Texas Gulf Coast Catholic (Corpus Christi, Tex.), Vol. 9, No. 15, Ed. 1 Friday, August 23, 1974 Page: 2 of 6
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TEXAS GULF COAST CATHOLIC
Friday, August 23. 1974
EDITORIALS
Vatican Voices
Religious Life — Its Role
There is, as Lumen Gentium tells us, a
diversity of functions in the Church,and in
this diversity, religious life holds its own
place ....
Religious life is a pre-eminent form of the
development of the spiritual life, but there
would be no religious life if there were no
Church, no sacraments, and consequently if
there were no priesthood.
Thus the priesthood is the first and essential
condition for the existence of the Church, in so
far as it is the instrument by which truth and
grace are communicated. And from this point
of view its role is absolutely essential.
The future of the priesthood, then, should be
a great preoccupation of religious life, for it is
certain that the present crisis in the presthood
constitutes a terrible menace to religious life.
Without a priesthood that is conscious of its
proper mission, which is primarily
sacramental, there can be no spiritual life,
and, therefore, no religious life....
The function of women religious and the
function of religious life is different from the
function of priests and the function of laymen.
It is different from the function of priests in so
far as the function of priests is essentially that
of being instruments by which grace is
communicated. On the contrary, the function
of religious is to render testimony to the
fecundity of this grace communicated by the
sacraments ....
Religious life differs from that of laymen in
so far as the essential role of the layman is to
render present in the profane world the spirit
of the Gospel. From this point of view laymen
are essentially secular. On the contrary, the
proper role of religious life is to testify to the
fecundity of the life of the spirit in itself,
essentially to be witnesses of the spiritual life
and to manifest its splendour and its value...
The proof that the Church is doing well in a
country is that it has generated religious
vocations, and one can say that the Church is
doing poorly if there are no religious
vocations, because in this case then the
Church has not realized its end, namely, that
plenitude of sanctity to which religious life
must testify.
Furthermore, it is evident that the lay life
has need of the religious life, in so far as the
latter renders a witness to the primacy of
spiritual goods, since the lay life, plunged1 as
it Is id to the problems of profane life, always ..
risks being drowned by them.
I would say that there are two dangers
menacing religious life today; the first is that
of secularism. To the degree that religious life
is confused with the lay life, it does not
achieve its proper end. A religious life which
would simply be a witness of the Gospel in
profane life is something which has lost all its
specific character ....
It is evident that we must expect something
entirely different from religious. It is
precisely to bring out in relief the specific
character of the spiritual life, the consecrated
life, to manifest in a precis® way by its
transcendence what the life of the spirit
represents itself.
The Spirit in Action
Edited by Cletus Ilealy, S.J.
There is another danger, one that 1 would
call clericalism. It is the danger of turning the
religious into the priest. This danger can
come up in many ways. The first way would
be that of women religious who dream of
being priests. That which religious really
have to do is so beautiful in itself, that they
really have nothing to envy the priest about,
for in the Church each function has its value
and its necessity. I would say that one of the
great dramas that we are seeing in the
Church today is that everyone wants to do
someone else’s job. The laymen want to be
priests, and the priests want to play the role of
laymen. At this point, nothing goes right and
everything is in a state of confusion ....
The design of God is essentially to raise up
what I would call living spiritual beings. What
I mean by this is that Christ has come to
destroy the forces of death and sin by his
passion, and by his resurrection to tran-
sfigure human nature, both ours and his, by
filling it with the energy of the Spirit____
There are certain souls that the grace of
God touches in a particular way, so that they
are seized by a certain admiration in regard
to the marvels which God has been able to
accomplish in the souls of men, and seized
with admiration they are led to consecrate
themselves in a very particular manner to the
realization of God’s plan of love, that is, to the
realization of the life of the spirit in them-
selves first of all, and then in others . . . The
religious life is essentially this total gift to the
plan of God and to the service of his love.
(Excerpts from an article on the religious life
written by Cardinal Danielou before his
death, cf. L'Osservatore Romano, May 30,
1974.)
■ J\^ ■ : ’
CHILDREN BELONG ON A PEDESTAL
The Revelation of a Professional Secret
As promised last week, we shall embark in
this column on the complex problem at the
revelation of a professional secret, especially
thebne that involves the medical profession.
The first basic type of secret wherein a
medical person must reveal a secret is In an
instance whenever ihe retention of such a
secret would result in grave harm befalling
society. Under these circumstances the
secret must be revealed by virtue of a legal
right and a moral obligation flowing
therefrom.
A type of case that cones under this
principle would be one in which a patient had
a disease of an infectious and highly con-
tagious nature. Ihe doctor has the obligation
to order quarantine or whatever would
protect society from its spreading. Similarly
should a dangerous criminal call on a doctor
for treatment of gunshot or knife wounds, the
doctor is bound to report him to the civil
authorities. The reason for this conclusion is
not that the criminal is a fugitive from justice
nor that he has perpetrated serious crimes.
The real basis for this decision is that a
dangerous criminal constitutes an actual and
possible menace to society. The welfare of
sor;«»ty must be placed at the fore. In the
ev it, however, that the criminal assures the
dot i»r that he is giving up his life of crime and
the doctor becomes seriously convinced of
this, there would be no moral obligation on the
part of the doctor to report the criminal, This
might be only possible in theory; in practice,
one can rarely rely on such assurances! ‘
Another instance in which the revelation of
a secret would not be its violation is the case
wherein a patient’s condition creates a
hazard to the lives of others, such as a
railroad engineer on whom many lives
usually depend. In this case even if the patient
refuses to make his situation known to his
employer, the doctor is obliged to make the
condition known to the proper authorities.
Apart from this, a professional secret must
be manifested when its retention would cause
grave damage to the owner of dte secret. The
By Fr. Ignatius P. Chetcuti
damage implied here may be either physical
or moral loss. Such is the fact of a patient With
an incurable illness revealing his intention to
a doctor or nurse of commiting suicide after
his dismissal from hospital. All moralists
agree that whenever the secret in question is
the natural or promised secret, there is the
obligation to reveal it On the other hand,
moralists differ with regard to the
professional secret. Some maintain that the
common good coming from keeping it takes
precedence over the private good of the owner
of the secret. The majority of moralists,
however, holds that charity demands that a
patient be safeguarded from serious harm,
even if the need arises to reveal his
professional secret in order to attain this
objective. No one can be reasonably unwilling
to be protected from grave damage to him-
self. In view of the difference of opinion on
this subject the doctor or nurse may feel free,
though not morally bound, to reveal the secret
in order to safeguard the patient from him-
self.
Moreover, a professional secret must be
revealed whatever from its retention grave
harm might ensue to an innocent third party.
This is in reference to cases in which the
patient has not simply occasioned the harm to
another but is or to be the actual cause of
harm to the innocent person. In sum, this
principle must be used to solve such cases as
result from, the following statement: the
professional man is obliged to maintain the
- secret just -as long as the- patient holds the
right to the secret. Needless to say, the
revelation of a secret should be a last resort.
A case in point is that of a patient whom the
doctor discovers to be suffering from a
serious disease in an advanced stage, such as
syphilis, and contemplates marriage to an
unsuspecting, innocent person. The patient
should be urged to delay the marriage until
his physical condition will be satisfactory in
the judgment of the doctor who will declare
that the disease has been placed under sure
check.
Finally, a professional secret must be
revealed whenever by holding it may result in
grave harm to the member of the medical
profession. This comes within the area when
such a member cannot preserve the secrets
without running the risk of damaging himself.
Of course, any member may choose to suffer
a grave loss in order to maintain a
professional secret. But the question is
whether or not he must suffer such a loss.
If the harm threatening the member of the
medical profession is wilfully caused by the
patient, the problem should be simple
enough. The patient’s position will be that of
an unjust aggressor, and the prospective
victim will be justified to use the secret to
protect himself. It is more difficult when the
patient does not wilfully intend to cause grave
harm to the member. Moralists here agree
that, unless the preservation of the secret is
required for the good of society, the
revelation of the secret is permissible
whenever the holding of it will result in the
gravest kind of loss to the member, such as
reputation, etc. But, whenever the loss
threatening the member is an ordinary grave
loss and not caused by the patient, moralists
differ on whether or not the secret may be
revealed. Some of these point out that even
Christianity, which is the teacher of the
highest ideals, binds us only to love our neigh-
bor as ourself, not more than ourself. Hence,
they will not compel the professional person
to suffer a grave loss to protect an innocent
party from •- a- comparable - loss. . Other-
moralists stress the (act that society expects
self-sacrifice from the medical profession.
The service the medical profession is obliged
to give to save mankind even at the risk of
contracting a serious disease Is comparable
to the preservation of a secret, even if a
gravest loss to the member of the profession
be envisaged.
In view of the divergence of opinion among
moralists on this latter principle, the safest
course to be recommended would be that to
follow one’s own conscience as leniently as
possible.
Oar 1 Parish Council
How to Get More
From Your Day
By Bernard Lyons
The American Management Association
asked chief executives of all types of business
and industry to name their mosi pressing day-
to-day problem.
The majority of them said, “Lack of time.”
“There are not enough hours in the day!” is
the typical answer you will also get when you
express concern to a busy priest or committee
chairman.
There are spiritual and practical dimen-
sions to our use of time.
DIFFERENCE
Part of that spiritual dimension has to do
with a sense of “relaxation” about work.
There has to be a struggle to do the best one
can, but after tha to “leave it to God.”
French poet Charles Peguy expressed the
attitude beautifully in his book God Speaks
(Pantheon Books, N.Y.C., 1945).
“Blessed is he who puts off,” were the
words Peguy put in God’s mouth in his poem
“Sleep." “ThaA is to say Blessed is he who
hopes. And whVsleeps.”
And in “Night,”- Peguy has God say, “For
in work, man glorifies me only by his work —
And in sleep, it is I who glorify myself by the
yielding of man.”
WORK SMARTER
Presuming that we have Peguy’s faith in
Divine Providence and that we have a scale of
values about what we commit our hearts and
energy to, here are some ways to Help us work
more efficiently — to get the best from our
efforts in the rather short time given to us.
Know what you have to do.
Advertising man Ivy Lee once gave Charles
Schwab, president of Bethlehem Steel, a
blank sheet of paper.
“Write on this paper the six most important
tasks you have to do tomorrow. Now number
them in the order of their importance. The
first thing tomorrow look at item one and
work at it until it is done.”
Lee told Schwab that he should keep up this
system as long as he was convinced of its
value. After he tried it awhile, he was to send
Lee a check for whatever he thought the
system was worth.
A few weeks later Schwab sent Lee a check
for the time-saving idea — it was for $25,000!
Evaluate your time.
Get an appointment calendar at an office
supply store.
Even if you are not a professional person,
keep track of your time for two weeks, by
blocking out your time in 15- or 30-minute
periods, with cue words, such as “reading,
TV, meeting, lunch, meditation, etc.”
After two weeks you will know how you are
spending your time, exactly.
Schedule your time.
By planning ahead you can cut out certain
time periods and give the time to more worth-
while tasks. Briefly, “Plan your work; work
your plan.”
Learn to delegate.
The leader is not the person who is always
doing everything. His efficiency should be at
the service of the community. He (or she) is
serving others not only when he is responding
to their needs, but also when he is delegating
— asking others to serve still others.
(C) 1974, Voice Publications. Bernard
Lyons is editor of COUNCIL Newsletter. For
a free copy of the newsletter, write to:
Council Newsletter, 724 North Harvey, Oak
Park, IL 60302.
Family Clinic
They Have Their Hands Out
By James J. Rue, Ph.D.
I am a single woman in my early sixties.
Recently my sister, with whom I shared a
home for many years, passed away. She left
me a comfortable sum of insurance money.
Suddenly, or it seems that way to me, some
of my relatives have descended on me with
their hands out. A brother had major surgery
and did not have medical insurance. He wants
to borrow some money from me which I know
he will never repay since his wife has sup-
ported him for the last twenty years.
A niece has approached me and asked me if
I would help her through college. Another
nephew has asked me for money to start a
business.
None of these relatives was especially
friendly before 1 acquired this insurance
money.
In one way 1 would like to be helpful, but
then I ask myself, what if the shoe was on the
other foot? I don’t want to be left penniless. 1
could live to be 80. What do you think I should
do?
It can and does happen that money,
acquired through insurance benefits or an
inheritance, frequently alters family
relationships. The individual who is in
possession of such money may find himself
^atapa ulted into a unique position of envy and
admiration by relatives not so fortimately
endowed.
As you indicate, these family friendships
may have become unusually close since you
now have the added attraction of money.
However, your interpretation of these family
ties may be also influenced by your own
subjective attitude toward this money.
That Li, two changes have occurred
simultaneously. Perhaps you may not have
recognized any subtle differences. First of all,
you have gained a kind of instant status. Even
though your relatives may have had genuine
affection for you prior to this event, you now
recognize that another dimension has been
added to your personality. Secondly, because
you have different feelings about yourself,
you may assume that each of your relatives
has altered his or her feelings toward you
solely because you are now in a position to
assist them financially.
CONCLUSION
You may now erroneously conclude that
their affection for you was never genuine in
the first place, and. hence, you may feel that
all they care about is your money.
In order for you to come to a realistic
decision about his matter, it would be wise for
you to evaluate these requests for financial
aid in terms of several questions. You may
further wish to ask a lawyer or a bank officer
where you do business for an objective in-
terpretation.
To protect your own financial future, it is
vital for you to understand that you must
provide for your own legitimate needs first
After you accomplish this goal, then you can
turn your attention to your relatives’ needs.
Ask yourself: To what extent can these
people honestly help themselves? Are they
asking for a loan or a gift? Is repayment of a
loan likely, or will the money become the
basis for a future family conflict?
Realistically your niece and nephew are in
a cycle of life where they are most likely to
benefit from a loan to help them through a
temporary financial difficulty. Both of them
are good candidates to repay a loan because
of their potential earning ability. Your
brother, on the other hand, appears to he least
likely to be able to repay a loan. This does not
mean that he does not deserve a helping hand.
Only you can decide that.
DECISION
If and when you decide to assist any of your
relatives, it is wise to proceed in a
businesslike manner, and have a promissory
note executed in each instance. Misun-
derstanding is less likely to occur when each
person has full knowledge of his respon-
sibilities. You can, of course, at some later
date alter terms of repayment if you wish to
do so. That is, if you decide the money is to be
a gift to any specific relative, then you may
inform the person of your intention.
Money gifts and loans among relatives tend
to create serious problems when one person
asks fora gift and is cit’o-ed a loan, or when a
borrowing relative takes advantage of a
family member who is generous by con-
tinuously borrowing with no intention to
repay.
In order to avoid these awkward family
conflicts, accept the advice of a lawyer or a
bank officer combined with your own best
judgment of the individual relative’s
legitimate needs. Then you can proceed with
prudence and helpfulness.
texas gulf coast
CATHOLIC
Published weekly, except me last week at December srxtme last week at July.
Official Newspaper of the Diocese of Corpus Christi
Preside mi........ —....Most Rev. Thomas J. Drury, D. D.
• - ■ EtBfar.andBmalmees Manager.-i...-Father Raymond Pco*> ..
CircnfatUm Manager...............................Mrs. Irene Doyle
Advertising Manager.......... ..................Mn. Alice Price.
Phtgngra/Jier.........................................Ray Madrigal
Address all communications to:
TEXAS GULF COAST CATHOLIC
P. O. Box 2584. Corpus Christi, Texas 78403
Telephone - 882-6191 Ext. 34
Price: $4.00 per year
Enured as Second Class Matter United States Post Office
Corpus Chrisli. Texas
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Pena, Raymond. Texas Gulf Coast Catholic (Corpus Christi, Tex.), Vol. 9, No. 15, Ed. 1 Friday, August 23, 1974, newspaper, August 23, 1974; Corpus Christi, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth835861/m1/2/: accessed April 26, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; .