Category Archives: Columnists

Recibiendo nuevo crecimiento en Semana Santa

Posted on by
Reply

Por Obispo Joseph Kopacz
Desde el sepulcro vacío hasta cada círculo ilimitado del amor de Dios vivo en el corazón de los creyentes, es el milagro de la resurrección del Señor a nuestro alrededor. Este es el Cuerpo de Cristo, la iglesia, dos billones en un mundo de siete billones de personas. De una fascinante manera, el cuerpo del Señor en este mundo se compara al universo en el que nuestro planeta es una minúscula mota. La creación y la iglesia continúan creciendo a un ritmo acelerado.
La proclamación del evangelio se ha expandido y acelerado en los últimos decenios debido al repentino impacto de los medios sociales y del internet. Es más, la migración de decenas de millones de personas del campo a la ciudad en muchos países permite que el evangelio llegue a muchos más de ellos.
Sin embargo, el crecimiento en el Cuerpo de Cristo se produce constantemente en las comunidades cristianas de todo el mundo como la buena usanza antigua, de persona a persona y de familia a familia.
Durante la celebración de la Vigilia Pascual muchas de nuestras parroquias locales y en las parroquias de toda la Iglesia Católica universal, le dieron la bienvenida a los elegidos y a los candidatos a la plena comunión a través de los sacramentos de iniciación, el bautismo, la confirmación y la Comunión.
Cada una de las personas que se acercó y afirmó, “Creo en Jesucristo, crucificado y resucitado de entre los muertos”, se convirtió en una parte del creciente círculo del amor de Dios. En la liturgia de la Vigilia Pascual del Sábado Santo en la catedral, participamos en la alegría del Señor con tres nuevos bautizados y en general, 14 fueron iniciados plenamente en la comunidad parroquial.
Para muchos de los catecúmenos, los candidatos, sus padrinos y patrocinadores, estos son momentos de cambio en sus vida. Su respuesta a la llamada del Señor, la mayoría de las veces mediante el ejemplo y la invitación de amigos y familiares, es una fuente de renovación para nosotros, la tradicional familia católica. Su fervor y alegría pueden ser contagiosas para nosotros, renovando nuestro entusiasmo para vivir las Buenas Noticias.
Sin embargo, también sabemos por experiencia que la expansión de la iglesia también experimenta la pérdida de sus miembros. No es necesario mirar más allá de nuestros familiares, vecinos y amigos para ver que en muchos de los cuales la semilla y el don de la fe se plantaron se han marchitado por la falta de participación activa. Racionalmente, sabemos que esto es inevitable, sobre todo entre los católicos de cuna, pero cuando es alguien cercano a nosotros puede ser una inquietante y triste realidad.
Las tentaciones y los obstáculos que pueden destruir o frenar la semilla de la fe fueron identificados por Jesús en su parábola del sembrador y la semilla en los Evangelios de Mateo, Marcos y Lucas. La semilla que cae en el camino y es pisoteada representa el espíritu del mundo, con todos sus negocios y distracciones que agarran la semilla de la vida. O lo que es peor, como dice Jesús, es el espíritu del Maligno, que sin cesar está tratando de destruir el don de la fe.
La semilla que cae en suelo rocoso no es capaz de penetrar profundamente en la tierra y vive en precariedad, y cuando el sufrimiento o la persecución por causa del nombre de Jesús viene a llamar, el discípulo tambaleante a menudo se aleja. El sufrimiento o la persecución pueden fortalecer nuestra fe y nuestro amor por el Señor, especialmente en su cruz, pero esto requiere raíces profundas.
Además, la semilla que cae entre espinos tiene un gran riesgo porque a medida que el crecimiento ocurre el hostil entorno sofoca la planta. Jesús habló de estos obstáculos o amenazas como la ansiedad o el miedo, o la seducción de las riquezas y el placer que abundan en nuestro mundo material. Aparte de la fe y su compañero la moral, muchas personas se van a la deriva.
Sin embargo, la semilla cae en buena tierra, y podemos ver la cosecha de 30, o 60, o el ciento por uno. Esta es una gran retribución por el tiempo que invertimos porque es la obra del Señor que no puede ser superada en generosidad. Esta es la sangre y el agua que brotó de su costado en la cruz, representados en la imagen de la Divina Misericordia fluyendo del lado de Cristo, que nosotros conocemos como la visión comunicada a la Hermana Faustina.
En la víspera del Domingo de la Divina Misericordia, el Papa Francisco declaró el Año Santo de la Misericordia que comenzará a finales de este año, un año de gracia del Señor, que abre la puerta al perdón y a la reconciliación en nuestras vidas. A medida que avanzamos en el 2015, como una iglesia esta será nuestra oración, y esta será nuestra esperanza en preparación para el Año Santo de la Misericordia.
La sabiduría detrás del anuncio del papa es transparente. Él no está solamente rogando ardientemente por la renovación de la iglesia en todo el mundo a la luz de la muerte y resurrección del Señor, sino que también nos está inspirando a ser instrumentos de la Divina Misericordia de Dios por los perdidos y alejados. Jesucristo no tiene otro cuerpo ahora pero el de nosotros, y cuando el Señor sopló el don del Espíritu Santo sobre los Apóstoles en la primera Pascua y los envió al mundo en su nombre, él hace lo mismo por nosotros. “Como el Padre me ha enviado, así también los envío yo”. Recuerden que en la Última Cena, Jesús reveló el contenido de su mandato con la Eucaristía y el lavado de los pies: “Haced esto en memoria mía”, y “como yo lo he hecho, así lo deben hacer”.
Estas imágenes han sido marcadas en nuestra conciencia como cristianos católicos, y cada vez que las ponemos en práctica abrimos las puertas a lo sagrado, y a la misericordia divina. La evangelización fluye de la misericordia de Dios buscando a todas las personas.
El mensaje del Evangelio se está expandiendo y acelerando en todo el mundo, pero no está en piloto automático. La iglesia y sus miembros están envueltos en el plan de salvación de Dios, y es un constante trabajo de amor a fin de que el Reino de Dios, reino de la vida, de la justicia y la paz puedan ser una mayor realidad para todas las personas. Jesús dijo que fuéramos a todas las naciones, y el Papa Francisco, el sucesor de San Pedro, nos inspira a ir hacia aquellos que están en los márgenes, o que hemos marginado, con el fin de bendecir a cada persona con la misericordia y la paz de Dios. El mundo nunca puede aplastar, quemar o ahogar el don de la Misericordia Divina.
En efecto, el Señor ha resucitado del sepulcro, regocijémonos y alegrémonos, Aleluya..

Recibiendo nuevo crecimiento en Semana Santa

Posted on by
Reply

Por Obispo Joseph Kopacz
Desde el sepulcro vacío hasta cada círculo ilimitado del amor de Dios vivo en el corazón de los creyentes, es el milagro de la resurrección del Señor a nuestro alrededor. Este es el Cuerpo de Cristo, la iglesia, dos billones en un mundo de siete billones de personas. De una fascinante manera, el cuerpo del Señor en este mundo se compara al universo en el que nuestro planeta es una minúscula mota. La creación y la iglesia continúan creciendo a un ritmo acelerado.
La proclamación del evangelio se ha expandido y acelerado en los últimos decenios debido al repentino impacto de los medios sociales y del internet (www). Es más, la migración de decenas de millones de personas del campo a la ciudad en muchos países permite que el evangelio llegue a muchos más de ellos.
Sin embargo, el crecimiento en el Cuerpo de Cristo se produce constantemente en las comunidades cristianas de todo el mundo como la buena usanza antigua, de persona a persona y de familia a familia.
Durante la celebración de la Vigilia Pascual  muchas de nuestras parroquias locales y en las parroquias de toda la Iglesia Católica universal, le dieron la bienvenida a los elegidos y a los candidatos a la plena comunión a través de los sacramentos de iniciación, el bautismo, la confirmación y la Comunión.
Cada una de las personas que se acercó y afirmó, “Creo en Jesucristo, crucificado y resucitado de entre los muertos”, se convirtió en una parte del creciente círculo de amor de Dios. En la liturgia de la Vigilia Pascual del Sábado Santo en la catedral, participamos en la alegría del Señor con tres nuevos bautizados y en general, 14 fueron iniciados plenamente en la comunidad parroquial.
Para muchos de los catecúmenos, los candidatos, sus padrinos y patrocinadores, estos son momentos de cambio en sus vida. Su respuesta a la llamada del Señor, la mayoría de las veces mediante el ejemplo y la invitación de amigos y familiares, es una fuente de renovación para nosotros, la tradicional familia católica. Su fervor y alegría pueden ser contagiosas para nosotros, renovando nuestro entusiasmo para vivir las Buenas Noticias.
Sin embargo, también sabemos por experiencia que la expansión de la iglesia también experimenta la pérdida de sus miembros. No es necesario mirar más allá de nuestros familiares, vecinos y amigos para ver que en muchos de los cuales la semilla y el don de la fe se plantaron se han marchitado por la falta de participación activa. Racionalmente, sabemos que esto es inevitable, sobre todo entre los católicos de cuna, pero cuando es alguien cercano a nosotros puede ser una inquietante y triste realidad.
Las tentaciones y los obstáculos que pueden destruir o frenar la semilla de la fe fueron identificados por Jesús en su parábola del sembrador y la semilla en los Evangelios de Mateo, Marcos y Lucas. La semilla que cae en el camino y es pisoteada representa el espíritu del mundo, con todos sus negocios y distracciones que agarran la semilla de la vida. O lo que es peor, como dice Jesús, es el espíritu del Maligno, que sin cesar está tratando de destruir el don de la fe.
La semilla que cae en suelo rocoso no es capaz de penetrar profundamente en la tierra y vive en precariedad, y cuando el sufrimiento o la persecución por causa del nombre de Jesús viene a llamar, el discípulo tambaleante a menudo se aleja. El sufrimiento o la persecución pueden fortalecer nuestra fe y nuestro amor por el Señor, especialmente en su cruz, pero esto requiere raíces profundas.
Además, la semilla que cae entre espinos tiene un gran riesgo porque a medida que el crecimiento ocurre el hostil entorno sofoca la planta. Jesús habló de estos obstáculos o amenazas como la ansiedad o el miedo, o la seducción de las riquezas y el placer que abundan en nuestro mundo material. Aparte de la fe y su compañero la moral, muchas personas se van a la deriva.
Sin embargo, la semilla cae en buena tierra, y podemos ver la cosecha de 30, o 60, o el ciento por uno. Esta es una gran retribución por el tiempo que invertimos porque es la obra del Señor que no puede ser superada en generosidad. Esta es la sangre y el agua que brotó de su costado en la cruz, representados en la imagen de la Divina Misericordia fluyendo del lado de Cristo, que nosotros conocemos como la visión comunicada a la Hermana Faustina.
En la víspera del Domingo de la Divina Misericordia, el Papa Francisco declaró el Año Santo de la Misericordia que comenzará a finales de este año, un año de gracia del Señor, que abre la puerta al perdón y a la reconciliación en nuestras vidas. A medida que avanzamos en el 2015, como una iglesia ésta será nuestra oración, y esta será nuestra esperanza en preparación para el Año Santo de la Misericordia.
La sabiduría detrás del anuncio del papa es transparente. Él no está solamente rogando ardientemente por la renovación de la iglesia en todo el mundo a la luz de la muerte y resurrección del Señor, sino que también nos está inspirando a ser instrumentos de la Divina Misericordia de Dios por los perdidos y alejados.
Jesucristo no tiene otro cuerpo ahora pero el de nosotros, y cuando el Señor sopló el don del Espíritu Santo sobre los Apóstoles en la primera Pascua y los envió al mundo en su nombre, él hace lo mismo por nosotros. “Como el Padre me ha enviado, así también los envío yo”. Recuerden que en la Última Cena, Jesús reveló el contenido de su mandato con la Eucaristía y el lavado de los pies: “Haced esto en memoria mía”, y “como yo lo he hecho, así lo deben hacer”.
Estas imágenes han sido marcadas en nuestra conciencia como cristianos católicos, y cada vez que las ponemos en práctica abrimos las puertas a lo sagrado, y a la misericordia divina. La evangelización fluye de la misericordia de Dios buscando a todas las personas.
El mensaje del Evangelio se está expandiendo y acelerando en todo el mundo, pero no está en piloto automático. La iglesia y sus miembros están envueltos en el plan de salvación de Dios, y es un constante trabajo de amor a fin de que el Reino de Dios, reino de la vida, de la justicia y la paz puedan ser una mayor realidad para todas las personas. Jesús dijo que fuéramos a todas las naciones, y el Papa Francisco, el sucesor de San Pedro, nos inspira a ir hacia aquellos que están en los márgenes de la sociedad, o que hemos marginado, con el fin de bendecir a cada persona con la misericordia y la paz de Dios. El mundo nunca puede aplastar, quemar o ahogar el don de la Misericordia Divina.
En efecto, el Señor ha resucitado del sepulcro, regocijémonos y alegrémonos, Aleluya.

Welcoming new growth at Easter

Posted on by
Reply

By Bishop Joseph Kopacz
From the empty tomb to the ever widening circle of God’s love alive in the hearts of believers, the miracle of the Lord’s resurrection is all around us. This is the Body of Christ, the Church, two billion in a world of 7 billion people. In a spellbinding way the Lord’s body in this world parallels the universe in which our planet is a miniscule speck. Creation and the church continue to expand at an accelerating pace.
The proclamation of the gospel has expanded and accelerated in recent decades due to the sudden far reaching impact of social media and the World Wide Web.  Moreover, the migration of tens of millions of people from the countryside to the city in many countries allows the gospel to reach so many more.
Yet, growth in the Body of Christ steadily occurs the good old fashioned way, person-by-person, family-by-family, in Christian communities throughout the world. Many of our local parishes, and parishes everywhere in the universal Catholic Church, welcomed the elect and the candidates into full communion through the sacraments of initiation, Baptism, Confirmation, and Communion during the Easter Vigil celebration.
Every person who stepped forward to say, I believe in Jesus Christ, crucified and risen from the dead, became a part of the ever widening circle of God’s love. At the Holy Saturday Easter Vigil liturgy at the Cathedral, we shared in the joy of the Lord with three newly baptized, and overall, 14 were fully initiated into the parish community.
These are life-changing moments for many of the catechumens and candidates, and their godparents and sponsors. Their response to the Lord’s call, most often through the example and invitation of friends and family, is a source of renewal for us, the traditional Catholic family. Their zeal and joy can be infectious for us, renewing our enthusiasm for living the Good News.
However, we also know from experience that the ever-expanding church also experiences the attrition of its members. It is not necessary to look beyond our family, neighbors and friends to see that many in whom the seed and gift of faith were planted have withered for lack of active participation.
Rationally, we know that this is inevitable, especially among cradle Catholics, but when it is someone close to us it can be a troubling and sad reality.
The temptations and obstacles that can destroy or stunt the seeds of faith were identified by Jesus in his parable of the Sower and the Seed in the Gospels of Matthew, Mark, and Luke.
The seed that falls on the path and gets trampled represents the spirit of the world with all of its business and distractions that snatch the seed of life away. Or worse, as Jesus says, it is the spirit of the Evil One who relentlessly is seeking to destroy the gift of faith. The seed that falls on rocky ground is not capable of penetrating deeply into the soil and lives in precariousness so that when suffering or persecution for the sake of the name of Jesus comes knocking, the shaky disciple often falls away. Suffering or persecution can strengthen our faith and love for the Lord, especially in his Cross, but this requires deep roots.
In addition, the seed that falls among thorns is at great risk because as the growth occurs the hostile environment chokes the plant.  Jesus spoke of these obstacles or threats as anxiety or fear, or the lure of riches and pleasure that abound in our material world. Apart from faith and its companion morality, many people are set adrift.
Yet, the seed does fall upon good ground, and we see the harvest of 30, or 60, or a hundredfold. This is a great return for the time we invest because it is the work of the Lord who cannot be outdone in generosity. This is the blood and water that flowed from his side on the Cross, portrayed in the image of Divine Mercy flowing from the side of Christ which we know as the vision communicated to Sister Faustina.
On the eve of Divine Mercy Sunday, Pope Francis declared a Holy Year of Mercy to begin later this year, a year of favor from the Lord which opens the door to forgiveness and reconciliation in our lives. As we move deeper into 2015, as a Church this will be our prayer, and this will be our hope in preparation for the Holy Year of Mercy.
The wisdom behind the Pope’s announcement is transparent. He is not only ardently praying for the renewal of the Church throughout the world in light of the Lord’s death and resurrection, but he is also inspiring us to be instruments of God’s Divine Mercy for the lost and fallen away.
Jesus Christ has no body now but ours, and as the Lord bequeathed the gift of the Holy Spirit to his Apostles on the first Easter and sent them into the world in His name, he does the same for us. “As the Father has sent me, so I send you.”
Recall at the Last Supper, Jesus revealed the substance of his mandate with the Eucharist and the washing of feet: “Do this in memory of me,” and “as I have done, so you must do.” These images have been branded into our consciousness as Catholic Christians, and whenever we put them into practice we open the doors to the sacred, and to divine mercy. Evangelization flows out of the mercy of God seeking all people.
The Gospel message is expanding and accelerating throughout the world, but it is not on automatic pilot. The Church and her members are caught up in God’s plan of salvation, and it is a steady labor of love in order that the Kingdom of God, a realm of life, justice, and peace can be a greater reality for all people.
Jesus said to go out to all the nations, and Pope Francis, the successor of Saint Peter, inspires us to go to those who are on the margins, or whom we have marginalized, in order to bless every person with God’s mercy and peace. The world can never trample, scorch or choke the gift of Divine Mercy.
Indeed, the Lord is risen from the tomb, let us rejoice and be glad, Alleluia.

Prisoners suffer when prisons profit

Posted on by
Reply

Millennial Reflections
By Father Jeremy Tobin, OPraem
On Friday, March 20, Governor Phil Bryant’s Task Force on Prison Procurement held a hearing at the Woolfolk Building in Jackson. Among its members was Constance Slaughter Harvey, the first African-American woman to get a law degree from Ole Miss. She is a member of Forest St. Michael Parish.
She filed the suit against the Mississippi Department of Corrections (MDOC) demanding reform at Parchman in July 1971, when it was notorious for inhumane conditions. She sees the same conditions at Walnut Grove. Since the hearing at the Woolfolk Building she visited Walnut Grove and said, “The conditions have changed but there remains a long way to go to humanize this institution.”
The Chris Epps scandal, in which former prison commissioner Chris Epps admitted to benefitting from a wide-ranging bribery scheme, caused a group of concerned clergy, across denominational lines to come together as Clergy for Prison Reform (CPR). The recent column by Rev. C. J. Rhodes, representing CPR and Bishop Joseph Kopacz’ column stating the Catholic bishops position around private for profit prisons, and the full page piece in the following issue of Mississippi Catholic by editor Maureen Smith, tell us that this is a “front burner issue.”
The issue of private for profit prisons making money and dividends for shareholders from the misfortune of a segment of the population is being contested. To make a profit these companies sign agreements with state and federal governments to efficiently run prisons, and save the governing entities money, with the promise to fill 90 percent or better bed space. Further, these companies have powerful state and national lobbies pushing for new laws that create more crimes in order to lock up more people in their prisons. The private prison lobby is behind the harshest anti-immigrant legislation being pushed in several state houses.
We, of CPR, say that this is immoral.
Private prisons are run on the cheap. Their goal is profit, period. This puts staff and inmates at serious risk. Any way they can cut corners, they do. Insufficient, or no programs, poor quality of food, low pay for staff and long hours are recipes for corruption, unrest and rioting.
MDOC is seeking to terminate the consent decree to reform Walnut Grove. I represented CPR during the hearings before Judge Carleton Reeves on April 1-2. A senior vice-president of MTC, Management and Training Corp, the Utah based company that runs Walnut Grove and East Mississippi Correctional Facility, Marjorie Brown, when asked by SPLC attorney Jody Owens if she has stock in MTC, replied “Yes.” When further asked if more inmates are housed do her dividends go up based on increased profit, she agreed.
As the testimony proceeded, Brown, with more than 30 years in corrections, still maintained that Walnut Grove could safely handle an increased population, despite their number going down to 900 plus as a result of two major riots in less than a year. From a pure profit driven business sense her reply is expected, despite the egregious mismanagement that now involves the court.
These hearings illustrate all that is bad with private for profit prisons. Reduction in crime is bad for business. Conditions in these prisons create a black market for contraband of every kind. Steve Martin, the court appointed monitor at Walnut Grove said, “It can take years to institutionalize the systemic changes needed to show long term success.”
Those of us who oppose private for profit prisons on moral grounds say this is a systemic evil impacting the poor and marginalized on several levels. To list a few: legislation to invent more crimes, anti-immigrant legislation that targets and discriminates largely Hispanics, targeting and over-policing in African-American communities, and the mass incarceration of black men, that creates a “new Jim Crow.”
The number of disenfranchised ex-offenders are rivaling conditions from years past. If 40 percent of a community are disenfranchised ex-offenders, that is 40 percent of a community unable to exercise the right to vote. For profit prisons make money out of poverty and discrimination.
(Father Jeremy Tobin, O.Praem, lives at the Priory of St. Moses the Black, Jackson.)

Parents can start now to ease upcoming fall school transitions

Posted on by
Reply

Forming our Future
By Bridget Martin
The spring semester generates excitement in our middle school students. The energy in a middle school is electrifying this time of year. End of the year activities keep everyone busy. The group of middle school students producing the greatest amount of energy and excitement is the class embarking on the transition into high school.
Students practice transitions all of the time in school. Some transitions are small like moving from one learning center to another in a classroom. Other transitions are bigger like moving from one grade to the next.
One of the largest transitions for children may be transitioning from middle school into high school. This transition ignites an enthusiasm and strikes a fear in young teens and parents alike. The thought of a new school, new teachers, new friends, and new expectations elicits a range of emotions all at one time.
Interestingly enough, both parents and students feel the same pressure before the transition to high school. I recently asked eighth grade students in my school what concerns them most about transitioning to high school. Then I asked their parents the same question. Students worry whether or not they will make friends. Parents worry about the type of friends they will make in high school. Students worry about the clubs they will join while parents worry about the cost of the clubs. Both were equally concerned about the academic rigor of high school.
Families can be proactive in planning steps to ease the transition to high school. Parents and students need to take steps to prepare for a shift in the types of interactions they have with schools. Researching the programs of a school is important to find the best activities for your child. Parents and students should plan a visit to the high school campus. Some schools require interviews and placement tests while others do not have entrance requirements.
Participation in school orientation sessions provides opportunities to explore the campus and learn expectations. Young teens may appear uninterested in these activities, but only because they are trying to camouflage their nervousness.
Parents and students feel more confident on the first day of class if they know the layout of the campus, expectations of the day, and a familiar face or two. Proper preparation is vital to creating a smooth transition from middle school to high school.
Involvement in high school activities connects students to the school community. One reason high school is exciting is there are so many new opportunities. Activities and clubs provide important academic and social enrichment. Students need a peer group for support during their challenging high school years.
A well-rounded resume that includes participation in various activities and clubs strengthens a student’s applications for college admission and scholarships. Parental encouragement and support promote student participation.
High school brings a new level of academic and social independence for students. This is a difficult adjustment for both parents and students. Parental involvement is still important in high school but the type of involvement is different from elementary and middle school involvement.
Parents more than likely will not continue to assist in classrooms, attend field trips or drive the carpool. Rather, they do need to become a coach for their children on how to appropriately handle situations with teachers independently. Parental support for independence creates a pathway for a student’s success.
Setting expectations for academic progress and social behavior prior to transitioning to high school may alleviate problems in the future. Encouraging students to take responsibility for their own academic growth is important. Students need the self-confidence to take the initiative for seeking help with complicated assignments and in gathering missing assignments. Learning to manage time and accept responsibility is a skill they will use in college and in the work force. While parents should monitor academic progress, it is now time for students to take charge of their own academic affairs.
The transition into high school generates social independence. High school brings together a large cross section of society. Students have more exposure to lifestyle choices. When parents clearly and continually set social expectations by engaging their children in conversations about social responsibility and values, students are more often able to make positive choices.
They must truly understand the value of social justice and responsibility to understand the consequences of their choices.
The promotion from middle school to high school is a milestone for students and parents. This is one of the first transitional moments students clearly understand and remember. The combination of excitement and fear are natural feelings during times of new beginnings. Properly preparing students to handle this transition will be a skill used many times in their lives.
(Bridget Martin is the principal of Southaven Sacred Heart School)

Find resurrection in return to discipleship

Posted on by
Reply

IN EXILE
By Father Ron Rolheiser, OMI
Something there is that needs a crucifixion. Everything that’s good eventually gets scapegoated and crucified. How? By that curious, perverse dictate somehow innate within human life that assures that there’s always someone or something that cannot leave well enough alone, but, for reasons of its own, must hunt down and lash out at what’s good. What’s good, what’s of God, will always at some point be misunderstood, envied, hated, pursued, falsely accused, and eventually nailed to some cross.
Every body of Christ inevitably suffers the same fate as Jesus: death through misunderstanding, ignorance and jealousy.
But there’s a flipside as well: Resurrection always eventually trumps crucifixion. What’s good eventually triumphs. Thus, while nothing that’s of God will avoid crucifixion, no body of Christ stays in the tomb for long. God always rolls back the stone and, soon enough, new life bursts forth and we see why that original life had to be crucified. (“Wasn’t it necessary that the Christ should so have to suffer and die?”) Resurrection invariably follows crucifixion. Every crucified body will rise again. Our hope takes its root in that.
But how does this happen? Where do we see the resurrection? How do we experience resurrection after a crucifixion?
Scripture is subtle, though clear, on this. Where can we expect to experience resurrection? The gospels tell us that, on the morning of the resurrection, the women-followers of Jesus set out for the tomb of Jesus, carrying spices, expecting to anoint and embalm a dead body. Well-intentioned but misguided, what they find is not a body, but an empty tomb and an angel challenging them with these words: “Why are you looking for the living among the dead? Go instead into Galilee and you will find him there!”
Go instead into Galilee. Why Galilee? What’s Galilee? And how do we get there?
In the gospels, Galilee is not simply a geographical location, a place on a map. It is first of all a place in the heart. As well, Galilee refers to the dream and to the road of discipleship that the disciples once walked with Jesus and to that place and time when their hearts most burned with hope and enthusiasm. And now, after the crucifixion, just when they feel that the dream is dead, that their faith is only fantasy, they are told to go back to the place where it all began: “Go back to Galilee. He will meet you there!”
And they do go back to Galilee, both to the geographical location and to that special place in their hearts where once burned the dream of discipleship. And just as promised, Jesus appears to them. He doesn’t appear exactly as he was before, or as frequently as they would like him to, but he does appear as more than a ghost and a memory.
The Christ that appears to them after the resurrection is in a different modality, but he’s physical enough to eat fish in their presence, real enough to be touched as a human being, and powerful enough to change their lives forever. Ultimately that’s what the resurrection asks us to do: To go back to Galilee, to return to the dream, hope, and discipleship that had once inflamed us but has now been lost through disillusionment.
This parallels what happens on the road to Emmaus in Luke’s gospel, where we are told that on the day of the resurrection, two disciples were walking away from Jerusalem towards Emmaus, with their faces downcast. An entire spirituality could be unpackaged from that simple line: For Luke, Jerusalem means the dream, the hope, and the religious centre from which all is to begin and where ultimately, all is to culminate.
And the disciples are “walking away” from this place, away from their dream, towards Emmaus (Emmaus was a Roman Spa), a place of human comfort, a Las Vegas, or Monte Carlo. Since their dream has been crucified, the disciples are understandably discouraged and are walking away from it, towards some human solace, despairing in their hope: “But we had hoped!”
They never get to Emmaus. Jesus appears to them on the road, reshapes their hope in the light of their disillusionment, and turns them back towards Jerusalem.
That is one of the essential messages of Easter: Whenever we are discouraged in our faith, whenever our hopes seem to be crucified, we need to go back to Galilee and Jerusalem, that is, back to the dream and the road of discipleship that we had embarked upon before things went wrong. The temptation of course, whenever the kingdom doesn’t seem to work, is to abandon discipleship for human consolation, to head off instead for Emmaus, for the consolation of Las Vegas or Monte Carlo.
But, as we know, we never quite get to Las Vegas or Monte Carlo. In one guise or another, Christ always meets us on the road to those places, burns holes in our hearts, explains our latest crucifixion to us, and sends us back – and to our abandoned discipleship. Once there, it all makes sense again.
(Oblate Father Ron Rolheiser, theologian, teacher and award-winning author, is President of the Oblate School of Theology in San Antonio, TX.)

Preventing youth violence with forgiveness

Posted on by
Reply

reflections on life
By Father Jerome LeDoux, SVD
Neatly hidden by huge waterways and bridges some 12 miles from New Orleans via the Barataria exit of the Westbank Expressway, the hamlet of Lafitte lives up to its name as part of the lair of the notorious pirate, Jean Lafitte. Although I have been there several times, the allure and lore of the area have not diminished.
A friend dating back to 1971 during my teaching years at Xavier University in New Orleans, Irishman Father John Ryan invited me to do another revival at his merged Parish of St. Anthony/St. Pius X. With the theme “Dump Anxiety; Welcome Healing and Peace,” we waded into our Saturday Mass version of the revival.
Punctuating picturesque Lafitte, Friday, March 20, marked the first day of spring with a black (new) moon, the third of six supermoons that will occur in 2015.  That moon blocked the sun in a total eclipse in northernmost European countries.
After the Saturday afternoon segment of the St. Anthony/St. Pius X Parish revival, Father John Ryan and I drove to the Sheraton Hotel in New Orleans where I was to be one of the speakers at an event hosted by the New Orleans Black Indians Alliance (NOBIA). “Soiree of Feathers,” Bury the Hatchet, Raise the Flag, was the event held to celebrate a rich and storied New Orleans culture and tradition. Once very territorial and violent, the only tribal competition now is who is “prettier” in dress.
This culture/tradition celebration can be experienced and lived through a single vision, collective work, creativity, self-determination and purpose – almost synonymous with the Nguzo Saba, seven core principles of African Heritage: Umoja (Unity), Kujichagulia (Self-Determination), Ujima (Collective Work/Responsibility), Ujamaa (Cooperative Economics); Nia (Purpose); Kuumba (Creativity); Imani (Faith). These are enunciated in Kwanzaa, celebrated from December 26-January 1.
I urged them to do what the city of Boston did in 1996 with huge success. Sensing that lack of communication and coordinated efforts were impeding efforts to help their violent youth, officials of Boston cobbled together The Boston Strategy To Prevent Youth Violence, an organization that melded parents, schools, churches, police, probation officers, public officials, social service agencies, community organizations – and, yes! street gangs – into close cooperating partners.
So successful was the Boston Strategy in reducing youth violence that in 1997 President Bill Clinton launched a National Anti-gang and Youth Violence Strategy modeled after the Boston Strategy. With our youth running wild in New Orleans, Chicago, Detroit and other cities, it is time to imitate the Boston Strategy.
At the Sunday 11 a.m. Mass, I admired once more the cozy semicircular design of St. Anthony Church, the thrice-flooded concrete floor marked with attractive patina, and the painting of the fish on the floor with the Greek word for fish, serving as an acronym that means Jesus Christ of God Son Savior.
Almost as old as Christianity itself, that fish symbol is found in art and architecture.
Through major hurricanes, most of the people of Lafitte have repaired or rebuilt their homes, but some have moved to higher ground. Thus, after losing a number of church members, Father Ryan is struggling to rebuild membership. If nothing else, his deep Irish faith, sense of mission and humor are in evidence to his parishioners with whom he has a very personal, spiritual relationship.
No matter what the age, condition or locale of an audience is, wrestling with negative stress (anxiety) is a theme that always strikes home, since it is something we all have in common. Public Enemy No. 1 is my personal moniker for negative stress. It sours, ruins and can ultimately destroy all peace of mind, feelings of joy, one’s nerves and – alarmingly – one’s immune system. Once our immune system is destroyed, the way is open for any disease, even cancer, to invade our body.
While there are many contributing factors to negative stress, the very worst of all is guilt/unforgiveness. Sadly, human weakness makes forgiving – even forgiving ourselves – very difficult. Yet, forgiving is the most important thing in life.
Our reward for forgiving each person without exception is enormous: peace of mind, relaxed nerves, joie de vivre, complete healing of body and soul, fulfillment.
(Father Jerome LeDoux, SVD, is pastor of Our Mother of Mercy Parish in Fort Worth, Texas. He has written “Reflections on Life since 1969.)

Embracing our brothers, sisters on their journey home

Posted on by
Reply

Kneading faith
By Fran Lavelle
I am known to shop online as I have a minor book addiction. I was thinking the other day how much my on line purveyor actually knows about me. They pay attention to the purchases I make and every time I log in they have suggestions for me. I surrendered to the Madison Avenue machine of clever marketing years ago because l live in the country and quite honestly like the convenience shopping online. One practice they employ is asking for feedback about your purchase. Was it everything I had hoped it would be? And, by chance if I needed to return it they want to know why.
I was thinking about the people who have left the church and it occurred to me that we don’t do an exit survey to find out why folks have come to a decision to leave. As “church people” we fear they are going to tell us that a priest, brother, sister or lay person did something or said something that drove them away. To be sure, that has happened. Perhaps an exit interview is a bit extreme. It could create a vulnerable and uncomfortable situation for all parties involved, but there is much that could be learned from such an endeavor.
What are we saying when we do not follow up when a member of our parish stops attending Mass? In Luke’s gospel (Luke 15:4-7), Jesus gives us the following parable: “What man among you having a hundred sheep and losing one of them would not leave the ninety-nine in the desert and go after the lost one until he finds it? And when he does find it, he sets it on his shoulders with great joy and, upon his arrival home, he calls together his friends and neighbors and says to them, ‘Rejoice with me because I have found my lost sheep.’ I tell you, in just the same way there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous people who have no need of repentance.
If we are not looking for the lost sheep who is? There is a part of me that wants to see the Body of Christ reconciled and healed right now. Another part of me understands the journey for each of us is different. I think about the prodigal son story often. His journey was his teacher.  He had to leave and lose it all to understand that which he had possessed all along.
Somewhere, deep within, he knew he could go home. I think of my own journey and how I got where I am today. I had a few years in college where I didn’t have the best attendance record. My mother refers to it as my “fallen away period.” How ironic that I would end up ministering to college students for the better part of my adult life. I realized many years after college that my in spotty Mass attendance served a purpose.
When I got back to going to Mass weekly, I came to it as an adult. It was a priority because I made it one.  What about others who no longer go to Mass. I know my story, but do I know theirs? I don’t mean an “all up in your business” knowing. Rather, I mean an understanding kind of knowing. Maybe that’s the point of my rumination. Maybe what we need when people leave the church is not so much to understand the nitty-gritty of why, but to have a chance to say that we hope one day they will feel at home again.
Like my story, some folks make choices about faith for many reasons. I have friends who, prior to getting married 40 plus years ago, decided that her Catholic faith did not sit well with his Church of God family so they got married and became Methodist. After three and a half decades away from the church she decided she needed to revisit the faith of her youth. Her separation from the Eucharist all of those years was palatable.
Their children were grown and her need to appease his family had lessened. She made the journey back to her Catholic faith. She returned home and eventually over the course of next several years her husband, daughters and even a son in law have joined her at the Eucharistic table. I recount this story to say we all experience faith as a journey. Some of us are dutiful and faithful and never wavier, never doubt or question. The path is straight and the goal remains always in sight. For others we cannot escape the detours, road blocks and meandering road.
A friend from Mobile is working with a program, Catholics Returning Home. It is one of 12 model programs listed in the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) directory “A Time to Listen … A Time to Heal” and is used throughout the U.S. and other countries. It was developed by a lay person, Sally Mew, and has been in use at parishes across the country for some 34 years now.
If your parish is intentional about having a ministry for returning Catholics, we applaud you. If your parish does not currently have a program, the Office of Faith Formation is willing to help you find a program that meets the needs of your community.
(Fran Lavelle is Co-Director of the Department of Evangelization and Faith Formation.)

La Pascua revela una verdadera visión de fe

Posted on by
Reply

Por Obispo Joseph Kopacz
Al abrir las páginas de este número de Mississippi Católico se darán cuenta que estamos en medio del Triduo sacro con la celebración del Viernes Santo,  la conmemoración de la pasión del Señor y su muerte en la cruz. Estamos atrapados en el amor de Dios que mueve los cielos y la tierra, que ama tanto al mundo que envió a su único hijo. A diferencia de las pobres almas sin nombre que sufrieron la terrible agonía y tortura de la crucifixión, Jesús se levantó de entre los muertos, resplandeciendo una nueva luz sobre la creación que a menudo vive en tinieblas y en las sombras de la muerte. La oración que introduce la liturgia del Domingo de Ramos proclama la fe pascual de la iglesia.
“Queridos amigos en Cristo, hoy nos reunimos para comenzar esta solemne celebración en unión con toda la iglesia en todo el mundo. Cristo entró triunfante en su propia ciudad para completar su labor como nuestro Mesías: para sufrir, morir y resucitar. Recordemos con devoción esta entrada que comenzó su obra de salvación y lo siguió con una fe viva. Unidos a él en su sufrimiento en la cruz, compartamos su resurrección y nueva vida”.
Durante la temporada de Cuaresma, en el Evangelio de Juan hemos escuchado la respuesta del Señor Jesús a los que querían verlo a él a que “a menos que un grano de trigo caiga en la tierra y muera,  permanecerá solo como un solo grano; pero si muere, dará mucho fruto”. El Señor se refería a su propia vida, la muerte y el destino como el Hijo de Dios resucitado de entre los muertos, y a todos aquellos que quieran verlo y seguirlo como discípulos. Para ver realmente el camino del discipulado tenemos que vivirlo, tenemos que caminar por el camino, tenemos que morir cada día de alguna forma a fin de hacer frente a la nueva vida.
En el Evangelio de Juan, sabemos que ver es uno de los temas favoritos del evangelista. Esta realidad culmina con Tomás, que sólo podía creer después de ver los signos del Cristo crucificado en su cuerpo resucitado.
Jesús continuó afirmando a todos los creyentes que vinieron después de los primeros testigos que lo vieron durante su vida terrena y experimentaron las apariciones de su resurrección antes de su ascensión al cielo. Estas palabras resuenan a través de los tiempos. “Has creído, Tomas, porque me has visto; dichosos los que no han visto, pero siguen creyendo”.
Fe en el crucificado y resucitado de entre los muertos es el primer trabajo de una persona que quiere ser un discípulo del Señor, pero a falta de una visión directa de Dios nuestra fe depende en ver. Usted puede pensar que me contradigo a mi mismo o, más importante, que contradigo al Señor. Por supuesto que no! Por lo general, una persona llega a la fe en el Señor crucificado y resucitado al ver los signos de su amor en la vida de aquellos que afirman ser cristianos.
No podemos ver el cuerpo físico del Señor, pero podemos ver su cuerpo, es decir la iglesia alrededor de nosotros. Cuando vemos a las personas morir a sí mismas, del egoísmo, del pecado, y el egocentrismo porque pertenecen a Jesucristo, nos sentimos atraídos por la belleza y la verdad de un estilo de vida que está abierto a Dios, y da mucho fruto.
Para el que está motivado por la fe en el Señor, cada sacrificio, cada acto de amor, cada condescendiente respuesta al sufrimiento, y cada acto de valentía es un signo del Cristo crucificado y resucitado de entre los muertos.
Incluso cuando alguien no cree explícitamente en Jesucristo, sus buenas acciones pueden ser apreciadas por los cristianos como el trabajo del Señor en ellos, tal vez a través de una base de buenas obras que le abrirá la puerta a la fe. El Espíritu Santo no está completamente impedido por la falta de fe. ¡Gracias a Dios!
El poder de la resurrección en nuestra vida está, sin lugar a dudas, expresada en las oraciones que rodean la preparación del Cirio Pascual en la Vigilia Pascual. “Cristo ayer y hoy, el principio y el fin, el Alfa y el Omega, todos los tiempos le pertenecen a él, y todas las edades, a él la gloria y el poder en cada edad para siempre, Amén. Por sus santas y gloriosas heridas, que Cristo nos guarde y nos mantenga. Amén. Que la luz de Cristo, levantándose en gloria, disipe las tinieblas de nuestros corazones y nuestras mentes”.
Mientras el tiempo de Pascua se desenvuelve ante nosotros, veremos la fuerza del Señor resucitado trabajando a través del crecimiento de la Iglesia primitiva.
Muchos fueron capaces de morir a si mismo, y como el mismo Señor, muchos estaban dispuestos a pagar el precio final si se les pedía que lo hicieran. Casi dos mil años más tarde, algunos cristianos son llamados a dar la vida porque pertenecen a Jesucristo, y todos los cristianos están llamados a morir a si mismo como la semilla que cae en la tierra como testimonio del eterno amor del Señor.
Qué hermosa realidad para contemplar. Que el Señor crucificado y resucitado bendiga a nuestras familias, a la misión y los ministerios de nuestra diócesis, y, en última instancia, a nuestro mundo. Ojalá que veamos cada día las puertas de la fe, la esperanza y el amor, la justicia y la paz, abriéndose en nuestro mundo, que a menudo clama por mucho más de lo que nosotros actualmente vemos. Este es el poder de la cruz del Señor y de la resurrección, por lo que decimos, Aleluya, feliz Pascua.

Easter reveals true vision of faith

Posted on by
Reply

By Bishop Joseph Kopacz
As you open the pages of this issue of the Mississippi Catholic we are in the middle of the Sacred Triduum with the celebration of Good Friday, the commemoration of the Lord’s suffering and death on the Cross. We are caught up in the love of God that moves the heavens and the earth, who so loves the world that he sent his only Son.
Unlike the nameless poor souls who suffered the gruesome agony and torture of crucifixion, Jesus rose from the dead, shining a new light on creation that often lives in darkness and the shadow of death. The prayer introducing the Palm Sunday liturgy proclaims the Church’s Pascal faith.
“Dear friends in Christ, today we come together to begin this solemn celebration in union with the whole Church throughout the world. Christ entered in triumph into his own city, to complete his work as our Messiah: to suffer, to die and to rise again. Let us remember with devotion this entry which began his saving work and follow him with a lively faith. United with him in his suffering on the cross, may we share his resurrection and new life.”
During the season of Lent, in the Gospel of John we heard the Lord Jesus’ response to those who wanted to see him that “unless the grain of wheat falls to the earth and dies it remains just a grain of wheat, but if it dies it produces much fruit.”
The Lord was referring to his own life, death and destiny as the Son of God risen from the dead, and to all who want to see and follow him as disciples. To truly see the path of discipleship we have to live it; we have to walk the path; we have to die to self everyday in some form in order to rise to new life.
In John’s Gospel we know that ‘to see’ is one of the evangelist’s favorite themes. This reality culminates with Thomas who could only believe after seeing the signs of the crucified Lord in his resurrected body. Jesus went on to affirm all believers who would come after the early eyewitnesses who saw him during his earthly life, and experienced his resurrection appearances before his ascension into heaven. These words resound down through the ages. “You became a believer, Thomas, because you have seen me; blessed are those who have not seen, but still believe.”
Faith in the one crucified and risen from the dead is the first work of one who wants to be a disciple of the Lord, but short of a direct vision from God our faith depends on seeing. You might think that I just contradicted myself or, more importantly, just contradicted the Lord.
Not at all! A person usually arrives at faith in the crucified and risen Lord by seeing the signs of his love in the lives of those who claim to be Christian. We can’t see the Lord’s physical body, but we can see his body, i.e. the Church, all around us. When we see people dying to self, to selfishness, sin and self-centeredness because they belong to Jesus Christ, we are attracted to the beauty and truth of a lifestyle that is open to God, life giving and bearing much fruit.
To the one motivated by faith in the Lord, every sacrifice, every act of love, every gracious response to suffering and every act of courage is a sign of Christ crucified and risen from the dead. Even when someone does not explicitly believe in Jesus Christ their actions for good can be appreciated by Christians as the Lord at work in them, perhaps through a foundation of good works that will open the door to faith. The Holy Spirit is not completely stymied by a lack of faith. Thank God!
The power of the resurrection in our lives is undeniably expressed in the prayers surrounding the preparation of the Paschal Candle at the Easter Vigil. “Christ yesterday and today, the beginning and the end, Alpha and Omega, all times belong to him, and all the ages, to him be glory and power through every age forever, Amen. By his holy and glorious wounds may Christ guard us and keep us. Amen. May the light of Christ, rising in glory, dispel the darkness of our hearts and minds.”
As the Easter season unfolds before us we will see the power of the risen Lord at work through the growth of the early Church. Many were able to die to self, and like the Lord himself, many were willing to pay the ultimate price if called upon to do so.
Nearly two thousand years later some Christians are called upon to give their lives because they belong to Jesus Christ, and all Christians are called upon to die to self like the seed that falls to the earth as witness of the undying love of the Lord. What a beautiful reality to behold.
May the crucified and risen Lord bless our families, the mission and ministries of our diocese, and ultimately our world. May we see every day the doors of faith, hope and love, justice and peace, opening into our world that often cries out for far more than we presently see. This is the power of the Lord’s cross and resurrection, for which we say, Alleluia, Happy Easter.