Texas Gulf Coast Catholic (Corpus Christi, Tex.), Vol. 11, No. 4, Ed. 1 Friday, June 18, 1976 Page: 2 of 6
This newspaper is part of the collection entitled: Texas Gulf Coast Register/South Texas Catholic and was provided to The Portal to Texas History by the UNT Libraries.
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Page 2
It’s up to you
EDITORIALS
By Marjorie Stuth, ACS'V
Famity, Marriage Therapist
MarjorieStuth,
I have written about
twenty articles. I have
shared my thoughts and
feelings, my attitudes
and opinions. I have
considered these
writings conversations
with you, private
comfortable sharings.
We have talked about
many things, many
aspects of life.
We talked about LISTENING: that we
cannot judge for someone else if something is
important or not, if he things it is, then it is. If
we do not listen to each other, we will feel
isolated. We will begin building a wall so we
will not get hurt. Slowly we will begin not to
care and meaningful communication will be
impossible.
We discussed arguing and being misun-
derstood. Often what we fight about is not
really the important issue; we get upset
because of what something MEANS to us. It
may seem very little to someone else, but it is
the value we place on what is happening that
matters.
Letting children express anger ap-
propriately was mentioned. Children have the
same feelings we do. Just because they are
physically little doesn’t mean their problems
are little. To them their problems are as
important as ours. Feelings are neither right
nor wrong, good nor bad, feelings are
responses to something that has happened
inside or outside of ourselves. 11 is important
to respond to life. Sometimes we use anger to
let others know that we have been hurt, that
we feel unloved. Sometimes it means we feel
unlovable.
We talked about being responsible for our
own feelings. Someone'W i not MAKE us feel
good or bad unless we are willing to accept
what he is saying. We will not feel free until
we are willing to control our own feelings.
We bring out the best in our children by
bringing out the best in ourselves. That does
not mean that we are totally responsible for
our children’s feelings and behavior, but it
means that we can help others mature by
being willing to continue to grow ourselves.
The effects that competition, criticism,
grades, fear of failure can have on children
were outlined. Education is beautiful. The
methods and attitudes sometimes found in
teachers and parents can be hurtful. We need
to think through our >alue system about how
and why children learn.
Using one’s authority role constructively is
important. If we decide to be a blaming,
criticizing person, we will meet resistance.
People will be angry. Everyone wants to be
an equal person.
Sometimes we begin self-defeating, self-
destructive behavior. We talked about the
negative cycle of trying to stop but not feeling
able to control ourselves. We need to un-
derstand how pressures, frustrations,
disappointments effect our behavior. We can
stop this cycle, although it is very hard to
change feelings. Sometimes we don’t change
because we settle for wanting and trying. We
never move to willing doing, so nothing
happens.
On a d eep level we must decide wha t we a re
going to get upset about, what we are going to
believe about ourselves, our purpose in life.
The problems we must face in life;
depression, failure, loneliness, death,
sickness demand that we become very sure
about our own beauty, our own uniqueness.
NOW I NEED SOMETHING FROM YOU.
Although I feel that all these conversations
have been about important things, I do not
know if you do. I want you to tell me what you
are interested in. What topics, what feelings,
what problems do you want to talk about. I
want you to tell me what you disagree with. It
is important that I continue to learn, to grow.
Thank you.
Call me. My office number is 854-3871. Write
me. Use this newspaper’s address or mine;
3206 Reid Drive, Corpu Christi, 78404.
Father of the family
By Dale Francis
Father’s Day was an
afterthought. Mother’s
Day came naturally.
Then someone — it may
have been a habadasher
or a manufacturer of
after-shave lotion —
said it didn’t seem right
to honor Mother and
ignore Father.
Dal* Francis People are sen-
timental about Mothers. They write poems
about them, sing songs about them. We don’t
hear much about Father Machree and nobody
spells out F-a-t-h-e-r in song. Gene Autry did
write a song about “That Silver-haired Daddy
of Mine” but you could tell, he always liked
Champion best.
As a father, I am not complaining. I am
simply noting a fact. It is a fact with which I
am both comfortable and in agreement
There is a special quality about the
relationship of a mother and child that
deserves the honor it receives.
But I would like to write about the father of
Capitol comments
Racial discrimination in
private schools is challenged
There is a case pending before the Supreme
Court of the United States the judgement of
which will determine whether or not private
schools in this country have the right to reject
non-white students. The test case originated
in 1972 when two Black students were refused
admission to all-White academies in the State
of Virginia.
Whatever the decision, it will not affect
Catholic elementary and secondary schools in
Texas. All of the nearly three hundred
Catholic schools in this state have open ad-
mission policies discriminating against
neither non-White nor non-Catholic students.
Indeed, legislation being proposed by a
coalition of non-public school proponents
including the Texas Association of Non-Public
Schools and the Texas Catholic Conference
for the next session d the Texas Legislature
which would provide for state funding of
secular textbooks to children in non-public
schools requires that each school receiving
the textbooks be in conformity with the Civil
Rights Act of 1964.
The fact that this lawsuit is before the
Supreme. Court poses a minor Public
Relations problem for all non-public schools,
even these that do not discriminate on the
basis of race, creed or national origin. Many
people, especially here in the South, associate
private or non-public schools with
segregationist academies. Proponents of
Catholic education in Texas can point with
pride to the fact that many Catholic schools
were integrated long before the public schools
in certain parts of the State.
But this Court test poses a serious far
reaching question. Are private schools quasi-
public institutions like restaurants and
motels? Extend the dilemma a bit further;
what about doctors’ and lawyers’ offices?
Should Black people or Brown people be
racially discriminated against there as well?
The tests of the Virginia private schools
segregationist policy is really academic. Any
educator knows that a child would not be
happy in an elementary or secondary school -
where lie or she is not welcome. It’s one thing
for an adult student to force admission to a
previously all-white college or university; it’s
another thing for an adolescent or pre-
adolescent child to force his or her way into a
hostile academic environment.
Here is one person’s opinion about this
situation. White racist academies in the South
or anywhere else are symptoms of a sickness
, in our society. (There are other symptoms as1
well: abortion, drugs, alcoholism, the ex:‘
ploitation of farm labor, etc.) IDEALLY OUR ;’i>.
’ SOCIETY SHOULD BE DEALING WITHw.
THE SICKNESS AS WELL AS THfl SYMP-
TOMS.,......
In complex problems like this the courts of
our land should provide the solution only
last resort. We can hope that people of good
will would be able to treat the sickeness in
society before it goes too far. Church people
should be in the forefront of that attempt.
Unfortunately some of the individuals who
operate these racist institutions are church
people. Hopefully Catholics and especially
Catholic church leaders are not among that
group.
© world
Faith in Money
by Arthur McNally, C.P.
1 am pleased that the Vatican has issued a declara-
tion on sexual ethics. The need of pastoral guidance
in this area is obvious. My only reservation about
the document is that the extensive attention that has
been showered on it by the media may confirm
some Catholics in an attitude which I think is still
prevalent: The conviction that the only serious way
you can get into trouble with God or the Church is
by sexual sins.
1 don’t believe that is true. In fact, in my judg-
ment, the greatest moral peril to American Catholics
lies not in their altitudes toward sex but in their al-
titudes toward money.
Few Catholics make a god of sex. Living in our
highly erotic culture, surrounded by ceaseless sexual
stimuli, and dealing wiiii a deep and unruiy human
instinct, we can hardly be surprised that Christian
charity is an enormous challenge for most of us.
But if we Fill, human weakness is usually a major
factor. I don't know any Catholics who pursue a life
of unbridled sexual pleasure on principle.
It isn't the Sixth and Ninth Commandments that
worry me. It is the First Commandment and how
we square fidelity to this commandment w'ith our at-
titude toward money. As I say. I don’t know any
Catholics w'ho are obsessed with a single-minded
pursuit of sexual pleasure. I don't know any Catho-
keen sense of ourselves as receivers, a growing expe-
rience of the truth that "every good and perfect gift
comes from the Father." Then, out of the abundant
gratitude that Hows from this awareness, we are
meant to be cheerful and generous givers.
If money replaces God as the source of our hap-
piness and the power in which we place our trust,
the equation changes radically. The goal becomes
not to receive from God, the rock of our salvation,
but to gel a piece of the rock, to get our share of
the money—the larges! share possible. And when
money becomes our god. the second purpose in life
js not to give but to consume. That, it seems to me,
is mostly how- society at large views us: not as
Christians but as consumers. When it comes to be
the way wc view' ourselves, we have become Con-
sumers (with a capital C).
Baptism, in this context, is employment-having a
job. That is what makes us belong. And the greatest
shame that’ can befall us is to be unemployed. It
curtails the whole purpose of life: to gel money so
that we can buy and consume material goods. No
wonder so many of us die soon after retirement,
fhe whole purpose and meaning of life has dis-
appeared.
The outcasts of our society are not the prostitutes
and tax-collectors. They earn wages. The true out-
casts are the blacks and Puerto Ricans on welfare.
But maybe, given the opportunity. Jesus would say
‘Our greatest moral peril lies not in our attitude
toward sex, but in our attitude toward money’
;?
L
lies who believe that sex is the answer to all their
problems. But I'm not so confident I can say the
same thing with regard to money. A good case
could be made for the thesis that money is the god
of our society.
Our national motto is “In God we trust." But do
we? If w'e asked the average American to tell us
honestly what he needs to be happy and to bring
happiness to those he loves, what would he say? I
think many, if they were honest, would say. "( need
more money—money to buy the things that will
make me happy and money to buy the things that
will bring happiness to my family and friends."
Christianity calls us to a style of life that has two
dominanl modes. First, we &rc meant to have a
to us something similar to what He told the Pha-
risees:
“The blacks and Puerto Ricans on welfare will go
into heaven before you. Some of them were lazy —
but they didn't make a god of their laziness. But
you have made a god of your job and of money.”
Father Arthur is editor of Sign, national
Catholic magazine published by the
Passionists. Reprinted by permission. Copy-
right 1976 by Passionist Missions, Inc.
the family and although I have started the
discussion lightly, I would like to discuss it
most seriously.
There are special qualities that I believe the
father must bring to his family, special
contributions he must make, if the father is to
fulfill the responsibilities of fatherhood.
In many ways a husband and wife must be
equals. They must share in leadership and
direction. It is really not right to say, as once
it was said, that a father is the head of the
family and the mother is the heart. That
suggests a definition of roles that is too strict
and a separation of duties that should not
exist.
But the roles of fathers and mothers are not
the same, they are not two identicals sharing
a single responsible. They are two distinct
persons, complementary not supplementary
to each other, each with a separate respon-
sibility.
What must a father do? He must establish a
pattern of confidence in the family. His wife
and his children must know they can depend
on him, not just for the providing of income
for the family but even more in the kind of
moral and psychological help they will need.
The wife must know that he can be depend-
ed upon to support her in the rearing of the
children, backing her decisions taken during
the day. She must have confidence in his love.
The children must understand they can
depend on their father, not only in the support
he gives them when they do right but
discipline he requires of them. A confident
family is one that knows what is expected of
its members. It is also a family that deter-
mines to make the best of whatever cir-
cumstances may be. A father out of a job,
perhaps temporarily unable to provide
material needs of the family, still must be the
support of the family. He must provide the
confidence that all will take as their own.
Secondly, I believe the father must provide
the moral tone of the family. He must through
his concern for all people, convey to all the
family the truth that we have obligations both
in justice and in love to other people. He must
be the one who lets it be known that
derogatory terms towards racial and ethnic
groups must not be used. He must teach
honesty and integrity. He does not necessarily
do this in sta ted words — although it might be
good if he did — but he does this most of all by
example, Fathers are teachers, whether they
intend to be or not. A father must show by
truthfulness, honesty and integrity that these
are important values.
Third, I believe the father finally must {.’•■v
an important role in the teaming of religion.
In this both parents share. Because a mother
is with the little children through the day, she
has a special duty in their religious in-
struction.
But the father must set a religious tone. He
must show by his words and his actions that
he is a follower of Jesus Christ He must pray
because his children will in seeing him pray
learn a lesson greater than any taught in
school. He must encourage them to come to
him with questions they have and he must
participate, along with their mother, in the
children’s preparation for the Sacraments.
Finally, a father must be a whole person.
He must teach them, by example, com-
passion. He must show a caring for all things
in creation, for nature, for animals, and most
of all, for human beings. He must teach them
that masculinity is not to be defined by
physicial strength but by moral strength, by
being able to stand firm for principle, by
meeting problems resolutely. He must convey
to them the joy of life, teaching them the
value of laughter, but he must not be afraid to
show them by a tear a response to sadness.
A father, whatever else he may be, must
show his wife and his children that he belongs
to them and that they are, above all else, his
most precious possessions, possessed himself
as he possesses them, by love. And when he
does these things there is reason to celebrate
Father’s Day.
Letter
Dear Editor:
You and your readers have the answer —
please don’t throw it away.
Most of us have books in our personal
libraries which have been read, rerread and.
,are no longer of interest. The informa tion or
stories contained in them crowd shelves or
space in a closet. Many people do not realize
that we at the Consolata Mission could sell
these used books and transform them from
idle information into a ray of hope for the
many poor and needy of the world.
We appeal to you and your readers to take a
minute of your time to send us any bused
books which you no longer need. Ten pounds
of used books will cost only $1.00 in postage
I
when sent “Special 4th Class, Book”, but can
provide the means to feed an orphan in Kenya
for a week. Your effort magnified by the
millions of generous citizens of humankind
can show the faith of civilization to the
world’s poor.
Please address them, postpaid, to:
Consolata Missionaries
P.O. Box C., Hwy. No. 27
Somerset, N.J. 08873
We wish to take this opportunity to thank, in
advance, you and your readers for their
support in tnis effort.
Sincerely yours,
Fr. Larry Zorza, I.M.C.
Little sermon
From a new Catechism
The Old Testament
in the early church
When the Church began, there was only
the Old Testament So far from rejecting
it, Christians saw that it could only now be
fully understood. With their “hearts
burning within them” they saw that,
though in veiled terms, it was Jesus who
was referred to. They read there, for in-
stance, of the manna which provided food
for a single day. But after Jesus’ coming,
they saw that the manna was a
prefiguration, a preparation for Jesus’
gift, which was to abide for ever. “Your
fathers ate the manna in the wilderness,
and they died. ...If any one eats of this
bread, he will live for ever” (Jn. 6:49-51).
The whole of the Old Testament was read
in this way. Under the letter, Christians
sought the Spirit who was already
preparing in the ancient books that which
was to come into the light of day in the new
gospel (see 2 Cor. 3). And for this reason
the Church still reads the Old Testament
as the word of God when it gathers for
worship: Jesus has made it all new. So,
too, the early Church continued to chant
the psalms.
Thus the Old Testament was the first
bock which the Church possessed. But
very soon it felt the need of books which
would relate “the things which have been
accomplished among us” (cf. Lk. 1:1).
This was the origin of the gospels, which
are four in number.
Our knowledge of the life of Jesus is
derived, in fact, not from one but from four
parallel writings, something unique in the
history of literature. Each of them com-
prises the good news (the eu-angelion as a
whole. That is why they are called the
gospels. They are called after their
authors: Matthew, the tax collector who
became an Apostle: Mark, a young
disciple from Jerusalem, in whose
mother’s house (where perhaps the Last
Supper was held?) the community came
together (Acts 12:12); Luke, the com-
panion of Paul, “The beloved physician”
(Col. 4:14); and finally, John, “the disciple
whom Jesus loved”, who lived to be very
old.
passionist
media
texas gaIf coast
C A T H O L I C
Published weekly, except the las! week ol December and the lasl week of July
Official Newspaper of the Diocese of Corpus Christi
President...................
Editor s.nd Business Manager . . .
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Reporter...................
Photographers...............
Address all communications to:
Most Rev. ThomasJ. Drury. D.D.
............Father Hugh Clarke
...............Mrs. Irene Doyle
.....................Jay Floyd
...............Mrs. Alice Price
. Gabriel Rivas — Ray Madrigal
TEXAS GULF COAST CATHOLIC
P.O. Box 2384, Corpus Christi. Texas 78403
Telephone 882 6191 Ext 34
Price S3.00 per ycar
Entered as Second Class Matter United States Post Office
Corpus Christi. Texas
•l W Is
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Clarke, Hugh. Texas Gulf Coast Catholic (Corpus Christi, Tex.), Vol. 11, No. 4, Ed. 1 Friday, June 18, 1976, newspaper, June 18, 1976; Corpus Christi, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth835280/m1/2/?q=%22%22~1: accessed July 17, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu.; .