Monthly Archives: June 2014

Bishop’s ball tickets going fast

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JACKSON – Tickets are still available for the ninth annual Catholic Charities Bishop’s Ball set for Friday, June 27, beginning with cocktails at 6:30 p.m. at the Country Club of Jackson.
“Please join us as we welcome Bishop Joseph Kopacz in his first year in the Jackson diocese,” said Jennifer Kelemen, a development assistant at Catholic Charities.
Pat and Alexander Malouf of Greenwood and Carol and James Cooper of Madison will be honored with the Samaritan Award for their relentless support of the Catholic Charities’ mission.
“Guests will enjoy a delectable dinner and will be entertained by sounds of The Red Hots,” said Kelemen.
A live auction will feature a trip to Europe donated by Proximo Travel, a beautiful cabinet by John Richard Furniture, a five night stay at the Orange Beach Resort, and a Greg Harkins chair. The silent auction will feature many pieces of art, decorative items from John Richard Furniture, jewelry and gift cards.
“Don’t forget the fabulous raffle packages including ‘All About Me,’ ‘Made in Mississippi’ and ‘Family Fun Time’ to name a few. You can check out our facebook page to see a preview of some of the items we are offering,” said Kelemen.
The Bishop’s Ball is Catholic Charities’ premier fundraising event, raising much-needed funds for programs including adoption, therapeutic crisis centers, foster care and domestic violence programs. Purchase tickets online at www.ccjackson.org or call Jennifer Kelemen, 601-326-3758.

Freedom Summer exhibits display people behind struggle

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Summer 2014 marks the 50th anniversary of the period known as Freedom Summer, a campaign to register black voters in many parts of Mississippi. Volunteers with the Council of Federated Organizations (COFO), including many college students from around the country, came to Mississippi to help with these and other interrelated efforts.
The hope was to bring national and international attention to the state. While non-Mississippians contributed enormously to the movement, it remains clear that local people were the key in bringing about change in their communities.
Three weeks into the process, on June 21, one native son, James Chaney, a graduate of Meridian St. Joseph Catholic School, and two young men from New York – Andrew Goodman and Michael Schwerner, were brutally murdered after being detained in jail and then released.
The three were buried in a dam near Philadelphia and were found six weeks later in August. Chaney had been beaten to death; Goodman and Schwerner had been shot in the chest. This horrific event changed the entire nation and left an indelible mark on the local community and those young people who came  from all over the country to struggle for the rights of all Mississippians.
Fifty years later the state of Mississippi is commemorating this summer with exhibits and activities in several locations. These events may be found on the Freedom Summer web site – freedom50.org as well as the Winter Institute at Ole Miss – winterinstitute.org.
The Mississippi Museum of Art in Jackson is hosting several exhibits to commemorate Freedom Summer.
The first of these exhibits is This Light of Ours: Activist Photographers of the Civil Rights Movement, which is now showing through Aug. 17.
Four years in the making, this exhibit is a paradigm-shifting exhibition that presents the Civil Rights Movement through the work and voices of nine activist photographers—men and women who chose to document the national struggle against segregation and other forms of race-based disenfranchisement from within the movement.
The core of the exhibition is a selection of 157 black-and-white photographs, representing the work of photographers Bob Adelman, George Ballis, Bob Fitch, Bob Fletcher, Matt Herron, David Prince, Herbert Randall, Maria Varela, and Tamio Wakayama.
As part of This Light of Ours, community members are invited to submit their own mementos to “A Wall To Tell Our Stories,” an in-gallery component that helps commemorate our shared history through family photos, news clippings, objects, and ephemera.
Email scans or photos, items, or memories for addition to the Wall to Carol Peaster at cpeaster@msmuseumart.org, or bring them by the Museum and add them yourself.
Norman Rockwell: Murder in Mississippi will be on display through Aug. 31. In 1964, LOOK Magazine commissioned an investigative article about the three civil rights workers murder entitled “Southern Justice,” and painter Norman Rockwell was asked to provide an illustration for the magazine’s cover.
Over the course of five weeks, Rockwell intensively studied the circumstances of the murders, made many preliminary drawings, photographs, a preparatory oil sketch, and the finished painting entitled Murder in Mississippi.
This exhibition presents the iconic masterpiece in the context of many related works and thus illuminates the artist’s creative process. Admission: $10 adults, $8 seniors, $5 students (includes admission to This Light of Ours.
A third exhibit at the museum is Icons of Freedom, which features the faces of the Civil Rights Movement.
The faces belong to unrecognized volunteers as well as to the visible leaders of the movement. Artworks in this exhibition portray some of the most celebrated leaders, foot soldiers, and innocent casualties of the fight for freedom in America during the 1950s and 1960s.
Three lithographs by Ben Shahn (1898-1969) are lent by David Goodman of The Andrew Goodman Foundation and depict Civil Rights workers James Chaney, Michael Schwerner, and Andrew Goodman, who were murdered in Philadelphia, Mississippi, in June 1964.
Also on view are an etching by John Wilson (born 1922) of Martin Luther King, Jr., portraits of Medgar and Myrlie Evers by Jason Bouldin (born 1965), and an unfinished quilt by Gwendolyn A. Magee (1943-2011) that honors the participants of the historic 1961 Freedom Rides.
Icons of Freedom is on display until Aug. 3. Visit the museum’s website at msmuseumart.org for information on these exhibits, costs and hours of operation.

Solemnity of Corpus Christi: spend time in adoration

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The Solemnity of the Most Holy Body and Blood of Christ – Corpus Christi – is traditionally a time for Eucharistic Adoration and Processions.
Bishop Joseph Kopacz has invited all deaneries and parishes to participate in this tradition by coordinating local celebrations of adoration.
In his letter inviting parishes to schedule adoration and Benediction the bishop pointed out that this kind of prayer is appropriate at all times, but especially in June as the church celebrates so many ordination anniversaries.
The letter reads: During the month of June we will honor several of our priests who are celebrating significant anniversaries of ordination. Devoting time for the faithful to gather in our churches for adoration of the Blessed Sacrament is an excellent way to honor these men and another opportunity for the faithful to gather and increase reverence for the Holy Eucharist.
Parishes and deaneries were asked to coordinate at the very least two hours of adoration on Saturday, June 21.
It is most fitting to devote time to our Lord in this great gift to His Church: his Body and Blood in the Blessed Sacrament.
Here are some opportunities to join in adoration around Corpus Christi.

  • Clarksdale – St. Elizabeth, adoration, Saturday, June 21, 10 a.m. – noon closing with Benediction.
  • Cleveland – Our Lady of Victories, adoration, Saturday, June 21, 10 a.m. – noon.
  • Grenada – St. Peter, adoration Sunday, June 22, 6 – 7 p.m.
  • Greenville – St. Joseph, adoration Thursday, June 19, 7 p.m. – Saturday, June 21, 11 a.m., closing with Benediction.
  • Greenwood – St. Francis, adoration, Saturday, June 21, 9 a.m. – 1 p.m. with reposition of the Blessed Sacrament.
  • Greenwood – Immaculate Heart of Mary, adoration Friday, June 20, 1 – 6 p.m., closing with Benediction.
  • Hernando – Holy Spirit, adoration, Saturday, June 21, 10 a.m. – noon.
  • Jackson – Cathedral of St. Peter, adoration Saturday, June 21, 10 a.m. – noon and  3 – 4 p.m.
  • Jackson – Christ the King, adoration, Sunday, June 22, 10 a.m. – noon.
  • Jackson – St. Richard, adoration Saturday, June 21, 8:30 – 10:30 a.m.
  • Jackson – St. Therese, adoration Saturday, June 21, 9 a.m. – 3 p.m. closing with Benediction.
  • Natchez – Basilica of St. Mary, adoration with Benediction Sunday, June 22, 11 a.m. – 2 p.m.
  • Olive Branch  – Queen of Peace, adoration Saturday, June 21, 10 a.m. – noon.
  • OXFORD – St. John, adoration Sunday, June 22, 3 – 5 p.m. (Confession during adoration) followed by evening Mass.
  • Southaven  – Christ the King, Saturday, June 21, 10 a.m. – noon.
  • Tupelo – St. James, adoration Sunday, June 22, 6 p.m. – Monday, June 23, 6 p.m.

Economy of exclusion showcases injustice

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Millennial Reflections
By Father Jeremy Tobin, O.Praem
In Evangelii Gaudium, The Joy of the Gospel, Pope Francis renders an accurate picture of our situation today.
In Chapter Two,“No to an Economy of Exclusion,” Pope Francis writes, “Human beings are themselves considered consumer goods to be used and discarded. We have created a throw away culture which is now spreading.”
Much has been written how groups throughout the world have been exploited, oppressed or marginalized. This immoral situation is even worse. As Pope Francis has written, “It is no longer about exploitation or oppression, but something new. Exclusion ultimately has to do with what it means to be a part of the society in which we live, those excluded are no longer society’s underside or its fringes or its disenfranchised – they are no longer even a part of it. The excluded are not the ‘exploited’ but the outcast, the ‘leftovers.’”
Pope Francis has nailed it. The disregard for human and worker harkens back to the days of slavery. Slaves were considered investments, not people. Major insurance companies in the United States made their reputations insuring slave ships during the African slave trade.
The condition today is worse, as the Pope describes it. People are used and discarded and easily replaced. In some parts of the world conditions are frighteningly similar to what those slaves endured. We only have to look at the horrendous garment factory fire with huge loss of life in Bangladesh, or sweatshop conditions in Hong Kong or Singapore, or New York or Chicago.
From 1980 till the present, trickle down economics has barely trickled down, but gushed upward creating a new powerful elite. Pope Francis gives us his take on it.
What Pope Francis has to say encourages us on the progressive side of Catholic social justice who have long criticized these policies.
He condemns this with an even greater moral voice. “In this context some people continue to defend trickle-down theories which assume that economic growth, encouraged by a free market, will inevitably succeed in bringing about greater justice and inclusiveness in the world. This opinion, which has never been confirmed by the facts, expresses a crude and naïve trust in the goodness of those wielding economic power and in the sacralized workings of the prevailing economic system. Meanwhile the excluded are still waiting.”
His last sentence, “The excluded are still waiting” is echoed and dramatized throughout the world by those fighting for improved living and working conditions. The very phrase “free market” like “free trade” evokes cynicism and sarcasm by those the Pope calls excluded. This word “excluded” says it so well. Back in the day when we marched for civil rights or demonstrated for the right to choose a union, things happened. Perhaps undocumented immigrants in this country, even those from the Pope’s native Argentina, are part of the new “excluded.”
Pope Francis charges on, “To sustain a lifestyle which excludes others, or to sustain enthusiasm for that selfish ideal, a globalization of indifference has developed.” The frustration of activists to the budget submitted by Paul Ryan illustrates precisely what the Pope is criticizing.
As the rich get richer they cultivate an indifference, even a moral disdain for the plight of the poor who get poorer. Even middle class families are disregarded as their unemployment benefits are discontinued. The Pope further goes on, “We end up being incapable of feeling compassion at the outcry of the poor, weeping for other people’s pain, and feeling a need to help them, as though all this were someone else’s responsibility and not our own.”
A perfect example here, down South, is the iconic picture of hundreds of African Americans holding up a sign, “HELP US!” standing on the flooded freeway while surrounded by Hurricane Katrina’s aftermath. They were left stranded. The callous disregard for people struggling to make it is a judgment on our society. We can do better.
(Father Jeremy Tobin, O.Praem, lives at the Priory of St. Moses the Black, Jackson)

Don’t leave church how you found it

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Reflections On Life
By Father Jerome LeDoux, SVD
“There’s a 911 going off all around the Catholic Church, especially in the black part of the Church. But few people seem to be listening to the 911. It is noted that one in three Catholics is no longer practicing. Former altar boys or altar girls, former Eucharistic ministers and lectors are now part of some megachurch, Pentecostal church or no church. Amazingly, the number of former Catholics is sufficient to form the third-largest U.S. denomination.
“Most distressing of all, late-teenage and young adult Catholics are those most conspicuous for their absence. We are losing them at an alarming rate because we are not breaking the Word open to them. Our prayers, worship and life are not filled with the driving power of the Holy Ghost, so that people leave church in the same sad shape they entered it.
“Before walking out of church on Sunday, all of us need an attitude adjustment and a greater quickening of the Holy Ghost. But some of us need a transfusion, minor surgery or varying degrees of medical care, while others need open-heart surgery or, in some cases, a heart transplant. Serious head adjustment, nerve and/or emotional treatment is in order for many before they casually walk out the door as if everything were all right with them and the world.”
These words came pouring out of the mouth of evangelist/revivalist Msgr. Ray East, pastor of St. Teresa of Avila Church in Washington, D.C. He was busy bringing the fire of the Holy Ghost to St. Anthony Parish, housed in a smallish church in Dallas. Six of us from Our Mother of Mercy Church in Fort Worth had motored there to join in the revival. He observed that few churches are catching the fire of the Holy Spirit, and, without that fire, they will be lifeless, purposeless failures.
With an almost continuous smile, his eyes, ivories and his striking demeanor showed clearly that he was enjoying, savoring each greeting, every word, each prayer, every reading of the liturgy, rocking, gesturing and clapping to the beat and lyrics of each song rendered by the dynamic, powerful blended choir of St. Anthony and Holy Cross Churches.
Wearing Texas boots, Monsignor Ray removed them ostentatiously in the midst of his homily and placed them standing next to the pulpit. He did not put them on again until shortly before the Consecration. Wandering over much of the church like a peripatetic preacher, he made certain that he engaged as many individuals as he could.
Later, he explained that removing ones shoes before entering a house is common in the East, but especially when entering an area that is considered a holy place, much as when Moses approached the burning bush.
And, not surprisingly, I had that familiar feeling during the progression of the liturgy, music and homily that we were indeed standing on holy ground. As he spoke, the words of the song came to mind, “We are standing on holy ground, and I know that there are angels all around. Let us praise Jesus now.”
Yes, and the Holy Spirit was indeed moving and hard at work. In their now smiling, now pensive, now troubled, now joyful, now explosive demeanor, the sisters and brothers throughout the church resonated Msgr. East’s infectious presence and spirited proclamation of the Word, his on-fire sharing of the Word in his homily, and his highly personal rendition of each segment of the liturgy. It was an obvious reenactment of the legendary Last Supper.
“In order to reach our St. Teresa of Avila Church in D.C., many of our church members have to pass by megachurches and a number of Catholic parishes. They have to WANT to come to our church service! And that is what all of us must do. We must so conduct our lives and our church service that people will WANT to come to us and be a part of our Faith Family.”
The afterglow, of course, and the follow-up by the folks attending a church service are the proof whether the action and interaction of the service have been faith-driven, Spirit-filled and live to the point where minds and hearts are changed for the better, negative stress is relieved or removed, pain and sorrow are more bearable and our lives become more livable.
That afterglow and follow-up were evident as we repaired to the hall for a light repast. The happy, buzzing beehive atmosphere was that of the Agape gatherings of the early Christians.
“God is love, and all who abide in love abide in God and God in them.”   (1 John 4:16)
(Father Jerome LeDoux, SVD, is pastor of Our Mother of Mercy Parish in Fort Worth, Texas. He has written “Reflections on Life since 1969.)

Knights celebrate ‘under God’ anniversary

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The Knights of Columbus is celebrating this year the 60th anniversary of the resolution adding the phrase ‘under God’ to the Pledge of Allegiance. In 1951 the knights added the phrase to the pledge at their meetings and then decided to take the idea to the president and Congress.

President Dwight D. Eisenhower made it official on Flag Day, June 14, 1953. The president wrote a letter to the Grand Knight at that time expressing his gratitude. “We are particularly thankful to you for your part in the movement to have the words ‘under God’ added to our Pledge of Allegiance. These words will remind Americans that despite our great physical strength we must remain humble. They will help us to keep constantly in our minds and hearts the spiritual and moral principles which alone give dignity to man, and upon which our way of life is founded,” reads the letter.

CALENDAR OF EVENTS

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SPIRITUAL ENRICHMENT

  • CLEVELAND Our Lady of Victories Parish, Eucharistic adoration, Saturday, June 21, 10 a.m. – noon. Call 662-846-6273, to sign up for a time slot.
  • GRENADA St. Peter Parish, Holy hour, 6 p.m., Sunday, June 22, feast of Corpus Christi.
  • GREENVILLE St. Joseph Parish, 40 hours of adoration beginning Thursday, June 19, 7 p.m. – Saturday, June 21, at 11 a.m., closing with Benediction.
  • GREENWOOD Immaculate Heart of Mary Parish, adoration, Friday, June 20, 1 – 6 p.m.
  • – St. Francis Parish, adoration, Saturday, June 21, 9 a.m. – 1 p.m. closing with Benediction.
  • IUKA St. Mary Parish, Mass, Wednesday, June 18, 10 a.m., followed by a presentation on Father Lincoln Dall’s trip to northern Spain along “The Way.”
  • MADISON St. Francis of Assisi Parish, Sunday adult education summer session, “How to explain the Mass,” June 29, July 27, and Aug. 31, 9:15 – 10:15 a.m. in the Family Life Center.
  • NEW ORLEANS St. Matthew the Apostle in River Ridge, Catholic Charismatic Renewal of New Orleans (CCRNO) annual Day of Refreshment for Women, Saturday, June 28, 10 a.m. – 3 p.m. “Let Everything that Has Breath Praise the Lord.” Register online, www.ccrno.org, by Wednesday, June 25, to reserve a lunch. On-site registrations are accepted but no lunch is guaranteed. Details: 504-828-1368, www.ccrno.org.
  • OXFORD St. John Parish, women’s retreat on Friday and Saturday, Aug. 22-23, in the parish center. Register by email to Mary Kate Whelan, Marykatewhelan@gmail.com.
  • – The Prayer Shawl Ministry meets on Fridays at 10 a.m. in the Community Room. Beginners and experts are welcome and needed. Details: Terry at the church office, 662-234-6073.
  • YAZOO CITY St. Mary Parish, Prayer Shawl Ministry meets on Thursdays at 10:30 a.m. in the parish office.

PARISH AND COMMUNITY

  • BOONEVILLE St. Francis Parish, VBS, Tuesday, July 1, from 9 a.m. – 2 p.m. for children ages four to fourth grade. Older students are asked to volunteer.
  • CAMDEN Sacred Heart Parish, swimming classes on Saturdays, 8 – 10 a.m. Details: Bernard Cheeks, 601-942-6176.
  • – Mass to honor Sacred Heart’s graduates, 9 a.m. Sunday June 29.
  • CANTON Holy Child Jesus, picnic on June 29, following the 11:15 a.m. Mass. Bring a dish, beverage, friend or inactive member.
  • CLARKSDALE St. Elizabeth Parish, Mass on Thursdays at 5:30 p.m. during summer. Will return to 8:15 a.m. in August when school resumes.
  • CLEVELAND Our Lady of Victories, Natural Family Planning introductory session on Wednesday, June 25, at 6 p.m. Led by Valerie Antici, family nurse practitioner. To register call Antici, 601-597-6560.
  • GREENVILLE St. Joseph Parish, VBS, July 14-17, 5:30 – 8 p.m. at St. Joseph School.
  • GREENWOOD Immaculate Heart of Mary Parish, fish dinner on Thursday, June 19, from 5 – 8:30 p.m. on the parish grounds. Fish dinner is $8, fish tacos, $3 each.
  • – Blood drive, Monday, June 23, from 2:30 – 7 p.m. in the parish center.
  • MADISON St. Francis of Assisi Parish, Ladies in Faith Together (LIFT), meets at the Mosaic Shop on Wednesday, June 18, at 6:30 p.m. Cost is $20. Bring a snack to share. Details: Melissa Smalley, 601-209-4724, mjs0406@aol.com.
  • SOUTHAVEN Christ the King Parish, men’s breakfast, prayer and fellowship Saturday, June 14, from 7 – 8:30 a.m. (2nd Saturday of each month) in the social hall. RSVP by email to food4thejourney4men@gmail.com. Details: Ted Schreck, 901-833-3663.
  • – Kids’ Music Camp, June 23-26, from 9 a.m. – noon for instrumentalists who are in eighth grade and high school and to singers who are in fourth grade through high school. The group will sing and play at the Sacred Heart Mass on Friday, June 27.
  • TUPELO Knights of Columbus Tootsie Roll Drive, Friday and Saturday, June 20-21. To volunteer, call Bill Anderson, 662-322-7726, or Ed Ivancic, 662-842-4312.

CELEBRATIONS

  • FLOWOOD St. Paul Parish, Father’s Day brunch, Sunday, June 15, after the 8 and 10:30 a.m. Masses. Free for fathers, a nominal donations for all others.
  • MERIDIAN St. Joseph School/Parish homecoming Mass and dinner, Friday, June 27, at 6 p.m., in conjunction with the 40th annual Meridianites convention and picnic.
  • SHAW St. Francis Parish, cookout on Sunday, June 29, at 6 p.m.
  • SOUTHAVEN Christ the King Parish, feast of the Sacred Heart Mass, Friday, June 27, at 11 a.m. followed by a luncheon at the Social Hall. All members of all the parishes and ministries of the Mississippi Priests of the Sacred Heart are welcome.