1 The.Message for'Catholics of So'uthwestern Indiana
Magic of Words
March 8, 199
By FATHER
JOSEPH L.
ZILIAK
Associate Publisher
Let eactL us do
what we do best
It's a good feeling to know that people do
their jobs well. I suspect that Americans sleep
easier these days after witnessing the efficiency of
the coalition military forces these recent weeks in
the Persian Gulf area.
I have a theory. It's not that startling. It's pro-
bably the same that many others have. The theory
is this. Let people do what they do best.
We have witnessed on radio, television and in
newsprint the execution of well thought-out plan
to wage a war against enemy forces, and to bring
that to a swift and successful conclusion. Whether
we like wars or not, we have to admit that the War
in the Gulf was carried out with precision and
power for the coalition forces.
They did what they had trained for and
strategized over for months. The swiftness of the
engagement was predicted by some. The number
of casualties for the allied side was generally at a
much higher level than we experienced.
All we can say is, 'Thanks be to God.'
At the same time we recognize the devastation
of Kuwait and Iraq. We will hear more and more
stories of atrocities carried out against the
Kuwaitis. We will become acquainted with the
tragedies of families around the world.
For the most part, we Americans will come
out of this war with a feeling of pride in a job well
done. People were given the proper space to carry
out their tasks. They had the equipment to com-
plete the task. They had the support of the nation.
If we analyse what happened, we find the
blueprint for any successful program. We have to
have a plan. We have to have.confidence in those
empowered to carry the plan to completion. We
have to make sure all the necessary materials are
available for the task. We have to provide the peo-
ple to complete the task. We have to have the sup-
port of the group for which the action is taken.
Not everything is perfect in this world, but
there are many good people with their heads and
hearts in the right places.
A sense of security and being able to live at
peace are fundamental to families and larger
societies surviving with dignity. Freedom to pur-
sue employment, education, government, religious
practice and communication flow further from the
basics of human living.
It doesn't hurt for us periodically to face the
issue of what it is we value and hold dear to the
point of active defense. Family, God, human digni-
ty, freedom and peace are worthwhile issues to
hold dear and precious.
If we work together selflessly and generously,
we'll each find our place where we contribute best.
We will add to a family and society of peace and
security for all our brothers and sisters. Let each of
us do what we do best.
National cc nference shows wealth c f Catholic social wor :
WASHINGTON (CNS} --
"The church's social teaching
is not only a doctrine but a way
of life," Pope John Paul II said
in a video message opening "A
Century of Social Teaching," a
national conference of church
workers Feb. 24-27 in
Washington.
The 500 participants and
dozens of speakers at the
meeting were a living witness
to the truth of the pope's words
-- Catholics who work in
Catholic Charities offices,
minority ministries, justice and
peace organizations, communi-
ty organizing, huaan rights or
anti-poverty programs.
Their interests, and the
general sessions and dozens of
workshops at the conference,
were as wide-ranging as the
century of Catholic social
teaching they were celebrating:
OVerty, hunger, rural life,
mily life, racism, human
rights, war and peace, Third
World development, Eastern
Europe, the Middle East, cor-
porate ethics, multicultural and
minority concerns, coalition
building, child care, women,
labor unions, health care, ira-
Wrestling
results
Memorial High School
feeder school wrestling
results are reported by La •
Mattingly, league directo:
Feb. 26: Christ the King 48,
St. Benedict 25; St. John 36,
Holy Spirit Blue 30; Holy
Rosary 41, St. Theresa 27;
Holy Spirit Red 49,
Evansville Christian 25.
March 3: Evansville Chris-
tian 48, Holy Spirit Blue 22;
Holy Rosary 34, Christ the
King 31; St. Theresa 54, St.
Benedict 16; St. John 34, Ho-
ly Spirit Red 33.
League standings: Christ
the King 5-1, Holy Spirit Red
5-1, Holy Rosary 5-1, St.
Theresa 3-3; St. John 3-3,
Evansville Christian 1-4, St.
Benedict 1-5, Holy Spirit
Blue 0-6.
i
migrants, youth, the elderly.
The conference was organiz-
ed by the U.S. bishops' Depart-
ment of Social Development
and World Peace and co-
sponsored by 11 other bishops'
offices and national Catholic
organizations.
The meeting commemorated
"Rerum Novarum," Pope Leo
XIII's 1891 encyclical on work
and workers' rights, but it
focused on the challenge today
of the whole heritage of
Catholic social teaching begun
by that encyclical.
In a keynote speech Feb. 24
Cardinal Roger Etchegaray,
president of the Pontifical
Justice and Peace Council, rein-
forced the papal message that
social teaching demands ac-
tion. The church must "live
what it teaches about the social
field," he said.
He praised American
Catholics for their long leader-
ship in many fields of social
justice.
Participants interrupted the
Vatican official with sustained
applause whel he summed up
the teachings of recent popes on
modern warfare: "Less and less
can we work for peace with the
arms of war. More and more
must we work for peace with
the arms of peace."
The meeting opened just after
the start of the ground war in
Iraq and Kuwait, and organizers
had expanded the original con-
ference agenda to add several
sessions on war and peace and a
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nightly prayervigilforpeace. He said some have been
In a luncheon talk Feb. 25 "disappointed" that the
Archbishop John R. Roach of bishops as a whole "have
St. Paul-Minneapolis, chairman withheld a definitive judg-
of the U.S. bishops' Interna- ment" on the war's morality.
tional Policy Committee, "We (bishops) offer not easy
outlined and defended the answers, but hard questions;
policy stance of the bishops not certainty, but substantial
before and during the war. doubts," he said.
-r
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