JACKSON – Bishop Joseph Kopacz celebrated a “big” birthday with staff at the chancery office on Wednesday, Sept. 16. What he loves about being a Bishop in the diocese is “the opportunity to serve with many dedicated disciples, lay and ordained, throughout most of this amazing state in a variety of ministries.” Bishop Kopacz has missed not being able to make as many pastoral visits during the ebb and flow of the pandemic, but in the meantime he has been doing more reading, cooking, cleaning and organizing at his home in NE Jackson. He also loves spending time with his 13 1/2 year old Labrador and, of course, an occasional round of golf! Bishop Kopacz, we wish you abundant birthday blessings! (Photo by Tereza Ma)
By Carol Zimmermann WASHINGTON (CNS) – Two Catholic women judges are on the short list of possible candidates to fill the vacant Supreme Court justice seat after the Sept. 18 death of Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg. The judges are Amy Coney Barrett, a federal appellate court judge in Chicago, and Barbara Lagoa, a federal appeals court judge in Atlanta. President Donald Trump told reporters the afternoon of Sept. 19, and rallygoers later that evening, that he intended to pick a Supreme Court nominee in the coming days, and it would likely be a woman. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Kentucky, pledged hours after Ginsburg’s death that he would hold a vote on Trump’s nominee to fill the court vacancy despite blocking President Barack Obama’s nominee in 2016, after Justice Antonin Scalia’s death that February, because it was an election year.
Amy Coney Barrett is pictured in this undated photo. She is a judge for the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 7th Circuit, and a law professor at the University of Notre Dame. A Catholic, she is on President Donald Trump’s list of of potential nominees to fill the U.S. Supreme Court seat left vacant by the Sept. 18, 2020, death of Associate Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg. (CNS photo/Matt Cashore, University of Notre Dame via Reuters)
To move Trump’s nominee through the Senate would require a simple majority vote. Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden has said that if he wins the election, he should be the one to nominate Ginsburg’s successor. One of the first names to emerge as possible contender for Ginsburg’s seat – raised while mourners were gathered on the steps of the court chanting, “RBG!” – was Barrett, a 48-year-old who serves on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 7th Circuit Court, based in Chicago. The judge, a former law professor at the University of Notre Dame and a mother of seven, is not an unknown. She was viewed as a potential candidate for the nation’s high court in 2018 after Justice Anthony Kennedy retired, a slot that was filled by Justice Brett Kavanaugh. Barrett, a former clerk for Scalia, was the focus of Senate grilling during her 2017 confirmation hearing to serve on the 7th Circuit, when she was asked about the impact her faith would have on her interpretation of the law. When Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Illinois, asked Barrett if she considered herself an “orthodox” Catholic, Barrett said: “If you’re asking whether I take my faith seriously and am a faithful Catholic, I am. Although I would stress that my present church affiliation or my religious beliefs would not bear in the discharge of my duties as a judge.”
Florida State Supreme Court Justice Barbara Lagoa speaks at the 30th annual Red Mass reception of the St. Thomas More Society of South Florida in Fort Lauderdale Sept. 26, 2019. She was the first Hispanic woman to be appointed as a justice of the state Supreme Court and currently serves on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 11th Circuit. A Catholic, she is on President Donald Trump’s list of potential nominees to fill the U.S. Supreme Court seat left vacant by the Sept. 18, 2020, death of Associate Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg. (CNS photo/Tom Tracy, Florida Catholic)
The other name that emerged as short-list contender for the Supreme Court – and quickly gained traction as a potential election boost for the Trump – was Lagoa, the 52-year-old Miami-born daughter of Cuban exiles. Last year, Lagoa spoke at a Florida reception of the St. Thomas More Society after the annual Red Mass, which prays for lawyers and judges, at St. Anthony Church in Fort Lauderdale. She said her Catholic education instilled in her “an abiding faith in God that has grounded me and sustained me through the highs and lows of life.” Lagoa, a judge of the Atlanta-based 11th Circuit, asked the audience if “one could be a strong advocate for one’s client and still be a Catholic?” She answered the question by saying faith was “more than going to Mass every Sunday, and to me at least, it means having a personal relationship with God that in turn informs how we treat others.” She also gave the example of St. Thomas More and said he shows how legal professionals should not compartmentalize professional lives from spiritual lives to justify a lapse in faith or moral conviction. “Perhaps it starts with reminding ourselves, even when it is hardest, of the dignity of each human being – even the most difficult opposing counsel – and it also starts with reminding ourselves that none of us are perfect and that we ourselves can contribute to or exacerbate a difficult situation,” she said.
Tom Tracy, who writes for the Florida Catholic, newspaper of the Archdiocese of Miami, contributed to this report.
By Danny McArthur (Daily Journal) TUPELO – For María Pérez, a member of the Hispanic Ministry at St. James Catholic Church in Tupelo, the ongoing pandemic has had a profound emotional toll. Perez, who considers herself a very affectionate person, said being unable to interact physically with people has been incredibly difficult. For her, friends are family, and not being able to hug and talk to others has been a struggle. And the pandemic has made her husband, Salvador, incredibly anxious.
TUPELO – Members of St. James Catholic Church in Tupelo attend Spanish-language Mass. The Church has increased the number of services to accommodate social distancing. (Photo by Adam Robison, Daily Journal)
Faith, she said, is pulling them through. “My faith has been the strongest, knowing that nothing is bigger than the Lord,” she said in Spanish. “Everything will pass except the love and compassion the Lord has for us.” Faith guides the members of the St. James Hispanic ministry in nearly all aspects of their lives. It’s something the pandemic hasn’t changed. Impact in the church When the pandemic began, the church had to close its doors to in-person services. St. James Hispanic Community Coordinator Raquel Thompson said they began focusing on access. Services were recorded and posted on Facebook so families could participate from home. “It affected a lot of the people spiritually to not be able to be in the church. I think it had a big impact,” Thompson said. For associate pastor Father César Sánchez, who started at St. James on July 1, the church wants to show their congregation that they are never truly closed. As a priest, it was harder to celebrate and preach to a camera, but Sánchez saw it as an opportunity to take advantage of social media to reach more people than before. “In these two months, July and August, from our point of view as a church, we never closed the church,” Sánchez said. “I told people; ‘the gospel is not closed. Even though you cannot come to the church, the church comes to you in your house by online and Facebook Masses’.” Even once St. James reopened, it was important to keep everyone safe. Thompson has more than 250 registered families in her ministry and said the church overall ministers to over 400 families. There are also many families that do not register. Services look different these days. Rather than having 300 to 400 people at Spanish Mass, attendance is limited to 150. There are also more Mass services on Tuesday, Thursday and Friday to cover spiritual needs. Aside from limiting the number of people inside at a time, they also began requiring masks and social distancing. Sanitation occurs between each Mass. Socially distanced Several church members cited feeling socially affected by COVID-19. For Oralio Martínez of Tupelo, the pandemic has affected her family mentally. She said she is grateful to God that her family has not suffered financially, although their lives have definitely changed. “We have to be home, we can’t go anywhere,” she said in Spanish. “We’re scared to go out because there are so many people or where there’s a lot of gatherings. We’ve been very limited.” Marco López said the change brought on by the pandemic has been drastic and difficult for a family accustomed to spending time together going to Mass, attending his grandson’s baseball games, or doing activities. But the pandemic has also taught López the importance of spending time with his family. An employee of BancorpSouth, López said working at home during the pandemic has allowed him to spend more time with his wife, Verónica Salgado. “We used to have gatherings, especially on Sundays after Mass with some of our friends, so not having that was an impact. For social distancing, we couldn’t do that … but what we couldn’t do with other families, we did with ours,” López said. The family takes turns having Sunday Mass at home at either his home or with his daughter who lives in Shannon, and they have lunch at home together instead of going to a restaurant. Role of faith The church represents a bit of normalcy in strange and difficult times. Martínez recently sent her son back to school, saying it was important he have something familiar. She thinks it is more beneficial for him to return to school with his peers. Sánchez said faith plays an important role in the Hispanic community and is the reason they have seen more people return to in-person services. “They really need to pray and want to come to the church and pray because they know during this time, we need to increase our faith, our prayer,” Sánchez said. López said what is getting his family through this time is prayer. Salgado began praying with the Divine Mercy Chaplet on Facebook Live with friends in March, and López said he believes it has brought them together and strengthened them. “We overcame the situation of being at home and quarantining through prayer. We keep doing that … We’re almost six months into it and we fall in love more with that prayer,” López said. For María Pérez, faith is the reason she sent her children back to school rather than distance learning. She admitted to feeling some initial anxiety about sending her kids back to school. But then, she thought about how returning to society, even a changed one, holds lessons for her children to learn. The way through the pandemic, she said, is through caring for each other. “I want my children to know that you cannot live in fear. No matter what happens, you must confront the situation,” Pérez said. And have a little faith. “Remember, centuries back, we’ve had epidemics and things like this, and people come out of them,” she said. “Have confidence in the Lord that this is permitted for a reason and to keep living your life and try to live your life as gracefully as you can.”
(This article was published by the Daily Journal of Tupelo on Sept. 6, 2020. Follow the author at danny.mcarthur@journalinc.com; Twitter: @Danny_McArthur_. Ana Acosta, Raquel Thompson and Berta Mexidor provided translations for this story.)
By Bishop Joseph R. Kopacz, D.D. JACKSON – Catechetical Sunday, an annual event in the church that sets the theme for the year of faith formation, was observed last Sunday. This year’s theme is from St. Paul’s letter to the Corinthians, “I received from the Lord what I have also handed on to you.” Out of his personal relationship with Jesus Christ, St. Paul speaks emphatically that what he received from the Lord, is both the Eucharist and the content of the faith. All the baptized are invited to stir into flame the gift we have received, handed on to us through faith formation in our homes and in our churches. We are grateful to God for all catechists who embrace the church’s mission of faith formation and evangelization.
+Bishop Joseph R. Kopacz
The recently promulgated Directory for Catechesis advances the Lord’s Great Commission with clarity “to make disciples of all nations.” It states that catechesis must be at the service of the New Evangelization so that every person may have a wide-open and personal access to the encounter with Jesus Christ.
St. John Paul II zealously taught that “the purpose of catechesis is communion with Jesus Christ.” The fruit of this communion is mission, a life well lived in service of the Gospel. Catechesis requires that we accompany those entrusted to us in the maturation of the attitudes of faith. “The church’s closeness to Jesus is part of a common journey: communion and mission are profoundly interconnected.”
The Directory for Catechesis further expounds that the church is called to proclaim and teach her primary truth which is the love of Christ because the essence of the mystery of the Christian faith is mercy incarnate in Jesus of Nazareth. Catechesis can be a realization of the spiritual work of mercy, “instruct the ignorant.” Catechetical action, in fact, consists in offering the possibility of escaping the greatest form of ignorance which prevents people from knowing their own identity and vocation in Jesus Christ. St. Augustine affirms that catechesis becomes the “occasion of a work of mercy” in that it satisfies “with the Word of God the intelligence of those who hunger for it.” By virtue of our baptism, the family, the church community and catechists are charged with the task to awaken that hunger.
The recently celebrated feast of St. Matthew on Sept. 21 illustrates this vision for faith formation. His first encounter with Jesus Christ was nothing less than a hunger awakened that was satisfied. The Venerable Bede, an English Saint of the 7th century, writes movingly. “Jesus saw the tax collector and because he saw him through the eyes of mercy and chose him, he said “follow me.” This following meant imitating the pattern of his life, not just walking after him. There is no reason for surprise that the tax collector abandoned earthly wealth as soon as the Lord commanded him. Nor should one be amazed that neglecting his wealth, he joined a band of men whose leader had, on Matthew’s assessment, no riches at all. By an invisible interior impulse flooding his mind with the light of grace, Jesus instructed him to walk in his ways, being summoned from earthly possessions to the incorruptible treasures of heaven in his gift.” For the catechist and the catechized, we pray for a heart and mind open to those inner impulses, prompted by the light of grace, that enables one to respond to the merciful gaze and call of the Lord.
Amid the pandemic far too many are not experiencing catechesis and evangelization in the accustomed gatherings in the parish community. This is a challenge for families and programs, but it is not insurmountable. The domestic church in collaboration with parish leadership can cultivate the treasures and content of our faith in life-giving ways. The merciful gaze of Jesus Christ is present wherever two or three are gathered in his name.
Of course, the cornerstone of the treasury of our Catholic tradition and content of faith, is the Mass. The dispensation of the obligation to attend Mass in person is still in place, a necessary accommodation. Yet, all families and individuals are encouraged to attend Mass if health allows, either on the Lord’s Day or during the week. Rightly, we are vigilant to keep the virus on the outside looking in for the sake of our physical health. But even more so we must remain vigilant to nurture our relationship with Jesus Christ to remain strong spiritually and mentally to engage all that life throws at us.
With St. Paul we are committed to the mission that he articulates. “I received from the Lord what I have also handed on to you.” “May the God of endurance and encouragement give you the same attitude of mind toward each other in accord with Christ Jesus.” (Romans 15:5)
Por Obispo Joseph R. Kopacz, D.D. El Domingo Catequético, evento anual en la iglesia, que establece el tema para el año de la formación de la fe, se celebró el domingo pasado. El tema de este año es de la carta de San Pablo a los Corintios: “Lo que yo recibí del Señor, les he transmitido”. De su relación personal con Jesucristo, San Pablo habla enfáticamente que recibió del Señor es tanto sobre la Eucaristía como del contenido de la fe.
Obispo Joseph R. Kopacz
Se invita a todos los bautizados a encender el fuego del don que hemos recibido, que nos ha sido transmitido a través de la formación de la fe en nuestros hogares e iglesias. Estamos agradecidos a Dios por todos los catequistas que abrazan la misión de la iglesia de formación de fe y evangelización.
El recientemente promulgado Directorio para la Catequesis declara con claridad la Gran Comisión del Señor, “de hacer discípulos en todas las naciones.” El Directorio afirma que la catequesis debe estar al servicio de la Nueva Evangelización para que cada persona tenga un acceso personal y abierto al encuentro con Jesucristo.
San Juan Pablo II enseñó con celo que “el propósito de la catequesis es la comunión con Jesucristo.” El fruto de esta comunión es una misión, una vida bien vivida al servicio del Evangelio. La catequesis requiere que acompañemos a quienes nos han sido confiados en la maduración de las actitudes de fe. “La cercanía de la iglesia a Jesús es parte de un camino común: la comunión y la misión están profundamente interconectadas”.
El Directorio para la Catequesis expone además que la Iglesia está llamada a proclamar y enseñar su verdad primaria, que es el amor de Cristo, porque la esencia del misterio de la fe cristiana es la misericordia encarnada en Jesús de Nazaret.
La catequesis puede ser una realización de la obra espiritual de la misericordia, “instruir al ignorante”. La acción catequética, en efecto, consiste en ofrecer la posibilidad de escapar de la mayor forma de ignorancia que impide a las personas conocer su propia identidad y vocación en Jesucristo. San Agustín afirma que la catequesis se convierte en “ocasión para una obra de misericordia” en cuanto satisface “con la Palabra de Dios la inteligencia de quienes tienen hambre de esta.” En virtud de nuestro bautismo, la familia y la comunidad de la iglesia, los catequistas tienen la tarea de despertar esa hambre.
La fiesta de San Mateo celebrada recientemente el 21 de septiembre ilustra esta visión para la formación en la fe. Su primer encuentro con Jesucristo fue nada menos que un hambre despertada que fue satisfecha. San Beda, El Venerable, un santo inglés del siglo VII, escribe conmovedoramente. “Jesús vio al recaudador de impuestos y porque lo vio con los ojos de la misericordia y lo eligió, dijo: ‘sígueme’.” Este seguimiento significó imitar el patrón de su vida, no solo caminar tras él. No hay razón para sorprenderse de que el recaudador de impuestos abandonara las riquezas terrenales tan pronto como el Señor se lo ordenó. Tampoco debería sorprenderse que, descuidando su riqueza, se uniera a una banda de hombres cuyo líder, según la evaluación de San Mateo, no tenía ninguna riqueza en absoluto. Por un impulso interior invisible que inundó su mente con la luz de la gracia, Jesús lo instruyó a caminar en sus caminos, siendo llamado desde las posesiones terrenales a los tesoros incorruptibles del cielo y su regalo.”
Por el catequista y el catequizado, oramos por un corazón y una mente abiertos a esos impulsos internos, impulsados por la luz de la gracia, que permitan responder a la mirada y llamada misericordiosas del Señor.
En medio de la pandemia, muchos no están experimentando la catequesis y la evangelización en las reuniones habituales de la comunidad parroquial. Este es un desafío para las familias y los programas, pero no es insuperable. La iglesia doméstica, en colaboración con el liderazgo parroquial, puede cultivar los tesoros y el contenido de nuestra fe de manera vivificante. La mirada misericordiosa de Jesucristo está presente allí donde dos o tres se reúnen en su nombre.
Por supuesto, la piedra angular del tesoro de nuestra tradición católica y el contenido de la fe es la Misa. La dispensa de la obligación de asistir a Misa en persona sigue vigente como una adaptación necesaria. Sin embargo, se anima a todas las familias e individuos a asistir a Misa si la salud lo permite, ya sea en el Día del Señor o durante la semana. Con razón, estamos atentos para mantener el virus “afuera mirando hacia adentro” por el bien de nuestra salud física. Pero aún más debemos permanecer atentos para nutrir nuestra relación con Jesucristo en permanecer fuertes espiritual y mentalmente para involucrarnos en todo lo que la vida nos depara.
Con St. Paul estamos comprometidos con la misión que él articula. “yo recibí esta tradición dejada por el Señor, y que yo a mi vez les transmití.” “Que el Dios de perseverancia y aliento les dé la buena actitud mental hacia el otro, Dios, que es quien da constancia y consuelo, los ayude a ustedes a vivir en armonía unos con otros, conforme al ejemplo de Cristo Jesús.” (Romanos 15:5)
By Cindy Wooden VATICAN CITY (CNS) – If people took seriously the Gospel call to forgive one another, the world would be a much better place, Pope Francis said. “How much suffering, how many wounds, how many wars could be avoided if forgiveness and mercy were the style of our life,” he said Sept. 13 before reciting the Angelus prayer with visitors in St. Peter’s Square. The pope was commenting on the day’s Gospel reading, Matthew 18:21-35, in which Jesus tells his disciples to forgive “not seven times but 77 times.” “In the symbolic language of the Bible,” the pope explained, “this means that we are called to forgive always.” Jesus’ admonition is especially important for family life, he said. “How many families are disunited, do not know how to forgive each other? How many brothers and sisters bear resentment within? It is necessary to apply merciful love to all human relationships: between spouses, between parents and children, within our communities, in the church and in society and politics as well.” In the day’s Gospel passage, Jesus emphasizes his point with the parable of the merciful king who forgives the enormous debt of his servant and yet that servant refuses to forgive the small debt of another servant. When the king hears about it, he hands the man over “to the torturers until he should pay back the whole debt.” “In the parable we find two different attitudes: God’s – represented by the king who forgives a lot, because God always forgives – and the human person’s,” the pope said. “The divine attitude is justice pervaded with mercy, whereas the human attitude is limited to justice.” Pope Francis told the people in the square that while he was celebrating Mass that morning, “I paused, touched by a phrase in the first reading from the book of Sirach. The phrase (in the Italian Lectionary) says, ‘Remember your end and stop hating.’ A beautiful phrase.” “Just think,” the pope said, “you will be in a coffin and will you take your hatred there with you? Think of your end and stop hating, stop resenting.” Pope Francis said that he knows it is not an easy command to follow because, even when a person thinks he or she has forgiven another, “resentment returns like a bothersome fly in the summer that keeps coming back.” True forgiveness, he said, “is not something we do in a moment; it is something continuous against that resentment, that hatred that keeps coming back.” When Christians pray the Lord’s Prayer, they say, “Forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us.” “These words contain a decisive truth,” the pope said. “We cannot claim God’s forgiveness for ourselves if we in turn do not grant forgiveness to our neighbor. It is a condition.” Pope Francis summarized his talk: “Think of your end, of God’s forgiveness and stop hating. Reject resentment, that bothersome fly that keeps coming back. If we do not strive to forgive and to love, we will not be forgiven and loved either.”
From the hermitage By sister alies therese Perhaps you’ve read a couple of the wonderful books by L. Van derPost of South Africa? Besides drawing you into a tender story and then challenging you with a hard truth, he writes and shares with us an exploration of his life. Often writers (both fiction and non-fiction) take us on a trip of some sort that either ‘tells the truth’ or ‘implies a truth within a fictionalized setting.’ In either case one might discover much of the richness of the writer’s testing of his/her own life as well as the readers. The writer may offer several different threads that might, or might not, come together at some point showing some continuity and often great patience, especially when things ‘go wrong.’
Sister alies therese
I wonder if we’re in a time of rummaging around in our own lives, the church’s (especially) and our cultures to find those threads that may, or may not, come together? At what level is there no anguish? Huge fires/climate change, pandemic, hurricanes, interpersonal strife, loneliness, international disregard, where indeed is the thread that draws us together? These are a part of deficit culture … what brings us to see a culture of beneficence? Back in 1984 Michael Ignatieff, in The Needs of Strangers, reflected this: “If we deceive ourselves about what we need, we are likely to be deceived about what strangers need. There are few presumptions in human relations more dangerous than the idea that one knows what another human being needs better than they do themselves … if we need love, it is for reasons that go beyond the happiness it brings; it is for the connection, the rootedness, it gives us with others.” Notice our strange mixtures. Consider a blood family of three children and parents, for example, and wonder sometimes if they are connected! Maybe it will be facial, or the sound of voice, or a certain talent, or hair color. Some things will indicate that they are ‘related.’ What are the things in God’s family that show, though in very different ways, ‘we’re all related?’ What are those ‘six-degrees’ of separation that bond us? How do we put together those many strands and threads and celebrate? Within the human community, and indeed within the community of believers, there are as many differences as similarities. Bottom line stretches to ‘human’ (all bleeding red blood), ‘we all have certain needs’ and we are on a path that calls us forward from ‘birth to death.’ Beyond that almost everything else, social status, color, attitudes, beliefs, fears, competences and the lot are as individual as we can imagine. We are strangers as often to ourselves as to others. One stereotypical image of a beggar is perhaps a homeless person blinded by disconnection from self, family, housing, medical care and food. We have a persistent beggar within, the unwillingness to be born/change things by refusing to allow the Spirit to prompt growth. We can spend inordinate amounts of time telling others what they need, what they should do/not do, what they ought to understand. Rather we might remain silent and allow them to discover their own threads. Or we might ask questions that will help reveal the beggars within us. We might agree that racism, not telling the truth, or the –ism you pick are evil, sinful, horrid. We might agree but what to do about it needs input from the sufferers outlining some change. Opinions and political implications and others have dictated what to do for many years and have been relatively unsuccessful. Where is my heart stuck? What does my heart have to contribute? Ignatieff reminds us: “the theory of human needs is a particular kind of language of the human good. To define human nature in terms of needs is to define what we are in terms of what we lack, to insist on the distinctive emptiness and incompleteness of humans as a species.” To know our ‘beggars’ is to discover not only what we need, but what we have to share. To define others (the poor, the wayward, the unborn, the prisoner, the weary, the old) by what they lack is a deficit culture and we never see beyond as Jesus sees. Van derPost in his 1973 The Seed & Sower, points this out: “… I did not understand the sabotage in the invisible dimension of my being… There is a strange, persistent beggar at a narrow door asking to be born; asking again and again, for admission at the gateway of our lives.” If we want to be born, or allow those threads to come together within, we might encourage ourselves to act, to build the Beloved Community. Perhaps that’s the kind of love that makes a difference, that ‘good trouble’, the kind that ‘relates’ us? Might even be the beginning of real change? BLESSINGS.
(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.)
THEOLOGY AT THE MOVIES By James Tomek, Ph.D. How do we read “Unorthodox,” a recent four-part series on Netflix of a woman, Esty, who flees from a Hasidic community in New York in search of a new community in Berlin? Is the film about the problems of Jews to maintain their culture in the “diaspora” – the land outside of Palestine/Israel? Esty rebelling against the Hasidic culture? About how women are imprisoned in their religious cultures? Do we have the right to “educate” women and men who live “happily” in a culture that could be repressive? Ultimately, do we really learn anything specific about Hasidic culture other than seeing the stark clothing and witnessing devotions without understanding the words? Can we, in turn, question our Catholicism about some of its customs? We are all in the diaspora – “scattered” from our origins seeking security.
James Tomek, Ph.D.
In “Unorthodox,” Esty, escapes an unhappy marriage and flies to Berlin where she tries to fit in with a group of student-musicians. Flashbacks reveal how she was raised by her grandmother in a Hasidic community in Williamsburg, Brooklyn; entered into a prearranged marriage with Yanky Shapiro; was naive in the sexual facts of life; became pregnant, and at present, decides to flee the closed community to go to Berlin. Why? Her mother, excommunicated earlier from the community, had gone to Berlin where she now lives with her partner and works as a nurse. The Hasidic (meaning pious/piety) form of worship started in the 18th Century in Poland. In the face of persecutions, the Hasidic Jews devoted themselves to preserve their form of worship. The black suits and head wear were ways of reminding themselves who they were, especially in the diaspora. The Williamsburg community people are more recent descendants of the Satmar community in Hungary, preserving their religion from the horrors of the World War II Holocaust. Is Esty a descendant of the biblical Esther? Esty, like Esther, is a heroine in a foreign land. The book of Esther is about Jews living in Persia after the Exile in 486 BCE. The King chooses Esther, a Jew, to replace his first wife as Queen. Esther’s cousin, Mordecai, enrages the current Prime Minister, Hamon, who wants to annihilate all the Jews. Mordecai convinces the King of Hamon’s evil plot. The Jews are accepted and Hamon is executed. The Jews celebrate their victory over death in a foreign land with the Feast of Purim. The Talmud, ethical commentaries on the Hebrew Scriptures (in a way, a Jewish New Testament), is ambiguous about Esther. It is a difficult book to love since it is about vengeance and with little or no mention of God’s providence. Is our Esty a new Esther in a foreign land? She meets with musicians studying in a Berlin conservatory. In an early outing, she enters a lake, and joyfully, baptismally takes off her sheitel, a wig used to hide her hair when out in public. She has an intimate relation with one of the group and finally is admitted to take a test to enter the conservatory. She finally chooses to sing a Yiddish folk song for her audition. She is pursued in Berlin by her equally naive husband Yanky, and a relative, Moishe, who is equally at home in Hasidic ceremonies as well as in capitalistic casinos and bars. Esty refuses Yanky. Moishe, at first aggressive in wanting to bring Esty back, undergoes his own baptism as he seems torn between the two cultures, seen in his symbolic undressing and wading in the Spree. Do we have a right to educate people who are happy in a culture or religion that may imprison them? The Jewish community in Williamsburg seems to be getting along very well. Is Esty being deprived of the freedom to grow? Do we have a right to “free” this woman from her religious community? Do we know enough about our own religion? The Hindu religion has four ways to the divine – four ways of being religious: knowledge (jnana) [study], devotion (bhakti) [ceremonies], duty (karma) [good deeds], and meditation (raja) [prayer]. The Hasidic Jews emphasize devotion. The film succeeds in showing the appearances of this Hasidic community and how its marriages are arranged and the Sabbath celebrated. However, it is short on the “knowledge” part. Why the elaborate headdresses or stremeil for the men? The growth of side locks of hair? What is the meaning of the Yiddish folk song through which Esty wins over her audience? I prefer the way of “knowledge,” so by that I mean studying why we do certain things in our devotions. Some enjoy the karma or duty – doing good deeds. Others find pleasure worshiping without questioning the whys. The film “Unorthodox” succeeds in showing appearances of a Hasidic community. But, how do these showings reflect their memories? We are all in the diaspora – away from our origins. Our Catholic way of remembering is in the Mass – not necessarily in the priest’s vestments or shape of the church and altar – but in the scriptures read and the shared meal where we remember Jesus’s sacrifice.
(James Tomek is a retired language and literature professor at Delta State University who is currently a Lay Ecclesial Minister at Sacred Heart in Rosedale and also active in RCIA at Our Lady of Victories in Cleveland.)
By Laura Grisham SENATOBIA – A steady stream of cars maneuvered through the parking lot at St. Gregory The Great Catholic Church last Thursday. The mobile pantry in Senatobia had been open for just over an hour. Volunteers and staff, with machinelike movement, gathered boxes and bags of produce, cereals, meats and other staples and placed them in the vehicles as they rolled through. Even before the coronavirus pandemic wreaked havoc on the nation’s food supply and economy, nearly one in every five Mississippians had trouble getting enough food due to lack of income or other issues. Disruptions to food-supply chains, employment and other services because of COVID-19 worsened the situation.
SENATOBIA – A tractor-trailer full of fresh fruits, vegetables, shelf staples and meats is distributed at each of Sacred Heart Southern Missions mobile pantry sites. (Photos by Laura Grisham)
For more than six years, Sacred Heart Southern Missions (SHSM) has sponsored the DeSoto and Marshall County mobile pantries, providing fresh, nutritious food to struggling families and individuals each month. The mobile pantry program brings regular food distributions to the hard-to-reach places that need it the most. A tractor-trailer full of fresh fruits, vegetables, shelf staples and meats are distributed at each of our mobile sites. Given the toll the public health crisis has taken on communities across the area served, SHSM has intensified its efforts to safeguard the health and wellbeing of poor families, especially older adults and children, who lack sustained access to healthy food and adequate nutrition. Since the onset of the pandemic in mid-March, SHSM has hosted 22 mobile food pantries across the five counties of their service area. That’s an additional ten distributions on top of their regularly scheduled mobiles. In six months, more than 430,000 pounds of food has been given out to hungry families at these distributions — more pounds than all of last year’s mobile pantries combined. Tragically, the disabled and elderly are some of the most vulnerable that SHSM serve. Nearly one third of those who come to SHSM social service offices for assistance are the elderly poor. Attempting to balance basic living expenses on fixed incomes, they are presented with an impossible choice — to pay for utilities, life-saving medicine or a meal on the table. And now, with the COVID-19 pandemic, they are more vulnerable and isolated than ever before. “These days, at a trip to the grocery store, I only get about half of what I used to,” said Lee, as he waited in line. “I am on a fixed income. The price of everything has gone up, but what we old folks get has not. I can’t hardly afford to eat.”
SENATOBIA – A friend told Mattie about Sacred Heart Southern Missions mobile pantry. She was thrilled to find out another was scheduled the following month. Pictured is Mattie waving “thanks” to volunteers after they loaded her car with fresh produce, cereal, canned goods and other staples.
Lee says the mobile pantries provide him with the extra groceries he needs to make it through the month. For his sister, Carol, who was in the car behind him, SHSM’s distributions are even more critical. Carol has cancer. “My twin sister, Carol, back there,” Lee motioned to the car behind his, “she is terminal. She can’t afford nothing with buying medicine and all. I told her about this food and it is helping her and her family out a whole lot.” For seniors and other adults who are at high risk for COVID-19, the mobile pantry program is a blessing in several ways. Besides providing them with fresh, healthy food and supplementing their meager incomes, the drive-through distribution arrangement allows them to avoid crowded retail stores, thus reducing the possible exposure to the virus. Mattie, another elderly woman in line commented, “This food sure helps me be able to pay my bills.” A friend had told Mattie about the mobile opportunity in Senatobia last month. Eagerly, she inquired when Sacred Heart would be returning for another distribution. “I was so glad that I could get it so close to home. Thank ya’ll so much!” Food pantry manager Jose Franco said that grateful comments like these are a common occurrence at the mobiles. “You hear them all the time! There are so many people in need, and they are thankful for the help.” Hunger is a problem that most often affects low-income families. Many hardworking families and individuals are living paycheck to paycheck, then suddenly, an illness or other disaster strikes and they can no longer afford food. Others juggle their bills every month, knowing there will never be enough money. Jose recalled last month’s mobile food distribution in Senatobia. As he assisted a woman with her intake form, he noticed three young children in the back seat of her car. The woman explained that she and her husband had both recently lost their jobs and they had no food to give their family. Pointing to the form, she said, “We don’t have any income … is that ok?” “That was heart-breaking,” Jose said quietly. Unfortunately, this woman’s plight is something SHSM sees often. Yet, no matter how many times they meet people struggling in life and hear their stories, the impact on them never lessens. SHSM continues to prioritize food distributions in their communities in Northwest Mississippi. Through the generosity of our donors and the continued support of volunteers, SHSM is able to ensure that people like Lee, Carol, Mattie and countless others facing unimaginable financial challenges have access to nutritious food. Looking ahead, additional pop-up mobile pantries have been added to SHSM’s regular monthly schedule to help even more people in need, providing them an essential lifeline during these difficult times.
By Berta Mexidor JACKSON – Catholic Extension, in collaboration with several organizations, has launched the program, Sisters on the Frontlines, to help families impacted by COVID-19 and at the same time ”recognize the vital role of Catholic sisters in communities where needs are great.” The goal of the initiative is to give 1,000 sisters, $1,000 each to provide rapid response to the poor and distressed. Five sisters in the Diocese of Jackson have received the Sisters on the Frontlines grant, so far: Sister Lael Niblick and Sister Mary Christine Fellerhoff from St. Helen Amory; Sister Nancy Schreck in Excel in Okolona; and Sisters Maria Eugenia Moreno, MGSpS and Obdulia Olivar, MGSpS in St. Michael, Forest. Excel in Okolona Excel – a nonprofit organization in the area is the center for the sisters to help, explained Sister Nancy Schreck. There are five sisters from three different religious congregations working in Okolona. The regular outreach includes after school and summer learning, adult basic education, english language learning, a senior center, a resale store and a variety of other programs for community needs. “This provides our ability to know the community and for people to know Excel and to come with their needs. What we do is different from a traditional parish. These Excel’s programs provide us with good knowledge of the community needs,” Sister Nancy said. Due to COVID-19, all the programs have concentrated on providing material and emotional assistance to people living on the edge of poverty, immigrant families in the area who do not qualify for public assistance, families with school-age children and especially the elderly. Food insecurity has been a major issue for the community. With COVID-19, “food scarcity became an issue to be addressed,” said Sister Nancy. “The assistance we at Excel get is uneven, sometimes people bring meat, at another time it has been dairy products from Prairie Farms in Tupelo, some funds from United Way, and Create, the grant from the Extension Society, and so forth.”
OKOLONA – Pictured, Sister Mary Beth Goldsmith, OSF distributes food to various families through Excel. Sister Nancy Schreck of Excel is the recipient of a grant from the Catholic Foundation through Sisters on the Frontlines that grants $1,000 to sisters to aid those impacted by COVID-19. (Photo courtesy of Sister Nancy Schreck)
St. Helen Parish Amory The grant from Sisters on the Frontlines was used to help families affected by the COVID-19 pandemic, “…not because they themselves had COVID, but because their lives were changed by the pandemic,” said Sister Mary Christine Fellerhoff, CSA, the executive director of CHANGE in Amory. The organization is a community-wide, ecumenical nonprofit located in the parish center of St. Helen Parish in Amory, providing financial assistance since 2014 to families living in poverty. Sister Mary said that CHANGE closed their operations around March due to the COVID-19 outbreak and reopened again in June, taking all the hygiene and social distance measures for the safety of staff and clients. “For me as a religious sister, COVID-19 has intensified the feelings I always experience when ministering to our clients. We share their suffering, their frustrations, their tears, and, yes, their small triumphs,” Sister Mary explained. Sister Lael Niblick, CSA, lay ecclesial minister of St. Helen Amory says, “I feel both blessed and challenged in assisting our members to grow as disciples of Christ and to build a strong Christian community.” Along with Sister Mary of CHANGE, Sister Lael also received the Sisters on the Frontline grant. As for the pandemic, she says her ministry has been impacted, with a few of the parish members have been diagnosed positive, a couple of them in a nursing home and two asymptomatic cases in a family. To impact her ministry further, Sister Lael was in a serious car accident at the end of July, putting her physically unable to help others, relying on other parishioners to aid her in continuing her mission to help others in need. “Nevertheless, we have aged and ill members, several with cancer diagnoses. I am saddened by my inability to visit and take Eucharist to our homebound on a regular basis. Although we have opened the church to Mass on a restricted basis (masking, social distancing, and sanitizing), we feel deeply the fact that we cannot come together as a church community,” said Sister Lael. Stories are bountiful from Sisters Mary and Lael on how they were able to help others with the Sisters on the Frontline grant. Here are a few of those stories (names have been changed for privacy):
“Sally” lost her job due to budget cuts from COVID-19, she was in the process of seeking a divorce from her abusive husband, with three children. Sister Mary was able to help her with an electric bill to help keep her family in their home.
“Sasha” lost her job when the pandemic struck. The restaurant where she worked let her go because she was pregnant and felt she was at a greater risk to catch the coronavirus. Normally able to manage, her income was drastically reduced, even with unemployment, government aid and SNAP benefits. The grant was able to assist her with a utility bill when funds were unavailable through CHANGE to help.
“Annie” broke her hip and after a successful surgery, entered a nursing rehab facility as the pandemic struck. She had to quarantine for weeks before therapy was possible. “Annie” learned that she would need a ramp built on her home before she could be released from the facility, but being on a fixed income, she had no extra funds for the project. With the help of the grant and a generous donation of labor from a contractor), CHANGE was able to assist in building a ramp for “Annie” to continue her recovery at home. Neither COVID-19 or a bad car accident stopped Sister Lael in her optimism. “This difficult situation calls forth creativity. We are developing ways to connect with our members in a variety of ways through social media, technology, and the written word,” she said. “Thank you FADICA and the Extension Society for the Sisters on the Frontlines grant enabling us to make Annie’s homecoming a joyous one.” Sister Mary concluded saying “We feel blessed to share these clients’ stories, their tears and their gratitude. We are privileged to serve them.” All the recipients of the Catholic Extension grant agree and share these challenges: trying to find a new way of delivering programs and create socialization this time with heavy safety measures and social distance. Sister Nancy expressed her gratitude for the ”flexibility of the Extension Grant. [It] has been very helpful in this regard.” Since the program began in June, more than 378 sisters have received support from the Sisters on the Frontline grant program and another 622 have requested funds. Sisters who have received funding are asked to report back to Catholic Extension as to how the funds were used. Catholic Extension will be sharing the sisters’ stories as they are received. To learn more or to donate, visit https://www.catholicextension.org/sisters-on-the-frontlines/.
