Newspaper Page Text
PAGE 4
The Georgia Bulletin
January 14,1982
On The Street
On the streets of the city, life is a
catch-as-catch-can affair.
Elderly bag ladies, their thin head
scarves drawn tightly against the
quickening cold, walk with the
plodding gait of those who have no
destination in sight.
Ageless men, faces darkened and
thickened by years on the street,
search sidewalk trash heaps for
treasured discards - a bottle for
deposit, a torn glove, a worn pair of
shoes.
As night falls and familiar haunts
close down, street people are left
alone with the dark of a Georgia
winter - sometimes cold, sometimes
wet, always lonely. Narrow, windless
alleys and yesterday’s newspapers
provide scant refuge from their own
personal demons.
Some will freeze to death, the early
morning finds of city street sweepers.
Others will merely suffer the
ignominy of bitter cold and gnawing
hunger. Bereft of a lifeline, they are
condemned to be victims of the night.
In a recent letter to Mayor Andrew
Young, intown church leaders
working in the Ecumenical
Community Ministry candidly
outlined the problem.
They estimated that on any given
winter’s night, the city has between
1500 and 2000 people without
permanent shelter or the money to
provide for shelter. These figures
represent a 50 percent increase over
last year’s Atlanta homeless and are
due in part to an economy staggered
by unemployment and inflation. '
Atlanta has a number of physical
options available to her homeless.
Many Catholics work untiringly
alongside their Christian and Jewish
friends to see that shelters remain
open, that soup kitchens operate and
foods banks thrive.
But the efforts of more are required
if the needs of these poorest of the
poor are to be met.
Surely we can afford to share what
we have or the time we can give with
those who have so little. Surely there
are more among us who can find room
in their hearts and their houses of
worship for those whose only
companions are isolation and despair.
In the new year, may we all be
brought a little closer to an
understanding and appreciation of
what we owe our brothers and sisters
of the street.
- TKJ
On Pro-Life Sunday
The following letter from Archbishop Thomas
Donnelian was to be read at all Masses on the
weekend of Jan. 16-17.
My Brothers and Sisters in Christ:
Today has been designated by the
National Conference of Catholic
Bishops as Pro-Life Sunday, a day
for reflection on the dignity and
sacredness of human life.
Friday, January 22, is the ninth
anniversary of the Supreme Court
decision which made abortion legal
at any time during the nine months
of pregnancy. It is estimated that in
the nine years since that decision, as
many as thirteen million unborn
children have been killed by
abortion.
The National Conference of
Bishops is supporting a
constitutional amendment -- called
the Hatch Amendment - which will
state that there is no constitutional
right to abortion. The Bishops
recognize that the Hatch
Amendment is not ideal; however, it
would accomplish a great deal to
stem the tide of abortions.
Furthermore, the Hatch Amendment
seems to have a significant possibility
of being ratified in the near future.
Today we are asked to reaffirm
our belief in the sacredness and
dignity of human life and to
translate that belief into action. We
are asked to indicate our support of
this position by completing a Life
Roll Card going on record as being in
support of a Human Life
Amendment. Signing the card is
important since it will show the
degree of support that exists in the
community for such action. For
those able and willing to do more,
and become even more actively
involved in the effort to have the
Amendment passed and ratified,
there is space on the cards to so
indicate.
It is critically important that each
and every person be better informed
on this matter and be actively
concerned about it. Your Parish
Bulletin today contains detailed
information about two occasions
during this month when you can
learn more about the issues and how
they affect you and our society.
The first of these is on January
22. The Conference of Bishops has
designated that day as one of prayer
and fasting in support of human life.
On that day, too, Georgia Right to
Life is sponsoring an informational
rally at the State Capitol during
which presentation will be made by
all the major Pro-Life groups active
in Georgia. We encourage your
attendance.
The second opportunity is on
January 31 at the Cathedral Hyland
Center at 7:00 p.m. - Family Night
in Support of Life. This provides an
excellent educational program. Your
presence will show your support for
the unborn who, without us, have no
voice and no power and are the most
helpless of the children of God.
Wishing you every blessing and
asking your prayers for the success
of this effort, I am
Sincerely yours in Christ,
(J
Most Reverend Thomas A. Donnelian
Archbishop of Atlanta
Resound ... Resound
Kitchen Crime And Punishment
Dolores Curran
Seven-year-old Jeff behaved obnoxiously
all day long. It was one of those days when
he took everyone else’s good mood as a
personal affront.* Finally, for lack of any
other excuse, he hauled off and hit his little
sister. His mother, up to her nerves with his
behavior, condemned him to no television
for life and promptly felt guilty about it.
“Why?” I asked her later.
“Because TV doesn’t have anything to do
with hitting,” she said. “Isn’t the
punishment supposed to fit the crime?”
“Your punishment made lots of sense,” I
told her. “You just weren’t creative enough
in drawing the connection. Next time, say
something about the fact that TV violence is
obviously beginning to rub off on Jeff so
you are removing that influence for awhile,
adding that when it looks as if he’s a peace
loving sibling again, you’ll consider
reinstating his tube time.”
“Why didn’t I think of that?” she
exclaimed.
Meting out proper punishment can be a
frustraion for parents. We worry about being
too strict, too lenient, or too quick to judge,
to be sure, but we feel most uncomfortable
with a penalty that has little to do with the
misdemeanor.
I submit that most any punishment can be
linked with almost any misbehavior of the
parents use a little imagination. Let’s look at
the process.
There are really only five or six
non-abusive punishments open to parents —
banishment to one’s room, no allowance,
earlier bedtime, no TV, no car, grounding,
and extra chores. Others, like forced
apoligies are more gestures than penalties.
Likewise, there are really only a few basic
situations calling for correction: sibling
fighting, talking back, sinking grades, abuse
of curfew, friend-time, or car, and/or
disobedience. Serious problems involving
drugs and friends call for more serious
approaches than no TV.
So, given the two lists, how do we handle
the connection, making the punishment a
logical response to the misbehavior? We
think first. Then, in the most non-emotional,
matter-of-fact voice possible, we choose the
punishment most likely to impress the child
and point out the connection.
Here are a few. If a child constantly fights
or lets his grades slip, he obviously needs
more rest in order to be better natured or to
concentrate more on his studies. This means
earlier bedtime and/or less TV and friend
time. (We even permitted one who was
bored and inattentive at Sunday Mass to go
to bed earlier on the following Saturday
night so he would be more energetic during
liturgy. The next morning he sang the covers
off the Missalette).
What does a poor report card have to do
with limited car use? Simple. Anybody
smart enough to drive in today’s traffic is
smart enough to get B’s. Likewise, any child
who talks back or slams doors obviously
prefers to be alone, so cleaning his room or
the garage gives him that opportunity.
If a girl argues with her sibling while doing
chores, she surely prefers doing them alone.
Or, if a boy hits his sister, she needs
recuperation time so he inherits her work for
a day or two. Chores and allowance?
Another easy link. If chores aren’t done,
someone else has to do them so that person
is entitled to the allowance, whether it’s a
sibling or Mom.
The secret to this technique is the
comfort with which parents utilize it.
Arguing is out when such rational
consequences are explained. If arguing does
occur, it merely means the child needs more
rest . . . you get the idea.
God gave us two wonderful gifts among
many: children and common sense. By
pairing the two, we can survive. And we
don’t have to feel guilty about it.
The World Knew Him Not
Pope John Paul II
This is the English translation distributed by the
Vatican Press Office of Pope John Paul II's “urbi et
orbi” (to the city and the world) message,
delivered in Italian on Christmas day from the
loggia of St. Peter’s Basilica. After the talk he
delivered Christmas greetings in 42 languages.
Dear brothers and sisters,
People of Rome and of the world,
At this hour, when the holy day of the
nativity has reached its noon, I invite you to
meditate with me on the mystery: “In the
beginning was the word . . . And the word
was God ... All things were made through
him and without him was not made anything
that was made . . . And the word became
flesh and dwelt among us.” (John 1:1,3,14).
“There was no room for them at the inn”
(Luke 1:7)
“He came to his own home, and his own
people received him not. He was in the
world, and the world was made through him,
yet the world knew him not” (John
1:11,10).
I ask you, brothers and sisters, people of
the city and of the world, to meditate today
upon the birth, in the stable at Bethlehem,
of the Son eternally born. Why is he born of
the virgin, he who is eternally born of the
Father? God from God, light from light?
Why on that night, when he was born of the
Virgin Mary, was there no room for them at
the inn? Why did his own people receive him
not? Why did the world know him not?
The mystery of the Bethlehem night lasts
without a break. It fills the history of the
world and pauses at the threshold of every
human heart. Every man and every woman,
citizens of Bethlehem, could see Joseph and
Mary yesterday evening and say: There is no
room, I cannot take you in.
And all people of all ages can say to the
word that has become flesh: I will not take
you in, there is no room.
The world was made through him, but the
world received him not. Why is the day of
the birth of God the day of the
non-acceptance of God by man?
Let us bring the mystery of Christ’s birth
down to the level of human hearts: “He
came among his own people.”
Let us think of those who closed the inner
door to him, and let us ask: Why?
There are many, so very many possible
replies, objections, reasons.
Our human consciousness is unable to
grasp them. It does not feel able to judge.
Only the all-knowing one gazes into the
depths of the heart and conscience of every
human being. Only he. And only he, the one
who is eternally born, only the Son. For
“the Father . . . has given all judgment to the
Son” (John 5:22).
We human beings, as we bow once more
before the mystery of Bethlehem, can only
think with sorrow of how much the people
of the “city of David” have lost, because
they did not open the door.
How much every human being loses when
he or she does not let Christ, “the true light
that enlightens every man” (John 1:9), come
to birth beneath the roof of his or her heart.
How much a human being loses when he
or she does not meet him, and does not see
in him the Father. For God revealed himself
in Christ to man as the Father.
And how much does a human being lose
when he or she does not see in him his or her
own humanity. For Christ came into the
world to reveal man fully to himself and to
make known to him his lofty vocation (cf.
“Gaudium et Spes,” no. 22).
“To all who received him... he gave
power to become children of God” (John
1:12).
At the solemnity of Christmas there is
also born a fervent wish and desire, a humble
prayer; that the people of our century may
accept Christ.
- The people of the different countries
and continents, of the different languages,
cultures and civilizations;
That they may accept him,
- That they may find him again;
- That they may be given the power,
which comes only from him, because it is
only in him.
We cry out to governments, to heads of
state, to systems and societies that
everywhere the principle of religious liberty
may be respected; that people, by reason of
their faith in Christ, may not be
discriminated against, subjected to prejudice,
deprived of the fruits of their merits as
citizens; that the members of Christian
communities may not lack pastors, places of
worship; that they may not be intimidated,
put in prison, condemned, that the Catholics
of the church in the East may enjoy the
same rights as their brothers and sisters in
the church of the West.
We cry out that Christ may have a place in
the whole vast Bethlehem of the modern
world; that the right of citizenship may be
given to him who came into the time of
Caesar Augustus, when the census was
decreed.
May all those who together with me feel
how great an evil it is for people to trample
on the rights of their consciences and of
religious liberty make this cry their own.
“There was no room for them at the inn.”
The world that does not accept God
ceases to be hospitable to people.
Are we not disturbed by the image of
such a world - the world which, in the name
of various interests - economic, imperialistic
and strategic - drives whole multitudes of
people from their work, locks them up in
concentration camps, deprives them of the
right of having a homeland, condemns them
to hunger, makes them slaves?
Could God, who became man, have come
into the world differently from the way in
which he did come? Could there have been
room for him at the inn? Did he not “have
to” be, from the beginning, with those for
whom there is no room?
Yes, dear brothers and sisters, we
rediscover the true joy of Christmas.
Another sort of joy would not be true. It
would not be universal. It would not speak
to each and every one: Emmanuel -- God is
with us.
Although the world does not know him -
he is.
Although his own receive him not - he
comes.
Although there is no room at the inn - he
is born.
This joy of God’s birth I wish to share
today with the city and the world, as I greet
in the different languages all those for whom
the word has become flesh. nc
To the Editor:
In the Thursday, November 26 issue of
the Georgia Bulletin, the front page carried
an article entitled CONSECRATION:
Change omits the word “Men.” Quoting
from this article . . . “U.S. Bishops received
surprise notice Nov. 17 that Pope John Paul
II has confirmed their request to omit the
word “men” from the words of
Consecration. The words of Consecration in
all eucharistic prayers used in the Mass now
will read “ ... for you and for all so that
sins may be forgiven ...” instead of
“ . . . for you and for all men . . . ”.
Your article states, that Archbishop John
R. Roach, president of the National
Conference of Catholic Bishops said
“ . . . the change would be implemented
immediately in all of the U.S. dioceses.”
Will you kindly enlighten me as to
whether or not this change is being
implemented in the Atlanta
Archdiocese? ... To this date I have seen no
change in the terminology. Should I
conclude that this change is optional and at
the discretion of the priest/celebrant?
Truly, our language does reflect our
innermost disposition. While we may be
unable to eradicate racism, sexism, and
exclusivism in our rituals, liturgies, hymnals,
etc. overnight, shouldn’t we make a start in
that direction? Do not liturgy committees
and the clergy have a special responsibility
to give leadership to such an effort so that
we can “clean up our act.” . . .
Irma Matson
Dunwoody
To the Editor:
I was annoyed but hardly amazed to read
that the bishops of the Latin Rite have told
the Vatican that there is little support in
their dioceses for the Latin Mass. Apparently
they reached this conclusion on the basis of
the few requests that they receive for Latin
Masses today.
I do not recall ever having heard any of
my acquaintances express a desire for a
vernacular Mass prior to Vatican II. Since I
was a student in a Catholic high school
during the Council, and youth are usually
the first to call for change, it seems safe to
assume that older Catholics had no such
preferences either and that the bishops
received few requests for Mass in the
vernacular in those days. However, by some
mysterious process they divined that the
people were dissatisfied with the Tridentine
Latin Mass and imposed the vernacular Mass
upon us.
If the bishops responding to the survey
really wanted to know how people felt
about the matter, why didn’t they either
offer the option of a Latin Mass in their
dioceses or commission a poll? It is not
surprising that they receive few requests for
the Latin Mass, since traditionalists long ago
found that the bishops’ attitude was one of
complete indifference if not antagonism,
leaving them with four options:
1) tolerate the new Mass;
2) attend Eastern Rite churches;
3) attend Masses celebrated by followers
of Archbishop Lefebvre;
4) don’t attend church at all.
I have numerous friends and relatives in
each of the above categories and feel certain
that I am not unusual in this regard ....
. . . Most of the people I know who
prefer the Latin Mass are not asking that the
vernacular Mass be banned, but that the
bishops allow the option of the Latin,
preferably Tridentine, Mass.
We have children’s Masses, folk Masses,
clown Masses, etc., so why will the bishops
not allow the Latin Mass for those who
prefer it? The worst that could happen
would be that they were poorly attended;
the best is that some of the disaffected and
disenchanted Catholics that they have been
trying to reach might begin attending Mass
again.
Nora Sullivan
Atlanta
To the Editor:
For some time I have been at the verge of
writing to you to express my deep
discontent about the printing of some
articles in your newspaper. For some time
the Georgia Bulletin has been voicing
opinions belonging to different individuals
against the military help that the United
States has been giving to El Salvador . . .
The article that triggered my present
letter is the article written by Gretchen
Keiser in your Dec. 10 issue. According to
this article “the American conscience was
moved by the killing of the Maryknoll
nuns.” In other words, we should not help
an anti-Communist government because
several nuns were killed. Furthermore, we
should allow troops armed by the Soviet
Union through Cuba to take over and form
another Communist dictatorship in Latin
America. For a Communist who pursues the
takeover of the entire world that would be
ideal. But we are not Communist, are we?
Why then should we help their cause by
printing articles that will confuse the people
who read it, who do not know the first thing
about who is in El Salvador and what
communism is? . . .
If the government in El Salvador is
overthrown, who do you think will take
over? Take a guess, but before doing that,
see what happened in Cuba, Nicaragua, Viet
Nam (South), Laos, Cambodia. Those are
countries who a very short time ago were
free. When I say free, I mean (people) could
travel freely according to (their) needs or
desires. All of them went through the same
process that El Salvador is going through
now. None of them achieved their goals or at
least the goals that those who defended the
revolutionary forces said they would ...
Do we have freedom as God gave us in
Cuba, Hungary, Czechoslovakia, East
Germany with the wall, Poland, where
workers are fighting for freedom and being
crushed by the state? That is exactly the
freedom that El Salvador will obtain from
those forces that some of the clergy are
assuring everyone through the mass media
are the defenders of the people . . .
Our beloved Pope John Paul II has
cautioned the church to stay away from ,
getting involved in political struggle,
especially in Latin America. Unfortunately,
his request has not been followed by a group
of priests who believe otherwise. They keep
on urging the unilateral disarmament of the
United States, and the curtailment of the
arms shipments to El Salvador. Sister Lupo
seems to fall into this group ...
I wish to remind you that the greatest
enemy we can encounter is communism;
some call it socialism, some call it
nationalism, but in reality it is the
anti-Christ.
Ramon Garcia
Atlanta
Df.
jeKnym
Catholic Archdiocese of Atlanta
(USPS) 5 74 ISO)
Most Rev. Thomas A. Donnelian - Publisher
Rev. Monsignor Noel C. Burtenshaw — Editor
Gretchen R. Keiser - Associate Editor
Thea K. Jarvis - Contributing Editor
Member of the Catholic Press Association
Business Office
680 West Peachtree, N. W.
Atlanta, Georgia 30308
Telephone 881 -9732
U.S.A. $8.00
Canada $8.50
Foreign $1 0.00
DEADLINE: All material for publication must be received by MONDAY
NOON for Thursday's paper.
Postmaster: Send POD Form 3579 to THE GEORGIA BULLETIN
€01 East Sixth Street, Waynesboro, Georgia 30830
Send all editorial correspondence to: THE GEORGIA BULLETIN
680 West Peachtree Street N.W.
Atlanta, Georgia 30308
Second Class Postage Paid at Waynesboro, Ga. 30830
Published Weekly except the second and last weeks
In June, July and August and the last week in December
at €01 Cast Sixth St., Waynesboro. Ga. 30830