact,
realizing that the glory of this world passes
quickly. Wisdom teaches that time is fleeting,
eternity is forever. Wisdom points to heaven,
the supreme goal of life. It aids us in making
appropriate choices to achieve that goal.
Wisdom aims at pleasing the Father in heaven.
It not only enables us to avoid personal
disaster, but it helps us experience the joy of
living, here and now.
Wisdom is able to distinguish between
what is valuable and what is passing. The truly
wise person will see the pearl of great price
which is heaven and sell everything to possess
it.
Wisdom is God speaking to us, calling us to
nobility and glory. Pray for the gift of
wisdom.
Grab A Cause And Hang On
Don McEvoy
Roger Baldwin, founder of the American
Civil Liberties Union, died earlier this year at
the age of 97. When asked once to share his
secret of longevity he readily answered, “Grab
a cause worth fighting for and hang on for a
long, long time.”
Frances Pauley of Atlanta is a long way
from nearing Baldwin’s age, but she is old
enough to have earned some rest. But she
won’t be taking it. Frances grabbed hold of a
worthy cause a long time ago and she isn’t
about to let go.
I first met her in the early 1960’s when she
was head of the Georgia Human Relations
Council. Thirty years before that, a Junior
Leaguer and a graduate of an exclusive
women’s college, she led the fight to get a free
lunch program in the schools of suburban
DeKalb County. In the 1980’s she is still going
strong as President of the Georgia Poverty
Rights Organization.
She is one of that tiny handful of white
Southern heroines who have made such a
difference in history of Dixie in this century.
Her soft-spoken gentle manners may evoke
images of petticoats and magnolias, but she
can fight with the ferocity of a lioness
protecting her cubs when it is necessary.
There are a lot of Georgia sheriffs, business
executives, politicians and bureaucrats who
will attest to that, with respect and chagrin.
Julian Bond says “she is everybody’s
grandmother, but nobody’s fool.”
The Poverty Rights Group which she now
leads is sponsored by Emmaus House, an
Episcopal Mission in Atlanta. Her work in
lobbying for the poor, getting food for the
hungry, heat and housing for destitute,
medical attention for the ill, pricking the
consciences of the comfortable and
demanding concessions from the powerful is
all part of a single thread of creative purpose
that reaches back half a century to the fight
for school lunches for children. She has never
wavered in her determination to be of help to
the helpless.
State Senator Bobby Rowan says “that
lady is probably the best thing poor people in
this state have going for them. I’ve got so
much respect for her.”
Times change, even if Frances Pauley
doesn’t. When I lived in Georgia State
Senators said other kinds of things about her.
Integrity and persistence do have their
reward. This year she has even become a
“cover girl.” The Atlanta weekly features her
with an article asking “can a little old white
haired woman fight for welfare rights and
win?” My guess is that the answer is yes.
(Don McEvoy is Senior Vice President of the
National Conference of Christians and Jews. The
opinions expressed are his own.)
\
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“All the mothers in the
• neighborhood are mad
just because I gave away
your old typewriter ribbons!’