By Judy Miller
CANTON – In 1985 a group of concerned citizens led by Sister Grace Mary McGuire began to ponder ways they could make a concrete difference in the lives of people living in deplorable poverty in the Canton, Flora and Camden areas of Madison County. The group became Madison Countians Allied Against Poverty (MadCAPP). MadCAAP’s Clothes Closet (Grace’s Closet) is named in honor of Sister Grace Mary.
MadCAAP was born because this group felt the call to put love into action as they identified housing repair and working with neighborhood mothers as their primary focus. Thirty years later, housing repair and education remain at the forefront of MadCAAP’s work in the community; along with the expansion of those programs we have added a clothes closet, food pantry, helping hands garden and Thanksgiving food drive and continued to develop our educational programs, now called “New Attitudes.”
This past summer, MadCAAP expanded its outreach to offer vacation Bible school (VBS) and a reading club for children.
Thirty years sounds like a big expanse of time but there are still individuals in our community who do not know about MadCAAP and have no idea of the kind of abject poverty that exists just 20 miles north of one of the most affluent areas in our state. MadCAAP’s executive director, Karen Robison, her dad, Harold Waldrop, and board president, Olivia Harrell, the latter being two of those original concerned citizens, have a shared passion for the poor that continues to inspire others to seek ways to feed, clothe, educate and care for our neighbors living in poverty.
The organization is always looking for volunteers to help in both the food pantry and clothes closet, both open Mondays and Wednesdays. Groups of students from various Catholic schools and youth groups come to Canton to assist in housing repair projects and work in our Helping Hands Garden of HOPE.
Each summer for the past 10 years a group from Wisconsin called 6:8 spends a week volunteering with MadCAAP.  In June of this year, 6:8 helped with vacation Bible school, our reading program, the garden and on housing projects. Madison St. Francis Parish is one of our contributors and is always ready to provide an evening meal for these youth and their leaders.
Right now, the food pantry is very low on many items including canned vegetables. During the summer, volunteers can help in the garden. As the holidays approach, MadCAPP invites any family or community to adopt one of our families for the holidays.
MadCAAP’s annual fund-raiser, Food for Thought, will be held on Oct. 6, from 6 – 9 p.m. at the Town of Livingston, located at the intersection of Highway 463 and Highway 22 in Madison.  As always, food will be provided by 25 of the areas top-rated restaurants, including Georgia Blue, Strawberry Café, Shapley’s, and The County Seat. Complimentary wine will be provided by Livingston Cellars. Chris Gill and the Sole Shakers will be the musical entertainment. Food for Thought’s Silent Auction is always a highlight of the event. This year’s auction includes Disney Park Hopper passes, a Destin condo rental, diamond earrings, Prada handbag, Mississippi pottery, countless gift certificates and Home Décor items.
Tickets for Food for Thought are $50 per person and may be purchased online at www.madcaap.org.  Attire is casual.  Proceeds from the event will fund MadCAAP’s programs that serve its 1,600 client families who live in poverty in our community.
(Judy Miller is the assistant to MadCAAP’s executive director.)

Father Maurice Henry Sands has been named the new executive director of the Black and Indian Mission Office, headquartered in Washington, D.C., effective Sept. 1. The Mission Office supports many of the efforts of parishes and schools throughout the Diocese of Jackson.
“I am excited to welcome Father Sands and I look forward to working with him,” said Will Jemison, Coordinator for the Office of Black Catholic Ministry for the diocese.
The announcement about Father Sands was made July 20 by Cardinal Timothy Dolan of New York, chairman of the agency’s Board of Directors. Archbishop Charles Chaput and Baltimore Archbishop William Lori join the cardinal on the agency’s board.
Father Sands, a priest of the Archdiocese of Detroit, currently serves as assistant director for Native American Affairs with the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops’ Secretariat of Cultural Diversity in the Church.
Ordained in 2005, Father Sands served as a parish priest prior to his appointment to the USCCB. He is a full-blooded Native American belonging to the Ojibway, Ottawa and Potawatomi tribes, and grew up on Walpole Island (Bkejwanong First Nation) which is located in the St. Clair River one hour north of Detroit, Michigan.
“It is a great honor, and at the same time it is also very humbling, to be asked to serve as the next executive director of the Black and Indian Mission Office,” Father Sands said. “I will strive my best to be a prayerful and conscientious and obedient servant of the Lord as I assist the bishops of the United States in their efforts to evangelize and catechize and care for the spiritual and pastoral needs of African American and Native American Catholics.”
He succeeds Father Wayne Paysse, who was ordained in 1987 and has served as executive director of the agency since 2007.
“I sought to motivate ‘the People of God’ across the United States to better understand their baptismal call to continue the mission of Jesus in day-to-day life,” Father Paysse said. “I have been humbled to continue the dynamic legacy of St. Katharine Drexel in collaboration with directors of diocesan offices, pastors and principals of schools from coast to coast.”
Jemison said Father Paysse will be missed. “He was so attentive to the mission of the parishes, schools and organizations here in the Diocese of Jackson and around the country. I really appreciated his personal attention and support during his years at the Mission Office,” said Jemison.
Among Father Paysse’s many accomplishments were launching the Mission Office website www.blackandindianmission.org, re-establishing “The Sentinel,” a quarterly printed publication on Native American ministry, and hosting online magazines for Black and Indian Catholic interests.
Cardinal Dolan welcomed Father Sands to the Mission Office, and thanked Father Paysse for his many years of service.
“On behalf of Archbishop Chaput, Archbishop Lori, and myself, I would like to express our gratitude to Father Sands for taking on this important missionary role with our Native and African American Catholics,” the cardinal said. “He succeeds Father Paysse, who has served as an effective administrator and a welcoming messenger of the Gospel.
“A special word of thanks, as well, to Archbishop Allen Vigneron, Archbishop of Detroit, for allowing Father Sands to participate in this ministry, and to Archbishop Gregory Aymond, Archbishop of New Orleans, for the many years of generous service that Father Paysse has given.”
The Black and Indian Mission Office is comprised of three distinct but related organizations, each with its own purpose and history. Founded by the Catholic bishops of the United States, each organization cooperates with local diocesan communities to spread the Good News of Jesus Christ and respond to real and pressing needs.
The three organizations are the Bureau of Catholic Indian Missions, established in 1874; the Commission for the Catholic Missions, established in 1884; and the Catholic Negro-American Mission Board, established 1907 and united with the bureau in 1980.

By Sister María Josefa García
My name is María Josefa García Alvarez. I was born in a town in the highlands of the state of San Luis Potosí, Mexico. This beautiful place is called Guadalcálzar.
My parents, Antonio Garcia and Maria Alvarez, of happy memory, had eight children, Felipe, Teresa, Concha, Pedro, María Josefa, Esther, Jesús and Moisés. I am the fifth daughter. I was baptized with the name Josefina in honor of San José. When I was registered they named me María Josefa, which is what my family uses. My friends call me Josefina.
At a very early age I felt that God was calling me to be a nun. I played celebrating Mass and I cared for the things on the altar. When I finished elementary school, my teacher, a Missionary of the Sacred Heart and Holy Mary of Guadalupe, invited the girls to go with her to continue studying and prepare to be missionaries.
I recognize this as the key moment in my vocational calling, although I believe that God called me from the womb: “Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, before you were born I dedicated you.” (Jer. 1:4 )
At age 12, I asked my parents permission to enter the convent, and as you might expect, my parents said no. They told me I needed to study and that later on they would reconsider. I continued my high school studies in my hometown and then I went to the city of San Luis Potosí to study preparatory school. I still did not have permission from my parents to go to the convent.
During all these years, the Lord never stopped calling me and inviting me to follow him. I was a normal young girl, with lots of friends. I attended parties and dances but none of this made me happy. I continued looking for God, participating in my church as a catechist and sharing my faith with the children. I also had a friendship with Father José S. Hernández, a priest in my home town. He was God’s instrument to take me to the final step.
He got permission from my parents and guided me to enter the Congregation of the Guadalupan Missionaries of the Holy Spirit in Morelia, Mich., on Oct. 29, 1973.
I really liked the spirituality of this congregation and I carefully studied and read the books on spirituality that the mother superior gave me.
I entered the first stage, one year as postulant, then I continued to the second stage, two years as a novice.  I had a great willingness to learn and prepare to be a good missionary.
Finally, the great day came for me. I made my first vows to God, promising poverty, chastity and obedience, in the Congregation of the Guadalupan Missionaries of the Holy Spirit, on Aug. 15, 1976.
I continued my religious training, the third phase, which is called Juniorate. During  three years I studied ecclesiastical sciences and religious. In August of 1979 I was sent to an indigenous community in the state of Guerrero in Mexico. I was already living my dream to be a missionary and I felt very happy.
A quote from the Bible that has always motivated me to continue is: “Whoever wishes to come after me must denied himself, take out his cross, and follow me For whoever wishes to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake and that of the gospel will save it.” (Mark 8:34)
During my years of religious life I have been sent to minister in Puerto Rico, Florida, Colorado, California, Alabama and now I am serving in Mississippi. During all my years of missionary life I have constantly felt the loving presence of God in my life. His promise is: “Have no fear before them, because I am with you to deliver you.” (Jer 1:8)
After 39 years of missionary life I still say, ‘Yes, Jesus, in bad times and in good times’ to all he asks of me. It encourages me that he is with us until the end of times, his mercy and fidelity are eternal. I ask the youth no to be afraid and to give the ‘yes’ to Jesus when he calls them.
Times have changed. With the Second Vatican Council there were many changes in the whole church and religious life was no the exception; we continue in a process of profound renewal. In this Year of Consecrated Life, something new is happening even though we are not seeing it with clarity yet, but God is preparing us a great surprise. The new life in Christ will sprout.
“Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth. The former heaven and the former earth had passed away … (Rev. 21:1).
(Sr. Maria Josepha Garcia works in the Office of Hispanic Ministry for the diocese. Other religious who wish to send reflections for the Year of Mercy should send them to editor@mississippicatholic.com)

By Maureen Smith
JACKSON – Catholic School students scored higher on the ACT college test than other students in the state. Catholic students also saw an increase in scores over last year and an overall increase over a five-year period, according to the organization that administers the test.
The ACT is a test used to measure college readiness in English, math, reading and science. It is open to high school upperclassmen. Composite scores rose from 22.3 last year to 22.9 this year. The state average score was 18.7. The state score includes all of the public and private school students tested across the state. The highest possible score is 36 and the national average falls between 20 and 21. The highest gains from last year came in English and reading, both of which rose by a full point from 23 to 24 in English and 22.5 to 23.5 in reading. State averages in those subjects were 18.7 and 19.3 respectively.
Math scores rose .7 to 21.2; science scores rose .3 to 22.4. To put some of these numbers in perspective, a student with a score of 18 in English composition is considered ready for college-level courses in that subject. Students who score 22 in the Algebra section, 22 in social science and 23 in biology are all considered to be ready to pass a college course.
“We are thrilled about the increase,” said Catherine Cook, superintendent of Catholic Schools. “While we are glad to see test scores reflecting the great work being done in our schools, we will continue to work toward ensuring that each student gets what he or she needs to succeed overall in whatever path they choose,” added Cook.
The test may be taken by high school students, but the work to prepare students for graduation and college starts in the earliest grades. The Diocese of Jackson has been on a mission to improve curriculum in all of its schools with help from the Alliance for Catholic Education (ACE), based out of Notre Dame University.
“In the past five years, we have implemented the ACE curriculum, which uses a set of standards written for our diocese by educators in our diocese” said Margaret Anzelmo, coordinator for academic excellence for diocesan schools. “It uses intentional structures between what students know and should be able to do at the end of the year,” she added. This individual planning means the educators in diocesan schools were able to discuss specific strengths and challenges within their schools and come up with the best ways to structure their curriculums, seek out needed resources and share success stories.
“We have also been using a standard walkthrough for principals to observe in classes and be able to offer feedback,” said Anzelmo.
Educators from every school took initial training at Notre Dame and then came back to the diocese to begin revising the curriculum for each subject and training their fellow educators on the method ACE uses. Each subject goes through a two-year assessment and revision followed by ongoing assessment and measurement.
“At the end of the day, we have great teachers and we emphasize the strength of each child,” said Anzelmo.