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You May Be Right.


The Creed is worth saying--slowly

WHAT A GREAT article by R. Scott Appleby in the December issue ("The Creed: Do you believe what you just said?"). Appleby, by reviewing the questions faced by the church in those early years, has revealed to us the reasons and importance of the Creed's wording.

Appleby's explanations for the various passages has made the Creed, which we say at our church at Mass, much more meaningful. Let us hope that we never waver in our beliefs as set down by the early church fathers in the Creed.

Perhaps we should recite it a bit more slowly so that we can appreciate the depth of its meaning. There is the hazard of our just droning drone 1  
n.
1. A male bee, especially a honeybee, that is characteristically stingless, performs no work, and produces no honey. Its only function is to mate with the queen bee.

2.
 through it and not realizing the important statement of faith intended therein.

Charles Voelkel

Baltimore, Md.

I find it humorous that Appleby criticizes the heretics of the early church for their willingness to selectively listen to the apostles APOSTLES. In the British courts of admiralty, when a party appeals from a decision made against him, he prays apostles from the judge, which are brief letters of dismission, stating the case, and declaring that the record will be transmitted. 2 Brown's Civ. and Adm. Law, 438; Dig. 49. 6.  in order to accommodate Christianity to the philosophical and cultural trends of the age. In the same article, Appleby used a version of the Creed never accepted by the bishops, the successors of the apostles.

By deleting the word men from the Creed, Appleby is no better than the heretics he condemns. It is a blatant attempt to accommodate Christianity to the politically correct politically correct Politically sensitive adjective Referring to language reflecting awareness and sensitivity to another person's physical, mental, cultural, or other disadvantages or deviations from a norm; a person is not mentally retarded, but  philosophical and cultural trends of 1990s America. It's just another small part of a disturbing trend of U.S. CATHOLIC to put its beliefs above those of everyone and everything including church hierarchy.

Unfortunately, readers will find it more disturbing that I am questioning the motives of U.S. CATHOLIC writers and editors than they do your magazine's constant disagreement with the magisterium mag·is·te·ri·um  
n. Roman Catholic Church
The authority to teach religious doctrine.



[Latin, the office of a teacher or other person in authority, from magister, master; see
.

Sean Fouts

Akron, Ohio Akron is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Summit County.GR6 The municipality is located in northeastern Ohio on the Cuyahoga River between Cleveland to the north and Canton to the south, approximately 60 miles (96 km) west of  

Appleby's article was one of the best articles I have encountered in 15 years of reading U.S. CATHOLIC.

I have had too many friends and family leave or not take seriously the church and her doctrines, because repetition does get boring if we let it, and go other places because of the excitement of something new and different. The church has it all, and your article states it exactly.

Dean Baldwins

Fallston, Md.

Well-built foundation

I agree entirely with the article "Please pass down the faith" by Karen Sue Smith in the November issue.

As a student at Benet Academy Benet Academy, commonly referred to as "Benet" (pronounced BenET not BenAE), is a fully accredited private co-educational college-preparatory Catholic Benedictine high school based in Lisle, Illinois with roughly 1,300 students. , a Catholic high school in Lisle, Illinois Lisle is a village in DuPage County, Illinois, United States. The population was 21,182 at the 2000 census, and estimated to be 23,376 as of 2005. It is part of the Chicago metropolitan area and the Illinois Technology and Research Corridor. , I feel that I have a lot in common with the issues Smith addressed. Before attending Benet Academy I attended a public junior high school, but while many think there is a huge difference between the schools, I find that there is little difference when it comes to students acting out their faith.

There is a very big influence here at Benet to cling cling  
intr.v. clung , cling·ing, clings
1. To hold fast or adhere to something, as by grasping, sticking, embracing, or entwining:
 close to our faith, but the same push is evident to other students I know in public high schools. Despite Benet's certain efforts to draw students to their Catholic faith, it simply comes down to whether the student is willing to accept it. The only way students can accept it is if they are comfortable. This comfort comes only with something they are familiar with, and that comes from home.

My parents instilled in me moral values according to according to
prep.
1. As stated or indicated by; on the authority of: according to historians.

2. In keeping with: according to instructions.

3.
 our Catholic faith at a very young age. Regardless of what type of school I attended--public or Catholic--or whether I attended religious education or not, I feel that I have a deep connection to my faith.

Amy Artates

Westmont, Ill.

Smith's article opens up the most troubling problem the church faces today. A great many parents quietly confess their doubts about the possibility of transmitting their own love of the church to their children. Smith lays out possible parish family initiatives that offer hope.

Sally Cunneen

via e-mail

Do you see clearly?

Patricia M. Robertson's "Through a glass, darkly" in the November issue was arresting reading. The poignancy of her own predicament--failing sight--lent compelling credibility to her observation: we are better off not allowing that which we see to blind us to what is real. I found myself looking at my own life attachments, things I believe to be so important, through her eyes.

Robertson has helped me better understand that seeing is not believing. Unreflective seeing can blind us to what God has for us.

Reverend Thomas M. Ball

Spring Arbor arbor

Garden shelter providing privacy and partial protection from the weather, most commonly a lightweight, latticed framework (trellis) of wood or metal with interlaced branches of vines or climbing shrubs trained over it.
, Mich.

Children know best

It was such a pleasure to read Eileen Love's "A visit to Grandma" in the November issue. This affection for the burial places any place where burials are made.

See also: Burial
 of our beloved dead goes way back to the very first decades of the Christian church. The faithful routinely visited the graves of the martyrs
The following are specific lists of Martyrs:
  • List of Catholic martyrs of the English Reformation
  • List of Martyrs of Battle of Karbala
  • List of royal saints and martyrs
  • List of the Martyred Missionaries of the China Inland Mission in 1900
 and even shared meals there, which finds its contemporary parallel in Love's memories of Sundays at the cemetery. There is a part of us that senses a communion between the living and the dead.

Children know this better than we adults, which is why a visit for a child to the cemetery to "see grandma" seems like good theology.

Kathy McGovern

Denver, Colo.

Please address letters for publication to You May Be Right, 205 W. Monroe St., Chicago, IL 60606. Or fax your comments to 312-236-8207. You can also e-mail us at editors@ uscatholic.org. We will withhold with·hold  
v. with·held , with·hold·ing, with·holds

v.tr.
1. To keep in check; restrain.

2. To refrain from giving, granting, or permitting. See Synonyms at keep.

3.
 names upon request, but all letters must be signed. We regret that space limitations force us to condense con·dense  
v. con·densed, con·dens·ing, con·dens·es

v.tr.
1. To reduce the volume or compass of.

2. To make more concise; abridge or shorten.

3. Physics
a.
 letters and that time limitations prevent us from publishing letters commenting on already published letters. --The Editors
COPYRIGHT 1999 Claretian Publications
No portion of this article can be reproduced without the express written permission from the copyright holder.
Copyright 1999, Gale Group. All rights reserved. Gale Group is a Thomson Corporation Company.

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Publication:U.S. Catholic
Date:Feb 1, 1999
Words:907
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