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Diocesan youth ‘Ablaze’ with faith after convention
By Maureen Smith
VICKSBURG – More than 100 young people from across the Diocese of Jackson spent the weekend of Feb. 3-4 getting fired up about their Catholic faith at the diocesan youth conference. The theme of the conference, Ablaze, came from the weekend itself. Coordinator for Youth Ministry Abbey Schuhmann told the Vicksburg Press that when she and her planning committee set the conference for the weekend of the Presentation of the Lord, the theme fell into place.
“The feast represents our baptism and how at our baptism we are presented with a candle as the symbol of the light of Christ. We have that responsibility as baptized Christians to spread the light of Christ. So the theme Ablaze came about,” Schuhmann told the Post.
Catholic singer and songwriter PJ Anderson gave the keynote talks concert-style. “My favorite part was when they were playing the music and we got to go in front of the stage and dance with everyone,” said Mina Leffler of Jackson St. Richard Parish. She and fellow parishioner Jordan Muse said Anderson encouraged the teens to be compassionate. “The message I heard is that you should be nice to everyone and not judge anyone because God’s always listening and you don’t know what they are going through,” said Muse.
Dayonnia Conway came with two other members of Camden Sacred Heart. She also loved the music and appreciated the effort to build her faith. She would encourage other youth to come to the next convention “Anything involving God is good and they are trying to build your relationship with God.”
Father Rusty Vincent and Jeff Cook led breakout sessions for the youth. Christopher Johnson with Natchez St. Mary Basilica said the breakouts gave him some food for thought. “I learned that I should follow God and listen to his calling because everyone has a calling,” said Johnson.
Mia Gamberi, also from St. Mary, enjoyed when Anderson related his talk to real-life situations. “He related sports and faith life and that you can have a balance. You don’t have to be boring, you can still have a life and it can be faith-based,” she said.
In addition to Mass, the kids had the opportunity for Reconciliation, adoration, a candlelight procession and blessing and the blessing of the throats for the feast of St. Blaise. Seminarians Mark Shoffner and Andrew Bowden attended the whole weekend. Other seminarians came for the closing Mass celebrated by Bishop Joseph Kopacz. Shoffner said he was glad the students got to participate in other kinds of sacraments and liturgy to see the rich prayer life of the church.
Deacon Jeff Artigues brought his youth group from Starkville St. Joseph Parish. He said Anderson even used the symbol of light to relate the conference theme to actions the teens can take.
“Something that stuck out when PJ told his story about when his wife was in the hospital. When his wife told her version of the story, she said she saw his light go out. I thought about our kids and we talked about it in our small group. We need to see our own light and take care of it. Sometimes we don’t have great perspective on ourselves and maybe we don’t see other people and their lights, but we can be that person carrying a light – if it’s helping a friend with depression or lack of faith or whatever it may be. If you are a true friend you can say to your friend, you don’t need to be doing those things or maybe light that light for them,” said Deacon Artigues.
He said he enjoys these conferences both for the faith-building and the friend-building, saying he hopes the teens will make friends they may see again in college where they can continue to support one another on their faith journeys.
Lawmakers, Catholics can do more for state, nation
Will Jemison
Black History Month
By Will Jemison
As we celebrate the contributions of Black folk in this country during Black History Month, I pause to consider how much further we as a nation could be if we were to ever use the influence of our Catholic faith and teachings for more than one or two issues. We currently live in a state that consistently votes against its own interests for nearly every statewide or federal election, yet we wonder why our roads continually are in disrepair, our public education system is historically at the bottom of every scholastic poll and we remain at the top of nearly every health disparity list in the country.
We as Catholics have done an amazing job fighting for the rights of the unborn for decades, yet when it comes to fighting for quality of life for those after birth, we have much more work to do. The failures of many of our elected officials is a mirror-image of what our nation has become. In the past year, America has gone from being an example of hope, prosperity and possibility to precisely what President Donald Trump described Haiti, El Salvador and all the African continent as in recent weeks, a “toilet” country.
Despite his remarks on these black and brown countries, many of which have large populations of our Catholic brothers and sisters, more knowledgeable people are aware of how many of those “toilet” countries have contributed greatly to this country and how our country used prejudicial policies to ensure those same countries remained under-developed.
Haitian soldiers were among the first international supporters of the American Revolution, sending hundreds of men to Savannah, Georgia to fight for America against the British. The Haitian men fought valiantly and in return, just as it’s done for centuries, America failed to acknowledge their contributions and then relegated them to second-class citizenship after the war and later refused to acknowledge the newly formed Haitian government upon its independence from France.
Meanwhile, while our own government survives off temporary spending bills and questionable leadership, several of these countries in Africa are continuing to advance an agenda of progress spearheaded by their respective governments. The nation of Rwanda is set to effectively eliminate cervical cancer within its borders by 2020. Sierra Leone provides free prenatal care for pregnant women and children younger than five years of age. In all, sub-Saharan African immigrants to the United States are ranked among the most educated, with nearly 40 percent of them holding a college degree, compared to just 30 percent of American-born individuals.
After he chose to use such vile and egregious language, the president said he longs for more immigrants from Nordic countries such as Norway. What he consistently fails to realize is Norway and several other industrialized nations long ago concluded for reasons of economic prosperity, social cohesion, productivity and humanity to implement a social safety net and basic access to health care that the president and his party comrades have opposed from the New Deal to the Affordable Care Act.
Sadly, President Trump isn’t alone in his racist rhetoric and certainly falls in line with a great many “good” Christians in this state who’ve upheld Jim Crow era segregationist policies for generations. We don’t have to look further than our own state capital and our legislators who recently voted to end adequate funding for K-12 education throughout Mississippi and considered a bill (SB #2175) that would have ended Medicaid expansion throughout Mississippi at the same time our statewide Medicaid enrollment exceeds 75 percent (3 out of every 4 people) of our total state population.
Many of these same legislators in recent years have ensured little or no funding for mental health and other critical care needs for the citizens of this state. This blatant disregard for the welfare of our brothers and sisters is something that all Catholics should be concerned about. Legislation that fails to allow for the safe-keeping and general welfare of our neighbors – from all walks of life – are in direct conflict with Catholic Social Teaching.
What can you do to celebrate Black History Month? Be aware of what’s taking place in our state and our country and work to steer this ship on a much better course. Bigotry, racism and classism isn’t specific to one party, race or gender, but we all can work to right the ills of the past and keep us from repeating it.
(Will Jemison is coordinator for Black Catholic Ministry for the Diocese of Jackson)
Liturgy calls Church to unity
Aaron Williams
Spirit and Truth
By Deacon Aaron M. Williams
“Jesus said to [the Samaritan woman], ‘The hour is coming, and now is, when true worshippers will worship the Father in spirit and in truth, for such the Father seeks to worship him’” (John 4:23). During my diaconate internship in Meridian this past year, I taught a course on the sacred liturgy entitled “Spirit and Truth” — taken from this passage of the Gospel of John, which incidentally was the gospel at my diaconate ordination. In this passage, our Lord meets the Samaritan woman and enters a dialogue with her which causes her to realize that he is the Messiah. One of the questions she poses to the Lord involves a matter of the law of worship. Whereas the Jews worshiped in Jerusalem, the Samaritans worshipped in their own district (and therefore were seen as outcasts by the Jews). Christ reveals that in the new covenant, it will not matter if God is worshipped in a particular city, but that he be worshiped in a particular way — in “spirit and truth”.
Now, when we hear these words, we can mistakenly interpret them to mean that the worship Christ desires is some sort of non-physical reality. That is what “spiritual” means, after all. But, the Lord himself explains these terms in the next verse. He says, “God is spirit and those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth” (vs 24). In the Jewish mind, to do something “spiritual” was to do something that only God was capable of doing. Every day rituals and animal sacrifice were offered in the temple in Jerusalem, but these were “human” acts — they were done by men at the command of God. But, even in the Jewish mind, these acts could not have truly pleased God, but only functioned to give thanks or make atonement for personal blessings and sins. The promise of Christ to the Samaritan woman is that somehow men and women will perform “spiritual” worship. In other words, somehow they themselves will do something that only God can do — the only sort of worship that could please truly God.
And not only that, but this worship will be done in “truth.” It will be authentic, lawful, and in accordance with He who is Truth, which we know to be Jesus Christ. Thus, Our Lord is promising the Samaritan woman that the worship offered by the people of the New Covenant, though not offered in the temple in Jerusalem, will be even greater because it will be enabled by God and be truly perfect.
This is a great promise to all of us, of the great dignity we have, by offering God our the worship of the Church — the Sacred Liturgy, which his the fulfillment of Christ’s promise in the fourth chapter of the Gospel of John. The Church is able to offer this spiritual worship by virtue of our Baptism, whereby all of us are conformed to Christ and enabled by Christ to participate in his mystical worship of the Father. Therefore, unlike the people of the Old Covenant, our worship, when done as part of the Church — which is the Mystical Body of Christ — can truly please God, because it is not the actions of men or women, but of Christ. In the Sacred Liturgy, we are made participants in Christ’s perfect worship of the Father.
Regrettably, even in light of the astounding generosity of our Lord, who grants us such a great dignity by share in this ‘gift of God’ (cf. John 4:10), many people within the Church miss the point of Christ’s promise and instead focus on the same questions of the Samaritan woman. “Should we worship in Jerusalem or Samaria?” “Should we do this practice or ought this custom be forbidden?”
The Sacred Liturgy, which ought to be the most unifying aspect of the Christian life, is often a source of division in the Church. This is mainly because some people, intending to do what is right, begin to forget that the liturgy — the worship of God — does not belong to them, but to the Church and primarily to Christ. We are participants in his action. And, though there is room for our own humanity to shine through by the various customs we observe in the liturgy, it would be a terrible error if we allowed that personal expression to overshadow the unifying and ultimate action of Jesus Christ in the liturgy.
It is for that reason that I decided to start this column. I am confident that the controversy and division present in the Church regarding the liturgy cannot be solved either by providing a list of rules or a encouraging a spirit of individualism. Rather, by seeking to come to knowledge of what the liturgy is intending to do, and who is acting, we can be far more equipped to address the matter of how this action is meant to be done.
(Deacon Aaron Williams and his classmate, Deacon Nicholas Adam, are completing their final semester of seminary formation before their priestly ordinations on May 31, 2018 see page 11 for details.)
2018 Ordinations announced
Four men will be ordained in the Diocese of Jackson this spring, two to the transitonal diaconate and two to the priesthood. In keeping with his tradition, Bishop Joseph Kopacz will ordain deacons in their home parishes. Priestly ordinations take place at the Cathedral of St. Peter the Apostle.
Adolfo Suarez Pasillas will be ordained as Transitional Deacon in Aguascalientes, Mexico April 11.
Mark Shoffner will be ordained as Transitional Deacon at Greenville St. Joseph Parish June 8 at 6 p.m..
Deacons Nicholas Adam and Aaron Williams will celebrate their Priestly Ordinations at the Cathedral of St. Peter the Apostle in Jackson, May 31 at 6:30 p.m.
https://vocations.jacksondiocese.org/vocations-overview/seminarians/
Oath of fidelity marks next step to ordination
NEW ORLEANS – Deacon Aaron Williams and Deacon Nick Adam sign their Professions of Faith and Oaths of Fidelity as required by Canon Law in the chapel at Notre Dame Seminary on Sunday, Feb. 4 along with other members of their seminary class. Seminary Rector Father James Wehner witnessed the oaths. This is one of the last steps men take before priestly ordination. See below for details on their ordinations. (Photos courtesy of Notre Dame Seminary)
St. Gabriel Mercy Center seeks Executive Director
MOUND BAYOU – The staff and board of the St. Gabriel Mercy Center faces the task of finding a new director just weeks after the director they hired died of a heart attack on the day he was set to start his new job.
Myron Douglas of Starkville had begun orientation with outgoing director Sister Monica Mary DeQuardo, OSF. Sister DeQuardo and Sister Emy Beth Furrer were packed and ready to leave for their next stop in St. Louis on Tuesday, Jan. 16 when they got the news. Douglas was to be the first lay director of the center.
The board regrouped and the call for a new director is going out. Board Chairperson DeVoyce Morris offered the following reflection on the history of the center:
1829, 1954 and 2013, 2015 and 2017 are significant dates in the annals of the St. Gabriel Mission School and St. Gabriel Mercy Center’s history. It was in 1829 that the Oblate Sisters of Providence was founded by Mother Mary Elizabeth Lange, OSP, and Father James Hector Nicholas Joubert, SS, in Baltimore, Md. The Oblate Sisters were an order of African American women religious devoted to the “education of young African American girls.”
Years later, September 7, 1954, to be exact, Father John W. Bowman, SVD, opened the doors of the St. Gabriel Mission School to the children of Mound Bayou and surrounding areas. Realizing that education is the key that unlocks the doors of progress, especially for the predominantly black community of Mound Bayou, Father Bowman appealed to Mother Teresa Shockly, OSP, Superior General of the Oblate Sisters, for teachers. When the new school doors flung open, three Oblate Sisters M. Raymond Lawes, Margaretta and Mary Roberts, had already arrived at St. Gabriel. Thus began the reputation of educational excellence at St. Gabriel, having educated some of the world’s most prominent doctors, engineers, lawyers, educators, religious leaders, entrepreneurs, nurses, other professionals and citizens.
Following 30 years of kindling the young minds of countless boys and girls, the Oblate Sisters left Mound Bayou. The Sisters of St. Agnes (CSA) of Fond du Lac, Wis. came and stayed for five years. From 1990-2001, the Missionary Sisters of the Sacred Heart (MSC) from Reading, Pa., followed and opened the St. Gabriel Early Childhood Center after the grade school closed. In 1997, the St. Gabriel Center was opened by Christian Brother, Tom Geraghty (FSC), and in 1999 three Sisters of Mercy (RSM) arrived. In 2001 the early childhood center closed; and, the building became what is known now as the St. Gabriel Mercy Center, offering an array of programs for the people of Mound Bayou and Bolivar County.
A trip of Franciscan Sisters served at the center for the past two years preparing the staff and board to take over their operations. Catholic Extension recognized the work of the Sisters and the center by deeming St. Gabriel to be a finalist in its Lumen Christi Award program. The board hopes that a new director can continue the tradition of excellence found there.
A qualified applicant will have at least five years of administrative, leadership, managerial and/or supervisory experience; a master’s degree or above in a business, supervisory or managerial related field; demonstrated experience in fundraising and grant writing; be willing to live in a small, rural community and be an active member of a church. Resumes and cover letters are due to the center by March 30. Send applications to: DeVoye C. Morris, Board Chairman, St. Gabriel Mercy Center, P.O. Box 567, Mound Bayou, MS 38762.
Bishop gives stark appraisal of church relations with black people
By Mark Pattison
WASHINGTON (CNS) – The bishop who chairs the U.S. bishops’ Ad Hoc Committee Against Racism gave a sobering assessment of U.S. Catholics’ treatment of African Americans, from the laity to the hierarchy.
“The American Catholic Church has continued to be virtually silent,” said Bishop George V. Murry of Youngstown, Ohio, “which leads us to the question: Why?”
Bishop Murry spoke at a plenary session, “Church and Communities Address the Sin of Racism in Our Society,” Feb. 4 during the Catholic Social Ministry Gathering in Washington.
He recalled a 1983 conference that featured an address by African-American theologian James Cone, then a professor at Union Theological Seminary.
“What is it about the Catholic definition of justice that makes many persons of that faith progressive in their attitude toward the poor in Central America, but reactionary toward the poor in black America?” Bishop Murry recalled Cone asking.
“It is the failure of the church to deal effectively with the problem of racism that causes me to question the commitment to justice,” Cone said. While he added he “didn’t want to minimize” the church’s contribution to the struggle for racial justice, there is “ambiguity” in the church “where racism is not addressed forthrightly.”
Bishop Murry was ordained a Jesuit priest in 1979, the same year as the issuance of “Brothers and Sisters to Us,” a pastoral letter written by the nation’s black bishops.
He said the bishops’ Committee on Black Catholics examined matters on the 10th anniversary of the pastoral. “Sadly, this committee found little worth celebrating,” Bishop Murry said. Harking back to the 1960s, when riots in the inner cities of some of the United States’ largest cities broke out, the committee noted: “In spite of all that has been said about racism in the last 20 years, little has been done. As it was yesterday, so it is today.”
The bishops commissioned a 25th anniversary study in 2004, he added, which found much the same to be true.
“It painted a disheartening picture,” Bishop Murry said, as “only 18 percent of the American bishops have issued a statement condemning racism, and very few have addressed systemic racism,” opting to focus instead on personal attitudes.
“Seminary and ministry formation programs are inadequate,” the study found, adding: “White Catholics over the last 25 years have expressed diminished interest and support for government policies aimed and diminishing racial inequality.”
The study’s conclusion faulted the bishops’ conference, Bishop Murry said, for “lack of compliance with its own recommendations.”
The bishop also examined “the attitudes of the early church. The area of slavery is one that has been historically treated with concern by the Catholic Church,” with popes issuing papal bulls condemning slavery.
When it came to the United States, Bishop Murry said, the position was “apprehension, yes; abolition, no.”
With the expansion of the young nation, “the notion of the complete abolition of slavery was not considered realistic,” Bishop Murry said.
“Many bishops in the South, at that point in history, were slave owners,” he added, justifying it as “a blessing for black people.” He brought up the claim of one antebellum Louisiana bishop who claimed slavery was “an eminently Christian work because it led to the redemption of black souls.”
Even after the Civil War, and the freeing of slaves in the South, “there were few white Catholics who believed that blacks were equal to whites,” Bishop Murry said. “The subordination of blacks in America was simply part of the cultural landscape for Catholics and non-Catholics alike.”
Despite the efforts of Daniel Rudd, who published the American Catholic Tribune for black Catholics, and the early lay-led black Catholic congresses to prove black people as equal to whites, “most parishes remained segregated along racial lines,” Bishop Murry said. Some parishes did not give Communion to black worshippers until all whites had an opportunity to receive the Eucharist.
“Some parishes,” the bishop added, “even placed a physical screen between blacks and whites.
“The church in America has been incapable of taking decisive action,” he declared. “American Catholics have shown a lack of moral consciousness on the matter of race.”
However, given “the negative events that have occurred in our country recently” that have touched Hispanics, Jews and other minorities, Bishop Murry said, “the discussion on racial equality must run much deeper if we are to be true to the principles of our country and the faith on which they are based.”
(Follow Pattison on Twitter: @MeMarkPattison).
Federal tax changes offer tuition savings opportunities
By Maureen Smith
JACKSON – Mississippi parents can use one of the state’s 529 plans to pay for Catholic elementary and high school educations and take advantage of the federal and state tax benefits of the plans. The provision is part of the new tax plan approved by Congress and signed by President Donald Trump in late December.
Emelia Nordan, the college savings and policy director for the Mississippi State Treasurer’s office led a webinar for the Mississippi Independent School Association about the topic on Tuesday, Jan. 30. She explained that Mississippi’s MACS 529 savings account can now be used to pay for private or Catholic School tuition, but urged parents to be cautious and seek advice from a financial planner as they move forward. The MPACT pre-paid college tuition plan is not part of this new provision.
“Last year Congress expanded the definition to include tuition for elementary and secondary education,” said Nordan. Interest earned on deposits is not taxed on a federal level and in Mississippi, “you can contribute $10,000 in a single account, $20,000 in a joint account per year and claim that contribution as a state deduction,” said Nordan. Parents can contribute more than $10,000 per year per child, but that is the only tax deduction they can take. Parents can contribute to an account all the way up to April and claim the deduction on their 2017 taxes.
The deduction only applies if the family is using the Mississippi 529. Out- of-state 529 plans can provide some federal benefits, but only a state plan will result in state tax deductions.
Mississippi’s 529 savings plan has ten different investment options so families can select the one they think will earn them the best return. Another route is to simply deposit the money for the ten-day required waiting period and immediately withdraw it just for the tax benefit.
The families would still have to pay any fees associated with the plan, said John Fletcher, a partner at Jones Walker LLC working with the Tax and Estates Practice Group. He said families should take a good look at whether the tax benefit would offset any fees, but he recommends that families consider finding some way to start saving money.
“What I would ask people is if they are considering opening a 529, can they put $250 in it, maybe more?” If the family is already making tuition payments, Fletcher said they can make the payments into the 529, then get the money back out after the required 10-day waiting period. “Then, if you earn any interest, you keep that money and your cash flow stays the same,” he said. Getting some of the tax benefit is just another bonus if a family uses the plan this way.
In order to access the money, parents can use an online account to have the money transferred directly to their school or ask for a check. Nordan warned that having their student’s identification number or name on withdrawals is important so schools will know how to apply the money. She also said documenting how the money is used is critical.
One unanswered question deals with third-party institutions who process tuition payments. For example, some schools have a partnership with a local bank. Parents can take out a loan for their tuition. The school gets the tuition money up front while parents are able to make year-round payments to the bank. Nordan said it is unclear right now how the IRS will view payments to third-party vendors. “You are self-certifying that this is a qualified expense,” said Nordan. This is part of why documentation of how the money is used can be important.
Fletcher said it might be better to withdraw the money as a loan reimbursement rather than have the 529 pay the bank, but he added that the Internal Revenue Service has not yet clarified this part of the plan.
Another unclear area is whether the money can be used for pre-kindergarten programs. In the case of colleges and universities, the accreditation of the institution is what determines if it is eligible for money. The initial bill references K-12 education, so pre-kindergarten families may want to wait until the IRS weighs in on that issue.
The changes are getting attention on a national level. Representatives from the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops and the National Catholic Educational Association spoke with Catholic News Service about the need to educate the Catholic School community about the new options. One significant change the national representatives are discussing is the definition of who may contribute to such a plan. Under the original 529 framework, it was parents. Now, it could be pretty much anyone.
“Grandma and Grandpa, aunts and uncles, and parishioners” could make contributions under an expanded 529 rubric, Daniels noted. No matter who contributes, only the account holder gets the tax benefit in Mississippi.
“I was the principal of a grade school, and I know there are parishioners who really want to make a difference in children’s lives,” said Dominican Sister John Mary Fleming, executive director of Catholic education for the USCCB.
Under the new law, not only can multiple people contribute to an account, multiple accounts can be opened for the same child, according to Kathryn Flynn, content director of savingforcollege.com, which provides research on 529 plans’ performance rankings and other metrics, then recasts it to make it more understandable.
Non-profit organizations can even open an account to earn interest for scholarships. The non-profit would not have to designate a recipient until the scholarship is awarded.