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PAGE 9 — The Georgia Bulletin, March 1, 1990
Lenten Message
Show Open Mind,
WASHINGTON (CNS) — Here is the text of Pope John
Paul II’s Lent 1990 message.
Dear brothers and sisters in Christ,
1. Each year the approach of Lent affords me the oppor
tunity to invite you to make good use of this favorable mo
ment, this “day of salvation’’ (cf. 2 Cor 6:2). so that it may
be lived intensely both as a time of conversion to God and of
love for our brothers and sisters. Lent calls us to a complete
change of mind and heart in order that we may hear the
Lord’s voice inviting us to turn to him in newness of life and
to make ourselves ever more sensitive to the sufferings of
those around us.
This year, I wish to emphasize the problem of refugees
and make it the subject of our common reflection. The enor
mous and increasing flow of refugees is a painful reality
which no longer touches only certain regions of the world,
but extends to every continent.
As people without a homeland, refugees seek a welcome
in other countries of the world, which is our common home.
Only a few of them are allowed to re-enter their countries of
origin because of changed circumstances within those
countries. For the rest, the very painful experience of
flight, insecurity and an anxious search for an appropriate
place to settle continues. Among them are children, women
— some of them widows — families that often are split
apart, young people whose hopes have been frustrated, and
adults uprooted from their work and deprived of all their
material possessions, their house and their homeland
2 Considering the extent and the seriousness of the prob
lem. all the church’s members must be sensitive to this
appeal, inasmuch as they are followers of Jesus — who
himself experienced the condition of a refugee — and
bearers of the Good News. Christ himself, in the moving
Gospel passage read in the Latin church on Monday of the
Mass Schedule
For Commuters
To help those who commute to work and who would like to
go to weekday Mass, the Georgia Bulletin has compiled the
following Monday-Friday Mass schedules from parishes
that are centrally located or are accessible from major
thoroughfares. Numbers correspond to those on the
diagram.
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1. Shrine of the Immaculate Conception, downtown Atlanta, 12:10 p.m. daily.
2. Sacred Heart, downtown Atlanta, 12:10 p.m. daily.
3. Catholic Center, midtown Atlanta. 12 noon daily.
4. Cathedral of Christ the King, Buckhead. 6:45 a.m. daily.
5. Immaculate Heart of Mary, northeast Atlanta off 1-85,6:30 a.m. daily.
6. St. Thomas More, Decatur on Ponce de Leon, 7:30 a.m. Tuesday, and
Thursday; 12:15 p.m. Monday, Wednesday and Friday; 5:30 p.m. daily.
7. Monastery of the Holy Spirit, Conyers off 1-20 E. 7 a.m. daily.
8. St. John the Evangelist, Hapeville off 1-75 S. 7 a.m. daily except Wednes
day.
9. Holy Family, Marietta off 1-75 N. 6:45 p.m. daily except Friday.
10. St. Thomas Aquinas, Alpharetta, 6:30 a.m. daily.
11. St. Jude the Apostle, Sandy Springs off Ga. 400, 7:30 a.m.. 6 p.m. daily.
12. St. Patrick’s, Norcross of 1-85 N., 6:45 a.m. Monday and Friday.
13. St. Joseph's, Athens, 7:30 a.m. daily except Friday.
14. St. Mary's Hospital Chapel. Athens. 5:15 p.m. daily.
Warm Heart To Refugees, Pope Asks
first week of Lent, wishes to be identified and recognized in
every refugee: “1 was a stranger and you welcomed me ... I
was a stranger and you did not welcome me’ ’ (Mt 25:35,43).
These words of Christ must lead us to a careful examina
tion of conscience with regard to our attitude toward exiles
and refugees. We find them every day in so many of our
parishes. In fact, for many of us they have become next-
door neighbors who are in need of charity, justice and
solidarity from all Christians.
3. For this reason, I address to you, the individual
members and communities of the Catholic Church, this
urgent lenten exhortation: Seek to help our brother and
sister refugees in every possible way by providing a
welcome that will lead to their full participation in the
everyday life of society. Show them an open mind and a
warm heart.
Concern for refugees must lead us to reaffirm and
highlight universally recognized human rights, and to ask
that the effective recognition of these rights be guaranteed
to refugees. For the presentation, on June 3. 1986. of the
John XXIII International Peace Prize to Thailand’s
Catholic Office for Emergency Relief and Refugees. I
recalled that already in the encyclical letter "Pacem in
Terris" Pope John had emphasized the urgent need to
recognize the rights of refugees precisely because they are
persons. I stated that “it is our obligation always to
guarantee these inalienable rights, which are inherent in
every human being and do not depend on prevailing condi
tions or socio-political situations” ("Insegnamenti" IX. I,
1986. p. 1751). Thus it is a matter of guaranteeing to
refugees the right to establish a family or to be reunited
with their families; to have a stable, dignified occupation
and a just wage; to live in dwellings fit for human beings; to
receive adequate education for their children and young
people, as well as adequate health care — in a word, all
those rights solemnly sanctioned since 1951 in the Conven
tion of the United Nations on the Statute for Refugees, and
confirmed in the 1967 protocol on the same statute.
4.1 am well aware that in the face of this grave problem,
international organizations, Catholic organizations and
movements of various types have worked intensely, with
the support and collaboration of many people, to provide
adequate social programs. I thank them and encourage
them to show even greater concern, since it is clear that
although much has been done, it is still not enough. The
number of refugees is growing, and the resources for
receiving and assisting them often prove to be inadequate.
Our first commitment should be to take part in charitable
initiatives, to animate and support them through our
testimony of love, so that in every country they may have
an impact on the processes of educating children and young
people in particular, in mutual respect, tolerance and a
spirit of service at every level, both in private and public
life. In this way many problems will be more easily over
come.
5. I also address myself to you, my dear brothers and
sisters who are refugees: live united in your faith in God, in
mutual charity and in undaunted hope. All the world knows
your problems. And the church is near to you with the help
that her members are working to provide, even though they
realize that it is insufficient. In order to alleviate your suf
ferings, good will and understanding on your part are also
D.C. March Recalls
The 10th anniversary of the assassination of Archbishop
Oscar Romero in San Salvador will be commemorated
Saturday, March 24 with a rally and march-in Washington,
D.C.
A national interfaith service of prayer and reflection will
be held Sunday, March 25. at 7 p.m. at New York Avenue
Presbyterian Church, in the nation’s capital. Homilist will
be Father Cesar Jeres, SJ, church rector of the Central
American University in Managua, Nicaragua.
Pax Christi/USA will present petitions to President
George Bush. Signatures are being collected with ex
cerpts of the letter sent by Archbishop Romero to President
Jimmy Carter on Feb. 17,1980, asking that U.S. military aid
to El Salvador be stopped.
According to a release from Pax Christi/USA, since that
letter was written the U.S. has sent four billion dollars in
military aid to El Salvador and 70,000 Salvadorans have lost
SHELTER — Cage-like quarters, three levels
high, hold Vietnamese boat people at a refugee
camp in Hong Kong. (CNS photo from KNA)
necessary. You are rich in your own civilization, culture,
traditions and human and spiritual values. From these you
can draw the ability and the strength to begin a new life. As
much as possible, you too must help and assist one another
in the places where you are temporarily being hosted.
We who are Catholics will accompany you and support
you on your way, as we recognize in each one of you the face
of Christ, the Exile and Refugee, who said: “Insofar as you
did it to one of the least of these brothers and sisters of
mine, you did it to me" (Mt 25:40).
6. At the beginning of Lent I invoke the fullness of grace
and light that flow from the redeeming mystery of the pas
sion and resurrection of Christ, so that every individual and
all ecclesial groups and religious communities within the
church may find the inspiration and energy needed for
practical works of solidarity on behalf of our brothers and
sisters who are exiles and refugees. In this way, comforted
by the loving support and interest of others, refugees may
recover joy and hope in order to continue along their dif
ficult path.
May my blessing bring forth an abundance of the Lord’s
gifts upon those who will respond to this pressing appeal.
From the Vatican, on 8 September 1989, the Feast of the
Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary.
JOHN PAUL II
Martyred Romero
their lives.
Pax Christi points out the 1989 murders of six
Jesuit priests and two of their lay co-workers on Nov. 16;
the incarceration of church-affiliated workers and the
desecration of a Catholic church on Nov. 17, are violations
of human and religious rights that the U.S. government
should not condone by continued funding of El Salvador
military forces.
The Atlanta Committee on Latin America has chartered
buses leaving Atlanta on Friday night, March 23, for
Washington and the march. The round trip cost is $65.
Anyone wishing more information can call (404) 377-1079.
Representing the Hispanic Apostolate at the march will
be Father Edward Salazar, SJ, vicar for Hispanics; Father
John Sweeney, SJ; Father Joseph Fahy, CssR; Father
Brian Pierce, OP, and members of the youth ministry. For
more details contact Father Pierce or Father Sweeney.