News Scrapbook 1975-1977

Ministry institute st USD s irituality, n

t ordination, stressed for women

Pap23

Thursday, July 21, 1977

This week's guest columnist From there to here [Editor's note: La Jollan Sara Finn is director of public

was surfacing. The new La Jolla's Center for the Study of the Person was being "watched." But I was intrigued A jolting experience with a child ("mine will never do that!"); a remark by Bill Coulson that was not meant to sting but did - "You're like a butterfly. Beautiful and always in motion, but never in one spot long enough for me to get to know you" - each turned me around. It was heavy, but I had to get to know myself. I worked at it, knowing that I had Inwardly been searching for growth. It wasn't easy. To me, worthwhile efforts never are. The University of San Diego was going through its own search and metamorphosis. It, too, needed to grow. My friends Sister Sally Furay and Msgr. John Baer had invited me to work for USD. Thank you, no, say the carbons of letters in my file. A new layman president of the university is selected • Dr. Author Hughes. "Sister," I said, "I'll meet with Dr. Hughes for 20 minutes, but the answer Is still - No!" That was six years ago. The 20 minutes never ended. From 50 cents a printed inch to director of public relations. Hard work, long hours, daily deadlines. But it was all tied together. Wife, homemaker, mother, civic involvement and career. "How do you do it all?" is the question I am asked most frequently. There isn't any one answer. It's a combination of many things and people. Whatever their order, I always begin with my self. An awareness of seH, an honest statement to one's self. Reviewing. Honing. Honestly critiquing, but always in a positive way, is invaluable to me. It takes a lot of creative doing to successfully combine the life- style that I've described. I have been fortunate in that my husband and family have en- couraged and assisted me. My employers have always understood that family needs come first. University life often means weekend and night events that demand my presence. Home chores like the never-ending laundry are frequently done at midnight or - God forbid • Sundays. Just four years ago there were four teenagers in our house - ours ! · and they needed and received the hours - un- planned • for long discussions, carpools, laughs and problems. I wonder at the reader's response. Perhaps I have en- couraged some of you. Others may respond negatively. Some will wag that it's women's lib. To each her own style. Oh, yes - Allene, for you, I'll waive the fifty cents a printed inch!

relations at the University of San Diego. Her memberships include Public Relations Society of America, Public Relations Club of San Diego, San Diego Press Club, San Diego Chamber of Commerce, Women's Crusade for a Common Sense Economl and Council for the Advancement and Support of Education. She i. one of the founders of The Women's Bank, and was recently elected to a two-year term as first vice- president of the Associated Alumnae of the Sacred Heart. Details of how she integrated a working career with those of housewife and mother are told in her column which follows.] By SARA FINN What was supposed to be my last lazy day of summer vacation suddenly became pressurized. Deadline at the La Jolla Light! The reality is nothing new to me Indeed, my California career days began the same way · meeting deadlines at the old La Jolla Journal. "Fifty cents a printed inch and your own by-line," John Garland had declared from the editor's chair now occupied by Light editor Woody Lockard. I grabbed the opportunity. Printer's ink had been my adrenalin since my publisher's days at the age of 9 when Ohio neighbors paid a nickel a copy for my weekly tabloid. College was the same. Who remembers the drone of professors' lectures when the head pounds with editorial copy written at midnight for a weekly paper. The staff never worked during daylight hours. Classes met then. The real stuff of college happened at night. Fifty cents a printed inch! Reams of copy fell to the editor's cut, but no matter. Ten years of volunteer service on La Jolla committees had readied me for that new career. And I was ready! Wifehood and motherhood were my first preoccupations and happily so. We arrived here in February of '53, Navy pilot and bride. Thus began busy years of overseas duty for Tom, while I read Dr. Spock and called Dr. John Welsh for how-to courses on caring for newborns. Mine had been an easy life with many helping hands. And now this convent girl was on her own - and I thrived. New challenges, new people, new babies (four), but it all fell into place. The energies once stifled by nuns who prayed that Sara Jane would be quiet in ranks, in class, in study hall - those energies were suddenly being encouraged. I felt totally alive. "You can do it!" became a ringing challenge. Anita Figueredo, friend, doctor, . . .

Sara Finn this magnificent role model. The first day all four children were in school, my spirits sank to a heavy low. Tears blurred my vision as I trudged from Safeway to dishes to making beds . "I can do more than this!" my inner self screamed silently. I began to pray for my own miracle. John Burke on the phone from San Diego magazine: "Now Sara, you understand the job is for only two months, no more, and you're assigned to East County." The advertising sales I had done for Children's Hospital, Stella Maris Academy and the Mardi Gras Ball were about to pay off. From fifty cents a printed inch to 15 per cent commission for advertising fees! The year was 1965. La Mesa Boulevard never made much money for this advertising representative, but the once dormant adrenalin was churning. My two-month assignment lasted seven years. Deadlines became a way of life. I was launched as a staffer when I naively but deter- ·minedly asked Editor Ed Self if he wanted advertising from Budweis r Beer. A doubting, patronizing publisher's smile, ("poor kid"), became one of surprised ad- miration when my school friend's father, August Busch, came through with two full pages. La Jolla then became my beat. Is there any better world? New challenges, new people, new rewards . It all tied together. During release time from the magazine, it was possible for me to continue serving on the board of the Alumnae of the Sacred Heart at San Diego College for Women and as a lecturer at the University of San Diego. The three classes I taught each week at USD on marriage demanded that I read the list of books provided for the students. My own interest in psychology, communication, and human relations was enhanced. Teacher became student of self. I had realized as my life- changed and broadened ir rapidly, that a need to

Women e~traordinary ministers participate in celebration of Eucharist at St. Chula Vista -SC photo

whether the vocation of women might be to a ministry outside clericalism, with widened and deepened roles in a variety of fields She anticipated many changes would have to be made prior to any ordination of women to priesthood, possibly including a rethinking of the trad1t1onal model of the priesthood itself CALLING FOR an "un-learn,ng" of_trad1t1onal ideas of spontual1ty, Sister Brennan believes that we need to "re-learn the spirituality of Jesus, which 1s creative, centered m our world and incarnational- the spirituality of Jesus for whom to be spiritual meant to be fully alive. It 1s a very pos1t1ve approach.'' Sister Carol Quigley who, with Sister Juliana Casey, completed the faculty of the institute, commented on the tendency to perceive ministry as mainly liturgical and sacramental and referred to evangelization as the "only ministry " "I would not mean to suggest that one mm1stry is superior to another," she explained "That would be as foolish as saying that one spiritual gift is superior to another" Evangelization is related to the misslon of Jesus, to proclaim the Kingdom and bnng the world to reconciliation, she added SHE FELT STRONGLY that the liturgy-the ministry of celebration-has been strengthened by the re birth of the movement of evangelization since the Vatican Council On the subiect of the scriptural foundations of m1n1stry, Sister Casey suggested that 1• 1s important to have ~ome kno"' ledge of the h1stoncal developr>1ent of the Church to understand the growth ancl vdlue of ,ts organllat,onal structure, dnd the ,1.ibility this lends to the Church She po1l'ted out that the Church has always retained autrent1c ministry despite the changes of tl-ic yedrs In th final sessions, Sister Brc nnan "'arnect of tfie lonelin ss inh rent 1n real comm tment Presc'ltmg lol'el,ness as a positive rather than negat.-c element in the growth towards 1nd1v1dual ty freedo and comr>11tment, she noted that to "'ant to el1'll nate r. entirel) \.\oulrl be to deny our human cond t1on SELF-ACCEPTANCE and self-kno\.\ledge are indispensable in ministry, she continued To say ')es to myself 1s to say 'yes' to God-but 1t is a daily struggle to acn•pt our 1,mitat,ons The moment of self-acceptance is the moment of faith " ' Because faith 1s an openness to a gift constantly real1Led. I cannot rest on the level of the answers I have now Faith 1s to live not only w,th what I have today, but "'hat I am cal led to be tomorro"'. ' The m~t1tutl' sponsornd by the l,n1vers1ty of San Diego, was the f rst on "Women in M,n,stry offered on a national level It o1ttracted part,c1pants from across the country, including Sister Helen Flaherty, a Sister of Charity from the Denver diocese who 1s the f,rst woman Vicar for Religious in the United States

pl.'rsons were called to the same holiness -what did th,lt say about th 1r O"- n life?" Sister Brennan, who, with two other members of the t am, holds a doctorate m sacred theology, made a plea for ,ome signs of formal awarness of the ministry of women by th clergy and hierarchy "THERE IS A need for an official tatement on th pr sent pos1t1on of women ,n the Church in g neral and with regard to specific ministries," he said "We need to de-mythologize the ' token woman' yndrome Too much emphasis 1s still being placed on the 'first ever' woman appointed to a certain role or function, or to the 'only woman' ·erving on ome capacity " p ak1ng of ministry as the development of per onal spontuahty, s,~ter Mdry Ellen Sheehan, ,moth r m mber of the team. traced the roots of ministry on the life of Jesus "Mon, try is an expression of the deeper sense of m1s\1on and m1ss1on 1s the awareness of the need to proclaim the gospel in words, preaching, in action, 111111ng and r ce,ving Any woman entering ministry must be prepared for that kind of service " CLUES FOR d1rect1on toddy can be found in history .,nd ,n thPolog1cal reflection on the historical situ.it1on of women, she added From the earliest d.iys of the Church, women have been part of the off1c1al organ1zat1on.il structure of the Church and for the !1r5t 600 years pr, ct1ced a ministry that was per e1v1 d, at I ast to some t•xtent, as sacramental The question po ed by 1ster Brennan was

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Restorers Scan History For Authenticity Mission's Future Depends On Past

(CoaUaaed mm Page D-1) pos1Uon of the European baroque and primitive geometrics that characterize the mission decoration." 'Ibe Indian and baroque are \-ery clearly seen 1n the celllng beams, th clusters of grapes held 1n the swirl of vines and cyma curves on the sides and bars alternating :olors 1n V patterns on the bottoms. Sharply defined in the front panel of the pulpit ls the symbolic welcoming pineap- ple set in a diamond-patterned Indian border. Solid-colored borders and stripes are ought to have been added through mis- taken Ideas of Images seen In pictures of the day. "Black-and-white pictures otten made pillars look like fiat stripes," Whitcomb .said. Stillness of stencils, Interjection of Indi- an motifs and mistaken Images all have been based on painstaking research faith- fully reproduced. The result Is a feeling of serenity fostered by the softness of the colors and the simplicity of the designs.

environment," Whitcomb said. "They are thermal and almost Indestructible, as long as they are kept dry. 'Ibe white lime coating helps keep out the moisture. By applying It every year, a protective shell is formed." The present restoration follows a long history in which the mission several times has risen from near-destruction. It fell under Indian attack, an earthquake, mis- use during secularl7.at1on and the take- over by cavalry troops. 'This is where California was bom. The mission is part of our heritage and a place we all should make a part of our Jives.' Today, It stands as a parish church and a vital part of San Diego's history open to vlsltors of every faith. "ThJs is where Callfornia was born," Jane Guymon said. "The mission ls part of our heritage and a place we all should make a part of our lives." G, Legler Benbough and Guymon are

are In charge of arrangements for the approaching J:m Patrones dinner. ,

Teresa Whitcomb puts finishing touch on rcdccontion of niche in sanctuary of Mission San Diego de Alcala. P2inr formulas for re- cent rescor.m'on were b:zsed on substances used in original colors. - Slolf Photo bY Goorw Smllll

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