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THE ANCHOR-Diocese of Fall River-Thurs., July 9, 1964
Helping Hand
To End Divisions
EII,"~do.
. .After a year of argument and debate, the civil rights bIll IS now law. Its passage should be received with neither wild claims of victory nor with bitter' threats of defiance but as a measure that is morally right and the present la~ of the ·land. As President Johnso.n said at its signing, the purpose of the law is "not to divide but to end divisions ..• and to promote a more constant pursuit of justice and a deeper respect for human dignity." . A two-fold burden' has been placed on the nation by .this law: its provisionsnius-t be adhered to in every part of the land no matter how unpalatable this may be in certain areas of the nation; and-the advocates of civil rights must be gracious and patient in the working out of the law. Negro leaders are well aware that this is a crucial m0It:1ent in their long and righteous struggle. The principles of Christian charity and" reasonableness must not give way in this hour to a sense of power at seeing the hopes and dreams of a- hundred years come to realization. As the Trappist monk Thom~s Merton .has ·written: "It is ... possible that as the . movement ga:ins in power; the reasonableness and the Chris tian fervor ... will recede into the background and the move ment will become more, and more an unreasoning and intransigent mass movement dedicated to the conquest of sheer po~er, more and more inclined to violence." _ A striking aspect of. the long, slow, tedious climb ~ this hour has be.en the Negro's Christian charity and hope, his. truly Chr.ist-like patience and long-suffering in the face .of daily persecution. These qualities have enhanced his image and made his struggle a work of nobility and not of mere power. These qualities must be as much in evidence now and in the. future as they have been in the past. The erstwhile proponents of segregation must follow the law of God a~d the law of -the land. They must be helped to do this by all civil rights supporters. This. is _the hour for all men to end divisions audto go forward.in the .pursuit of justice and the deeper respect for human dignity that is the goal -of each individual and of. the natfon. . The lliw is clear-cut. It· remains' now for all men of good-will to put aside prejudices-arid pettiness and to make the law'work to end divisions and-to bring about the equality . that is before God and must exist among' men, an equality not. of talents . but of dignity and worth. -
There Ought To ·Be A phrase that comes to mind ·from .time to time is the one, There ought to be a law. Certainly such a thought came to many who read of the· indifference of. neighbors to the eries for help of a young woman being pursued and killed . . a while ago in New York City. As a matter of fa~t, many' of the countries of Europe have laws punishing the inaction of citizens 'who witness the mortal danger of another and do nothing to help. It seems strange that people have to be coerced into decency and concern for the commOn good. But perhaps there is no other approach that will work. . " The countries of Europe having s'uch a measure are countries with a strong Christian culture. A basic tenet of Christianity is love of neighbor and a legitimate concern with his welfare, physical as well as spiritual. And so a citizen who sees a neighbor in dire need and does nothing to help when he could act without serious difficulty is going against the whole fabric of Christianity and is endangering the spirit of family concern that each p~rson should have for every other person. . It would seem an ill day when Americans must be reminded of the basic decencies by the existence of laws threatening with sanctions their refu,sal to aid those in pressing need. But if men look with indifference upon the moral danger of others, more and more people are going to be repelled by such callousness and begin saying, There ought to be a law. .
PAVU
REV. JAMES A. CLARK.
Assistant Director
Latin· American Bureau, NCWC
Crowded Cali In 1900 Cali, Colombia had 18,000 people. Today it hal 900,000. This incredible g.rowth has oomplicated tbe problems of the' Church. Bishop Uribe 'of Cali, seeint flle problem de- . eided tlhat .he had to provide . parish services if he was to keep these' pe0 ple in the' Church.' He funds 10 eaUy . and - put a belt of 27 par.ish centers ;jll"Ound the city•. Through these the priest of the pari9h was- able to be among his people and keep tlhem close to the Church through these lay eott<luoted PM ish centers. When people lived in the high mountains they· could go to tIhe - Church, and even' though they , .Often lacked a priest they could
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By REV. ROBERT W. HOVDA. Catholie University ..,
•
TODAY-Mass as on Sunday. IE. this not why we gather to gether,. at least every Sunday, ourselves, our works, our con tribution to the huma" enter pldse and to man's dominion over the world, and with' gifts of bJ:'ead and. wine gain for them in Gospel-dE,ed (we call it "sacra ment") a meaning and a value they could not alone possess? . TQMOltROW - Seven Holy Brothers,· Martyrs, SS. Rufina
and Secunda, Virgins, Martyrs. "If anyone does the will of my F;a:ther who is in heaven, he is my brother, and sister, and mother" (Gospel). Communion with Christ, identification with Christ, is the Father's will. He pointed to His disciples (Gospel), and all men are called to be His disciples. All are called to accept this relationship in faith, to be brother, sister, mother to the Savior of mankind. No accident of histor~' or of birth is a re quiremen'; for the life and fruit fulness pJ:omised by His resur rE!ction. MASS OF ST. MARY ON SATURDAY - Today's Gospel
te'aches the same lesson. Not even Mary's· exalted position and her gifts are to be envied by the perso:n. who hears the word of God and keeps it. The community of faith offers perfect happiness to the human perSQn, and in its ultimate con summation there is no want, and therefore no jealousies and no unfavorable comparisons. Mary is venerated as one who shows Ull what we can attain in Christ and through him.
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Sometimes we get so involved in thi:! fine points of religion' and religious practice that we al- . most forget the great truth of God's love for man and the des tiny of - perfect happiness to which He invites us. The sacri ficial meal of the Mass is a fore taste, a sign, a pledge of heaven . where God feeds us no longer thro.ugh s!mbols but wit h
str~lght, direct, :unclouded ex-
penence.
MONDAY-Mass as on Sun day. The Gospel teaches that the view of life which appears to UIS in our celebration of Mass must be. the integrating factor in all of our planning, all of our pro vision for the future. It should give wholeness, sense, meaning to our activities and our expe riences. It should· tie together the loose threads of our lives. Our evil deeds as well as our good deeds have a' place in this view, because it is only in such a picture that our wrongdoing is clearly seen as sin. We are stewards, caretakers, managers of much more than our material possessions-of the whole direc-
tion of our lives, as well.
TUESDAY - St. Bonaventure, Bishop, Doctor. A great teacher in the Church who fulfills the task described in today's Epistle and Gospel is always a model of, as well as an instructor in, the life of integrity, wholeness. The light of his life is no less impor tant than the salt of his teaching. Both, EntranCe and Gradual Hymns speak of wisdom, a gift much more valuable than knowl-/ edge alone. If we get out of it wha,t we should, our public wor ship makes us wise, because it helps us see· the relationships EIGHTH SUNDAY AFT E R between things, helps us put PENTECOST. .We Christians have a view of life, an over-all things together. WEDNESDAY - St. Henry,
vi.ew of the basic meaning of human E~xistence, which our Confessor. The wisdom, which
regularly confesses and keeps a Christian view of life as
OFFICIAL NEWSPAPER OF THE DIOCESE OF FALL RIVER worship over-all master of every situa
builds up and recallll to forgettion requires constant alertness, Published weekly by The Catholic Press of the Diocese of Fall River 'ful minds. So we sing in today's Ent.rance watchfulness (Gospel).
410 Highland Avenue
H y m n : "Gathered together, It ilS always easier just to let
Fall River, Mass. . OSborne 5-7151
L,()rd, wi1:hin your temple, we things happen and to coast along
PUBLISHER
cherish the thought of your . wIthout the effort to relate
Most Rev. James L. Connolly, D.O., PhD.
lEwing-kindness." For our view· things and to shape our lives.
of life grows from our knowl That is why the First Reading is
ASST. GENERAL MANAGER GENERAL MANAGER edge of 1he loving-kindness of SQ unstinting in its praise of the
Rt. Rev. Daniel F. Shalloo, M.A. Rev. John P. Driscoll God as He has manifested it in man who achieves a certain in
MANAGING EDITOR
-tegrity and is not deflected
those saving deeds of His, re eorded in the books of the Bible. from a clear aim.
Hugh J. Golden
f
@rh~ANCHOR
'provide SQme religioUs ceremOny 'for themselves. 'I'hrown into the eity and faced with the probl~ of survival they tended to wall del' from the Churclh's influen~. The morality of the city is so unlike their mountain existe~ that they are overWhelmed' and otten fall needlessly into sin and its consequent degradation.Layman HaS ~nswer -' Bishop Uribe thus .emnloy.-ed the famed catheC'his~ systeJ]1 -ill the city. Until now the arrange ment of having a "village ~,te chist" or religious leader, hQd been confined to the vast terri tories of 'the mountains. Now the Bishop has successfully transfer red this project te the cities. Another answer .to the short age of priests is tc> give a parish til the care of Nuns.. In Brazil several parishes have been tran sferred to the Nuns for every thing except the sacramental services reserved to the priests. This however can never be more than a partial answer, for in the planable future there is no sign of sufficient Sisters to be able to staff the many priest Jacking parishes. The answer then can only be the layman. Can this be why the Latin American Bishops at the Ecumenical Councll were eager to ga.,in approyal of a married diaeonate or at least a sharing of some priestly functions with the J.aity. Seeks New Solution In many sections of the LatiJl world the laity are much more engaged in Church activities than they are in other parts of the world. They conduct: semin aries, they run the bishop's dio cesan, programs and Catholie Action in its teclmical sense' is strong in many parts of Latin America. Now we hear that they are staffing the parish centers. Stunned by the staggerin. problems of modern Latin Amer ica, the Church is seeking new solutions. Overcrowding of cn ies, masses of poor, fantast:ie birth rates, unstable govern ments, concentration of wealth, lack of industrialization, fluct uating economies, lack of relig ious personnel, hunger, unsanlj tary living situations-the prob lems are seemingly endless. We know the Ohurch cannot do it alone. Can you help?