LETTERS.

Pick up the good book

THE AUGUST ISSUE PRESENTS SOME ALARMING AND some good news, as well as much food for thought. This issue will move us all to keep reading God's Word as well as act more on God's Word. As for the Bible study program recommendations, mentioned by Bob Zyskowski in his article ("Bible study: It's not just for Protestants anymore"), I have been learning much through the daily use of God's Word Today (University of St. Thomas), and would highly recommend it to anyone who wants to get involved with daily Bible reading.

Reading God's Word should be an everyday occurrence for ail of us, since how we act and what we say should be rooted in the Word of God. I cannot count the number of times that I have read a very familiar section of scripture, one that ! thought ! knew completely, and have received an entirely new message. It is a continuing journey when you read scripture, and we all know the final destination.

This world today challenges us at every turn. And the more we are knowledgeable about God's Word--not being afraid to profess our life as dedicated to that Word, instead of the way of the world--the better off we all will be.

Bill Peteritas Kernersville, N.C.

Zyskowski's article on Bible study is an advertisement for Catholic ignorance that's damaging and insulting to many Catholics. It takes a certain kind of arrogance to make a statement that poses no real evidence, like the comment by scripture scholar Abbot Gregory Polan, O.S.B., "There have been so many indications that before Vatican II Catholics were not encouraged to read the Bible." That is fiction, or at best, a stretch of the facts. What are those indications?

The objective of your article is certainly commendable but, unfortunately, your headline is misleading. And your premise contradicts my long experience. I've sent four children to parochial schools, including higher education; I've helped raise money to build four parishes across the country; I got my B.A. at Loyola of Los Angeles; and I can say from experience that we, and our friends, have always been strongly encouraged to read the Bible.

If some of us didn't respond sufficiently to that encouragement, that's a separate question. At age 75, you could say my experience covers pre-and post-Vatican II. I'm forced to conclude that the article was unfair, careless with history, and should be rectified.

Charles N. Marrelli La Puente, Calif.

Called to be one

My heartfelt thanks to U.S. CATHOLIC and Carmen Aguinaco for her excellent interview with Sister Maria Elena Gonzalez, R.S.M. ("That all may be one," July), who is determined to make all Catholics more conscious of who we are and what we are to be in relationship to each other--nothing less than our divine Lord's prayer--that all might be one.

Gonzalez is an extraordinarily effective leader, primarily in the Southwest, and her efforts as a leader of the revitalized and expanded Mexican American Cultural Center and her working ties with other Hispanic leaders in the church in the U.S., especially Father Virgil Elizondo, are making an extraordinary difference.

Because of rapid demographic changes across this country, there are many parishes that are experiencing tension and disunity. Gonzalez' message, which is nothing less than a deeper comprehension of the Eucharist and its implications, is the key to our becoming that to which we are called.

Bishop John McCarthy Austin, Texas

After reading the interview with Gonzalez and the other articles in the July issue, I realized that multiculturalism brings us an enrichment that we may be underestimating. Multicultural expressions in religion have divided us, and yet we can be enriched by learning from each other. We have a history of resisting change. Irish immigrants were considered almost subhuman. Subsequent immigrants from Italy and Eastern Europe were treated with similar discrimination. History has shown how these waves of immigrants have contributed to science, business, education, culture, and politics.

This enrichment provided by multiculturalism will continue, and it is to our advantage to embrace it.

John B. Caron Greenwich, Conn.

A saint for our time

Tom McGrath's article ("Saint Dorothy Day, pray for us," The Examined Life, July) was beautifully written. It is now almost half a century since I first met Dorothy and heard her speak, and the words still ring in my ears: "There are great things that have to be done, and who will do them but the young?"

I was young and longed for adventure and great things, so I came to the Catholic Worker. People were scraping carrots. Who could guess that in the interstices of peeling potatoes and serving meals and answering the incessant demands of untold very difficult, very poor people, there would be as well the adventure of tearing down the legal structures of racial segregation in this country? Or that 37 years ago was the very first demonstration against the Vietnam war by two Catholic Workers?

The reason I hope that Dorothy Day will be listed among the canonized saints is so the church will hold her up as an authentic model of Christian discipleship for our time.

Tom Cornell Marlboro, N. Y.

McGrath's appraisal of Dorothy Day was inspiring and accurate. I wish to join in the commentary of Father Sergius Wroblewski, O.F.M. of South Africa, who was a part of the St. Francis Catholic Worker in Chicago in its early days. He writes, "The canonization [of Dorothy Day] should highlight the fact that Dorothy was a daughter of the church who was guided by papal encyclicals and the Catholic liturgy. She was not just a social activist, she was Catholic in the best sense."

Nina Polcyn Moore Evanston, Ill.

None but the brave

I wish to congratulate Mimi Forsyth for her photo story, "Another side of paradise" (June). Our sisters indeed continue the work begun more than a century ago by Mother Marianne Cope at Kalaupapa, Molokai, Hawaii.

God bless them and all those brave women who have chosen to live at the settlement through the years to continue the compassionate care given to the patients.

Mother Marianne's cause for beatification presently is pending the theologians' attention in Rome, having successfully been acclaimed unanimously by six Vatican historians. Father Peter Gumpel, S.J., the Vatican relator and examiner of her cause's authenticity, wrote in his official report that in the work for the patients "Father Damien did nothing that Mother Marianne did not do likewise."

Our religious community is supporter of both causes, having even taken part in Damien's beatification ceremony.

Sister Mary Laurence Hanley Syracuse, N.Y.

A lifetime of devotion

Tom McGrath's article "From generation to generation: How to pass on the articles of faith" (June)is thought-provoking, insightful, and helpful.

My beloved 90-year-old mother died on May 8. A major practice of her spiritual life was the recitation of the rosary. As she grew older, she decided to recite it twice a day--one for the living and one for the deceased. After all, she would comment, how was she expected to remember all those names?

Although my children and I do not practice this particular devotion, my mother's example demonstrated how she nurtured her faith life. We were blessed with her exceptional witness.

Stephanie Z. Jenemann Columbus, Ohio

Called to his supper

This comment on the June Sounding Board ("Let's stop posting bouncers at the table of the Lord," by Meinrad Scherer-Emunds) is a personal experience.

When I was first ordained over 60 years ago, I was assigned to a parish in northern Oklahoma. In one of the missions, a small community of some 85 people, I celebrated the Eucharist on Easter Sunday. At Communion time, a woman well advanced in age, whom I had been instructing to be received into the Catholic Church, came to receive Communion.

As she was kneeling before me, I said to her: "I cannot give you Holy Communion, but I will visit with you after Mass." I told the lady that the Catholic Church would not allow me to give Communion to one who was not a Roman Catholic, and I was very sorry that I could not give her Communion.

She answered, "All right Father, but you said in your homily today that Jesus said, `Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood will have everlasting life, and I will raise him/her on the last day.' I thought this would be a time to do that." I said to her, "You are right. Come into church and receive Communion."

I have never passed judgment on anyone who came to receive Communion. I have always respected the conscience of one who would come to me at Mass to receive Holy Communion.

Retired Bishop Charles Buswell Pueblo, Colo.

Welcome intervention

Sister Camille D'Arienzo, R.S.M., in her article "Stop this in memory of me" (June), has presented a very moving and cogent reason for respecting the sacredness of all human life--even that of the person on death row.

Those of us who encounter the reality of death row in Florida--with over 360 on death row--welcome the interventions of Sister Camille and, of course, Pope John Paul II.

Bishop John J. Snyder Jacksonville, Fla.