Pray for peace, weep for world at war, pope says

By Cindy Wooden
VATICAN CITY (CNS) – “Jesus wept.” Pope Francis opened his morning homily with those words as he spoke about the wars and violence engulfing numerous parts of the world.
The Gospel reading for Nov. 19 began, “As Jesus drew near Jerusalem, he saw the city and wept over it, saying, ‘If this day you only knew what makes for peace – but now it is hidden from your eyes.’”
“Jesus is weeping today, too, because we have preferred the path of war, the path of hatred, the path of enmity,” the pope said during the Mass in the chapel of the Domus Sanctae Marthae where he lives.
“The whole world” seems to be at war today, the pope said, and there is “no justification” for it.
“A war can be – quote-unquote – ‘justified’ for many reasons, but when the whole world is embroiled in war like it is today – there is a world war (being fought) in pieces, here, there, everywhere – there is no justification. And God weeps. Jesus weeps,” the pope said.
“It would do us good to ask for the grace of tears for this world that does not recognize the path of peace,” the pope said. “Let us ask for the conversion of hearts.”
Pope Francis prayed that the upcoming Year of Mercy would bring with it “the grace that the world would discover again the ability to weep for its crimes, for those who make war.”
“We are approaching Christmas,” the pope said, and soon everywhere “there will be lights, decorated trees, even Nativity scenes,” but if they are not signs of faith in Jesus and a commitment to following him, then it is “all fake.”
“The world continues to make war,” he said. “The world has not understood the path of peace.”
All the wars and violence lead to “ruin, thousands of children without an education, many innocent people dead and a lot of money in the pockets of those who sell weapons,” the pope said. “Jesus once said, ‘You cannot serve two masters: Either God or riches.’ War is choosing riches.”
Choosing war, he said, is like saying, “’Let’s make weapons, that way we can balance the budget a bit and move our own interests forward.’ The Lord has strong words for those people: ‘Be cursed!’ He said, ‘Blessed are the peacemakers.’ Those who decide for war, who make wars, are cursed; they are criminals.”
While arms sellers around the world are getting rich, the pope said, peacemakers are humbly helping people one at a time.
Describing Blessed Teresa of Kolkata as an “icon of our age,” Pope Francis said she was one of those humble peacemakers. Cynics would ask what good Mother Teresa did by caring for the dying, but their question simply shows they do not understand the path to peace, he said.

Darkness, doubt can lead to maturity

IN EXILE
By Father Ron Rolheiser, OMI
In one of his books on contemplative prayer, Thomas Keating shares with us a line that he occasionally uses in spiritual direction. People come to him, sharing how they used to have a warm and solid sense of God in their lives but now complain that all that warmth and confidence have disappeared and they’re left struggling with belief and struggling to pray as they used to. They feel a deep sense of loss and invariably this is their question: “What’s wrong with me?” Keating’s answer: God is wrong with you!
His answer, in essence, says this: Despite your pain, there is something very right with you. You have moved past being a religious neophyte, past an initiatory stage of religious growth, which was right for you for its time, and are now being led into a deeper, not lesser, faith.
Moreover, that loss of fervor has brought you to a deeper maturity. So, in effect, what you’re asking is this: I used to be quite sure of myself religiously and, no doubt, probably somewhat arrogant and judgmental. I felt I understood God and religion and I looked with some disdain at the world. Then the bottom fell out of my faith and my certainty and I’m now finding myself a lot less sure of myself, considerably more humble, more empathetic, and less judgmental. What’s wrong with me?
Asked in this way, the question answers itself. Clearly that person is growing, not regressing.
Lost is a place too! Christina Crawford wrote those words, describing her own painful journey through darkness into a deeper maturity. To be saved, we have to first realize that we’re lost, and usually some kind of bottom has to fall out of our lives for us to come to that realization. Sometimes there’s no other cure for arrogance and presumption than a painful loss of certitude about our own ideas about God, faith and religion.
John of the Cross suggests that a deeper religious faith begins when, as he puts it, we forced to understand more by not understanding than by understanding. But that can be a very confusing and painful experience that precisely prompts the feeling: What’s wrong with me?
A curious, paradoxical dynamic lies behind this: We tend to confuse faith with our capacity on any given day to conjure up a concept of God and imagine God’s existence. Moreover we think our faith is strongest at those times when we have affective and emotive feelings attached to our imaginations about God.
Our faith feels strongest when bolstered by and inflamed by feelings of fervor. Great spiritual writers will tell us that this stage of fervor is a good stage in our faith, but an initiatory one, one more commonly experienced when we are neophytes. Experience tends to support this.
In the earlier stages of a religious journey it is common to possess strong, affective images and feelings about God. At this stage, our relationship with God parallels the relationship between a couple on their honeymoon. On your honeymoon you have strong emotions and possess a certain certainty about your love, but it’s a place you come home from.
A honeymoon is an initiatory stage in love, a valuable gift, but something that disappears after it has done its work. A honeymoon is not a marriage, though often confused with one. It’s the same with faith; strong imaginative images of God are not faith, though they’re often confused with it.
Strong imaginative images and strong feelings about God are, in the end, just that, images. Wonderful, but images nonetheless, icons. An image is not the reality. An icon can be beautiful and helpful and point us in the right direction, but when mistaken for the reality it becomes an idol.
For this reason, the great spiritual writers tell us that God at certain moments of our spiritual journey “takes away” our certainty and deprives us of all warm, felt feelings in faith.
God does this precisely so that we cannot turn our icons into idols, so that we cannot let the experience of faith get in the way of the end of faith itself, namely, an encounter the reality and person of God.
Mystics such as John of the Cross call this experience of seemingly losing our faith, “a dark night of the soul”. This describes the experience where we used to feel God’s presence with a certain warmth and solidity, but now we feel like God is non-existent and we are left in doubt. This is what Jesus experienced on the cross and this is what Mother Teresa wrote about in her journals.
And while that darkness can be confusing, it can also be maturing: It can help move us from being arrogant, judgmental, religious neophytes to being humble, empathic men and women, living inside a cloud of unknowing, understanding more by not understanding than by understanding, helpfully lost in a darkness we cannot manipulate or control, so as to finally be pushed into genuine faith, hope, and charity.
(Oblate Father Ron Rolheiser, theologian, teacher and award-winning author, is President of the Oblate School of Theology in San Antonio, TX.)

Pornography, political statements take center stage at USCCB

By Catholic News Service
BALTIMORE (CNS) – The U.S. bishops approved a formal statement on pornography and additions to their quadrennial statement on political responsibility at their Nov. 16-19 fall general meeting in Baltimore.
The votes were made during the public portion of the meeting, which ran Nov. 16-17. The bishops met in executive session Nov. 18-19.
The 2015 version of political responsibility document, “Forming Consciences for Faithful Citizenship,” passed 210-21 with five abstentions, and a separate vote on the statement’s introductory note passed 217-16 with two abstentions; two-thirds of diocesan bishops, or 181 votes, were needed for passage.
Additions to the document were made to reflect the teachings of Pope Francis and the later encyclicals of Pope Benedict XVI. But some bishops said the document does not adequately address poverty, as Pope Francis has asked the church to do.
The most vocal critic was Bishop Robert W. McElroy of San Diego, who said he was concerned that because poverty and the environment did not receive the same priority as abortion and euthanasia, that some people “outside of this room” would “misuse” the document and claim other issues did not carry the same moral weight.
The pornography statement, “Create in Me a Clean Heart: A Pastoral Response to Pornography,” says that “producing or using pornography is gravely wrong” and is a “mortal sin” if committed with deliberate consent and urges Catholics to turn away from it. Approval of the statement came on a vote of 230-4 with one abstention, with 181 votes needed for passage.
Bishop Richard J. Malone, of Buffalo, New York, chair of the bishops’ Committee on Laity, Marriage, Family Life and Youth, described pornography as a “dark shadow in our world today.” He added pornography is a “particularly sinister instance of consumption” where men, women and children are “consumed for the pleasure of others.”
The bishops approved a budget for the work of their national conference in 2016, but their vote was inconclusive on a proposed 3 percent increase in 2017 to the assessment on dioceses that funds the conference.
The bishops approved priorities and strategic plans for 2017-20 in a 233-4 vote Nov. 17. The document emphasizes five major areas: evangelization; family and marriage; human life and dignity; religious freedom; and vocations and ongoing formation.
The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops met in the shadow of the Nov. 13 terror attacks in Paris. Auxiliary Bishop Eusebio Elizondo of Seattle, chairman of the USCCB Committee on Migration, issued a statement Nov. 17 from the floor of the meeting.
“I am disturbed,” Bishop Elizondo said, “by calls from both federal and state officials for an end to the resettlement of Syrian refugees in the United States” in the wake of the attacks. “These refugees are fleeing terror themselves – violence like we have witnessed in Paris.”
He added, “Moreover, refugees to this country must pass security checks and multiple interviews before entering the United States – more than any arrival to the United States. It can take up to two years for a refugee to pass through the whole vetting process. We can look at strengthening the already stringent screening program, but we should continue to welcome those in desperate need.”
In his USCCB presidential address Nov. 16, Archbishop Joseph E. Kurtz of Louisville, Kentucky, called on his fellow bishops Nov. 16 to imitate the “pastor’s presence” exhibited by Pope Francis during his recent U.S. visit, “touching the hearts of the most influential, the forgotten and all of us in between.”
Noting the upcoming Year of Mercy that begins Dec. 8, Archbishop Kurtz said a ministry of “presence means making time and never letting administration come between me and the person. It’s seeing the person first.”
CRS Rice Bowl for families, student ambassador programs for high school and college students and a fledgling parish ambassador program can help U.S. Catholics “deepen their commitment to an essential dimension of their faith,” a Catholic Relief Services official told the U.S. bishops Nov. 17.
“I just wish that every Catholic knew about and could be proud of the wonderful works of mercy and justice they are part of” through the official humanitarian agency of the U.S. Catholic Church, said Joan Rosenhauer, CRS executive vice president for U.S. operations.
Citing young altar servers’ weak arms and older priests’ weak eyes, the U.S. bishops approved an adapted version of the Roman Missal to be used during the times at Mass when the celebrant is seated, subject to Vatican approval. The bishops endorsed “Excerpts from the Roman Missal: Book for Use at the Chair” by a 187-27 vote, with three abstentions.
On Nov. 16, the bishops discussed how the U.S. Catholic Church can move forward in response to the Supreme Court’s ruling on same-sex marriage this year. To that end, the bishops are planning to develop a pastoral plan for marriage and family life. The pastoral plan, according to Bishop Malone, will seek the bishops’ input.
“Witnesses to Freedom” will be the theme of the 2016 observance of the Fortnight for Freedom, Archbishop William E. Lori of Baltimore, chairman of the Ad Hoc Committee for Religious Liberty, told the assembly. The two-week event will include a nationwide tour of first class relics of St. Thomas More and St. John Fisher. Archbishop Lori said details of the tour have yet to be arranged.
(Contributing to this roundup were Nancy Frazier O’Brien, Dennis Sadowski and Carol Zimmermann in Baltimore, and Mark Pattison in Washington.)

Sister Maureen Delaney to leave Tutwiler

By Maureen Smith
TUTWILER — Sister Maureen Delaney, SNJM, has used a simple philosophy in her almost 30 years at the Tutwiler Community Education Center: listen to what people want and try to help them make it happen. This approach has changed lives in this small Mississippi Delta town.
Sister Maureen has earned a spot as the leader of the U.S./Ontario Province of the Sisters of the Holy Names of Jesus and Mary. Early next year, she will move to Portland, Ore.
She was working in California in the late 1980s when she heard Sister Anne Brooks, who runs the Tutwiler Clinic, was looking for someone to do outreach work. According to Sister Maureen, Dr. Brooks takes a comprehensive approach to patient care. “I think she tries to treat the whole person – if a person falls down on their porch she asks ‘what can we do to get the porch fixed?’ Whatever the problem is she asks if there a broader problem with them or the community. Can we help that person be more healthy,” said Sister Maureen.
Sister Maureen started her work in the back room of the clinic in 1987.
“What I do is community organizing. I will talk to people about what kind of things they want to have happening,” said Sister Maureen.
Dr. Brooks explained that people didn’t even have a place to gather to talk about ways to make the town better. “Tutwiler at that point was pretty pitiful. There was no inside plumbing, people lived in shacks,” said Dr. Brooks. “There was a lot of need,” she said.
“I thought people were going to say ‘I want housing, I want employment.’ I am sure they wanted that, but the needs were very simple and basic to start with, so that was quite amazing to me,” she said.
The first order of business: a town cleanup.  “It was fairly spectacular,” said Dr. Brooks. “There were street vendors selling their wares, a flatbed truck for the mayor to stand on to give a speech, they asked me to speak. Everyone was there, black people, white people, everyone working alongside one another. It was breaking down barriers people didn’t even recognize as barriers,” she added.
The next thing people wanted was a Christmas parade for the town. Again, all Sister Maureen had to do was get people together and offer to help organize the event.
“That project brought the whole town together, black, white, all the people,” said Genether Spurlock, an employee at the center. A nearby town had thrown away their Christmas decorations so Sister Maureen got them and volunteers painted and refurbished them.
“The people wanted to have a Christmas parade. And I thought, ‘A Christmas parade? Ok.’ That’s what I have learned, you take people where they are,” said Sister Maureen. “If that’s going to bring people together, that’s what I’m going to do and that’s what we did and we had a great Christmas parade,” she said.
“People wanted very basic things and what I kept thinking – anything to get people together – to get people to work together, to get a spirit and end up with a product,” said Sister Maureen.
It became apparent early on that Sister Maureen needed more than just a back room at the Tutwiler clinic so the organization repurposed a set of storefronts. The completed Tutwiler Community Education Center (TCEC) has administrative offices, a small kitchen, a community room, a computer lab, music room, fitness equipment and the gym. It operates as a separate organization than the clinic.
In the ensuing years TCEC and the citizens of Tutwiler worked together on a number of civic projects. The phone company needed to run new lines to the town, the river would flood because of dredging issues, the town needed street signs. Sister Maureen, her staff and volunteers took on project after project.
“There is a saying about teaching a man how to fish. Sister Maureen and Dr. Brooks taught us how to fish. They taught us to do things for ourselves,” said Spurlock. “This center has always kept the needs of the people out front,” she added.
Lucinda Berryhill has worked for the center for 23 years. “I knew people and people knew me,” she said. Sister Maureen let Berryhill use her talents to serve her own community. Berryhill drove a van to bring people to medical appointments, and recruited people to come to the center for projects. “I would go find them and they appreciated that,” she added. She appreciates the fact that children who come to the center get more than just a safe place to play. “They come to get education, they learn morals and values here,” said Berryhill.
The programs have evolved as needs and wants have changed. One early request was a playgroup for preschool kids because the Head Start in the area did not have enough slots. As the Head Start expanded, that program dropped off. Today two dozen children aged seven -12 come every day for an after school program. It includes   snack, time in the computer lab, group discussions on good choices and behavior and time in the gym. A couple days a week a trio of musicians comes to the center to teach blues music. The kids have gotten so good, they have their own band. They played at the opening of the Ground Zero Blues Club in Clarksdale and the rededication of the courthouse in Sumner to honor the memory of Emmitt Till.
Twice a week teenagers come in the evenings to use the fitness equipment and learn life skills. Some of those teens get hired as teen helpers. They assist in the after school care program, learning job skills and acting as role models for their young counterparts. Junior Kayla Reynolds said her work as a teen helper has helped her mature and learn responsibility. She wants to be a social worker and help children when she grows up.
A group of seniors meets at the center, sharing meals and taking trips together. This summer candidates used Tutwiler for a forum so citizens could ask them questions before the election.  There is a summer program for children. The center sponsors sports leagues and tournaments for kids and adults alike.
And then there are the quilters. Another legacy that started with one conversation.
Tutwiler resident Mary Sue Robertson invited Sister Maureen to see the quilt tops she made in her home.  “Mary Sue lived in a humble shack in the back of somebody’s property that she used to work for.  Inside she had piles of quilt tops,” said Sister Maureen. The elderly woman would sell her work if someone wanted to buy them. Sister Maureen wondered if the hobby could become a cottage industry. She and fellow workers Mary Ann Willis and Sister JoAnn  Blomme, OP, found more than two dozen quilters in the area and a business was born.
“From the beginning we wanted to help these ladies make money and also preserve the quilting tradition of this area. We started by saying they would get 80 percent of the price and 20 percent would go into the program,” she explained. The original quilters used scrap fabric, including old clothing. Today, they use new fabric, to make placemats, tote bags, cell phone cases and oven mitts in addition to quilts, but they still keep 80 percent of the profit. Fewer women learn the craft from their mothers, so the center has started a class for those who want to learn. Willis is still involved in the quilting program, checking the quilters work, traveling across the country to sell the products and handling the books. “I love to go out and sell their work because I know the more I sell, the more they can work. This might be their income. They depend on it to pay their bills,” she said. The program has also expanded Willis’ horizons. “I would never have gotten to travel had Sister Maureen not offered me the opportunity. I’ve been to some beautiful places,” she added.
Doctor Brooks thinks Sister Maureen has done nothing short of help transform a community, not by giving them things, but by offering imagination and hope. “People’s lives here will continue to improve because they take the initiative,” she said. When people feel empowered, they can take care of themselves and their community. “It takes a person with knowledge, excitement, talent and dedication to strike the match that’s inside everyone’s heart,” said Dr. Brooks.
Good attitudes, she said, are contagious and she believes TCEC will continue to spread the transformation. “There are not enough words to explain or compliment her and not enough hugs to give her as a thank you.”
The board of directors is looking for a new leader, meanwhile, the work continues. To learn more about TCEC or purchase a quilt online, visit www.tutwilercenter.org.

Guadalupe celebrations

Batesville St. Mary Parish, Mass on Saturday, Dec. 12, at 7 a.m. Las Posadas will be celebrated on Saturday, Dec. 19, at 7 p.m.
Booneville St. Francis of Assisi Parish, novena of rosaries beginning Friday, Dec. 4, at 6:30 p.m. in a different home every evening. There will be a sign-up sheet in the narthex of the church for anyone who would like to host an evening in their home.
– Posadas will be sung on Saturday, Dec. 19, at 6 p.m. in the parish hall. To participate, talk to Margarita. There are many roles, so the children are especially encouraged to participate.
Carthage St. Anne, Saturday, Dec. 12, mañanitas, at 9 a.m. presentation of the “danza de St. Peter” at 10 a.m. and Mass at 11 a.m.
Cleveland Our Lady of Victories, Sunday, Dec. 13. Procession at 11 a.m. followed by Mass and a reception with a mariachi band.
Greenville Sacred Heart, Mass on Saturday, Dec.  12, at 10:30 a.m. followed by a reception. A mariachi band from Memphis will provide the music.
Greenwood St. Francis of Assisi Mission, Saturday, Dec. 12, at 4 p.m.
Grenada St. Peter, Saturday, Dec. 12. Details: 662-226-2490.
Indianola Immaculate Conception, Mass on Saturday, Dec. 12, at 4:30 pm.
Jackson St. Therese Parish, rosary, Thursday-Saturday, Dec. 10-12, at 6:30 p.m. Mañanitas, Saturday, Dec. 12, at 8 p.m. Mass, Sunday, Dec. 13, at 12:30 p.m. followed by a celebration.
Jackson St. Peter Cathedral, Sunday, Dec. 13, rosary at noon, Mass at 1 p.m. followed by a reception.
Kosciusko St. Therese, Saturday, Dec. 12, “danza de St. Peter”  at 2 p.m. followed by Mass at 3 p.m.
Meridian St. Patrick, bilingual Mass, Sunday, Dec. 13, at 3 p.m.
Natchez Assumption Parish, Saturday, Dec. 12, Mass at 6 p.m. Fiesta to follow. A novena will be prayed Dec. 4-12. – St. Mary Basilica, Sunday, Dec. 13, mañanitas at 3 p.m.
Southaven Christ the King, Mass on Friday, Dec. 11, at 7 p.m. followed by a potluck dinner.
– Mañanitas on Saturday, Dec. 12, at 5:30 a.m. followed by hot chocolate and pan dulce.
Olive Branch Queen of Peace Parish, Mass on Friday, Dec. 11, at 7 p.m. followed by a potluck dinner.
Senatobia St. Gregory Parish, Mass on Friday, Dec. 11, at 7 p.m. followed by a potluck dinner.

Retreats offer paths through Advent, New Year

St. Mary of the Pines
Eight-day retreats –  $640
Five-day retreats –  $400
Weekend directed retreats – $160
Directed Retreats: The resident retreat director is Sister Dorez Mehrtens, SSND. To schedule a retreat contact Sister Dorez, 601-783-0411 or 601-810-7758 (cell), dorezm37@yahoo.com.
Private Retreats: A private retreat is a retreat without a director and may be scheduled any time space is available. The individual chooses his/her own resources and rhythm of prayer and reflection throughout the day. Cost is $65 per night. Financial assistance for any retreat is available upon request.
“An Advent Day of Reflection,” Saturday, Dec. 5, from 9:30 a.m. – 3 p.m. Sister Dorothy Trosclair will lead the retreat. Cost is $30 and includes lunch.
“Married Couples Retreat: Finding God in All Things, Encountering the Living God in Marriage,” Feb. 5-7, 2016.
Participants will journey through the Spiritual Exercises of St. Ignatius of Loyola. Led by Easton and Robin Hebert. Cost is $340 per couple.
Contact: St. Mary of the Pines Retreat Center, 3167 Old Highway 51 South, Osyka, MS, 39657, 601-783-3494, retreatcenter@ssnddallas.org.

The Dwelling Place
“Advent Hermitage Overnight,” Dec. 11-12. In the prayerful space of a hermitage, come away, block out our society’s noisy Christmas preparations and focus on the real meaning of Christ/Emmanual coming among us. Begins with 6:30 p.m. with dinner. Cost is $80.
“As I Begin the New Year,” Jan. 1-3, 2016. On this feast of the Three Kings, prayerfully using the Scriptures of Epiphany, we will look at the stars in our lives and will focus on what we seek for that is new and good in the new year. Led by Clare Van Lent.
“The Ascent of Mt. Carmel,” Jan. 22-23, 2016.  The retreat will reflect on St. John’s work in relation to our own response to God in our spiritual journey. Led by Father John Bohn, pastor of St. Richard Parish, Jackson. Cost is $100.
Contact: The Dwelling Place, 2824 Dwelling Place Road, Brooksville, MS, 39739, 662-738-5348, www.dwellingplace.com.

St. Scholastica Retreat center
Three-day silent directed retreat, Jan. 7-10, 2016.
Five-day silent directed retreat, Jan. 7-13, 2016.
Eight-day silent directed retreat, Jan. 7-16, 2016.
Cost for three days is $235, five days, $385, and eight days, $585.
“Dreams: Lost Language of God,” Feb. 19-21, 2016. This workshop shows how to begin recognizing, understanding and interpreting the Voice of God in your dreams. Led by Jungian Therapist Diana McKendree and pastor Lance Sawyer. Cost: Residents $195, commuters $150.
Contact: St. Scholastica Retreat Center, 1205 S. Albert Pike, Fort Smith, AR 72903, 479-783-1135, retreats@stscho.org, www.stscho.org/retreats.

Benedictine sisters
“The Sacrament of Advent:” Lessons and Carols from Thomas Merton,” Friday, Dec. 4,  from 7  – 8:30 p.m. Exploration of a journal entry, three poems and an essay on St. Bernard which Merton wrote in the first 10 years of his monastic life will provide a “service of lessons and carols” that closes with an Advent invitation to echo Mary’s fiat. Cost is $15.
“Introduction to Centering Prayer,” Jan. 15- 17, 2016. Centering Prayer is a form of Christian prayer rooted in the ancient Christian contemplative tradition. This retreat is designed for those new to Centering Prayer. Private rooms and the ability to maintain silence are required. Cost for private rooms is $245.
Contact: Benedictine Sisters Retreat Center, 916 Convent Road, Cullman, AL 35055, 256-734-8302, retreats@shmon.org.

JESUIT SPIRITUALITY CENTER
Directed Retreats: The Jesuit Spirituality Center specializes in personally directed retreats based on the Spiritual Exercises of St. Ignatius Loyola. Solitude and silence are important aspects of these retreats. Retreats may range from three days, five days, or eight days, to a full month.
Dates: Dec. 7 or Dec. 10. Retreats of eight-days begin on the first date. Retreats of five or three days begin on either date.
“AA Weekend: Staying Sober with the 12-Steps,” Dec. 2-6. This is a retreat for women and men in recovery. Addicts, alcoholics, and family and friends are welcome. Led by Father Tom Weston, SJ, a counselor and retreat director. Cost is $320, commuters $240.
Contact: Jesuit Spirituality Center, 313 Martin Luther King Dr., Grand Coteau, La. 70541, 337-662-5251.

Catholic response to Paris

Millennial Reflections
By Father Jeremy Tobin
The events in Paris cry out for a moral response. Our governor refuses to take in Syrian refugees, labels and castigates them as terrorists. When governors declare that they will not allow refugees into their state, or specify what kind of refugee or what religion, they are clearly out of bounds.
Xenophobia and islamophobia are unacceptable responses in dealing with a crisis of this magnitude. A clear understanding of who we are fighting should be expressed. This is not a “state” or even a country, it is a movement driven by hate and murder covered over by fake religion, period. This ISIS group is the next generation of Al Qaida.
The media is largely responsible for ginning up a response of fear in a populace that does not understand just who we are confronting in the Middle East. People do not understands a tactic of mass killing of innocent people as a tactic of war. The fear machine spreads hatred to everyone from the region. Political pandering only makes it worse.
“Everyone who is different could be a terrorist.” This intense hyper-crisis coverage makes people afraid. Initially the polls expressed a favorable response to taking in Syrian refugees, two days later, it is negative.
When people were calmer and could think things through they saw that taking in these families fleeing for their lives was the American thing to do. When the fear machine kicked in, they turned against them. This only feeds ISIS, and provokes more violence.
Again and again it is reported that this is the biggest refugee crisis since World War II. Apparently most people have little to no understanding what they are comparing it to. They were not even born yet. It is a pity that so many are in power who do not have a clue to what this phrase means.
I am saying unequivocally that we are witnessing a mass migration of people fleeing extermination. Their goal is only finding safety by any means necessary. In my religious tradition there is only one response to their plight, only one, provide them safety, security, the means to live and rebuild. Welcome them.
I have been hearing from religious groups all over the country urging us to welcome these refugees as brothers and sisters. They quote Leviticus and Exodus to support their moral imperative to welcome the refugees from the Middle East. I signed petitions. I have joined my voice to theirs. I like Matthew 25, “When I was a stranger, did you welcome me?”
This is our judgment. It is not about how well we provided for our own, or how much wealth we left them. It is not about how we took care of us.
It is not about us. It is Jesus Christ fleeing extermination, will we take him in? To a generation in power for whom World War II, and all its horrors, is but a few pages in a history text, such comparisons are irrelevant. To bring up Middle Eastern friends both Christian and Muslim, to share common gestures of appreciation and friendship, means nothing to these people filled with xenophobia and self-righteousness.
What is needed, and I join my voice to this chorus of righteousness, to the voices of those whose voices are drowned out in blood. We say, “Let these people in!” They are us and we are them. Our country is made up of Muslims and Christians and a whole lot more, so let in our brothers and sisters and their children to our haven of safety. To label them is more than an insult, it is a disgrace. This country, and Mississippi, has shed too much blood over labels. Stop it!
As a Catholic nurtured on our strong tradition of social justice, promulgated by the Likes of Leo XIII, Pius XI, John XXIII, Paul VI, John Paul II, Benedict XVI, and Pope Francis, I can only shout out the louder, standing on solid ground, “Let in the Syrians, the Iraqis, Muslims, Christians, Yazidis, and all.”
They flee a monstrous movement out to destroy them all. We must take them in. Sister Simone Campbell of NETWORK and Nuns on the Bus just texted me, “We need you to help protect and welcome Syrian refugees. Contact your representative.”
A national coalition of faith leaders issued a call to prayer and action to welcome Syrian refugees. This is the right side of history. This is where we should be.
(Editor’s note: The Mississippi Religious Leadership Conference invites all to an interfaith prayer and reconciliation service about the refugee crisis at Fondren Presbyterian Church in Jackson on Sunday, Dec. 6, at 5 p.m.)
(Father Jeremy Tobin, O.Praem, lives at the Priory of St. Moses the Black, Jackson.)

Longing for Advent of simple presence

Kneading faith
By Fran Lavelle
As the first Sunday of Advent draws nigh, I am forced to look once again at my priorities and how I am spending my most precious gift – time.  Life is indeed busy. We live in an increasingly more hectic world. For the love of Pete, Christmas merchandise made its debut before Halloween.
The rush is on.  It’s the perfect gift, the perfect tree, the perfect parties, the perfect Christmas card that drives the endless “to do” list. It is a never ending cycle of outdoing ourselves and all those around us.  Pinterest is the work of the devil.  There, I said it. Gone are the simple days of making sugar cookies with the kids. We are now scrambling to the specialty baking store to get supplies to make a Buche de Noel Yule log with meringue mushrooms and marzipan forest creatures. Enough!
It seems I’ve replaced the monastic medieval “O Antiphons” with my own version. Oh, Advent!  How I long to embrace you. Oh Jesus! How I desire to be present as I prepare for the coming of the Infant and anticipate your Second Coming! Oh Lord! How I fear failure, again, as I end up in the busyness of life. Oh, God! To be a hermit or a cloistered nun that I may give you the reverence you deserve. I think you get the picture. I want to enter in to this holy season of Advent really present. I want to truly prepare my heart for Christ’s coming at Christmas.
Here’s the deal, it seems like there is always something in the future that I find myself thinking once it has passed I’ll find the time to really be present to God and where he is leading me. I remember several months ago I had a lot on my “to do” list. I mentioned to a friend that things would slow down after this and that came to pass. He looked at me with great honesty and said, “Fran, you’re always saying that.” The truth in his reply stopped me in my tracks. I am always saying that. Facing a daunting future I proclaimed with only a slight waning conviction, “This year I’m going to make a terrific Advent!”
How can we get off the crazy wheel and realistically make a good Advent this year? Nike says it best, “just do it.” Part of the frustration is that in the midst of all of the chaos we have the power to change how we enter into this season.
We can either do the dash and splash and run ragged from place to place pursuing Holiday perfection or we can limit the number of activities we participate in, scale down the Griswold light display, and dedicate the time each day to sit in prayer and reflection.
There are really wonderful resources available to help us stay focused on our goal. Many parishes provide reflection booklets. If you are looking for other resources there are hundreds online. Here are a few of my favorites:
From the US Conference of Catholic Bishops  (www.usccb.org/prayer-and-worship/liturgical-year/advent/); Catholic Relief Services (www.crsfairtrade.org/advent/);  Ignatian Spirituality  (www.ignatianspirituality.com/advent); and, a great family resource from Catholic Mom (http://catholicmom.com/faith/advent/).
My Advent wreath has lovingly been placed on the dining room table. The book of Advent reflections takes its rightful place next to the wreath. As the days pass I hope to replace my “oh antiphons” with the O Antiphons as the hymn “O come, O come Emmanuel” is sung at the end of each day’s reflection. I will do better because I can do better. I hold the key to remaining present to the present moment this Advent. Please don’t ask me if I am keeping “Christ in Christmas.”
For the next four weeks, I am going to keep Fran in Advent. Staying present to the anticipation of Christmas is a reminder of what we HOPE for. Hope is not for the weak. Hope is for all of us brave enough to place our faith and our trust in something greater than ourselves. Hope is believing in the Infant Jesus. With that hope we will not walk away empty or disappointed. My hope for you is that you find moments of quiet reflection to prepare for Emmanuel, God With Us.
(Fran Lavelle is the director of the Department of Faith Formation for the Diocese of Jackson.)

Talleres, retiros alrededor de la diócesis

JACKSON – Los miembros del grupo “Nueva Vida” de la Catedral de San Pedro participaron en noviembre en un retiro espiritual dirigido por Juan Pablo Chávez (izq.) de la Diócesis de Florida en el salón de la Parroquia Cristo Rey. (Foto de la Hermana María Elena Méndez)

CARTHAGE – El personal de la Oficina del Ministerio Hispano de la diócesis ofreció un taller sobre música religiosa y coros en la Parroquia Santa Ana. La Hermana María Josefa García (der.) les explica a los participantes sobre cómo seleccionar las canciones para la misa. (Foto de la Hermana María Elena Méndez)

 

Hispanos asistieron a la ‘Gala de Otoño’

JACKSON – Miembros del Movimiento Familiar Cristiano (izq.-der.) Benjamín y Laura Hernández, Rosalinda y Joel Montoya y Juan y Maribel Melo, disfrutan de un rato de alegría durante la “Gala de Otoño” de la Catedral de San Pedro el 7 de noviembre en el Old Capitol Inn. Reina y Leonardo Paniagua (izq.) observan la foto de la catedral que fue rifada durante el evento. Los Paniagua ganaron la oferta de la subasta silenciosa.La gala se realizó para recoger fondos para el pago de la deuda de la renovación de la catedral. (Fotos de Elsa Baughman)