Newspaper Page Text
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The Georgia Bulletin
December 17,1981
A Terrible
Silence Begins
More On Interfaith Marriage
Dolores Curran
The worst news about Poland was
the silence.
As the inevitable confrontation
between workers and government came
to a head, a network of silence fell over
that struggling mass of people -- long
the center of worldwide admiration.
Each night for the past year, the
nightly news provided a feast of
courageous behavior as we watched the
demanding voices of freedom defy an
unyielding dictatorship. In that time
the voices and the demands became
audibly bolder. Our admiration for
Poland was tinged over and over again
with sentiments of deep fear.
Now that nightly feast of courage
has been shut off. The news agencies
have been turned out. Leaks in the wall
of quiet tell us that strikes are taking
The warm and sunny days of a Roman
October are still with us and already many
stores are flashing their Christmas window
displays. Children are already beginning to
feel the excited anticipation of the arrival of
Babbo Natale (Santa Claus). Christmas has
already begun its approach in the streets of
Rome.
This will be my second year at the North
American College, Rome, as a seminarian for
the Archdiocese of Atlanta. There are nearly
180 of us here in preparation for the
priesthood from all parts of the United States.
Living in the shadow of St. Peter’s, I have not
infrequently been asked what it is like to
spend Christmas in Rome. My initial response
is usually that it is not like being at home for
the holidays. Everyone enjoys family
gatherings at Christmas time. At the same
time I consider myself most fortunate to be
here. I have much to be thankful for.
For those of us at the American College,
the spirit of Christmas begins soon after our
celebration of Thanksgiving. A huge
Christmas tree is stood in our dining room
where it is decorated by the students. There it
is enjoyed by all. In the meantime, classes are
going on as usual at the University. Our heavy
academic schedule sometimes tends to stifle
the spirit a bit. A few days prior to Christmas
we begin our two-week break. Although we
are free to leave Rome to do some traveling
during the holidays, most students choose to
remain at the College until after the 25th.
Christmas Eve is marked by a beautiful
community Mass in our chapel. Together we
gather to celebrate the birth of our Messiah. It
is at moments like this, when we are one at
place, defiance of the injustice goes on,
a rising of the people is in the making.
But all this is rumor. The eyes of the
world have been blindfolded.
We have reason to fear the mighty
Soviet, crushingly descending on
Poland as he once did in Hungary. In
that memorable exchange of
twenty-five years ago, the West stood
helplessly by, watching Russia reclaim
a satellite nation by force. We
prayerfully hope that the Hungarian
tragedy will not be recreated before our
helpless, frustrated eyes.
Right now, it is the silence that we
battle. We keep those worker-heroes of
the Polish struggle in our prayers and in
our thoughts as this long and dangerous
night begins.
prayer, that we can truly sense the presence of
God in our midst. After our liturgy we enjoy
our Christmas dinner, followed by the singing
of carols around the Christmas tree. Sounds
just like home.
By now it is time to head down to St.
Peter’s, which is just a 10 minute walk from
the College. There we join the Holy Father for
the Midnight Mass. In fact, some of our
students serve the Mass. What a thrill it is to
celebrate such a joyous occasion with the
Pope. The air of the Basilica is filled with
excitement and jubilation.
Christmas morning is equally beautiful.
The ringing of hundreds of church bells
express the joy of the Universal Church. At
noon, tens of thousands gather at St. Peter’s
Square for the ‘Urbi et Orbi’ (City and World)
Blessing of Pope John Paul II. It is truly an
impressive sight with all the Swiss Guards as
well as representatives from all the armed
forces of Italy standing in formation in the
center of the Square. They have come to pay
tribute to the Holy Father. He greets those
assembled in over 20 languages and then gives
his Christmas message and blessing.
Such is the celebration of Christmas in
bella Roma. The beauty of the occasion is
enhanced by the community life we
experience here at the College. In the absence
of our families, we have become family. We
have grown to live, work and play together.
Most importantly, we have come to pray
together. This is most obvious at this most
holy time of the year.
(Seminarian James Schillinger, the son of Mr. and
Mrs. Edward Schillinger of Philadelphia, is studying
in Rome and belongs to St. Jude’s parish, Atlanta.)
Last week I wrote about some of the pains
in the ecumenical marriage. Today I want to
talk about some of the supports being offered
in local churches. Many dioceses are bringing
in practicing two-faith couples to sponsor
ecumenical couples in marriage and
pre-baptismal preparation. “We don’t try to
frighten them,” said a Methodist married to a
Catholic, “but we do try to tell them what to
expect. We share our own experiences, our
pains, our joys, our families’ attitudes and our
children’s questions with them. It helps if you
anticipate and offset problems before they
arise.”
In Milwaukee, there is a lot going on. The
Catholic-Lutheran dialogue program
operating between churches is of great help to
couples in interfaith marriages. One said,
“There are some people who know nothing
about their spouse’s religion even though they
have been married for many years. They just
don’t discuss religion. It’s a taboo subject.”
She said the dialogue allows couples to talk
openly in a relaxed atmosphere. Recent topics
include Holy Communion, sin, Vatican II and
interfaith marriage, different denominations
within the Lutheran Church and baptism.
Another Milwaukee parish has a support
group for women married to “non-churched”
husbands, an increasingly familiar situation
today. These women talk about topics like the
4th Sunday in Advent (B)
December 20,1981
An infant lies quietly in his crib. Suddenly,
as if by some secret command, he slowly and
deliberately raises his left arm to his left ear.
His miniature fingers explore the nooks and
crannies of its convoluted form. Then, his
right arm is raised to the right side of his head
and discovers another ear, identical in shape
and feel to the other. Although not expressed
in words, he wonders in his infant way, “How
can this be?”
An eight-year-old girl sits at a table in the
basement. The moment of truth has arrived.
The test tubes are filled; the instructions have
been followed. She pulls a piece of blue paper
from a container labeled, “Litmus.” Ever so
slowly she inserts one end into Test Tube A.
difficulty of raising a child in the faith, the
loneliness of going to church alone and the
meaning of sacrament in their lives.
Not incidentally, Milwaukee’s Archbishop
Rembert Weakland has created a task force on
interfaith marriage with representatives from
the family life and ecumenical commissions.
Sister Maureen Hopkins, director of the
Ecumenical Commission lauds her
Archbishop’s move. “The ecumenical
marriage is a serious pastoral concern for the
Church,” she says. “We have programs for
interfaith engaged couples, but not much help
is given to couples after they’re married. That
is the concern I have.”
Vice-chancellor Father Michael Newman
explains, “We can talk about moving with
more sensitivity toward interfaith couples.
Neither we Catholics nor the Protestants have
been particularly sensitive. We’ve had the
attitude: You’ve made your bed, now lie in it,
rather than asking couples, How’s everything
going?”
In Colorado Springs, a parish recently held
a special Mass for non-Catholics in a new
approach to create more understanding. This
was especially designed for people who want
to understand a little more of what the Mass is
all about. “We realize that for many
non-Catholics, the Mass has often remained a
mystery,” said a parishioner. “At the same
THE Ytf7 ORD
THIS W EEKEND
Paul Karnowski
Magically, the blue is transformed into red.
She scratches her head and asks herself, “How
can this be?”
The twenty-fifth anniversary party is over
and all the guests have gone home. A man and
a woman lie in their bed snuggled
together-each presuming the other is asleep.
But in the darkness two pairs of eyes are wide
open, brimming with love. The eyes are
asking, “How can this be?”
“The angel Gabriel was sent from God to a
town of Galilee named Nazareth, to a virgin
betrothed to a man named Joseph, of the
house of David. The virgin’s name was Mary.
Upon arriving, the angel said to her, ‘Rejoice,
0 highly favored daughter, the Lord is with
time, there are many people who have been
curious about what goes on in a Catholic
church and would like to know more about
it.” Interfaith couples and their families
found it particularly helpful.
Support groups exist in some parishes
today, simple get-togethers of interfaith
couples who want to share a stronger spiritual
life. They talk about passing on two faiths,
dealing with grandparents and respecting one
another’s beliefs. At the 1980 Synod, Bishop
Frank Stafford said, “It is the role of the
church to assist these couples in the
strengthening of their marriages as spiritual
communities. Rather than establish a religious
truce, couples should be helped to search out
and amplify areas of communality, truths on
which they discover agreement and
expressions of piety which bring both to a
deeper awareness of God.”
One Milwaukee husband summed up the
challenge to our church in this way, “People
can change for each other in a lot of ways, but
who they really are never changes. Religion is
a deep thing... There should be a
community of Christians. But as long as you
have different people, you’re going to have all
kinds of different beliefs.”
2 Samuel 7; 1-5,8-11,16
Romans 16: 25-27
Luke 1: 26-38
you ... You shall conceive and bear a son and
give him the name Jesus. Great will be his
dignity and he will be called Son of the Most
High.’” Mary said to the angel, “How can this
be . . .?”
A writer sits before his typewriter, working
on a column for the Fourth Sunday of
Advent. Scattered thoughts run through his
head: “The gospel concerns Gabriel’s
announcement to Mary-it’s only a few short
days until Christmas ...” His fingers take to
the keyboard and he types several words on
the blank piece of paper: “God becomes
man-How can this be?”
The Threshing Floor
Father David K. O’Rourke, OP
-NCB
Christmas In Rome
James Schillinger
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to my house, so you don’t get lost.”
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Catholic Archdiocese of Atlanta
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Encircling old Jerusalem like a modern
fort is a massive ring of apartments and
condominiums. But beyond this ring of steel
and stone the traveler quickly comes upon the
Arab villages that have been here for hundreds
of years. Frequently they are set on the
hilltops, on the stone outcroppings that wind
and rain have exposed and left unusable for
farming.
On the lower slopes, and in the valleys
where the rain waters gather, are the olive
groves, the figs, the grapes, the fruit and the
grain so basic to the local agriculture and
economy.
The grain is grown in small fields or on the
terraces around the olive trees. It is harvested
by hand, cut by sickles close to the top of the
stalk. The remaining straw will be cut later.
The grain is taken to the threshing floor.
Near every village in this rocky country,
often on a slight slope just below the clustered
stone houses, are the natural, white stone
floors that are used for threshing. The rock
that has formed these hills is frequently just
below the surface, and, where exposed, it
polishes easily to a smooth finish.
Erosion and human industry have prepared
many a good threshing floor in these villages.
Grain is threshed with considerable human
effort. I want to describe this process. I will
explain why later on.
On the threshing floor the heads of wheat,
still attached to their stalks, are flailed. A flail,
put simply, is a wood and leather whip - a
short stout club attached to the longer handle
by a leather strap. Used on a man it could
render him senseless with one blow.
On the threshing floor the heads of wheat
are beaten and pounded with flails until the
single grains break loose from the stalks. The
mixture is then all thrown in the air, the heavy
grain falling down, the breezes carrying the
light straw off to the side.
To take the outer hulls off the grains, they
are trodden by the hooves of animals, or
sledges with rocks set into their bottoms are
dragged over the grains, grinding the hulls off.
Again, the grain which is separated from the
useless outer hull is thrown in the air, the grain
falling down and the light hulls or chaff being
blown to the side. The chaff is then gathered
to be burned.
Why do I mention this in such detail?
Because John the Baptist used this image to
describe the messiah. Think for a moment
how this would have sounded to people who
knew the work so well. “He will cut you down
like wheat, and beat you with flails, and grind
you under a sledge, and separate you, the
good from the bad like wheat from straw, and
when he has finished he will purify the
threshing floor with fire so that no bit of chaff
goes unburned.”
Talk about scaring the wits out of people!
Even the toughest preachers never came tip
with an image like that one.
Yet, for all its strength and power, it was
the wrong one. Jesus came preaching, and
what he said was so different from what John
the Baptist expected, so much more tolerant,
that John sent messengers to Jesus to ask him,
“Are you he-who-is-to-come, or are we to
look for someone else?”
I suspect that, like John the Baptist, we too
have our partly mistaken ideas of who Jesus is
and what he should do. We have our own ideas
of the way things should be, the way God
should run the world, and we create our own
idea of Jesus to fit those images.
We do well to prepare for Jesus’ birth by
having the Lord, as he truly is, take the place
of the Jesus who is the product of our
imaginations.
Resound ... Resound
To the Editor:
The (Dolores Curran) article on “The
Theology of Yellow Waxy Buildup” was - is -
delightful.
The keen sense of humor combined with
serious thought is a precious talent... I laugh
to myself every time I think of this column,
and am now re-reading it.
Pauline D. Hamby
Athens
To the Editor:
I just finished reading the feature story on
the Sisters of Mercy in this week’s Georgia
Bulletin. I must tell you how touched I was
reading the article. You have an Irishman’s
gift for story telling that makes interesting
reading for even those who have heard the
Sisters’ story countless times before. I have
reviewed several archdiocesan papers that
have covered the Mercy anniversary in
different parts of the country and the Bulletin
by far did the best job.
I must also congratulate you on your
special 25th year supplement. I know you and
your staff spent countless hours pulling your
anniversary issue together, but your efforts
were worthwhile.
Again, thank you for your interest in the
Sisters of Mercy and Saint Joseph’s Hospital.
We appreciate your fine coverage of this
special occasion.
Susan Falck
PR Associate
St. Joseph’s Hospital
Atlanta
To the Editor:
Did you know that Dec. 1 through Dec. 5
was ERA AWARENESS WEEK as proclaimed
by no less than Alan Alda and Betty Ford!
Through all their pompous postulating during
this time, one wonders why proponents of the
proposed ERA failed to make us all aware of:
1. the fact that the ERA is endorsed by the
National Gay Rights Task Force.
2. the fact that the ERA is endorsed by the
Communist Party of the USA, - not because
communists love equality or the family; but,
precisely the opposite, because they see in the
ERA a new opportunity to introduce new
legislation that can further undermine the
structure of American society, which rests on
the strength of the family. (See their
theoretical journal: POLITICAL AFFAIRS,
“ERA” New Trends, New Developments,” by
Alva Buxenbaum, January, 1978).
3. the fact that in EVERY STATE where a
voter referendum was held on the ERA, the
voters said NO to the proposed ERA, not
because the voters were un-informed; but,
because they had debated the issue AD
NAUSEAM and found the ERA WANTING.
Those states were: Wisconsin, 11/73; New
York, 11/75; New Jersey, 11/75; Nevada,
11/78; Florida, 11/78; and Iowa, 11/80.
4. the fact that passage of the ERA would
constitutionalize the questionable practice of
‘abortion-on-demand’ and its funding as a
medical procedure that may not be denied ‘on
account of sex,’ thus, ironically concretizing a
more insidious form of discrimination against
the Unborn American female! (Recall the
recent attempts by the ACLU in
Massachusetts to seek to fund abortions by
citing their state ERA as justification; this on
the heels of similar attempts in Pennsylvania
and Hawaii to use ‘sex discriminatory’
arguments to achieve the same end. (See
“ERA and the Abortion Connection,” by
Lincoln C. Oliphant, HUMAN LIFE
RE VIEW, Spring 1981).
5. the fact that passage of the ERA would
mean that our daughters and young widows
with children could be DRAFTED and sent
into COMBAT. (See Yale Law Journal, April
1971, and the U.S. House Judiciary
Committee Report No.: 92-359).
Could it be, that, through omission, these
sophists selling the snake-oil panacea marked
ERA are really trying to make us buy a pig in
the poke?
Joe Kuppe
Tucker