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Reunion highlights many changes since days of integration

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Complete the Circle
By George Evans
I recently celebrated the 50th reunion with other participants of a six week summer service project at St. Francis Center and St. Francis of Assisi Parish in Greenwood during June and July 1965. At the time I was a seminarian at a Benedictine Monastery in Conception, Missouri. I came with nine other seminarians to Greenwood and lived in a Boy Scout hut in the woods behind St. Francis of Assisi Parish and volunteered to help two Franciscan priests, Fathers Nathaniel and Daniel, in their work during that turbulent fascinating time of change in Mississippi.
At the time Father Nathaniel was the pastor of St. Francis of Assisi Parish and the co-founder along with Miss Kate Jordan Foote of St. Francis Center in Greenwood. Together they had started Pax Christi, a lay institute for women, whose mission was to serve the needs of the black community in Greenwood.
The center was located in the middle of the black community and provided the entire spectrum of services from food and clothing to literacy and tutoring programs, financial counseling, healthcare services and anything else that might arise.
The center was staffed by the ladies of Pax Christi.   They were assisted in the summer by a score of female volunteers primarily from Catholic colleges for women in the Midwest. We seminarians worked primarily with the young boys in the neighborhood in educational and recreational activities. A benefactor had provided some undeveloped land not far out of town for the parish use.
We would load up a bus every morning and go to the property and work with the kids to help fix up a cabin on site and clear a playing field for various sports activities. After returning we would work on any of the center activities that needed us including the pharmacy, educational programs and recreational programs in the gym. We converted one comer of the gym into a teen center.
The young women worked in all the activities of the day at the center and especially with the young girls and women from the neighborhood. We all joined together for celebration of the Eucharist every afternoon before dinner. What special celebrations they were. It dawned on all of us that bringing to the altar the work and service shared during the day enriched the Mass in wonderful ways and encouraged us to return the next day fed by the Lord’s own body and blood and enriched by the strength of the united worshiping body.
The reunion was a small group. Fifty years had taken its toll in deaths, health issues and lost contact. Eight of us gathered in Jackson on Friday night for a wonderful dinner and reminiscences of the unique summer of 1965. Stories abounded and the dreams of our youth recounted. Father Nathaniel and Miss Kate were recalled for their incredible leadership and dedication to a mission still today ongoing in Greenwood though under different circumstances.
On Saturday six of us journeyed to Greenwood where we met with Father Greg Plata, OFM, at St. Francis. Memories flowed over us as he led us on a tour of the parish. Much of what we knew 50 years ago is still incorporated in a larger and more developed plant. The most nostalgic moments for the men was a journey back into the woods on the back of the property where the Boy Scout hut has been lost to the elements over the last 50 years. We tromped around in the woods until it became clear where the hut had been. We wondered how we had survived without air conditioning and only an army cot for sleeping – we were all young and doing the Lord’s work and that made it easy.
The 50 year perspective was eye opening. In 1965 everything in Greenwood was completely segregated.   The 10 seminarians were never invited to Immaculate Heart of Mary, the defacto “white” church at the time.   Today Father Greg is pastor of it and St. Francis of Assisi and white, black and Hispanic parishioners attend Mass at both churches. In 1965 many people we worked with had trouble registering to vote. Today many city and county elected officials are black.
Public schools are all integrated at every level. Many changes for the better have occurred. However, much still needs to be done. Crushing poverty is still rampant and not only in the black community. The public schools which were white are now overwhelmingly black and not very good. Good jobs are few and far between.
Problems that exist throughout the Delta are still present in Greenwood. St. Francis Center has recently closed due to changing times and St. Francis of Assisi School continues to offer great grade school education but relies on contributions and benefactors from many different places in the country plus wonderful Sisters to keep going.
We need to keep working as we did 50 years ago. The issues are different but the needs of people persist. The joy we found in service in 1965 is still available today if we serve and support St. Francis Church and School. The same can be said as we work for and serve all in need in our own parishes and communities.
Its up to each of us to find and identify the great needs of today and live the Gospel by bringing Jesus to bear on the lives of the needy by our compassion, generosity, care and concern. The happiness that will follow will be as great as the service provided. It worked for us in 1965 and will   the same in 2015.
(George Evans is a pastoral minister at Jackson St. Richard Parish.)

God’s ineffability revealed by Jesus

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IN EXILE
By Father Ron Rolheiser, OMI
God, as I understand him, is not very well understood. A colleague of mine, now deceased, was fond of saying that. It’s a wise comment.
Anyone who claims to understand God is deceived because the very first dogma we have about God affirms that God is ineffable. That means that we can know God, but never adequately capture God in a concept. God is unimaginable. God cannot be circumscribed and put into a mental picture of any kind. Thank goodness too. If God could be understood then God would be as limited as we are.
But God is infinite. Infinity, precisely because it’s unlimited, cannot be circumscribed. Hence it cannot be captured in a mental picture. Indeed, we don’t even have a way of picturing God’s gender. God is not a man, not a woman, and not some hybrid, half-man and half-woman. God’s gender, like God’s nature, is intellectually inconceivable. We can’t grasp it and have no language or pronoun for it. God, in a modality beyond the categories of human thought, is somehow perfect masculinity and perfect femininity all at the same time. It’s a mystery beyond us.
But while that mystery cannot be grasped with any rational adequacy, we can know it intimately, and indeed know it so deeply that it’s meant to be the most intimate of all knowledge in our lives. It’s no accident that the bible uses the verb “to know” to connote sexual intimacy. There are different ways of knowing, some more inchoate, intuitive, and intimate than others. We can know God in a radical intimacy, even as we cannot conceptualize God with any adequacy. And that’s also true of all the deep realities in life, we can know them and relate to them intimately, but we can never fully understand them.
So where does that leave us with God? In the best of places! We are not on a blind date, struggling to develop intimacy with a complete stranger, with an unknown person who could be benign or malignant. God may be ineffable, but God’s nature is known. Divine revelation, as seen through nature, as seen through other religions, and especially as seen through Jesus, spells out what’s inside God’s ineffable reality. And what’s revealed there is both comforting beyond all comfort and challenging beyond all challenge.
What’s revealed in the beauty of creation, in the compassion that’s the hallmark of all true religion, and in Jesus’ revelation of his Father, takes us beyond a blind date into a trustworthy relationship.  Nature, religion, and Jesus conspire together to reveal an Ultimate Reality, a Ground of Being, a Creator and Sustainer of the universe, a God, who is wise, intelligent, prodigal, compassionate, loving, forgiving, patient, good, trustworthy, and beautiful beyond imagination.
Pierre Teilhard de Chardin, once, in a mystical vision, saw all of this hidden inside the eyes of Jesus. Staring at a painting of Jesus on a church-wall one day, Jesus’ eyes suddenly became transfigured and this what Teilhard saw: “These eyes which at first were so gentle and filled with pity that I thought my mother stood before me, became an instant later, like those of a woman, passionate and filled with the power to subdue, yet at the same time so imperiously pure that under their domination it would have been physically impossible for the emotions to go astray.
And then they changed again, and became filled with a noble, virile majesty, similar to that which one sees in the eyes of men of great courage or refinement or strength, but incomparably more lofty to behold and more delightful to submit to. This scintillation of diverse beauties was so complete, so captivating, and also so swift that I felt it touch and penetrate all my powers simultaneously, so that the very core of my being vibrated in response to it, sounding a unique note of expansion and happiness.
Now while I was ardently gazing deep into the pupils of Christ’s eyes, which had become abysses of fiery, fascinating life, suddenly I beheld rising up from the depths of those same eyes what seemed like a cloud , blurring and blending all that variety I have been describing to you. Little by little an extraordinary expression of great intensity, spread over the diverse shades of meaning which the divine eyes revealed, first of all penetrating them and then finally absorbing them all.
… And I stood dumbfounded. For this final expression, which had dominated and gathered up into itself all the others, was indecipherable. I simply could not tell whether it denoted an indescribable agony or a superabundance of triumphant joy.”
God cannot be deciphered, circumscribed, or captured in human thought; but, from what can be deciphered, we’re in good, safe hands. We can sleep well at night. God has our back.  In the end, both for humanity as a whole and for our own individual lives, all will be well, and all will be well, and every manner of being will be well. God is good.
(Oblate Father Ron Rolheiser, theologian, teacher and award-winning author, is President of the Oblate School of Theology in San Antonio, TX.)

Todos están invitados a la reconciliación

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Por Obispo Joseph Kopacz
“La justicia demorada es justicia negada”, una frecuente cita de sabiduría, es ampliamente comprendida y aceptada al considerar la virtud que rige el orden social. Recientemente, el Papa Francisco decretó que la misericordia tampoco se retrasaría más cuando un pecador arrepentido confiesa el pecado del aborto en el sacramento de la reconciliación.
El Papa Francisco anunció el martes que los sacerdotes Católicos Romanos estarán facultados para ofrecer la absolución del pecado del aborto durante el Año Santo de la Misericordia que comienza el 8 de diciembre. A pesar de que la mayoría de los obispos de los Estados Unidos ya han autorizado a sus sacerdotes en el tema, muchos en otros países no lo han hecho, es decir a las mujeres que buscan la absolución puede que le pongan obstáculos, que se las retrasen o rechazen.
El mandato de Francisco efectivamente optimiza el proceso por solo un año. El razonamiento detrás de la tradicional práctica pastoral es que la iglesia considera el aborto como un pecado tan grave que pone en manos de un obispo la concesión de perdón para éste, quien podría escuchar la confesión de la mujer él mismo o delegar a un sacerdote que es experto en este tipo de situaciones.
La oferta del Papa Francisco no es sin precedente. En el año 2000, el Papa Juan Pablo II permitió a los sacerdotes ofrecer la misma absolución, sin embargo, el Papa Francisco demuestra un impulso más amplio para hacer a la iglesia más misericordiosa y acogedora.
“Me he encontrado con tantas mujeres que llevan en su corazón la cicatriz de esta penosa y dolorosa decisión”, dijo el Papa Francisco en un comunicado emitido por el Vaticano. “Lo que ha sucedido es profundamente injusto; sin embargo, sólo comprendiendo la verdad de esto puede permitirle a uno a no perder la esperanza”.
Enfrentando la verdad de haber terminado una vida en sus primeras etapas puede ser profundamente doloroso, pero puede encaminarlo a uno en el camino a la curación, la esperanza y la libertad de las cadenas del pasado. Esto puede ser un motivo de vergüenza, pero Dios no quiere que nadie mantenga esa vergüenza, un estado de mente y de corazón que pueden ser tan destructivos. Este es un tipo de algo sano de culpabilidad que puede llevar al perdón y la reconciliación. Un movimiento de la culpabilidad hacia el perdón y a la reconciliación, y una nueva oportunidad en la vida, es la verdad que lo hace libre a uno, y una experiencia de la vida en abundancia que Jesús ofrece a través de la fe en Él.
Como un sacerdote de la Diócesis de Scranton tuve la bendita experiencia en participar en un retiro de fin de semana llamado “Viñedo de Raquel (Rachel’s Vineyard). Este es un ministerio que ofrece a las mujeres que han sufrido el trauma del aborto la oportunidad de encontrar curación y esperanza, y la paz que sólo puede venir de Dios, el Shalom de Jesucristo, crucificado y resucitado. La siguiente cita es de la Dra. Theresa Burke, la fundadora de Viñedo de Raquel y estaríamos de acuerdo que sus palabras están en armonía con la invitación del Papa Francisco de cruzar el umbral de la misericordia.
Querida amiga,
“Quiero darte la bienvenida al “Viñedo de Raquel”. Si las heridas emocionales y espirituales de un pasado   aborto han ido debilitando la fe, el amor y la alegría de su vida, le prometo que si entras en este proceso de sanación, tu vida comenzará a cambiar. El caminar en un “Viñedo de Raquel” es un regalo que sólo tú puedes abrir tu corazón para recibirlo. El proceso espiritual de la reconciliación con ti misma, con Dios y con tu hijo perdido realmente resultará en plenitud y libertad y la diferencia serás capaz de sentirla dentro de tu corazón.
Este proceso de curación te dará una profunda compasión por ti misma. Es también un recorrido que te dará una nueva apreciación de tu fuerza y valentía. Al recorrer por el camino de curación en el “Viñedo de Raquel” podrás experimentar un fin a la soledad, la desesperación y la desesperanza. Tendrás la posibilidad de visitar metas y sueños abandonados y articular los deseos más profundos de tu futuro”.
El sitio Web de la Viña de Raquel ofrece una amplia visión de la belleza y el poder de este increíble ministerio.
En la última parte de esta columna quiero recordar el pasaje del Libro de las Lamentaciones en el Antiguo Testamento, que muestra la profundidad de la marginalidad que puede abrumar a una persona en la agonía del pecado, seguido inmediatamente por el don de la misericordia de Dios que provee un camino de vida nueva. Estas palabras de Dios son para todos y especialmente para aquellos atrapados en las cadenas del pecado.

De mi se ha alejado la paz,
y he olvidado lo que es la felicidad;
Me digo a mi mismo que mi vigor ha perecido  ,
todo lo que yo esperaba del Señor.
Acuerdate de mi afliccion y de mi vagar;
del ajenjo y de la amargura,
recordando esto una y otra vez,
deja mi alma triste.
Pero llamaré esto a la mente.
Las bondades del Señor jamás terminan;
Sus misericordias nunca fallan.
Se renuevan cada mañana tan grande es su fidelidad. Y me digo: ¡El Señor lo es todo para mí;
por eso en él confio!

La misericordia no se retrasará para todo aquel que busca el don del perdón y libertad por la opción de abortar una vida por nacer, hombre o mujer. El sacramento de la reconciliación es el medio ordinario en la vida de la iglesia que ofrece la extraordinaria misericordia que sólo puede venir de Dios.
Tal vez una persona está demasiado paralizada para acercarse a Dios. Recuerden la experiencia en el Evangelio cuando Jesús estaba predicando y cuatro amigos abrieron el techo de la casa para bajar a su amigo paralítico justo delante del Señor. “Tus pecados te son perdonados; levántate y camina”, fue la respuesta inmediata del Señor.
A través de la ayuda de otros o por nuestros propios esfuerzos, pongámonos en presencia del Señor Jesús para que seamos perdonados y restaurados de una manera que sea digna de los hijos de Dios.

All invited to seek reconciliation, healing

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By Bishop Joseph Kopacz
“Justice delayed is justice denied,” an oft-quoted piece of wisdom, is widely understood and accepted when considering the virtue that governs the social order. Recently Pope Francis decreed that mercy also would no longer be delayed when a repentant sinner confesses the sin of abortion in the Sacrament of Reconciliation.
Pope Francis announced Tuesday that all Roman Catholic priests would be empowered to offer absolution for the sin of abortion during the church’s Holy Year of Mercy, which begins on December 8. Though most bishops in the United States have already empowered their priests on the issue, many in other countries have not — meaning women seeking absolution can face delays, obstacles or rejection. Francis’ edict effectively streamlines the process for a single year. The reasoning behind the traditional pastoral practice is that the Church views abortion as such a grave sin that it put the matter of granting forgiveness for an abortion in the hands of a bishop, who could either hear the woman’s confession himself or delegate that to a priest who is expert in such situations.
Francis’ offer is not without precedent. Pope John Paul II enabled priests to offer the same absolution during the last Holy Year, in 2000, yet it shows his broader push to make the Church more merciful and welcoming.
“I have met so many women who bear in their heart the scar of this agonizing and painful decision,” Francis said in a statement issued by the Vatican. “What has happened is profoundly unjust; yet only understanding the truth of it can enable one not to lose hope.”
Facing the truth of having terminated life at its earliest stages can be deeply painful, but it can set one on the path of healing, hope, and freedom from the shackles of the past. This can be a matter of shame, but God wants no one to wallow in shame, a state of mind and heart that can be so destructive. This is the stuff of healthy guilt that can lead to forgiveness and reconciliation. A movement through guilt to forgiveness and reconciliation, and a new lease on life, is the truth that sets one free, and an experience of the life in abundance that Jesus Christ offers through faith in Him.
As a priest in the Diocese of Scranton I had the blessed experience of participating in the Rachel’s Vineyard weekend retreat. It is a ministry that offers women who have experienced the trauma of abortion or miscarriage the opportunity to find healing and hope, and the peace that can only come from God, the Shalom of Jesus Christ, crucified and risen. The following quote is from Dr. Theresa Burke, the founder of Rachel’s Vineyard’s Ministries, and we would agree that her words are in harmony with Pope Francis’ invitation to cross the Threshold of Mercy.
Dear friend,
“I would like to personally welcome you to Rachel’s Vineyard! If the emotional and spiritual wounds of a past abortion have been sapping faith, love and joy from your life, I can promise, that if you enter this process for healing, your life will begin to change. A journey into Rachel’s Vineyard is a gift only you can open your heart to receive. The spiritual process of reconciliation with yourself, with God and your lost child will truly result in wholeness and freedom and a difference you will be able to feel inside your heart. This healing process will give you a deeper compassion for yourself. It’s also a journey that will give you a new appreciation of your strength and courage. By traveling a path of healing in Rachel’s Vineyard, you will experience an end to isolation, despair and hopelessness. You will have the potential to revisit abandoned goals and dreams, and articulate your truest and deepest desires for your future.”
The Rachel’s Vineyard Website provides a comprehensive overview of the beauty and the power of this amazing ministry.
For the final part of this column I want to recall the passage from the Book of Lamentations in the Old Testament which shows the depth of brokenness that can overwhelm a person in the throes of sin, followed immediately by the gift of God’s mercy that provides a path to new life. These words of God are intended for all, and especially those ensnared in the shackles of sin.

My soul is deprived of peace;
I have forgotten what happiness is;
I tell myself my future is lost,
all that I hoped for from the Lord.
The thought of my homeless poverty is wormwood and gall; Remembering it over and over leaves my soul downcast.
But I will call this to mind.
The favors of the Lord are not exhausted;
His mercies are not spent.
They are renewed each morning so great is his faithfulness.
My portion is the Lord, says my soul;
Therefore, will I hope in Him.

Mercy will not be delayed to anyone who seeks the gift of forgiveness and freedom from the choice to abort unborn life, woman or man. The Sacrament of Reconciliation is the ordinary means in the life of the Church that offers the extraordinary mercy that can only come from God. Perhaps a person is too paralyzed to make a move toward God. Remember the experience in the Gospel when Jesus was preaching and four friends opened up the roof for their paralyzed friend and lowered him right in front of the Lord. “Your sins are forgiven; get up and walk” were the Lord’s immediate response.
Through the help of others, or by our own efforts, may we place ourselves in the presence of the Lord Jesus that we may be forgiven and restored in a manner that is befitting for the children of God.

El Día del Trabajador subraya la lucha por la justicia

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Por Obispo Joseph Kopacz
Las familias han estado recibiendo mucha atención recientemente en el mundo católico. El sínodo extraordinario de la familia volverá a reunirse en el otoño en Filadelfia, y durante la tradicional audiencia general de los miércoles en la Plaza de San Pedro, el Papa Francisco está ofreciendo una catequesis sobre la familia.
En su encíclica, Laudato Si’, el Papa Francisco enseña que de todos los grupos que desempeñan un papel en el bienestar de la sociedad y ayudan a garantizar el respeto a la dignidad humana, “la familia sobresale entre ellos como célula básica de la sociedad” (n. 157).
Por lo tanto, en este Día del Trabajador, el 7 de septiembre, tenemos la oportunidad de reflexionar sobre cómo el trabajo digno con un salario esencial es crítico para ayudar a que nuestras familias y nuestra sociedad prospere. En su encíclica, Laudatio Si, el Papa Francisco nos enseña que el trabajo debe permitir al trabajador desarrollarse, florecer como persona y también debe proporcionar los medios para que las familias puedan prosperar. “El trabajo es una necesidad, una parte del significado de la vida sobre la tierra, un camino de crecimiento, desarrollo humano y realización personal” (n. 128). El trabajo con dignidad y los frutos de esa labor nutren a las familias, a las comunidades y al bien común.
El año pasado el Papa Francisco canonizó a San Juan XXIII y a San Juan Pablo II. Ambos hicieron enormes contribuciones a la doctrina social de la iglesia sobre la dignidad del trabajo y su importancia al florecimiento humano. San Juan Pablo II indicó que el trabajo es “probablemente la clave esencial de toda la cuestión social” (Laborem Exercens, No. 3).  San Juan XXIII destacó que los trabajadores tienen “derecho a un salario que se determine de acuerdo con los preceptos de la justicia” (Pacem in Terris, No. 20).
Es evidente para aquellos que tienen ojos ver que el capitalismo ha cosechado enormes beneficios desde la fundación de nuestra nación. Muchos tienen un nivel de vida que es inimaginable en muchas partes del mundo, que en gran parte es debido a los recursos naturales de nuestro país, la libertad arraigada en nuestra constitución, la capacidad empresarial, genio creativo, el trabajo duro y el deseo de tener una vida mejor para nuestros hijos.
Por otro lado, es una variada historia cuando consideramos los efectos de la codicia desenfrenada, el talón de Aquiles del capitalismo. El medio ambiente a menudo ha sido objeto de saqueos y pillajes, hombres y mujeres han sido aplastados por la rueda, usando una frase del autor Herman Hesse, y la pobreza sigue siendo intratable en muchas comunidades de nuestro país.
Cada generación debe comprometerse a si misma a una sociedad que sea más justa y solidaria, por lo menos si vamos a reclamar que somos parte del plan de Dios, promoviendo el mandato divino de ser co-trabajadores en la tierra, la joya de la creación. ¿Hay alguna duda de que las familias en los Estados Unidos están luchando hoy? Muchos matrimonios tienen el peso aplastante de los horarios impredecibles de varios trabajos que hacen imposible el tener tiempo suficiente para nutrir a los hijos, para la fe y la comunidad. Millones de niños viven cerca o en la pobreza en este país. Muchos de ellos son niños que tienen llave de casa, que vuelven a sus viviendas vacías todos los días mientras sus padres  trabajan para sobrevivir. Además, algunas parejas demoran intencionalmente el matrimonio, mientras que el desempleo y los trabajos de baja recompensa hacen la vida de una familia estable difícil de ver.
El Arzobispo Thomas Wenski de Miami en su declaración el Día del Trabajador, en nombre de la Conferencia de Obispos Católicos de los Estados Unidos (USCCB) pinta el siguiente inquietante panorama. “La tasa de desempleo se ha reducido, pero mucho de eso es debido al hecho de que la gente simplemente ha dejado de buscar empleo, no porque hayan encontrado trabajo a tiempo completo. ¿Proporcionan la mayoría de los empleos suficiente salario, prestaciones de jubilación, estabilidad o seguridad de la familia?
Muchas familias están encadenadas a empleos a medio tiempo para pagar sus cuentas. Las oportunidades para los trabajadores jóvenes están en declive. La tasa de desempleo de los adultos jóvenes en Estados Unidos, a más del 13 por ciento, es más del doble del promedio  nacional (6,2 por ciento).  Hay el doble de personas buscando trabajo como hay trabajos disponibles, y eso no incluye los siete millones de trabajadores a medio tiempo que quieren un trabajo a tiempo completo. Millones de personas más, especialmente los que han estado desempleados por mucho tiempo, están desanimados y abatidos”.
Cuando la dignidad de la persona y la estabilidad de las familias son fuertes motivadores, y no la avaricia, o un margen de beneficio insostenible, o la presión de los accionistas, puntos de luz pueden soportar, incluso en tiempos difíciles. Yo era párroco en el área de Pocono en la Diócesis de Scranton cuando la última recesión golpeó duro. Uno de los miembros de la parroquia, propietario de una empresa con un par de docenas de trabajadores, compartió conmigo en una conversación que era una lucha conseguir suficientes contratos para mantener a su personal trabajando, pero que ese era su principal objetivo. Dios lo había bendecido y tenía suficiente riqueza para vivir bien, como él mencionó, e incluso si los beneficios de su negocio declinaran profundamente, él iba a asegurarse  que sus hombres pudieran trabajar y cuidar de sus familias.
El confíaba que la recesión económica mejoraría. Su confianza estaba basada en Dios y en la dignidad de la persona. Esta ética de vida es una rareza en las grandes empresas y corporaciones multinacionales, y esto es lo que el Papa Francisco describió como el estiércol del diablo del capitalismo en su reciente visita a Ecuador, cuando los beneficios borran la dignidad de la persona humana.
Nuestro desafío en este Día del Trabajador es el de levantarse al desafío de la solidaridad de Jesús cuando ordenó, “Amaos los unos a los otros. Como yo os he amado, así amaos también vosotros los unos a los otros” (Juan 13:34 ).
El Catecismo de la Iglesia Católica enseña que, “los problemas socio-económicos sólo pueden ser resueltos con la ayuda de todas las formas de solidaridad: la solidaridad de los pobres entre si mismos, entre los ricos y los pobres, los trabajadores entre sí, entre los empleadores y los empleados de una empresa, la solidaridad entre las naciones y los pueblos” (No. 1941).  Ya que cada uno de nosotros está hecho a la imagen de Dios y obligado por su amor, poseyendo una profunda dignidad humana, tenemos la obligación de amar y honrar esa dignidad entre nosotros y especialmente en nuestro trabajo.
En el mejor de los casos, los sindicatos y las instituciones como ellos encarnan solidaridad mientras promueven el bien común. Ayudan a los trabajadores “no sólo a tener más pero, sobre todo, a ser mejores …  y realizar más plenamente su humanidad en todos los sentidos” (Laborem Exercens, no. 20).
Sí, los sindicatos y las asociaciones de trabajadores son imperfectos como son todas las instituciones humanas. Pero el derecho de los trabajadores a asociarse libremente es apoyado por la enseñanza de la iglesia con el fin de proteger a los trabajadores y moverlos, especialmente a los más jóvenes, mediante la orientación y el aprendizaje, hacia empleos decentes con salarios justos.
Compartimos un hogar común como parte de una grande y única familia para que la dignidad de los trabajadores, la estabilidad de las familias y el estado de salud de las comunidades estén todas conectadas. ¿Cómo podemos avanzar la obra de Dios, en las palabras del salmista, “hace justicia a los oprimidos y da de comer a los hambrientos, y da libertad a los presos” (Salmo 146:7)?
Estas preguntas son difíciles de hacer, pero hay que hacerlas. La reflexión y acción individual es fundamental. Tenemos la necesidad de una profunda conversión de corazón en todos los niveles de nuestra vida. Examinemos nuestras opciones y demandemos para nosotros mismos y entre nosotros espíritus de gratitud, auténtica relación y una verdadera inquietud.
Que Dios bendiga la obra de nuestras manos, corazones y mentes.

El dia del trabajo subraya la lucha por la justicia

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Por Obispo Joseph Kopacz
Las familias han estado recibiendo mucha atención recientemente en el mundo católico. El sínodo extraordinario de la familia volverá a reunirse en el otoño, y durante la tradicional audiencia general de los miércoles en la Plaza de San Pedro, el Papa Francisco esá ofreciendo una catequesis sobre la familia. En su encíclica, Laudato Si’, el Papa San Francisco enseña que de todos los grupos que desempeñan un papel en el bienestar de la sociedad y ayudan a garantizar el respeto de la dignidad humana, “sobresaliente entre ellos es la familia, como célula básica de la sociedad” (n. 157).
Por lo tanto, en este Día del Trabajo, tenemos la oportunidad de reflexionar sobre cómo el trabajo digno con un salario esencial es crítico para ayudar a que nuestras familias y nuestra sociedad prospere. En su encíclica, Laudatio Si, el Papa Francisco nos enseña que el trabajo debe permitir al trabajador desarrollarse y florecer como persona. El trabajo también debe proporcionar los medios para que las familias puedan prosperar. “El trabajo es una necesidad, una parte del significado de la vida sobre la tierra, un camino de crecimiento, desarrollo humano y realización personal” (n. 128).  El trabajo con dignidad y los frutos de esa labor nutren a las familias, las comunidades, y al bien común.
El año pasado el Papa Francisco canonizó a San Juan XXIII y a San Juan Pablo II. Ambos han hecho enormes contribuciones a la doctrina social de la Iglesia sobre la dignidad del trabajo y su importancia al florecimiento humano. San Juan Pablo II indicó que el trabajo es “probablemente la clave esencial de toda la cuestión social” (Laborem Exercens, No. 3).  San Juan XXIII destacó que los trabajadores tienen “derecho a un salario que se determina de acuerdo con los preceptos de la justicia” (Pacem in Terris, No. 20).
Es evidente para aquellos que tienen ojos ver que el capitalismo ha cosechado enormes beneficios desde la fundación de nuestra nación. Muchos tienen un nivel de vida que es inimaginable en muchas partes del mundo, que es en gran parte debido a los recursos naturales de nuestro país, la libertad arraigada en nuestra constitución, la capacidad empresarial, genio creativo, el trabajo duro y el deseo de tener una vida mejor para nuestros hijos. Por otro lado, es una variada historia cuando consideramos los efectos de la codicia desenfrenada, el talón de Aquiles del capitalismo. El medio ambiente a menudo ha sido objeto de saqueos y pillajes, hombres y mujeres han sido aplastados por la rueda, usando una frase del autor, Herman Hesse, y la pobreza sigue siendo intratable en muchas comunidades de nuestro país.
Cada generación debe comprometerse a si misma a una sociedad que sea más justa y solidaria, por lo menos si vamos a reclamar que somos parte del plan de Dios, promoviendo el mandato divino de co-trabajadores en la tierra, la joya de la creación. ¿Hay alguna duda de que las familias en los Estados Unidos están luchando hoy? Muchos matrimonios tienen el peso aplastante de los horarios impredecibles de varios trabajos, que hacen imposible tiempo suficiente para nutrir a los hijos, para la fe y la comunidad. Millones de niños viven cerca o en  pobreza en este país. Muchos de ellos son niños con llave de casa, que vuelven a sus viviendas vacías todos los días mientras los padres de familia trabajan para sobrevivir. Además, algunas parejas demoran intencionalmente el matrimonio, mientras que el desempleo y los trabajos de baja recompensa hacen la vida de una familia estable difícil de ver.
El Arzobispo Thomas Wenski de Miami en su declaración el Día del Trabajador en nombre de la Conferencia de Obispos Católicos de los Estados Unidos (USCCB) pinta el siguiente inquietante panorama. “La tasa de desempleo se ha reducido, pero mucho de eso es debido al hecho de que la gente simplemente ha dejado de buscar empleo, no porque hayan encontrado trabajo a tiempo completo. ¿La mayoría de los empleos proporcionan suficiente salario, prestaciones de jubilación, estabilidad o seguridad de la familia?
Muchas familias están encadenadas a empleos a medio tiempo para pagar sus cuentas. Las oportunidades para los trabajadores jóvenes están en declive. La tasa de desempleo de los adultos jóvenes en Estados Unidos, a más del 13 por ciento, es más del doble del promedio  nacional (6,2 por ciento).  Hay el doble de personas que están buscando trabajo como hay trabajos disponibles, y eso no incluye los siete millones de trabajadores a medio tiempo que quieren trabajar a tiempo completo. Millones de personas más, especialmente los desempleados de mucho tiempo, están desanimados y abatidos”.
Cuando la dignidad de la persona y la estabilidad de las familias son fuertes motivadores, y no avaricia, o un margen de beneficio insostenible, o la presión de los accionistas, puntos de luz pueden soportar, incluso en tiempos difíciles.
Yo era párroco en el área de Pocono en la Diócesis de Scranton cuando la última recesión golpeó duro. Uno de los miembros de la parroquia, propietario de una empresa con un par de docenas de trabajadores, compartió conmigo en una conversación que era una lucha conseguir suficientes contratos para mantener a su personal trabajando, pero que ese era su principal objetivo. Dios lo había bendecido y tenía suficiente riqueza para vivir bien, como él mencionó, e incluso si los beneficios de su negocio declinaran profundamente, él iba a asegurarse  que sus hombres pudieran trabajar y cuidar de sus familias.
El confíaba que la recesión económica mejoraría. Su confianza estaba basada en Dios y en la dignidad de la persona. Esta ética de vida es una rareza en las grandes empresas y corporaciones multinacionales, y esto es lo que el Papa Francisco describió como el estiércol del diablo del capitalismo en su reciente visita a Ecuador, cuando los beneficios borran la dignidad de la persona humana.
Nuestro desafío en este Día del Trabajo es el de levantarse al desafío de la solidaridad de Jesús cuando ordenó, “Amaos los unos a los otros. Como yo os he amado, así amaos también vosotros los unos a los otros” (Juan 13:34 ).
El Catecismo de la Iglesia Católica enseña que, “los problemas socioe-conómicos sólo pueden ser resueltos con la ayuda de todas las formas de solidaridad: la solidaridad de los pobres entre si mismos, entre los ricos y los pobres, los trabajadores entre sí, entre los empleadores y los empleados de una empresa, la solidaridad entre las naciones y los pueblos” (No. 1941).  Ya que cada uno de nosotros está hecho a la imagen de Dios y obligado por su amor, poseyendo una profunda dignidad humana, tenemos la obligación de amar y honrar esa dignidad entre nosotros y especialmente en nuestro trabajo.
En el mejor de los casos, los sindicatos y las instituciones como ellos encarnan solidaridad mientras promueven el bien común. Ayudan a los trabajadores “no sólo tienen más, pero, sobre todo, para ser más…  y realizar más plenamente su humanidad en todos los sentidos” (Laborem Exercens, nO 20).
Sí, los sindicatos y las asociaciones de trabajadores son imperfectos, como son todas las instituciones humanas. Pero el derecho de los trabajadores a asociarse libremente es apoyado por enseñanza de la Iglesia con el fin de proteger a los trabajadores y moverlos, especialmente a los más jóvenes, mediante la orientación y el aprendizaje, hacia empleos decentes con salarios justos.
Compartimos un hogar común como parte de una grande y única familia, para que la dignidad de los trabajadores, la estabilidad de las familias y el estado de salud de las comunidades estén todas interconectadas. ¿Cómo podemos avanzar la obra de Dios, en las palabras del salmista, “hace justicia a los oprimidos y da de comer a los hambrientos, [y] da libertad a los cautivos” (Salmo 146:7)?
Estas preguntas son difíciles de hacer, pero hay que hacerlas. La reflexión y acción individual es fundamental. Tenemos la necesidad de una profunda conversión de corazón en todos los niveles de nuestra vida. Examinemos nuestras opciones, y demandemos para nosotros mismos, y de otro espíritus de gratitud, auténtica relación y una verdadera inquietud.
Que Dios bendiga la obra de nuestras manos, corazones y mentes.

Labor Day highlights struggle for justice

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By Bishop Joseph Kopacz
Families have been receiving a lot of attention recently in the Catholic World. The Extraordinary Synod on the family will reconvene in the Fall, and during the traditional Wednesday audience at Saint Peter’s, Pope Francis is offering a catechesis on the family. In his encyclical, Laudato Si’, Pope Francis teaches that of all the groups that play a role in the welfare of society and help ensure respect for human dignity, “outstanding among [them] is the family, as the basic cell of society” (no. 157).
Therefore, this Labor Day, we have the opportunity to reflect on how dignified work with a living wage is critical to helping our families and our greater society thrive. In Laudato Si Pope Francis teaches that Labor should allow the worker to develop and flourish as a person. Work also must provide the means for families to prosper. “Work is a necessity, part of the meaning of life on this earth, a path to growth, human development and personal fulfillment” (no. 128). Dignity-filled work and the fruits of that labor nourish families, communities and the common good.
Last year Pope Francis canonized Saint John XXIII and Saint John Paul II. Both made immense contributions to the social teaching of the Church on the dignity of labor and its importance to human flourishing. St. John Paul II called work “probably the essential key to the whole social question” (Laborem Exercens, No. 3).  St. John XXIII stressed workers are “entitled to a wage that is determined in accordance with the precepts of justice” (Pacem in Terris, No. 20).
It is evident for those who have eyes to see that capitalism has reaped enormous benefits since our nation’s founding.  Many have a standard of living that is unimaginable in many parts of the world, that is due in large part to the natural resources of our great land, the liberty rooted in our constitution, entrepreneurship, creative genius, hard work and the desire to have a better life for our children. On the other hand, it is a checkered story when we consider the effects of unbridled greed, the Achilles heel of Capitalism. The environment too often has been pillaged and plundered, men and women have been crushed beneath the wheel, to borrow a phrase from the author, Herman Hesse, and poverty remains intractable in too many communities in our nation.
Each generation must recommit itself to a society that is more just and compassionate, at least if we are going to claim that we are part of God’s plan, furthering the divine mandate as co-workers on the earth, the jewel of creation. Is there any question that families in America are struggling today? Too many marriages bear the crushing weight of unpredictable schedules from multiple jobs, which make impossible adequate time for nurturing children, faith, and community.. Millions of children live in or near poverty in this country. Many of them are latch key kids, returning to empty homes every day as their working parents struggle to make ends meet. Moreover, couples intentionally delay marriage, as unemployment and substandard work make a vision of stable family life difficult to see.
Archbishop Thomas Wenski of Miami in his Labor Day Statement on behalf of the USCCB paints the following troubling picture: “The unemployment rate has declined, yet much of that is due to people simply giving up looking for a job, not because they have found full-time work. Do the majority of jobs provide sufficient wages, retirement benefits, stability or family security. Far too many families are stringing together part-time jobs to pay the bills. Opportunities for younger workers are in serious decline. The unemployment rate for young adults in America, at more than 13 percent, is more than double the national average (6.2 percent).  There are twice as many unemployed job seekers as there are available jobs, and that does not include the seven million part-time workers who want to work full-time. Millions more, especially the long-term unemployed, are discouraged and dejected.”
When the dignity of the person and the stability of families are strong motivators, and not greed, or an unsustainable profit margin, or the pressure from stockholders, points of light can endure, even in tough times. I was a pastor in the Pocono area of the Diocese of Scranton when the last recession hit hard.
One of the parishioners, a business owner, with a workforce of a couple of dozen men, shared with me in conversation that it was a struggle to secure sufficient contracts to keep his men working, but that was his primary goal. God had blessed him and he had sufficient wealth to live with confidence, as he reflected, and even if his business’s margin of profit took a big hit, he was going to make sure that his men could work and take care of their families.
He trusted that the economic downturn would come around. His trust was rooted in God and the dignity of the person. This ethic for living is a rarity in large businesses and multinational corporations, and this is what Pope Francis describes as the devil’s dung of capitalism in his recent visit to Ecuador, when profit obliterates the dignity of the human person.
Our challenge this Labor Day is to rise to the challenge of solidarity posed by Jesus when he commanded, “Love one another. As I have loved you, so you also should love one another” (Jn 13:34).
The Catechism of the Catholic Church teaches, “Socio-economic problems can be resolved only with the help of all the forms of solidarity: solidarity of the poor among themselves, between rich and poor, of workers among themselves, between employers and employees in a business, solidarity among nations and peoples” (No. 1941). Since each of us is made in the image of God and bound by His love, possessing a profound human dignity, we have an obligation to love and honor that dignity in one another, and especially in our work.
At their best, labor unions and institutions like them embody solidarity and subsidiarity while advancing the common good. They help workers “not only have more, but above all be more… [and] realize their humanity more fully in every respect” (Laborem Exercens, No. 20).
Yes, unions and worker associations are imperfect, as are all human institutions. But the right of workers to freely associate is supported by Church teaching in order to protect workers and move them – especially younger ones, through mentoring and apprenticeships–into decent jobs with just wages.
We share one common home as part of a larger, single family, so the dignity of workers, the stability of families, and the health of communities are all intertwined. How can we advance God’s work, in the words of the Psalmist, as he “secures justice for the oppressed, gives food to the hungry, [and] sets captives free” (Ps 146:7)?
These are difficult questions to ask, yet we must ask them. Individual reflection and action is critical. We are in need of a profound conversion of heart at all levels of our lives. Let us examine our choices, and demand for ourselves, and of one another spirits of gratitude, authentic relationship, and true concern.
May God bless the work of our hands, hearts, and minds.

Nature of desire part of God’s plan

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IN EXILE
By Father Ron Rolheiser, OMI
An American humorist was once asked what he loved most in life. This was his reply: I love women best; whiskey next; my neighbor a little; and God hardly at all!
This flashed in my mind recently when, while giving a lecture, a woman asked this question: Why did God build us in one way and then almost all of the time expect us to act in a way contrary to our instincts? I knew what she meant. Our natural instincts and spontaneous desires generally seem at odds with that towards which they are supposedly directed, namely, God and eternal life.  A religious perspective, it would seem, calls us to reverse the order described by that American humorist, that is, we’re to love God first, our neighbor just as deeply, and then accord to the human pleasures we are so naturally drawn to a very subordinate role. But that’s not what happens most of the time. Generally we are drawn, and drawn very powerfully, towards the things of this earth: other people, pleasure, beautiful objects, sex, money, comfort. These seemingly have a more-powerful grip on us than do the things of faith and religion.
Doesn’t this then put our natural feelings at odds with how God intended us to feel and act? Why are we, seemingly, built in one way and then called to live in another way?
The question is a good one and, unfortunately, is often answered in a manner that merely deepens the quandary. Often we are simply told that we shouldn’t feel this way, that not putting God and religious things first in our feelings is a religious and moral fault, as if our natural wiring was somehow all wrong and we were responsible for its flaw. But that answer is both simplistic and harmful, it misunderstands God’s design, lays a guilt-trip on us, and has us feeling bipolar vis-à-vis our natural make-up and the demands of faith.
How do we reconcile the seeming incongruity between our natural make-up and God’s intent for us?
We need to understand human instinct and human desire at a deeper level. We might begin with St. Augustine’s memorable phrase: You have made us for yourself, Lord, and our hearts are restless until they rest in you. When we analyze our natural makeup, natural instincts, and natural desires more deeply, we see that all of these ultimately are drawing us beyond the more-immediate things and pleasures with which they appear to be obsessed. They are drawing us, persistently and unceasingly, towards God.
Karl Rahner, in trying to explain this, makes a distinction between what we desire explicitly and what we desire implicitly. Our instincts and natural desires draw us towards various explicit things: love for another person, friendship with someone, a piece of art or music, a vacation, a movie, a good meal, a sexual encounter, an achievement that brings us honor, a sporting event, and countless other things that, on the surface at least, would seem to have nothing to do with God and are seemingly drawing our attention away from God. But, as Rahner shows, and as is evident in our experience, in every one of those explicit desires there is present, implicitly, beneath the desire and as the deepest part of that desire, the longing for and pursuit of something deeper. Ultimately we are longing for the depth that grounds every person and object, God.  To cite one of Rahner’s more graphic examples, a man obsessed with sexual desire who seeks out a prostitute is, implicitly, seeking the bread of life, irrespective of his crass surface intent.
God didn’t make a mistake in designing human desire. God’s intent is written into very DNA of desire. Ultimately our make-up directs us towards God, no matter how obsessive, earthy, lustful, and pagan a given desire might appear on a given day. Human nature is not at odds with the call of faith, not at all.
Moreover, those powerful instincts within our nature, which can seem so selfish and amoral at times, have their own moral intelligence and purpose, they protect us, make us reach out for what keeps us alive, and, not least, ensure that the human race keeps perpetuating itself. Finally, God also put those earthy instincts in us to pressure us to enjoy life and taste its pleasures – while God, like a loving old grandparent watching her children at play, remains happy just to see her children’s delight in the moment, knowing that there will be time enough ahead when pain and frustration will force those desires to focus on some deeper things.
When we analyze more deeply God’s design for human nature and understand ourselves more deeply within that design, we realize that, at a level deeper than spontaneous feeling, and at a level deeper than the wisecracks we make about ourselves, we in fact do love God best; love our neighbor quite a bit; and, very happily, love whiskey and the pleasures of life quite a bit as well.
(Oblate Father Ron Rolheiser, theologian, teacher and award-winning author, is President of the Oblate School of Theology in San Antonio, TX.)

Christian response to same-sex marriage

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Guest Column
By Deacon Jason Johnston
The Supreme Court’s ruling in Obergefell v. Hodges draws Christians into a conflict. Our faith tells us that Marriage has a definition that is unchangeable, instituted in the beginning by God and confirmed and made new as one of the seven sacraments of the Church by Jesus Christ Himself.
However, many of us know someone in our life who has same-sex attraction or is living the gay lifestyle and we want them to be happy. This issue is very close to home and can be very emotional.
It is important for us to see this decision and its consequences in the context of religious freedom. The fear is that the conflict is between our religious liberty and what the Supreme Court has now defined as basic human rights. However, the Church has been in the midst of conflict before and we will be here again.
We Christians should not react, we should respond.  But how do we respond? I propose that we respond in three ways.
1)  We should listen.
2)  We should love.
3)  We should uphold our beliefs and help guide others toward the truth.
First, we must listen. This is most essential. We should listen to what the Church has to say to us. She wants what is good for us, and for each of us to find the love of Christ, and ultimately our salvation.
Listen to the stories of the struggles and the suffering.  Hear an opinion different from our own. Allow those around us to be heard. Because, if we do not listen, no one will listen to us.
It has been pointed out that there is a real difference in an empty sentimentality of emotion and true compassion. Compassion is from the Latin, cum passio, which means to suffer with. We should allow ourselves to be affected by the struggles of our brothers and sisters. This is exactly what Jesus did when He took on flesh and sin and became one of us and died for us on the cross. How many of us suffer in so many ways? How many of us have darknesses and struggles and anxieties and sufferings in our life?
Ultimately, the Church understands the human person, and that many of us struggle. Paul struggled with a thorn in his flesh and it was in his weakness that he realized his own need and his own dependence on God and it was there that he found strength. “For when I am weak, then I am strong.” Paul is like so many of us who struggle, who have something bearing on our hearts, or our minds, or in our physical bodies, but these struggles bring us closer to God, if we allow God in.
Pope Francis said recently, “We must lend our ears…so as to be permeated by the joys and hopes (of the people of today), by their sadness and distress, at which time we will know how to propose the good news of the family with credibility.” We must listen.
Secondly, we should respond with love. Thomas Aquinas said to love is to will the good of the other. As Christians, we are to love everybody, regardless. And that love will be a sign of who we are and who we have chosen to be: true followers of Christ, unwaveringly committed to the dignity of every human person and the respect that he or she deserves. We must never be unwelcoming, or alienating, and we especially may never hate or give in to hate-mongering.
It might be good for you to invite your friends with same-sex attractions, or any of your friends who are open to God’s grace. We want everyone who is seeking true happiness to be introduced to the heart of Christ in His Church.
Finally, we uphold what is true and we gently guide those who seek the truth back to it.  St. John Paul II said, “The Church never imposes what it believes, but rather, freely proposes it ceaselessly.” We have to do it in a gentle and attractive way, infused with the Love of Christ. We will be rejected, just like Jesus was rejected in His own hometown of Nazareth. But we must get back up and proclaim Christ, and Him crucified.
Many of us in this country are divided on this issue and many of us in the Church are divided on this issue. There is a weakness here, but these weaknesses are giving us opportunities to discuss, to learn, to evangelize, and to love. “For when I am weak, then I am strong.”
(Deacon Jason Johnston serves in the Catholic Community of Meridian, St. Joseph and St. Patrick. This column first appeared in the Meridian Star as a guest column August 2.)

Schools embrace Jubilee Year of Mercy

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Forming our Future
By Margaret Anzelmo
This year in the Diocese of Jackson schools, we are TEAMing Up for Catholic Education, with TEAM as an acronym for Teaching Everyone About Mercy. This diocesan-wide theme is two-fold. The theme incorporates Pope Francis’ Jubilee Year of Mercy and also the theme for this year’s Catechetical Sunday “Safeguarding the Dignity of Every Human Person” into a focus in each school for religious instruction, faith formation and social justice. In addition, the theme demonstrates an outward commitment to our individual schools, to the students and families within them, to our diocese and to Catholic education.
According to Archbishop Rino Fisichella, one of the intentions of this Year of Mercy will be to encourage Christians to meet people’s needs in tangible ways. The logo for the Year of Mercy is Jesus as the Good Shepherd with a person, or a lost soul, over His shoulders. Similarly, Catechetical Sunday is an opportunity to reflect on the role that each person plays, by virtue of Baptism, in passing on our Catholic faith and being a witness to the Gospel.
As Catholic schools, these principles are evident on each campus regardless of any current theme or Jubilee; however, this year the principles are being carried out explicitly and intentionally so that each of us involved in Catholic education, whether our role is as student, educator, or leader, can recognize the part he or she plays in Teaching Everyone About Mercy. A few ways that the schools in the Catholic Diocese of Jackson are incorporating the TEAM theme are:
Greenwood St. Francis School created a school wide goal that states: “At St. Francis School We Strive to…. Encourage all to live in a hope which is nourished by mercy. We work toward this goal by: teaching love in action; helping all to steadily develop a healthy sense of self esteem; daily reading the Scriptures as the source of our hope and the foundation of our practice of mercy and promoting respect throughout the day in many ways.”
Clarksdale St. Elizabeth School is emphasizing the dictionary definition of mercy, “Kindness beyond what can be claimed or expected or more kindness than justice requires,” as the driving force behind several social justice and service projects, such as: bringing canned goods each Thursday to school Mass to donate to a food pantry; sending cards to shut-ins within the parish;  collecting and sending soda can tabs to St. Jude Children’s Hospita and collecting bread for soup kitchens on the feast of St. Elizabeth of Hungary.
Columbus Annunciation School has a banner in the school cafeteria which displays the TEAM acronym as a reminder for their school community. Teachers worked with this theme prior to the start of school through use of the Pope’s Prayer of Mercy and other mercy prayers and by developing a list of how they can show mercy as a staff. The school also has incorporated the concept of mercy into their classroom management plans and into a school prayer service, where students brainstormed ways their school community could show mercy.
Meridian St. Patrick School began their year with a staff retreat led by Fran Lavelle, Director of Faith Formation for the Diocese of Jackson. The retreat focused on the Jubilee Year of Mercy and its incorporation into the diocesan theme. A school wide slogan of “Team Shamrock” and a focus on service learning and virtues is making the theme come to life for all of the school community.
Jackson St. Richard School has incorporated the TEAM theme into a school-wide slogan, Team Cardinal. This slogan is being used in hallway displays, on t-shirts, and as the theme for the school’s annual CardinalFest this fall. The theme is also being emphasized during Catechesis of the Good Shepherd classes, during classroom religion classes, and during school Masses.
Madidon St. Joseph School is tying the TEAM theme into their new emphasis on STREAM (Science, Technology, Religion, Engineering, Art, and Mathematics), which they are calling “STREAMs of Mercy.” As teachers work together across departments to write STREAM units of instruction, they connect each unit to a particular area of social justice so that students are learning academic content through real life applications as they engineer solutions to actual social justice issues in their community.
(Margaret Anzelmo is the coordinator for academic excellence for Catholic Schools in the Diocese of Jackson)