Page 4 December 1982 Cassiar Courier Christmas flessage The Revd Bill Morrison Father Oscar Pauwels OMI SANTA CLAUS WAS HANGING FROM THE CROSS /t was the end of December 1977, and | was in Old Crow visiting friends, among them the priest, Peter Nissen. We were frequently in the church, for there were wed- dings that weekend as well as the holiday services. Every time | went into the building | was jolted by what | saw on the alter. Someone had capped off the Christmas deco- rations by taking a cardboard Santa and tying it to the cross by a thread round its neck, So there, slightly askew, was Santa Claus, hanged on the cross of Christ. My first reaction was to laugh. /t was a joke, even if an unintentional one. /t said that the Kutchin people saw nothing incongruous about putting Santa Claus, with his rolly-polly belly and his jolly red suit, on the cross where the gaunt and tortured body of the Christ should hang; and that in turn suggested that, confronted by the conflict- ing messages of our ‘white Christmas’, they were genuine- ly bewildered. My second reaction was a more sobering one. Santa Claus hanged from the cross of Christ--that’s heavy. It creates a rich and disturbing symbol of two sets of values, two pursuits of happiness, two ways of life that are in conflict with each other. It’s true that God affirms and blesses much in human culture--‘whatever is true, whatever is honourable, what- ever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is gracious, any excellence, anything worth of praise,’ as Paul says -- and these are the values that warm our hearts at Christmas. But there is another dimension to human culture, a dimension that is dishonourable, unjust, impure, unlovely, ungracious, and at its core false; a dimension that values the cost of the gift more than the heart of the giver, a dimension that measures personal wort# in terms of external possessions instead of inner qualities~and from every side we hear voices urging us to /et this dimension rule our hearts at Christmas. Santa Claus--or at least what we have made of Santa Claus-- has become the most easily recognizable symbol of that other dimension of human culture. This dimension God sees as a bondage we are under, a bond due to evil; and, as Paul says again, God has taken that bond and nailed it to the cross, to set us free to live in the glorious liberty of the children of God. The call to find happiness in giving self for the sake of athers, and the call to buy happiness by conspicuous con- sumption and material indulgence; the call of the cross and the call of the department-store Santa Claus--these two calls create an undercurrent of tension in us all the time; and they come to a head at Christmas, which brings out so much of the best in us, and at the same time leaves us prey to\so much of the bad: We will achieve fulfilment, fully human life, when we let God take that burden of selfishness and that weight of proving ourselves by the size of the pack we carry on our backs, and hang it from the cross, setting us free to life.in Christ. Santa Claus hanging from the-cross of Christ. Think about.it. Have a:thoughtful and truly human Christmas. With Father Pauwels, 1 extend to you every good wish for the holy season and the new year. wishes each and everp one of pou a very HHerrp Christmas and a WHappy Our Lady of Lourdes ission by Father Oscar Pauwels, O.M.1. In September our Religious Education program “Come to the Father’ got started with a good participa- tion of parents. Course | has 7 students, Course I/ has 6, Course 1V has 8, Course V has 4 and Course V/ has 2. Older students are invited to meet with Sister Claire on Saturday afternoon at 670 Brown Street. On Monday, Nov. 8th a Potluck Supper was held in honor of all these students and participating parents. The hall was crowded, the most varied and delicious dishes were shared. Such occasions build up the christian com- munity and make the new families feel at home. Many are already at work now with crafts or baking in preparation for the Christmas Bazaar.- On November 2nd, All Souls Day, a Memorial Mass was celebrated for our deceased Steve Molnar, who always took part in our Sunday Eucharist during his years of re- tirement. We are now entering into the Advent Season and we hope to put on a Christmas Play with our catechism stu- dents. Our Advent schedule is: . Sunday Mass as usual - 11:00 a.m. at Cassiar. 5:00 p.m. at Good Hope Lake Saturday at 7:15 p.m. Weekday Mass at 11:00 a.m. Friday from 7:00 to 7:30 p.m. Sacrament of Reconciliation in Church. Communal Penitential Celebration: Wed. Dec. 15 at 7:30 p.m. CHRISTMAS TIME SCHEDULE: Dec. 24th CHRISTMAS EVE 5:00 p.m. Mass at Good Hope Lake 12 Midnite Solemnity of Christmas Eucharist at Cassiar Dec. 25th 11:00 a.m. Mass during the day Dec. 26th 11:00 a.m. Feast of the Holy Family Dec. 27th 11:00 a.m. St.John the Apostle, Evangelist Dec. 28th 11:00 a.m. Holy Innocents, Martyrs Dec. 31st 7:15 p.m. Mass and Prayer time for Peace Jan, 1st 2:00 p.m. Solemnity of Mary Mother of God. World Day of Peace. Jan. 2nd 11:00 a.m. Epiphany of the Lord - Cassiar 5:00 p.m. in Good Hope Lake SUl Saints Anglican Community Church Dec. 5th © THE SECOND SUNDA Y OF ADVENT 11:00 a.m The Liturgy: Holy Eucharist Sunday School & Nursery Dec. 12th THE THIRD SUNDAY. OF ADVENT 11:00 a.m. The Liturgy Sunday-School & Nursery Dec. 19th THE FOURTH SUNDAY OF ADVENT 11:00 a.m. The Liturgy, with Christmas Play Lunch following the service. Dec. 24th CHRISTMAS 7:30 p.m The First Eucharist of Christmas (Specially for families with small children, )- 11:30 p.m. The Mid-Night Eucharist Dec. 26th FIRST SUNDAY AFTER CHRISTMAS 4:00 p.m Candlelight Service of Lessons and:Carols Dec. 31st NEW YEAR 10:30 p.m Watch-Night Service Jan. 2nd SECOND SUNDAY AFTER CHRISTMAS: EPIPHANY 11:00 a.m. The Liturgy VSANT TO SEE CASSIAR COUNTRY? Tie only proper way to take in the scope and im- menseness of it all - from the air is the only way! Aayone interested in forming a Flying Club, taking flying lessons or in building your own airplane, please contact Alf Guderjahn or. Dick Johnsen. GIRL GUIDES Elizabeth Maguire A new session brings with it new recruits to Guiding. These girls, before being enrolled as Guides, must pass the requirements of the Tender foot Test. There is quite a lot of ground to be cov- ered in this test, with each girl working at her own pace. There are twelve requirements and these are that: 1. A Guide knows and understands the Guide Promise. 2. A Guide knows and understands the Guide Law (10 of them actually!) 3. A Guide knows and DnPerstaricds the Guide Motto. 4. A Guide knows and understands the Sign and Handshake. 5. A Guide knows and understands Hand and Whistle Signals. 6. A Guide knows and understands the meaning of a Good Turn. 7. A Guide does a Good Turn. 8. A Guide knows how Guiding started. 9. A Guide knows where and when it started in Canada. 10. A Guide has learned about the Canadian Flag and how to care for it. 11. A Guide can describe aad explain the symbol-. ism of the World Flag. » 12. A Guide must have attended meetings for ‘one month. One or two girls have expressed an interest in working on the History Badge and parts of this can be covered alongside the newer girls doing their Tenderfoot Test. Also, as a help with the Tenderfoot Test, we can play games which help to teach the requirements and, at the same time, refresh the memories of the older girls and keep- ing their interest during this part of our meeting. Many things have to be discussed during our meetings - e.g. plans for special activities; ques- tions and answers regarding parts of the Guide - Program; the special interests of the girls in plan- - ning for our meetings, to name but a few. This can be quite time consuming but is a necessary part of our meetings. Since the last newsletter, the girls planned and activated their own Halloween Party which was a lot of fun. They helped out at the Lioness Bazaar where they were required and we also had a stall of our own with the Brownies,at which we raised some much-needed funds by way of selling cook- ies, calendars, Xmas crackers and fudge. We also took part in the Remembrance Day Parade on November | 1th and for the first time, were proud to carry our own flags. I myself attended a training session for Guide. Leaders at Dawson Creek over the weekend Nov. - 5-7th, which proved to be an excellent source of ideas and encouragement. These training sessions cover everything in the Guide Program from the basic organization. of --weekly-:meeétings® tos the =~ more ‘specific skills a Guide should learn whilst working her way through the Adventure and Voy- ageur Challenges; also how best to teach these skills during meetings. Just the opportunity of meeting, talking to and exchanging ideas with other leaders is invaluable since we are so far re- moved from the many Guide Companies down south. I have to thank Mrs. Monique Bilodeau who came along to our Guide meetings over a few weeks, learning us some new French and Indian . songs which were great fun to learn; talking to the older Guides about the Guides Catholique du Canada and contributing many new ideas. By the time this reaches print, we hope to have established a new incentive for the girls to be more aware of their own actions in grooming, _ dress, behavior and participation. We are working on a chart which will be based on each individual girl’s efforts and, from what, we hope to be able to choose a “‘Guide of the Month”. Meantime, we hope to have many interesting meetings built up around the offical Guide Pro- gram and at this time take the opportunity of wishing you all a very Merry Christmas from the Girl Guides of Cassiar. ASTROLOGY EXPOSED ’ Although keenly disputed by astrologers, a French study of the biographies of 2,000 successful people has found no correlation existing between their character traits and the ’signs of the Zodiac under which they were born. The study, which was conducted over several years, con- tradicts one of the basic claims of astrology — namely, that your character is influenced by your sign. ‘’The re- sults were completely negative,” Miche} Gauquelin, the study’s director, said. Gauquelin, who is director of the laboratory for the study of relations between cosmic psycho-physiological rhythms assembled 52, 188 character traits from published bio- graphies of 2,000 people and tried to correlate them with the personalities attributed by eight astrology textbooks to the 12 signs of the Zodiac. No traits were omitted. The subjects, all 20th century Europeans, included sports champions, military.men, actors, artists, politicians, scien-' tists and writers. Gauquelin said the astrology textbooks used agreed very ~ closely about which personality traits went with which . signs. Gauquelin also took into account such complicating factors as the moon sign and the rising sign, in addition to the sun sign. But for all signs, a statistical analysis found that the correlations between personality traits and signs - of the Zodiac were no better than would have been. pre- dicted by chance (as in the Calgary Herald, April 16). Those addicted to astrology will shut their eyes to the evidence, but for those who on the basis of scripture know that life is not determined by the signs of the Zodiac, ° this information will simply be corroborative. Donald T. Jacobson Dease Lake, B.C. 1 ‘4 Yi Yi ‘i Yi Yi : ar alie ¥ Te scent "i "i ‘i i ‘i Yi ‘i ¥ "i Yi PEASE ALAS AD AD AD ADA a aes Cassiar Courier December 1982 Page 5 TOWN COUNCIL NEWS | W5: Who -What - ~Why- Where -When WHO— Representatives of you, the residents of Cassiar elected by you. WHAT-—A group of people willing to give some of their time to help represent you in various areas, from the expenditure of a budget from Cassiar Resources, to trying to deal with and implement suggestions, to make your town a better place to live. WHY— Because a town of 2 ,500 people needs some representation in matters that affect their lives. WHERE—We meet in the Library. WHEN-— The first Thursday of every month at 8:00 p.m. Now that. you know the 5 W’s lets have a look at some of last year’s achievements. ~ —. The most visible was the installation of Christ- mas lights on the main streets which did and will continue to give a.festive atmosphere. — The $100 prize for the best decorated house - which will be continued this year. — Garbage containers in the parks. — The services of a ‘successful and competent aog catcher. _— Financial support. to the Cassiar Public Li-- brary, the Terry Fox Fund and the Cubs and Scouts for their town cleanup. — The timber curbs on the bridge to the airport were suggested by Town Council. —. Welcome Wason Folders for new and future residents. — .The guard posts for shoppers convenience at the Store were suggested by Town Council, and the installation of the Bulletin Board out- side the Store. For this year we would like to remind you, the public, that we are here to serve you and we want more input from you. Be it your concerns or ideas - we’re open to suggestions. Submit them ~ to the Cassiar Town Council, c/o Town Aaminis- a a lah ae — Merry Christmas Cassiar Resources (A division of Brinco Mining Lid) "i from €lectrolux Sales % % Bob Bliss - Chairperson Kieth Kroeker - Vice Chairperson Hans.Bierman - Treasurer - Jan Wypych - Secretary Norm Vickery Rita Brown Mary Ryan Dave Brocklebank Frank Buckley CHRISTMAS DECORATIONS PRIZE Polish up your Xmas lites. Again this year there will be a $100 prize for the ‘“‘Best Decorated Premises’. The judging, by an independent panel, will be on Chanukkah - the Jewish holiday - “Feast of the Lights” - Saturday, December 11th at 9:00 p.m. The members of the Town Council will not be eligible for the prize. Be sure your nen are on at 9:00 p.m. on Saturday, December t From the Cassiar’ Town Council - A very Merry Christmas to you all and a Safe and Happy New Year. by Dave Brocklebank Best of all that is good for 82 & Services siete and a STEAMEX i J « SEA AS AD A EL EL LLL LLL LLL SESSION ELA ECE Len