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About The Georgia bulletin (Atlanta) 1963-current | View Entire Issue (Jan. 19, 1989)
U.S. Hispanic Bishops PAGE 5 — The Georgia Bulletin, January 19, 1989 Joy, Courage And Hope WASHINGTON (NC) — Here is the text of “Joy, Courage and Hope," a statement by the U.S. Hispanic bishops releas ed in Washington Dec. 8. We, the Hispanic bishops of the United States, rejoice with the entire church in our country as we celebrate for the first time nationally the feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe. Until now the feast has been observed in some places. Now and in the future, the feast is to be celebrated in every diocese of our country, from North to South, from East to West. Welcome Diversity The obligation to accept and defend diversity belongs not only to the state and to the groups themselves. Every individual, as a member of the one human family, ought to understand and respect the value of human diversity and direct it to the common good. A mind that is open and desirous of knowing bet ter the cultural heritage of the minority groups with which it comes into contact will help to eliminate at titudes of prejudice which hinder healthy social rela tions. This is a process which has to be continousty fostered, since such attitudes tend to reappear time and again under new forms. Excerpt from the World Peace Day message of Pope John Paul II titled “To Build Peace, Respect Minorities." World Peace Day was Jan. I. We rejoice because we are convinced that much of the pro gress made and the accomplishments realized over the last few years are due to the intercession of Our Lady of Guadalupe^ Five years ago, the National Conference of Catholic Bishops convoked the Tercer Encuentro Nacional Hispano de Pastoral. In the pastoral letter convoking the encuentro, the bishops of the United States invited Hispanics in the country to join us in a process of prayerful reflection on the Hispanic presence in the Catholic Church that we serve. We called for a pastoral plan for Hispanic ministry, a plan that would allow our faith and culture to enrich the local church. That pastoral plan (National Pastoral Plan for Hispanic Ministry) was approved by the NCCB one year ago. At the same time, the NCCB's Ad Hoc Committee for Hispanic Af fairs was made a permanent committee of the conference. The Hispanic Catholic in our country, representing at least 25 percent of the church in the United States, has made great strides toward being a vital part of the church on the national level. Joyfully, we celebrate these accomplishments and we urge that the pastoral plan now be utilized courageously to ad dress the realities that challenge us today: — Proselytism, which alienates our people from our ^cultural tradition and faith, and confuses and divides families and communities. — Disintegration of families, which implies divorce and single-parent families. — Drugs, which threaten health and social stability, a vehi cle which leads toward violence and crime. — HIV virus (AIDS) which touches the lives of a significant percentage of the Hispanic community. — Immigration laws, which continue to cause many Hispanics to live in the shadows of society. — School drop-outs, a subculture producing youth with no future. In spite of these realities, we look to the future with great hope. Conscious of the fact that in unity there is strength, we know that, together, we will be able to confront the problems and more effectively begin to address them. A new evangelization and a practical and vibrant catechesis are the basis of the pastoral plan. The representative of the Holy Father in our country, Archbishop Pio Laghi, addressed the bishops of the United States on the reality of the Hispanic presence (Nov. 14,1988). In his address, he spoke of the importance of incorporating the Hispanic people in the life of the local church; and of the importance of inculturating the minister and the local church in our Hispanic life. He spoke also of the need to proclaim the Gospel of Jesus Christ, with more clarity and enthusiasm, promoting greater devotion and commitment to him and his church. This challenges us, in accordance with the pastoral plan, to encourage the formation of more programs of religious education and the Bible, the sacraments and church teachings in order to strengthen even more our faith and culture. The Hispanic presence is an inescapable reality in our country. It is not a thing of the future. Many cultures have already contributed to the mosaic that is the American culture. At this time, the Hispanic culture is being incor porated into that mosaic. We bring into the mosaic our religious traditions and our human values. May the inclusion of the feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe, Mother of the Americas, in the liturgical calender of our coun try be a sign of the full integration of our Hispanic people in the church and in society in the United States. Father Louis Naughton A Decision Of God Alone Christopher Nolan was 11 years old before anybody knew he could write. Born in Mullingar, in Ireland, on Sept. 6, 1965, his was a difficult birth and delivery was by Caesarean sec tion. It soon became evident that he had been severely brain damaged as a result of asphyxiation. Because of this his body was left as an incomplete “jigsaw with useless limbs, uncoordinated movements and a voice that is generally in coherent.” (Marjorie Wallace’s introduction to Nolan’s Dam- Burst of Dreams). In August, 1977, with the application of the drug, Lioresal, the muscles of his neck were relaxed sufficiently to permit partial control of his head for short periods of time. This even tually enabled him to communicate through writing, first with an electric typewriter and later with a word processor with which he was able to make contact by means of a unicorn-like stick fitted to his forehead. Prior to this, his main means of communication was through eye movements which his parents and his sister were able to interpret. Today, Christopher is regarded as an outstanding writer whose literary skills have been compared with pre-eminent figures such as Yeats and Joyce. He has won distinctions in Britain on at least three separate occasions. During the Inter national Year of Disabled Persons (1981) he was nominated for a “People of the Year” award in Ireland. Although only 16 years of age he was cited for having made “an outstanding contribution to sbciety in Ireland.” In the course of his ad dress, typed by him and delivered by his mother in his presence to a distinguished audience representing the most influential leadership of Ireland, Christopher delivered a most moving reflection, one of particular relevance with regard to respect for human life. He said: A brain-damaged baby cannot ponder why a mother cannot communicate with it, and unless it gains paren tal love and stimulation it stymies, and thus retardation fulsomely establishes its soul destroying seabed. (As described in his autobiography Under the Eye of the Clock) he continues: “Conscious of the breathtaking sacrifice involved in what his family did for him, yet he detected where destiny beckoned. The future for babies like him never looked more promising, but now society frowned upon giving spastic babies the right to life. Now they threatened to abort babies like him, to detect in advance their handicapped state, to burrow through the womb and label them for death, to baffle their mothers with fear for their com Commentary ing, and yet, the spastic baby would ever be the soul which would never kill, maim, creed falsehood or hate brotherhood. Why then does society fear the crippled child, wondered Christopher out loud, and why does it hail the able-bodied child and crow over what may in time become a potential ex ecutioner?” In a word, gifted people like Christopher Nolan demonstrate for us that no one apart from God is capable of discerning the full dimensions of how wholesomely unique the potential of any particular person may be. An obvious lesson for all of us is that nobody should ever presume other wise. Would that those who for whatever reason opt for ter minating human life at whatever stage of its existence would learn from people like Christopher Nolan and leave to God, to Whom alone it belongs, the decision with regard to when the earthly phase of human existence should come to an end. (Christopher Nolan’s life story Under the Eye of the Clock was firs! published in 1987. A collection of his writings was first published under the title Dam-Burst of Dreams in 1981.) Father Louis Naughton is on the staff of the Metropolitan Tribunal. Kathryn R. Byrne God Gave Us His Mother I recently read an article about a non-religious commune which began about 10 years ago. The original intent of the ar rangement was to have everyone living together, working together, and supporting each other as one huge family. The children would be raised by everyone in the community, and wouldn’t even need to know their birth parents. Although the commune still exists, the idea of all members raising the children was a complete failure. It seemed that no one was willing to spend the energy and time necessary to bring up the children except their parents. No one but the father and mother wanted to change diapers, walk teething babies at night, pamper sicknesses, and do all of the other nitty-gritty things that children require. So this “ideal” philosophy was scratched from the books, and the children were given back to their parents. This simple illustration can enlighten us to the importance of devotion to the Mother of God whose feast day was Jan. 1. Within His perfect plan of salvation, God wanted a woman who would be willing to take on the day-to-day tasks of rais ing Jesus, God Incarnate, and then us, His People, His Church. She would have to have such trust in God as to be willing to say “yes” in spite of many obstacles. He thus created someone specifically for this purpose. He created Mary. Conceived without sin and full of grace, Mary knew in timacy with God throughout her life. This intimacy gave her the strength that she needed to give in willingly and joyfully to God’s plan. And Mary’s work continues today. Each time a new soul is baptized into the Body of Christ, Mary again says “yes” to God. She gives her full consent to raise and nurture us, to give totally of herself, to do whatever it takes to bring us into oneness with her God and ours. I have sometimes heard it said that devotion to God’s Mother would lessen our devotion to God, that looking to her would turn our focus away from God. But would a little girl’s love for her mother weaken her love for her dad? Doesn’t a young boy love both of his parents? Just as we were conceiv ed of two parents on earth, so God planned that we have both a Mother and a Father in heaven. It is His desire that we look to Mary as Mother, and obey her as His Son did. We, for our part, could make our Mother’s job easier. We could respond to her total dedication of love with devotion and gratefulness. We could place our hand in hers and allow her to guide us toward the light of Christ. After all, who else but our Parents are willing to spend so much time and energy in raising us? Kathryn Byrne is a member of Corpus Christi parish in Stone Mountain.
