Author Archives: Tereza Ma

Parishioners, Knights knock on doors, check on senior citizens aft er Irma

Posted on by
Reply

By Tom Tracy

PEMBROKE PINES, Fla. (CNS) – The nation watched in sadness and outrage at the deaths of eight elderly people in Hollywood without air conditioning and electricity following the historic passing of Hurricane Irma. Members of nearby St. Edward Parish in Pembroke Pines and the local Knights of Columbus council, hearing the call to be good neighbors, prepared hot meals and set out to knock on doors and check in on senior citizen residents four days after the storm. The group was given permission to go door to door with their hot meals and water supplies at the expansive Century Village Pembroke Pines housing development in western Broward County Sept. 14. Residents there reportedly had been without electricity and air conditioning for days, although power was being restored even as the parish volunteers were making their rounds. According to news reports, police confirmed earlier in the week that about 60 percent of the 15,000-person community of mostly retirees still didn’t have electricity and was under a “boil water” notice. Century Village is a community comprised of people 55 and over. Compounding the hardships, many elderly citizens at Century Village were unable to get around the four-story buildings because the elevators were not working and some residents couldn’t climb three and four flights of stairs. The volunteers visited several of the buildings with hot meals consisting of Cuban food and pasta along with bottled water. Scott O’Connor, the Knights’ state secretary for Florida and a resident of Pembroke Pines, noted that his own mother had lived in Century Village at one time. “It is a large community built for citizens over 55 years old and in the early days it was primarily Jewish-oriented, but now it is quite an eclectic mix of people and a kind of self-contained city,” O’Connor said. “We are out here helping and that is what we do; it doesn’t matter what religion you are, we are helping everybody.” One of the issues the housing complex has, he said, is that the residents are susceptible to loss of power and there is only one elevator in each of these buildings. “Sometimes you have elderly people who may have mobility issues and can’t get down the stairs, and so bringing meals and supplies in for them is really a necessity and something we can do to help,” O’Connor said. “Normally when we get affected by storms it is localized. But in this particular case, Hurricane Irma affected really all of our Florida jurisdiction. And we still don’t Mississippi Catholic have access to the Florida Keys here on the fourth day.” Daniel Diaz, grand knight of Council 14698 in Pompano Beach, helped coordinate the food delivery program along with five other Knights. “Because they lost power here for about a week, all the food in their refrigerator went bad,” said Diaz, who said he rode out the hurricane with his mother at her residence nearby. “This was widespread and went straight up the entire state.” Diaz, who also is the Knights’ state young adult and college council coordinator, said he will keep looking for ways the Knights can help in the local hurricane recovery.

Volunteers from St. Edward Parish in Pembroke Pines, Fla., prepare hot meals before setting out to knock on doors and check in on senior citizen residents of the expansive Century Village Pembroke Pines housing development Sept. 14. The effects of Hurricane Irma left the residents there without electricity and air conditioning for days. (CNS photo/Tom Tracy)

“We are going to keep our ears open and see how else we can serve our community.” Irma will be remembered as one of the Atlantic’s strongest hurricanes on record, with peak winds of 185 mph and Category 4 strength when it landed in the Florida Keys. Some sources are predicting that insured losses from the storm could total $18 billion in the U.S. Hurricane Irma also caused significant harm to populations in the Caribbean, including the U.S. Virgin Islands. “Before Hurricane Irma, we set up the network in terms of communications and figured out who was doing the various positions in the state and with coordination with Supreme,” said Knights District Deputy Peter Chiaravalle, a resident of Fort Lauderdale. “We were lucky on the east coast of Florida – we didn’t get hit as bad as we thought we might have,” Chiaravalle said. “So a lot of preparation work really paid off.” Elsewhere in Florida, the Knights were already down in the Keys helping out and a supply truck from the north of the state was waiting to go there, said Joe Cox, public relations coordinator for the Knights’ region six in Florida. “It is in times like these that we find out who has a willing heart and a ready hand to do something for our fellow human beings who have suffered a lot,” he said.
(Tracy is a correspondent for the Florida Catholic, newspaper of the Archdiocese of Miami.)

Con una sierra, hermana carmelita ayuda después del huracán Irma

Posted on by
Reply

Por Rhina Guidos
WASHINGTON (CNS) – Después de la destrucción del huracán Irma en la Florida, la hermana carmelita Margaret Ann Laechelin vio a una persona tratando de manejar con dificultad por un camino obstruido por un árbol que se había caído, y se preocupó por la seguridad de los demás.
“El camino estaba bloqueado y no pudimos pasar, y vi a alguien que se deslizó en el barro (con el carro) y casi se dio contra una pared y se fue de la carretera, vi que había una necesidad, yo tenía (las herramientas), quería ayudar”, la hermana Laechelin explicó a la cadena de noticias CNN el 12 de septiembre mientras un video la mostraba, vestida con la túnica marrón de las Carmelitas, cortando un árbol con una sierra.
El Departamento de Policía de Miami-Dade de la Florida había tuiteado el video ese mismo día, agradeciéndole — a ella y a otros floridanos — por su ayuda con los esfuerzos de limpieza. Durante su entrevista con CNN, la hermana Laechelin dijo que exalumnos de la escuela Arzobispo Coleman F. Carroll High School en Miami, donde ella es la directora, vieron sus esfuerzos y llegaron a ayudar.

La hermana carmelita Margaret Ann Laechelin, directora de la Arzobispo Coleman F. Carroll High School en Miami, usa una sierra para cortar un árbol después del huracán Irma. (Foto CNS-Cortesía de la hermana Margaret Ann)

La hermana Laechelin, de la comunidad Carmelitas del Sagrado Corazón, dijo a CNN que la escuela tenía sierras almacenadas en un armario y por la destrucción después del huracán, decidió usarlas. La hermana dijo que a los estudiantes de la escuela se les enseña que hagan lo que puedan para ayudar a otros.
“Y esta fue una oportunidad donde yo pude hacer algo para ayudar y, gracias a Dios, pude hacerlo”, ella dijo.
El video causó una sensación en Twitter donde se hablado mucho de la “monja con la sierra” después del huracán Irma, y algunos la pintaron como un símbolo de resistencia, resiliencia y espíritu comunitario.
La gente le está dando atención al video de la monja con la sierra, “pero yo he dado mi vida a Dios y eso es lo que trae verdadera alegría”, no la fama que vino después de la transmisión del video, dijo la hermana Laechelin en una entrevista con Catholic News Service el 14 de septiembre.
Aunque no se nota en el video, ella nunca había usado una sierra antes, pero cuando se dio cuenta que tenía que quitar el árbol del camino, se acordó de consejos importantes de sus estudiantes y acudió a YouTube para ver la manera de usar la herramienta.
Su familia en Texas, sin embargo, estaba “asombrada” cuando la vieron en la televisión, y le dijeron: “Siempre sabíamos que serías famosa, pero no por (usar) una sierra”.
La mejor lección que le puede impartir a sus estudiantes, dijo, viene del Evangelio.
“Quiero que sepan que si ven una necesidad, ayuden a la gente, ayuden a los demás, porque Dios no nos creó para ser egoístas y cuidar sólo nuestro pequeño mundo.”,

Líderes católicos critican decisión de Trump de terminar DACA

Posted on by
Reply

Por Kurt Jensen
WASHINGTON (CNS) – Líderes de la Iglesia Católica, funcionarios de inmigración y presidentes universitarios condenaron el 5 de septiembre la decisión del presidente Donald Trump de eliminar el programa de Acción Diferida para los Llegados en la Infancia (DACA).
“El presidente declaró en el pasado que la historia de los dreamers ‘tiene que ver con el corazón,’ sin embargo (la) decisión no se queda corta de ser cruel,” dijo el cardenal Blase J. Cupich de Chicago. “Los dreamers ahora están en limbo por seis meses, durante el cual se supone que el Congreso apruebe una reforma integral de inmigración, algo que no ha podido lograr durante una década”, él dijo.
El fin del programa DACA, anunciado por el fiscal general Jeff Sessions, coloca a unos 800,000 inmigrantes indocumentados, muchos quienes vinieron a Estados Unidos cuando eran niños pequeños y no han conocido otro lugar, bajo amenaza de deportación y de perder permisos de trabajo. De agosto a diciembre, según el Departamento de Seguridad Nacional, los permisos de trabajo de más de 200,000 participantes en el programa DACA caducarán y solamente 55,258 han presentado peticiones de renovación.
La decisión de terminar el programa DACA es decepcionante, dijo Jeanne Atkinson, directora ejecutiva de la Red Católica de Inmigración Legal. Ella también dijo que su organización rechaza la “opinión” del fiscal Sessions quien dice que el programa DACA es “inconstitucional”.
“Los estadounidenses nunca han sido gente que castigan a los niños por los errores de sus padres. Tengo la esperanza de que no vamos a comenzar ahora”, dijo el arzobispo José H. Gómez de Los Ángeles, presidente del Comité sobre Migración de la Conferencia de Obispos Católicos de Estados Unidos (USCCB). “No creo que esta decisión represente lo mejor de nuestro espíritu nacional ni el consenso del pueblo estadounidense. Esta decisión refleja solamente la polarización de nuestro momento político”.

ASHINGTON – Rosa Martínez, activista de inmigración y receptora del programa, conocida como DACA, participa en una manifestación el 12 de septiembre en Washington instando al Congreso a aprobar la Ley DREAM. Después, los asistentes fueron al Capitalolio para entregar un millón de firmas al Congreso. (Foto CNS / Joshua Roberts, Reuters)

El cardenal Daniel N. DiNardo de Galveston-Houston, presidente de la conferencia episcopal de obispos, dijo en un comunicado con otros líderes de la conferencia episcopal que la Iglesia Católica durante mucho tiempo ha observado con orgullo y admiración cómo los jóvenes del programa DACA viven con esperanza y determinación para prosperar y contribuir a la sociedad, continuando su trabajo y contribuyendo para el bienestar de sus familias, “continuando sirviendo en la milicia y continuando recibiendo una educación. Ahora, después de meses de ansiedad y temor por su futuro, estos jóvenes valientes enfrentan la deportación. Esta decisión es inaceptable y no refleja quiénes somos como estadounidenses”.
El cardenal Joseph W. Tobin de Newark, Nueva Jersey, dijo que los que tomaron la decisión, no pueden esconderse detrás de ciertos términos, para justificar lo que han hecho. El cardenal, en un comunicado, dijo que la decisión era “un abandono de la humanidad, un abandono de jóvenes talentosos y esperanzados que son tan estadounidenses como usted y yo”.
La hermana religiosa Aine O’Connor, de las Hermanas de la Misericordia que se paró frente a la Casa Blanca mientras se anunciaba la decisión, también dijo que no estaba de acuerdo con los comentarios del fiscal Sessions cuando dijo que se trataba de una cuestión legal. Ella dijo a Catholic News Service que la decisión fue “una abdicación de responsabilidad por el gobierno de Trump”.
Los planes futuros para su grupo incluyen influenciar a miembros de Congreso y mostrarles “la causa radical de la inmigración, que incluye las políticas estadounidenses que destruyen la estabilidad económica de otros países”.
El comunicado de la Red Franciscana de Acción, con sede en Washington, comparó Trump a Poncio Pilato: “Como Pilato, el presidente Trump ha intentado lavarse las manos de la responsabilidad cuando pudo y debió mantener activo el programa DACA. Dios le ordena a su pueblo cuidar del inmigrante y tratarlo ‘como uno de sus compatriotas'”. (Levítico 19:34)
La Red Ignaciana de Solidaridad, con sede en Ohio, acusó a Trump de debilitar “la dignidad de individuos indocumentados,” y dijo: “Como gente de fe estamos llamados a estar con los que han sido marginados por un sistema de inmigración descompuesto y a reconocer los dones y talentos que estos jóvenes traen a nuestras comunidades”.
John J. DeGioia, presidente de la universidad Georgetown en Washington, dijo en un comunicado en su página de Facebook que de parte de Georgetown quería enfatizar su “fuerte apoyo a todos nuestros estudiantes indocumentados. Como nación tenemos la capacidad y la responsabilidad de trabajar juntos para proveer una solución legislativa permanente para asegurar la seguridad y el bienestar de estos jóvenes que han contribuido y contribuirán al futuro de nuestro país de maneras profundamente significativas”.
Amelia McGowan, directora del Centro de Recursos para Migrantes de las Caridades Católicas de Jackson, dijo que su oficina todavía está trabajando en casos y renovaciones de DACA. “Seguimos comprometidos a apoyar a nuestros clientes con DACA”, dijo McGowan. Ella instó a la calma para las personas en el programa. “Entendemos que hay cierta incertidumbre, queremos seguir siendo un recurso para todos en la comunidad. Puede haber otras opciones de inmigración para aquellos que buscan DACA. Queremos seguir siendo un recurso para ellos,” agregó.
Obispo Joseph Kopacz de la Diócesis de Jackson repitió su apoyo del programa. “Aquí en Mississippi, no podemos ignorar las contribuciones que los inmigrantes hacen a nuestra cultura y a nuestra economía. Nuestros vecinos de otras naciones han estado aquí por tanto tiempo, han establecido raíces en la tierra. Están criando familias y trabajando para fortalecer nuestro estado en muchas maneras. Es el momento de buscar una solución justa y razonable a la cuestión de la inmigración. Escritura nos enseña a ‘dar la bienvenida al extranjero,’ y atender a las personas en los márgenes. Como católicos, vamos a estar con los inmigrantes y apoyar sus esfuerzos para convertirse en ciudadanos,” dijo el obispo.

The shepherd who didn’t run: Father Stanley Rother priest and martyr

Posted on by
Reply

By Bishop Joseph Kopacz
In 2003 I was privileged to travel to El Salvador and Guatemala to the shrines of the martyrs with the Maryknoll Fathers and Brothers who had served in Central America in the preceding decades. The home base for our two-week pilgrimage was the Maryknoll Retreat Center in Guatemala City from where we traveled to the mountainous regions of that nation, as well as across the border to El Salvador.
This weekend I am attending the beatification of Father Stanley Rother, one of those martyrs, a priest from Oklahoma City who laid down his life for his friends, the Tz’utujil, the indigenous people of the Lake Atitlan region in the mountains of Guatemala. Following the Second Vatican Council Pope Paul VI called for greater solidarity in the Catholic Church of the Western Hemisphere, and encouraged the Church in North America to journey in faith with their brothers and sisters in Jesus Christ in Central and South America. Soon after, as we know so well, the Diocese of Natchez-Jackson began its mission in Saltillo, Mexico, while the Diocese of Oklahoma City was adopting the region of Lake Atitlan in the Diocese of Solola, Guatemala.
Father Stanley Rother became part of the mission of his diocese in 1968, and immersed himself in the lives of the Tz’utujil people until his martyrdom in 1981. Like the Curé of Ars, Father Rother had struggled mightily with his academic studies in seminary formation, and was dismissed after First Theology. But he did not waver in his desire to the serve the Lord as a priest, and with the support of his bishop, he was given a second chance at Mount Saint Mary’s in Emmetsburg, Md. With the successful completion of his studies he was ordained a priest in 1963. While serving in rural Oklahoma in his fifth year of priesthood, he accepted the invitation to go to the margins as a missionary disciple to the diocesan mission in Guatemala. It was not an easy transition because he did not speak Spanish, let alone the dialect of the indigenous Tz’utujil. However, one dimension of life that he did know intimately was hard work and perseverance in the face of adversity.
Grinding away, one day to the next, in a few years he learned Spanish, and even more incredibly, mastered the Tz’utujil dialect, proceeding to translate the liturgical texts for the Sacraments of the Eucharist, Baptism, Confirmation, Anointing of the Sick, and Marriage, along with the New Testament into the language of his beloved people. The love of Jesus Christ burning in his heart moved mountains. But even before learning how to communicate with words, Father Rother’s actions spoke volumes. He worked the land with his people as only an experienced farmer from Oklahoma could, teaching them, when appropriate, more effective farming techniques that yielded a richer harvest.
Father Rother’s people loved him. Their language had no equivalent for the name Stanley, so they called him by his middle name of Francis, which in Tz’utujil became Padre A’Plas. They certainly did not think of God as a mystery that they themselves could master on their own terms. They looked at this man and others like him as visible channels of God’s presence, God’s compassion, God’s mercy. The indigenous people of that region had not known a priest for over a century, but with this good shepherd and others, they found a home in the Catholic Church.
The mission team of 12 who was serving when Father Rother arrived in 1968 gradually departed, not to be replaced. And in the years leading up to his martyrdom, he was one among his people, the last man standing, so to speak. Paralleling the mission in Saltillo, many people from Oklahoma went to Santiago Atitlan over the years. But unlike our mission which remained active until nearly a decade ago before being shut down by drug cartel brutality, the violence in Guatemala and El Salvador began decades earlier.
Civil wars erupted across Central America in the 1970s and raged throughout most of the 1980s. It was a bloody struggle between government forces and rebel groups with the former perpetrating more than 90 percent of the atrocities against their own people. Tragically, countless indigenous poor were murdered in Guatemala, along with an estimated 70,000 victims in El Salvador. Indigenous Church workers as well as missionaries from North America were caught up in the crossfire. Among the well known martyrs, whose shrines I had visited while on pilgrimage, was Archbishop Oscar Romero of San Salvador who was gunned down at the altar by an assassin during the consecration of the Mass.
In 1980 three Religious Sisters, Ita Ford, M.M., Maura Clarke, M.M., Dorothy Kozel, O.S.U. and a Lay Missioner, Jean Donovan were raped and murdered by members of the Salvadoran National Guard. In 1989 El Salvadoran soldiers broke into the living quarters of the Jesuit priests at Central American University in San Salvador and executed six Jesuit priests, a housekeeper and her daughter. They were Fathers Ignacio Martin-Baro, S.J., Segundo Montes, S.J., Juan Ramon Moreno, S.J., Joaquin Lopez y Lopez, S.J., Amando Lopez, S.J., Juan Ramon Moreno, S.J., Elba Ramos, their housekeeper, and her 16-year-old daughter, Celina Ramos.
The dark clouds of reckless hate had reached the mountainous region of Lake Atitlan in the mid to late 1970s and the steady stream of abductions, murders and tortured remains went unabated in the ensuing years. In 1980 Father Rother was warned that his name was at the top of the death squads’ list and for a time he returned to the safety of his native Oklahoma. But he was tormented by the number of his beloved Tz’utujil people who were being mowed down by ruthless forces while he was far from harm’s way. With his bishop’s permission and the pained blessing of his family and friends, Father Rother returned for Holy Week, 1981.
His people rejoiced to embrace their shepherd once again. He gave them heart and hope. But the threats against his life only intensified. At night on July 28, 1981, three armed assassins broke into his rectory intending to abduct and torture him, before killing him and disposing of his body. Dying for his people was a sacrifice he was willing to make, but he had promised that he would not allow them to take him alive to torture and to throw away. For 15 minutes he fought them off with his bare fists, and realizing that they were not going to take this farm boy by force, they shot him in the head at point blank range. He was one of ten priests who was murdered in Guatemala in 1981.
There was an outpouring of grief in the immediate aftermath, but there was not an eruption of violence. During the funeral preparations Father Rother’s parents and family stated their intentions to bury his remains in the family plot in Oklahoma. His Tz’utujil family respectfully asked if they might keep his heart in Santiago Atitlan in their parish Church. They interceded that he had given them his heart in life; and with his heart they would cherish him in death. To this day it is encased at the back of Santiago Atitlan, the Church where his people faithfully ask his intercession when entering and leaving the house of the Lord that he had restored lovingly and ably during his years of service.
The following is a refection by Henri Nouwan who visited Atitlan two years after his martyrdom. “Stan was killed because he was faithful to his people in their long and painful struggle for human dignity, dying for them in whom he recognized the face of the suffering Lord. Stan stood with them as they learned how to read and write, sought proper nutrition and health care for their children, struggled to acquire small pieces of land to cultivate, and gradually free themselves from the chains of poverty and oppression. Martyrs are blood witnesses of God’s inexhaustible love for his people. We honor martyrs because they are the signs of hope for the living Church, they are reminders of God’s loving presence.”
Let us not forget the victims of such unspeakable violence, and grinding poverty, many who are forced to flee their homeland, then and now.

(Editor’s note: Bishop Joseph Kopacz is scheduled to attend Father Stanley Rother’s beatification ceremony in Oklahoma City Saturday, Sept. 23. Those who wish to know more about Father Rother can check out his biography, “The shepherd who didn’t run, Stanley Rother, martyr from Oklahoma,” by Maria Ruiz Scaperlanda.)

Bishop pens letter to support Migrant Support Center

Posted on by
Reply

(Editor’s note: Bishop Joseph Kopacz used the recent developments surrounding DACA to call attention to the Catholic Charities’ Migrant Support Center. The following is an excerpt of a letter sent along with some case studies to supporters describing the work of the center.)
The Migrant Support Center is providing critical services to the immigrant and migrant populations who have pressing needs as recent arrivals, or as long standing residents. Now more than ever in an openly hostile and suspicious climate throughout our nation, this population requires the social services and legal expertise of our staff. The documented and undocumented immigrants often do not know their rights, and our team of two lawyers and interns work tirelessly to defend their causes in court, while at the same time providing education and information programs throughout our diocese. This is a formidable task, because the Catholic Diocese of Jackson is the largest east of the Mississippi River, a territory of 38,000 square miles. In addition, often they receive calls for other social services and the staff directs these clients to the appropriate programs.
I thank you for considering the request from our Migrant Support Center Staff to assist them in the work they do with vulnerable immigrant and migrant populations. May the living God continue to prosper the work you do on behalf of those in need.
When large numbers of unaccompanied immigrant children, primarily from Guatemala, Honduras, and El Salvador, sought refuge in the United States beginning in 2013, His Holiness, Pope Francis, said, “This humanitarian emergency requires, as a first urgent measure, these children be welcomed and protected.” At the Catholic Charities, Inc., Migrant Support Center, we take up the Holy Father’s call to arms.
It is our agency’s mission “to be a visible sign of Christ’s love by helping the vulnerable and those in need, especially children, women, and families.” At the Migrant Support Center, we defend migrants of all backgrounds, focusing on those central to our mission. These clients range from survivors of domestic violence working to build new lives for themselves and their families, to Venezuelan families fleeing persecution based on their political opinions, and to unaccompanied minors from Central America seeking safety in the United States from societal and family violence.
These unaccompanied children are our most vulnerable clients, as many have already suffered extensive harm in their home countries despite their tender age, and undertook the perilous journey from their home countries to the United States all alone. U.S. immigration law provides certain legal remedies to children who are fleeing persecution, or have been abused, neglected or abandoned by their parents; however, applying for these remedies involves several complicated steps, often while facing an Immigration Judge in adversarial court proceedings. Children who are unable to afford counsel or find free legal assistance must face these proceedings alone, meaning an almost certain return to the dangers from which they fled.
For such children in Mississippi, few legal resources exist, especially for children who are unable to pay the hefty legal fees for private attorneys, which can easily exceed $5,000. Therefore, the Migrant Support Center is working diligently to ensure that all unaccompanied Mississippi children in need have quality pro bono immigration representation, protecting their rights to due process and helping them create new lives of healing and freedom in the United States.
Such is the case of Julio, an indigenous Guatemalan teenager who fled his native country as an unaccompanied minor after his town’s mayor forcibly recruited him to take up arms against a foreign mining company that was excavating in his area. Of great importance was the fact that the Guatemalan government recruited foreign mining companies to excavate traditionally indigenous lands (such as Julio’s town), preventing indigenous communities from enjoying and cultivating the land and its resources, and deepening the historic rift between indigenous Guatemalans and the federal government.
During one skirmish, a miner slashed Julio’s arm with a machete, leaving him physically and emotionally scarred. Neither Julio nor his friends could seek help from the Guatemalan government, as federal troops provided support to the mining companies. With the assistance of Catholic Charities and our partners at the Immigration Clinic of Mississippi College School of Law, Julio now has asylum and is enjoying his new-found freedom in the United States.
The Migrant Support Center also represented four young Honduran siblings, the Garcias, who fled Honduras after being physically, emotionally, and sexually abused and later abandoned by their father. Migrant Support Center attorneys represented the children in state court proceedings to ensure they had appropriate protection in their new home, and secured Special Immigrant Juvenile Status and Lawful Permanent Residence (green cards) for the children on the basis of the trauma they suffered in Honduras. The children are now attending school, making friends, learning English, and receiving counseling services in their new home.
Through your generous support, the Migrant Support Center can ensure that all immigrant children in Mississippi receive the warm welcome and protection that Pope Francis requires. Your donation will not only ensure that Catholic Charities can continue representing unaccompanied children such as Julio and the Garcia children on a pro bono basis, but it will also assist Migrant Support Center attorneys in recruiting, training, and mentoring a strong network private practitioners to defend immigrant children as well.

Putting disappointment in perspective

Posted on by

Guest Column
By Sister alies therese
“A woman, so says Anthony deMello,SJ, went to the doctor with a very bad summer cold and nothing he gave her seemed to cure it. She was so frustrated. The doctor suggested the following: go home, take a hot shower and before drying yourself stand in front of the A/C, stark naked. ‘Will that cure me?’ No, but it might give you pneumonia and that I can cure!”
How many times have you tried to solve one problem by applying another answer? Life can get very confusing if we mix and match too many things. This includes our spiritual life as well as all the other aspects of our lives. On the other hand sometimes an ‘out of the box’ thought might just open up a new horizon!
Most of the time patience is required for obtaining answers to our deepest questions. We can repeat the answers of others, and I’m not implying they aren’t ‘correct,’ or we can search for a way to say it to ourselves that expresses our own experience. The ‘who am I, where have I come from, where am I going?’ type questions face us at each turn of age. Our transitional times of say 16, 25, 40, 60 or 80 years, for example, bring to bear different responses…not necessarily a different ‘answer’ but a deeper way, one would hope, of considering the matter. Allowing ourselves to pay attention to our hearts and the Heart of God invites us to grow deeply.
What do you do with disappointment? Here’s a word among many that describes how you might feel about your reality. Here are some responses I received: I get angry’ I get frustrated; I get worried; I blame myself; I blame others; and yet the most refreshing was: I get on with it!
Disappointment links us to not being in control, even when we thought we had done everything we were ‘supposed to’…and still ‘it’ didn’t work out. Perhaps it is a relationship or some task. Perhaps we felt we were a disappointment to parents or spouse?
Each day we have the opportunity to face our disappointments and to turn them into something even more fruitful. I was disappointed not to see Saturn or Jupiter because of the rain, but I saw a most magnificent light show crack across the purpled sky. Children are often disappointed because they are told one thing and then the adults do otherwise. Sometimes this cannot be helped…sometimes it can.
There are many stories from Scripture that show shades of disappointment. They also show a new beginning. Finding Jesus in the temple, for example, reminds us to pay attention to what is most important. Mary and Joseph were so worried and disappointed that Jesus was not with them on their journey home. They had to travel a whole day back to the city to find Him and when they did, He was doing something very unexpected, teaching. They were disappointed He had not been with them (was it really fear He was lost?)…they rejoiced at finding Him. Often being away from the Lord and coming back together brings the sweetest blessings.
If you run into disappointment: breathe. After that begin to ask yourself some questions: what is most important? How should I proceed? And, is God best served by this project/whatever? If indeed God has closed that door…look for the window He has cracked open. If it is of God you need not be disappointed for very long. Trust He will show you the way forward.
Our growth in faith is much like this. Is it easier to say ‘yes I believe’ when we are younger or older? The building of a spiritual life is critical as we journey because it is there we meet our Lord and there we face ourselves. It is within this growing body of both knowledge and experience that we discover how the plan of God shepherds us forward to final and full union. We have been given that ‘playbook’ in our Scriptures, the writings of saints and holy folks from over the centuries. Let’s take the opportunity every day to explore those writings and learn to apply them to our lives. It may not be as outrageous as standing naked in front of the A/C…but in fact it has much better promise of a ‘cure.’
The Book of Proverbs, full of such wisdom and wit, remind us of this:
“Trust wholeheartedly in God, put no faith in your own perception; in every course you take, have God in mind: God will see your paths are smooth. Do not think of yourself as wise, fear God and turn your back on evil: health-giving, this, to your body, relief to your bones.” (Prov3:5ff)
(Sister alies therese is a vowed Catholic solitary who lives an eremitical life. Her days are formed around prayer, art and writing. She is author of six books of spiritual fiction and is a weekly columnist. She lives and writes in Mississippi.)

Flood of rescuers calls to mind storms past

Posted on by
Reply

Reflections on Life
By Father Jerome LeDoux, SVD
The mighty Cajun Navy appeared in all their glory, towing their powerboats from Lafayette and other points in Acadia down the highways leading to Houston and other towns vulnerable to the caprices of wholesale rain and flooding. Having cut their teeth cruising the forbidding waters of New Orleans in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina on August 29, 2005, the Cajun Navy caravanned into Texas soon after Harvey hit Rockport just several days short of that awful Katrina rendezvous date 12 years prior. Their stylish arrival had all the makings of an action movie.
Although the Cajun Navy was the most prominent of all in appearance and numbers, many local and other Good Samaritans joined the rescue operation in their own powerboats, airboats, jet skis, low-powered skiffs, rowboats, flat-bottomed boats, other flotation devices, high-water vehicles and amphibious military vehicles. Some rescuers hailed from states hundreds of miles distant.
Of course, there were the spectacular helicopter rescues, some initiated by private helicopter companies, obviously scaring the beejeebers out of regular folk dangling on a cable high above the waters. It was better than Hollywood at its best. Do you think any of those being rescued dared to take selfies? I’ll wager some did.
It was weird that rescue boat pilots had to beware of submerged obstacles like fireplugs, cars and even street signs in some cases. Navigating etiquette was at a premium with so many in need of rescue and so many rescuers in the mix of waders with or without a load of scooped-up belongings, terrified people crawling out of semi-submerged cars, people with evident heartbreak bidding their homes goodbye, and an amazing number of neighbors helping others even with their own homes underwater. That included numerous first responders who did everything they could to help others, some even with their own homes wasted by the unruly waters.
Flooding by Hurricane Katrina in New Orleans was not a rain event, but a storm surge event that broke ill-constructed levees. By contrast, the epic flooding of Houston, Port Arthur, etc. was a rain event of biblical proportions that fell in such a short period of time that storm drains, bayous and rivers were overwhelmed.
Likewise, the horrendous, nameless hurricane that virtually destroyed the island of Galveston in 1900, killing an estimated 8,000 people, was not a rain event but a storm surge event that leveled 3,600 buildings. Historically, it was the most deadly.
The following account does not intend to diminish the 2017 devastation that took place recently in Houston and its environs. Believe it or not, as bad as Harvey was, he fell below the total 1861-1862 rains and floods of the least likely competitor of all: California. Don’t believe the lyrics, “It never rains in southern California.”
Writing in the Scientific American Magazine on January 1, 2013, B. Lynn Ingram/Michael Dettinger explain, “Reaching back hundreds of years, geologic evidence shows that truly massive floods, caused by rainfall alone, have occurred in California every 100 to 200 years. Such floods are likely caused by atmospheric rivers: narrow bands of water vapor about a mile above the ocean that extend for thousands of miles.” Give a nod to climate change dating back to geologic times!
“The atmospheric river storms … are responsible for most of the largest historical floods in many western states. The only megaflood to strike the American West in recent history occurred during the winter of 1861-62. California bore the brunt of the damage,” reeling under 10-15 feet of snow to the north and 66 inches of rain (4 times a year’s worth) to the south.” As implied, neighboring states got it too.
“This disaster turned enormous regions of the state into inland seas for months, and took thousands of human lives. The costs were devastating: one quarter of California’s economy was destroyed, forcing the state into bankruptcy.”
Although the downtown district of Sacramento was raised 10-15 feet during the seven years after the flood, Sacramento remains second only to New Orleans as the U.S. city most vulnerable to flooding. It should also be noted that any city that receives a good fraction of the rainfall that Houston did will suffer from flooding.
Consider what happened to Chicago on August 13-14, 1987 when almost 9.5 inches of rain fell. Since the city was in an extreme drought, people were welcoming the storm since the ground was extremely dry. Unfortunately, everyone got much more than anyone bargained for: $220 million in damages and 3 lives were lost. It may surprise some that, when the pump operators maintain all 24 pumping stations properly, New Orleans can manage that amount of rain reasonably well.
“God is love, and all who abide in love abide in God and God in them.” (1 John 4:16)
(Father Jerome LeDoux, SVD, has written “Reflections on Life since 1969.)

Seminarian Education Challenge offers brunches

Posted on by
Reply

By Maureen Smith
FLOWOOD – The Diocese of Jackson hosted the first Seminarian Education Challenge Mass and brunch at St. Paul Parish Saturday, Sept. 9. Dozens of people from the Jackson area attended to pray for diocesan seminarians and donate toward their education.
Bishop Joseph Kopacz used the feast of the day, St. Peter Claver, to speak about the priesthood and the value of evangelization.
Father José de Jesús Sánchez, vocation promoter, spoke about the importance of local vocations. “I look forward to the day when you tell me to go back to Mexico, because you don’t need me anymore,” he joked.
Father Brian Kaskie, director of seminarians and Mississippi native, spoke about his job and the challenge of educating future priests.
While the Knights of Columbus and their families served a three course gourmet brunch, Deacon Aaron Williams spoke about his vocational journey and how much the Mass has meant to him from the time he was a child. Deacon Nick Adam explained the Catholic Extension Seminarian Challenege. If the Diocese of Jackson can raise $100,000 by the end of the year, Extension will offer $25,000 in grant money to be used for seminary education.
Both deacons are set to be ordained to the priesthood next spring.
There are more brunches on the calendar for those who wish to contribute. The next, at Oxford St. John Parish is set for Saturday, Nov 4. Mass starts at 9 a.m., brunch follows.
Those who cannot attend a brunch can still donate. To RSVP or donate, please contact Pam McFarland at 601.960.8479 or email pam.mcfarland@jacksondiocese.org.

St. Paul Parish pulled out all the stops for the event, offering a three-course brunch to go with Mass and presentations. (Photo by Maureen Smith)

Father Brian Kaskie, above, pastor of McComb St. Alphonsus Parish, spoke about his role as director of seminarians.

Chancellor reflects on protection as diocese integrates new program

Posted on by
Reply

By Mary Woodward
MADISON – I really never thought of how our diocesan protection of children training affected me until I went looking for some new shoes at a local sporting goods store recently. I could not decide between two pairs and I wanted a young person’s opinion as I was hoping to be “hip.”
Soon a girl who was probably 12 years old came into the shoe department by herself. I suddenly faced a dilemma – I am a stranger to her, should I speak to her when she is alone? And further, who lets their child wander through a store full of strangers by themselves?!
I don’t think those thoughts would have entered my mind had I not been through the safe environment training we are required to go through as diocesan chancery employees. Fortunately the child’s mother appeared and I was able to get the girl’s expert opinion because her mother was fully aware of what I was doing.
Every volunteer and staff member who works with children and youth on the parish, school and diocesan level must go through background checks and must participate in the diocesan protection of children program. All chancery employees must participate whether or not they work directly with children.
During the last year, the Diocese of Jackson has transitioned to a new program, called Virtus, for training and ongoing formation in the area of protection of children. During the week of Sept. 5, the diocese hosted three “training the trainer” workshops for parish and school leaders to learn how to train volunteers and staff in the Virtus Program.
Pat Neal, who has been with Virtus since its inception in 2002, led the sessions in Madison, Batesville and Tupelo. Representatives from parishes and schools spent the day viewing the videos and materials Virtus offers as part of its comprehensive and proactive approach to educating adults on recognizing and responding to abuse of children and vulnerable adults. They also were able to get clarification about how to administer the on-line programs on the local level.

“It is always good to have someone come from the national office to lead training and answer questions from our parish and school leaders,” said Vickie Carollo, coordinator for the Office of Protection of Children. “We have so many dedicated leaders who want to ensure we provide the safest of environments for our children and vulnerable adults. Pat [Neal] did a great job clarifying how the program can be administered and how to facilitate training for volunteers and staff on the local level,” Carollo added.
Bishop Joseph Kopacz was familiar with the Virtus program from his time in the Diocese of Scranton. He attended part of the session in Madison and stressed the importance and effectiveness of Virtus.
“Bishop Kopacz now serves on the U.S. Bishops’ Committee for the Protection of Children, so he is very invested in the success of our diocesan program,” said Carollo.
According to Crispin Montelione, Associate Director of the Virtus Programs, “Virtus was created and piloted before our country really realized there was a sexual abuse problem as pervasive as it was and before the 2002 sex abuse scandal in the church erupted culminating in the Bishops’ Charter via the USCCB meeting in Dallas in June of that year.
“This is important because a lot of people assume that the program was reactionary, and in response to the ‘sex abuse crisis.’ But, the program was created and piloted due to the concern of a board chairman before the world realized there was a crisis as pervasive as it was. Monsignor Kevin McCoy noted that sexual abuse existed and asked the board what we could do about it – and everything took off from there.”
“Virtus was the first proactive program geared toward educating adults on how to protect children. Everything else at the time was focused on training children as the primary protectors of themselves,” said Montelione. “Instead, we train the adults as the primary protectors, and we also train children to learn about how to protect themselves when caring adults are not around.”
The program has trained more than three million individuals through 255,376 training sessions since January 2002, and is becoming more and more international. Within the U.S. Church, VIRTUS has 140 diocesan and eparchial relationships out of the 196 Catholic arch/dioceses and eparchies, in addition to other independent Catholic institutions in the U.S. A neat fact, in 2016, VIRTUS Online had almost four million website visits from people in 172 countries and every continent except Antarctica.
According to Carollo, approximately 15,000 individuals have been screened and participated in training during the past 14 years. She sees Virtus as an extremely positive initiative for the diocese in its constant efforts to protect children in any environment and to educate adults on being more aware of and able to recognize abuse of children and how to respond.
One of the key formational aspects of the program are the monthly online bulletins. Reminders to read for each bulletin are emailed monthly to everyone in our diocesan database. The bulletins address a wide array of topics such as online pornography, neglect as a form of abuse and how to recognize it, and abuse of the elderly. Each bulletin has a question at the end to be answered and submitted online.
Reading these bulletins caused me to pause before approaching the child without her mother or father around. It is through these bulletins that I have become more aware of the surroundings when I go to my nieces’ and nephews’ events. It is amazing how much more aware I am of possible risks.
We all have a responsibility to protect our children in every arena of society. The Virtus program is a well-designed process to help us do just that. For more information visit the Virtus web site at www.virtus.org.

(Mary Woodward is the chancellor for the Diocese of Jackson.)

Back to School and Solar Eclipse

Posted on by
Reply

Students start new year messed, blessed

COLOMBUS – Father Jeffrey Waldrep blesses first grade student, Ishwa Patel at the first Mass of the year for Annunication School on Wednesday, August 10. This is Father Jeffrey’s first year at Annunication. (Photo by Katie Fenstermacher)

MADISON – St. Francis Parish’s Max Harmon gets the raw end of the deal during a game of egg roulette played with John Paul Moorman. The teens were kicking off the fall youth group with a “Fearless” Parent-Teen event. Youth and parents competed in FearLESS Factor games and relays and ended the night with a inspiring talk on the theme “Fearless and Faithful” from parishioners, Bridgette Griffin and her family. (Photo by Marty Prater)

Solar Eclipse brightens science lessons

Across the diocese, students and adults alike looked to the skies on Monday, August 21, to watch a full solar eclipse. While much of the Diocese of Jackson was not in the so-called path of totality, there was plenty to see. Students and teachers had to use approved glasses or viewing devices to keep everyone safe, but many could not pass up the opportunity for this event. Some schools, such as Southaven Sacred Heart and Madison St. Joseph, hit the road to Tennessee for a better view. The Sacred Heart students watched from the Nashville Zoo where they could also observe the impact of the event on the animals. Father Greg Schill, SCJ, who went on the trip said the giraffes went wild and everyone could hear insects singing as the skies grew dark. (See facing page)
In top left photo, students from Columbus Annunication’s middle stepped outside in the early afternoon to view the final stages of the eclipse. In the photo above, right, Madison St. Anthony Students are in awe of the show in the sky. (Photos by Katie Fenstermacher and Kristian Beatty.)

Continue reading →