Texas Gulf Coast Register (Corpus Christi, Tex.), Vol. 3, No. 23, Ed. 1 Friday, September 20, 1968 Page: 5 of 8
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i The Uniform Debates
By Dolores Curran
It all started long before Vatican II
when Catholics had nothing more to
argue over than the efficacy of chain
prayers or the validity of the "20 minutes
leeway rule” concerning the midnight
fasting deadlint
I never did figure out the latter, but
one very sincere young man told me that
it took 20 minutes for time to change
between the Vatican and here. It seemed
like either a very long or very short time
to me, but I was pretending naivete as all
young unmarried girls must, so I didn’t
ask him for his reasoning. (Years later,
when I asked my husband about it, he
asked me what kind of kooks I used to
date. If there are any kooks among my
readers, perhaps you’d be kind enough to
explain the origin of that 20-minute
myth.)
But back to the Great Uniform De-
bates. One of the very few debatable sub-
jects in our parish concerned the advisa^
bility of parochial school uniforms. It
came about every four years, or when the
old blue jumpers gave out and the par-
ents were faced with buying a new set of
school clothes. One of the ironies of the
periodic controversy was that parents
weren’t required to take the same stand
each epoch, but were, in fact, expected to
debate on the merits of uniforms as they
affected their family at the time.
IT WAS a little like promoting or dis-
couraging a certain war, depending upon
the ages of your sons. If they were too
young for World War II and too old for
Korea, you could afford intense patriotism
as you cheered your neighbor’s boys off to
war. But, if your sons were approaching
draft age in 1951, you could hold respect-
able reservations about our conflict in
Korea without being labelled pink.
So it was with the Uniform Debates.
The arguments concerned pretty much
the same questions over the years: 1.
Should St. Jude students wear uniforms?
2. If so, what kind? 3. How expensive? 4.
How many? 5. If not, what could they
wear?
Parents lined up on one side or the
other. If they had leftover uniforms and
leftover kids, they voted to keep them
because it saved their investing in lay
clothing. If, however, their uniforms were
depleted and their family wasn’t, they
voted against investing in another uni-
form for a mere two daughters to wear —
sheer extravagance.
There was always a radical or two in
the Altar Society who wanted to switch
from the navy jumper and white blouse
to something daring like a kelly green
pleated shirt and a white sweater, but
few paid them much heed. Since the
prices rarely changed, they were debated
only because prices are always debated.
Since each girl had only one uniform,
unless she was heavier than her older
sisters, there was litvle point in debating
how many uniforms were needed.
THAT LEFT question number five: If
no uniforms, what could they wear? And
that always brought the debate to its
most heated point. One faction argued
that the girls would surely veer toward
immodest public school dress while the
other argued that parents and Sisters
could better teach good taste in clothing
by commenting on daily apparel.
The first group always vocalized that
Sister would be too distracted by all the
different outfijp in class while the second
group countered that Sister would be
better able to identify mischief-makers if
the kids weren’t identical
The debate was harmless enough. Fa-
ther always settled the question by ruling
in favor of uniforms. It didn’t split parish
parents and it took care of the March,
April, and May meetings of the Altar
Society and Holy Name. I suppose it was
the forerunner of the parish council in a
way.
But then the unexpected occurred. We
gave rise to a paticularly unruly bunch of
St. Jude kids one era. It seems they be-
gan lying in wait for the kids from our
local public school and — well - beating
them up, so to speak.
OUR KIDS were easily identifiable by
their uniforms. The principal of the
public school petitioned the board to let
him dismiss his students a half hour ear-
ly to avoid what he called the ”St. Jude
ruffians.” It didn’t help any that our uni-
forms bore large insignia reading, St.
Jude Warriors. The newspapers picked
it up and our image was beginning to
suffer. Public school parents began walk-
ing their children home from school,
crossing the street whenever they spotted
one of our uniforms.
Just about then, the routine uniform
debate rolled around, but there was no
debate at all. By acclamation, at the first
meeting, the parish voted to abolish uni-
forms. They didn’t even discuss the five
questions or the notoriety of our uni-
formed warriors. Father was astounded
and relieved.
The move didn’t stop the roughnecks.
The fights went on until that bunch
graduated, but no one accused St. Jude’s
of any more intimidation. Our fighters
merged anonymously with their victims.
Fifteen years later, the uniform debates
were revived. “Why,” asked the young
parents, "are we the only parochial school
m town without uniforms?” No one could
remember why, except perhaps, the
athletic young curate — an alumnus of St.
Jude’s.
Formation of True Conscience
Goal of Christian Maturity
By Rev. Joseph A. Hughes
One urgent reason for the spiritual
renewal now going on in Christian life is
that for a number of previous generations
there had been an excessive reliance on
law and externals and technicalities of
religion. Code morality, for example, in
some cases got to be a demanding form of
legalism.
This thought is exploited by St Paul
in his epistle to the Romans in what was
a favorite theme of his — namely, that
salvation is not from the law but from
faith, from the promises of Christ, from
conduct imbued with charity. In Romans,
Paul says: "But now we are rid of the
Law, freed by death from our imprison-
ment, free to serve in the new spiritual
way and not the old way of a written
law.”
In much of modern secular life, as in
the spiritual life, there is new emphasis
on the dignity of man and our human
freedom. Coercion is going out of style as
a dominant force in every free society.
A recent and violent effort has been
made, through Vatican Council II and all
its subsidiary commissions and decisions,
to elevate the power of personal choice in
moral matters, of love, in the ways of
salvation, and of understanding in the
presence of the divine truth.
THIS PROGRAM makes large de-
mands of the individuals who compose
Christian soc.'ety. It first of all wrenches
them free of old restrictions, of the
threats of law and legalism, of fear and
force, but also of the protection and secu-
rity afforded by authority. It is because of
this wrenching and the corresponding call
for responsibility and free choice that
there has been so much restlessness and
resentment on the part of some of the
faithful in these days of transition.
In order to prepare God’s people for
new areas of responsibility and for the
new burdens of freedom, Christian theolo-
gians have enlarged and emphasized the
doctrine on personal conscience. For
conscience is the practical, personal judg-
ment of man applying God’s truth and
God’s will to conduct here and now in the
light of man’s pilgrim status and his call
to eternal salvation.
Once and for all we must get over the
idea that conscience tells us only about
what is a sin and what is not a sin, etc.
Conscience also deals in the higher
choices of the spiritual life. It moves us
to respond promptly to the Holy Spirit
and to follow the way of love to the high-
er levels of human and religious idealism.
The hierarchical Church has the au-
thority and duty to teach God’s people in
regard to doctrinal and moral imperatives
of the Christian life. And God’s people
have a duty to listen and weigh this
teaching. For a true conscience is formed
by study of all the authentic sources of
truth, and all the documented expressions
of God’s will. The Pope and the Bishops
have special charisma (gifts of the Spirit)
to deal in matters of their specific voca-
tion. They are called by the heavenly
Father to be witnesses in an extraordi-
nary manne> to the divine presence and
divine law on earth. What they say can-
not be taken lightly, or ignored, or con-
demned.
AT THE SAME TIME, according to
Helping Hand
Kathy Murray, a second grader in
Williamsport, Pa., gives third grader
Joe Borowiec a helping hand on the
way to school in the midst of a rainy
period that dumped three inches of
rain on the dry Williamsport area. Joe
recently had his leg broken when he
was hit by an automobile. (Wide
World Photo)
all authentic theologians, in all ages of
the Church’s history, Christian teaching
— particularly that of Vatican IFs Con-
stitution on the Church — maintains that
"the holy people of God shares also in
Christ’s prophetic office ... the entire,
body of the faithful, anointed as they are
by the Holy One, cannot err in matters
of belief ... He (God) distributes special
graces among the faithful of every
rank...”
Father Charles Curran, of the theology
faculty of the Catholic University of
America, says: "For the Christian who
has made a commensurate effort to form
his conscience correctly, the dictate of
conscience is an infallible norm of con-
duct. Even though the action itself is not
in objective conformity with the divine
will, the Christian’s conduct is pleasing
to God, for it stems from a pure heart.”
Father Curran also states: "But there
is no dichotomy between the hierarchical
Church and the charismatic Church.
Authority itself, like all the other char-
isms, is a gift of the Holy Spirit and is to
be exercised under the inspirations of the
Spirit for the good of the Church ...
However, the only absolute authority in
the Church is the Holy Spirit ... all oth-
er authority in the Church is relative
and essentially dependent on the Spirit.”
SOME OF THESE principles were
put in footnotes in older texts because
there was a fear that the common people
would "wrest them to their own destruc-
tion.” This fear was dictated by a distrust
of "people.” Actually, it originated in a
kind of distrust of God Himself - as if
God did not know what He was doing
when He entrusted His truth and law, as
sacred possessions, into the keeping of
His own people, even though they are
humble, weak, and wavering.
It is not just the advent of the birth
control controversy that brings up the
need for a well-educated, free, and prop-
erly postured conscience. All of life de-
mands that we use prudence, practical
judgment, honesty, freedom in love, sub-
servience to the Holy Spirit in plotting
our way through earthly turmoil to the
peace and glory of God. This gloiy is
given in the end to those who form a
true conscience and use it, with grace, to
choose what is right in human conduct.
This may be another way to describe
Christian maturity and fidelity to the
Christian vocation.
Picketing in New York School Strike
Policemen and pupils watch picket with placard march in front of jun-
ior high school 271 of Brooklyn’s Ocean HiU Brownsville district Sept. 9. A
key figure in the crisis that halted the operation of many of the city’s
schools said an agreement had been reached to end the teacher strike. The
strike had been called over the refusal of the local governing board to
take back 10 teachers "fired” by the board but ordered reinstated after
hearings before an examiner. (Wide World Photo)
Support boycott
Minneapolis — Fourteen
Minnesota religious leaders
and 11 labor union officials
have joined in calling on
Minnesotans to refrain
from buying California ta-
ble grapes.
r-
L
WRITE FOR PEN PAL
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complete address, sex, age, grade
and hobbies on 3 x 5 card and
mail with 50c (coins only) AND
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»n, New Holstein, Wisconsin
SM41. Free gilt.
DESPERATEO
HOPELESS .
HAVE FAITH
IN ST. JUDE
(Soint of the Impossible)
SOLEMN NOVENA OCT. 18 to 28th
WRITE FOR YOUR
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"St. Jude, His
Life, His Novena"
CHIIRCN of ST. IUDI
Hi. lev Msgr. fionctv J. Kelt
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The future Preefdent
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BUILD
WORLD
THE HOLY FATHER'S MISSION AID TO THE ORIENTAL CHURCH
ONLY How can you make this troub,ed world a better
YOU r',ace? Pray for our na*ive priests and Sisters
CAN eaCh day* ®nd d0 al1 you 030 to *ive them what
UU they need. They are your ambassadors to the
THIS poor' and they 8et ,one,y' hvngry, tired. Month
by month, have a share in all the good they do!
□ Train a native Sister overseas. She’ll be your
personal representative to people who need
help, and she'll write to you. Her training costs
only $12.50 a month, $150 a year, $300 al-
together.
□ Train a native priest. He wants to give his life
for others. For the next six years he needs $8.50
a month ($100 a year, 600 altogether). Write
to us.
MONTH
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YOU
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AUTHORS* BOOKS
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WOOD-CARVINGS
Magnificent old Madonna
(barogue) wood-carving, nearly
4 feet high, costs only SI500.00.
Furthermore: Madonnas, Angels
etc., wood-carved, from Oberam-
mergau, from as little as $30.00.
Supplier: H. Kiessling, Postfach
125, D I Munich (Germany)
□ Send a 'stringless' gift each month to the
Holy Father to take care of the countless num-
ber of mission emergencies. He will use it where
it’s needed most.
□ Give a child a chance. In India, Ethiopia, and
the Holy Land you can ‘adopt’ a blind girl, a
deaf-mute boy, or a needy orphan for only $10
a month ($120 a year). We’ll send you the
youngster’s photo, tell you about him (or her).
□ Send us your Mass intentions. The offering
you make, when a missionary priest offers Mass
for your intention, supports him for one day.
Mass intentions are his only means of support.
□ Feed a refugee family for a month. It costs
only $10. We’ll send you an Olive Wood Rosary
from the Holy Land.
Somewhere in our 18-country mission world you
DO can build a complete parish plant (church,
IT school, rectory, and convent) for $10,000. Name
NOW «t for your favorite saint, in your loved ones’
memory.
©
Dear enclosed please find $
Monsignor
Nolan: ran
Please name_
return coupon
with your street.
offering
CITY_
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TH^ATHOUC_NEAR EAST WELFARE ASSOCIATION
NEAR EAST
MISSIONS
MSGR. JOHN G. NOLAN, National Secretary
Near East Welfare Assoc.
330 Madison Avenue-New York. N Y 10017
Telephone: 212/YUkon 6 5840
RIGHT REVEREND EDWARD T. O'MEARA
NATIONAL DIRECTOR
"NOT THAT AGAIN!"
We see pictures of it every day; we read newspaper reports about it; we hear
discussion on it. But have we Christians become insensitive to it? — the destruc-
tor of body and spirit, the destroyer of hope and fulfillment: POVERTY. For us,
poverty has become just another word, used and reused so that the reality it
expresses no longer moves us to compassion. We are turned off to the message
it bears.
We read of starving children as we read the stock market bulletins. We view
T.V. reports depicting starvation and misery in our own country and around the
world, then go to bed and fall peacefully to sleep. Today poor people are merely
numbers, statistics to be recorded and then forgotten. If only it were possible
for the reality of the situation to seep into our minds, we might then be moved
to act on behalf of others.
It might be well for us, then, to reflect on the actual conditions of poverty, to
experience, through our imagination, the misery and hopelessness of the poor, to
sense their futility, their embarrassment, their loss of personal dignity.
What is poverty? It is no running water, no electricity, no means of communi-
cation or transportation. Poverty is a handful of beans for tonight’s supper. It is
one blanket, or no blankets, and a road-side curb for a bed. It is a city ghetto
and a country shack. Poverty is being without necessities as well as conve-
niences.
Poverty is a father’s shame in begging food for his children. It is knowing
that for some people around the world living in an American ghetto would be a
luxury. It is Biafran children, sombre as old men, waiting to die.
Poverty is a chronic disease and no medicine. It is a sick child and no doctor
within 50 miles. It is 25 to 30 years less to live. Poverty is staying away from
school, because there is no school. It is paying farmers in some countries not to
grow food, while in other countries millions are starving to death.
Poverty is an old man who cannot dream, a youth who cannot see beyond
today. It is the inability to believe in oneself, the pathetic refusal to aceept the
challenge of life. Poverty is the frustration of knowing that your children will
never see a better day.
Try to imagine this life — not to make your own life miserable — but in or-
der to sympathize with the suffering of others. We are all brothers, united in
Christ under a common Father. As members of this world family, as in any
family, we are obliged to care for and protect our brothers around the world.
We must be instillers of faith and hope. We must give the poor not a way out,
but a way “in” to life — with the hope to accept the challenge of today and the
courage to believe in the future. But we must share in the suffering of others,
not with paternalism or condescension, but with the compassion and gentleness
of Christ who could alleviate the suffering of others without compromising their
personal dignity.
The question is how to accomplish all this. The answer is simple, if indirect.
We, who cannot follow Christ to the mission lands, can support, both spiritually
and materially, those who do. Missionaries represent us, as members of the
missionary Church, to all the poor around the world. How effective the mission-
ary will be in alleviating the misery and despair of the poor will depend largely
on how generous we are, how sensitive we are to those in need. Now — what
does the word POVERTY mean to you?
SALVATION AND SERVICE ARE THE WORK of the Society for the Propa-
gation of the Faith. Please cut out this column and send your offering to: Right
Reverend Edward T. O’Meara, National Director, 366 Fifth Avenue, New York,
N.Y. 10001, or directly to your local diocesan director.
The Reverend James Petru
Diocesan Director
620 Lipan
Corpus Christi, Texas 78401
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Gough, William. Texas Gulf Coast Register (Corpus Christi, Tex.), Vol. 3, No. 23, Ed. 1 Friday, September 20, 1968, newspaper, September 20, 1968; Denver, Colorado. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth835514/m1/5/: accessed April 28, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; .