By Leonard Teel

“I had determined that I was not going to cry at the wall ... because why shouldn’t I stand before that wall rejoicing for God?”

The man talking about his night time visits to the sacred “Wailing Wall” in Jerusalem was an Atlanta rabbi with a mustache and a frequent smile.

His listeners were not Jewish, but Catholics gathered on a Sunday morning after Mass in the new Religious Education Center beneath Sacred Heart Church, 335 Ivy St., NE.

Rabbi Sydney K. Mossman’s talk about “Man’s Struggle with God” was one of the various activities which the parish sponsors in the Center which until recently was a basement where old pews were stored.

“You see,” explains Sister Anne Russell, the director and one of the life forces in the Center, “everything that happens in the parish happens down here, except for the liturgy.”

“It gives people someplace to be, which is important for the community...” She recently told parishioners in a mailing: “You don’t have to be Irish to come to the Pot Luck Supper (March 14), just an alive member of Sacred Heart Parish.”

On the March calendar of events, Sister Anne stroked a larger “Join Us” and listed all the events, including sewing for the poor and the return of Rabbi Mossman for the Passover Meal on March 25.

As conceived by the pastor, Rev. John Mulroy, the Center is intended to be a place for action in the inner city. Convinced that many persons are idle because they have no opportunities for action, Rev. Mulroy got rid of the unused pews and had the basement renovated at a cost of about $40,000, which has been paid.

On a recent tour, he demonstrated the degree of planning that went into the center. Showing off the robe room, he pointed out that the short closets were for the children’s choir gowns. The kitchen is adequate for meals and the coffeemaker is tapped regularly for after-Mass gatherings. Two pink and white piggy banks are set on the coffee table for anyone who wants to contribute.

On the recent Sunday morning, Rabbi Mossman arrived early. Upstairs in the church the visiting Methodist choir from across the street was still singing. Sister Anne greeted the rabbi. Coffee was on the table.

To one side of the Center, behind sliding glass panels, Sister Placide Regan and Sister Mary Bernard Schweers were tending the Notre Dame Bookstore which is open every day.

Next to the bookshop in another glass partitioned office, two men and two women counted the Sunday donations to the Archdiocesan Charities Drive. After the second Mass, they had gone $24 over their quota of $9,000, (Eventually they counted up $11,040.50).

The chairman of the parish, Royce Mitchell, said the office in the Center was an improvement over the room in the rectory where he used to count the money. And, he said, “You don’t have to answer the door and telephone.” Next to them was Sister Anne’s office where she writes the calendars with her set of broad-stroked markers of many colors.

“Here I am,” said Rabbi Mossman as the talk began, “addressing you immediately after a divine service. You have just come from your own search for God.”

In his own search, he said, he went to the “Wailing Wall” -- the ruins of the old temple -- sometimes at midnight or 12:30 in the morning when the place was quiet.

“I wanted to stand in front of that wall and just talk to him -- not always seriously.” He smiled.

“I said, ‘With me, God, you’ve got to have a sense of humor.’”

“Man’s struggle,” he said in conclusion, “is man’s struggle to attain faith. Faith, as we shall talk about next week, is something that has to be renewed every morning.”