Northeast Catholics gauge progress, challenges By Fabvienen Taylor
TUPELO — Maragita Diaz-Escobar left El Salvador for America seeking a better life and in 2005 arrived in Booneville by way of Chicago.
An active Catholic, she served in every ministry available to her from usher to lector. That didn’t change once she joined Booneville St. Francis of Assisi Parish where she is a eucharistic minister.
“From that day I became closer to my community,” said Diaz-Escobar, who in her ministry experiences the love of the community, of her friends, of her brothers and sisters.
“Whatever I can do, I am ready to do,” she told over 100 people Saturday, Nov. 10, gathered in Tupelo St. James Parish’s Family Life Center to “Celebrate Catholicism in Northeast Mississippi.”
Diaz-Escobar was one of five panelists describing their call to ministry and its effects on their lives.
Panelist Dr. Len Pinkley and his family arrived in Amory 31 years ago and thought initially the town had no Catholics. It did, but not a lot. “We are still there and it has been the greatest blessing,” he said. “We are a small parish therefore, you know you have to be involved in ministry.”
“All the ministry I do is a gift, because in doing any ministry, I am being ministered to,” said Pinkley.
At 22, panelist Rachel Thompson entered a convent and stayed for eight months.
“It was very beautiful but I was afraid to say yes to Jesus,” said the married mother of two and St. James parishioner. But with spiritual direction and “much prayer, I realized I didn’t have to be a nun in a convent to serve God.”
Diaz-Escobar, Pinkley and Thompson along with Lorenzo Aju, Eupora St. John Neumann Mission lay pastoral minister, and Janet Bennett of Ripley St. Matthew Mission, highlighted their calls to and experiences in various ministries.
The panel on the call to ministry was the first session in a day of celebration of faith by Catholics representing 14 northeast Mississippi parishes and missions in Deanery 5.
Most of the parishes/missions represented could be described as rural and spread out, with about half offering Spanish Masses.
From the synopses of most of the northeast parishes/missions in the event’s booklet, the lack of a resident priest — a new experience in several parts of the Diocese of Jackson — is not a new reality. These churches are served by lay ecclesial ministers (resident pastoral ministers) and sacramental ministers (priests).
Similarly, more than a few of these faith communities have struggled, and continue to struggle, in building and/or maintaining churches in areas with few, aging or dwindling numbers of Catholics.
In meeting on-going parish/mission leadership challenges, Alice Hughes, director of the Office of Faith Formation and Lay Ministry, said the northeast area, “the grassroots,” is a leader.
“There are nine lay men and women running parishes in the group here,” said Hughes, who with Father Kent Bowlds, diocesan director of vocations, and Susan Sweet, Aberdeen St. Francis of Assisi pastoral minister, reported on preparing future leaders for ministry.
“Currently there are over 40 people being trained in different programs (in the diocese) to become lay ecclesial ministers and pastoral associates.”
Father Bowlds talked about the on-going need for vocations, the seminarian application process, and the high job satisfaction level of priests.
He said there are currently 10 seminarians with the possibility of a few more added next year. Father Bowlds said seminarians are not being trained to replace lay leaders in parishes but to work with them.
Panelist Sweet is the northeast liaison for the Loyola Institute for Ministry Extension (LIMEX), a graduate program for lay ministers.
The panelists then heard comments and addressed questions from the audience concerning costs of attending ministry programs and the need for Hispanic priests in the northeast region.
Another panelist, Carolina Amador from Tupelo St. James, explained that in Spanish communities people live their faith intensely, in a very heartfelt manner but generally don’t take leadership roles.
She said there is a need for Hispanics to become more educated in their spiritual formation just like Catholics in the American church.
On balance, Amador said Hispanics can contribute to the American church by giving it more heart.
The next panel expressed their experiences of evangelization in the workplace, community outreach, social justice, ecumenism and personal witness.
Panelist Carlos Ann Sanders, Amory St. Helen Parish, described how barriers between different faiths in her town dropped away when various churches worked together to meet the needs of the community.
Sister Terry Rodela, who runs the northeast office of Catholic Charities in Vardaman, described how listening to one another can be a form of evangelization.
Craig Bertelson of Tupelo St. James related the stormy interactions of his men’s prayer group at work and how the study of his faith and continued prayer with the group led to his deeper conversion and his sharing of it outside of work.
In discussing future challenges in their church communities, Mary Brilley of Corinth St. James stressed the need for various groups — youth, seniors, Hispanics, Anglos, rich, poor – to unite in their Catholic faith.
“We are called to be like the early Christians in recognizing all these differences and bringing them together to be one church,” she said.
From Ripley St. Matthew Mission, Francisco Morfin, named the structures that have served as his faith community’s church over the years. “Our challenge is not only to build a new building, but to build our community.”
Sister Alies Therese, mission coordinator of Eupora St. John Neumann, said Catholics can view their faith as a religion or a way of life, they can lead changes in areas such as social justice or wait to be led by the culture around them.
“The question is not where is God in my life, but where am I in God’s life?. . . the question of our time is a question of holiness . . . to not only share what we eat, but to become what we eat,” she said.
eucharistic minister.
but to work with them.