The Catholic times. [volume], April 26, 1957, Image 4

About The Catholic times. [volume] (Columbus, Ohio) 1951-current

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4—The Catholic Tinies Friday. April 26. 1957
Washington Because thfey
are in a position to write direc
tives and advisory memoranda,
gome lower eschelon officials
in Government are able to in
cline opinion toward appease
ment of communists.
This is the testimony of a
Member of Congress, once a
medical missionary to China,
who has had experience in Con
gressional investigations of ex
ecutive departments. He is Rep.
Walter H. Judd of Minnesota.
Rep. Judd said ‘‘there has
been a little too much emphasis
on the cloak-and-dagger work
of the communists" in this coun
try. “We think we have to get
somebody who stole documents
or wrote something in code to
the Soviet Union.” he declared.
“I don't think those are the
dangerous ones. Those are the
little fellows. The really dan
gcrous ones are the ones no
body ever suspected
The Congressman was speak
ing as a witness before the Sen
ate Subcommittee on Internal
Security, which has now made
public his testimony of May,
1956.
The Congressman indicated
that those he considers danger
ous are the ones "who advocate
policies that work out to the
good of the Communist party,"
and occupy places in Govern
ment where they can write
memoranda for action by their
auperiors.
‘‘If you go down through
their history and watch what
they have recommended over
the years," the Congressman de
dared, “you find it turned out
to be favorable to the Soviet
Union. I am sure they will nev
er be found to be carrying com
munist cards. They would bo
fools to have meetings in the
Even those not majoring in
English may like this defini
tion of a kiss:
A his* Is—
noun bocause it it th*
name of a thing,
a pronoun because it take*
the place of words,
an adjective because if de
ecribet a fooling,
a verb because it indi
cate* action,
an abvorb because it ha*
manner end dogroe,
a proposition because it
act* upon an objoct,
a conjunction bocauso it bring*
two together,
... an intorjoction becausa
It expro**** emotion.
There is so much more tn a
kiss than may first appear it
is an involved, complicated act.
Message Convoyed
A kiss is essentially a lan
guage. Priests will give each
other the kiss of peace on the
cheek during certain Masses.
In some countries the priest
gives a kiss of peace to the
bridegroom al a nuptial
Mass the bridegroom, in turn,
gives it to his bride.
It is said that some people
In foreign countries kiss with
their noses. Rut what they may
want tn say is that life and
bieath are associated with the
nose so, they rub noses. Amer
icans should wish to convey
that same thought in kisses
I give you my breath, my life.
To kiss a date. then, because
he treats you to a hot dog and
a coke is ridiculous.
Of course there are mnny
kinds of kisses A mother kiss
es her baby, a patriot kisses
The AFUCIO Government
Employees Council—represent
ing a number of Federal em
ployee unions with a member
ship of approximately 600.000
government workers will
sponsor an important legisla
tive rally in Washington, May
14 and 15 After a briefing scs
aion at a downtown auditor
ium, representatives of ’the
various white-collar, blue col
lar and postal employer un
ions affiliated with the Conn
cil will spi.id a day and a half
lobbying for classified and
postal pay raise*, annuity in
creases for retired Federal
workers, and a union recogni
tion bill.
Whether by coincidence or
by design, this rally was an
nounced shortly after the De
partment of Justice—in a brief
filed with the U.S. Court of
Claims in Washington—flatly
took the position that govern
The Washington Letter
Says People Who Favor Reds
Still Hold Government Jobs
back end of an alley or a res
taurant somewhere. They are
clever, and their real danger is
their ability, at the lower esch
elons. to write position papers.
Then those policy papers go to
the action agencies, like the
State Department, the Penta
gon. and the National Security
Council. If you allow me to
write the papers on which my
superiors make their decisions.
I think could have had a good
deal to say about what my su
periors will think.
For example, if the top man
comes in and he has the'choice
between two memoranda on his
desk and both are written by a
fellow who is pro-communist,
the man's freedom of decision
is not too wide He has to de
cide between two positions,
both of which are in various
degrees pro-communist, which
means, in my book, inimical to
the United States."
Telling of visiting China as
an official representative of the
United States during World
War 11, Rep. Judd said he was
astounded to discover how
many U.S. employees in hina
were downgrading the National
ist government as corrupt, and
piaising the Chinese commun
ists. He said he was making no
accusations that the American
representatives in China during
that period were communists,
but that some of them “for
whatever reason, believed we
should back the communists."
The Congressman said another
thing to watch is "the leaks to
the press." "All of you have
seen in the press for six
months." he told the subcom
mittee, ‘‘repealed stories es
pecially from certain column
ists. that the United States is
going to recognize Communiat
Making Marriage Click
A Kiss Should Be
A Sacred Symbol
By Msgr. Irving A. DeBlanc
hi* country's flag, a European
gentleman kisses a lady's hand,
a Catholic kisses a bishop’*
ring, a boy kisses his grand
mother. In every case a mes
sage is conveyed.
Sensate Taking Over
Sorokin, a Harvard Univer
sity sociologist, says that our
culture generally fluctuates be
tween two extremes: we are
idealistic or sensate. We cater
wholeheartedly to our most
refined aesthetic values on
nne hand, or we surrender to
our least refined appetites on
the other.
In America wp have left the
period when long hours nf
strenuous toil hy masses of
semi-slaves wore necessary for
survival. Now, the machine age
has brought with it a great
deal of leisure, of pleasure
seeking, and of sensuous en
joyment. As a result, we are
now leaning ‘toward the other
extreme and the sensate is
taking over.
This affects our everyday
life, so that "romantic" kisses,
for instance, are considered as
an attraction in themselves,
not a language Kissing is a
game to be played if one likes
it. and marriage is a journey
into song, laughter and pleas
ure: a venture into strictly
personal happiness.
Union of Souls
Children from the marriage,
of course, would be an entire
ly secondary consideration.
Rut this is pagan and imbecile.
In Christianity conjugal love is
not a value in itself. Ixive and
children together in marriage
should he as inseparable as
ment workers are. in effect, a
class apart, that they cannot ex
pect to he treated like the em
ployees of private industry in
the field of wages, hours and
working conditions.
The Justice Department’s
brief was filed in answer to a
test suit by a group nf postal
clerks in the Court of Claims,
seeking overtime for extra time
spent in studying postal sort
ing "schemes."
Fundamentally Unsound
As the son of a postal super
visor and the brother nf a post
al clerk. I would not care to ex
press an opinion on the merits
of this particular case for fear
nf seeming to be prejudiced
On the other hand, regardless
of hnw the case is eventually
decided by the Court of Claims,
it must be said—in all honesty
and clearly aside from partisan
politics that the labor rela
tions philosophy expressed in
China after the next election
And the United Nations Assem
bly will mjet and admit Com
munist China to the United Na
tions. 1 asked two or three
times down at the Slate De
partment. if this is true. It has
been denied completely and
emphatically by everybody at
the top.
"Finally, one came out a few
weeks ago in a Kiplinger Tjet
ter. It said that, at one of those
recent conferences w'ith foreign
visitors, it was tentatively
arreed that this would be done.
It would he denied officially,
the letter said, hut the fact is
that the United States is going
to recognize Communist China
and not veto its entrance into
the United Nations.
“I called up keymen and said,
‘Has there been a change*’’
"They said. ‘No we saw the
story, too. There is not a word
of truth in it.’
“Now. the newspaper report
ers didn’t think that up. Some
houy in the Department fold
them that. This is a thing that
goes nn again and again. Leaks
go out from underlings that
this is what our policy is going
to be: We are going to recog
nihe Communist China. It is
not the policy of the Far East
Division. Yet. somewhere down
in the State Department, or in
the Pentagon, or the National
Security Council, or some
where, there are people who
pass this out.
“You go to the press peo
ple and they won't reveal their
sources. I don't blame them.
Rut this is handed to them as
inside dope to pass on Io their
readers. This is the way in
which they shift the thinking
of the people toward further
appeasement of the commun
ists."
Siamese twins.
A bride must be more use
ful around the house than a
cat or an extra canary. If she
asks her husband for a spirit
ual answer to her questions, he
must he able to answer some
thing more than "search me."
When he complains about the
inhumanity of his boss, she
must hgve a more convincing
solution than, "Why don't my
great hig man kiss his little,
bitsy girl and forget al,l his
troubles
.The bridal kiss is more than
the union of lips St Ambrose
teaches that a kiss is the union
of two souls. It is not a cheap,
selfish, glandular gesture.
Sacrod Symbol
Human beings, made for
God, have a basic loneliness
they rarely feel an all-out close
ness to other people. When
Christian persons kiss they are
making a tremendous gift of
themselves. He and she are say
ing, “I need you. I trust you,’*'
and subconsciously I hey said,
"Please help me to get to
God.”
There is probably no time
when a man is trying more
eagcrlv to let a lady into his
life. Unless that kiss expresses
a pure language, it is hard for
a woman to trust her husband
and to take it as the gift it is.
She must never be afraid that
love was somewhere substitut
ed for desire—that this kiss is
a mere passing surrender, a
transitory conquest, but rather
that it is a sacred symbol and
language.
More on this subject next
week.
the Justice Department's brief
is fundamentally unsound
The director of the AFL-CIO
Government Employees Coun
cil, Thomas G. Walters, was not
exaggerating when he curtly
dismissed the brief as "a throw
back to the horsc-and-buggy
days." Mr. Walters and several
of his associates in the Govern
ment Employees Council have
also made the point that the
Justice Department's brief dra
matically highlights the need
for a comprehensive labor-man
agement relations law in gov
ernment service. Their point
is well taken.
The gist of the Justice De
partment's brief is that govern
ment efficiency and economy
(rather than social justice or
the prevailing labor standards
of private industry or the stand
ards of Federal labor legisla
tion) must be the determining,
if not the only, norm in estab-
lishing rates of pay and con
ditions of work for government
employees.
Red Herring
What does this mean in prac
tice?
In the language of the brief,
it means first of all that "the
basic rights of labor—the right
to strike and the right to bar
gain collectively cannot he
afforded Federal employees
consistently with the Federal
obligation to the taxpayer to
operate the Federal administra
tion economically and effic
iently." This is obviously a red
herring. For it is a well known
fact that government em
ployees' unions explicitly waive
the right to strike in their
constitutions.
Secondly, the "efficiency and
economy" philosophy of labor
relajions means, for example,
that "if Congress desires that,
insofar as it is possible, all
workers in this country work
only eight hours a day, never
theless Congress could, in its
concern for Federal expendi
tures. require and validly pro
vide that Federal employees
work 10 hours a day."
Thirdly, the archaic labor re
lations philosophy expressed in
the Justice Department's brief
means that "the economical ad
ministration of government
precludes the immediate and
total adoption hy Congress of
schemes such as automatic cost
of living increases based on
the consumer price index.”
Dangerous Fallacy
Ditto for all of the other .pro
gressive lahor standards adopt
ed in recent years by private
industry and/or enacted by
Federal legislation. According
to the Justice Department, in
the case of Federal employees
these improvements (which
ere lumped together in the brief
under the heading of the pres
ent-day philosophy of labor
law) “must either bow to or
he balanced with considera
tions of economy and effic
iency in government."
In our opinion, this is a very
dangerous fallacy and one that
ought Io be publicly repudiat
ed by the Administration al the
earliest opportunity. It means,
in the find analysis, that the
Federal government is above
the moral law and is not bound
by the rules and equity in the
field of lahor relation#.
The weakness of this philos
nphy of labor relations can be
readily illustrated by a few sim
ple examples. If the Federal
government can require its em­
it
I
Sharing in His
Still resounding are the glad alleluias of
Easter the anniversary of Christ’s Resurrection,
just commemorated, calls for sustained rejoic
ing, as His followers meditate on the meaning
of His victory over sin and death. The- "trial"
before Pilate4, the scourging, the betrayal,
the fearful journey up Calvary, the crucifixion—
these are all past now, but they were very real
and they arc no’ to he forgotten, for without
them there would have been no Resurrection.
We need to remember them when our own
trials and sufferings weigh upon us. and to
realize that Christ’s triumph has made it pos
sible for us to bear whatever hardships we en
counter and to overcome the evils by which
we arc surrounded. Rising from the tomb. He
has freed us from the deadly blinds of sin
and has conferred new life—the life of His
grace upon us.
Thus it is that in the Introif of Sunday’s
Mass St. Peter refers to us, as "newborn babes,”
who are to "crave pure spiritual milk in the
holy light of the Resurrection all that is base
aud sordid should now be repulsive to us. Our
faith, strengthened and illuminated by Christ's
victory, flourishes in the assurance that He is
truly the Son of God, and thereby we arc enabled
to defy and defeat all the allurements of the
world. This assurance, given us in Sunday’s
Epistle, arms us for the battle of life, promis
ing that if we hold fast to our faith, and let it
guide our conduct, we have nothing to fear. And
J®®”
■,"S*‘
hi
V
JUST KEEP HOLLEP/NG
pxess
w
V ietory
ployees to work 10 hours a day,
why not 12 or 14 hours? Why
not six days a week instead of
five? Moreover, if government
economy is to be the principal,
if not the only, norm in estab
lishing labor standards in the
Federal service, why not re
duce the wages of Federal em
ployees to the standards which
prevailed 25 or 50 years ago?
Obvious Answer
The obvious answer to these
questions—prescinding, for the
moment, from considerations of
justice and equity—is that the
majority of government em­
Father Healey*®
I confessed a stn I
see
er
did
the
listed in your column for
communication. The priest
not refer the matter to
bishop but absolved me and I
have been going to the sacra
ments. What should I do?
A. In most situations the
Ordinary (i.e. the nishop of
the place) is the one author
ized to absolve from excom
munications usually delega
ting that power to fhe priest
requesting it. In sins reserved
to the bishop hy diocesan law
the pastor has power Io absolve
during time of making the
Easter Duty. (No. 899). In
any case it is likely that the
priest made a serious and cor
rect judgment even if he in
advertently absolved without
proper delegation the penitent
in such cases is truly absolved
of his sin and may go to the
sacraments. If there is a mar
riage situation to he rectified
the matter will be straighten
ed out in the course of the
p.storal procedure following
the pastor's advice.
A man I work with says
that hr is a Mason and that he
knows several Catholics are
members. He wants me to
join.
A. There are Catholics who
have joined Protestant church
es too but they scarcely prove
anything about what is per
mitted to good Catholics. Some
Catholics may have joined for
social or business reasons
without knowing that they
should not, but they are ex­
si
lest the doubts arising from human weakness
trouble us. we arc told in the Gospel how
Thomas spoke for all those who require proof,
and how he was answered.
Thomas was not present in the upper room
when the other disciples saw Christ for the first
time after the Resurrection. Their account of
the visit did not convince Thomas: "Unless I see
in His hands the print of the nails And put
my hand into His side, I will not believe.” The
Savior was patient with the doubter: when He
returned eight days later He said to Thomas.
"Bring here thy finger and see My hands
and be not unbelieving but believing." Thomas
made his fervent profession of faith: “My Lord
and my God!" and he heard the solemn response,
which is a message for all of us: "Because thou
hast seen Me, Thomas, thou hast believed
Blessed are they who have not seen and yet
have believed."
It was at this time, ton, that Christ made
known His sovereignty as Non of God hy confer
ring on the disciples the power to forgive sins:
"Receive the Holy Spirit." He said "whose sins
you shall forgive, they are forgiven them and
whose sins you shall retain, they are retained.
Thus did the Savior, having won the victory
over sin. provide for making the fruits of that
victory available to the faithful, through the
Sacrament of Penance, as long as the world
shall last.
ployees would refuse to accept
these conditions.
In other words, if the "effic
iency and economy" theory of
labor relations w’ere to he car
ried to its logical conclusion,
the Federal government w'ould
completely destroy the morale
of its employees and eventual
ly force them out of govern
ment service in droves. What
price economy and efficiency!
And what a way to destroy the
reputation of the U.S. Govern
ment as a symbol of justice and
a bulwark of human rights and
human dignity!
communicated No informed
Catholic would think of join
ing the Masons, there is a con
flict of religious belief. In
spite of the fact that many
Masons think only of the so
cial or business life of its
members there is a definite
religious basis and body of be
lief and it is not in harmony
with Catholic belief,
Q. What is the Catholic
Church's teaching regarding a
Catholic serving as a juror
for n murder trial? Regarding
capital punishment?
A. Obedience to the civil
law, its obligations and its
penalties is a matter of
observance of the fourth com
mandment of God. The Catho
lic Church has no objection to
a citizen serving on (he jury in
a trial if issue is freedom or
death penalty. In fact it would
be in conformity with Catholic
teachings that good Christians
welcome the opportunity to
serve the good of the society
in which we live. Conscien
tious Christians are most de
sirable for such important du
ties. The Church teaches that
people in society (i.e. the gov
ernment. the "state") have
the right to establish the pun
ishment they deem most apt
for their particular social set
ting. Capital punishment was
ordered in the Old Testament
and has been accepted by the
Church where the state has
seen fit to use it. St. Thomas
Aquinas declared that such
taking of human life is not un-
JEST AMONG
OURSELVES
Passing Comment
Considered or
Inconsiderate
By the time these lines find themselves elevated to the dignity
of print it is likely that the weather.will have settled into firmer
pattern. It is even probable that the first complaints about heat
will have found voice. But at this moment of writing the fol
lowing verses, despite their title, are extremely timely:
MARCH SONG
Spring is coy.
On a sudden she greets us with joy.
With a sunny caress on the face,
With the pleasing embrace
Of a breeze yet unsated with heat.
Her presence, her lingering feel
Steep the soul in content
That the winter is spent.
Peace is deep,
Troubles sleep!
Spring is coy.
On a sudden her forces deploy.
Here’s a whip of cold rain in the eyes.
Here the kindless surprise
Of a wind like the lash of a thong
The birds that filled heaven with song
Cling in toneless dismay
To their high homes a-sway v
Then below.
Swirl of snow!
An unkind critic of the wide and fixed smiles presented for
our viewing on TV (and not only by ladies who advertise the
perfect toothpaste) has spoken as follows:
THE SMILING TELEVISION LADY
“A rag. a bone, and a hank of hair,”—
So Rudyard rudely rated her
But now. T-viewing the lady fair.
There seems some reason to demur.
A rag or less—has the TV miss,
And hair, and a bony neck beneath
But the truly astonishing thing is this?
Full four square yards of gleaming teeth!
Oh. lover, or fool, on your knightly jaunt,
Gallant and keen for the high adventure.
Of joust and combat you may vaunt.
But how can you face that dreadful denture?
The smile that parts the lurid lips
Is Open Sesame, ear to ear.
As a face to sink a thousand ships
Withdraws and only the teeth appear!
Rudyard, long in the Over There,
Please, the posthumous right bequeath.
And let us speak of the lady fair
As “A rag and a bone and a mile of teeth!”
And before leaving that ever alluring subject called television,
it may be worth a moment of your time to consider this:
MINORITY REPORT
On TV screehs the singers rise.
With broken hearts, with painful cries,
Oh. love gone sour oh, bliss forgotten
Oh, life so blue, so dull, so rotten!
My friends concur in this critique
Of tunes and songs so direly bleak
That none can stand them
They are played
Week after week on the Hit Parade!
An exercise or so, with limited rhyme, in that verse
form called, for reasons apparently undiscoverable, the Limerick:
EASY AU,
A villain, in morals fantastic.
Remarked of his conscience elastic,
“It stretches, that’s true,
But it pulls on me too
I think I’ll get one made of plastic.”
OPPORTUNITY
Of an orator loud and bombastic
Said an auditor, slightly sarcastic,
“I’d like him to say
How d'ye do or Good day
In a manner that’s not periphrastic
Merely by way of a limping conclusion to a batch not worth
baking, the following is presented:
THE OLD MERCURY BOYS
Among the names I’v pondered rathe, an
Example would be George Jean Nathan,
Who. fully titled, leaves us blenk on
just (i.e. is not murder) and
Pope Innocent 111 declared
that "the secular power could
inflict the death penalty with
out grevious sin." It is for
clomped ent authorities and
sometimes the people voting
on the question) to decide the
advisibilityjn a particular
country the Church does not
take a position except to say
it is not wrong.
Q. Why do some people who
pay little attention to religion
seem to have an untroubled
life while others pray instant
ly. etc., and have nothing but
trouble?
A. It is rash to judge relative
worthiness and unworhiness of
other people but even if wicked
or- indifferent people prosper
and good suffer that is not sur
prising to a Christian. God
promises us only salvation and
the means necessary to obtain
A merely lettered H. L. Mencken________________
it in general, good people
have peace of soul and abund
ant blessings of God while oth
ers have troubled minds and
hearts. Every person has his
cross to bear no matter what
appearances may indicate. Ev
ery prayer is answered but not
always in the way we wish or
expect. God gives us what is
good for us and it is often true
that we are more inclined to
be good and generous under
trial and in the midst of suffer
ing than we are in prosperous
circumstances. We should al
ways pray for relief from trou
ble without envy of others and
with the resignation shown by
Christ in the Garden: "Not my
will but Thine be done.”
Send questions to Father
Edward F. Healey. Inquiry
Corner. The Catholic Times,
Box 636. Columbus (16) Ohio.
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