Correspondence
CONROY, CHRISTOPHER A. & JR., WINTHROP P. WILCOX & SMITH, (REV.) JAMES D. & SCHULER, (MSGR.) RICHARD J. & COLLINS, SR. MARY & KAVANAGH, JOHN P. & BROWN, GREG
CORRESPONDENCE
To the Editors
Farrakhan's a neighbor
Apropos of David R. Carlin, Jr.'s "Why Farrakhan Repels" [November 17]: Of course anti-Semitism is evil and, because of the Holocaust,...
...Farrakhan's focus on "parental responsibility, hard work, self-discipline, and self-reliance" will make a contribution to curing the disease in one area of the body politic...
...have a place in this too often contentious discussion...
...REV...
...RICHARD J. SCHULER Saint Paul, Minn...
...It does not reduce the evil of anti-Semitism, however, to point out that it is but one example (however egregious) of failing to love my neighbor as myself, a violation of the great commandment...
...He didn't always follow our advice, but always listened to what we had to say...
...It started operations as an appointive body in January 1979 and in the following year sponsored the first diocesan assembly, with lay and clerical representatives from each of the approximately one hundred parishes in the diocese...
...While the intent may be to expose the stupidity of pastoral liturgists and liturgical scholars of my ilk, the spotlight swings back to expose Cort and Commonweal...
...The council concerns itself with many aspects of diocesan policy...
...At each biennial diocesan assembly, lay people select twelve members, divided among the five regions of the diocese...
...Since that time the council has evolved into an ongoing consultative body with its own bylaws and methods of operation...
...GREG BROWN Aliquippa, Pa...
...The table of contents commends Cort to us with the note, "Father of ten defends the Father of us all...
...Since you don't seem to be willing to leave the topic alone, can we subscribers count on you to start promoting serious Catholic conversation about the church's liturgy any time soon...
...Our correspondent dismisses this point as mere "word-counting...
...John C. Cort has other creden- tials as well: labor organizer, prolific author and speechifier on social ethics, lifelong Mass-goer, and, crowning touch, a former editor of this occasionally infallible magazine...
...I would love an article that appreciates the difficult dance it often is in liturgy to lead prayer and preach with zeal while deflecting an assembly's attention to a near and far God...
...In the diocese of Lansing (Michigan) the answer is an emphatic "Yes...
...Talk about serious...
...The editors reply: Actually, the table of contents reference to John C. Cort-"Father of ten defends the Father of us all"-was meant as a light touch, but our correspondent leads us to reflect that multiple fatherhood is truly an interesting theological credential...
...At one point he praises the tradition of a parish in Saint Paul, Minnesota, in which, he believes, professional choir and orchestra reflect a thriving faith owned by the whole community...
...The writer is on the faculty of the School of Religious Studies at The Catholic University of America...
...Lancaster, Pa...
...Arguably, then, any such father should qualify for at least a licentiate in theology, honoris et laboris causa...
...From the same perspective, we found much to agree with in their critiques...
...and a statement on treatment of people with AIDS...
...Surely Mr...
...The people own it In his recent Commonweal article, Thomas Day included a reference to Saint Agnes's church, the parish where I am pastor...
...policies for use of alcohol at parish functions...
...I agree with you-and with John C. Cort-that liturgy matters...
...Day also bemoans the presence of musical soloists who treat liturgy as stage...
...JOHN P. KAVANAGH Lansing, Mich...
...COMING Contemporary Theology Issue January 1b...
...For that matter, the other contributors to "Liturgy Matters"-Thomas Day, Frederick C. Bauerschmidt, Ralph Thibodeau, Paul Elie, et al.-do not, in our view, deal exclusively in "anecdote, caricature, and pique," but reflect thoughtfully on their own experience as persons in the pew...
...MARY COLLINS, O.S.B...
...CHRISTOPHER A. CONROY Montclair, N.J...
...is to reform the Roman Catholic church, from which we came...
...In the four years (1987-91) I served on the council I can't recall any time he attempted to impose his views on the members, even when comments were somewhat critical...
...The bishop regularly attends monthly council meetings, except when other urgent duties keep him away...
...But perhaps the most important function of the council has been to initiate organized planning for the future of the diocese...
...Specifically: Is God male and so "entitled to a masculine pronoun" on the lips of the praying church...
...On this topic, the editors seem ready to settle for anecdote, caricature, and pique...
...In addition, our high school has a fine choir that each week sings a Mozart, Schubert, or Bruckner Mass for its school liturgy...
...Let me assure whomever needs assurance that I am no threat to God...
...Keep it up...
...Cort builds his defense by using an essay of mine, published in the introduction to Psalms for Morning and Evening Prayer (Liturgy Training Publications), as the foil for his pique about how the church names and addresses God in its public prayer...
...An interesting theological credential...
...Fortunately, a wealth of intelligent Catholic theological and pastoral literature on liturgical theology and practice is available for readers outside Commonweal's pages...
...Unserious on liturgy The set of articles under the heading "Liturgy Matters" [November 17] prompts me to register my disappointment with Commonweal's treatment of matters liturgical...
...Tom is an old acquaintance of mine...
...On the merits: As we read the piece, John C. Cort strongly endorses the fight for inclusive language in church-talk as "a just war," but encounters a stumbling block: the Lord's Prayer, also known as the Our Father, along with trinitarian definitions as well as the many other Gospel references to God as Father by the ultimate theologian...
...for that reason it is important that we welcome the positive parts of Mr...
...has been crossed...
...Sociologist Richard Schoenherr estimates that ten years from now the priestly ranks will have fallen from 35,000 in the mid-60s to about 21,000...
...This is a pale response to our Lord's directive, "Do this in memory of me...
...On almost any other topic Commonweal subscribers can consistently count on the editors to provide them with in-(Continued on page 4) CORRESPONDENCE (Continued from page 2) formed, intelligent discussion of issues...
...I have been to such Masses at this parish and leave the church having experienced a concert with Communion...
...The happy burden of full participation falls to the professional musicians and the priest...
...The precise number is irrelevant, once one admits that the priest-layperson ratio is too low to provide the faithful weekly access to the celebration of the Eucharist...
...No encouragement is given the "audience" to join actively in worship...
...religious sisters elect three members, diocesan priests two, and religious order priests one...
...I'm not in sympathy with the "concordat" among Lutherans, Episcopalians, United Church of Christ, and Presbyterians, but I have those "anxieties for all our churches...
...Farrakhan's message-and Mr...
...development of parish council norms...
...Be even-handed, honest, loving, and committed to the una sancta...
...Please, give us an argument that has some inherent consistency, and some bite to its bark...
...We tend to think that such seemingly simple questions ("What do we do with the Pater Noster...
...I am one of those Lutherans who believe our mission (I hate that word...
...As a practical matter, in 1995 black people, as a group, are in a great deal more difficulty than Jewish people, as a group...
...During my tenure as a member, for example, we considered, among other issues, the establishment of an office for black Catholics and an office for lay ministries...
...we are barreling headlong into a full-blown crisis...
...I don't need an article implying that a minister's only real option is to bury the microphone and wear a paper bag over one's head when it comes time to preach or preside...
...It is possible that Mr...
...CORRESPONDENCE To the Editors Farrakhan's a neighbor Apropos of David R. Carlin, Jr.'s "Why Farrakhan Repels" [November 17]: Of course anti-Semitism is evil and, because of the Holocaust, right-thinking people must recognize that "hate speech" can lead to mass murder...
...Any conscientious father of ten has had to explain the mystery of evil, the nature of morality, the "why" of existence (and of rain, snow, headaches...
...He appoints a nonvoting executive secretary in con-(Continued on page 24) (Continued from page 4) sultation with the council, and also designates three at-large members, usually to represent some special constituency such as young people, seniors, or people with disabilities...
...John C. Cort's essay, "God Is Not an It," is a case in point...
...As Father Norman Rotert of the Kansas City-Saint Joseph diocese has said, "We must celebrate the Eucharist or we will die...
...I wish rainwater were beer...
...Farrahkhan than to him...
...Cort is against a "neuter" God and attributes to me designs on neutering the Holy One of Israel whom Jesus called "Abba...
...The latest issue I've seen (November 17) is light years ahead of the oatmeal I was dreading every two weeks...
...After the word counting, the article deteriorates...
...This has entailed formulation of a mission statement, proposing specific goals to be submitted to the biennial assemblies which the council organizes, and annual review of budget priorities in conjunction with the diocesan finance council...
...In 1977, two years after he became our bishop, Kenneth Povish began the process of establishing a council...
...As Tom says, our music is "owned" by the whole community...
...Washington, D.C...
...While these lay-led services provide Communion from consecrated bread saved from an earlier Mass, the eu-charistic prayer is omitted...
...Or was it a Rubicon...
...While believing that liturgical scholars have contributed greatly to the renewal of prayer and worship, we think they need to listen to other voices...
...I hope that a Tiber (a Hudson...
...We are hardly facing a mere shortage...
...No help to ministry In an article ["A Failing Star System," November 17] that does little more than bemoan the reality that liturgical presiders, preachers, and musical ministers have personalities, Thomas Day says nothing that reflects a thoughtful understanding of a challenge that faces many liturgical ministers: How does one effectively help inspire worship while not inspiring undue attention to self...
...I wasn't going to renew, but the recent change in layout caught my eye...
...There are many examples of that great sin, among them racism...
...In his ranting, Day is no help to the preacher, for instance, who has a genuine desire to help revitalize a people's faith and also has a speaking ability and a gift of passion for the task...
...The "classical" music that he speaks of at Saint Agnes's has been going on for nearly twenty-five years...
...The theological question is whether God has gender...
...The bishop is president, ex officio...
...the dangers of fast driving and early sex, etc., etc., at least a hundred times to each of the ten...
...Already, swap (Sunday Worship in the Absence of a Priest) liturgies are springing up in the United States...
...WINTHROP P. WILCOX, JR., M.D...
...we have both been in the church music business for a long time...
...Cort skips that question and simply moves to establish God's entitlement to an English-language "he" by counting words in the Scriptures...
...That the answer may be complicated is a given, but clearly the answers given so far by the more absolutist advocates of inclusive language leave many thoughtful people unsatisfied...
...When Bishop Povish recently announced that he is retiring at the end of 1995, he said that two of the more memorable accomplishments in his twenty-five years as bishop of Lansing were the establishment of the pastoral council and inauguration of the diocesan assemblies...
...Assembly delegates elected people to replace half the appointed members...
...1996 Disputed Questions: On Infallibility John T. Ford • Elizabeth Johnson • Margaret O'CIara • Francis X. Murphy • Michael Novak • Joseph A. Komonchak • Lisa Sowle Cahill • JohnGarvey On Distent Richard R. Gaillardetz Carlin and I must love this obnoxious neighbor as ourselves...
...So how about it, Commonweal...
...We are hopeful that his successor will continue to support these excellent programs...
...This is not the best of Catholic thinking...
...Farrakhan would renounce his anti-Semitism...
...On seriousness about the liturgy: Did Sister Mary Collins read our special issue on "Eucharistic Presence" [January 27...
...GREG BROWN Aliquippa, Pa.must celebrate the Eucharist or we will die...
...MSGR...
...I wish Mr...
...The ranks of American Catholics have grown 15 percent over the past ten years...
...For some of us, "Protestant" is a dirty word...
...Yes, we have a council In an article in your issue of October 20, Bill Broderick asked your readers, "Does your diocese have a diocesan pastoral council...
...It's the ratio that counts David R. Carlin, Jr., thinks the concept of a "priest shortage" makes no sense unless we have a "right number" in mind ["On the Way to the Altar," October 20...
...He leaves the conduct of the meetings to the council and its elected chairperson but offers his opinion when asked (sometimes with off-the-record comments on delicate issues...
...We sing thirty Masses a year with members of the Minnesota Orchestra...
...JAMES D. SMITH Oakdale, Minn...
...Carlin will concede that more blacks will listen to Mr...
Vol. 122 • December 1995 • No. 22
