By Elsa Baughman
JACKSON – Saturday, Jan. 17, was a special day for the religious sisters serving in the Diocese of Jackson. By 11 a.m. St. Richard Parish Foley Hall was already alive with the presence of about 25 sisters who were enjoying each other’s company. By 11:30, when the program was set to start, the room was full. The parish was honoring and celebrating the sisters for their service in the diocese with the program, “Women & Spirit: A Celebration of Consecrated Life.”

St. Richard Parishioner Dolores Ulmer (right) greets registants for the day.

In welcoming them, Father Mike O’Brien, pastor, told approximately 80 sisters that they represent hundreds of religious women who have worked diligently for many years building America, Mississippi, and building the Diocese of Natchez-Jackson and now the Diocese of Jackson. He said it was a great honor for his parish to gather and recognized them at the beginning of the Year of Consecrated Life.
Bishop Joseph Kopacz attended the luncheon and in his remarks noted Pope Francis letter for the opening of the Year of Consecrated Life.

Sister Helen Garvey (left) shares the story about the production of the exhibit “Women & Spirit: A Celebration of Consecrated Life” at St. Richard Parish Saturday, Jan. 17.

“The aims of the year are to reflect and always look to the past with gratitude, to live the present with passion and to embrace the future with hope.” There are changes between generations, Bishop Kopacz said. “As one generation goes to the next we celebrate what has been, what is and what it will be in the life of the church.” He added that in reading the signs of the time, we need to be open to the spirit working in our lives, in the world and in the church. “We are grateful and will continue to work together celebrating the past and embracing our presence,” he said.
The program continued with a presentation by Sister Helen Garvey, BVM, a consultant for religious congregations and past president of the Leadership Conference of Women Religious, (LCWR) on the development and production of the traveling museum exhibit “Women & Spirit: Catholic Women in America.” The exhibit has traveled the country from 2009-2011 sponsored by the LCWR.

Bishop Joseph Kopacz welcomed the sisters who attended the program.

Sister Garvey’s talk, peppered at times with humor, narrated with details of how she came to be responsible, reluctantly at first, of the task of producing the exhibit. The goal of it was to share the contributions of the Catholic sisters and how they helped shape the culture and history of the United States while at the same time showing their vision and spirituality in serving others.
Sister Garvey explained how, with no museum experience and no money at the beginning, she formed a committee from many disciplines that included historians, sociologists, administrators and artists from different parts of the country and different communities to help with this project. The committee was in charge of raising the funds, to produce the exhibit and collect the artifacts from the different religious orders who were serving in the United States, about 500, she said. Not all the congregations sent items to be included in the exhibit.
Sister Garvey mentioned that the Sisters of St. Joseph of Philadelphia, who are developme

Sister Therese Jacobs thanked the sponsors of the program at the end of the event. (Photos by Elsa Baughman)

nt experts, helped them raise one million dollars.
She mentioned that originally she wanted the exhibit to be shown at the Smithsonian Institute but since that was not possible one of the directors of the institute suggested they do a “charratte.”
She didn’t even know how to spell it or what it was. She said she was very worried but one of the lay women in the committee told her, “The sisters crossed the ocean, learned the language, built hospitals, schools and orphanages, and you are worried about a little ‘charrette’”?
(A charrate is an intense period of design or planning activity) So, she set to prepare the exhibit which was hosted by 15 states.
After the last exhibit, the group explored the idea of expanding the exhibit into a documentary of the same title.
The one-hour documentary is narrated by Cokie Roberts and shows photographs, letters, and artifacts dating from the first Catholic sisters who landed in Louisiana in 1727, the Ursuline Sisters and years later the Carmelite Sisters. The documentary also includes interviews with scholars, commentators and anecdotes from sisters working in today’s world.
Participants viewed the documentary and afterwards shared what impressed them the must about the content.
One of the sisters suggested that Sister Garvey write her story of how the exhibit and the documentary was made and the number of hurdles she and the committee had to endure to see the completion of the project.
Sister Donna Gunn, who served in the diocese for many years and recently retired to St. Louis, Mo., commented, “I worked with most of these sisters when I worked in Catholic Charities and it’s wonderful to see them again,” she said. “I am grateful to Father O’Brien and Sister Therese (Jacobs) for putting this event together. I think it’s a wonderful way to tell the sisters, ‘thank you for all the things you have done.” She said it’s good to know that somebody is recognizing their service. “We don’t do it for the recognition but when it comes it’s sweet,” she added.
The word for the day was “wonderful.” Every one of the sisters when asked what they thought about the event said it with joy and all said it was so very special to be able to see each other and meeting others. Dominican Sister, Trinita Eddington, said, “I think we need to do this every year because we don’t see each other very frequently and with time we lose touch.
Guadalupan Sister Lourdes Gonzalez, who serves in the Hispanic ministry at Jackson St. Therese Parish, noted she didn’t think there were so many sisters serving in the diocese and although she knows few of them she enjoyed being with them for first time. “It’s so nice to see all of us together here during this special event,” she said.
Sister Obdulia Olivar, MGspS, who serves in Forest and Morton, said, “It’s a great joy to be here and learn about the history of all those sisters who came to this country before me.”
Sister Therese Jacobs, BVM, pastoral minister at St. Richard, ended the program by thanking the sponsors: the Knights of Columbus, St. Dominic Hospital and St. Richard Parish.

By Maureen Smith
JACKSON – Five-year-old Helena White is back home after a remarkable rescue and recovery thanks to the work of strangers who stopped to rescue the girl from her car, which had flipped into a creek near Camden Dec. 28. One of those rescuers, William Banks, a youth minister at Camden Sacred Heart Parish, said he believes he was part of a miracle and that everything about that day was directed by God to put him in the right place at the right time.

Helena White, center, gets love from her mother Chasity and father Ray White during a news conference about the little girl’s recovery from a car wreck and near drowning. (Photos by Maureen Smith)

The child’s mother, Chasity White, told a reporter for the Jackson Clarion Ledger she turned her head to look at a picture little Helena has drawn and missed a turn on the road. Their car flipped and landed in a creek. When White could not get her child out, she ran up to the road and started flagging down passers-by.
Banks and his girlfriend Jessica Burch were driving back from the Gulf Coast when they came across the scene. “When you looked down the bank you could see the mama, she was screaming that her baby was in the car,” he said. One of the rescuers told Banks they needed a knife to cut the seatbelt. “I had just gotten a knife, two days before, she (Burch) gave it to me.”
Banks went into the water. “I can’t even swim. I was so scared, but the Lord was there with me. I could not see. Someone took my hands and guided them to the seatbelt,” said Banks. He cut his own hand while cutting the seatbelt to make sure he did not cut the child. When he got the belt off he discovered little Helena’s body was wedged between the seats.

Banks

“I said, we can’t get her out this way, we have to try something else. We have to lift up the car,” said Banks. How did he and a handful of others lift a submerged car? “The grace of God,” he said. Once they pulled the girl from the car she had been under water for a long time, perhaps as long as 10 minutes.
“She was blue and her mama was holding her in the water. You could tell she was just getting weak,” said Burch, who was a lifeguard and knew CPR. She and the others on the bank helped Chasity White out of the water and one person started CPR. “About four minutes in, she gave a little burp so they rolled her over and water came out,” explained Banks. “Then she started crying. That was the most beautiful sound, the crying baby,” said Banks.
“Yes, that was the miracle, the sound of that baby crying,” added Burch. Banks said he had no way of knowing what happened after the ambulance left. He did not know the child’s name or where she went. “I did not sleep for days. I would cry—I just didn’t know what happened,” he said. Burch saw a story on the television, including video of the rescue. Banks contacted the sheriff’s department to see if he could speak to the family. Seeing Helena and hearing that she will recover fully eased his anxiety.
Doctor Mary Taylor, chief of pediatric critical care at Batson’s Children’s hospital called Helena’s recovery remarkable.  At a press conference about the case held Friday, Jan. 9, the doctor said fact that Helena was in an age-appropriate 5-point restraint car seat and that rescuers started CPR immediately are the two factors that contributed most to the child’s survival.
The car seat prevented more serious injuries to her body. “While it may seem funny because she was trapped in the car that probably saved her from significant injury from the rollover car accident she had,” explained Taylor. Then, starting CPR restored circulation and got oxygen to her brain, preventing permanent damage. Even the fact that the water was cold may have helped. Taylor said a person is more likely to survive a cold-water near-drowning. She added that some children spend weeks on a ventilator after a near-drowning. Helena spent only days and had to be sedated because she was so active in the days after the accident, an early good sign of her spirit. She went home Sunday, Jan. 11.

Banks still has the knife he used in the rescue, but says he will not use it again.

“She is the same happy little girl that wants to make everyone happy,” said her mother. “We’re very thankful for all the prayers and all the support because it has definitely helped,” she said.
White said Helena remembers the accident. She said she wants her daughter to know the rest of the story— and the people who saved her life. “I was so surprised to see how many people stopped. We are so thankful for everyone that helped. Now we keep in pretty close contact. She said ‘I want to meet everyone that helped’ and I’m like, ‘you will,’” said White.
Banks and Burch offered to host a real birthday party for the girl, since she spent her 5th birthday in the intensive care unit. “It has changed my perspective on life. I just pray every day. I take a little time every day. You know, you never know what God is going to put there for you,” said Banks. Although he still has the knife he used in the rescue, he said he will not use it again. He still gets emotional when talking about the accident. He said he plans to talk to his youth group about the rescue to tell them to be ready for when God might call them to step up.