May 12, 1995

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news & Herald Volume 4 Number 35 » May

Serving Catholics in Western North Carolina in the Diocese of Charlotte

12,

1995

Archbishop Says Eucharist

Is

Immeasurable

Gift

FAYETTEVILLE (CNS) modern world's

lost sense

mately connected to a the Eucharist,

lost

— The

of sin

is inti-

reverence for

Denver Archbishop

J.

Francis Stafford said in an address to a

Diocese of Raleigh eucharistic congress. In his keynote speech during the congress April 28-29, Archbishop Stafford said solutions to the problems of a violent society must flow from a return to understanding and appreciation of sin and of the healing power of the Eucharist.

The congress capped the diocese's Year of the Eucharist, called by Bishop Joseph Gossman to refocus Catholics' and reverence for the real presence of Christ in the Eucharist. F.

attention to

The Eucharist

prize to us

is

Christ's "parting

the always present sacri-

fice of our salvation, capturing the cos-

mic meaning and focus of Calvary for all people of

all

time, including us," said

Bishop Gossman

in a

homily

at the

con-

gress. "It is a pledge of continuous real

presence and of future glory as well. It *is an immeasurable gift," he said. "One that we can never, ever adequately understand or appreciate. But God knows every one of us can increase our devotion, increase

Photos by Joann Keane

Teresa Chi performs a traditional Korean folk dance following the dedication of St. John Lee Korean Catholic Church on May 7. Bishop William G. Curlin presided at the dedication Mass, celebrating the completion of the Korean community-built church, named in honor of John Lee, a Korean saint. See photos, page 2.

Rosary Broadcast

Priest's First HOLLYWOOD

(CNS)

— Some-

where between World War II's European theater and its Pacific theater lie the origins of Holy Cross Father Patrick Peyton's Family Theater.

May

1945, when Father Peyton, then ordained only four It

all

started in

years, convinced the

ing Co. to give

him

Mutual Broadcast-

free time for a radio

rosary for family unity and world peace. It

was

to air

Mother's Day,

May

13,

1945.

Between the time the arrangements were made and the rosary was to air, Germany surrendered. President Truman declared May 8 as V-E Day and May 1 as a national

day of thanksgiving.

What was

originally considered a

Was 50

Albany, N.Y., and told the operator he wanted to speak to Bing Crosby in Hollywood. In less than an hour, during a break in filming "The Bells of St. Mary," Crosby returned the call of the priest he had never met and who had no show biz experience himself.

want you

do a favor for the Blessed Virgin Mary," Father Peyton said, telling Crosby his presence on the show would entice 10,000 families into "I

to

praying the rosary for family unity, a total end of the war and thanksgiving for the war's

end

in

wasn't the only one Father Peyton lined up in a hurry. Cardinal Francis Spellman

New York

gave a

talk,

Truman

of-

public service religious program at a

fered a recorded message and the Blessed

low-rated time slot

Sacrament Parish choir

10:30 a.m. Sunday morning soon became a program of major national importance.

Father Peyton asked Thomas Sullivan, his wife and their daughter, Genevieve, of Waterloo, Iowa, to lead the on-air rosary.

gained the nation lost their five

'

s

The Sullivans had sympathy when they

sons in a World

War

II

naval battle in the Pacific.

One Mutual employee jokingly told Father Peyton, "So you have the Sullivans. It's a wonder you don't get Bing."

The flip comment sparked an idea in the priest.

He

picked up his phone in

in

New York

sang.

More than 300 Mutual affiliates picked up the network feed. Several critics

who reviewed

the

Shirley Temple, Pat O'Brien, Ronald Reagan, Rosalind Russell, Gregory Peck, Jimmy Durante, Don Ameche and Natalie

Wood. Father Peyton also produced about 55 films and TV shows. Stars who appeared in them included Crosby, Miss Young, Frank Sinatra, Raymond Burr, William Shatner, Bob Newhart, James Dean in his film debut, and Grace Kelly later to become Princess Grace of

Monaco

in

what became her last three

films.

Before his death

Europe.

"You have me," Crosby said. Crosby

of

Years Ago

program called

in

1992

at

age 83,

more than 27 million people in rosary rallies in 40 counties on the priest

led

drawing 2 million people each in Sao Paulo, Brazil, and Manila. His billboard campaign, "The Family That Prays Together Stays Together," has appeared on more than 50,000 billboards in 134 cities in 37 states and has been seen an estimated 1 .4 billion times. six continents,

it

the best of the programs celebrating victory in Europe. It led to one of the longest running weekly dramatic series on radio, "Family Theater of the Air," which ran on Mutual 1947-69. Family Theater Productions was formed in Hollywood in

1947.

The radio dramas featured such stars Bob Hope, Loretta Young, Jimmy Stewart, Lucille Ball, JackBenny, as Crosby,

LEARNING UNO LOVING OUK UITH

IN

V

FUN WIT'

INSIDE!

our knowledge and in-

crease our love for this marvelous and great gift."

Archbishop Stafford said that in a world filled with conveniences and luxuries such as computers, CD players and 500-channel cable television, "our hearts want more than this. They're hungry for meaning." "I believe the signs of the times have some unique lessons to teach us about the relevance of the Eucharist; the real presence of Christ among us; and the urgency of returning to this sacrament as a way of recovering the soul of the modern world," said Archbishop Stafford, according to his prepared text.

He decried the rise of cults as part of the that

"new

face of American pluralism" encourages a "culture of disbelief

rise to those who believe they can "channel the voices of dead cave men" and that "certain rocks have a mysterious healing power."

and gives

"Our brains may reason God out of existence, but our hearts don' t listen," he said.

hearts instinctively know much more' to life than things we

"Our

there's

can see and touch. The material world, the world we can observe, is only one part of reality. We need to remember that logic and science are important tools for understanding the world around us. But they are limited tools and they are not the only tools." Archbishop Stafford listed a half dozen recent book titles such as The Physics of Immortality and The Rise of Neo-Biological Civilization, which he said argue that reality is much more subtle and complex than the scientific world has recognized. See Eucharist, Page 3


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May 12, 1995 by Catholic News Herald - Issuu