Author Archives: Tereza Ma

Trump firma orden para detener separación de familias

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Por Mark Pattison
WASHINGTON (CNS) — El presidente Donald Trump firmó una orden ejecutiva el 20 de junio que suspende la práctica de separar a menores de edad del lado de sus padres, una política de su administración que se ha aplicado a familias que han estado cruzando la frontera entre Estados Unidos y México ilegalmente.
La orden ejecutiva enfrenta un obstáculo por un decreto de consentimiento de 1997 que prohíbe al gobierno federal mantener a los niños en detención dentro de un centro de inmigración más de 20 días, aunque estén con sus padres. La orden ejecutiva ordena al fiscal general que solicite  el permiso de una corte federal para modificar el decreto de consentimiento.
La crisis comenzó cuando el fiscal general de los Estados Unidos Jeff Sessions anunció una política de “tolerancia cero” para los que cruzan la frontera. Según la política, adultos que cruzan la frontera sin documentos se les acusará de un delito grave en lugar de un delito menor. Bajo ley federal, personas acusadas de delitos graves no pueden tener a sus hijos con ellos mientras están detenidos.
El gobierno dijo a principios de junio que 1,995 menores de edad habían sido separados de 1,940 adultos que habían cruzado la frontera entre Estados Unidos y México, aunque algunos menores habían cruzado sin sus padres o parientes adultos.
La política y su resultado provocaron algunas de las reacciones más hostiles de cualquier iniciativa de Trump.

Children of detained migrants play soccer at a tent encampment near Tornillo, Texas, June 18. Image taken from Guadelupe, Mexico. (CNS photo/Jose Luis Gonzalez, Reuters)

Horas antes de que se firmara la orden ejecutiva, el papa Francisco dijo que estaba de acuerdo con los obispos estadounidenses, quienes habían condenado la política de separación de familias, la cual ha llevado a que niños permanezcan en centros de detención del gobierno mientras que sus padres van a cárceles federales. Los obispos de México también criticaron la política.
Todas las primeras damas vivientes, incluso la primera dama, Melania Trump, una inmigrante de Eslovenia, expresaron su tristeza o una emoción más fuerte al ver imágenes de los niños separados de sus padres.
Trump dijo que su esposa, tal como él, tienen sentimientos “fuertes” al ver las imágenes.
“Creo que cualquiera con corazón lo sentiría con fuerza”, dijo Trump durante la ceremonia en la cual firmó el documento el 20 de junio en la Oficina Oval.
Trump dijo que no le gustaba ver a familias separadas, ni los sentimientos que le provocaba
“Esto resolverá ese problema y al mismo tiempo mantendremos una frontera muy fuerte”, dijo.
Aun así, la orden ejecutiva no es necesariamente un remedio. Le permite al Departamento de Seguridad Nacional detener a las familias juntas “bajo las actuales limitaciones de recursos”. La “política de detención temporal” también solo está vigente “en la medida permitida por la ley y sujeta a la disponibilidad de las asignaciones”

Diócesis de Jackson ordena a cuatro

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Por Maureen Smith
JACKSON – La Diócesis de Jackson ordenó a cuatro hombres esta primavera, dos como diáconos transicionales y dos como sacerdotes. La gente estaba de pie en cada rincón disponible de la Catedral de San Pedro Apóstol en la Fiesta de la Visitación, el jueves 31 de mayo, para presenciar la ordenación al sacerdocio de Nick Adam y Aaron Williams.
Los dos hombres provienen de orígenes muy diferentes, pero ambos respondieron sí a la llamada a servir a su iglesia. La familia del Padre Adán se mudó varias veces. Él es el más joven de ocho hijos y había comenzado ya una carrera en la televisión cuando por primera vez consideró el sacerdocio. Trabajaba como reportero deportivo en Meridian cuando comenzó a pensar en ser sacerdote. El Padre Frank Cosgrove, su pastor, lo ayudó a través del proceso inicial.

El Padre Williams tiene sólo un hermano, ha vivido en Jackson toda su vida y comenzó a servir en el altar a los cinco años con la esperanza de llegar a donde está hoy. Pidió ser monaguillo a los cinco años, aprendió a tocar el órgano a una edad temprana y fue al seminario justo después de la escuela secundaria.
La familia, sin embargo, jugó un papel muy importante en la vida de ambos hombres. Al final de su primera misa, el Padre Williams invitó a sus sobrinas, Ava y Hadley, a colocar un ramo de flores a los pies de la estatua de María. Luego le entregó a su madre la tela que había usado la noche anterior para limpiarse el aceite de crisma de sus manos, y le explicó a la congregación una tradición que pide que Julia Williams guarde la tela para que sea colocada en sus manos cuando sea enterrada, un símbolo de acción de gracias por el regalo de su hijo a la iglesia. De hecho, el Padre Williams mandó a bordar en la tela un versículo de las Escrituras antes de su ordenación para presentarselo como un regalo personal.
Los siete hermanos del Padre Adam y nueve de sus doce hijos llenaron varias bancas en la catedral para la ordenación y en la Iglesia St. Richard para su primera misa. Los bebés, niños pequeños y grandes sonrieron mientras veían a su tío profesar sus votos solemnes. La madre del Padre Adam murió de cáncer en 2014. Dijo que su familia de la Diócesis de Jackson lo apoyó durante ese momento difícil, algunos de ellos incluso viajaron en autobús para asistir a su funeral en Alabama.
El Padre Williams ha sido asignado como pastor asociado en la Parroquia St. Joseph en Greenville y enseñará en la escuela St. Joseph. El Padre Adam servirá como pastor asociado en la Parroquia St. Richard en Jackson.

Value contributions refugees can make

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By Carol Glatz
VATICAN CITY (CNS) – Pope Francis called on nations working to develop a global compact on refugees to make sure they help ensure migration is safe, legal and humane.
While nations work to forge proper policies, every individual, “each of us, is called to draw near to refugees and find with them moments of encounter, to value their contribution so that they, too, can be better included in the communities that receive them,” the pope said June 17.
“It is by these encounters and with this mutual respect and support that there is an answer many problems,” he said.
The pope’s remarks came at the end of his Angelus address in St. Peter’s Square.
He reminded people of World Refugee Day June 20, which the United Nations promotes, he said, as a way to “call attention to the experience – often lived with great anxiety and suffering – of our brothers and sisters who are forced to flee their homeland because of conflict and persecution.”
The pope noted the ongoing effort by many nations in creating and adopting a global compact on refugees, which would promote “a migration that is safe, orderly and legal.”
“I hope that the states involved in this process may reach an understanding to assure, with responsibility and humanity, assistance to and the protection of those who are forced to flee their own country,” he said.
Pope Francis also led people in a Hail Mary for the people of Yemen and prayed that international leaders would ensure “the already tragic humanitarian situation does not get worse.” CAFOD, the overseas aid agency of the bishops of England and Wales, has warned that a Saudi-led coalition’s assault on Hodeida, Yemen’s main port city, will have a “catastrophic impact” on the ability of relief groups to get food, medicine and other aid to vulnerable Yemeni families in urgent need of assistance.

Mourning can heal

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Father Ron Rolheiser

IN EXILE
By Father Ron Rolheiser, OMI
Our culture doesn’t give us easy permission to mourn. Its underlying ethos is that we move on quickly from loss and hurt, keep our griefs quiet, remain strong always and get on with life.
But mourning is something that’s vital to our health, something we owe to ourselves. Without mourning our only choice is to grow hard and bitter in the face of disappointment, rejection and loss. And these will always make themselves felt.
We have many things to mourn in life: We are forever losing people and things. Loved ones die, relationships die, friends move away, a marriage falls apart, a love we want but can’t have obsesses us, a dream ends in disappointment, our children grow away from us, jobs are lost and so too one day our youth and our health.
Beyond these many losses that ask for our grief there’s the need to grieve the simple inadequacy of our lives, the perfect symphony and consummation that we could never have. Like Jephthah’s daughter, all of us have to mourn our inconsummation.
How? How do we mourn so that our mourning is not an unhealthy self-indulgence but a process that restores us to health and buoyancy?
There’s no simple formula and the formula is different for everyone. Grieving, like loving, has to respect our unique reticence, what we’re comfortable with and not comfortable with. But some things are the same for all of us.
First, there’s the need to accept and acknowledge both our loss and the pain which with we’re left. Denial of either, loss or pain, is never a friend. The frustration and helplessness within which we find ourselves must be accepted and accepted with the knowledge too that there’s no place to put the pain except, as Rilke says, to give it back to earth itself, to the heaviness of the oceans from which ultimately comes the saltwater which makes up our tears. Our tears connect us still to the oceans that spawned us.
Next, mourning is a process that takes time, sometimes a lot of time, rather than something we can achieve quickly by a simple decision. We cannot simply will our emotions back to health. They need to heal and healing is an organic process. What’s involved?
In many instances there’s the need to give ourselves permission to be angry, to rage for a time, to allow ourselves to feel the disappointment, loss, unfairness and anger. Loss can be bitter and that bitterness needs to be accepted with honesty, but also with the courage and discipline to not let it have us lash out at others. And for that to happen, for us not to lay blame and lash out at others, we need help. All pain can be borne if it can be shared and so we need people to listen to us and share our pain without trying to fix it. Pride is our enemy here. We need the humility to entrust others to see our wound.
Finally, not least, we need patience, long-suffering, perseverance. Mourning can’t be rushed. The healing of soul, like the healing of body, is an organic process with its own non-negotiable timetable for unfolding. But this can be a major test of our patience and hope. We can go through long periods of darkness and grief where nothing seems to be changing, the heaviness and the paralysis remain and we’re left with the feeling that things will never get better, that we will never find lightness of heart again.
But grief and mourning call for patience, patience to stay the course with the heaviness and the helplessness. The Book of Lamentations tells us that sometimes all we can do is put our mouths to the dust and wait. The healing is in the waiting.
Henri Nouwen was a man very familiar with mourning and loss. An over-sensitive soul, he sometimes suffered depressions and obsessions that left him emotionally paralyzed and seeking professional help. On one such occasion, while working through a major depression, he wrote his deeply insightful book, The Inner Voice of Love. There he gives us this advice: “The great challenge is living your wounds through instead of thinking them through. It is better to cry than to worry, better to feel your wounds deeply than to understand them, better to let them enter into your silence than to talk about them.
The choice you face constantly is whether you are taking your hurts to your head or to your heart. In your head you can analyze them, find their causes and consequences and coin words to speak and write about them. But no final healing is likely to come from that source. You need to let your wounds go down into your heart. Then you can live them through and discover that they will not destroy you. Your heart is greater than your wounds.”
We are greater than our wounds. Life is greater than death. God’s goodness is greater than all loss. But mourning our losses is the path to appropriating those truths.

(Oblate Father Ron Rolheiser, theologian, teacher and award-winning author, is President of the Oblate School of Theology in San Antonio, TX.)

Rodney Sanders sentenced, forgiven for killing Mississippi Sisters

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By Maureen Smith
LEXINGTON – Rodney Earl Sanders pleaded guilty June 21 to murdering two religious sisters in their Mississippi home in 2016.
What he got in return was mercy, forgiveness and a call to redemption.
Holmes County Circuit Judge Jannie Lewis sentenced Sanders to two life sentences without the possibility of parole for the murders, 25 years for the burglary of their home and another five for stealing their car.
Prosecutors could have taken the case to trial and asked for the death penalty, but those who knew the victims spoke against the death penalty from the very start of the case.
Friends, family members and those touched by the lives of Sister Paula Merrill, a member of the Sisters of Charity of Nazareth in Kentucky, and Sister Margaret Held, a member of the School Sisters of St. Francis of Milwaukee, each addressed Sanders directly in the courtroom, forgiving him and inviting him to seek forgiveness and redemption.
“God still has plans for you. You are loved by God,” said Rosemarie Merrill, Sister Paula’s sister. She told Sanders she prays for him, she has forgiven him and hopes he will change his life. “I hate what you did. I do not hate you,” said Merrill.
Sister Susan Gatz, president of the Sisters of Charity of Nazareth, spoke of how their community came to a place of forgiveness in the days after the murders.
“It was hard to believe at the time, and still is, that these two women, (religious) sisters and best friends, who spent decades helping the needy in one of the poorest counties in Mississippi, experienced such violence and suffering,” Sister Gatz said.
“To this day we continue to ask ourselves about Paula and Margaret’s last hours and minutes. How and especially why? Were they afraid? Did they defend or comfort one another? Did they beg for mercy?” she asked Sanders.
She also spoke of her hopes for Sanders. He even turned to look at her when she called him by name.
“We have longed for justice with regard to our two beloved sisters. And so, we support this plea agreement for life in prison without parole. It is justice that recognizes all life is valuable,” Sister Gatz continued.
“It is justice that holds out hope, always, that love can break through the hardest barriers. Mr. Sanders, we will never forget what you did to them and the suffering that has caused so many,” she said. “But because we believe in Christ and his Gospel, we forgive you.”
Two representatives from the School Sisters of St. Francis, reiterated the call to “value and respect life even as we seek justice and truth.” Sister Deborah Fumagalli, a member of the sisters’ provincial leadership team, said: “We are grateful your own life will not be subject to the same violence.”
She closed by telling Sanders that she is confident Sister Paula and Sister Margaret are praying for him.

Rodney Earl Sanders, right, walks past Sister Susan Gatz, left, and Sister Sangeeta Ayithamattam, both of the Sisters of Charity of Nazareth, after pleading guilty to two counts of murder in the deaths of two Roman Catholic nuns, Sisters Margaret Held of the School Sisters of St. Francis, and Paula Merrill, of the Sisters of Charity of Nazareth, in 2016, in a Holmes County Circuit Courtroom, in Lexington, Miss., Thursday, June 21, 2018. Gatz read a personal message to Sanders. A plea agreement averted the possibility of the death penalty, which was opposed by the women's families and their religious orders. Sanders, 48, was given two life without parole sentences, plus 30 more years for burglary and car theft. (AP Photo/Rogelio V. Solis)

The family of Sister Margaret Held, one of two Roman Catholic nuns that were murdered by Rodney Earl Sanders, in 2016, hold a picture of their sister, as a relative reads a family statement to Sanders, in a Holmes County Circuit Courtroom, in Lexington, Miss., Thursday, June 21, 2018. Sanders, pleaded guilty to two counts of murder in the deaths of the two religious women. A plea agreement averted the possibility of the death penalty, which was opposed by the women's families and their religious orders. Sanders, 48, was given two life without parole sentences, plus 30 more years for burglary and car theft. (AP Photo/Rogelio V. Solis)

Marie Sanders, the wife of Rodney Earl Sanders, right, cries as she hugs various religious women, after her husband pleaded guilty to two counts of murder in a Holmes County Circuit Courtroom, in Lexington, Miss., Thursday, June 21, 2018, in the deaths of two Roman Catholic nuns, Sisters Margaret Held and Paula Merrill, in 2016. A plea agreement averted the possibility of the death penalty, which was opposed by the women's families and their religious orders. Sanders, 48, was given two life without parole sentences, plus 30 more years for burglary and car theft. (AP Photo/Rogelio V. Solis)

The family of Sister Margaret Held, one of two Roman Catholic nuns that were murdered by Rodney Earl Sanders, in 2016, hold a picture of their sister, as a relative reads a family statement to Sanders, in a Holmes County Circuit Courtroom, in Lexington, Miss., Thursday, June 21, 2018. Sanders, pleaded guilty to two counts of murder in the deaths of the two religious women. A plea agreement averted the possibility of the death penalty, which was opposed by the women's families and their religious orders. Sanders, 48, was given two life without parole sentences, plus 30 more years for burglary and car theft. (AP Photo/Rogelio V. Solis)

The two women religious were nurse practitioners at the Lexington Medical Clinic, about 10 miles from the house they shared in the Durant, Mississippi. They were found dead Aug. 25, 2016, in their home.
Police officers discovered the women’s bodies after co-workers called asking to check on them after they failed to report for work at the clinic. Their car was missing but found later parked on a street about a mile away.
Police apprehended Sanders some days later. He was charged with two counts of capital murder, larceny and burglary in connection with the incident.
A resident of Kosciusko, Mississippi, he had been temporarily living in a shed across the street from the sisters’ house. He told police he went through the back door of the sisters’ home, uninvited, and stabbed them both to death.
Two years later, three women religious live in that house, serving in different ministries but carrying on the late sisters’ legacy.
One of those, Sister Mary Walz, a Daughter of Charity, works as a social worker at the clinic. She spoke at the hearing about how the patients still miss the two slain sisters.
Sister Margaret’s sister Sue Zuern was the last to speak. Her brother Jim Held cradled a photo of Sister Margaret, pointing it at Sanders as his sister spoke.
“They had so much more love to give,” said Zuern through tears. “You gave them a death sentence.”
Zuern said she was grateful Sanders pleaded guilty so the families would be spared testimony in the case.
“I have prayed to Paula and Margaret and asked them what they want me to say to you. They want you to find God,” she said. She later added, “Sister Margaret and Sister Paula have forgiven you.”
Bishop Joseph Kopacz issued a statement late in the day saying, in part, ” I would like to applaud the investigators, prosecutors and the judge who helped bring this tragic case to a just conclusion, taking into account the wishes of the families and, indeed, the victims themselves, who would have opposed the death penalty. While we continue to mourn the loss of Sister Paula Merrill and Sister Margaret Held, we must also uphold the dignity of all people, including their murderer. We honor the memory of these two amazing women by continuing to call for a restorative justice without violence or revenge.”
After the hearing, Sister Margaret’s sister Annette Held spoke to the media. She said the day could be considered a kind of second birthday for Sanders.
“I feel like he might be thinking that this is sort of the end of his life, and I feel like this is a second – it’s kind of like a birthday for him if he wants it to be,” she said. “Because it’s not over for him.”
“Even in an awful place like a prison, he could choose to make something good out of that. I think particularly for his step-children,” said Held, adding that she hopes something good will come of the tragedy.
“I think redemption – you heard all those people saying ‘we forgive, we hope for you’ – in some ways I feel like that hearing was a blessed event that is giving this man a new opportunity if he chooses to take it,” she added.

Crossing over thresholds: Jonestown center welcomes new leadership

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JONESTOWN – A gospel choir sang, prayers were shared and friendships were reaffirmed in a ceremony on May 24 to transfer the sponsorship of the Jonestown Family Center (JFC) from the Sisters of the Holy Names of Jesus and Mary to But God Ministries (BGM).

JONESTOWN – The Jonestown Family Center, pictured in Dec. 2016, is now under the care of But God Ministries. The Holy Name Sisters returned this summer to bless the new arrangement. (Mississippi Catholic file photo)

Holy Names Sisters Mary Ellen Holohan, Kathleen Hilton, Peggy Kennedy, Cathy Leamy, Kay Burton, Teresa Shields, and Maureen Delaney traveled to Jonestown and presented a framed blessing to BGM. About 80 people from the town gathered on the lawn in front of the center for the ceremony of transition. Sister Maureen gave the blessing while the other Sisters joined in prayers to support continued ministries to the people of Jonestown.
Sister Teresa related the history of the JFC, Sister Peggy thanked the JFC Board – which she has chaired for the past 10 years – and the board members all received gift cups made by Sister Kathryn Knoll with their names and the JFC logo on them.
Stan Buckley, the founder and executive director of BGM, said he believes God led him to Jonestown and Sister Teresa. He and his organization feel honored to carry on the ministry that ties in so well with the goals and values of BGM.
BGM has already constructed a new building in Jonestown called the Hope Center, which will house volunteer mission teams as well as providing office and meeting space. BGM volunteer crews have undertaken other projects in Jonestown including painting a local restaurant, establishing a dental office and building houses using the Habitat for Humanity model. Information about BGN can be found at www.butgodministries.com
Jonestown Durocher Service Development, founded by Sister Kay Burton, will continue to operate, and Sister Kay welcomes the presence of BGM.
After 30 years of ministry in Mississippi, the Holy Names Sisters will remain connected to the people of Jonestown and will support them through their prayers, as well as their presence whenever possible.
The text of the blessing from the Sisters reads:
A Blessing from the Sisters of the Holy Names For All The Days to Come
God surprises us with new life and abundance. May the days to come never cease to surprise you.
We trust the loving grace that frees the oppressed and restores justice. May the days to come amaze you with the wondrous changes that God’s love makes possible.
The faith that empowered and sustained the Sisters of the Holy Names in this place is your inheritance in the days to come.
In the holy names of Jesus and Mary, we bless all who minister among the people of Jonestown, Mississippi for all the days to come.

(Submitted by Jennifer Brandlon, director of communications and administrative services for the Sisters of the Holy Names of Jesus and Mary.)

Summer presents opportunity for spiritual refreshment

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Complete the Circle
By George Evans
Summer is an absolutely wonderful time for many things. God’s creation awakens fully from the darkness of winter and the frequent rains of spring. Birds chirp and tweet more loudly and constantly in the early morning, or at least so they seem to me, as I try to awaken with silent prayer and reflective readings and scripture on a screened porch not far from their tree perches. Longer days provide time to watch lingering sunsets and the soothing peace they bring as well as additional light for reading books and magazines put off for too long. God beckons us to join him outdoors in long walks or at the beach for some of us and takes the opportunity to whisper his will for us as our minds clear at least a little from the noise of cell phones, TV or other distractions of work and obligations.
A special treat summer provides is time for building relationships with those we love in a less hurried way, particularly with grandchildren free from the demands of school and activities which seem unending. We know from the Gospels how much Jesus loved children and enjoyed being around them. I think I have experienced that with my six-year-old grandson this summer in a special way while his two older sisters were away at camp. My time with him has been just with him and no other siblings. I could drink deeply of his spontaneity and energy and experience his constant talking about anything that came to his mind without any fear of depriving others trying to chime in or interrupt the line of conversation. I was struck by his sweetness and goodness and lack of pretension the lack of which so often burdens other one on one conversations. I felt God touching me through him and his honesty and openness as a reflection of the God who made him. Grace can come in many ways and sometimes in unexpected ways. The arms out embrace at the end of our time together sealed the deal. I am better for it.
I am not much of a flower person but this summer I have been touched by a blossoming agapanthus outside a window I face while using my desk top computer. Previously this flower was a nondescript and unattractive shoot which has grown since the spring. My wife told me she had planted it last year but it had done nothing until now. It has just become a beautiful blossom and more importantly a wonderful message to me from God of his perpetual gift to us of our surroundings and the concomitant burden he places on us to care for it. Pope Francis in his recent encyclical “Laudato Si: On Care for Our Common Home” lays out carefully and beautifully what that burden entails. Summer helps us understand why.
Summer also provides a reading opportunity as things slow down somewhat. I can’t provide a list like Father Ron Rolhheiser does each year for summer reading. But I have recently read another best-seller by Pope Francis, his apostolic exhortation “Gaudete Et Exsultate: On the Call To Holiness in Today’s World.” It’s a wonderful read and short – 88 pages without notes. I urge anyone who wants to be holy to treat yourself to this summer read particularly if you think holiness is the call to every Christian not just to priests, religious and lay ministers.
I will not attempt to review the book here but rather will quote from the forward written by Pope Francis to whet your appetite.
“Rejoice and be glad”(Mt5:12), Jesus tells those persecuted or humiliated for his sake. The Lord asks everything of us, and in return he offers us true life, the happiness for which we were created. He wants us to be saints, and not to settle for a bland and mediocre existence … What follows is not meant to be a treatise on holiness, containing definitions and distinctions helpful for understanding this important subject, or a discussion of the various means of sanctification. My modest goal is to re-propose the call to holiness in a practical way for our own time, with all its risks, challenges and opportunities. For the Lord has chosen each one of us “to be holy and blameless before him in love” (Eph 1:4)
I hope you have a wonderful summer with family, friends and perhaps some folks you may not care for so much and that Pope Francis’s book with help your growth in holiness with the Spirit.

(George Evans is a pastoral minister at Jackson St. Richard Parish.)

Lakeside retreat renews ministry leaders

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Kneading Faith
By Fran Lavelle
It does not require much observation to recognize that in our culture chronic fatigue is worn as a badge of honor and being dizzied daily by over scheduling is a way of life. We have lost the perspective that less is more. Face it folks, we need more down time and we need to make it a priority. If we are to stay healthy (and, yes, Father, this means you too) we must take time to nurture our spiritual life. There are many obvious and not so obvious ways we find the rest we need. For me the week-long Pastoral Ministries Workshop and Retreat has been a place where I find renewed energy.
“Life is Better at the Lake,” so goes the familiar saying. I guess after spending the first week of June at Lake Tiak O’Khata in Louisville, for the past five years I must concur. One of the greatest benefits of attending the Workshop and Retreat is waking up to beautiful sunrises and a flock of gregarious geese. One of our retreatants this year shared how vital it is for her to make time for the time away. She said it was like hitting the reset button on her ministry. That notion settled in as I reflected on the retreat. And, like a computer, once the refresh button is pushed it takes us time to run the defrag program. The first day and even the first night of retreat is a settling in process. But by the next morning, the new environment, quieted spirit and reflection envelop us and allows for the good work of spiritual deepening to happen. Sounds inviting, right? We not only need to be invited but also encouraged to retreat to a space that allows for these important movements.
This year the theme of the retreat was, “Formed to Lead.” It was loosely developed using a book by Chris Lowney, “Pope Francis: Why He Leads the Way He Leads.” The premise of the book looks at the relationship between the Pope’s Jesuit formation and his leadership style. The book is more than another biography. Lowney looks at leadership through the lens of the Ignatian-Jesuit principles and creates a blue print that has implications for all leaders-not necessarily just Pope Francis. During our retreat we looked at six principles that give rise to good leadership but also to discipleship and stewardship.
Commit to know yourself deeply: This is an important principle. Shakespeare said it best, “To thine own self be true.” If we do not do the hard work of knowing one’s self little else that we do can be truly authentic. There are a lot of people in this world that spend a lifetime avoiding the work of honest self-reflection. Without it we can scarcely say that we know our faults let alone our giftedness. There can be a pitfall in this principle in that too much of a good thing can be destructive. We are not called to be self-centered. That is where the second principle comes in to play.
Transcend self to serve others: Pope Francis is quoted in a Holy Thursday homily as saying, “authentic power is service.” When we transcend ourselves all service naturally becomes about the one being served. It is in recognizing the dignity of the other we not longer strive to gain power over them but to use our power to see them as God’s beloved.
Immerse self in the complex world: This principle requires that we keep our eyes and hearts open to the joy, suffering, and everyday struggles of the people in my family, community and world. That connectedness keeps us from becoming too removed from the realities of others and only focusing on our own joy, suffering and daily struggles.
Step back for daily reflection: Our immersion in the world is good but it serves nothing if we are not taking adequate time to reflect. Reflection of this nature leads us to action.
Live fully in the present and revere tradition: This principle is hard to do at times because we can find it difficult to live in the present and become blurry eyed in our nostalgia. When we learn to live in the present and revere the tradition we recognize where we are but also where we have been.
Help create the future: This principle reminds me of the Mahatma Gandhi quote, “Be the change you want to see in the world.” It is just that. No coaching from the sidelines. We must be willing to roll up our sleeves and get to work.
Lowney’s book along with the pastoral setting of Lake Tiak O’Khata set the stage for another great retreat. While the 2018 Pastoral Ministries Workshop and Retreat is in the books, but the date for next year’s workshop and retreat is set: June 2-6, 2019. Consider yourself invited!

(Fran Lavelle is the Director of Faith Formation for the Diocese of Jackson.)

‘God’s surprises’ lead priest to Magnolia State

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By Mary Margaret Halford
JACKSON – When Father Joe Dyer was a child growing up in New Orleans, Louisiana, the idea of becoming a priest was something that always seemed to stay in the back of his mind.

Father Joseph Dyer, center, at Chrism Mass 2018. (Mississippi Catholic file photo)

“It was an on and off again thing since I was a kid,” Dyer said. “My senior year of high school I realized that I really needed to do something. That idea wouldn’t go away; I needed to see if it was for real.”
So fresh out of high school in the early 1960s, Dyer made his way to Saint Joseph’s Seminary in Washington, D.C. This January, he retired after 43 years.
“It’s definitely not what I imagined,” Dyer said. “God has thrown me so many surprises.”
From the time he entered the seminary through his retirement, Dyer has seen the Church and its people weather many changes.
“Vatican II hadn’t really gone into full implementation when I entered the seminary, everything was still in Latin,” Dyer said. “Things changed for everyone, even priests who were already ordained.”
And Dyer didn’t just encounter changes within the Catholic Church, he also witnessed a revolution in social landscape of America.
“There were disappointing times, there was racism within and out of the Church,” Dyer said, noting that he was in seminary in Washington for Vietnam protests as well as Civil Rights riots. “I remember watching the riots at Ole Miss, and at that time I was in a religious order. I thought to myself ‘Thank goodness I’ll never be there.’”
But 36 years later, as yet another of God’s many surprises, Dyer would find himself being the pastor of St. John in Oxford and the Newman Chaplain at the University of Mississippi.
But Dyer wanted to come back South, and he decided Mississippi or Texas would be close enough to New Orleans.
Dyer began his career in Mississippi at Jackson Christ the King, before going to Jackson Holy Family, Canton Sacred Heart and Holy Child Jesus, Forest St. Michael, Paulding St. Michael, Newton St. Anne, St. Martin de Porres, and finally back to Christ the King, where he’s celebrating Mass most Sundays even now.
By the time Dyer made it to Christ the King, the war in Vietnam was over and migration had begun.
“I think Christ the King was one of the first parishes to sponsor a Vietnamese family,” Dyer said.
At the same time, Hispanic immigrants were making their way to central Mississippi.
“I never thought I’d be learning Spanish at such a late age when I was at Saint Michael in Forest,” Dyer said. “Again – God’s surprises.”
“At two of my assignments, there were lower grade elementary schools. Praying with kids is a really wonderful experience,” Dyer said. “I’m self-conscious when it comes to prayer and expressing that, and they brought me a lot of delight. And celebrating the sacraments was one of the big things that attracted me and is still a big part of why I think the priesthood is a good idea.”
While he was a seminarian in Washington, D.C., Dyer was assigned to a youth detention center, and when he got to Jackson, he spent the first 18 years of his priesthood actively involved in prison ministry.
“I think that’s very important because these people are going to come back into society. They need to have some kind of continuing contact with the rest of the world, living in that self-contained environment,” Dyer said. “And I think it’s good for the administration to know there’s people on the outside that have interest on what’s going on on the inside.”
Just after he retired, Dyer took a long train trip to Southern California, where he spent some time with his first cousins. His retirement plans include more trips like that during the week – visiting family, a cruise with some old high school buddies. He also joined a Jackson choral society and enjoys singing with that group when he can.
Thinking back to when he first settled in Mississippi, Dyer didn’t imagine he’d wind up as a parish priest in Jackson – and he certainly didn’t count on retiring there.
“My intention was that I’d be sent to the Gulf Coast, at that time it was all one diocese,” he said. “Most of the black parishes were on the Gulf Coast, so I thought that’s where I’d be. I had no intention of being in Jackson. But again, God is always surprising people.”

(Mary Margaret Halford is a member of Vicksburg St. Paul Parish.)

Catholic Charities of Jackson wants to build attorney network

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By Maureen Smith
JACKSON – While the Diocese of Jackson is not currently fostering any children separated from their parents at the border, Catholic Charities’ Migrant Support Center is anticipating an uptick in asylum claims.
Program Director of the Catholic Charities Migrant Support Center, Amelia McGowan, visited Central American asylum seekers – primarily women and children – at the U.S./Mexico border in Nogales, Mexico, and heard their harrowing accounts of fleeing abuse and gang violence in their home countries to seek safety and refuge in the United States. In Mississippi, an increase in immigration raids – including arrests of individuals without criminal records – have torn apart Mississippi families, parishes, and communities.
In Mississippi, the Catholic Charities Migrant Support Center defends immigrant communities by providing representation for Mississippi’s most vulnerable immigrants, including asylum seekers and unaccompanied children, and conducting community engagement to spread awareness and support for immigrants within the state.
Mississippi asylum seekers – especially unaccompanied children – are in a particularly vulnerable position, as they must face a complex and daunting legal process, often without legal assistance. As Cardinal Daniel DiNardo wrote, “asylum is an instrument to preserve the right to life,” and the Migrant Support Center has answered this call, prevailing in more than 25 asylum cases for clients from eight countries.
With only two attorneys, however, the Migrant Support Center does not have the capacity to assist all in Mississippi who need asylum representation. The agency has set up a fundraiser online with hopes of training and mentoring a network of pro-bono attorneys throughout the state to defend Mississippi families and children fleeing persecution in their home countries, and increasing outreach and education to immigrant communities throughout the state. Donations can be made online through the Catholic Charities of Jackson Facebook page or by calling the agency at 601-355-8634.
McGowan also recommended the following agencies who are providing direct assistance to families at the border:
– Kino Border Initiative (a Jesuit organization providing supplies and support on both sides of the border): https://www.kinoborderinitiative.org/
– Tucson Samaritans (collaborate closely with Kino): https://www.tucsonsamaritans.org/
– CARA Pro Bono Family Detention Project (a consortium of legal service providers that include the Catholic Legal Immigration Network that provides legal services to detained families): https://caraprobono.org/
– Kids in Need of Defense (represent kids in removal proceedings): https://supportkind.org/