South Texas Catholic (Corpus Christi, Tex.), Vol. 28, No. 11, Ed. 1 Friday, May 28, 1993 Page: 4 of 20
twenty pages : ill.View a full description of this newspaper.
Extracted Text
The following text was automatically extracted from the image on this page using optical character recognition software:
4-May 28, 1993
Violence is no solution
Last Monday night (at about 1:30a.m.), when the phone
rang, my mind quickly flashed across the distressing
thoughts that inevitably accompany middlc-of-lhe-nighi
phone calls.
Thankfully, the news was relatively mild. Someone had
“torched" my little blue car behind the Voice for Life
office. The car had been given to us by a friend and had
served me well. (Before it melted, the odometer read
164,000 miles)
The word “torched” really didn't make much of an
impacton me. How black could it be, really Sol went back
to bed, quickly enjoying the sleep of a man convinced that
the God of Abraham, Jacob and
Mother Teresa is also the God of
blue Chevrolet Novas.
Voice
for Life ftS,
It wasn't until the next day when I
finally saw the bumed-out hulk of the car, that the reality
of what had happened began to sink in.
What it really did was come crashing down around me.
It was not that the car had been burned, it was that the car
was no longer recognizable! 1 remember and probably will
never forget the sight of the twisted, naked metal, the
charred blackened objects that used to respond to my own
touch, the glass shattered, then melted where it finally fell.
Violence has become the language of our culture. We
see it embraced as the solution for far loo many problems.
We experience so much of it that we have become jaded
to its effects. We have been witnesses to so much of it,
thought about so much of it, been frustrated by so much of
it that, even for all of its reality, it has become unreal to us.
(We know that 4,000 babies were killed today by adults
who were being paid money to destroy them. But arc we
really shocked by it anymore? It is. I'm sorry to say, the
same as asking whether or not we are, any longer, a
civilized nation.)
We hear a national uproar over violence in faraway
places like Bosnia that we arc, in all certainty, powerless
to stop. Then we hear the deafening sound of unconcern in
response to the violence in our own communities that is
directed against the most helpless and innocent of all.
The shadowy, unreal character of this violence gave
way to that liny, blue Chevrolet. For some, brief moment
in time, someone had hated that car. It was, according to
the arson investigator, not the typical act ot automobile
arson in which die car is stolen, burglarized, stripped and
then burned to conceal the fingerprints. Nothing of value
had been stolen. The car had simply and purely been
destroyed.
Several limes during that day, I joked that it was an old
car, it had been a good car. It deserved to be retired, I am
sure, but it didn't deserve to be cremated. But in my heart,
I am still touched to be the way that the vision of the car
spoke to me of what is happening toour society. 1 saw a car
that had been destroyed and was deeply troubled. Just a
See Car, page 10
SOL 111 TEXAS
t Catholic
(ISSN 0745-9343)
200
Second
pus i
aid in Corpus Christ!, Te*as POSTMASTER Send
address changes to SOUTH TEXAS CATHOLIC, 1200 Lamana
class postage paid n Corpus
tges to SOUTH
Corpus Chrtstt, TX 78407 1112
Bishop Rene H. Gracida
Publisher
Father John Michael Vega
Editor
Rev. Deacon Pete Horseman
Executive Editor
Luz Loza
Spanish Editor
Debbie Gluck
Production Manager
Jonette Childs
Account Executive
COMMENTARY
Ask
the
Bishop
Q. Is a deacon ordained in the priesthood of Jesus
Christ? 1 have heard a priest say that a deacon is ordained
only to service. I was taught that there were three levels
in the priesthood of Jesus Christ-deacon, priest and
bishop, each one with its own function and ministry. Is
the diaconatc simply a glorified lay ministry since the
“lay people” can be delegated to do everything a deacon
docs?
A. You asked a good question, but not one easily
answered in a short space. I will try.
The priesthood of Jesus Christ is a reality shared by
each member of the Church in different ways.
At baptism, we were all made sharers in the priestly,
prophetic, and kingly offices of Christ the Lord. All
Christians share in the priesthood of Jesus Christ by
offering their lives to God the Father asa holy and living
sacrifice. We arc able to make an acceptable offering of
our lives to God the Father by making that offering
through and in union with the one true sacrifice of praise
offered by Christ in the mystery of His dying and rising.
For this reason there exists in the Order of the Church
the office of bishop. For the bishop is the principal
celebrant of the Eucharist mystery in his diocese. It is
in and through the Eucharistic mystery that the whole
Church has access to Christ's sacrifice. According to the
leaching of the Second Vatican Council, the bishop
possesses the fullness of priestly orders. Priestly orders
are essentially different from the priesthood of the
baptized.
Without priestly orders, the priesthood of the laity
would not have a way of appealing to God the Faiher-
simply because we all appeal to God the Father through
the Eucharistic sacrifice. By the same token, the Sacra-
mentof priestly orders exists for the sake of the upbuilding
of the whole body of the Church-again, simply because
the Eucharistic sacrifice is intended for that purpose.
Now then, ordained priests receive a share of the
bishop's full priestly office. As the Second Vatican
Council teacher, priests arc ordained to the Sacerdotal
Dignity “after the image of Christ, the supreme and
eternal priest." (L.G. # 28)
This means that the priests arc rccipienus of a sacra-
mental share of the office of Christ the victim. Christ the
priest. “Acting in the person of Christ, and proclaiming
his mystery, they unite the votive offerings of the
faithful to the sacrifice of Christ their head..
Deacons arc indeed recipients of the sacrament
of orders but are said by the Council to “receive
the imposition of hands not unto the priesthood,
but unto the ministry.”
This means that their share in the sacrament of
orders is not directed toward a priestly function
(i.c. to offer sacrifice), but to a specifically
ministerial function after the image of Christ who
came to serve, not to be served.
Solemn baptism, preaching, distributing com-
munion, and even presiding at vigil services
which tradition shows is given to the deacon to
do.
While it is true that someone not in Holy
Orders can be appointed by a bishop to do the
works of the deacon, it is clearly the mind and
will of the ancient Church and of the modem
Church that these works be ordinarily done by
one called to the sacramental grace of Holy
Orders. This is in keeping with the Church's
tradition which recognizes a diversity of minis-
tries in the Church.
To properly appreciate the role of the ordained
deacon, it is important to remember that Holy
Orders always confers a sacramental character
for the sake of service in and to the Church.
The priestly character of the bishop and his
presbyters is directed toward the specific service
of sacrifice. The diaconal character is directed to
the specific service of those public works of the
Church which tend toward participating in the
Eucharistic sacrifice: preaching, baptism, etc.
Rather than saying deacons are not sharers in
Christ's sacramental priesthood, it is more accu-
rate to say that deacons, priests and bishop arc
ordained into scrvice-and the service is ex-
pressed differently in each degree of Holy Or-
ders.
The laity are participants in and beneficiaries
of the service Christ has provided the Church
through Holy Orders.
Yours in Christ,
J.
"Ask the Bishop" is excerpted from the newsletter
"From the Bishop's Desk", a monthly publication
available by subscription for $6 a year Please send
name and address with a check to I he Bishop s Office,
PO. Box 2620, Corpus Chrtsli, Tx 78403.
Use of term ‘cult’ shows
anti-religious prejudice
By James Hitchcock
Two facts about the Federal government's raid on the
Branch Davidian group in Texas recently seem undeniable
- that the cult had to be suppressed ultimately, and that the
governmental operation was badly botched.
I use the word “cult" advisedly, because any religious
group which brings its members to the point of being
willing to commit suicide for their leader, or to allow him
to order their executions (il this is in fact what happened)
deserves that title. But I think the use of that word had a lot
to do with the government's lack of even ordinary restraint
in its handling of the raid.
“Cull” has simply become an all-purpose word of abuse,
directed at any religious group one docs not happen to like,
and the way in which it is used olten betrays the irrational
but deep-seated fcarof and hostility towards religion which
is now a part of our culture.
For example, at the university where I leach some
students complained this past year that they had been
recruited into a cull. But their evidence was extremely
vague, consisting of such things as that they were not
allowed to think for ourselves," were made to “feel guilty
about our past,” were told that other religions did not have
the truth, and were strongly pressured to conform to the
be!
group.
The only palpable evidence of “cultdom" was the claim
that the group in question, which I had never heard of and
about which I know nothingcxcept what thecx-recruius say
aboutit.didnotdiscloscall their teachings inthe beginning
but only gradually revealed them to prospective members.
But when all the rhetoric clears, the students’ only real
complaint was that they had been subjected to a religious
"hard sell" and that they did not have the willpower to
resist. No one reported physical coercion, deprivation of
food or sleep, or other obviously improper techniques.
They simply complained of being hit with a verbal barrage
which for some reason they could not for a while resist.
11 making people feel guilty about their past is wrong, the
Catholic Church should be forced to abandon the confes-
sional. If it is equally improper to exalt one’s own faith at
the expense of other faiths, a lot of religions would need to
be suppressed, including some liberal ones. (Try telling a
Unitarian that his faith is no better than Pal Robertson’s.)
As to withholding some of a group’s teachings, sheer
practical necessity requires this -you cannot talk about
everything at once - and il is a legitimate teaching strategy
in many fields to delay talking about some important things
until the groundwork has been laid.
All the complaints about cults reflect the denial ol
See Cults, page 16
By Helen MAI
Imagine that Co
mutate our Social
whether to rci
rosters huge nun
elderly and disable
ihat they are not d
help and proteclii
Or imagine that
whether, in the
United Slates fon
bomb innocent c1
In both cases, y
sional leadership
mattets to the I
Congress on I) ui
in which lull and
flicnts arc strict]
would be inicn
though demon;
dures might ha
calls, your sens
luted.
Well, this son
what the cunen
fully intend tod
abortion policy I
from protecting'
time, for any i
Choice Act (FC
and insulting la
tolerated in com
any matter of
whether war. ah
any vulnerable
lion.
As reported ii
lor, Tom Foley
House of Rep
Sponsonhaspi
sorsdonotwar
amendments u
cases.”
The article c
have been wor
is brought toil
to allow states
and mandate c
In the House
It means that a
have voted to
sMlitjfor,/,(
umtndmenis i
its contents.
With regan
no Member ol
allow any stat
mg that paren
bilitics in cc
daughters' ab
This would
even suggest
unborn child
tk'velopmcnt
dial states b
Upcoming Pages
Here’s what’s next.
Search Inside
This issue can be searched. Note: Results may vary based on the legibility of text within the document.
Tools / Downloads
Get a copy of this page or view the extracted text.
Citing and Sharing
Basic information for referencing this web page. We also provide extended guidance on usage rights, references, copying or embedding.
Reference the current page of this Newspaper.
Horseman, Pete & Vega, John Michael. South Texas Catholic (Corpus Christi, Tex.), Vol. 28, No. 11, Ed. 1 Friday, May 28, 1993, newspaper, May 28, 1993; Corpus Christi, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth855805/m1/4/: accessed July 12, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu.; .