Author Archives: Tereza Ma

War brings only death, cruelty, pope says at U.S. military cemetery

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By Carol Glatz
NETTUNO, Italy (CNS) – “No more, Lord, no more (war)” that shatters dreams and destroys lives, bringing a cold, cruel winter instead of some sought-after spring, Pope Francis said looking out at the people gathered for an outdoor Mass at a U.S. war memorial and cemetery.
“This is the fruit of war: death,” he said, as the bright Italian sun lowered in the sky on the feast of All Souls, Nov. 2.
On a day the church offers special prayers for the faithful departed with the hope of their meeting God in heaven, “here in this place, we pray in a special way for these young people,” he said, gesturing toward the rows of thousands of graves.
Christian hope can spring from great pain and suffering, he said, but it can also “make us look to heaven and say, ‘I believe in my Lord, the redeemer, but stop, Lord,” please, no more war, he said.
“With war, you lose everything,” he said.
Before the Mass, Pope Francis placed a white rose atop 10 white marble headstones; the majority of the stones were carved crosses, one was in the shape of the Jewish Star of David.
As he slowly walked alone over the green lawn and prayed among the thousands of simple grave markers, visitors recited the rosary at the World War II Sicily-Rome American Cemetery and Memorial site in Nettuno, a small coastal city south of Rome.
In previous years, the pope marked All Souls’ Day by visiting a Rome cemetery. This year, he chose to visit a U.S. military burial ground and, later in the day, the site of a Nazi massacre at the Ardeatine Caves in Rome to pray especially for all victims of war and violence.
“Wars produce nothing other than cemeteries and death,” he said after reciting the Angelus on All Saints’ Day, Nov. 1. He explained he would visit the two World War II sites the next day because humanity “seems to have not learned that lesson or doesn’t want to learn it.”
In his homily at the late afternoon Mass Nov. 2, Pope Francis spoke off-the-cuff and said people do everything to go to war, but they end up doing nothing but destroying themselves.
“This is war: the destruction of ourselves,” he said.
He spoke of the particular pain women experience in war: receiving that letter or news of the death of their husband, child or grandchild.
So often people who want to go to war “are convinced they will usher in a new world, a new springtime. But it ends up as winter – ugly, cruel, a reign of terror and death,” the pope said.
Today, the world continues to head off fiercely to war and fight battles every day, he said.
“Let us pray for the dead today, dead from war, including innocent children,” and pray to God “for the grace to weep,” he said.
Among the more than 7,800 graves at the Nettuno cemetery, there are the remains of 16 women who served in the Women’s Army Corps, Red Cross or as nurses, as well as the graves of 29 Tuskegee airmen. Those buried or missing in action had taken part in attacks by U.S. Allies along Italy’s coast during World War II.

Plea for the soul

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IN EXILE

Father Ron Rolheiser

By Father Ron Rolheiser, OMI
It’s hard to find your soulmate in someone who doesn’t believe you have a soul.
Recently on “The Moth Radio Hour” a young woman shared the story of her breakup with her boyfriend, a young man for whom she had deep feelings. The problem was that she, a person with a deep faith, a Mormon, struggled with the radical materialism of her boyfriend. For him, there were no souls; the physical world was real, and nothing else. She kept asking him if he believed he had a soul. He couldn’t make himself believe that. Eventually, not without a lot of heartache, they broke up. Why? In her words: It’s hard to find your soulmate in someone who doesn’t believe you have a soul.
Her frustration is becoming more universal. More and more our world is ignoring and denying the existence of soul, becoming soulless. It wasn’t always like this. Up until modern times, often it was the physical and the body that weren’t properly honored. But things have changed, radically.
It began with Darwin, who rooted our origins more in the history of our bodies than in the origins of our souls; it took more shape in the mechanistic philosophies of the last century, which understood both our universe and ourselves as physical machines; it became more firm as modern medicine and experimental psychology began more and more to explain the brain primarily in terms of carbon complexification and biochemical interactions; it seeped into our higher educational systems as we produced more and more technical schools rather than universities in the deeper sense; and it culminated in popular culture where love and sex are spoken of more in terms of chemistry than in terms of soul. It is not surprising that for most pop singers today the mantra is: I want your body! I want your body! We’re a long ways from Shakespeare’s marriage of true minds and Yeats’ love of the pilgrim soul in you.
Religion of course has always lodged its protests against this but often its understanding of the soul was itself too narrow to have much power to lure a materialistic culture back into wanting to rediscover and listen to the soul. Ironically, it took a non-religious figure, Carl Jung, to speak of soul again in a way that is intellectually intriguing. And it was in the sick, the insane, the suicidal and others whose lives were broken that Jung began to hear the cry of the soul (whose demands are sometimes very different from those of the body and whose needs are for much more than simple comfort and the prolonging of life).
Much of Jung’s teaching and that of his followers can be seen as a protest for the soul. We see this, for example, in the writing of James Hillman. It’s ironic that as an agnostic he was able to speak about the soul in ways that we, who are religious, might envy and emulate. Like Jung, he also drew many of his insights from listening to the soul cry out its meaning and pain through the voices of the sick, the insane, the broken, and the suicidal. Religion, medicine and psychology, he believes, are not hearing the soul’s cry. They’re forever trying to fix the soul, cure the soul or save the soul, rather than listening to the soul, which wants and needs neither to be fixed nor saved. It’s already eternal. The soul needs to be heard, and heard in all its godly goodness and earthy complexes. And sometimes what it tells us goes against all common sense, medical practice and the over-simplistic spiritualities we often present as religion.
To be more in touch with our souls we might examine an older language, the language that religion, poets, mythologists, and lovers used before today’s dominant materialism turned our language about the soul into the language of chemistry and mechanism. We cannot understand the soul through any scientific description but only by looking at its behavior, its insatiability, its dissatisfactions, and its protests. A soul isn’t explained, it’s experienced, and soul experience always comes soaked in depth, in longing, in eros, in limit, in the feeling of being pilgrim in need of a soulmate.
Happily, even today, we still do spontaneously connect the soul to things beyond chemistry and mechanism. As Hillman points out: “We associate the word ‘soul’ with: mind, spirit, heart, life, warmth, humanness, personality, individuality, intentionality, essence, innermost, purpose, emotion, quality, virtue, morality, sin, wisdom, death, God. As well, we speak of a soul as ‘troubled,’ ‘old,’ ‘disembodied,’ ‘immortal,’ ‘lost,’ ‘innocent,’ ‘inspired.’ Eyes are said to be ‘soulful,’ for the eyes are ‘the mirror of the soul;’ and one can be ‘soulless’ by showing no mercy.”
Soullessness: We understand the make-up of something best when we see it broken. So perhaps today we can best understand our soullessness in the growing acceptance of pornography and hook-up sex, where the soul is intentionally and necessarily excluded from what is meant to be the epitome of all soulful experience.

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

New Hope Village relaunched with new name, ownership, management

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By Maureen Smith
HOLLY SPRINGS – The Diocese of Jackson, Sacred Heart Southern Missions (SHSM) and a newly formed 501c-3 charity have partnered to create a new ministry in Marshall County. Bishop Joseph Kopacz joined Father Jack Krups, SCJ, executive director of Sacred Heart Southern Missions, Father Thi Pham, pastoral leader for the area, and the SHSM board on Friday, Nov. 3, to bless and dedicate the Bishop William Houck New Hope Village.
The village has been in the community for many years. According to Lyle Hennen, one of the original founders, a group of business owners and community leaders came together in 1996 to purchase a motel complex and turn it into a homeless shelter. The collection of small cottages offered separate housing units for homeless men and women as well as a clothes closet and small food pantry. The group let businesses or church groups sponsor one building at a time for renovations.
The Knights of Columbus and Mens’ Club from Olive Branch Queen of Peace Parish would often help with donations. “Two years ago we decided to renovate a couple of the units,” said Jeff Bell, who was just a volunteer at that time. He is now the manager of New Hope Village. “We had to gut them to the studs because we found black mold and water damage throughout,” he explained. The volunteers also discovered that the charity was having a hard time keeping its doors opened.
The Diocese of Jackson stepped in to help create the new partnership. The diocese purchased the property. Bell acts as director under the new 501c-3. SHSM took over the food pantry and offered to help with some social services. “The work of Sacred Heart Southern Missions and Bishop Houck New Hope Village complement each other well,” said Father Krups. “We both offer vital services to support those who are most vulnerable — thus strengthening the fabric of the entire community,” he added.
“New Hope can put a roof over their heads, which is a good start, but we can help with the bigger picture,” explained Laura Grisham, SHSM development director. The missions already runs several food pantries so its employees are familiar with federal rules and best practices. They have a social service office at Holly Springs St. Joseph Parish so they can offer the long-term assistance many people need to step out of an emergency situation and into a recovery plan.
“Once we get them in the shelter, then they can come to the food pantry and get some food. We have training programs and resume help so we can assist them in getting a job. We can do more than just house them. This partnership can help people get back on their feet,” said Grisham.
Last summer the diocese took over the property and offered Bell the job of fixing it up and getting the operation back up and running. He lives in one of the units and has committed to live onsite for a year. He said the next step is to get community support. “We are trying to get the facility to a point where we can show it to the community and share our vision of what it could be so we can get the local churches, civic and county leaders involved.” The operation has a board at the diocesan level, but Bell is working to create a local advisory board. These board members would help with volunteers and fund-raising to hire more staff.

Bishop Joseph Kopacz blesses Bishop William Houck New Hope Village on Friday, Nov.3. A new partnership between the Diocese of Jackson, Sacred Heart Southern Missions and the community is giving new life to the homeless shelter. (Photos by Vickie Stirek)

Bishop Houck village

“This will continue the vision we had for the outreach to the poor of five counties in northern Mississippi,” said Hennen.
Currently two families and a handful of single men and single women are staying on the site. New Hope offers immediate overnight housing to anyone, but people can request to stay for 90 days. “During that time, the residents meet with me every week to tell me what they are doing to find a job,” said Bell. They can also take advantage of the social service office. If someone secures a job, but just can’t afford housing yet, they can apply to stay for up to nine months while they save money and seek housing.
“We are trying to give people a little breathing room – let them get a job and get a little money in their pockets without having to worry about rent or utilities for a little while,” said Bell. Several units on the site are still under renovation and Bell has plans to turn a larger building into a larger-capacity shelter for women and children. He takes on each renovation as its own project so he can continue to expand as he builds partnerships with the community and his board.
Bell is a general contractor. His daughter has volunteered to help with intakes and paperwork while she finishes school, but he hopes to add staff as funding sources come online. The charity can now accept donations to an account housed at the Bank of Holly Springs. Look for a facebook page in the coming weeks to keep up with progress.

Bishop Kopacz schedule

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Saturday, Nov. 10-19 – U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, General
Meeting, Baltimore, Md.
Saturday, Nov. 25, 4:30 and 5:15 p.m. – Confessions and Mass,
Jackson Cathedral of St. Peter the Apostle
Sunday, Nov. 26, 9 a.m. – Feast Day Mass, Jackson Christ the King Parish
Thursday, Nov. 30 – Senior class visits, Natchez Cathedral School
Monday, Dec. 4 – Senior class visits, Madison St. Joseph School
Tuesday, Dec. 5 – Mass and visitation, Parchman Federal Penitentiary
Thursday, Dec. 7 – Senior class visits, Vicksburg Catholic School

Only public events are listed on this schedule and all events are subject to change.
Please check with the local parish for further details

Santos de noviembre ofrecen luz en días oscuros

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Obispo Joseph Kopacz

Por Obispo Joseph Kopacz
El mes de noviembre ya ha comenzado con la profundización de la oscuridad al final del día, y, espiritualmente, con las fiestas de Todos Los Santos y los Santos Difuntos que nos recuerdan que la Luz del Mundo siempre brilla en la oscuridad. Mucho más ardientemente en noviembre y principios de diciembre la Iglesia Católica mira más allá de lo visible a lo que es invisible cuando la vida eterna se desarrolla en su plenitud. En última instancia, nuestra ciudadanía está en los cielos, y la vida eterna nos envuelve. Sin embargo, en cada temporada la Iglesia nunca da un paso para dejar vivir el Evangelio con la mente y el corazón de quien vendrá a juzgar a los vivos y a los muertos. De hecho, en noviembre y diciembre con la llegada de las fiestas, la Iglesia junto con muchas otras organizaciones y personas de buena voluntad, aumenta sus esfuerzos para servir a los pobres y marginados y a ser solidarios con todos.
Tenemos algunos maravillosos santos en noviembre que son una lámpara para nuestros pies para caminar con el Señor más fielmente en nuestra generación. San Martín de Porres es uno de estos discípulos del Señor, cuya fiesta es el 3 de noviembre de cada año, que puede inspirar a muchos en nuestro mundo a levantar aquellos atrapados por la oscuridad. Martín nació en Lima, Perú, el 9 de diciembre de 1579.
Él era hijo ilegítimo de un español y una esclava liberada desde Panamá, de ascendencia africana o posiblemente americana nativa. El padre de Martin lo abandonó en su niñez, junto con su madre y su hermana menor, dejando a Martin creciendo en la más profunda pobreza. Después de pasar dos años en la escuela primaria, Martin fue colocado con un peluquero/cirujano donde pudiera aprender a cortar el pelo y aplicar las artes médicas. Mientras crecía Martin experimentó un gran ridículo por ser de raza mezclada. En el Perú, por ley, todos los descendientes de africanos o indios no estaban autorizados a ser miembros de de las órdenes religiosas. No obstante, ni siquiera las penurias implacables y el abandono podría separar Martin del amor de Jesucristo.
Gradualmente su firme compromiso a derramar su vida en las huellas del Maestro superó su cultura y los prejuicios y el racismo de la Iglesia. Hasta el momento de su muerte a los 60 años de edad en 1639, fue elogiado por su atención incondicional a todas las personas, independientemente de la raza o la riqueza. Él tomó el cuidado de todos, desde los nobles españoles hasta los esclavos africanos. A Martin no le importaba si la persona estaba enferma o sucia y les daba la bienvenida en su propia casa. La vida de Martin refleja su gran amor por Dios y por todos los dones de Dios. Esta es la Iglesia en trabajo, como la Madre Teresa, en cada rincón del mundo, el Señor encarnado lavando los pies de sus apóstoles y derramando su vida en la cruz.
En las lecturas bíblicas en la Misa de ayer, San Pablo en la primera carta a los Tesalonicenses, la primera palabra escrita que existe en el Nuevo Testamento, alrededor del año 50 D.C., revela el carisma evangélico que ha transformado la vida de las personas y las culturas por casi 2000 años. “Hermanos y hermanas: fuimos suaves entre vosotros, como una madre que amamanta cuida de sus hijos. Con tal afecto por ustedes, estábamos decididos a compartir con ustedes, no sólo el evangelio de Dios, sino a darnos a nosotros mismos, tan queridos han llegado a nosotros. Ustedes recuerdan, hermanos y hermanas, nuestros esfuerzos y fatigas. Trabajando día y noche para no ser una carga para nadie, les proclamamos el evangelio de Dios.” (1Tes 2, 7b-9)
El testimonio de san Pablo y San Martín, de la Madre Teresa, y de todos los santos, católicos y no católicos, canonizados o no, es la levadura del servicio amoroso en nuestra Iglesia y en nuestro mundo que superará el odio y la violencia, la codicia y la lujuria que continúan envenenando el alma de nuestra nación y el mundo. Con un mayor sentido de urgencia ante la invasión de la oscuridad, en la naturaleza y en las manos de aquellos impulsados por el mal, y junto con las innumerables oportunidades de generosidad y solidaridad que nos atraen en el tiempo futuro, que podamos escuchar la llamada del Señor a vivir el evangelio y a valorar las cosas que realmente son importantes.

Advocates decry Homeland Security’s TPS decision for Nicaraguans

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By Dennis Sadowski
WASHINGTON (CNS) – Immigration advocates decried a Department of Homeland Security decision to end Temporary Protected Status for 2,500 Nicaraguans who have been living in the United States for nearly 20 years.
They also lamented during a call with reporters Nov. 7 that Elaine Duke, acting secretary of Homeland Security, put off a decision on TPS for 57,000 Hondurans for six months, saying more time was needed to determine if they could remain in the U.S. because of adverse social and economic conditions in their homeland.
Randolph P. McGrorty, executive director of Catholic Legal Services in the Archdiocese of Miami, said U.S. law is meant to be implemented “with a certain degree of kindness and compassion,” and that sending people to countries that are ill-prepared to welcome them would do far more harm than good.
He called on policymakers in Congress and the administration of President Donald Trump to recognize that Nicaraguans, Hondurans and other TPS holders are vibrant members of their parishes, neighborhoods and workplaces.
“I think they deserve to have some sense of belonging,” he said.
Rather than ending TPS, the advocates from an array of agencies said, it was time for Congress to develop a legislative plan to allow Nicaraguans, Hondurans and others to remain in the U.S. permanently in the name of family unity and because they play vital roles in building American society.
They called for TPS to be extended at 18-month intervals, as the current law requires, until Congress hammers out a legal fix.

A woman holds a child during an immigration rally near the U.S. Capitol in Washington Sept. 26. (CNS photo/Tyler Orsburn)

The TPS designation is for those who have come to the U.S. from certain countries because of a natural disaster, continuing armed conflict, criminal violence or other extraordinary conditions. It authorizes employment and protection from deportation for about 320,000 people from 10 countries.
On Nov. 6, Duke discontinued TPS for Nicaraguans, delaying the effective date for them to leave the country until Jan. 5, 2019. Duke also announced the automatic extension for six months of TPS for Hondurans, explaining that further study was needed on conditions in the northern Central American country. She set a new expiration date of July 5.
Royce Murray, policy director at the American Immigration Council, said that Duke’s decision indicates that the administration is “struggling with the seriousness of the conditions and complicated situation” in Central America’s so-called Northern Triangle, which includes Honduras, El Salvador and Guatemala.
The advocates also pointed to decisions due in several weeks from homeland security on TPS for people from El Salvador and Haiti, calling on Duke to extend protections without delay.
Belinda Osario, a native of Honduras who works as a housekeeper at Walt Disney World in Orlando, Florida, told reporters that living her life in six-month increments waiting for a decision on TPS was “like a torture.”
“They’re putting us in limbo. That’s unfair,” she said of Homeland Security officials.
Osario added that should would resist returning to her homeland because she had made a life with her family in the U.S. She said she did not want her 14-year-old son to be subject to gang recruitment and threats of violence if he were suddenly forced to live in a country that would be foreign to him.
“I’m not leaving. No matter what, I’m not leaving” said Osario, who has been in the U.S. for 26 years, the last 19 as a TPS holder. “My hope is they change the legislation to make this a permanent thing for all the TPS recipients.”
Some advocates on the call expressed concern that ending TPS would pose a threat to national security because the countries in question were ill-prepared to accept tens of thousands of returnees.
Governments already stretched to adequately protect their citizens are unlikely to be able to assist people in their return, possibly leading to destabilization that could spill across borders, said Oscar Chacon, executive director of Alianza Americas.
“Congress has an opportunity to fix something,” he said. “We need to recognize that these communities have become a permanent part of our community.”
Duke’s decisions also drew criticism from the Catholic Legal Immigration Network. Jean Atkinson, CLINIC executive director, said in a statement Nov. 7 that the decision on Nicaraguans “is a cruel and ultimately short-sighted action.”
She said the lives of thousands of Nicaraguan families who “help make the United States vibrant” would be disrupted and that both the U.S. and Nicaragua would be harmed.
Bishop Kevin W. Vann of Orange, California, a member of CLINIC’s board of directors, added in the statement that American society is responsible for protecting all members of the human family and that “means TPS should not be revoked until safe return and reintegration can be assured.”

(Follow Sadowski on Twitter: @DennisSadowski.)

CRS: refugees need education, jobs, not just food and shelter

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By Carol Zimmermann
WASHINGTON (CNS) — Refugees need education and jobs just as much as they need food and shelter, according to a new report by Catholic Relief Services and a Nov. 6 panel discussion about it at the National Press Club in Washington.
“School is a game changer for refugees” because it gives them a sense of normalcy, said Giulia McPherson, director of advocacy and operations for Jesuit Refugee Service, one of the panelists.
She said education is a top priority and noted that refugees are currently five times more likely to be out of school.
Providing an education for those who have fled their homelands is not just a way to help people find a path to success or college but to give an “opportunity for hope,” McPherson said, with the end goal of learning a trade to support their families.
She also said agencies that help refugees should provide teacher training, not just educational materials, and also should consider adapting the curriculum from the refugees’ countries of origin.
Learning employable skills and then being able to get a job is often easier said than done for many refugees.
Elias Bakhash, a Villanova University student and Syrian refugee working with Catholic Relief Services, can attest to this firsthand. He fled Syria and lived in Jordan, Turkey and briefly in Dubai, before coming to the United States, but was unable to find work or get a job for which he was qualified in part because, he said, people think “refugees are here to take our jobs.”
Enabling refugees to get work permits would be one solution, said Bakhash, one of the panelists at the CRS event. He also said he was “not sure how to address the tension between host countries and refugees” and added: “It’s very complex.”
Some of the complexities are outlined in the CRS report: “Little by Little: Exploring the Impact of Social Acceptance on Refugee Integration Into Host Communities.” It looks at the social integration of refugees in Ecuador, Jordan and India.
The report notes the sheer number of people in exile — 22.5 million — and says the capacity of countries to cope with these numbers requires serious conversation about how to best meet short and long-term needs.
Panelists noted that just a year ago the U.N. General Assembly called for a two-year review process to develop a comprehensive refugee response framework, known by its acronym CRRF.
A year into the review amid a growing refugee crisis and polarized views about refugees around the world heightens the call to come up with a clear way forward, noted a few of the panelists.

(Follow Zimmermann on Twitter: @carolmaczim)

Shaw’s spaghetti success

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SHAW – St. Francis of Assisi Parish hosted a spaghetti supper Saturday, Oct. 22. Barbara Faccini reports that volunteers dished about 1,400 plates of spaghetti between dine-in and take-out orders. She said everyone in the parish helped so the event turned into something of a homecoming. Above, Father Peter Nguyen, SVD, associate pastor, is visible in the serving line. (Photo submitted by Barbara Faccini)

Parish calendar of events

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SPIRITUAL ENRICHMENT

BROOKSVILLE Dwelling Place Retreat Center, “Praying Scripture through Lectio Divina,” an ancient practice of reading and praying Scripture, November 10-11, begins with 6:30 p.m. supper. There will be group time and periods of silence. Presenters: Mary Louise Jones and Claudia Addison. They facilitate a Lectio group at St. Richard. Donation: $180. Details: (662) 738-5348 or dwellpl@gmail.com.
CULLMAN, Ala., Benedictine Sisters Retreat Center, Intensive Centering Prayer Weekend, November 10-12. Develop further the discipline of Centering Prayer and deepening your relationship with God. Prerequisite: Introduction to Centering Prayer. Cost: Private room $245. Details: contact Sister Magdalena Craig, OSB at (256) 615-6114, www.shmon.org.
LAFAYETTE Louisiana, Holy Spirit Women’s Retreat, January 26-28, 2018, Dr. Mary Healy and Father Bill Henry will be featured at the annual Holy Spirit Women’s Retreat at the DoubleTree by Hilton in Lafayette, LA. The theme is “Gather in Upper Room with Mary.” There will also be a Life in the Spirit Seminar presented by Deacon Larry Oney, his wife Andi, and the CCRNO Team. Patti Mansfield will also be featured. This retreat is sponsored by the Catholic Charismatic Renewal of New Orleans (CCRNO) and serves hundreds of women from throughout the Gulf South. Weekend and Saturday commuters are welcome. Register online at www.ccrno.org or call (504) 828-1368.

PARISH, SCHOOL AND FAMILY EVENTS

AMORY St. Helen, Parish Christmas dinner for all adults, Saturday, December 9. Annual celebration and honoring of grandparents will be at Mass on Sunday, December 10. Details: church office (662) 256-8392.
BROOKHAVEN St. Francis of Assisi, Knights of Columbus spaghetti dinner, Thursday, November 16, 11:30 a.m. – 6 p.m. Pick up or dine in, Serio Hall. Cost: $9.00 per plate. Local delivery for six or more plates. Details: church office (601) 833-179.
CLEVELAND Our Lady of Victories, Angel Tree. Outreach committee invites all to take part in this benefit for needy families for Christmas. During Advent, the tree with names and needs will be set up in the church entry. Details: church office (662) 846-6273.
GRENADA St. Peter, Couples Gathering beginning monthly in January, possibly on Wednesdays at 6:30 p.m. rotating houses where the meeting is held. We will start with a book study on “Climbing the Mountain,” one of the Lay Apostle books. Books will have to be ordered by Dec 1. Details: Annette Tipton (662) 226-2490.
JACKSON St. Richard, Father Edward “Monk” Malloy, C.S.C., will speak December 8-9 in Glynn Hall on “Christian Perspectives on War and Peace.” Father Malloy served as the 16th president of the University of Notre Dame from 1987 to 2005. He now serves as President Emeritus and is a full professor in the Department of Theology. Details: church office (601) 366-2335.
LELAND St. James, Benefit Fish Fry for James “Jamie” Rutland, Jr., Thursday, November 16 from 5-7 p.m. at the parish hall. Cost: $10 per plate. Donations may be mailed to the church or dropped off at the church office. Details: church office (662) 686-7352.
MADISON St. Francis of Assisi, High School seniors are invited to take a Bible Break every Wednesday at 6 p.m. at M7 Coffee House in Ridgeland. Seniors are also invited to choose WOW on Wednesdays 6:30 – 8 p.m. Details: church office (601) 856-5556.
– St. Anthony School, 9th annual Starry Night Gala, Saturday, December 9, 7-11 p.m. Live music, live and silent auctions, raffles, food. Details: Jennifer Schmidt, (601) 214-9656 or Jenniferschmidt819@yahoo.com
MERIDIAN St. Patrick, 20th Annual Musical and Variety Show, fashion show and dinner, Saturday, November 18, 6 p.m. Tickets: Reserved seating, $20; Adults open seating, $10 and children through high school, $5. Proceeds benefit St. Patrick School. Tickets available in the parish office or school office. Details: Dan Santiago (601) 917-7364 and Mary Yarger (601) 482-6044 for reserved tickets.
NATCHEZ St. Mary Basilica, Parish Blood Drive, Tuesday, November 28, 12-5:30 p.m. at the O’Connor Family Life Center, Details: Regina Mardis at church office (601) 445-5616; Susan Nielsen (504) 258-6940 or online sign-up at www.unitedbloodservices.org.
PEARL St. Jude, Women’s Retreat, Saturday, November 18, 9:30 a.m. – 3:30 p.m. “Spirituality for our Everyday Lives.” Retreat Leader: Father Lincoln Dall. Snacks and lunch will be provided. Sign-up sheets after Masses. Details: call Kelly at the church office (601) 939-3181.
YAZOO CITY St. Mary, History and implementation of the RCIA catechist certification class begins Tuesday, November 14, in the Parish Office from 12:30 – 2:30 p.m. Details: church office (662) 746-1680.

CORRECTION

A caption in the Oct. 27 Mississippi Catholic incorrectly identified a speaker at the diocesan Encuentro. Seminarian César Sánchez Fermín was leading the presentation in the photo. We apologize for the error.

Lunardini to join Catholic Charities as COO

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By Maureen Smith

John Lunardini, Catholic Charities COO

JACKSON – John Lunardini will step into the role of Chief Operating Officer at Catholic Charities, Inc., in Jackson on Monday, Nov. 20. Lunardini comes from the Mississippi Primary Health Care Association where he was the communications and business development director. Prior to his work in healthcare, he managed grants and programs for the Hinds County Human Resource Agency as the vice president of community programs.
Bishop Joseph Kopacz will remain at the agency as executive director, while Lunardini takes over much of the day-to-day work of operations and supervision. “John brings with him a wealth of experience in management, communications, IT and business development,” said Bishop Kopacz. “We are so glad he responded to the call,” he added.
Bishop Kopacz has been the executive director for about a year-and-a-half. “I am grateful that I got this opportunity to get an inside view of the operations at Charities. It is a good thing for a bishop to truly be immersed in the ministries of his diocese,” said the bishop. While he has enjoyed his tenure, Bishop Kopacz is happy to welcome a partner in the work.
Lunardini is a Jackson native and graduate of St. Richard and St. Joseph Catholic schools, but was not raised Catholic. His two children currently attend St. Richard and he and his wife love the community there. “We started digging down into ourselves to try and discover what we really wanted in our life,” he explained. They completed classes for the rite of Christian initiation for adults (RCIA) at Gluckstadt St. Joseph Parish and entered the church a few years ago. “It was one of the best things we have ever done as a family,” he said.
Lunardini was not looking for a job, but his wife saw an announcement about the Catholic Charities position in their bulletin and urged him to apply. “Not only am I looking forward to being able to serve the greater good, but to be able to combine that with my faith – that’s not something everyone gets to do.”
Catholic Social Teaching (CST) has had a tremendous impact on Lunardini’s faith development. He says integrating the seven principles of CST is at the core of what he believes Catholic Charities does. He believes they transcend politics and give the faithful a way to connect with the world at large.
“I think we should be asking how we can talk to people about these seven core issues – they are not just Catholic issues, they are issues of life, they are for everybody,” he explained. The seven principles proclaim the life and dignity of the human person; a call to family, community and participation; rights and responsibilities; preferential option for the poor and vulnerable; the dignity of work and the rights of workers; solidarity and care for God’s creation.
Lunardini’s approach to management comes from an African proverb popularized by Boston Celtics player Doc Rivers, Ubuntu. It roughly translates to “I am because we are.” To Lunardini, this means the success of Catholic Charities is predicated on the success of each person and program in the agency. Part of the philosophy calls for individuals to consciously and actively encourage one other and find ways to partner to make the overall organization stronger. Since Catholic Charities operates a number of diverse programs, this support is crucial.
(Editor’s note: the press deadline for this edition of Mississippi Catholic was too close for complete coverage of the Journey of Hope events. Look for stories in the next edition.)